Blood Gifts Read online

  "Very good," the young man said. "So, you know what we like."

  "You collect vampires with special powers," Luke said grimly.

  "Now now, no need to be so serious. We recruit vampires with abilities, yes." He looked overly innocent now.

  "But these powers are not yours, are they?" The blond vampire walked around him slowly, checking him out. "You seem much older than you look. What were you 25?—30?—when you were turned? But that was not recently, and you were practicing your powers just now as if they were new."

  "What are you getting at?" Luke asked angrily.

  "You," the vampire took a step towards him, "fed on a human with powers." He tapped Luke's chest once with his finger. "Your powers will not last."

  Luke was shocked as he realized it was true. Karina had powers. It must be.

  "Blood transference," the blond vampire continued. "You seem surprised."

  Luke said nothing.

  "You know we recruit humans too," the young-looking vampire said. "Any chance you left this human alive?" He asked this last question as if it was a casual curiosity, but Luke could tell he was intensely interested in the answer.

  "I did not," Luke said.

  "Pity," the blond vampire said, walking away. He looked over his shoulder once at Luke, then continued on his way.

  Luke wanted to check on Karina, make sure she was okay, that this vampire wouldn't get to her. But he knew he couldn't go anywhere near her tonight. The other vampire would surely be watching him. Waiting for him to return to the human with the powers. Luke was almost sure he hadn't bought it when he said he'd killed her. He would check on her tomorrow. He looked quickly around, and seeing no one, ran at super speed away, back to his apartment.

  Chapter 8

  Karina woke the next morning still exhausted. Probably from blood loss. She put her hand to her neck wound. She had a bit of a scab there. Her muscles were sore, probably from superhuman sex. She still felt blissed out from that, but calm. Serene. She sat up slowly in her bed and looked around the room. Her eyes grew wide.

  It looked like the place had been ransacked. Things had been thrown to the floor or messed around. Drawers were open, clothing pulled half out, one drawer was on the floor. Her lamp was knocked over.

  "Shit," she said to herself. But she knew she had done it. She knew there wasn't any other explanation. No burglars, no tornado, just her. Her bizarre telekinetic powers. Like the night she'd dreamed of Luke in her room. Which she now realized was not a dream. He had broken into her apartment to drink her blood, but she'd woken up. He knew she lived on the third floor in the elevator without being told.

  She knew it was her power that had made the street lamp burn out above them as they kissed too. But this? This room? This was new. She'd never done anything this intense. Well, maybe once. But this was a much nicer circumstance than that.

  She suddenly realized she was thirsty. Very very thirsty. Probably a side effect of blood loss, she thought grimly. Her body was trying to replace its lost fluids. She got up carefully and made her way to the kitchen, poured herself a big glass of water and drank it. Then she opened her cupboard to see if she had any iron pills in her vitamin stash. She did. They expired a month ago, but she didn't care. She took one. Anything to help this weakness go away, anything to rebuild her blood. She swallowed a B-complex while she was at it, then poured herself more water, and popped a microwave lasagna meal into the microwave. It was a hardier breakfast than she usually had, but it seemed necessary today.

  She nearly kicked herself when she sat down on the couch to call Luke and realized she still didn't know Luke's last name or phone number. "God," she said to herself. "Slut." She curled up under a blanket on the couch to watch TV.

  Chapter 9

  Luke knocked on Karina's door sometime after dark. She could see him through the peephole. She had showered and dressed, and put on some makeup to counteract the deathly pallor she now had. She glanced down at her jeans and white lightweight short-sleeved sweater to make sure she looked okay, then she opened the door.

  Luke stood there in jeans and a gray T-shirt again. He'd realized after seeing the blond vampire that he had dressed himself all in black like one of the Runic clan. They were cruel and not human friendly. He was trying now not to be like them.

  "Can I come in?" Luke asked her cautiously. "I won't be violent, I promise." Then he added, "I'm so sorry," quietly.

  Karina opened the door wider and waved him in. The minute he got inside the door, she said, "Last name and phone number, please."

  Luke looked startled, but relieved. He laughed a little bit. "Uh, last name's Caldwell, and number..." he took the pad of paper and pen she held out and wrote on it as he smiled at her.

  He handed the paper back to her and said, "And what's your last name? I'm kidding. I read it on your mailbox downstairs. Sorry." He looked sheepish. "Hulsin."

  She smiled. She wrote on a different piece of paper and gave it to him.

  "Ah, your phone number. Thank you," he said, and folded it and put it in his pocket.

  She led him by the hand to the couch. She sat and motioned for him to sit too.

  "So," she said, "now that we are all caught up on preliminaries..." she looked at a loss for words.

  "You're a telekinetic," he said quietly.

  She looked surprised. "And you're a vampire," she said.

  "Yes," he said. "I'm so sorry."

  "You have got to stop saying that," she almost laughed. Then she looked a little more sober as she said, "Apparently, I'm into that." Then she said, "So, you noticed the room?"

  "The room?" he asked, confused.

  Then she looked confused. "My bedroom was all torn apart like a tornado had been through it. I thought that's how you knew about my powers."

  "Oh, I didn't even notice the room," he said. Wow. "Though, truthfully it was probably both of us that tore it up."

  She raised her eyebrows. "You're a telekinetic too?"

  "Not anymore," he said. He looked down at his hands as he tried to think of a way to explain it. He was so not used to this. He never bothered to explain himself to anyone. "Blood transference," he said finally. "When I drank your blood I absorbed your powers for a few hours."

  She looked very surprised. "Wow," she said. "Wow."

  "That part amazes you?" he asked, laughing. "How are you totally okay with my being a vampire?"

  "Oh," she said, "that. Well, I spent years learning to accept the fact that I had psychic abilities. Apparently, when I opened my mind to that, it opened my mind to other things too. Vampirism doesn't seem so farfetched anymore." She fiddled with the edge of her sweater and continued. "I hide my ability from everyone I know. I know what it's like to have a paranormal secret, I guess."

  "And now here we are," he said.

  "Here we are." She looked back up at him. "Were you in my bedroom the first night we met?"

  He looked embarrassed. "Yes, I was," he admitted. "I, uh, was trying to make you my verae."

  "Verae?" she asked.

  "It's like a blood donor. I have the power to mesmerize people so they don't remember my visit, and so they don't wake up, but you did both. I crave human blood every once in a while, but I don't kill people. A verae is just a person I drink from occasionally."

  "Wow," she said. "So, my psychic power makes me immune to you?"

  "Apparently."

  "But, I mean, not completely," she said, suddenly flustered. "I mean, I keep feeling a haze or something when I'm around you. Like I'm in a cloud."

  "I feel it too," he said.

  "Wow."

  He laughed.

  "Where do we go from here?" Karina asked.

  He took her hands and entwined their fingers. "I do not know," he said seriously. "I think you'd be in danger if you tried to be a part of my world."

  "Really?" she asked. "Because I think you can stop yourself from drinking my blood if you have to—"

  "—No," he said, "that wasn't what I meant. Danger f
rom other vampires."

  "Oh..." she said, realizing it for the first time.

  "And I don't want to make you a vampire," he said sincerely.

  "That's okay, I don't want to be one," she answered quickly.

  He looked surprised. "Most people who find out about me do," he said. "Wow."

  "Why do you have a heartbeat?" she suddenly asked.

  "I don't know. I mean all vampires do."

  "And sunlight?"

  "I'm fine in the sunlight," he said. "Not every vampire myth is true."

  "But most vampires aren't good like you? I mean they kill people?" she asked.

  "Yes, most vampires kill people. But a lot of them are like me."

  "Wow," she said.

  He felt her hands shaking in his. "Too much to take in?" he asked.

  "A little," she said. "This is very intense."

  She had the need to be in his arms again, but wasn't ready for anything as adventurous as last night to happen. She stared at his chest and her fingers traveled up his arm a little bit. He seemed to understand and pulled her to him and held her. She still felt a little weak from losing blood. He had his warm arms around her and she was exhausted from a thousand different thoughts and emotions and recent experiences. She let her eyes close, and fell asleep in his arms.

  Chapter 10

  Luke had left Karina sleeping peacefully in her bed and quietly closed her apartment door. He needed time and space to think. He walked down the darkened street as he pondered everything that had happened.

  He hadn't told her about the Runic clan and their interest in her. Telling her about his vampirism was shocking enough. He didn't want to frighten her. But he knew he couldn't keep them away from her forever. Maybe they could hide somewhere. Find a place with no other vampires, and hope to stay off their radar.

  He couldn't believe he was actually considering going to so much trouble for someone. After all the years he'd been alive, been sure there was no such thing as soulmates, just lust and companionship, he couldn't believe he had found her now. And she was so vulnerable and fragile. So human. How could he protect her? How could he live without her once her human life had come to an end?

  ***

  Karina woke hazily. She was in her bed. Luke must have put her there. It was still night. Her pink gauzy curtains were fluttering gently in the breeze again. She hadn't opened that window. Had Luke?

  Suddenly she became aware of another presence in the room. A black shape stepped out of the corner and towards her. In the dim light, she could see it was a blond young man. She felt her pulse quicken and panic traveled through her body. She sat up quickly. He moved quicker.

  He sped with superhuman speed over to her. She screamed. She knew now he was a vampire. Faster than she could even process it, he had tied her up on the bed. Her hands were behind her back, her ankles were tied together. He tied a gag over her mouth. Her screams were muffled. Objects started to fly around the room randomly. The vampire stopped to look at the show and laughed with delight. He clapped his hands together.

  He turned to look at her and said with appreciation, "You are amazing."

  She struggled to breathe normally, to calm her heart rate. Her panic was reaching a frenzy.

  He bent down in front of her and put a finger under her chin. "So pretty," he said. "You are going to be perfect." He almost looked misty eyed. "My name is Geric," he said to her. "I'm going to make you legendary." He said the last part quietly, almost to himself. Then he got up and sped to the window. He turned around and said, "Sit tight, I'll be back soon with my crew. We're going to make you a vampire." He looked delighted again, then sped out the window in a blur.

  Objects kept flying around the room as Karina tried to slow her breathing and calm herself down. She concentrated on setting the objects down, then wondered if any of them could help her. She had little hangnail scissors on her dresser. That was the sharpest thing in the room. She'd never really worked to control her power before, just suppress it. She concentrated on the little scissors and they floated awkwardly across the room to her. She scooted them with her mind till they were behind her. She grabbed them with her hands and started to work on the rope with them.

  ***

  Luke had returned to Karina's building and was staring at her window from the ground. He didn't want to wake her, so he was going to jump up to the ledge and peek inside. But her window was open. Had she done that? Should he go to her door and knock? Just then he heard the sound of her muffled voice as she struggled with something. He was up to the window in a flash.

  He looked inside. She was tied up on the bed, struggling to saw through a rope with tiny scissors. He sped over to her and quickly untied her hands and removed the gag. Then untied her legs.

  "What happened?" he asked, alarmed.

  "Oh, my God, Luke!" she said, throwing her arms around him. She was shaking.

  He held her tight. "What happened, Karina? Who did this?" he said seriously. He looked around the room at things lying on the floor and tipped over, drawers open again.

  "It was a vampire," Karina said as she sobbed into his shoulder. He held her tighter.

  He rocked her a little bit, instinctively. She calmed down and stopped sobbing.

  "We have to get out of here," he said to her.

  "I know," she said sadly, pulling away to look at him. "It's happening, isn't it? The danger you feared I would be in from other vampires? His name is Geric. He said he wanted to make me into a vampire." She looked at him with fear in her eyes. "He liked that I could move things with my mind."

  "I know," he said. "He's part of the Runic clan. They collect people with abilities and make them into vampires. I'll explain more later, but we really need to leave now." He got up and looked around. "Pack up a few things, and I'll run to my apartment to get money and anything else we might need."

  She stood and started looking around. "He said he'd be back with his crew," she said.

  "I'll wait while you pack," he said.

  Chapter 11

  A few minutes later, Luke and Karina were hurrying through the lobby of her building, when two men dressed in black marched confidently into the lobby. Vampires. One of them was Geric. They stopped, and Geric waved his hand at the other one, a stern looking man with long black hair. The black-haired vampire sped out of the building and called up to someone in a window. Another vampire with short dark spiky hair leaped from a window to join him on the street, and they sped back inside to stand by Geric. All of this happened within five seconds. Karina assumed the vampire had been in her bedroom.

  "Karina," Geric said happily, "and Hero." He glanced at Luke. "Is this the girl you said you killed, Hero?"

  "Leave us alone," Luke said with almost a growl in his voice.

  "So grouchy," Geric said with a smile. "This is a happy day, Hero. Your lover is going to be made whole." He looked appreciatively at Karina. "Of course, she will belong to us, however."

  Luke dropped her duffel bag and in a blur rushed forward to attack Geric. He had knocked him to the ground in a flash. Karina looked up in fear at the other two vampires. They began to rush at her, but before they could she had thrown one of the lobby couches at them with her mind. It knocked them over. She ran for the stairwell. She ran up to the second floor and down the hall. She quickly ran around the corner and then to the storage room. It was never locked. Only the cages inside it were locked. She ran to the back and around a chain link cage to hide in the corner. Her heart was pounding. She had no idea how she had escaped them. Maybe they hadn't seen which way she'd run. But couldn't they hear her heartbeat or smell her blood? Something. She tried to calm her breathing. Boxes and objects were starting to rattle around inside the storage cages. She had to control her power.

  Luke was busy in the lobby slamming Geric into a row of mailboxes. Geric fell to the ground and leaped up, punching Luke so hard he flew across the room. The other two vampires had split up. One was running at super speed down all the hallways. The other had
gone outside to monitor all exits to the building.

  "Oh, love is so painful," Geric said mockingly as he ambled across the room, watching Luke stumble to his feet to fight some more. "What will I do without my beautiful Karina?" he mocked.

  Luke took a swing at him again, but Geric moved quickly out of the way. Then Geric grabbed Luke by the throat and slammed him into a wall, holding him there.

  "You should be draining the humans you drink from, friend," he said. "Then you can grow up to be strong like me." He slammed Luke against the wall again, and then threw him across the room. He had sped away at super speed before Luke could get back on his feet.

  The spiky-haired vampire was walking slowly along the third floor, listening for Karina. Listening for any raised heartbeat or anyone out of breath. Also waiting to smell her fear. He had checked her apartment. She was, of course, not stupid enough to go there.

  Geric marched along the second floor hallway. He had simply followed Karina's scent up the stairwell. He hummed a little tune as he walked, straight down the hall to the storage room. He burst through the storage room door with confidence and marched back to Karina's corner. People's boxes and belongings started to rattle loudly in their cages as he approached her.

  "Oh." He stopped a few feet from her in mock awe. He tapped the nearest cage with his hand. "The animals are restless." He laughed. Then he reached forward and yanked her up off the ground by her arm. "Come with me, my lovely," he said.

  Karina stumbled as he dragged her quickly behind him. Her heart was pounding again. The contents of the cages shook so much they created a roar.

  Luke had run up to Karina's apartment to check for her there. No sign of her, of course. He'd wandered the third floor quickly, looking for her. Instead he found the spiky-haired vamp, who smiled at him and cocked his head to the side. As if to say, "You know we have to fight now."