Family Is Forever by S. C. Stephens
Ben sniffed, and I heard him mutter, “She’s not that old.” I wasn’t exactly sure, but I had a feeling Ben had a few years on Starla.
Swishing her hand, Olivia continued, “Anyway, Henry said she was no use to him dead, so he let her take the shot. Luckily, she had a bunch in her bag when we were taken. They did my transfusion while she was still on the shot. But eventually, she ran out of medicine…” Olivia shuddered as she remembered what had happened. “Starla freaked out, and she was already freaking out…and cold, hungry, weak… It’s awful what they’re doing to them, Dad.”
She gave her dad helpless eyes, and they shimmered with tears again. I tried not to visualize what Starla and Jacen were going through, but it was difficult to keep the images out, especially when I started drifting into memories of a cold, dark, lonely place… I squeezed Arianna tight to block out the fear trying to surface, and made myself focus on Olivia.
She looked ten years older than she really was when she started speaking again. “Henry didn’t want her to die, but he didn’t know how to save her without the shot, so he…he transfused her blood with Jacen’s. She didn’t die that night, and it’s been a week or so since then, but…Starla is positive that any day now she’s going to die, and never wake up.”
With fear in her eyes, like she’d suddenly realized something, Olivia said to her dad, “They used her blood to make me…so…am I going to die? Is this blood going to kill me, and I won’t wake back up?”
That was a legitimate question, and one we didn’t have an answer for. Ben sighed and pulled Olivia into him. “You’ll be all right, honey.” He met eyes with Dad, and I could see he wasn’t sure. Regardless, he patted her back and told her, “Everything is going to be just fine.”
Dad sighed, and then said, “We should go find Great-Gran and Gabriel. They’ll want to know about Simon and Olivia…and Starla.”
Ben nodded, and Dad turned to Rory and Cleo. “Stay here and make sure the bodies aren’t discovered. We’ll take care of them when we get back.” They nodded and Dad let out a tired sigh. “Let’s go.”
MY MIND SPUN as I watched Teren pick up Ben and blur away; Olivia immediately followed him. I couldn’t believe what I’d just heard, what I’d just seen. Simon, Olivia, and a bunch of Henry’s hunters had volunteered to become mixed vampires. Sure, that kind of advantage—the speed, the strength, the hearing—was desirable, but back when I was hunting, mixing my blood with a demon’s was something I never would have considered. It was almost hard to imagine someone like that wanting that kind of life. Didn’t they understand that all living vampires eventually turned into undead vampires? Guess they didn’t care. Or perhaps they didn’t know. Mixed vampires were rare, and many people, myself included, hadn’t known about them until I’d encountered some of them.
Julian picked up Arianna and blurred away after his father. Huffing and puffing, Trey emerged from the section of the woods that we’d been searching. He looked around, his face a mask of disbelief at the carnage before him. “Stay here with Rory and Cleo,” I told him. “We’ll be back in a minute.”
Nodding, he sat down. “I’m tired of running anyway.”
Jake glanced at Trey, and then took off after Teren and Julian on foot. Nika was a split second away from following her father and brother, but I grabbed her elbow and stopped her. She looked back at me with bunched eyebrows. “What? We have to go!”
I gave her the sternest expression I had in my repertoire. “You still have a bullet lodged in your chest. You don’t need to be running around, jostling it. We can’t risk it puncturing your heart.”
Nika crossed her arms over her chest, defiance written all over her face. “But we need to tell Grandma and Gabriel what’s going on.”
“True,” I told her. “But if we’re going to go, then you’re going to have to let me be chivalrous.”
Even though there was a lot going on, even though Trey was gagging as he examined the dead vampires, the look Nika was giving me was laced with seduction. Dead or not, my body instantly responded. “Chivalrous? How?”
I swept her into my arms, and held her close to my chest. “You’re going to have to let me carry you.”
Nika let out a noise that was somewhere between a groan and a giggle as she laced her arms around my neck. I tried to ignore the splotches of wet blood smeared over her chest. She had healed, she was fine. That had been too close though, and for a few seconds, I’d been sure that I’d arrived too late and she was forever gone to me. I never wanted to experience that level of pain again. I’d rather have a second conversion, starve again, or eradicate my father’s memory again…than lose Nika.
As we sped after the others, at a slower pace so I could be sure Nika was stable, she asked me about what I’d found in the woods. “Was there anything on your side?”
I frowned as I remembered. “Just a couple of newly-turned teens who obviously had never seen any real combat. They ran the minute they saw me. I was about to chase after them when I heard the gun go off.”
A surge of pain filled my stomach. I hadn’t known at the time who had been involved in the gunfight. Just the thought of Nika being in danger had turned me into a nearly deranged maniac, but any of my new family being hurt or killed was unthinkable. I’d attacked the armed vampire with a vengeance, and hadn’t stopped until he’d been incapacitated. While he was the one who had ultimately pulled the trigger, I wasn’t mourning the fact that he was dead.
We came across Teren and the others so fast, I almost shot right past them. Halina was with Teren, and she called my name as I ran by. Careful not to shake Nika too much, I slowed and returned to where Teren was telling Halina and Gabriel everything he knew.
Teren pointed at Olivia, who gave Gabriel a friendly wave. “He did it,” Teren said. “He found a way to create mixed vampires. And he found a way to make it routinely work…we just fought several of them.”
While Gabriel stared at Olivia with obvious astonishment, Halina gestured to some bodies lying in the tall grass—nearly hidden in the darkness, but for the smell of blood wafting from them. One of Halina’s vampire assailants appeared to be disarmed, while the other had a sword. I scanned my creator for any sign of injury, but she didn’t seem to have a scratch on her; not even a strand of hair was out of place.
“As did we,” she told Teren, her expression grim.
“This shouldn’t be possible,” Gabriel murmured, clearly stunned by all he’d seen. “The blood…finding the right balance of human and vampire, finding a way to override the human immune system, so it always accepts the foreign material…” His hand came up to touch Olivia, and his finger pulled down her lip to study her teeth. “What he’s accomplished…it’s masterful, poetic. Pure genius.”
“You mean pure evil genius, right?” Ben grabbed his daughter, and pulled her back from Gabriel. “She’s eleven, and he did some crazy experimental procedure on her that luckily turned her without killing her. But he used Starla’s blood to make her.” He emphasized Starla’s name, so Gabriel would grasp the danger without him having to say it in front of Olivia. Gabriel was too worried about his nestmate to catch the subtlety though.
His hopeful eyes locked onto Olivia. “Starla! Is she alive? Did she have her medicine with her? Did she have enough? Does she need more? I can…I can get some, and you can take it to her. If we just…”
He started looking around, like he was plotting how to go about doing that. Ben stepped forward to get his attention. “She doesn’t need the shot anymore, Gabriel, but Olivia will.”
Olivia immediately turned to her dad. “Whoa…what shot? The one Starla had to take every day? Am I gonna have to do that?” She put her hands up before Ben could even answer her. “Nuh-uh, no way! I hate needles.”
Gabriel caught the important part of her comment, and his expression relaxed. “She had medicine on her then…good girl.” Then his mouth firmed and his gaze swept over Ben. “What do you mean she doesn’t need it anymore? She’ll always need it, unless
Halina put a hand on his shoulder in sympathy, and Gabriel reached back to squeeze it. Olivia shook her head in answer. “Nah, she’s still kicking. Henry transfused her with Jacen’s blood. They’re like, bonded now, which is really amusing when they get separated and reunited.” She made an explosion with her hands, followed by a bomb sound.
Halina let out an amused snort, while Gabriel looked intrigued. “I’d never considered something like that. Of course, I’d never considered transfusions at all. Brilliant,” he murmured, genuinely impressed by the madman’s skills.
Tenderly setting Nika down, I snapped, “Yeah, brilliant. He’s creating compulsion-proof, super-hunters to capture vampires for our blood, or to just flat-out kill us. The bullet in Nika’s chest is proof of that.”
Halina growled and snapped her gaze to Nika. Her eyes narrowed as she examined the streaks of blood over her pristine skin. By the intensity of Halina’s gaze, you would think she could see the bullet, and she was obliterating it with the power of her mind. I was sure Nika would prefer it if removing the bullet was that easy. Me too. Knowing the level of pain she was going to experience made me nauseous. Watching her go through it was going to be difficult.
Halina was about to say something when Jake finally caught up to us. He ran into the clearing full-bore, like a psychopathic axe murderer was on his heels. When he spotted us, he slowed to an easy jog. His chest was heaving and his breath came out in explosive exhales and sharp pulls. What had been a brief jaunt for us, had been a decent run for him.
Hand on his side, he strode up to Halina and Gabriel. “Did you see him? Did you see Simon? Did he come this way? Where did he go?” He looked around the woods, then spotted the mound of a body in the darkness and froze. “Is that…?”
Even in the moonlight, I could see his face paling. Halina shook her head. “That was a problem, one we took care of, but it was not your son.” I didn’t mention the fact that Halina had never actually seen Simon before, so she wouldn’t know him by sight, and she could have possibly killed him. I was sure she hadn’t though, and I didn’t want to freak Jake out. He was holding together surprisingly well, considering.
Just after I thought that, his face clouded. “So…Simon was here, but he somehow slipped past us…and every lead who might have told us where to find him was killed? Is that what just went down?”
Olivia raised her hand and pointed at me. “I heard that guy say that the kids he faced ran away, so technically, they’re still alive.” When Jake threw a glare her way, Olivia shrugged and muttered, “Just saying.”
Nika matched Jake’s glare. “They were going to kill us. We did the best we could, but we’re not sacrificing anyone for information.”
Jake gave her a level look. “No one but Simon, Starla and Jacen, right?”
Nika’s jaw tightened as she looked away, and I pulled her into me. “We all know what’s at stake. You don’t have to remind us,” I said.
Jake took a step toward me. He was still breathing fast, and every word was punctuated with a heavy exhale. “Apparently, I do, because we’re back at square one, with no leads, and no way to find my son!”
Olivia raised her hand again. “Actually, that’s not entirely true.” Everyone turned to look at her, and she gave us all a small smile.
Ben put a hand on her arm. “What are you talking about, sweetheart? Do you have a blood-bond with someone who might lead us to them? Someone else created with Starla’s blood?”
Olivia scrunched her face. “No…I can’t… Most everyone was made with Jacen’s blood, since he could be drained faster… The rest of us who were made with Starla’s blood…must all be dead. I’m the last one…” She frowned, then brightened. “But we do still have a lead.” She pointed in the direction of the building, where I could hear the music thumping into the night like a gigantic heartbeat. “The kids at the party. When Simon hands out the drug, he tells them where to meet him if they want more. It’s probably somewhere easy to find. Simon wouldn’t want the kids forgetting.”
We all looked back to the party. Of course. Simon was recruiting volunteers that he could juice up for his rescue mission. Once he had enough of them, he’d descend on the ranch in some crazy attempt to get Jake back.
Jake slowly shook his head. “I wish I could get a message to him, let him know I’m all right, that he doesn’t need to do this, but even if he believed I wasn’t under duress, Henry would have confiscated his phone right away. He probably destroyed it. Crazy, paranoid, manipulative old man.” He looked back at the group of us with hope in his eyes. “But at least we have another lead to follow.”
Teren turned to Julian. “You and Arianna go back to the party and see what you can learn.”
Julian looked ecstatic to be given such a big responsibility, and he straightened his shoulders as he nodded at his dad. “We’ll find out where the meeting is. I promise.”
He picked up Arianna, and the two of them sped away. Jake looked like he was going to follow, but Teren held up a hand to stop him. “Leave the kids to talk to the other kids. We have cleanup work to do.” He indicated the corpses on the ground. Jake sighed, longingly looked back at the party, then finally nodded and got to work covering our tracks.
“I’d like to take one back, to study the blood,” Gabriel told Jake as he passed by. Jake made a face that was two parts disgust, one part resignation. Whatever might help his son.
Teren turned to me while Halina, Jake and Gabriel began gathering the vampires. “Ben and I are going to help clean up the other site. Why don’t you take Nika to the ranch? Mom, Gran, and Emma can get started on her…injury.” He frowned at the thought of his daughter being dug into. My stomach twisted.
I was just about to tell him that was a great idea, when Nika stepped forward. “I’ll be fine a little longer, Dad. I’d like to go help Julian. No…I’m going to go help Julian.”
Teren clearly didn’t like the tone of defiance in her voice, but I thought I saw a flash of pride in his smile. “Nika, you have a bullet in your chest. It could be near your heart—”
“And Starla could die any second. The longer we waste, the less time she has. She needs Gabriel’s medicine. And they both need to come home.” Her voice choked on the word home, and dark red blood welled in her eyes.
Teren looked moved by her tone, by her face. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it and nodded. Nika looked back at me, a challenge in her eyes. I wasn’t going to challenge her though. She made a good point, and the risk to her was minimal, so long as she was careful.
Instead of answering her unasked question, I scooped her into my arms. “Ready to dance?” I asked, a playfulness to my tone that really wasn’t appropriate given the circumstances.
Nika let out a soft giggle, but then stopped herself with a sigh. “Let’s go find Simon.”
The task diminished the brief moment of levity, and I took off after Julian. Hopefully, we’d be able to find someone who would willingly help us, since we couldn’t compel answers from these compulsion-proof kids.
When we got to the backside of the building, I gently set Nika down. She frowned as she stepped away from me. “I’m not made of glass, you know. I’m not gonna break.” Some clouds drifted past the moon, casting a shadow across Nika’s face. It was ominous, seeing her enshrouded in darkness.
“Maybe not, but I might if something happens to you. Trust me, keeping you safe is purely self-preservation on my part.”
The clouds passed and the moonlight brightened the smile on her face. Or tried to. The moon could only do so much to enhance perfection. “I love you too,” she told me, leaning in for a kiss.
I opened the door when we pulled apart, and was instantly assaulted by the thunderous club music; it gave me a headache. Grabbing Nika’s hand, I entered the building with her. There were strobe lights everywhere, and buckets holding dry ice in sporadic clumps around the gyrating bo
Nika was cringing too, but she indicated with her head where we should go. Whatever clumps of people Simon had managed to drug and immunize when he was here before had most likely spread out. Some had probably even left, forever taking their secrets with them. Wherever we started seemed as good a place as any.
Holding my hand, Nika pulled me toward the center of the masses. The more time we spent in the roar of overwhelming noise and movement, the more I was able to block it out. I even started picking up a few heartbeats, which was both miraculous and odd. My body was attuned to blood, though, and like a sweet fragrance in the air, I could almost always pick it out.
That was it though. I wasn’t hungry, and the thought of ripping open the young throats around me was an unappealing as it would have been if I were still human. Teren and Halina were right. Being a vampire didn’t alter who I was. All it had done was heighten my senses and change my menu.
Nika started commanding the people around her, asking them to do things they wouldn’t normally do, looking for someone who could resist her. I followed suit. “Tell me your deepest fear,” I asked a girl beside me.
Her eyes glazed over, as she immediately replied, “Losing my family.”
I smiled at her answer, and then moved on to someone else. “Tell me your deepest fear,” I asked a guy wearing a sideways baseball cap and enough gold chains to buy a small village food for a year.
“Snakes,” he told me, his expression bland. Then he shivered, like just saying the word was disturbing.
Nika and I were almost to the other side of the room, having no luck finding someone who could refuse our questions, when I suddenly stumbled across an asshole. He was tall and lanky, with thick dark hair that fell over his eyes. I almost compelled him to get a haircut, but instead, I stuck to my normal line of questioning. “Tell me your deepest fear.”