Blood Bond (PULSE, Book 5) (5 page)

They came presently to the foot of a cluster of small mountains. They were silent as the girl led them onwards once more. They passed villages like the one Jaegar had described – empty places filled with houses. But, despite the lack of people, the villages seemed to be...what was it, Kalina wondered? Alive? There were marketplaces with colorful fabrics and silks hanging from the stalls, aromatic spices in great bowls, all kinds of ceramic and porcelain on display, as if for sale, alongside handicrafts and weaving. But there was nobody buying. Nobody selling. Only these empty stalls filled high with goods.

Kalina shuddered. Was Octavius sure that, wherever they were going, it was safe?

Yet as they rose higher, to a place surrounded by what appeared to be the ruins of an ancient cave city, they heard something all the stranger for its very normalcy in the heart of such isolation: a human scream.

“What's going on?”

Jaegar and Octavius turned to see a group of shrieking children running towards him. A woman was wailing and beating her breast, stumbling as she tried to run. Men were running to and fro with stakes, their terrified eyes scanning the air. They seemed not to notice the group, so intent were they on finding the source of their fear.

And then Kalina spotted them. Three vampires – their pale faces set upon murder – came flying towards them, their fangs bared. These were not outsider vampires like Jaegar and Octavius, turned much further west. They were from this place, their faces not unlike the faces of the people they chased, and they were dressed in traditional eastern clothing. Kalina's heart sank. Had these vampires been turned from this very village?

But she had no time to mourn or feel pity. They would have to fight. The villagers were crying and screaming. Kalina noted that the village's cows and sheep were lying on their sides, already gutted, fang-marks on their bodies. Vampires didn't like animal blood, she knew. So why bother harming the livestock? Unless they wished their prey to suffer – those that they did not eat would themselves know starvation. The thought disgusted her.

One vampire was yelling to the others in a tongue Kalina did not understand.

Octavius blanched with anger. “He's telling the others not to eat yet. They want to have more
fun
tormenting them first.” He sighed. “Stop!” he cried, stepping forth, placing his broad chest between himself and the villagers. The vampires made no sign of stopping and so he shouted again, this time choosing words in a language Kalina did not understand. But she could tell what he was saying – he was making it clear that he wanted them to back off.

They laughed and shrugged off his concern. At last one of them, in halting English, spoke. “This is our village,” he said. “Go find your own pack to enslave.”

“I don't think you understand me.” Octavius stepped forth, removing his stakes from his cloak. “I have ordered you – by the law of the Consortium – to stop tormenting these people. Let them go.”

Jaegar nudged Kalina. “Something's weird here,” he said. “These aren't ghosts – they're flesh and blood, look! I can smell it.”

And indeed, Kalina noted, these people looked just as human as she or Justin did. “But then what happened to the girl?” She looked around for the pale, translucent figure, but the girl had vanished. “So, these vampires?”

“Real too,” Jaegar made a face. “I can smell it. But they won't be real for very much longer if Octavius has anything to say about it.”

Octavius was standing off with the vampires, attempting some negotiations in vain. But Kalina knew that Octavius’ patience would not be worn down much longer. Soon he would do what he had to do and attack. She stood on guard, her stake in hand. “Then that girl...” she whispered to Jaegar. “She wanted us here...”

“She said it was her village,” Justin said.

“Then maybe it was,” Kalina shrugged. “Once. A long time ago. And maybe she's looking out for it still.”

“That wasn't an ordinary girl, that's for sure,” said Justin. “Whatever these people are – that girl...I mean, nobody travels that fast. Even with Octavius carrying me and Jaegar carrying you, we had to rush to keep up.”

“Listen, fool!” One of the three vampires crowed. “We have spent centuries feeding off this village. Once it was ripe with people – delicious fat bodies from which to suck blood! Now there are only a few people left – and we intend to breed them all for food and eat them ourselves. There is not enough to share!”

“I shouldn't wonder,” Octavius’ anger was mixed with a more intellectual irritation. “If you insist on eviscerating their livestock...”

“No sharing!” The other vampire bared his teeth.

“I'll give you one last chance to live, fellow brethren,” said Octavius. “My name is Octavius. I am general of the Consortium. If you leave here peacefully, I will grant you full rights within my ranks – guaranteed vampire wine...”

“The Consortium!” One of the vampires laughed. “We have heard of your Consortium. It's barely anything any longer – did not the vampire Malvolio kill most of your leaders, and plenty of your men?”

“And even if it was still worth joining,” one vampire said, “Why bother? We don't want to be confined to the army. We want to do what we want. Right now we are free. Why be a meek little soldier in some other vampire's army when we can be the Kings of this village?”

The third vampire said nothing, but only scowled.

They looked around, but Octavius had managed to distract them long enough to allow the majority of the villagers to run off.

“Very well,” Octavius gave a weary sigh. “You did have your chance! But of course, you had to be stupid...” With that, he swept forth, baring his fangs as he rushed one of the vampires. Charging forth, he held out a fist, punching straight into the vampire's torso, his fingers colliding with the vampire's still heart. He sunk his teeth into the vampire's neck as he withdrew his hand, just in time for the vampire to collapse into ash.

“What the...” the second vampire cried.        

Octavius laughed with false joviality. “What, did I forget to mention these?” He held up his fingers. On each was a ring – each ring, excepting the Life's Blood ring, equipped with a wooden point. When applied with enough force, it appeared, such rings could function together as a stake.

Before the second vampire could react, Octavius had set upon him too, his hands tight around the vampire's neck, ready to wrench the head from the body.

“No, wait!” The third vampire, who had been hitherto silent, broke in. “Mercy, mercy! It is not our fault. We have no desire for this work – you see, we have been ordered to it. We are Kings of this little village, but we are vassals of the Powerful One, the one who has assigned us here, given us this land in exchange for our obedience, the production of slaves.”

“Is this true?” Octavius whirled on the vampire he held fast in his grip. “If you are lying, I warn you...”

“It's true!” the second vampire whimpered. “The Powerful One requires a certain number of victims every year. We are just following orders.”

“Funny,” Octavius muttered. “You were proud enough to be Kings a second ago.”

“We were fools!” The third vampire cried. “We didn't mean it – honestly we didn't!”

“Very well.” Octavius loosened his grip, sending the vampire clattering to the ground. “On one condition. Tell me the name of this Powerful One who commands you.”

The vampire shuddered. “He is so powerful, he will hear his name mentioned and come to find us. I don't dare.”

Octavius reminded the vampire, with a hard
thwack
to the forehead, that he was wearing rings cut with wood-points.

“Okay! Okay!” The vampire shook with fear. “M-m-molotov.”

“Molotov,” Octavius grimaced. “Just as I thought. This will be a difficult campaign, I fear.” He turned to the vampires. “Go out hunting,” he said. “Not for humans – for food, to replace the livestock you have killed. Wild pigs or boars, chickens – give them food so they do not starve! If you try to run and do not return, I promise you that I will find you. And I should let you know that I don't give my men any second chances.”

Kalina stared at Octavius with admiration. Even now he was so strong, so powerful – his soldier's gait so believable. Who could have known that he was capable of such kindness, such passionate tenderness, behind closed doors? If only they were alone...

The vampires fled, and Octavius scanned the area for the vanished villagers. They were hiding in their homes or behind bushes or rocks, evidently too afraid of this powerful vampire to come out. “It's all right!” Octavius called. “You're safe.” But these words, coming as they did from the mouth of a vampire, hardly seemed convincing.

Kalina decided she had better intervene. She approached one of the women huddled in a tent a few paces off. The woman's eyes widened with surprise as Kalina passed easily over the threshold without being invited.

“Don't be afraid...” But the woman evidently did not understand English.

Kalina pointed to herself. “Human?” She tried.

The woman still looked confused.

She tried again. “Vampire!” Kalina said, before shaking head to indicate no. “Not vampire.” She showed the woman her wrist and pressed her pulse to the woman's ear.

The woman looked relieved. She seized Kalina's hand and kissed it.

“Kalina,” she pointed to herself. She pointed to her brother. “Justin,” she said.

“Kalina,” the woman sounded out the name, nodding. “Justin.”

Kalina beckoned to the woman to come out into the open. The woman shook her head furiously, pointing at Octavius and shuddering. “
Vampire
.”

“But they're good vampires!” Kalina protested, before realizing that the woman did not understand. She smiled gently at the woman before exiting the house and going to Octavius and Jaegar, taking their hands, trying to show the woman that she was not afraid of them.

Octavius turned to the woman, who cowered at the threshold, and bent down gently, saying something to her in her native tongue.

“What are you saying?” Justin broke in.

“I'm telling her that I mean no harm, that I'm not going to hurt her, that I am a friend of the human Kalina.”

“Tell them I'm a doctor!” said Justin. “I can bandage the wounds.”

He crossed into the house and went over to a small child, which was bleeding profusely from the shoulder. Tearing his shirt, Justin began to fashion a bandage, wrapping the cloth tightly around the afflicted area. The woman beamed and seemed to calm down a little. She said something to Octavius, then tentatively exited her house. When Octavius made no attempt to bite or kill her, she relaxed somewhat and even smiled.

She said something to the group, and although Kalina could not understand the words, her meaning was clear.
Thank you
, she was saying, as she fell to Octavius’ feet, kissing his hand.

And then Kalina heard her own name mentioned.

“What's that?” She turned to Octavius.

Octavius frowned. “She says she knows you,” he said. “That she's been waiting for you.”

“Me?”

And in the Mongolian woman's wide, terrified eyes, Kalina saw something like recognition. What did this woman want – and how did they know her?

Chapter 5

A
s the sun rosed purple and orange above the parched Mongolian steppes, Kalina, Jaegar, Justin, and Octavius set themselves to work. There was a great deal to be done – several of the children had been injured and half-drunk; women and men alike had fang-bite wounds that had become infected. Justin did what he could to ease the pain and stop the bleeding, and Octavius and Jaegar each gave a morsel of their blood to help speed up the process of healing. But it was long work. There were about fifty villagers – of which fifteen or so were children – and each needed medical attention. Octavius translated for the others as Kalina tried to make herself understood in mime, pointing to herself and to various parts of the body, trying to ascertain where different injuries were, where to heal.