Dark Heirloom (An Ema Marx Novel Book 1) (11 page)

For a brief moment I considered running away, but I had no idea where Nellim was or how to speak a word of Finnish.
Okay, think. All these vampyre powers have to be good for something.

I shrugged out of my clothes and kicked them into a pile under a shrub, then transformed into a wolf. My skeleton cracked like bubble wrap as my body’s structure shifted and forced me onto all fours. Thick tufts of gray fur sprouted everywhere while my nose elongated into a snout. In wolf form, my vision was blurry. I could still see well in the dark, but I now saw the world in shades of blue and green. However, my sense of smell was sharper, keener, and more exact than as a vampyre.

With my nose to the ground, I circled in search of human scent, hoping I could sniff out a trail and follow it to the town. After making several wide loops, I came to realize that I had no idea what humans smelled like. I tried following the scent of blood, but that only led to a number of small animals. They smelled so delicious, and I wanted so badly to chase after them when they ran. The yearning was worse as a wolf; both the Nephilim and the wolf in me wanted to hunt, and that could cause problems.

I had to find Jesu before I became seriously lost. I searched for his scent, but every trace of water led me back to the lake.

I am definitely the worst wolf ever.

I trotted back to the shrub which concealed my clothes and transformed back into a vampire. I quickly dressed, then flew over the treetops so I could cover more ground. Flying in a zigzag pattern, I went eastward in search of Jesu and the town. I knew the lake was to the west, and Nellim was southeast, but I had no idea how far north or south I was when I landed. I decided to go south, hoping I hadn’t passed it yet.

The moon drifted across the sky as I continued searching. Vampyres may not get tired, but I was growing thirstier by the minute. Logic ebbed away as my animal instincts became more aggressive. I could stop for a small snack, couldn’t I? Just something quick, like a squirrel, wouldn’t be bad.

I landed and shook out of my clothes, letting them fall unsupervised around me. I transformed into a wolf in the blink of an eye, and licked my chops in anticipation of all the tasty woodland creatures in the area.

A new scent leaked into my black nose. It was faint and far away, but my brain could still name it.
Reindeer.
I’d never seen a reindeer in real life, but I knew they were big and full of warm blood. I salivated just thinking about it. I followed the reindeer scent, letting instinct guide me.

Fresh blood, hunt, hunt, hunt!

The aroma of thick animal hide and droppings grew excitably strong in a short amount of time. Soon, I could hear them stomping their hooves, chewing on feed, and swishing their tails. They all smelled so delightful, I couldn’t wait until their blood was in my belly. I couldn’t wait for the euphoria and the rush of adrenaline. Just remembering the sensations fueled my momentum and I ran faster.

Blood. Fresh blood. Mine
, now.

I stopped just before the forest ended. Crouching low, I sniffed the air and counted at least a dozen of them standing not more than ten feet away. They sensed my presence and nervously rustled around. Surely, they’d run soon and I would get to chase them.

Instead, though, they snorted and whinnied and called out in a high-pitched note that sounded almost like a moo. Why were they crying and not running away? I inched closer on my haunches. The shrubbery that leaked out a little past the forest ended a couple of feet down. Just beyond the last few shrubs, I could see the antlered beasts penned up in some sort of farm.

How delightful! My own personal vampyre fast food
.

I felt disappointed that the creatures could not run, and knew they would be more dangerous this way. They would fight back if they couldn’t flee. No matter, I was no ordinary wolf, and I was fully prepared to vamp-out if needed.

Studying them, I picked out the weakest; an elderly reindeer with a low, drooping belly, graying snout, and swollen joints stood alone near a bucket of ice water.

Fixating on my target, I stepped out from the cover of the shrubs and exposed their worst nightmare. Wolf. Their black eyes widened, showing the whites. They stomped their hooves hard against mud, each one taking several steps back. They mooed and snorted, and bumped into each other clumsily. Up close, the reindeer were much larger than I expected. Instead of scaring me, their colossal size made me giddy.

More blood!

Pushing my body under the wooden pen, I came within feet of the senior reindeer in the corner. The old beast lowered its thick antlers and stared with crazed eyes as it realized its life was on today’s menu. I laughed internally at the reindeer’s attempt to defend itself. The fight would make up for the chase I had longed for.

Crouching low with my ears flat, hackles raised, I growled at the creature. It jerked its head up in panic, just an inch, yet more than enough for me to make my move. I lunged at the mighty animal’s neck. At the same instant, a thunderous crash bellowed through the night and a sharp sting shot through my shoulder.

I dropped to the ground before I could reach the reindeer. A noise like a fire alarm rattled my brain. My body grew cold, faint. I could smell blood, but I didn’t think it was the reindeer’s. I saw a boot at a sideways angle.
How odd
. The image blurred and then became a silhouette of a man bending over me.

Chapter 12

“Ema?”

Jesu’s sultry voice whispered my name. His thick accent slid off his tongue like silk. I smiled. Or tried to. A blank darkness filled my mind. My thoughts leaked out slowly, as though my brain had turned into molasses.

“Ema, can you hear me?”

Sure can. I think.

“Ema, if you can hear me, it is imperative that you do not change back right now, okay? Stay a wolf, do you understand?”

A what? Is that you, Jesu? I was looking for you. I had the weirdest dream. Where are you anyway?

“Stay a wolf, Ema, do you hear me? Do not shift back yet.”

There’s a wolf in here?

My eyes blinked open. White light made me squint. I lay against something hard and uncomfortable, and my joints ached. I wanted to stand, but I waited for my eyes to adjust to the light. After a few moments, I remembered my eyes would never adjust to this amount of brightness, so I tried to stand. A sharp pain surged from my right shoulder and shot down to my ribs. I collapsed under the weight of the pain, whimpering.

“Stay down.” Jesu patted my head.

I tried to ask him what was going on, but my voice came out in high-pitched barks and whimpers.

“Shhh.”

I looked at Jesu. He looked back with pleading eyes and patted my head. “Just stay quiet, all right?”

I nodded to let him know I understood, but I’d never been more confused. A few images blurred in and out of my vision. I had to squint to make them out. A counter with a steel sink stood across from me. I lay on a steel table of some sort. The scent of alcohol-based cleaners gave a hospital feel to the room. I could smell the aroma of domestic animals, no longer here, but having passed through not too long ago.

I could only guess Jesu and I were at a veterinary clinic, but that didn’t make sense. Maybe the cat got into an accident? Except I was the one laying on the table with pain pulsating in my shoulder.

That’s when I remembered the reindeer. I groaned as everything fell into place. We were here because of me. I couldn’t recall what happened after I attacked the reindeer, but I had the odd feeling I’d been shot.

A man with predominate indigenous features, wearing a white lab coat, stepped into view. Feathers were tied to his shoulder-length hair, reminding me of the ceremonial headdress my father used to keep in a trunk along with other Native American artifacts.

Jesu and the man exchanged some words in Finnish. The man held his palm out for me. I stared at him, not sure what I was supposed to do. Jesu nudged me with his elbow.

Right. Be a dog.
I sniffed the man’s hand and nearly gagged. He smelled of sour body odor and cheap laundry detergent. Yet, the sound of his blood pulsing just under his wrist triggered an unquenchable thirst. Again, I struggled to get up. Jesu pushed against my bad shoulder, sending me screaming back onto my side.

The man spoke to Jesu, gesturing with his hands. Jesu slid his palms under my chest and belly, and lifted me. I didn’t try standing again. The dull ache in my shoulder made it impossible to put any weight on my right foreleg.

“Just stay still,” Jesu whispered.

The man unwrapped gauze from my chest and shoulder. I pushed my snout against Jesu’s arm, trying to hide from the smell of blood. Though I could hear three heartbeats in the room, only one excited me.

He probed around the wound. I whimpered in pain as his eyes grew wide with shock. He spoke to Jesu while poking my shoulder. I nipped at his fingers. Jesu nudged his elbow hard into my side as the man quickly drew his hand away.

A few more minutes of talking passed between the two men while I waited uncomfortably on the table. The ache in my shoulder dulled by the time Jesu lifted me into his arms and carried me out of the tiny office. The wind ruffled my fur. I glanced over Jesu’s shoulder and looked around at the little village. A small shop, a café, and a church stood surrounded by forest. Dirt roads the size of pathways connected the cottage-like buildings without so much as a traffic light or stop sign between them.

Jesu carried me several feet down the side of the road, looking over his shoulder twice to see if anyone was watching. There wasn’t a single person out at this hour. He ducked into the woods, and then broke into a sprint. I wanted to howl with pain as my shoulder bumped against his chest with every step. He didn’t stop until we were a good distance away from the village, somewhere between the woods and the lake.

He set me on the ground.

“Change,” he snapped. He tossed some rumpled clothes at me, and then turned away. I quickly transformed into my vampyre self and got dressed, pausing to carefully maneuver my right arm into the sleeve of the wool top. The wound had already scabbed. Moccasins, baggy jeans, and a maroon-colored, long sleeved T-shirt made up my new wardrobe.

“What is the matter with you?” Jesu faced me.

I frowned. “Where are my other clothes?”

He ignored my question. “You were supposed to wait for me to find you after you landed. Instead you decided to go to a Sami reindeer farm for a snack. What were you thinking?”

“Hey, don’t blame me, I was thirsty.”

“Did you try feeding on energy?”

I winced. I forgot about that. “No.”

“That was the entire purpose for coming here, and you did not even try it? You do realize we cannot come back here for several generations now.” He grumbled on in Finnish while pacing.

That detail had never crossed my mind. “I forgot. I’m not used to this. Do you have any idea how badly I wanted to rip off that guy’s hand?”

“Of course I do, I am a vampire too. You just do not get it. You cannot give into your instincts every time you get a little bit thirsty. You have to learn to control yourself. The farmer shot you. He
shot
you, Ema. You could have died.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “Well I told you I wasn’t ready for this.”

“Life is not going to wait for you to be ready.” Jesu stopped pacing and faced me. “You have to learn how to take care of yourself and make due. I will not always be there to save you.”

“Who put you in charge of me anyway?” I growled.

“My mother,” Jesu blurted out.

We both froze in shock, staring wide-eyed at each other. It took a moment for Jesu’s words to sink in.

“Your
mother
?”

Jesu turned his back to me. “I do not want to talk about it.”

“Oh, but I do! Your mother put you in charge of me? I would have expected Jalmari, sure, even Maria, but your
mother
?”

Jesu walked to the edge of the cliff, where the sapphire waves crashed against a wall of rock. He sighed while gazing out at the fading night sky.

“Let’s just concentrate on getting home.”

“Fine.” I closed my eyes, about to take off, when Jesu grabbed a hold of my left wrist.

“Where do you think you are going?”

“To the castle.”

He shook his head. “Not by yourself. This time you are coming with me.”

I tried to pull my arm from his grip. “I don’t need a babysitter. I’m fully capable of—”

“Of what, hmm? Eating a corralled reindeer? No, you cannot even do that right. You cannot even follow simple directions.”

“Let me go. I never wanted to be a vampyre anyway.”

Jesu’s expression softened. His brow and pale blue lips fell into a frown as he loosened his grip. He lit a cigarette, sighing loudly as he breathed out a cloud of smoke. I rubbed my arm and scowled at him, but he didn’t notice.

“We won’t make it back to the castle before sunrise. We might as well camp on Lusmasaari.” He nodded to the west, in the direction of a large island not far from the coast.

“Whatever,” I mumbled.

Jesu placed his cigarette between his lips, then, in a flash of movement, he wrapped one arm around my shoulders, and one under my knees, lifting me. He broke into a sprint toward the cliff and jumped. I locked my arms around his neck and screamed at the top of my lungs. My hair and clothes whipped upward, and my vision blurred in the wind. I shut my eyes, sucked in a deep breath, and pressed my face against his shoulder as hard as I could, thinking I was going to freeze to death and drown in about four seconds.

Jesu’s feet hit the ground with a hard
thud
. I bounced in his arms, still not breathing or loosening my grip from his neck. He grunted in discomfort. I opened my eyes and glanced around. We were on the lake, literally. Jesu stood on a frozen patch of water. The tide splashed against his shoes and sprayed my back. My pulse and breathing hadn’t relaxed yet, and I didn’t think they would any time soon.

I looked at Jesu. A big grin stretched across the left side of his face, his cigarette still intact between his lips. I slapped the stupid cigarette out of his mouth and watched the tide carry it away.

“How dare you, I almost had a heart attack! How did you know we would land on ice like that?” I tried to wiggle free of his grip.

Jesu frowned. “Don’t squirm. We did not land on ice, I can walk on water.”

I relocked my arms around his neck. “You can
what
?”

“I can manipulate the elements. It is a Draugrian power.” He began walking along the lake, carrying me in his arms. I arched my back and looked down. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Wherever Jesu’s shoe touched the water, the waves stilled and froze solid. I leaned over his shoulder and looked behind him. When he lifted his foot, the ice instantly melted.

I gulped at the inky-black void below us and imagined what it might be like to fall in. Of course, in my mind, I pictured the scenario the way it would be if I was still human—the shock of ice water paralyzing my muscles and causing me to sink instead of float, my lungs gagging and burning as I sucked in water instead of oxygen, and drowning.

I wondered how the water would affect me now that I was a vampyre. I bet it would be just like taking a bath. My body wouldn’t go into shock from the cold because I couldn’t feel cold. Therefore, I wouldn’t sink or drown. Actually, I wouldn’t even fall; I could fly, after all. I shook my head. I still couldn’t wrap my mind around the things I was capable of now. It was so much so soon.

“Are you scared?” Jesu’s gaze fixated on me. “You were staring at the water like you were afraid you would fall in.”

I sighed and shook my head. “I was, but then I realized all I have to do is spread my little vampyre arms and I’d never fall again.” I tried to smile, but could barely crack a grin.

“You say that like it’s bad. Most people would give their soul to fly the way the Neo-Draugrian do.”

I wondered if Jesu wished he could fly. I shook my head. “It’s not that I don’t like flying. In fact, it’s truly incredible to be so free in the sky like that. It’s just…”

“Just what?”

How could I explain this? “It’s just not normal. Not human.”

Jesu nodded as if he could possibly understand. He kept his gaze downcast and walked on in silence, until we reached the shore of the island. Gently, he set me on my feet.

“Come. There is a cave not too far inland. We must hurry though, before the sun rises.” He led the way through the forest. Dead pine needles crunched under my feet with every step, and it got harder to see as the sky brightened with the coming dawn.

“It is just another few meters.” Jesu stepped over a rotting log. I flew over it and decided to continue hovering along behind Jesu, just a foot off the ground.

“How do you know there’s a cave here?”

“I explored all the islands on Inarijärvi years ago. There it is, just up ahead.” Jesu nodded at a mound covered in leafless vines and tawny branches. We made our way to the mouth of the small cave as the first rays of sunlight leaked over the horizon.