Descended by Blood (11 page)

Creepy. Vampires could do a lot of crazy things with a power like that. It made me wonder if this was what the guy I killed was trying to do to me as he stood outside Jaren’s door and told me I had to go with him. I had felt a strong pull to go with him, but I was able to deny it. The monster inside me must have saved me.

We tossed our bags into the back of the truck, and Jaren helped Kaitlynn and me up. I felt a flutter in my gut, similar to the one I felt every time Jaren touched me. My heart cracked a little more, remembering the way we were, and the way we could be right now if I wasn’t a freak of nature.

He jumped into the truck’s bed. The way he smiled at me reminded me of the wooded pond he’d taken me to last week.

Wow. It had only been a week ago when we stood near the waterfall and said we loved each other. I’d give up anything so I could go back in time and be like that with Jaren, even for one more moment.

His eyes remained on mine, and I wondered what he was thinking.

I ached to touch him and because I thought I shouldn’t, my eyes burned with unshed tears. I turned my head and looked out at the blacktop behind us. It resembled my new life now: bleak, lonely, and fractured.

11

You’ll Have to Earn It

When the truck stopped, I jumped out of the bed on my own. I couldn’t keep myself composed much longer if Jaren’s touch sent another thrill through me.

“You’ve been driving around, making your rounds of the airstrip,” Mirko said, brainwashing our driver.

The plane faced the runway, already angled for takeoff. Its door opened, and the staircase unfolded, touching the ground. The plane was smaller than the commercial crafts I’d flown on before, but was bigger and looked sturdier than what I’d earlier imagined we’d be taking. At least something was going right.

A short, dark-haired man stood at the top of the metal staircase, just inside the cabin. Mirko climbed the stairs first and spoke to the man in another language. It made me wonder if the man was a vampire, too. Once inside, they turned toward the front.

Kaitlynn gasped as she stepped in.

I sped up, pushing Jaren against the railing so I could go around him.

I gasped, too. It was beautiful. White leather seats and a
couch
. Even a large flat screen stood on a polished mahogany cabinet. I walked along the aisle, touching the cabinet and the table across from it.

Jaren came in next. “What does Garwin do?” His fingers glided along the polished wood, same as mine had.

I smiled.

“Brooke!” Kaitlynn called. I followed her voice toward the back of the plane. I passed another flat screen and found Kaitlynn looking into her reflection in a stainless steel stove.

“Wow! This is nice!”

“I know, right? And we get to fly in it.” She turned to me and grinned.

Jaren turned on the TV and sat down on the couch.

Mirko came out from behind a door that concealed the cockpit. “Nice, huh?” He relaxed on the couch next to Jaren and grabbed an iPod from the side table. “Check this out.” He touched the iPod and the flat screen turned off.

“Sweet,” Kaitlynn said.

“For sure. And we’re about to take off, which should be smooth as butter.” Mirko glided his hand through the air in imitation.

I felt a slight jerk and then speed. I knew when we left the ground, but it was absolutely smoother than any plane ride I’ve ever experienced.

“Impressive,” Jaren said. “Have you flown on it a lot, then?”

“Some. It belongs to the Društvo. I do a lot of work for them, so I’ve used it here and there.”

“Who’s that?” Kaitlynn asked. I appreciated I wasn’t the only one asking all the questions.

“Društvo?” Mirko asked.

Kaitlynn nodded.

“That’s what we call the group of humans Garwin and Slatki’s mother belong to,” Mirko said, pointing to me.

I didn’t know if Slatki was supposed to be an endearment or to grate on my nerves. “What’s it mean?”

Mirko grinned. “You’ll have to earn it.”

Jaren opened his mouth, but I had more important details I needed to find out.

“So, what are you?” I asked and then blushed. “That came out wrong. I meant, please explain to me how being a Tao Sue makes you a different vampire than the Pijawikas.”

Mirko laughed. “Zao Duh. Zao like ‘Tao,’ but with a ‘Z,’ and Duh as in ‘do.’ Zao Duhs are considered low-class Pijawikas. The difference is Pijawikas are born. Zao Duhs are made.”

“Wait...my mom said you can’t be bitten and turned into a vampire.” Was he trying to confuse me?

“She’s right,” Mirko said. “The process is a lot more complicated than that. The point is there are two species. You are part Pijawikan, the vampires that are born. I’m Zao Duh. I was made.” His eyes locked on mine as he spoke.

I felt awkward with his gaze on me, and my cheek twitched.

Mirko smiled. “I affect you, don’t I?” He’d seen the minuscule movement from my jaw. It was as if he was attuned to me.

I didn’t know what to say. He already knew he unsettled me. What else did he know about me?

“Right, we get how cool you are, but let’s get back to vampires, please,” Jaren said. I wiggled my toes within my sneakers, relieved he was taking Mirko’s focus off of me.

“Not trying to be cool. It’s just true,” Mirko said. He gave me one last look, testing me, and then looked away.

“How is being a freak at all cool?” I murmured.

Mirko’s hearing must have been exceptional because he replied, “Well, little Slatki, you’re going to have to strengthen your
freak
side if you have any thread of hope you’ll make it out of this situation alive.” He stared at me, eyes piercing. They were firm and no longer held his teasing squint.

“What do you mean? Why do I have to do that? Aren’t you supposed to keep me alive?” This sucked. What was the point of the whole running-across-country thing if he wasn’t going to protect me? And no way was I going to become even more like that guy I killed. I shuddered thinking about it.

Kaitlynn grabbed my hand, giving me something to ground me.

“What I mean is that you are up against a Pijawika that has lived for hundreds of years longer then you have. Whoever it is, they’re smart and desperate. Desperate—because they tried to take you when you weren’t alone. This person also has an almost endless supply of money and lackeys to come after you. They’re going to be smarter, older, stronger, richer, faster, and basically all around
more
in every area that counts in getting to you. So, maybe if you were a little bit more prepared,” Mirko said putting his thumb and index finger about an inch apart, “your chances would make me feel a lot better.”

Wow. If his aim was to scare me, he’d succeeded. I wanted to get up, walk down the aisle to the bathroom I’d noticed earlier, and lock myself in there for the rest of the flight. Maybe even forever because I was doomed to die. There was no way I would survive this. And if I did, it’d be by becoming one of those…
things
.

Kaitlynn’s eyes grew hard when my face drained of all color. “You don’t have to be such a jerk. She just had her life ripped out from under her, and here you are prancing in to supposedly save the day, but instead you’re telling her she’s going to die, anyway. What good is she going to be if she loses her mind?” She moved closer and linked her arm around mine to comfort me.

“Pardon me,” Mirko retorted. “But we don’t have time to tiptoe around Slatki’s feelings. She has to buck up, and she has to buck up now. I’m not saying I’m going to stand aside and let somebody get to her. I told Garwin I would die protecting her, and I’m always good on my word. All I meant was that my job would be a hell of a lot easier if Slatki could kick some ass, too.”

Jaren spoke. “I’m pretty sure she can handle her own if it comes down to it. She did take one of you out when she needed to, and I saw this dude. He was pretty wicked.”

Mirko smiled. His eyes grazed over me.

Jaren shifted uncomfortably in his seat, and cleared his throat.

“Did the guy you took down say anything strange to you?” Mirko asked, getting back on track.

“What do you mean? The whole situation was strange.” Did he expect me to be able to decipher what was strange in terms of a vampire? Yeah, not gonna happen. It was all strange.

“Well, what did he say to you?”

“He told me I had to go with him to his
Lady
. He also said something about a catalyst, but he pointed at me when he said it.”

“So, it’s definitely a Pijawikan woman in power. Lucky for you, there are only five of them, so that narrows things down. The catalyst part doesn’t really give me much. We already know they want you for something or they would have killed you already.”

“Oh, that makes me feel so much better,” I sighed.

Mirko smirked at me. “It should. You’re not dead.”

* * *

We were quiet for a while after Mirko’s serious conversation. Jaren turned on the flat screen and watched a movie.

Kaitlynn and I messed around with the powered seats until we finally left the controls alone to lie down and talk.

I laid my head against my chair’s arm rest with my hair fanned out over the side. Kaitlynn ran her fingers through my hair—a usual for us when I was stressed.

“Do you guys mind if I turn some music on?” Mirko asked, glancing at me with an eyebrow raised.

“Depends on what you put on,” Jaren said. Mirko kept stealing flirtatious glances at me, and I think Jaren didn’t like it so much.

“Only the best album out right now.” Mirko picked up the iPod and touched the screen to turn off the TV. He touched the screen again and music started playing.

I recognized it from the first chord. I didn’t want to be all doom-and-gloom anymore. This was my favorite song, so I sat up, bobbing my head to the music, and laughed.

“Yep. I agree with Mirko. Florence + The Machine is, hands down, the best album I’ve heard in a long time.” I clapped to the rhythm, and Kaitlynn and I started to groove our shoulders to
Dog Days Are Over
, slow at first, but we picked up our tempo with the first line of “Run fast for your mother, run fast for your father.” By the time the third line started in the chorus and Florence sang, “Leave all your love and your loving behind you,” Mirko stood in the aisle, dancing.

Kaitlynn and I laughed. She grabbed my hand and pulled me up to dance with her and Mirko in the aisle.

And Mirko could
dance
. He moved his hips like a viper climbed the air to the magic of a flute. Graceful, seductive. Dangerous.

I almost felt scandalized when the melody slowed down, and he smoothed a body roll from his ribs, through his abs, over his hips, and down to his knees. Then he brought it back up. I blushed, relieved when the drums started.

Mirko moved closer to me, head tilted down, a wicked grin across his mouth, heat simmering from his brown eyes. “Come here,” he whispered.

Awkward. The guy I wanted more than anything to be with—who probably still wanted to be with me, if he was honest with himself—sat two feet away on the couch, while a guy who, I won’t lie, looked very good and a part of me felt drawn to him, tried to get in my pants.

“You know what?” Jaren growled at Mirko, killing the music. “I draw the line with you hitting on my girlfriend.” Anger flushed Jaren’s cheeks.

“Oh, really? She’s your girlfriend, huh? Because I wasn’t getting that vibe at all. In fact, the vibes she’s been putting off are saying she doesn’t like you very much at all right now,” Mirko said.

“Well, she is, so back off!” Jaren rose from the couch.

“Whoa, Jaren.” I stepped in front of him. “You broke up with me. Remember? Either I’m your girlfriend, or I’m not. But you do
not
get to push me away and then stake a claim on me when another dog comes sniffing around.”

Kaitlynn snorted. “Love the dog reference.” She reached for a high five.

Mirko laughed. He raised his eyebrows at Jaren, challenging him for a response.

Jaren stood in silence.

Ouch. He couldn’t even put things right between us when he was in a pissing contest with another guy over me. That sucked.

“Oh, it’s like that, is it?” Mirko shook his head.

“Like what?” Jaren snarled. He’d made it apparent that he wanted to be with me. But he couldn’t do it.

“Don’t like your little girlfriend’s fangies, do ya?” Mirko was good.

Jaren boiled with anger.

“I don’t have fangs,” I said.
Thank God
.

Mirko tsked me. “Yes, you do. You just haven’t been shown how to extend them yet.”

12

Run

Fangs? Really? Why me? I needed to sit down. The zeal from my favorite song evaporated.

I grabbed Jaren by his arm and pulled him down as I sat. “Just sit. Please.” I didn’t want any more revelations today, so I sat in silence for the next hour and a half.

The pilot came over the intercom, “Prepare for landing.”

“Already?” Kaitlynn asked, looking at Mirko for confirmation. The flight did seem short going from Virginia to Utah.

“This plane flies twice as fast as the commercial aircrafts,” Mirko said.

I looked out the large window. “Hey, where are we?” We were at an airport, but it was a tiny one. I’d expected we’d land at Salt Lake International. This was not it.

“We’re in Ogden. Figured we could remain a step ahead of whoever’s after you if we went to a smaller airport. Plus, I can’t use Sanjam on everyone. It would have been too risky.”

“Garwin said we’re going to your compound. How far away is it from here?” Jaren asked.

Mirko smiled. “I haven’t heard it called that in a while. We call it The Base. We’re about an hour away.”

The plane bounced when the wheels hit the tarmac. It felt more like a Cadillac riding over a speed bump than it did a plane landing.

The pilot cut the plane’s engine and opened the door for the stairs to unfold out onto the tarmac. Kaitlynn and I walked to the back by the oven, and grabbed our bags. Jaren followed; Kaitlynn had a lot of stuff, and Jaren was a gentleman.