The Hunted (53 page)

He smiled but did not answer me.

‘Okay, how often do you feed?’

‘Roughly once a week.’

‘How difficult is it to resist human blood? I only ask because one day I’m going to be like you, or at least something like you. I need to know.’

He clasped his hands together in his lap and looked down at our dangling feet. ‘For Vampire kind, the desire to drink blood is constantly thrumming away in the back of our minds. The older we get, the easier temptation becomes to resist. For example, a born vampire who is over five hundred years old will be able to live in a house filled with humans and quite easily resist the call. A turned Vampire is not as lucky. They have to wait a full thousand years before the call of blood is not as strong. Their sire, or maker, whatever you prefer, is bound to stay with them at all times to prevent them from not only feasting off everyone in sight, but exposing what we are on a very large scale. This is why turning has been made illegal amongst us. It creates too much risk.’

‘You have Vampire laws?’

He smiled. ‘Humans have laws to prevent anarchy—so do we. To be honest, there aren’t many. The number one rule is to avoid exposure and, if nothing else, to stop worldwide panic and a witch-hunt on a grand scale if we were to be exposed.’

‘What about relationships between vampires and humans, like that of my mother and my father?’

‘Between vampires, there is no permission necessary, but when a human and a vampire fall in love, which is extremely rare, there are far greater consequences to consider.’

‘You’re talking about the resulting child?’

‘Yes. Some of the older vampires went a little crazy at our race’s beginning, hence the rules since.’

‘Who makes up all these rules, anyway?’

He looked away and out over the view of the city. ‘Someone I hope that you never have to meet.’

‘Who?’

He shook his head. ‘My turn.’

‘No way, I’m still on a roll,’ I said vehemently. I had so many other burning questions that I didn’t care whether or not he’d answered that last one. ‘Does it hurt? Becoming a vampire, I mean.’

‘Yes.’

‘A lot or a little?’

‘A lot.’

‘Care to elaborate?’

He shook his head. ‘I don’t want to give you nightmares.’

Well that’s something to look forward to.

‘Okay, what triggers your transformation? What shifts you to your other vampiric form?’

‘Anger, thirst, or need—the rest of the time we remain in human form.’

‘So … if your eyes turn black when you are around me it’s because you’re either thirsty or pissed off at me?’

‘Generally.’

‘Okay, good to know.’

‘Anything else?’ It felt like he was trying to push the conversation along, bored by the details that intrigued me.

I nodded, staring at his lips. They seemed to twitch every time he noticed me looking. ‘Actually about a million things, but I can’t seem to think of anything else right now. All I have is these crazy vampire clichés about garlic, crosses, and coffins going through my head.’ I licked my lips and kept staring at his.

‘Are you feeling a bit distracted?’ he said, touching the skin of my cheek, dropping his finger to my lips and then running it down my chin, my neck, my—

I folded my arms to avoid his advances, standing up to stretch my legs. I needed a minute to think. He had to know that this wasn’t normal for me, and just how easy it was for anyone, including me to be distracted by his presence. ‘I don’t get distracted,’ I muttered under my breath.

Total bullshit.

I wandered closer to the edge of the building and peered over.

Ugh, not such a good idea.

I backed up a couple of paces and stared out over the harbour and inlet in the distance instead, trying to clear my mind of all things William—an impossible task.

‘It’s okay for you to like me, Elena,’ he said from behind me. ‘I promise you that your feelings for me do not go unwanted.’

Well, isn’t he presumptuous?

I’d had this feeling building deep down in the pit of my stomach that William had brought me because he was interested in something far less innocent than just a generalised chat. I knew that he was curious about me and had questions of his own, but the way that he looked at me, the way that he touched me—these were not the questions of someone that simply wanted to be friends.

I closed my eyes and concentrated on the wind, as it whipped across my face and blew torrents of chilled breeze through the long brown tendrils of my hair. The air smelt thickly of the sea, as well as having an underlying aroma of Chinese cooking—probably from the yum cha restaurant at the end of the street. I could hear the sound of the cars driving by below. But, as much as I searched, there were no voices of reason or instructions from above that could help me to decipher just exactly why William was interested in me—or, for that matter, why I was excited by the thought that he was. I could only assume that it was blatant curiosity.

My mind wasn’t fully equipped to process anything above and beyond that, but then again, shouldn’t I try? If I had managed to make a little room for Stephen in my life, then surely I could do the same for a man even more sublime than my wildest desires? But then again, look what happened to Stephen?

He isn’t for you,
a calm voice whispered through my head.

What the—was that me?

There was no answer. I wanted to laugh. Of course there was no answer because no one had said anything. Okay, definitely weird, but I could surmise whether I was a lunatic or not later.

I turned around slowly and paced back towards William.

‘Elena? Is everything all right?’

A variety of emotions ranging from confusion to fear quickly touched my already troubled expression. I pushed them all away and looked into his eyes, sensing the urge to protect and possess within them. ‘I’m fine.’

When I was no more than a few feet away, he reached out to me and smiled, easing my tensions. It was as if his entire face had lit up every darkened corner and crevice on the rooftop, warming me to the core and melting my apprehension. I had to catch my breath. It hurt to look at him. How could I not give him a chance if that was all he was asking for?

He took my hand in his, that familiar aroma of sandalwood cutting through all the other smells of the night air, dominating each and every one of them until all that I could smell was him. The voice became a distant memory.

My knees gave out as I lowered myself down onto the shelf next to him, our gazes never parting. For the first time in my entire life I felt like I was as light as a feather, burden free. I was yearning for a taste of those lips that I couldn’t quite seem to stop looking at. ‘It’s your turn,’ I said shakily, as he slipped his fingers through mine and set them on his lap. ‘Ask me anything you want.’

He gazed at me for the longest time before he spoke. ‘Will you tell me the story of who you are? I want to know everything about you, Elena. I want to know where you were born, who your real parents are, how your blood got so mixed up, and everything else that you’ve been doing since.’

It wasn’t
exactly
what I had in mind at that time, but it would do. ‘That’s going to take a long time.’

He smiled and brushed his fingers across my hand. ‘I’m a vampire, remember? Time is all I have.’

I took another deep breath to steady myself and then launched into the full story of what happened the night I was born, and everything up until that day. It took a while, but as he said, we had time.

He listened quietly, never interrupting me while I spoke and nodding occasionally to keep the story moving forward. He occasionally stopped and asked me questions, and I did my best to answer them as honestly as I could. When I was finished, he sat there in silence for the longest time, absorbing what I had just said and filling in all the missing details in his mind. He now knew more about me than any other person on the planet and, funnily enough, I was okay with that.

‘That’s quite a story,’ he finally said. ‘I’m honoured that you decided to trust me with it.’

‘I’m assuming that you will keep this to yourself?’

‘Of course.’

I paused. ‘Can I ask you something?’

‘What would you like to know?’

I looked down at my hand, still enveloped tenderly in his lap. ‘Did you just want to be friends? Or were you planning on something more?’

He chuckled lightly and tapped the back of my hand. ‘You really don’t beat around the bush, do you? You get straight to the point. I like that about you. But as for your question … yes.’

Huh? Yes, what? Yes, you want to be friends or, yes, you want to be more than that? This is exactly the reason I avoided getting too friendly with boys. You never get a straight answer.

‘Well, now that we have that cleared up,’ I said, shaking my hand free of his, ‘maybe you could clarify one last thing for me. I was hoping that you could tell me the history of how the Vânâtors were created, and maybe, a little bit more about yourself. You know everything about me now. It seems only fair that I know something more about you in return.’

‘Alright,’ he said calmly, making a play for my hand. I let him hold me again.

So he didn’t want to be
just
friends.

That’s all you can ever be.
The same voice from minutes before whispered through my mind again.

Jesus Christ, I am going crazy.

William’s story broke me free of my thoughts. ‘The Vânâtors were created from the blood of the Vampire, which I’m sure you know, and which I’m sure you’ve gathered after your recent dance with that alpha the other night.’

‘Yes, I know that part,’ I said, wondering if I was going to start hearing voices on a regular basis, ‘but how, and why?’

‘I’m getting to that. In the beginning, twenty vânâtors were created—twenty ordinary forest wolves that we vampires once kept as loyal pets and servants, suddenly turning into killing machines overnight. They were turned in the same manner that a human is turned. All blood must be drained from the recipient’s body. Just before their very last heart beat, an offering of their maker’s blood is used to revive the recipient before they can slip into the afterlife. Both blood transactions must occur through skin to skin contact and the bite is the catalyst. There is a venom in our teeth, and when we bite the near dead, it kick starts the entire process.’

I shook my head. ‘But a vânâtor bite does not create new vânâtors. What’s so special about a vampire?’

‘The Vânâtors and turned Vampires have two things in common. One, they are both carbon copies of an original, namely a born vampire. And, two, neither party can stand out in the sunlight. So they do not entirely possess the same powers that we do.’

‘So what you’re saying is that only a born vampire has the power to make more vânâtors and more vampires?’

‘Through blood transfusion, yes, but the Vânâtors have learnt that procreating with a human is the next best step to initiate continuation of the species. The Vânâtors take without remorse and do not follow rules. They are still animals in a lot of ways and do not see reason the way a vampire can.’

‘So does a turned vampire have the power of procreation?’

‘A male-turned-vampire can create a child, yes, but that resulting child does not always become vampiric. Only a born Vampire can create another like us with any certainty.’