Vampire Food 08: He Smelled Like Peach Pie (23 page)

“Yeah, why?”

“One of them had already eaten your arm. Shanagar got it back and I reattached it. It may take a while to function properly again.”

“How’s the rest of me?”

Rory lowered his eyes and Em turned her frustrated gaze on Shanagar. “I’m going to find out sooner or later.”

“You are in one piece. We have yet to go out and ask for volunteers to give you blood as you are still low on life fluid. You have a multitude of bad scars that have not begun to heal.”

Usually injuries healed immediately and the scars started to fade just as quickly. It was rare that Em had a scar for any amount of time. If she didn’t even have enough blood to start healing them, would they then not heal at all? “I presume that is why I feel so crappy?”

“Hopefully.”

“Okay, so please cover me up and go make the announcement that I don’t stink anymore. Then ask for help.”

“There is no one to ask,” whispered Salt.

Em blinked, trying to make her eyes see a bit clearer. Everything was hazy. She could feel a lumpy mattress beneath her, but it wasn’t their bed as she had assumed. It seemed as if it was encased in a square box that was draped with sun cloth. “What do you mean?”

“Something happened while we were gone. We think there was a major earthquake. The mountain collapsed into itself. We don’t know how many got away or how many were buried inside, but we didn’t really have time to start digging. We found some wood and built a shelter that we covered with sun cloth. That was all we could do.”

“What about the village?”

“We don’t know.”

She looked at Russell. “Could you go check?”

“Not without exposing all of you to the sun. I wanted to be here with you.”

“Where’s Mia?”

“Sleeping behind me,” replied Rory. “She couldn’t stay awake.”

Em nodded. She tried to lift her arm again, but it only quivered on the mattress. Em lifted her right leg and then her left, pain shooting through her thigh. She let it fall back to the bed. “Help me sit.”

Rory and Shanagar both grabbed for her, putting an arm under her back to slowly lift her. Spasms of pain shot through her back and her ribs, but she tried to ignore them as they helped her to slide back. Em looked down at her body. She suddenly understood why Rory had been hesitant to reply. Her flesh was mottled with newly healed slashes of slightly gray skin that didn’t have enough blood in them to even turn pink. Em gave a sarcastic chuckle. Now she looked like a damn zombie. She leaned slightly into Rory and he moved over, sitting behind her to pull her into his chest. She turned the half-dead hand toward Shanagar and then offered the other to Salt. “I have my bulls all together in a row.” Her head was too heavy to keep upright and she was so hungry.

* * * *

Shanagar stared at her as she went slack in Rory’s arms. “I have no idea how she is still alive.”

Rory sighed as Salt lay down beside her. He slowly stroked her stomach, drawing small circles on her skin. “Is she going to still be that way when the sun goes down?”

“I don’t know. She has lived through so much, I can’t even imagine her dying.”

“Ducks in a row,” said Russell. “Bulls in a china shop. What the hell was she talking about?”

Rory chuckled. “I believe the initial comment about the china shop had to do with me and Shanagar being on the bed with her. I remember long ago when Joel was still alive that she compared us to living with two bulls who would be fighting for attention. I think the other comment was literal. We are all her bulls and we are lined up in a circle around her body.”

“You know her the best, don’t you, Rory?”

“I have been with her the longest. Salt and Russell know her also, but some things still stump them. Shit, she does stuff that still stumps me.”

“Like the falling in the water thing?” asked Shanagar.

“I don’t know if that stumps me. I had no problem believing that she would do it on purpose. Now I find it more likely that her subconscious did it to her. We fucked with her imprint and then I got mad at her which probably made it even worse.”

Shanagar grimaced. “I got mad at her, too.”

“She was pretty upset.” Russell was absently rubbing her legs to keep the fluid moving. “I asked her what was wrong and she said life. I know she was furious about Becky and the fact that we couldn’t do anything.”

“Ah, and the truths start to reveal itself. Em was sitting on the edge of the water because she was tense about everything and probably couldn’t sleep. Then Mia showed up with the information and the alligators were there. She may have fallen in, but it wasn’t an accident.”

“Are you serious, Rory? Her mind would do that to her?”

Rory nodded slowly. “Before Becky set the bombs off, Em fell into a state of imprint depression. She lost her will to eat, didn’t sleep, she became a recluse and all this happened in the matter of a few weeks. She knew we would be back, but the imprint only knew that we were gone and it overrode common sense. Add to that her anger and confusion over falling in love with you. You and I were at war and she was in the middle. I’m sure that for a second, even if she doesn’t remember thinking it, the thought that letting the alligators drain her was there. It would force us to bond together to save her life. It just didn’t happen as she unconsciously intended.”

Shanagar chuckled sarcastically. “Actually it did. She is drained and still alive and you and I have made peace. Hopefully that brilliant mind is also enough to keep her alive until we can figure out what to feed her. Do you think that she understands that the scars might not heal?”

“I know she does.”

“My blood could heal them after the fact. I would simply have to damage the skin again. Unfortunately, that would put us back to square one.”

Rory glanced at Salt as he was thinking. The younger vampire had no longer been able to stand the sun and he was fast asleep, curled to Em’s side. He looked so natural and so content. “What do you mean, Shanagar?”

“There is something in my blood that causes injuries to heal the skin to a fresher form. If I reinjured her flesh, it would grow back without the scars and looked younger. Not that Em looked old, but…”

But that would create a whole new set of problems. He and Salt would be gone from her life again and she would again be looking for a way to drain herself. Of course, it might be possible that it could be done in a more controlled manner. At the moment, the scars were the least of their worries. They had to keep her alive first.

The inside of the hut was dark when Russell opened his eyes. He seriously needed to stand up and try to relieve the kink in his back. He had slept parallel to the bottom of the mattress with his arm draped over Em’s legs. Now he was suffering for the cramped position. He tugged up the bottom of the cloth and slid from inside, stretching as he stood up.

The sky was filled with a magnificent array of glimmering silver stars, the moon large and lighting the landscape. They were sleeping at the base of the mountain that had once contained their home, but it now appeared dwarfed in comparison. The center had folded inward, probably sealing off the inner portions or collapsing them completely. It was a dreary, depressing sight that he feared would be even more so in the light of the sun. There was little left to indicate that they had once lived in the magnificent natural structure. A section of sunglass was jutting outward, and it shimmered in the moonlight. Russell felt awe at the strength of the glass that appeared to have simply been pushed from its sealed surroundings.

Russell began to walk around the base of the mountain, his eyes taking in the enormity of the collapse. The gardens were gone, the inner life-giving plants crushed under tons of stone. His ears were tuned to take in the smallest sign of life, but he heard nothing, just the faint whistle of the breeze blowing through the surrounding rock. He walked past the small tree that they had once tethered Em to. It had been hit by debris and was now split in half, the sides arching away from each other toward the ground. He continued past it, heading toward the village. In the distance, he could see a light shimmering, a fire in the central pit. The village had survived and the occupants were still there.

He sprinted into a full run, knowing that the distance wasn’t great enough to bother with shifting into a cheetah. The fire came closer, the flames seeming larger and brighter with each step he took.

A man saw him coming and pointed in his direction. “Who goes there?” he called into the night.

He slid to a stop. “It’s Russell. Can I come closer? I need to talk to you.”

“Of course. Come stand by the fire and warm yourself. The night is chilled.”

Russell walked closer, suddenly realizing that the man was Sawyer. Sawyer had lived in the caves.

Sawyer gave him a smile. “It is so good to see you. Other than the ones who we know escaped, we thought everyone else dead.”

“We weren’t here. What happened?”

“The ground began to shake and the ceiling began to fall. Those of us who were close to the tunnels ran for our lives. About seventy of us escaped. We don’t know about the rest. There is no way left to get inside. We even tried to access the center through some of the outer caves, but all entrances are blocked off. The vampires have been sleeping in the caves to the west of here. Me and the humans have been staying her with the others.”

“I’m glad to hear that some of you got out at least. We went to look for Becka. We found her, but she has joined with a large group of shifters and we were lucky to get out with our heads.”

“Where are the others?”

Russell sighed. “Em was injured. She fell and hit her head, sliding into a canal with alligators in it. Mia had a bad feeling and woke Rory up, but it was too late, the creatures had already…” He hesitated, knowing that the truth sounded gory. “Em was hurt really badly. I came out looking to see if there was anyone who could help by giving her some blood.”

“Of course. How many?”

“I don’t know. Maybe a dozen.”

Sawyer turned, but before he could even pose the question, a group of men gathered to stand beside him. Russell was so touched by their willingness to help her. “Just to let you all know, when the alligators drained her blood, the reaction she had that created the smell was also drained.”

“That’s nice to know,” said Sawyer. “It was pretty pungent to those of us who could smell it. We all feel bad for shunning her the way we did. She has done so much for us and we turned our backs on her.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it. If you remember correctly, Rory and Salt moved into Mia’s chamber because they couldn’t be in the same room with Em.”

“Then let’s go show her how much we still love her.”

Russell seriously hoped that the love didn’t come too late. He had no way of knowing if she was even still alive. He turned and with a quick-paced walk, headed back to the makeshift hut.

* * * *

Someone was shaking her. Why couldn’t they just let her sleep? Em didn’t want to wake up, she was too tired and in too much pain to be awake. “What?” she grumbled gruffly.

“You need to feed, baby.”

“I’m not a fucking baby.”

Rory chuckled. “She’s awake. In a very foul mood, but awake. Em, you need to eat. Open your eyes.”

Smacking her parched lips, she felt her head lull toward her chest. It was too much trouble to keep it upright. Rory lifted her head with his hands. She thought it was Rory anyway, he had been sleeping behind her.

Her nose twitched. There was a man leaning in front of her, she could hear his heart beating, the blood pulsing under his skin and it was so close to her face. Her fangs came out and she leaned toward the smell, the sound suddenly demanding in the purity of the pulsing heart. His flesh was so warm against her mouth, the blood flowing as moisture over her tongue. It was delicious, the food of life tainted with the flavors of freshly harvested melons and grilled chicken.

“Let Sawyer go, Em!”

She wanted to tell Rory to shut the fuck up. He was so bossy sometimes. Em pulled her fangs back and the sweet scent of the living was gone. She could still hear the heartbeats though. They were getting louder, a rhythmic cascade of sound like a band composed entirely of bass drums. “I need more.”

“We know.”

The scent returned and she forced herself to open her eyes. The face was blurry, but she had a feeling that she knew the man behind it. She knew them all, they were her friends, long before Becka had bombed the caves and Shanagar’s blood had turned them against her. Em sunk her fangs into his throat. He had eaten the same thing as Sawyer, but there was another taste of something else, maybe wine, sweet, yet slightly tart. Her mind drifted in the flavors for what seemed like only a second and then Rory stroked her cheek. It was a signal to release him.

Her vision cleared a tiny bit and another blurry neck presented itself. Em indulged in the scent of the ripe, warm skin, the vein pumping in a most intoxicating way. Her fangs breached the surface, punching through the tender flesh as if she was biting into a ripe mango. It was so sweet. Rory’s hand again. It was too soon, she wanted to keep feeding for just a bit longer. “Em!”

She pulled back, sagging into his chest. “This is misery.”

Shanagar’s laugh in her ear. “My, we are testy.”

“Fuck you.”

“I see you are feeling better.”

“Again, fuck you.”

“As soon as you are healed, I’ll be glad to take you up on that.”

Since when was Shanagar so quick with current slang rebuttals? Em sank her fangs into another throat. She knew who it was this time, Jerry had salvaged a bottle of cologne after the sonic and he always seem to have a bit of it on his skin. The bottle couldn’t last forever, could it?

She pulled back without Rory’s prompting, waiting rather impatiently to see if anyone else would present themselves. Her vision was clearing slightly, Nick’s face familiar as he gave her a smile before baring his throat. Em softly sank her fangs into him. The former allure of the taste was losing its charm. They had all eaten the same thing for dinner, chicken with melon and maybe spinach. It hadn’t been her favorite vegetable as a human and it didn’t taste any better secondhand. It had a rather metallic flavor. She moved back, smacking her tongue and then licked her lips. They felt fuller as if they had been wilted and were now infused with moisture. Brett came into her line of sight and she accepted his offering, but with far less enthusiasm. She wasn’t exactly losing her hunger, but it was ebbing from pure boredom. When she pulled away from Brett, she turned to those who remained. “Is there anyone that didn’t have chicken with spinach and melon for dinner or lunch maybe?”