Vampire's Thirst (The Awakening Series) (3 page)

At this time of the morning there were only a few people lounging about on several sofas in the room. They looked up at her but didn’t say anything. She caught some wariness in their gazes along with a healthy dose of uncertainness. “Hey, welcome. I’m Kimber Treat.” She looked around the small group. “I’m looking for Maggie and Jason.”

Two people sitting on the couch closest to the corner by the bookshelves stood. “That’d be us,” the man said. He put his arm around the woman, and Kimber saw the roundness of her belly. She was pregnant. In the middle of an apocalypse.

She wouldn’t want to be her.

“You’re the head vamp’s mistress, aren’t you?” A burly man moved to block her as she headed toward the couple.

She stopped and looked up into his face. This guy wasn’t uncertain or afraid. He was pissed off. Well, he’d picked the wrong woman to go all He-Man over. Maybe she’d get some bitch-slapping in today after all.

When she didn’t reply, he took a step closer. “Well, are you?”

Now he was in her personal space and starting to piss her off. “You need to back up, my man.” It didn’t matter that he was at least half a foot taller than her and outweighed her by probably a hundred pounds. If he wanted to go, she’d give him what he was asking for. That bulbous nose of his looked like it needed rearranging.

“Answer the question.”

She put one hand on her hip. “Yes, I’m Duncan MacDonnough’s girlfriend.”

He leaned down and put his face a few inches from hers. “You take him a message for me, missy. Tell him Big Tom demands we be allowed to get out for some fresh air. He can’t keep us caged down here.” He gestured around with one big hand. “There aren’t even any windows.”

“Being down here is for your protection,” she said, repeating words she knew he’d heard before. “And you are allowed to get fresh air. It’s called the courtyard.”

He shook his head. “Not good enough. We want to go to the park. Throw a ball around. Play some football. We’re going crazy down here.” He backed up a few steps and hunched his shoulders. “Look, I’m sorry I got in your space like that. Would you please just talk to him?”

Damn it. No bitch-slapping to be had here, either. She drew a calming breath. “Sure. Look, he’s well aware of how you feel. He’s just trying to keep you safe without endangering others.”

“Right.” He shook his head and walked away, grumbling under his breath.

Kimber watched him for a moment, then continued over to the two necromancers. They shook hands in greeting and sat on the sofa while Kimber took a comfy armchair across from them.

“I’ve been wanting to meet you for a long time,” Maggie said. Her voice was soft, her attitude sincere. “Your work before the Outbreak was the stuff of legends.”

Kimber stared at her. Uncomfortable with the hero worship she saw in the other woman’s eyes, she said, “Uh, thanks.”

“Of course, considering many people believe you started the apocalypse, you could probably say your work during the Outbreak was the stuff of legends, too.” Jason’s tone was as dry as autumn leaves.

“Yeah, thanks for that, too.” She shot him a glance.

“I didn’t say I believe it,” he added with a slight smile.

“Actually…” Maggie looked hesitant, her gaze darting from Kimber to Jason and back again.

“Actually what?” Kimber asked.

“We think we know how it happened. The Outbreak, I mean.”

Kimber leaned forward. Her heart thudded a staccato beat behind her ribs. “Tell me.”

“I knew a guy, another necromancer from Columbus, who was contacted by the former vampire leader.”

“Maddalene Vanderpool,” Kimber offered.

Maggie nodded. “Yeah. Anyway, she had this guy come up here to raise her dead lover, only something went wrong. He got a spark but needed more power, so Maddalene slit his throat and let him bleed out over her lover’s corpse. I guess she thought the blood would be enough to finish it, but she was wrong.” Her lower lip trembled for a moment before she gathered control of her emotions. “The necromancer died and the reanimation was aborted just before completion.”

“What does that have to do with the Outbreak?” Kimber asked. “And how do you know all this?”

Maggie swallowed. “I was there.” A sad half smile tilted one corner of her mouth. “I was the other necromancer’s apprentice.” Her gaze locked onto Kimber’s. “When did the Lazarus corpse you were dealing with go nuts on you and bite the ME?” she asked.

“The Monday before Thanksgiving, around nine in the evening.” Kimber tried to keep her mind from revisiting that awful night but, as usual, couldn’t. The man she’d revived in order to find out who’d killed him had brought along a little something extra, and before she could send him back to true death, he’d attacked the medical examiner, infecting him. From there the contagion had spread through bites. Flulike symptoms led to death, but then the dead came back. And all they wanted to do was eat other people.

“That’s the exact date and time David was trying to reanimate Eduardo,” Maggie said.

“I read a report where you documented what happened that night, how you believed something else had entered the Lazarus in addition to his soul,” Jason said.

“Yes.” Kimber couldn’t help the shudder that went through her. “It knew me, and it was dark. Evil.”

Maggie rested her elbows on her knees and studied Kimber. “I think it was the soul of Maddalene’s vampire lover.”

Kimber frowned. “How is that even possible?”

“Think about it. David—my necromancer master—didn’t have enough power to finalize the raising. And when his power was cut off, the vampire soul went where the power was.” She spread her hands. “You have always been the strongest, the best, of us. So it went to you and the Lazarus.”

Was it possible? She’d never been able to come up with any explanation for how everything had gone so wrong that night. Could it be because of Maddalene’s obsession with her dead lover? Raising murder victims to question them had become routine police work, so it wasn’t unusual that more than one reanimation at a time would occur.

She was almost afraid to hope. “It wasn’t my fault,” she whispered. She lifted her gaze to the couple sitting across from her. “It really wasn’t my fault.”

Maggie and Jason both grinned and settled against the back of the sofa. “It really wasn’t your fault,” Maggie affirmed.

A sense of well-being flooded Kimber. God, she wasn’t responsible for the zombie apocalypse. Wait until she told Duncan.

For the first time in months, things felt almost normal. She looked at Maggie. It was time to talk about something else. Time to focus on life instead of death. “When are you due?”

The other woman stroked a palm over her distended belly. “I’m finishing up my second trimester.” She looked at Jason with a smile. “Thank goodness the first trimester is over. I had continuous morning sickness.” She gave a wry grimace. “As in sick morning, noon, and night. It wasn’t fun, especially when we had to move on to stay ahead of a horde.”

“Well, you’re safe here.” Kimber glanced around the common area and saw that the three of them were the only ones left in the room. “I’ll let you two go on to bed. Let the guards know if you need anything or if you want to see me. I’ll try and stop by again soon.”

After exchanging goodbyes, Kimber headed back to her suite. Duncan’s office door was closed as she went by, so he must have been in that meeting with Vachon. She’d let him tell her how it went; then she’d spring her good news on him.

She took a quick shower and tumbled onto the bed, a wide grin making her cheeks ache. God. She felt good, even if she hadn’t gotten to smack anyone. She hadn’t started the apocalypse, but she still wanted to stop it if she could. Now that there were two more necromancers here, she might finally have a real chance to try.

I
agree,” Duncan said to Xavier Vachon. They had been in conference for over an hour now and had hammered out a reasonable division of duties between their two enclaves. Now they talked about some of the details. “Zombies appear to be linear movers—they don’t try to go up or under. Just straight ahead until something blocks their way. But if there are enough of them pushing against a fence, they could force it down. I want whatever we build to be sturdy enough to withstand a horde.”

The other vampire steepled his fingers and settled more comfortably in the leather armchair in front of Duncan’s desk. “I think going with concrete blocks would be our best bet. There’s a manufacturing facility in Oakwood Village where we should be able to get supplies.”

“Plus we can hit all the home improvement stores between here and Cleveland,” Duncan said. “I doubt many people were carting off concrete blocks when they were looting at the onset of the Outbreak.”

Xavier gave a small laugh. “Too true.” Letting his hands rest on the arms of the chair, he crossed his legs. “We should construct a corridor roughly six feet wide, I think, with secured entrances every three hundred yards or so, on each side of the corridor so we can gain entry at specific points along the line.”

“How tall were you planning on making the wall?”

“Oh, I thought six feet or so,” Xavier said. “Tall enough they can’t step over it, but not so tall that we can’t see what’s going on.”

That was the height Duncan had had in mind. “If we need to get out, we can go up and over, right? I’m not sure openings are advisable.”

“And if we’re carrying injured? It’s not impossible for our kind to heft someone over a six-foot wall, but at what cost to the injured person?”

Hmm. He had a point.

“Plus we may need to get out to scavenge, and hurling supplies over the wall may not be the optimal way to treat them.” A slight smile curled his lips to take away the sting of his sarcasm.

“All right, all right. Your point is taken.” Duncan grinned and gave a shake of his head. Xavier was intelligent and highly motivated to see to the safety of his people, just as Duncan was. And he recognized that both groups stood to gain much from this partnership. “My second, Atticus, is an excellent strategist. I’d like him involved in the actual design and construction of this corridor.”

“I have no problem with that.”

Duncan inclined his head in agreement.

“Now that that’s out of the way,” Xavier said, “I’d like to pick your brain about this donor system you have going on here.”

“Ah. That caught your interest, did it?” He was proud that he’d come up with the idea, even if there were some kinks to be worked out.

Xavier raised one dark brow. “Not just mine. I met with Audra Shane recently. She expressed interest as well for the Toledo enclave.” He leaned his head against the high back of the chair. “I imagine other vampire masters have heard of it, too.”

Duncan gave a shrug. It wasn’t a big deal. “It’s something I’ve always wanted to do…well, if you consider ‘always’ being since the Outbreak.” He grinned. “But if we have humans here willing to provide nourishment to us, we don’t have to endanger ourselves with the hunt. And the humans are safer here than out there.” He gestured toward the outer wall with its tall bank of windows.

“How do you convince them?”

“It helps that a few of the humans have been with us for the last eight or nine months and can attest that we’re not vicious animals fanging everything in sight.”

Xavier snorted. “That does seem to be the prevailing attitude, doesn’t it?” He shook his head, his expression reflecting his dismayed amusement at the vagaries of humans. “Audra seemed to think it might be as simple as that. I’m not sure how much success she would have with it, though.”

“Why do you say that? What’s going on with her enclave?”

“They moved from Toledo to Put-in-Bay. Surrounded by water, they’re quite safe from zombies, but the humans living there weren’t too happy to suddenly be overrun by vampires.” He stretched his legs in front of him. “We’ve set up a routine boat service between their island and our enclave, providing them with materials they need and food for the humans. That helps her cause. She sends me manpower as she can. Of course, being on an island means she’s limited to the number of vampires and humans she can house, but she would still like information on your recruiting methods.”

“I’ll be happy to provide it, such as it is. All we do, really, is talk to them.” He leaned back in his chair. “I have to be honest. Right now we’re having problems with some of the humans. They resent being cooped up, even though it’s for their own safety. They want to be allowed to go outside—to a park of all places. I’m not giving them permission, and that has some of them up in arms.”

Xavier inclined his head. “I’ll pass all that along. Now”—he set both feet on the floor and rested his elbows on his knees—“when do I get to meet the infamous Kimberly Treat?”

Duncan glanced at the brass carriage clock at the front of his desk. It was almost four o’clock, and he figured Kimber had gone to bed a while ago. She did her best to keep the same hours as he, but about two or so in the morning she started to peter out. “Why don’t I show you to your room, and you can meet her once you’ve rested?” He paused. “You turned me down earlier, but can I fetch a bite for you?”

Xavier stood and stretched. “Have someone come to my room once I’m settled, would you?”

“Sure.” Duncan came from around his desk and led the way to the door. As he opened it, he saw Atticus walking toward him. “Just the person I wanted to see.” When his second-in-command reached him, Duncan introduced him to their guest and said, “Would you get someone willing to feed Xavier?”

“Of course. If you’ll excuse me,” Atticus said with a slight bow and headed off.

“This way.” Duncan motioned toward the opposite direction Atticus had gone. Walking past the door to his and Kimber’s suite, he nodded to the guards and continued on his way. At a suite at the end of the hallway, he pushed open the door and gestured Xavier inside.

The other vampire entered the room and looked around. “Nice,” he said.

“It used to be Maddalene’s. We’ve done some redecorating,” Duncan added, remembering the ostentation of the vampire queen’s décor. Now it held dark wood furniture and seating in soothing blues and greens instead of the overabundance of reds and purples the queen had favored.

Xavier’s lips twitched. “I imagine you did.”

“That’s right, you knew her.”

“Hmm. Knew her and wasn’t particularly a fan.” He quirked a brow. “She had a hard-on for your necromancer, didn’t she?”

Duncan didn’t want to go into too many details; it was none of Xavier’s business. But he didn’t want to be rude and jeopardize their fledgling partnership. “She wanted Kimber’s help with a reanimation. Kimber refused.”

“Let me guess. She wanted to bring that bastard Eduardo back.”

Duncan touched an index finger to his nose and then pointed to Xavier.

The other vampire wandered farther into the room. “That would have been disastrous. His head wasn’t screwed on straight when he was human. Being turned into a vampire messed him up even more.” He looked at Duncan. “Just out of curiosity, why did Kimber refuse?”

“She said it would take too much blood, too much power, to reanimate a corpse that had been dead over a hundred years. Also, whatever she brought back wouldn’t really be Eduardo.”

“And Maddalene wasn’t having any of that.”

Duncan shook his head. “No.” Deciding that was enough, he said, “Let me know if you need anything. Atticus will bring you someone for nourishment.” He opened the door. “Oh, and he will stay while you feed. Nothing personal.”

Xavier gave a one-shouldered shrug. “Completely understood. You don’t know me, so you can’t be assured I won’t go too far. I’d do the same in your place.”

Duncan lifted his chin in acknowledgment and left the room. He was tempted to stop in and see Kimber, but at this hour he knew she was asleep. He headed back to his office. There were still a couple of hours before daybreak; he’d get some work done.

Kimber awoke with a gasp and shot upright in bed, her pulse thudding in her throat. The tendrils of the dream that had interrupted her sleep slid away, except for one lingering visual. Pregnant Maggie complaining about perpetual morning sickness.

She fought back rising nausea. Since when was just thinking about morning sickness enough to make her feel ill? She swallowed the bile rising in her throat, and swallowed again before she realized that she really was going to throw up. She bounded off the bed and rocketed into the bathroom, barely making it in time.

As she rose to her feet and reached for the mouthwash, she started counting days. Telling herself to not be silly, she realized how long it had been since she’d had a period and felt her skin go clammy. At least two months. She hadn’t really thought about it until now, but even if she had, she would’ve assumed her lack of monthly bleeding was stress-related and not from the rare possibility of being pregnant with a vampire’s child.

“God.” She stared at her wan reflection in the mirrored medicine cabinet above the sink. “I can’t be pregnant. Please don’t let me be pregnant.”

She had part of the Unseen in her. How would that affect a fetus?

First things first. She had to know for sure. Pregnancy tests weren’t something vampires kept around, and she sure as hell had never thought she’d need one. But now she did, and that meant a trip to the nearest drugstore. The shelves were probably mostly empty, but how many looters had decided pregnancy tests were necessary items in an apocalypse?

She went back into the bedroom and threw on her clothes. On her way through the living room, she picked up her trusty hatchet and slid the handle through a belt loop on her side. She opened the door and headed toward Duncan’s office, glad that the two guards outside their suite didn’t comment on the weapon hanging at her side.

Giving a perfunctory knock on the door, she pushed it open, glad to see Duncan was alone. “Hey.”

His brows drew into a frown, and he got up and came around the desk. “Hey, yourself.” He pulled her into a loose embrace and stared into her face. “What’re you doing up?” Gently he pushed her back a little, his frown growing. “And why are you dressed like you’re going out?”

“Because I am going out,” she said with a smile. “I need—”

“Duncan,” a deep voice intruded, “I hesitate to impose further upon your hospitality— Oh, I apologize. I didn’t realize you had someone with you.”

Kimber turned to see one of the most gorgeous men she’d ever laid eyes on hesitating just inside the room. He stood a few inches over six feet, with shiny black hair that fell to the top of his broad shoulders and dark blue eyes framed by thick lashes.

Duncan pulled Kimber to his side. “Xavier,” he said with a smile. “You wanted to meet my very good friend Kimber Treat. Here she is.”

Kimber shot him a glance.
Very good friend?
What the hell?

“Kimber, this is Xavier Vachon, leader of the Cleveland enclave.”

She gave the model-gorgeous vampire a smile of welcome. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she said, and shook the vampire’s hand.

“The pleasure is mine,” he responded with a slight smile curling his lips.

“I hope you and Duncan were able to make progress,” she said.

“Yes, indeed.” His gaze lingered on her face before dropping to her waist to light upon the hatchet. He met her eyes again. “You are braving the wilds, then?”

She nodded. “Yep. Need to run out for some…things.”

Duncan placed one broad hand on her shoulder. “Kimber, we need to talk about this.”

She glanced at him. “It’s not a big deal. I just need…” She shot a look at Xavier. It was bad enough that she was going to flat-out lie to Duncan, but she was going to do it in front of another vampire king, and to top it off, the lie she was using was that she needed feminine hygiene products. There was no getting around it, so she just blurted it out. “I need tampons.”

Duncan’s nostrils flared as he drew in a breath. “You’re not having your period.”

Damn vampire sense of smell. “Not yet. I’m due to start any time.” She held his gaze and tried to ignore the fact that they were talking about such a private thing in front of a stranger. “I can’t sit around an enclave full of vampires and not have tampons, Duncan.”

He looked at her, and finally a sigh left him. He glanced out the window. She followed his gaze to see the sky was lightening as dawn approached. “Fine,” he said. “But take Atticus with you.”

She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. “Thanks. I will.” Turning, she headed toward the door. “It was nice to meet you,” she told Xavier as she passed him.

“You too,” Xavier responded. As she pulled the door closed behind her, she heard him murmur, “If you have a moment, Duncan, I had another idea for the corridor.”

Kimber ducked back into her rooms long enough to grab a backpack, then headed down to the security office on the ground floor. Atticus was there with two other vampires. “I need to hit a drugstore,” she told him as she shrugged into the backpack. “Duncan wants you to go with me.”

Atticus glanced at his wristwatch. “Give us a few minutes to get ready,” he said.

“I’ll wait in the lobby.” Kimber walked out to the main receiving area and dropped onto a sofa. So far, so good. She really, really hoped the nearest drugstore, a couple of blocks away on Broadway, had what she needed. She didn’t want to drag her posse of vampires all over town, especially if she found tampons at the first one. What excuse would she give to get them to go to another store?

She heard footsteps and looked up to see Atticus coming her way, the two guards behind him. “Let’s go,” he said.

She could tell from the look on his face that he’d double-checked her story with Duncan and wasn’t happy being assigned babysitting duties. Oh well, sometimes it sucked being the second-in-command during a zombie apocalypse.

Sometimes it sucked being the possibly pregnant lover of a vampire during a zombie apocalypse, too.