A Hunger for Darkness (4 page)

Chapter
Seven

“It’s just that easy for you to decide?” Connor asked, now studying Kenzi closely.

“Yes. You want me to help you destroy vampires. If I lose my way, you’ll kill me. It’s actually the best deal I can imagine.” Kenzi nodded as she spoke, as though convincing herself with her own words.

“You will have to feed soon,” Connor said. “That will be the first test.”

“I know. I already feel this strange hunger tearing at me. It’s like I’m starving and incredibly horny all at the same time.” Kenzi tried to laugh but failed.

“This hunger is incredibly difficult to master. First, there’s euphoria like the most powerful drug you’ve ever taken. You feel like you’ve never been stronger, like you’re invincible. Then you feel an almost sexual rush. The energy you’ll have will make you want to go out and find another victim. This is the most dangerous stage. Many of us are destroyed in this manic phase, as the urges overwhelm any caution.” Connor closed his eyes and sank back into the bed.

“The virus makes feeding an addiction. You’ll only need to feed every few days, but you’ll crave it constantly. In time you’ll only need it every week or so, and you will master your self-control, but it won’t come easily.”

“I still can’t imagine how you can survive on so little food,” Kenzi said.

“The virus changes our metabolism, everything works differently. We lose a lot of our ability to regulate body temperature, which is why we feel so cold to humans. We also prefer not to live in extremely cold climates for that reason,” Connor explained.

“I remember some of that, but to be honest I never paid as much attention to the biology lessons. I just wanted to kill vampires, not study them.” Kenzi laughed at the irony.

“You’re going to see changes in the way you hear, even in the way you see. Bright light becomes painful, and you’ll be able to see into the infrared part of the spectrum. Every sense will become heightened.”

Kenzi thought for a moment before shuddering. “All I have to do is learn to feed.”

“I have your first victim already selected. I had planned to bring him in and let you feed from him without the drama of having to hunt him yourself.” Connor again closed his eyes, his voice growing fainter.

Kenzi fought the urge to weep at the idea of drinking another’s blood.

“Who is he?” She asked.

“A low-level member of an organized crime family. The local head of this family is working with Gabriel to supply him with victims. In return for this, the boss hopes to become a vampire himself as part of Gabriel’s plan to build a new vampire community here. Your first prey has helped supply these victims for Gabriel, although he doesn’t know what happening after he turns them over.” Conner sounded like every word was a struggle.

Kenzi let the remark about the new vampire community pass for the moment. Her hunger was creating its own urgency.

“So what do we do? You’re too weak to hunt anyone, and I’m not experienced enough to be let loose on my own.”

“I have an idea, but you’ll have to trust me a great deal.” Connor roused himself enough to stare into Kenzi’s eyes.

“Go on,” she said.

“I’m going to have to feed from you. I’m betting you have enough human blood still to give me what I need to find and bring back this man for us both to feed properly.” He said it simply, as though afraid to try to sway her.

Kenzi thought for a moment, staring back in to Connor’s face as though searching for a clue.

“Alright, I must be crazy, but I’ll do it. If you were going to kill me, you could have done long before now. How do we start?” Kenzi was already bracing herself.

“Lie next to me,” Connor said while gesturing to the space next to him on the bed.

Kenzi felt and stifled an urge to scream or laugh or both. She was willingly making herself a victim to a vampire. She forced herself to stretch out next to Connor, clenching and unclenching her fists as a lifetime of training urged her to strike out.

Connor rolled to his side next to her and felt the tension in her as he ran a hand down her arm.

“Easy, Kenzi. This won’t hurt,” he murmured into her ear.

She heard him gasp in pain as he shifted closer. She could smell the faint odor of singed skin, but also a warm animal scent she couldn’t describe as his face moved to her throat. Despite her will, she felt her body tense until he touched the side of her face. As her turned her face away to expose her neck she felt almost like a young lover allowing a man to part her legs, exposed and vulnerable but also with a strange anticipation. His lips caressed her skin softly. Without words she stopped him and rolled into his arms, exposing the other side of neck as she tucked her face below his. Her heart was racing as she waited for the sting of his teeth piercing her. She had felt the same way the night Joshua had taken her virginity in an abandoned warehouse one night after a kill. The same fear coupled with a longing to join her body to his.

My God
, she thought,
I want this creature to take me!

Connor smoothed the hair away from a spot just behind her jaw and brushed her skin with his lips. Kenzi felt a low electric tingle creep from the spot and throughout her body, drawing a moan she tried and failed to contain.

Fangs tore into her skin, so sharp they were almost painless. He pushed them deep and pulled down, widening the holes. His grip grew tighter; she felt defenseless in his arms as she began to struggle from some deep instinctive urge to fight. Her body tried to resist, but another compulsion pulled her the other way. She longed to surrender as she felt her hot blood stream from her neck. The sucking of his mouth felt more intimate than any sex she had ever experienced. Her hands clawed at him, and she felt muscles like iron beneath his skin. He pushed her to her back and leaned over her, his weight crushing her body in a way that made her long to wrap around him. She became aware of the thin layer of silk that separated their bodies and wished that it were gone.

Kenzi began to feel faint as she lost any sense of time. The sensual thrill became a lighter sensation of floating. Connor growled as he began to pull away. Kenzi tried to pull him closer but lacked the strength. Connor finally rolled away and Kenzi felt suddenly colder, and whimpered. The silk shirt no longer concealed much of her body, but she couldn’t stir to cover herself.

Connor looked down with a strange fire in his green eyes. There was blood; her blood on his mouth. His face showed a savage conflict, as though he was being taken from what he wanted most. As he panted over her, his face grew calmer.

“I’m sorry; I haven’t fed in so long. I hope I didn’t hurt you,” he said softly.

Kenzi looked down his body and saw the skin healing as she watched. It became smooth, but still darker than normal, and faint lines still crossed it in fine scars.

“Is that what it’s always like when a vampire feeds on you? It didn’t feel like that with Gabriel.” Kenzi’s voice was a hoarse whisper.

“That is up to the vampire. We can put our victims at ease, or even make it pleasurable.” He smiled down at her as he rose from her side. “We can release a certain pheromone while we feed that acts almost like a drug to a human. They can experience pure pleasure while we feed.”

Kenzi wanted to beg him to join her again on the bed, but fought the urge successfully. She managed to pull a satin sheet over her and she gloried momentarily in its cool silky feel against her nearly-naked skin. Sleep began to pull her under.

“Rest, Kenzi,” Connor said. “I’ll be back soon.”

Even in the glow that carried her to sleep, she felt a lingering foreboding.

C
hapter Eight

Kenzi lingered in that languid fog between sleep and waking, her mind drifting over her life at Center, and before that at Hexum House. They had gently weeded out those who would not be fit for hunting. Classmates left without notice as they failed one test or another. At the time none of the children remaining knew why a child would disappear. They always removed the failures at night, and they vanished without a trace.

Those who would go on to do battle with monsters were a strange lot. For them only one thing mattered; revenge. This desire was carefully stoked and nurtured. It drove them when their bodies longed to quit, when their very souls grew weary. This was why the school and Center discouraged romantic entanglements. Any other desire might sway them from their course.

Kenzi had not known love. She had felt lust; her first had been Joshua Pike. In all the years since, they had occasionally quenched the fire of battle in each other’s bodies, and she had felt a true fondness for him, but no more. In Katerina she had found a friend closer than a sister. They had shared adolescent dreams and dramas, and even a fumbling attempt at intimacy before they recognized the true nature of their true bond.

She opened her eyes to see Connor standing over her, the body of a man slung carelessly over his shoulder as though the weight was nothing. He had the green fire in his eyes again, which both frightened and thrilled her.

Without a word Connor eased the body to the floor. Kenzi was almost too weak to move, but she forced herself to look down at the body from the bed. She could hear him breathing, and could also hear the faint sound of his heart beating. The heightening of her senses no longer surprised her, or perhaps her current condition dulled her mind past caring. He was young, not over thirty. He was handsome, with dark curly hair. With his face completely relaxed he looked innocent.

“You will have to feed, Kenzi.” Connor spoke gently, as though aware of the cost of the action.

“What did you do to him?” Kenzi asked, her eyes never shifting from the body.

“He’s just unconscious,” Connor’s voice was somber and without pity.

“What’s his name?”

“Does it matter?”

“I’d like to know.”

“His name is Dmitri, and he procured girls in Russia in order to bring them here and make prostitutes of them. He’d charm them with offers for modeling contracts in America. When they arrived he would introduce them to wealthy men who could ‘help’ with their careers. By the time they figured what had happened they were already in the life. He is believed to have killed several women who tried to escape.” Connor looked down, his gaze focused like a predator. “He is a good first.”

“Do I have to worry about some kind of disease?” Kenzi studied her victim without expression, her eyes dull.

“No, you never have to worry about that again. You already have the ultimate disease.” A faint smile crossed his lips.

“How do we do this?” Kenzi asked, still too weak to stand.

“Your teeth haven’t grown yet, so I will start and let you finish.”

Kenzi stared at the man for a long time. She hadn’t changed her mind, but the step was daunting. Something inside her was still crying out at the horror of it, but she was learning to set aside the screams in her mind.

“I’m ready,” she said.

Connor picked her up from the bed and laid her on the cool concrete floor next to the man. She could see the pulse in his neck, and it began to change her. She felt her pulse rise, and strength near delirium flow through her. She suddenly longed to push Connor aside and tear at the body herself. A low growl from her own throat surprised her.

Connor placed a hand on her chest and held her in place as he knelt across the prone figure. His mouth descended, and soon Kenzi could hear the wet sound of his feeding. She was almost thrashing now to get to source of the nourishment she needed, all other thoughts now lost in her tortured hunger that rushed through her.

“Kenzi, control yourself!” Connor was over her now, holding her down, his eyes holding hers fiercely. “Don’t lose yourself in this.”

Kenzi nodded anxiously, her eyes darting between the body and Connor. She could see the rich dark fluid flowing onto the floor and nearly whimpered at the thought of losing it.

Connor let her up and she crawled quickly to the body. He was flat on his back and Kenzi straddled him, bending forward to place her mouth to the wound. The taste of the blood shocked her. She had expected the coppery tang she had tasted when sucking a cut finger, instead a warm flavor like a mulled wine flowed across her tongue. She was lost in the electric sensation that spread through her limbs and settled deep in her core. Strength pooled in her in an almost painful symphony of coiled tension. She longed to explode around the room, releasing her muscles in an atavistic display of animal energy. The sounds from the street below made her long to run among the cars and people. She could hear a passing jetliner far above and she wanted to fly alongside. She wanted the wind in her hair and cool earth under her feet.

Beneath her she felt the body of her victim still brimming with life, and she wanted to consume it. It wasn’t just the blood she craved; it was his life-force. Without thought she tore the silk shirt from her body, she wanted to feel this life beneath her with every part of her skin. She leaned back while never letting her lips leave his throat and ripped his shirt off, then pressed her body to his. Her fingers became talons, raking down his chest as she sucked feverishly.

Then the white heat she felt from the body began to ebb. She wanted to sob as she felt the fire of his life begin to cool. She sucked harder against the twin holes in his skin, desperate for every drop. Beneath her fevered skin she felt him begin to cool. Strong arms gripped her waist and pulled her up. She dangled from Connor’s arms, struggling to get back to her feast.

“No girl, this is too much, too soon,” he said soothingly in her ear.

“Let me down! I need more!” Kenzi heard her own begging, and a pang of disgust flashed through her.

Connor held her as her thrashing ceased. She looked down at Dmitri, and he seemed diminished in some way, like some kind of broken
thing
.

“Noooo!” Kenzi wailed. Every moment of the last few minutes replayed in her head and she found herself revolted and aroused and then revolted again. The frenzy had ended, and Connor could release her.

Conner set her on her feet as she buried her face in her hands. He turned her to him and held her as she sobbed. Even as she cried she could feel the strength she had absorbed from the pimp flowing through her. Every nerve began to feel like it was working at a frantic pace. She trembled in Connor’s embrace, taking comfort in his solid form.

Her eyes closed as she struggled to process the jumbled roar of sensations. Self-disgust faded rapidly in the wave of power that washed over and through her. Mouth open, still smeared red, Kenzi’s disheveled hair flowed around her head and shoulders like a mane as she shook her herself. She became aware of the fact she was almost naked, and holding on to an impressive male form. Her eyes were different when they opened, filled with a light both predatory and lustful. She reached up to pull Connor to her.

Connor pushed her back, while holding her arms. He gave her a rough shake.

“Kenzi,” he said sternly. “Snap out of it, you’re blood-drunk. You need to get control of yourself.”

“Please, let me have you,” she cried while reaching for his pants. Every part of her longed to feel him, she wanted to wrap herself around him and re-capture the vitality she’d felt pressed against her victim as she fed. Her victim…

“Kenzi,” Connor roared, shocking her into stillness.

As she stood on her own he released her. She stared wide-eyed for a moment before stumbling backwards to the bed. She sat for a moment before gathering a sheet around her, looking blankly at the floor.

When she finally looked back to Connor her eyes were wet.

“What happened to me?” She asked plaintively.

“It was your first, and you actually handled it quite well.” Connor said.

“Why did the blood taste so good?” Her voice was almost childlike.

“The body changes, even the taste buds, to encourage you to take what it needs. Normal food, if you want to take it, will have no flavor, and give you no sustenance.”

“Is this what it will always be like?”

“No, it’s like a drug in a way. In time you build up a tolerance, but there is always pleasure in the feeding, and more in the kill. That is why it is so hard for us to resist. I told you, we’re monsters, but we can use our curse for a positive end.”

“I hate it,” Kenzi said slowly, “but I can’t wait to feed again.”