Blood Descendants (St. Clair Vampires Book 1) (37 page)

The realization caused
me to inhale deeply; so deeply that my body rose off of the bed and
crashed back down before I could catch myself. I waited for the pain
to come but felt nothing. I inhaled again and felt only crisp clean
air filling my lungs. There was soft material beneath my fingers and
I curled my hands into fists as I opened my eyes. I was in my room at
the compound.

There was an IV in my
arm with four different bags of fluid dripping into it. One of the
bags was undoubtedly blood but I wasn’t sure what the other
three were. On the nightstand was a copy of a vampire romance novel
and a half glass of water. Tabitha had been there. She was addicted
to those mushy romance books. She had tried to get me to understand
the appeal but I was more into subtle romance if any at all.

My room was empty and
quiet except for the new sounds I could hear. I swung my feet over
the side of the bed and rolled my IV stand to the bathroom. What I
saw in the mirror scared me. I was looking at a woman with chocolate
brown eyes and clear, smooth mahogany skin. Any sign of adolescent
acne was gone along with the scar on my elbow from crashing my bike
when I was eight. I looked perfect.

The sound of footsteps
in the hallway caught my attention and I waited for a knock on the
door. There were at least two shadows standing right outside as if
trying to decide what to do next. Not possessing the virtue of
patience, I swung the door open to find Jordan and Tabitha standing
on the other side. They looked at me as if they had been caught in
some sort of conspiratorial plot.

Tabitha opened her
mouth and then closed it several times making her look like a pretty
goldfish with long blond hair. Jordan, on the other hand, had a smile
on his face that was getting larger by the second. He looked me up
and down and even went so far as to step to the side so that he could
see all the way around me.

I looked down at
myself, clad in nothing more than a tank top and boy shorts. It was
far from indecent but I was a sight to see. I flexed the muscles in
my arms and legs and felt the endorphins rush through my body. My
body looked and felt amazing.

As I was looking at my
arms and legs, the two of them shared a quick look. They were keeping
something from me, again. And, as if on cue, Jordan gestured for us
to enter my room and sit down.

“
How
do you feel?” Jordan whispered.

I heard him loud and
clear but somehow knew that he had just whispered his question to me.

“
I
feel fine,” I said. But I had not just said it. I felt as if I
yelled it. My head felt as if it would split in two and my nose
started to bleed.

Tabitha handed me a
napkin and smiled. She still had not spoken a word, and the house
seemed uncharacteristically empty of all other inhabitants. I looked
at Jordan, who was still smiling at me as I sank into the couch.

“
You
are going to experience a bit of instability. And you will be
sensitive to sound and touch until your body, umm, let’s say
calibrates itself.”

Jordan squeezed my hand
as if to demonstrate my sensitivity. My skin gave under his touch and
my heartbeat slightly increased blood flow to the area. My lungs
expanded just a fraction of a millimeter more to adjust to the need
for more oxygen. And I could hear the sound of the blood traveling
through my veins. In addition, my muscles began to tense as my brain
told them that there may be a threat. The harder Jordan squeezed the
more adrenaline was released. I could taste it on my tongue.

All of my senses were
heightened and a flood of memories made the hair stand up on the back
of my neck. My adoptive mother betrayed me and my birth mother wanted
to sacrifice me. The need for love had led me to Las Vegas and I had
dragged my family along. I had nearly gotten everyone killed. My
misery enveloped me. I was no longer feeling Jordan squeezing my
hand, no longer thankful that I was alive.

Tabitha, still silent,
wiped my tears with her fingers. Each tear drop felt as if it was
resisting, as if its purpose was to burn into my skin before dropping
to my lap.

One minute I was
sitting on the couch in my room crying, the next minute I was jumping
at something that sounded like the roof falling in on me. Jordan
increased the pressure on my hand as Tabitha went to answer the door.
Before she could get there, someone knocked again, but this time it
didn’t sound quite as loud and destructive.

When she opened the
door I could hear whispering but, even with my advanced hearing,
could not make out what was being said. Tabitha nodded her head twice
and closed the door without letting anyone in.

“
Let’s
get you dressed,” Tabitha whispered. “They are waiting
for us.”

After I dressed in my
customary sweats and t-shirt, I followed Tabitha to the library.
Jordan was still squeezing my hand, anchoring my senses to something
real. I did not know how much I would appreciate him until Tabitha
opened the doors to the library and I was assaulted with the sounds
and smells of people working.

The library was filled
with Stewards who were cleaning and rearranging the large room. We
walked through a group of them and each inclined their heads out of
respect and continued their work. At the rear of the library we came
to a large table where a Steward and Fare were comparing notes of
some sort.

Tabitha led me to a
door on the rear wall and knocked quietly. Solomon opened the door
and bowed. I put my hand on his shoulder when I passed him to show my
gratitude. The room was small and very informal. There were a few
leathers club chairs and softer chenille couches in the warmest of
colors. The room was filled with people who were milling around
mingling.

Efia was the first to
acknowledge us as she split off from her small group to greet me. At
first she didn’t speak but just looked at me. She took my chin,
turning my head from side to side, examining me. She turned me around
and lifted my t-shirt in one smooth motion. Running her hand along my
back she whispered something to Jordan. He released my hand and
millions of sensations flooded in.

I could identify the
Vampires from the Fare and my family from the others simply by smell.
I could also hear every whispered conversation and they were giving
me a headache.

“
You
need to block them out. Control and isolate the sensations. Just
breathe.”

Efia was still rubbing
my back and I focused on the circular motions of her hand. I tried to
isolate the voices first. I was looking for Chloe to make sure that
she was okay. Her giggling came from the couch where she sat with
Landon and Nicole. My head involuntarily turned toward the sound so
quickly that the room started to spin from the motion. The three of
them were reading a teen magazine and swooning over the current heart
throbs. Each of them had a different heart rhythm. Every beat was
distinct. First Chloe, then Nicole and Landon. The trio were in
perfect syncopation. It was so beautiful.

My hearing was
phenomenal so I attempted smell next. Blocking out sight by closing
my eyes, I let my other senses take over. At first I couldn’t
smell anything. My hearing got sharper, however, and whispered
conversations began to amplify. Tilting my nose to the ceiling, I
sniffed. The first breath was overwhelming. Pepperoni and Ivory soap,
Swiss cheese and apple cinnamon shampoo. Everything came at once and
I thought my brain would go into overload.

Another breath in and,
as if I had cataloged the other smells into inventory, they lessened.
Only new smells were overpowering. Three more breaths and I felt
better. I could still smell everything, but it was less assaulting
than before. The last breath hit me like a ton of bricks and I was
lost in it. The smell was a mixture of metal, Earth and sugar. It was
so strong that my mouth started to water. There was a low growling
sound coming from my throat and I slowly opened my eyes.

Ethan was standing in
front of me with blood dripping from his index finger. The blood was
so thick that it took a long time to drop onto the Lily. The droplet
of blood floated through the air and splashed red on the flower. The
sound and the smell amplified through me and I leapt at Ethan. In
that moment I wanted nothing more than his blood. Despite everything
I had believed before, the sweet smelling liquid was all I could
think about.

Mere inches from the
pulsing vein in his neck when I was restrained. I couldn’t
identify what was holding me back; there were no hands or arms on me.
My body was at a strange angle, kind of like Michael Jackson in the
Smooth Criminal video. I was suspended in an unnatural position. And,
when Ethan moved, my body followed him. Both movements were minute
but we were both aware of them. He remained very still for a few
moments and then he spoke.

“
My
life is your life and my blood is your blood. Take from me and live
so that the world may be better for it.”

At the end of his
statement, Ethan slowly tilted his head to the side, revealing a
throbbing carotid artery. He offered himself to me just as his
ancestors had done for centuries before him. The fact that I could
drain every last drop of blood from his body was outweighed by the
implicit trust he had in me and my vow to him. If either of us
harbored any fear it was me, because his heart beat a slow and steady
pace. I blinked to break visual contact.

Determined to regain
composure, I returned to a vertical standing position. The carpet
under my feet was soft yet I still heard the heels of my feet touch
down. Everything was quiet now, every eye on the events in the center
of the room. Ethan handed me the flower with his blood on it and, to
my great embarrassment, I licked the blood from the soft petals. It
tasted delicious. Something in me knew blood should not taste like
this, that it should have a metallic stale taste, but Ethan’s
blood tasted like caramel with coconut toppings. If all Fare blood
tasted that good, no wonder there were strict laws in place to
protect them. I smiled as I lifted the flower for another taste and
then I froze…

A flashback of a huge
dog grabbing my ankle and shaking it's head brought me out of my
bloodlust. I felt my leg snap and my foot being torn off. I looked
down at my leg, lifting my pants to see smooth skin with no sign of
any bite. There was pain and the blood; so much blood. I was being
pulled back to Grigor’s compound, away from the Humvee, away
from my family. I should have been dead. Was I dead?

“
Am
I dead?”

Spinning around, I
looked at Efia. She looked the same but I could see so much more. The
slight tilt of her eyebrow and the dimple in her upper left cheek. It
was like looking at her for the first time except with a better set
of eyes. A better set of eyes, ears and a new nose. That couldn't be
right. Could I be? My pulse started to race and I stumbled forward
before my body somehow steadied itself. Ethan took my hand in his
and slowly walked me to a couch. His hands were warm and comforting
and it wasn't long before I calmed down.

“
Cheyenne,
you were barely alive when we reached the hotel. Efia was already
there and she sent all of us out of the room. The Embrace is a sacred
thing so…”, Ethan trailed off.

“
Embrace?
So, I’m not dead?”

“
No.
You are more alive than ever. But, you must feed and soon.”

A mixture of instinct,
logic and my moral objections swirled around in my head. For months I
had studied about the relationships between Vampires and their Fare.
I knew the biological changes that I had undergone during my Embrace,
the change in my DNA and chromosomes. My DNA had added another helix
branch and a few of my chromosomes had changed. There was a volume in
the medical section of the library that detailed Vampire biology, so
I made a mental note to find it and read it. The need for blood came
from the need for extra oxygen. There was a Vampire family, members
of the Dubois clan, who tried to abstain from blood drinking by
wearing oxygen masks for a certain length of time each day. It helped
them live but their physical body suffered. There was something about
the way blood delivered oxygen that made the difference. I was
looking forward to their scientists finding a way around puncturing a
vein, but in the meantime…a girl’s gotta eat.

Leaning over, one hand
on Ethan's shoulder and the other on his forehead, I sunk my teeth
into his neck. After about 3 minutes, the silent room erupted in
applause. Ethan's face was red, not pale like I would have expected
after so much blood loose. He had a wide proud grin on his face as if
that had been the greatest moment in his life. I, on the other hand,
was waiting for nausea and revulsion but neither came. I simply
felt…satisfied.

One by one, my family
of Vampires began stepping up to congratulate me. My brothers each
lifted me off the couch and spun me around. Although I felt stronger
and more substantial, they still treated me as if I weighed as little
as a rag doll. Chloe and Tabitha hugged me and wiped tears from my
face. Efia was next. Her hug meant more than I could say. I was just
beginning to recover from the emotional moment when everyone moved
away and Violeta stepped up. My new senses read her body language
differently than my human senses had. Before I had seen an angry
Vampire, full of resentment and hate. The subtle differences were
there. The opened hands and the way she bit her bottom lip. All that
time Violeta had wanted to hold the child she had helped to save. She
was the mother I was meant to have. Neither one of us moved. We
stood there in the silence; emotional and unsure.

“
So,
do I call you Mom now?” I asked, trying to break the ice.