From Slate to Crimson (10 page)

The time was 5:48 a.m. It would be daylight soon. It was Saturday, and Amelia seemed so happy in her rest, so I decided not to wake her.

I turned off the lamp and crawled back into the bed. I pulled her gently against me as I relaxed, enjoying the simple pleasure of her presence until the natural onset of morning fatigue, combined with Amelia’s restfulness, drew me back to sleep.

I felt more rested than I had in a long time when I awoke, yet I was strangely sad. Amelia, I sensed, was now fully awake.

“Talante?”

“I’m here,” I said. My room was completely without light, but I could see perfectly in even total darkness.

“Thank you.”

At first I did not answer. I admit that I was not entirely certain about how to reply. In her mind, I had done her a favor, comforted her in a time of uncertainty. She now saw me not only as a protector, and not only a friend, but a lover.

I felt that I had crossed a clear line. My desire for her blood had quickly failed to be enough, and I had allowed the drink to become more. As for what we did, I had wanted it just as much as she did, but I had allowed my bond with her to run its full course and had been powerless to stop it. I had fallen in love with a mortal.

The feel of her skin, the pleasure of the lovemaking, the sound of our cries, and her expressions of desire and elation were still so clear in my memory, and I
shuddered from deep within. Even more indelible was the imprint she had made upon my soul. I was a fool to think I could have fought against such a thing.

“You feel better then?” I asked.

“I do. I don’t think I’ve ever…last night was just…incredible!”

Amelia stretched out languorously, her nude form magnificent and, for lack of a better word, incredibly sexy, such a contrast to what Roland said to be her “librarian” looks back in the club.

Suddenly, she sat bolt upright, her eyes wide in the total darkness of my room. Her emotions spiked with worry and near-panic.

“Amelia?” Surprised at the swiftness of my own swell of concern for her, I sat forward and touched her gently upon the shoulder. “What’s wrong?”

“My god, Talante, don’t you know?” Amelia tightened her legs together, as if protecting herself from the intrusion of something unwelcome. “We didn’t use…” She then stopped and blinked, confused as much as she was apprehensive. “Wait. Did we even
need
a condom? Is it even…can I even
get
pregnant from you?”

“It is possible that you could,” I said, and then added before her worry could explode into an actual, full panic, “but the chances are against it.”

“What?” Amelia said flatly, now more confused than anything else. “What’s that supposed to mean? Either you can, or you can’t. That’s how it works.”

“What I mean is that though we are
capable
of producing children with humans, it’s both difficult and complicated,” I explained. “Humans and vampires can reproduce, but without careful supervision, miscarriages are common, and if the mother is human, other dangers can occur. But conceiving at all is a task unto itself. Most couples try for months, even years, before it happens. For many, it never does.”

“Okay,
that
does make sense,” Amelia said, somewhat mollified. I guess it’s because you don’t die. Nature must’ve compensated for that, or something, or else you’d overrun the planet.”

“I figured the same thing long ago,” I said, on the edge of laughter. “Besides, human-vampire hybrids—
dhampirs, we call them—don’t need blood to survive. And we can’t reproduce with each other. Even if we could, we’d starve to death long before we ‘overran the planet.’ We can’t live off of the blood of our own kind, and there wouldn’t be enough humans to satisfy us, even if none of us fed to the point of death.”

“What about animals?” Amelia asked. “I remember that…that dog thing in the club. It wasn’t normal.”

“Animal blood doesn’t nourish us,” I said. “It has to be human. We learned that we can turn some animals, but my clan avoids doing that. Those animals soon go insane for want of blood. They lack the ability to control their thirst.”

Amelia nodded. “And you’re sure I can’t get pregnant?” She was no longer so much worried as needful of an assurance. But this was something I could not give.

“I wouldn't say you can't, but the odds are most definitely against it,” I said, and then at last, I laughed, more to ease her worries than out of humor. “I really doubt you’ll have anything to worry about with this, though, Amelia. It’s not a common occurrence. And I’ve never heard of it happening on the very first try. It usually takes a long time, and only the most determined parents can handle that kind of physical strain. Trying for a baby with our kind is pretty much an endurance run.”

I leaned closer to her, and wrapped my arms around her waist, feeling her relax in my presence. “Besides,” I continued, “my people see a child born between ourselves and humans as a blessing.”

“Do half-vampires have special powers, or something?” Amelia asked. “I mean I remember you saying that they don’t need to drink blood.”

“They
can
drink it,” I replied, nuzzling her neck as she leaned into my embrace, “but they don’t need it. They merely have the best of both worlds. Except for immortality, they have our strengths, and none of our weaknesses. And so, most grow up to be powerful and skilled warriors in our struggle.”

“Well, that would make sense,” Amelia said, “though I think it’s a terrible life to have to lead: destined to fight in an endless war.”

“You know, I’d be glad if you did bear my child,” I said.

“You…would?” She was shocked, and at the same time happy to hear what I had said. Instantly, I realized the implications of what I had said, much to my chagrin. I fought back the stammering and flustering, realizing that I was, as Roland liked to say, in for a penny. I might as well make it a pound.

“Yes,” I said. And I knew at that moment that I indeed
would
have been glad, though I was hardly ready to attempt such a thing with her. “And I’d make certain that nothing would happen to you.”

“Then I guess if it happens, I’d be okay with it…if you’re okay,” Amelia said. I’m happy that you’d want it. I love you, you know.”

“Please don’t.”

“It’s true.” I both heard and felt her disappointment that I had not returned her feelings, even though I did indeed feel the same way. The love was there, quite present and burning inside, but for some reason, I could not bring myself to confess it.
Our destinies had been tied from the moment I first fed from her, and in the short time that I knew her, I knew that I belonged to her.

She obsessed my every waking thought, and I grew to desire far more than her blood. She had become more than just my consummate host, and when we made love, I sealed that bond with her, body and soul. Nevertheless, I shook my head, denying what I knew to the bone.

“It’s only the drink’s effects, remember? Any vampire could have fed from you; you would’ve been attached to them instead.”

“Haven’t you ever had someone you loved?” Amelia said, crestfallen, but undaunted. “Anyone at all?”

“Yes,” I said, “once.”

“Who was she?”

“Her name was Nandi,” I said.

“Nandi? It sounds African.”

“She was,” I replied. “One of Lothos’ clan attacked the plantation where she worked. He used the masters for food and had started on the slaves. Her parents had just been killed when my clan found them out and she had been secretly fighting them on her own. I killed the vampires, destroyed the plantation, and freed the remaining slaves.

During the struggle, she was found out by the vampires and was drained nearly to death. I found her and turned her before it was too late. She followed me for a time, and we were very close. There were times that we shared each other’s bed, but as time went by, we drifted apart.”

“So that was it?” Amelia said. “Only one other girl? In ten thousand years?” Clearly she did not believe this.

“We take special care as to whom we choose to take as a lover,” I explained. “With the war, we make those relationships count. And with humans, we take
especially
special care. Relationships between our kind and yours can sometimes end poorly. There have been cases where we have accidentally killed a human mate in bed.”

“Killed…?” She was puzzled, and even a bit fearful. “How? Why?”

I felt somewhat foolish at what I had said. I was drawn to her in the way that we are drawn to our consummate hosts: those fortunate humans whom we take as sole sustenance for life. And with the level of discipline I developed against my thirst over the millennia, I could never have killed her in bed, no matter how powerful my lust. Indeed, such unfortunate incidents between ourselves and humans were diminishingly rare, and only happened in the most extreme of circumstances.

Still, I proceeded in the lie, desperately and futilely trying to push myself away.

“I’m a vampire, Amelia. I must feed to survive. But the thirst also compels us in times of passion. For my kind, the drive for sex and blood are almost the same: both compelling and primal, but the blood drives us more.”

“But you didn’t kill me,” Amelia said. “And I don’t think you would have.”

“You said you trusted me,” I confessed to her. “And I felt your emotions.”

“Emotions…that were love,” Amelia said.

“You don’t know that,” I replied.

Amelia sighed, confused and sad, but studying the situation, and studying me, despite her inability to see me in the darkness. I had yet to switch the lamp on, for fear of her being able to see the lie in my eyes. My words did begin to cast doubt as to her own feelings, however, and I felt both relieved and guilty.

“I won’t pretend I understood everything you told me,” Amelia said, “but still, I at least…
think
I love you.”

“I can accept that,” I said, and rose from the bed once more.

“Where are you going?” Amelia said.

“To the bathroom.”

“Be careful. It’s pitch black,” Amelia said.

“It’s okay,” I said. “I can see in the dark.”

“Really?” Amelia drawled it out in an amused tone. “How many fingers am I holding up, then?”

“Three.”

“Okay…lucky guess. How many now?”

“Five.”

“How about now?”

“That’s not ladylike.”

Amelia laughed, and lay supine upon the bed to wait. I switched the lamp on as she stretched once again, and my heart wrenched at her lithe beauty, wishing that I had time to paint her. I had not engaged in that art in ever so long, and I desired to hone my skills with her someday. I paused to appreciate her body once more, and then crossed to the door and moved down the hallway towards the bathroom.

I could hear the birds outside, but the heavy shutters and drapes kept the sunlight out for the safety of my kind. All was tranquil while my clan slept. I, however, had
once again been able to override the lethargy that overcame my kind upon the sun’s rising. I had a reason to remain awake.

I finished what I had to do, and stopped to think about how long it had been since I had actually eaten human food. It had to have been more than a year or two. The toilets in the Lair were used generally by humans, or by the younger of my kind, who had never fully detached themselves from their mortal culinary and gustatory predilections.

Then my mind drifted off to the previous night, and the fight in the club. My wounds had long healed, but Lothos had very nearly gained the upper hand. He had so few thaumatrugists, and each was as skilled as some of my personal guard.

I bared my teeth and let the tears pour from my eyes as I grieved at long last for their deaths. I had informed Justin of everything last night, and I would personally attend the funeral services for every one of them.

It seemed impossible that Lothos could have taken me and my guard by surprise the way he had last night, but he indeed had, and I was lucky in escaping the trap he had laid. Still, I had a gnawing feeling inside that something was afoot. After so long, he was planning something. This had not been the first time that Lothos had made an attempt on my life, and I gleaned little to nothing from the minds of my assailants, but the timing of this attack seemed somehow convenient…a bit too much so.

I let my mind wander farther and down even blacker avenues. How many friends had I lost in our millennia of war? And how many were children not sired by me, but by the providence of my chief lieutenants? I had long since lost count, bearing the weight of the pain as I always had. How many of this brood were fledglings, just now committing themselves to the cause, and would have so little time before the elders of Lothos’ minions, or Lothos himself, claimed them?

What about Justin, Aiko, Roland, or even my dear Elisa? And what about Amelia?

I shook my head clear of those morbid thoughts as I made my way back to my chambers. Such things would be best to ponder at a more proper time, and I did not want to give Amelia cause to worry.

I was still distracted by my worries, and had at first failed to realize that Amelia had regained a great deal of her strength after last night. When I opened the door, she made this point in no uncertain terms as the scent of her blood and feminine charm, as well as her thoughts and intent, lured me back to the bed.