H.T. Night's 8-Book Vampire Box Set (22 page)

“Just yours.” I laughed awkwardly.

“I heard that once you drink blood, your
stomach aches for more and your taste buds turn against human food.
And then the desire hits you like a brick to your chest. You just
gotta have it.”

“So, have you had human blood?”

Lena’s fidgety movements made me concerned.
I wanted answers to my serious questions. “Yes, I have,” she
whispered under her breath.

“Wow,” I said flabbergasted. “You didn’t
waste any time.”

“Don’t act so holier than thou, Josiah.
You’ll get a craving and when it hits, you will have very few
choices.”

“Who was it?” I probed.

“Remember our little frat buddies?”

“Yeah.”

“Let’s just say Ron’s fat ass had enough
blood for four Mani.”

“Did you kill him?”

“I let him live.”

“Aren’t you afraid he’ll say something to
someone?”

“You do know we have a thing called mind
control? The weak Tandra are receptive to it. It actually saves
their lives. Otherwise, I would have killed him because he knew too
much.”

“So, mind control is true?”

“Some of us have it, and some of us don’t.
We are all given gifts from the Triat. It’s up to us to figure out
what they are. Some are prophets, some can heal, some can control
minds, and some can read minds. Atticai was able to read minds.
That’s why he liked you.” Lena paused. A longing in her eyes made
it clear that she wasn’t over Atticai.

“Where do you think he went? Do you think I
killed him?”

“I don’t know Josiah; you pierced his neck
real good. Just like humans, none of us are entirely sure what
happens to Mani when they die. The hereafter is all a big dark
secret. There are theories but no proof.”

“So, no one knows where Mani go when they
disappear?” I asked.

“There are rumors the same way there are
with mortals. There are tales of an afterlife: Mani given a second
chance, a rebirth, even a chance at being mortal again. But there
are not enough facts about it. No one really knows what happens,
not for sure.”

“So, when a vampire dies, they just
disappear?”

“Yes. Otherwise there would be dead vampires
everywhere. By now, humans would have had a field day with the
autopsies.”

“Is that what happened to Tommy? Is that
what happens to the Carni?”

“Actually, no. The Carni are as close to
humans as you can get, with a lot of the DNA threads very common to
both. Mani history goes back as far as 10,000 years ago. While
Carni history is just 500 years young.”

“How’s that?” I had been under the
impression that werewolves and vampires were manifested at the same
time.

“Mani believe that Carni are an inferior
species. Werewolves believe in a lot of myth and untruths.”

“Why do they do that?”

“It’s a way to justify giant mistakes they
have made so they can be at peace with their form, their destiny.”
Lena’s soft voice filled the room. I could see her desperately
trying to answer my questions when she had questions of her
own.

“I know about wanting to feel a sense of
peace. For two weeks, I’ve tried to find my inner peace. I shut
myself away so that I could seek my own truths and separate it from
the flood of pop culture about vampires, werewolves, and related
creatures. Are there any other creatures? I sort of wanna
know.”

Her lips twitched into a semi-smile. I
listened and she continued, “The blurring lines of truth and
fiction have forced Carni to live far outside the Triat’s will.
Mani believe that Carni have forgotten what their purpose is and
they are no better than savages.”

“Purpose… I’ve been trying to figure that
one out for two weeks. What is our purpose, Lena? Is it biological,
ecological, spiritual? What must we do with what we have, what we
are?”

“Well, you were chosen by the Triat even
before you were a Mani. Josiah, there is something greater out
there – something amazing.”

“What was amazing was my other life, my
human life.”

“Yeah, but think about it this way, we are
wiser than the average living species. We have a window to the
world. People live and then die, and in the course of living, they
know nothing. Perfect ignorant bliss.” She smiled at me.

“You have a way of making this sound . . .
almost glamorous.”

“Maybe it is glamorous, Josiah. You’ve been
given a gift. Don’t turn your back on the possibilities.

“Ah, so it’s not really a curse, it’s a
gift. Can I ask you a question?”

“Of course.”

I needed to know more about werewolves, and
unfortunately, I needed to know about them fast. “Do Carni become
stronger once they are turned from Tandra to Carni?”

Lena thought for a moment. “Not like the
Mani,” she said.

“They might get a tad stronger and quicker,
but nothing close to what occurs in a Mani’s body after its
transformation.

“Mani become much stronger?” I asked.

“Put it this way, Josiah, I could barely
hurt a mouse when I was mortal. The other night, I was holding down
that frat boy, Ronnie, like he was a kindergartner. I feasted away
on his blood, close to sheer joy in the knowledge that I could have
left him dead if I chose to and walked away with no regrets, with
nothing more than a satisfied burp as penance. I let him live
because I was full.”

I laughed. “So, I basically turned you into
a bad ass.”

Lena shook her head at me. “Yeah, you did,
Josiah Reign, and never forget that.” Lena then smiled brightly at
me. It was the first time in a long time I had seen her smile like
that. She was radiant. She had little dimples and frankly, my heart
melted.

“So, what happens when they turn into a
full-blown werewolf?” I asked.

Lena’s smile turned serious. “When a Carni
turns into a werewolf, it can hold its own against a Mani. Most of
the time, they are stronger. But Mani can fight with cognitive
thought while werewolves are like wild lions that just want to tear
through their prey. There’s not much thought to it. Mani think.
Carni function on pure animal instinct. Remember, we Mani have
10,000 years of evolution under our belts, Carni only 500
years.”

“What about the full moon? Is that a myth,
or is it real?”

“Oh, it’s real. Too real. It is then, and
only then, they turn from Carni to werewolf.”

“So, your everyday Carni walking around is
just slightly stronger than a human?”

“Yup.” Lena stared at me with wonder. “Why
are you asking so many questions?”

“One more question,” I said. “Why would any
Carni ever fight a Mani in a one-on-one fight?”

“Oh, they do when it’s a full moon.”

I looked up in the sky. It was a half moon.
Why the hell would the bartender want to fight me if he knew I was
a Mani and would be stronger? He must have thought he could easily
take me. I was still getting zero respect. I guess being anointed
the ‘Chosen One’ didn’t mean I was looked at as a bad ass.

“What’s going on Josiah? Why are you asking
so many questions about the Carni?”

“Tommy disappeared from the hospital, so I’m
thinking he is still alive. If he is, I need to find him.”

“He is alive, Josiah.”

I nearly fell to the ground. “What? He is?
How do you know?”

“Some have seen him.”

“Where is he?”

“No one knows where he stays, but he is
definitely still alive.”

I had a growing excitement spreading through
my body. If anyone could tell me how to defeat a Carni, it would be
Tommy. The problem was, I had no idea where he was staying. He was
obviously hiding out for his own safety.

Lena could see my wheels turning in my head.
“What is it, Josiah? What’s going on?”

“I have a scheduled fight tonight, not in
the ring, but with a Carni.”

Lena’s mouth literally opened and her eyes
stared at me hard. After a second of glaring she asked,
“Where?”

“Some ranch in Anaheim Hills.”

“You’re joking?”

“I wish I was. I hadn’t even been out in
public for an hour and one of those assholes picked a fight with
me. Why would he fight me? It’s not a full moon.”

“Because Carni are arrogant, Josiah. It is
why Tommy fought Atticai and got his ass kicked. Carni think they
run the show. To them, we are just Gothic freaks who worship the
devil.”

Stricken, I put my hand over my heart. “Oh
no. Please tell me we don’t worship the devil—do we?”

“Of course not.”

I exhaled in relief.

Lena continued, “But that is what the Carni
has reduced us to in their heads. They can’t explain how we are a
more advanced race, so they just say our abilities are given to us
from the Underworld.”

“Gothic freaks or not,” I said, “no one
picks a fight with someone they know can kick their ass.”

“That’s the thing, Josiah. They don’t think
you can kick their ass. It’s like they have a jock mentality. They
can’t accept that the outcast freak-show can kick the captain of
the football team’s ass.” Lena got up off the ground and sat next
to me on the couch. “You know if you fight him, you cannot use any
of your vampire powers as long as he’s not a werewolf?”

“Vampire powers? I don’t have any vampire
powers.”

“You don’t know it, but you do. At this
point, the only thing you need to worry about is not turning into
the eagle. That will freak them out and they will probably think
you’re Satan himself. If that happens, it could get real ugly.”

“Nice,” I said sarcastically. “I don’t even
know how to fully control it. What if it happens by accident?”

“Don’t let it, Josiah. You have powers and
abilities that no Mani before you has ever had or ever will again.
No one knows exactly what you’re capable of. You probably have
every gift that has ever been bestowed on the Mani and ones we
still don’t know about. So, fight the guy straight up. Don’t do
anything out of the ordinary.”

“Let me ask you this,” I said. “Can I bite
him?”

“Yes, because trust me, that’s what he’ll
try to do to you. You can fight him anyway you want, you just can’t
use what they call ‘magic.’”

“They seem to think I’m going to bring a sea
of Mani with me to the ranch for back up.”

“Because they don’t always play fair, you
can’t show up there alone. They do have a strict rule of only
fighting one on one. So, you won’t have to worry about being jumped
by the pack as long as you don’t use any of your special Mani
abilities.”

“Do I have to go? I have nothing to prove to
those guys.”

“Did one specific Carni challenge you?”

“Yes.”

“Did you accept?”

“Yes,” I stated.

“Then, guess what? You better go, or you
will anger the Triat.”

“Triat schmiat. I don’t even know what or
who the Triat is.” I said defiantly. “No one has bothered to
explain stuff to me. I am supposed to be the savior of the Mani and
I don’t even know what the Trait is. Is it God, or Mother Nature,
what is it?”

“It’s all those things and more. It’s the
balance. It’s the code we all live by.” Lena took my hand. “Josiah,
you need to respect the Triat more than anything you have ever paid
reverence to. If you listen, and open yourself up, the Triat will
guide you. You need to ask for guidance.”

“Seriously? Ask for guidance? You’re making
it sound like a cult.”

“Don’t be skeptical. You will not be alone
tonight. All of us will be there with you. We’ll make sure
everything goes down the way it should.”

I looked at Lena. I didn’t want her to have
any part in what was happening tonight. “Look, I’m going to go
alone. I don’t want anyone else to get hurt. Especially not
you.”

“You know you have a family now. We stick
together.”

“Not tonight. Let me deal with this
tonight.”

“Don’t be so fucking macho. We’re going with
you. What time is the fight?”

I looked at Lena and lied, “3:30 a.m.” I
said, “Meet me there. I’m going to do a couple of things before I
get there.”

“We’ll meet you a mile up at 3:15.”

“Who?” I asked.

“Everyone: Wyatt, Hector, Yari, and me.”

I didn’t think having just four Mani there
was going to be very much help. Two of them were henchmen groupies,
now my followers, who I easily defeated, and two of them were
female, though I had to admit that Lena’s recollection of her
takedown of Ronnie the Frat Boy for her supper had opened my eyes
to her powerful bloodlust and the strength behind it. Still, I
didn’t want her hurt. Or Yari, for that matter. And if I wasn’t
allowed to unleash my vampire powers in the fight against them if
they were not werewolf poetry in motion, purposely handicapping
myself for a potential ass beating by a Carni, I might as well just
go get beat up by myself. Hell, I didn’t want the girls to see me
pummeled while I held back my superpowers for a fight with some
Carni assholes.

“3:15 a.m. Sounds like a plan. See you all
there.” There was no way I was going to have Lena go tonight.

She looked at me uncertainly, as if she knew
I was lying through my teeth.

“I better go,” I said, wanting her to stop
trying to figure out if I was messing with her about 3:15 a.m.,
which I was. It was nearing midnight, and if I was going to fight
someone, I needed to at least prepare myself the way I did a mixed
martial arts fight. I needed to go to my gym and pump up!

Chapter Three

After I left Lena, I transitioned into the
eagle. I didn’t have a car and walking to my old gym would take
entirely too long. I could feel myself growing stronger, and
sleeker with this art of flying. The wind alone was
exhilarating.

When I arrived at the gym, I noticed the
second floor window was open. I challenged myself and flew into the
small opening. I made it unscathed, but landed hard on the concrete
of the gym, and rolled into the wall like a ton of bricks. I was
dizzy and disoriented, but I found the strength to turn back into
my Mani form.