The Comanche Vampire (32 page)

Ned
put his hand over the gaping wound in his gut and although it came away stained
red, he thought it had grown smaller.
 
He
managed to sit up.
 
Anne scrambled to put
her arm behind his back in an effort to support him.
 
“You shouldn’t move, Ned,” she said. “I don’t
want you to die.
 
I love you.”

He
grunted. “I love you too and I’m not dying.
 
I can’t.”

Anne
pulled the blanket he still wore around his shoulders and folded it into a
square.
 
She pressed it against his
abdomen and held him tight against her. “Of course you can, and you will if we
don’t get some help.
 
Ned, please stop
talking and give me my phone.”

With
one swift motion he pitched it into the tall grasses and she shrieked. Then he
locked her hand applying pressure in place so she couldn’t chase after it.
 
“I’m cold, Anne,” he said. “Hold me tight and
it’ll be fine.”

Maybe
his calm tone swayed her or perhaps she considered the possibility he might be
a vampire as a reality. Or she gave up trying to save his life.
 
Ned wasn’t sure which but Anne made no
attempt to retrieve the phone and she hugged him tight.
 
Although she still wept, she made no more
pleas to him and he sat still.
 
Although
he hadn’t been injured this much since the night he became a vampire and tried
to end his life, Ned thought he could feel his flesh healing, the sinews
knitting back together, and the wound drawing shut.
 
The pain diminished until it was nothing but
an echo of the original agony and although he felt very weak, he never doubted
he’d be fine within the hour.

Ned
lost track of how long they sat in silence.
 
In the distance, the herd grazed as if nothing happened and the light
sleet stopped.
 
He shivered with cold
when the wind gusted fierce and frigid.
 
When he did, Anne moved until she sat behind him, her legs on either
side of his body and her arms tight as they applied pressure to his belly.
 

After
a while, she said in the calmest tone since the cow gored him, “I think the
bleeding’s slowed or stopped.
 
The
blanket doesn’t feel like the blood’s soaking through.
 
I’d almost swear it’s frozen or dried.”

“Probably
is,” Ned answered. “Check it.
 
It should
be healed up by now.”

Anne
clicked her tongue in disagreement. “That’s impossible, but if the bleeding’s stopped,
maybe I can get you to the truck and to the hospital.
 
I’m surprised you haven’t passed out.
 
You’ve lost a lot of blood, Ned.
 
You’re going to need a transfusion, stitches
if not surgery, and a lot of rest.”

“All
I need is some blood.
 
I’ll be fine.”

Anne
planted a swift kiss on his lips. “You will be, once you get some medical
attention.
 
I thought you’d go into shock
by now, but you’re tough.
 
I’m still
worried, though.”

“Don’t
be. Take a look at it.”
 

She
nodded and pulled the blanket away with slow caution.
 
Anne gasped with a harsh sound. “Ned!”

He
figured it had healed or come close enough that she couldn’t deny it.

“What
is it?”

“This’ll
sound crazy but it’s barely a scratch now.” She ran her fingers over his flesh
and glanced up at him, brow knitted and mouth downturned in a frown. “It looked
a lot worse earlier.
 
Now it’s hardly
anything. I don’t understand.”

“It
was a bad wound,” Ned said with gentle patience. “If I wasn’t a vampire, I
would’ve died out here.
 
No matter how
hard you tried to save me, even if you got an ambulance or helicopter, I’d have
been dead in minutes.
 
I can’t die,
honey, or I’d be dead now.”

Anne’s
face lost all color and she appeared paler than he had.
 
“I must’ve been mistaken,” she said in a
hoarse whisper. “I became upset and thought it was worse than it was, that’s
all.
 
I’m glad I was wrong.”

“You
weren’t.” Ned held up the blood stained blanket.
 
It had been soaked through.
 
He pointed to the earth where red puddled all
around him.
 
He lifted his hands, also
stained. “Look at your clothes, Anne. You’re covered in my blood.
 
It couldn’t have come from a little scrape or
scratch.”

“I
can’t understand.” He’d never seen her eyes this wide or filled with such
shock.

“You
don’t want to accept the truth.” Ned stood up, a little woozy, a lot
dizzy.
 
A fast infusion of blood in short
order would fix anything else wrong but the trouble was, he wasn’t likely to
come across an easy donor.
 
He couldn’t
use Anne because it would be the third bite if he did and he wouldn’t unless
she fully grasped what it would mean. “We need to go before a park ranger or
someone shows up.
 
No one else should be
out here, but you never know and I don’t feel like making explanations.”

She
shook her head, as it’d clear her confusion.
 
Anne stared at the bloody ground. “We can’t clean this mess up, though.”

“Leave
it.
 
We can dump the clothes and wash at
my house, but let’s get out of here before we’re trying to explain something
impossible.”

“Can
you walk?” she asked and he nodded.

“Sure,
I think so.
 
I’m
kinda
weak but good.”

“I’ll
help you.”
 
Anne steadied him with one
arm and he leaned on her a little as they made a slow trek back to his
truck.
 
His earlier pain had yielded to a
slight headache and a powerful weakness.
 
“Can you drive?” she asked when they reached the vehicle.
 

Ned
nodded. “Yeah, it’s not far.
 
Get in.”

After
a moment’s hesitation she did and he headed home to face the questions, but
despite his physical condition Ned thought for the first time maybe Anne would
accept the truth.
 
How could she not in
the face of such evidence?

Chapter Sixteen

Anne
remained silent on the way back to his place but she kept close.
 
Despite their bloodstained garments, she sat
as near Ned as possible.
 
Her left hand
rested on his thigh the way it often did but she let it roam, touching his
belly, his arms, anywhere she could.
 
He
figured it must be an effort to reassure herself he remained whole and
well.
 
What she’d seen, his gut ripped
wide open, had to have been disturbing and she seemed shell shocked by the
ordeal.
  
He made no effort to talk, too
aware that she’d need time to process and understand, if she could or would.

The
trauma he’d suffered had almost healed, but it’d left him light-headed and with
an urgent need for blood.
 
As soon as he
parked the truck behind the house, Ned sent Anne inside to change and staggered
out to the corrals.
 
He caught
Taabe
, his
stallion, and plunged his fangs into his throat.
 
Rich, hot lifeblood filled his mouth and he
resisted an urge to drain the animal.
 
Although he didn’t care for the taste, ranker by far than human, Ned
needed it too much to complain.
 
He took
more than twice his usual amount while the horse fidgeted.
 
Under usual conditions
Taabe
didn’t notice if he bit him,
but Ned had to hold him steady so he wouldn’t bolt.

After
he’d finished, he spat to clear his mouth and leaned against the fence for a
moment.
 
As the warmth of what he’d drank
coursed through his veins, his strength surged back.
 
The dizziness departed and Ned’s body
restored.
 
He stripped off his stained
garments and the blanket but he didn’t leave them outside.
 
The blood would draw predators, but he’d burn
them later.
 
For now, he carried them
into the kitchen and tossed them into a trash bag. A fresh pot of coffee sat on
the counter with two cups ready.
 
“Anne?”

“I’m
in here.” Her voice floated from the bedroom, uncertain and soft. “Are you
okay?”

“Yeah,
I’m good.
 
I’m
comin
’
in there.”

Naked,
he walked into the room and found Anne dressing.
 
Her damp hair and the powerful aroma of
shampoo told him she’d showered.
 
Her
dirty clothes lay on the floor.
 
He
watched as she pulled a long-sleeved blouse over her head and turned toward
him.
  
Anne’s gaze riveted to his
abdomen, the smooth, unbroken skin.
 
She
moved toward him and stopped less than a foot away.
 
Anne stretched out one hand and touched him,
rubbed across the area she’d seen damaged.
 
Her expression combined wonder, worry, and confusion.
 
“You’re fine,” she whispered. “You’re not
hurt at all.
 
But I saw the wounds where
the buffalo gored you.
 
You were bleeding
a lot and I think I saw your intestines.
 
I thought you were dying, Ned, but now I can’t even see a mark.
 
I must be overtired or I got carried away or
something.”

“You
know you didn’t.” If any woman possessed a level head and didn’t rattle easy,
it was Anne. “You saw exactly what you think.
 
All the blood came out of me but it’s healed.”

“How?”
Anne trembled as she spoke but he didn’t think she shook with cold but fear.

Ned
opened his arms and she stepped into his embrace.
 
He wrapped her tight against him. “I don’t
know exactly how but it’s been this way since I became a vampire.
 
The night it happened, I tried to kill myself
and the same thing occurred.
 
I bled, but
the wounds vanished like nothing had happened.
 
You’ve got to believe me, now.
 
I
am a vampire, honey, and I’m sorry. I wish I wasn’t, but I wouldn’t be around
if I was still human so I’m glad, too.”

“Oh,
Ned,” Anne said.
 
Her words came out
muffled against his shoulder. “It’s true, then? You’re a vampire?”

“Think
back,” he said, as a sick ball of regret settled deep within. “If you do,
you’ll realize the evidence was there.
 
Remember the blood drive or the times you thought I wasn’t feeling well
or looked too pale? I needed blood, Anne.
 
Like I told you, I’m
Pea’hocso
, not his
great-grandson or whatever.”

Anne
took a step backward and looked up, eyes glittering with tears, her expression
taut with anguish.
 
Ned waited and
watched, almost able to see her brain working to recall.
 
Various emotions fluttered across her
features.
 
After what seemed like a very
long time, Anne sighed.

“I
can see it,” she said, voice devoid of emotion or tone. “I think I might even
believe it, but I can’t do this right now.
 
I need time to think it through, to process all this.
 
This isn’t like finding out you’re married or
you were in prison once.
 
Those would be
big things, yes, but this is huge.”

It’s over.
 
Ned
knew it.
 
He’d expected it but he hadn’t
thought it would hurt so much.
 
“So what
now?” he asked, surprised he could ask the question without breaking down.

“I
need to go home.” Anne met his gaze without flinching.
 
She cupped his cheek with one hand. “I’ve got
to think and I need some space.
 
Ned, I
love you, so much, but I have to spend some time alone and decide if I can
handle this reality.”

“So
you’re leaving.”

She
nodded. “Yes, I have to, Ned.
 
And when I
know how I feel, I’ll let you know.”

Ned
didn’t believe she would.
 
He’d never
hear from her again.
 
She would avoid the
casino and if they ran into one another by chance, it would be awkward.
 
“All right,” he told her.
 
His chest ached as if someone had driven a
spear into his heart.
 
“I’ll be here,
when or if you want to find me.
 
I love
you, honey.”

“I
know,” she breathed.
 
She stood up on
tiptoe to kiss his mouth, a slow, lingering kiss he treasured and then, before
he could say anything else or hold her one more time, Anne turned and walked
out.
 
Ned listened as she paused in the
kitchen to grab her purse, heard the jingle of her car keys as she opened the
back door.
 
He didn’t move until he heard
her car start and then stepped to the window.
 
He watched her drive away and when the vehicle wasn’t visible any
longer, he went into the kitchen.
 
With
routine movements, he poured coffee into one of the waiting cups.
 
He carried both mugs to the table and sipped
the brew.
 
It tasted bitter on his tongue
now but he thought it must be emotion, not flavor.