Bloodseeker - Colin's Conquest Part 22

"Joanna?" Colin's voice. She opened her eyes and saw him, bending over to stare into her face. Amazing that he still looked that good.

"Joanna, how do you feel?" She wanted to answer, erase some of the worry from his features but her throat hurt. She pointed at her throat and frowned even more when her stomach rumbled with nausea.

"The queasiness will soon pa.s.s. The weakness will drain from your limbs and you will begin to feel strength seep back into your body. Just as you will feel, or maybe you already have begun to feel, the chill as your basal body temperature drops a few degrees.

It does not seem like much of a drop, but you will feel the difference, and when you have not fed, you will be even colder. But you will grow accustomed to the changes." He hesitated when she began to frown up at him, an obvious question in her eyes.

"What is it, Joanna?"

She licked her lips. "I was someone else."

"Excuse me?"

Joanna motioned for a drink by turning her hand up to her mouth.

"You want a drink of water?"

She shook her head no.

"She wants a c.o.ke." Ben answered for her, and without waiting for an answer he jumped from his chair and retrieved a cola for her.

She beamed at Ben and took the c.o.ke from his hand as she sat up in the bed. She downed it in one swallow. Ah, that fixed her throat.

Colin watched her look at Ben with such adoration and his jealousy flared. What the h.e.l.l? How ridiculous to feel that way. He shook it off, refusing to bow to his insane emotions.

"What was it you said, Joanna?" He hoped his silky words belied his jealous thoughts.

"I was someone else. I was a cave woman. It was not a dream, I am telling you, I was a cave woman. It was dark and I wore furs.

I fed my blood to my mate. I was there."

She blushed, looking down at her lap. "I was raped by my mate on a bed of old musty furs and I enjoyed it! I was there. It was real! I could even smell him, I tell you."

To hide his shock and enflamed jealousy, Colin smiled down at her, stroking her hair away from her face.

"It was only a dream, Jo, only a dream."

Joanna frowned. "I'm telling you, I WAS her. And you know what else? I want another c.o.ke." Her frown deepened as if she were disappointed with herself.

Laughing, he pulled her up and into his arms, relief flooding through his body, jealousy squashed, for now. Holding her slim body close to his own, he sighed and caressed her back, feeling for the first time that he had not made an error in choosing her for his immortal mate. His joy rumbling in his chest, he stood, carrying Joanna off the bed with him.

"Go ahead and get your shower, little one, and dress in your darkest clothes."

Showering with the tap cracked open, the droplets of water pelted her hypersensitive nerve endings like dozens of needles injecting her skin. The thought crossed her mind that in her other life as a cave woman, she had not showered at all. The brightness of the shower light glared in her eyes as she bent back her head to rinse her hair. Determined not to lead the life of a mole, she forced herself to leave the light on and soon, her eyes adjusted to the illumination so that she carried on, as she would've done before ...

before the change.

Staring hard at the mirror, she noticed her golden suntan had faded to the look of winter, the paleness of a six-month case of being house bound.

"I can see myself!" As her absorption in her own reflection waned, the others' voices caught her attention. Without shame she eavesdropped on their conversation, one of the advantages of exceptional hearing.

"Well how old is she?" Ben wanted the truth. Colin stood in front of the bookshelf, his back to Ben. He turned to face him before he spoke.

"She is a second millennial, my young friend. A second millennial is one who has pa.s.sed one thousand years." Ignoring Ben's incredulous expression he continued his story. "She came upon me ... left for dead, bleeding inside and out from open stab wounds.

She lifted me up from the weeds lining the road as if I weighed nothing at all and cradled me in her arms, staring deep into my eyes.

I felt a sharp headache in my forehead, right above my nose. On top of all my other wounds and crippling pain it seemed trivial, though. Her voice soft and husky, her expression filled with love, I gazed up from the security of her embrace into the face of a G.o.ddess or an angel.

"She spoke again. 'You have the headache, yes? You are too beautiful and far too good to die, my darling young man. You must cling to life, you must fight, Colin ... fight to live!' she told me."

Colin left the bookshelf and settled in his favorite armchair, his face blank, hands at his sides, his soul in the distant past as he told his story. Ben couldn't have moved if his life depended on it.

"So forceful and intense, her command, it stirred me from my stupor and I felt a tiny burst of strength rush through my veins. She carried me off the road into the thicket and placed me down on the damp ground. I felt and saw her movements as if detached from my own body, watching from above. She crouched beside me and pulled aside my tattered, b.l.o.o.d.y s.h.i.+rt, then she bent to my chest and sank her teeth into my flesh. I felt the p.r.i.c.k of her fangs, and not long after, all the aches and pains from my injuries vanished. A sense of well-being replaced my agony. As her powerful mouth drew the remaining blood from my veins the world grew darker, all was black.

I heard a faint throbbing in my ears that became fainter and fainter still, and then I heard the angel's voice calling me, telling me to fight. 'Fight to live!' she whispered in my ear. Then, the world was gone."

Ben found the strength to move his uncooperative legs and traverse the room to the chair next to Colin's. Silence filled the room, almost hurting his ears as he waited for Colin to continue. Crossing and re-crossing his legs he almost prompted him to go on, then Colin began again.

"I floated in a gloomy void. A faint light seemed to be s.h.i.+ning somewhere in the distance as if through a long narrow tunnel. I gravitated toward the light, but halfway down the tunnel, I felt an urgent need to turn back and my throat convulsed as I swallowed.

I continued to swallow as though I were drinking even though I had nothing that I knew of in my mouth.

I felt myself falling from a great height. The throbbing in my ears returned, increasing in volume until I could feel the pounding in my own chest. I sensed the damp ground beneath my back and someone's hands on my shoulders, holding me down. I struggled to open my eyes and when I did I saw her face, inches from mine, glowing with happiness as she watched me stir.

My heart swelled with love for her, and she smiled as if she understood. She kissed me then lifted me to my feet. Amazed that I could stand, I glanced down at my body and saw that my wounds began to heal ... the first of many traits that are unique to our nature."

Breaking from his story, he returned to the present and glanced around at his rapt audience. Ben sat motionless in his chair, leaning forward as if to catch every word, his eyes glued to his creator's face. Joanna stood in the doorway, eyes wide, mouth partway open, engrossed in his speech.

Their eyes met and he knew she recalled her own recent metamorphosis. He saw no condemnation in her expression and for that he was pleased, but something had brought a slight frown to her exquisite face and why she frowned, he could not discern.

"If you love her so much, Colin why aren't you with her now?"

Jealousy! He almost laughed out loud but restrained himself. He knew without a doubt that it would anger her to know of his amus.e.m.e.nt.

Taking a deep breath, he stroked his chin and hesitated on purpose, stoking the fires of her jealousy before he responded.

"Well Joanna, every child leaves home at one point or another. Pupils only need the guidance and protection of their creator until they themselves are centenarians, so at least strong enough to remain alive without help."

"I'll never leave you, Colin!"

Colin smiled at Ben and shook his head. "Oh, but you will."

Ben started to deny the fact, but Colin spoke up before he could. "I love you, my dear protege and friend, but I a.s.sure you, when you become old enough to be a creator, you will wish to set out on your own. We are all Alphas, a sad part of our natures as creators, conceit if you will. Just like many other wild creatures, two Alpha males never inhabit the same territory."

"That has been true since the beginning." Joanna frowned when they ignored her. They still believed that she'd been dreaming rather than living the past.

Rising from his chair, Colin stretched his long arms over his head and yawned.

"The day will come when you shall be strong enough to defend yourself against other centenarians, Ben. Then, you will no longer need me." He tried to lighten the mood by smiling and saying, "Plus, you are already conceited enough to be a creator yourself."

"Why would we need protection from others like ourselves?" Of course Joanna would ask that question.

Colin ran his slim fingers through his curls in agitation and moved closer to her, his dark eyes boring into hers. She felt the need growing in him, the thirst gnawing at him and she knew it was his swelling thirst and not her that irritated him. Running his tongue over his dry lips, he flashed her a grin and almost laughed at her shocked expression. He so loved doing the unexpected to her.

"Colin, why do we need protection from the others?" Ben repeated Joanna's question. Dragging his eyes from Joanna's flushed face, Colin answered.

"There is no easy way to answer this question and I had hoped to keep you both s.h.i.+elded from the harsh realities of our world. Not many of our kind know the secret of our lamiartis, our blood seeker's hormone, produced in the pineal gland."

He saw Joanna begin to question him and stopped her before she could even utter a word. "Before you ask, I do not wish to go into that at the present time, just let me a.s.sure you that it is very difficult to find humans that will survive the metamorphosis and those that do are treasured and fought over. So you two are very valuable, not only to me but to the rest of the Alphas who would gladly steal you away and kill me to do it."

Ben's jaw dropped as his visions of one big happy vampire family splintered to pieces. His mind ran amuck with the outpouring of information Colin gave him this evening. He spoke more this evening than he had in the past month totaled!

Colin sighed and went to Joanna's side, her upper arm in his hand to lead her from the room.

"Come. I grow weary. We must hunt."

Her heart leapt to her throat and remained stuck there as he ushered her from the house and into the woods. She balked, but he pulled her along with him through the trees like an unwilling sidecar. Pulling against his iron grip, she wanted to stop and revel in the natural beauty of her surroundings and seek out the busy little night creatures that she heard scurrying about in the underbrush.

Anything to delay the forthcoming hunt.

Amazed at how fast they traveled after her transformation, hours pa.s.sed like minutes and Joanna delighted in everything she saw, everything she heard during their lengthy journey. Slowing his pace as he reached the outskirts of the big city, Colin turned to her.

"Are you ready to hunt, Joanna?"

Her heart raced and the cola in her stomach boiled. She didn't want to murder anyone! Sliding the toe of her shoe back and forth in the dirt along the curb she stalled for time.

"Why didn't we stop at a closer town?"

He knew she stalled, but he smiled and with uncharacteristic patience answered her question anyway.

"People disappear much easier and with fewer questions asked in a city the size of Houston. The crime rate is higher and murders are usually blamed on the gangs and the drug runners. If the puncture wounds are well hidden, we do not even have to dispose of the bodies."

As he spoke, he watched Joanna's face turn an unhealthy shade of yellowish green and his apprehension grew. If she could not kill, she would die. Once again doubt and guilt at having converted her a.s.sailed him. Perhaps it would have been easier for her to die as a human without going through this. He listened for her heart beat and heard how weak it sounded. Her shoulders drooped and she appeared older, and tired ... and hungry.

"Joanna..." She snapped her head towards him. Her features set and expressionless, but at least the green tint of her skin had faded.

"I need to be alone, Colin." His face crumpled with pain at her words and she felt a sharp jab in her chest at his obvious anguish.

"I'm sorry, my love, really I am, but I just want to be alone for a while, please?" Eyes rounded, she gave him a pleading look, then turned and walked away.

"I'll be home before dawn, Colin. Don't worry about me, and please don't follow me."

She said the words from a distance, but she knew he heard. He gave a curt nod and turned away, moving in the opposite direction.

Waiting until she could no longer see his tall lean figure, she stood on the sidewalk, not moving a muscle.Pains now shot through her stomach, a demon inside trying to stab its way out, and her head ached, a nagging throb in her temples and at the base of her neck. Dragging her feet, she walked toward downtown and paused to rest when she reached Commerce.

Few people out at this time of night, and of those that were, it seemed no one paid any attention to the pale, tired-looking woman leaning against the building.

I can never do this. I have to kill myself instead. Occupied by her own morose thoughts, she didn't hear the footsteps of the man as he crept up behind her. The hair on the back of her neck tickled and stood on end seconds before a broad filthy hand clamped over her mouth and a sharp point jabbed into her ribs.

"Scream, and you'll need a toe tag. You got that? We're just gonna step 'round this buildin' for a while. Then, you can go." He propelled her down the alley to the back of the abandoned office building. She stumbled and the point dug into her skin.

"Don't fight me if ya know what's good for ya lady. I've got a real big knife stuck in your purtty ribs and it'd be a shame to split 'em open."

To prove his point, the man p.r.i.c.ked her skin with a sharp jab of the knife and hauled her behind the dilapidated structure. The blood trickled from the tiny wound and her previous amus.e.m.e.nt dissolved into anger, and ... something else. Her nostrils flared, inhaling the scents of his body, his heat, his human essence. Over the unwashed body odor and the rancidness of his alcohol laced breath, the scent of his aliveness filled the air. Her pulse accelerated.

Still holding the knife against her back, he fumbled with his belt and zipper and dropped his pants. Then he pushed his victim to the ground amidst the clutter and garbage of the deserted pa.s.sageway. Grabbing her shoulder to flip her on her back, it dawned on him that she didn't struggle or scream or fight him as his other victims had done. She had not struggled at all.

Something wrong here. Filled with dread, he turned the woman's body over and gasped out loud. She grinned up at him, licking her lips as if she stared at her dinner plate! He recoiled and tried to jump to his feet but he never got the chance. In a flash, she clamped her hand over his open mouth and flipped the two of them over so that she sat on top of him. He flailed, kicking and pus.h.i.+ng against her with all his might, but she never stirred, as immovable as a great oak. She straddled his waist, a slight smile on her lips, waiting for him to tire and cease his struggling.

No longer fighting he laid still, panting beneath the woman he now knew as Death. He didn't cry out when she lowered her head, the sharp fangs glistening in her mouth. He didn't cry out when those fangs punctured the skin on his throat, sinking down to the throbbing artery beneath. When the lights went out and the demons came ... then he cried out.

The taste of his blood lingered on her tongue, reminding her of a freshly installed amalgam dental filling. Touching the tips of her new fang teeth with her fingertips, she felt them shrinking as they retracted into the roof of her mouth. Not the least bit repulsed by what she'd done, she jumped to her feet in one swift movement and dusted off her dark jeans.

Not even pausing to look back at her first victim, she left the alley. As she came around the corner of the building she stopped short, for there stood Colin, leaning against the brick. Staring at his fingernails, he pretended he didn't know she stood there, until she cleared her throat and coughed. He jumped as if her voice startled him and whipped his head up, his face the epitome of vampire innocence.

Spinning on her heel, she turned her back to him so he wouldn't see the smile that she couldn't suppress. Much easier to gain control when she couldn't see his handsome face. Setting her features into her most perturbed expression, she turned around to face him. Feet planted apart, arms crossed in front of her chest, she glared at him.

"Colin! You a.s.s! I asked you not to follow me."

Sheepish, he stared at the ground, kicked an empty beer can and plunged his hands into his slacks pockets.

"Awwww, Jo..." He whined in a hilarious mimicry of a young boy explaining his misbehavior. The sight of such a powerful creature playing the childish role was too much for Joanna to handle. The laughter started and she couldn't stop it. Clutching her diaphragm, she tried to control the riotous belly laughs spewing forth from her small frame and Colin joined in with his own deep melodious laughter, their joyful noise carrying through the near deserted streets.The streets, however, were not deserted as they appeared. The sounds of their merriment reached the ears of one being and this particular being was not at all pleased. On the contrary, the muscles in his jaws clenched and his harsh mouth set into a firm line.

They were too engrossed in each other to even take note of his presence.

Their first mistake.

Twenty-Two

The Others Hear The Call Nikos He followed at a distance, a silent stalker, all the way back to the hidden cabin, deep in the woods. How pathetic, this centenarian, pursued without detection. He knew this one's name, the female at his side shouted it with total abandon, a joyful song inside her mind playing over and over. Such an open book, never taught to keep her thoughts to herself. Oh but she was a siren as well. Her body called to him and he would have her.

'Colin', his new adversary, his next victim. What a quaint little love nest they kept hidden in the piney woods. d.a.m.n shame it would be an empty nest soon and he, Nikos would finally have the mate he deserved.

Nikos slipped away from the concealed lair and made his way back through the forest. What a perfect spot this centenarian chose for his home, this territory uncharted but still close to his city full of food ready for the taking. Maybe he should move here as well.

With Colin out of the way, no one would be there to stop him, not that they could any way. First, he must find out more about this weak centenarian, Colin. Underestimating him would be a big mistake, one only made by the foolish. Nikos did not think of himself as one of the foolish.

The angry growl stopped him in his tracks. Hair rising on the back of his neck he hesitated before turning, almost afraid to see the source. The deep throaty growl sounded again, right behind him and he spun around, his long black hair flowing across his face, covering his eyes. Slapping himself in his haste to clear his vision he tossed the hair out of his face with a trembling hand to stand face to face with the largest wolf he'd ever seen.

His hand hung immobile by his tingling chin like a broken robotic arm, a testament to his nervousness. With the slowest movement he could manage he lowered his arm to his side, the slight stirring of his fingers the only indication of his agitation. The last thing he wanted to do was startle this enormous beast. His gaze fixed on the sharp teeth ... long pointed canines, the ebony lips drawn back to expose glistening ribbed gums and those s.h.i.+ny, barbed fangs. A drop of pink-tinged saliva dripped from the beast's jaws and its cold dark eyes bored into him, not wavering for a moment from his astonished face.