Blood Awakening (29 page)

Nachari considered the child’s words. “I
understand your frustration, Braden, but do you really think you’re ready to
hunt?”

“Yes!” the kid exclaimed, his face flushing red.

Nachari sighed. “Okay, then tell me this: How well
can you discern a human spirit?”

Braden’s top lip curled up in question.
“What?”

 Nachari held his gaze. “Can you tell evil from good?”

“Yeah, of course. I mean…I think so.”

“You
think so?”

“Yeah, I think so! Why?”

“Because it’s against our laws to take the life of
an
innocent
, Braden. And even if you could identify a completely corrupt
soul—verify that he or she is a predator against other humans—you would have to
be able to isolate the person without being seen, attack so swiftly that they
go down without a struggle, siphon enough blood to insure the kill, and then
harness the necessary energy to incinerate the body. You think you’re ready for
that?”

Braden looked down, dejected, and shook his head. “No,
but I was thinking more like...maybe I could hunt like you.”

“Like me?”

“Yeah, you know, forget the bad guys, just lure
the pretty females.”

Nachari sank back into the cushions and smiled. “Braden—”

“Why not? I mean, you should see when some of us
guys from the academy go into town—man, the human girls flip out!” He reached
into his pocket and pulled out a handful of crumpled-up pieces of paper. “See
this? They’re
phone numbers
, Nachari. Chicks giving
me
their
phone numbers! And I don’t even have to ask.”

Nachari sighed. “Braden, there is no question that
you are a handsome young man.” Far more striking than the child realized,
actually:
thank the gods.
“And even if you weren’t, your vampire DNA
would still attract women to you. It’s a powerful magnet, but the danger is far
too great, especially for someone as inexperienced as you.”

“Oh, ’cause now you think I’m gonna try and have
sex with the female.”

“No,” Nachari argued, “I was speaking in terms of
manipulating kinetic energy and honing your hunting skills, not of having sex—even
dogs can do that. But since you’re bringing it up, do we need to go back over
the consequences of having sex with humans? The fact that pregnancy would
kill
your partner?”

Braden rolled his eyes, clearly irritated. “Have
vampires ever heard of
condoms
?”

Nachari snarled a deep warning. “And if the condom
breaks, she dies. Are you really that reckless—”

“First of all, I’m not like a Dark One. I would
never
speak
a pregnancy into being, knowing what could happen.”

“What
would
happen! And you could kill her
with just your strength alone, Braden! The power of a vampire,
unleashed...unrestrained...you have no idea. Not to mention, you would most
assuredly drain her of every last drop of blood even if you didn’t command a
pregnancy.
I repeat:
you have no idea—
the impulse to bite, the
need to feed, how integral it is to the sex act.”

Braden rolled his eyes.

“Braden?”

The kid huffed.

“
Braden?
”

“What!”

“Are you listening to me?”

He stomped his foot, his lips pursed together in
aggravation. “Yeah…I’m listening.”

“Good, then let’s just say, for the sake of
argument, you go ahead and take one of those phone numbers out of your pocket—give
a human girl a call. The next thing you know, the two of you are sitting on a
bench somewhere, maybe side-by-side at the movies, and she whispers in your ear…or
rubs up against you…or has a few too many buttons undone on her blouse: As sure
as the sun sets in the west, every cell in your body will ache to drain her, right
then and there, and we’re not even talking about being in some bedroom
half-undressed. Trust me, Braden, you are not ready.”

“Nachari,” Braden sighed, throwing up his hands,
“I’m not—”

“You’re damn straight you’re not!” Nachari
snapped, his fangs beginning to advance in his mouth. “You’re fifteen years
old, Braden. And while our species might mature faster than humans, you have had
less than one year to adapt. Not to mention, a human female? Fifteen years old?
That’s a child! With great power comes great responsibility—”

“Damn!” The kid was practically jumping up and
down now. “
Nachari!
”

Nachari stared a hole right through him. “What?”

“I’m not even thinking about having sex.
Sheesh!
I wasn’t even gonna call anyone.”

Nachari looked at him warily. “Then why are you
holding onto those numbers?”

Tears of frustration welled up in the boy’s eyes, which
clearly made him even more upset. “Because it makes me feel good”—he crossed
his arms and hunched his shoulders—“about myself. Okay?”

Nachari met his gaze.

Braden sighed and turned away. “Did it ever occur
to you that it might be kind of nice to think that—
maybe somewhere—
someone
sees me as better at something? Here, everything I do sucks. I’m like the worst
vampire ever, no matter how hard I try. But to humans, I’m like a god. So yeah,
I hang out with them sometimes, and yeah, I like it when the girls flirt with
me. But I’m not stupid enough to try and have sex. Geez. You think I don’t know
that I would probably suck at that, too? How much humiliation is one guy
supposed to take? I just wish I could feed from human females instead of always
having to take from you and my dad…
that’s all
. Forget it, already.” He
sat down on the floor and crossed his legs, fighting to keep his tears at bay.

Nachari felt like an idiot. He ran his hands
through his thick mane of hair and took a deep breath. “Hey…Braden…I’m sorry, all
right? I didn’t know you felt that way.”

Braden shrugged. “Forget it.”

Nachari shook his head. “You know, the last time I
checked, you and Marquis were getting along pretty well, and if I recall, he said
he was going to help you start working out—teach you a few weapons.”

“Yeah, so.”

“And if I recall, you were also feeling pretty
good about everything you did to help save Jocelyn from Tristan and Willie—which
means saving Nathaniel and Storm, too.” He looked at Braden and smiled. “And I
must admit: You
have
been dressing like a righteous warrior instead of
a... throw-back from the Dracula era.
Major improvement
.”

Braden laughed then.

“…which we’ve all been pleased with. So when did
all that change?”

Braden shook his head. “I guess it hasn’t. I mean,
I can’t wait to hang out with Marquis sometime—although I’m kind of scared he’s
gonna try and fry me with some lightning again if I mess up.
When I mess up
.
But I do like my new wardrobe.” He smiled and raised his chin. “It is
righteous, isn’t it?”

“Absolutely,” Nachari replied.

“I just...it’s just…man, you feed from like five
or six females at once when you hunt, and you don’t kill any of them. I just
wish I could do that, too.”

Nachari smiled then. “You will one day, Braden,
just not right now. You forget, I’ve been a vampire four-hundred ninety-nine
years longer than you, and I spent four-hundred of those years at the Romanian
University studying to become a Master. I feed from females because I prefer
the softer taste of their blood. And I use so many because I don’t want to hurt
any one individual by taking too much. And you’re right: I’d rather seduce
pretty women than kill evil men—just my preference—but it takes a lot of
concentration to put someone under a trance, bite a female and not take her…or kill
her, know when to stop siphoning, and replace her memories with something else.
I wouldn’t do it if I wasn’t absolutely sure of my control.”

Braden cocked his head to the side. “So, are you
telling me that you
never
go all the way with any of the females?” He smirked.

Nachari shrugged. “All the way where, Braden?” He waved
his hand, dismissing the question. “Gentlemen don’t kiss and tell, son.” He
patted the sofa next to him. “Now then, I think part of the reason you’re
getting so upset is, truly, because you need to feed.” He pointed at the
leather-bound tome sitting on the couch next to him and picked it up. “Do you
see this book?”

Braden’s eyes grew wide as he leaned forward to take
a closer look. “What is it?”

“It’s the
Blood Canon: the Ancient
Book
of Black Magic.
It’s the Bible for those who practice Dark Magic. I took it
from Salvatore’s lair.”

Braden’s mouth flew open.

“Do you know how important that secret is, Braden?
In fact, you are the only person I’ve told so far.”

Braden’s entire countenance changed. His features
came alive. His shoulders, once again, fell back, and he held his head up high.
“Cool!”

“Yes,
very cool
. And I’m going to look a
few things up right now…in absolute silence…because I need to concentrate. And
I have a hunch or two.” He pointed at the sofa beside him. “And you, my young
warrior, are going to come feed without any embarrassment whatsoever. Think
about it this way: Our power is in the blood we consume, right?”

“Yeah, so?”

“Then you are not consuming the substance of a
weak human but of a Master Wizard. So take advantage of the opportunity while
you have it. I am never too ashamed to take from my brothers if I need it, nor are
they ashamed to take from me. Do you understand?”

Braden nodded, and Nachari could see the wheels
turning in his head as he weighed the possibilities. He walked over to the
couch with as much stealth as he could—for a boy who was a bit challenged when
it came to being smooth—and knelt down on the floor in front of Nachari.

Nachari avoided eye contact in an attempt to
preserve the young man’s dignity. He pulled the book onto his lap, cradled it
with his right arm, and laid his left hand, palm facing up, on the couch for the
kid. “Go for it, buddy,” he murmured, opening the book with his free hand.

Braden took Nachari’s forearm in both hands and
struck a deep, clean blow. He was getting much better at biting, leaving far
less of a mess to clean up. Nachari feigned a wince. “Ouch!”

Braden snarled with satisfaction and began taking
long, drugging pulls from the wizard’s arm.

He switched them.

Braden’s telepathic voice was barely a whisper in
Nachari’s mind, his mouth still firmly attached to the wizard’s arm.

Excuse me?
Nachari asked.

He switched them,
Braden repeated.
Salvatore:
He switched the women.

Nachari looked up from the passage he was reading
in the dark text, and his heart skipped a beat. He stared at the young kid next
to him and regarded his keen eyes. What Braden had just said surpassed the
insight of a typical vampire. To divine such a thing was...well, unheard
of...especially from a fifteen-year-old, use-to-be-human novice.

Nachari’s curiosity piqued.

He had already come to the same conclusion,
but he was curious to know how Braden had determined
such a thing.
Explain yourself,
he coaxed.

Braden slowed his siphoning, released the suction-hold
he had made with his mouth, and slowly withdrew his fangs from Nachari’s arm.
His body swayed gently to the left as he tried to stand, still a tad bit drunk
from the heady substance.

Nachari caught him by the arm and eased him down
onto the couch. As a stream of bright red blood trickled down his forearm, he
realized the boy had forgotten to seal the wounds: Okay, so Braden’s brilliance
was case-specific. Releasing his own incisors, he raised his arm to his mouth
and dripped venom over the puncture wounds to seal them closed.

“My bad,” Braden slurred.

Nachari smiled and steered him right back to the previous
subject. “What you just said, Braden, about Salvatore—explain.”

Braden wiped his mouth with the back of his hand
and leaned toward the book.

“Do not touch it,” Nachari warned.

Braden nodded and pointed to a circled stanza. “Read
this.”

Nachari read it aloud in its original Romanian
form:
“Lumina lui Dumnezeu atunci când apare
în
ceruri pentru a apela mai departe de sânge luna, umbra lui se stârni în abis.”

And then, a
s if he had
been born to the language, Braden interpreted the passage:
“When the
light god arises in the heavens to call forth the Blood Moon, his shadow shall
stir in the Abyss.”

Nachari was impressed as he continued: “
În
cazul în care lumină şi întuneric, împreună fi turnat, sânge
torturaţi în nevinovăţie, sigilat, prin oferirea de ars; numele
Sfintei se stornează.”

“Should the light and the dark be poured out
together, blood tortured in innocence, sealed through burnt offering; the name
of the holy shall be reversed,” Braden repeated in English.