Blood Legacy (PULSE Vampire Series #6) (3 page)

“It’s okay,” said Stuart. “I’ve been there. I’ve felt that hunger before. Whatever happened to you – you’re not a vampire. You’re fine in sunlight, for starters. It’s probably just some weird Life’s Blood effect – you can still eat human food, right?”

Kalina nodded. Cheeseburgers weren’t quite as tasty as they had been a year ago, but she could certainly force them down.

“Then it’s probably not a full-force craving. Just a weird holdover from the vampire part of you. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t hard…” Stuart patted her hand.

“Stuart, you came just in time to say goodbye.” Kalina took a deep breath. She hated to hurt him more than she had to. “I’m going back. To Europe, I mean. Or Asia. Wherever Octavius and Max are. This…thing that’s happening to me – with the hunger and all. I need to deal with it, and I need to deal with what’s going on.”

“I see.” She could see the flicker of disappointment in Stuart’s eyes. Had he been hoping that she’d take him back. “Then that’s what you have to do.”

He took a step back, and Kalina’s blush spread across her face.

How could she bear causing him so much pain?

Chapter 2

K
alina had managed to regain her self-control. While she couldn’t tear her eyes away from Stuart’s pulsing, gaping wound, she had at least managed to keep her fangs firmly within her mouth. She looked down at the ground as intently as she could, not wanting either Stuart or Justin to see the slight protrusion of her lips where the fangs now poked out.

“You’re not going to eat
me
, are you?” Justin was asking in a small voice. “I mean, this hunger you have…”

“I think it’s only for turned vampires,” Kalina lied. “Definitely not for you.” This was mostly true – to her relief, Justin’s blood smelled far less delicious to her than Stuart’s. If she was going to want to eat somebody, she reasoned, at least that somebody wasn’t her brother. “But Stuart, your wound...” She made a concerted effort not to let herself look at it directly. “How did you get it? Are you injured?”

Stuart said nothing at first, but only coughed and colored slightly.

“Stuart, what is it?” Kalina pressed.

Stuart sighed. “It looks like being a human again after so many years has a couple of disadvantages. One of them being that I can’t fight off vampires as easily as I used to.”

“You were attacked?” Kalina raised an eyebrow. She’d heard of resentful vampires seeking out the ones turned human by Life’s Blood. Back when the Consortium was fully operational, Octavius had been able to sort out former Carriers and their vampire loves with new lives, new identities, hidden from the possibility of vampire attack. But she and Stuart had no such luxury.

“It was…strange,” said Stuart slowly. “Feeling like that. Like prey. I was so used to feeling powerful, feeling strong. Preying on others. Now, for the first time, I know what it feels like to be hunted like an animal.”

Kalina slipped her hand in his. “Now we both know what it feels like,” she said. “To be in the other one’s shoes.”

“I fought them off as well as I could,” said Stuart. “I may not have vampire skills, but I have six hundred years of experience. And that counted for something – although I didn’t quite get away unscathed.”

“I’m sorry,” Kalina said. “I shouldn’t have left you behind. I should have made sure you were safe.”

“You couldn’t have known,” said Stuart softly. “Even I didn’t expect it. I suppose I thought once you and I…well…” he flushed pink, “Once your blood lost its power to turn vampires, I imagined it wouldn’t have quite a strong scent – fewer vampires would pick up on it. But as long as you’re…”

Kalina sighed. She hated the idea that her virginity was implicitly tied into the scent of her blood – that every one of the lascivious vampires who came to try to taste her could
smell
whether or not she’d had sex. The idea disgusted her. She didn’t want to give up her power to turn vampires, but she wasn’t sure she liked the rules of this particular deal. Clearly whoever created Life’s Blood had quite an antiquated view of women, she scowled.

“I guess I still smell like fresh meat,” Kalina sighed. “I swear, at this point I’m almost ready to just get it over with so vampires stop sniffing around me like…”

She looked up at Stuart and Justin, who were staring at her with shocked faces. “Never mind.”

“It wouldn’t matter, anyhow,” said Stuart. “I smell of you now. The Life’s Blood that you gave me is in my blood. Your lingering scent is enough for any vampire to track me down.”

“Well, we can’t leave you alone…” Justin strode over and patted Stuart on the shoulder. “You need protection. And you know, I’m a Carrier now.” He stuck his chest out proudly. “Not a real one, of course – but Max put her Life’s Blood in me.”

Stuart instinctively sniffed the air, then stopped, confused. “I can’t smell it anymore,” he admitted. “You just smell like dirty laundry to me.”

Kalina bit back a small smile.

“Can we book another ticket, Kal?” Justin turned to Kalina. “Take him with us? He’ll be safe there.”

Kalina hesitated a moment before answering. She knew as well as Justin did that they couldn’t just leave Stuart alone – not if he was still a target for vampires looking to drain him of the few drops of Life’s Blood he had in his system. But she’d been so looking forward to a fresh start – to getting away from the confusion that dulled her brain and yet heightened her senses. She’d needed time away from Stuart – to think, to come to terms with herself. She hated this physical attraction to him – the sheer force of her desire of his blood – that mingled with her knowledge, deep down, that she could not love him the way he deserved to be loved. The knowledge of her heart warring with the knowledge of her blood.

But that, it seemed, was not to be. “Of course we can,” said Kalina, gritting her teeth. “But what about your dreams, Stuart? What about seminary? Staying here?”

“It’s not safe,” said Stuart, “and in any case – whatever you’re doing, I can’t not be a part of it. I…care for you too much to let you risk your life without my help.” His voice was shaking, and Kalina’s heart ached for it. It was so clear that he loved her, even now; the force of his adoration floored her. How could she bear it? This longing, this desire…how could she bear the guilt of not being able to love him in return? Oh, why couldn’t she just be
normal
, settle into normalcy, forget Jaegar, forget Octavius, forget the desires that scrambled her brain and set her blood afire.

“Book a ticket?” Stuart raised an eyebrow. “But why ever would you do that? We can take my jet.”

“What?!” Justin nearly leaped out of his skin. “Private jet.”

“It’s amazing what a few-hundred-year-old investments can do. That’s a
lot
of time to collect interest.” Stuart grinned modestly. “I’m lucky enough to be able to live out the remainder of my days with a small fortune – well, a large fortune, rather. I’ve never wanted to spend it before – after all, when you’re supposed to be alive for all eternity, you want to make sure you don’t run out, so I’ve been living on the investment income. But now I probably haven’t got more than eighty or ninety years ahead of me – if that – so I might as well get to spending it!”

“It would appear that Stuart and Jaegar bought up some cheap property when they first arrived in America almost two hundred years ago,” said Kalina to Justin. “Bought it for almost nothing at the time. Now, of course, that property happens to be located in New York City…”

Justin’s eyes opened wide. “How come Jaegar never told us about the jet? We had to fly commercial last time we went to Mongolia.”

Stuart couldn’t resist a smile. “Being the boring, organized one has its advantages. Jaegar spent all of his share of the profits on women and luxury hotel rooms. Me, I invested wisely. I’ve been running the business for years.” He couldn’t help turning to Kalina. “It’s not all bad being a nice guy,” he said. “We get things done.” He took Kalina’s hand in his. “My sweet,” he said, “I may not be a vampire any longer, but I hate the idea that I might be useless to you. I want to do whatever I can to make you happy, and that means putting my resources at your disposal Physical, financial, or otherwise. Whatever you need to make your life work – I’m here.”

Justin pulled out his phone, his fingers twiddling furiously. “So I’ll just cancel those economy class tickets, shall I? I wonder if they do full refunds…” He went over to Stuart. “Well, I can’t say I’d have minded having
you
for a brother-in-law! Do you
know
the interest rates on my student loans?”

“Justin!” Kalina turned bright red. She knew Justin was just trying to lighten an awkward situation, but his making light of her romantic indecision made her embarrassed. It was hard enough having to make these decisions without being constantly reminded of them.

“It would have been nice,” Stuart conceded. He did not look at Kalina.

“He was always my favorite, sis,” said Justin blithely, completely oblivious to the fact that his words made Kalina want the floor to open up and swallow her whole. “You can’t beat a total gentleman who’s willing to charter you out on a private jet.”

“Guess you can’t!” Kalina rolled her eyes. She loved her brother, but he sure could be clueless when it came to matters of tact.

“Protecting you, standing by you – even cooking for you! Hell, I
enjoyed
those meals. I hope you still cook, Stuart.’

“Justin…” Kalina’s voice sounded a warning note.

“I’ll still cook for you,” Stuart was responding with a genial smile.

“I feel a certain sympathy for you, Stuart,” said Justin. “I know what it’s like to be the nice guy.”

“From one nice guy to another,” Stuart slapped Justin on the shoulder, “I thank you.”

“I
get it
, Justin!” Kalina couldn’t stop herself from shouting, her cheeks turning bright crimson. She was about to say, “Apparently I picked the wrong brother. Got it. Everybody should just
move the hell on
!”

She stopped herself before the hurtful words came out, covering her mouth with her hands. She had never lost her temper like this before – especially not with Justin or with one of the men she loved. Apparently this new vampire nature came with a new vampire temper.

“Uh, sorry,” she said.

She’d have to learn to control that, too. A few months ago, she’d have laughed off Justin’s jokes as the lame attempt at lightening the mood they were. But things were different now. She felt a deep guilt at not being able to love Stuart the way he loved her – and being reminded of just how good he was, just how kind, how special, only made everything harder. Why couldn’t she just love him – just settle down and stay with him and forget the way Jaegar made her tremble, the way Octavius made her swoon.

Stuart walked them over to his car. “The Rutherford Airfield is only a few minute’s drive from here,” he said. His face was happier than Kalina had ever seen it. Although in his eyes she could still discern the sadness he felt at her loss, Stuart nevertheless seemed more full of genuine joy as a human than he had ever been as a vampire. That sad, haunted look in his eyes – the look of agony as he constantly struggled to repress his desires, to forget what he had done – had vanished.

He bowed slightly, a smile spreading over his face. “My chariot awaits, m’lady.” It was just a joke, but as he spoke Kalina saw through the traces of the modern-day Stuart she had come to know. This was the human Stuart – hundreds of years old – once a valiant knight on the battlefields of Medieval England. Years of vampire savagery had not made him forget the chivalry of his age; he was no less noble now than he had been then.

Kalina smiled back. Whether or not he was her true love, she knew, she was sure lucky to have him in her life.