BloodGifted (6 page)

I nodded
and drank. It was normal for an
Ingenii
to learn of their dark heritage on the night of their fiftieth birthday. ‘Then I’ll need to get going soon. There’s a lot more traffic on the road this time of the year.’

‘Yes, yes, I know so we’d better get to the Ritual.
We don’t want a challenger. You must remain Princeps. I’ve consulted with the other Elders and we’ve decided to change the order of events. The Ritual will be first, to secure her bond with you, followed by the usual festivities. I want my daughter safe.’

It made sense. There was always the possibility someone could try to kidnap her before the public affirmation and cause anoth
er war. Until last night only a handful of trusted people had known of her existence. Now, with her coming-of-age, her very blood proclaimed her alive and well. Her scent was strong enough to draw blood drinkers within a ten mile radius, and word would spread from there.

‘When are you going to tell her who her real
parents are? She should know—now especially,’ I said.

‘After the ceremony. Judy and I thought, perhaps, you could persuade her to
stay the night—here—and we would tell her everything. It’s time. But till then, we still have to be careful. She’s
Ingenii
with vampire blood in her. Who knows how powerful such a combination can be. So far, she’s shown no signs of anything out of the ordinary.’ He shrugged, rose and walked over to the photographs hanging on the wall space between the bookcases. Each one showed a picture of Laura, from her infancy till the present. He doted on her, even though she had no knowledge of him. ‘I don’t want to think what could happen at the Ritual if the Brethren were to find out. We could face several challenges.’

‘You won’t be able to hide it for long.
If those photographs are anything to go by, she’s the spitting image of you.’

‘I know,’ he sighed. ‘Bring her here around seven-thirty on Monday, will you? I’ll be waiting.’

‘What about John and Eilene?’ Judith’s brother and sister-in-law had looked after Laura since she’d been a baby and in many ways they were her parents also.

‘They’ll be there. Laura and John have become quite close.’ There was a dark note in his voice.

‘What did you expect? She knows him as her father and he’s been there the whole time when she needed a father. Don’t hold it against him. After all, it was you who begged him to take her when she was a baby.’ Maybe I spoke too sharply. I saw him stiffen. ‘Forgive me, Luc. You and Judith faced a dreadful situation and you had no other choice.’

‘No, you’re right. John and Eilene are her parents as well. They were there for her. I owe them much.’

It was time for me to leave. I emptied the bottle and left it sitting on Luc’s desk, then made my way back down the stairs and to my car. Within thirty minutes I was driving down the ramp that led to the secure parking area of the Pitt Street apartments where I lived. It was easier to leave the car there and walk than try to find a parking spot in the city.

It didn’t take l
ong for me to get to St Andrews. I walked at the supernatural speed of my kind and to passers by I was simply a blur, a light breeze that wafted past them. And there in the cool confines of that imposing sandstone structure, I waited for Laura Dantonville.

Chapter 4

Meeting a Vampire

LAURA

Christmas was only two weeks away and the streets thronged with eager shoppers. My aunt dropped me off in the large open court in front of St Andrews Cathedral, a popular meeting point in the city.

‘Aren’t
you coming in with me?’

‘No dear,’ she hesitated.
‘I can’t. This is now between you and Alec. It might be awkward my sitting there and listening.’

‘For you or for him?’

‘For you, dear. There are some personal details the two of you will be discussing. You wouldn’t want me there.’ Aunt Judy patted my hand. ‘Go in, dear. He’s waiting.’

I took a deep breath and opened the car door.

‘Laura dear,’ she said just before I stepped out. ‘You have absolutely nothing to fear. Alec is here to protect you.’

A vampire is going to protect me from other vampires. Great!

I made my way through the crowds to the main entrance of the cathedral. Before leaving I’d asked Matt if he could pick me up after the Cricket. I’d told him Aunt Judy wanted me to meet an old friend, saying she was happy to brave the traffic.

It was the least she could do
, I thought.

Matt was fine with that arrange
ment. Besides, he didn’t want to miss the match. Apparently, he and Dad had a bet going. But really, how could I possibly repeat what I’d just learnt from my aunt? I was still grappling with it all myself.

I pushed open the heavy glass doors and stepped into the cool, dark recess. The scent of old polished wood rose from the rows of pews stretching the length of the nave. To my left, a well-worn
, stone-paved path led past them and through the length of the interior, while a shallow ramp on my right disappeared into a semi-concealed alcove ringed with high-backed wooden chairs.

Which way?
If in doubt, follow the yellow-brick road
, I thought. Turning left I followed the stone-path down the aisle.
What on earth am I doing here
? I asked myself.
Meeting a vampire,
came the daft answer.

‘He will find you
,’ my aunt had said. Right now, I didn’t know if I wanted to be found. The truth is, I was nervous and even a little afraid searching for an unnatural creature in a gothic building.

How appropriate
.
All I need is for the cathedral organ to start playing creepy music!

At least I wasn’t totally alone. Her
e and there a few people milled around, even though most were outside grabbing that last minute Christmas bargain as shopping hours had been extended. It was only about nine p.m. In the balcony at the end of the nave a choir was rehearsing
The Messiah
. I’m sure they’d hear me scream if this Alec Munro proved less benign than the impression my aunt gave. Why didn’t I bring Matt? I should have simply ignored her warning and dragged him along anyway.

I followed the stone
path to the back entrance, around the massive sandstone baptismal font and up the other side. Every now and then the Choir Master stopped the singers mid-note for a correction before continuing their rehearsal. Three Christmas trees, bedecked with massive gold bows, had been positioned on either side of the communion table, while an impressive green wreath hung from the edge of the elevated pulpit.

I reali
zed that the stone path I’d followed led to the small chair-lined alcove I’d originally noticed on entering. It was separated from the aisle by an ornately carved wooden partition, and there, leaning nonchalantly against the narrow opening, arms crossed over his chest stood a tall, broad-shouldered, impossibly good looking man with hair the colour of a raven’s wing.

My feet stopped mid-stride as my eyes drank in this strikingly
imposing figure who so dominated the space around him, that I wondered how I could not have seen him earlier? Nor the way his piercing lavender eyes gazed back at me, demanding my attention.

I sucked in a breath, not just for the affect he had on me, but that he was the
visual confirmation of my aunt’s words even if he didn’t fit my image of a vampire. But then I really didn’t know what to expect—black cape, nasty protruding fangs, glowing red eyes and as pale as death perhaps? The man before me belied those preconceptions, and no vampire I saw in the movies ever looked that good in cream silk business shirt and slate grey trousers which hung seductively low on his lean hips. His sleeves were rolled up at the elbows and the top button of his shirt left undone allowing his tie to hang loose.

I swallowed.
Was this the blood-sucking creature whose bite left those marks on my aunt’s wrist? No wonder she’d said I wouldn’t mind!

He smiled and softly called my name. ‘Laura.’

Hummm, nice voice,
I thought, deep and rich. It flowed over me like hot caramel and somehow I knew it would be just as addictive.

But
I reminded myself, this man wasn’t human. I took a deep breath and stepped forward, determined not to allow any reticence I felt to show.

H
e reached out, took my hand in his, raised it to his lips and gently kissed my fingers. His eyes only left my face for a fleeting moment when he glanced towards my aunt’s ring on my finger. His old-world courteous gesture surprised me.

‘Alec
Munro, I presume?’

His smile widened, showing immaculate white teeth. No fa
ngs? Where were they? He held my hand and escorted me into the alcove. ‘It’s not ideal, but it will provide us with some privacy.’

He led
me to one of the smaller wooden chairs while he sat on one of the large high-backed “thrones” normally reserved for the bishop, directly opposite me.

‘Laura,’ he b
egan, and his smile faded. ‘I understand if, at this moment, you resent me. Instead of celebrating your birthday with loved ones, you sit confronted with the reality of your birthright.’

Oh, how right you are there
! I felt like saying aloud. Instead, what came out was, ‘I wish I’d been told sooner.’

I tried to keep my voice calm. A combination of anger, fear and being in the presence of such a potentially dangerous, yet stunningly attractive individual warred within me.

‘Would it have helped?’

‘Of course, it would! To be told such a thing and expect to be believed is… well, I’m still dealing with it
.’

‘Fair enough
,’ he said, ‘but it’s traditional for the Bloodgifted to be told at their coming-of-age. The Elders of my kind ruled it a long time ago. As you know, children or even young adults are not very good at keeping secrets. And this is a very big secret.’ He smiled at me like an indulgent parent. My fear fled.

‘Don’t patronise me! And I’m certainly not a
young
adult.’

‘In my world you are. Fifty is no more than an infant, and as
Ingenii
—I assume Judith explained the term?’ I nodded— ‘you’ve just come-of-age, meaning you’re no older than a twenty-one-year old, with the same maturity level!’

Of all the condescending…
‘Well, since I’m so “immature” it’s a wonder you want me as your personal blood bank! Perhaps we should call it quits, right now!’ I rose and turned toward the entrance.

In l
ess time than it took to blink, Alec Munro stood before me and blocked the way. His eyes crinkled at the corners. Was he laughing at me?

‘My, my what a temper! You remind me of someone I know.’

‘How fortunate! Please, move out of my way.’

‘No!’

I turned on my heel intending to leave through the other exit I’d noticed. I’d barely done so and he was there, arms crossed across his chest. ‘We could do this all night and I really don’t have the time, Laura.’

‘How did you do that?’

‘It’s normal for my kind to move quickly. Now may I suggest we start again, as we have a lot to discuss?’

I thought about it for a while as my curiosity wrestled with
the desire to walk out of here and leave the so-called vampire to find another blood donor. ‘And if I don’t want to do this?’

‘Laura, please understand, yo
u don’t have a choice in this—as I don’t. You’re far safer with me than any others of my kind. They wouldn’t bother even discussing it.’

His eyes he
ld mine and I couldn’t pull away. Was that a vampire thing?

‘I know this is overwhelming. Please believe me when I say I would prefer you to accept me willingly and in return I promise to protect you.’

Aunt Judy had said something similar. No, I didn’t have a choice, and since it looked like Alec Munro wasn’t going to let me leave anyway, I thought it best to stay and learn everything I needed to know about this otherworld I’d been dragged into.

Perhaps he sensed my change of mind, for he stretched out his hand and indicated the chair I’d recently vacated.

I reluctantly sat back down. He did the same.

‘All right, so a
re you
really
what my aunt says you are?’

He leaned forward in his seat, ‘Surely Judith…?
’

‘Yes,’ I interrupted, nodding my head ‘… but I want to hear it from you.’

He cocked his head to one side and regarded me, a slight frown marring the perfect smoothness of his brow. ‘Are you afraid of the word,
vampire
?’

‘No.’ Actually yes, but there was no way I was telling him that.

‘Really? Then you’re very brave.’ The smile came back. ‘That’s exactly what I am—a real-life vampire—and I need to feed on human blood to survive, although we prefer to call ourselves, Brethren. Vampire is the human term.’

I blinked. Well, at least he called a spade a spade. Then his words reminded me of something Matt had said.
Bodies emptied of blood
.
Is this the killer Matt’s hunting?
The question hung in my mind. ‘How much blood do you need?’ I asked and shifted further back into my seat.

His eyes narrowed. ‘Are you
afraid of me?’

‘No, I’m not!’ I said
rather too quickly.

‘Then why are you
creating a distance between us? You’re nervous, I can smell it!’

‘Sure it’s just not my deodorant? I’ve had a busy day.’
It was out of my mouth before I could stop myself, but the way he could read my emotions rankled me. I bit down on my lip to prevent any further outbursts.

Alec
lifted one eyebrow and a broad smile lit his face. My breath nearly left me, it was that dazzling. ‘Maybe I was wrong,’ he said and sat back in his chair. ‘Several swallows are all I need to keep me alive.’ His gaze slowly—and deliberately, it seemed to me—slid to my throat.

Well, if he thought he was going to
get any blood out of me tonight he had another thing coming! ‘So… you would never need to—um, drain a person of all their blood?’

‘Not necessary. Only a juvenile vampire a few days old, and who was still learning to control his or her appetite, would feed till they made themselves sick. The blood lust is very
powerful when a human is newly transformed. It takes time and training to bring it under control.’

‘I see. L
ike a kid gorging themselves until they throw up and never do it again.’

‘Exactly.
But for a mature one to do such a thing and leave the body to be found by the police would be totally irresponsible. We’re trying to live among humans inconspicuously, not draw attention to ourselves.’

It made sense. As an experienced primary school teacher I’d learnt how to spot the lie. Ther
e was none in Alec Munro’s eyes—once they moved off my throat! ‘How many vamp- Brethren are there in the city?’

‘Not that many. Couple of hundred.’

Another eye-opener. Matt had quite a job on his hands if Alec Munro wasn’t the only vampire in town. ‘Then why don’t we, humans, know about it?’

‘Precisely what we try to avoid. We
abide by certain rules too and one of them forbids the deliberate killing of humans although, every now and then, the blood lust can lead to… how can I put it? Accidents. Allowances have to be made. Generally, we feed from willing donors. There are enough people in this city who know about us and are quite willing to share their blood,’ he said. ‘They believe they’re doing a service to the local vampire community. I guess it’s their way of giving to the blood bank.’ A wry smile lit his face.

I blinked.
The things I’ve been ignorant of!
‘I’m glad you don’t kill.’

‘I
didn’t say that, and I certainly wouldn’t leave the body to be found by anyone.’ Alec sat back in his seat and watched me. Whether he was playing games with me or not, I wasn’t sure. But if he was my aunt’s guardian and he was now mine, I had nothing to fear from him. He needed me just as much as I needed him.

I leaned forward in my seat.
‘That’s because you don’t need to as long as you’ve got me. My aunt said our blood is more powerful than any human’s. Why would you bother going somewhere else?’