Don't Drink the Holy Water (3 page)

He was maybe a little envious of their relationship.

And he wasn’t going to get the stupid ATV to start. Axel flipped the switch for the headlights. They came on, dimmed, and went right back off.

“Aw, fuck me.” Jukie was really going to have to beg forgiveness for this fit, and even then, Axel might not forgive him.

The wind picked up as the last of the sunlight vanished. Axel shivered, not from the cold but from nerves, as a howling sound came from some distance away.

He hoped it was some distance away.

Were there wolves out in the desert? He didn’t think so. Wolves needed water and stuff like that, kinda like humans did, so they wouldn’t be living out in the desert. That was just the wind doing weird shit because of the dunes.

That was all it was.

* * * *

West didn’t like closing his eyes. He kept seeing fangs and hearing things that scared him when he did. Neither did he like thinking about what he was now. Four nights—days—whatever—and he wasn’t adjusted yet.

Maybe it would have been better if Claude had let him die. West hung his head in shame at that self-indulgent thought. Would he really rather have left his siblings all alone in the world?

He looked at Case, curled around their younger brother, Joseph, and their sisters also beside them. His heart seemed to swell with love. Apparently, he wasn’t dead like he’d always thought vampires were. He was just
altered
, as Claude had so calmly put it.

“Altered,” he whispered. That was what Mom had said Tippy was when he got back from the vet without his balls. West clamped his legs together. All of his junk was still in place, and still unused—that much he did know. To his shame, he’d come even as he’d been full of terror when he’d been bitten in that alley. He’d come again when the other vampire had bit him later too.

But not when Claude had turned him, at least not to the best of his knowledge. That was something, he supposed. One extra humiliation he’d been saved.

He didn’t care if it was normal for a human to orgasm when bitten. He hadn’t willingly given up his release to either of the first two vamps who’d bitten him.

Maybe he was stupid for feeling violated. West shivered and wrapped his arms around his knees. He was being a wuss.

But if it was one of your brothers or sisters, what would you tell them? That they’re wrong to feel as you do? That they’re weak?

His conscience continued nagging him and it sounded a lot like his mother’s voice in his head. West closed his eyes as tears leaked from the corners of them. God, but he missed his mom and dad. They’d been good parents. He wanted them back, wanted them to hold him and tell him everything would be okay.

There was no one who could do that for him now, hadn’t been in years. That weird attraction he felt for Claude was a product of their ‘relationship’, which was such a bizarre thing that West couldn’t even think about it. At least he didn’t hate himself for it, much. Being attracted to a vampire for any reason was nauseating.

West didn’t know if he could really trust Claude, or anyone else in the house besides his family. Everything was so confusing and intimidating and big.

A soft tap at the bedroom door had West snapping upright and wiping at his eyes and cheeks. He didn’t call out, not wanting to wake the kids. The knock had been so light he wasn’t surprised they’d slept through it.

West unlocked the locks after peeking through the peephole and seeing that Claude waited on the other side. Abernathy, Claude’s mate, stood a few feet back.

West might have liked Abernathy in a different situation. As it was, he was afraid of the bigger man, and ashamed of the unwanted attraction he felt for Claude.

Opening the door, West held a finger to his lips for silence. Claude nodded and stepped away.

West exited the room and gently pulled the door closed.

Claude gestured several feet off toward the landing before the stairs.

West walked there with Claude and Abernathy. “I’m not hungry,” he started in with before Claude could offer his wrist again.

Claude frowned. “You are hungry, and lying will not make it any better.”

West scowled as much as he dared to. He was still afraid Claude would turn on him. The vampire was powerful even if he was dressed like a slick, rich man. “I don’t want to do it.”

“This isn’t about what you want to do, but what you must do,” Claude informed him in that dark, commanding way he had. “You can
not
starve yourself and take care of your siblings, and I assure you, I am not guardian material.” Claude sighed and startled West by cupping his chin. “Hating what you are now will do no one any good, the least of all those children in there. I don’t believe you need a lecture on your responsibility to them, but if you truly have forgotten—”

“I haven’t,” West grumbled, turning his head aside, fearing that Abernathy was going to attack him at any moment. Not that Abernathy had so much as glared at him. It was West’s own guilt and dislike of an attraction that was the problem. West didn’t want the attraction. He didn’t want Claude, not logically. His body just…reacted. Claude had promised him it would fade. Even so, it was the reason that West expected anger from Abernathy.

But all he ever saw when he was brave enough to meet Abernathy’s gaze was compassion and understanding.

Which made him feel even crappier.

Jesus, he was a mess.

“West, are you listening to me?” Claude asked.

West jolted guiltily. “I, uh, I was—”

“I said, Abernathy has offered to sit with the children while they sleep, and Augustin will join him shortly, so I can take you out and teach you a few things you must know to survive,” Claude explained patiently. “I understand you are unwilling to find a human to, hmm, become intimate with so you may sate your appetite, but there are still other things you must know, and we do have resources for those of our kind who are uncomfortable using people for their own survival.”

West wrinkled his nose at that. “Why can’t you just speak plainly?”

Claude arched one finely shaped eyebrow. “I thought I did.”

West looked past Claude to the pretty wallpapered hallway, and the bedroom door he’d just come out of. “I don’t want to need blood.” His bottom lip trembled and West sucked it in between his teeth. He hated being so weak and moody.

“You are mature enough to know that life does not always give us what we want,” Claude said calmly. “Believe it or not, you are not the only vampire with an aversion to drinking blood. There are ways of making it more palatable for you, but you will have to ingest it. Your life depends on it and you know it. I will tolerate your self-pity a little while longer, West. I understand it. You have experienced many hardships in the past few years. You blame yourself and believe yourself to be weak because of something that is entirely someone else’s fault. At some point, however, I will do whatever I must to get you to see beyond your misery. I would hope you are capable of getting your head on right before that point arrives.”

The lecture was so much like the one he’d had going on in his mind before Claude had knocked on the bedroom door that West could just hear his mother saying those same words. It was almost as if she were speaking through Claude.

Claude’s other eyebrow went up. “Is that the beginning of a smile?”

West blinked and touched his mouth, realizing that, yes, he was almost amused.

“What brought that out?” Claude asked him.

West felt the first glimmer of hope that things would, someday, be maybe close to okay. “You sounded just like my mother.”

Claude sputtered and West smiled.

Chapter Five

Axel warbled the last verse about death from a rotten peanut then started in on the first line of the song again. He had a wretched singing voice, and his theory was that it’d scare the hell out of any would-be predators. Like whatever the desert version of Bigfoot was.

He kept looking around nervously. The desert wasn’t a quiet place, even without his godawful singing. He could hear things skittering over the sand, and other things flying overhead. Axel wasn’t too eager to know what any of those things were. Singing helped to muffle the noises but some still slipped through to him. For once, he really hated his overactive imagination. He kept thinking up crazy and scary scenarios—zombie apocalypse being just one of them.

At least it was cooler, though he was actually getting a little chilly. Axel rubbed his arms then took another sip of water. He had plenty to get him through the night, and probably tomorrow. Maybe not, though. Desert survival skills weren’t ones he possessed.

Axel snorted. His throat was kinda achy from all the singing. His bladder throbbed and he got off the ATV long enough to unzip and piss a few feet away.

Something slithered in his peripheral vision to the left.

“Fuck!” Axel darted to the right, his pecker flopping. At least he’d finished and had had a second to shake before he’d moved. He glared at the sand but saw nothing other than that. “I know you’re just waiting to get me,” he muttered. “Evil fuckers.”

Something he barely even heard made every hair on his body stand up. “What—” Axel cocked his head, narrowing his eyes as he listened, as if somehow decreasing his ability to see clearly would make his hearing sharper.

He frowned as he tried to make out the shuffling sound. It wasn’t a solitary noise, but rather multiple ones, as if several people were literally dragging their feet through the sand.

Which was crazy, because who the hell would be out there in the desert at night, besides him?

Unless maybe Jukie had come back? That had to be it! Jukie wasn’t a complete asswad, usually.

Axel’s heart fluttered with relief. Remembering Jukie’s furor at their relationship ending, he tucked his dick away before yelling, “Jukie! This way, over here!” He turned his head and saw a shape coming over the dune about ten yards away. “Jukie! You—”

Wait, why are there so many shapes suddenly appearing
? And they all had a weird, shuffling gait. There was something very odd about the way they moved their arms. At least it seemed strange to Axel. With the moon backlighting them, he could see that much, though the front of them was pretty much hidden in darkness.

And one of them was… Axel would have pissed himself had he not already gone when he saw the way one figure’s head was lying against its shoulder. There was also the outline of missing limbs, and whatever the fuck was coming over that dune he did
not
want to get close to.

Of course, he had just hollered like a fool and there was no way he hadn’t been heard.

Axel gulped, his previously ridiculous thought of a zombie apocalypse scenario popping right back to life in his head.

“No,” he whispered. Zombies weren’t real.

The wind carried a fetid, unworldly scent right to Axel’s nose. It set to life a hidden terror in him he’d never known himself capable of. Some deep, intrinsic recognition sprung to full power inside him.

He didn’t question whether he was overreacting or not, whether horrible things such as zombies existed. Axel turned and ran as fast as he could. His plan to stay in one place was tossed in favor of not becoming one of the monsters moaning and heading his way.

* * * *

Claude wrinkled his nose. “That wretched odor is not one we usually smell so often.” He frowned contemplatively. “I wonder, what is bringing the zombies out again?”

Much to his surprise, West had been levitating a few feet off the ground. He hadn’t known he was capable of such a feat, hadn’t really thought of doing it. He’d just sort of…floated and had been too stunned to do anything but stay still and hope he didn’t fall.

Then Claude
had
to speak, and West’s focus was shot. He wasn’t graceful enough to keep from falling when his foot came down on loose sand. “Crap!”

Claude held a hand out to him. “Yes, there are zombies, and yes, they are nasty things for the most part. There are exceptions, ones who somehow retain most of their humanity, but the power that makes them what they are is rather, er, destructive on the tissues.”

“Zombies?” West’s mouth went dry as he thought about his favorite TV show. Zombies were not a good thing to have to fight.

“Zombies,” Claude repeated. “Yes. They come to us as a way of ending their suffering. It doesn’t happen often, or didn’t, and yet this is the second time recently that we’ve seen them out here. I am assuming, of course, that they are intending to come to the house. At the speed they travel, it will take several days. Have you any idea how much worse they reek after spending so much time out in the heat?” Claude shuddered delicately.

West tried not to gag. His eyes were on the verge of watering already. “How far away are they?”

“Oh, I would say they are less than fifteen minutes away from us right now, if we fly.” Then Claude’s frown intensified. “Ah, a complication. Of course.”

“What does that even mean?” West asked him.

Claude sniffed and looked at him.

West’s cheeks burned. “I didn’t do it!”

“Do what?” Claude waved the question off before West could answer it. “Regardless, there is a human—”

And about that time, West heard and smelled the man too. It sounded like the guy was shrieking breathlessly—an odd combination, but it fit.

“Running scared,” he found himself saying.

“Well, if you were to encounter zombies out in the desert, or anywhere for that matter,” Claude began.

“I’d need a change of underwear,” West muttered. “I might even now.”

Claude shook his head. “No, that isn’t an issue for us.”

West’s face burned with embarrassment. Even
not
talking about it flat-out, he was still mortified. “Anyway, the zombies?”

“He can outrun them, for a while,” Claude said. “Eventually, he’ll tire, or drop dead, perhaps even faint. They’ll possibly get to him then. There are also any number of things in the desert that could hurt and even kill the man before then. Snakes, the Sand Yeti—”