Life's Blood (The Cordelia Chronicles)

Life’s Blood
Heather Hudak

Copyright
©2013 Heather C. Hudak

Published by Heather C. Hudak
All rights reserved.

The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to any real person living or dead is coincidental and not intended by the author.

No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the author.

Life’s Blood
By Heather C. Hudak
 

I stood there looking at my chance at life. To spend forever with the love of my life, whatever forever might mean. This was it. The moment I had been waiting for, the one I thought would never come. And, all I could think about was dying.

“Chaseyn? Did you hear me?” I asked, waving a hand in front of his face. “Are you in there?”

“Huh?” he replied, his eyes beginning to focus.

“Did you hear me?”

“Um, yeah.”

“And?”

I could tell that Chaseyn was carefully contemplating his response, but I was, quite literally, giddy with anticipation. I shifted nervously, my hands fidgeting with a dried leaf. A few minutes passed in complete silence before Chaseyn finally spoke. I braced myself in expectation.

“I’m not sure,” he said.

My heart sank. Those were the last words I had expected to hear from his lips. Ever since we had returned from Europe, I had been wracking my brain for ways Chaseyn and I could overcome our little obstacle--if eternity could be considered an obstacle.

I was heartbroken when Chaseyn revealed to me that he was going to die unless he took a life and became a full-blown vampire. The life he wanted to take…mine. In return, he would give me immortality, and we could live forever together. Before that night, I had never even considered “turning,” but for the past few weeks, it was all I could think about. Until, tonight.

I had spent the better part of the past few days at the library reading up on vampire lore, and today, I had finally stumbled across some information that might help Chaseyn and I resolve our differences over the matter of me becoming a vampire. According to one very ancient legend, there was a way--albeit very complicated and risky--that a vampire could become human. I had been on pins and needles all night waiting for the right time to share the exciting news with Chaseyn. I knew he would be surprised--skeptical even--but I had never expected him to be dismissive.

“What do you mean you’re not sure?” I asked, hurt clear in my tone. “It’s the perfect solution.”

Chaseyn pressed his palms into the twigs and leaves we’d been sitting on and pushed himself up into a standing position. His lips were pursed and his stare blank. I had no clue what was going on inside his head. He offered me his hand and hoisted me to my feet.

“It’s a good idea, Cordelia,” he said softly. “I’m just not sure it’s possible.”

“But maybe it is,” I said, each word dripping with enthusiasm. “I mean, there must be a way, right?”

“I think you may have misunderstood me,” he replied. “It’s quite likely that there is some way to make it happen. I don’t doubt that.”

“Then, what’s the problem?”

“I’m not sure I want to be human.”

The words hit me like a ton of bricks, and I almost stumbled from their weight. Though we had been at a bonfire surrounded by at least two dozen of our high-school friends, we had been having a quiet conversation out of earshot of the others. It was about to get loud, so I stormed off--away from prying eyes.

Chaseyn knew well enough to come after me, and it didn’t take long for him to catch up. In the short distance I had walked into the woods, I had stumbled over at least three tree roots and scraped my shin on a thorny bush. When Chaseyn reached me, his arms wrapped around my waist from behind, and he pressed a gentle kiss against the nape of my neck. Chills. He always gave me chills.

“I’m still upset,” I hissed.

He spun me around quickly then and pressed his lips against mine, a greedy hunger--no, thirst--fueled his kiss. I could feel it. Every day that he waited to turn made his need for blood stronger. For years, he had managed to stifle the cravings, but the closer he came to the end of his mortal life, the harder it was to resist.

“Stop,” I shouted, pushing him away. I wasn’t afraid of him. I knew he would never do anything to hurt me--physically or emotionally--but we had been in the middle of a very serious conversation, and I wanted to finish it. There would be plenty of time to make up after that. And, I wanted to get there sooner rather than later.

“What?” he asked with a chuckle. “We can wait until later to talk about this. Let’s just have fun tonight.”

He had a point, but it was too late. The proverbial cat was out of the bag, and there was no going back now.

“How long can we wait, Chaseyn?” I asked. “Every day, you get older. You get one step closer to the end of your life in this half-and-half place where you live in limbo. We need to make some decisions, and we need to make them fast.”

“Cordelia, listen to me,” he pleaded, taking my hands in his own and delicately kissing each knuckle--the kisses so soft that his lips felt like butterfly wings flapping against my skin. “I’m not saying I won’t consider it, but you have to give me some time to adjust to the idea. You have obviously been doing your research, and I appreciate it. In fact, I want to know all about it, and once I have the details, I can make an educated decision.”

“Great,” I said, pulling a folded piece of paper out of the back pocket of my denim cutoffs. “I jotted down a few notes. Now, remember, these are just the highlights. I have tons of information at home.”

“Whoa. You need to stop,” Chaseyn said, grabbing the paper from my hand, crumpling it into a ball, and placing it in his front pocket. I tried reaching for it, but he caught my hands in mid-air. “Not tonight.”

“Fine,” I relented. “But, promise you’ll listen to everything I have to say tomorrow?”

“Promise,” he said, a huge grin spreading across his face as he took my hand and led me back to the fire.

At the first light of morning, I tossed back the blankets and rolled onto my side. My eyes were still closed against the bright sunlight, and my hand batted blindly at my bedside table in search of my landline.

One ring. That’s all it took.

“Can we talk about it now?” I asked before Chaseyn could even say “hello.”

“Good morning to you too, love,” he said after a second’s hesitation.

“Can we?” I persisted.

“Not now,” he replied. “I said we could talk about it today. I didn’t say what time today.”

A pout formed on my lips and my shoulders sagged. I was so excited to relay the details of my research with Chaseyn that I never contemplated he might not share my enthusiasm. It was hard to face the fact that he might dismiss the idea altogether. Just in case he couldn’t sense my somber mood through the phone, I exhaled a huge sigh.

“You’re such a brat sometimes,” Chaseyn laughed.

“Harrumph.”

“You’re not going to win this one, Cordelia,” Chaseyn replied. “Besides, I have a brilliant day planned for us, and I’m not going to let anything get in the way of it.”

Brilliant
. When he said words like that with his slight British accent, it made my knees weak. Typically, I was so stubborn that I would stand my ground until Chaseyn finally caved, but curiosity got the best of me, and I let my guard down.

“What do you have planned?” I asked, trying to sound ambivalent. I knew he could see right through me. “I mean, it better be good, or I’m going to be really mad. This is important to me, Chaseyn.”

“So is this,” he said, and the phone went dead.

I was busy rattling the receiver trying to reconnect when I heard the screech of burning rubber on the pavement outside my bedroom window. I’d know the sound of the engine on his classic Mustang convertible any place, any time.

“That boy better not drive like that when you’re in his car,” my mom shouted from the kitchen. I just chuckled and shook my head. If only she knew I was more likely to lose my mortal life to the pierce of a vampire bite than a car wreck…

“Don’t be ridiculous, mom. He drives way faster!” I hollered in response.

“Ha ha,” I heard her mumble under her breath. She would never learn to appreciate my sarcasm.

A split second later--impossibly soon after he’d parked his car--there was a rapping on the back door. Only “guests” used the front door, and Chaseyn was by no means considered a guest in our house any more. More like a regular fixture--sort of like a coat rack. If my mom had been on her “A” game, she would have realized the impossible speed with which Chaseyn had managed to exit his vehicle and find his way to through our back gate, but, as usual, she wasn’t as tuned in to his every move as I was. I was anxiously--in both the excited and nervous ways--awaiting the day it finally dawned on her.

I wasn’t holding my breath that it wouldn’t happen any time soon, however. It had become somewhat of a challenge for Chaseyn to think of new and creative ways to clue her in over the past few months. There was the time that he called from the landline in his house, waited for her to answer to be sure she saw the call display and heard his voice on the other end, then appeared on the doorstep only a moment later. On another occasion, my mother was baking a cake when she realized she was out of milk. Chaseyn offered to run to the store to buy more, and before she had time to acknowledge his offer, he had returned with a fresh jug--the engine of his car having never roared to life. Somehow, she had always managed to find a logical way to justify his actions. She’d never been a fan of the unknown and always found a way to reconcile the seemingly impossible so that she could sleep at night. Oh, well…it was better--safer--that she never learned the truth.

I heard the creak of the screen door opening and the lyrical sound of Chaseyn’s voice as he announced his arrival. My mother was in the next room, and she hastily made her way to the back door to offer Chaseyn a proper greeting. The murmurs of their idle chitchat were barely audible from my bedroom.

“Lia, are you ready, honey? Chaseyn’s here,” my mom shouted down the hall.

Ready? Chaseyn knew darn well I wasn’t ready. In fact, he knew perfectly well just how unready I was.

“I’ll be down in five,” I hollered back. Five was pushing it considering I still hadn’t slipped out of bed.

Seventeen minutes later, I had showered, brushed my teeth, and slicked my unruly auburn ringlets into a messy bun. I swiped on some lip gloss, grabbed my purse, and dashed down the stairs.

“It’s about time,” Chaseyn teased. “Not that I don’t enjoy your company Mrs. Baxter.”

Four months had passed, and I still wasn’t used to hearing my mom called by her new married name. She had asked if I would like her to keep my dad’s last name--my last name--when she remarried, but I knew it was time for her to leave the past behind. Besides, it was only a name, and someday, I hoped to have a new one too…Cordelia Lear. That is, if I could convince my half-blood boyfriend to fight for his life. So far, it wasn’t looking good, but I hoped to change that before nightfall.

“I can’t help that you seem to have supernatural speed when it comes to getting ready in the morning,” I replied, winking at Chaseyn when my mom wasn’t looking. “I mean, sometimes it feels like your superhuman.”

Chaseyn narrowed his eyes in an effort to silence my prophetic monologue, and it worked. As much as I had a good time dropping little hints for my mother, it could be disastrous if she learned the truth.

“I hate to eat and run, Mrs. Baxter, but I have a very special day planned for Cordelia and I, so we should get going,” Chaseyn said, pushing up out of his seat at the dining table and depositing an empty cereal bowl in the dishwasher. Despite his lust for blood, Chaseyn also had a penchant for Lucky Charms.

“Really? Sounds interesting. What do you have planned?” my mother pried.

“Yes, Chaseyn, I’m
dying
to know,” I quipped.

“Un-uh, ladies, you’re not getting it out of me that easily,” Chaseyn replied, extending his hand to me. “Ms. Jameson, your chariot awaits.”

I shook my head at his cheesy line but took his hand nonetheless. Resisting his touch was near impossible. My mother beamed with pride as she watched us walk out the door. Chaseyn could be so charming sometimes, and she ate up every last bit of it.

Once we were out of my mother’s sightline, I pulled Chaseyn close and planted my lips firm against his. It had been less than eight hours since I last felt the pressure of his lips against mine, but in my opinion, that was eight hours longer than I could bare. Chaseyn returned my kiss, deepening it for a brief moment before pulling away.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. We just really should hit the road.”