Sire (14 page)

Michael looked at her, uncertain, but Caitlin nodded. His fangs flashed, and he bit down suddenly, swiftly. Caitlin felt piercing pain, then sudden warmth. All of her worries melted away. The things she had been so afraid of, the threat Liam posed, the competition Angelica represented, all disappeared.

Her pulse was slowing, but that was all right. The room was growing darker, but that was all right, too. She could just slip away, and everything would be all right ...

Caitlin's eyes flew open, and her hand flew to her neck. Nothing. The room was empty, and she was alone.

She looked over at the clock. Midnight.

She wondered if the girls would mind if she took a cold shower.

***

Olivia was finished with her morning run by seven thirty, and stretched out in front of the dorms. It was too bad that there weren't any cute boys around to watch, but she liked to run before class, and she needed time to get ready for the day.

Bethany and her boyfriend—what was his name? Gary?—were eating breakfast when she walked into the suite. Olivia had no idea how Bethany had landed a boyfriend that hot, that fast. She was grade-A bookworm, and what's-his-name was
fine.

"Oh, hi Oliv—" Bethany's voice cut off when she saw Olivia standing in the doorway.

Olivia couldn't blame her. She was wearing Lycra shorts that might as well have been painted on, and a sports bra that was cut low enough to do wonderful things to her cleavage. And she had just been running, so all the skin she was showing glistened with sweat. Bethany wasn't the first person to stop and stare. She wasn't even the first girl.

Gary looked up, and his eyes went wide. Olivia raised an eyebrow. "Morning, lovebirds," she said, sweet as sugar. She clasped her hands behind her back and pushed out her chest, and turned from side to side. Both pairs of eyes were glued to her, and she loved every second of it.

Olivia started stretching out her hamstrings, and looked backwards at Gary. "Like what you see?"

Gary stammered something. Olivia just laughed. "It's okay, Gary. I mean, it's nice that you threw her a bone, but you can't be faulted for wanting a little ... more."

"Garret," he managed to get out. Then he looked away, flustered. "And I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ... I wasn't ..."

"It's all right. I wouldn't dress like this if I didn't want people looking, would I? How about you, Bethany? You're staring pretty hard yourself. Ever think of treating your boy to a threesome?"

Bethany turned bright red and averted her eyes.

"Oh well," Olivia said. "Maybe your next girlfriend will be more adventurous. I'm going to go take a shower."

Olivia sauntered toward the bathroom. She stopped in the doorway and said, without looking back, "Try not to think about me while I'm gone."

When the bathroom door closed, Garret released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "Babe, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to—"

Bethany cut him off. "It's okay. Really. She was all like 'hey, here are my boobs, and isn't my ass amazing?' I mean,
I
couldn't look away, and I
have
boobs. You were pretty much defenseless."

"And you know what she said was stupid, right? You aren't ... I'm not ..."

"Throwing me a bone?" Garret winced. Bethany smiled and patted him on the knee. "I know. But thanks for saying so anyway."

"Why is she like that?" Garret asked.

"Who knows? Maybe she was raised by a convent of evil nuns. But I wouldn't worry about it. You know what they say. Karma's a bitch."

***

God, color theory was boring. Especially compared to everything else going on in Caitlin's life. So she was relieved when Alexis poked her head in the door and asked, "Hey babe, we're going to head over to that frat party. There's a DJ and a pool, so there's a chance that some of the boys will be skinny dipping."

Caitlin laughed and closed her book. "You talked me into it."

Evan, Bethany, and Garret joined them. They could hear music thumping as soon as the stepped outside the dorm, and it only got louder as they crossed the campus. The place looked like it was jam-packed. There were a dozen or so groups on the front lawn alone, and a line of people waiting to get in.

Always with the lines in this town.

But they queued up, and eventually they reached the door. "Five bucks," said a guy sitting behind a folding plastic table. There was a stack of red cups next to him, and the guy handed them after he collected their money. "Keg's around the corner."

The crowd inside was crushing. People were packed shoulder-to-shoulder, with hardly any room to move, and the noise was deafening. Caitlin winced and put her hands over her ears.

"You all right babe?" Alexis asked.

"Yeah," Caitlin said. "It's just so loud in here!"

"What?" Alexis shouted back.

"Exactly!"

Evan looked around, then got the girls' attention and nodded toward a sliding door in the back of the house. Evan and Garret shouldered their way through the crowd. The girls all grabbed each other's hands and did their best to stay with them.

Finally, they made it through the door and out to the patio behind the frat house. There was another DJ outside, and maybe a hundred people milling around, dancing and drinking and laughing and talking. The talking part was key; it was actually quiet enough to hear yourself think. Or someone else talk. It was a relief after the claustrophobia inside.

Alexis led them over to the pool, where yes, someone was skinny dipping.

The group fell into what was becoming their usual banter. Caitlin was only half listening when Evan said "Hey, isn't that your roommate?"

"Fantastic," Garret said.

Bethany slid a little closer to him, and put her head on his chest. "Hey," she said, "isn't that that guy from the club?"

Caitlin looked up, hoping to see Michael. Sweat broke out on her forehead when she saw Liam instead.

He was standing with Olivia, who was absolutely loving the attention. She was holding onto his arm and laughing at every little thing he said. Every once in a while, she'd reach up and twirl a few strands of her hair.

"Oh God, oh damn, oh God," Caitlin said. She looked around, helpless, trying to find someone that looked like they could help. But what was she going to do? Call campus security and report a vampire?

"Is that necklace silver?" Caitlin asked.

"Um, yeah," Bethany answered.

"Give it to me."

"What? Why? Caitlin, what's wrong?"

"Just give it to me. I'll explain later." She wouldn't, of course, but she didn't have time to make up a better lie just then. Liam was leading Olivia away from the party and into the woods.

Bethany was holding out the necklace, and Caitlin took it, wrapping it around her hand. She started after Liam.

"Babe? What the hell's going on?" Alexis asked.

"Olivia is wandering off with that guy."

"Yeah, so?"

"So I know him, Alexis. He's evil. Not a jerk, not a douche, he's evil. And if she goes off with him, she's going to get hurt."

Evan's eyes narrowed. "Okay," he said, "let's go take care of him then." Garret was silent, but his back straightened and his chest puffed out.

"No," Caitlin said. "He's dangerous. Just wait here."

"Oh, okay," Evan said. "This guy is evil, and he's going to do something to Olivia, and he's way too dangerous for me to handle, so I should just let you, a ninety-seven pound girl, go deal with it instead. That's a perfectly reasonable plan."

"I'm no fan of Olivia's," Garret said, "but I'm not just going to sit here, either. We'll all go."

"Safety in numbers," Alexis said.

Caitlin looked each of them in the eye, and saw that arguing was going to be useless. Worse, it was going to waste time. "All right," she said.

Caitlin led them into the woods.

It was dark, even darker than the path between the dorms and the rest of the campus, but they were able to use their cell phones to light the way. After five minutes of fighting through the tangle of branches, they found Olivia standing in a clearing. Blood was trickling down her neck.

"Jesus, what the hell?" Alexis said, then swore. "You weren't kidding."

"Olivia? Come on, let's get out of here," Caitlin said.

"I can't," Olivia said in a forced voice. "I can't move. Why can't I move?"

"Because you belong to me," Liam said. He walked into the clearing, emerging from the shadows like a wraith. "And I don't want you to."

He was still in human form, but he was on the verge of fanging out; his irises were ringed with crimson. He stood behind Olivia and wrapped his arms around her, like he was her boyfriend or something. Tears ran down Olivia's face as she struggled to pull away from him, but found that she couldn't.

"It's so nice of you to join us," Liam said to Caitlin. "I was going to do something dramatic, like leave her body in your bed or something, but I think this will be better. This way, you can see for yourself exactly what I'm going to do to your friends."

"Yeah, screw this," Garret said, and ran toward Liam. Evan followed.

Liam laughed. Evan got there first, and Liam casually tossed him aside. Garret threw a wild haymaker, but Liam slipped underneath it and caught Garret by the throat, hoisting him up off the ground.

"It's so nice to see people of different races coming together to—GRAH!" Liam screamed as Caitlin pressed the silver chain against his face. He howled and doubled over in pain. Garret fell to the ground, holding his throat and coughing.

When Liam stood back up, he was in full vamp face.

Everybody freaked out. Caitlin couldn't tell exactly what was going on. It was just one big cacophony of screams, curses, and disbelief. And Liam's snarling.

"You bitch!" He spat. His face was already beginning to heal. "I'm going to tear your spleen out. I'm going to wrap your intestines around your head. I'm going to—"

"You're not going to do a God damn thing."

Michael.

He strode into the clearing like he was the king of the world, and placed himself between Liam and Caitlin. Caitlin stepped closer to him, and looked at Liam from behind Michael's protective shield.

"Angelica gave you explicit orders," Michael said. "She forbade you from even touching her."

Liam smiled. "You're right, she did. But she didn't say a thing about her friends." Liam whirled and bit Olivia. Olivia screamed.

Michael roared and shot across the clearing. Liam dropped Olivia on the ground, then hit Michael with a backhand so hard that he flew ten feet through the air. Michael crashed into a tree, but he was back on his feet instantly, his wicked claws slicing through the air, thirsty for Liam's blood.

But Liam was untouchable. He dodged every strike, moving just enough to avoid being hit. Michael pressed the attack, but Caitlin could tell that Liam was playing with him. And Michael was starting to tire ...

"Stop!" Caitlin shouted, and everything came to a halt. Every eye, human and vampire, fixed on her.

Fantastic.

"We can end this," Caitlin said.

"Oh, I intend to," Liam replied, smirking.

"That's not what I mean. You didn't come here for these people."

"Um, actually, yes, I did. Did you miss the part where I was forbidden from eating you, so I decided to murder all of your friends?"

Caitlin swallowed. "Um. But what if I made you an offer?"

"Oh, that's a fantastic idea!" Liam said. "What, will you do my homework? Braid my hair? You don't have anything I want."

"What about my blood?"

The smile dropped off of Liam's face. Michael looked at her, shocked.

"What do you mean?" Liam asked.

"If you let Olivia go, if you promise not to hurt my friends, I'll let you feed from me."

"Caitlin, don't be stupid," Michael said.

"He's right, you know. You're being stupid. Your blood isn't worth all of these people. But I'll tell you what I will do.

"One night. I'll give them one night, one night to run, or make peace with their maker, or catch up on
American Idol.
Whatever it is that they want to do. One free night,
if
you let me drink from you."

"But you won't kill me." Caitlin said.

"Darn it," Liam replied. "I was hoping you'd forget that stipulation. Fine. They get one night, and you get to live."

"You can't do this," Michael said. "Angelica was clear."

"Angelica has no business interfering in a contract between two willing individuals. Besides, it's this, or I slaughter everyone here. You don't want that on your conscience, do you?"

"Michael, please," Caitlin said. "Let me do this."

Rage bubbled beneath Michael's surface, but he remained silent.

Olivia lay on the ground, sobbing. Evan was just starting to recover from being thrown by Liam. Garret still had his hand over his throat. Alexis stared at Caitlin, her eyes a million miles away.

Liam sauntered forward.

It seemed to take forever for him to reach Caitlin, like he was intentionally drawing out every single step in order to torment her. And then he was standing in front of her, examining her like an art critic. Or a lover. He reached up and gently moved the hair away from her throat. Caitlin closed her eyes.

"Uh uh," he said. "Leave your eyes open." Caitlin did as she was told.

Liam wrapped his other hand around Caitlin's waist and leaned against her, bending her over backwards. Her heart pounded. Liam ran his hand through her hair again, gently, then grabbed a fistful and yanked hard, pulling her head back and drawing a small cry.

His fangs pierced her skin.

Fire shot through her body, and out of pure instinct, she fought. She thrashed her arms and kicked her legs, but it was useless against Liam's titanic strength. He just held her there, powerless, and fed from her.

Soon, warm euphoria started to spread through her body. Her arms fell slack, her legs went limp. Liam supported her entire weight now.

"That's enough," Michael growled.

But Liam kept drinking. And Caitlin wanted him to. Something about his bite was ... appealing. Almost addictive.

"Enough!" Michael cried, and backhanded Liam with enough force to shatter stone.