I really hated that he could read my emotions. Stupid vampire abilities. “Okay, fine. Maybe I’m a little afraid…but not really, Leo. I do trust you. With my life. You should know that by now.”
“Regardless, I didn’t trust myself at the time. It’s more than your blood, my sweet. Your scent is surfacing as well.” His nostrils flared. “I can smell your blood beneath your skin when you’re nearby. It makes me feel like I…need to taste it. I’ve never felt this impulsive before. Biting…my need for blood, it’s almost always under my control. Yes, the urges get stronger if I go too long without any, but they’ve never reached a point where my fangs lengthen against my will. Not without a grave injury at least. That miniscule taste of your blood the other day had a rather…disturbing effect.”
“So that’s why you left? There was no trip to Belfast?”
He shook his head. “No. I needed to get away from you to quell…the urges. I needed space to figure it out. Thankfully, I wasn’t too far away or I wouldn’t have been able to get to you when I sensed your terror. Although…you didn’t seem to need my assistance after all.”
I turned my head away in shame from hurting him. “No, I guess not.”
He squeezed my hand reassuringly. “Anyhow, I’m okay now. Being close to you…I have more control. I was caught off guard before. Now that I know what’s happening, I can easily override instinct with logic. As it was proven in the alley. I drank what I needed, and then I stopped.”
I remembered something that Connor, AKA Khonsu, had said to me the other night. “Leo, I need to know more about this guy. He’s been following me…the alley was the fourth time that I’ve seen him since we’ve been here. The first two times were pretty innocuous…and honestly, I thought he was just a guy trying to get laid the third time. After seeing him with Maria, I know that’s not the case. He mentioned my scent when we were at the pub. Do you think he knew what it was? And why is he in Ireland? Even if he does know what I am, he couldn’t possibly want to follow me halfway around the world for blood. I’m just one fairy.”
His eyes took on an icy hue. “He knows what you are; I have no doubt about that. He would’ve known before he sat with you that evening. There’s little chance Maria wouldn’t have mentioned it. My question is why is he so interested in you? I’m fairly certain that this isn’t a desire for your blood.” His expression turned grim. “If that were the case, you’d already be dead. He seeks something greater. The question is, what?”
That’s what I wanted to know. “Leo, tell me everything you know.”
Leo proceeded to tell me everything he had learned from his maker, Renata. She and Khonsu were together for over fifteen hundred years. They reigned together, quite violently. About five hundred years into their rule, she wanted something more civilized but he didn’t share her feelings. She argued that they didn’t need to ravage villages or kill so ruthlessly. Only freshly made vampires were ruled by their thirst, and she believed she could teach them how to control their impulses. She ached for a return to the peaceful life in which she was born. Khonsu was quite mad; he derived great pleasure from seeing others suffer. He raped, murdered, and destroyed entire villages with no mercy. He only sired those who killed without remorse as he did. He made it his personal mission to create an army of cold-blooded killers. I was having trouble reconciling this version of the man to the sophisticated, charming one I had met. He had obviously learned how to adapt in a more civilized world.
Little did Khonsu know, Renata had created an army of her own but she was ill-equipped to train them in battle. She led a rebellion blindly, wanting so desperately to be free from him. Her followers were all killed; not a single one was spared. She was imprisoned for treason and tortured for decades. Eventually he released her, believing that he had successfully stifled any further notions of betrayal. He loved her in his own sadistic way and wanted her by his side. After another thousand years or so, he finally lost interest in her. He was too consumed with his new pet, Amira, to make time for anyone else and granted her permission to leave. She traveled the world creating a new breed of vampire, one that was much more refined. They were taught to control their hunger and to only eliminate those who deserved death. She and her children were ridding the earth of the vilest beings one by one.
Renata eventually landed in London, which was where she’d met Leo. They’d dated for some time while he was still human and fell in love. She offered him the gift of immortality so they could be together for an eternity. They spent the next four hundred years traveling the world, enjoying each other’s company. Unbeknownst to them, Khonsu was watching them the entire time. He always had someone reporting back to him and when he realized Leo wasn’t just a favored pet, jealously spurned him into action. He personally followed them to Paris during the interwar period. He told her that she’d had enough time to play around and it was time to join him once again. She refused, telling him that she had a good life, and didn’t want anything to do with his way of living. He gave her one year’s time to reconsider. Apparently when you’re a god who had lived for many millennia, a year was a measly measure of time.
Renata immediately sent Leo to the United States, agreeing to meet up with him as soon as possible. She knew that her defiance made him a target, so she arranged for him to stay with a coven of witches in New York. They held the power of thirteen, which was a binding spell that only thirteen siblings of the same gender could perform. Once the ceremony was complete, their powers would pool together, making them capable of casting almost any spell. These particular sisters were not only heavy in magical strength but also knowledge. They created the spell that could break a bond with an original. They had explicit instructions from Renata to break any ties that Leo and Khonsu shared. Once the spell was performed, he was required to avoid consuming any blood for six cycles of the moon. If he survived, the bond would be severed.
It took me a while to process everything he had told me before I could formulate any questions. “Didn’t you say that you need blood at least once a month? And that newer vampires need it more often than that?”
“Yes, I did,” Leo confirmed. “The odds of survival were slim, but she insisted that this was the lesser of two evils. I had no reason not to trust her. She truly believed that my life was in danger since he knew of our relationship. We were exclusive for almost four hundred years; there was no way she could have passed me off as a fleeting interest. I fought her on it, insisted on standing by her, but she refused. She forced her influence on me, compelling me to leave.”
All vampires had the ability to influence others in some way, but I didn’t think it worked on their own kind. “Wait…a vampire can charm another vampire?”
He nodded. “It is rare, but yes. All vampires are blessed with certain abilities. That was hers. Unfortunately, Khonsu was immune to it. ”
“What’s Khonsu’s?”
“You witnessed it in the alley. He’s the only known vampire to have such ability. I believe it was a godly power…one that he regained upon becoming a vampire. He can teleport, but only in short distances. Renata believed that ability was the reason he was never killed. Imagine being able to simply disappear when you find yourself in a dire situation.”
“The sifting thing?”
He smirked. “Yes, the ‘sifting thing’.”
“That would definitely come in handy,” I remarked. “You still haven’t told me how you survived.”
He shrugged. “I don’t know…sheer will, maybe? It certainly wasn’t pleasant. I wasted away more and more each day. I lost track of time...I almost lost my sa
nity. I don’t think I would have made it had the witches not opened their home to me. They had an underground cell similar to a bomb shelter. It protected me from the elements.” His expression turned somber. “If only they thought to protect themselves from me.”
“What does that mean?”
“After the sixth cycle was over, they opened the cell to retrieve me.” He paused. “I honestly don’t think they thought I’d survive; hence the lack of common sense on their part.”
I motioned with my hands for him to continue. “Still not getting it, Leo.”
“My thirst was unbearable…it took precedence over anything else. I killed them, Karli. All of them. I couldn’t stop drinking until every one of them was bled dry.”
“Oh.”
“Anyhow…” Leo continued, as if he hadn’t just told me that he slaughtered thirteen women that were responsible for saving his life. I knew he had killed people in the past; he told me so himself. But I always assumed that they were horrible people. Did that make it any better? I didn’t know. A year ago I would have firmly said no, but considering I’ve killed a woman, and now possibly a second, the lines were blurred. “Karli, are you listening to me?”