Page 59 of Absolution

I frowned. “Healing the bite?” Did that mean when I’d been feeding off bullies I’d been creating bonds with them?

“Our saliva is part of the change, more so than any mental bond. It’s why Roman was your sire. Every time he healed you, kept you from dying, he was creating a lasting link that could have ultimately forced your transition when you died, even without my help.”

It was the first I was hearing of all of this. I’d sort of thought making vampires was like the movies portrayed, an exchange of blood or something. Only Roman had never given me blood. Gabe had, though I’d been mostly dead for that. “That just means all these people are going to die,” I said looking out into the crowd of sluggish humans clinging to vampires as though they were in some renaissance film.

“Everyone dies. Even vampires. Humans are short lived. Stupid humans even more so. They made their choice.” Gabe waved to someone across the room. A moment later a small Korean kid appeared. The guy didn’t look legal, and like most Korean men I’d met, he was more pretty than handsome.

“Who’s your friend?” The kid asked Gabe.

“This is Sam,” Gabe said taking his offered hand and squeezing it. He tugged the young man forward and gave him a little nudge toward me. “Sam’s here to practice.”

The kid smiled. He let go of Gabe’s hand and stepped into my space. “I love helping with practice.” He put his hands around me and tilted his head so his neck was bared. The skin there was scarred, and he smelled of anemia.

“I’m not sure I need practice,” I told him, trying to unlatch him from my side.

“Practice sending him images,” Gabe instructed. “He tastes all right.”

I felt Seiran try to swallow back his hurt.

“You’d drink this over Seiran?” I had to ask. This kid wasn’t even on the same planet as Seiran’s blood was.

“Who’s Seiran?” The kid asked. “I’d let him have a taste too. Gabe makes it really good.”

Gabe was already up and moving away, disappearing into the crowd. My anger at him grew. Seiran retreated, though I couldn’t help but feel his heartbreak through the shared bond. Rage grew in my gut over all of this. I felt a bit of the red haze settle over my vision as the kid nuzzled my neck like he could bite me.

I pushed him away. “Not really in the mood,” I told him. Never really had found a good mood for nameless strangers who wanted me just for the kink of getting bitten.

The kid shrugged, muttering, “Your loss,” and wandered off. I wondered how many times Gabe had fed on him. Even as pretty as the kid had been, he couldn’t compare to Seiran. Why the replacement? Because Gabe wasn’t feeding on Seiran or having sex with him. And that was another question. Why?

I pushed my way through the crowds, watching in disgust at the blood orgies. Two died while vampires fed. No one seemed concerned. The vampires just stopped and went on to their next living victim. Dead blood was just dead blood, I guess.

I felt sick. This was not the civility Gabe had taught me to expect. He’d told me that vampires were just humans with special powers. And it was our responsibility to be aware of how those abilities affected the world around us. Biting people could kill them. Messing with their minds could drive them crazy. I couldn’t imagine him letting this sort of debacle even exist in his city.

Was all of this new? From the change in vampires due to the QuickLife? Had this been going on all along? If so, then the humans had every right to be afraid of us. This was more monstrous than me hunting bullies in Riverside. At least there no one had died. I’d never lied to them about giving them new lives only to destroy them.

The bodies were hauled away quietly, like none of it mattered. I found Gabe surrounded by groupies, all taking turns feeding him. They were aroused. I could smell that from ten feet away. He was not. They were just food to him, and so much so the one he drank from right then was almost done.

I stepped forward to pull him off. “Stop.” I yanked the girl away and shoved her toward her group. “She’ll die,” I told Gabe.

“They’re all dying,” he said, a red haze tinting his normal green eyes. “Everyone is dying. The whole fucking world is dying. You spent months wishing you were dead and blaming me for bringing you back to life. Why deny them the same?”

“Because you’re not a murderer.”

He stood, towering over me and gave me a hard shove. “Says who? Do you know how long I’ve lived? I’ve killed thousands.” He gestured to the crowd. “They are just food.”

“Is that all Seiran is to you? Food?”

“He’s my Focus. He belongs to me. He is no longer human. He is no longer food.” The red in his eyes intensified. No comment about love. No emotion from him at all except the anger. I realized then that this wasn’t even Gabe I was talking to anymore. It was hisother.

I could feel Seiran recoil. Had he ever seen a vampire so lost in the revenant? He likely never expected to see it from Gabe.

“And if Seiran knew you were here? What would he do?” I demanded trying to bring Gabe back into some common sense. “This is perilously close to cheating on him.”

It was cheating on him. Seiran looked at the crowd and saw lots of replacement faces, some even witches, though none could compete. Gabe may not be sexually aroused, but that could have been because the revenant was out. I’d been the same before going to ground. Finding little to lift my attention other than just blood. “Seiran should leave you.”

I didn’t see Gabe move. The next second, I was up in the air, slammed against a wall, pain shooting from my chest where he crushed me into brick. His fangs bared and eyes flashing, he snarled at me. “You know nothing of what we are.”

“And whose fault is that?” I demanded unwilling to let him bully me. I tried to move his hand but it was like an anvil, solid and damn near unmovable. “You told me we aren’t monsters. So what is the point of all this? To prove we are? None of this will keep him with you.”