Page 27 of Blood Lovers (American Vampires #1)

It was always just… Him.

I catch up with Syrsee as she stands in place in the middle of a lovely pathway that I have always been fond of. Ryet is making his way over a delightful walking bridge that curves over the water in an arch.

God, I love this place. I didn’t see us having these moments here. I wanted him in the protective custody of the White River halfbreeds. But I sort of love how it turned out.

White River has a certain charm to it, no doubt. It’s as picturesque as any tiny mountain village in the Northern Rockies. But the North Star... I take a moment to chuckle. It’s… like a dream.

Everything that just happened went splendidly well. And it only gets better from here.

Syrsee turns when I allow her to hear my footsteps. “What the fuck!”

I point to myself, shocked. “Surely you’re not blaming me for this? Dear girl, I didn’t lead you to the greenhouse. You came all on your own. I’m not in charge of your instincts.”

“You… you …” But she has lost her words.

No matter, I have plenty of my own to get out right now. “OK, then. Shall we go?”

“Go?”

I look at my watch, then up at the sky. “The helicopter should be coming back soon. Let’s wait in the lounge, shall we?” I point to the upper floors of the greenhouse. “It’s quite nice up there. Hot drinks, hot food. Are you hungry?”

“Am I hungry ?”

“You must be exhausted.” And she is. I can see it on her face. Though she wasn’t really present in the scene the way Ryet and I were, she was there. In her own way. And she did feed Ryet, though it wasn’t her blood. Just her magic. Which is enough for now. But soon, she will need to give him more of the real thing.

She looks at the pathway where Ryet is just disappearing over a hill. Then she looks back at me. “What about—”

“Oh, don’t worry about him. He’s always been…” I sigh, looking for the right word. “ Dramatic .” Yes. I smile now. Because that is the perfect word for Ryet. “Here’s what we’re going to do. You and I will fly to the compound and wait him out. He’ll be back, my sweet. He’s addicted to you now, you see. You fed him. He needs you.” I walk over to her and place my hand on her head in a loving gesture that I don’t feel, and typically reserve for Ryet. “He needs you. He will never leave you. Not for good and not for long. He’s half yours now.”

I hate admitting that. But it’s true. She gets one half of him and I keep the other. It’s a trade-off that took me a long time to come to terms with, but there is no other way.

Like it or not, Syrsee is the key to my future.

I pan my hand back towards the open door of the greenhouse. “Come now. The heat is spilling out. What a waste.”

Syrsee takes one last look in Ryet’s direction, but he’s gone.

“Trust me, Syrsee. He’s not coming back. Not right now, at least. He’s in retreat. This is his custom. And when he does finally decide to find us again, he won’t come here. He will go home.”

“Home?” Her attention is on me again, which is where it should be.

“It’s a very short helicopter ride away but it will take him several hours by truck. Damn mountain roads. Especially in the winter. We will arrive before he does, but he will show up. He needs to feed on you and he needs to do that soon. So even though he is angry right now, he will come. And we will be there waiting.” I offer her my hand, but she hesitates, looking at it dubiously. “Do you think you can call them?”

She is frowning now. Dismayed. Possibly even broken-hearted. But what choice does she have? “What? Who?”

She knows who. “The Guild, darling. Do you think they’re going to come save you? Because they’re not. I already told you, we had an agreement. This whole thing has been planned for decades. Your mother was part of it. Your grandma was part of it. They traded you for a future for witches in my new empire. And so did the Guild.”

“I don’t understand.”

“They want your blood, darling.”

“But they could’ve had my blood at any time. I lived with them!”

“No. That’s not how it works. Trust me when I tell you it had to be done this way.”

“But I don’t… understand.”

Poor Syrsee. I take her hand, pull her close to me, and put my arm around her shoulder, hugging her, showing affection at her vulnerability. I lead her back in the direction of the greenhouse, talking gently to her now. “Of course not, little treat. No one has explained anything to you. The Guild has done nothing but feed you lies. But it’s time for you to know the truth. Let’s have that conversation now. But don’t worry. I’ll be here for you. I’ll hold your hand through the whole thing.”

The helipad lounge above the greenhouse is warm and cozy. And even though I can tell that Syrsee is disturbed that she is sipping hot chocolate and nibbling gingerly on a croissant after what just transpired, she does these things anyway. Out of habit, I suppose. A desire for something normal in a world swirling with madness.

I wait for her to settle. And when she finally looks up at me with expectations, I begin.

“Do you know how many vampires live in the world?”

She shakes her head.

“Come now. You grew up in the Guild. They must’ve told you something.”

“They…” She sighs. “They said you were the only one.”

“That’s true, to a point. But they never mentioned the others?”

“They said there were three of you, but only you count.”

I smile at this, delighted that they have finally admitted the truth of my power. “That’s correct, to a point. Here in America—which includes Canada and Mexico, but not the rest of Central and South America—I am the Lord King. I am the only one who matters. But I have two contemporaries. Lucia and Josep. They live with me on the compound. You will meet Lucia straight away, but Josep is rather old and reclusive. Lucia was not born a vampire the way I was, the way Ryet was. She was made as a halfbreed. Josep—well, just forget about him for now. The important thing for you to understand is that I am Lord King of America.”

I don’t think Syrsee is impressed. She has stopped nibbling on her food and she’s looking me in the eyes, but she’s not catching on.

“One. There is but one of me. But with Ryet, there is now two .”

“OK.” She shrugs. “So what?”

“If there is only one vampire, he can call himself Lord King all he wants, but it’s meaningless to the others around the world. With two, I am now suddenly formidable. Making a true vampire is not an easy thing to do. Ryet—if he lives through this next part, and I’m expecting him to do this—will be the very first vampire born in over a thousand years.”

She’s squinting now, which means she’s thinking. Which means perhaps she is not just an idiot with a pretty face. She can reason. At least a little bit. “How… I mean, why? Why is it so hard to breed?”

“Well, one must have three things to make a new vampire. You need a mother, a father, and a… you. A little Black witch with Black blood. And this must-have combination is difficult to achieve.”

“Because you ate us out of existence.”

“There is truth to that. But in my defense, Black witches are also hard to breed. You need a mother, who must be a Black witch herself, and you need a father who—”

And here dear Syrsee leans in, giving her ignorance away. She has no idea how Black witches are made. So she snaps at me. “Who what ? Finish that sentence.”

“A father who comes from Darkness, of course. Like the rest of us.”

“And what would that be? Who is this dark ‘father?’”

“We all have the same father, dear girl. The Darkness is our father.”

“Darkness?” She makes a scowling face. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“You will know Him one day. Because one day, he will come to you, dear Syrsee. And when he leaves, you will be with child. And that child will be a new Black witch.”

“So… some ghost is going to rape me in the future and I’m going to have its baby. Is that what I’m hearing?”

“It won’t be rape, of that I’m sure. You will lust for the Darkness. You are part of it, after all. You will open your legs—”

“That’s enough. You’re sick.”

I shrug. “At any rate, that is why it’s difficult. The Darkness won’t waste his time on just anyone. He is a picky fucker. But, that answers your question, yes?”

“What does this have to do with anything?”

“Oh, this is everything. This is my problem. Obviously, I cannot have a child. I need a woman to do that. And there are no female vampires. There are only Black witches. And yes, your kind is nearly extinct. I don’t know the specifics of the breeding programs in other parts of the world, as those vampires cast me out a long time ago. But as far as my breeding program goes, it has been an abject failure until now.”

“So.” She sucks in a long breath to get these words out. “You made me and Ryet.”

“Yes. He’s the first. And you are his feeder. You will bring him to maturity. He will need you for many months.”

She looks away, frowning again.

“You will love him. And he will love you.”

“He’s going to eat me.”

“And you’re going to beg for it.”

“It’s… sick.”

“It is. But also… erotic. You know that, Syrsee. You’ve felt it. And if you need a little reminder…” I bite my lip and lean across the table, turning her head towards me. She resists, refusing to look at me. Knowing that I will kiss her and give her a taste of my lust. “This is the greatest gift I can give you. And you will say no?”

She pushes my hand away and gets up from her chair. “I’m not going to drink you.”

“But you will drink Ryet.”

She shakes her head. In complete denial.

So I give up.

I don’t need to convince her. She will feed off us. And she will love it.

Just as I think these thoughts, the sound of a helicopter fills the room. It shakes and rumbles when it lands. I push back from my chair, walk over to Syrsee and gently place my hand in the small of her back as I lick the blood from my own lip. “Come now. It’s time to go home.”

“Wait.” She pulls away from me, faces me. “You said Ryet will need me for many months.”

“Correct. You are his lifeline into this new existence.”

“But…” And now she looks worried. “But what about after that? What happens after he reaches maturity?”

“What do you mean? He will be one of two of the new American Vampires.”

“No.” She’s irritated. “What happens to me ?”

I shrug. “You… do whatever you want. Hopefully the Darkness finds you and we have a baby. But…” I shrug again. “You can do whatever you want after Ryet’s needs are taken care of. We won’t need you after that.”

“What? You just… after all that… pursuit ? You just…”

“Dear girl, it wasn’t you I was after. It was him. And once he is complete, he will be… different.”

“Different how?”

“He won’t need you anymore. He will need me. He will feed from me. We will only feed on each other after that. He and I will be the first of many. And we will be strong .”

Then I turn and walk to the stairs that lead to the helicopter. Letting her stew in that final bit of truth on her own.

It was never her.

It was always just… him .