A Wind of Change (A Shade of Vampire #17)(23)

I was confused at first as to Jeramiah’s hurry to get me in the room, but then I was aware of nothing but the scent of hot human blood overwhelming me. As I laid eyes on a young woman cowering in one corner of the paneled room, puncture wounds in her neck still bleeding, I realized that agreeing to come here with Jeramiah had been a terrible, terrible mistake.

Chapter 8: River

My head was still spinning.

Vampires.

They exist.

Did this mean that other creatures my mother and I had seen reported on TV existed too? Witches? Dragons?

I felt like I’d gone insane even entertaining the thought.

And yet here I was locked in this sauna room with fang marks in my neck.

I was past hoping that I would wake up.

This was no dream.

When the door opened, I was terrified that it would be Michael back for more of my blood. The sight I was met with was no less terrifying: two vampires—Jeramiah, and another young man who looked over six feet tall, with deep green eyes and dark, almost black hair.

My first thought was that this must be the Joseph person Jeramiah and Michael had been talking about earlier.

Now I wondered whether it would have been better for me if Michael had shown up again.

I was expecting one of them, perhaps both of them, to launch on me and inflict more pain, perhaps even end my life. Instead, the green-eyed man jerked backward the moment he laid eyes on me and darted toward the door. Jeramiah reached it before him and blocked his exit. Joseph’s shoulders were heaving as he kept his back facing me.

“What’s wrong?” Jeramiah asked.

“I’m willing to serve The Oasis, but not like this,” Joseph said, his voice deep and strained.

“I’m not going to ask you to kill this girl. Just half-turn her.”

“Step aside.” There was urgency in Joseph’s tone.

“You said that you felt you were ready to come out with us on a hunt,” Jeramiah continued, making no motion to step out of the way. “Half-turning humans shouldn’t be difficult. And I’m here to oversee it. I’ll make sure you don’t take things too far—”

Joseph gripped Jeramiah’s shoulder and shoved him aside. Casting him a glare, he said through gritted teeth, “I can’t… touch this girl.”

He clutched the handle, forced the door open and stormed out of the room.

I wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or dread what was to happen next.

My stomach squirmed as Michael stepped back into the room with Jeramiah.

“Now what?” Michael said, eyeing me.

Jeramiah looked quite unfazed. “Joseph isn’t going to do it,” he replied. “So that means we’re going to have to create another new vampire from one of our humans.”

“Which one?”

“It doesn’t matter much,” Jeramiah said. “Just choose one who is smaller than us—someone who won’t be impossible to control soon after their turning. Because I’m not willing to wait days for a new vampire to calm down. As soon as they turn, they’ll begin work right away.”

“A damn annoyance only new vampires can half-turn humans,” Michael muttered.

Both men stepped out of the room. The door shut behind them, leaving me alone.

It was all I could do to not lose myself to despair when I imagined what my sister might be going through. I could only pray that she was being treated better than me. But what do they want her for? What do they want me for?

My chest ached as I imagined how sweet Lalia’s blood might taste to them.

Please, Laly, wherever you are, be safe. I’m here. I’m gonna come for you as soon as I can.

I almost leapt out of my skin as the door swung open again. It was Jeramiah, alone this time. He was holding a syringe. Panicking, I scrambled to my feet and tried to distance myself from him, but he closed in on me.

“Be still,” he said calmly as he slid a hand around the back of my neck and positioned me against the wall. I struggled until the needle pricked my skin and the drug seeped into my bloodstream. Consciousness soon left me after that. The numbness was an unexpected mercy.

Chapter 9: Ben

I was fuming as I returned to my apartment. I shouldn’t have been surprised that the day had come when Jeramiah expected me to half-turn humans. After all, Jeramiah had said all along that was what I was useful for—but I couldn’t help but feel furious at the way he’d sprung it on me. The fact that he hadn’t told me what he’d come for when he’d first knocked on my door made me believe that he’d thought that I would disagree.

As much as I knew this would set me back in my attempt to gain the vampires’ trust and escape this place, I simply couldn’t bring myself to bite into that innocent girl’s flesh. I knew that the moment I held her in my arms, I would lose myself in her and resurface again only to find her a shriveled corpse.

Jeramiah didn’t know who I was. He thought that he would be strong enough to control me. Although he was a Novak himself, I doubted that there was anyone who could restrain me when I was in the midst of a blood frenzy. Even my father had trouble controlling me back in The Shade.

There was something very wrong with me, and until I found out what it was, I couldn’t risk killing again.

My mouth watered as I recalled that human girl huddled in the corner of the sauna. When Jeramiah had closed the door, I had been so sure that I would launch at her and rip her throat out. If I had not shoved him aside, I would’ve drained every last drop from her.