Hearts At Stake

chapter 6

Lucy

Saturday afternoon

I left a note on the fridge door and snuck out, keeping the car in neutral until I was clear of the driveway. I knew they would have wanted to send someone with me, but I was incidental and I didn’t want Solange to have one single minute of less protection because of me. Besides, I waited until the brightest and sunniest part of the day, and I only needed to make sure the cats had enough water and food. Everything else I needed was in town, in nice public crowded places or right on the Drake compound.

I knew Geoffrey would be in his lab now that he had a sample of the Hypnos powder. It really rankled that I’d been the weak link. Kieran had a lot to answer for, the jerk.

I drove to the last house on the compound and around to the barn set out back. Geoffrey had been using it as a lab for decades. I knocked on the door before going in. It was a lesson I’d had drilled into me since I was old enough to know that it was okay to ignore certain explosions and black smoke out of this particular barn but that it was never okay not to knock. Geoffrey might hear my heartbeat approaching, but some of his experiments were delicate and dangerous and he wasn’t always able to step away from them or close them down for visitor safety. And though I usually preferred Hyacinth’s closet for my explorations, Geoffrey had helped me pass my biology exam last year and I was hoping he’d be as helpful today.

“Come in, Lucy,” he called out, already sounding distracted. I’d have to make my questions short. The barn was outfitted with the most modern equipment, acres of counters and refrigeration units and at least a dozen fire extinguishers. Geoffrey was standing over a tray of beakers, wearing a creased lab coat.

“Hi. I know you’re busy so I’ll be quick,” I said, wrinkling my nose at the familiar odor of formaldehyde and rubbing alcohol with a tinge of hay. There hadn’t been hay stored in this barn for nearly a hundred years, but apparently that dusty smell never really went away. “Any progress with the Hypnos?”

“These things take time, you know that.” He added a drop of blue liquid to a slide and slipped it under a microscope. “Just like I know that’s not why you’re really here.”

“I’m sorry I let him get away.”

He looked up. “It’s hardly your fault— even I would follow orders if I got a mouthful of Hypnos. It’s very potent, Lucy.”

“I know.”

“Now, what can I do for you?”

I bit my lip. “I want to know about the bloodchange.”

“You know about the bloodchange.”

“No, I don’t. I know it’s the big bad and everyone’s freaked out, but that’s it. And every time I ask Solange, she tells me not to worry.”

“And she’s right.”

“Please.” Apparently I wasn’t above begging. “I just want to understand it so I can help.”

He smiled gently. “Unfortunately, there’s not much you can do to help, my dear. This is Solange’s battle.”

“Solange is my best friend,” I said stubbornly. “So it’s my battle too.”

Something in my face must have convinced him I was going to make a nuisance of myself until I got what I wanted, because he finally sighed and said, “All right, Lucy. Have a seat.”

I sat quickly, before he could change his mind.

“The bloodchange is still a bit of a mystery,” he admitted. “I’ve been doing research and experiments to better understand our family’s special challenge, but with varying degrees of success. It’s not strictly scientific, nor is it strictly supernatural, so we have as many questions as answers. There are only a few other families who can procreate like we do. All other vampires are made, not born. Technically, the Hel-Blar are made the same way; it’s only that they have a more violent transformation, without guidance or mentoring until it’s too late.”

“Are they as scary as everyone makes them out to be?”

“Yes.”

“Do the Hounds get sick too?”

“In a manner of speaking, though not like us. Our change is genetic, you understand. As near as we can explain it, when our young reach puberty, the flux in hormones triggers the change. It’s like the body attacks itself and then shuts down— until it is reawakened by drinking vampire blood. Our children need to be very strong to fight through it and win.”

I swallowed. “But mostly everyone gets through it, right?”

“Mostly.”

“Why do some go crazy? Is that a hormone thing, too? Like permanent PMS?”

He smiled briefly. “Not quite. It’s just that some are stronger than others. The bloodchange is so difficult, some just can’t hold on to themselves. If they get only just enough blood to survive, the thirst takes them over and it’s all they can think about, like the Hel-Blar.”

“Are you telling me Solange could turn into one of them if she’s not strong enough?”

“I wish I knew for sure. The more likely outcome would be that she might simply die and not reawaken.”

“This sucks.” I scowled. “But Solange is totally strong enough. She won’t die for real and she won’t go crazy.” If I said it enough, it would be true.

“I’m sure you’re right,” Geoffrey said soothingly. “She has strong genes, which is an asset. Drinking the blood from someone of the same lineage will restore her enough to win the battle. Her body won’t attack the new blood, but it can’t create its own supply either. At first, she’ll need to drink every day to supplement, less as she gets older.”

“She’s not going to get older.” I tried not to dwell on the fact that one day I’d be wrinkled and wearing dentures and she’d still look young enough to be my granddaughter. We had way bigger worries.

“She won’t age physically, no. At least not for a few years, after her body completely adjusts to its new form. I’m afraid I don’t really understand the science behind this adaptation yet. My theory is that it’s another genetic survival mechanism: we reach our optimum age, where we look the strongest. It’s a way to scare off predators, like making yourself look bigger to scare off a black bear.”

“Oh. And her special pheromone thing is a survival mechanism too, right? How everyone’s all obsessed with her?”

“Yes. It’s a mating thing. Everyone is wondering if she’ll be able to carry a vampire child to term.”

“Gross.”

“Study your Darwin, my girl.”

As if. “One more thing, why are the Hel-Blar blue?”

“It’s a side effect, like their fangs. Their extra fangs enable them to take their first . . . meals . . . with such violence and greed, it leaves them, in effect, engorged and bruised.”

“Oh.” I had to learn to stop asking these questions. I never liked the answer. I swallowed. “Thanks. I guess I should let you get back to work.”

“Yes, Darwin’s going to get a little help when I’m through.” He turned back to his microscope and I knew he’d pretty much forgotten I was there by the time I reached the door. I didn’t feel better exactly, but at least I didn’t feel like I was the only one in the dark anymore.

I drove home, mind racing. My house seemed too quiet somehow, too empty. Mom’s Kali statue watched as I put out several bowls of water. It had to last until my parents came back—just in case. It felt melodramatic to think like that, but I needed to be prepared. Solange would have been happy hiding out in some deserted cabin until this was all over, but I wanted to fight. My parents still didn’t understand my violent tendencies considering the way I was raised: meditating, eating tofu, and taking long road trips in the middle of the school year to see petroglyphs or observe moose. My mom’s rabid tolerance extends not just to people but all species—vampires included. Helena and my mom were best friends in high school but drifted apart when Mom went to college and then traveled around the world to find herself. It was ten years before Mom came back to her hometown. One night she went on one of her full-moon hikes and ran into Helena, who was pregnant with Solange and drinking the blood of a deer Liam had killed to help sate her cravings. Apparently, that kind of thing had only happened when Helena was pregnant with Solange and not any of her seven brothers.

Anyway, no amount of vampire mind control was going to make my vegetarian mom forget that particular sight. Helena couldn’t hide from my mom, and their friendship was rekindled, which was how we came to be so close and comfortable with the Drakes. More comfortable than they were with us sometimes— case in point: Nicholas.

Nicholas.

I really wished he’d been a bad kisser. It would have been much easier to forget it ever happened, to not wonder if it might happen again.

“Focus,” I told myself sternly, locking our front door, double-checking it. I watched every bush and tree suspiciously on my way back to the safety of my car. The tires squealed, sending up clouds of dust as I sped out of there. The back of my neck didn’t relax completely until I’d reached the outskirts of town, with its candy-colored galleries and ice-cream parlors. The area was popular with artists, environmentalists, and homesteaders like my folks. There were few places with so much wilderness all around—dense forests and hidden waterfalls and even wolves, sometimes, singing on cold winter nights. The combination of the untamed countryside and the fact that everyone here was pretty private and accepting of alternative lifestyles made it a perfect place for vampires to live in undiscovered. At least I thought they were undiscovered. If not, no one talked about it. Folks here were far more likely to get heated over conspiracy theories and nuclear waste sites.

First, I stopped by the drugstore for nose plugs and I cleared them out entirely. The cashier didn’t even blink. Then I went to the hardware store for hunting and camping supplies, which were big business in town. I felt a little silly, I admit, kind of like the comic book character I’d accused Kieran of emulating. But I was determined, too. If there was anything I’d learned from my parents, besides how to chop wood and prime the water pump, it was that you did what needed doing and you didn’t complain about it or pretend it wasn’t necessary. Afterward, I felt perfectly justified in rewarding myself with a double-shot cinnamon latte. And since my parents weren’t there, I didn’t even use soy milk. That was downright rebellious in our family. I nearly snorted— I was going back to a house where blood was sipped like a fine wine and vegetarianism wasn’t exactly an option. I’d already made Solange promise she wouldn’t drink any bunnies dry.

I was halfway back to my car when I felt the warning prickle. I swallowed, forced myself not to speed up or slow down, to keep my pace even and oblivious. There was a family eating hot dogs on a bench, someone else on a bicycle, two girls walking a tiny teacup Chihuahua. There was something else as well, that indescribable feeling of being watched, followed. I turned the corner, the green lawns of a park on my left, my car farther down on the right. No other pedestrians. The sun was making the sidewalk feel soft under my sandals. Almost definitely not a vampire then, it was too hot and bright.

There was the barest tremble from the hazel thicket. I wouldn’t have noticed it at all if I hadn’t been so paranoid about every single thing around me. Adrenaline shivered through me. I hoped I still looked like any other distracted girl, sipping my latte and juggling shopping bags. I waited until I was right next to the hazel before I chucked my latte and hollered, launching myself at whoever was skulking around back there. We went down in a tangle of flailing limbs and blistering curses. I saw black cargo pants, black nose plugs, black eyes. His code name was probably Shadow.

Kieran.