"I think you're—"
Clay broke off when he heard a sound. He rose to his feet and turned. Shadows moved at the edge of camp. He took a step toward them. "Vellum?"
Familiar dark-hair caught the moonlight, but the vampire was hunched over, his face hidden so Clay couldn’t tell if Vellum was hurt, though that seemed to be the case. Clay ran over and hesitated before touching the other male's shoulder. Was that blood he smelled?
"Vellum, are you—"
Vellum suddenly straightened, only he wasn't the vampire that Clay and Mariel had fallen in love with. This was someone new. Clay had time to open his mouth to shout a warning to Mariel but was given no time to utter a sound. A punch to the head sent him flying through the air and into abyssal darkness.
~~~~~
The crawlups that Mariel had been so proud of hunting fell from her nerveless fingers as she watched Clay hit the ground and lay there, unmoving. Before she could make a move toward him, the vampire turned to face her across the fire.
It wasn't Vellum. Only the dark hair was similar, but even that was only a passing resemblance because this vampire's hair was stringy and dull. It looked unhealthy. But then, everything about him did.
He remained slightly hunched over, as though curled around an injury, or he was infirm. Telling his age was impossible, but he looked haggard in Mariel's opinion. He was the ragged remains of someone who had been living hard for a long, long time. His eyes burned with mania.
"He thought I would be weak," the vampire rasped in a voice that sounded stripped and scraped of all emotion. All humanity. "He should have known better. The sire will always be stronger than the child. As am I."
"Where is he?" Mariel choked out. "Where's Vellum?"
"Bled out. Food for carrion crows and crawlups." The vampire ran a pale yellow tongue across cracked lips. "I knew he couldn't have made it this far on rock goats. I knew he'd have brought cattle with him. And here you are."
The look he turned on Clay's limp form was lit by a ravenous hunger. Mariel would go so far as to say this vampire was nearly mad with hunger. How long had he lived in these mountains, sustained on only animal blood? Clearly it had been too long. This vampire had reverted to the creature that all men feared.
"Leave him alone," she said shakily as the vampire began shuffling toward Clay's body.
The creature gave her only the briefest of dismissive glances, his attention fixed on Clay. Remembering the solid weight tucked into the waistband of her trousers, Mariel fumbled for the gun Clay had given her. She lifted it with a trembling hand and pointed it at the vampire.
"I said get away from him," she gritted out.
He paused only after she'd cocked the weapon.
"Should I drain you first, then?" he asked. He grinned a monster's smile, all yellowed fangs and slavering tongue. "Female blood is sweeter. Thicker. I'd meant to save you for dessert, but you've tempted me to change my mind." He crept forward.
"Stop," she ordered. She was surprised when he did, hovering just at the edge of firelight. "What did you do to Vellum?" she asked, trying to buy time for Clay to recover. "I don't believe you that he's dead. He wouldn't have lost to you."
"No? I ripped his guts out just like I tore out the throats of his family. All weak. All full of fight but lacking in power. Nothing but pitiful vermin."
On the ground, Clay curled his fingers into a loose fist. Mariel's heart sped up. She needed to keep the vampire distracted.
"Then why did you turn him into one of your kind if he was so weak?" she asked.
The vampire chuckled. "Because I was bored. Because I wanted to watch him tear apart a woman while he was mindless with the transformation. The mess he made was…invigorating. The anguish of the Marshals and that little boy when they found her…sublime."
Mariel gasped and nearly dropped the gun. Was he referring to Clay's Janie? It couldn't be a coincidence.
And yet…it hadn't been this murderous vampire who'd killed her. According to him, Vellum had committed the crime. She looked to Clay again to see if he'd heard. His hand had flattened on the ground again. She feared what that might mean.
"You're vile," she spat at the vampire. "Life means nothing to you."
"You're wrong. My life means everything. That's why you're going to help me maintain it."
He launched himself across the fire at her.
He didn't make it as far as the flames. A second dark figure leaped out of the shadows, tackling him to the ground. The two bodies rolled across the ground, snarling and snapping at each other like wild animals. Streaks of fresh blood darkened the ground, turning the dirt to mud.