Blood Pool

Shrugging, he said, “You’re only half-vampire. I thought you were still vulnerable.”

“True, but my father is one of the most powerful vampires around and, although he looks perpetually forty, he’s old-hundreds of years old, maybe even older. He won’t tell me. You could say I have all the benefits of being human, without the pesky threat of death.”

Of course, Raven could die, but not many people knew under which circumstances, and she preferred it that way. Most Lamai guarded that secret diligently. They held a great deal of contempt for those night creatures that gave interviews revealing Lamai vulnerabilities to mortals.

Derrick ran his hand across his sweat-soaked brow. “Where is your father?” he asked, his voice strained.

Raven huffed. “I don’t know. It’s better that way. Better for him, and better for me.”

“And your mother? Is she any part vampire, too?”

“No, she’s dead,” she said bluntly.

“Oh. Mine is, too. Sorry.” He leaned back and closed his eyes, wincing from the pain She knew the transformation was ravaging his insides. “How did your mother and father-h-how were you…?”

Raven was slightly amused. It was a common question, and she’d had it asked of her more times than she could remember.

“I was conceived like any other human. I carry my father’s DNA. Like all species, ours is designed for survival. Usually, the mitochondrial DNA comes from the maternal side, but when a vampire male mates with a human female, the father’s DNA is passed automatically to the child. It’s the opposite of humans. Why all the questions?”

He coughed violently before catching his breath once more. “Courtier de Sang is hell-bent on figuring a way to fi- He-blames…” A sudden shortness of breath stopped Derrick from speaking. The mottling on his face turned an intense magenta. He grabbed at his neck as if trying to pry a pair of hands off of his throat. Raven jumped out of the car and joined him in the back, clearing his airway, feeling for a pulse. It was thready and irregular. The changes were well under way within him. Somehow, someone had infected him with vampire blood.

She knew all the resident Lamai on the island, and each had this or her own method of quenching the immortal thirst. A few traveled to the mainland and helped to clean up the neighborhoods, so to speak. Others were past the phase of needing to feed, and still others had concocted a brew that came from animals due for slaughter. Then there was talk of a synthetic blood soon to become available. Raven had Bo, or Tracy ’s supply from the blood bank.

Raven tried comforting him. “I’m going to get you to the hospital, Derrick.” She hopped back into the driver’s seat and peeled out of the parking lot, heading straight for Seacrest Memorial Hospital.

“I think I need blood,” he whispered.

“Try to relax.”

“This feels so weird…”

“I know. Once we get you to the hospital, I can see about getting you some blood,” she promised.

“How? How can you get me blood?”

“Harvesting blood has become part of the ritual at our Halloween feast. It’s a sacred act that’s taken place on the local farms for hundreds of years. Have you ever attended the ritual?” she asked, trying to keep his mind off the pain.

“N-no. This was going to be my first time.”

“The ritual also insures a plentiful harvest. All the farmers participate-Lamai, fae, shifters, witches and humans. The surplus of blood is stored at the hospital for local Lamai. Don’t worry.”

His face relaxed a bit.

“None of the Lamai I know drinks from islanders. Besides, the counsel forbids the Lamai to transform humans without express permission and miles of blood red tape.”

Derrick’s face tensed once more. “He’ll…k-kill…me…he knows,” he croaked, still grasping at his throat. “He’s very powerful… I-I…”

“Why would he kill you? You know what, let’s save this talk for later. It’s normal to feel the way you do. You’re not dying. Not in any mortal way.” How comforting, she thought.

Derrick gagged. “H-how do you know? What’s going on?”

“You’re changing. This Sang guy won’t be able to get to you, don’t worry,” she falsely promised. Raven knew the workings of magick, and there was always a way around things, but she had to keep Derrick calm. She made it to the hospital in record time.

“You still with me, Derrick?”

She heard him grunt an answer as she pulled in front of the ER. The ER doors slid open. Raven’s gaze darted around the room, searching for someone familiar, but there was no one she recognized. She called out for immediate assistance. A young female resident dropped the chart she was working on, grabbed a wheelchair and followed her outside.

“Dr. Strigoi, what’s wrong?” The woman trailed behind Raven to the back passenger door.

“The patient’s name is Derrick. I don’t have a last name. Pulse is irregular, breathing shallow.” Raven opened the door to allow her access to Derrick.

But he was gone.

Again.

Chapter Four

Nightmares interrupted Raven’s sleep that night.

If at all possible, his face appeared whiter than the down feathers of a swan. He possessed all the grace of one, too. That’s where the similarities ended, though. Raven had never encountered such power, with a single exception.

Her father.

One would have to know her father to appreciate the significance of what she was thinking. To Raven and her mother, he’d been gentle and kind, but to others, he could be-and often was-ruthless. He was powerful and used to getting his own way, but he had an old world charm about him that enabled him to win many disputes easily. When Raven’s father wanted to, he could be the most charismatic man on earth.

Of course, he could kill his adversaries, but there was no sense of accomplishment then. He savored the hunt, as did all Lamai worth their salt. It was part of being born a Lamai, whether by choice or not. But time had worn away some of the rough edges of Raven’s sire’s personality.

The man in her dream, however, was not her father.

“Soon I will get you, ma beaute. I am close, very close. The time has come…”

Raven writhed in bed, moaning from the nightmares that had been beleaguering her all night.

“I have someone I wish for you to meet. You will be so surprised,” the monster in her dream continued in a singsong voice.

Then this foreign figure diminished and familiar ones immediately replaced him: her mother, Bo, her father, Frank and Solaris. All were telling her something, but the voices sounded like electronic voice phenomena or static on a television set. The images faded, and only the voices remained.

Before she knew it, she was squinting into the morning sun that blazed through her windows. She’d had her worst night’s rest in a while, and it promised to be a grueling day, beginning at the hospital and ending with a meeting at Town Hall.

After an exhausting day at the lab spent going over reams of paperwork, Raven arrived at Frank’s office. The sun settled where low clouds met the horizon. She walked straight in and began recounting the meeting with Julianna at The Bed and Brew.

“Frank, I met with Jules the other night and she advised me to speak with you. I need to know what’s going on.” This time, she took the cognac he offered and settled into the wingback chair opposite him.

He looked uncomfortable and resigned, though she couldn’t discern why.

“You know my threshold for weird is quite vast, but there are things happening that push the boundaries even for me. The man in my autopsy room, Derrick, showed up in my car. My car. And he was going through the transformation.” Raven took a deep breath, watching Frank’s reaction.

Frank emptied his glass, poured another drink for himself and sighed.

Raven continued, hoping to get Frank to open up. “The guy was freaked out and asking a lot of questions, said I’m in trouble. Warned me about some evil that’s around and mentioned a Courtier de Sang. He wanted to know about my father. If you know anything, Frank, you’ve got to fill me in. Why would he want to know about my father?”

Frank hitched a shoulder and rubbed a hand across his chin before he spoke. “Your mother loved you and Tobias with all her heart. You know that, don’t you?”

She nodded. “My father made sure I remembered my mother and how much she loved me. We celebrated her birthday, which I thought odd, but my father presumably had his reasons. And he still keeps her pictures in his wallet and all over his homes.”

Frank smirked. “Yes, all half-dozen of them-or is it seven homes now? Anyway, Tobias, although he’s a complete bastard now, was a different…being…when you were younger and your mother was still alive.”

Raven shivered at the thought of her mother dying so young. “I know her death…did something to him.” She pulled her legs up and tucked her skirt around them, then curled them underneath her.

Frank rocked his recliner back and forth, like the ticking of a clock. “I’ve known your parents for a long time. I grew up with your momma. We all lived in New Orleans at one point. She was a spitfire. I was quiet as a kid, but your mother spoke her mind, no matter what other people thought. The two of us were inseparable as kids, and even into our teenage years.” His face had started to glow with emotion, raw and intense, while he traveled back in time. “I sort of looked after her. Especially when she would talk about the neighbors’ dead relatives who came to her with messages for them. I got into many fights defending your mother’s…sanity.” He laughed to himself.

“You were born down there, in the Garden District. Ah-such a beautiful place to live. I’m thinking of moving back when my term as mayor comes to an end. Your father…” Frank shook his head. “Tobias is an enigma for sure. I’ve seen the maniacal side of him, and then there’s the giving side. Your mother gets most of the credit