Pulse. Part 6

d.a.m.n it. Then Kalina remembered Stuart and Jaegar's face when the wind blew her scent towards them a their barely-restrained desire, their fanatical hunger. And that had only been her scent.

She jabbed the stake into the palm of her hand, feeling the blood come loose from the skin and start to trick down the stake. The girl looked up, sniffing the air like a wolverine. Kalina could see the naked hunger on her face.

"Well..." The compulsion clouding Kalina's brain vanished; the girl was distracted now. "Maybe just a little taste..."

Now was the moment. As the girl crept over, fangs bared, her eyes intent on Kalina's neck, Kalina seized the opportunity. She jammed her stake straight into the girl's heart.

"Owww!" the girl cried, and then there was a flash. The girl's body began to wither a aging from a child to a young woman, a matron, a crone, a skeleton, and then at last to a pile of dust. The smell of weeks'-old decomposition filled the air. Kalina instinctively crossed herself, and whispered what Latin she could remember from the prayer for the dead before running.

"Stuart! Jaegar!" Kalina held fast to her stake as she emerged from the bas.e.m.e.nt.

"Kalina!" The brothers rushed towards her. "Are you alright?"

Stuart was carrying the head of one vampire in his left hand.

"Oh, gross." Kalina had to look away.

"Where's the third one?" Stuart's voice grew hurried. "Did you see her?"

"She's dead in the bas.e.m.e.nt." Kalina swallowed down vomit.

"She's what?"

"I killed her." Kalina showed them her stake; instinctively, they recoiled. She gasped out the last of her fear and gave them a weak smile. "Piece of cake." She wobbled on her feet. "Now a I think I'd really like to just sit down."

She caught sight of her car through the window. It had been reduced to a stripped-down wreck; the tires had been slashed. She turned to the brothers. "So, which one of you two wants to give me a ride?"

chapter 8.

"I'll do it!" Stuart sprang up, shooting an emphatic look at Jaegar as he did so. "I'll get my keys."

They walked outside, only to find Stuart's car in as pitiful a condition as Kalina's. "Looks like they didn't want anyone to be able to leave alive," Kalina said.

"Not to fear!" Jaegar gave her an infuriating smile. "My car is in the garage a it's your lucky day, Stuart."

"I'm good." Kalina placed a hand on her hips. "I'll walk."

"It's ten miles to town!" Stuart cried.

"Or I'll call Justin. He'll pick me up. I'll tell him I hit a deer." She knew her brother wouldn't be home until late in the evening. Nevertheless, she felt anything was preferable to sitting in a car with Jaegar again. She wasn't sure she'd be able to control herself a either to stop herself from screaming at him or to stop him from his inevitable attempt at kissing her.

"Oh, come on now!" said Jaegar. "Didn't I just save your life?"

"Actually, I..."

"I helped!" Jaegar tapped his fingers on the table. "I promise I won't bite. At least a not too hard."

"Well, I can't promise the same, Jaegar."

"Vampire's honor. I'll be as meek as a mouse and as cuddly as a teddy bear."

She raised an eyebrow. "I'd like to see you try."

"Jaegar." Stuart whispered. "Don't you even..."

Jaegar raised his hands. "Vampire's honor!"

"I don't trust you," Stuart said simply. "I'm coming with you."

"We need somebody back at the house," said Jaegar. "To make sure no more vamps come. Of course a Kalina a if you feel that you need Stuart to protect you from the big, bad Jaegar..."

"I'm fine," said Kalina, automatically. No matter how much she couldn't stand Jaegar, she wasn't about to let him feel like she needed Stuart to protect her! "I can take care of myself." She opened the car door. "After all, Jaegar. I've still got my stake."

"Very well," said Stuart. His eyes still betrayed his wariness.

"Vampire's honor," said Jaegar, grinning.

Kalina felt a twinge of uneasiness at his grin, but put it aside. As creepy as Jaegar was, she had a feeling much of it was bravado. As much as Stuart and Jaegar seemed to hate each other, they hadn't actually tried to kill each other yet. There seemed to be an understanding between them. Besides, she wanted some answers, and she had the feeling that Jaegar would be more forthcoming. Stuart seemed stymied by his chivalry, somehow, and as much as she admired a appreciated and she had the feeling that Jaegar would be more forthcoming. Stuart seemed stymied by his chivalry, somehow, and as much as she admired a appreciated a was even attracted to his quiet honor, right now she needed someone willing to answer her questions. Fast.

"Come on then, Dracula," she said. "Let's. .h.i.t the road."

Jaegar waved a mocking farewell to Stuart as he slammed the door behind him. "h.e.l.lo, princess," he said. "Let's take this ride for a spin."

"My house is 42 Medea Drive. Go to the gazebo in the town center, then..."

"Turn right, I know. I know where you live. I've been watching you."

Kalina shot him a glare. "Do you have any idea how creepy that is?"

"Aaron asked us to protect you. That's what I'm doing. Protecting. And sometimes staring."

She gave him a mild punch to the shoulder; he swerved instinctively and nearly drove into one of the grape trellises.

"So," said Jaegar. "Let's chat."

"About what?"

"Aaron."

"Aaron?"

"I want to know more about him. It's been a long time since I've seen that dear brother of mine. What was he like a as a boyfriend?"

The question fl.u.s.tered her. "None of your business."

She saw his smile fade. Perhaps he was serious, after all. "I'm not asking to tease you," he said. "Delightful as that would be. I'm curious. Just because I'm a vampire doesn't mean I don't have a heart you know. It doesn't beat a but it does feel. And I want to know what my brother was like."

She smiled against herself. "Sweet," she said. "Very sweet. Young a he felt younger than me, sometimes."

"Aaron was always immature," said Jaegar. "When his mother stopped him from aging a she seemed to stop him from growing up."

"How old was he a really?"

"Over a hundred years old," Jaegar laughed. "A baby, in vampire years. You'd be surprised how long it takes some men to grow up."

"Over a hundred years old." Kalina considered. "It makes sense, in a way. He was very...old-fas.h.i.+oned. When it came to things like dating. He'd kiss my hand. He'd send me letters. He was very a courtly, I guess. Chivalrous."

"He isn't that old."

"No, I know." Kalina sighed. "He was a good boyfriend a at first. Except for the Vampire Wine. He always treated me well." She looked up at Jaegar. "You should be proud of him."

"I was," said Jaegar, darkly.

"I miss him."

"Miss him?" Jaegar grew angry suddenly. "You don't even know what missing is! You're a human a you've lived, what, eighteen years? You don't know what it's like to miss somebody!"

"Stop the car!" said Kalina. She wasn't about to take this. "I'm walking."

Jaegar hit the brakes. She opened the door.

"No, wait!" he said. "I'm sorry. I am. It's just a a human a loving a vampire. It's so strange to me. I don't understand it."

"Any stranger than a vampire loving a human?"

Jaegar did not answer.

"Aaron wanted to become a human. And Stuart a he said he did, too."

"It doesn't disgust you. The idea of drinking blood?"

"Well, it's a little gross a but, I mean, I eat rare steak all the time. I don't think about it."

"And what if Aaron drank from the unwilling? If he killed men and women a what then?"

"I don't know that he did." Kalina turned to face him. They drove on. "It sounds like he stuck to Vampire Wine. Which is more than I can say for you."

"Listen," said Jaegar. "You eat your steak. I'll eat my humans. You don't need to get self-righteous with me. As far as I'm concerned a you're just food."

"I'm food that can talk. And in any case a you don't seem to make up your mind whether you want to sleep with me or have me for dinner."

"Both, really."

"But you're not going to. Because I'm special, right?"

Jaegar mumbled something in reply. He sighed. "Do you find me repulsive, Kalina?"

"You personally or you vampires?"

"Vampires."

"No," she shrugged. "Not really. I find you surprising."

"Surprising?"

"Maybe not so surprising. I'm a good Catholic girl. I believe in things I can't understand or explain every day. I believe there's something more than just this world. So maybe vampires shouldn't surprise me."

"A good Catholic girl."

"My parents were missionaries. They got blown up by a bomb in Afghanistan."

"I'm sorry."

"It was two years ago, before Aaron showed up."

"Do you find me repulsive, Kalina."

"Yes," she said. "But not because you're a vampire. Because you're a bit of a creep."

"Seriously?"

She blushed. "Well a okay, not entirely repulsive. You're certainly a attractive, physically. I mean a if you weren't such a perv."

"I'm straightforward," Jaegar pretended to be hurt. "I thought women liked that sort of thing. Vampires are hard to resist. We have powers that go beyond our looks. Have you noticed?"

"Oh yes," said Kalina, and she could see Jaegar's grin. "Stuart is certainly very irresistible."

His smile faded. She laughed inwardly. So a he was the jealous type.

"I guess it runs in the family," she continued. "That makes you the odd one out."

"I've never had any complaints before," he said.

"Guess you've never met a girl like me before."

"Guess so."

"But who knows?" she couldn't resist flirting, just a little bit. Once she'd realized she had the power to make Jaegar jealous, she began to find him far less frightening.

"The Greystone men are my weakness, after all."

"It seems like you are the our weakness."