Bad Blood

The Stuff of Dreams

"Rick," soft lips whispered against the shell of his ear. He smiled without opening his eyes, luxuriating in the feel of her smooth, velvety skin and generous curves. Those soft, full lips pressed against his jaw and traced down his neck. Goosebumps rose in the wake of her nimble fingers as they danced down the hard panes of his chest and stomach. His breathing hitched against her feathery caresses. His hands wandered the length of her, finally settling in her silky curls. Breathing deep, he moaned as her lilac and honey scent enveloped him.

"Look at me," she demanded and he obeyed. Her hazel eyes sparkled in the afternoon light as she smiled down at him. Tousled, dark brown curls formed a halo around her head, glinting gold as she tipped her head back to laugh. It was music to his ears. He watched the long caramel line of her throat greedily. Her full, sensuous lips stretched in an easy smile as she leaned down to whisper in his ear. "Say my name."

"Maggie."

Tanner's eyes flew open, his fists clenched in the twisted blankets. The stretch of bed beside him was achingly empty. Had been empty for nine months. Something cracked in his chest, something raw and ragged. Sweat drenched the sheets, dripping down his chest as he sat up and buried his face in his hands. It had felt so real. He could still feel the silken pull of her hair through his fingers. Could still taste her sweet lips.

His jaw clenched tight as the burning in his throat grew unmanageable and hot tears blazed lines of fire down his face. Say my name, the bloodsucker had demanded as he'd drained the life from her. Say my name, as he'd stared right at Tanner with those wicked, dark eyes and sunk his fangs into her.

Fury built in him until he thought he might just burst into flames. The alarm on his bedside table buzzed annoyingly and he sent it flying across the room, where it smashed against the bedroom door.

A dark chuckle slithered through the room, snaking its way onto the bed and into Tanner's ear. He shuddered even as heat turned his core molten and goosebumps raced down his arms. An unseasonably warm breeze wafted through the open window, smelling not of New York City pollution but of lilac and honey.

"Did you do this?" He tapped a finger to his head as he spoke to the mass of shadows in the corner of the room, just at the edge of daylight's fingers.

"You seemed to be enjoying it, Captain."

Tanner spoke through jaws clenched so tightly they ached, "stay out of my head."

"You called me," the shadows fluttered and expanded.

"I most definitely did not." Tanner knotted the sheets in his fists as the scented breeze roused another desire in him. One that left him panting and ashamed.

"You spend your days, your dreaming hours calling for her." The shadows darkened, coalescing into a shape. "She lives in me. She hears you, just as I do. I'm merely the... conduit." A pale face bloomed in the darkness, the corners of its mouth turned down in a frown. "The bond between you is strong." A tall, lithe body resolved in the shadows. "I'd admit to being quite fascinated if it weren't for all of the emotional baggage that accompanied it."

"Are you saying she is making you feel...human?"

The vampire's lips pursed, "I am saying she is making me feel, Captain. Isn't that enough to be getting on with?" He studied his immaculate nails. "I haven't been human in millenia. One woman isn't going to change that." His frown grew deeper, "no matter how willful she may be."

"You can literally hear her and feel her?" Tanner was breathless, fighting the ridiculous urge to cut the bloodsucker open and pull her out of him. "She...she's alive?"

"No Captain," his voice was soft, apologetic even. "Not in the way you mortals consider alive. Her body is empty, no doubt still in deep freeze with The Order." The sunlight fled the room slowly and The Count seemed to bleed from the corner, like ink from a blotter. He solidified more with each passing second, coming closer and closer to the bed.

"How does she live in you?"

"Souls never die," his smile was sardonic. "She is not the only one in here." He tapped a long pointed finger to his powerful chest. Dracula was at the edge of the bed now, the expensive mattress barely depressing as he sat, hands folded in his lap. It was an oddly human movement. Tanner edged up against the headboard, creating distance between them. Their eyes locked for a long moment and something seemed to swell between them, something fragile and tenuous.

"You are up early."

"I am very, very old. I do not require much rest anymore."

"Why allow yourself to get so weak then?" The emaciated beast Tanner had found deep in that cavern was a far cry from the powerful, elegant creature sitting on his bed.

Dracula's eyes flashed in the growing dark, his voice soft. "At times I feel the need to remove myself from the world. To stop the earth from spinning beneath my feet. To shut the clamor and stench and filth of humanity out." Silence greeted this statement. "Think of it as a hibernation of sorts. I cannot be killed. That is as close to death as I can get."

Millenia he had said. This vampire had been alive for millenia and had once been human. He'd seen the rise and fall of empires, the death of magic and the old world and the birth of technology. Wonder filled Tanner, all of the things he had seen and done and yet he wanted to hide in a cave. He craved death?

"If you had seen everyone and everything you loved destroyed again and again and again, would you not go mad?"

Dracula's eyes gleamed quicksilver and Tanner felt his heart thump erratically. Was he actually feeling sorry for the bloodsucker? Another warm breeze caressed his cheek and bitterness twisted his heart. "Get out," he demanded, but there was no real venom behind his words. The vampire stiffened, the fragile thing between them shattering. He rose from the bed in a fluid motion, sauntering towards the bedroom door.

"You didn't even try to save her." The words escaped him, twisted, broken, nearly a snarl.

The Count paused on the threshold but did not turn around. "You cannot cure immortality."

What the hell did that mean? But the vampire was gone before he could ask.