"Well, I'll just- er- dig in then," Hector said, holding the nasty little blood-bag up awkwardly.
I grimaced.
"Sorry." He turned away.
I heard a pop as the bag was punctured.
"It's kind of gross, but what's a vamp to do?" Wren shrugged. "On the bright side, he doesn't have to drink every day."
"Really? The superior vamps drink daily," I said, trying to ignore Hector's less-than-inconspicuous slurps.
"Those vamps indulge, because they can. They really don't have to. They can go days, some even up to a week without it. And they don't have to take enough to kill either. A pint or two is enough."
"They don't kill them... They just. . ."
"I know," his boyish features darkened. "They use them. They keep them like prisoners and drain them little by little. It's disgusting."
He was right about that much, but I doubted he could imagine the full extent of how horrible they were. He was used to being around tame vampires, like Hector. Even Max didn't compare to the sinister heart of, say, Starsky.
"Those are the very kind of vamps that used to kill, though," he went on. "That's why they made that place. They needed to fix their mistake."
"So I've heard. What about this place? What goes on here?"
Wren started to answer, But Hector slipped next to us, discretely wiping his mouth on his sleeve, and took the reigns.
"Revolution. We're trying to make a better world."
A perk, indeed. Hector seemed overall energized, as though he'd drank an entire pot of coffee in one hefty gulp. He even seemed healthier. His eyes had a brighter glow - as bright as the superior vamps' eyes and just like a feline's in the dark. His slender, slightly sallow face had filled out, a fact that made him look younger. My guess was that he was about eighteen when he was altered into what he now was.
"And what steps are you taking?" I asked.
"For starters, we want to wipe out some of the problem."
"Deaders?"
"Yes, but more importantly superior vamps. They handled it all wrong in the beginning. Instead of imprisoning humans, they should have lessened their numbers. If we wipe out just half of them, everything will be significantly better."
"But the deaders... that's why the superior vamps multiplied their numbers in the first place, right?"
"Right, and instead of that they should have worked on a cure."
"A cure?" I shook my head at the ridiculous thought. "There's no way. You can't cure what they are." I shivered.
"Wrong," Wren said. "Well, sort of wrong. You met Jun, right? Dorky, lab coat, glasses?"
"Yeah?"
"He's a genius. He made a cure of sorts. The closest to one. . ." Wren said.
"It's not really a solution so much as a prevention. It isn't for deaders; it's for humans. A vaccination. They take it and when they die, they won't come back to join the ranks of the insatiable undead," Hector explained.
"All we have to do is focus on wiping out all of the deaders and at least half of the superior vamps," Wren said.
"How are you going to do that?" I asked.
"Up until a few days ago, we had no solid plan. I went to the compounds to get information, to construct a plan. Then I met you and everything changed," Hector said.
"What do you mean?" I asked, my eyes narrowed.
"Not only did I find your attraction a bit altering, but you changed my path in strategy as well," he said, glaring at me fondly.
"How?"
"The idea was to get the superior vamps into a situation where they would sort of take care of things themselves. Start a war between them and the deaders, thus wiping out great numbers from both sides. With our small numbers, that was the only way to dwindle them down so we'd have a chance."
"Then I came into the picture and. . ."
"And at first, I strayed from the mission," he said, with a twinkle in his shiny eye.
Without a doubt he was thinking of the same things it brought to mind for me. The dining area, where we first met, and everything that happened between us after that. The bathroom stall. The first kiss. I suppressed a huge, dorky grin by biting my lip.
"Then they took you, and I couldn't..." He trailed off. Something warm touched my chin, raising it gently. his hand. Feeding must have warmed him. "I knew I had to get you out of there. Even if it blew my cover and they killed me. I can't explain it. It was like you enchanted me, even before you knew..."
"Erm- I think this is my cue to go away," Wren said.
Hector chuckled, but didn't look away. He was locked on me, brushing my wild hair away from my face. Did he have any clue how he'd enchanted me as well? The truth was, I didn't live before walking into the dining area that night. I just existed. I ate, I bled, I slept. Repeat. But that night, I felt something. Something I hid deep inside, because I was so afraid. A shadow of something to come... something amazing. The early gift of foresight?
My heart skipped a beat as I realized it.
"I'm sorry I didn't get there sooner," he said.
"But you got there, and that's what matters."
He kissed my forehead and pulled me into a tight hug. I was in a comfy sandalwood cocoon.
"I heard it in my head, your grandmother's voice."
"What? How? Can I?"
"No." His voice vibrated his chest and, in turn, my cheek.
"Why?"
"Because you're not dead."
The last word echoed in my mind. Dead, dead, dead.
I pulled away, feeling angry. Angry that he could just say something like that. Angry because it was technically true, and I was angry because I hated it. And I hated that I thought I might love him anyway.
I wanted to leave the absurd thoughts behind, so I started walking. We needed to move. He followed next to me silently. Was he ashamed of what he said?
I wanted to say something, but I just kept thinking. I couldn't love him. I just met him. I barely knew him. No. That wasn't true. I did only meet him recently, but I knew he was kind, brave, protective, caring, funny, and a little weird for a vampire. He'd shown me all of that. I knew that what he felt for me was genuine. I also knew he wasn't like any vampire- like anyone I'd ever met.
Finally, I found words. "You're more alive than anyone I know," I admitted.
"Thank you," He whispered.
•••
The night swallowed us as surely as the jungle had. I stumbled, struggled, and climbed my way through the wild.
"Let me carry you," Hector said for what seemed like the hundredth time.
"I can't- OOF - keep depending on you." I'd slipped and fallen again. The foliage was serious stuff. It was as though it reached up and pulled me down in it at its own will, and it was very annoying. "I have to learn how to get through things on my own."
"But why? I'm here and I can see in the dark."
"Because I'm sick of letting you do everything. I want to be useful."
"If you put it that way, you're really being very not useful. We're moving slow, because you can't see. And what am I supposed to do when you hurt yourself?"
Damn. He made good points. I stopped on the middle of a huge, mossy rock.
"Not to mention the noise. You know what noise brings..."
That got me. But I wasn't willing to give up so easy. I really wanted this to be more equal. I had to be the most useless Spellbinder on the planet. If we had some way that I could take a turn. . .
"A vehicle," I said. "I'll make you a deal. If I let you carry me now, we'll find some type of vehicle to use later. Then we can take turns driving."
"A vehicle hmm?" He put his hand on his chin in a terribly fake gesture of deep thought.
"Stop teasing." I laughed. "Do you think we can find one?"
"Maybe. They're still aplenty, 'cause of the weres and all. We'd have to use a roadway, though, and since the jungle took over, the new dirt roads are basically all we can drive on. We might run into quite a few people."
"They won't know who we are. The superior vamps will be behind us, right? That's only if they're on our trail at all. Ooh, you can cover up, and I can drive through the day," I said. It was brilliant.
"Nice thinking. Only one problem."
I waited, puzzled. It was a great idea.
"You can't drive."
Or not. Of course I couldn't drive, this was my first time out of the compound. I knew the gist of it, though. I read things with driving in them. I'd spoken to Gramma about it.
"I'm a fast learner," I replied without missing a beat.
"We'll see. . ."
A loud, chilling howl sounded some ways off. Though distant, it was enough to bring about a quick agreement on the matter.
"Deal," I said. "Let's get out of here. that thing doesn't sound happy."
"There's an old town nearby. It's inhabited, but its best we stick to ourselves. We'll settle down in the outskirts."
"Sounds good to me."