Crimson Born - Amy Patrick Page 0,26

her the finest leader vampire-kind has ever seen.”

Though it was legal to drink from willing humans, Sadie Aldritch’s Vampire-Human Coalition apparently pushed a teetotalling message, encouraging vampires to drink only from the stockpile of donated blood available to us through the Accord and never from humans directly.

Since the Accord had been signed, all humans of adult age and good health had been making regular donations at blood banks.

In exchange, humans were no longer attacked and drained—except for rare attacks by rogue vampires, which were swiftly and harshly punished by the vampire courts.

Heather raised her hand. “I know it’s more nutritious and better tasting to drink directly from humans, but isn’t resisting the urge the only way for us to have true peace with them? It’s sort of our only choice.”

Eudora shot a nervous looking glance at the open classroom doorway. In a low voice she answered, “Most people here at the Bastion would disagree with that—strongly—especially our leader. Why do you think that is? Anyone?”

A middle-aged man ventured a guess. “Because Imogen hates humans?”

The teacher chuckled. “Guess again. Anyone?”

Heather answered. “Because that would eventually lead to our extinction. No biting equals no turning.”

“Exactly,” Eudora said. “And without new vampires being made, our numbers will never equal those of the human population. We’d always be in the minority, and eventually, we might even go extinct. Imogen wants to prevent that while Sadie is apparently content to let the race quietly lapse into the memory of human history, nothing more than a blip in the timeline of their inferior race.”

I thought about it as class ended and we filed out of the room. In spite of Eudora’s obvious contempt for the pacifists’ approach, I wondered if Sadie wasn’t right. Maybe the vampire race should die out naturally.

We’d started by accident, after all, a side effect of traditional Chinese medicine.

Perhaps we should let nature run its course. I was certainly more drawn to the idea of coexisting peacefully with our human neighbors than to the thought of feeding on them.

It occurred to me that maybe I was living with the wrong group of vampires. Until today, I hadn’t even realized there was another way.

“You know what I don’t get,” Kelly said, breaking the chain of my private thoughts. “The Accord says it’s okay for vampires to drink directly from humans, as long as they don’t drain them and it’s with permission. So why isn’t everyone in the world a vampire by now?”

“You haven’t gotten to vampire biology yet, have you?” Heather asked.

Both Kelly and I shook our heads, and she went on.

“It takes a whole lot more than one bite for most vampires to turn somebody. There are different types of vampires, different levels, you know? Common vampires aren’t capable of turning a human with one bite. It takes a whole bunch of bites from like, fourteen or fifteen vampires to do the job. That’s why Kelly turned. If she’d been attacked by only a few common vampires that night, she would have stayed human. Because it was a swarm that found her, she got enough bites from enough different vampires in that one event to turn her.”

“What about you?” I asked. “You weren’t attacked. You said your boyfriend bit you.”

Heather gave us an impish grin. “Yes, but he wasn’t the first one. The bites are cumulative.”

Kelly’s eyes bulged, and her voice was filled with awe. “You’ve been with fifteen vampires?”

Heather laughed out loud. “What can I say? I’m a vamp tramp.”

In spite of her laughter, there was unspoken pain in her eyes. She’d loved the last one, and he’d left her to fend for herself in this new life.

Their stories made me wonder about my own origin.

I’d been bitten only once. So had Josiah. What did it mean?

12

Midnight in the Garden

I got the chance to ask Imogen about it that night. She summoned me to meet her at the cavern entrance.

“Take a walk with me,” she said and stepped out into the night.

I followed her to an expansive rose garden. In the silvery moonlight, it was nearly impossible to discern their various colors, but their collective fragrance was heavenly.

She walked among them, touching a flower lightly then moving to the next bush where she did the same, speaking to the blossoms and caressing them almost as if they were beloved pets or small children.

“How are your studies going?” she finally asked.

“Very well, I think. The instructors are patient. I’m learning a lot. Today I learned more about how humans are turned. It