Read Online Halfway Bitten by Terry Maggert - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Terry Maggert
Ads: Link
conclusion?”
I started ticking points off on my fingers. “She’s a kid. There’s no way she could fight you off should you choose to feed. It was daylight, and that generally meant you would have a suicidal need to hunt. You don’t. Shall I go on, or do you want to tell me the reason you chose a gangly teenager to scare, knowing that she would tell her parents and cause some moderate stir in our quiet little town?”
He laughed then, warmly, and when his eyes returned to me there was genuine respect in them. “You are quick, witch. And yes, you are correct. My, ah, interaction with the girl was designed to draw attention, not from the town, but from certain visitors in the town.”
“Other vampires?” I asked, immediately thinking of the danger to Halfway. I didn’t like the direction such thoughts took me. Wherever vamps ran unchecked, you ended up with large scale destruction, one murder at a time. Their presence was like a slow rising tide that never stopped until everyone was underwater. I knew first hand from my deceased friend, Jim, that vampires were still taking entire villages if given the chance. Jim Dietrich, now gone, told of an entire village in Afghanistan that had simply vanished. I explained that the people of that ill-fated town struck a deal with a vampire. The agreement collapsed, and nearly sixty families were consumed by something that probably hadn’t been human for centuries. I understand vampires and their territorial nature, along with the complicated social interactions they engage in with each other. It’s an arcane type of posturing that is more animal than human, and I’m blessed by the earth and stars that Wulfric is half human, and all good. His vampire half is kept in the background like a muted television, and the man I care for is nothing like any vampire I’ve ever met.
Philip nodded. “I can tell by your expression that you think me more animal than man.”
I said nothing. Even in the starlight, my thoughts were easy to read.
“I am not a beast. I was once a king, you know. I’ve watched my land and people be ground into dust over the centuries, and now I’m forced to beg for my bloodgift as would a filthy pauper.” His knuckles cracked as he rolled his fists into angry knots. “From three hundred proud vampires to— to me. And now I am summoned like a dog for the right to feed myself.”
“Bloodgift? What is that, Philip?” I asked. The term was new, and ominous.
The vampire did something so human I had a moment of vertigo. He spat on the ground while cursing in a liquid tongue I didn’t recognize. “It is—when my clan began to wane, we were forced to seek permission to hunt. Our own territories were being stolen from us all over again. You cannot imagine the violation of such a thing, witch. It is inhuman to endure such slavery.”
I stared at him, a smile spreading on my face at the stupidity of his words. “You mean like, I don’t know, being fed upon without permission? By some bloodsucking undead who regards you as glorified cattle? That kind of slavery , Philip?” I said, my tone acid. If he thought I was a sympathetic ear for his clan’s fall, he wasn’t just wrong, he was delusional. I found myself wondering if vampires could go crazy. I know that sleeping all day leaves me irritable and on edge. Plus, vampires don’t really eat, and they’re terrible at social situations. I mean, who wants to go for centuries without the possibility of a waffle or a lunch date? Not me.
Philip grew dangerously still, and I let a spell build to critical mass, ready for his attack. It didn’t arrive because the vampire demonstrated a mastery of his anger I wouldn’t have thought possible. Generally, vampires of great age have deteriorated into one of two permanent states—the first being a kind of sage in which their mastery over their appetites is nearly complete. You can tell that type; they have an aura of calm around that isn’t really evil, just
I started ticking points off on my fingers. “She’s a kid. There’s no way she could fight you off should you choose to feed. It was daylight, and that generally meant you would have a suicidal need to hunt. You don’t. Shall I go on, or do you want to tell me the reason you chose a gangly teenager to scare, knowing that she would tell her parents and cause some moderate stir in our quiet little town?”
He laughed then, warmly, and when his eyes returned to me there was genuine respect in them. “You are quick, witch. And yes, you are correct. My, ah, interaction with the girl was designed to draw attention, not from the town, but from certain visitors in the town.”
“Other vampires?” I asked, immediately thinking of the danger to Halfway. I didn’t like the direction such thoughts took me. Wherever vamps ran unchecked, you ended up with large scale destruction, one murder at a time. Their presence was like a slow rising tide that never stopped until everyone was underwater. I knew first hand from my deceased friend, Jim, that vampires were still taking entire villages if given the chance. Jim Dietrich, now gone, told of an entire village in Afghanistan that had simply vanished. I explained that the people of that ill-fated town struck a deal with a vampire. The agreement collapsed, and nearly sixty families were consumed by something that probably hadn’t been human for centuries. I understand vampires and their territorial nature, along with the complicated social interactions they engage in with each other. It’s an arcane type of posturing that is more animal than human, and I’m blessed by the earth and stars that Wulfric is half human, and all good. His vampire half is kept in the background like a muted television, and the man I care for is nothing like any vampire I’ve ever met.
Philip nodded. “I can tell by your expression that you think me more animal than man.”
I said nothing. Even in the starlight, my thoughts were easy to read.
“I am not a beast. I was once a king, you know. I’ve watched my land and people be ground into dust over the centuries, and now I’m forced to beg for my bloodgift as would a filthy pauper.” His knuckles cracked as he rolled his fists into angry knots. “From three hundred proud vampires to— to me. And now I am summoned like a dog for the right to feed myself.”
“Bloodgift? What is that, Philip?” I asked. The term was new, and ominous.
The vampire did something so human I had a moment of vertigo. He spat on the ground while cursing in a liquid tongue I didn’t recognize. “It is—when my clan began to wane, we were forced to seek permission to hunt. Our own territories were being stolen from us all over again. You cannot imagine the violation of such a thing, witch. It is inhuman to endure such slavery.”
I stared at him, a smile spreading on my face at the stupidity of his words. “You mean like, I don’t know, being fed upon without permission? By some bloodsucking undead who regards you as glorified cattle? That kind of slavery , Philip?” I said, my tone acid. If he thought I was a sympathetic ear for his clan’s fall, he wasn’t just wrong, he was delusional. I found myself wondering if vampires could go crazy. I know that sleeping all day leaves me irritable and on edge. Plus, vampires don’t really eat, and they’re terrible at social situations. I mean, who wants to go for centuries without the possibility of a waffle or a lunch date? Not me.
Philip grew dangerously still, and I let a spell build to critical mass, ready for his attack. It didn’t arrive because the vampire demonstrated a mastery of his anger I wouldn’t have thought possible. Generally, vampires of great age have deteriorated into one of two permanent states—the first being a kind of sage in which their mastery over their appetites is nearly complete. You can tell that type; they have an aura of calm around that isn’t really evil, just
Similar Books
