Blood by K. J. Wignall Page B

it was laced with a hint of anger, or at least outrage.
    â€œI’ve killed hundreds of people because it’s what I need to do to survive; it’s what I am. But you have to understand something else: I’ve seen millions die, and I will see millions more. In that regard, death is all I know.” She looked ready to respond, but he cut her off as he said, “Even you. Here we are today: in appearance we’re the same age, but you’ll grow up and grow old and die, as everyone you know will die, including your children, grandchildren, and their grandchildren, and through all those lifetimes I will remain as you see me now. You understand? Death is the backdrop against which I act out my life.”
    She didn’t respond at first, but looked around the chamber again and said, “Did you do all of this or was it already here?”
    â€œIt was prepared for me.”
    â€œBy …?”
    â€œI wish I knew. I’ve always presumed it was the one who bit me, but I don’t know, and have never met that person.” He’d never met him, that was true, but he felt uncomfortable not telling her the whole truth of what he suspected was happening now. He could see Eloise’s next question forming and jumped in first, adding, “And no, I don’t remember being bitten.”
    â€œBut that suggests you weren’t just bitten by accident, doesn’t it? Surely it suggests you were bitten for a reason.”
    â€œIt does, but for the better part of a thousand years there hasn’t been any indication of what that reason might be, until now.”
    Jumping ahead, she said, “You think it’s something to do with me, don’t you?” She seemed excited and didn’t wait for an answer. She leapt from the daybed and knelt in front of him, holding on to his arm. “Will, make me a vampire—make me like you.”
    He was shocked, hardly believing he’d heard her correctly. He stared deep into her eyes and he could see that she wanted this, but that she hadn’t even begun to understand what “this” was. Her own life seemed bleak to her right now, bleaker than he’d imagined, but this would be no solution, even if it were something he had within his power.
    He put his hand on hers and said, “I tried once before, when I was much younger.” Her eyes looked full of hope, and he was transfixed by them, a blue he could easily imagine himself staring into for another thousand years, even as he knew it wasn’t to be. “It didn’t work. She died, but if I’d understood the curse I would have been inflicting, I wouldn’t have done it anyway.”
    Eloise looked deflated, and he could tell that part of her didn’t believe him, a part of her that thought he was simply testing her determination. “You don’t understand, it wouldn’t be a curse, and we’d have each other as company, and I wouldn’t be losing anything.”
    By her own admission, she’d led a privileged existence, albeit one devoid of love, so he could only assume she was being reckless, that she didn’t even understand what she was asking of him. Kate’s had been a reasonable gamble, but he couldn’t believe Eloise’s life was empty enough to make his existence seem attractive to her.
    â€œEloise, you won’t be sixteen forever. Even if I could, I wouldn’t deny you that.” He saw that she was ready to argue again, so he added quickly, “Besides, if I’m right, I think I need you, and I need you alive.”
    It seemed to do the trick and she was sidetracked enough to ask, “Is this because of Jex’s notebook?”
    â€œYes, it is.”
    She nodded in resignation, and looked on the verge of speaking again, but she was stopped short by a dull clanging noise, the sound of metal hitting stone. They both looked at the stone blocking the entrance to his chambers because the noise had