afraid…but not really, Leo. I do trust you. With my life. You should know that by now.”
“Regardless, I didn’t trust myself at the time. It’s more than your blood, my sweet. Your scent is surfacing as well.” His nostrils flared. “I can smell your blood beneath your skin when you’re nearby. It makes me feel like I… need to taste it. I’ve never felt this impulsive before. Biting…my need for blood, it’s almost always under my control. Yes, the urges get stronger if I go too long without any, but they’ve never reached a point where my fangs lengthen against my will. Not without a grave injury at least. That miniscule taste of your blood the other day had a rather…disturbing effect.”
“So that’s why you left? There was no trip to Belfast?”
He shook his head. “No. I needed to get away from you to quell…the urges. I needed space to figure it out. Thankfully, I wasn’t too far away or I wouldn’t have been able to get to you when I sensed your terror. Although…you didn’t seem to need my assistance after all.”
I turned my head away in shame from hurting him. “No, I guess not.”
He squeezed my hand reassuringly. “Anyhow, I’m okay now. Being close to you…I have more control. I was caught off guard before. Now that I know what’s happening, I can easily override instinct with logic. As it was proven in the alley. I drank what I needed, and then I stopped.”
I remembered something that Connor, AKA Khonsu, had said to me the other night. “Leo, I need to know more about this guy. He’s been following me…the alley was the fourth time that I’ve seen him since we’ve been here. The first two times were pretty innocuous…and honestly, I thought he was just a guy trying to get laid the third time. After seeing him with Maria, I know that’s not the case. He mentioned my scent when we were at the pub. Do you think he knew what it was? And why is he in Ireland? Even if he does know what I am, he couldn’t possibly want to follow me halfway around the world for blood. I’m just one fairy.”
His eyes took on an icy hue. “He knows what you are; I have no doubt about that. He would’ve known before he sat with you that evening. There’s little chance Maria wouldn’t have mentioned it. My question is why is he so interested in you? I’m fairly certain that this isn’t a desire for your blood.” His expression turned grim. “If that were the case, you’d already be dead. He seeks something greater. The question is, what?”
That’s what I wanted to know. “Leo, tell me everything you know.”
L eo proceeded to tell me everything he had learned from his maker, Renata. She and Khonsu were together for over fifteen hundred years. They reigned together, quite violently. About five hundred years into their rule, she wanted something more civilized but he didn’t share her feelings. She argued that they didn’t need to ravage villages or kill so ruthlessly. Only freshly made vampires were ruled by their thirst, and she believed she could teach them how to control their impulses. She ached for a return to the peaceful life in which she was born. Khonsu was quite mad; he derived great pleasure from seeing others suffer. He raped, murdered, and destroyed entire villages with no mercy. He only sired those who killed without remorse as he did. He made it his personal mission to create an army of cold-blooded killers. I was having trouble reconciling this version of the man to the sophisticated, charming one I had met. He had obviously learned how to adapt in a more civilized world.
Little did Khonsu know, Renata had created an army of her own but she was ill-equipped to train them in battle. She led a rebellion blindly, wanting so desperately to be free from him. Her followers were all killed; not a single one was spared. She was imprisoned for treason and tortured for decades. Eventually he released her, believing that he had successfully stifled any further
“Regardless, I didn’t trust myself at the time. It’s more than your blood, my sweet. Your scent is surfacing as well.” His nostrils flared. “I can smell your blood beneath your skin when you’re nearby. It makes me feel like I… need to taste it. I’ve never felt this impulsive before. Biting…my need for blood, it’s almost always under my control. Yes, the urges get stronger if I go too long without any, but they’ve never reached a point where my fangs lengthen against my will. Not without a grave injury at least. That miniscule taste of your blood the other day had a rather…disturbing effect.”
“So that’s why you left? There was no trip to Belfast?”
He shook his head. “No. I needed to get away from you to quell…the urges. I needed space to figure it out. Thankfully, I wasn’t too far away or I wouldn’t have been able to get to you when I sensed your terror. Although…you didn’t seem to need my assistance after all.”
I turned my head away in shame from hurting him. “No, I guess not.”
He squeezed my hand reassuringly. “Anyhow, I’m okay now. Being close to you…I have more control. I was caught off guard before. Now that I know what’s happening, I can easily override instinct with logic. As it was proven in the alley. I drank what I needed, and then I stopped.”
I remembered something that Connor, AKA Khonsu, had said to me the other night. “Leo, I need to know more about this guy. He’s been following me…the alley was the fourth time that I’ve seen him since we’ve been here. The first two times were pretty innocuous…and honestly, I thought he was just a guy trying to get laid the third time. After seeing him with Maria, I know that’s not the case. He mentioned my scent when we were at the pub. Do you think he knew what it was? And why is he in Ireland? Even if he does know what I am, he couldn’t possibly want to follow me halfway around the world for blood. I’m just one fairy.”
His eyes took on an icy hue. “He knows what you are; I have no doubt about that. He would’ve known before he sat with you that evening. There’s little chance Maria wouldn’t have mentioned it. My question is why is he so interested in you? I’m fairly certain that this isn’t a desire for your blood.” His expression turned grim. “If that were the case, you’d already be dead. He seeks something greater. The question is, what?”
That’s what I wanted to know. “Leo, tell me everything you know.”
L eo proceeded to tell me everything he had learned from his maker, Renata. She and Khonsu were together for over fifteen hundred years. They reigned together, quite violently. About five hundred years into their rule, she wanted something more civilized but he didn’t share her feelings. She argued that they didn’t need to ravage villages or kill so ruthlessly. Only freshly made vampires were ruled by their thirst, and she believed she could teach them how to control their impulses. She ached for a return to the peaceful life in which she was born. Khonsu was quite mad; he derived great pleasure from seeing others suffer. He raped, murdered, and destroyed entire villages with no mercy. He only sired those who killed without remorse as he did. He made it his personal mission to create an army of cold-blooded killers. I was having trouble reconciling this version of the man to the sophisticated, charming one I had met. He had obviously learned how to adapt in a more civilized world.
Little did Khonsu know, Renata had created an army of her own but she was ill-equipped to train them in battle. She led a rebellion blindly, wanting so desperately to be free from him. Her followers were all killed; not a single one was spared. She was imprisoned for treason and tortured for decades. Eventually he released her, believing that he had successfully stifled any further
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