The Blood That Bonds by Christopher Buecheler Page B

the Bible within only a few months from
when I awakened, that there was no reason to deny me.”
    “ And oh, how my father
despised it …” The words trailed off, a bitter smile at his
lips.
    Two was about to speak when the howling
began. She jerked around instinctively, knocking a pretty crystal
ballerina off the table by her couch. It thumped into the plush
oriental carpet, unhurt. Two stared out the window. In the
reflection of the lamplight she saw Theroen shake his head. He
reached down to pick up the figurine, studied it for a moment, set
it back on the table. More howling, and Theroen looked toward the
window again, his eyes full of remorse and pity.
    “ What is it, Theroen? I’ve
heard it before.”
    “ I am Abraham’s son.
Melissa his daughter. That? That is nothing more than a diabolical
experiment. Daughter? How could she be? To say so denotes some sort
of humanity, and all of that has been lost.”
    Two looked at him, confused. “There’s
another vampire?”
    “ There are many others. Of
Abraham’s line, though, there is only one more to tell of. One more
you have not met. An attempt that should never have occurred. His
arrogance …” Theroen trailed off. Two had rarely seen him truly
angry, but he appeared so now. He shook his head again.
    “ Her name was Tori. She
seems still to respond to that, so that is what we call her. Aside
from the shape of her body, this is the last piece of humanity she
retains. I do not know why Abraham chose to make her. After Melissa
… how he could possibly have expected a normal fledgling, I do not
know. I don’t think he really did. I think he simply wanted to know
what would happen.
    “ I took the girl from her
school. I brought her to him. I did not ask any questions of
Abraham, and am not sure I would have even if I had known what he
planned. Not then. Now? Who knows?
    “ His blood is too powerful.
The curse of our line … We make few fledglings, and have a limited
window in which to do it. Abraham was nearly too old when he made
me. Yet even after Melissa, he gave his blood to this girl. He gave
it to her very quickly, nearly drowned her in it, and it destroyed
her mind. She is, in some respects, the perfect vampire. Alert,
aware, incredibly fast, stronger even than Melissa, who is many
years her senior.”
    Theroen glanced again out the window, then
back at Two, smiling without humor. “Tori can be counted on for
three things. She loves to hunt, she loves to kill, and she loves
to – as mortals so callously put it – fuck. It is appropriate
terminology. There is no love involved for her.”
    “ Another vampire with an
active sex life …” Two raised an eyebrow.
    “ It’s an uncommon strain,
even among our type, but it seems to have lain dormant in Abraham.
He himself is incapable of that mortal act of love. Yet his
children, all three of us, are very much alive below the waist.
These pleasures pale, of course, to that of feeding, but when mixed
together appropriately …” and here he glanced at Two, “they can be
quite pleasurable indeed.”
    “ Will I get to meet
Tori?”
    Theroen grimaced. “Yes. At some point, I
suppose, it’s inevitable.”
    Two was contemplating Theroen’s description
of Tori, neither speaking, when she sensed a third presence in the
room. She looked up at Theroen, who closed his eyes and sighed. His
expression was grim.
    At the door stood Melissa, and yet not
Melissa. She looked different, somehow. It wasn’t the style of
clothes, or the hairstyle. These remained the same. The set of the
body, perhaps? There was darkness behind her eyes.
    “ Hello Missy,” Theroen said
without opening his eyes.
    “ Theroen. Come hunting with
me?”
    “ I’ve already
gone.”
    “ Would it have
mattered?”
    Theroen shook his head. “No.”
    “ You never hunt with me.”
Missy’s tone was dry, emotionless. She was only stating a
fact.
    Theroen glanced up at her. “I never do.”
    “ But you’ll hunt with that
perky, jabbering