Blood Lust (14 page)

I flipped to chapter seven and began to read.

From approximately
1870 to 1900, miners and tourists alike flooded to Rapid City. This provided a
steady diet for those known only as the blood-drinkers, who reveled in the flow
of humanity passing through the town.

I read on, noting that the brief exposition Max had given me
earlier seemed to corroborate with the history in this book. Because of the
booming trade industry in Rapid City around 1900, vampires had seized on the
opportunity to murder people who wouldn’t be missed- at least not for a long
time, when they didn’t return to their families. Vendors, merchants, tourists
and miners are fell victim to the vampires’ bloodlust.

Before the vampires arrived, the werewolves kept to
themselves, but it soon became apparent that something needed to be done. The
wolves began building their own army, considering their affliction a blessing
instead of a curse- something I couldn’t necessarily agree with, although I had
to admit that facing off against a vampire as a werewolf was much more
appealing than doing it as a weak and helpless human. The wolf army, the book
explained, took action after a particularly brutal vampire emerged from the
ranks of the blood-drinkers. This particular vampire, Argos, killed for sport
rather than sustenance, and showed no remorse for his heinous actions.

I turned the page and gasped, my fingers twitching of their
own accord. The book slid off my lap and landed on the floor.

For a long moment, I sat there, trembling at what I’d seen.
It wasn’t possible. It simply wasn’t possible.

At length, I retrieved the book from its place on the floor,
and placed it on the counter in front of me. It fell open automatically to the
page I’d last seen. On the page was a sketch dated 1901. It was a simple
drawing, made with a charcoal pencil or something similar, and the details were
sparse. But there was no mistaking the subject.

It was Jericho.

His hair was parted to the side, and he wore a beard. There
were no earrings, and he was dressed in a suit, with a high, white collar and a
simple ascot tied around his neck.

The title at the bottom of the sketch was
Argos, self-portrait.

It was signed with a fluid A, a letter that seemed to
consist of several blades of grass twisted together, with tiny flowers
sprouting at the apex. It looked so similar to the J on my wrist that I knew
they had to have been drawn by the same artist.

Something was aching within me. Something was
breaking
inside me, and I clutched a
hand to my chest, feeling the intense emptiness of betrayal. I should have
believed Max. I should have believed Gloria, that first night she’d exposed
Jericho to me for who he truly was. But I hadn’t. Instead I’d let my fool heart
decide. I’d spent the night with a murderer, a serial killer of the worst kind.
I’d made myself vulnerable to him.

I flipped through the rest of the book numbly, reading about
how the wolves had fought back, slaughtering the blood-drinkers with the same
ruthless lack of mercy the vampires had shown to the humans. Argos, it seems,
was never identified, but was presumed to have been killed during the wolves’
crusades.

If they only knew the truth…that Argos was right here in
Rapid City, more than a hundred years later.

I was angry at Jericho for lying to me, and furious with
myself for so stupidly falling for his deception.

I knew then that I’d be assuming leadership of the pack. I’d
been a victim long enough. It was time to make some changes- starting with
Jericho and his presence in Rapid City. While I couldn’t bring myself to swear
death upon him as Max had, I certainly didn’t want him anywhere near my town.

The remaining chapters in the book told various tales I
wasn’t interested in, with the exception of one chapter, which touched on the
soul bonding that Max had mentioned to me yesterday. That much I was curious
about. Max had said it wasn’t necessary to soul bond to your beta, but what
other point would there be in claiming a beta as your mate?

Soul bonding is a
sensitive subject among the wolf community,
the book claimed,
as history is rife with stories of alphas
soul bonding with omegas and even humans. The dramatic increase of solitary
alphas in the twentieth century can and should be attributed to this archaic
law, which does not allow for matters of the heart. Alphas have long insisted
that the alpha-beta requirement for packs should be waived, and alphas
permitted to partner with their true soulmates- who, in most cases, are not
betas.

That sounded very different from what Max had told me. Was
that why the Rapid City pack had no alpha? Because previous alphas had soul
bonded with someone other than a beta? It made sense. This was the twenty-first
century, after all. Even the prince of England married an average girl whose
parents owned a party supply company. It seemed unreasonable and, frankly, quite
stupid for the werewolf community to adhere to such an old-fashioned law.

I buried my face in my hands, frustrated with my wandering
mind and the situation I now found myself faced with. I didn’t want to admit it
to myself, but there was no denying that the immediate connection I’d felt with
Jericho held the implications of something more. Something deeper.

Had I soul bonded with Jericho? Was it really possible that
a cold-blooded murderer could be my soulmate?

Chapter Eight

I maintained my composure for longer than I ever thought
possible, mechanically going through the motions of closing the shop and
smiling at my dad as he suggested that we go eat at Delmonico Grill. I let Anna
order for me and dutifully chewed my succulent Ahi tuna, wishing I was anywhere
but there right at that moment. The Delmonico was always excellent, but I could
have been eating sawdust, and it wouldn’t have mattered to me.

For her part, Anna seemed to sense my emotional fragility,
and she kept up a steady stream of chatter about college- her own experiences
and the ones she expected me to have this fall. Her questions were easily
answered with a nod of my head or a shrug of my shoulders, and if I’d been in a
less stricken state, perhaps I would have been grateful to her for her
kindness. She certainly showed more insight towards me than my own mother ever
had.

I felt stupid, for several reasons. Firstly, for letting
myself get swept away so quickly. I’d never been that kind of girl, the girl
that fell in love at the drop of a hat and spent the next few days wandering
around, mooning over her new lover, before the inevitably short-lived
relationship came to an unceremonious but painful end. I knew other teenagers
like that, and I’d never wanted to be that way myself. But somehow I’d let
Jericho under my skin in just a few short days. I’d offered myself to him in a
way that I never had before, with anyone. It hurt to think that my first
experience of what I had thought was true love was, in fact, just a manipulation
on his part.

I felt ridiculous as well for being so affected over this.
I’d always prided myself on the ability to pick myself up, brush myself off and
move forward. Even my parents’ divorce hadn’t shaken me, and the decision to
move to Rapid City had been logical, if not exactly inspired. I knew the wisest
choice and proceeded on that path, without question. Why couldn’t I just accept
that Jericho was Argos, that he was a murderer and a manipulator, and move on?

That was the most frightening part of this development, for
me. I couldn’t wrap my head around it, and some part of my heart was still
hoping that Jericho would have a story to refute my findings. I was being
illogical- and emotional- and
stupid-
and
that worried me, because the only explanation I could think of was that I’d
somehow managed to soul bond with a vampire.

I drove home, promising to meet my dad and Anna in the
morning for a trip to Mount Rushmore. I wasn’t looking forward to it, but Anna
had gone out of her way to be nice to me, and I felt I at least owed her a day
of sightseeing.

When I got home, Gram’s truck was gone, but Max was standing
on the deck. His hulking form was outlined by the porch light, looking somehow
menacing and secure at the same time. My heart sank. I didn’t want to hear what
he had to say, and I definitely didn’t want to have to admit he’d been right.

“Where’s Gram?” I asked as I stepped out of my car.

“It’s Tuesday,” he said. “She’s at Ifrit’s.”

I’d forgotten about Gram’s little hookah habit. “You look
like you could use a little herbal relaxation, yourself,” I said to him, trying
to keep my tone light as I climbed the steps. “Maybe you should have gone with
her.”

“I need to talk to you.”

“I figured.” I unlocked the front door and set my tote down,
motioning Max to follow me. “What do you need to talk to me about?” I knew, but
I wasn’t all that eager to start the conversation.

“Did you do the research I asked you to?” He certainly
didn’t mince any words.

“Yes.”

“And?” His dark eyes were expectant. He already knew what
I’d discovered.

I sat down on the couch, fidgeting with my hands in my lap.
“You were right. I read about Argos. I saw his sketch. It’s definitely the same
man.”

“And?”

Was he looking for an apology? I met his gaze, feeling the
first traces of irritation. “And what? You were right. What else do you want me
to say?”

“You’re not going to see him anymore, are you?”

“Of course not. Do you think I’m stupid?”

“No. No, I definitely don’t.” He sat down on the old trunk
that Gram used for a coffee table, right in front of me, and grabbed my hands.
“I know it seems like I’m angry with you, Eve, but I’m really just afraid.
Afraid for you. Afraid of losing you. Our pack needs an alpha. I’ve been trying
to hold it together, but I’m no leader…we need you. And the pack would have a
difficult time following an alpha who ordered me to break my blood oath and
spare the vampire.”

“What does your blood oath have to do with anything?” I
demanded. “I’m the one who’s suffering right now, Max. I thought Jericho was
someone he wasn’t, and here you are, expecting me to take over the pack and…and
murder him when I haven’t even had a chance to sort this out yet!”

“That’s not what I meant,” he objected, drawing back.

I studied his face, his regal cheekbones and strong jaw, his
hair falling forward over his shoulder and brushing his forearms, and I
wondered why I couldn’t feel more for him. Soul bonding with Max would have
been so much easier than getting hung up on Jericho- on Argos.

“I just need some time to think,” I said, and wet my lips.
“I’ll be honest with you. I’m embarrassed and I’m hurt, and I’m disappointed. I
hear everything you’re saying, but tonight I just want to be alone. I really
need you to go.”

I could tell he wasn’t happy with what I was saying, but he
didn’t challenge me. He stood up, shoving his hands in the pockets of his
jeans. “Don’t see him again, Eve.”

I stood and glared up at him, even though he was a good five
inches taller than me and I should have felt dwarfed by his size. “Don’t tell
me what to do, Max. I don’t intend to see him again, but I’m not about to take
orders from you, either. Don’t forget who’s the alpha here.”

“You’re not
my
alpha
until you claim leadership of my pack,” he snapped. “Remember that.”

He stalked to the door and yanked it open, not bothering to
shut it behind him as he stomped off the deck. I walked to the door and watched
him pause at his truck.

He turned to face me. “How well do you know your dad, Eve?”

My eyebrows knitted. “What are you talking about?”

Max jerked open the door to his truck. “He smells like a
vampire.”

I slammed the door and locked it. What the hell? Was he just
trying to get a rise out of me? My dad had been walking around in direct
sunlight today. Max wasn’t making any sense at all. He was always talking about
conspiracy theorists- maybe he needed a heavy dose of reality, himself.

I turned off the lights and went upstairs, fuming. I didn’t
want to deal with anything regarding wolves or vampires right now. I just
wanted to be alone.

I put on my headphones and listened to music, trying to
drown out my own thoughts, but it didn’t work. I pulled out my laptop and tried
looking up the class schedule for NAU, but was distracted by the J that was
still on my wrist. I must have stared at it for twenty minutes, thinking about
nothing at all, when there was a tap on the doors leading to my balcony.

I looked up to see Jericho standing there, a sly smile on
his face.

Throwing down my laptop on the bed, I yanked my headphones
off and unlocked the door. It didn’t even occur to me to be afraid. Jericho
would have hurt me long before now if he’d had any intentions of doing so.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I exclaimed. “You think you can just show
up any time you feel like it?”

He looked confused. “I didn’t know I needed an invitation
after…well, you know.”

After we’d almost had sex. I was humiliated, thinking about
that now. “You need to leave.”

I could see from the surprise in his silver eyes that he was
taken aback. “Why? What’s wrong?”

I realized he was standing on my balcony, in full view of
anyone who happened to be in the forest, and I motioned him inside. “What’s
wrong? You
lied to me,
that’s what’s
wrong! I believed you when you said you weren’t Argos! I even stood up for you
to a beta! And then I find out that you’ve been nothing but dishonest since the
beginning, that you’re not even supposed to be here!”

He was silent for a long moment, and I could see that I’d
struck a nerve. When he spoke, his voice was low and pleading. “I’m sorry.”

“You’re sorry?” I didn’t know what else I expected him to
say, but that certainly wasn’t enough. “Why did you do it, Jericho? Why did you
lie to me? And why are you here? Haven’t you murdered enough people in Rapid
City already?”