Fallen Tears: A Blood Crave Novella (Blood Crave Series) (3 page)

Like, how come no one knew vampires were real?

Her stomach suddenly growled at the thought as she glanced down at her now empty plate that was still situated on her lap. She grimaced, hoping Kaji hadn’t heard her protesting stomach. Then a thought flashed through her mind as she remembered the conversation they had earlier before she blacked out.

She placed the plate down next to her then sat up straight, holding her hand out to him. “Let’s make a deal.”

“A deal?” Kaji remained seated as he glanced down at her extended hand, then back up into her face.

“Yeah,” she said firmly. She had to seize the opportunity, like her dad always said. “You said you still had a lot to learn. So how about I teach you how to be human and in return you feed me?”

“Teach me to be … human?” he asked with raised brows.

“Yeah!”

“And all I’ll have to do is feed you?” He still looked skeptical at the notion.

“Mmm-Hmm,” she said, nodding her head vigorously. She then glanced back longingly at the empty plate again. She sat up even straighter on the couch, hand still extended as she impatiently waited for his answer, ignoring the fatigue that was starting to set into her muscles.

“Would you take that in blood?” He appeared serious.

“
Eww
.” Rowan crinkled her nose up in disgust at his comment.

He had to be joking.

“I am lamia, after all.”

“No.” She gave a little laugh at his poor joke, shaking her head. “See, Kaji. You still have a lot to learn. I mean, real food like that delicious peanut butter sandwich. Gosh, if you even supply the food I can make some great meals. I was always the cook at home.”

She looked back at him with a frown as she thought of something else. “Kaji, can vampires eat?”

“If we desire. But it’s really not necessary,” he said, grimacing at the thought. “I wouldn’t see the point.”

“Great!” Rowan exclaimed, ignoring his latter statement. “Then I’ll cook for you, too. That’s a good deal, right?”

Kaji didn’t say anything, just observed her for a moment, black eyes deep in thought. He finally broke the silence. “Shouldn’t you be with a proper family that’ll care for you?”

All the happiness that had started to bubble up inside of Rowan instantly dissipated at his words. Shoulders slumped, she drew her hand back and looked down as she noticed a crack on the hardwood floor. She bit the inside of her cheek then breathed deeply as she glanced up into Kaji’s eyes. Somber eyes stared back at her, waiting.

“No one wanted me.” She didn’t want to think of her time in foster care so she moved on, brushing it off as she gave a small shrug.

“They weren’t that great of people, anyways. So I ran away. I thought it’d be better to be on my own than be where I’m not wanted. But I was wrong. It’s definitely been harder than I thought it would be. Stupid.” She banged the side of her head lightly with her fist, keeping her eyes as wide as possible to prevent any tears that threatened to fall.

Kaji gazed attentively at her for a moment. “Better on your own than being where you’re not wanted.” He closed his eyes briefly as if contemplating something in his mind, so Rowan didn’t speak. It seemed like hours of them just staring at each other, but it was actually mere seconds. Then he finally spoke again.

“Okay.”

“Huh?” Rowan was confused by his comment.

“Okay,” he said simply, giving a nod as he repeated it, his smooth black hair rustling against his shoulders. “I’ll agree to the terms you’ve created.”

He stared back at her seriously. “Food for knowledge. It might be a good learning experience for me. But knowledge is a precious thing so I’ll do more than just feed you. I’ll take care of you as well. It isn’t safe for a girl your age to be out there alone in a city such as this.”

“Really?” Her eyes lit up in happiness as she jumped up and down on her seat.

“Yes.” Kaji got up abruptly from the couch and walked away. Rowan stood up and followed him, ending up in front of a strange-looking instrument. It was long like a piano but instead of keys, there were strings, like on a guitar. Kaji, standing in front of it, lightly fingered the strings with his hands as its rich sound vibrated throughout the room.

“Kaji,” Rowan said, liking the sound of his name on her tongue. “Is that the instrument you were playing earlier?”

“Yes,” he replied, nodding his head in affirmation.

“What is it?” She walked closer, intently watching him as he played.

“It’s called a koto, a Japanese instrument. I’ve had it for a very long time.”

“It sounds really pretty. It makes me feel warm inside.” She wanted to touch it but felt apprehensive. Instead she decided to change the subject. “Did you really mean it? About our deal?”

She did not want him suddenly backing out.

“Yes.” As Kaji stopped playing, Rowan’s eyes went to his perfectly manicured fingernails lightly floating atop the strings. The last hum of the cord vibrated throughout the room. “You remind me of someone from my past—someone that I couldn’t protect.”

“Oh?” Rowan observed Kaji with wide eyes.

Who was she?

“That story is better left in the past.” He looked directly at her. “And yes, I really meant it. One thing you’ll get to know is that I’ll always keep my word.”

“Always?” she asked expectantly.

He rested his hand on her head as he gave it a light pat. He looked out the window where the shining stars flickered brightly, as if listening to their conversation.

“Always.”

Rowan poked him lightly on the shoulder, causing Kaji to glance down at her. She smiled widely, her eyebrows raised innocently.

“Would you mind making me another peanut butter sandwich, then?”

He stared down into her shining eyes and for a moment, he felt an emotion that could only be described as happiness. He laughed and cracked a smile. Then glancing back at the sky, he noticed one star that seemed to be shining especially bright.

This is what he had been missing—what the both of them had been missing.

Family
.

CHAPTER 3

That was how it was as the years went by: Rowan and Kaji. He fed her, provided her with shelter and protection. She, in turn, showed him what it was to be human.

It was a strange relationship of sorts, the girl and the vampire. (Or, if going by Kaji, lamia.) But to Rowan, it was the only constant in her life. Kaji became the only person that she could rely on. The pain of her dad passing, and the hardships that she was put through slowly eased inside of her, until they were nothing more than memories. Memories that made her who she was today.

Her anger and sadness subsided and it was all because of Kaji.

He sheltered her from everything. Although lamia, she never actually saw him feed. In front of her he acted as any human would. His personality might have been a bit subdued but that was the only Kaji she ever knew. When he left the apartment every night she would lie in her bedroom as she stared up at the ceiling, knowing he was out there somewhere, feeding. But he would always come back as if nothing had happened. He would still eat the meals she’d prepare for the both of them. He would still watch the cartoon of her choice after she’d pestered him into finally buying a television.

She never knew how long he had been lamia and how his life was before. She had asked him on numerous occasions about his past since they first met but he always refused to respond. Rowan eventually gave up, realizing it was no use. He was—and continued to be—a complete mystery to her, but she accepted this life wholeheartedly. Kaji was also extremely stubborn, which would always be a problem with them because she was just as bad.

Chuckling as these thoughts ran through her mind, she thought about the present matter at hand.

“I got a job.” Rowan, now nineteen, viewed her reflection in the dresser mirror as she played with the mane of dark hair surrounding her face. Naturally curly, she preferred it straight, as it was now. She refused to live without her hair straightener.

Although her curls had a tendency of making an appearance in the crappiest of weather, unleashing itself on the world.

Ugh.

Kaji glanced up with raised eyebrows as he caught her gaze in the reflection. Nowadays, he seemed to show more expression on his face than his usual stone-faced one, the one he had on persistently during those first few years.

It had taken some practice on his part.

He was sitting on the edge of her bed, flipping through a novel that he had picked up from her nightstand. He froze at her comment, then casually tossed the book aside. “Did you, now?”

“Yup.” She turned around and faced him, giving a careless shrug. “It’s just at a coffee shop. Since I have no
real
educational experience, it was the only job I could find.”

“Your lack of schooling is no one’s fault but your own. Had you not decided to drop out three years ago, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.” Kaji looked up in the air in exasperation, muttering under his breath as he spoke to himself. “I should have compelled you.”

“You promised you would never do that to me again,” she replied with a smirk, looking back at herself in the mirror.

As lamia, Kaji possessed the power to influence people’s thoughts. He had done that to Rowan when they had first met all those years ago but promised her that wouldn’t happen again. He also promised not to read her mind, which she had been very adamant about, especially recently. There was one thing in particular she desperately didn’t want him to know.

So far he’d been true to his word.

“Yes,” Kaji replied briskly, like always.

“So end of discussion. You’re seriously acting like my father right now. I’m happy with the way things are.” She adjusted the collar of her black dress shirt and smoothed down the white apron she was wearing. “Plus, you’re going to turn me, anyway. I really don’t see the point.”

“I’m not going to turn you.”

“Yes, you are.” They’ve been having this discussion for years but Rowan knew that he would budge.

Eventually.

“No, I’m not.”

She paused as she glanced at his reflection in the mirror, irritation blatantly showing on her face. She caught his dark gaze and saw he was serious.

Dead serious.

“Kaji.” Frustrated, she turned and walked up to him, grabbing the lapel of the white shirt he was wearing. She pulled him roughly up to his feet. He was tall, so her five-foot-seven frame was still dwarfed by comparison and she stood gazing at his chest. She had been excited over the years when she finally started to grow taller.

She was no longer afraid of him in the slightest.

Rowan glanced up, pointing a finger roughly at his pale face. “If you don’t turn me, I’m going to grow old and die! Is that what you want?” She stood there frowning as she waited for his answer.

“Yes.” He said it so quickly, as if he didn’t even need time to think about it.

She looked up incredulously. “Kaji—”

His face turned solemn as he spoke. “I want you to grow up and become something important. I want you to experience everything there is to experience about being human. Children. Growing. Loving. You deserve all of that.”

Rowan made a face at his rant. “I don’t want any children, aging sucks, and loving is highly overrated.” She looked up into his eyes and smiled widely, wagging her eyebrows up at him. “All I need is you.”

Kaji shook his head, giving up, and then gave her a pat on the head. It was always something he did, no matter how old Rowan got.

She let him.

“Even Adam said you should change me.” Adam was also lamia and almost as mysterious as Kaji was, perhaps more. He didn’t talk unless it was absolutely necessary, substituting speech with occasional grunts. At times he appeared really scary, especially with his large, dark presence and the patch that covered his left eye. That left his lone right eye the area that people tended to be drawn to, as it was an intense shade of blue.

Rowan’s first encounter with him had been when she was fourteen and she had to admit, he seemed pretty disturbed when he saw her. She had no clue why he had that reaction but he even went so far as to totally ignore her presence. She had asked Kaji about it but he just mentioned it was something for Adam to discuss when the time was right and casually brushed it off.

Besides the scariness, she always sensed something sad about Adam. He came and went as he pleased, visited Kaji from time to time. As she grew up, he eventually became a little less standoffish. While Kaji taught her how to fight by sparring with her—he realized at a young age that she still had a lot of aggression she needed to get out from her past—Adam taught her weaponry. He even got her a bow-and-arrow set as a gift for her sixteenth birthday and trained her how to aim at objects and use them as target practice in the woods.

She always carried them with her.

“Did he, really?” Kaji’s face stoned up real quick at Rowan’s comment and she kicked herself silently for saying anything. He was dead set against changing her, and Adam jumping on the bandwagon was definitely not something that would benefit him. She tried to deflect the issue.

“Anyway, I should be off to work.”

Kaji let her change the subject, one eyebrow raised. “Where is this job?”

“Downtown Fallon,” she said with a shrug before continuing. “It’s called Cream n’ Coffee on Axel Road.”

“Fine, I’ll pick you up after work.”

Rowan walked over to her bed and picked up her jacket, sliding her arms through the sleeves at she looked up at him. “Oh, no worries. I’ll just take the bus back. I don’t know what time I’ll be off since it’s my first shift.” She flicked her hair out of the collar and walked out into the living room as she made her way into the foyer, but not before grabbing her bag that was on the couch.

Kaji followed her silently, leaning against the wall as he watched her put on her shoes. “I’ll pick you up. Call me when you’re almost done and I’ll come. So you won’t have to wait.”