Set To Start (Morningstars) (3 page)

“They replaced almost all of it. My doctor said something about my blood having been fully switched and that was how much I needed.” She shrugged and Kaden blinked. He hadn’t known that there were vampires out there treated in human hospitals. Usually they would have been given blood if they had been injured, that much was true – but they’d have it through their mouths, not their veins.

“Anyways, it didn’t take long and I realized that all those things that were special about me as a vampire – the better hearing, the quicker reflexes – it all was gone almost from one day to the other.”

“Not all vampire born children have those reflexes. Maybe you didn’t lose them,” he offered, not sure her story was over yet.

“Thanks for saying that, but my parents and I realized long ago that my metabolism wasn’t the same anymore. My senses are worse now, and if you cut me …” She took a knife, surprising him with how prepared she was. He watched how she cut her palm and he reached for it, holding it. If she were born to be a vampire, this cut would heal in less than a second. Instead nothing happened.

“I don’t heal anymore, Kaden. And I get old.” She looked disappointed, almost sad, but then shook it off. “My parents and I decided that it was best if I went and lived life the way we all knew I had to: the human way. There was no hope for me ever being turned. Which is what I am working for now. A house,” she finished, and even though that had been something they had talked about before, it felt totally different now.

“No, I am sure it’ll still come. I mean, once you are getting closer to your change … even if you don’t have the Origin blood, you can still …”

She shook her head, not even letting him finish and her expression was one of defeat as he kissed the unmarred skin next to the cut.

“I turned thirty three months ago. If I really had anything vampire left in me, I’d be dead by now. I never thought it could be possible, but that blood transfusion changed me from what I used to be to what I am now. I haven’t thought of vampires in nine years, maybe more. Not even when all the signs were there. You’re a warrior, aren’t you? A Morningstar warrior.  But you didn’t find your Origin yet, did you?”

He shook his head, thinking that he didn’t want this to happen now anyways. “There’s no Queen, so she would be bound to die. I don’t want that to happen.” He looked at her, wondering if he had hurt her another time with careless words, but instead she was smiling.

“You know what that means? The good thing about me being human? And about you being unbound?” she wanted to know and he shook his head, trying to gauge her reaction. “You can have my blood while we make love,” she whispered, being on his lap in no time. His heart was racing in his throat as he raised his hand to his lips, biting his wrist and pressing it against her lips.

“Drink, so your cut heals,” he pleaded and she did, then she met his lips.

“Your time is running out fast, so let’s make the most out of those last minutes left,” she grinned, having him out of his shirt in a matter of seconds, opening the button of his jeans only to pause.

“One could think that you came with a goal in mind,” she accused with a picked up brow and a smirk.

“I was … no, that wasn’t …” It hadn’t been his reason to not pull any boxers on, but the hope in his heart sure had kept him from changing after finding out he was going to see her.

“Liar,” she teased, laughing. It was funny how easy she now could be around him even though the perspective on it had changed.

“A guy can dream, right?” he wanted to know.

“Then let’s go and make your dreams come true,” she laughed, reaching into his pants. It was crazy, but sometimes every woman had magic, because, in no time at all, Cia had wiped his head clean of all thoughts except the ones concerning her body and her pleasure.

It was different waking up without Kaden after having realized why he only came at night or how he could sneak in without making a sound. It had even felt different making love to him after the talk they had. There was no denying that things would change from here on, too. It was as if Kaden was finally liberated and Cia finally ready to not push for the three words.

Shaking her head at how human she had become, she got up and walked into the shower. She needed a long, hot downpour to ease her sore muscles. She had to grin as she thought about Kaden being much more open about what he wanted after realizing he could let lose his predatory nature. There was something immensely dark and sexy about the way the utterly sweet guy had turned into this handsome, demanding warrior. Looking back, the signs had been there like the way he always checked all locks, the concern he’d had about hurting her, and the way something always had held him back.

Cia raised her face towards the water, feeling a slight pull on the side of her neck so she touched the wound. This had been something she had wanted. Kaden had taken her blood without any problems, which meant that he wasn’t bound, and that she definitely was neither an Origin nor his potential everything. That was the thought which hurt her more than she could have guessed. She knew that no one would have been able to take her blood if she was meant to be a vampire’s something. It hadn’t mattered then if she was going to be a future mother or only a future wife, but now the thought of not being either hurt her more than she cared to admit.

Walking out on her parents nine years prior had been hard, but it also had been a lot of time to get used to ‘normal life’ or better yet, the idea of having one. She still was sure it had been the right decision back then. She had changed her routines and adjusted her wishes. A husband had been on the plan first, then a house and children would soon follow. Only when it became clear that maybe there wouldn’t be a husband had she started to put everything she had into buying herself a house. It had been almost too easy to build a life away from the night, but now she craved said life more than she ever had craved anything else.

She knew that it wouldn’t change who she was, or wasn’t, to Kaden, but she would still feel closer to him. She couldn’t help but wonder how things would be right now if that dreadful day, so many long years ago, hadn’t happened.

A shiver went through her at that thought. If she’d be a true Origin, she wouldn’t be alive anymore by now. If she’d be just any other vampire woman, she still couldn’t be Kaden’s for life. It was a mind-boggling, but Cia didn’t care any longer. She was not a vampire, which meant she most likely had years and years to spend with Kaden without his Origin ever coming into the picture. She was ready to fight for that and she was pretty sure she could convince Kaden to try it. They had nothing left to lose, because where Cia was concerned, her heart was already his anyways.

Sighing, she started to get dressed, knowing that she had another shift in the daycare. It was the work she truly loved, thinking it was probably now the only part about her human life that she had left to love.

Kaden snuck back into the house, knowing that he shouldn’t have any reason to worry, but Jaden was in the living room when he came in even though it was early in the morning. In fact, the sun had just started to rise behind him, and Kaden all but felt the heat on his skin.

“You know, I sometimes think you aren’t talking to me anymore about what’s going on,” his twin said, his tone harsh, but his expression even harsher. He barely recognized Jaden any longer and there was no telling what had brought on the change. He was fighting harder and hungering for more blood in the fights. It wasn’t unheard of that vampires sometimes went insane, but usually those were the ones indulging in too much blood. Jaden didn’t belong to that group because Kaden always was with him whenever they went to feed.

“You know, sometimes I think the same about you,” he said, sitting down on the armchair close to the fireplace, mirroring Jaden’s relaxed pose even though he was anything but relaxed.

His twin met his eyes, picking up an inquiring eyebrow. “What wouldn’t I tell you?” he asked and Kaden debated on how to start that topic.

“Why do you keep antagonizing Colbin?” he inquired for their leader, who was almost like a father to them.

“Because it’s ridiculous. That love is … I just don’t believe that any couple could still be that in love. We’ve seen vampires and their women. We’ve seen females. You know how they are and that’s surely nothing that would make me go all infatuated.” There was no denying the truth of that, but then the women they met usually were club sluts and little more.

“We’ve never met any other Origins and their partners other than our parents,” he reminded Jaden and his twin took a deep breath, closing his eyes.

“Remember how dad used to say that we’d find our place in the race and make a difference?” he asked and Kaden nodded.

“He’d train us for hours, telling us that we need to fight and get strong. He told us that there was nothing more important than ensuring our race was safe. I can still see us sitting at the table while he told us that loyalty and traditions were all that kept our race from tearing itself apart.”

Jaden smirked, but it seemed almost malicious. “Yes, and then he tried to kill us both because he thought one of us would turn insane. When he couldn’t kill us, he kicked us out and told us to never ever come back because it would break mom’s heart.” His twin’s voice was breaking at that because their mother had always been there to treat them exactly like children should be treated, but then, the day they were forced to leave, she had stood by and just watched them. They hadn’t been older than fifteen, leaving with nothing with years until the change would claim them and one was bound to turn to the dark side. They hadn’t known back then that twins like them were technically one person.

New York had been the closest city and they had spent years in the Bronx, fighting with gangs. “I remember the first kill we had on the street; that Hellraise, draining the girl who used to bring us food?”

Jaden nodded. “We were dirty and thin, nearly starving and still we fought every night, fought all the monsters that crawled out.” And there had been a lot of monsters. Kaden shivered, half way surprised that they were still alive.

Their time on the streets was long over, yet Kaden couldn’t stop the twinge going through his body every time he remembered those years. They had been so close to the change and yet so far away from the blood they needed.

Colbin had found them and brought them back to the compound. They had gotten women over and their change had been undergone. Even though Kaden had felt different waking up that morning, after all, his whole day had been laced with the pain of limbs stretching further than the skin was ready to go and bones breaking to create room for broader shoulders and more muscles, but after all of that, he didn’t feel crazy. He remembered waking up and seeing Lara there, telling him that neither of them had woken with red eyes. She had called it a miracle, but by now Kaden called it science.

Of course they had been back to see their parents, but their mother was gone. She had been killed by a rogue vampire, one who wasn’t Hellraise, the bad spawn of the vampire race, but simply evil. Their father had refused to take them back in, saying that bad mojo was cast upon the twins.

“Colbin kept us because he had honor. Our father didn’t have any of that.”

Kaden heard the anger in Jaden’s voice, but he couldn’t really say anything to calm his brother down. Decades lay between those days and now, but the pain still felt fresh.

“The warriors protected us and saved us from the worst, I agree, but our father just couldn’t have known better. After all, chances were high that one of us would turn.”

Jaden finally looked at him again and Kaden knew what he was thinking. He’d be the monster by then because he was the second born. “Fine, that I would turn,” he added.