Night World : Daughters of Darkness Chapter 10

It felt bid a jellyfish sting.Mary-Lynnette kept her eye leave out and her face turned away as rowan bit into her neck. She wasthinking of the way the deer had screamed. But thepain wasnt so bad. It went away almost immediately.She could disembodied spirit warmth at her neck as the bloodflowed, and, after a minute, a slight dizziness. Aweakness. But the most Interesting thing was that aloneat once she infermed to declare a new sense. She couldsense rowan trees mind.It was like seeing, but withouteyes-and using different wavelengths than visual light.rowan trees mind-her presence-was warmred, like glowing embers in a campfire. It was alsofuzzy androunded like a b all told of hot gas floatingIn space.Is this what psychics mean when they talk aboutpeople having an aura?Then rowan pulled foul, and it was over. The new sense disappeared.Mary-Lynnettes fingers went automatically to herneck. She felt wetness there. A slim tenderness.Dont arse about with it, Rowan said, brushing at herlips with her thumb. Itll go away in just aminute.Mary-Lynnette blinked, feeling languid. She lookedover at cicatrix, who was being released by kestrel.He looked ok, if a little dazed. She smiled at himand he raised his eyebrows and shook his headslightly.I wonder what his mind looks like, Mary-Lynnettethought. Then she said, startled, What are youdoing?Rowan had picked up a twig and was examination itsend for sharpness.E precise species has some substance thats harmfulto it, she said. Silver for werewolves, iron for captureesand wood for vampires. Its the onlything out here that will cut our skin, she added.I didnt mean that. I meantwhy, Mary-Lynnettesaid, but she knew why already. She watchedrednessbead in the wake of the twig as Rowan drew it across her wrist.Exchange blood, Rowan had said.Mary-Lynnette gulped. She didnt look at markand Kestrel.Ill do it first and then hell see its not so bad, shetold herself. I can do this, I can do this. Its so wecanstayalive.Rowan wa s looking at her, offering her wrist.Copperbloodfear, Mary-Lynnette thought, feeling queasy.She shut her eyes and put her mouth to Rowanswrist.Warmth. Well-being. And a taste not like copper, but like something rich and strange. Later, shed always grope for ways to line it, but she could onlythink of things like well, a little bit like the wayvanilla bean smells, and a little bit like the way silk feels, and a little bit like the way a waterfall looks. Itwas faintly sweet.Afterward, she felt as if she could run up mountains.Oh, boy, Mark said, sounding giddy. If you could bottle that stuff, youd ease up millions.Its been thought of before, Kestrel said coolly. Humans hunting us for our blood.Talk later, Rowan said firmly. Blood-tie now.Kestrels mind was gold. With brilliant knifelikeedges sending glitters in every direction.Okay, fireplug, Rowan said. Mark. Enough, you guys. Let go of each other now.Mary-Lynnette apothegm that she was physically pullingMark and nagger apart. Ma rk was wearing a silly smile,and Mary-Lynnette felt the tiniest stab of envy. What would it be like to see the mind of somebody youwere in hunch with? daunts mind was silver and lacy, an intricate filigreed sphere like a Christmas ornament. And by the timeMary-Lynnette sat back from drinking Jades blood, she felt light-headed and sparkling. As if she had amountain stream in her veins.All even out, Rowan said. Now we get by the sameblood. She held out a hand, and Jade andKestrel did the same. Mary-Lynnette glanced at Mark, then they each reached out, all their handsmeeting like spokes in a wheel.We promise to be kin to you, to protect and carry you always, Rowan said. She nodded toMary-Lynnette.We promise to be kin to you, Mary-Lynnetterepeated slowly. To protect and defend youalways.Thats it, Rowan said simply. Were family.Jade said, Lets go home.They had to finish burying Aunt Opal first. MaryLynnette watched as Rowan scattered pine needles overthe grave.You inherit our blood f euds, too, Kestrel told Mary-Lynnette pleasantly. Meaning you bemuse tohelp us find out who killed her.Ive been trying to do that all along.They left the deer where it was. Rowan said,There are already lots of scavengers around here. It wontbe wasted.Yep, thats life, Mary-Lynnette thought as they leftthe clearing. She glanced behind her-and for justaninstant she thought she apothegm a shadow there anda glint of greenish-orange eyes at her own eye level. Itwas much too big for a coyote.She opened her mouth to signalise the others and the shadow was gone.Did I imagine that? I think my eyes are goingfunny. Everything seems too bright.All her senses seemed changed-sharpened. Itmade it easier to get out of the woods than it had beengetting in. Mark and Jade didnt walk hand inhand-that would waste been impractical-but Jade lookedback at him frequently. And when they got to rough spots, they helped each other.Youre happy, arent you? Mary-Lynnette said softly when she found herself bes ide Mark.He gave a startled, sheepish grin, face cloth in the moonlight. Yeah. I guess I am. After a minute hesaid,Its like-I dont know how to describe it, butits like I belong with Jade. She reallysees me. I mean, notthe removed stuff. She sees me inside,andshe likes me. Nobody else has ever done that .. .except you.Im happy for you.Listen, he said. I think we should start looking around for you. There are lots of guys aroundhere-Mary-Lynnette snorted. Mark. If I want to meeta guy, Ill meet a guy. I dont need any help.He gave the sheepish grin again. Sorry.But Mary-Lynnette was thinking. Ofcourseshed like to find somebody who would accept her completely, who would share everything with her. That was everybodys dream. But for how manypeople did it come true?And there werentlots of guys around here.She found herself thinking of Jeremy Lovett again. His dearbrown eyes But she couldnt utilize the picture. It kept dissolving.to her horror-into eyes that flashed blue andgoldand gray, depending on the way they caught the light.Oh, God,no. Ash was the last person who would understand her. And she didnt want to share a bus baby-sit with him, much less her life. What I want to know is who madeyou guys vam pires, Mark said. They were sitting on oversize,overstuffed Victorian furniture in the living room at Burdock Farm. Rowan had a fire going in thefireplace. Was it the old lady? Your aunt?It wasnt anybody, Jade said, looking af movemented.Were not made vampires. Were the lamia.She pronounced it LAY-mee-uh.Mark looked at her sideways. Uh-huh. Andwhats that?Its us. Its vampires that can have babies, and eat,and drink, and get old if we let ourselves, andlivein families.Thebest kind of vampires.Its a race of vampires, basically, Kestrel said.Look, there are two different kinds of vampires,okay? The kind who start out as humans and are changed when a vampire bites them, and the kindthatare bornvampires. Thats the kind we are. Our line goes back-well, lets say a long way .The longest, Jade broke in again. Were Redferns we go back to prehistoric times.Mary-Lynnette blinked. But you three dont go back that far, do you? she said nervously.Rowan stifled a laugh. Im nineteen Kestrels seventeen Jade is sixteen. We havent check-out procedureped agingyet.Kestrel was looking at Mary-Lynnette. How olddid our aunt look to you?Um, around seventy,seventy-five, I guess.When we last saw her she looked maybe forty, Kestrel said. That was ten years ago, whenshe left our island.But shed actually been alive for seventy-four years at that point, Rowan said. Thats whathappens to us-if we stop holding off the aging process, it all catches up at once.Which if youve been alive for five or six hundredyears can be quite interesting, Kestrel saiddryly.Mary-Lynnette said, So this island where youcome from-is that the Night beingness?Rowan looked startled. Oh, no, its just a safe town. You know, a place where our people all livewithout any humans. Hunter Redfern founded itbac k in the sixteenth century so wed have some wheresafe to live.The only problem, Kestrel said, golden eyesglinting, is that people there are still doing thingstheway they did in the sixteenth century. Andthey made a recipe that nobody couldleave-exceptfor some of themen and boys that they trusted completely.Like Ash, I guess, Mary-Lynnette thought. Shewas about to say this, but Rowan was speakingagain.So thats why we ran away. We didnt want tohave to get unify when our father told us to.Wewanted to see the human world. We wanted-To eat junk food, Jade caroled. And read magazines and wear pants and watch TV.When Aunt Opal left the island, she didnt tell anybody where she was going-except me,Rowan said. She told me she was going to this little town called Briar Creek where her husbands familyhad built a house a hundred and fifty years ago.,,,Mary-Lynnette ran her fingers through the silky tassels of a forest-green pillow. Okay, but-whereis theNight World, then?Oh its not a place. Row an looked uncertain. This is-its kind of hard to tell you, actually,she said. Youre not even supposed to know it exists. The two very first laws of the Night World arethat you never let a human find out about it and that you never fall in love with a human.And Jades breaking both this minute, Kestrel murmured.Jade just looked pleased.And the penalty for both is death-for everybody involved, Rowan said. But . . . youre family.Here goes. She took a steadying breath. The Night World is a sort of secret society. Not just ofvampires. Of witches and werewolves and shape shifters, too. All the different kinds of Night People.Were everywhere.Everywhere?Mary-Lynnette thought. It was an unnerving idea-but an interesting one. So therewas a building block world out there shed never knownabout-a place to explore, as alien as the Androm eda galaxy.Mark didnt seem too disturbed by the thought of vampires everywhere. He was grinning at Jade, leaningwith one elbow on the arm of the dark green couch. So, can you read minds? Can you read my mindright now?cats who have heard something theirhumanscant. An instant later, though. Mary-Lynnette heard it, too.The sound of feet on the front porchtap, tap,tap-asquick as that. And then a thud.Hey, somebodysout there, Jade said, and before Mark could stop her, she was up andheading for the door.Soulmates can read each others minds without even trying, Jade told Mark firmly.Soulmates Mary-Lynnette wanted to get on toa different subject. She felt uncomfortable, tingly.I wish youd stop saying that. What you have ismuch better than being soulmates, Rowan was telling Jade. With love you get to find out about aperson first. Being soulmates is involuntary-youdont evenhave tolikethe person when you meetthem. They may be completely wrong for you inevery way-wrongspecies, wrong temperament, wrong age. But you know youll never be completely happy again withoutthem. more than and more tingly. Mary-Lynnette had to say something. And what if thathappe nedto you-if youfound somebody and you were soulmates with them and you didnt want to be? she asked Rowan. Sherealized that her voice was strangethick. Isntthere any way you could-get rid of it?There was a pause. Mary-Lynnette saw everyoneturn to look at her.Ive never heard of one, Rowan said slowly. Her brown eyes were searching Mary-Lynnettes.But I guess you could ask a witch if you had that problem.Mary-Lynnette swallowed. Rowans eyes weregentle and friendly-and Mary-Lynnette felt a very strongneed to talk to someone, someone who would understand.RowanShe didnt get any further. Rowan, Kestrel, and Jade all looked suddenly toward the front door-like.