Day Reaper. Melody Johnson

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СКАЧАТЬ it was fresh blood pumping through a human’s veins, yes. And the first time the hunger hits, you will be overwhelmed by the inescapable urge to drink. I don’t want that urge to strike in public while others are watching, while you may be near someone like Greta, who won’t forget, or someone like Meredith, whose death you’d never forgive.”

      “Don’t need the full cow to eat a hamburger,” I grumbled, throwing the logic he’d used on me multiple times in the past back in his face.

      “No, you don’t, but the first time the hunger hits, it’s all-consuming. You won’t know restraint. You might not need the whole cow, but the cow will die anyway,” Dominic explained.

      He lifted the glass minutely closer. I wrinkled my nose.

      Dominic rolled his eyes, grabbed my arm, and forced the blood into my hands. My claws clinked against the glass as I cradled the bowl carefully. I didn’t trust myself to hold the stem and not snap it in half.

      When it became obvious that holding the wineglass didn’t necessarily portend drinking its contents, Dominic tried a different tactic. “I’ll give you a mirror if you drink.”

      I narrowed my eyes. Two could play that game. “I’ll drink if you give me a mirror.”

      Dominic sighed heavily, my stubbornness one of the only forces of nature strong enough to test his iron patience.

      “I have been a vampire for nearly five hundred years, and within that time, I’ve transformed dozens of night bloods, perfecting my technique with each vampire.”

      “I don’t see how—”

      Dominic held up a hand. “In all that time, after all those transformations, I know a thing or two about raising a healthy, contributing member of my coven. Drinking blood upon waking is essential. You must drink before coming into contact with your first human and before gazing upon your reflection.”

      “I don’t think that—”

      “This is important, Cassidy. I’ve learned from past transformations. I’ve learned from past mistakes. This is one pool you cannot simply dive headfirst into. You must acclimate your body to the temperature of this habitat in order to thrive in it.” His expression was imploring when he met my eyes. “Please, Cassidy.”

      I considered his words, I really did, but I didn’t consider what he was describing as acclimation. It was a delusion. I could see my hands and imagine the face that matched those hands. Waiting until after I’d fed to look at myself was more than acclimation; it was a lie.

      I lifted the wineglass carefully to my lips and swallowed one sip. The blood was still warm and fresh; I shuddered to think where he’d procured it.

      “Happy? I drank,” I said. “Now let me see myself.”

      He stared at me, his expression unreadable.

      “You didn’t specify how much I was required to drink,” I defended.

      Dominic’s expression didn’t change. Without taking his eyes from me, he strode to the bedside table, opened its drawer, and pulled out a hand mirror. He strode back to me, flashed the mirror with an imperceptible flick of his wrist, and just as quickly, hid the mirror behind his back.

      I held out my hand.

      Dominic shook his head. “I just showed you your reflection.”

      I glared at him.

      “You never specified how long you wished to gaze upon yourself.”

      I snorted. “I couldn’t see anything. You moved so fast, I was nothing but a blur.”

      “You drank so little, I can barely perceive an improvement in your complexion.”

      “If you gave me the mirror, I could determine the improvement for myself.”

      Dominic didn’t move, he didn’t even breathe. The only indication of his fraying patience was a low, nearly imperceptible rattle deep within his chest that I might not have even perceived without such acute hearing.

      “I’ve never been physically strong before, but I’ve always been a strong person, Dominic, and that strength is based on a foundation of truth. Waiting until after I’ve fed to see myself is a lie, and someone once told me that I’m in the business of revealing the truth. And that applies to myself too. I need to face reality, Dominic, literally. I need to see my face.”

      Dominic shook his head. “Seeing yourself now will not reveal the truth to you. After having transformed over a period of seven days without nourishment, you don’t look well. You will never look as poorly as you do in this moment ever again. Tomorrow morning will be a more accurate representation of your day form, and at that time, I will gladly give you a mirror before you feed.”

      I stared at him, shocked into silence. “How many days without nourishment?” I asked.

      He pursed his lips as if having bit into something sour.

      But my perfect hearing didn’t need him to repeat anything. “Seven days? You don’t think you could have led with that instead of the blood? Seven days,” I repeated, shaking my head. “What’s happening out there? Did you defeat Jillian? Did you regain control of the coven? What about your strength and abilities? What about the Damned? What about the Day Reapers? I missed seven days?”

      Dominic closed his eyes and rubbed his temple methodically.“You had the potential to transform into a Day Reaper. What did you expect?”

      “I—well, I—” I stuttered, baffled. “I don’t know what I expected! I was dying, not thinking,” I snapped.

      “Granted, seven days is exceptional,” he said, ignoring my outburst. He looked me up and down, from the top of my greasy, unwashed head to my clawed feet and grinned. “I expected nothing less.”

      “Exceptional?” My voice couldn’t possibly squeal any higher. “How is losing seven days exceptional?”

      “The longer the transformation, the more powerful the vampire. An average transformation occurs over three days. Day Reapers, considering their increased speed, strength, mental acuity, and natural resistance to silver and sunlight—all necessary skills to enforce Council law and execute those who break it—typically transform in five days. I transformed in four. But you…” he shook his head at me, and with my heightened senses, I could literally feel the prick of his thoughts graze the fine hairs of my skin. I’d always known he’d had grand plans for me, plans I’d worked doggedly to ignore, but now those plans were coming to fruition, and by the calculation in his eyes as he looked me over, they were unfolding better than he’d ever imagined. “Seven days. You could rival the Lord High Chancellor himself.”

      I opened my mouth to wipe the awe-filled anticipation from his expression, but he pointed at my wineglass before I found an appropriately cutting response and said, “But no matter how powerful you will become, you are not that powerful now. You need to drink.”

      I took another measured sip, more than the first time, but not nearly as much as I knew he wanted.

      Dominic held up his hand in surrender. “Compromise. Drink half your glass and I’ll give you the mirror, assuming you promise to finish every drop afterward.”

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