“Stacey.This is more than you think it is.”
“But if the proteins don’t mix—”
Brother Al spat over his shoulder, suddenly frustrated.
“It’s not simple science.You don’t understand.You are marked.Marked by the Divine.Whoever shares your blood—their fates will become intertwined with your own.Do you understand what I’m saying?”
I sighed, frustrated, and sat on a nearby stool.
“You’re all a mess,” I said.“There’s people dying out there on the streets.You’ve seen the messages.You’ve seen what the past few weeks have been like.You see how low on fuel each of them are.And you’re worried about superstition?”
“There’s an old magic behind blood sharing,” Brother Al said.“It will escalate things further.You have to understand.”
“None of you have any sense,” I said.I paused, chewing my lip, considered what I was going to say.“You’re sure you’re not reacting this way because you’re jealous?”
Brother Al’s face twisted.
“I cannot say that has no part of it,” he said, voice stiff.
“Then I’ll give all of you some of my blood,” I said.“We’re in this together at this point.”
Brother Al sighed, put his hands in his face, and then lifted his head.
“Vic.Eddie.We need to convene and discuss this.”
“Discuss what?”Vic asked.
“Stacey has offered her blood, for the three of us.”
Vic met my eyes.His piercing blue eyes seemed to flicker over me.
“It would work,” he said.“I don’t like it, but it would work.I’m just out.I’m tapped.Drained dry.”
“You don’t think it’s a stupid idea?”Eddie asked.
“No, I think it’s stupid,” Vic said.“But I’m also a realist.We have limited options coming up.Keeping ourselves weak and hoping we’ll find someone to feed on before we hit a mass of Deadies is really exposing our throats.”
“I’m terrified,” Eddie said.“I’m scared I’ll crave her.I’m scared I’ll want to mark her afterward.To throw everything off.”
“I share that concern,” Brother Al said.“You must understand, Stacey.You are… different.”
“It’s just a birthmark,” I snapped.“This is not the Moon Kiss.This is not a divine splotch planted on me by the Gods.This is just a deformed patch of pigmentation caused in the womb.That’s it—that’s all.The three of you are so worried about a future issue that may not even have a chance to manifest.Here’s the situation as I’m seeing it: You can either be recharged and head into battle, or you can endanger all of us for sure by allowing yourselves to remain weak when we hit the shore.One option ensures we make it to the future.The other option ensures we have no future.”
A blistering silence between us all.
“I hate that you’re right,” Eddie said, voice soft.
“As much as I don’t like the idea of being bound to you two, this is the only thing that makes sense,” Vic said.
Brother Al sighed, a gargantuan, tremulous sigh.
“Stacey,” he said.“You realize that at some point.It’s neither Eddie, Vic, nor myself that will pay for this decision.It will be you.”
“I’ll deal with it when we get there,” I said.“Come on!”
John Steeley,one of the navigators onboard—one of the only other humans—had a pocketknife on him.He held a lighter under the blade.Someone else found a wineglass from a hidden cupboard.The three vampires—all men interested in me—watched with cat-like obsession at the knife-blade as I dragged it over the Venus mound on my left hand.I hissed.I could sense predatory eyes and intentions, staring at me, muted with compassion.I had a sudden sense of being a little lamb in front of three powerful lions.
Still, there was nothing else for it but to continue forward.I squeezed my left fist over the glass.Blood splotched and splattered out—little more than a mouthful, I thought.
