Crossroads by Jeanne C. Stein Page A

red-hot poker in my gut. It is the attitude of many of our kind. Something I came to realize in my first meeting with the heads of the vampire clans. It is the attitude that holds mortals in the same class as the beasts.
    I tighten my grip until I feel my fingers sink into her flesh. Do you ask these “miserable” if they want to die? Give them a choice? You kill for sport. You take their money. Worse, you offer hope, then snatch it away. You are an animal. You deserve the same fate as those you toy with, the ones you consider unimportant. I am here to exact vengeance.
    Then what Chael says about you is true.
    The name makes me draw back a tiny step, to look into her eyes. What does Chael have to do with you?
    She takes advantage of the momentary distraction to draw herself up. Chael says you think more of mortals than you do your own kind. I see he is right. Her words drip acid. Well, be warned. You may soon find yourself alone. There are many of us who are tired of hiding. The tide is rising.
    So this is why you are here? Chael sent you to deliver a warning? He has made a grievous mistake if he thinks killing innocents is the way to gain my support for his cause.
    She shakes her head. I am not here to gain your support. Chael told me there would be only one thing to tempt you away from the path you have chosen. Kill me now and you will never know how to achieve what it is your heart desires.
    And how do you know what my heart desires? How does Chael?
    It is obvious. You wish to return the gift of immortality, to become human again.
    I make a guttural sound in my throat—half snort, half snarl. You think you can forestall the inevitable with this foolish talk? The only reason you are not dead already is that I want to make sure the humans are safely away before I end your miserable existence. They have been traumatized enough.
    I may not be so easy to kill.
    Finally. The beast is unleashed. Her right hand dips into her jacket. Lightning fast. She pulls out a small stake and lunges for my chest.
    I am faster. A half turn and the stake strikes a rib. I wrest the weapon from her hand, toss it away.
    She locks her arms around me, intent on bending me backward, her snapping jaws seek my throat.
    It takes very little effort to break her grip. Our positions reverse. For a fleeting moment, I have a glimpse into her head. Hate boils in her blood, turns her thoughts red with rage.
    And Chael is there, too. His whispered entreaties that she should seek me out. Tempt me with the secret.
    Chael is there.
    Who is this female to Chael?
    What is the secret?
    No matter.
    The bloodlust burns too strong to pull back now. Nothing is more important than the hunger. I tear at her jugular. Her blood, hot and delicious, fills my mouth, my senses. She squirms and pounds at my chest with her fists. The blood from my chest wound seems to mingle with her own blood as the one flows out and the other flows in.
    She is strong. Her will to live not easily extinguished. She is kicking at me, her hands frantically seeking anything to use against me.
    Too late I feel her fingers close around the gun clipped to my belt. She fires it without drawing it out of the holster. The roar of the gunshot rips the quiet fabric of the night. A bullet pierces my side. Convulsively, I snap her arm at the elbow.
    We both scream in pain.
    The bullet moves inside me, scorching a path through muscle and sinew before it explodes out. It does not penetrate organ or impact bone.
    It does not stop me from tearing again at her neck.
    She is getting weaker. I tighten my hold, lock my jaws. Her blood is no longer thick, but thinning out as the last drops are consumed. She no longer fights. She is no longer capable of shielding her thoughts. The atrocities she’s committed, the victims she’s tortured, the senseless agony she’s inflicted. All threaten from the dark. There is no thought of loved ones or family. Like her victims, she has lived most of her second life alone. Only