Blood Cruel (Gods of Blood and Shadow Book 1) by Simon Cantan Page A

from his mouth and went back to cutting the potatoes.
    “It gets better,” Rans said from the doorway. “In a few weeks, it’ll taste better than the steak you’re preparing.”
    “Aren’t you late?” Jaden asked.
    Rans nodded, disappearing back out. Jaden heard the front door close and breathed a sigh of relief. Rans was a constant reminder of what was happening to him.
    He tried to imagine someone out there, unaware their life was about to come to an end. One person a month, for the two centuries his father had been alive. Jaden paused for a moment, trying to calculate it in his head. He gave up when he realised it was more than two thousand. Was continuing his own existence worth ending two thousand other peoples’?
    He didn’t want to die, but he couldn’t imagine killing people to keep himself going.

Chapter 10
     
    The Shock
     
    “J aden is a vampire?” Katie turned to look at the air where Loki’s voice came from. “That’s not possible. He goes to school. He’s out in the daytime. We had spaghetti with garlic bread for lunch on Wednesday. He’s even gone to church.”
    “You’re babbling,” Loki said. “Try to whisper, we’re still in a dangerous spot here. Move back to the tree we started at.”
    She followed his orders numbly, returning to the tree and slipping into its shadow. “Is Jaden a vampire?”
    “No.” Loki appeared beside her. “Not yet. He’s pureborn.”
    She shot him an annoyed glance. Why was he being so cryptic?
    “He was born a vampire,” Loki explained. “His mother was pregnant when she turned, so he was already a vampire by the time she gave birth to him. He’s just been growing toward it, like you have as a Godchosen. When he hits eighteen, he’ll turn. He’s already turning a little, so it can’t be long.”
    “Three weeks. His birthday is just after mine.”
    Loki nodded. “There’s only a single vampire in there, I’m guessing one of his parents. In three weeks, there’ll be two of them.”
    Katie leaned against the tree, her mind reeling. She’d known there was something wrong at Jaden’s house, but she’d never seriously thought it could be anything like this.
    “Hide,” Loki hissed, going invisible again.
    She slipped behind the tree as the door to the house opened. A man walked out and closed the door, turning to survey the night. Then he skipped to the front gate, moving quicker than anyone she’d ever seen before. He disappeared down the path in moments.
    His movements looked familiar, but she couldn’t figure out where she’d seen them before. “What was that? Why did he move like that?”
    “It’s his strength. You’re the space girl, you’ve seen men walk on the moon. Gravity isn’t strong enough to hold him down like it does you. So skipping is the fastest way to move. From his speed, he’s centuries old.”
    “He can’t just walk?”
    “It’s difficult to gauge for them. The smallest changes can make the difference between closing a door and ripping it off. Control becomes a problem.”
    Katie thought about the bruises Jaden had. His father could try to pat Jaden on the head and give him a concussion.
    “You should go home,” Loki said. “Where it’s safe. Keep my symbol close, in case we run into him again.”
    She nodded and hurried away down the path. Her heart hammered and she couldn’t stop glancing around her. The people she passed stared at her, but she ignored them.
    Only when she was out of the estate did she allow herself to slow. “Tell me more about them. They can’t go out in the daytime?”
    “That’s right,” Loki said. “Surprisingly, fiction got it mostly right. You’ve seen vampire movies, tell me the rules.”
    “No daylight, no garlic, and they have no reflection.”
    Loki snorted. “I did say mostly right. Daylight is a no-no for them. But they don’t mind garlic, as your friend’s lunch shows. He’s part vampire already, he’ll get more sensitive to all the vampire things