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“I have no companion. Gideon didn’t like the pup, so I gave him away. Problem solved.”
“Liar.” Clawed fingernails scratched lightly down the back of Maddox’s neck, and a dark, but warm voice purred in his ear. It was another one of Gideon’s little foibles to appear at will without warning. Nothing was ever truly private from him. “Every time I nap for an extended period of time, you seem to think you can lie to me when I wake. You’re such a forgetful boy.”
Maddox stiffened. He did not want to react, but he could not help himself. Gideon’s essence flowed through Mads’ veins and made him what he was. They were deeply, intimately linked, and that meant there was much of Maddox he did not like about himself, and more than ever now Gideon was in his presence.
“I did send him away.”
“That’s a good way of saying you’ve hidden him. No doubt hoping I will forget, and that you will be able to sneak off to dally with him again. No, Maddox. You have my full attention now. I have been quite remiss over the years. I’ve let you go astray and look for solace and companionship in the most inappropriate of places. I will not allow that to happen again.”
Maddox turned to look Gideon dead in the eye. It was a mistake. He felt his will being drained, his resolve sapping. He felt his insides become outsides, his secrets becoming known.
“In the trees, is he? Best place for him,” Gideon said. “But enough about the flea-ridden ingrate you have allowed to occupy your precious bed and time. You and I have much to speak about. I understand you have built alliances with humans and their militaries. I also understand that old tensions have risen again between old enemies, while new powers have come to rise.”
When Gideon spoke, it was with a hunger and passion that terrified Maddox. He himself was no saint. He would never have pretended to be one. But he could already see the elements of Gideon’s plan falling into place. In the old days, when people were relatively rare and tribal, Gideon had toyed with them in matters of war. But their weapons and capacities for destruction were limited. That was no longer the case. Humanity now had enough firepower to destroy the world several times over, to black out the sun, to poison the earth…
“You look so worried,” Gideon smirked. “Absolutely adorable. Don’t worry. All will be well.”
Gideon could be so reassuring. At one time, Maddox had clung to that sense of reassurance. Now that he knew what cruelty it covered, it repulsed him.
Many years ago…
Madis awoke, shivering. It was very dark, and he felt cold stone around him. So it had ended after all. They had slain him, and he was to be forever entombed, suffering his greatest fear, that of being a sentient creature locked in a small space for eternity. He cried out in fear, not expecting to have anybody respond. He was frightened when somebody did.
“Shhh, little one,” a deep voice purred in the darkness. “I am here.”
Madis didn’t recognize the voice. Didn’t remember anything. It was as though he had incarnated anew in the darkness, a fresh creature without the baggage of his previous life. He reached out for the voice, for comfort, for relief, and to his great surprise he felt himself wrapped in arms of unimaginable strength and great muscularity. He was snugged close to a strong body, spooned tenderly.
“Blood of my blood,” the deep voice purred in his ear. “Sleep now. Regain your strength.”
Madis was so tired he did as he was told and closed his eyes. Time slipped by, a few moons.
When he woke he did so with the taste of blood in his mouth. The rich copper tang confused him at first. He thought it was his own. But a reflexive swallow, followed by a sense of spreading warmth and wellbeing told him that it was not his blood, and he was not himself anymore either.
“Good,” the dark voice purred. “Such a healthy appetite. You sleep-feed, my fledgling. It’s adorable. You’re such a good boy. Such a natural vampire.”
Madis made a sound of confusion. He felt better. Better than he had in a long time. He felt strong and well. Not just the kind of well that typified a lack of ill-health, but a youthful strength and vigor he had almost forgotten. His head felt clear, his thoughts sharp.
“Take more.” A bowl was held to his lips, a bowl full of warmed blood. It tasted more delicious than anything he’d ever eaten. It was like consuming the very essence of food itself, as if all the meats and vegetables and sweets that had passed his lips prior to this point were mere shadows of the concept of nourishment. He did not merely drink more. He drank it all, draining the bowl to the last drop. He then took the vessel in his hands and licked it clean.
“Easy, little animal. You do not need to scavenge for food. There is plenty more where that came from.”
Sated and finally truly awake, Madis looked at his savior for the first time. It was not a man. He knew that much already. The creature that had come to him in the night was a predator, a beast who existed on the very fringes of human understanding. His people had a word for such beasts. Lilu.
“You have made me what you are,” he said. “You have saved me, and taken me, and you have changed me.”
“Such an intelligent boy,” the creature said. “You may call me Gideon.”
“I am Madis,” Madis said. “Are you sure I may use your name?”
“You have my blood, you can certainly use my name,” Gideon said. “You are right. I have taken your human life and replaced it with a greater animation. You will no longer age as a mortal or be subject to a mortal’s illnesses. But for several hundred years you will be vulnerable to the sun, and to silver, and a small number of other minor inconveniences.”
Madis was listening, but his hunger was already stirring again, and so his first question was about food.
“I thought your, I mean, our kind, drank directly from the human?”
“Certainly. And there are some humans who eat straight from the ground. I prefer a little more refinement. I will teach you everything you need to know, Madis. I will give you a life longer and more rich than any you could otherwise have experienced. All you need do is obey me. For a while, at least. I am sure you will rebel eventually. All fledglings do. Tell me one thing. What had you done to earn such ire of your fellow man that you were flayed, honeyed, and left to die staked in the desert?”
Madis hesitated, wondering if his confession might spark the same disgust and loathing in Gideon it had in his people. But he owed Gideon his life, and if he owed him his life, then he owed him the truth too.
