Page 16 of The Vampire King's Gift

Daemon linked their nearest hands together and urged Julian to swim simply by fluttering his feet. Soon they were cruising through the water like sleek fish themselves. Daemon took them out even further from shore. Julian could feel the water deepening below them. Soon not even his keen vampiric vision could catch any signs of the bottom.

Where are you taking me?Julian asked.

To see something that you’ve never seen before in real life. To see another predator. Don’t you sense her?Daemon explained.

He slowed them both down and had them tread water. He pointed ahead of them and slightly to the right.

Julian realized what Daemon wanted him to see when that familiar yet frightening shape appeared at the edge of his vision. It was a large shark about eight feet long with a white tip on its topmost fin.

A Great White!Julian lurched backwards, but Daemon pressed a hand on the base of his spine to keep him still.

Watch, Daemon instructed.We are not in danger.

Julian’s heart was thumping hard and his throat felt tight. As he looked on, the graceful yet deadly form of the shark moved through the water almost restlessly. He knew that they never stopped moving or they would die.

And then, coming out of the deep was a school of fish. There were larger than the ones that he had seen near the shore. Their sides were pure silver, reminding him of silver dollars. He watched in amazement as with a powerful thrust of her tail, the shark was upon the school.

The school of fish started to move in a column, almost like a fish tornado as the shark opened its jaws wide and swallowed several of them whole. The shark dove into the funnel of fish and took her fill over and over again until the school looked depleted. The stragglers streaked away from the sated predator.

At that moment the shark suddenly seemed aware of them and started to swim lazily towards them. Her black eyes looked soulless even though Julian knew that was not fair. Sharks were made as they were made. There was no morality here in what they did. They fed, they bred and they were masters of the ocean for the most part.

Julian drew nearer to Daemon’s body, his back pressed tight against the Vampire King’s front as the shark approached.

It’s coming this way, Julian said with more than a trace of unease.

Yes, it is curious about us, but we are in no danger, Julian, Daemon assured him.

Julian would have been holding his breath if he had been breathing as the shark closed the distance between her snout and his bare chest. Then, practically at the last moment, she veered to the right and glided past them within touching distance. In fact, Daemon reached out and ran his hand along the shark’s side. Julian did so as well.

The flesh was both rough and rubbery. He could feel the sheer life in this huge predator. He realized that he could hear the shark’s heart and the whoosh of blood through her veins. If he closed his eyes he could actually taste the blood of the fish she had killed in the water. Faint traces of that kill flowed into his nose and mouth. Hunger suddenly throbbed within him again.

He opened his eyes and said,Balthazar said that we couldn’t feed from other beings, just humans. Is that true? Or can you do something different?

If I were limited to humans I would have died long ago. My existence predates our arrival on this planet, Daemon told him.

Now Julian’s heart beat for a totally different reason. Daemon was revealing something about himself, which was so rare.So I could feed from a different species and be okay?

But Daemon was shaking his head sadly.Other than myself and humans, you likely would not be able to gain sustenance from other creatures. Though I am basing this only on what I know of other fledglings, not my own, clearly. But it is not something that we should test anytime soon.

I don’t want to drink from anyone else other than you anyways. Like I told you on the beach, feeding and intimacy are wound together for me.

The Vampire King’s eyes hooded at that moment.We should go in now. I wish to be in bed with you.

Julian grinned.

They swam back in companionable silence. But then Daemon stilled for a moment and a sense of surprise flowed through him.

What? What is it?Julian asked him, unable to feel anything strange at first.

But then he sensed a vampiric presence on the beach. Just ten feet from where they would exit from the waves.

There’s a Vampire on the beach. I don’t recognize them,Julian admitted.

The three of us have not met though we do know him. Or rather, know of him,Daemon replied. His voice was neutral.

Who is it?

Daemon’s red eyes met him.Caemorn Losus.

---