Page 40 of Cloak of the Vampire
CJ and I were cleaning the cafeteria during our shift when I decided to ask, “Did Ra—our Lord ever give the Imprint to someone without their consent?”
That question seemed to catch CJ by surprise. “Not to my knowledge, no,” he replied, frowning. “Our Lord is many things, but he never does anything without reason. Forcing the Imprint on someone without getting their written consent has been prohibited since 1815.”
I paused in the middle of cleaning and straightened, staring at him. “What do you mean, prohibited?”
CJ didn’t notice the change in my tone, the excitement that entered it, as he crouched behind a table and tried to get rid of a stain on the floor. “Exactly how it sounds,” he replied, “though, I doubt anyone cares for that old law. I mean, why would a Lord do such a precarious thing? It’s a waste of their valuable resources.”
What resources? “I don’t understand.”
He sighed and rose back up. “You haven’t learned about how a Lord gives the Imprint to a human yet in your course?” When I shook my head no, he stretched his arms and said, “Then I suggest you wait until then. Abe is a far better teacher than I am.”
I was most definitely not going to wait. “Come on, CJ,” I said, giving him a pleading look. “You can’t leave me hanging now.”
He groaned. “Fine,” he said bad temperedly, leaning his back against the table and folding his arms. He might’ve said Abe was the better teacher, and yet he’d just taken the same position my teacher always did when he launched into a lecture. “When a Lord gives the Imprint to a human, they have to part with some of their Lifeblood.”
I understood nothing of what he’d just said. “What the hell is Lifeblood?”
“I’m getting there, so shut up and listen,” CJ said tartly, and I zipped my mouth, eager to learn. “Lifeblood is the essence of what makes us vampires instead of humans. It’s what allows us to be stronger, faster, have better senses, and even become Gifted and Sacred. It’s alsowhat changes our liquid intake needs from water into blood. Every vampire has it, and the Imprint is the way to get it.”
He held up his fisted hand. “Let’s say we can quantify the amount of Lifeblood in each vampire. Commons have about this much.” He put up his index finger. “Gifteds have something like that.” He raised his middle and ring fingers. “Then Sacred have this.” He raised his other hand and stretched out all ten fingers. “After giving the Imprint to one human, the Lord’s Lifeblood count is reduced to this.” He put away his left hand and left only his index and middle fingers up on his right one.
My eyes widened as I recalled that fateful night behind the Banner Bar. “So a Lord can only give the Imprint to one human per day?”
“Perweek,” CJ corrected, smirking at my evident shock. “Of course it varies with each Lord’s power levels. Some of them can give the Imprint to two humans per week, maybe even three. But that normally depletes them entirely, and they have to sleep for days on end to regenerate the Lifeblood they lost.”
My heart sank. “So giving the Imprint to two people on the same day ...”
CJ shrugged. “I don’t know of any Lord who did or would ever do such a reckless thing.” He snorted. “Though who knows? Perhaps some of them might feel like it if the opportunity arises. Who knows what these Lords are thinking ...”
And just like that, my resolve turned to steel. I was even angrier at Ragnor than I’d ever been. I couldn’t contain my outrage, really.
Because the Imprint he gave me right after he’d given one to Cassidy ... he could’ve avoided that. Heshould’veavoided that—for his own damned sake. And yet he’d gone through the trouble of wasting his Lifeblood just to coerce me into this life, as if he’d done so on an impulse.
The loss of my freedom, of my past life, I had to endure it all just because Ragnorfelt likegiving me the Imprint too.
My anger had transformed into absolute fury by the time my shift was over. In the kitchen’s locker room, I took off my apron, changed into simple jeans and a tee, then stormed off.
As I strode down the corridor leading to the escalator, wanting nothing more than to find a punching bag and draw Ragnor’s face on it, I saw the bane of my existence himself, in all his glory, walking from the other direction.
Ragnor. Fucking. Rayne.
Just as I was thinking about why he had given me the Imprint, perhaps risking his own life, there he was, wearing jeans and a tee that put his toned muscles on display. Just seeing him made everything inside me light up in excitement I couldn’t vanquish.
And yet my anger, resentment, fury ... they overrode everything else, at least that was what I kept telling myself.
His strong jaw locked when his midnight blue eyes caught sight of mine, and he stopped, but I didn’t, not until I was right in his face. Then I forgot myself and snarled, “I’ve had enough.”
Ragnor’s eyes narrowed, and he stared down at me with an arched brow as if taunting me to go on. “Your feelings are duly noted.”
I glowered at him. “You should’ve avoided giving me the Imprint,” I growled, shaking with rage. “For your own fucking sake, what with the whole Lifeblood thing.”
He said nothing, simply stared at me unblinkingly.
That made my rage burn brighter. “Yet you gave me the Imprint anyway, ruining my life and risking yours because of some sort of a fuckingimpulse.”
His eye twitched, and he said mockingly, “I didn’t know you cared so much about me risking my life, Henderson.”
“Don’t twist my words!” I snapped, wishing I could hit him, smack that stupidly gorgeous face of his. “Just answer me once and for all:Why the fuck did you give me the Imprint?”
