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very strange indeed. He would have fetched a doctor, but& but I didn't think that was wise."
Carissa nodded and took a deep sigh. "Ian, sometimes a person becomes, well, sort of becomes a vampire, but
until he dies, his body does not begin to change. It's not very common, since vampires usually drain their
victims if they are going to change them, but Ryan has heard of a few cases. You said that it was not Clywd.
Were you ever attacked by a vampire before?"
"No."
"It's possible that you might not remember. A vampire can change memories. Well, a skilled one like Ryan
can."
"Ca& Carissa, it was you. At least, I think it must have been you."
Carissa felt a chill. "I've never touched you. I gave you my word."
"I& I know. When you were wounded that night you brought those children to me, I tried to clean your
wound. I applied a bandage to try to stop the bleeding."
"Yes, I remember. Ohhhh& "
"I had your blood on my hands. Clywd went to get your carriage. I don't why I did it Carissa. It was as if I was
drawn to your blood, to the scent of it. I just took a tiny taste from my finger& " Carissa could see how deeply
embarrassed McKay was. He could not look at Carissa at all. She got up and hugged the music master.
"Why didn't you tell me before?"
"I& nothing happened, so I thought it wasn't enough. Clywd warned me about the blood when he came back
with the carriage. I burned the cloth and washed my hands, and over the next days, I waited for some sign that
I had changed, but nothing happened. So I thought I hadn't taken enough blood. I'm so sorry, Carissa."
Carissa led the man over to the couch and sat with her arm around him. "I am the one who should be sorry,
Ian. You were only trying to help me, and I made you into a vampire."
"It wasn't your fault, Carissa, and I would be dead if it hadn't been for you. I find I very much don't want to
die."
"Because of Clywd?"
"Yes." The word was a whisper.
"Are you and he lovers?"
McKay could still blush. "No. We& I was so much older than him. Yes, I know, he is years older than he looks,
but I was old in body, and I knew I would not live very much longer. I'm almost seventy-five, Carissa. What
could a man my age offer a boy like that?"
"Your love. Ryan is almost eight hundred years old, and it makes no difference to me."
"But there is a difference. Ryan can live for eight hundred more years. I have been dead four days."
Carissa smiled. "It is different now. Your years give you experience, but they do not take away from what time
you have to come."
"Yes, it is different now. Do you think?"
"I know he likes men, Ian, and I know he cares very much for you. As you continue to change, you will look
younger, although I don't think you will ever look as young as Clywd. Your body will have much more vigor."
"Yes, but I have to pay for those changes. Clywd has explained some of it to me: the blood lust, the need for the
hunt. I can't eat food anymore. It just makes me sick. Clywd has brought me blood from the slaughterhouse
twice now, but I am not sure that will be enough for me, as it is for him. But I don't want to become a killer,
Carissa. Can you teach me?"
"Ryan would be a better teacher."
"Perhaps she would, but I need for it to be you."
"Why?"
"I don't trust Ryan as I do you. I know. I know she has done much for the children and for me, but she does it
for you, not for any real concern for these children. Maybe she has just lived too long, Carissa, but there is a
coldness in her. When she looks at humans, it is with possessiveness. Some are her servants, and some her prey,
but that is all we are to her anymore. I am sorry to say this to you."
"No, I know Ryan can be cold. I know she is possessive as well, but she does care. Her people are treated better
than other servants, than other employees. All of them are treated well, not just the ones who serve her directly."
"I know, Carissa, but did she ever tell you why?"
Carissa smiled in remembrance. "She said it was because sheep pastured on green grass give more wool than
those pastured on rocky soil. But, Ian, I know her better than that. I know how she cares for me, how she cares
for Clywd. She loves him, too, even if she never uses the words."
"Yes, I know she does. But you and Clywd are hers. I am not, nor will I ever be. I trust in your humanity,
Carissa, in a way I cannot trust her. But more than that, I feel a kinship to you somehow. Part of it is because
you love Reesha, but part of it is because I have your blood in me now. Does that make sense?"
"Yes, it does, and of course I will help you. In a sense, you are my child now."
McKay laughed. "I am three times your age."
"True, but you are an infant vampire. Now tell me, how do you feel?"
McKay sighed. "All of the old pains are gone, but they have been replaced by a whole new set. I feel as if my
body is battling itself, and it is only all the years of pain I had before that keep me from running screaming into
the sun."
Carissa winced, knowing that Clywd would have explained just what the sunlight would do to Ian now. "I need
to drain your human blood. Ryan told me once that something in the human blood tries to reject the new
vampire body. But when I drain you, you may sleep for days, and when you wake, you will be very, very [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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