Forbidden Fangs

Chapter 5

Luchaver manipulated the joysticks as his ship sailed through the air, his dark eyes piercing the night sky through the rounded transparent heat shield. He could fly the craft using only his mind, of course - one of his neural implants allowed seamless interaction with the vessel's controls. He enjoyed the tactile sensation of flying by hand, though. Somehow the operation of a few simple mechanisms felt more intimate than using a neural interface to pilot the ship.

He remained within the cloud cover until the flashing red dot on the screen was directly beneath him, and then dipped the cloaked ship downward and landed on the roof of a tall, flat building. The starboard side wall of the ship melted away to form an empty doorway, and Luchaver ducked silently into the night.

The fresh, crisp air kissed his skin as he made his way across the dusty rooftop to the small hatch set between the shingles. For a moment he stood over top of the hatch, concentrating. With a sudden snap of distorted reality he teleported downward, through the hatch and into the hallway below. He smiled and massaged his temple. Sometimes he imagined he could feel a gentle throb when he used some of his neural implants. The medical workers of Wythiria had assured him it must be psychosomatic.

The hallway was brightly lit by sconced lights, which threw soft yellow luminescence over the short, freshly cleaned carpet. Luchaver could smell the chemical products used for washing the walls and floor, could smell the feline prowling behind the first door on his left. He could smell the female he'd seen in the forest as well. He no longer needed his tracking implant; his own olfactory organs were acute enough to detect and distinguish the blonde woman's scent. He passed three more doors and stopped at the one on his right labeled 309.

The air flickered, and the vampire teleported inside the apartment, passing through the locked door.

A hail of information hit Luchaver from all directions. In the span of a few seconds he learned so much more than he wanted or needed to know about the earth female.

Her name was Kylie. A picture pinned against the refrigerator by a magnetized shard of iron showed her and another female named Megan, their names imprinted over the photo in bulbous letters. Smells wafting from the countertop indicated that she favored onions but disliked garlic, and that some of her root vegetables could stand to be thrown out. Aromas from the tiny bathroom to the left told him she used a lilac shampoo; he'd smelled it earlier, faintly on her hair, beneath the luscious reek of her fear.

He could smell a remnant of that same fear lingering on her as she slept. He could hear the steady rise and fall of her breathing through the open doorway to the bedroom. He sensed the rustle of her blankets as she rolled fretfully, perhaps dreaming of him. The thought nearly made Luchaver smile.

She must die, he reminded himself. She had witnessed too much. What she knew might give the humans cause to prepare for the coming invasion. And there would almost certainly be an invasion. Contrary to forecasts made by the best vampiric minds, the humans of Earth had not wiped themselves out long before reaching a space age. If the level of technology present in Kylie's simple apartment was any indicator, they might even be capable of putting up a worthy resistance. But only if they were ready. Only if someone warned them.

Luchaver stepped slowly and silently into the blonde woman's bedroom. The scene was scarcely illuminated by the ghostly rays of a streetlamp filtering through the blinds, but the vampire could still see intimate details. He saw the patterns in the way her hair fanned out across the cotton-covered pillow. He saw the delicate lines of her breasts and the arch of her back beneath the loose T-shirt she wore. He saw her legs cross and uncross beneath the light blanket as she dreamed. He saw her, and the raw essence of her natural beauty.

When he saw her in the forest clearing, she'd been horrified. The emotion had been electrifying, sending a s****l current through his body the moment he smelled it. Now she seemed only mildly afraid… perhaps in her dream she was stuck in the moment when her and her male friend approached the clearing. Before her trepidation had turned to terror. In her sleep state she seemed a perfect fruit, ripe for the plucking. Although his stomach was full, he wanted to taste her… but he did not want to kill her. He wanted to lay down with her, and make a meal of her that would last her lifetime. He wanted to indulge in the sweetest produce the entire planet of Earth had to offer, and knew then that he was looking at it.

What is the life of one human against the survival of my entire race? The answer to the question should have come easily. Luchaver should have strode to her side and snapped her neck, and then returned to his spacecraft and flown home. Instead he stood like a statue and stared at the beautiful young woman, with her soft features and fluttering eyelids. He did not want to go to her. He wanted her to come to him. He was still confused at how his telepathic probe had glanced off her mind in the clearing. There was nothing wrong with the implant; it had worked perfectly on her male friend. Perhaps my focus was not strong enough. My mind was reeling from the taste of fresh blood. Now, I am prepared. Now, she will come to me.

He sent the thought with as much force as he could muster, invading the blonde woman's brain.

Kylie gasped, and her hazel eyes flew open.