Page 18 of Born Reckless

My fingers rise to my stomach. I remember how it felt when that mugger buried his knife in my stomach. But I look at myself, and find there is no scar. There is absolutely no evidence of the injury that ended my life.

However, I see drops of blood splattered over my neck. I see a small streak of it crusted and dried where it would have been covered by the collar of my shirt.

With steam rolling through the space, I climb into the shower and stand under the boiling hot water.

For about ten minutes while I'm in the shower, I seriously consider running. I'm pretty sure I've lost my mind. I must've taken some kind of drug at the party. Maybe someone drugged me. All I drank was water, but it's definitely a possibility in this day and age. Maybe Elena has lost her mind. Maybe she's done something to me.

Because the possibility that all of this is real is just way too much.

But as I look down the drain and see streaks of red running down my body, I know I'm not running from this. I know I can't outrun this. Because I feel it in my body. I feel this new, inhuman strength. I can hear the sound of dozens of people sleeping. I hear them intake air, and slowly let it out. This hotel is filled with the deep sounds of slumber. I can smell them, too. And even though my thirst is currently sated, their blood still smells amazing.

I'm definitely not the person I was just a few days ago.

So, I don't run. I turn off the water, and when I step out, I find the clothes Elena promised sitting on the counter. They're simple, a set of black leggings and an oversized shirt. I pull them on and step back out into the living area.

I watch as Elena pulls the heavy draperies over the windows. And something in me… senses the sun outside. Like a nagging thought in the back of my brain, I know that it's out there. I feel it stalking me, coming for me. And bizarrely, I feel a sense of dread when I think about the sun, when I think about the light.

"Do we catch on fire when the sun hits us?" I ask blatantly.

Elena takes a seat in one of the plush armchairs. Mason is sitting on the couch. His elbow is propped up on the arm of it and he presses his thumb and index finger into his eyes as if he has a headache. He looks exhausted. I guess he should be. It's well past the middle of the night, and who knows how long it's been since he slept. Thanks to me.

A smile pulls on my best friend’s face. "You can feel it coming, can't you?"

"Yeah, and I don't know what the hell it means," I snap.

Elena chuckles. "Next time you're standing in front of a mirror, take a good look at your eyes. Your pupils are fully dilated and it's our biggest weakness. They can't go back now. So excessive light, it's going to bother you. And the sun? Basically, out of the question. I've had some custom sunglasses made, and they help a lot. It’s still uncomfortable going out during the day, but they make it possible. As soon as we get back to Chicago, I will get you a pair."

"That's it?" I question. "Because I kind of feel like I'm on the verge of a panic attack. And the only reason I'm afraid of the sun is because it will be uncomfortable for my eyes?"

"You are the result of generations of vampires," Mason pipes up as he lifts his head. "For a couple thousand years, all the other vampires did not have the option of sunglasses. Fear and trauma can be passed down through DNA. That anxiety, that dread, it will help to keep you alive."

He is so well-versed in all of this. He's not even one of us yet, but he knows all the details. What would it have been like to be raised by a vampire father?

"We’ve been awake all night, how come I don't feel tired?" Slowly, I begin going through that list of questions I had in my head.

Elena shakes her head. "Your body is changed, Juliet. It's better, faster, stronger. You'll find that as a vampire you sort of have insomnia. Going to sleep is… difficult. When you hear so much, when you smell so much, when you justdon'tget tired like you used to, it makes it difficult to sleep. I do still sleep, but only about once a week. It's all I seem to need. This is typical for our kind."

"How about food?" I ask as I walk toward the kitchen. "Because I'm not thirsty right now, but I amstarving."

I open the fridge, but it's completely empty. I checked the cupboards, but they are just as barren. Thank goodness I find a basket on the corner of the counter, filled with snacks.

"You can eat as much as you like," Elena answers. "We still need food. I mean, you won't likely starve to death if you don't eat anything, but you will be just as hungry as you were before. Trust me, I still have a weakness for gelato."

I grab a bag of chips and smirk at my friend as I walk back to the couch, and sit on the one opposite of Mason. I tear into it and start stuffing my face. Thank heavens, my taste buds still seem the same. Besides my newly acquired preference for blood.

"So why is Chicago going to be safer for us?" I move on to the next question. "What's the difference between it and New York, or Las Vegas?"

"Remember that King I mentioned?" Mason says. He has unbuttoned his shirt nearly down to his navel. With my newly acquired sense of sight, it's really hard not to stare. "His name is Cyrus. Like I said, every vampire is one of his descendants and can trace their line back to him. He went to war with his son at one point. King Cyrus wanted to keep the vampires a secret. His son wanted to take control over the humans. Remember all of those children I mentioned? Two of them sided with King Cyrus, the rest sided with the son. In the end, King Cyrus killed his son and won the war. For their betrayal, Cyrus exiled those who sided with his son. For their loyalty, Cyrus rewarded those two who stood by his side. The descendants of those two sons are considered Royals. The rest of us, who don't come from those two sons, we are simply referred to as Born. Any other common citizen."

"Cyrus's greatest desire was to keep our kind hidden. But he also loves control. He is a sadistic bastard who keeps an iron grip on every one of our kind. Which is difficult when you're only one man and the number of vampires in the modern world is in the hundreds of thousands." Elena traces patterns into the arm of the chair she sits in. "So, he set up the Royal Houses. They are basically smaller governors of a certain area, and they are led by his Royal descendants. He still rules as King from Austria, but his favorites, his Royals, help him rule the rest of the world."

"There are four Houses in the United States," Mason continues to explain. "Las Vegas is one of them. It is ruled by the House of Valdez. Pablo Ramirez is not a Royal, but he is part of the House. The House of Sidra rules from the Pacific Northwest. The House of Allaway is based in Massachusetts, and they rule the entire Northeast. And in the South, they can't seem to get their shit together. Their Royal there rejected the role. Don't really know the details, but they've been a mess for a long time."

My head is already spinning from all this new information, and I have a feeling that I haven't even heard the half of it. Instead of asking them to slow down or stop spewing all this insane information, I down the rest of the chips.

"The Royals are powerful," Elena says. "If you step out of line, it is their job to put you back inside it. Or kill you if you won't comply. There have been literal wars because of the Houses. And King Cyrus… The man is a psychopath. It's a well-known fact that he likes to play bloody games. He will pit vampires against each other, just for the fun of it. This is a world filled with politics and power plays. It's actually incredibly impressive that Cyrus has managed to keep such a tight grip on his race all this time."

"But not everyone wants to be ruled by royalty," Mason says. I meet his eyes, and I see in them a man who holds power. A man who will not be ruled by anyone. He may be human, but it is easy to see he is a leader. "Chicago is for those who wish to stay away from the power and influence of the Royals."