Page 51 of Silent Stalker
I removed the stopper from the canteen and crept forward, holding it out so the child could get a sniff. His nostrils flared as he breathed in. “Come here, and I’ll help you drink, okay?”
“But it’s not fresh. Will get sick.” The boy paused. “Sicker.”
“Were you sick?” I asked.
The boy nodded. “Papa worried about me. Then I took a nap.”
Right. Vampires could become ill, especially when they lacked sufficient blood. I couldn’t fathom what life in 1832 had been like. “Are you still feeling sick?”
“Thirsty,” he whined.
I crept closer, and when the child didn’t flee or show signs of distress, I put the canteen in his hands. “Sip on this slowly, okay? You don’t want to make yourself sicker.”
He nodded, lifted the canteen to his mouth, and did as told. Closing his eyes, a relieved sigh slipped from him.
I understood that sigh to a painful degree. “Drink it very slowly, okay?”
He nodded, tightening his hold on the canteen.
“I am going to use something that you haven’t seen before. It might look like magic, but it’s not.”
“Magic?” Interest flickered in the child’s eyes. “Mama was a witch before she died. She worked pretty, white magic. But secret.”
Well, color me surprised. Things in 1832 must have been a lot different than what I expected from the little I’d gleaned from history books. I took out my phone and called Ben, who loitered around Central Park waiting for me to hunt for wood suitable for carving stakes.
He answered on the second ring. “Are you done?”
“Not precisely. Have you ever heard of a child named Edgar Cartwright?”
“He’s a vampire, and he’s the reason why we discourage vampires from attempting turns too young. He was predisposed and exposed to a great deal of vampiric magic from his father, so his was an accidental turning. We changed a lot about how we work with our kids after that, and Emerick won’t consider anyone younger than their mid-twenties as a result.”
“He’s currently drinking from my canteen, and it appears he crawled out of a grave in the park. His language is weird.”
“Damn. He looks young, maybe five, but he generally acts like a toddler?”
“Yes.”
“That’s him. His brood went extinct shortly after his disappearance in 1866. We assumed he died of cholera during an outbreak. As for him adapting his language, he’s a chameleon.”
“He’s a what? Did you just call him a lizard?”
“He is a chameleon. It’s a type of magic user, and it’s fairly rare. His mother was a witch, and his father was a vampire. The mix of genetics created a new form of magic. Chameleons are able to adapt to any time or society they’re in. A useful ability, especially when you can’t age or learn the ways of the world properly. He wasn’t a deliberate turn, but his father had exposed him to a great deal of vampiric magic, so he was predisposed. His first death was in 1832, and he died of cholera during an outbreak. He rose during the wake. He disappeared in 1866 during another cholera outbreak. I guess we now know where he went. It would have been trivial to hide his body in the park back then, as it was still in various stages of construction and planning. He must have been buried deep enough he didn’t waken until now.”
“What do you want me to do with him?”
“Tell me where you’re at in the park, and I’ll come for him. He knows Emerick.”
“He does?” I blurted.
“Oh, yes. His father was friends with Emerick, and Emerick often volunteered to watch Edgar. He’ll be quite at home in our brood, and there won’t be a contest for him. Then again, most broods won’t want him. Before he was turned, the general age a vampire might turn someone was fourteen or fifteen, but it was quickly determined that older ages worked better due to the halted or reversed aging problem. An older vampire will regenerate until the age of approximately thirty—a good prime of a human’s natural life. Any younger, and the vampire suffers from certain issues. They may be more erratic, less likely to control their thirst, and so on. Emerick prefers turning people over the age of forty, as they benefit from some rejuvenation without shocking them too terribly. Your mother will get quite the surprise when she finds herself to be the physical match of you, her daughter. It can take quite a lot of adaptation. For whatever reason, children simply don’t grow when they’re turned young. Most are staked for being a danger to humans. Edgar was always a calm child of sweet disposition and obedient. You will have to be careful with his blood feeding, but from a canteen is fine. He was taught he could only drink from another vampire.”
“That’s terrible.” I kept an eye on the child, who had relaxed and settled in to sip the blood I’d given him. “Is the Wagyu all right for him?”
“Emerick will notify the Japanese a canteen went to feeding a child vampire, and it won’t be an issue. We’ll evaluate what blood is best for him. He had no trouble accepting the canteen?”
“I told him to sip at it carefully so he didn’t make himself ill.”
“Good. Perfect. Tell me where you’re at, and I’ll come help you with him. Then you can go resume looking for your stakes. This time, try to limit your discoveries to breaking branches, please.”
