Free Blood Gifts by Kara Lockley Page B

path
alongside the river to the mountain. Not anywhere in particular,
just deeper into wildness. She got to a place where the river
curved in front of her, but she wanted to keep going straight. With
barely a thought she leapt over the river, which was about ten feet
wide. She laughed as she landed on the other side.
    She stopped to stare and marvel at what she'd
just done. She saw Luke catching up with her and she giggled and
started running again. She ran until she was running up the side of
a mountain. She ran to a place where the river became a waterfall
and she dove right in. Under the cold water, under the waterfall.
She could feel that it was cold, but it didn't bother her. She
didn't need to breathe. She could see underwater perfectly. There
were fish and smooth polished stones. The water was a blur of many
cool clean colors.
    She saw a splash as Luke joined her under the
water. He was smiling. She smiled back. He took her hand and led
her, underwater, to behind the waterfall. They finally brought
their heads out of the water. They stood on a rock ledge, waist
deep in water. The rush of water was so loud all around them, the
waterfall so beautiful. She pulled him toward her for a kiss.
    He kissed her back and it was amazing. She
thought her nerve endings had been amplified. Kissing him felt like
pure heaven. She pressed her body to his as they kissed deeper.
Then he pulled away.
    "Let's get you used to being a vampire
first," he said gruffly, his arms still around her. "I don't know
what your psychic powers would do now if we made love."
    She looked at him in awe, from the memory of
the kiss and the way his eyes reflected the waterfall. She felt
dumbfounded. She nodded at his words. She felt water dripping from
her hair and face. She felt every drop. She let his hand go and
dove through the waterfall, back into the deep pool below it. The
water pounded into her, but she didn't mind.
    She grabbed a fish in her hand as she leapt
out of the river. She sat down, dripping wet, on the grassy
riverbank and bit into the fish and sucked the blood out.
    She tossed the dead fish aside. She lay back
in the grass to stare at the sky. Luke climbed out of the river and
sat next to her to observe her. She spent hours staring in
amazement at the sky. Until the sun set with a gorgeous range of
colors. Some she didn't even think she knew the name of.
    At some point Luke had lain down beside her
and thrown his arm over her. Her clothes and hair were dry now. She
closed her eyes and slept again. She dreamed that she danced
circles around Geric, laughing.
    She woke before dawn to watch the beautiful
sky colors come and go again, until it was bright blue. Luke was
still asleep. She crawled out from under his arm and waded into the
river. She reached down lightning fast whenever a fish swam by. She
bit into each fish lightly and tossed it back, not killing any of
them. She did this for a few minutes, twenty fish or so.
    She heard Luke laughing behind her. "What are
you doing? You remind me of a bear," he said.
    She turned to face him while watching the
fish. "Trying not to disturb the environment too much," she said.
She swiped one more fish out of the water, took a sip, and tossed
it back. Then she took his hand and stepped out of the river.
    "Well, you've definitely mastered control,"
he said. He chuckled again. "I wonder if you're ready to go
back."
    "Back?" she said, looking at him soberly.
"Oh, I had a life before…" It seemed like a vague memory.
    "Your friends must be worried," he said.
    Leanne and Nina, yes. Her old life came
rushing back to her. It seemed so mundane, and yet somehow richer,
like the memories had been enhanced by her vampire perception
too.
    "Yes, let's go back," she said. She took his
hand again and they started walking quickly through the woods,
following the river back from where they came.
     
     

Chapter 21
     
    Luke was driving her back to her town. To her
apartment.
    "Now you know not to make quick