Page 7 of Caller of Crows
The vampire walked closer, and Sven could see the glint of his fangs in the dim light. He tried not to flinch.
"My name's Keegan," the vampire said, reaching a hand out to Sven as if he wanted to shake. Then he withdrew it at the last moment, as if he'd only just noticed that Sven's hands were tied. "Sorry about that," he said. "Why don't I help you with that?" Without a second's hesitation, Keegan untied Sven's chains.
Sven rubbed his wrists, feeling the blood flow back into them.
"Thanks," he said, still wary of this unexpected ally.
Keegan shrugged. "Not like you can eat while your hands are tied, and we wouldn't want the burger to go to waste, now would we?"
Sven eyed the vampire suspiciously while Keegan placed the food tray down on the bed. "You just want me to eat so you can get more blood out of me."
"That's what you call a mutually beneficial arrangement." Keegan grinned. "Or do you enjoy being hungry?"
Sven hesitated, his eyes flickering between the vampire and the food tray. He knew he shouldn't trust Keegan, but he had nothing to gain from refusing a good meal. Finally, he gave in and grabbed the burger, taking a big bite out of it. He'd been right; it was just the perfect amount of greasy.
Keegan sat down on the edge of the bed, watching Sven eat. "So why do you want to be turned?" he asked. "If I believe Alt's story, you basically delivered yourself to us."
Sven stopped with a fry halfway to his mouth. "I didn't deliver myself to you," he said, his tone firm. "I offered your leader a deal and he decided he preferred to take what he wanted by force."
"Sounds like Alt," Keegan said with a chuckle. "He's not the most personable of vampires."
"But he's earned your loyalty," Sven said, hoping to learn more about the enigmatic vampire who held him captive. The more he knew, the better he could form a plan to get Altair to turn him after all.
Keegan leaned back, regarding Sven with a thoughtful expression. "Alt's my friend," he said after a moment. "More than that, he's my brother."
Sven shot the vampire a skeptical look before he could get his expression back under control. No point in pissing off the one person here who was trying to be friendly. "I didn't realize vampires lived in families."
Keegan's lips twitched. "Maybe not conventional families. Alt and I shared a sire, and the same goes for most of us here. Alt became the leader of our happy little fanged family when he took out our sire."
"So he goes and kills your dad and you celebrate him for it?" Sven wanted to be polite, but he couldn't wrap his head around that. "Doesn't sound like a happy family to me."
Keegan shrugged. "He must have had his reasons. Vampires don't kill their sires willy-nilly. Some of our siblings left after our sire's demise, of course. Alt never tried to stop them, although he could have. We're probably the smallest coven in this city, thanks to his misplaced leniency."
Sven took another bite of the burger, chewing thoughtfully. Try as he might, though, he couldn't picture Altair being lenient. He looked at Keegan again. "You don't agree with everything Altair does."
The vampire huffed a laugh. "I didn't realize I was required to."
"But why—"
Keegan stopped him with a raised hand. "I've answered enough of your questions while you haven't answered mine. Why do you want to be turned so badly?"
Sven hesitated, his eyes flickering down to the food tray. He had no intention of telling Keegan about his real motivation, so he answered with a question of his own. "Is it so hard to understand? Who wouldn't want to be immortal?"
Keegan raised an eyebrow. "Immortality has its drawbacks as well. It's not all sunshine and rainbows, you know. Actually, I guess that's the point. There's zero sunshine and rainbows."
Sven huffed. "I can live without sunshine and rainbows." Why were all vampires bringing up the same arguments? Sunshine wasn't that important, surely. "I'm prepared to make some sacrifices."
Keegan considered him quietly. "Alt's sworn never to create another vampire," he said eventually. "So don't get your hopes up too high."
Sven pushed down the dread those words inspired in him. "I'm not going to give up easily. You said it yourself. You're the smallest coven in the city, and mortals like me are the only way for you to grow."
"That may be true." Keegan shot him a smile. "But maybe we value quality over quantity."
"I can be quality," Sven asserted, feeling a spark of determination light within him. "I can be useful to you if you let me."
"Not my decision to make. I'm not the vampire you have to convince."
"But you're friends with Altair," Sven insisted. "You can put in a good word for me."
