Poison in the Blood

Prologue

Shae

I get why you’re doing this, but does it have to be him? He just… looks like a slimeball, Shae’s girlfriend Helen said, face screwed up in distaste as she studied at the cracked laptop screen over Shae’s shoulder.

Him being a slimeball is why I picked him, Shae told her. On the screen was the profile of a local talent agent, the last standing of the twenty or so Shae had been considering ever since she’d started this plan.

Helen made a dissatisfied noise.

Or I could not do this, and we could stay stuck in this place forever, Shae responded, standing up and throwing her arms wide to make her point. Both her hands smacked into the opposite walls of their apartment. It was a single room, four-and-a-half feet wide, twelve-feet long, and seven-feet high. A twin bed was crammed at one end, supported by milk crates filed with their clothes. There was a tiny desk, a hot plate, and a mini-fridge. Helen’s books were scattered in haphazard stacks across the floor and Shae’s good dresses hung from the ceiling. There were ten other such apartments on their floor, the sixth floor of fifteen, and each floor shared a single bathroom with two toilets and one shower stall.

Keep it down! The neighbor to Shae’s left growled, voice clear through the thin wall. Shae gestured in its direction to further make her point.

Okay, I’m not saying you’re wrong. Living in The Park sucks, but we’re right on the edge of London and we both work in the city, anyway. We’re barely ever here, Helen replied.

Shae threw her hands out a little harder this time, causing dust to rain from the ceiling while she stared at Helen, making sure exasperation was clear on her face.

Their neighbor shouted again, threatening to call the super and have them kicked out. Shae didn’t much care if he made that call. Their super was Turned and Shae had bought him off with a small jar of her blood before. Not that Helen ever needed to know about that. It would upset her. Partially that upset would be over Shae bribing someone official, but it would also launch Helen into a rant about the unfair distribution of blood to the Turned and the rising costs of blood infused foods.

I just… I worry about you getting famous, Helen sighed. Being an actor can be dangerous. Putting yourself out there like that, in front of the Turned, especially with who you really are….

Shae came over and leaned down in front of Helen where she sat on the edge of their bed, cradling Helen’s face between her hands. Helen was a beautiful woman, maybe not by the standards of the post Plague War world, but beautiful to Shae. Bright blue eyes, blond hair, tall and lithe frame. Her naturally tan skin kept people from noticing her now, but Shae liked it. Liked the contrast with her own intentionally pale skin. Meeting Helen a year ago had been an unexpected sidetrack in Shae’s plans, but it had turned out to be a good one.

I love you, Helen, Shae said, leaning in for a quick kiss. But I can’t keep living like this. I have a way to get everything I want, something I’ve been after for nine years since I ran away from my family, and I will not waste that.

What about your adoptive parents, Barbra and Devon? Helen tried. I know you don’t talk to them, but—

Shae cut her off, gently, Barbra and Devon are good people, but they have their own lives to take care of.

Helen sighed, giving in with a slight nod. Go get famous then.

Shae smiled and kissed her again, deeper this time, before pulling away. It’ll be fine, Helen. Besides, it’s the anniversary of the declaration of the Plague Wars today. They say it’s a lucky day.

I’ve never understood how the declaration of the wars that nearly ended the world could lead to luck, Helen returned. "Besides, it isn’t even a major anniversary.

Oh, come on, the wars didn’t nearly end the world. Just. Shook it up a bit, Shae said, straightening up and starting to gather her things.

Four billion people died, and almost a billion of those left got turned against their will!

Shae blew out a breath, aware that she’d stumbled into one of Helen’s interests that she could go on about for hours. Actually, Shae realized she’d stumbled into two of them. The wars and the turning process.

Well, Shae said, scrambling to head off the lecture, maybe people consider it lucky because we survived after all that.

Helen had a knowing smile as she watched Shae. You don’t want to listen to me going into this again, do you?

Shae smiled sheepishly and nodded. I’m just not into that stuff the way you are. And you were talking about the wars all day yesterday.

I was lesson planning! Half my students don’t even know what year the wars started!

Does it matter? Shae asked. It was three centuries ago.

Three-and-a-half, Shae. 2029. They started in 2029.

Shae was edging towards the door. Fascinating, really. But I’m… ah… gonna be late.

You’re leaving three hours early, Helen pointed out.

Late! Shae said, grabbing her purse as she smiled at Helen, who was laughing. She could still hear Helen’s laughter once the door was closed. Yeah, Helen had been a good sidetrack.

✻✻✻

Shae’d spent all her money on this new dress—a slinky corseted number with a late Victorian cut to the shoulders and a hint of bustle, the fabric all black with a touch of red shimmer, and the skirts slit up to her thigh—so that meant walking to Mr. Buckholt’s office. She didn’t mind. The whole point of today was getting noticed, maybe even starting a rumor or two among those who were really paying attention.

Most of the people she passed only spared her a glance before going back to shuffling along the dirty Park streets. Some asked her for money, holding out little cups in her direction. She had no money to give, not yet, but she did give them each a sympathetic smile. They likely hadn’t asked for their lives any more than she’d asked for her real parents to destroy hers, and it was because of her parents she knew what it was like to live on the streets, even if it had only been for a year. Leaving them, and her siblings, behind had been the right choice. If she’d followed them to the all-human settlements in northern Canada her life would’ve been miserable forever, rather than just for a handful of years.

Within a few blocks she was out of The Park and into the edges of the industrial side of London, though that didn’t improve things much. Really, the only difference was that now she was among the poor Turned rather than the poor humans, and the poor Turned took a little more notice of her walking in their midst. Their pale, grayish faces lifted, following her progress down the street, instincts to feed warring with the knowledge of laws against feeding directly from humans.

London, and the coven that controlled it along with most of the northwestern parts of Europe, were technically one of the richest covens in the world when it came to blood. They had a healthy balance of humans and Turned, unlike many other covens. But even the richest countries always had poorer citizens, and that was who Shae walked among now. She had sympathy for them as well, but didn’t show it. An unfriendly beggar could stab her, but an unfriendly Turned could drain her dry in five minutes, laws be damned. She wasn’t famous yet, so her death wouldn’t be worth anything. Just another footnote in the paper and the whole point of today was to be worth a hell of a lot more than that.

✻✻✻

Derringer, Anastasia, the front desk attendant droned. Shae had been listening to her call out names for the last two hours and not once had the woman looked up from her phone.

That’s me, Shae said.

You’ve got five minutes, the attendant told her, waving at a door to the side of the front desk.

At eye level on the door was a gaudy gold plaque proclaiming the office belonged to Evan Buckholts: Renowned Talent Agent. Renowned was one word for it, but underhanded and greedy were more accurate. That was why Shae had picked him. She went through the door and into the office beyond, sweeping the whole room with her eyes. The walls contained lots of photos of a portly man with an arm around the shoulders of famous English actors, both ones he represented and others he didn’t. Jeremiah Doven, Ricardo McHill, Ariane Cordova, Jaysie O’Halligan. No family photos. Nothing personal at all that she could see.

Shae turned to face the portly man in question where he was sitting behind an oak desk that was far too big for his office, leaving little room for anything else. He had scant hair to speak of and there was a beady quality to his eyes. The photos on the walls had clearly been altered to improve his appearance. Somewhat.

Time to get things rolling.

My name isn’t Anastasia Derringer, Shae said.

Get out then. I don’t work with people who lie their way into my office, Mr. Buckholts replied, waving her away.

It’s Shae Lockwood, Shae said, hands on her hips, accenting her corseted waist. This dress was the most expensive she’d ever owned as an adult. Hopefully it would be worth it.

Mr. Buckholts’ hand froze mid-wave, his little eyes narrowing as he studied Shae. She’d been planning this day for over six months and she knew she looked the part, looked like her mother had twelve years ago, the last time anyone who mattered had seen Isabella Lockwood. Shae’s caramel brown hair was cut to her shoulders and pressed straight, light brown eyes framed with just a dusting of deep red eyeshadow, matching lipstick, a splatter of freckles across excessively pale skin, veins tracing along her arms and neck.

Can’t be, Mr. Buckholts muttered, lowering his hand but still looking intently at Shae. The Lockwood family vanished twelve years ago, all nine of ‘em—ten if you count that Isabella was pregnant—ran from Mendez Coven after their oldest son murdered the politician’s kid. Rumor had it they stayed in the Baja Rebel Camp for a couple years, then went north. Haven’t been seen or heard of since. Probably died in the Sonoran desert…. He seemed to be talking more to himself at this point, and Shae didn’t interrupt. Can’t be….

You’ll find that I can be, Shae stated, producing a folder from her large purse and placing it in front of him on the desk.

Settling herself into a chair, she watched as he opened it. The first thing in there was a glossy, full-page portrait glamor shot of Isabella at a press event for her movie Oranges in the Ashes, the last movie she’d ever made. Shae had found the photo on an old gossip website and printed it at a local shop. Mr. Buckholts lifted the photo up and held it in front of him, eyes dancing between the paper and Shae’s face. For once Shae was glad she looked so much like her mother. Ever since she’d ran away nine years ago, she’d hid the resemblance, kept her head down, dyed her hair darker, contoured her face, waited. But now, well, twelve years was enough time for the world to have forgotten the sting of murder accusations lobbied at her brother, forgotten the sting of her parents betraying everything they’d stood for to protect him. And she was an adult now, not a kid being dragged along on an adventure she’d never asked for. There’d be sympathy for her if she played this right. Sympathy, and adoration.

Mr. Buckholts face split into a leering grin and he set the photo back down, reaching out a thick finger to press a button on his desk phone. Cancel the rest of my appointments for today.

Shae allowed herself a modest smile. Thank you.

I’ll need more proof, before any contract is signed, he returned.

Of course, Shae nodded, pulling out a little glass vial and her pocketknife. Mr. Buckholts eyebrows crawled up his forehead as Shae slit the tip of her left pointer finger open and squeezed several drops of blood into the vial before screwing the lid back on. A DNA test should suffice, I think? I know my parent’s DNA will still be on file with Mendez Coven.

Drawing blood like that is dangerous in this part of town, Mr. Buckholts said, but he took the vial. Lots of poor, hungry vampires around.

Shae shrugged, pressing her bleeding finger between her lips. If I were worried about the Turned wanting my blood I wouldn’t be trying to become an actress, would I?

He eyed her appraisingly for several long minutes and Shae let him, lounging in the chair.

I met the Lockwoods once, he said after a while. Isabella and Christian Lockwood were quite the duo. Lots of rumors about them, especially after the murder.

They were famous actors in a part of the world that never quite clawed its way back to being civilized after the Plague Wars, Shae said simply. Of course there were rumors.

If what you’re telling me turns out to be true, we’re going to have to play this carefully, he said.

That's a given.

He contemplated her for several minutes. What do you want from me, Ms. Lockwood?

Shae grinned at the use of her true name. She had him. I want you to make me more famous than my parents ever were.

1: Lunch with Ariane

Shae

Shae Lockwood looked like a faded version of the photograph of her mother she’d used to gain her fame nearly two years ago; the same eyes, the same smile, the same oval face, but all of it bleached of color. She had only a slight dusting of the Lockwood freckles now, barely visible on skin she kept so pale her veins were as clear as roads on a map. Her hair, grown out to chest-length and allowed to stay its natural lighter brown was swept to one side, crafted waves spilling over her right shoulder. The only true color to her was what she added herself. Today it was a deep red dress cut in a mid-Victorian inspired style with subtle dull gold embroidery in a pattern that accented her curves. A petticoat helped the skirts flow out around her and sweep along when she walked. Black stilettos with a red iridescent sheen and a few bits of ruby jewelry mimicking bloody slashes at her throat and wrists completed the look. It was not a look her mother ever would have worn. Isabella had favored tight, expensive jeans and silk blouses and, while she’d been pale, she’d never pushed it as far as Shae did.

There was still enough left of Isabella in Shae’s features for people to comment on her resemblance to her long missing mother, however. Comments that had started as whispers once her agent started getting her small parts, then grown steadily over the last two years as her parts got bigger and bigger, until finally, just recently, there had been a tearful official reveal. She was indeed, as everyone had been speculating, a Lockwood. It went exactly as Shae and her agent had planned.

Her hansom-cab lurched to a stop in front of a cute little bistro, earning an annoyed honk from the regular taxi behind them and pulling Shae back into the present. Outside stood a cluster of reporters being monitored by a Turned police officer. It was easy to spot who among the photographers was Turned and who was human. The Turned photographers didn’t have to jostle for position, knowing that neither they nor anything they wore or held would show up on the cameras. Meanwhile, the few human photographers had been forced to the back where they’d be out of the way.

The officer monitoring them was leaning against an artificially distressed column at the entrance, arms crossed and only glancing at the crowd when their energy revved up at Shae’s arrival. Shae’s newest friend and current co-star, Ariane Cordova, was waiting for her at the edge of the sidewalk, standing with his best side to the cameras, two large Turned security guards at his back.

Shae-Shae, looking as radiant as ever, he said, his voice low and mouth twisted into the slightest smirk beneath his sleepy eyes.

Where Shae was a faded photograph, Ariane was one that hadn’t been exposed quite long enough in a dim room. It was hard to find his edges, but once you did you realized they were rather sharp. His skin was far too deep a shade of brown to naturally show his veins, no matter how much he avoided the sun, forcing him to get vein tattoos and implants to appeal to his Turned audience. But aside from those limited modifications, hardly even worth considering modification in today’s world, he was a blank canvass. Shaved head, fake earrings, no other tattoos or scars. At any moment he could slip into being something else because he was already nothing at all.

Nice top hat, Shae snickered from the seat of the cab.

Ariane rolled his eyes and offered her his arm to help her out. Says the woman wearing a dress that involves a petticoat.

"It’s in fashion. The Riddlesdale Coven loves its Victorian throwbacks."

And they did, especially in their actors. To be an actor in the post Plague War world was to be elite and beloved. Turned could not be captured on film or audio in any manner, meaning humans were the only ones capable of making most permanent forms of entertainment now. The only ones who could make movies, audiobooks, radio shows, any of it. There was value and adoration there. But that love could be snapped away if an actor wasn’t careful, and Shae worked very hard to be careful. It had taken over a decade and abandoning her family to get this far, and she would not ruin it by wearing the wrong dress.

They paused, arms still locked, to entertain the small cluster of photographers that swarmed forward, stopped only by the glares of Ariane and Shae’s combined security. Inside the restaurant was a lunch meeting, one they were late for, with their co-stars and other people involved in the movie the two of them had stared in. It was some ridiculous survival movie about a plane crash called The Odds of Two. More specifically, the meeting was about the month-long press tour they were about to embark on. Late or not, though, there was no reason not to spend a few minutes outside entertaining the tabloids.

Shae waved and gave a slight smirk and a playful tilt to her hips. She knew exactly what angle she needed to set them at to get the open-fronted style of her skirts to drape just right to show off her legs. The dress may have been inspired by five-hundred-year-old Victorian styles, but it had modern influences in the amount of skin it showed off. Ariane merely inclined his head to show off his neck, directing focus to the snaking faux varicose vein implant winding up the right side.

What was it like filming in the Maldives?! A Turned photographer with a video camera shouted.

Filming in the Maldives was a bit too sunny for my taste, Shae chuckled, repeating the question in her answer so it would be on the recording.

Great setting for a plane crash, though, and the locals were delightful, Ariane added, giving the camera a mischievous wink.

Do you miss your family, Shae? Another photographer shouted.

Shae arranged her face in the properly remorseful expression and lied. I miss my family every day.

It had been over a decade since she’d left them behind, living on the streets for a year before being adopted under a false name to avoid their mistakes, and in those years she’d felt a lot of things about her choice. Most of those feelings could be summed up as anger towards her parents for putting her and her siblings in the position that they did. The family had had everything they could’ve ever wanted until the murder, and then her parents tucked tail and ran, destroying it all.

What do you think of visiting Wood’s Coven for this tour with so much unrest there due to the blood shortages? A human at the back of the crowd asked.

Ariane shrugged. A little unrest keeps life interesting.

Anastasia, Anastasia! Ms. Derringer! Over here! One photographer shouted.

Come now, Shae said, her smile hardening a touch for a fraction of a second. My name is Shae Lockwood. It has been two months now since the story of my real identity broke, and two weeks since I proved that I am one of the missing Lockwoods with that silly little DNA test. No need to call me Anastasia Derringer anymore.

With that she and Ariane turned and strode into the restaurant, letting the door swing shut behind them and cut off any further questions. Their security remained outside, and Shae assumed they’d be splitting up to cover all the entrances as usual.

Enjoying being London’s newest movie star? Ariane asked. He tossed his top hat onto the floor now that they were inside. Unlike Shae, who wore the height of fashion to tempt her fans with the blood running under her skin, Ariane didn’t care in the slightest about fashion trends. An actor since he was fourteen, nearly eleven years now, he’d already managed to permanently ensnare the public eye enough to keep his ego satisfied. He still wore fashionable things, they just weren’t in fashion things unless his publicist forced him into it.

As soon as our movie is out, I’ll be famous in more than London, Shae said. That’s the whole point of all this.

She leaned over to look in a mirror hanging on the wall of the restaurant lobby, pulling a tube of lipstick out from where she’d tucked it in her corset and under her breast, using it to touch up the maroonish color of her lips. Ariane was watching over her shoulder, making no attempts to hide it. They’d only known one another for about a year, since Shae had auditioned to star alongside him, but Shae had decided the man was worth getting to know. She had no interest in a relationship. Her girlfriend Helen was perfect, but that didn’t mean a connection with Ariane wouldn’t be useful. He knew this industry, knew this world, better than she did. Until recently she’d only ever existed on the fringes of it. Her childhood didn’t really count, as her parents kept her well clear of their work.

You certainly raise a lot of questions that pique the average person’s interest, Ariane commented. "The daughter of Isabelle and Christian Lockwood, two of the most famous actors in the world until they turned against their coven and vanished all those years ago. The only one of their eight children to ever be seen again. Keaun, Rose, Dustin, you, Russell, Darius, Corman, their unborn daughter, all gone with Isabella and Christian in one night. Not that anyone ever saw much of any of you in the first place. Always secreted away in that compound on the coast of Mexico."

Shae met Ariane’s eyes in their shared reflection, forcing away the shiver that Ariane saying her siblings' names sent down her spine, especially Dustin’s. Plenty of people had asked her about them since the reveal of her identity—mostly about where they were—but none of those questions had been as direct as Ariane’s plain statement. She tucked her tube of lipstick back in its place, rolling her lips to even out the color as she did. My parents didn’t want us in the public eye. They felt it was safer that way.

Safer from what? Ariane purred. The dangerous little vampires that swarmed the world following the plagues, getting high off all that sick-blood? Your parents' whole lives revolved around entertaining the Turned, just like yours now does.

Shae moved to look him straight on, hit with the realization that this was the first time they’d talked since the DNA test results had been published. His interest was unexpected, as was his knowledge of her family. Though, to be fair, if anyone would seem intimately familiar with the details of her past, it made sense it would be him. He was from the same coven she’d grown up in before her parents fled, The Coven of Mendez, after all. Still. Something seemed to be hiding under his questions that Shae couldn’t pin down.

We would have made for quite tasty snacks for the Turned, and even better bargaining chips, Shae said eventually. "My parents were loved. Perhaps a little too loved."

And yet here you are. Rising from the ashes after living under an assumed name for ten years, surfacing again with a daring story of familial kidnap and miraculous escape after they all died, all at twelve-years-old. Quite the story.

The press is rather fond of my story.

As am I, Ariane said. "I just happen to be aware that it is a story."

Shae shrugged and gave him a little smile. The truth doesn’t matter, nor does anyone’s belief, as long as people are interested.

Ariane barked out a laugh, breaking the tension that had been welling up. And that, Shae-Shae, is why you are such an interesting creature.

✻✻✻

They slid into the last available seats at the far end of the table. Everyone else already had drinks and appetizers. The scent of fried cheese mingled with the scent of salsa mingled with the scent of half a dozen soups. Shae found the contrasting odors annoying and resolved to purchase something that would overwhelm everything else. Something fishy.

Picking up the menu, she started scanning it for options. It was all the usual small restaurant fare; burgers and chips, soups, salads, a few pastas. Each option listed the standard ingredients, then the options for human blood additions and substitutions. A ketchup blood sauce, bloody marinara, and other such things. It seemed like every day they came out with new ways to mix blood into food. Had to keep the Turned fed somehow and adding it to the food had proven to work better than just providing pure blood to be purchased at donation centers. Easier to distribute. Infused food and pure blood from the centers were the only way the Turned could legally get blood, anyway, as feeding straight from humans was outlawed.

The director of their movie, Nadia, stood up at the head of the table and clapped her hands for attention. She was an older woman, somewhere in her sixties, and highly respected in the film industry. She had never worked with Shae’s parents back in the height of their fame, however. This had been a disappointment. Working with one of her parents' former directors would’ve gotten the press in even more of a tizzy.

Well, now that the last of us have arrived, Nadia said, shooting a pointed look at Ariane and Shae.

Can’t help the traffic, Love, Ariane said.

There were some hushed laughs and murmurs from other members of the party insinuating that it wasn’t traffic that had kept he and Shae. Neither bothered to correct their cast and crew mates.

Before Nadia continued a mousy waitress, a human boy no more than eighteen, asked Ariane for his order. The boy looked star-struck, taking several tries to get Ariane’s order of a margarita written correctly. To save time, Shae asked him to bring her the same for now.

Drinking before noon, how naughty, Shae quipped.

I prefer to think of it as drinking after midnight, Ariane returned. And did I not hear you order the same thing?

Our little secret, Shae said sweetly. Helen must never know. She already thinks you’re a terrible influence.

She’s your girlfriend, not your mother. It’s not as if you and I are having some saucy tryst together, much as we may encourage the odd rumor here and there. He reached over and tucked an errant strand of hair delicately behind Shae’s ear, both of them aware of the tabloid camera outside the window behind them. The photographer had crammed himself between an ornate bush and the window, a very uncomfortable looking position. It had been worth it, though, for him to get that photo. Shae wondered what headline would be plastered over it tomorrow.

If everyone could please turn their attention back to our reason for being here, Nadia said pointedly.

Satisfied that she had everyone’s focus, she ran over the plans for the press tour. Technically, it was her sister running the tour. That was how the two of them worked; one making the movies, one marketing them to the world. However, that sister, Elaina, was sick with the flu and legally confined to her home until it passed. Wouldn’t want any Turned getting tempted by her sick-blood for a quick high. That had been what kicked off the Plague Wars three centuries ago, after all. Good old Ebola had been bad enough, but when the Turned, still a thing of myth back then, discovered that the blood of Ebola victims gave them an enjoyable high, things had gotten dicey. One domino after another fell, plagues led to Turned losing control led to attempts at extermination led to wars led to half the world dead. People were a little more careful about getting sick after that.

So, Nadia said, "we leave in one week, as planned. However, there have been some last-minute changes. We will still tour across Wood’s Coven, most of the tour going through the United States. As you all know, we had rented a private plane to escort us from stop to stop and we were going to stay in local hotels. However, due to the North American Fuel Worker Strikes having doubled over the last month, that is no longer a financially feasible option. We just can’t afford the jet fuel. Thankfully, Ariane’s father has graciously offered the use of his