Covet (Clann)

him as the tears poured down her cheeks. “My sweet baby, are you okay? How do you feel? What happened?”
    “Mrs. Coleman, he—” I began.
    “Do not speak to me, vampire,” she hissed in my general direction before ignoring me again. “Tristan, say something so I know you’re all right.”
    She picked up one of his hands between hers. Her dark eyes widened. Slowly her gaze traveled up his arm to his pale face gleaming in the light from scattered fires in the clearing, then to his eyes, which were now a strange greenish-silver.
    “Oh. My. God,” she breathed out slowly, pulling her hands away. “You’re…”
    “He’s alive,” I told her. “It was either this or let him die.”
    Gasping, she dropped his hand. “What have you done ?”
    “He was dying. I did the only thing I could to save him.”
    Her gaze darted from me back to Tristan. Seconds ticked by as emotion after emotion rolled off of her. She couldn’t decide whether to be happy he was still alive or horrified that he’d become the enemy she feared more than anything else in life.
    “You should be killed for this,” she snarled at me. “This is all your fault! If not for you—”
    “If not for Savannah, your son would have died,” Dad said.
    “Stop this now!” Caravass shouted. “Vampires, come to me.”
    The fighting stopped as the vampires began to walk, some even backward, toward their leader. Even my father was pulled by the call and walked over to join them. The absolute control was both a relief and chilling. Thank God our Clann genes prevented the command from affecting Tristan and me.
    But where was Gowin?
    I searched the clearing and found Emily kneeling over a pile of ash two feet from Caravass, her shoulders shaking with her sobs. A quick read of her mind told the whole story.
    Seeing her boyfriend try to kill her brother, Emily had made her decision and hit Gowin with a ball of fire as he tried to attack Caravass. She had saved the vamp council leader and killed her father’s murderer. And her unborn baby’s father.
    Unfortunately, that left only me to hold Tristan as he sat up and inhaled deeply.
    “Look at him, sniffing the air like an animal,” Nancy said, scrambling to her feet and backing away from us. “He smells the blood. He already has the bloodlust!” Her gaze shifted back to me, her eyes dark and wild. “You’ve taken my son from me.”
    In the silence, the surviving descendants heard her and became aware of Tristan’s change. Murmurs rose to shouts as their fury found a new target. Me.
    “She turned our leader!”
    “Tristan’s a vamp now. He’s on their side!”
    “We should kill them all, punish them for taking our leader!”
    The shouting grew, along with my fear. Would we survive Gowin only to be killed by the Clann?
    Dad leaned over and whispered something to Caravass. The vamp council leader nodded, and Dad rejoined us at a slow and cautious human walk.
    “Savannah, we must take Tristan away from here.”
    “But…his family.” I looked at Emily, who was slowly becoming aware of the Clann’s growing anger toward us. She stood up, saw Tristan and went pale. She might not be any help, either.
    “Tristan, can you get up?” I whispered.
    With Dad’s and my help, Tristan got to his feet, still sniffing the air.
    What is that smell? I heard his voice say in my mind. It smells…good.
    Oh God, his mother was right. He was already feeling the bloodlust.
    What is this bloodlust? he thought, and I jumped.
    He could hear my thoughts.
    Yes, just like you can hear mine. Right? He turned to me with a frown, his eyebrows drawn in confusion. He still held my hand, his grip tight.
    Swallowing hard, I nodded. Right. Um, listen, Tristan, this is really important. I want you to try and ignore that scent for now. Okay?
    But it smells so good. It makes my stomach hurt.
    Emily walked over to us on unsteady legs. “Tristan? You’re all right!” She stepped forward to hug him.
    Dad moved to block her even as Tristan’s head cocked to the side, his now silver eyes studying her without any trace of recognition.
    “I would not do that,” Dad murmured to Emily. “Gowin nearly killed him. Savannah had to turn him before he died. And he is already struggling with the cravings.”
    Her mouth opened, closed, and she jerked to a halt. Wrapping her arms around herself, she turned toward the still-shouting crowd of descendants, her eyebrows pinching together.
    Mom, stop this, Emily thought. Mrs. Coleman’s