Blood

K. J. Wignall

‘He’s calling.’

Despite his hunger for blood, Will sat back on his haunches and stared at Jex in shock.  This didn’t happen: his victims did not speak once they were entranced.  And Jex was still hypnotized, but he had definitely spoken, a fact that unnerved Will more than perhaps it should have done.

‘Who?’

Jex’s eyes were fixed on the point in space where Will had stood, and he showed no signs of having heard him, but even so, he responded mechanically, saying, ‘Lorcan Labraid.  He calls.’

‘Who is Lorcan Labraid?’

Jex’s head shook with a fearful tremor, as if he didn’t want to hear what he could hear, as if he didn’t want to speak, but could not stop himself.  ‘Lorcan Labraid? He is the evil of the world.  And he calls you.’

This is the story of William, the future Earl of Mercia, aka Will.  It tells of how he came down with the “sickness” when he was sixteen and how his life was spent.  After seven centuries, when he awakens from his usual hibernation, he goes outside to feed and find Jez, who tells him “You need the girl, the girl needs you, you need the…” before he takes his blood and his life.  Jez has with him, a notebook that intrigues Will and so he takes it before he leaves.  On Jez’s wall, and in his notebook, there are pictures of a girl.  A girl that Will supposedly “needs.”  As he is leaving the scene, he meets Eloise, who is living on the streets in a doorway.  He soon realizes that they were destined to meet, although neither of them understands why. 

Many unusual things start happening to Will.  He doesn’t understand why all this is happening now when he has lived for so long and it has been uneventful up to that point.  Through Eloise, he meets Chris and Rachel, friends that own a vegan café near where she was staying.  Chris and Rachel are excited about the paranormal and they eventually help Will and Eloise in their task of finding the one who inflicted Will with the sickness of being undead, finding out what Asmund, Wyndham and Lord Labraid have to do with Will’s destiny and why Eloise is tied to it.

‘If I didn’t taste like dinner, I’d kiss you right now.’

‘If you didn’t taste like dinner, I’d kiss you back.’

‘Really?’

‘Of Course.  I’m amazed you even need to ask.’

Goodreads synopsis:

I do not remember being bitten. I wish I did, for then I would know the creature who did this to me and I would have a purpose, to track him down and repay him for the poisoned gift he gave me. Back in the Thirteenth Century, Will was destined to be Earl of Mercia, although he never lived to inherit his title. In the centuries that follow, Will has led a lonely life, learning to deal with whatever the present day throws at him, always searching for answers but never finding any. Until this time, when he awakens after a 20-year-slumber, hungry for the blood that sustains his undeath, when it appears that he is finally getting a glimpse at why he exists. He does indeed have a destiny, and an enemy, but revealing that fate will be a matter of trust...

Will wasn’t convinced, and would have been happier with a simple explanation from his maker, but as Asmund himself had pointed out, there were many tests on the road to a great man’s destiny.

I like the way that this story explains the history behind Will’s sickness.   How he became undead, the emotions that he has experienced throughout his lifetime and what he has experienced to give you an understanding of his mindset.  The way that Wignall explains the experiences Will has had is extraordinary.  I especially love his description of Will waking up for the first time.  This book is entertaining and it will be interesting to see how the rest of the story plays out in the books to come.