The Blood Covenant

by Emily Bex

  He liked her as she was with her innocence of such matters. She had no clue of the death he wielded on a daily basis, that he was the master of teaching those around him how to fight and kill, how to protect in the most gruesome fashion, with speed and efficiency.

  "Mi amore, I know Rissa and Alec love each other, but they are nothing like me, in any fashion. So please never judge me or us by them. They live a lifestyle that is not typical for immortals. As immortal, we must remain hidden and learn to blend into mortal culture, but they appear very publicly in life as mortals and use their immortal skills to climb and get where they need to go. It is a dangerous line to tread, and they risk exposure. But enough about them, I want you to have all the easiness this life can give you. I want you to be happy. I cannot be with you all the time, so you need to love our home here, to feel safe and protected. I also want to ask you something...."

  “Anything. You can ask me anything.”

  “Well, I know you are looking through a lot of decorating options for this home, so I am thinking we should take a visit to the California house soon, perhaps it will help save you time once done here. You may come across things that will suit that house as well, and I want this to be easy for you. That house is larger, has more rooms, and is in much better condition, almost new. So, there is more to decorate. Would you like to go with me one night and see it? Take a tour and tell me if you have a vision of how you wish it to be?”

  “Of course! Do you plan on us living there as well? Will you be dividing your time between here and California?”

  Leaning over, he kissed her softly. “No, bel, I do not wish to live in California, although it is more coastal and warmer, I think. I have vineyards much larger abroad than those in Virginia and California, and Luciano will oversee the vineyards on all my properties. I wish to establish my wines here, broaden my brands in the States. So, the California house is someplace we will visit. I like this place in Virginia, it is us, I believe. I feel at home here. I like this property where our house sits, it reminds me of Tuscany. I like the sounds at night. Tell me, is this too overwhelming for you? Two homes on opposite coasts? I can have decorators brought in to do it.”

  “No! Let me do it, please. I love the projects, and besides, I need things to do while you’re away. I will make sure both homes are perfect for us, I promise. In the spring, I'll work on landscaping the gardens around the house. It will be beautiful. I already love it here. In the city, all I heard was traffic and sirens at night. Here, I listen to tree frogs and crickets, and the sound of the cicada. I love that sound. I haven't heard it since I moved from South Carolina.”

  He loved the sound of the excitement in her voice, the way her eyes sparkled. She entranced him in every aspect and it confirmed she was the one he’d searched for in his five hundred years of living. She was everything he wasn’t, her small frame and delicate features, her pale skin, and dark eyes, her flaming red hair. Her sexuality was subtle. She didn’t flaunt it but reserved it for him. She had an innocence and vulnerability about her, and a pureness of heart that was rare. She had such a gentle soul he wasn’t sure he could take it to make her immortal, and yet, he couldn’t live without her, and never wanted to. So many women in his life, so many and yet, he traveled so far from home and found her here, among this beautiful place and now they would claim it as their own.

  He tousled her hair and rolled her to her side, leaning on his elbow as he heard the electric blinds lower for the coming daylight. There were many daybreaks he longed for slumber to take him away, but now, he dreaded them, for they took away precious time from his bel. Now he had even more reason to curse the sun.

  "It is a big project, si? Just take it one day at a time, bel. Soon, we will visit California and our home there. I think you will like it, and it can be a place to visit and get away in the long winter that apparently is going to have me shivering in that damn snow."

  25

  Shade woke in the late evening. It was just past sunset, and bel was still sleeping on his chest. He listened to the soft sounds of her breathing as her breath softly caressed his skin. It was time. He wanted her to exhale the scent of his own blood. In five hundred years, no female had been allowed to feed from him and he felt he needed to take her to Castello, his family home in Florence, to have her feed from him for the first time. This was the first step in sealing their bond of mating. The blood covenant would bond her to him, she would be his. If she were already immortal, it would be all that was required to make her his mate, but for her, there’d be a longer journey. At least with the blood covenant, her scent would change, and other vamps would know she was claimed and belonged to him. He’d still have to turn her, but he’d give her more time before that step, for she had much to learn. Slowly moving her off his chest, he heard her soft, enchanting moan as he gently repositioned her in the bed.

  He grabbed his cell phone, texting Tomas and letting him know he wouldn’t be joining the warriors at the Dead House tonight, giving him instructions on what he wanted to be accomplished in the training exercises, as well as who he wanted assigned on the streets. Just as he hit send, he saw her stretch out on the bed and that pool of crimson spread across the pillow.

  He saw her reach her hand out across the empty bed, not feeling him there. She opened her eyes and looked up at him through her tangled mass of hair.

  In a voice still heavy with sleep she asked, "You’re barely out of my bed and already planning your night? What can I do to get your undivided attention before you leave?"

  Shade looked down at her and grinned, pitching his phone to the side table and sliding back in bed beside her. He kissed her deeply, his beast already on edge with just the feel of her against his body.

  "Mi amore, you are so beautiful when you wake in a tangle of crimson, naked and sleepy-eyed. But, for your information, I have been giving orders so I can spend this autumn evening with you, but there is a small catch, si?”

  She snuggled against him, putting her nose on his. "And what would that small catch be?"

  He licked the tip of her nose and laughed softly, his hands going straight for her ass and squeezing. "Tonight, we journey to Florence, to my ancestral home. I would like to show you where I grew up, where I come from. Are you agreeable to that?”

  She sat up in bed. "I...of course! Are you going to need me to decorate that house too?"

  He loved how her face lit up, and how her emotions were always visible on her face. He could already see the wheels spinning inside her head and knew a thousand questions were about to shoot out of that kissable mouth.

  "No mi amore, this house was decorated long ago, and I prefer it to remain the way it is. Now, we will teleport, so you need to move that sweet ass of yours and get dressed, si?”

  Kate slid out of bed and grabbed a quick shower, put on some make-up, and dried her hair, brushing it to a high sheen. He was dressing in jeans, so she grabbed her jeans and pulled on a pair of brown knee-high boots, slipping a cashmere sweater in a soft peach color over her head. She spritzed on her rose scent and he followed her downstairs to the kitchen where she fixed a cup of coffee and toasted a bagel. He sat at the counter and watched her eat, wiping a crumb from her lip with his finger before he leaned in to kiss her.

  "Okay...unless I need a suitcase, I'm ready!"

  "No suitcase needed. If we decide to stay there a night or two, I will fit you with a wardrobe. Now come!" Grabbing his leather jacket, sliding it on, he pulled her into his arms and wrapped the jacket around both of them. “Look me in the eyes, mi amore. Do you trust me?"

  "Lover, I always trust you."

  "Good. This journey will take a little more time, similar to Paris, si? You may feel dizziness and a bit lightheaded. Do not be frightened. Wrap your legs around my waist, snuggle close, and lay your head on my shoulder. We will be there before you know it. Close your eyes if it makes you feel dizzy, si?"

  Telepathically letting Gi, his manservant in Florence, know they’d be arriving, he wished for all th
e servants to not be visible this night. Gi had served him many years and knew Shade, his family, and all of Castello like the back of his hand. Without him, Castello wouldn’t run like clockwork. Still, he knew the staff would be curious. It wasn’t normal for him to arrive with a mortal on his arm, and all would know from her scent before the next sunrise that he was mated to her, and the covenant was sealed.

  As her legs wrapped tightly around his waist, he slid his hand into her hair, and pulled her head to his shoulder as they teleported through the night sky, Florence bound.

  ***

  Kate was remembering when he teleported her to Paris, and then back again because there had been some trouble in D.C. She hoped their time together tonight would be uninterrupted. She felt the air getting cooler as it rushed past them, and she kept her eyes closed tight to minimize the sensation of motion.

  Shade set her down inside Castello, and brushed the hair from her face, leaning down to kiss her gently. "Open your eyes, bel. Welcome to Castello."

  Kate opened her eyes and looked around a massive hall of marble, with a wide winding staircase, and a ceiling that looked to be three stories high. Long wide hallways lead off in opposite directions, lined with chandeliers, and frescoes painted on the ceilings, framed in gilded gold leaf. It reminded her of the palace at Versailles, but not quite as large.

  "Where are we, Shade? I thought you were taking me to your home?”

  He threw back his head and laughed as the sound echoed off the long quiet hallways of his castle. "Si, this is my home. This is Medici Castello, where I grew up as a boy, where I was born and raised. This is mine. It will belong to you as well. You are standing in the grand foyer. Ah, and here comes Gi."

  Turning his head, he smiled as Gi approached and bowed, welcoming him as Master Shade.

  "Gi, may I present my beautiful Kate, bel rosso.”

  Shade turned to Kate. “Mi amore, this is my manservant Gi, he has been with my familia a very long time, and if there is anything you need, he is the one you go to, si?”

  Kate knew her mouth was hanging open, even as she was being introduced to this elderly gentleman, dressed very formally in a black waistcoat, starched white shirt, and bowtie. He bowed his head to her, and she started to curtsy, but then realized he was staff, and that was inappropriate. She nodded to him in return and then stammered, "I'm, uh, so glad to meet you, Mr. Gi.”

  Shade was amused as she stumbled on her words, not sure how to approach Gi and afraid of making a blunder. He wrapped his arms around her waist and smiled at Gi, nodding to let him know he may go for the evening, as Gi informed him all of his requests had been seen too.

  "Mi amore, you may address him as Gi. Would you allow me to give you a small tour?”

  “A small tour? I don't think there’s anything small about this place, but please. I would love to see it!”

  Shrugging off his leather jacket, he threw it across a velvet brocade chair in the foyer and took her hand, leading her through some of the rooms along the main floor.

  "This is the main floor. There is another floor above us, which is used for the privacy of the family, with bedrooms, bathrooms, dressing rooms and my private office, of course. On this floor are the formal living room and dining room, the kitchen, a family room, music room, a library, the ballroom, and many of the ancient paintings that are priceless to me and my familia."

  She took in everything as he led her through the rooms, her fascination with the castle delighted him. She belonged here with him, he could feel it. It was destiny that he finally found her, and he could feel calmness in his soul as they walked together and there was no longer any doubt in his mind that this night she fed from him, the only one to ever feed on his blood. As they entered a large hallway, known as the hall of ancestors, it was lined with many paintings of the Medici family through the ages, both mortal and immortal. He stopped momentarily and let her browse.

  Kate was drawn to a painting of a beautiful woman with blonde hair, braided and wrapped on her head., Her features were delicate, and she was dressed in a heavy brocaded gown from a period long past. The man standing next to her was clearly her husband as indicated by the protective placement of his arm on her shoulder. He looked a lot like Shade, except his eyes were brown. Standing in front of the handsome couple was a boy of maybe ten or twelve.

  "Lover? This man looks a lot like you, but obviously, it’s not you. Are these your parents? That boy, is that you?"

  "Si. That is my padre, Christofano and the woman is my madre, Portia. And that is me, about the age when I went to the warrior camp. This portrait was painted by Michelangelo and originally hung in the upper quarters of Castello. It was painted for my intended mate and her familia.”

  Did he just say Michelangelo? She remembered the history of the mortal Medici’s and their patronage of the artist of the Renaissance. “Your what? Your intended mate? I don't understand. You’re just a child in this picture. You were engaged to be with someone else?”

  He wrapped his arms around her and sat his chin atop her head as they both stared at the ancient canvas.

  "In those days, arranged matings were common, especially among royal blood. My padre was doing his duty, to ensure the royal bloodline, but I would have none of it. It became a serious sore point between us. I refused to be mated to someone I did not love. My parents’ mating was arranged and although they loved one another deeply, that is not always the case with arranged matings. It was my madre who stood behind me, supported my decision when I refused to honor the custom. I left Florence once I finished my studies and training as a warrior to travel and live among mortals and learn how to survive on my own as a vampire. Standing up to him was not an easy task for me. My padre was powerful and had a strict hand with me. Madre was the softness in my life. She also knew how to get around him."

  Kate had more thoughts in her head than she could process. She knew arranged marriages were very common in past centuries. Had he not resisted, had he not stood up to his father, she wouldn’t be standing here now. He’d belong to someone else. But his parents, she never thought about having to meet his parents! He never mentioned that.

  "So, your parents...they live here? Is that why you brought me here? To meet them?"

  "No, mi amore. They no longer exist on this mortal plane. They reside in the spirit realm."

  “So, both of your parents were vampire?”

  “Oh si, I was born from two immortals, a royal master and warrior vampire and his mate. My madre was also royal blood, a descendant of the Lombard family. I am the only child born to them; royal blood. I was born a master and a prince and destined to be a warrior. I became a king only after my padre’s death.”

  “But, if they are both vampires, I thought you were immortal? You said they could live thousands of years. How could they be dead?”

  Letting go of her, he slid his hand through his hair and took a deep breath, thinking how to explain their untimely and brutal death. Turning to her, he took her hands in his and for the first time, he gave voice to this event. Everyone at Castello knew of the horror or had lived through it. Those in his coven had learned the legendary tale of the death that befell his parents and how all of this became Shade’s, much quicker than he could have dreamed. The few women he’d allowed to get inside his heart were vampire, and warrior, and knew of his history.

  But before him stood his mate, the future Queen of Medici, and it was only fair to let her know the legend she’d now become part of. He and his bel rosso would make a new beginning, a new legend that was far more powerful and long-lived.

  "Mi amore, you have heard of the Bonfire of the Vanities, si? It was a tumultuous time in Florence, in the late 1490's. There was a Dominican Priest named Savonarola. He preached that all things of opulence could only lead to sin. He led his parishioners in collecting and publicly burning thousands of objects such as art and books, objects of beauty, like jewels, and fine dresses, even mirrors and musical instruments. They were all seen as vanities, the dev
il's tools.

  “The Medici family had long been patrons of the arts, supporting many artists from the Renaissance. Artists like Botticelli, Michelangelo, Da Vinci, and Vasari. If you walk through the halls of Castello, you will find art from all of these artists still here, murals on the walls and ceilings, oil paintings, even sculptures.

  “The townspeople turned on the family, raiding all the Medici homes, including Castello. The mortal Medici's were able to flee to the Tuscan countryside and all of our day-walkers here at Castello were also able to flee. I was a young warrior then, fresh out of camp, and my padre had sent me out into the world, to learn how to live among the mortals, to hone my skills as a warrior.

  “But Madre and Padre, as well as all the warriors who lived here, were attacked by the hordes of townspeople. They were dragged from their beds in their death slumber and into the sun where they were tossed into the bonfire. The townspeople did not know they were vampire. They would have died in the sunlight anyway. It is a very painful death, mi amore, to be burned alive.

  “I could feel my madre's fear, and my padre's anger as he tried to fight back, tried to save them both, but it was no use. Even with his strength, he could not fight off the angry mob under the pain of the sunlight on his skin. I could not respond until my death slumber ended and the sun had set. When I returned, it was all over. There was nothing left of my madre and padre save for the ashes on the ground in the garden. Many warriors who had trained with me, fought with me, all ashes.

  “The day-walkers returned the next day, Gi, Theresa, and a few others. They pledged their loyalty to Medici, but I had to start over, start from scratch to rebuild the Medici legacy. I pledged to make the warrior camp bigger, better, to make the Medici coven the strongest coven, to make sure it could never be destroyed again.”

  Kate felt how surreal the moment was, listening to this event in ancient history, from someone who lived it. She could feel his pain over his parents’ loss even after all this time.