by Thea Dane
Violetta regained herself and stood on both feet. On a raised dais, there were three chairs. Nicholas sat in the one farthest to the right. Salome sat on the left. Both were in dark grey robes. The middle seat, the tallest of the three, was empty. Salome turned her head and peered down her nose at Violetta. The woman’s face was hard as the cold stone ground. The humor and smiles she displayed only a couple days ago were long gone.
Salome broke eye contact to look at two more figures who emerged from the tunnel. A guard led Felix into the pit. The crowd spotted him, hissing and hurling taunts. Felix, hands cuffed in front of him, bared his fangs at them in a sneer.
The guard shoved him beside Violetta and got between them. The pit got silent before she realized what was happening. All heads turned right. She looked and saw Lee enter the room. All the energy from the room then seemed to emanate from him as he stood tall and imposing in a long black ceremonial coat. Old vampiric symbols were embroidered along the sleeves and hem in silver thread. In that moment, he looked exactly like the vampires of lore that humanity feared lurked in the dark.
His eyes roamed over the crowd before settling on Violetta. She remained locked in his gaze. So much weight rested behind his stare. She could practically feel the emotions of anger and hurt projecting from him. A dull ache formed along her body. She still felt a lingering connection to him.
“Felix Crane, step forward.” Lee started the trial with him.
The guard gave Felix a rough shove forward. The scruffy male vampire glared. Lee didn’t look fazed in the slightest.
“You stand before the council for crimes against humanity. By giving Nilsson’s gang access to your ship and dock area, you allowed them to attack innocent human workers. The gang members have already admitted to the crime. How do you plea?”
Felix shrugged. “I owed Trevor a favor for a loan to help get my business off the ground years ago.”
“You plead guilty, then?”
“Humans are our food. Always have been, always will be. I only did what’s natural for our kind.”
Lee’s voice carried through the pit. “Then you are found guilty of violating the Bloodbound Code by conspiracy with the gang. Nicholas, read him his sentence.”
Nicholas stood. “Felix Crane, for your crimes, your contracts with other vampire businesses, including Desmond Industries, will be severed and rendered null. You are sentenced to one year in prison. After you serve your time, you will be banished from Briar City.”
The guard directed Felix to step back into position. Lee cast his severe gaze on Violetta. “Violetta Sharpe, step forward.”
She moved fast in case her guard also got any ideas about pushing her around. She raised her head to look directly up at Lee from below the dais. Her heart pounded so hard she was certain the whole council of vampires and the audience could clap in time to it.
Lee’s jaw tightened before he spoke. “You stand before the council for the murder of Trevor Nilsson. You also are charged with concealing your true identity as a slayer in order to infiltrate my business and attempt to assassinate me. How do you plea?”
All eyes locked onto her. The anger in the room towards her was so thick it clogged the air. She expanded her lungs in struggle to breathe.
“Violetta, how do you plea?”
She swallowed the hard lump in her throat. “Guilty.”
It was quiet for several long seconds, long enough for her to think she didn’t speak loud enough. Then the silence was broken by Salome’s ringing laughter. “Two guilty pleas freely given. Who would’ve thought?”
Lee didn’t share in her humor. His gaze was steeled as he continued to look at Violetta.
Nicholas stood. “Your sentence—”
“Your sentence,” Lee cut him off, “will be immediate termination at Desmond Industries and all its affiliate businesses. You are not to come into contact with any vampire in Briar City. If you do pose a threat, they are free to defend themselves any way they see fit.”
Her ears rang with the blood rushing to her head. Did she hear him right? Was he going to let her live?
More laughter rang out. This time, it came from Felix. “You’re kidding, right? You’re going to let this slayer walk?”
The crowd began to mumble. Felix raised his voice. “Everyone, did you hear that? I’m going to prison even though I didn’t kill anyone. But this vampire slayer gets to leave here with her head still attached to her neck.”
“Be quiet,” Salome yelled down from the dais. The crowd got louder, their protests drowning her voice.
Felix looked at Violetta and tilted in head in pretend consideration. “Slayer slut, you must be some good pussy to get away with murder.”
A growl came from the dais. Lee’s fists were curled and his eyes took on a wild glint. “I’ll kill you where you stand, Felix.” Nicholas had to restrain him.
Felix chuckled. “So I am right. You have fucked her.” He nodded to the crowd and raised his cuffed hands to encourage them to get louder. His guard got in closer, threatening. He ignored him. “This,” he spat the word out with contempt as he jabbed his hand up at Lee. “This is your alpha? A vampire who fucks slayers and protects humans over his own people? The council can do better.” He walked past Violetta until he stood right under the dais. Before the guard could stop him, he yelled, “I invoke the right to challenge you for the title of vampire lord.”
Murmurs went up from the crowd, as well as several gasps. Violetta saw vampires shaking their heads furiously while others nodded, both parties having equal vigor. Lee broke his restraint from Nicholas and tore off his robe. He stood before everyone in the cold arena, stripped down to his bare chest and pants. Then he leapt down from the dais to stand before his opponent.
“Challenge accepted.”
LEE WAITED FOR THE guard to move Violetta away from the combat floor. Once she was on the sideline, he charged at Felix. His fist met the bastard’s face.
Felix’s head flew back. Spit flew out of his mouth. Lee connected his right fist to the vampire’s gut. The crowd roared behind him, but he didn’t pause to bask in the glory. Felix called Violetta a slut and questioned his leadership as the alpha. Those two mistakes fueled his rage. He went after him again with a kick.
Felix recovered and dodged the hit. He parried and blocked Felix’s kick with his arm. The impact was still strong enough to send pain ratcheting up his shoulder.
They traded kick for kick, punch for punch. Lee knocked Felix in the nose. Blood trickled down his mouth. Felix licked it away and grinned a gruesome red smile. “Is that the best you got, Desmond? No wonder a human female thought she was strong enough to kill you.” He ran forward and tackled Lee.
Lee began to roll as soon as he started falling to the ground. He flung off Felix’s hold and delivered a downward punch straight into his challenger’s chest. Felix groaned and coughed. Lee wiped the sweat pouring into his eyes. “Give it up. You’ll never be an alpha.”
He was ready when Felix came for him again. He kicked him in the ribs and heard a crack. Still, the other vampire charged with fangs exposed. He aimed for the jugular. Lee blocked with his arm and felt the sharp sting of fangs piercing his arm. A burning sensation from the poison bite raced through his veins before his own body’s immune system made quick work to stop it. But the bite was enough to slow him down for a few seconds, enough for Felix to get several punches to the gut and kidneys.
Lee had enough. He pushed past the pain from the hits and came at his opponent with a side kick to his other set of ribs. Felix staggered. Lee, with adrenaline and rage coursing through his body, seized him by the shirt collar and lifted him from the ground. “You’re too damn weak.” He tossed him like the sorry trash that he was.
Felix lay there for a count of three. The crowd shouted calls for a victor to be declared. As he proceeded to get to his feet, Lee got closer to deliver a killing blow. Then Felix suddenly turned and ran, charging straight towards Violetta.
Lee went after him,
all the while staring at the look of shock on her face as Felix got closer. He slammed into her. Then shock turned to horror as Felix sank his fangs deep into her neck.
Everything seemed to go into slow motion. Lee felt his legs move, though his muscles turned sluggish as he witnessed blood spurt from the artery in her neck. Her eyes were wide with fright and agony.
Lee felt like something within him was being ripped apart. He got to Felix, closed his hand on the vampire’s shoulder and clamped down. Bone crushed beneath his fingers. He turned Felix around.
The bastard grinned. “I killed the slut for you.”
He seized him by the neck and wrenched it so hard the resounding snap echoed throughout the arena. He let Felix’s body fall to the ground as he ran towards Violetta. She lay on the ground as well, her life blood pouring out in a pool surrounding her still body. He knelt beside her and attempted to sit her up.
She coughed and choked on her own blood. Felix dealt her a death bite. He had torn away at her throat. A steady flow of blood from the gash ran down Lee’s fingers. He uttered her name as he tried to stop the bleeding.
“It’s too late,” Nicholas called from the dais.
“Son, leave her. She’s too far gone.”
He ignored his mother and his second-in-command. He supported Violetta’s head. Her blood was draining fast. Life faded from her eyes. “Violetta, you don’t have much time. There’s only one way I can save you.”
Her chest moved up and down in rapid succession as the death throes began. She would be gone in less than a minute. Her eyes rolled to the side, met his. Without speaking, she gave him confirmation.
He felt his fangs extend and pierce his tongue. Violetta’s blood called out to him, unleashing both desire to taste her and the desperate need to save her from death. He lowered his head and bit deep into her flesh. Her whole body jerked. Blood filled his fangs and mouth, rich and sweet, the last remnants of her life. He felt her pain. It was agony and ecstasy all at once.
The crowd yelled all around him. He heard the voices of Salome and his second-in-command among them.
“Lee, stop. It could kill you.”
He ignored Nicholas’s plea. He raised his head, mouth wet from Violetta’s blood, and cut open his wrist. He brought it to her mouth. Her eyes were closed, her skin dull and lackluster. He parted her lips with his finger, held his wrist to her mouth and let his blood trickle between her lips. He tuned out the world in order to focus deeply on her.
Her faint heartbeat grew silent. He battled the despair that threatened to take over his mind. She couldn’t die. He couldn’t lose her. “Stay with me. I know you hear my voice.”
His own body lost strength as his blood continued to flow into her mouth.
“Stop. Stop.” The crowd’s urging reached his ears.
All his life he had been groomed to compete and win. Through the centuries, he warred using his fists, wits, and money to beat those who would stand in his way. Was this what he was finally getting from the universe in return for his sins? Was that his fate, to fall in love with a human, a slayer sent to kill him, only to watch her die?
“Violetta, you can’t leave me.”
His words were both a command and a plea. They ran over and over in his mind. Then he saw her lower lip move. He listened for her heart and heard a faint beat. He pressed his wrist against her lips. “Take all you need from me.”
Her chest moved up and down once. Lee watched her for another response. Breathe. Dammit, Violetta, breathe.
He felt the prick of fangs against his wrist. Relief flooded him as she drank.
Her eyes remained closed while she took nourishment from him. The bleeding stopped from the wound in her neck. Lee watched the wound close before his eyes as a result of her new vampire healing capabilities.
She took a lot of blood from him. He got light-headed but he didn’t take his wrist away from her mouth. After another minute her head fell back. Her eyes remain closed but she was breathing. The wound was nearly healed and a healthy glow returned to her cheeks. He supported her in his arms and rose to his feet. All of the vampires, from the guards to the audience, and to Nicholas and his mother, looked at him with shock written all over their faces.
“The challenger Felix is dead.” He addressed all of them from the pit while he held Violetta in his arms. “The same fate will befall anyone else who dares to challenge me or come for her. I claim her as my mate.”
No one dared utter a word as he searched all their faces. Lee took his leave of them as he carried the newly turned vampire Violetta towards the tunnel and out of the arena.
Chapter Eleven
Violetta opened her eyes and found herself in a bedroom. She didn’t recognize the ceiling and the thick thread count of the sheets on her legs. How did she get here? She couldn’t remember a thing since the Christmas fundraiser gala.
She sat up fast, experiencing a small headache and a twinge in her neck. She raised her hand to rub it and found that her arm was covered in a sleeve of ivory silk. She looked at the ceiling again. The mosaic pattern looked distinct. In fact, it was so clear and distinct she got a little dizzy gazing and had to lie back down and close her eyes.
She inhaled. Someone was baking cinnamon rolls and brewing coffee. Both scents were so strong she could mistake them for being in the room.
Footsteps got closer to the bedroom door. She sensed Lee’s vampiric energy, only now it seemed a hundred times more amplified. She didn’t just pick up on it from a tingly feeling in the back of her neck. This time, her whole body might as well have been an antenna. She felt his energy in waves that rippled over her skin and lived in her core.
“You’re awake,” Lee noticed when he entered the room. He carried a tray with cinnamon rolls, a glass of water, and a coffee mug. She actually heard the rustle of the material from his pants as he walked to the bed. He set the tray on the nightstand.
“Ouch.” She covered her ears, even though she could have sworn he didn’t rattle the tray. “My senses are way off today.”
“I wouldn’t say they’re off. They’re enhanced. You’re in my penthouse. How are you feeling?”
What did he mean by enhanced? “Fine, other than a twinge in my neck.”
He touched the exact spot she was referencing without her telling him where it hurt. “It’s nearly healed. It was a bad wound.”
“Wait a minute. I got hurt? The last thing I remember was your fundraiser gala and...oh.”
He sat on the edge of the bed and observed her. “Memory coming back?”
She nodded slowly as flashbacks of the coronation, getting captured by Felix, and the fight in the arena popped up in her brain. “Felix challenged you. You were winning. Then he came at me.”
Lee’s face contained an emotion. “He attacked you. The bite was enough to almost kill you.”
“I must have blacked out after.” Violetta bit her lower lip. “Ouch.”
“Your fangs are trying to come out,” he observed. “You’ll learn to control the reflex eventually.”
Fangs. She ran her tongue along her incisors and felt the little sharp points. A murky memory surfaced where she saw Lee kneeling over her, bare-chested and bloodied. His green eyes were wild with desperation. “You turned me.”
“It was the only way to save your life.”
“I gave you permission to do it.” She remembered agreeing to it, trying to signal with her eyes since she had been unable to speak at the time. All she could remember of the arena was filled with darkness and trauma. Her mouth suddenly went dry. “Can I have a glass of water?”
Lee took the glass from the tray. She took it and downed the cold contents within seconds. When she set the empty glass down on the tray again, her mouth still felt parched. “Why am I still thirsty?”
“Water will never quench your thirst now. You’re still weak from the change.”
“I need blood.”
He nodded. Then he rolled back his shirt sleeve, put his wrist to his mouth,
and nicked the skin. Two red spots began to bead on his skin. “I claimed you as my mate before the vampire council. It was to keep you under my protection but it’s also the truth. I want you, Violetta, but you have the final decision. You can drink blood from the storage to keep yourself alive.”
She felt there was something else he was holding back. “Or?”
“Or you can take my blood and seal our bond.” He offered his wrist.
The sight and smell of his blood called out to her, stirring the bond between them. With new instinct, she leaned forward and put her lips to his wrist. With the first taste, it was like she was reawakened. She drank from him. The blood quickly quenched her thirst and reinvigorated her body. Her eyes shut in ecstasy. The act of taking from her mate brought pleasure to her center. Lee’s moan reached her ears. He felt what she felt. She opened her eyes to see his erection straining against his pants.
Satiated, she flicked her tongue over the puncture marks at his wrist and marveled at how fast the skin sealed. Her thirst was gone but now her body had another longing that needed to be quenched. She lifted her eyes and saw a look of desire on Lee’s face.
He reached out and untied her robe. It fell open to reveal her bare abdomen and panties. Lee ran his thumb along the edge of her nipples as they showed themselves through the delicate silk of the robe. He moved the material aside and put his mouth on them.
Her body prepared to welcome him, releasing warm, wet heat between her thighs. Lee started to take off his shirt, visibly getting impatient when he couldn’t undo the buttons fast enough. She helped him, tugging to get it off his broad shoulders. Next came his pants. She tore at the belt, driven by the need for them to claim each other.
He put her on her back again and drove his hard cock into her. She cried out as he filled her with his length and stretched her vaginal walls. He held her by the hips as he knelt on the bed, taking her with strong, swift strokes. She rocked against him, squeezing him. Her moans filled the room as he plunged in and out. He gripped her hips hard. There would be light bruising there, she was certain, but she didn’t care. The light pain mixed with pleasure brought her to climax quickly.