The blood bank was on a different floor of the hospital, and units of blood were strictly monitored. But being a vampire had its advantages. A human mind was no match for vampire persuasion.
“Hey, Julie. I have a requisition.” Sabrina smiled at the older woman and handed her a blank sheet of paper. The tech often worked nights and was easily susceptible to vampire persuasion.
“This is blank,” Julie said in confusion.
“Look at me.” Sabrina grabbed Julie’s arm and she obeyed. “I have an order for twelve units of blood. You’re going to let me back there to get it. Once I’m done, you will forget I was ever here.”
The older woman stared vacantly at her, pupils dilating. “Of course. Everything is in order. Take what you need.” She absently placed the blank sheet of paper on her pile of requisitions and unlocked the door to the blood bank for her.
Sabrina wasn’t even to the first cooler when a breeze on the back of her neck and the scent of cigar smoke told her Tristan was right behind her.
“You’re late,” he said.
She glared at him over her shoulder. Tristan was the quintessential Chicago vamp, short and stocky with a thick head of slicked-back hair as dark as his soul. His eyes were brown and always ringed with silver. The effect was a rheumy and dull appearance she was glad she didn’t share with her brethren.
“I was working. I had a patient emergency. Do you want this blood or not?” Sabrina popped out a hip. Her emotional grid was buzzing with the negative vibes Tristan was putting off. Jealousy sliced through her psyche like arrows, and anger and malice pummeled her emotional radar. As always, she hid any reaction. Full-blooded vampires couldn’t read emotions like she could. It was a private talent. Nothing good would come of flaunting it.
“Oh, I want the blood,” Tristan said. “I also want to know why you look like you’re overfed. Your cheeks are red and you’re unsteady on your feet like a… like a mortal.”
She scoffed. “I am not like a mortal. But I did have an errand to run for Father in daylight today, so I might need rest. You wouldn’t know anything about that though, right?”
He recoiled, his lip curling. Unlike Tristan and the rest of the Chicago coven, Sabrina was born, not made. Half human and half vampire. That meant she was the only one in her coven who could daywalk. Although her skin burned easily in the sun, it wasn’t in an obviously inhuman way. She could believably blame her Irish complexion for any quick redness. It would take prolonged exposure to kill her, unlike Tristan, who would burst into flames the moment a UV ray touched him.
Along with her ability to subsist on human food and energy instead of blood, her hybrid nature was a boon for the coven, allowing her to hold the human job that kept their emergency blood stores full. It also meant she was her father’s favorite. Her daddy, the only vampire to ever sire a hybrid, was coven master. He’d never hidden the fact he planned for Sabrina to take his place one day. She’d been training to do so from birth.
It was times like this she didn’t mind using her place to put Tristan in his. The guy was genuinely a dick. She snatched his messenger bag from his hands. It was specially lined to keep the blood cool until he could make it back to coven headquarters. She started loading the bag with an assortment of blood types.
“You know, Sabrina, you think you’re so important, so untouchable.” Tristan sneered. He swaggered toward her and lowered his voice. “The coven doesn’t even know for sure that you’re immortal. Although I’d be happy to test you for immortality if you’d like. Drowning would be the easiest way. If you come back, you’re one of us. If not, you’re one of them.”
She thrust the full satchel into his hands and ushered him toward the door. “I’ll make you a deal, Tristan. I’ll let you drown me the day you can do it outside, at noon, in full sun. Until then, you’ll just have to assume I’m immortal like you.”
“You are nothing like me.” He looked at her then like a dog about to bite. “It’s only a matter of time until your father and the coven sees you for what you are. You’re not master material. You’d rather be here caring for these walking bloodbags”—he gestured toward Julie—“than leading our coven.”
“You need to leave.”
“Why don’t you just admit it and save us both a lot of trouble? I’m older than you. I’m stronger. I have more experience. If it wasn’t for your father—”
“You’d be out on the street, fending for yourself. Be thankful he keeps you around. Although if we ever have a conversation like this again, I swear to you I will relay every word of it to him.”
“He’ll never believe you. Your Dad and I go way back, sweetheart. He knows I have a significant following in the coven. He’s not going to cut me loose because you say I hurt your feelings.”
“No? Care to test that theory?”
Tristan buckled the messenger bag and turned to leave. “Fucking bitch,” he muttered under his breath.
A hot wave of rage crashed through Sabrina and her vampire side engaged as if he’d thrown a switch in her torso. In an instant she was on him, fangs fully extended. Before she could even process what she was doing, she’d fisted his greasy black hair and forced his head back on his neck until he had to arch on his tiptoes to keep his head attached to his shoulders. She rested the blade of a pair of open scissors at the base of his throat. When had she picked up the scissors? She couldn’t remember. She must have swept them into her hand instinctively, just as what came out of her mouth next was the product of pure, unadulterated instinct.
“Say that to my face,” she hissed into his ear. “Or would you rather apologize?”
“Sorry,” he said, groaning. He held up the blood between them. “Let me go. I’ve got to get this back to the coven.” The scissors couldn’t kill him—they’d have to be made of wood or silver to do that—but she could hurt him. She was strong enough to carve that smug grin off his face and seriously ruin his day.
Cursing, she pushed him away from her. He was gone in the blink of an eye. Damn, where had that come from? She normally didn’t lose her cool over the likes of Tristan. Not that Tristan didn’t have it coming. Vampires were naturally aggressive. She’d been dealing with his shit for years. He just wasn’t worth the effort. Father always said violence was only the answer when you didn’t want anyone to ever ask a certain question again.
With a sigh, she pulled the blank sheet of paper off Julie’s pile, and slipped out the door.
“Thanks, Julie. Have a good night.”
“You’re welcome, sweetheart,” the woman replied without looking up. “Anytime.”
Sabrina chuckled softly. She fully intended to take her up on that offer.
“What are you doing here?” Tobias stopped short, his eyes darting to the hall behind Gabriel, hoping to catch another glimpse of the intriguing Sabrina. The hall was empty. He inhaled deeply but couldn’t catch her honey-and-moonlight scent under the smoky odor of his sibling.
“Is that any way to greet your flesh and blood?” Gabriel arched a brow. “Last you saw me, I was at death’s door.”
Tobias’s eyes widened, and he checked for eavesdroppers over both shoulders. He gripped Gabriel by the upper arm and shoved him down the hall. To be sure, his brother had always been the more powerful of the two, and had he not wanted to move, Tobias couldn’t have made him. Thankfully, he was conveniently compliant.
“This way.” Tobias guided his brother into a consultation room and closed the door behind them. “Are you insane, Gabriel? This is my place of work! What are you doing here?”
Gabriel paced to the window on the far wall, glancing out over the city of Chicago. Giant white flakes swirled on the other side of the glass. Snow again. To Tobias, it felt like being locked inside a medical snow globe. He braced himself for a firm shake.
As his brother’s hand came to rest on one of the consult room’s beige chairs, Tobias noticed that Gabriel’s emerald ring glowed brightly again. Solid emerald green. “I see you broke the curse on your ring.”<
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“I should have called. My apologies.” Gabriel turned to face him. “My survival did not come easily.”
Tobias shook his head. “I’m relieved you’re alive. I am.”
“That’s good to know. I’d find it disconcerting if you’d gone from indifference to wanting me dead.”
“I was never indifferent, Gabriel. Don’t be dramatic.”
“Then why does this welcome feel as cold as your city?”
“Dr. Tobias Winthrop doesn’t have a brother, you understand. I have an identity here, a life, a career. People know me. They’ll ask questions.”
Gabriel closed his eyes and frowned. When he opened them again, he placed a hand over his heart. “And I called you brother in public. My sincere apologies, Tobias. Truly, I was careless. From now on, you are Dr. Winthrop and we are simply old friends.”
Tobias focused on his brother’s emerald ring again. “How did you break the curse?”
“Raven.”
“The witch.”
“My mate, yes. Raven killed the voodoo queen who cursed me. It is a long, complicated story, but suffice it to say, she saved my life.”
“I am relieved for you, brother, although you know how I feel about your relationship with Raven. The law is clear. I hope you’ve come to your senses about pursuing it further.”
Gabriel sighed, the city lights like stars behind his head. There was an intensity in his eyes Tobias hadn’t seen before. The mating bond, he supposed. He could still smell her on him. What would it be like to be crazy from love? The concept seemed so foreign to him.
“I’ve asked Raven to marry me.”
“By the Mountain.” Tobias cursed. “Gabriel, you cannot continue a relationship with this witch. It’s forbidden!”
“Forbidden by whom, Tobias? Mother and Uncle are ruling Paragon beyond the rule of law, and that’s not even considering the immorality of their incestuous relationship. I hardly think that some edict Brynhoff handed down a few centuries ago holds any weight given the circumstances.”
Tobias slashed a hand through the air. “Two wrongs don’t make a right. I knew what she was and I helped you. I don’t regret that. I’d do it again. And I’m happy for you. I understand, I do. You’ve shed the old ways. We all have to some extent, living here. I’ve buried the past so deep sometimes I forget I was ever a dragon. But you might say old habits die hard. I think mating with a witch is dangerous, brother, and now that you’re safe, I can’t condone it. I can’t be a part of it.” He stared at his brother for a long moment. “Why did you come here?”
Gabriel rubbed his jaw. “She’s here, Tobias.”
Tobias swore. “Where?”
“Downstairs. In the coffee shop.”
“Why?”
“Raven wanted to get to know you. We’re getting married in the human tradition. We wanted to thank you for what you did for us and invite you to the wedding. Our family has stayed apart too long. It’s time we got to know each other again.”
Tobias shook his head. “Mother warned us to stay apart for our protection.”
“Everything Mother told us was a lie,” Gabriel said.
Tobias cringed, his stomach locking down, his hands fisting.
Gabriel didn’t let up. “Raven and I saw her on the throne. She’s ruling at Brynhoff’s side.”
Tobias shook his head. “I don’t believe it.”
“Have you ever known me to be a liar?”
All of Tobias’s instincts said no. Gabriel had never been dishonest before. He’d been trained as a warrior in Paragon, a position that valued honesty and valor.
“Why would I lie to you?” Gabriel asked.
Tobias was quick to answer. “If the rule of law in Paragon is corrupt, then there is no reason you can’t take Raven as your bride, is there? I think you have a strong motivation to lie, brother, as out of character as the behavior might be for you.”
“That is not what is happening here!” Gabriel growled and rushed Tobias, stopping mere inches from his face.
Tobias flashed back to Paragon, to being slammed onto the practice mat by his older brother like a royal practice dummy. He held his ground, but his stomach clenched. He did not miss those days. Not at all. “Are you going to pummel me for old times’ sake?”
“I’m telling you the truth.” Gabriel rubbed the back of his neck as if he desperately needed to keep his hands busy. Perhaps pummeling Tobias was more of a temptation than he’d assumed. “We came here to properly thank you for your help and to show you that you’re family. I also came to warn you about Mother and Brynhoff. She didn’t see me, but she did see Raven. If she suspects—”
“You’re welcome,” Tobias interrupted. “I’ve heard your story; now I think you should go. When it comes to Mother and Paragon, I…”
“You don’t believe me.” Gabriel’s jaw tightened. “You don’t believe that Mother was part of the coup and lied to us all those years ago.”
“I don’t know what I believe. Paragon may be a different place now. Maybe you saw something, but I’m not sure it means what you think it means. What I am sure about is we are not in any danger. If either Brynhoff or our mother, assuming she is in fact still alive, wanted to pursue us in this realm, they would have done so long ago.”
Gabriel narrowed his eyes. “Hmm. Don’t you want to find out? Don’t you want to know for sure?”
“Not really.” Tobias watched his brother gape in disapproval. “I live as a human now, Gabriel. Aside from helping you, it’s been years since I’ve thought about Paragon. Longer still since I gave up on ever going back. Let me make it clear, in case I didn’t before—I don’t care what’s happening in Paragon.”
“You don’t mean that.”
“It has nothing to do with me or my work.”
“Then my being with Raven shouldn’t bother you. My being near you shouldn’t concern you. If you aren’t concerned with Paragon, why would you be concerned with the old law?”
“I think you should go.” Tobias took a deep breath through his nose. His brother’s logic was sound, but it made Tobias nervous having him around. Gabriel wore his otherworldliness like a cologne. Not something that stood out in the New Orleans French Quarter where the supernatural was practically a cottage industry, but here in Chicago, he and Raven were a risk to Tobias’s tenuous human life. He’d worked hard to bury the part of him that was once dragon. He didn’t need Raven to snap her fingers and ruin it all.
Gabriel nodded slowly. “As you wish, brother, but can I ask you for one small favor before I do?”
“What kind of favor?”
“It’s the middle of the night. Raven is exhausted and we have no place to go. Please, Tobias, allow us to stay with you, at least until I am able to arrange transportation back to New Orleans.” The direct eye contact Gabriel doled out made it clear that there was only one answer acceptable to their kind.
Tobias rolled his head on his neck and stared at the ceiling tiles. They were in Chicago. The city had about fifty thousand hotel rooms. He could call the local Four Seasons and pay to put them up. But as Gabriel was aware, proper Paragonian etiquette required a royal to host another royal when asked. It would be hypocritical for Tobias to harp on Paragonian law but not keep to the social expectations of his people.
Besides, he genuinely missed his brother. And although he didn’t welcome the disruption to his well-ordered life, he could not deny they had a bond or that this was a rare chance to foster it. He’d once loved his siblings, all of them. He was their practice partner, their confidant, the one who wasn’t strong enough to be a threat in the training room so could be a true friend outside of it. There was a reason Gabriel had called him when he needed help. Having Gabriel here provoked a deep tug in his sternum, a feeling between reminiscence and nostalgia. What could one night hurt?
“One night. Tell Raven no witchcraft in my house.”
“Thank you, Tobias.” Gabriel bowed his head slightly.
“You’ll have to wait until I
finish my shift. We’ll go back to my place together.”
“Fair enough.”
Tobias nodded. “One night and then we go back to the way things were, understood?”
“Understood.”
With a curt nod, Tobias readied himself to make a hasty exit only to be pulled into a firm hug by his brother. His spine stiffened. Hesitantly, he patted Gabriel’s back before pulling away again. Without another word, he turned and briskly escaped into the predictable sterility of his work.
Chapter Three
At times Raven believed that the day she had woken in her hospice room to find Gabriel standing at the end of her bed was the first day of her real life. Everything before that moment, when he’d fed her his tooth, cured her cancer, and ignited what would become her blazing passion for him, seemed like another lifetime—nothing but practice for the real thing. This… this was real life, cruising down the road in a new city, eating new foods, feeling like the person next to her was the piece of her soul she’d been missing all along.
“Wow, the architecture here is different from home. These houses look like castles.” Raven watched the brownstones go by as Gabriel turned from West Fullerton onto Lincoln Park West, guided by the GPS that came with their rental vehicle. They’d started out following Tobias’s Toyota Land Cruiser but had been cut off by a yellow cab. The roads were icy, and Gabriel chose to slow down rather than risk an accident. A few texts later and he had Tobias’s address. It appeared they were close.
“I’ve been meaning to ask you, why isn’t Tobias’s last name Blakemore? You’re brothers.” She stared absently out the window.
Gabriel laughed. “We’ve had many last names over the decades, all invented. In Paragon, we are addressed by our first name and our title. No surnames. Winthrop is simply the name he’s chosen for this identity.”
“And you just reinvent yourself over and over as the humans around you age?”
Windy City Dragon Page 2