Bound by Her Passion

by Mara Leigh

  “Then how does it work?”

  “The pull you feel toward her is normal, but her personality traits, her beliefs, her character…none of that will have passed to you through her blood.”

  “I never drank her blood, remember?”

  “Right.” Gray takes a long breath. “That’s even better, then. All you were exposed to was her venom when she fed from you.”

  “So why do I feel so attached?”

  “This is uncharted territory.” He sits, pulling me down, his arm around me. “You’re the only vampire I’ve heard of who didn’t feed to transition.”

  I look down at my clasped hands. Is it possible I forgot? I’ve gone over that night so many times that forgetting doesn’t seem possible, but at this point nothing should seem impossible.

  “Zora needs to die,” I say.

  “You mean, Astrid needs to arrest her.” Gray squeezes my shoulders. “Can you track her? Do you know where she is right now?”

  I shake my head. “I only get flashes, usually in dreams. She found me when I was visiting her crime scenes. Astrid knows those locations.”

  “I’ll tell her to keep them under surveillance,” Gray says. “If she hasn’t already. Sounds like Zora returns to the same areas.”

  “Good,” I say. Although I’m shocked at how the idea of Astrid and her team finding Zora makes me feel. I do want the killings to stop, but at the same time I don’t want anything bad to happen to Zora.

  “Next time I see her,” Pike says, “she’s dead.”

  I reach toward him, but he shifts out of my reach. “Pike, if you me or Gray kills her, it’s murder, vampircide.”

  “I could kill her,” Rock says. “It’s legal for me.”

  “No.” I squeeze his hand. “I couldn’t ask you to do that. Our best hope is for Astrid to find her. Or Colton…”

  “The cop?” Gray frowns.

  “The police have her description. They’re using surveillance cameras. Closing in on her.” I shiver.

  “You talked to Colton again?” Rock’s eyebrows rise. “You have to be careful. You can’t trust him.”

  “I am being careful.” I smile at each of the men in turn. “You need to trust me.” I stand and head for the stairs, and everyone else follows, except Pike who stays behind.

  I asked them to trust me, but when it comes to either Zora or Colton I’m not sure I fully trust myself.

  Every time I see Colton I like him more, want more from him, and I’ve come so close to telling him the truth, even though his hearing it would mean my immediate death.

  And Zora… I’ve never felt such conflict inside myself. As badly as I want her dead, or at least locked up, I still want to please her, to be with her, to love her and have her love me.

  Chapter 35

  Selina

  My eyes snap open. I’m out of breath and lying in a pool of sweat.

  Where am I?

  Rock’s bedroom. But my disorientation continues.

  I sense sheets beneath me, walls around me. I feel the places where Rock and Gray normally sleep, both spaces empty beside me, but overlaying all that I see trees and the sky filtered through leaves. And ahead of me a young woman is jogging, the florescent strips on the backs of her sneakers bouncing along at an even rhythm.

  Zora. She’s about to kill again.

  My perception is so strange, like a movie is playing on top of my surroundings. I’m able to see my reality beneath the scene playing in my mind, and I feel sure the jogging scene is what Zora’s seeing right now, what she’s doing.

  I’ve never connected to her like this before outside of my dreams.

  Am I conscious? Yes. I think so. And deep inside me I feel Zora’s drive to kill. Can I get there in time to stop her?

  I dress as I race down the stairs to the foyer.

  Gray calls out from the kitchen, “That you, princess?”

  “Yes!” I yell back, but don’t stop.

  Where is she?

  Zora follows the woman toward a set of wooden stairs and glances to the side. I catch a glimpse of a sign. Glen Stewart Ravine. East end. Beaches. I’ll never get there in time.

  I slam the door behind me and run, taking leaping strides that get longer and longer until it feels like I’m flying, taking entire city blocks at a time. I’m moving so quickly no pedestrians spot me, no drivers notice when I step off their cars’ roofs.

  Zora is still stalking her prey, taking her time with it and I can see it in my mind’s eye. I’ve got to get there before she strikes.

  I cross the Don Valley in one leap, cross Riverdale Park in two more strides, and bounce over the warehouse lofts north of Leslieville until I’m close. I cross over the houses to the west of the ravine, and then branches scrape my skin as I descend through the trees and land on a bridge above a creek.

  I’m between Zora and the woman.

  I crossed the entire city in less than a minute. My powers have grown exponentially since I fed from Pike, but all I care about is that I got here in time.

  The woman turns toward me, her eyes wide with terror. “Where did you come from?”

  “Run!” I tell the young woman. “Run as fast as you can. Call the police. Constable Colton Young. Now!”

  She does as I say.

  “As if she can outrun me.” Zora laughs. “Not even worth the chase. Plenty more where she came from.”

  I kick a rung on the bridge railing. It splinters and I tear off a piece. It’s not exactly a wooden stake, but it will have to do.

  Zora laughs again, the tone light and musical, so incongruous with her evil intent. “What do you plan to do with that? Kill me?” She steps closer. “Selina. You won’t kill me. You can’t. I’m your Maker. You love me.”

  “I hate you.”

  “I am your only family. Your true family. The only one who has, or will ever love you.”

  Shaking, I raise my stake. I hate Zora. And I know that she’s evil, psychotic. Maybe she was even before she transitioned. I was a fool to think I could stop her from killing. She’ll never learn.

  And yet I can’t bring myself to drive this stake through her heart. Has Zora filled the space that learning of my mother’s death left in my soul?

  If I stall long enough, Colton and his team will arrive, and do the job for me. But even if that jogger has her phone with her, it could take ten minutes, maybe more, before the police arrive.

  “Tell me more about your Maker.” I lower my makeshift stake, but keep a tight grip on it. “What was he like?”

  Zora smiles smugly, clearly thinking she’s won. “He was the most handsome man on the planet.”

  “Tell me more.” I need to keep her talking, give Colton time to arrive. “Was he local?”

  “He had dark brown hair and skin, so beautiful.” Her voice turns wistful and her shoulders relax. “When human, he lived in Cameroon and he had the most beautiful accent and speaking voice, deep and rich, a French accent tinged with something softer.”

  I glance past her, hoping to see signs of the police. It won’t be easy for them to approach unnoticed on this ravine trail, probably one reason Zora chose it for her attack.

  If she tries to run, I will stake her, I’ll have to, but I hope the police will take care of that for me. “How long was he a vampire?” I ask.

  “For centuries.” She lifts her chin like she’s proud. Either proud of him or proud of herself for attracting the attention of such an old vampire. “He was Made by one of the Ancients.”

  I gasp.

  “That means something to you?” She steps toward me.

  I shake my head. “Just sounds mysterious.”

  “It made him very powerful. And that’s why he was chosen to help guard the king.”

  My stomach turns. “Xavier?”

  “Who?” She tips her head to the side.

  “What king?” I ask. The trees rustle above us and for a moment I’m hopeful that someone is coming, but it’s only the wind.

  “The king. The Vam
pire King.” Shaking her head, she looks down.

  “The king who disappeared?” I ask.

  She looks up, and her face twists in anger. “Our King went for peace talks with the humans.” Her eyes narrow. “Our Sovereign Leader and four of his Guard went to the talks, but were never seen again. Humans are evil!”

  “That is a terrible story.” I shake my head and make a mental note to ask Gray more about this Vampire King. Or maybe Astrid. Gray is clearly keeping things from me.

  Both of them have mentioned the King’s disappearance, but I know so little. “Why was your maker, Andreas, in Canada if he’s from Cameroon?”

  “That’s confidential.” She looks down. “He couldn’t even tell me, his true love.”

  “I’m sorry you lost him,” I say with sincerity. “And how he was murdered is terrible, but why do you need to keep killing? You can drink blood without taking a life.”

  “Why would I do that?” She steps toward me. “Why just drink, when I can drain life? Join me. Together we can wipe humans from the face of the Earth. No longer the hunted, we’d be the hunters and embrace our true predator nature.”

  My grip tightens on the stake. I’m not sure I can wait. She needs to be stopped. I need to do this. As hard as it feels, I must kill her, no matter the consequences.

  I raise my weapon.

  Pike lands on the path behind Zora.

  She turns toward him.

  “Duck, princess,” Gray shouts from somewhere above me.

  I flatten myself on the ground as Gray leaps down from the trees and drives a stake through Zora’s back, directly, I hope, into her heart.

  Lights brighten the path a few hundred feet behind Pike.

  He leaps into the air and disappears.

  Zora lies unmoving on the path, the stake through her heart, her head turned to the side and her eyes lifeless.

  Gray wraps his arms around me as the police swarm in.

  Chapter 36

  Selina

  I can’t hide my trembling as I watch the police dump Zora into a canvas bag—treating her like garbage—then they close the bag with a rope.

  Colton puts his arm around me. “You don’t need to watch this.”

  “I want to.” And I do. I’m glad that Zora’s dead, but a huge part of me is grieving. Grieving for what I barely ever had and never will again. Family ties. A familial link to someone who loves me.

  I step forward, and Colton’s arm drops off my shoulders as I watch two of the cops drag the sack holding Zora. It bounces over a rock in the trail, and the thump and crunch turn my stomach. I doubt they’d treat a dead raccoon this badly.

  “Ready?” A tall South Asian cop claps Colton on the back, then he looks down at the goggles hanging around Colton’s neck. “Want me to take those in?”

  “Nah, I’ve got the case in my pack.”

  “Okay,” the other cop says. “Let’s go.”

  “I’m going to see her home,” Colton tells him. “I’m off duty.”

  The other cop raises his eyebrows a few times and smiles.

  “Selina,” Colton says. “This is my partner, Sanjay. Sanjay, Selina.”

  “Nice to meet you.” Sanjay shakes my hand, then shoots an obvious wink at Colton as he walks away.

  “I can see that you’re shaken.” Colton takes my hands. “I was so scared when I heard that the witness mentioned my name, and a woman with purple hair…”

  “I’m fine. Gray was with me.” Gray’s leaning against a huge oak tree at the edge of the dirt path, about fifty feet ahead of us.

  I’m glad Gray stuck around. I need to talk to him. To thank him and Pike for following me, for doing what I never could have done. For killing Zora.

  “Are the police done questioning me and Gray?” I watch as all the cops except Colton climb the stairs out of the east end of the ravine, the bag with Zora’s body smashing into each wooden step.

  “Yup.” Colton squeezes my hands.

  “I just thought…I just thought there’d be more.” They’d barely asked Gray or me a thing. “Don’t we have to make official statements?”

  “Your friend Gray did a public service,” Colton says. “Exterminated a bloodsucker. But…” Colton nods down the trail toward Gray. “Do you think he expects a medal or something?”

  “No, I just… Someone was killed.”

  Clearly Gray isn’t going to face any consequences for killing Zora, not even questions, and dread flashes through me wondering whether he’ll get off so easily in the vampire world. Killing Zora wasn’t exactly in self-defense.

  I’ll certainly stand up for Gray and tell Astrid, or whoever asks, that Gray’s life was in danger, but the stake entered her body from the back so it might be hard to make that claim…

  I’ll say that Zora was about to kill me. Leave Pike out of it. Gray and I need to get our stories straight before seeing Astrid or her team.

  “What were you and Gray doing in the ravine?” Colton asks.

  “Just out for a walk.”

  “On this side of the city? There are ravines all over Toronto, you know.” He grins.

  “We took a stroll on the Boardwalk, then headed up here.”

  He nods. “Pretty spot, isn’t it? Almost like you’re in cottage country. Hard to even know there are all those big fancy houses up there and the city all around us.”

  “Yeah.”

  “It’s dark, though. We should get out of here. Hey!” he calls toward Gray. “My car’s up on Balsam. I’ll give you two a ride home.”

  Colton heads toward Gray, but trips over a rock. “Crap. It really is getting dark. I’ll lead you guys out so no one gets hurt. These will help.” He puts on his goggles.

  The world starts to move in slow motion as I realize the implications of what Colton’s just done.

  Those goggles. They aren’t simple night vision goggles that anyone can get, they’re specialized devices for spotting vampires.

  He glances down the trail toward where Gray is standing.

  Gray pushes off the tree.

  Colton stops dead in his tracks and his arm reaches back for a stake-shooting crossbow that’s strapped to his back.

  “No!” I yell.

  But it’s no use. Colton has already readied his weapon to shoot, and his body blocks my vision of Gray.

  Gray can move quickly, but without knowing Colton’s goal, will he move quickly enough?

  I take a running leap and vault over Colton.

  Twisting in the air, I see the hate in Colton’s eyes, and his hate turns to shock as the stake leaves his bow and flies toward me.

  I’m midair when the sharp point pierces my chest.

  The pain is intense.

  Did his stake pierce my heart?

  I’m not certain, but as I hit the dirt, I don’t think about dying, the only thing I can think is: Colton knows. Colton knows what I am.

  Continue reading Selina’s story in BOUND BY HER DESTINY, coming February 2020. Order now.

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  Also By Mara Leigh

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  PARANORMAL, WHY CHOOSE ROMANCE

  Bound by her Blood Series

  Bound by her Blood

  Bound by her Passion

  Bound by her Destiny

  Bound by her Love

  CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

  Bad Stepbrother

  Downey Brothers Series

  Bad Boy Next Door

  Bad Habit

  Bad Princess (coming soon)

  Best Kind of Bad (coming soon)

  SHORT EROTIC READS

  Fantasies Unleashed Series

  Dirty Business

  Surrender

  Bedded by Strangers

  Humbling the Boss

  A Note to Readers

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  About the Author

  Mara Leigh escaped from the corporate world and now hangs out in coffee shops, letting her imagination run wild. After living in various cities including Edinburgh, San Francisco and Philadelphia, Mara and her exorbitant shoe collection have settled in Toronto where she writes sexy, smart and satisfying contemporary and paranormal romance.

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  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Copyright © Mara Leigh

  Cover design: Covers by Juan

  ISBN: 978-1-989318-06-5 Digital Edition

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book is protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. Except for quotations for use in reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author/publisher.