Bound By Blood

by Amanda Ashley

  He nuzzled the slender curve of her throat. “I do not wish to discuss that now, wife.”

  “Drake . . .” Her eyelids fluttered down; whatever she had been about to say forgotten as his tongue slid seductively over her skin.

  Claiming her lips with his, he swept her up in his arms and carried her into their bedroom. Some things in life changed, he thought as he lowered her onto the bed and stretched out beside her. Children grew up. Wars were fought. Dynasties rose and fell. But his love for Elena, his need for this woman above all else, remained constant now and forever.

  Chapter 19

  Once Zack’s frustration receded and his anger cooled, he gave serious thought as to how to get Kaitlyn back. He had no idea where her father had taken her, although the Fortress she had talked about seemed the most logical destination. But whether her father had taken her there or somewhere else, locating her wouldn’t be a problem. He had tasted her blood and she had tasted his. All he had to do was follow the blood bond that bound them together.

  The following night, he informed Scherry he would be leaving town on Saturday for an extended vacation. Assuring her that he would keep in touch, he gave her the combination to the safe, as well as a list of bar supplies that needed to be ordered on Monday. Once he was satisfied she understood his instructions, he left the casino and drove to his favorite haunt in the city. Transporting from one country to another required a great deal of energy and concentration. Best to be wellfed before he attempted it.

  After parking his car in the lot, he entered the nightclub and made his way to the bar. He stood there a moment, studying the customers, his mind touching first one and then another. Mortals all seemed to worry about the same things, he mused. The men were usually concerned with sex and how soon they could get it, or money, and how to make more of it. The women fretted over a wider variety of mundane things—their husbands, their children, their hair, their weight. He had yet to meet a mortal woman who was happy with her figure and wasn’t obsessed with losing five to ten pounds, or more.

  He settled on a middle-aged redhead who was standing at the far end of the bar, alone. She was pretty, she was single, and she was happy to be so. As was her wont, she had stopped in for a drink on her way home from the hospital where she worked in the admitting department.

  It took little effort to draw her attention. When she met his gaze, he mesmerized her with a look. Speaking to her mind, he told her to follow him outside, which she did.

  Taking her by the hand, he led her into the alley that ran between the nightclub and the building next door.

  There had been a time when he’d felt guilty for luring women into the shadows and taking their blood, but the guilt hadn’t lasted long. Not feeding regularly was far more dangerous for his prey. He had learned early that people died when he waited too long. It was impossible to stop feeding once discomfort turned to agony.

  He spoke quietly to the woman, assuring her that he meant her no harm, and then he bent his head to her neck and drank. When he had taken all he dared, he escorted her back into the nightclub, then wiped the incident from her mind.

  She blinked at him as he released her from his enchantment.

  Zack smiled at her. “Can I buy you a drink?”

  “What?” She looked confused for a moment.

  “I asked if I could buy you a drink.”

  “Do I know you?”

  “Zack, remember?”

  She frowned at him.

  Zack grinned inwardly. He knew she was trying to figure out why she felt faint and disoriented and why she didn’t remember inviting him to sit with her. Since he had erased his memory from her mind, it was unlikely that she would ever recall being in an alley with a vampire. And even if the memory surfaced, no one would believe her.

  “You should go home, Karen,” he said.

  “Yes. Yes, I should.” She stared at him, her brow furrowed, and then she left the nightclub, her steps a little wobbly, due, no doubt, to the amount of blood she had lost.

  Well, it had been for a good cause, Zack mused as he left the bar and drove back to the casino. Tomorrow night would find him on his way to Romania.

  Zack rose with the setting sun. Time was of the essence. Being able to close his eyes and transport himself from one location to another was one of his favorite vampire perks. After he was first turned, it had taken a little getting used to, and even knowing he was nearly indestructible, it had scared the hell out of him the first few times he had tried it. And there was always the fear, at least in the beginning, that he might misjudge where he wanted to go and wind up inside a mountain or something. Thankfully, that had never happened.

  At first, he had gone only short distances—from one city to another, then one state to another, then across the country. He had been a vampire for a year or so before he got the nerve to go hopping from country to country, and then he’d wondered why he had waited so long.

  Of course, he had to time things just right. It wouldn’t do to arrive at his destination when the sun was up. A quick check on the computer and he figured if he left in the next few minutes, he would arrive in Romania with just enough time to find a suitable place to hole up until sundown.

  He took a quick shower, dressed, and left his lair. Transporting himself to the woods near Kaitlyn’s cabin, he concentrated on the link between them, felt a growing surge of supernatural power stir the leaves on the trees as he opened his senses. The bond between them was like invisible strands binding them together, a sort of preternatural GPS that only he could see. All he had to do was follow it.

  The sense of moving swiftly through time and space had once filled him with trepidation; now, it was a thrill like no other. A rush of cold wind, a sense of weightlessness, of being part of the very air that surrounded him.

  When he came to himself again, he was standing outside a massive gray stone edifice located atop a high mountain. The structure was magnificent, with tall, narrow, leaded windows on the ground floor. Three wide stone steps led to a pair of iron-strapped doors that looked strong enough to withstand an army.

  “The Fortress,” he mused. It could be nothing else.

  He went to ground in the midst of a stand of timber located behind the Fortress. Mortals would undoubtedly consider spending the day buried in the ground utterly morbid. But, for his kind, it was quite refreshing. He had heard of old vampires who went to ground for a year or two when they grew weary of their long existence. Others who were bored with a particular century went to ground until it was over.

  Zack had never done that, but he could see how awaking in a new century might add a certain zest to one’s existence. With the passage of a hundred years, there would be new inventions to explore, new dynasties, new fashions, perhaps a new language, new countries, new methods of communication and transportation.

  He closed his eyes as he sensed the coming sunrise. When he was first made, the onset of the sleep of his kind had been scary as hell. It was like falling into a deep black pit, with no assurance that he would ever wake again. In the beginning, he had feared being discovered by a vampire hunter and destroyed while he slept, but that had proven to be a needless worry. Some innate vampire sense warned him when his life was in danger; if necessary, he awakened long enough to defend himself. He called it vampire adrenaline, that burst of energy that roused him from sleep.

  He reached out, his senses searching for Kaitlyn, as the dark sleep overshadowed him, dragging him down into oblivion.

  Chapter 20

  Kaitlyn bolted upright in bed, her heart pounding, Zack’s name on her lips. Sitting there, the sheet clutched to her breasts, she glanced quickly around the room. Seeing nothing, she switched on the light. Still nothing.

  “Zack?” Certain he was near, she slipped out of bed, opened the door, and peered into the hallway. All was quiet. The corridor was dark and deserted.

  Not surprising at this time of the morning, she thought. The vampires sought their lairs before sunrise; most of the mortals who
lived here kept the same hours as their mates.

  Frowning, she pulled on her robe and padded barefoot down the corridor, pausing to glance into every room she passed, but there was no sign of Zack. Or anyone else.

  Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling that he was nearby and so she kept searching. Moving quietly down the stairs, she peered into the kitchen, the dining hall, and the laundry room. Of course, he wouldn’t be here.

  The next floor was where the sheep had been kept. The dormitories and one of the dayrooms had been turned into apartments for the men and women who now willingly made their home in the Fortress. The second dayroom had been turned into a nursery/playroom for their children. Zack certainly wouldn’t be there.

  The vampire lairs were on the next level down. He definitely wouldn’t be there.

  Was it possible he was in the dungeon? She tried to link to the blood bond he said they shared. He had told her he would always be able to find her. Why couldn’t she find him?

  Telling herself there was nothing to be afraid of, she went down two flights of stairs, then paused at the narrow door that led to the dungeon. Her grandfather, Rodin, had not approved of her father marrying Elena. In his anger, he had imprisoned her father down here. It was a snippet of family history she wasn’t supposed to know, but she had heard bits and pieces of the story while growing up, mostly from the sheep.

  She opened the door, surprised that it didn’t creak loudly, the way wooden doors always did in scary movies when the foolish young woman went exploring on her own, even though she knew there was a monster on the loose.

  Kaitlyn grinned as she stepped into the dungeon. In this case, she was the monster.

  Thanks to her preternatural vision, she needed neither candle nor lamp to find her way in the thick darkness. Iron-barred cells lined both sides of the room. Someone had obviously mopped the floors and cleaned the cells, but the air remained rank with the smell of old sweat, urine, and fear. The ceiling was low, the stark surroundings oppressive.

  She was relieved to find all the cells empty.

  Returning to her room on the main floor, she crawled back under the covers and closed her eyes. It must have been her imagination. She had been wanting to see Zack so badly, she had imagined he was here. But that was just wishful thinking. Even if he knew where she was, he wouldn’t be foolish enough to come after her.

  When Elena decided to do something, she did it quickly, and in grand style. By Saturday night, the welcome home party for Stefan had been arranged for the following night. Of course, there was little to do when one gave a party for vampires. There was no need for an elaborate buffet. The mortals who dwelled within the Fortress had also been invited. A lavish dinner would be provided for them prior to the festivities. If they were willing, they would supply the refreshments for the vampires; if not, there would be a ready supply of bottled blood as well as a variety of wines and champagne.

  Kaitlyn had mixed feelings about attending the party. She was fond of her aunts and uncles, eager to see her grandmother again, and happy that Stefan had returned. On the other hand, she was still angry with her father for whisking her to the Fortress against her will.

  She had considered refusing to attend, but that seemed petty. And she knew it would hurt her mother’s feelings if she stayed in her room and sulked. And so, ever the dutiful daughter, she arrived in the appointed place at the appointed time.

  The ballroom in the Fortress was like nothing else in the world. The walls and ceiling, made almost entirely of glass, afforded a splendid view of the valley below and the star-studded sky above. As a child, Kaitlyn had loved to play up here when they came to visit. At night, she had pretended the ballroom was a star in the sky; during the day, she had pretended the room was an enchanted castle.

  A trio of long tables covered with gold damask cloths flanked both sides of the room. Dozens of cut-crystal decanters and delicate wineglasses sparkled on the tables.

  Her aunt Miranda sat at the grand piano located on a small stage at the far end of the room. A floor-toceiling mirror took up most of the wall behind the piano. Miranda’s bright red hair gleamed like reflected fire in the mirror. Her long, pale fingers flew effortlessly over the keys, never missing a note. She smiled when she saw Kaitlyn; a moment later, the notes of “Clair de Lune” filled the room. Kaitlyn smiled back. “Clair de Lune” was her favorite song.

  Kaitlyn moved confidently among the guests, nodding at Marta and Elnora and Torrance, who stood in a group by themselves, along with their vampire mates.

  Kaitlyn hugged Stefan and her grandmother, noting that Liliana looked even more radiant than usual, no doubt because her youngest son was home again. Kaitlyn spent a few minutes chatting with Andrei and Katiya, nodded at Ciprian, who was dancing with a pretty mortal girl.

  Kaitlyn was thinking about having a glass of wine when she saw her mother hurrying toward her.

  “Kaitlyn, there you are,” Elena said, smiling. “How lovely you look!”

  “Thanks, Mom, so do you.” Clad in a floor-length dress made of white silk, her mother looked young enough to be Kaitlyn’s sister.

  Elena frowned. “You’re still angry, aren’t you?”

  “I can’t help it. He had no right . . .”

  “He had every right, Kaitlyn. He’s your father. Did you think he’d just ignore the danger you were in? If he hadn’t brought you home, I would have.”

  Before Kaitlyn could reply, her father joined them. He was a handsome man, and never more so than tonight. Wearing black slacks, a gray silk shirt, and a black jacket with a velvet collar, he could easily have been a male model.

  “May I have this dance, Kaitlyn?” he asked with exaggerated formality.

  “Of course.”

  He swept her into his arms as Miranda began to play a waltz. It reminded Kaitlyn of past visits when she and her father had danced up here, just the two of them. The memory of those days made it difficult to stay mad at him.

  “Are you ever going to forgive me?” he asked, twirling her around and around.

  “I guess so,” she said with an aggrieved sigh. “But when this trouble with Nadiya is over, I’m going back to Zack.”

  Drake nodded. “I see. No stopping true love, I guess, if that is what it is.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “You are a young woman, just out of college, away from home for the first time. Hormones raging,” he added with a grin. “You meet a handsome man . . .” He shrugged. “You will probably fall in love many times before you find the right man.”

  “You mean a man you approve of.”

  “No, Kaitlyn. I would not tell you who to marry. I hope you will find a mate here, among your own kind. But if you choose a mortal, how could I possibly object?”

  “And what if I fell in love with one of the Others?”

  His eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”

  She hadn’t meant to tell him like this, but maybe now was the time. “I mean Zack is a vampire. He was turned six hundred years ago.”

  “Turned,” Drake repeated slowly. “He is not one of us.”

  “I don’t care what he is. I’m in love with him.”

  “I have indulged you your whole life,” Drake said quietly. “I let you go to America when I was against it. I let you stay there after you graduated because you wished it, even though I did not approve. But this . . .” He shook his head. “As your father, I do not approve. As the leader of our coven, I cannot allow it.”

  Kaitlyn stared up at him. Too late, she knew she never should have said anything. And yet he was bound to find out sooner or later. “You can’t keep me here forever,” she said, blinking back her tears. She didn’t want to have to choose between Zack and her father, fervently hoped it would never come to that. But if it did . . .

  She had to talk to Zack. She couldn’t call him now. She would have to wait until tomorrow, since it was still morning in Nevada. What was it like for Zack, to be drawn into darkness with the sun’s rising? M
ost of her people also rested during the day, although those born to Liliana had the ability to be awake in their cat form when the sun was up.

  “I am sorry, Kaitlyn,” her father said as the music ended. “I believe Stefan is coming to ask for the next dance.”

  “Indeed I am,” Stefan said, coming up behind them.

  Drake bowed in his brother’s direction, then left the dance floor.

  Stefan took Kaitlyn in his arms as Miranda began to play another tune. “You’ve been crying,” he remarked.

  Kaitlyn nodded, unable to speak past the thick lump in her throat.

  “You have every right to be angry with me,” he said.

  “It’s . . .” She sniffed back her tears. “It’s not you.”

  Stefan glanced over her shoulder to where Drake was standing. “What did he say to upset you?”

  “I told him about Zack.”

  “What about Zack?”

  “He’s a vampire.”

  “Why would that upset your father?”

  “He isn’t one of us. He’s one of the Others.” Stefan stared at her. Like all of their kind, he had grown up on tales of the Others, of their bloodthirsty nature, their willingness to kill mortals indiscriminately. They could not reproduce, so they did not have any family ties; instead, they lived singly, friend to neither mortal nor their own kind.

  Stefan shook his head. “No wonder your father is upset.”

  “I love Zack. I don’t care what he is.”

  “I felt the same about Cosmina, but take it from one who has been there. No matter how much you care for Ravenscroft, you are better off with one of your own.”

  “You loved Cosmina very much, didn’t you?”

  He nodded.

  “So much that you can’t bear to be with another woman?”

  The sadness in Stefan’s eyes deepened. “When I buried her”—he shook his head—“it was like burying my heart. My soul.”