Wild Thing: A Vampire Paranormal Romance (Blueblood Vampires Book 2)

by Michelle Hercules

  My companions follow me in silence. Determined to help, Rikkon is right behind me, serving as a barrier to the mating bond magic that’s now seriously affecting my mood and my ability to concentrate. How foolish was I to have agreed to let Saxon come with me? Irritated as I was with our large party, I’m fucking glad now I’m not alone with him.

  Once everyone is inside the bandstand, I recite the short spell that will reveal the Nightshade Market. The familiar tingle of magic gives me goose bumps, and then there’s a sudden sensation of dropping out of the sky. I’m prepared for it, so it doesn’t take me by surprise.

  Vivienne gasps, clutching Lucca. Saxon stretches his arms and bends his legs, trying to keep his balance. But Rikkon falls into me. He barely has time to stand straight before Saxon yanks him back by the collar of his jacket.

  “Get off her!” he snarls, throwing him to the floor.

  Rikkon hits his head hard on one of the columns, getting stunned for a moment. Shit.

  “Saxon! What the hell!” Vivienne runs to her brother, dropping into a crouch next to him.

  Lucca sends him a glower before following her.

  The red haze fades from Saxon’s eyes as guilt washes over his face. “Fuck. I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me.”

  “You know what? Maybe I should go into the market alone. I can’t risk you going crazy every time a guy gets near me.” I try to sound firm, but my heart feels like there are thorns around it. Shit on toast, I can’t even think about being away from him without triggering this God-awful pain in my chest.

  Saxon furrows his brows together, creating a deep V in his forehead. “I don’t disagree with you. But it’s too late. I won’t be able to not follow you in there.”

  I don’t think I could leave you behind either.

  I blow out a resigned sigh. “Fine.” I glance over his shoulder to check on Rikkon. “How are you?”

  He’s already back on his feet, but there’s a grimace on his face as he rubs the back of his head. “I’ll be okay. I might need a painkiller soon, though.”

  “You don’t think you have a concussion, do you?” Vivienne asks.

  “I don’t think so. But good thing I’m on a nocturnal schedule now. I won’t be falling asleep anytime soon.”

  I whirl around and exit the bandstand, heading toward the market, which now is in plain sight. Nightshade Market is open every day of the week, from midnight until six in the morning. At a first glance, it’s similar to any regular street market. It’s got booths and tents from different vendors, all selling a variety of items. The difference, of course, is the nature of the items for sale. There are charms, amulets, obscure ingredients, grimoires, potions, and if someone has enough cash and knows who to ask, they can even get wolf’s bane or vampire’s bane here.

  “How can a market this size remain hidden to the human population?” Vivienne asks.

  “Thanks to a very special and intricate piece of magic. It required two circles of witches to conjure up the spell. Nightshade Market exists in a parallel dimension. The magic created a pocket in that dimension, and the spell I cast opened a portal to it.”

  “Wow. That’s amazing,” Rikkon says in awe.

  “You said two circles of witches were needed. Do you think that if we got more witch juice, we could open a portal to Ellnesari?” Lucca asks.

  “Why would you want to open a portal there?” Vivienne asks with an edge to her voice. All her memories were restored, and I bet many of them weren’t pleasant.

  He shakes his head. “I thought that maybe if I managed to talk to the Nightingale elders, I could convince them to return.”

  “My mother would kill you on the spot,” she says.

  “Would she kill me too?” Rikkon asks.

  “Most likely. You chose me over her.”

  “Shit, I wish I remembered any of that.” He runs a hand through his long hair, glancing away. “What was I thinking when I decided to erase my memories—and yours, to boot.”

  “I’m sure at the time you felt it was the right thing to do,” I say, remembering my conversation with Vivienne about his fated mate.

  Saxon grumbles under his breath, a sound that sends tingles down my spine, even if it was triggered by pure male jealousy. Under normal circumstances, it would make me mad as hell. I was never attracted to possessive guys. But I know Saxon is not like that. He’s just under the control of the bond, just like I was when those females back at the institute were all over his personal space. Even thinking about them gives me dark thoughts. Images of me gouging their eyes out with my bare hands is one of the possible scenarios in my mind.

  “I don’t think there are enough witches in the world to open a portal to the Nightingale realm,” I reply. “And I’m pretty sure the king already tried.”

  Lucca grunts in response. I could have been less blunt in my response, but the fact I can even have a normal conversation when all my senses are fried is a miracle. I resume walking, stopping only when I reach the edge of the market. I quickly scan the booths that I can see. It’s been a while since I was here. Most of the vendors usually stay in the same spot, but sometimes, things change. The problem is, I don’t know who sells siren’s tears. The stock I had in my apartment I snatched from my mother.

  “Do you know where to go?” Saxon asks in a tight voice. I think he’s also hanging on to his sanity by a thread.

  “No.” I turn around to glance at the others. “We need to split up. I don’t know how much longer Saxon and I will be able to stay away from each other.”

  Rikkon frowns. “If it’s getting that bad, why don’t you just … well, you know.” Redness creeps up to his cheeks. He reminds me of Vivienne, getting flustered by vampires’ lack of modesty when she started at Bloodstone.

  I glance at Saxon, finding him scowling. Yeah, he’s still angry about my deal with Elena Montenegro. Nothing either of us can do about that now.

  “It would probably make everything worse,” I answer. “The best we can do is find the missing ingredient for the potion until we can break the bond.”

  “Okay. How about Lucca, Rikkon, and I take the east side, and you and Saxon the west?” Vivienne suggests.

  “Actually, I think Rikkon should come with us,” Saxon says, surprising the hell out of me.

  “Really? You want me to come?” He stares at him with round eyes.

  “Yeah, I might need you to serve as a buffer again.”

  “You almost killed him before when he tried,” Vivienne interjects.

  “I’m sorry. I promise I’ll try my best not to kill your brother.”

  I pull a small vial from my purse and offer it to Rikkon. “Here. This is vampire’s bane, just in case.”

  Both Lucca and Saxon shoot daggers at me with their eyes. “Why do you carry vampire’s bane in your purse?” Saxon asks.

  I return the frown. “Do you think I’d agree to live among a bunch of bloodsuckers without protection?”

  “Don’t worry, bro. I’ll only use it as a last resort,” Rikkon pipes up.

  Shaking his head, Saxon turns toward the market. “Let’s find some fucking siren’s tears already.”

  21

  Saxon

  I didn’t insist on coming on this trip only because the bond is making it impossible for me to be apart from Aurora. I had ulterior motives. I wanted to find information about this blood vow deal Aurora made, but hell, finding the siren’s tears is my main focus right now. It’s hard to describe what’s going on in my body. I alternate between feeling hot and cold in the span of seconds, my skin feels raw and prickly, my throat is parched. I’m walking with a semi, and the friction of my erection against my jeans, instead of offering comfort, is hurting more. Fuck, if I don’t find some kind of relief, I’ll go insane.

  Rikkon offered to come with us, but he’s not walking between us. He learned his lesson the hard way; you can’t come between bonded mates. He’s walking next to me instead. When Aurora stops by a vendor to ask about siren’s tears, I
take the opportunity to ask the male a few questions.

  “Anything coming back to you yet?”

  He shakes his head. “Nothing. Maybe I didn’t come here after all. If the market was hidden to the human population, how would I find it?”

  “Come on, dude. It wouldn’t be hard to hire a rogue mage to bring you here.”

  “I suppose.” He sticks his hands in his pockets. “Why do you want me to recover my memories so much anyway? What’s in it for you?”

  Aurora returns, not pleased, and I don’t have the chance to answer him.

  “They didn’t have it. But the lady said the guy at the end of this row might.”

  “What if we can’t find siren’s tears? What’s going to happen to you two?” Rikkon asks.

  Aurora twists her face into a scowl. “Let’s not think about that.”

  We walk for another minute when Rikkon stops suddenly, his attention riveted on something. I follow his line of vision, finding a gray tent booth that has dreamcatchers hanging in the front.

  “What is it?” I ask.

  “Those dreamcatchers look familiar.”

  “We don’t have time to stop now,” Aurora snaps. “We’ll come back later. We really need to get the final ingredient.”

  She resumes her brisk pace, but Rikkon remains frozen. As for me, I’m torn. I want to investigate that booth, but as Aurora puts distance between us, the ache increases. I can’t believe she hasn’t slowed down. Can’t she feel the agony? Maybe it’s stronger for me.

  I pull on the male’s jacket. “Come on, dude. We have to go.”

  “Okay,” he says, but he still doesn’t move. I have to drag his ass from the spot.

  I can’t see Aurora anymore, and I’m seized by a moment of panic. But then I feel the invisible band that links us together. I think it’s stretched out to the max. I push people out of my way without care. I’m sprinting, and the only reason I don’t take off with vampiric speed is because of Rikkon. It sucks that his mother stripped his powers away. Nightingales could travel with the wind, popping in and out of places in the blink of an eye.

  Aurora is waiting for us, but the moment that I see her face, I know I’m going to receive a tongue-lashing. Her expression is contorted in a mix of pain and rage. She’s hugging her middle too. Shit.

  “Why didn’t you follow me right away?” she grits out.

  “I had to make sure Rikkon didn’t get lost. We can’t lose him in the crowd. Lucca will have my head.”

  “I’m not a child who can get lost,” he objects.

  Ignoring Rikkon, she continues. “Fine. The guy who presumably has the stuff is in the booth around the corner.”

  We walk side by side this time, only because even falling behind a step could cause me to have a seizure. I don’t think I can drive back to the institute in this condition. Good thing Aurora already prepped everything, and she only needs to add the final ingredient. When we finally stop at the booth, a frail old man is finishing up a sale, but Aurora interrupts him.

  “Do you have siren’s tears?”

  “Oh dear. I just sold the last vial to her.” He points at the tall woman with a gaunt face and thinning black hair that’s standing next to Aurora. Yikes. She looks like the bride of death.

  “I’ll pay you double for it.” Aurora turns to the woman, not hiding her desperation.

  She snorts, glancing down at her. “Absolutely not. I need this for my beauty potion and there’s been a shortage of siren’s tears for months.”

  “You’re going to need more than a potion, lady,” I say.

  With a hateful expression etched on her face, she says, “The siren’s tears are mine.” She turns to leave, but I’m not having it.

  In a split second, I’m in front of her, blocking her way. “You will sell us the siren’s tears.”

  The aggression vanishes from her gaze as her eyes glaze over. The tension around her mouth eases. “Of course.”

  I give her all the money I have on me as I don’t have a fucking clue how much the vendor charged her. The exchange is quick, and after it’s done, I tell her to go home.

  Aurora and Rikkon are watching me with their mouths hanging open. I don’t make it a habit to use compulsion like that, and definitely not in front of so many witnesses. But hell, I got what we needed. My lips begin to crack into a smile, but the vendor jumps from behind his counter, waving his scrawny arms in a menacing way at me.

  “Filthy bloodsucker. How dare you use your devilish powers on my customers?”

  His ruckus is drawing a lot of attention to us. Aurora quickly comes to my side, and tugs on my sleeve. “Come on, let’s go before he hexes us.”

  We break into a run, but the problem is, I grabbed Aurora’s hand by instinct. We only manage to turn around a corner before we latch on each other like wild animals in heat. I don’t know where we are, or who is near us. All I care about is doing what the bond demands.

  “Fuck! Guys, cut it out,” someone says, but it sounds far away.

  While my mouth devours Aurora’s, my hands are busy stripping her of her clothes. There are too many fucking layers. She’s just as eager to do the same to me. I know there was a reason why we couldn’t be together like this, but I can’t remember anymore. It wasn’t important. There’s a sudden current of energy zapping into my body. It feels like I’ve been hit by lightning, but the power of the bond is stronger. It gives me the endurance to withstand the blast. Eventually, the zing fades into the background too.

  I’m about to tear Aurora’s pants so I can plunge my cock inside her hot pussy when rough hands yank me away from her. At once, the savage beast mode takes over. I roar at the motherfucker who dared to interrupt, fangs bared and ready to shred him to pieces. He looks familiar, but I don’t care. I pounce, hitting an invisible barrier that sends me flying in the opposite direction.

  I hit my head against something when I fall, which stuns me for a moment. The lights hanging above me are blurry. Or are they stars? They look like pesky fireflies. The buzz in my ears is annoying as hell too. Suddenly, Aurora’s face appears in my line of vision. I smile, reaching for her face.

  “Not now, Sax. Quickly, drink this,” she urges me.

  Then she shoves something into my mouth. A bitter liquid hits my tongue, almost making me gag. She keeps the vial against my lips until I’ve drunk it all. At once, a familiar numbness takes over my body, and at the same time, my mind becomes sharper. She moves away, giving me room to sit up. There’s a small crowd around us, staring, pointing, gossiping. But the only people I recognize are Aurora, Rikkon, and Aurora’s younger sister. Wait. Why is she here?

  “What happened?” I ask.

  “You and Aurora went crazy,” Rikkon answers.

  Slowly, the memories of what we were about to do return. Damn it. I almost fucked Aurora in the middle of the market. She must hate me now.

  “Can someone explain to me what the hell is going on?” her sister asks.

  Aurora steps in front of me with her arms crossed. I think she’s trying to cover the top I’m sure I tore open.

  “Not until you tell me what you’re doing here,” she replies.

  The teen makes a face that spells guilty. We don’t get to hear her answer, though. Lucca and Vivienne arrive just then, and it’s clear they have something important to say.

  I jump back to my feet with my body already tense. “What now?”

  “You need to get Vivienne and Rikkon to the institute at once. Jacques is here and he’s not alone,” Lucca says.

  Of course. When it rains, it pours.

  22

  Aurora

  “What do you mean I have to take them back? What about you?” Saxon asks, clearly not happy with Lucca’s orders.

  “I’m not running away from Jacques. If he wants a fight, he’ll get one.”

  “Oh, that’s fucking stupid. You can’t turn the Nightshade Market into a war zone. Do you know how many mages and witches are here? They would hex you so hard it might sen
d you back into hibernation.”

  Vivienne steps closer to Lucca. “No. He can’t go into hibernation again.”

  “I’m not a coward. I’m not running away,” Lucca replies through clenched teeth.

  “What if we hex the crap out of Jacques?” Miranda suggests.

  “We can’t attack him unprovoked, especially you and me. We would be breaking the Accords,” I retort.

  “He doesn’t need to know the hex came from you,” Rikkon suggests. “Can’t you cast a spell from afar?”

  Miranda glances at him with a mischievous smile on her lips. “That’s a great idea.”

  “What’s the fun in that?” Saxon whines. “That’s sneaky and cowardly.”

  His remark should annoy me. We’re trying to avoid a major conflict here and save lives. But even under the effects of the potion, he beguiles me like no other. He’s my mate all right, but there’s more to the feeling than just ancient magic. The warmth that spreads through my chest when I look at him feels natural, real. Oh God. I can’t be falling for him. When we break the bond, I’m marrying Calvin.

  At least the aches are gone. I’m glad that I had the foresight to bring the potions with me. I don’t know what would have happened otherwise. I pull the lapels of my jacket closer together. Saxon ripped it open in his lust-infused frenzy, and now the zipper is busted.

  “This is not a show, Sax,” Vivienne retorts. “It’s life-and-death. I’m not risking Lucca’s or Rikkon’s lives so you guys can dick around in a testosterone contest.”

  A chilly, unnatural gust of wind licks the back of my neck, making me shiver. I glance over my shoulder, certain that I will find someone lurking in the shadows. But the only things I see are the stacked-up boxes of the booth nearby.