by Aneesa Price
Fearful for V’s life and Anais’ sanity should she kill her friend unknowingly, he called his powers and pulled her off V. Conall absorbed the shock as Anais hit him and not the ground. Standing, he pulled her into his arms. Anais was on him in no time, sucking at his throat. He felt pain followed by bliss, even though he knew it was the toxin in her fangs that gave him the feeling of euphoria.
Anais felt her psyche meld with her body just as she was airborne. Niul and Sylvain had lifted her off Conall and thrown her to the side. She saw Conall, pale and unconscious, bleeding from the holes in his throat that she realized she’d created. “Mon Dieu! What have I done?”
Anais ran to him, swatting away the arms that tried to stop her. She looked at Niul and Sylvain, “I’m okay. I won’t hurt him. Let me help. He’s not close to death – I can hear his heart rate slowing. Let me help.” Pink-stained tears were streaming down her eyes. “Please,” she begged, “if I don’t help now, he’ll go into a vampire stupor – a coma – and I wouldn’t be able to handle that. We all need him. I need him.”
Sylvain and Niul both looked at Sophie who was still linked to Anais’s emotions.
Sophie stated, “She’s herself again.”
The two men nodded and let Anais through.
V’s arm stopped her progress. “What are you doing?” asked V, staring at her.
“He needs to feed,” came Anais’ pained response.
“If you do this,” V stated, “you’ll be bonded. Are you sure you want to do this? No one blames you for something you had no control over.”
“Yes, I want to do this,” was her terse reply. “And yes, I know you won’t blame me but I’ll blame myself. You know that’s how I’m made. Now let me do this before it is too late.”
V stepped out of the way to join the others, watching while Anais used her fangs to rip at her wrist. Anais lowered her wrist to Conall, lifting his head gently so that the liquid dripped into his mouth. Conall sputtered as the liquid first entered his system then enveloped the wound with his lips and began suckling. V stepped back in when Anais started paling. “Enough!” She pulled Anais’s wrist away. “You’re no good to us in a stupor and he’d hate me for letting it get to that. His heart rate’s back up so he can get the rest from bags and we need to get you some too.”
V motioned for Niul and Sylvain to take Conall away and did the same for her friend and maker. They still had to finalize their strategy for tomorrow’s battle and now they had to deal with the stubborn lovers – unexpectedly bonded lovers - as well.
“Fuck me, what next?” was all she said, licking the dried blood from her lip, as she headed out behind her friends to attend to blood transfusions.
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“We’ve found the location,” Raulf stated, spreading the paper out on the table in Sylvain’s library. The room was gigantic, easily housing all of them around the huge desk. The room seemed out of place in the hollow - less fantastical and more austere and befitting to an aristocratic mansion.
“And thanks to V’s mad skills, we’ve also found a blueprint to the building,” Raulf gestured towards the drawing. “It’s an old factory in a pretty abandoned neighborhood. Lots of empty buildings and factories that still haven’t been rebuilt after hurricane Katrina.”
“Merci,” acknowledged Anais, picking up one of the photographs, noticing the overgrown grass, weeds and broken roads. “You’ve been very thorough.”
“The building is pretty open,” Anais observed. “Clever. It makes staking it out even harder. It helps that no one lives there any more though. We’ll be able to creep into other houses to scope it out.”
“Already done,” responded Raulf. “I have wolves stationed around the perimeter. They’ve pretty much taken cover wherever they could, including some of the deserted houses around it.”
“That takes part of that intel. V, what could you pick up from the Garden District house?” Anais asked, glad that she’d had a chance to apologize to her friend, even if V had waved it away.
“Absolutely nothing,” responded V. “They’re acting like they always do, although there are few of the council still in residence. Yves and Claude claim that they’re staying a while longer to show presence to the resident vampires and Akeldonna and Akhilleus say they’re here until the club is properly established and the manager is able to run it on his own. I’m not sure if Yves is involved. He seems pretty preoccupied receiving and socializing with visiting vampires. Akeldonna and Akhilleus weren’t there for long and when they were, they didn’t speak to Yves.”
“So, what that means,” interjected Conall, “is that he could or couldn’t be in on Akeldonna’s enterprising little scheme. We can’t take chances. We’ll need to station a team near the house to keep an eye on Yves. We know where Akeldonna and her mate will be.”
“No, a team is too much,” Anais argued, shaking her head. “We need the fighters – we still don’t know how many vampires that big factory has in it. Or what magickal tricks Ayden will have up his sleeve.”
“I know but I don’t see what other choice we have,” responded Conall.
“What she means,” interjected V, “is that it should be one of the Coffin Girls. And if I know Anais, she thinks it should be her.”
Anais shrugged, “Why put you all at risk when I can do it just as well and with less suspicion given my history with Yves?”
“Nice try, Anais,” was Conall’s reply. “The reality is that none of you would raise suspicion because you’ve all popped in while they’ve been staying there. Marie and V have gone to the District house the most often so they’ll raise the least amount of suspicion.” At the inclination of her head, he continued, “But I think you’re right. If one of you would go, that person can keep an eye on Yves while pretending to see to business and then if anything suspicious occurs, she can always teleport back here. Sylvain can imprint the destination on you.”
“Imprint how?” asked Marie suspiciously.
Sylvain grinned, “You’ll see. It won’t hurt a bit. And I think you’re on the right track but it shouldn’t be you, Anais.” Sylvain continued, “You’re needed to help Con with any magick as the only royal witches there. Niul and the rest can perform magick but yours is the kicker.”
“Okay, I’ll go.” V looked at her sisters, “Y’all are wonderful but I’ve had more fight training and I’m the only one who’s been actively in combat.”
“None taken,” Sophie responded to the collective nodding from the rest.
Sylvain advanced on V, “That’s settled then. Let’s get the imprinting done, shall we?” Before V could respond, Sylvain’s mouth descended on hers. She’d always appreciated his good looks but other than when he was in his fae form, she’d never felt attracted to him. But now, she gave into the kiss - the darn man tasted like her favorite cherry pie – fae trickster! V felt her tongue thicken as his left her mouth before it subsided to normality.
Sylvain grinned. “Now, if you want to come back here, all you have to do is bite your tongue to release the magick and think of this room and you’ll be back in no time.”
“Thanks,” mumbled V, blushing at the others’ chuckles.
“Okay, now back to the strategy.” Anais threw her friend a lifeline and asked the question that would grab their attention. “How are we going to get them out?”
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Conall stepped out of the en-suite bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist. Anais mentally cursed her libido for jumping at the sight of the superb v-shape torso that led to that wonderful specimen of manhood the towel teasingly hid.
“It’s hard to stay mad at you when you’re half naked and coming towards me in bed,” she broke the ice. “It’s even harder to stay mad at you when you literally saved my sanity by nearly giving up your life.”
Anais took his hand as he sat next to her and looked him squarely in the eyes. “For you to have done that, to have come between a blood-starved vampire and her prey to save her friend’s life makes you
a hero in my eyes. Thank you.”
Conall shrugged away the thanks, “I don’t want to be your hero and I don’t want your gratitude, Anais. What I want, I’m not sure you’ll freely give me.” He saw the question want to leave her lips and carried on, not giving her a chance to voice it. “Tell me, what does bonding do?”
“A bonding creates a mental, emotional and physical link between a vampire and a non-vampire,” Anais stated. “I drank your blood after I passed out before the unbinding. You had mine earlier today. So, as simple as that, we’re bonded. The more we feed off each other, the stronger the bonding becomes.”
“That’s why I can feel your guilt so strongly,” Conall commented gravely. “I don’t mind the bonding Anais but I do mind the guilt. Tell me, why do you feel guilty? Is a bonding not something you wanted for yourself? For us?”
“No,” was Anais’ response, “it’s not something I want for anyone. My feelings will be your feelings. We will know each other’s thoughts. And if we drink from each other again and again, it can become so strong that my pain will be yours and vice versa. I’ve known bonded couples to die together too.”
Conall looked at Anais, feeling pain as her words stabbed at him. He’d known this feeling before; his heart was breaking with unrequited love. “And this is a problem for you because you value your independence.”
“I can feel your pain now, Conall,” Anais stated softly. “And I feel your love. This is an example of what we will continue to feel, no matter how near or far. It has nothing to do with independence, only self-preservation – for us both.”
“Then, sorry for you then that I can feel your love too even though my bullshit detector went haywire the moment you began that speech,” he threw back at her. When she informed him of the dual-nature of their newly formed bond, he’d let go of the pain and allowed her feelings in. He felt love in her, love for him. But he also felt uncertainty and insecurity. The men in her life had done a number on her.
He moved closer to her now, getting under the covers and moving her so that she faced him. Hopefully he could help her face some of her fears. “With this bonding then, you know how I feel about you. I’m in love with you and you can feel the permanence to that love?”
Anais nodded, tears springing to her eyes. Conall gently wiped them away and licked them from his finger-tips, knowing that the pink droplets held her blood. “There. I’ve just had a bit more of your blood.” When she flinched and looked away, he gently clasped her face in his hands and looked into her red eyes. “I love you. Being bonded to you feels natural and right. I want to be with you for eternity, for as long as our immortality lasts. And I don’t want to be around if you’re not. You have my heart, Anais. Nothing is more frightening to me, can be more painful, than not having you in my life – with me in our life,” he corrected.
Anais responded with her head, not her heart, “Your life is in Ireland with your family, ruling over the witch population. Mine is here, with my sisters,” her lips curved wistfully, “with the Coffin Girls, running a wedding planning and venue business. You need heirs for the throne. I can’t give you that. I may be half-witch but the other part is vampire. From what you’ve told me of the supernatural history, that makes us mortal enemies. So, how do we reconcile that?”
Conall heard her but thanks to the bond, he also felt what she did, “Vampires and witches have lived in harmony before and can do so again. You and I – our relationship – is proof of that. Our friends and the friendships they’re forming is further proof. And children – why would I need children? I explained last night that I have three sisters who can give me the heirs to the throne. My sisters can also step in should anything happen to me. You’re coming up with obstacles so you won’t have to commit.”
“So,” Conall said, “back to how this conversation started. I don’t want your gratitude, your guilt. I just want you - your love. But what hurts is that even though I can feel your love for me, I can feel your doubt in that love. From what you’ve told me of your late husband and Yves, I can understand that fear. So, I’ll be patient. I’ll woo you and wait. I’ll woo you for centuries if I have too.”
Anais’ face was covered in pink lines as tears streamed down her face. “The blood bond tells me of your sincerity but even the most sincere promises are broken. And while I do love you, I’m scared. I want to give in to it but I can’t.”
“That’s okay,” Conall murmured, pulling her into the crook of his arm. He laid a kiss gently on the top of her head, felt the comfort he gave her from that little act through their newly formed bond. “I said I’ll be patient, Anais.”
“I don’t deserve you,” Anais said softly, emotionally spent.
“Goddess,” Conall responded, lips curved softly with hope, “you do.”
Chapter 21
“All good here, Anais,” V sent a mental call out from the Garden District house’s office to the library of the Papillion Plantation.
Anais nodded briefly, apprehension making her forget that V couldn’t see her. “Great, all good here too,” she responded. She was stationed in the library of Papillion Plantation, within the circle they’d created the first time they’d linked with the captive girls. Conall, Sophie and the fae witch were with her as were a small contingency of guards and wolves courtesy of Sylvain and Raulf.
Anais and Conall had cast a spell that morning, with the help of Arianna, the fae sorceress, so they were all able to mentally communicate with each other. It took a few tries, particularly to isolate the constant communication the pack sent to each other. Geez, she didn’t know how Raulf put up with the constant hum of mental chatter and random thoughts intruding all hours of night and day. She’d asked him about it and he’d shrugged it away claiming that it was all he’d ever known and you got used to it.
Pulling in the wondering thoughts, she focused on Conall who was receiving feedback from Sylvain, Niul and Raulf. They each had their parts to play in the carefully crafted rescue strategy and had gone over it again and again until they all knew it and plans A to F by heart. Anais checked in with Marie and Rose, who’d gone with the wolves and more fae to the abandoned factory.
“All as clear as it was thirty minutes ago,” was Marie’s caustic remark. “Seriously, lighten up. The vamps are sleeping like the frikkin’ undead and the only activity we can pick up are human.” Conall had worked with Marie the day before to help her hone her necromancy skills so that she could identify activity or lack thereof from the undead. It turned out that whilst Marie couldn’t control the undead like she could the dead, she still had an inside scoop on them. Rose, was there as fire, something that most supes feared, especially super-flammable vamps. They’d all been amazed at the fire show Rose had put on after working on her skill with the fire faeries.
“No sigh of Ayden?” asked Anais.
“Nope,” Marie responded, “he’s been MIA since dawn when he went came back with that other guard and more captives. I had to keep a hold on Raulf ‘cos he had a few of the wolf females with him.”
“Darn it,” responded Anais. “Tell Raulf I’m sorry but we’ll get them out soon so he can chew on the bastard.”
“I plan to,” was Raulf’s angry interception. “He’s dinner.”
“Miss Suzette, you okay?” Anais asked. She imagined that their Cajun mamma was spitting fire and giving the unsuspecting fae the hardest time they’d had yet. Nerves did that to her.
“I’m alright,” Miss Suzette answered. “Don’t y’all be worryin’ ‘bout me. Just get yourselves back home safely. These faeries are taking good care of me. And I’ve prepared some of my kitchen magick for when y’all come back.”
“Glad to hear that, Miss Suzette,” Sylvain interjected, stifling a groan. “And thank you for being there to welcome the young girls and put them at ease. I can’t think of anyone better suited to that important role. Also, if you don’t mind, I’d love to have some of your crawfish gumbo to come home to. In fact, a Cajun feast from a Cajun cook extraordinaire su
ch as you will be something to look forward to and keep us going.” Sylvain rattled off a Cajun menu of beans and rice, jambalaya, crab cakes, gumbo and a variety of dishes that had Anais’ head spinning by the number of them, his memory of Miss Suzette’s cooking and his kindness to their Cajun mamma.
“That I can do,” came Miss Suzette’s response. “And I’ll make some for those girls too. A bit of spice will help feed their poor souls. I’ll put some kitchen magick in it.”
Anais and Conall shared a grin.
“We’re all set,” Conall broadcasted to everyone. “Everyone is stationed and the coast is clear.”
Conall looked at Anais, Sophie and Arianna, “You all ready?”
At their nods, he looked at the fae standing within the outer circle and got the same consent.
“Here we go, then,” Conall sent to all of them, “may the Goddess be with us.”
Moments later, after casting the preparatory spells of protection and teleportation, Anais found them in the dark, damp room at the factory. She spotted the girls, who immediately began to mumble. Anxious that they’d alert the vampire’s day guards, Anais shook her head and put her fingers to her lips to indicate silence. It didn’t work.
Conall waved his arm and the next moment, the women were silent. “I cast a quick spell of silence. It’ll hold for the next few hours. I’d rather have them mad at me or scared shitless now then all of us dead.”
Anais nodded her agreement and made her way to the first girl they’d identified. The girl shook her head when Anais motioned for her to teleport back to the fae hollow with the fae that came along. Instead, she waved an arm towards the others, particularly a group of pre-pubescent girls that she’d huddled together in the corner of the room. That was one sentiment that Anais understood and agreed with.
So she nodded and sent the fae to the young girls. The girl had prepared them all because they behaved better than the older ones and allowed the fae to take them as they were teleported away.