Embraced by Blood

by Laurie London

  The young woman clutched her wrist to her chest. “What did you…do to me? Are you going to…kill me now?”

  “I stopped the bleeding. I’m a vampire, but I’m not going to hurt you. God knows you’ve been through enough. What those men did to you was very wrong. They won’t be doing that ever again.”

  Elisabeth’s shoulders visibly relaxed, although the wary look on her face didn’t change.

  Resisting the urge to taste the sweetblood on her finger, Lily ripped open an antiseptic package and cleaned off her hands. “Our saliva helps with the natural healing process, that’s all. In a short time, your wounds will be gone.”

  Elisabeth’s eyes narrowed to slits. “What…are you then? Either you are…or you’re not…a vampire.”

  “Among my kind, there are a few who choose to live as our violent ancestors did, sustaining themselves only on human blood and energy. Unfortunately, you met several of those individuals tonight. However, most of us live peacefully, secretly among the human population, like we have for centuries.”

  Elisabeth’s eyes widened at the thought and Lily continued, “We could be that person standing next to you during a late-night trip to the grocery store. Or that mysterious guy who moved into that house down the street. Or, in my case, the occasional martial arts instructor at your local gym. I work for a small, global organization, and it’s my job to see that this peaceful coexistence between our kind and yours stays that way.”

  “You…you drink blood?”

  Lily rummaged around in the emergency kit and handed her a small bottle of water and a granola bar. “We require only small amounts of human blood every few weeks, so we never need to kill. If the person feels anything as a result, it’s merely a mild fatigue, like when you donate blood or don’t get enough sleep. Many of us prefer blood from a vial anyway, not a live host, and we supplement our energy requirements with smatterings of human energy every few days.”

  Elisabeth frowned. “Energy? What…are you talking about?”

  “Here, take my hand.” When she didn’t, Lily added, “It won’t hurt. Promise. I just want to show you how it works.”

  Elisabeth reached out and tentatively touched her fingers to Lily’s palm. When she took the woman’s hand, Lily pulled in a minuscule amount of Elisabeth’s energy through the skin contact. “Did you feel that?”

  Elisabeth nodded, opening and closing her fist. “I think so. It made my skin…a little prickly. Look…the little hairs on my arms are sticking up.”

  “That’s all there is to it. I took just the smallest amount of energy. Normally, we take more. Enough to make you tired and feeling like you need a good night’s sleep.”

  Movement near the cabin drew her attention. For a moment, Lily forgot where she was and what she was saying because Alfonso had stripped off his shirt. Mesmerized, she watched his powerful muscles ripple in the moonlight, he shoulders flexing, his arms bulging. He tore the shirt, wrapped a piece around his hand and concentrated on Kip’s forearm.

  Silver spikes? It had to hurt like shit, but Kip didn’t flinch as Alfonso worked on him. But then again, that powerful man could be amazingly gentle.

  “Thanks…for telling me.” Elisabeth’s quiet voice snapped Lily out of her daze.

  “Figured we owed you that much.”

  What Lily didn’t have the heart to tell her was that because she was Sangre Dulce, most likely this wouldn’t be the last time she’d meet up with a vampire. Being a sweetblood made her a target. Humans with standard blood types who unwittingly became donor hosts probably thought they were slightly anemic and prone to seasonal affective disorder. If they visited the doctor for any of these symptoms, they’d no doubt be given a prescription for iron pills and high-potency vitamin D, and told to sit under a light box for thirty minutes a day. But for a sweetblood, a chance encounter with a vampire usually was their last.

  “So, are you in school or do you work?” Lily asked.

  “Both. I go to school during the day…and wait tables at night.”

  She looked to be in her early twenties, which was typical. Most sweetbloods died young, because sooner or later, they’d run into a vampire, whether a Darkblood or not, who wouldn’t be able to control the urge for their special blood. “Let me guess. One of these losers had been hanging around the club.”

  “I don’t know…when I got into my car after work, they were there.” Her voice broke as she spoke. “They seemed to come out of nowhere. The bouncer walked me to my car…and waited until I got the door open. The car was empty and…I waved him back inside as I climbed in. Next thing I knew…one of them was in the front seat…and the other one was right behind me in the back.”

  “Yeah, we’re able to move pretty quickly in the dark. My advice? Get a different job. One that doesn’t require you to be out at night alone.”

  Lily would make sure to put the woman into the database as a known sweetblood. That way, when the local field office had time, they’d send a routine patrol to keep an eye on her. Unfortunately, they didn’t have the manpower to do sweetblood patrols more than a few times a month.

  “What are you going to do with me?”

  “Most likely you’ll need a blood transfusion.”

  Elisabeth grimaced. “I hate blood.” After wadding the granola bar wrapper, she twisted off the water bottle lid and took a long drink. When she looked at Lily again, a wary look was plastered to her face again. “So…why are you telling me all of this?”

  Lily took a deep breath and let it out slowly, not particularly eager to tell her why. If the girl freaked out, Lily’d have to do a mind manip before she was questioned about any important details she saw or overheard. “Because we’ll wipe your memory when it’s all over. You won’t remember what happened from the time you were kidnapped outside your work.”

  “You’re going to…steal my memory?”

  “Yep, I’m afraid so. You’ll have no recollection of the horrible ordeal you’ve just been through.”

  “But that’s just wrong. You can’t just…take people’s memories away.”

  “We’re not really taking it. We’re changing it.” Seeing the incredulous look on Elisabeth’s face, Lily added, “It may seem unfair to you, but it’s vampire law.”

  “You guys…have laws?”

  “Yeah, quite a few of them.”

  “Like what?”

  “‘If a human learns of our secret, a memory cleanse must occur.’ Item Two of the Governing Council Charter. Item Three says to feed from a human host only when absolutely necessary.”

  “So what’s Item One?”

  “Do not kill.”

  After backup arrived and Elisabeth was put under their care, Lily approached Alfonso just as a medic was rolling his pant leg back down.

  “Is he going to live?” Lily asked jokingly.

  The young woman looked exasperated as she gathered up her things and snapped shut her medic bag. “Yes, but I’d like him seen by Dr. DeGraff at your earliest convenience, whether he wants to or not. I’d like to be sure there’s not more damage than I can tell from this cursory examination.” She glanced at the lightening sky through the treetops. “The human needs immediate medical attention, but we can’t risk transporting her and Agent Castile together—his condition is too volatile. Can you take him to a safe house for the day where he can sleep off some of the effects of his ordeal, then take him up to Region tomorrow?”

  Lily was about to answer when Alfonso piped in. “Absolutely. I’ll take care of it.”

  “Niva doesn’t have the room,” she said. “Remember?”

  “I’ve got somewhere else in mind.”

  CHAPTER NINE

  THE SKY HAD LIGHTENED to a chalky gray by the time they turned off the main road and onto a gravel driveway. Lily glanced sideways at Alfonso’s stoic features. The hard set of his jaw. The strong but slightly crooked nose that suggested a fight or two. He’d put on his leather bomber jacket but hadn’t bothered to zip it up. Having taken off his shirt e
arlier, his muscular chest was exposed, and there, sitting between his nipples, affixed to a leather cord, was the medallion she’d given him.

  She sat back against her seat and tried not to think about that.

  Okay, so he liked it. That was all.

  Instead, she concentrated on the fact that he’d seemed far more at ease back at the Darkblood cabin. Now he just looked…irritated. He must be pissed off that his involvement wasn’t over, that Kip couldn’t be transported directly to Region, allowing Alfonso to wash his hands of the situation and go back to his normal life. One that didn’t include her.

  If that was how he felt, then she wasn’t particularly eager to be spending more time with him, either. It was the last thing she needed.

  She thought about Zoe and the promise she’d made to herself about not getting involved with any more men. Trying to make things work with Steven again had been a huge mistake. The longest six weeks of her life. The parties, the clubs, the women. To him, being a father was an afterthought. He had an agenda and it didn’t include them. Which was fine—she’d never loved him. No, she couldn’t subject Zoe to another one of her doomed relationships again.

  The bumpy road began a steady incline. Surely there had to be a suitable safe house closer to the freeway.

  Just as the slope leveled off, Alfonso hairpinned the car around an enormous stump covered with hanging moss, and the road narrowed considerably.

  She eyed the encroaching blackberry bushes, their thorns lying in wait for anything that got too close. If he scratched her car, she was going to be pissed. “How much farther is this place? It’s not like you’re driving a four-wheeler.”

  “Perimeter coming up,” he said, braking. “Does it bother you to go through or would you rather I disengage it? The remote control is in my bag.”

  “No, I’m fine, but aren’t they expecting us? Shouldn’t the cloaking system be down?”

  The car lurched forward.

  Wait. Why would he have the controls to a safe house anyway? Usually you call ahead and they have it turned off for you—if the perimeter was even camouflaged. Up here in the Northwest, not many vampire families bothered with that precaution.

  Now that she thought about it, she didn’t remember him making a call. “Whose place is this? I’m not aware of a safe house in this area.”

  “It isn’t. It’s my home—I mean, the house I’m building.”

  Before the shock of his words could completely settle in, they passed through the perimeter with a snap of electricity. Her skin tingled, setting her hair on end, and she absently rubbed the back of her arms. Good God, that was set high. She glanced at Kip lying on the backseat, but he was still so out of it that he hadn’t reacted.

  Alfonso was building a house? It didn’t make sense. He could almost be classified as a drifter. A restless soul, he’d never been comfortable staying in one place for long. Always moving or needing to do something, he never seemed to fully relax. He would tinker with things or pick the strings of his guitar just to keep his hands from being idle. It was like he didn’t know what to do with himself otherwise. She’d assumed it was because he’d been a double agent for most of his life, constantly on edge and never able to truly let his guard down. Obviously her assessment of him had been dead wrong.

  A huge wrought-iron gate loomed about twenty feet ahead of the car, and the headlights cast grotesque shadows on the trees beyond it. Alfonso rolled down his window, touched a control panel she hadn’t noticed until they were stopped, and the heavy gate slowly eased open.

  Knots of apprehension brewed in her gut. Was he making his home here because he’d settled down with someone? She hadn’t detected a female’s scent on him, and yet—

  She lifted her nose to the window. Although she didn’t smell anyone, considering her tracking problems she could’ve easily missed the scent marker. Not having an item to lock in a scent memory didn’t help, either.

  Could that be the real reason why he hadn’t come back to her last year? He’d found someone else and didn’t have the balls to tell her? It was so unlike him to have a permanent residence, but it made sense if there was another woman involved.

  She felt a little sick. At some point, she knew she’d need to deal with that knowledge, but she wasn’t at all excited to be doing it face-to-face. Taking a deep breath, she willed herself to stay calm. If there really was another woman here, Lily already knew she was going to hate the bitch.

  The forest opened up onto a large clearing on a bluff. Nestled into the side of the mountain was a majestic stone manor house with a red-tiled roof, arched doorways and windows and a breathtaking view of the water. In any other circumstance, she’d love to admire everything, but right now she just wanted to get things over with. “Welcome to Casa en las Colinas,” he said flatly. “The House in the Hills.”

  He parked the car next to a battered blue work truck. Her legs felt heavy as she hauled herself out, but a strong updraft blowing in from the edge of the cliff almost lifted her off her feet. Another storm was definitely on its way. With this wind, no wonder she couldn’t detect the other woman’s presence. It’d be whisked away before she ever smelled it.

  “You all must lose power a lot out here,” she said, trying her hand at small talk in an attempt to keep her mind focused on trivial things. Talking about the weather was always a safe subject.

  He shrugged. “I’ve got a high-efficiency generator that kicks in automatically and can run for weeks on its own.”

  She went to retrieve her bag from the backseat before helping Kip out, but Alfonso beat her to it. Resting her forehead on the doorframe, she knew she had to ask him, especially before they went inside. If there was another woman waiting for Alfonso, a lover who would drag him into her arms and welcome him home, Lily wanted a heads-up to prepare herself. Surely he’d have told her. Wouldn’t he?

  They’d been apart for more than a year—what did she expect? God knew she’d wanted to move on after it was clear he wasn’t coming back to her. And if he had found someone special who had finally gotten him to settle down, it really shouldn’t be that surprising. After all, she’d tried. Why couldn’t he?

  “Are you—” She closed her eyes for a moment, unable to form the words. “Why are you building a home clear out here? I mean, it’s very beautiful, don’t get me wrong. But it’s so far away from everything. Don’t you feel isolated?”

  “No.”

  “But you’ve never been one to stay in one place for long. Building a house seems contrary to that.” She steeled her shoulders. “Are you living here with someone?” She tried to keep the emotion from seeping into her voice, but she wasn’t sure she was successful.

  The car door on his side closed with a thunk and he peered over the roof at her. The lively blue of his eyes had dimmed to a steely, unemotional gray in the flat light.

  “I live here alone, Lily. I am not seeing anyone.”

  Relief flooded through her. Was that a flash of regret in his expression? She couldn’t be sure. He opened his mouth, the words so close that she could almost see them forming on his lips.

  Yes. The word popped in her head—the answer to an unknown question. Was he going to ask her something? Tell me. Please.

  If he was, he evidently changed his mind, for he snapped his jaw closed and turned his attention to Kip in the backseat.

  She straightened up and smoothed out her ponytail, a tactile reminder to herself to remain aloof and indifferent. “Good. I won’t need to suppress the urge to scratch out some chick’s eyes then. Old girlfriends and new ones don’t exactly mix.”

  She heard the low rumble of amusement as he headed toward the front entrance, Kip’s arm slung over his shoulder. Like any job site, the landscaping came last, and the place was a total mud pit during this rainy time of year. She followed him, trying to step exactly where he had. A few narrow boards had been placed strategically across the worst parts. Without slowing, he strode across them, obviously having done so many times.

&nbs
p; With her arms out for balance, she tentatively stepped onto the first board. It tilted, but she was ready for it. As if walking a gymnastics beam, she put one foot in front of the other and kept her eyes straight ahead.

  When she got to the far side, Alfonso clapped from the front porch. He’d set Kip down and was watching her.

  She curtsied. “Piece of cake.”

  When she stepped onto the next board and took a few steps, it rocked her back on her heels. Overcompensating, she shifted her weight forward and promptly lost her balance. With a gasp, she stepped calf-deep into the mud.

  Laughter erupted from the covered porch. “Hold on, Lil. I’m coming.”

  She lifted her foot, but the muck held tight and she ended up stepping in with the other one as well.

  Alfonso jogged adeptly across the boards. “Here,” he said, reaching for her. His large hand dwarfed hers. When he hauled her up, the mud made a sucking noise, refusing to let go, and, sure enough, both boots stayed behind.

  She couldn’t help but laugh as she stepped onto the board in her socks. “My God, I had those things laced up tight.”

  “Yeah, it’s like quicksand. It hangs on and won’t let go. At least you didn’t fall all the way in. I’ve done that once or twice.”

  He freed her boots and, before she knew what was happening, he swept her up, piggyback-style. Her arms and legs went instinctively around him as she let out a whoop of surprise. His warm scent invaded her nostrils and every step jostled her body against his. She rested her chin on the hand that grasped his shoulder, rather than on the bare skin of his neck. If she weren’t careful, her fangs were likely to elongate, being this close to his vein. She’d been this close to him at the club, but back there, they hadn’t been alone. Kip was so out of it, she doubted he even knew what the hell was going on.

  For all intents and purposes, it was just the two of them. In Alfonso’s own home, surrounded by his own personal things.