Reborn to Bite (Vampire Shadows Book 1)

by Mark Gronwald

  One sec, I'll check.

  Sabine could feel Claudia's aura extend, hear the sounds of heartbeats, smell the smells in the garage where Claudia had been at rest under Heather's car. As Claudia's aura extended, Sabine felt it hit the ward, and then she heard knocking on what sounded like the front door.

  There were two heartbeats there, and the faint smell of wolf came though the crack beside the garage. The sound of tiny feet coming down stairs felt like the beating of distant drums.

  Claudia! Get up! Move! Werewolves at the door!

  Claudia was out from under the car in a second, and at the garage door in another. As the front door to the house opened, she threw open the garage door, bolting outside into the afternoon sun.

  "Hey little one. Where's your mom?"

  Claudia squinted and looked up to see two large men, smelling of wolf. One was holding Heather's daughter by the throat, and the other turned to see who was coming out of the garage.

  Claudia moved into the sunlight at vampire speed, bolting up the steps. Sabine gave her the thought to punch them in the stomach, and Claudia followed through.

  Julie fell free of the werewolf's hold and staggered back. The man Claudia had hit first recovered, punching Claudia in the back of the head and sending her flying off the porch.

  Julie threw the door closed and ran, screaming to her mom.

  As the damage from the werewolf's hit to her head healed, Claudia got up and shook herself off.

  One of the men kicked in the front door and went inside. The other drew a nasty looking pistol that Sabine now recognized immediately. This wasn't Gus and Tony, but they had the same hardware.

  Claudia charged up the steps, following Sabine's thoughts and dodging a poorly aimed shot. She grabbed the man's gun hand and twisted it back so the gun was aiming at the man's chest. His eyes widened at her smile before she pulled the trigger.

  The puff from the silenced gun made less noise than the sound of bone and lung pieces splattering on the door frame. For good measure, Claudia pulled the trigger three more times, shredding muscle and bone.

  Claudia grabbed the gun out of the man's convulsing hand, and charged into the house. The ward felt like walking through a slimy waterfall, then thickened the air to the consistency of Jell-O before it vanished with a shudder that shook the house.

  Sabine and Claudia barely acknowledged how that shouldn't have happened, before they heard the scream from upstairs.

  Claudia bolted up the steps, and found the werewolf drawing his gun. She pressed her gun to the back of his head. "Drop it. Now."

  The werewolf paused for a second before he tried his luck. He turned to shoot at Claudia.

  Claudia's bullet left the back of the werewolf's head just as his went through her stomach.

  Sabine groaned from miles away as she felt the silver from the shot eating at Claudia. Quick Claudia! Feed on the dying werewolf!

  Claudia didn't need a second to decide. The smell of all the blood had made her fangs come out. She grabbed the werewolf where he had fallen and pulled him up, sinking her teeth into the bleeding body.

  "I think I'm gonna puke," Julie said.

  Claudia's mind became a haze of rainbows and flowers and light as the werewolf blood gave her more than enough energy to heal. That energy flowed to Sabine, making her dizzy.

  Stop, Claudia. Sabine commanded, and Claudia reluctantly obeyed, pulling her fangs out of the delicious treat that had been the best meal of her vampire life. She collapsed back on her knees in a haze.

  Sabine felt the energy overflow through their blood bond. She staggered over to the bathroom of her hotel room, and watched in the mirror as her eyes blackened.

  "Damn it! Not again," She said, and sent the energy out to the other vampires in her new Family.

  The abrupt wake-up call had them all grousing until Sabine passed them the memories of what had just happened.

  Sabine focused back on Claudia, and saw through a slight haze that Heather and Julie were in a frenzy of activity. She tried to focus on Heather, but Claudia's mind was too busy on all the inconsequential things around them for Sabine to see clearly. Sabine focused on Claudia's energy, pulling it towards her.

  The rush of energy drowned out all Sabine's thoughts. She was barely able to spread it out to the Family without passing out. Finally, after a few moments, everything leveled out.

  Claudia's confusion about what had just happened was echoed by a chorus of thoughts from everyone else.

  Sabine shared the memories of her previous encounters with werewolf blood. I'm sorry guys that I have so much trouble controlling the energy. We probably won't need to feed tonight, at least. She smiled.

  ***

  Claudia shook her head and sat up, taking in the scene. Someone had taken the gun from her, and there were witches standing guard over her. The werewolf's body was gone, and all that was left of the bloody mess that had been all over the walls and floor was a faint scent in the air. Then she looked down and realized that the scent was coming from the blood residue on her hoodie sweatshirt.

  "How did you get past the ward, Claudia?" One of the witches asked.

  Well, that's better than calling me "vampire". She wondered where that thought had come from, then remembered the link to Sabine. Claudia hoped that she'd get used to this new blood bond soon.

  "And how are you awake during the day?" The other witch asked.

  Claudia got up slowly, bowing her head to them. "I'm sorry. I'll go back to the garage."

  "Wait. You saved Heather and Julie's lives. We're not asking you to leave. Just please explain."

  Claudia raised her face and met the witches' inquisitive stares. "I had to save them. I gave my word."

  "But how are you awake?"

  "Sabine woke me. Then I smelled the werewolves and it felt like danger. Sabine felt it too, through our bond, and I took action."

  "Come with us," the taller witch said, gesturing to the stairs.

  The witches led Claudia downstairs to the kitchen, where Julie was lifting a class of tea to her lips with shaking hands. Heather sat next to Julie, trying to comfort the girl.

  Heather got up and met them halfway. She looked into Claudia's eyes with a mixture of fear and appreciation, understanding and respect, overshadowed by confusion.

  "Thank you for saving us."

  Claudia bowed her head. "I'm grateful I could."

  Heather looked around nervously. "The ward collapsed. No vampire should have been able to enter. How did you pass through it? How are you even awake?"

  Claudia shrugged. "I don't know. Sabine woke me."

  "How?" One of the other witches asked.

  "We have a blood bond. What happened to the werewolves?" Claudia asked.

  "The one outside shifted into a wolf as we arrived, and got away," the taller witch said. "The one upstairs-- well, we made him disappear. That's all you need to know."

  Claudia nodded, then turned to Heather. "Sabine is asking if anyone has heard from Esmerelda. Sabine's really worried. She had a nightmare about Esmerelda's house being attacked."

  "Esmerelda is fine. We just left her," the shorter witch said. "There was an attack, but she survived. She was cleaning up the damage and healing the wounded. Too bad about all those werewolves though."

  Claudia almost lost her balance from the sense of dread that came from Sabine through their bond, and took a moment to recover. "Um, Sabine wants to know if anyone was hurt. She's frantic."

  The witches looked from one to the other. The taller one spoke. "The rival wolf pack attacked an hour ago. It's getting close to full moon, you know. They get crazier this time of the month."

  Claudia winced and held her head. "Sabine is hoping you'll get to the point soon. Her friends?"

  The taller witch continued. "Several were wounded, including Trent. Her friend Doug and his daughter were not at the house. Three of Esmerelda's werewolf family died. Trey and Doreen, whose son works with Trent, and Esmerelda's grandson Taylor. The other si
de lost four. I'm not sure of their names."

  ***

  Sabine stopped paying attention to what was going on with Claudia, and ran to her bags to grab her clothes. She rushed to dress for battle. Why had she even bothered to get comfortable? She feared the worst. The other werewolves had taken Doug and Tiana, and maybe were even torturing them or something. She threw on her jeans and tank top and pulled on thigh high boots over her jeans. Then she grabbed the shoulder holsters and strapped them on over the bulletproof vest that had belonged to Gus. She shrugged into her coat and opened the door to leave her hotel room.

  The hallway was filled with her vampire Family.

  They stood around a very scared looking Doug and his daughter.

  "We tried to reach you Sabine, but you weren't paying attention," Lorenzo said, a look of concern on his face. "This man here is immune to our influence and wanted to see you."

  "Oh God!" Sabine said, her eyes wet as she launched at Doug and Tiana, hugging them. "I was so worried about you! Are you okay?"

  Doug relaxed as Sabine stepped back, and Tiana nudged him to let her down. "Yeah, I couldn't sleep and had this feeling that I should go for a walk with Tiana last night. So I carried her to the bus stop and we rode the buses all night. Then we had breakfast at Fisherman's Wharf and spent the day at the Exploratorium."

  Tiana tugged on Sabine's coat. "You know that part in the 'sploratorium where you sit across the room from the other person and talk, and you can hear them all the way across the room? That's my favorite."

  "I like that one too," Sabine replied, smiling and petting Tiana's head.

  "Why were you worried about us, Sabine?" Tiana asked.

  "Something bad happened at Mike and Esmerelda's house, and you were missing. I was worried something happened to you," Sabine said, kneeling and hugging the little girl. "But I'm really glad you're okay."

  "How bad?" Doug asked, looking nervously around.

  Sabine sighed and stood, picking up Tiana. "Bad. Lance's pack attacked. Three dead, a half dozen wounded. The other pack lost four. And a couple guys about ten minutes ago attacked one of Esmerelda's friends."

  "Why would they attack Esmerelda's friend?" Doug asked.

  Sabine stared at him for a minute, trying to think of what could possibly relate the two incidents. What did Lance's pack know about Heather? Did they have a grudge against her for something? Doug had never been near her house, and it's not like they could connect the dots easily that tied the two witches to anything werewolf-business related. But maybe they had connected the witches. She wondered about Gus and Tony being at her apartment. They hadn't been at Doug's apartment. Doug hadn't been the target; she had. She'd figured it was just revenge for getting the better of Tony on the roof. But what if they were trying to eliminate all Mike's potential allies?

  Her thoughts went back to Heather. The vampires had a grudge against Heather. They might have known that there was a vampire guarding the house, and they might have sensed the vampire ward, and sent the wolves to kill Heather. It made sense that vampires could possibly hire that done, or use blackmail, or something. Vampires could have provoked the wolves to attack Trent's house too.

  But why would vampires have anything against Mike and his werewolf family? It must have been a coordinated attack on the witches.

  Shit. She connected with Claudia again.

  ***

  Claudia stifled a shriek, lowering her tea cup and pressing her hands to her temples. Give a girl some warning please, Mistress!

  They need to try to get hold of Phoebe right away! Sabine snapped, then calmed. Sorry, I'll try to get better.

  "What's wrong?" Heather asked. "Is the tea toxic to you? You were the one who asked to try it."

  Claudia shook her head. "It's not that. Sabine was yelling in my head again. She wants you to try to call someone named Phoebe? I guess it's really important since wolves attacked your place and Esmerelda's both."

  Heather's eyes went wide and she grabbed the phone.

  The two other witches grabbed their things and ran out the door as fast as they could move. "We're heading there now!" they yelled on the way out.

  ***

  Back at the hotel, Sabine felt like she had done all she could do from a distance. She wanted to get everyone to Mike and Esmerelda's house to help. If Lance's pack wanted a war, she'd give him one.

  "Maybe we can stick with you today?" Doug asked Sabine as they headed to the elevator.

  "Sure. We can drop you with Trent and Esmerelda, and see if there's anything we can do to help. Has anyone handled introductions?"

  Doug looked nervously to the group of vampires. "Not really."

  "Doug, my oldest friend in the world, and his daughter Tiana, meet my new Family," Sabine said. She gestured to each and gave Doug and Tiana their names.

  "You guys look like escapees from a leather convention," Doug said, after nodding to each of the women as they were introduced, and shaking hands with the men.

  "I think it's cool," little Tiana said.

  "So do I," Shelby said, winking and smiling at Tiana as they loaded in the lift.

  Tiana stared at Shelby like the teen was a rock star. "You're only nineteen?"

  Shelby nodded.

  "We're dressed for battle," Ernesto said, his face solemn.

  "What he means, is that the leather is armor-grade; to ward off costly damage from swords and such," Melina added. "It's not totally a fashion statement." Then she smiled. "But it's also kind of a fashion statement."

  Doug looked at Melina and Shelby, noting Shelby's tight mini dress and Melina's short skirt and bare midriff, each wearing thigh-high leather boots. While their coats were open, they didn't look too armored.

  Melina caught his look and smirked. "The better to distract the enemy."

  Doug blushed and watched the lights showing the elevator's progress. "So when you say 'family', I presume-"

  "Yeah," Sabine said. "Don't worry though, they won't ever harm you or Tiana. Right guys?"

  "We wouldn't even dream of it," Lorenzo said. "A friend of yours is a friend of ours. But Sabine, having him know about us isn't healthy. You know this."

  "He's a psychic. Like you said, he's immune," Sabine replied.

  Lorenzo nodded, then sent Sabine the thought: he has a most impressive defense.

  So we might not be able to wipe his memory if we wanted to. He's a trusted friend. He's the only link I have to the life I had before. I couldn't keep this from him. What does the Council do with such people?

  It's handled on a case-by-case basis, but the person is usually killed. Case-by-case, of course.

  If someone tries to kill Dougie, they have to go through me, Sabine thought.

  And to kill you, they'd have to go through us, Lorenzo replied, smiling to her. We will protect Doug also.

  The elevator doors opened and they filed out, Doug walking slower than the rest.

  Sabine looked back. "What's wrong, Doug?"

  Doug's eyes seemed a little unfocused, and his arms went slack, allowing Tiana to slide down to the ground.

  Sabine rushed over, but the little girl put up her hand, a finger over her lips.

  "He's having a vision."

  The vampires gathered around and waited, watching the humans around them. Shelby took a turn shrouding the surrounding humans' sight with glamour, and Sabine could feel the girl struggling. Shelby hadn't known how to use glamour before the blood bond. Melina helped, guiding the exercise into a lesson.

  Doug snapped back, looking around. "We have to get across the bay. Now."

  "Oakland?" Sabine asked.

  He shook his head. "North of the Golden Gate."

  Sabine stared at him as he grabbed Tiana and started moving.

  "Are you kidding? Doug?" Sabine marched fast to keep pace with him. "What's north of the Golden Gate?"

  "Someone who needs us."

  CHAPTER 21

  As they stepped off the bus to cross the Golden Gate on foot, Sabine's anxiety l
evel started to rise. They were headed toward the place she had been buried. The closer they got, the greater her sense of dread.

  Doug led the way across the bridge, jogging behind some runners and keeping pace with them. He carried Tiana on his back, and Sabine couldn't help but be impressed at his endurance.

  The afternoon sun made the waves in the channel shimmer like a moving carpet of diamonds far below them. The vampires squinted and got distracted by all the daylight wonders. Sabine was forced to take on the glamour that obscured them after noticing a few frightened glances in their direction.

  Sabine fought to keep her own focus from drifting. She worried about Trent. Esmerelda had told her that Trent was healing now that the silver had been removed. He had come to the phone and assured her that she didn't have anything to worry about.

  They reached the north shore and Doug walked up a small flight of steps to the visitor center parking lot. Doug disappeared down some steps to the right, and took a path underneath the road. They passed under the bridge and through another parking lot. Doug slowed as they marched up Conzelman road.

  This was it. The road she'd traveled on that horrific night a year ago. They passed the scenic view stop and turned down the dirt path to Kirby Cove. They rounded a bend in the road and then another. Doug stopped in a part of the road shaded by tall pines. Sabine became dizzy with the recollection of this place. Her burial place.

  Doug wandered around in a circle. "I don't understand."

  Sabine stepped off the steep edge of the road and clambered down the hillside. She fell to her knees on some freshly disturbed ground, fifty feet from the road. She took a ragged breath, emotion gripping her chest.

  She started to dig.

  The rest of the vampires felt what she was doing and realized what it meant. They followed her down the hill and dove to their knees to dig.

  "I've got something here," Shelby said, answered by echoes from the others.

  They each exposed a piece of body; a hand, a leg, hair, an arm.

  Doug grabbed Tiana, covering her eyes. "Come on honey, we'll go look at the bridge," he said as he carried her back up the road the way they had come.