Dragomir remembered. Dice and Jade had been in love. She chose to be turned on their honeymoon. Then Dice trained her—when she was much less fragile.
“She’ll turn.” Dice banged the hammer against the sword several times then flipped it over and worked the other side.
Dragomir knew better. Sofia wouldn’t turn. She could barely stand the thought of being in the same building as vampires. She was not about to become one.
The sound of the metal being held against the sharpening stone drowned away Dragomir’s thoughts. He watched sparks shoot from between the sword and the stone.
“Did she sleep well today?” Dice grinned. “Does she still sleep, my friend?” His voice dipped and he gave a hearty laugh.
Dragomir could not say. He still could not sense Sofia. His best guess was that she’d slept well enough for the few hours he’d rested. He knew she needed complete sleep. It was the reason he slept—to give her mind time to relax, to stop racing, to stop thinking about what she’d done.
“I’d say she rested just fine.”
“Ah, your bond strengthens. I kept Jade in bed the first full week of our joining. By the time we came home our bond was so tight I couldn’t bear to have her out of my arms for more than an hour.” He laughed again. “And she wasn’t for several months.”
With each rest period they shared together the bond between them would strengthen. If they lay together, touching, caring for each other, it would seal to a strength nothing in the world, not time or man or death could destroy. He sighed. It was going to take a lifetime for it to become a true bond, forged by something more than words and a blood exchange, if that ever happened.
She’d married him, but that didn’t mean she liked him. She’d even dropped her guard twice and drove his desire to fever pitch, but that didn’t mean she wanted him. Would she ever learn to love him? Could she?
“I’ll be back in a few hours to get these.” Dragomir left Dice to work.
“Two hours, tops,” Dice called after him. “Go. Enjoy your mate while I work.”
Dragomir prowled the halls for a bit before going to see Jankin. Enjoy his mate? The idea of it was superb. The reality was hell.
The halls were quiet. The sun was still too high in the sky for most vampires to wake. But Dragomir had long ago established his ability to stay awake in these hours. He’d spent many a long day thinking. And it appeared he’d spend many more worrying.
He hadn’t seen Jankin since the ritual, and he didn’t really want to see him now, but he knew they needed to talk.
He knocked on the office door.
“Come.”
The room was dark, lit only by the computer screen. Dragomir closed the door behind him and walked through the outer room to Jankin’s office.
“How was she?” Jankin looked older. His more than nine hundred years seemed to be taking a toll. Tired eyes. Sagging cheeks.
“She cried. A great deal.” Why should Dragomir pretend she wasn’t unhappy? He wouldn’t. If he had to watch his mate’s misery, Jankin would, too.
It was Jankin’s fault they were in this predicament.
Jankin nodded. “No surprise.”
Dragomir couldn’t disagree. When he thought about it logically, it was no surprise. But it still hurt.
“What’s the report from the front?” Dragomir asked. He watched Jankin. The way the vampire moved was slow, deliberate. The burden he carried seemed greater today than in all these long years since Sofia’s birth.
“There is movement. Orion and Pax found evidence of a fortress just over the town line at one of the local farms. In Exeter. Vampires and wolves.”
“Still active? Or is it abandoned?” Dragomir’s hands ached. A battle was coming. He felt it, wanted to be a part of it.
“Active. Wolves come and go from the area in large numbers. They’ve scented only four or five vamps.”
“Sounds like a possible daytime attack. When will our wolves be ready?” Dragomir had seen this in Norway. A small contingent attacked when they thought the vampires slept. Bas Dubh wasn’t prepared for the wolves The Alliance had trained or for the master vampires to awaken their progeny. Vampires fought below the ground all day long. It had been a good battle.
“Not soon enough. We have the weaker wolves, left behind by Bas Dubh. The ones he thought would die.” Jankin’s gaze never left the computer screen. “Laurent believes Joachim had known about the assault for months.”
“Has he unlocked any details—the timing?”
Jankin shook his head. “Still working the new wolves. Laurent will get it.”
Dragomir stood. “How has her day been? Any arguments with Rick or have the wolves taken her under their wings?” He dreaded having to undo whatever Fergus and Rick did. They weren’t the type to happily accept this new development. Sofia’s ability to understand the wolves would likely be a sore issue for quite some time. He had no doubts they’d already begun to make her believe he was some villain for making her drink vampire blood without a bond. Osgar was less of a worry, but he knew even Osgar could not understand the situation.
“She hasn’t arrived to work yet. Osgar’s been at her house all day.”
“Blasted woman!” Hearing that she’d not arrived at the stronghold unleashed the pent-up rage Dragomir had managed to control. “She’s not safe outside this building. Doesn’t she understand why she must come here?” He slammed his hands on the desk. “You should have told her years ago.” His face was only inches from Jankin’s. “How did you expect to get away with this?”
“When it happened, I did not think about the consequences. I only knew I could not let her die.” Jankin glanced up slowly, fangs already descended, eyes glowing.
“You brought me here for this sole purpose, didn’t you? Guarding her was a cover. A lie. You wanted me to take the fall for you.” Unable to keep the disgust out of his words, Dragomir faced Jankin.
“She needed a strong guard, someone she could trust.” Jankin’s eyebrow darted up. “Someone I could trust.”
Dragomir dropped his head and glared at the desk. Jankin was a genius. Dragomir would never tell, would have died with the secret last night. All to protect The Alliance. To protect humanity.
His head snapped up. “You will tell her the truth. Then she will decide.” Dragomir would not force her to live a lie. She would learn what really happened. Then if she chose not to honor their bond, he would understand. He wouldn’t let her go, not alone, not without someone to protect her, but he wouldn’t force her to stay.
“What good would it do? You’ve seen how she reacts. She’ll run. Do you want her out there without you, without me?” Jankin stared up at Dragomir. His eyes were no longer glowing, nor were they green. They’d faded to a near black color.
“Guilt? Is that what I see?” Dragomir’s mouth ticked to the left. “Who’d have known guilt would overcome you?”
“I know what I’ve done. I know the burden you both carry. There’s no way to undo the past. You must help her live with this.” Jankin turned back to the computer.
“You will tell her. When the time is right, you will confess.” Dragomir would hold Jankin to this, if it was the last thing he did.
“If that is the price you believe I should pay, so be it, old friend. But I ask you, how can a man be angry with the vampire who gave him his mate?”
“She’s only my mate by force. She didn’t choose.” Dragomir turned from Jankin, unwilling to watch as the man he’d trusted more than any other tried to twist this truth.
“No one mates by choice. They only think they do. True mates are born to each other. There’s only one for each. No other will do. Can you sense her?”
Dragomir shook his head. “What are you saying?”
“She is your mate because creation says she is, not because of me or circumstance.” Jankin removed his cuff links and rolled up his sleeves. “She was born to be with you. Had I not saved her, you’d have lived your existence alone.” Jankin sat back. His sta
re bore into Dragomir. “You can’t sense her because you are not bound to each other. It’s a cruel joke of love. And it will drive you mad if you don’t mate her.”
“How could you have known we were fated? Did you know?”
Jankin shook his head. “I cannot lie. I did not know. I only knew I could not lose her. And as the world has changed, I knew she needed the best to keep her safe, but I did not know she was your mate.”
“She can hardly stand me. She refuses me access to her house, doesn’t even speak to me unless she has to. She is not happy.” Dragomir couldn’t stand hearing the words come out of his own mouth. His mate hated him.
“Not every mating is easy. Not every mate is consciously willing. Some are stubborn, refuse to see what their soul knows is right. Mating is like marriage. It takes work.”
Chapter Twenty-three
Bright sunlight streamed through Sofia’s bedroom window. She grumbled and pulled her blanket up over her head.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
She buried her head under a pillow but the ticking continued. She sat up and frowned. “What?” she yelled.
“You’re late for work,” a muffled voice answered.
“Where are you?”
“Outside,” Osgar yelled.
She went to the window in time to see Osgar toss another pebble at the glass. “Knock it off.”
“Do you know what time it is?” He dusted his hands on his jeans.
“I don’t care. I’m not coming in today.” She opened the window. “I’m calling in sick.” She’d earned a sick day after last night.
“Too much sex on your wedding night?”
“Fuck you, Osgar.” She slammed the window shut and pulled the blinds. Before she turned back to the bed she opened the blinds and window. “I apologize. That was rude of me.”
“I’ll say. But you do sound like your husband.” He looked up at her disappointed. “One night and you’re already slipping.”
Sofia ignored his comments in spite of the mix of emotions bubbling within. She had a husband. He was a vampire. Facts were facts. No sense in letting emotion muddle the mess.
She stared at Osgar. His face was scruffier than usual. “Don’t you own a razor?”
“I do but when I’m working around the clock, it’s hard to find a minute to shave. Besides, you’re no longer available so impressing you has moved off my top ten list.” He reached into his truck and pulled out a big black lunch box, the kind construction workers used in the 1950s.
“Why are you eating out there?” she asked, though truth be told she didn’t want him in the house. She wanted to be left alone. She wanted time to sulk and be miserable. Then she would devise a plan of escape.
“My keys have been confiscated, and I’ve been ordered to remain outside the building.” He bit into a giant sandwich and dripped mustard on his chin, which he did have the manners to use a napkin to clean.
“Did he do that?” He had no right to make decisions about her, her house, her friends, her life. “You can come in.”
“He who? Fergus—yes. Jankin—yes to that one, too. Dragomir—no. He didn’t seem so interested in whether or not I entered the house.” He crunched a chip.
Dragomir wasn’t interested in Osgar entering her house? Why not? Was he such a poor choice for a husband that he didn’t know she shouldn’t have other men in her bed? Was he so disinterested in her that he didn’t care if other men came to her bed?
She scratched her head. “What time is it?”
“Noon.” He cracked open a can of soda. “It’s a good thing you’re a friend of Jankin’s. I hear that new employee relations lady is a real stickler about people showing up to work on time.” He slurped his soda.
She frowned and shut the window. Four hours late for work. That damn vampire. She’d never been late for work, not once in her entire life. But this week alone she’d been late nearly every day. And today, she wasn’t even going in. Her first sick call, too.
A week of firsts. Tardy, absent, marriage, learning to speak werewolf, being bitten by a vampire. Oh, and let’s not forget our all-time favorite—sexual activity at the office with a vampire in front of an audience. A more impressive list of firsts could not exist.
She groaned and found her phone.
She called Fergus, got his voicemail and left a curt message about not feeling well and not coming in. Then she stared at herself in the mirror.
She looked like her usual self. She didn’t even have the red, puffy eyes she expected to see from her evening of crying over her own stupidity. And the hideous bruise on her neck was gone. There wasn’t even a mark from where…
She swallowed and watched her throat move, studying every inch of her skin. Maybe he hadn’t bitten her. Maybe she’d imagined the incident. Could it have been a dream?
Sofia shook her head. No, not a dream. She drank vampire blood last night. Apparently, it hadn’t been her first time either. But last night she licked it off his skin and then sucked it from the slice in his hard chest muscle. She squeezed her eyes shut against the memory only to have it play out behind closed eyelids.
She smacked her lips. She still tasted him. Hadn’t she brushed her teeth last night? Why could she still taste him? Sweet and meaty. How was that possible? Weren’t they opposite flavors or something? She grabbed her toothbrush and loaded a glob of minty freshness on the end then scrubbed with gusto.
Wait a minute. If she drank his blood, did that mean she was becoming a vampire? Her eyes widened. She curled her lips back to see if fangs had formed in her top jaw. Foamy toothpaste dribbled down her chin. Her perfectly straight teeth looked the same as always. She spit and rinsed, then ran to the window.
“Am I turning into a vampire?” She didn’t see Osgar. “Osgar! Where are you?” She leaned out and looked toward the back of the house. “Am I becoming a vampire?”
“I’m right here.”
She looked down as Osgar stepped off the porch below her.
“Am I? I drank his blood. Am I turning into one of them?”
He grinned. “Didn’t he explain anything to you?” He held a bag of chips in his hand.
“We didn’t really have a lot of time to discuss the particulars last night. Just tell me. Did I agree to become like him?” Sofia’s heart nearly stopped as she held her breath waiting for the answer.
“No. It’s not that easy. I don’t know the exact steps but he’d have to drink most of you and then you drink most of him back and then, poof, you’re a vampire. Well, by the next day, anyway.” He munched a couple chips. “It’s a lot more complicated than becoming a wolf, which you’re no longer able to do.”
Complicated was good. That meant it hadn’t happened. She hadn’t accidentally missed something and condemned herself to blood cocktails for eternity.
“Not that I want to be a wolf or a vampire, for that matter, but why can’t I become a wolf?” She knelt down and crossed her arms against the cool October air.
“Once a human is bound to a vampire they can’t be made werewolf. It’s got something to do with the vampire blood. Besides, there isn’t a wolf crazy enough to try to turn a master’s mate. That’s a slow and painful death wish.”
“Okay. Thanks for the info.” She closed the window.
Her stomach growled. No more blood. Funny, she didn’t even have the slightest craving for blood, not that she’d had it last night either.
In a few hours he’d rise. He’d probably show up here, expecting her to put out, or at least put out a vein for him. He wasn’t getting another drop from her or another moment near her body.
Why should he? Just because she’d made a flip decision did not mean she would be at his beck and call for eternity. Absolutely not. She’d lay the ground rules. Yes. A few simple rules and this arrangement might not be as bad as it seemed, or at the very least it might be tolerable.
She pulled on a pair of jeans and a burgundy sweater over a gold cami, stuffed her feet into fuzz
y socks, and then laced her hiking boots. She combed her hair up into a ponytail. After a cup of tea, a peanut butter and honey sandwich, a handful of grapes, a bag of chips, and two chocolate bars she was ready to write her expectations.
First, no touching. Number two, no entering the house, her office, or any other room she was in without advance permission and an escort capable of physically restraining him. Third, no discussing the marriage with her or anyone else. Number four, no looking at her in ways that made her limbs useless. This might be the most important rule as it seemed to be the item that got her into the most trouble. It paved the way for everything else to happen. It gave him cause to touch her. Lastly, she wanted a different trainer, someone who could teach her to defend herself against him.
Dragomir had said she needed to train, so she would, but she’d do it on her own terms. It might be time to seriously consider werewolf training.
The doorbell rang.
“What is it, Osgar?” she yelled from the kitchen table.
The bell rang again. “Flowers,” a stranger called.
She glanced out the window and saw the Flowers by Judy truck parked in her driveway. A young kid stood on her porch holding a giant arrangement of roses and looking terribly uncomfortable. He stared upward, his mouth hanging open.
She sighed and opened the door to find Osgar towering over the delivery boy looking as though he might throttle the poor kid. “I didn’t order flowers.” She didn’t recognize the delivery boy either. Sofia had worked for Judy all through high school and college. She’d continued to do seasonal work with Judy and her sister Ilene up until the fire last year. Since Judy and Ilene had died, the business was sold, and Sofia hadn’t gone back to the farm.
“No ma’am. They’re from a…” The young man turned the card. “…D…Dra…Drag, something Pet…rescue. Oh, they’re from the Dragmit Pet Rescue.”
Osgar snickered.
Sofia glared.
“That’s not right? I’m sorry. It’s a weird name.” He pushed the vase at Sofia.
“I can’t wait to hear what he’s written.” Osgar reached for the card.
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