Vampire Heir (Scorned by Blood Book 1)

by Heather Renee

  “Right! I can’t believe the newbie is scared of bunnies. A vampire afraid of little fluffy animals. He’s going to fit right in here,” the other guy said as they disappeared into a different section of the house.

  “Our vampires like to torment…but not the way you think. We just saved another newborn from the hands of the vampires you hunt. This one is only sixteen. The youngest we’ve found. He’s a good kid, and we’re going to take care of him, because that’s what we do here.”

  I put the stake away, my mind reeling. Those vampires were more like frat guys playing games on the new pledges. I wanted to see them as monsters, but Rachel was making it harder than I liked.

  My foundations were being rocked and spinning inside my head. Not knowing what to believe anymore wasn’t helping. If there were good vampires like there were shifters and witches, then what did that mean for me as a hunter? The fact that I didn’t have the answer grated on my nerves.

  “Great. Let’s keep going then,” I said with more snark than she deserved.

  Rachel grinned at me. “I’ll wear you down. We’re meant to be friends, and I’m going to make sure that happens.”

  “Please don’t,” I deadpanned.

  Rachel reached for me, then thought better of it. “Baby steps. I can handle that. I’ve got all the time in the world.”

  Without any other distractions, we continued through the house. There were old paintings hanging on the walls, but no photos, which I thought was weird. I half-expected a shrine of some kind, yet there was nothing of the sort.

  Rachel rattled off random facts about where some of the art came from, but I had no interest. Not until she said we’d arrived at Maciah’s office.

  The door was cracked open, and she pushed the wooden door further into the room before entering ahead of me.

  I paused, reminding myself of who I was.

  I was Amersyn Holt. Vampire hunter. My mission was to end the lives of those who stole the three most important people in the world to me. Nothing else mattered. Not even these odd-acting vampires or their problems.

  I was there for information, not to make friends or sympathize with them.

  A means to an end. Nothing more, nothing less.

  While walking into the room, I did a quick scan, checking for an ambush before I focused on the details. The walls were a sage green, and the ceiling was more of an eggshell color, making the office appear lighter than it was with the wood shutters covering the windows.

  There were recessed lights above us. Maciah currently stood behind a large wooden desk. The vampire I’d stabbed with a blade the other night sat on a brown leather couch with his legs crossed, glaring at me.

  Rachel had stayed by the door, closing it behind me once I fully entered the room.

  She looped her arm through mine, causing me to flinch at her closeness. “I told you I would win her over.”

  Zeke barked out a laugh. “She looks like she wants to poke both of your eyes out.”

  “For now,” Rachel replied confidently. She was going to be a hard one to shake.

  Maciah stepped around his desk. He was wearing light-grey slacks and another white dress shirt, but this time the sleeves were rolled halfway up his forearms, revealing muscles I had no business noticing.

  “Amersyn.” He greeted me as if we were well-known acquaintances.

  “Vampire,” I said in return. It would be better if I didn’t use their names. Names were too personable.

  “So, have you decided to take my offer?” he asked, sticking his hands in his pockets and drawing my attention south.

  Damn, this was not good.

  I met his eyes. “You mean the offer to kill your creator because you’re unable to? I’m considering it, but I wanted to hear it from you. You can’t kill Silas. You need me.”

  Fiery eyes narrowed on Rachel who held her left hand up. “She was going to find out soon enough. I didn’t tell her anything else about you. Just me. And she’s here, so I don’t want any crap over doing what needed to be done.”

  “Out. Both of you,” Maciah said to his vampires as he casually leaned against the front of his desk.

  Zeke eyed me but addressed his leader. “Are you sure?”

  Maciah didn’t bother to look or answer the other vampire. A second later, Zeke was off the couch and headed out the door. Rachel winked at me, then whispered, “Give him hell.”

  Who were these people?

  Maciah sighed as the door closed once more, leaving me alone with the vampire.

  “You lied to me,” I said first.

  “No, I omitted. Completely different. I told you, I don’t lie.”

  I didn’t believe that for one moment. “Right. Glad to know we’re making up our own rules.”

  I crossed my arms and leaned against the wall near the door. I didn’t want to get any closer to the vampire than necessary.

  “Do I bother you?” he asked, seeming amused.

  “Yes, you do.”

  He tilted his head. “How so?”

  I opened my mouth to name off a laundry list of things, but nothing came out as quickly as I wanted. “You’re a vampire and reek of blood that doesn’t belong to you,” I finally said, though that last bit was a lie. He didn’t smell of decaying flesh like most vampires. The citrus scent coming from him was tangy and alluring and overpowering. I didn’t know why and didn’t want to care, either. I couldn’t care about anything when it came to this man.

  “It infuriates you that I’m not the monster you wanted me to be,” he stated, seeming so sure he knew my thoughts even though he didn't know me.

  Yet, he wasn’t wrong.

  “You still drink blood. You might save other vampires, but you’re still a bloodsucker,” I spat, trying to find the anger I’d need to keep my resolve from softening toward this group of people.

  “I don’t drink from the tap, Amersyn. Any blood consumed by me and my vampires is purely donated by well-compensated donors and stored in bags, not fresh bodies.” Maciah stepped closer to me, inhaling.

  “You do that often,” I said, holding my ground.

  “Do what, Amersyn?” He took another step.

  “Smell the air. Why?”

  “Only around you,” he replied without answering me.

  “Why?” I repeated.

  He was within inches of me, and I was trapped against the wall. My fingers itched to reach for a stake. I could end him. He was alone, and I was armed. It would be so simple.

  “Because your blood calls to me like nothing I have ever scented in my nearly eight decades of life.” Maciah leaned in closer, his breath warm against my skin.

  My body trembled, but not from fear.

  Bloodsucker. Bloodsucker. Bloodsucker, I repeated in my mind, trying to stop picturing him naked.

  His palms pressed against the wall behind me. “I told you, I don’t lie, Amersyn. The truth will always leave my lips. It is now and it was back at your condo.”

  That last bit grated on my nerves, killing the growing tension between us. “Just because you believe something is true doesn’t make it so.”

  He grinned, taking a step back. “You’re right, but the same applies to you as well. Maybe we’ll both learn something in this little partnership of ours.”

  “You said my blood calls to you. What does that mean?” I asked.

  He chuckled and turned away from me. “You’re not ready for that answer, Amersyn.”

  Maciah’s words made me see red. He acted so sure of himself and like he knew me better than I knew myself. The cocky prick was driving me mad with mixed emotions. I might not kill him, but I had no problem showing him what I was capable of.

  I shoved off the wall, launching myself at him, pulling out a dagger from my boot as I did so. He turned just as I swiped at his ribs, ruining another one of his precious dress shirts he seemed so fond of.

  Maciah’s fingers wrapped around my wrist, squeezing. “Let go,” he demanded.

  “Not a damn chance.” I bro
ught my knee up, but he blocked my move and I hit his thigh instead of his junk where I was aiming.

  “You have no idea what I’ve been through. There isn’t anything I can’t handle,” I seethed, yanking my arm from his hold and taking another swing at him.

  Maciah blurred, appearing behind me and pulling both of my hands behind my back. “The truth is always more than any of us can handle. I know from experience,” he whispered against my ear, sending chills down my spine.

  I threw my head backward, finally catching him off guard, and cracked his nose. He let go of me, but only for a moment.

  “That was rude,” he hissed, pressing me against the wall behind us.

  The dagger was still in my hand between us. One move and I could stab him. His eyes stared down at me, daring me to do so.

  “What are you waiting for, Amersyn?” he taunted.

  When I didn’t move or respond, he took the blade from my grip and threw it behind us. I had no idea where it landed, and I no longer cared. Maciah’s breath mixed with my own as he inched closer and closer to me.

  “Do you really believe you can handle the truth?” he murmured, his fingers brushing strands of my hair away from my face before he gripped my neck possessively.

  “I do,” I nearly panted like a fool.

  “Then, I won’t keep it from you.” He paused and inhaled once more before speaking again. “You are a vampire, Amersyn. The daughter of the last original vampire and a royal heir. One that I am bound to protect.”

  8

  Maciah’s statement had seared my heart like a declaration of truth, causing me to flinch back as if he’d slapped me instead of whispered words of certainty and protection.

  “I think you drank some tainted blood. I am none of those things, I assure you,” I said, trying not to be the bitch I really wanted to be. Normally, that was my way of deflecting, but trying to avoid this subject was clearly not going to happen.

  Maciah reached for me again, but I sidestepped him. There was no way I was going to be able to think clearly if I allowed that.

  “I’ve been tracking you for days. I scented your blood two weeks ago. I don’t know who you fought or how you were injured, but I was near enough to smell you. I haven’t been able to stop ever since.”

  No. No. No. This could not be happening.

  Maciah continued, “I’ve been spending every night searching Portland and learning whatever I could about you. When I saw those vampires ready to kill you, I nearly lost my mind. I could smell your blood again, and I knew you were hurt. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Then, I saw what you were capable of, and I confirmed what I’d known from the start, but tried not to believe. It was clear to me that you weren’t a woman needing saving, and if I was going to get close to you, I had to find a reason for you to trust me.”

  “So, you used my need to avenge my family?” I said with little emotion. I was riding a fine line between wanting to murder him and finding his attempts to win me over endearing. The former was winning.

  “Listen, Amersyn. I know this seems wrong and not at all possible, but I am telling you the truth.”

  Damn it, why did I want to believe him so badly?

  “Your mother is your mother, and before she met your father, she fell in love with Darius Saint. The last living original vampire. The only of our kind that was capable of creating natural-born vampires. For years, he remained elusive. Moving from place to place. He was stronger than us all, but he merely wanted to be left alone. Then, he met your mother. He fell in love—”

  I cut him off. “Vampires don’t love. They murder and steal and harm.”

  I expected Maciah to snarl at me, but instead, he showed me pity. Something I didn’t want from him. Not one effing bit.

  “Not all of us chose this life, Amersyn. Darius was born into a world that he wanted nothing to do with. His brothers were killed off one by one, and he just wanted to know peace. In the end, he did with your mother. Then, she became pregnant and everything changed. The moment he found out you were going to exist, he knew his time was over.”

  I began to pace as I tried to put together Maciah’s asinine story. It couldn’t possibly be the truth, but at the same time, in my heart, I couldn’t continue to deny his words. My mother had always said the world was a darker place than many knew. That we had to be prepared for anything. I’d always thought she meant another world war or an epidemic. Not anything straight out of a fantasy novel.

  A part of me was hurt that she’d never told me the truth, or at least that the monsters were real. Then again, maybe she’d just never had the chance. Unfortunately, I’d never know for sure.

  “Do you want me to continue?” Maciah asked.

  I glared at him, stopping in front of his desk. This would be so much easier if he was an asshole, but no. He was being understanding and nice, and that infuriated me to no end.

  I waved a hand. “Yeah, whatever.”

  He fought a smile, moving to his desk and searching for something while he spoke. “Before Darius died, he called a favor in to a witch. He asked her to conceal who you were for as long as you were mortal.”

  “So, I’m not a vampire?” I interrupted.

  Maciah barely glanced at me. “I didn’t say that. I called you mortal. There’s a difference between that and being human.” He continued to search through his desk, and I went back to pacing.

  “What was this witch’s name?” I asked.

  He kneeled on the ground, checking a filing cabinet. “I don’t know. I only have pieces of the story that I’ve put together over the years.”

  “Why? Why did you care what Darius did?” I asked.

  Maciah ignored me, so I went around his desk. Just as I was about to jerk him up by the back of his head, he glanced up at me, a gleam in his eyes.

  “Darius saved me once, and I made him a promise. I didn’t know about you then. I didn’t know about you, in particular, until I first smelled your blood. Everyone had always thought Darius had a son, and if anyone figures out that your brother wasn’t the heir, you’re not going to be safe.”

  A vice tightened around my chest, pressing in on me until I could barely breathe. “Are you saying my baby brother died because someone thought he was me?”

  The world around me was coming undone. I couldn’t… No, this couldn’t be true. I couldn’t be responsible for their deaths.

  Suddenly, Maciah’s hands were cupping my face gently, yet firm enough to keep me from collapsing onto the floor like I wanted. “This is not your fault, Amersyn. I don’t know how they found your mother or how anyone knew about you—”

  “You knew about me,” I pointed out.

  “Because I was your father’s friend, but even then, I knew very little until recently.” He moved one hand to my waist and reached for a book he’d set on his desk with the other. “This will tell you more about who you are and what you come from. Not all of it is pretty, but each of us can choose to be better. Darius proved that. He was a good man. You should be proud he was your father.”

  I was supposed to be proud that a vampire was my father? How in the world was I supposed to do that?

  Maciah pushed the book toward me, but I couldn’t stand the thought of touching the leather-bound pages. I didn’t want to be a monster. I couldn’t be the one thing I hated most in this world.

  Panic was clawing its way through me. I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry. I wanted to kill something.

  “How do you know my brother wasn’t the heir? Why do you believe it’s me?” I asked.

  “Because I am drawn to you, Amersyn. There is magic in your blood. Magic that can’t exist in a human. Your scent brought me to my knees the first time I sensed you. Nothing in my many years has ever done that.”

  Damn it, why did I find that so hot? Maciah was staring down at me with a softness in his muddy-red eyes I’d never seen in the vampires I’d crossed paths with.

  His fingers stroked my ribs where he still held me, and we were only inch
es apart. My world had been shattered, and his touch was the only thing keeping me from falling apart.

  Maciah’s eyes roamed over my face as our bodies gravitated closer. I could barely breathe as I tried to figure out what was happening. He said he was bound to protect me, that the draw to me brought him to his knees.

  I wanted to call him a liar. I wanted to jab a stake through his heart and pretend our conversation never happened. More than all that, I wanted his lips on mine.

  Maciah set the book back down, and his hand reached around until his fingers disappeared into my thick ebony locks. “You need to quit looking at me like that, Amersyn.”

  “Or what?” I breathed.

  His hold on my hair increased. “Or this.”

  Maciah closed the distance between us. His lips pressed against mine, surprisingly soft and warm, and not what I expected. There was a hesitation on his part, waiting for me to push him away, but I couldn’t. I didn’t want to. That alone should have made me run in the opposite direction. Instead, I pressed closer to the vampire and threw all rational thought out the window.

  A rumble built in his chest as I opened my mouth to him, and the hard muscles of his tall frame warmed every inch of my body. I dug my nails into his shoulders, tearing his dress shirt with the force of my grip.

  Our teeth and tongues clashed in a dance I never wanted to end. A moan slipped from my lips, and Maciah’s lips traveled down my neck. My head tilted to the side, allowing him more room to devour me, and then…I froze.

  The sharp edges of Maciah’s teeth scraped against my skin. An action that I wouldn’t have thought twice about if he was human, but he wasn’t. The man was a vampire. A blood-drinking creature of the night.

  I was a hunter. Someone who’d sworn to kill every vampire she could.

  Okay, maybe that wasn’t exactly what I was anymore. I mostly believed Maciah wasn’t lying to me, but that didn’t mean the foundations of who I was at heart had changed.

  They couldn’t have. I still had vampires to kill. I had a family to avenge and other humans to protect.

  I’d given in to the desire Maciah had evoked within me. I’d been weak, and I couldn’t allow it to happen again.