by Aubrey Ross
“You look ravishing as always. Unfortunately, this is not a social call. Where is Faelon?”
“Who is your friend?” She made an impatient gesture toward Jessie.
Jessie hissed and tossed her head.
Antonelli gasped. “Has she gone rogue?”
Until Faelon severed Natalie’s telepathic connection, Rafe had to play his part. “I decided to transform her, and it’s not going as well as I had hoped.”
“He’s expecting you.” Her eyes reflected her suspicion, but she motioned toward the house.
Rafe followed her across the foyer and down a short corridor. She pushed the library door open and nodded inside. “I’ll be upstairs if there is any way I can help.” Which meant she found Jessie physically attractive.
“Thank you.”
Jessie hissed again as they passed into the library. Faelon stood near the hearth, his gaze assessing them as they crossed the room.
Your guest is bugged. Faelon used the private mental strand they had constructed over the years. Its range was limited, but a select few could access the transmission.
I know. Please play along for a few minutes then sever Natalie’s link.
“It’s been ages, Rafael. You know you’re always welcome in my home, but what is this about?”
“I had no choice but to begin transformation. Natalie is holding a dear friend hostage.”
“Giving in to Natalie is never wise. What do you need from me?”
“I’m losing control of the transformation. Will you help me complete the process?”
Faelon slanted him a disbelieving look. “Your scent is all over this woman. Are you sure you want me to fuck her?”
“I don’t see that there’s much choice. Either we transform her together or I’ll have to destroy her.” Discover Natalie’s link as soon as you kiss her.
I kiss no one but Antonelli. I’ll lick her pussy instead.
Rafe glared at his maker. He was demanding a show of obedience. She’ll fight you like a demon.
All the more convincing, don’t you think? Faelon’s gaze swept up and down Jessie’s body and a smile curved one corner of his mouth.
This isn’t necessary and you know it.
I say it is. “I’m always willing to help out a friend.” Faelon took Jessie’s hand and pulled her toward him. “Don’t be afraid. I won’t hurt you.”
Jessie stared around her in stunned confusion. Was this really Italy? Her mind was muddled and her body weak. Moments after Rafe claimed her body, he’d helped her dress and they’d departed. He’d forced her to drink his blood. No, she’d told him to transform her. She just didn’t understand what transformation entailed. Even as he pounded into her, exquisite pleasure burst over and over again.
A warm hand closed around her icy fingers and she looked up into a stranger’s face. Wrong again. She knew this man, if only from a shared vision. “Faelon?”
“Yes, little one.” He turned her face toward the light, his bright blue eyes assessing her features. Gold-streaked brown hair had been swept straight back from his angular face. “She’s lovely. Let’s get her out of these clothes.”
“Let’s not.” She jerked her hand out of his and took a large step backward. “I think I’ll wait in the car while you talk to your buddy here.”
Rafe smiled, but his eyes remained veiled. “There’s no car to wait in and you need this more than you know.”
“I don’t need anything that requires the removal of my clothes.” She spun toward the door and collided with the closed portal. “What the…”
“You’re starting to change.” Rafe came up behind her, his voice soft and low. “This is all part of your world now, preternatural speed, having access to your senses as you never have before, and establishing bonds. Faelon is my sire, my mentor. It is customary that you bond with him.”
She braced her hands against the door. “I have to drink his blood?”
“That is a privilege you have yet to earn,” Faelon snapped.
“Faelon was never transformed,” Rafe patiently reminded her. “I explained this to you.”
“He can drink my blood without taking my clothes off.”
Rafe turned her around, pressing his hands against the door on either side of her shoulders. “Yes, he can. He doesn’t want your blood. You’re not yet transformed. It would pollute his blood to drink yours. He wants to lick your pussy and you’re going to let him.” She tried to duck under his arm, but he caught her around the waist. “Stop it! You wanted this. You asked me to transform you. Obedience is part of the vampire code.”
She threw her head back hard against his chest and clawed at his arms. “I won’t!”
Faelon approached, his eyes morphing from blue to gold in an instant. “You have much to learn, fledgling.” He shot Rafe a furious glance. “Bring her.”
Rafe tossed her over his shoulder and trapped her legs against his chest. “You could have spared yourself a forceful initiation. All he was going to do was taste you.”
Clutching the back of his shirt with both hands, Jessie reached for his mind. Silence. She trembled. He’d shut himself off from her completely. It was her nature to fight. She’d been fighting her entire life. But Faelon didn’t know that. He only knew a subordinate was being disrespectful.
They descended a narrow staircase. Jessie’s heart sank with each step. Would Faelon whip her, rape her? She’d infuriated an organic vampire and disgraced Rafe in the process.
“The link is severed. Not even my guards are aware of what goes on in here.”
Rafe lowered her feet to the floor. His arms lingered around her waist as she turned around.
“I’ve never had a taste for rape,” Faelon informed her. His gaze shifted to Rafe. “Now tell me what the hell is going on.”
“Natalie is holding a close friend of Jessie’s hostage, but the situation is even more bizarre than that. She appeared to Jessie and demanded that Jessie convince me to transform her.”
They stood in a wine cellar, the racks empty and covered with cobwebs. She’d imagined a torture chamber or a dungeon at least.
Faelon chuckled. “My playroom is upstairs and I only whip my partners when they insist. I much prefer pleasure to pain.”
“I am so lost.” Jessie rubbed her temples.
“Natalie connected with your mind as soon as we left the shield surrounding my house. Faelon just severed the link.” She felt Rafe ease into her mind and the memory of her transformation disintegrated.
“That wasn’t real?” Relief and disappointment combined in a dizzying rush. She’d felt his big body pinning her to the bed, his fangs, and the demanding fullness of his cock slamming into her over and over. She raised her fingers to her lips. The taste of his blood still lingered in her mouth.
“Natalie needed to believe it was real, so you had to believe it was real.” His voice was soft and apologetic.
“I don’t know how you’ve survived all these years.” Faelon scowled. “I should have taught you to be a vampire before Antonelli expanded your carnality. You’re a predator.”
“I learned your lessons as well as I learned Antonelli’s. We have different ideas of what it means to be a predator.”
Faelon approached Jessie, his gaze had returned to blue. “Why did you want him to transform you?”
Jessie squared her shoulders and looked him in the eye. “I’m not above accepting assistance, but no one fights my battles for me. I’m helpless as a human and Dalton means a lot to me.”
“Is he your lover?” He shot Rafe a challenging look.
“Once, a long time ago.” She rushed on before he could distract her. “Our affair was a three-week mistake. I don’t regret the time I spent with him, but I have no desire to…that’s all beside the point.”
“What is the point? Why does Dalton mean so much to you?”
“Others depended on me and lost their lives because of it. I will never fail again if there’s any alternative. I’m not sure what Natalie wants w
ith me, but I know I’ll be useless if I’m still human.”
He studied her for a long, silent minute and she studied him. When he wasn’t scowling, Faelon was almost handsome.
“What did your vision reveal to you?”
Rafe’s question drew her attention away from Faelon. “Which vision?”
“Right before the ambush?”
“I saw a deserted warehouse and the person I believed would be the next victim. It took me four exasperating hours to convince the team leader to move. When he did…it was as if they knew we were coming.”
Rafe filled Faelon in on the task force as well as the murder-suicides. “This all began two years ago,” he concluded.
Jessie eased away from Rafe, so she could see both men. “Why is this important now?”
“I think Natalie has been playing with you a lot longer than I first realized,” Rafe said.
“You think she had something to do…the rapist was male, there’s no doubt about that.”
“Natalie and Etoro had two children,” Faelon began. “The first was born while Etoro was still in the process of transforming. No one was surprised that it was human.”
This obviously had something to do with the rapist or he wouldn’t have brought it up. “And the second?”
“The second was born vampire. They named him Kyrel and he was a surprisingly charming boy until he went through the vampire equivalent of puberty. He became sexually aggressive and—vicious. When he refused to appear before the council, they sent assassins after him.”
“You think Kyrel was the rapist? Wait a minute. There was a man killed during the shootout who they linked to many of the crimes.”
“Many but not all?” Faelon asked, and Jessie nodded. “He was likely one of Natalie’s slaves set up to take the fall. One of the assassins claims to have killed Kyrel, but he failed to produce a body. He only brought back a heart.”
“The council couldn’t tell if it was Kyrel’s heart?”
“We had no reason to doubt the assassin’s report, but the physical examination was inconclusive.”
Without a sample of Kyrel’s DNA to compare the heart to, Jessie wasn’t sure human forensics could have drawn a conclusion either. She rubbed her temples and closed her eyes. Dread formed a tight knot in the pit of her stomach. “What does this have to do with the suicides and why does Natalie want me transformed?”
“Natalie was fiercely protective of Kyrel. If you participated in his destruction, however indirectly, she would consider you her enemy.” Faelon gazed past her, his expression contemplative.
“She was unable to protect Kyrel, so she wants us to feel her pain,” Rafe elaborated. “You won’t be able to protect Dalton and I won’t be able to protect you.”
“That’s unacceptable,” Jessie flared. “I’m not going to surrender without a fight. We have to find them. We have to—” Both men were smiling, so Jessie didn’t bother completing the sentence.
“I was explaining her perspective, not endorsing her plan.” Rafe wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her against his side.
“I think you were on the right track.” Faelon’s paced the small room as he considered their options. “The one thing she can’t be expecting is that you’ll actually transform Jessie.”
“Why is that so improbable?”
“I’ve transformed two people in my life. The first didn’t survive the change and the second nearly turned rogue. If it weren’t for a stubborn Dark Elf named Brenna Skyler, I would have lost Phillip too.”
“Does Natalie know about this?”
“Of course,” Faelon replied. “She’s the one who slit Phillip’s throat and left Rafe no choice but to transform him.”
“She told me if I didn’t transform him, she would.” Rafe shuddered, obviously remembering events better left forgotten.
“When a vampire transforms someone, they become mentor, friend and parent for the next hundred years.” Faelon drew her attention away from Rafe, allowing him time to regain his composure. “The Covenant makes them responsible for whatever their fledglings do.”
“That’s why we’re damn careful who we transform,” Rafe added.
“How do we find her? How do we destroy her before she causes any more harm?”
“We won’t have to find her,” Faelon predicted, “she’ll find you. Natalie has never been patient. As I see it, these are our options. We can transform you. Rafe is uncomfortable with this, but I’ve successfully transformed many.
“We can each feed you a small amount of our blood. This will trigger a temporary change in your physiology. You will take on characteristics of both Rafe and me until your body metabolizes the blood.”
“Sort of like what he did before we left?”
Faelon grinned. “Blood is more effective, but if you’re offering to suck my cock, I’d be happy to accept.”
Rafe glared in silent warning. “It worked once, but Natalie is not a fool. I can almost bet she’s figure out it was a ruse by now. She knows me too well.”
“Why does she hate you so much?” She looked up into Rafe’s dark eyes, but Faelon answered.
“Natalie is my biological offspring. One of only three I’ve created in my long life. I claimed an organic vampire as my mate because it was my duty to our kind. Her name was Cecilia and she detested me, but we were both organic vampires and times were very different then. I came to her each night until she became pregnant then I left her here and never returned until she was destroyed by—”
“That’s horrible.” Apparently dysfunctional families weren’t limited to the human race.
“It was a mercy for both of us. I reluctantly submitted to the obligations of the Covenant while Cecilia felt violated each time I touched her. If Natalie had been male, I would have taken the child with me, but girls belong with their mothers.” He paused for a moment as memories clouded his gaze. “After Natalie’s birth, we simply lived separate lives. I made sure they had everything they needed and I didn’t insult Cecilia with my presence. I visited Natalie as often as Cecilia would allow and with each visit it became more apparent that Cecilia was poisoning the girl’s mind against me, making her hate me as Cecilia hated me. Natalie felt as if I’d deserted her and chosen ‘my whore’ over my family.”
Children often suffered from the choices their parents made. “I’m sorry your daughter hates you, but what does this have to do with Rafe?”
“Natalie was perhaps sixteen and Cecilia began pressuring me to arrange a marriage for her, an organic vampire, of course. Rafe was not organic, but I loved him like a brother, so I suggested the match to Cecilia.”
He was already fucking your mistress. Why not give him your daughter too?
Faelon laughed and Jessie shielded her face with one hand. She kept forgetting vampires could read minds.
“It sounds odd now, but it made sense at the time.”
“Not to me,” Rafe objected. “I’d watched Natalie grow up. She was the closest thing I’d ever had to a sister.”
“I was hoping to restore peace to my family through the union of Rafe and Natalie,” Faelon said. “I mentioned it to Natalie first. I knew the only way I would gain Cecilia’s cooperation was through Natalie. She was enamored of Rafe and had been for some time. The prospect of being his mate thrilled her.”
“I had no idea Faelon had already spoken with Natalie when he proposed the union to Cecilia,” Rafe interjected. “I was there at the time and I can’t honestly say who objected more profusely, Cecilia or me.”
Jessie could almost picture the scene. Natalie must have been humiliated and heartbroken at Rafe’s rejection and her mother’s refusal to consider the match. “How did Natalie end up with Etoro?”
Faelon sighed and sadly shook his head. “After Rafe and I refused to transform Etoro, he found his way to Cecilia. Cecilia thought she was being clever when she transformed Etoro to spite me, but he was in control the entire time. He played the role of humble student while he ruthlessly seduce
d Natalie. She was upset by Rafe’s rejection and susceptible to an older, sexually experienced male. When Cecilia threw him out, he took Natalie with him. Etoro and Natalie have been together off and on ever since. We suspect Etoro was emotionally, perhaps physically abusive until Natalie gained enough strength to stop him.”
“She blames you for deserting her and Rafe for rejecting her.”
“That about sums it up,” Rafe agreed.
“If she’s more powerful than Etoro now, why does she stay with him?”
“He impregnated her twice,” Faelon reminded her. “You must not underestimate the significance of that.”
“Can vampires soul bond with more than one person?” she persisted. “Isn’t Antonelli your soul-bonded mate?”
Faelon looked at Rafe and smiled. “Is she always like this?”
“She swears her specialty is investigation. I think it’s interrogation.”
“Etoro gorged himself on blood and violent energy,” Faelon said. “Then at the end of his first century as a vampire, he returned to challenge Cecilia as the Covenant allows.”
“The Covenant allows vampires to kill the one who transformed them?”
Faelon’s only response was an impatient nod, so Rafe elaborated. “The challenge was instigated for several reasons. First, if a human is transformed against their will, destroying their maker reverses the transformation.”
“But only after a hundred years?” She pursed her lips and shook her head. “What good is that? Everyone you know and love would be dead. The entire world would have changed.”
“It takes that long for the transformation to stabilize.” He slipped his hand under her hair and gently rubbed the tension building at the nape of her neck. The simple touch relaxed her neck, her shoulders and the upper portion of her back. He could make a fortune as a masseur. “Few who are truly unhappy survive that long.”
Unwilling to deprive herself of Rafe’s touch, she shifted her gaze toward Faelon as he spoke. “Rafe could have challenged you after his first hundred years?”
“He could have tried.” Faelon grinned.