Time to play. Maybe …
I pulled out a pair of slip-on sandals and headed to the sink to brush my teeth and my hair. Another note was stuck to the mirror—be right back, went to Rose’s to get you some breakfast. Looking forward to playing.
“Awfully confidant my answer will be yes, aren’t you?” I huffed and ran a comb through my wet hair before braiding it into a long tail. I hadn’t actually agreed to more than considering it, but Erick was right. He knew my answer would be yes, because he knew I trusted him completely.
“Yes to what, Bailey? Spreading your legs for that undead thing again? Are you letting it drink from you?”
I looked up into the mirror, dropped the comb, and froze. Kevin stared back at me in the reflection. I whirled around to face him and felt sick. My stomach crawled into my throat.
“H-how?”
“You’re not as smart as you think, bitch.”
“I am, you just have a badge you use unfairly.” Where had that come from?
A cruel smile twisted his face. “You think since you hooked up with an Other, I can’t get to you.” He made a clucking sound with his tongue and shook his head. “I have to admit, your coming all the way out here to nowhere did slow me down just a hair.”
I swallowed and took another step backward. “Erick!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. “Help!”
Kevin rushed and I dodged around the tub in the center of the bathroom, but he jumped it and tackled me to the floor. Air rushed from my lungs as his weight pushed down on me. I kicked and screamed. Erick wouldn’t let him take me. He would protect me.
“Stupid, bitch. He’s not coming to help you, Bailey. I made sure he met up with the Djinn that stalked you to the bus station. Apparently you are a popular commodity. Plus, we had a common enemy.”
Erick! No. No. No. Kevin had always hated Others. Why would he work with a Djinn? Why would Darius work with him? How had they even met?
“No, please!” I screamed again, landing a good kick to his gut. But, he returned the hit with one to my ribs and I heard something crack. Pain like a hot poker shot through my chest.
He straddled me on the floor, pinning me down. At six-feet, heavily-muscled, and angry, I didn’t have a shot in hell, but I wouldn’t stop fighting. I never gave up on anything. I knew I wasn’t getting out of this, though.
Another punch struck the other side of my torso, pushing an agonizing wail from my chest. Another shot of agony ripped through my chest. Breathing was difficult and the familiar taste of blood reappeared in my mouth.
“Even the Djinn was stupid. He thought I’d share you with him, but I didn’t come all this way to let someone else have you.” He grabbed my wrists and held them above my head with one hand as he squeezed and pinched my breasts.
“He’ll k-kill you.” I coughed, struggling to draw a breath. Of course if the Djinn didn’t kill him, Erick would.
Kevin’s brown eyes were dark, reflecting what I could only imagine were the depths of hell itself. My heart skipped a beat. He’d come to kill me this time. Gone was his desire to take me and lock me away.
“By the time he realizes I decided against our arrangement, I’ll be gone and your vampire won’t know I was ever here.”
Arrogance and evil wrapped into one. I couldn’t believe he would consider double-crossing a Djinn, not that I was going to complain. I didn’t want to see Darius any more than I wanted to see Kevin.
“He will kn-know and he’ll hunt you until he finds you.” My anger helped me growl out the words. He was wrong if he thought he could get away with this. I had vampires, dragons, and all kinds of Others who would avenge my death. I knew they would. He wouldn’t survive for long after I was dead. That knowledge gave me some satisfaction.
His fist connected with my ribcage again and I gasped as the small amount of air I’d been pulling in was knocked from my struggling lungs. I twisted on the floor, opening my mouth to scream and was unable to produce any sound.
I couldn’t breathe. My lungs refused to expand.
My pulse roared in my ears and all my senses reeled from the fiery pain radiating out from the ribs he’d broken and rammed into my lungs. He had let go of my wrists, but I didn’t have the strength left to raise them from the floor.
I saw a flash of metal a second before I felt it draw across my neck. Warmth seeped from my body and my blurring vision faded to darkness.
The pain was fading, but so was my life.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Erick’s voice rumbled next to me.
How was that possible? Hadn’t I died? Didn’t Kevin cut my throat?
I opened my eyes and winced at the light flooding into the far end of the room. The smell of peppermint on Erick’s breath was pleasant, but more overwhelming than usual. I could also smell Calliope’s spicy perfume and Rose’s honey oatmeal shampoo, but I didn’t see them in the room. They had been there, though. Maybe a few hours ago.
“Bailey.” Erick laid a hand on my wrist and I growled.
Growled? What the hell? What was wrong with me?!
I sat up. The urge to eat was overwhelming. “I’m starving,” I croaked, my voice hoarse and cracking. I buried my face in my hands. My head felt like it was about to split in half.
“Here.”
Looking between my fingers, I watched Erick pick up a cup from the nightstand and offer it to me. I took the cup and scrunched my face. It was filled with a dark red, thick liquid.
Oh, God! No!
“I’m … I died. H-he killed me!”
“He paid for what he did to you, Bailey. I tore his beating heart from his chest.” Erick knelt at the side of the bed, his eyes glassy. “Forgive me for failing you, min kjaereste.”
I did.
It wasn’t his fault.
Even the Oracle had said he couldn’t change my fate. Apparently, she was correct. Score one for the crotchety, old know-it-all.
“I couldn’t get to you in time. I tried, Bailey. You must believe I tried. Darius was working with him. I heard you calling and he kept me from you.” His anger and guilt showed in his red-rimmed eyes.
Not quite ready to down blood like water, I set the glass back on the nightstand and reached for him, pulling him close. He crawled into the bed next to me and nuzzled my neck before kissing my lips softly. We settled back against the pillows and I snuggled into the crook of his shoulder. He smelled sweet and the scent of his blood made my mouth water. I felt my fangs lengthen in my mouth and I shook my head, trying to clear away the sensation.
“I know, Erick. He told me Darius was keeping you away. I told him you’d kill him.”
“I did.” He buried his face in my hair and took a deep breath. “Gods, Bailey. It’d been so many hours since you had my blood. There was no guarantee you would turn.”
“I’m here.” I wasn’t sure exactly what it meant to be what I was, but if I could survive everything I did when I was human, I could survive being an Other, too.
We lay quietly for a while. I don’t know how long. He let me have the time I needed to process.
***
Kevin had killed me.
I was a vampire.
All my running had been for nothing … and yet, I was here in this little town called Sanctuary, wrapped in the arms of the strongest, kindest man, who would go to the ends of the earth to protect and care for me. The Oracle said I’d been on a path to them for a long time. That my ancestors had magick in their blood.
I wasn’t sure I believed in fate, but the stars had truly aligned for me to end up where I was right now.
An unfamiliar pain surged from a place deep inside.
Blood. I couldn’t deny the craving any longer.
I pushed against Erick’s chest and sat up again. “I think I need that cup after all.”
He sat up next to me and handed me the glass.
I took a small sip, expecting it to be terrible. Instead, it was sweet and I gulped it down, wishing there was more. Running my tongue across my teet
h, I paused, surprised to find fangs. I shouldn’t have been surprised. I’d felt them descend earlier. I knew I was a vampire and vampires had fangs. But it still brought tears to my eyes. Fear of the unknown. I knew how to survive as a human. What was the world going to be like as a vampire?
“What’s going to happen to me?”
“You will stay with me in Sanctuary … if you choose.”
“I have a choice?” Wouldn’t Rose and the Sisters have a bit to say about me leaving? That Arlea woman had seemed quite confident I was supposed to be part of their little system.
“Yes. But, taking on the role of Protector is not something you should agree to lightly. This is a cause we have been fighting for millennia.”
“Where would I go?”
“Anywhere you wanted to go. I would make sure you had anything you could ever want.”
“You would do that? Go against your friends? Go against the Oracle? You would let me leave?”
“I don’t want you to go, Bailey. But I would let you, if that is what would make you happy.” His eyes were focused on the bedding, refusing to make contact with my gaze.
“What about Darius? He’ll keep coming back.”
“One step at a time, kjaere.” He drew his hand over mine and finally looked up at me. “There is no hurry.”
It was so much to consider.
I stared at the rays of sunlight across the room, creating a pattern of light on the wall. It seemed brighter than usual and I squinted.
“I’ll burn in the sun, won’t I?”
“Yes, unless you accept the role as a Protector and Rose enchants your tattoo. There are witches that can cast sun protection charms as well, but they are hard to find.”
What was there to think about? I had no intention of leaving Erick or Sanctuary. This was my home.
I jumped from the bed, just trying to get up, and landed near the doorway. “Holy crap!”
Erick chuckled. “Think slow. You can move much faster now, and your strength is fifty times what the average human possesses.” He stood and walked toward me, his voice calm and sexy as hell. “Move deliberately. Think about where your foot needs to go before you lift it. Every cell in your body is perfectly attuned to your every desire and responds in turn.”
I took a few more steps, carefully making my way down the flight of stairs to the entryway, but a large swath of sunlight from the living room blocked me from going any further.
“Wait here. I’ll pull the drapes.” He went ahead, and soon the apartment was dimmed and sunlight was nowhere to be seen. He flipped on a few ceiling lights, though I found I could see perfectly in the shadows, and motioned for me to follow him to the kitchen.
I sat carefully in one of the polished, white leather barstools, worried that if I moved faster than the speed of a turtle, I might just break his furniture.
He opened the fridge and pulled out a blood bag. “Compliments of Raven and Maven. They got several cases off a donation van over in Fort Worth for you. Human blood will help ease you into your transition,” he said, putting it on the counter in front of me. He pulled a couple of glasses from the cabinet to his left and then emptied the contents of the bag into both. “Cheers.”
“Several cases?”
“You will need a lot at first. After a while, the hunger will fade to a more manageable level.”
Picking up a glass, I took another sip and paused. It was different than the first glass. This blood was thinner, lighter, and almost had a fruity taste to it.
“Whose was in the glass upstairs?”
“Mine.”
I set the glass down and stared at him while he downed his. “Why would you give me your blood?”
“The only way a vampire can complete the change is to drink the blood of their sire. If you had not, you would have died … painfully.”
“Oh.” Not the answer I was expecting, but then, this was all very new. Who was I to argue with how vampires were made? “I didn’t know blood could taste so different. What did mine taste like?” The question popped out before I could stop it.
“Kjaere, your blood was like the finest, sweet, red wine. Thick and strong, with a healthy dose of sugar.” He closed his eyes and smiled, as if reliving the memory of tasting me.
Strangely, it made me feel good to know he enjoyed my blood. Almost proud that I was that desirable. “I guess my destiny wasn’t so easy to get away from after all.”
“I’m sorry this happened to you, Bailey. If there was anything—”
“It wasn’t your fault I died, Erick.”
“No, but if it hadn’t been for your previous injury … I would have lost you. It’s selfish, I know. Being semi-immortal is a hard life, and though I am happy to share it with you, there are things you can no longer have. I grieve that your choice was taken away.”
“I’ll miss food.” My first thought was Rose’s café. I hadn’t eaten so well in years. I tried to lighten the mood and smile a little.
He frowned. “Food is negligible. And you can still eat, if you wish. But children,” he said, taking another swig from him glass. “And family.”
I sipped on the sweet liquid and considered his words. “Kevin stole my ability to have children years ago. I made peace with that already. My parents died when I was a teenager and I have no living relatives that I’m aware of. You …” I gestured to the window. “You and this town are all I know. Arlea is the only person I’ve ever met that’d heard of my family name. I still think I’m probably the last D’Roth on the planet. But maybe not.”
He was silent, staring so determinedly at his glass. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?” I slipped from my chair and moved to stand next to him. “For being glad I’m still here and kind-of alive? You only met me a few days ago. You can’t possibly feel responsible for my life before that.”
“I can. They should have sent us looking for you sooner. We could have protected you.”
“From life?” I leaned my head against his chest and sighed as he slipped his arm around me and squeezed. “I’ve had a shitty few years, but my entire life wasn’t bad, Erick. I loved my parents and the time I had with them before they died. Granted, I could’ve skipped the foster system and the year with Kevin. I wouldn’t mind having those memories permanently lasered from my brain, but like you said—I’m a fighter.”
“A warrior,” he whispered. “And I can help you research your family, kjaere. Perhaps you have relatives somewhere.”
Turning to face him, I wrapped both my arms around his waist and looked up, waiting patiently for his beautiful, blue gaze to meet mine. “All in good time. Right now, in this moment, I’m glad that sonofabitch is dead. I’ll sleep better at night because of it, but I’ve still got some fighting to do. Darius said he would be back.”
“Let me worry about Darius. You just need to eat and get up your strength.”
I giggled.
“What could you possibly find funny?” he asked.
“Nothing’s changed. You’re still trying to get me to eat.”
A resounding laugh rumbled in his chest and he rubbed his hands up and down my back. “I really don’t know what I would have done if I’d lost you.”
“You didn’t. Just focus on that.”
He nodded. “You know Rose and Calliope were here earlier.”
“Yes.”
“She and Calliope worried I would leave town in a rage, but she needn’t have. I wouldn’t have left your side until I knew for sure if I’d lost you. Nothing in this world short of Rose locking me up would have kept me from hunting down Darius if you had died.”
“I suppose Rose was also concerned that her future Protector might be dead.”
“She means well, kjaere. She is just devoted. The House of Lamidae is the only thing she has left of her old world. She cares for everyone in Sanctuary, but in a special way, the Sisters are like her children.”
“The Oracle did say one thing I’ve been wondering about.”
“What?�
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“She said my bloodline was magickal at one time. What exactly did she mean by that?”
“My family was descended from an ancient order of priests, probably witches. Javier and Marcus can also trace their lineage to gifted humans. Sita is another Protector whom you’ve not met, yet. She knows nothing of her family, but I would not be surprised if her family lines go back to witches as well. It seems to be a running theme.”
“So, what? We’re genetically predisposed to be part of this spell?”
“I don’t know. Anything is possible when you are dealing with magick this old. I’ve personally not heard of the D’Roth name, but if Arlea knows something we will find out.” He kissed the top of my head and released me from his embrace. “I’ve protected the House of Lamidae more years of my life than I haven’t. I still do not understand them, but I know in my soul they need to be protected.”
“I can see how an all-knowing, all-powerful supernatural who can control everyone could be a problem for the world.”
“Hmm,” he murmured his agreement.
“Could I have another glass of … that … um?”
“Blood?”
“Err … yeah. It just doesn’t sound right saying “pass me a glass of blood”.”
“Give it time.”
“Will I want to bite everyone? Like, uncontrollably?” I leaned back against the counter, remembering how good he’d smelled and how my mouth had watered at the thought of drinking from him.
“You will be tempted, but no. It’s not uncontrollable. Feeding often will also help control the urges.”
“Can I have more now? Or do I need to wait a while?”
“Of course.” He moved to the fridge and grabbed anther bag. Pulling out the top, he poured it into my empty glass. “There is more than enough to keep you sated for several weeks. Plus, we can supplement my blood as needed, too.”
I took a deep breath and leaned back against the counter, sipping on my now-full glass. It tasted divine. No wonder vampires chose to drink from humans whenever possible. His blood had been good. Rich, thick, and filling. But human blood was like candy. Though, the fact that I’d just compared the taste of blood to candy was kind-of gross.
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