Forbidden Blood (Vampire Venators Romance Series)

by Heaton, Felicity

  She smiled up at him, warmth travelling in her veins and through his, and her feelings lightening. Kearn dipped his head and pressed a soft kiss to her lips, oblivious to the five people watching him.

  When he pulled back, the three Venators and his parents looked away.

  His moment of peace shattered.

  The strong smell of vampire blood alerted Kearn to the start of Kyran’s attack. It drifted on the still night air, creeping into the house until it reached him. He faced the dark double doors, his senses scanning the estate grounds.

  So far, he could only sense Lesser Nobles. They were easily detectable by their weaker blood.

  His eyes narrowed on the doors.

  Sometimes he despised Lesser Nobles. They were wretched families with little power of their own and aspirations beyond their reach, attempting to gain the power of Nobles. Tonight the Huntingdon family would learn their place. He would remind them of it personally. They were inferior. Beneath the Nobles. There was a reason his kind ruled. They were superior in every way—breeding, strength, power and sense. A Lesser Noble was no match for them.

  His hearing picked up the fight outside. It seemed his father did too because he turned to his mother.

  “Come, it is time.” His father took his mother’s arm and led her into the grand reception room beyond the gilt double doors.

  Kearn turned to Amber. She smiled but he could feel her nerves rising again. He wished this didn’t have to happen. He didn’t want to fight Kyran, just the thought of it cut him deeply, and he didn’t want Amber to witness such a thing. He wanted things to continue as they had been only a few short hours ago when he had made love to her and slept in her arms. It was all that he longed for.

  He signalled to the three male Venators waiting near the tall rectangular windows behind him, silently telling them to remain where they were. He had chosen them because they looked as though they would gladly fight both vampires who had tasted forbidden blood and those that hadn’t, and they were the strongest. They would serve as backup when Kyran showed his face, keeping the other vampires out of his fight.

  Amber stood and his attention returned to her. She was still smiling at him with love in her eyes. How could she look at him like that when she knew that he was going to fight his own brother? He wouldn’t be able to look himself in the eye for a long time after tonight, and he wasn’t sure how he would face his parents. Part of him said to allow his father the honour of taking his son’s life, but he couldn’t go through with it. Kyran had chosen to make an enemy of him, even though he knew Kearn had fought the Sovereignty’s decision, and was intent on making him pay. He would harm Amber to achieve it, and then kill their parents before finally attacking him.

  Kearn couldn’t allow that.

  He would protect his love and his family at all costs.

  Amber’s hazel eyes narrowed on his. She had sensed his feelings and wasn’t happy. He pushed thoughts of fighting his brother to the death out of his mind and remembered that he had promised that he would live for her, not die. He would win. His love for Amber would give him the strength he needed to defeat Kyran.

  He held his hand out to her and she slipped hers into it. She was quiet as they walked towards the grand reception room where his parents waited.

  “You will be safe in here.” He smiled for her and let her sense that he wasn’t lying.

  His need to have her and his mother near to him wasn’t the only reason he had brought them here. This was more than a reception room. It was a safe room for his family in case they ever came under attack. The walls were reinforced and windowless, impossible to break through even with Kyran’s strength. There were steel doors set into the wall above the wooden ones, ready to slide into place if his mother pressed a button on the other side. He had given her orders to if something happened. She would protect Amber.

  Kearn looked back at the first reception room. Kyran would expect him to bring Amber and their parents here, and he would have to go through him in order to get to them.

  The reception room wasn’t ideal for fighting, but the close quarters would aid his side. The power of the Venators, his father, and himself, would be too much for the Lesser Nobles. The only ones that would pose even the slightest threat would be the ruling line of the house, and Kearn suspected that Earl and Countess Huntingdon would soon fall back after leading the attack through the lower guards surrounding the estate. Kyran might have the power to sway the other Lesser Nobles of the Huntingdon bloodline, but the earl and countess wouldn’t be foolish enough to risk themselves against any of the stronger vampires of the Savernake bloodline.

  “Do not be afraid,” his father said and Kearn looked his way.

  His father was holding his mother close, smoothing her long black hair down the back of her corseted dress. She tilted her head back when his father touched her cheek and smiled up at him. Something told Kearn to look away, and not intrude on this private moment between them, but the sight of his father drew his attention. He had never noticed before just how different his father was around his mother. He no longer looked strong. Kearn could feel the fear in his heart and it matched his own fear for Amber. It was overwhelming, crushing his chest and making him weak.

  His mother reached up, swept the long strands of his father’s silver hair from his face, and her smile widened.

  “Stay safe.” His father pressed a kiss to her lips.

  Kearn did look away now. There was only so much affection a son should see between his parents. His gaze strayed to Amber. His father loved his mother so deeply, and Kearn felt the same about Amber. His heart belonged to her forever. Nothing would change that. He loved her until death and beyond.

  “Protect Amber.” Those words leaving his father’s lips surprised him.

  His mother nodded and her gaze shifted to Amber. She held her hand out to her.

  Amber went to go to her and then stopped. She looked over her shoulder at Kearn, past the waves of her brown hair, her hazel eyes searching his, and then turned back.

  He smiled when she kissed him, slowly and deeply, and he held her close, returning the kiss with all of the passion and love he felt for her, reassuring her of his feelings. He wasn’t ashamed of his parents seeing him like this. He loved Amber and he would never shy away from his feelings, no matter who was watching. He had lowered himself to her and kissed her hand in front of all society, and he would do so again at the next ball and the rest after that. Everyone would know that he loved her and that she had won his heart.

  She drew back, smiling wide through the fear he could feel in her, and brushed her fingers across his cheek.

  “Be careful,” she whispered and her blood said more than that. It told him to fight, and to keep his promise and come back to her.

  He intended to.

  “Call out to me if anything happens.” He walked her over to his parents. His mother took her hand and started chafing it again in both of hers as though Amber was a child in need of comfort. “Do not open the door.”

  Amber nodded.

  Kearn stepped back, away from her, and his father walked past him to the door. It was hard for him to leave Amber, even when he had to. He wanted to stay with her. He hesitated a moment, his eyes locked with hers, drinking in the sight of her and the love that he could sense in his blood, and then followed his father.

  His father closed the gilt double doors when they were through, stealing Amber from view so he could only feel her in his blood. Her fear increased. He cursed his brother. He didn’t want to fight him. Even after everything Kyran had done to him, Kearn still loved him. He was still his brother.

  Kearn walked to the three male Venators and the windows they guarded. He looked out of the one nearest the doors, searching the night for a sign of his enemy. The fighting had reached the house. The smell of blood was stronger now, swamping his senses and calling to his instincts. His fangs extended and his eyes changed, his vision heightening until he could see through the darkness to the fighti
ng. They were near the house, on the drive that lined the front of it.

  His fingertips tingled.

  Kyran was coming.

  He could feel him in his heart, the blood bond they shared as brothers allowing him to glimpse his feelings. He was angry and bent on revenge, his heart dark and cold. Kearn clenched his fists and readied himself. The guards at the house were stronger, able to defeat all but the highest ranking of the Huntingdon bloodline, but the enemy were numerous. Some would get through and he would be waiting for them.

  “They are coming.” His father walked to the double doors that led onto the gallery.

  Kearn could hear them. The fight was spilling into the house and the noise was loud enough that he was sure even Amber would hear it soon. He tried to keep his feelings calm, knowing that she would be reaching out to him through their connection.

  There were voices in the gallery.

  Power surged up Kearn’s marked arm, making it ache and throb, until it glowed bright blue. It whispered dark words to him, encouraging him to take the lives of those daring to approach him with such evil intent. Kearn didn’t listen. He cursed it instead and the Sovereignty for giving him such a terrible weapon. He hated the words it spoke to him and its hunger for vampire souls.

  The doors burst open and two men ran in, both from the Huntingdon family. His arm didn’t react to them. They hadn’t taken Source Blood. He began to attack them with his own power, but his father raised his hands and the men were on the floor, writhing and screaming. His father was a formidable foe—the strongest of their bloodline and with power beyond a Lesser Noble’s dreams. Another three clambered over the bodies of the first two, breaking their way into the room, and attacked with their own power, flinging their hands forwards and attempting to throw his side off balance with telekinesis.

  Kearn held his left hand up and halted their attack. Fear whispered in his blood. Not his feelings but Amber’s. Before he realised it, all three vampires were twisted and dead, their blood coating the open doors and the walls. He breathed hard from the sudden drain in his power. He hadn’t been in control. Amber’s feelings had made him react without thinking.

  “It takes a little more practice to control your power when under the influence of another’s emotions,” his father said from behind him.

  Kearn jumped back to be level with him. His desire to protect Amber was so strong that whenever he could sense her fear, he wanted to rip his enemy limb from limb. He wanted to protect her so fiercely that he would do anything, even shed his breeding and all sense of etiquette and let his lust for blood run free and unchecked. He would become the beast he had thought she would see him as. He would do that for her, and only her.

  He focused on the enemy. More were coming. They were stronger but they were only getting through because of their numbers. His family were still fighting in the gallery and in the entrance hall.

  The three Venators moved forwards and the blue glow of their hands filled the corner of Kearn’s vision. He looked at his own right hand. It wanted souls to satisfy its growing hunger. It would have them soon enough. He could sense at least five vampires coming.

  They broke into the room and Kearn’s arm responded, the markings burning against his skin and glowing brighter. It seemed these men were on the list of the Sovereignty.

  He signalled to the other Venators and they nodded and then dashed forwards to attack the vampires. Kearn moved across the room in the blink of an eye and punched one hard across the jaw. He couldn’t use his power at a distance. He had to conserve his energy for his fight against Kyran and would have to kill these men the old-fashioned way.

  The young dark haired man he had attacked fought back, clawing and then punching. Kearn tried to evade him but backed into another of the Huntingdon vampires. The man’s fist caught him hard in the throat and pain blasted out, making it difficult to breathe. He growled, grabbed the man by his shirt and threw him into the wall. Turning, Kearn caught the man behind him too. This one was older and stronger, but still no match for him. He clutched the man’s long hair, brought his head down, and smashed his face on his knee. The man fell backwards and one of the Venators caught him and pressed his glowing hand against the man’s chest.

  Kearn didn’t watch the man die. His scream pierced the noise of battle, ungodly in its sound. Everyone would hear it and know what had happened to him. They would know what awaited them in this room.

  He attacked the young dark haired vampire again, leaving the other three to the Venators. The man dodged his first punch, but Kearn caught him in the stomach with his second and then flicked his left hand, tossing him through the air. He slammed into the wall beside the doors to the room where his mother and Amber were and they shrieked.

  Amber’s fear lanced through him and Kearn gripped his arm, struggling to control his dark urge to shatter the man into pieces. He ran at him instead, and pinned him to the wall before he could recover. Their eyes met and Kearn didn’t flinch away. He pressed his right palm against the man’s chest and released the power in his arm. The man screamed, tilting his head back into the wall. Black ribbons crept out from Kearn’s hand, penetrated the man’s chest and crawled up his neck to his mouth. They slithered inside and the man’s eyes opened wide and terrified.

  Kearn watched. He had to. It was his punishment for committing such atrocity in the name of the Sovereignty and for sending the man to such a dark unholy place.

  The young vampire’s eyes rolled back and he convulsed against the wall. The black ribbons burrowed deep into his body and his skin greyed. Kearn released him and turned away. He had seen enough.

  His father’s gaze caught his but he couldn’t hold it. How many lives had his father taken in the centuries he had been a Venator?

  Had he ever felt so disgusted at himself?

  Sympathetic feelings flowed into his heart and Kearn looked at his father, knowing they were coming from him and not Amber this time. Perhaps he wasn’t the only Venator who had felt ashamed at times.

  Two more screams punctured the air and Kearn went to help the other three Venators. All three men were fighting hard, two of them in the midst of sentencing their opponent, and the other fighting the remaining man.

  Before Kearn could assist him, the Venator had the man in a headlock, his forearm tight across his throat, choking him. The Huntingdon vampire struggled but it was useless. His face reddened and his movements weakened. The Venator released him, spun him on the spot, and shoved his glowing hand against the man’s chest. There was such glee on the Venator’s face as he watched the man die. Kearn had never seen a man take such pleasure from killing another vampire, especially when sending him to the eternal darkness.

  Kearn shifted his senses to the Venator, trying to detect what family he was from. He was a Noble. His strength and the underlying power Kearn could sense in him said that he was from a strong bloodline too.

  “You do not seem to recognise your cousin. Is it so long since you have seen him?” his father said.

  Cousin?

  Kearn couldn’t believe his eyes. He looked hard at the Venator, past the short silver hair and the green eyes, trying to see if it was possible. It had been a long time since he had seen Traegard Montagu, almost a century in fact. He hadn’t realised that he had become a Venator or that he had grown so strong.

  Traegard wasn’t the son of Duke Montagu, but they were cousins by the bond between their families. In the Montagu family, the ruling line weren’t Venators. Duke Montagu’s mother had been eldest, and had gone on to rule the bloodline. Her younger brother had gained the duty of Venator, and in turn his eldest son, and then Traegard.

  The last time he had seen Traegard Montagu, he had been a peaceful young man, with artistic ideals and little interest in fighting.

  Seeing him now, watching him kill without mercy, it was like looking at a different person.

  Traegard dropped the body of the vampire and flicked the remaining black ribbons from his fingertips. He looked at Kearn
, his eyes red with bloodlust. Kearn could feel the exhilaration in him, the excitement, and it bordered on disturbing. He looked away from Traegard, clearing away his curiosity about what had happened to change his cousin, and looked around the room. Only piles of grey ashes remained where the last five Huntingdon vampires had fallen. The blood from the other vampires seeped into it, turning it dark.

  Another group of vampires forced their way into the room, spilling through the doors. There were more this time and not all of them had taken Source Blood. The three Venators attacked those who their arms responded to, leaving him and his father to deal with the rest.

  Kearn threw himself into the fray, punching any who dared come close to him, and attacking others with his power. His father moved deeper into the group, towards the doors. Kearn tried to keep an eye on him but it was impossible. He had to focus on killing the vampires around him and protecting Amber. He wouldn’t let any of them near her.

  He used telekinesis to scatter them, tossing two men around his age to his left and thrusting the other three to the right. They barrelled into his father and Kearn turned away. His father would deal with them. He attacked the remaining two, throwing one into the other to knock them back down, and then focusing on his desire for them to die. He curled his fingers into a fist and unleashed his darkest power on them, controlling their blood and their bodies against their will. He snapped arms and broke legs, shattering them from the inside out until they were motionless.

  Dead.

  His father had dealt with the others in a similar fashion, leaving broken bodies lying at his feet, and the vampires Kearn had left the Venators to deal with were nothing but dust.

  It was too easy so far. None of these vampires were any match for a Noble.