by Tinnean
“Alexandru.” The woman who’d given her the blood touched his arm. “How fares the saborese?”
“He was too depleted. I had no choice but to turn him.”
“I’m sorry.”
“So am I, Terese. Daniel Crist is a Dragomir, a grandson of Noah Crist. We were so close…. He’d gotten away from the old man even before Noah Crist died. Daniel Crist would have sired the next generation of sabors.”
So that was what the woman was sorry about.
“Might he have siblings?”
“That family was always prolific breeders. However, beyond telling me who had done this to him, he wasn’t well enough to answer questions.”
“Who was it, brother?”
“Who do you think?”
“De Vivar? Oh, God, I should have let you crush his talisman!”
The rege shrugged. “Where is the vampyr who brought Daniel to us?”
“Here, Your Majesty.”
Rhiannon swallowed, choked on the blood again, and shrank in on herself. There were times when de Vivar scared her. He was older and more powerful and she wasn’t a fool, but she’d never been this scared.
The rege stared at her so stonily, whatever blood was in her veins ran cold.
“You attempted to manipulate a sabor?”
How the fuck did he know that? And what could she say? “De Vivar told me to?” She licked her lips and kept quiet.
“The only reason why I’m not destroying your talisman as we speak is because you brought the saborese to me.”
Why did they keep calling the normal that? “Who is he? What is he?”
“Didn’t your maker explain all this to you?”
“No.”
“Who turned you?”
“Short, dark, and nasty.” No way was she going to stick her neck out for that bastard.
“De Vivar?” The rege’s nostrils flared, and his eyes almost seemed to burn in fury. “De Vivar turned you?”
“Uh… that’s what I said.” Whoa, this guy can tell just from that description? He’s good!
“His conceit knows no bounds, and once again he has cost us a resource we can ill afford to lose.”
The door burst open and a pair of normals, one male, the other female, rushed in.
Oh, yum! She licked her lips and took a step toward them. Something about them made her hesitate for a moment, warning her they weren’t the usual run of normals, but then her desire for fresh blood overcame her wariness.
A large hand closed over her arm, and she glared at whoever was daring to put a hand on her.
Her jaw dropped. He was gorgeous! Like all vampyrs. He had thick brown hair and eyes the brown of Godiva chocolates.
Added to that, he was tall—at least six foot six. Broad shoulders, lean hips, long legs.
“Well, hello.” She wouldn’t mind climbing that! She flashed a look toward his equipment and licked her lips.
He turned to observe what was going on, but he didn’t let go of her.
“Your Grace, Duke Adam left a message with us that we were to pass on to you. His sabor’s home is under attack!”
The rege turned that stony gaze back on her.
“Um… I guess I should have told you de Vivar intends to make Tyrell Small his personal sabor.” Rhiannon smiled weakly.
“Why didn’t Adam contact me directly?”
“He tried, but the call wouldn’t go through,” the female normal/not quite normal said.
The rege spat out what had to be a curse, even though Rhiannon couldn’t understand the language.
“Raymond!”
“Mon seigneur?” The vampyr who’d been restraining her let her go. Well, damn.
“Go at once! If you find de Vivar, destroy him, Raymond!”
“It will be my pleasure.” And to top it off, he had a French accent that made her insides melt. Guys with accents did that to her. Could she get him into bed with her?
“Ekaterina, William, avec moi!” He spun on his heel and left, the normals/not quite, et cetera following him, and she scowled. Had his voice softened when he’d spoken to the woman? Well, no matter. What Rhiannon wanted, Rhiannon got; the next time the moon rose, that bitch would be nothing but a memory. She’d see to that!
“And now, Rhiannon….” The rege turned to her once more.
Jesus Christ! De Vivar was right: she did think with her pussy.
She shivered and clutched her talisman. She might not be alive—undead—come the next moonrise!
CHAPTER NINE:
COME TOGETHER
I WISHED there was someone I could have talked to about this. Not Jimmy; I didn’t think he’d stop being friends with me, but normals didn’t know vampyrs really existed, and he’d be sure I’d lost my mind.
Dad was out. He knew vampyrs existed, coming from a family that produced sabors, but he’d be devastated to learn I was having problems.
And Adam… well, how could I tell him in spite of the fact I was supposed to fall in love with each vampyr who came to feed from me, it didn’t seem to be working that way with me? I’d refused six other vampyrs, which apparently was unheard of, although I couldn’t understand that. If Adam said I didn’t have to, what was the big deal?
The two I had accepted after Adam—one had been the rege, and I didn’t know if he’d fed from me to erase the memory of Juan de Vivar’s attempt to force my choice. I’d fallen asleep, but I hadn’t passed out. The other was Rául Navarro y Casárez, and while I did lose consciousness with him, I’d regained it almost immediately. I figured it was because Adam had held me while Rául’s fangs slid into my jugular.
IT WOULD have been a bad night… day… but with Adam beside me in bed, dark dreams of eyes glowing man-high in the night didn’t stand a chance of disturbing my sleep.
I finally woke up because I was so hungry my stomach thought my throat was cut.
The room was pitch-black, and it took a couple of blinks before my eyes focused and I could check the clock.
It was almost one thirty. What? How…?
I blinked again.
A.m.? Holy majoly! I’d slept through the whole afternoon and into the next night?
“Adam?” No response. That was when I realized I was alone in my bed. Had he left without saying good-bye?
But no, he wouldn’t do that. And besides, I could hear the murmured conversation from the other room.
“He hasn’t woken, my lord. Is this usual?”
“No. But then what we asked of him wasn’t usual, either.”
Time for me to join my guests. I threw back the covers and rolled out of bed, and the next thing I knew, the floor was rushing up to meet me. Or I was rushing down to meet it. Whichever, I hit it with my chin.
“Ow!” Now I not only had a black eye and a bump on the back of my head, but I’d hurt my chin as well. I tried to sit up, but I didn’t seem to have the energy, and I began to panic. Something was more wrong than me simply banging my chin.
Frantic whimpering made it through the fear keeping me captive. A warm, wet tongue licked my chin. When that didn’t give Mina the response she apparently wanted, she nipped my ear.
“Hey!”
“Tyrell?” Adam knelt beside me. He sounded distressed as he slid his arm around my shoulder, easing me up. “What happened?”
“Other than Mina trying to have me for breakfast? I don’t know. One minute I was on my feet, and the next I was on the floor.”
He snapped his fingers and said, “Bed!” I started to crawl toward my bed. “Not you—Mina.”
“Oh.” I felt like a dunce. “Hey!” I repeated.
He’d lifted up the eyelid of my uninjured eye and then held up a hand. “How many fingers do you see?”
“None. The light’s not on.”
He gave me a slight shake.
“Don’t do that again,” I warned.
“Why not?”
“Because I’ll throw up all over you.”
He laughed softly. “I apologize. Rául, would you turn on the lig
ht? The switch should be by the door.”
“Which door, my lord?”
“Either one.”
The light came on, and I blinked.
“Now, then, Tyrell. How many fingers do you see?”
“Two.”
“Excellent. And how do you feel?”
“My chin hurts and I’m a little light-headed, but other than that….” I actually felt pretty crappy. My lip hurt too. I must have bit it through when I hit the floor because now I felt blood dripping down my chin.
Adam gently tipped my head back. “Do you mind?”
“Are you kidding?” I didn’t know what he wanted to do, but whatever it was, was fine with me.
He smiled and licked my mouth.
“Oh!” I hadn’t expected that. Which was probably silly, but I could blame it on being light-headed.
“There’s no point in wasting perfectly good blood, is there?”
“No. Again, please! I think you missed a spot.”
He obliged me, and then asked, “When did you last eat?”
“This morning? I had waffles.” A sudden thought occurred to me. “Oh, my God! Mina hasn’t been out for—” I did some fast calculating. “Almost thirteen hours! I have to let her out!” And she hadn’t eaten in that time either!
“She’s fine. I let her out when I awoke and then fed her.”
“Thank you.” I hugged him. “She didn’t have an accident?”
“No.” He sounded amused. Well, he could think my concerns were funny, but I’d be the one cleaning up after her. Not that I begrudged my pup anything.
“Good girl, Min.”
She looked cautiously toward Adam, and when he didn’t say anything, she came to me and crawled onto my lap.
I played with her ears. “Why am I feeling like this? It’s never happened before.”
“We’re careful with our sabors, but last night more was asked of you than should have been.”
I remembered hearing him say that. “I didn’t mind.”
His arms tightened around me. “No, you didn’t, did you? But it’s not usual for a sabor to feed one vampyr and replenish another within the span of an hour.”
“And when we awoke at sunset and you didn’t, I grew concerned.” Rául gave a sheepish smile. “Duke Adam assured me you just needed some time and you’d be fine, but….”
“Thank you.”
“No, it’s I who must thank you. If I hadn’t fed from you before I’d been attacked, I wouldn’t have managed the few steps to your door.”
“My blood did that for you?”
“Yes.” He took my hand and held it between his, and I was startled to realize I didn’t mind it. “Muchas, muchas gracias.”
My cheeks heated up. “Well, Adam played a big part in it too.”
“This is true, but I wouldn’t have survived to drink from him if it hadn’t been for you.”
“I’m… I’m glad I helped.”
“You did more than help. A sabor’s blood is very potent, and yours even more so. It kept them from destroying me. I also must thank you for retrieving my talisman. You braved grave danger to do that for me.”
“Of course I’d get it.”
“There’s no ‘of course’ about it. In the normal course of events, perhaps, but you must admit nothing about our relationship is normal.”
Rául was right. I didn’t love him, but I liked him. “But we’re kind of tied together, aren’t we?”
“Why do you say that?”
I blushed.
“Oh, you mean because Adam embraced you while I fed from you?”
“Um… yes?”
He smiled and touched my hair. I didn’t mind that, either, and I didn’t know if that was odd or not, but maybe it was another one of those sabor/vampyr things.
“I have to thank you also, my lord”—he turned to Adam—“for allowing me to feed from him. This is the second time you’ve returned my life to me.”
“You’re one of mine, Rául. I could do nothing less.”
One of his? I scowled. How many did he have?
As if Adam knew how curious—okay, jealous—I’d become, he cupped my chin and raised my face so I was looking at him. “Rául was the first vampyr I turned. You, dragul meu, are my first sabor.”
“But I thought you’d had others.” I couldn’t tell him I’d better be his only sabor. I wouldn’t be, just as he wouldn’t be my only vampyr.
“To feed from, yes.” He looked deep into my eyes. “But to care for, to nurture—” He continued gazing into my eyes—I was finally able to crack open the lid of the eye Jimmy had punched—until I relaxed and leaned into him. “Rául, would you mind preparing a meal for Ty?”
“Of course not, my lord. Do you forget I used to be a soldier? When there were no camp followers around, I was the one who cooked.”
“Thanks, Rául, but you don’t have to cook,” I told him. Camp followers? What army had he belonged to? “I think there are still some Eggo waffles left in the freezer. Just take them out and put them in the toaster. You know how to work a toaster, don’t you?”
“I do.” The corner of his mouth quirked in a grin, and he gave a slight bow before leaving the room.
As soon as he was gone, Adam put me away from him. “You’re not feeling well.”
I closed my eyes and swallowed. “No, I’m not. I….” My appetite had disappeared and nausea was sweeping over me.
“This isn’t good.”
“What’s wrong with me?” Had I given myself a concussion when I’d hit the floor?
“Nothing that I can’t fix. Drink.”
“Huh?” When had he opened his shirt?
Gently he urged my face to his chest. As soon as my lips touched his flesh, I could feel the coolness of his blood rising to the surface. He must have reopened the cut on his chest.
I was going to protest—sabors were supposed to feed vampyrs, not the other way around—but, “Drink,” he said again, and suddenly I wanted to do that more than anything in the world.
I touched my tongue to his chest, and the flavor of his blood exploded in my mouth.
This was better than Chunky Monkey or Cherry Garcia! I licked and sucked at it avidly.
“Just a bit more, dragul meu. Too much is not… good for you.”
Reluctantly, after a final lick, I drew back, because no way was I going to endanger him. “Are you okay?”
He threaded his fingers in my hair, tugged lightly, and smiled. “Always.” As I watched, the cut on his chest sealed. “Now let’s take care of your mouth.” Adam helped me into the bathroom.
“Are you sure you want to—I mean, the mirror?”
“It’s fine, Ty.” Maybe that was what he thought, but it would be weird not seeing him standing beside me.
Only there he was. “Adam?”
“It’s because I fed from you last night.”
Well, that was interesting. I started to shift my gaze to my own reflection.
“Oh, man, I look—” My jaw dropped as I stared into the mirror. Between Jimmy taking a swing at me and my chin and the floor getting into a smackdown of their own, I’d expected to look awful, but except for my lip puffing up a bit, I looked okay. “Adam, I got hit in the eye with a snowball once, and it took almost three days for the swelling to go down!”
“And you don’t understand why is doesn’t look like that now?” He wet a washcloth with cool water and ran it gently over my mouth and chin.
“Well… no.”
“Part of it has to do with the fact you’re a sabor.”
“But wasn’t I a sabor back then?’
“More like an incipient sabor. You hadn’t grown into your heritage and been fed from at that time.”
Oh, got it. “And the other part?”
“That you’ve drunk my blood.”
“Seriously? Uh… have you done that before?”
“For another sabor? No.”
I could have bounced on my toes. “That’s so cool!”
He smiled and shook his head. “You are a wonder, Ty.”
“Yep.” I grinned at him, and then leaned in to kiss him. “Ow.” I winced.
He licked my lip again. “Give it some time. Now, I’ll leave you here to… wash your face. Meet us in the dining room when you’re ready.”
I FELT pretty damn good. I strutted into the dining room just as Rául placed a jug of maple syrup and a plate with chocolate chip waffles and four strips of bacon on the table. The plate was framed by a knife and fork. A glass of milk that smelled of vanilla sat to the side. Specks were floating in the milk.
“What’s this?” I frowned, slid into my chair, and then poked at the contents of the glass with the tip of my knife.
“I beat an egg into it.” Rául seemed really pleased with himself.
“A raw egg? Ick!”
It was his turn to frown. “You need all the protein you can get.”
“Yeah, well, trust me, if I drink this, it isn’t going to be pretty!”
Adam put a caplet on the table. “You’ll drink it for me.”
“Do I have to?” I stared at the enzyme supplement. “I mean, you let me drink from you. Isn’t that—”
“My lord! Was that wise?”
“Adam’s fine! I only had a few swallows.”
“He wasn’t talking about that, Tyrell.”
“Well, then, what?”
“I didn’t give him enough to turn him, Rául.” Adam sat back in his chair and stared at him steadily.
“Wait a minute! I could have been turned?”
“You’re a sabor—my sabor. I wouldn’t have turned you.”
“But could I have been turned?”
“It doesn’t occur frequently.”
“But—”
“It’s been known to happen,” Rául said in a tight voice. He looked pissed. Was he jealous?
“In fact it’s extremely rare.” Adam seemed bothered. Because Rául was bothered?
I might as well join in and be bothered too. I glared at both of them. “Well, it didn’t happen, so don’t get your shorts in a bunch over it.” I knew I sounded huffy, but I didn’t care.
“Do you want to become a vampyr?” Adam asked. Was he curious, or was he testing me?
If Adam did turn me…. On the one hand, I’d be with him forever. On the other hand—