Blood Sense (Blood Destiny #3)

by Connie Suttle

  BLOOD SENSE

  A Novel by

  Connie Suttle

  Also by Connie Suttle

  (Blood Destiny Series)

  Blood Wager

  Blood Passage

  Blood Sense

  *Blood Domination

  **Blood Royal

  *forthcoming, October, 2011

  **forthcoming, November, 2011

  For Walter and Joe. You know why.

  For the fans (you know who you are) who took a chance on my books.

  Thank you.

  Blood Sense, e-edition

  Copyright © 2009 by Connie Suttle

  This e-book is a work of fiction. Names, characters and incidents portrayed within its digital pages are purely fictitious and a product of the author's often warped imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Chapter 1

  Franklin studied the body floating in water with fear and horror. Blackened beyond recognition, it lay suspended between existence and non-existence. Even the hair had completely burned away from the small head. Merrill had instructed Franklin to change the water in the bathtub every hour until he rose for the evening. It was now four in the afternoon, sunset was three hours away and Franklin was frightened. There was no alteration in Lissa's condition—hadn't been throughout the day. Gavin wasn't aware of Lissa's attempt at suicide; he'd already gone into the rejuvenating sleep for the day when Merrill pulled Lissa from the roof. If Merrill hadn't gone looking for her, she would have died. Meant to die. Franklin's cell phone lay on a stack of towels nearby and he'd spoken to Greg several times already, for much-needed moral support. If Gavin wakes and finds Lissa like this, Franklin heaved a troubled sigh. His watch was set for half an hour before sunset, allowing sufficient time for Gavin's waking. Franklin considered getting away before Gavin discovered this disaster.

  "Little girl, you need to come back to us," Franklin swirled a hand in the water. Merrill had placed Lissa in the tub inside her bathroom after collecting her burned body from the roof. Franklin had come running when he heard Merrill's shout, finding his father settling Lissa's blackened and unrecognizable body in the tub and turning on the taps. Black ash stirred and sifted off the body still, rising to float on the water's surface. Franklin had never seen anything like this. Never. The timer sitting on the side of the tub went off and Franklin dutifully released the water, watching while additional black ash drifted down the drain. More water ran into the tub and the wait began again.

  "This doesn't look good," Merrill knelt down beside the tub later, reaching in to move the water a little. "We need to lift her head up so she can take a breath if she's going to."

  "I don't think she's going to be happy with us if she wakes and finds we stopped her," Franklin murmured, passing thick, rolled up towels to Merrill. Merrill carefully lifted Lissa's head and placed towels beneath it so her nose and mouth were free of the water.

  "You're likely correct," Merrill sighed. "She intended to do this. Absolutely. She waited until Gavin and I passed her room one last time before dawn and then escaped, probably as mist. She was just sitting there on the roof, waiting for the sun to take her."

  "Perhaps the males can take beatings, but in this case, I think they should have devised an alternative punishment," Franklin muttered. He was still angry that they'd punished her to begin with, but Merrill and Gavin had both agreed to Wlodek's sentence, as had the Council. Franklin had expressed his opinion to Merrill, who'd listened dispassionately and then agreed with Wlodek anyway.

  "I have three messages from Anthony Hancock on her phone, six from William Winkler and two from Weldon Harper," Merrill sighed. "How can we possibly explain this to them? What are we going to tell Gavin?"

  Franklin stiffened when he heard Gavin's voice calling for Lissa. "I'll go," Merrill said. "He cannot get past me if he's bent on destruction." Franklin nodded, swirling the water a little.

  "Where is Lissa?" Gavin demanded when Merrill stepped from Lissa's bathroom.

  "In the tub," Merrill replied. "Gavin, I found her on the roof this morning. She was letting the sun take her when I pulled her away. There has been no improvement in her condition since then."

  Gavin stood inside the doorway of Lissa's bedroom, stunned horror crossing his features. "No," he denied, shaking his head. "That is not possible. Where is she?"

  Merrill placed the best compulsion he could muster on Gavin, instructing him not to be violent in his reaction when he saw Lissa and then motioned the Assassin inside the bathroom. Gavin dropped to his knees and wept instead as he gazed on Lissa's blackened flesh. Merrill's cell rang so he walked into Lissa's bedroom to answer.

  "You left a message about an emergency?" Wlodek queried.

  "Our little girl attempted to give herself to the sun this morning," Merrill informed the Head of the Vampire Council.

  "Let me speak with her."

  "She is beyond that, Wlodek. We have had the body in water since I removed her from sunlight this morning, but it doesn't appear to be working. I think the burns were too severe. We're losing her."

  "I will be there shortly." Wlodek hung up.

  "She hasn't taken a breath," Franklin said when Merrill returned. Gavin sat in the floor at the opposite end of the tub, watching Merrill mutely, silently begging for encouragement of some sort. Merrill checked his watch; it was ten minutes past sunset. Merrill seldom cursed but he did so now in his native Latin. Gavin understood every word.

  "Breathe, cara," Gavin begged, turning back to Lissa's still form. "Do this for me. Please."

  "Wlodek is on his way," Merrill said. Gavin nodded. He hoped Wlodek could help. They both stared at the small body floating in the tub, charred past recognition, the ends of fingers and toes already gone. If she recovered, those would grow back. If she recovered. If.

  "I'll go downstairs to let Wlodek in," Franklin said, rising from his position beside the tub. Merrill nodded, placed a hand on his human child's shoulder for a moment and then let him go. Wlodek arrived half an hour later and Lissa still hadn't taken a breath.

  "Any improvement?" Wlodek asked Franklin, handing gloves and an expensive trench over. Franklin shook his head and led Wlodek up the stairs. Wlodek cursed softly in his native Greek upon seeing the seared wreck that used to be Lissa. A cufflink was ripped from his shirt in Wlodek's haste to peel back a sleeve, the gold and diamond square ticking across the tiled floor of Lissa's bathroom. Mutely holding the exposed flesh of his wrist out to Merrill, Wlodek waited for Merrill to slice it open. Terrified that her body would disintegrate under his hands, leaving the tub filled with ash instead of her body, Gavin leaned forward and pried Lissa's mouth open as carefully as he could.

  "Drink, little angel," Wlodek crooned, allowing the blood from his wrist to drip into Lissa's mouth. Merrill timed it—four minutes exactly. Wlodek pulled his wrist away when Merrill nodded. Gavin had watched carefully; there was very little blood in the water. Wlodek's was the oldest and most powerful blood. If that failed to bring Lissa back then she was truly lost. The timer went off again; it was time to replace the water.

  "As long as her body remains intact, keep changing the water," Wlodek instructed. Merrill offered a unit of blood from Lissa's small refrigerator. Wlodek drank it as he watched Gavin fill the tub again, leaving Lissa's nose and mouth free to take a breath. "We hardly know what to do with them, they are so rare," Wlodek sighed. "And this is the rarest of all of them."

  * * *

  "No, brother. She became mist in seconds, if that," Henri spoke to his brother Gervais, who was currently on assignment in France. "And only her hand formed to knock the wood shaft of the arrow away. I would be flaking away somewhere in the U
.S. but for her."

  "What happened with the Council?"

  "They found her guilty of disobeying her sire and sentenced her to a beating. Twenty strokes, delivered by that cretin Sebastian."

  "He is much too heavy handed. Why did they not ask someone else?"

  "They did. Everyone else refused," Henri replied.

  "Do you think she will speak with us? Perhaps she can teach us how to improve our changing time." Gervais desired that greatly. It took the brothers five minutes to turn to mist every time. So much might be accomplished if their misting time could be reduced.

  "We must make the request through her sire, I believe. She is committed to Gavin as you know, so his permission may be required as well."

  "We will see," Gervais replied. He was more concerned about Gavin than Merrill on the matter.

  * * *

  "Tell me what happened." Wlodek sat in Merrill's study, a glass of wine in his hand. Wlodek had the tiniest bit of taste where wine was concerned. Food he abhorred but he enjoyed a glass of wine upon occasion. Merrill explained how he and Gavin had checked on Lissa regularly throughout the night, but shortly before dawn, she'd misted out of the house and gone to the roof.

  "We can't chain her as I did Brock," Merrill sighed. "Not only can she mist out of the chains, but it will certainly break her spirit if that has not happened already." Brock had tried repeatedly to get away to visit friends, forcing Merrill to chain him and lock him up for two months.

  "I would not suggest it either," Wlodek replied. "We took a chance with the beating, but we have witnessed the results of that."

  "Most of them recover in one night and it is forgotten," Merrill nodded. "But these are males we speak of. Everything now hinges on Lissa taking a breath." Merrill toyed with his own glass of wine. "If she does not, well." Merrill didn't finish.

  * * *

  Gavin carried a chair into Lissa's bathroom and settled it beside the tub, watching for any sign of a breath and changing the water whenever the timer went off. It was currently two hours past sunset and he was trying to remember what their last phone conversation had been. Had he been angry and cursing? He couldn't recall. Lissa, unless he upset her, was always kind in her conversations.

  Wlodek looked in one more time before he left at three hours past sunset. He had business to conduct and was forced to leave. His mind wouldn't be on his work, however, when he went home.

  Charles met Wlodek at the door when he returned, afraid to ask after Lissa. "There is no change, she still has not taken a breath," Wlodek informed him, sweeping past his assistant. Charles turned away. "Did you do the research as I asked?" Wlodek went on, striding quickly toward the stairs and his private study.

  "She has no brothers or sisters. Lissa was an only child," Charles said, trailing behind Wlodek as he made for the steps. "I found something else, though, that might explain all this. I wish I'd thought to look into this earlier."

  "What did you find?" Wlodek stopped and lifted an eyebrow at Charles.

  "I have the information printed out for you—news clippings and such," Charles followed Wlodek down the long, carpeted hallway to Wlodek's study. Wlodek sat down at his desk and opened the file folder. This would be added to Lissa's file when he was finished reading it. The headline on the top page caused him to catch his breath.

  "Charles, make a copy of this and have it delivered to Merrill, please," Wlodek closed the file and handed it to his waiting assistant.

  "If you don't need me, I can deliver it myself."

  "Very well. Do not linger there, young Charles, we have much work to do," Wlodek reminded him.

  "Of course, Honored One," Charles nodded and left to run his errand.

  * * *

  "Wlodek asked me to bring this. I did the research earlier this evening," Charles handed the copied folder off to Merrill. "May I see her?" he asked timidly.

  "There's not much to see, but yes." Merrill led the way. Gavin was still sitting beside the tub, waiting. It was now five hours past sunset. Charles drew in a sharp breath at the sight of Lissa's burned body lying in a tub of water, flakes of black ash floating about her torso. He wondered if anyone could live over that severe an injury but didn't want to say it; Gavin looked as if he were about to crumble. Charles only stayed for a moment before leaving; Wlodek was waiting for him, after all.

  Merrill flipped open the file after seeing Charles to the door. He stopped still in the kitchen, slapped the folder shut and cursed. The headline read Man Arrested in Beating Death of Wife and below that, the article said Teen daughter in critical condition at local hospital after assault. There was a photograph there of Lissa at age nineteen. The article cited years of abuse suffered by a wife and daughter at the hands of an alcoholic monster. Merrill walked up the stairs to check on Lissa again, wondering if he should pass the folder to Gavin or not. He decided to hold back for the moment—perhaps he would hand it over if she lived. This time.

  Seven hours past sunset came and Gavin changed the water. Merrill came in and offered to relieve him. Gavin growled. Merrill left. He'd chased Franklin off to bed earlier, threatening compulsion if he didn't. Franklin would have to take over in the morning, if there was any reason left to take over.

  "Lissa, do not leave us like this—do not leave me like this," Gavin begged. "Take a breath for me. Just one. That is all I ask." He spoke to her in French. Then in Italian, German, Spanish, Latin and Greek. He even threw in a few phrases in Russian, although he thought it might upset her. She had been frightened of Ivan. Gavin was losing hope at eight hours past sunset. The sun would be rising in two hours and he didn’t think anything would save her past that. Merrill returned and settled in the floor next to the tub. He would have to bury this one, too. He sighed and leaned his head on an arm.

  "She had the most perfect mouth," Gavin said, startling Merrill and causing him to lift his head. "I sometimes lost my train of thought, just staring at it. I would revert to other languages at times so she wouldn't know."

  "That upset her—when she couldn't understand what you were saying."

  "I know. If she would breathe for me, I would be happy to translate every word." Gavin sighed and trailed fingers through the water surrounding Lissa's face. "When she first met me and didn't know what I was, she thought I smelled good," Gavin went on. "I had no idea I was ruining things for us when I did what I did, in order to bring her back to the Council. I thought I would have to take her life."

  "We all took it, this time," Merrill stated bluntly. His cell phone rang, interrupting the conversation. Merrill pulled it from his pocket and answered. "Nothing," Merrill replied to the question. It was Flavio; he'd gotten the news from Wlodek. Flavio only talked for a short while and rang off. Merrill slipped the phone into his pocket again. Franklin walked in. He hadn't slept well and looked rumpled and frightened as a result.

  "Little girl, who is going to watch out for me?" Franklin started weeping, something he seldom did. He couldn't stand it any longer, sobbing as he left the bathroom. Merrill rose and went after him, leaving Gavin in his chair by the tub. That meant he was the one who heard the sharp intake of breath and the whimper that followed. Gavin was shouting for Merrill while he knelt beside the tub, doing his best to coax a second breath. It came after several seconds. Merrill and Franklin were there to hear the third one. They almost jumped when the timer went off again.

  "We'll rinse her off one more time and then move her to the bed," Merrill instructed. He and Gavin lifted Lissa from the tub while Franklin piled clean towels across her bed. Lissa moaned when they moved her and Gavin hushed her, speaking soft words. Her skin flaked away in his hands as he cradled Lissa's head in his palm. Once they settled Lissa on the bed, Franklin and Gavin laid the sheet lightly over her body. Franklin would be forced to throw it and the towels away afterward and he was never so happy to do something such as that in his life. Lissa continued breathing until the sun rose and then stopped, going into the rejuvenating sleep. Merrill and Gavin were old enough to sta
y awake a few minutes past sunrise, so Merrill called Wlodek to pass on the news.

  * * *

  I woke myself moaning. I wasn't dead and I was supposed to be. How had that happened? Who had done this to me, pulling me back into my misery? Who?

  "Hush, love. All will be well," covers rustled around me as someone adjusted them. I knew that voice, that scent. I just couldn't immediately reconcile them with a name. I must have moaned again—I can't remember—and the lightest touch on my cheek came as if they were afraid to place fingers on my skin.

  "Cara, you must drink," The voice came again as blood was gently smeared across my lips to convince me to feed. The bag of blood was held to my lips and mouthful by mouthful, I was coaxed to swallow. All this happened in darkness—I wasn't sure I could open my eyes. I was afraid the light would be too bright for some reason and my eyelids refused to cooperate anyway.

  Another waking and still my eyes wouldn't open. Blood was offered and I drank. "Come, love, they say it is safe to take you in the shower." Hands lifted me up and I shivered as I was carried. "You must tell me if the water is not right," the voice murmured. Taps were turned and the scent and noise of water came. Yes, water has a scent. I knew that much, but I was still struggling to put a name to the voice and to assign a cause or blame for what was wrong with me. My body flinched as we stepped beneath the spray. Again, I was asked if the water was the right temperature. It felt warm and soothing against my skin.

  "S'okay," I mumbled. The voice whispered his thanks for my words.

  * * *

  Gavin, Merrill and Franklin were all standing at my bedside when my eyes finally opened and I came fully back to myself. Six days had passed since I'd tried to let the sun kill me. "Thank God." Those were Franklin's first words as I blinked up at him. Gavin and Merrill stepped back as Franklin sat down on the side of my bed and took my hand. "Little girl, don't you ever try to leave me again," he admonished. "Greg is coming in tomorrow and if he doesn't give you a tongue lashing, then I don't know him at all."