Blood Bond (New Breed Book 2)

by Melody Raven

  Alyssa reached up to touch her neck before she realized what she was doing. “It’s not gross.” Well, maybe a little gross. Considering she let Dante drink straight from her neck, was the water bottle really worse? “I was just told there weren’t many women Vopura.”

  “You’re right. There aren’t. I’m new.”

  New. One of the turned humans like Dante had mentioned. Holy shit. He told her he wasn’t kidding, but she still had a hard time believing it. “You used to be human?”

  “Just a few days ago.”

  Wait.... It couldn’t be. “Are you the woman Dante turned?”

  John frowned. “He told you about that?”

  “Yeah. He said that the human and one of his kind were in love. So I guess that’s you two then? Congratulations.”

  John reach back and intertwined his fingers with Tela’s. “Thank you.” There was an unmistakable note of pride in his voice.

  Alyssa didn’t think it was possible for something good to come out of the Siege of Seattle, but it was impossible to miss the way Tela smiled brightly at John. He wasn’t even looking back at her; love positively radiated off him.

  “If it weren’t for Dante, we wouldn’t even be together right now,” said Tela. “I mean, he’s also the one who killed me, but I’m still calling it a win.”

  Alyssa was jerked out of her admiration. “Wait, what? Dante killed you?”

  Tela’s eyes widened as she reached in her bag for another bottle of blood. “No. I mean, yes. But he didn’t really have a choice. If he didn’t do the deed, someone else would have. I was in a kind of tight spot.” She twisted off the cap of her bottle and took a deep drink. Apparently stress eating was a thing for vampires too.

  “So you’re a Vopura now? Or vampire?”

  John frowned. “She’s Tela. Labels aren’t important.”

  Well, maybe not to him. But she was having a hard time keeping it all straight. “That’s great in theory, but from what I understand, Vopura came through the portal and vampires have been on Earth a lot longer. But Tela has obviously never been through a portal but she was turned by a Vopura. So what’s the difference?”

  “There are differences,” insisted John.

  Alyssa raised a brow. “Like what?”

  John just smiled at her. “You’ll have to trust me.” His tone implied that he obviously didn’t care about her trust and he definitely wasn’t going to tell her any vampire/Vopura secrets. Considering she just met him and he didn’t know jack shit about her, she couldn’t fault his reasoning, but it still bothered her.

  She didn’t like being at a disadvantage, and considering how entrenched she was in the vampire world, this was important information.

  “So tell me more about this whole murder thing. Why did Dante need to kill you?”

  John glared at her. Apparently her line of questioning was irritating Tela and he really didn’t seem to like that. “We don’t need to talk of such disturbing things.”

  “It might be disturbing but I still deserve to know. I’ve been traveling around with the guy. I assumed he’d done bad shit. I understand he didn’t invade this world filled with good intentions toward humans. But I’d like to get some firsthand accounts. So tell me. Why did he need to kill you?”

  “It’s okay.” Tela set her bottle down. “I don’t mind talking about it. I think the more I talk about it, the better it will be. I mean, it shouldn’t be some taboo topic. It’s a thing that happened and it’s over now and everything is okay.”

  Alyssa felt a bolt of guilt. She hadn’t considered how hard this would be for Tela to talk about. The death thing didn’t seem like such a big deal when she was looking right at the person.

  “I was working with a resistance group to get the wall around Seattle down. When the leader over here, Mikel, found out, he ordered my execution. And Dante did it because he didn’t have a choice. But because he knew about me and John, he decided to give me some of his blood, hoping I would turn so John and I could be together. Which is especially impressive considering Dante is one of the elite and it’s really notable that one of his kind had respect for someone like John.”

  “Someone like John?”

  Tela’s lips tightened and John answered for her. “I was a slave on Vora.”

  Alyssa took a deep gulp. “And if you were a slave, that means Dante was a slave master.”

  Dante could tell something was off the moment he walked back into the Portland safe house. The first thing he noticed was that Alyssa wasn’t alone.

  Sitting in the living room on the couch were Tela and John. Even though the couch was covered in a layer of dust, it didn’t stop Tela from sitting practically on top of John.

  A pang of annoyance hit him. No, not annoyance. Jealousy. Jealous of a slave? How things had changed. He wasn’t supposed to be jealous of someone like John. He was born to the elite. Destined for greatness. Given everything he ever wanted.

  But what he wanted now was out of his grasp. His daughter. His mate.

  Had John and Tela bonded yet? He was sure they hadn’t before the wall had fallen. They barely knew each other. That kind of commitment wasn’t entered into lightly, especially considering the circumstances surrounding their meeting.

  Dante couldn’t touch Alyssa like that. He couldn’t pull her next to him when they were alone, let alone around others. The most he’d been able to do was put his body between her and others he perceived as being a threat, and she thought that was odd. He wanted to mark her as his in front of others. To show her off. His woman. The one fate and circumstances had marked for him.

  And the possibility of that seemed further away than ever as he looked to where Alyssa sat at the kitchen table. Her fingers moved rapidly over the keyboard of her laptop as she refused to look up at him.

  She and Tela had obviously talked and she wasn’t happy.

  Dante nodded as a greeting to John. “I didn’t realize you were coming,” he said tightly, trying and failing to keep his annoyance to himself.

  “We were told about Cora. Considering all the trouble we went through to find her the first time, it seemed wrong to walk away now.”

  Nice. John was here to be nice. The thought made him sick. The mix of gratefulness, shame, and anger was a potent combination. John shouldn’t be nice to him. He didn’t deserve it. He didn’t want it. And worst of all, he knew he needed it. He’d spent the night helping the humans hunt his own kind. John might be the only one of his own kind he could ever talk to again.

  But he was also the reason Alyssa wouldn’t make eye contact. “That’s good,” he said, the only words he could manage without coming off like a complete dick. “Alyssa, the agents have found us a place for the day. If we leave now, we’ll make it before sunrise.”

  “A place?” she asked, still not looking at him. “They booked us two rooms, right?”

  If he wasn’t sure that she was upset with him before, that sealed it. “Yes,” he said instinctively. It was a lie. He’d said they only needed one room and let the agents read into that what they would.

  But he didn’t want to have that conversation with Alyssa now, in front of others.

  “Great.” Alyssa shut her computer and stood. “I’ll get my things and we can get going.” She got her bag and then went to the bathroom without saying anything to him.

  Immediately, Dante crossed to John and Tela. “What did you say to her?” he bit out.

  John pushed up, getting in Dante’s space and showing exactly how unintimidated he was. Dante was no longer his commanding officer. They were equals, for better or worse. Which wouldn’t bother him if John wasn’t getting between him and Alyssa. “We didn’t tell her anything that wasn’t the truth.”

  “She won’t even look at me. You must’ve said—”

  “Calm down,” said Tela, who remained seated. She was smart enough to not get in the middle of them. “We didn’t come in here and try to mess things up with your girlfriend. She asked questions and we answered. We didn’t
know you had a thing with her.”

  “I don’t have a thing with her,” he snapped. “We’re bonded. Bonding. The process has started.”

  John’s eyes widened and he stepped back, finally understanding what was truly happening. “You barely know her.”

  “I didn’t plan it, but I’m not fighting it. I—” He heard the bathroom door open and he sped across the room so there’d be no signs of his hushed conversation with the couple.

  “Let’s do this,” said Alyssa unenthusiastically.

  “I’ll be in touch,” said Dante as he got the door for Alyssa.

  “I gave Alyssa our new phone number,” said John. “We’ll stay local in case you need us.”

  “I’ll remember that,” he said as he ushered Alyssa out. By the time he shut the door, she was already halfway down the hall and moving fast to the exit.

  Of course, he was able to catch up to her without any effort at all. “What did they say to you?” he asked. He tried to keep the urgency out of his voice.

  She shoved the doors open as she stepped outside. “They were perfectly polite,” she said, not answering his question.

  He got to the driver’s side of the car they’d taken before she could take over driving. He didn’t want to give her any opportunity to run. She was closer to bolting now than when she’d actually left him.

  He kept his mouth shut until he was in the car and moving. “Whatever they told you, I can explain.”

  “Don’t bother.” Alyssa took out her phone and started to type away. If she weren’t using that device to help him, he’d crush it immediately. “Joshua says the exchange for Cora is set up for noon today. So we should know if she’s safe soon. And then we’ll be good.”

  And then she’d leave him. If it was anything else, he’d try to delay the drop, but he needed Cora back. Which meant he had until noon to convince Alyssa to stay. His grip tightened on the steering wheel. Everything was so difficult here. She didn’t understand the stakes. If she left, she would be fine. Only thinking of him as some asshole she met once.

  What would he do without her? He’d never stop yearning. Craving. The withdrawal would be more than psychological. It would be physical. At first there would be headaches. Nothing pressing. Just the slightest annoyance. But soon the symptoms would progress. The pain would be horrible, but the hallucinations would be unbearable.

  He needed to convince Alyssa to give him a chance. And before he could do that, he needed to convince her to spend the night with him.

  He was going to have to seduce her tonight. And failure wasn’t an option.

  Alyssa couldn’t figure out a plan. She needed a plan. She needed some way to move forward. She couldn’t leave. She thought about that countless times, but whenever she got close to calling a cab and getting the hell out of Dodge, she remembered Cora. Until she knew for sure that she was safe and back with Dante, she couldn’t leave.

  If Joshua did screw Dante over, she might be the only one who could help him.

  But just because she was sticking with Dante for a little bit longer didn’t mean they had to continue like they were. She wasn’t going to let him get in her face. No more pleasantries. As of right now, they were just colleagues working for a common goal.

  They weren’t friends. He was another species, for God’s sake. He wasn’t a puppy she could take home and train. This was an anomaly in her life. Once it was over, she’d get so far away from the vampire situation that she’d look back at it fondly, trying to figure out whether she’d imagined the whole thing.

  She kept on looking at articles about Seattle. Even though she wasn’t managing the public perception of it, obviously the government was keeping with her plan of handling it. They’d come out and “admitted” to the secret experiments they’d done that had led to crazy super-strong soldiers who believed they were vampires.

  Time would tell whether that would pay off.

  Was it better that way? Was the public ready to know there were supernatural creatures out there that could kill them with a flick of the wrist? She remembered that hate crimes increased after every terrorist attack. The Siege of Seattle was so deadly, public outcry would be terrible. It wasn’t that Alyssa was concerned about the vampires. But what about humans mistaken for vampires? What about the inevitable witch hunts?

  Dante pulled the car into a parking space outside the hotel. It was a generic hotel that was probably used more for business guests than tourists. Nothing fancy but it would get the job done.

  “You haven’t asked me how tonight went,” pointed out Dante as he put the car in park.

  “Well, you’re alive so I assume that meant it all went well.”

  “We didn’t make any moves. Ian and Carter brought me to an abandoned warehouse where they believe the nest is set up. They’re going to get their team better prepared based off suggestions I made and make their move tomorrow.”

  She knew he was trying to distract her, but damn it. It was working. “What were the suggestions you made?”

  “Weapons upgrades,” he said as he got out of the car, leaving Alyssa to follow. “The silver-laced bullets got the job done, but they could be more effective. I suggested they take that technology to a shotgun-like weapon. They also need to ensure they carry more blades. Decapitation is still the best way to combat one of us.” He led her to the side door and used a hotel key to get inside.

  “So you’re helping humans go after your own kind? Doesn’t that bother you?” Maybe it wouldn’t. He was okay with selling off his kids and working with slaves. What if he had no moral code? What if he did whatever he wanted no matter who was hurt in the process?

  “They offered me a job,” he said as he passed the door to the stairway and into a hallway with rooms on either side.

  “Is that something you’d do? Start working with this unit?”

  “I don’t have anything here. I have no family. No friends. No Social Security number. The vampires have offered to help, but I don’t want charity. This is a chance for me to make a home for Cora and me. A home that’s not in secret or hiding.”

  Heartless monster, she thought to herself. No matter what he said, he was still a heartless monster. She had to remember that.

  He stopped at a room two doors down from the side entrance they’d used. She wondered whether he’d requested that room. Was he well versed enough in hotel layouts to ask for an easy exit?

  He inserted a key and opened the door for her. Okay. This was when she needed to lay down boundaries. Heartless monster. “So is this your room or mine?” she asked as she stepped inside.

  “It’s yours. Can we talk about Cora?” he asked.

  “Sure. What do you want to talk about?”

  He glanced around suspiciously. “Can we have a little privacy?”

  This wasn’t the plan. Heartless monster! “I told you she should be fine by noon. I’m worried about her, too, and I know you can’t stand doing nothing, but this might actually work out.”

  “What about the guy you have looking for Wesley?”

  Shit. They really shouldn’t talk about this in the hall. She mentally cursed as she stepped aside for him. “Come on,” she said reluctantly.

  He didn’t need to be asked twice as he walked in and shut the door behind him, even bolting the lock.

  This was fine. She’d brief Dante then she’d ask him to leave. He would. He had to. It wasn’t as though she needed to be scared around him. Sure, he was a terrifying supernatural creature who obviously didn’t have any problem with slavery or selling off his children, but he’d always seemed to listen to her.

  She wasn’t truly afraid of him. She was afraid of herself. She was afraid of how she always seemed to forget herself around him. He had a way of making everything else fall away.

  She shook her head, forcing her fears to back off. “I talked to Domino. He’s starting to get some hits on the facial recognition software for Wesley. But nothing recent. Once he has a last known location, he’ll let me know. Probab
ly tomorrow.”

  “So if your Joshua Park doesn’t get Cora back, we’ll be able to go after the bastard?”

  She nodded, even as the thought filled her with a different fear. Go after Wesley? She hadn’t wanted to be excluded from any of this, but this wasn’t like banging on some random apartment. This was a decorated soldier who commanded other soldiers. Joshua had even said that the military wasn’t about to discipline Wesley for what he’d done to Cora.

  Just another reminder that she was out of her league. “He’s not my Joshua Park,” she said weakly. “He’s just a friend.”

  “Good.”

  There it was again—Dante being so oddly inappropriate, out of the blue. “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “It means I don’t want to think of you with him.”

  “What difference does it make? We’re not a thing. We’re not together. You can’t get jealous of my relationships. Especially not of hypothetical ones.”

  Dante narrowed his eyes. “Do you really believe that?”

  She crossed her arms over her chest. An additional layer of protection. “Why wouldn’t I believe that?”

  Dante reached out for her. The motion was slow and controlled, but it still had Alyssa jumping back until the edge of the desk hit the back of her legs. “Don’t,” she warned.

  But Dante didn’t listen. He continued reaching for her until his fingers just touched her neck. His fingers were warm and soft as they caressed her neck, the very same spot he’d bitten her. Shivers raced through her, and damn it if she didn’t start to feel markedly hotter.

  “There is something between us,” said Dante, his voice barely above a whisper. “I know you’re not one of us, but you can feel it. I can hear your heartbeat, remember? I know when you get excited. When you feel the... anticipation. You keep on denying our bond, but there are some things not even you can hide from.”

  She reached up and put her hand over his but found herself just holding it. Not letting him continue to stroke her, but not removing his hand either. “My heartbeat increases because usually when I’m around you, I’m getting shot at. Or bitten. Or meeting new vampires. I’m anticipating my next life-or-death situation.” She was proud that she managed to sound so calm, but she knew her heart was giving her away. Traitor.