Sabrina's Vampire Series Boxed Set

by A. K. Michaels

  “Only thing is, you’re gonna have to slow down! I won’t be able to follow you at that speed,” she laughed at the surprised look on Cook’s face.

  “Oh my, I’m just so used to it now, I completely forget sometimes. I promise I’ll be as slow as you want.”

  “Another thing, - Cook I can’t be calling you that, what’s your proper name?” Sabrina felt bad calling the woman by a designation rather than a name, it seemed rude.

  “Oh, my name’s Anna, but it’s been so long since anyone called me that.”

  “Well hello, Anna, I’m very pleased to meet you,” Sabrina said formally and saw a blush of pleasure on the woman’s face.

  “Hello, Miss Sabrina....”

  “Uh uh, just Sabrina will do,” she smiled warmly at the woman as she spoke, and Anna nodded her head.

  “Okay, Sabrina, it is, though, only here, Master Boyd wouldn’t like it in public.”

  “I’m not Master Boyd, but whatever you feel comfortable with, Anna,” Sabrina thought Boyd was very old fashioned, then she laughed, to a confused look from Anna.

  Old fashioned? Of course he was, he was bloody ancient, and looking at his house, the furniture, furnishings, everything spoke of someone who liked a by-gone era. Hell, it was his life and was up to him how he lived it. She just didn’t like the Master/Miss carry on, but again, if that’s what he wanted in his household then who was she to argue?

  “Are you happy, Anna? Working here I mean?” Sabrina wondered at the woman, who obviously loved to cook, living in a house of Vampires and not really getting the opportunity to do what she loved.

  “Yes, I do miss cooking on a large scale. I take food to Aldo every day, he’s the caretaker and he’s failing fast. I try my best to look after him, but he’s very stubborn and won’t move in here. I have asked him several times, but he refuses to leave his cottage. He says he was born there and he’ll die there, silly old man,” Cook's voice belied her words, she obviously cared about the man.

  “Oh, I see, but you’re happy working here for Boyd?”

  “Oh, yes, Master Boyd has been very kind to me, he saved my life, and when he turned me, he looked after me. The first few days and weeks can be really quite scary, but he cared for me and I’ve been with him ever since. I know you may think him a little...stiff, but he can also be caring. He always keeps up with what his progeny are up to, and he makes sure they’re not going around hurting folks, especially humans. He deals with those that do immediately and finally. He has a strict code that he lives by, and he makes sure we all know that code and what would happen if we broke it. I would die for him, Sabrina, really I would.”

  Sabrina listened avidly at this insight to the ancient Vampire, not knowing much about him. Kyle seemed reluctant to talk about him for reasons unknown to her. She had never pushed her mate for more information, so hearing Anna’s perspective was more than a little interesting to her.

  “I see, that certainly makes me think about him a little differently. The fact that he makes sure none of his...what did you call them...his ‘progeny,’ do any harm, speaks to his character. I assume those progeny are the Vampires he made, that certainly changes my view of things. There seems to be quite a few bad apples out there that take great pleasure in hurting others, so it’s good to know that Boyd doesn’t allow that to happen.” Sabrina wasn’t certain, but could guess what Boyd would do, if he found out any of his Vampires were breaking his ‘code.’

  “He’s a very moral man, Sabrina, very moral. He doesn’t stand for any nonsense, or bad behavior, and he makes sure he takes care of things, as soon as he hears about them.”

  Cook was now standing still, not whirling about all over the place, which made it easier to talk. Sabrina had gotten quite dizzy trying to keep her eyes on the woman, as she moved about the kitchen.

  “Good, I’m glad to hear it. I’m also very grateful that he is taking things in hand personally regarding this Raige.” Sabrina could still remember the look in the Vampire’s eyes and a shiver ran through her body.

  “That must have been quite a shock for you,” Anna said quietly and she nodded.

  “It was, though, my first reaction was anger, when I saw him knock Kyle down. As he drew closer, I could see his face clearly, especially his eyes. Now that was scary. I’ve seen that look before in people, when I was a cop, and to know that a powerful Vampire is out there and he’s a psychopath, that is very alarming. I can’t even begin to think about the things he’s already done, the kinds of crimes he’s committed. I’ll be very happy when he’s taken care of.”

  “Master Boyd will take care of him, Sabrina, don’t you worry about that. All of us that were made by him have a kind of link to him, we can sense him, it’s hard to explain. All I’ll say is the Master is very angry at this Raige person, and I for one would not like his anger focused on me. Raige will get his due, don’t you worry about that.”

  “I just hope it’s soon, I feel quite stressed at all this waiting around, expecting an attack at any time.” Sabrina realized that was true, even if she hadn’t admitted it to anyone, even herself.

  “We will all protect you, Sabrina, all of us, so try not to worry too much.”

  Cook gave her a smile and then went back to work.

  “Dinner will be ready soon, if you want to go to the main room and wait, I’ll be along shortly with your meal.”

  “Thanks for the talk, Anna. I look forward to my first cooking lesson tomorrow.”

  Sabrina stood up, taking her wine glass with her, as she left the kitchen.

  As she walked along the corridor, she could see Boyd and Kyle walking towards her, they met at the door to the big room that had become their gathering place.

  “Everything okay?” she asked, as Boyd opened the door and they all went in.

  “Yes, the spell has been done and the three of us will feel him, if he comes anywhere on my property.”

  She felt relieved that they would be forewarned of Raige in the future. What happened earlier had shaken her up, and she didn’t want to go through that again.

  “Good,” was all she could come up with, as her thoughts went to the look in the Vampire’s eyes again. She was certain those eyes had seen a lot of pain.

  “Oh, An...Cook is going to give me some cooking lessons, teach me some of her dishes, my first class starts tomorrow,” she caught herself before saying the woman’s name but she was sure Boyd had heard it, his raised eyebrow a sure sign.

  “That is good, she is an excellent cook,” Boyd replied, with a hint of a smile.

  “I’ll need a notebook and pen. I want to write everything down to take home with me.”

  “I’ll have one waiting on you in the kitchen tomorrow,” Boyd replied, and she thanked him before sitting down at the table.

  Cook appeared a minute or so later, carrying the very large tray laden with food. She would need to talk to her about that, it was such a waste. The food was once again divine, and she looked forward to learning how to recreate the dishes. She ate while Kyle and Boyd talked about various things, from their past exploits, most of which was Kyle talking, to some business deals. The stories of what they had gotten into in the past were entertaining, the business, not so much. She tuned out, when they spoke of that and thought about her training the next day, both the fighting and the shooting.

  She was more determined than ever to learn how to shoot and do it well. It would be the only edge she would have, if she came face to face with that monster again.

  He was in for a shock, if he thought she was just going to collapse into a quivering heap.

  Chapter 17

  The next few days they got into a routine, physical training in the morning with Kyle showing her some very dirty tricks, building on the martial arts skills she already had, then half an hour training with the gun. She dry-fired the thing thousands of times to get to know it better. After target practice, they usually took a showe
r together, a very long sexy shower, then had lunch.

  After lunch, there was more gun training, soon she had her grip, stance, and aim almost perfect. She had to learn not to blink, when the gun fired, that took a little while, but she got there with Kyle giving her encouragement, as Petre stood guard behind them.

  Once she had gotten over all of those obstacles, she found she liked learning how to shoot. Her aim got better every day, after two weeks of intensive training, she was ready to start on the target farthest away, and she was amazed at how good she had gotten. She particularly liked the early evening cooking lessons with Anna, getting to know how to prepare and cook the dishes she liked and also getting to know the woman better, too.

  Her first few times preparing the dishes was a disaster, but Anna was a patient teacher, and she soon got better at it. She was enjoying it just about as much as learning to shoot.

  She even got to meet Aldo, she went with Anna to deliver his evening meal. The man was very old and looked frail, but his eyes were full of life, and she was sure there was a sharp brain in that head. This evening was no different, she and Anna walking to the cottage at the edge of the property, a small cottage, which was well looked after but very old, a bit like the man that lived in it. As they drew nearer, Aldo opened the door and came out, a frown on his face, he looked - angry - not his usual self at all.

  “That’s enough, no more food. I don’t want you coming here again. My daughter is bringing me my food, and I don’t want you bothering me again, do you hear me?”

  Aldo spoke in his strong Italian accent, which they loved, but his words stung both her and Anna, who took a step back.

  “Aldo, what is wrong? I’ve cooked for you for many years, why would I stop now?” Anna was obviously upset and she could understand why, the woman loved to cook and if she didn’t cook for Aldo, when she and Kyle left, she would have nobody to cook for.

  “I said, my daughter is bringing me my food, so stop bothering me. I want to be left alone - go away!”

  The old man had raised the wooden walking stick he used and shook it in the air. The sight alarmed both her and Anna, what on earth was wrong with the man?

  “Okay, Aldo, don’t get upset, we’ll leave, you have the house number, if you need anything.” Anna tried to appease the old man and backed away a few steps before turning and walking back to the main house.

  Sabrina followed her, casting glances back at Aldo as she did, “What on earth is wrong with him?” She asked Anna, who had a frown on her face.

  “I have no idea, his daughter must’ve moved back here. She used to live near Milan, but if she’s bringing him food, she must be closer now. He never said she was coming back, though, and she must be using the old dirt track behind the cottage, because I’ve not seen or heard any cars coming and going.” Anna was still frowning as she spoke, as if trying to figure out what was going on.

  Sabrina was worried, the old man had seemed to really like Anna, and he had seemed to come to like her, too. Why would he be so angry with them and telling them not to visit again? It was a little strange in her eyes.

  “Well, I can’t force him to eat my food, I’ll leave it for a week or so, and then we’ll go back and see if things have changed.”

  “Okay, Anna, if you think that’s best,” Sabrina was still worried about the old man, maybe he was getting dementia or something.

  As they entered the kitchen, Kyle was sitting, waiting, “Hi, your lesson finished?”

  “Yes, we were taking food to Aldo, but he’s got a bee in his bonnet and shooed us away, kinda strange,” she was still frowning, as she spoke.

  Anna moved to the trash and placed the food in the bin, what a waste.

  “Boyd is going to take us for a little excursion tomorrow, as we’ve been stuck here for ages now, I talked him into it. He’s taking us to some village that’s on the shores of Lake Como, and he says there are shops selling just about everything, so if you’re wanting some souvenirs, you can get them. I’ve heard there’s a boutique selling designer shoes and bags...”

  Sabrina broke in, “Shopping for designer shoes and bags? Yup, I’m in, when are we going?”

  Kyle was laughing, sitting in the chair, his arms crossed and his long legs out in front of him, crossed at his ankles, “Oh, so you want me to get you some designer stuff, huh? What's it worth?”

  She moved over and sat in his lap, forcing him to bring his legs up a bit, so she didn’t fall off, his arms uncrossing and holding her in place. “This, and this,” she spoke, as she placed little kisses along his jaw and then nuzzled his neck, knowing he liked her doing that.

  A soft moan escaped his mouth, “More, I think it’s worth more.”

  “This...and this...” she continued to place small kisses along his throat and headed back up to his lips, placing hers on top of his in a soft kiss.

  “Mmm, okay,” he murmured, as she continued to kiss him.

  A loud cough interrupted them and when she looked, Anna was standing with her arms crossed. “This is a kitchen not a bedroom,” she said in a stern voice, even if her eyes were laughing.

  “How long will dinner be?” Kyle asked, as he moved to get up, bringing her to her feet.

  “About half an hour to forty minutes.”

  “Good!” Kyle said, as he picked her up and moved quickly out of the room.

  “Kyle!” she exclaimed, as he ran along the corridor and up the stairs and straight towards their bedroom.

  “We have half an hour. We can do a lot in half an hour,” he laughed, as he ran.

  And they did, an awful lot, though, it was a little more than half an hour and they were a little late to dinner.

  They found Boyd sitting at the table with a glass of brandy in his hand.

  “Sorry,” she said sheepishly, feeling a little embarrassed.

  “For what? Being late or for having fun? If it’s either of those, then there’s no need to apologise.” He was smiling, as he spoke, and she saw the smile went all the way up to his eyes.

  Red-faced, she sat down and started to place food on her plate, food that she had prepared herself...with help from Anna, of course.

  “Sabrina was just convincing me that I need to get her some designer bags and shoes,” Kyle laughed, as he sat down, and she blushed all the more.

  “Well, there are certainly plenty of places for you to do that tomorrow, we’ll leave at nine, if that’s okay? I would like to get there before the sun is at its peak, so tiring, and then you can shop while I sit in a nice café somewhere admiring the view. We’ll have some lunch and then home, is that acceptable?”

  Her mouth full of food she could only nod, as Kyle chuckled, “She’ll get more than a bag and shoes in that time, hope your car’s got a big trunk.”

  “It does,” Boyd sipped his brandy, as he answered.

  She was looking forward to the trip. They hadn’t left the confines of the property since they arrived. Boyd had been busy with goodness-knows-what, but because he was going with them, they should be safe, that’s what she hoped anyway.

  Surely this Raige wouldn’t do anything out in the open with plenty of witnesses around? Thinking back to the look in Raige’s eyes, she wasn’t so sure, but they would have Boyd nearby, in case of trouble. Kyle broke into her thoughts and his words surprised her quite a bit.

  “Sabrina, tomorrow I don’t want you wearing a dress...”

  “What? Why not?” she was a little surprised. She wore dresses all the time and preferred them to anything else in warm weather.

  “Just hold your horses, I want you to wear cut offs, jeans or shorts with a baggy top. Starting tomorrow, you’ll have the gun with you. You are ready, and I want it on you all the time, especially if you are not right next to one of us.”

  She looked into his eyes and saw the seriousness in both. The gun, he was giving her the gun.

  “Okay, are you sure?” She knew she wa
s getting pretty good with it, he had told her as much, but to actually have control of it? She wasn’t so confident in her abilities.

  “Yes, you don’t have to be an expert marksman hitting a tiny dot. You can group your shots in the important areas, head and chest. You’ve been doing that for days now, so as of tomorrow, the gun is going to be in your possession unless I’m cleaning it or something. The next lessons will be on gun maintenance, then on taking it apart and reassembling it. You’ll be an expert on that gun in no time.”

  Kyle smiled and patted one of her hands, as if to reassure her.

  “If you say so,” was all she managed, as Boyd put his two cents worth in.

  “If he thinks you are ready, then you are, Sabrina. Trust in his judgement.”

  She put her utensils down, suddenly her appetite had left her.

  “Don’t worry, you’re ready, Sabrina, trust me. You have good instincts, probably from your years as a cop, but I’m confident in your ability to use the gun, if the need arises. Anyway, I’ll always be close and so will Boyd, just make sure you shoot the right Vampire.”

  Kyle chuckled and she looked wide-eyed. Christ, if she hurt him, she would never forgive herself.

  “Why don’t we go for a walk, the sun will be going down soon, and there’s a great view of it from the orchards.”

  Kyle stood up and took her hand, and she let him pull her up. “See you in the morning,” he said to Boyd, as they left.

  Her heart was beating a little bit quicker than normal, as she thought of the responsibility of carrying a loaded, concealed weapon. Was that even legal here in Italy? What if they were stopped for a spot check or something? She was pretty sure she would not like an Italian prison...any prison for that matter.

  “Please don’t worry about it, babe, soon it’ll be normal for you to carry it.”

  That was what she was worried about, she didn’t want to feel normal carrying a gun.

  The sun was very low in the sky, as they walked hand in hand towards the orchards. The sunset was magnificent, and they stopped to watch it. He pulled her in front of him and stood up close at her back, his arms wrapped around her. Where his hands touched her skin, she felt little tingles, the tingles they always got whenever they touched each other.