Tainted Love

by Livell James

  “Oh, I’m just making oatmeal. Mom and Dad won’t be up for hours, and your little girlfriend will sleep all day if you don’t wake her up,” the dark-haired kid tells me. I ask him why they would sleep all day, and he replied, “Vampires hunt at night, Austin. My parents sleep during the day and Haley, well, she’s just lazy. It could be also that she got used to sleeping all day when she lived here.” He laughed as he said the last.

  “I guess that makes sense, but she was up before me when I stayed at her house,” I tell him.

  “You two have nothing better to talk about than me this early in the morning?” Haley asks as she walks into the room.

  “I need you two to come look at something,” I say as I walk over to the couch and point at the floor. “I did this without even knowing what I was doing. My hand started moving at super human speed and before I could stop it, this had happened.”

  They both look at the floor and then back at each other several times before Haley finally speaks. “Austin, that’s a coven mark.”

  “But it isn’t our coven’s mark,” her brother adds.

  Haley walks over to the bar, places her hands on the counter, and drops her head as she lets out a sigh before lifting her head to speak again. “It means he isn’t part of our coven, Jonah. He has his own, but how is this possible if we are to be mates? It’s not known for two covens to get along for even more than a few moments in the same place, much less become mates.”

  My heart skips a beat—maybe even stops beating at all—hearing her say those words. This has to mean something else. There’s no way that we aren’t mates. Even the Elders knew we were mates before we had a clue.

  “Haley, that can’t be the case, you know we were meant to be mates. You feel the same way I do when we touch, when you look into my eyes. We’re fated. I don’t care what some symbol on the floor tells me. Even if I drew the damn thing with my fingers, you are and will forever be mine.” I said the words without even realizing what I was saying.

  “Oh, now I’m yours, huh?” Haley smirks.

  “Well once we’re mated, yes, you’ll be mine. But I can already feel it, Haley. I feel like we’re bonded. I felt it the very first day.” I place my hand on my chest and walk toward her. “Don’t you feel it?” I ask.

  “Of course, I do Austin, but this symbol on the floor could change all of that. If you’re part of a coven that’s indeed enemies with my father’s coven, we won’t be allowed to be together at all. And he damn sure won’t allow any mating,” she says, walking back to the sofa and looking at the mark on the floor once more, scraping her foot over it.

  This can’t be happening to me. Just when things are starting to go great in my life—even if this shit is a little weird and yes, I may still be a just a bit freaked out by all of it. But I’m truly sure this is where I’m supposed to be. Right here, with her for a mate.

  I walk to stand next to her. I want to reach for her and hold her in my arms. This not being able to touch is really pissing me off, but I’m not going to do anything to fuck up the bond or the mating. “Haley, I feel like this mark was made for me. I felt no evil when it was happening. I did feel like it was not of my control but mentally I was telling my hand what to do. This mark is my own.”

  I have no idea where those words came from or why I even said them.

  This mark is my own.

  The room goes black.

  When I walk into the living room and see this mark on the floor, I knew something wasn’t right about it. I pace the floors from one room to the other, trying to figure out what’s going on. I walk back to the spot where Austin says he made the mark—or coven symbol, as we call them in the Other World. He comes to stand beside me, almost reaching out to touch me before I move, making him miss. He starts to speak in a deeper voice than he does normally.

  “This mark is my own,” he says just before his eyes roll back in his head and he once again blacks-out, falling onto the floor.

  I try to catch him, but I remember our fate. The bond could be broken. Jonah isn’t standing close enough to grab him before he hits the floor. He at least did not fall hard, and went down slowly, with his head leaning against the couch.

  “Jonah, grab the pillow to put under his head,” I tell him as he comes walking around the other side of Austin.

  He leans down to put the pillow under his head and then he says, “The skin on his neck is ice cold.” I tell him to check his arms and hands and he says the same. “They are just as cold.”

  I’m a little in shock of what’s going on and have no idea what I need to do to help him. His eyes are still open, yet still no movement. Before even thinking about what I was doing, I find myself beating on my parents’ bedroom door, yelling, “Help! Something has happened to Austin. Please come help!”

  “They’re not here, Haley!” Jonah tells me as his puts his hand on my back and walks me back over to Austin. “Maybe you have to touch him. You’re his mate, and maybe, like in fairytales, this shit could work,” my brother blurts out.

  I don’t even think twice about him cussing, it’s the Other World, everything goes here. I second guess touching him, though. I get so close, placing my hand just above his chest. Then I remember, I can possibly contact his grandmother telepathically. I mean, it’s worth a try. It’s something I’ve never done, but if she can contact me, then there has to be a way I can contact her.

  I tell Jonah what I’m doing and for him to not leave Austin, and I go into my old room in complete darkness. I sit on the floor with my legs crossed and place my hands on each side of my head, focusing to bring her into my thoughts. Taking a few deep breaths, I try to reach out to her.

  Athena, if you can hear me, Austin’s in trouble. I need your help. I try over and over but I hear nothing in return. After sitting and trying until my legs start hurting, I’m giving up, but as I start to standup, I hear her voice.

  “I’m here.” The voice is very low and I can hardly make out what’s being said when she speaks again. “I can hear you. Tell me where you are, Haley.”

  “I’m at my parents’ lair, please come quick. I can hardly hear you. We need your help. Austin has blacked out. If you can hear me, please come quick!” I tell her where the lair is and walk back into the room with Austin. Before I’m even all the way in the room, there’s a knock at the door.

  Jonah walks over to see who it is, and as soon as the door opens, I see Athena is on the other side. How in the hell did she get here so fast? Then it hit me—vampires can flash from one place to another. I wonder if Austin will be able to do this once his change is complete. Will I be able to flash with him? That would be nice if we could flash to any place in the world at any given moment.

  “Come in, Mrs. Johnson,” Jonah tells the lady standing outside the door.

  “Call me Athena,” she replies as she comes in and kneels next to Austin, placing her hand on his chest. “He needs to feed. His complete change is still a few days away. However, he’s at the point that he will need blood to survive from this day forward. Help me get him onto the sofa.” Athena’s voice is very stern.

  “So, who feeds him? I’m not about to be someone’s breakfast!” Jonah says jokingly.

  “It’s best that his first taste of blood come from his mate, but the time is not right for that. For now, he’ll have to take my blood. He will need to feed again within a few days. His change should be complete by then,” Athena tells us as she lifts her arm to her mouth, releases her fangs, and bites down into it. Once the blood starts to flow down her arm, she places it over Austin’s mouth. “Drink my child, you must drink the blood to live.”

  The blood starts dripping into his mouth, and soon after, he lifts his head to drink from her arm. His fangs come into full view just before he bites down into her arm and begins to suck from it. His eyes open to reveal the most amazing blue color I’ve ever seen as his skin turns pale and his jawline becomes more dominate. I can feel heat coming from his body even though his soul just turned cold.
<
br />   The old Austin is dying, but a new one is being born. It’s like he just changed from a boy into a man right before my eyes, and fuck, it’s so hot! Once my eyes lock onto his, I forget anyone else is even in the room. I feel a pull toward him, as if he’s demanding me to come to him. It feels like he has total control over me—mind, body, and soul. It’s all I can do to restrain myself from answering my body’s demands, or should I say, Austin’s demands.

  I break the stare between us as I turn to walk away. As much as I would love to stand here and be by his side, I know it’s for the best that I walk away for a moment. Otherwise, my brother and his grandmother are going to have to leave. So, I think it’s definitely for the best that I step out of the room for a bit.

  But as soon as I take a step forward, I feel something grabbed ahold of me, and then a sudden shock covers my whole body. Like I’ve been hit with a lightning bolt. I don’t really know what that would feel like, but I’m almost sure this is as close as you can get to that feeling. However, this feeling was not a shock that would kill someone. It was more of a shock that brought life into me. I felt every hair on my body stand on end. He was in total control, and this time there was nothing I could do or say that would change the fact.

  Finally, after what seemed like thirty minutes—in reality, I’m sure it was only thirty seconds—I manage to find the words to speak. “Austin, I can’t move with this hold you have on me.” I tell him, trying to play it off as if his power had no effect on me whatsoever.

  Stop!

  “Haley, I don’t want you to move, I don’t want you to ever leave my side,” he said with what seemed to be an even deeper voice than he had just an hour before. “I know it seems crazy, and I had no idea what anyone meant when they said we were fated. But I feel it now. I can feel your energy. Your power. When you looked into my eyes, I felt weightless. I felt my spirit leave me for a moment when you turned to walk away. You’re my spirit, my life, Haley. All of my power belongs to you.” Austin finishes wiping the blood from his bottom lip.

  This really is a lot for me to take in—hearing him say that I’m his life leaves me speechless. For once in my life, I can’t form words to respond. I mean, I just met this guy. Yes, I feel the attraction too, and the power he could have over me once I’m no longer able to control it. Well—that kind of scares me a little.

  Okay. Maybe more than a little.

  I simply reply, “Austin, you must have hit your head when you fell. You’re talking nonsense.”

  I hardly remember falling to the floor when I finally open my eyes to realize I’m drinking blood from my grandmother’s wrist. The copper taste pleases my taste buds, and I didn’t give a shit how weird it was that it was her blood I was drinking. The more I took in, the more powerful I felt.

  Opening my eyes, the first thing I see is the beautiful blonde kneeling at my side—the rest of the room was dark, and she was the light. I felt myself being drawn to her. My energy, my body were waking up because she was there. I felt like I died and she’s the angel that brought me back to life, even though I’m still taking the blood from my grandmother’s wrist. Haley turned to walk away and I felt like I was dying all over again. My strength, my everything, started fading once she turned away from me and started to walk away.

  Stop!

  “Haley, I don’t want you to move, I don’t want you to ever leave my side,” I say. My voice seems deeper than I remember, but maybe that’s just from drinking blood from another person.

  “I know it seems crazy, and I had no idea what anyone meant when they said we were fated. But I feel it now. I can feel your energy. Your power. When you looked into my eyes, I felt weightless. I felt my spirit leave me for a moment when you turned to walk away. You’re my spirit, my life, Haley. All of my power belongs to you,” I tell her without even understanding anything I’m saying or why I’m saying it. I just know how I feel and that she’s mine. My strength, my life depends on her. Wiping the blood from my bottom lip, I finally get the strength to once again stand up, and I come face to face with the lady who I was drinking from only moments ago. “How did you get here, Grandma, and why was I sucking blood from your wrist?”

  “Haley beckoned me telepathically when you fell ill, my child. I flashed here as fast as I could and found you lifeless on the floor, because you needed to feed. Your vampire has started to take control of your mind, body, and soul. You needed blood to survive. You can’t feed from Haley until you two are mated, so Jonah and I were the only other choices, and he didn’t feel comfortable enough to let you feed from him. I wasn’t about to lose you when I just got you back into my life. My grandson, you see I had to do what had to be done in order for you to survive.”

  This is all happening way too fast. My mind is a constant roller coaster of emotions, thoughts, and what ifs. Just two days ago, I had no idea what I was going to do with my life, or where I would even be within a year from that day. Today, I’m in a lair deep under the city full of tunnels, sucking blood from a lady I’ve never met, who’s suddenly wanting me in her life because she’s my grandmother.

  That part I have no problem with, but why has she waited until now to show back up in my life? Maybe my father had written her off, but I still think she could have made an effort to let me know she existed. On the other hand, how can I be angry with her when she just saved me from dying—or do vampires really die from not feeding?

  Wait I’m a vampire! That’s kind of fucking cool, yet it freaks me the fuck out at the same time. I hate my steaks being the least bit rare and now I’m a bloodsucker… Nope, nothing weird or fucked up about that at all. Just a homeless vampire who met his “mate” because his dead parents spoke to her from the other side. Just a perfect, normal day to everyone around me it seems—but to me, not so much.

  “So, I can no longer see the light of day—will I only be able to go into the city, or anywhere else for that matter, at night?” I ask.

  “That really depends, Austin. Some dhampir have been able to become daywalkers after they’ve changed. I wouldn’t recommend you doing so until you’re stronger and have sealed the bond between you and Haley, though.”

  As soon as the words left her mouth, a loud bang slammed into the door. Jonah walked over, looking out of the small window at the top of the door.

  “It’s the Thompson brothers!” he whispers as he runs over to where I’m standing.

  “Shit, I thought the Elders were supposed to find and take care of them,” Haley says.

  “Well, it seems they haven’t done so well with capturing them, seeing that they are standing on the other side of the door,” I reply wryly.

  “Open the fucking door! I know he’s in there, I can smell him,” one of the brothers yell from outside the door.

  “You have nowhere to hide now, you little half breed,” another brother shouts.

  Any other time, I would have gone into panic mode, but this time I went straight into fight mode. I know Haley told me I couldn’t take them all on at once, but the beast lurking inside of me now was thinking something totally different. I know, logically, that I can’t fight them all off on my own as well as everyone else in the room can do—but my vampire says otherwise.

  I rush to the door and place my hand on the lever, but before I could flip the latch to open it, Haley places her hand on top of mine. The power that rushes through me as soon as her hand touches mine is fucking unbelievable. This wasn’t supposed to happen. She isn’t supposed to be touching me until we’ve mated. I guess out of fear of me opening the brothers and letting them into her parents’ home, she felt it was the only way to stop me from doing something I knew I shouldn’t be doing in the first place. The energy that ran through my body was almost overpowering.

  Seconds after Haley grabbed my hand, my grandmother came up behind me, placing a hand on my shoulder and the other on Haley’s hand to remove it from mine. The grip she had on my hand was not a light one, and Athena had to pry us apart, forcing Haley to let go and move away from
me as she came to stand between us.

  “Haley, take your brother into the other room. Try to contact your parents to let them know what’s going on, and I’ll flash to find the Elders. We have to put a stop to this right away. Austin, stay as far away from that door as possible,” Athena tells us before she flashes out of the room.

  I join Haley and Jonah in his room, closing the door behind me. I wish I knew why these guys were even after me. Why punish me for the things my father did? I was clueless to all of this, after all.

  “Haley, maybe if we just talked to them. Maybe if they knew I had no idea about my folks being who they were, maybe they will just leave us alone,” I say as I sit down on the bed beside her, being sure not to let our bodies touch.

  “Austin, you don’t get it. It’s in your blood; your bloodline is tainted. You may not be like the rest of your family, and actually, I know you’re not like them. But as long as their blood runs through your veins, they will hunt for you. They know no other way. Killing them would be the only way to stop them at this point, and doing so will make you a rogue. You would be no better than them,” Haley says as she looks at me. It still amazes me how many shades of blue her eyes can change into, and it distracts me from my thoughts for a moment before reality seeps back in.

  I wiggle uncomfortably, pushing myself onto the bed more. I’ve never thought about killing anyone, nor have I had a reason to kill anyone, but these assholes were making me have those thoughts. Why would I even want to talk to them anyway? They killed my parents. I should want to kill them, and hearing the words Haley just spoke makes my blood boil with anger.

  “You’re right Haley, why would I even think that talking to them was a good idea?” I say. God, I want to touch her so badly. I would kick her brother out and fuck her right here on his bed.

  Yes, I know that doesn’t sound right at all, but if you had the feelings of lust for her like I do, you would do the same. The vampire taking me over makes it even harder for me to restrain myself. My senses have hyped two hundred percent. She smells amazing—if amazing was a smell, that would be what she smells like.