Tainted Love

by Livell James

  “Please, Austin. Don’t let me die. Change me,” Hunter begs, reaching his hand up toward me.

  Within seconds, I’ve moved behind him. I lifted him from the floor, sinking my fangs deep into the crook of his neck. A gasp of air escapes him, then a high-pitched scream once I start to drink his blood. I feel his body going limp as his life source flows into my mouth. His life is slipping away beneath my fangs, and I don’t want to stop until I have taken it all. Every drop of his blood, his life.

  “Enough, Austin!” Athena brings me back to reality. “You must stop, he’s close enough to death. He needs to drink your blood now, he must be turned,” she continues.

  Either way, I’ll have to live with him for the rest of my vampire life—alive or dead. Dead I would be haunted with his death. Alive I am haunted by being his sire, and I still have no idea what that even means. I snatch my fangs from his neck, leaving the holes to bleed, watching as blood ran down his neck and onto his chest.

  I hadn’t noticed that his shirt had somehow been removed completely until I followed the trail of blood. I hoped to leave my mark to remind him who gave him life again after losing it to his family. He will no longer be bonded to his cousins, but forever in my debt. I watched the blood flow from his neck down his chest, and right back to the wound where he had been shot, and for once in my life, I feel powerful.

  I raise my wrist to my mouth and bite down, pushing my fangs into my vein. Releasing the blood, letting it pour from my arm, I reach down and place it against his lips, forcing him open his mouth.

  “Take it Hunter, drink it or die! I don’t give a shit either way,” I tell him.

  Haley moves behind me, easing the evil that has started to overtake me. I really don’t want him to die—or do I? No, no. I don’t, he must live and forever be in my debt. Forever one of us, no longer cursed by his evil past. But yet cursed as a bloodsucker, changed by a member of the enemy’s family.

  The family that his cousins thought they were taking out. Hunter’s body begins to shake under my wrist, and his head falls upon my chest as his eyes roll back into his head. The color begins to leave his face, and he stops sucking on the blood pouring from my wrist.

  “Keep it there, he must continue to take your blood,” Haley says, and it makes me wonder just how many humans she’s watched someone become a vampire.

  I keep my wrist lying on his lips, letting my blood run down his throat, uncomfortably letting his body lie back against mine. I then noticed another person has come into the room.

  “Hello Celina, how long have you been standing there?” I ask, not even knowing when she’d come into the room. I guess I have more pressing matters at hand—or wrist, as the case may be. I laugh to myself at my own corny joke.

  “I’ve been here the whole time. Well I was in my chamber, and I came out once I heard the loud scream. Angelus already called to let me know what happened. I just didn’t realize that you all had ended up here. He didn’t know if anyone was hit by the gunfire, but he knew that you two were protected by the spell that was put in place by the Elders and Athena. Speaking of, Athena, now that you have talked Austin into changing this man and saving his life, what are we to do with him? We can’t just send a newbie running the streets of Shreveport.” Celina twists her hair as she waits for Athena to answer.

  Hunter’s eyes have closed and he begins to shiver as his head pushes back hard into my chest. I ease him down, letting him lie on the floor beside me, not wanting to keep him from shifting back and forth. It had to be uncomfortable, the way he was laying against me. Standing, I walk over next to my grandmother.

  “I’ll take care of him. We’ll have a nice place for him to stay in the Elder’s chambers for a while. I’m pretty sure I can talk them into it. I think,” Athena says, lowering her head to look down at Hunter. The blood has started to dry from his wound—wait, no. The wound is gone. It was completely healed.

  “What the hell is going on here?” I look at Celina and then Haley with what I was sure was a very confused look on my face. “How did the gunshot wound just close up and heal that fast? Did my blood do that to him?”

  They giggle, while I just stand here staring at them, waiting for them to tell me how this happened.

  “Do you not remember that vampires heal almost instantly? Once you changed him, his wounds began to heal. You still have a lot to learn about your new vampire ways, Austin. You also may be the very first vampire to become a sire on your first day,” Celina says as her cell phone rings from the kitchen counter.

  “Hello, yes they’re here and safe. Well, other than Hunter. He was shot and Austin had to turn him. Oh yeah, by the way, Austin’s change is complete. You captured all three of them? That’s great, but I hate that one of them had to lose a life. Okay honey, we’ll see you when you get here.” I overhear her replies back to the person on the other end of the phone, who I assume is Mr. Devile. I mean, who else would she be calling honey?

  “Your father will be back here soon. They’ve captured all three brothers, but Brandon, the one who shot Hunter, lost his life. Brock and Bristol have been taken to lock down at the chambers. Once he gets here, I need to keep my promise. I have a secret to share with you and Austin.” Celina walks toward Haley and puts her arm around her shoulder.

  I could feel pain coming from Haley at the thought of one of her childhood friends losing his life, but I could also tell that she knew it was for the best. Because he wasn’t aiming that gun at Hunter when those shots were fired. Once her mom’s arm wraps around her and tells her she has a secret to share with us, a slight smile lights her face. I’m still weary of not touching her before mating, and I want nothing more than to walk over and wrap my arms around her for comfort.

  For a moment, it seemed we’d all forgotten that Hunter was still laying on the floor—well, he had been, but now he was sitting up and beginning to look around. All the color was now gone from his skin, and his eyes were a brighter shade of brown, though sunk back more into his sockets. His muscles seem more defined than before.

  “Everything is so bright, the colors so vivid. I can smell every person in the room by their own scent.” Hunter looks up at me and then to Athena, looking as if he needs an explanation.

  “You’ve only just begun to notice things child; it’s been only minutes since you became one of us. I’ll take you to the Elders, and they’ll prepare a room for you in the chambers for a couple of days. No worries, you’ll be far away from the cells your cousins now call home, as they are farther underground than we are. I promise you’ll be safe and this is the best thing. You must learn to control your new powers, and you need to feed. You have to learn to control the darkness inside you, rather than let the darkness control you,” Athena tells him, reaching down for him to take her by the hand.

  “Will I have to stay down here forever? Can I return to the city above at all? What will we tell my family?” Hunter worries as he takes her hand and stands with her help.

  “We’ll take care of all of that in due time. For now, we need to find you a willing host to feed upon. Let’s be on our way. We can catch up with Austin again soon.” She speaks to him with a soft, soothing voice as they walk to the door.

  Hunter turns and comes to stand in front of me, stopping within a few inches from my face.

  “Is this what you think is best for me, sire? I mean, um… Austin?” he asks me.

  Someone asking for my approval was a little odd. Looking him in the eyes with a stern gaze, I place my hand behind his neck.

  “This is new to me as well, Hunter. We’ll learn this all as we go. For now, I think it best you do as Athena says. I’ll pay you a visit within a few days. You’re in good hands, I can assure you that,” I reply, moving my hand down to his back and turning him to walk toward the door.

  Athena reaches out her hand, offering a smile. Once he places his hand into hers, they flash. Just like that they were gone, and Hunter had no choice but to go with her. I know it’s best for him, and me as well, at
the moment. Besides, I have to learn my own powers and what to do now that I’m a vampire.

  I walk over to Haley, wondering how it is that we aren’t mated yet, but I can still feel her energy.

  Like it feeds my cold dark soul.

  Do I still have a soul?

  There were so many things I still needed to know.

  Thankfully, me touching Austin as he completed his change hadn’t done anything to break our bond. It’s been a few hours since he turned Hunter and Athena took him off to the Elders. My dad finally just walked into the door to let us all know how things went down with the brothers, and how Brandon died.

  “But how did he know where we were, and how did you know where to find him?” I cross my arms as I wait for his answer.

  “He—they—were bonded to Hunter. The bond let them know where he was. I have no idea how he found out Hunter was helping us capture them. How did I know where he was, you ask? That dirty ass vampire had a scent that he couldn’t hide anywhere. Once he escaped, we headed back into the underground. After we got here, we caught his scent and chased him. He’d already drawn his weapon and had it aimed toward you all by the time we found him. Luckily, Athena was there to flash you all away to somewhere else. I hate that Hunter was hit, but now that he’s changed, he’ll be much better off not being bonded to those assholes anymore.” Once again, my dad loves to say it all without taking a breath.

  He moves from where he was standing next to me over to where Austin is leaning against the bar, placing his hand on his shoulder.

  “So, I hear you’re now a sire, and on your first day as a vampire,” he tells him.

  “Yes sir, but I’m not sure if that is a good or bad thing,” Austin replies with that damn smirk he always has. You would think he was being a smartass, but the smirk was a dead giveaway of being unsure of the answer he’s given. It hadn’t taken me long to figure that out.

  “You’ll do fine, Austin, I’m sure of it. Besides, you have us all here to help you. You’re our family now, remember that. Hunter shall be also, once he has learned to control himself. You also have Athena and the Elders on your side. You’re very lucky to have what many never have in their life as a vampire. I must shower and rest for a while now,” my dad says as he excuses himself, going into my parents’ bedroom.

  Mom and I clean the blood from the floor using some super cleaner they use to remove blood stains. The moment you spray it on, the blood disappears. I suppose being a vampire this stuff comes in pretty handy. We spray the bloody towels with the cleaner as well and place them into the washer.

  “Haley, grab your mate and come with me. It’s time I show you two the secret surprise I’ve been preparing for you,” my mom tells me as she starts the washer.

  Leaving the lair, we take a left into the alleyway. After walking for maybe a hundred feet, we turn left into another alleyway, where my mother stops and turns to face a bright yellow door. She takes a key from her pocket and unlocks the door, opening it and standing to the side, looking at Austin and I as if we are supposed to do something.

  “Are you going in or are you going to stand there and look at me as if I’m a crazy lady?” Mom asks, motioning for us to go inside.

  “Why are we here, and why didn’t you go in before us?” I ask, walking into what looks to be a lair. “Did you bring us to someone else’s home, Mom?”

  The walls are just as colorful as the bright yellow door that opened into the room. Sky blue, I think is what you would call it. The floor looks to be oak hardwood, and just like my parents’ lair, there’s a small kitchen with a bar, along with two doors on the other side of the room, which I’m sure are bedrooms. The living room is much smaller but cozy looking.

  “No, Haley, this is yours. Yours and Austin’s. Your father and I lived here before having you, and it’s yours now. I had the walls and door painted brighter colors, so you wouldn’t miss the outside world as much. You know, since Austin’s now a vampire and will spend most of his time underground,” Mom replies with a smile.

  “How come you two have never spoken of this place? Have you owned it the whole time?” I ask, confusion washing over me.

  “We sold it to a young couple and moved into the lair we own now, and that couple moved to another city a few months ago. We bought it in case your brother becomes full vampire on his birthday, so he would have a place when he was old enough. Once we found out you’d found your fated mate, we decided to let you and Austin stay here so you would be close by. Jonah will have to live with us a little longer, anyway.” Mom chuckles.

  “It’s perfect, Mom. You guys didn’t have to do this. We have my apartment. I could have made Austin sleeping quarters in my closet,” I say, not realizing how dumb it must have sounded until the words were already out.

  “Haley, I don’t think sleeping in a closet is what you really want for your mate. Now is it?” She asks, placing a hand midway up my back and walking with me to open the door into what I guess is our master bedroom.

  The walls are painted a dark shade of purple, almost blue. The wood on the floor is a dark grey, as close as you can get to black. The linens look to be black satin, covering the four-post bed. To the right of the bed was a beautiful wooden box. The lid was open and lined with the same black silk that covers the bed. To the left of the bed was our master bathroom, covered in black marble.

  “Wow, it’s beautiful!” I glow.

  “I hope you like it as well, Austin. We chose the coffin from a top of the line manufacturer. We wanted it to be as close to your bed and what you’re used to as possible. We can always exchange it if you don’t like it,” she says, walking over with him to take a look inside.

  “I was sleeping in a car, Mrs. Devile. I think anything will be better than that,” he tells her, rubbing his hand around the outside of his sleeping box.

  Yes, that’s what I will call it because honestly, I hate the other word. Besides, why do the vampires of the underground still sleep in them? It’s pitch black if you turn the lights off down here. I’ve never really become accustomed to the vampire’s way of life, but it seems I have no choice now, since I’m to be the fated mate of one.

  I walk behind him, just close enough he can feel my presence, and whisper into his ear. “I don’t think I will allow you to leave the bed long enough to use this box.”

  The cute blush of pink that covers his face makes me laugh softly. I’m sure Mom knew I was up to no good, but it didn’t matter to me. Austin on the other hand, looks as if he wishes he could jump into his sleeping box and close the lid as the pink shade of blush became more red.

  “I’m glad you both like it. I was worried our color choices wouldn’t be of your liking. Plus, we had to use vampire speed to have it done in only a few days.”

  “We love it, Mom. Right, Austin?” He just nods and smiles in agreement.

  “I should be getting back now. I’ll leave you two to get used to your new place,” Mom says as we walk back into the living room.

  “Goodnight, Mrs. Devile,” Austin tells her as she closes the door behind her.

  As much as I couldn’t wait to be alone with Austin, shyness overcomes me. I feel like I’m looking at my first crush all over again as a nervous ball of butterflies starts to churn in my stomach. All the teasing and shit talking—all the waiting to touch him, kiss him, fuck him. Now here’s my chance, and I stand here trembling, asking myself what I should do now.

  Walking into the kitchen, I open the fridge, and to my surprise, I see my parents have it stocked for me. Bending to get a soda from the bottom shelf, I feel the heat of Austin moving up behind me. He places his hands on each of my hips and nudges himself against my ass. Passion fills my body, and the electricity I feel from him touching me is ten times stronger than any other time I’ve felt it.

  I can only imagine how it’s going to feel once we’re skin to skin. Pushing back against him, I stand up straight and close the door, forgetting to even get my soda as I turn to face him. Damn, he seems to get better
looking every time I look at him.

  “Austin, you’re being bad,” I say with a smirk.

  “You think I’m being bad? You should see what you’ve done to me,” he replies as he reaches down to grab himself, putting his bulging pants on full display.

  “Me? How did I do that, you were the one pushing up on me?” I ask him as I move closer, closing the space between us. If had to admit it, I was just as horny as he looked. Thank God that we don’t have to worry about hard-ons as women. I snicker louder than I thought I had.

  He looks so serious as he gazes at me. “Why is that funny, Haley?’’

  I just play as if I’m not still giggling on the inside. Who knew I would be so giggly around him when we were alone? Get it together Haley, this is your mate and damn, he’s fine as fuck. Mine, I think to myself.

  Last week I was single and not even looking for a boyfriend, and just enjoying life. Today, here I stand in my own kitchen with a mate—a vampire mate, nonetheless. A mate that any woman would give her left tit to have, and he’s mine, all mine.

  “Nothing’s funny. I just giggled at the thought of you always getting hard so easily,” I say as I sit on the couch.

  “Oh, so easily huh? You think it just happens so easy? You’re the only person who’s ever made me feel this way, Haley. I get turned on just looking at you. Knowing you’re my mate makes it even more of a turn on. I’ve controlled myself for about as long as I can now. Now that I’ve changed, I can make it complete. I can make you my mate. Let me take you, Haley. I want to leave my mark on you for the world to see. Let me make you my mate.”

  He’s speaking, but the only thing I hear is my name and the word mate in one sentence. Little did he know that in my mind, I’ve already mated and claimed him. It’s just a matter of physically doing so at this point. My panties are soaked and my body is tingling at the thought.

  “Make me? I’m already your mate, Austin,” I tell him as he walks to stand in front of me where I’m sitting on the couch. His bulge is only inches from my face, and heat radiates from him. This vampire is no cold dead soul. He is very much alive and hot, very hot.