Blood Mates (3 page)

“FUCK!” Talon stomped on the gas petal even more. “How the hell did they find a blood mate anyway?” they weren’t born every day. A female blood mate was born because her mother was one. Generation after generation. And they were indeed rare in the immortal world because female vampires didn’t have children like humans did.  Humans could have children one after another, but not vampires. They were allowed to have an off spring once every century if they were able to.

Usually female blood mates were mated to vampires so how the hell was she not already a part of their world.  Had her mother even been mated to a vampire? This didn’t make any sense.  There were too many questions. She would’ve been protected in their world.

Talon didn’t slow down. Rhage cursed him every other second as they took several curves nearly on two wheels. They reached the normal drive that led around to the back of a normal looking Victorian three story house hidden behind dozens of oak trees and huge stone walls. To outsiders it looked like any other white Victorian home, but in reality it was more secure and high tech than the world’s governments.  Talon slowed down and followed the curved drive to the back where two reinforced steel doors on the garage lifted to reveal a secret drive that led below ground. It curved and opened to a large underground garage that house dozens of vehicles.

Talon slammed on the brakes and barely stopped before he rammed the concrete barriers at the elevators. Rhage had to hold the female against his chest and brace his hand on the dash to keep from either one of them hitting it.

“DAMMIT!” Rhage hissed. “I’m never riding with you again, you stupid fucker! You could’ve killed her!”

“Stop bitching at me!”

Rhage growled at his friend before jumping from the SUV with the female in his arms. They rushed toward the doors just as Sloane came running out to meet them. Sloane was one of them and their resident doctor. He took care of everything when they came back busted up from hunting. Sloane reached Rhage and quickly shined a pen light into her eyes.

“What the hell happened? Lucas called said you were bringing in a female who was hurt.”

“She was held by half breeds…” Rhage said with a low growl. He was still angry.

“Damn! I hope you killed em…”

“We did….”

Sloane shook his head. “She’s bad…..I don’t know if I can do anything for her.”

“Sloane…” Talon sighed. “She’s a blood mate…”

Sloane’s head snapped around to look at Talon in shock when Talon nodded Sloane then looked for the mark himself. “FUCK! Get her into the first room, Rhage. I will grab some blood. If we get some into her she might survive…hurry! I’m right behind you.”

Rhage nodded and sprinted inside while holding her as carefully as he could. She was still breathing which was a damn good thing! Talon grabbed the doors as he entered. When he reached the room Talon quickly grabbed a couple of blankets to lay on the table beneath her. He even looked around for a pillow and when he

Didn’t find one he cursed and then folded one of the blankets up to make due as one as Rhage laid her down carefully. Her head rolled to the side. She was still unconscious.

“Damn she looks worse in the light…” Talon sighed. She looked like she had been through a war zone. Her face was bruised scraped and she was filthy. They knew the blood she had on her clothes, was hers. Rhage looked at her too. Her heart was still beating. He could hear it and yet her breathing was thin and low he could barely hear her. She was in bad shape. He couldn’t believe she didn’t die on the way here.

Sloane dashed into the room with two bags of blood in his hands. He pushed Talon to one side. “Talon reach over there and get me some alcohol swaps so I can clean her skin. I don’t want her to get an infection from the dirt on her when I put the IV in.”

Rhage watched as Sloane cleaned her arm and inserted the IV before hanging the bag of blood on the nearby pole. He adjusted the flow and then began to take her pulse.

“Can she handle taking the blood?” Rhage asked. He knew that the blood came from one of them. It was immortal blood. It was given when someone was turned, but in some human cases it caused death or worse. It could turn a human insane.

“A blood mate can handle it. Her body will heal just like we do with it. If I don’t give it to her she will most likely die from her injuries. There isn’t going to be a rejection of it.” Sloane answered before taking a stethoscope to listen to her chest. “Shit!”

“What?” Talon and Rhage spoke together?

“One of her lungs has already collapsed. I hope she got here in time… I don’t know if the blood is going to be enough.” he looked at them. “You two need to get out while I clean her up and see what else I can do for her.”

“We can help….” Talon offered.

Rhage looked at the female again. He didn’t like watching Sloane touching her. He knew he was just trying to do the doctor thing, but Rhage just wanted to rip his arms off and beat him to death with them. Before he realized it he growled at Sloane. Sloane looked at Rhage surprised by it and he didn’t move.

“What’s your problem, Rhage?”

“You’re hurting her!” he growled again. He felt his fangs extend out of his gums. He knew he was getting closer and closer to hitting Sloane. Sloane seemed to know and took a step back from the table.

“I can’t help her if I can’t touch her… go upstairs and tell Lucien about her.

He will want to know everything that happened.”

              Talon moved to stand next to Rhage. He didn’t dare to touch him though. Talon could see Rhage gripping the edge of the table tightly with his hands.

“Come on, man… Sloane will take care of her. Let’s head upstairs…” Rhage nodded and followed Talon out glancing back at the female a few times. Once in the hallway Rhage paused. He could hear Sloane moving around the room behind him. He had the strongest urge to turn and go back in there. He needed and wanted to protect her. She was unconscious and had no idea what Sloane was going to do to her. He knew Sloane wouldn’t physically hurt her. Sloane only wanted to help her, but Rhage didn’t like it. “Rhage? Man, are you alright?”

“Yeah….” He shook his head and fell instep next to Talon heading for the elevator to go upstairs to the main house.

“What’s going on with you? I thought you were gonna rip Sloane’s head off there for a second.”

“He was hurting her.”

“It wasn’t as if he meant to. He was trying to help her.”

“I know.” That was the only reason Sloane still had his arms. “She has been hurt enough.”

Lucien  Devereau  stood in his study walking back and forth in front of his fire place. He called it pondering… and glared at anyone who called it pacing. Pacing meant you were worried and he never worried.  He just thought everything out carefully. He hadn’t lived this long without knowing how to plan a strategy to perfection.

“You pacing again?”

Lucien turned and glared at Darius who was entering the room with a cup of coffee. “No... I don’t pace and you know it… I hope that coffee is mine since you are being stupid…” Darius chuckled and held it out. Lucien sighed as he took a sip of it. “I’m glad you got Alfred to go back to the Columbian coffee instead of that French shit he was buying.”

“He was trying new ones. I think he is in a coffee of the month club or something.” Darius went to the sofa and sat down stretching his legs out. “Talon and Rhage are downstairs. They brought in a female that was injured in the attack.”

“How bad is she?”

“I don’t know. They should be up soon and we’ll know.”

“What?” Lucien demanded. He knew Darius well and knew when there was something Darius wasn’t sure how to say. “Just out with it.”

“Lucas called in as Rhage and Talon were headed here with the female. Lucas said the female is a blood mate.”

“WHAT?” Lucien snapped. “How is that possible? The council ---we all know where all the blood mates are located, who their mates are and there hasn’t been a blood mate born in what----“Lucien was trying to remember when Darius supplied the answer.

“1438… her name is Susannah. She lives in Venice with her mate Jordin.”

“That’s right… she gave birth to three sons. She was the last one.”

Darius nodded. “Lucas said Talon was quite adamant about it.”

Lucien turned to look at the doorway. “Well... we shall ask Talon now.” It was barely ten seconds when Talon and Rhage appeared in the doorway. “The female?” Lucien prompted.

“Sloane is still working on her.” Talon answered. “He isn’t sure she will make it though.”

“You think she is she a blood mate?” Lucien was never one to wait or beat around the bush. He preferred to get it all out so he could deal with it. He demanded answers and it was the same when he gave an order. He was king after all and no one questioned him.

“She has the mark, Lucien. A small crescent blood moon behind the ear.” Talon told him. “I even tried to read her and it was like hitting a brick wall. I couldn’t even hear her heart beating….” Talon sighed. “I could be wrong, but I have never met any human I couldn’t read.”

Lucien nodded. “I will see her in a few minutes.  I just don’t see how it’s possible. She’s completely human? You’re sure there isn’t a trace of immortal in her?”

“None... she is completely human.”

Lucien shook his head again and turned to walk across the room to his desk. It just wasn’t possible… a female blood mate was born human, but there was always a trace of her paternal immortal sire.  A female blood mate was born from a turned blood mate mother and a full immortal father. The blood mate only became a full immortal when she mated and was turned. Then the process started all over again. Blood mates were NEVER fully human. It just wasn’t possible. Male immortals could only bear children with their blood mates and since there hadn’t been a female blood mate born since 1438 their lines were slowly dwindling.

Lucien believed that was why they were finding more and more half breeds

Nests all over the world. He believed some immortals were trying to recreate the link which just wasn’t possible. He had been searching for the one behind all the chaos and yet he hadn’t been successful. They had rules and laws to live by and some immortal was ignoring everything they lived by. It infuriated Lucien and he had made it his mission to stop it. So far he had the backing of the council and he knew it was only because he was royal blood. He came from the first immortal and no one dared to deny him.

He also knew about blood mates because his mother had been one so had his sister. Daughters only came from blood mated females. He was the only one left of his line. He was the oldest of them all now.

Despite being immortal--- there was a way to kill them. Immortals could heal from almost anything with enough blood, but a severed head wasn’t one of them. It was how he lost his family so many centuries ago. He had been away and there had been an attack. His family had murdered making him king. He had changed that day. He had hunted down those who dared to kill his family. He had earned his title and name that day. He had impaled every one of the villagers on spikes alive and watched them die.

He was feared and even now those among his people knew he wasn’t an immortal to cross. He was the only king!

Ava  didn’t open her eyes at first. She laid very still listening for the dripping noise of the basement’s overhead water pipes, but she didn’t hear it nor did she smell that nasty moldy stench she had gotten used to either. There was no disgusting odor of blood or death. She knew she couldn’t be in the basement of the meat packing plant so where the hell was she now?

She slowly opened her eyes to look only through her lashes and saw a nice crisp white ceiling above her. That made her eyes shoot wide open and she quickly looked around.  She sure as hell wasn’t in that basement!

The room was a light lavender color and there was a soft light on off to her right somewhere. She realized she laid on a soft mattress hospital bed and the sheets were Egyptian cotton--- the expensive ones she couldn’t afford and the blanket was a plush fleece. She sat up and pushed her hair from her face so she could look around.

She looked down at her hands…. Last night---- well she wasn’t sure how long she had been unconscious---- well they had been covered in blood and her hair had been matted with god only knows what from the basement and yet now there wasn’t a trace of the grime or blood on her. She snatched the cover back and looked at her feet.  They had been a bloody nasty mess and now they looked normal--- not a scratch on them. She then looked and checked her entire body. All the cuts and scratches were gone.  She saw a mirror on the wall and jumped from the bed and went to it. None of the scratches or bruises were on her face any more. She reached up and found the knots gone too.

“No... Please tell me---“she murmured opening her mouth to see if she found fangs in her mouth. She didn’t. Her mouth looked normal and she didn’t feel weird... she felt normal. She looked down and saw the oversized t-shirt… which she knew belonged to a man. It was that big.

“I bite back…” she read aloud. The letters were blood red across the front.

“Sorry it was the first thing I grabbed.”

Her head shot up and found an extremely tall blonde guy in the doorway. Ava didn’t think twice about dashing across the room away from him. She grabbed the lamp and threw it at him.

“WHOA!” Sloane sighed ducking as the lamp sailed over his head and crashed against the wall behind him. He reached for the light switch. He held his hand up in the air. “Easy I’m not gonna hurt you….”

“Who the hell are you? And stay over there!” Ava warned scanning the room for anything else she could use as a weapon.

“My name is Sloane and I was the one who took care of you. I’m a doctor.”

“And a vampire….” She remembered the biker looking dudes from last night. She remembered them saying they were taking her to Sloane. Sloane could help her and if they were vampires that meant he was probably one too. “I’ve had enough of vampires….”

“I’m sure you have, but I’m an immortal which is different than the half breeds who held you.”