Bound Through Blood (11 page)

Salena walked along the strip mall, which was filled with various fortunetellers and voodoo shops. She saw the one she'd visited before, but, remembering that reading, she decided not to visit it again. She needed a fresh pair of eyes to look into her future. Then she noticed an elderly Gypsy woman, who was looking into a crystal ball. Before she walked away, the Gypsy looked up at her with a secretive smile and a wink. Salena read the sign on the door—
Madame Marietta, Fortuneteller
—it said. Again, she looked at the woman's kind face and, again, the woman gave her a wink.
Well, either she wants to date me, or she has something to tell me
. Eager to get some good news and clarification, she went in.

"Welcome!" the robust Gypsy spoke louder than Salena would've guessed, and it made her jump. "Do not be afraid, dear, I'm here to help you. Madame Marietta knows all."

What an original pitch
. She started to explain to the woman, "Well, I'm here be-"

Madame Marietta cut her off though, "I know why you are here; I saw it in the crystal ball. You have questions about the mysterious things going on in your life and the outcome of your future, which has already been foretold."

Surprised at the Gypsy's accuracy, Salena could only mutter a simple, "Yes." This made her more nervous though—until now, she could still pretend that the fortunetellings hadn't been real, or at least not accurate; but now, it seemed, she really did have cause to believe.
Oh, crap
.

"I know you are scared," the fortuneteller continued, "because you don't yet comprehend the magical forces surrounding you. But love comes in many different, and sometimes unexpected, forms."

Salena stopped her, "But, I'm not in love. I'm not looking for love, and I'm not even dating."

Madame Marietta held up her hand, "But love has found you, and from what I have seen, it is an epic love and by far the most powerful there is. This is why I wanted you to come in; love like this shouldn't be and can't be ignored; it has come from the past to settle in you now, and the original recipient knows that. He knows where his lost love lies."

Agitated, Salena paced the room. "Why can't I meet a nice man and fall in love, on my own terms, like a normal person?"

Madame Marietta looked at her with a soft expression, "Because love chose you first. This enchantment started long ago, with someone else close to you, and now it's back to finish what it started."

Salena looked at the Gypsy like she was crazy. "Close to me? If you are referring to Abigail, she was my 10th generation great-grandmother. That was almost three hundred years ago, so why is it showing up now? Why didn't one of my other relatives have it?"

The fortuneteller laughed lightly. "You are speaking of love like it's a disease instead of a gift. Truelove has a mind of its own. I cannot tell you why it chose you over someone else, I only see that it has, and you must not fight it. He is not going to let you go." Madame Marietta was smiling, just as Heloise had.

"What can you tell me about him? What did you see?"

"I can tell you he has blood on his hands, but nothing but love in his heart for you. He knows you have a connection to his past; again, he knows where his lost truelove lies. The supernatural realm exists beyond the reach of science and without complete proof, but that doesn't mean it isn't there. Look where you are, Salena. You are trusting me to tell you your future.

Salena, completely stunned, looked at the smiling woman. "I never told you my name."

"Oh, didn't you?" she looked up from the crystal ball and winked.

"Okay, now I'm really scared. Why can't I just have a normal life? And if his love has 'settled' in me, as you say, why don't I feel it?"

"You just have not yet opened your mind and heart up to it. Once you come to fully accept things the way they are, you will come to realize your destiny."

"What if I don't want this? What if I don't choose to accept the love of a vampire? Which I don't!" then stopping her rant to stare at the woman, she added, "Do you think he's a vampire too, or are you going to tell me something else?"

"Yes, he is a vampire. But, he is a vampire in love, which is not a normal thing. His heart calls to you like a mortal man's would."

"Well, it has the wrong number so let it call somebody else. Let him choose someone else's bloodline."

"I'm afraid, dear, the choice was made for him and for you as well. Love will always find its way. Just try to be open to it. It is a natural living thing, and I see that it is living in you now. You just haven't accepted it, yet."

"No, I don't accept that a vampire is my soul mate!" Salena threw her hands in the air, "This is crazy!"

"You haven't seen the complete picture yet. There is more to it than you think."

"So give me answers then, please," she added more softly.

"I see danger, but the one who seeks your heart is not the one who poses a threat to you; there is another who is also connected to the past. This source of pure evil will try to destroy you and your truelove. You have to go to your lover, and let him protect you and help you understand your destiny. You must trust him."

Salena paid for the reading and headed for the door, "I can't take anymore of this. No more bad news."

While getting into her car, she looked at her watch through teary eyes and saw it was six o'clock. It had already been such a long and terrible day; first, there was the funeral, then Heloise's tarot reading for her, and now this one. She just wanted to go home and sleep, hopefully, without a nightmare this time. But then she remembered she had plans. "Shit! Rob." She'd forgotten about him, and she was supposed to meet him in an hour and a half for dinner. That really didn't give her enough time to politely cancel, so she headed home to change.

She chose to wear jeans with a blue tunic top and tennis shoes. Keeping with the casual theme, she topped off her outfit by pulling her long black hair into a ponytail.

While following Salena, Gabriel had realized how hungry he was and how alone, and tasty looking, the young brunette at the bus stop was. She must have been to the vampire tour because she was dressed in Gothic clothes, slutty ones in fact, and was wearing plastic fangs. She even had bite marks penciled in on her throat. He laughed at the irony of the situation; she would soon have real ones.

He approached the young girl who was probably in her late teens, which meant a high amount of estrogen rich blood. He licked his fangs in anticipation. As soon as she noticed him walking toward her, she thrust her chest out and flashed her dimples. Gabriel, like Devin, was impossible to resist. His six-foot six-inch frame was adorned with silky brown hair, which fell neatly to his broad shoulders, and his chiseled jaw was adorned with full luscious lips; lips that were just begging to be kissed.

She noticed his eyes first, he had mysterious black eyes, and that made tingles run up and down her spine. He was so Goth and hot. She batted her lashes at him. "Hello. I like your costume; did you go on the tour yet?" she looked down at her feet and then back up demurely, trying to appear bashful.

Gabriel smiled back at the girl, purely from amusement. "Hey there," he replied in a deep, sensuous purr. "No, I haven't gone yet, have you?" this time he flashed his full smile, including his fangs.

"Cool fangs! Where did you get those?"

He chuckled, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you. So, did you like the tour?"

"Yes, it was kind of cool," she replied, still admiring his teeth and the rest of him as well.

"Well, I might know of a better one; it has more realistic affects," he told her while reaching for her hand. She would have never guessed in a million years just how more realistic it was going to be.

"Really? Where at? I've not seen any others." She took his hand, which felt warm and very strong.

"Well, it's a private tour just for you," he told her while leading her away from the bus stop. "Care to check it out?" he flashed another big smile.

"Sure." Truth was, she'd go anywhere with him.

Devin had caught up to Salena to make sure she was safe from Gabriel—whose scent he, thankfully, found leading off in a different direction. He was able to hear most of Salena's reading from Madame Marietta; it pleased him to hear the fortuneteller explain to Salena how powerful his love is, and that it cannot be ignored. He was not happy about her keeping her date with the Rob fellow, though. He would just have to show up and intervene—he wouldn't risk her falling for Rob, or anyone for that matter—she was his. You never try to take something from a vampire.

Just as he was about to shape-shift to follow her, the door to Madame Marietta's shop opened.

"Wait! Don't go. I know who you are, and I need you. Please, come inside quickly." The Gypsy motioned eagerly for him to follow her into the shop. Curious, Devin followed her inside, and she locked the door behind him. Then she reached out and grabbed both of his strong arms, which caused a definite look of surprise on his face. "I saw you in the crystal ball; you are in love with the woman who just left here. You are a vampire."

Devin was stunned. No one had ever approached him before while knowing what he is. "Why would you want me in here all alone with you?" he asked in an amused tone.

"Because, I want your help," she replied in a very serious tone. She looked nervous, yet she appeared utterly determined about something.

"With what? What could a vampire help you with?"

"I am old, clearly," she shrugged her shoulders and started wringing her hands. She looked deep into his mysterious eyes, pleading with her own, "and I am done. I don't want to wait for the ending I have foreseen. I want you to end it for me." She winked at him and tried to muster up a pleasing smile. "I can't think of a more pleasurable way to go than in the arms and mouth," she giggled, "of a gorgeous and sexy vampire like yourself." She cocked her head exposing her neck for him. "Please, be gentle and quick."

Devin was bewildered; no one had ever asked to be bitten before. He brushed her cheek gently, "You have years left, my lady, so why would you ask this of me?"

"I am a fortuneteller; I can see glimpses of my future too. As I said, I don't want to go in the way I have foreseen; alone and in pain. I've also seen the love in your heart and your desire to become mortal for her. Please, do this for me while you still can. I beg you." She had a couple of tears rolling down now from her wrinkled eyes.

Devin felt compassion for the woman who was trying to bring Salena to him. "Okay," he relented.

Madame Marietta once again exposed her neck.

Devin, however, gently scooped her into his arms, hugged her, and gave her a soft kiss on the lips before biting—as quickly but gently as possible—into her neck. She moaned softly, but then smiled as he quickly suckled her life's blood—then, it was over. Devin gently laid her lifeless body on the small sofa she had in the back of the shop. Feeling remorseful for the woman, he flipped her closed sign over and left, locking the door behind himself.

It was time to find Salena, so he shape-shifted into a black crow and hurried to catch up to her and Rob—who had no idea what was about to come down on him. He decided to first see if she was at her house, all the while keeping an eye out for Gabriel.

Gabriel appeased his next meal by letting her lead him down the sidewalk, holding his hand, and giving a smirk to all the girls staring at her.

Tina loved seeing her preppy classmates, who always judged her, so envious. None of their jock boyfriends looked this good. Just to grind it in further, she stopped, stood on her tiptoes, and kissed him long and hard—tracing his fangs with the tip of her tongue.

The girl's forwardness amused Gabriel, but he obliged her. He even started to get aroused. In fact, he was sure she could feel his erection pressed against her abdomen, because it made her kiss him deeper and harder.

Tina grabbed his hand again and hurried him around the block and into the rundown apartment she lived in with her stepmom and half-brother. They would be gone for at least another hour, which was plenty of time.

Gabriel, thinking this was too easy, told her "Okay, I guess we're going to your place."

She locked the door behind him and immediately grabbed his growing erection with one hand while running the other up his flat abs to reach around his neck. She pulled herself up for another long kiss and began to nibble on his lips and tongue.

He almost choked at her aggressiveness and pulled away chuckling. "So, you like to bite, huh?"

"Yes," came her breathless reply as she started to bite his neck—gently at first, then harder.

Gabriel, getting hungrier and harder, opened her jeans and yanked them down; he wasn't surprised that she had on a black thong, which he ripped off in one swift movement. She'd already opened his black pants and was stroking him hard and fast. He moved her hand away asking, "Hey, what's your name, Hot Rod?"

While hiking up her right leg and moving the head of his throbbing turgid girth to her aching and wet cavity, she said, "Tina, why?"

Thrusting hard inside her, he replied in a menacing growl, "Because I want to know who
I'm
going to bite," then he ripped into her throat with five days worth of thirst.

Salena pulled up in front of The Edgar Degas House at seven thirty-five p.m. She immediately spotted Rob, who was waiting in his car, but she didn't notice the black crow that was also waiting.

If Devin had gotten there a little sooner, Rob wouldn't have still been there waiting for her.

Rob got out of his car and opened the passenger door for Salena. "Hi Salena, it's good to see you tonight. Thanks for not standing me up."

"Hi Rob; sorry I'm late." In truth, she wished she'd had the guts to cancel the date; Rob just wasn't her type; no one was lately. She thought wistfully of Eric and the other day with him.

"It's okay, I'm just glad you showed up. What do you feel like eating?"

She hesitated, "How about Chinese? I haven't had that lately."

"Sure, I can go for that." He drove toward the Moon Wok.

Enjoy her company while you still can
. Devin grinned sadistically and followed them to the restaurant.