Pucker Up (A Damsels of Distress Novel) (36 page)

reward money, saving a town full of

people, or karmic redemption was

buried beneath rising panic. There were

enough bloodsuckers in the world

without adding one more.

Before anyone could answer, the

vampire's hand snapped up and grabbed

her left arm, forcing her wrist into his

mouth. He bit down.

She screamed.

Blood oozed out the side of his

mouth as he slurped at her veins. His

tongued slithered along her skin, eagerly

lapping up every drop. He gripped her

arm tighter as she struggled to pull free.

“Let me go!” She pushed against

his forehead with her free hand while

trying to tug out of his clutches. For

someone who hadn’t moved a muscle in

200 years, he sure was strong.

“Look out,” Garren said as he

raised his hand as if to strike the

vampire with a shield, but stalled when

the door slammed open.

Zoo marched in and headed

straight for them. An older woman

dressed in her nightclothes shuffled in

behind him.

Help had arrived. If anyone

could get this guy off her, another

vampire surely could.

“Sebastian, release the girl,” Zoo

demanded.

Slowly, the prince extracted his

teeth from her bloody wrist. His eyes

fluttered open, looking exactly like they

did in the picture. The way they settled

on her felt familiar, like buried dreams

never remembered. A mixture of peace

and apprehension saturated her heart.

This is totally creepy.
Blood

dripped off her fingertips and splattered

on the hardwood floor by her feet. The

puncture wounds stung in the cool air.

She pressed her wrist against her

stomach and wrapped the end of her

shirt around it to staunch the bleeding.

Prince Sebastian's eyes widened

as they focused on her. “Leviena, you

are alive.” He sat up and reached out his

hand toward her straight, bottle-blond

hair, but she jerked back.

Garren stepped in front of

Sebastian and smacked his hand away.

“
Don't
touch her.”

She was shocked at the intensity

of his words. Her heart pounded as she

stood behind him. A glaring contest

commenced

between

vampire

and

mortal. Standing up to an Eradicator was

one thing, but Garren was way over his

head facing a vampire.

She needed to diffuse the tension

if they had any hope of getting out of

there uneaten. “I'm not Leviena. I'm her

great, great, great, great, great, great—”

“Ivy, they get it,” Thane said. He

stood against the wall next to the

trembling woman who came in with Zoo.

Nodding in understanding, she

continued. “I'm her great, however many,

granddaughter. She's still dead. Um,

sorry for your loss.”

Sebastian dropped his head,

black hair falling around his face like a

curtain. An

uncomfortable

silence

saturated the room.

Awkward.
She stepped back,

pushing Garren with her toward the exit.

Maybe if they were discreet, they could

get the heck out of there before the

vampires noticed.

Garren wrapped a possessive

arm around her waist as they slunk back.

His racing heart pounded against her

back. They only had a few more feet

until they crossed the threshold.

“Leaving so soon?” Zoo asked,

standing next to the prince still slumped

on the bed.

Sebastian’s head snapped up. He

turned

the

full

power

of

those

beseeching, black eyes on her. The pain,

desperation and fear on his face struck

right to her heart. She was always a

sucker for a sad case. Maybe Athena

was right.

She quickly shifted her gaze to

Zoo. If she kept looking at Sebastian, her

resolve would melt away and she’d find

herself taking him in like every other

pathetic creature to cross her path.

“You two have a lot of catching

up to do, so we’ll give you guys some

privacy and wait out here.” She and

Garren spun around and marched toward

the door. They only managed to take two

steps when Zoo popped up in front of

them.

She gasped and skidded to a halt.

I hate when he does that.
“Remind me

to buy you a bell to wear around your

neck.”

“You're not going anywhere,”

Zoo said.

“Oh, yes I am. Why didn’t you

tell me he was a vampire?”

“Would you have broken the

curse if you knew?”

Never in a million years
. “I

might’ve. Anyway, it doesn’t matter

now. He’s awake and sharp as ever,”

She lifted her arm still wrapped in the

bottom of her blood-soaked shirt as

proof. “You don’t need us anymore.”

She tried to step around him but

he stuck his hand out to block her path.

“Unfortunately, that’s not true. Madame

Rita, if you will.” He motioned for the

woman to come further into the room.

Madame Rita shuffled closer, a

large carpet bag clutched to her chest.

The

woman’s

face

wasn’t

recognizable, but there was something

about her, about her magic, that was

familiar. “Do I know you?”

A dull pain throbbed in her head.

It was like all these missing pieces to a

puzzle she never knew she was working

on suddenly showed up. Now she

needed to put them all together and

discover the big picture.

“Not exactly,” Madame Rita

said. “Your mother paid me a visit when

you were a baby. She needed a spell

cast that would destroy your magic. I

can't do that, of course, but was able to

dampen your magic and hide your

signature from those that can sense it.”

She dropped her gaze to the floor as she

shifted from foot to foot.

Ivy’s anger spiked to new levels.

Her mother knew what she was all along

and never said anything. “So, what

happened? Why did my magic burst open

like a freakin' fireworks show?” She

tried to keep her voice low and even, but

failed miserably.

The woman flinched at the

outburst. “I had to anchor the spell to a

Bane, your mother, for it to work

properly. Did she die?”

Ivy nodded, fearing her voice

would crack as images of her mother

lying still on the ground flashed before

her eyes. Her whole world flipped

upside down after that.

“While

this

is

all

very

interesting,” Zoo said as he yanked her

away from Garren. “We have more

serious matters to attend to.”

“Leave her alone,” Garren

growled as he launched himself at the

vampire. He conjured a shield and

blasted Zoo across the room.

The bricks cracked when he

slammed into the wall but was unharmed

himself. A wicked smile spread across

his face as he brushed pieces of mortar

and dust off his shoulders. “How sweet.

The warrior’s defending his damsel in

distress.”

“Hey!” Ivy said, not sure why he

was insulting her.

Garren placed himself directly in

front of her, blocking both vampires. He

held his hand out to summon a shield if

needed. “She did her part. She kissed

him and broke the curse. Now it’s your

turn to help us. Tell Thane how to fix the

wards around Salmagundi and we’ll be

on our way.”

Sebastian’s brow furrowed as he

watched the exchange between his friend

and Garren. The gears in his mind

seemed to be working overtime to put

the pieces together. “How exactly did

you break the curse?”

What an odd question.
She and

Garren shared a glance before turning to

Thane for the official explanation.

“I theorized that because Ivy is

the closest person in genetics to Leviena,

she could break the curse with True

Love’s Kiss. And I was right.” Thane

stood up straighter with a gleam in his

eye.

Sebastian sat silently for a

moment as he regarded the three of them.

His gaze stopped at her. “Thank you. I

can imagine how… unpleasant it must

have been for you.”

You have no idea
. “Don’t

mention it,” she said, suddenly becoming

shy under his stare.

“We’re wasting time,” Zoo said

to Sebastian before nodding to the old

woman.

Madame Rita immediately went

to work clearing a space where the

dresser used to be. She then placed

black candles in a large circle on the

floor while chanting something under her

breath.

Dark magic.

Ivy’s pulse quickened. “What is

she doing?” Her eyes darted from the

woman to each vampire.

Sebastian attempted a genuine

smile though it didn’t quite reach his

eyes. “I still require your assistance.

Because I have both wizard’s magic and

vampire magic living inside me, I

need…” He doubled over with a groan.

Zoo ran over to his friend to

keep him from falling over. After a few

deep, slow breaths, Sebastian sat up.

Zoo held him up with a tight grip on his

arm.

“Apologies. To stay alive, I must

bind myself to a powerful witch—

blood, magic and soul— and only drink

from her. Leviena was my bondmate, but

now…”

Cold realization trickled down

her spine as she stared into his eyes in

disbelief. “Y-you want to bond with

me?” The thought of being bitten by this

monster on a regular basis for the rest of

her life soured her stomach. It was all

she could do to keep from hurling all

over the floor.

“If there was any other way I

would not ask this of you. There are

benefits for you as well: eternal youth,

immunity from illness, and an increase in

your magical power.”

“
More
magic?” she shouted, still

guarded by Garren’s protective stance.

“I don’t want the magic I got and you

want to give me more?” The absurdity of

the whole situation made her giggle.
I

must be having a nightmare. Wake up,

Ivy!

“This is crazy,” Garren said. He

took hold of her injured arm and then

pulled her toward the door, making her

stumble after him. “You can’t have her.”

“It does not have to be a

permanent arrangement,” Sebastian said

quickly.

She halted to listen. With a huff,

Garren stopped but didn’t ease up on his

grip of her elbow.

“Once

we

are

back

in

Salmagundi and the wards are reset, we

can dissolve our connection and I can

bond with another. You are the only one

who can help me now.”

She groaned.
Why is it always

me?

Sebastian’s body trembled as he

sat waiting for her answer.

Thane merely shrugged. “We

need his help.”

“Don’t do it,” Garren said.

“We’ll find another way.”

“But what if we can’t.” She

sighed as the weight of the world

pressed down on her shoulders. “All

those people could die because of me.”

That was why they came, wasn’t it? To

save everyone?

“No,” he said as he turned her

around to face him. “It’s not your fault or

your responsibility. Now, let’s get the

hell out of here.” He tugged on her arm

again as he headed towards the exit, only

stopping when Thane blocked his way.

“Why did we come all this way

if we’re only going to give up now?”

Thane asked with a rare edge to his

voice. “She’ll only be bonded to him for

a little while. Don’t screw this up.”

Garren glared at his stepbrother.

“Get out of my way,
Thing
. I’m not

letting her bond with this bloodsucker.”

Her irritation grew watching the

guys argue over her fate as if she wasn’t

even in the room. She pulled her arm out