The Crimson Bond (10 page)

            Once I made it to the kitchen I found there was little in the way of food. I finally found a pantry and scoured through for some crackers and peanut butter. I figured the only reason this food was here was in preparation for my arrival. After quickly eating my snack and drinking a glass of milk, I headed back to my room. I made it upstairs and had just turned the corner into the hallway my room was on, when I felt that prickly warning sensation I got when a vampire was near. I glanced behind my shoulder seeing nothing and came up short when I turned my head back forward only to see Lucien standing in front of me. He was wearing an insolent smile on his face and eyeing my uncovered neck with a look that I knew meant trouble. I wished now that I hadn’t piled it into a messy bun on top of my head before leaving my room in search of food. I was pretty sure Lucien was one of the vampires Katina had warned me would not honor the scent of the bond in my blood and feed from me anyway. I wondered if screaming would do me any good or if anyone was around or would even care. I cursed my stupidity in ignoring Katina’s warning. It seemed I was destined to be forever stubborn and seemingly when that happened, Lucien was sure to show up. The wicked look in his eyes had me convinced that I was his next meal for sure.

            He laughed at what I was sure was the terrified look in my eyes. “I’ve been waiting to catch you alone since the moment I deposited you here. If I hadn’t been in such a hurry to get you here before Alex realized you were gone, I would have sampled your blood before I turned you over. But no worries, it looks like we have the rest of the night to make up for it.”

            He looked at me hungrily as I began backing up even though I knew it was hopeless. I could just slap myself for not letting Alex go on and change me. Then I would be a vampire too by now and not having to put up with vampires like Lucien trying to suck me dry.

            Before I could even blink, Lucien had his arm around me like a vise grip and was ripping my head back by my hair, leaving my neck vulnerably exposed. I could feel his cold breath on my neck and tensed in anticipation of his razor sharp teeth sinking into the artery I felt pumping at blinding speed. Just then something slammed into Lucien causing him to drop me on the floor in his attempt to fight off whatever had attacked him. I landed in a heap on the hardwood floor and lifted my head to see who had just saved me. I gasped when I saw Ethan standing nearby with Lucien slammed up against the wall. Even with Lucien’s power he was not able to break Ethan’s grip on his neck. Ethan spoke very slowly looking Lucien straight in the eye.

            “If you want to continue to walk this earth, you’d better not ever even think about touching this girl again.” After holding his gaze a long moment he finally turned holding Lucien by the neck and threw him with so much power he bounced off the wall and landed on his feet at the other end of the hallway. With one last scathing look in my direction, Lucien took off around the corner.

            Still sitting on the floor breathing hard from fear, I looked up at Ethan, trying to decide if I had just traded one type of evil for another. My hands shaking, I pushed my hair out of my face from where it had tumbled down from the bun during my struggle. I stood up and looked at Ethan with the little bit of fight I had left. Daring my voice not to tremble, I finally said, “The last time we met you were trying to do the same thing to me that Lucien was. Did you scare him off so you could finish the job yourself?” I met his gaze with a confidence I didn’t feel.

            He gave me a condescendingly arrogant look. “If you recall, I was going to bite you, but stopped when I realized you and Alex were bonding. And for the record I wasn’t just going to bite you to feed. I planned on turning you and making you mine.” He looked at me as if this explanation should make perfect sense.

            My anger peaked. “So you were just going to turn me into a vampire-- steal my mortal life, without even finding out if I wanted that? And what makes you think I would want to be yours?”

            A slow smile spread across his irritatingly handsome face. “Oh, trust me, you would.”

            I glared at him. “You are out of your mind if you think that.” I stomped by him heading straight for my room. Just as I got to my door Ethan’s silky voice called back to me. “And Brooke. Nice nightgown.” His eyes drifted pointedly down to my chest and I followed his gaze down to where horrifyingly enough I was exposing way more than even this nightgown was designed to show.

CHAPTER 13

            The next morning I was dead tired after spending a night tossing and turning; my thoughts drifted from Alex and how much longer I could stand without him and the infuriating, though timely, confrontation with Ethan. I made my way out of bed and walked over to the floor to ceiling windows pulling the curtains wide open and letting the morning light in. The cloud cover was thick but the layer of snow covering everything outside made it seem brighter.  Amazingly enough, I loved the climate here. It kind of felt like home to me for some reason, even though I had always lived in the mild North Carolina climate. Even so, I was more than ready for Alex to get here and take me back to Charlotte. This waiting around for our fate to be decided was getting old quick. Sighing deeply I turned and walked into the bathroom to shower. I gazed at my reflection in the mirror and noticed the slight purple smudges under my grey blue eyes. The lack of sleep and stress were starting to take their toll. My hair still fell in soft waves around my face from the curls I had put in the day before and luckily my complexion was still clear. If I had a few more days like yesterday, my face would be covered in pimples in no time.

            After showering I put on a miniskirt and turtleneck sweater with some thick tights and tall boots. I wasn’t taking any chances of my neck being exposed today.  I turned the TV on even though I didn’t understand the language they were speaking-- just to hear the mindless hum in the background. I was tired of being cooped up in this room, but I didn’t dare leave again without Katina by my side or hopefully Alex soon. 

            Just when I thought I was going to have to brave the halls by myself again, just for a change in scenery, I heard a quick knock at the door followed by Katina’s silky red head peeking in.

            “Brooke, Demitrie has sent for you. Come with me and I’ll take you to him.” She opened the door wide and waited for me to walk through.

            As we headed down the hall I had to ask. “Do you have any idea why I’m being sent for?”

            She shook her head without answering and I gave up trying to get any information from her. I guess I would have to wait and see for myself.  She walked me to a large office and gestured me inside. “Just wait here. Demitrie will be with you in a few minutes.”

            I sat down on one of the fancy looking chairs with dark wood and red leather seats in front of a massive wooden desk. I was glancing around at the equally dark and intriguing artwork on the walls when Demitrie strode through the door of his office, the thick wooden door clicking shut behind him. I stood and he quickly kissed my hand and made his way over to take a seat at the desk.  After sitting, he leaned back in his chair, steeping his fingers together and peering at me as if trying to see past my polite outward appearance.

            “So Brooke. Tell me about your family.” He waited expectantly, while I swallowed the lump in my throat and wondered what in the world this had to do with anything.

            “Well, there’s nothing to tell really. My mother died in a car accident when I was little and my aunt and uncle raised me. Other than that, I don’t have any family.”

            His eyes narrowed. “What about your father?”

            “I don’t know. My mother never told my aunt and uncle who he was. I guess she took that to the grave with her. But regardless, he’s not a part of my life.” And really, I wasn’t even sad about that. Disappointed maybe, but I had never known him, so I didn’t miss him.

            Demitrie continued to study me intensely and after a moment he said, “What if I told you I know who your father is?”

            I sucked in a quick breath and my stomach dropped, even as my heart leapt. But of course I knew there was no way he knew who my father was. And even if he did, I don’t think it would make a difference in my life at this point. Whoever he was, he had already missed his chance with me. I was twenty two years old and getting ready to give up my mortal life.

            “I knew your mother.” He leaned back and waited for this to sink in.

            My mouth dropped open and I was completely caught off guard. Was this even possible?
How could he have possibly known her? She had lived on the other side of the world.
Maybe this vampire was playing mind games with me or something. I decided to go along with it and see what he had to say-- even though I had already decided I didn’t believe a word he was saying.  I looked him straight in the eye when I asked, “How?”

            The corner of his mouth lifted a bit. “Your mother was a beautiful woman, just as you have turned out to be.” He paused and seemed to hesitate before going on. “She was full of life when I met her and I fell for her immediately.” My eyes widened at that last statement and all of the sudden I didn’t like where this was going.

            “We met in Italy. Your mother was an exchange student there and I was visiting on business. We spent almost every day of my month long trip together. Even after she found out what I was--she continued to spend time with me. I would say that was the closest thing to love I have ever experienced in my walk on this earth.” All of the sudden he seemed to look years older and he ran his hand through his hair. I could see this was not a comfortable subject for him. For me it was going beyond uncomfortable. For one thing, I was starting to actually believe him. On the other hand, I was terrified where he was going with this.

            He looked up at me. “You have her eyes, you know.” When I continued to stare wide eyed at him, he went on. “Before I left I tried to convince her to let me turn her. We didn’t have a bond, but I craved her presence enough that I wanted to spend the rest of eternity with her. She was having none of it and told me we could continue our relationship long distance until she finished school. Several months later I stopped receiving phone calls from her and she didn’t return mine. When I called the university in Italy, they told me she was no longer enrolled. I had no idea where her home in the US was, but I hired someone to search her down. I was confused as to why she had left without contacting me.”

            His eyes met mine. “When I finally found her, she was pregnant. I showed up on her doorstep and it was obvious she was not far from delivery. I knew it was mine, even though it is extremely rare for a human to conceive with a vampire. But it does happen.”

            I was shaking now. I had a feeling I knew what he was going to say, but I asked anyway, needing to hear him say it. “Are you trying to say you’re my father?”

            “Yes.”

            I stood up like I was lit on fire. Anger filled me fast and furious. And then every question that I had harbored all these years seemed to roll out of me.

            “How could you leave her knowing she was pregnant with your child? How could you waste all these years? How could you leave me to be raised by two people who didn’t even like me?” I was on a roll and I didn’t wait for him to answer--dangerous or not. “Does this mean I’m some kind of half breed human vampire? Because I’ll have you know I have never
once
craved blood.”

            I was over this conversation. At this point I just wanted to get as far from him as possible-the heck with finding out answers. I threw the door open and ran out into the hall charging up the stairs to the only safe haven I had in this place. As I turned the corner to my room, my vision blurred with tears, I collided hard with a body. I blinked furiously until my vision cleared and I was so overwhelmingly relieved when I saw Alex, that I threw myself at him. He immediately wrapped his arms around me and then lifted me into his arms when he realized I was sobbing uncontrollably.  Within seconds it seemed, he was setting me down on my bed and lying down next to me. When I was finally able to stop the tears I took a deep breath and opened my eyes to see him propped up on his elbow looking down at me. Until the moment he put his arms around me, I hadn’t realized just how painful being apart from him had been. I could tell by the look on his face he felt the same way. We were like a drug to each other. Our blood literally raced through our veins humming with a high that was both intoxicating and addicting. Our need for each other overpowering, we kissed with such a starving hunger that it was apparent it would never be enough. Before I knew it, his hands had expertly slipped my clothes off and we were heading down a road I wasn’t quite ready for yet. It took everything in me to place my hand between us onto his chest and gently push him away.