The Dark Vampire: Last True Vampire 3 (15 page)

Jenner’s eyes reflected with brilliant silver. He pushed away from her slowly, his palm lingering on her chest for a moment too long. A cocktail waitress caught Jenner’s eye and he motioned her over. He ordered a Belvedere on the rocks for himself and—high-handed male that he was—a red wine for Bria.

“Maybe I wanted vodka, too.”

He raked the length of her body with his eyes and what she suspected was meant to be a disdainful appraisal only served to heat her blood. “You’ll have a glass of wine,
viaton,
” Jenner said. “I want your senses sharpened, not dulled.”

“Viaton?” she repeated. “What does that mean?”

Jenner flashed an arrogant grin. “It means ‘innocent,’ in Finnish.”

Innocent
. He might as well have called her a dirty word. Indignation heated Bria’s cheeks at the insult. He
had suggested that she was naïve. Everyone thought so—Claire, Mikhail, Ronan, even the members of her own coven—and it laid Bria low with embarrassment. True, she’d been sheltered. Closeted by her overprotective uncle. But she wasn’t some silly brainless twit who didn’t know a thing about the world she lived in. She was more street-smart than any of them gave her credit for.

That Jenner brought her to the club not for a night out but to teach her a lesson should have angered Bria further. Instead, she appreciated that rather than lock her away in order to keep her safe, he was helping her to learn how to protect herself. He could call her
viaton
for now if it pleased or entertained him. She’d soon prove to him—to all of them—that she wasn’t as innocent as they all thought.

They waited in companionable silence for the waitress to return. Bria used the opportunity to sharpen her focus. Instead of taking in the crowd as a whole, she narrowed her gaze to one person. And then she pulled back. Three bodies. Five. Ten. In the space of several minutes she’d trained her eyes to see the individuals within the whole, to separate each singular movement within the swarm of motion. A cluster of pinpoints contained in an undulating mass.

Jenner leaned his head over hers. “What do you see?”

While she’d been watching everything around her Jenner had been watching her. Her body flushed with warmth and she pushed the distraction of Jenner’s presence to the back of her mind. “That woman over there in the far corner. Her heartbeat is erratic. I think she’s taken some kind of drug. And our waitress”—she indicated the bar—“has a tattoo of a four-leaf clover just below her left earlobe. She tried to hide it with makeup.”

“Very good.” Bria’s eyes drifted shut as she let the deep rumble of his voice wash over her. “Now, let your senses work as one. What do they tell you?”

A ripple of sensation danced over her skin. Her body responded to him as though it had been conditioned to do so. Despite his overbearing nature and the fact that he’d refused to allow her to drink from the vein at his throat, Bria sensed the connection between them growing with each passing day. The tether that bound them tugged at her chest and she leaned toward him as though she had no choice. He wanted her gaze to roam the crowded nightclub, but all she wanted was to close her eyes. To lean into his body and let her palms travel the sculpted hills and valleys of his body as she committed each detail to memory.

“That’s not what we’re here for Bria. Focus.” How did he know the path her mind wandered? “Those thoughts are just another distraction. Push them to the back of your mind.”

How could she? The scent of his blood wafted around her, invading her senses even as she tried to shut it out. Thirst ignited in her throat, a dry, unquenchable burn.

“Bria!” Jenner’s voice snapped out at her like a whip.

“I need a second.” Curbing her thoughts was more difficult than she thought it would be. Especially when it came to Jenner.

“Center your focus and I’ll reward you.”

Her lips turned up in a smile. “What will you give me?”

“My vein.”

Bria’s
lips parted invitingly at Jenner’s words and the urge to put his mouth to hers nearly broke his resolve to see this through. Her thoughts were so focused that it caused the bond between them to flare and he sensed the need building within her. Need that echoed his own. A little over a week ago he’d been in this very club, on the prowl for a warm body and a willing vein. Now the thought of any other female shriveled and died in Jenner’s mind. The center of his universe had shifted. And there wasn’t a gods-damned thing he could do about it.

“Okay. I’m ready.”

Jenner watched, rapt as Bria scanned the club. For someone who had been newly turned, her focus was extraordinary. He’d already known that as he’d watched her run, flip, and tumble through the dark last night. This wasn’t a treasure hunt, though. It was a crash course in survival. Bria didn’t have the luxury of settling gradually into this new life. Her uncle hadn’t even raised her as a proper dhampir, treating the drinking of blood—something vital to their survival—as a shameful act. And starting
tonight, Jenner vowed that
he’d do whatever he could to undo the damage Thomas Fairchild had done.

Just be sure you don’t damage her yourself in the process
.

“I thought they were human at first.” She looked up at Jenner with wide, curious eyes that sparkled like precious stones in the dark shadowed corner of the club. “How could I have missed it?”

“You made an assumption based on what you know and your mind overrode what your eyes, ears, and nose told you.”

Beside him Bria stiffened, and her scent soured with a wave of anxiety. “I know the dhampirs. I recognize the scent of werewolves. My uncle did business with one once.” She brought her nose up to the air and inhaled deeply. Her expression pinched. “What’s that tang? It burns my nose.”

“Magic,” Jenner replied. He angled his body closer to hers. He’d have to be wary of any magic wielders from now on. Any one of them could be the witch who hunted Bria. “Probably a mage. Or a white witch.” At least, he hoped.

Fear punched through Jenner’s gut, nearly stealing his breath.
Damn
. He didn’t think he’d ever get used to the way the tether connected his and Bria’s emotions. She was afraid of magic wielders, which indicated that she might have some insight as to the danger she was in.

“There’s something else.” Her voice quavered, but she recovered her composure well. “That female over there”—she indicated a lithe, willowy female who danced alone by the DJ booth—“there’s the slightest glow to her skin. Almost imperceptible.”

Jenner’s chest swelled with pride and he pushed the unfamiliar emotion to the soles of his feet. Bria was extraordinary. Her senses were much more finely tuned than he’d thought. “Fae,” he replied. “I’m surprised you can see the luminescence. I can’t.” Jenner wasn’t the sort of male who enjoyed admitting any weakness, but Bria needed that boost to her confidence.

“You can’t?” She turned toward him and Jenner fought the urge to smooth away the furrow that cut into her brow.

“Mikhail can. The fae are powerful and their numbers small. They can easily camouflage themselves until they appear as mundane as a human.” That Bria saw past the disguise was remarkable.

“I had no idea,” she said with wonder. “She’s beautiful.”

The willowy fae wasn’t nearly as breathtaking as the female standing next to him. Against his better judgment, Jenner reached out and captured a lock of hair that dangled from her ponytail between his thumb and forefinger. It slipped like strands of silk through his grasp. Bria’s gaze went molten and a tide of lust rose within him. He’d promised her his vein if she focused, but would he be rewarded for his instruction?

“Lesson two: The world is populated with supernatural creatures that are just as strong as or stronger than you. You’re further from the top of the food chain than you think.”

Jenner angled his head toward hers. The waitress returned with their drinks and he pulled away with a jerk.
You’re a class-A hypocrite
. He preached the merits of focus and control when he had
none
. She set their drinks down on a long bar mounted to the wall. He dug a twenty out of his pocket and handed it to her. She shook her head and said above the din of music, “Already paid for.”

Jenner followed her gaze to the main bar at the center of the club.
Fuck
. A female perched on one of the high stools held her glass up in a silent toast. Her name was Melissa. No . . . Marissa. One of many females he’d
casually bedded over the past few months. Jenner pushed the bill into the waitress’s palm. “Tell her thanks, but no thanks.”

She shrugged and tucked his offered twenty into a tiny box on her tray. “Whatever you say, hon.”

“A friend of yours?”

That focus he was teaching Bria to use had come back to bite him in the ass. Shame seared his flesh and Jenner averted his gaze. He didn’t want Bria to know that he was nothing more than a selfish piece of shit who didn’t have the strength to master his own lusts.

“Sort of.”

“She looks disappointed.”

Her expression was certainly crestfallen. Marissa took the money their waitress returned to her and tucked it in her purse. With a narrowed gaze she examined Bria, and Jenner sensed her bristle beside him. A territorial growl vibrated in her throat, and damn, the sound of it did
nothing
to cool the heat racing through his veins.

Jenner leaned in close to her ear and tried to ignore the way her scent swirled in his head. “Lesson three: You’re not without power of your own.”

Bria turned her head to give him a questioning gaze. Her mouth hovered dangerously close to Jenner’s and he leaned back before he gave in to the urge to taste her lips. “What do you mean?”

Her proximity intoxicated him. A mere week into their tether and Jenner could barely keep his hands off of her. If he focused on teaching her what she was capable of maybe he could keep the lust at bay. Maybe he’d quit thinking about last night and how damned good it felt to have her soft body beneath his.

“You can bend others to your will, Bria. It takes time to master, to recognize the power and channel it. But once
you’ve learned to manipulate your power, it will be an easy feat to compel a human.”

Her brow furrowed. “Only humans?”

Jenner shrugged. “Humans are more susceptible to magic. It depends on the creature and their own level of personal power. Dhampirs, too. Witches and fae can’t be compelled.”
Unfortunately
. “I don’t know about shifters; I’ve never tried. A werewolf’s magic is largely controlled by the moon, so I would think that with concentration one could be compelled.”

Bria studied him. The intensity of the attention she bestowed on him damn near made him sweat. Because of their tether, an instant attraction had been forged between them. Nature’s way of securing a mate bond. Jenner wasn’t simply drawn to her because of their tether, though. Her curiosity fascinated him. Her fire sparked his interest. Her beauty intoxicated him. Jenner found that he didn’t simply yearn to know her body. He wanted to know her mind and heart as well. Thanks to their tether, he already knew her soul and the purity of it made his seem dirty in comparison.

“Have you ever compelled someone?” she asked.

He’d never compelled another supernatural, but Jenner had found the skill useful in his line of work for Ronan. As a “fixer” for many of L.A.’s elite, the ability to convince someone not to blackmail the A-lister he had dirt on was a hell of a lot easier when he didn’t have to use a beat-down to get it done. He didn’t want Bria to know about that aspect of his job. It only served to remind him that Bria was too good to be bound to a violent bastard like him, and he didn’t want her to realize that fact quite yet.

“A couple of times,” he said. “All humans. No supernatural creatures, though. I’ve never needed to.”

“I want to try,” she said, her eyes lighting with excitement. “How do I do it?”

Why had no one told her these things? If Jenner hadn’t insisted on educating her, would Mikhail and the others have been content to keep her in the house, as ignorant to her own nature as she was to the blossoming supernatural world around her? For decades her uncle had conditioned her to fear. To quell her curiosity. To be content with her life within the walls of his compound. Nothing he’d said had managed to breed anything other than an insatiable curiosity and not a small amount of defiance in her. True, she was newly turned and not the king’s—or anyone’s—priority or responsibility. But what if Jenner hadn’t taken it upon himself to give her this instruction? The power and strength she thought she’d gained through her transition would have meant nothing in the light of her ignorance.

“Don’t get frustrated if you can’t do it your first time,” Jenner said. His lips quirked as though he wanted to smile but denied himself the pleasure of it. Bria wondered what joy would look like on Jenner’s stern face. Would it transform him into a creature even more wildly beautiful than he already was? “It takes an immense amount of concentration.”

She was determined to do it successfully, if only to impress him. “All right. How do I start?”

“First, you have to find the seat of your power.” At Bria’s questioning look he continued, “When you were a dhampir, you could sense Mikhail’s power. You took sustenance from that life force.”

“Yes,” she replied. Her uncle had always complained that it was disgusting necessity that dhampirs needed vampires to survive. Without that life force to nourish their own, they would slowly starve to death no matter how much blood or food they ingested. “A warm glow in
the pit of my stomach. But instead of that sensation being a part of me, it was like someone had put it there.”

Jenner nodded. “Exactly. Look for that sensation now. This time, it’s a part of you, not something placed there. It’s more subtle. Harder to recognize. But once you find it, you’ll always know how to call on it.”

For the first time since her transition, Bria realized that she didn’t feel that nourishing presence. She’d been so preoccupied with her new senses, the intensity of her thirst, the experience of being surrounded by other vampires, and of course her tether with Jenner that she hadn’t taken the time to familiarize herself with her own body. In the pit of her being, she found it. A kernel of heat, so tiny she might not have ever noticed it if Jenner hadn’t told her what to search for. Her eyes drifted shut as she envisioned her inner power as a bright gold bead. She urged it to grow. At first the power didn’t respond and she nearly lost her mental grasp of it. She wanted to impress Jenner, though, and centered her focus, willing that tiny sphere to grow. By small degrees, it became larger and pulsed with warmth that radiated from her center outward toward her limbs. She drew in shallow breaths and her eyes opened to find Jenner studying her. The intensity of his expression and the heat of his gaze nearly stole her focus from her own power, and Bria put her attraction to him at the back of her mind. She could do this. “I found it,” she murmured.
Vampire flow state, achieved!