by Raine Miller
“Nina, love, thank you for all that you’ve given me,” he said before piercing her vein to take the precious fluid she offered.
He’d tasted her countless times before, but each time just as the first drop teased his tongue he felt a thrill unlike anything else in the world. Tangy, coppery, she tasted like no one else he’d ever had. As his sire, she gave him the blood he required. Humans could provide him with blood, but not like Nina.
His sire.
As he savored her blood sliding down his throat, he remembered the night she’d made him the creature he was. The son of a sixteenth century prince and one of his concubines, he’d wanted for nothing growing up. Then upon his father’s death, he and his mother were forced to flee west, penniless for the first time in his life. She’d died on the way, heartbroken at the loss of his father, and he’d somehow found his way to the lands of eastern France. Alone and hungry, he wandered aimlessly until Nina found him and took him in.
Since that night, he’d been hers. He’d grown accustomed to her sister’s presence, knowing Nina believed herself to be responsible for her after the same vampire sired them both but wishing it could be only the two of them, in love and together forever.
Vasilije drew one last pull on her vein and flicked his tongue over her skin to close where he’d fed. Silently, he cradled her in his arms as she placed her head on his chest just above his heart, as she did when she was content.
“We need to find Tatiana, Vasilije. I need to know she’s safe.”
He stroked her soft hair that cascaded down her back, resenting once again how her sister intruded on their happiness. “You stay here. I don’t want you out there if they’re searching for us. I’ll go.”
Nina lifted her head and smiled slightly. “Who’s the sire here?”
Rolling her onto the bed, he rose and made his way to the door. “You are, but that doesn’t change what I said. I’ll be back soon.”
“Thank you, my love, for taking such good care of both of us.”
Angry about being forced from Nina’s arms, Vasilije focused his mind on a street near where Tatiana had attacked the man and in seconds was standing in the shadows as people moved past him on the nearby sidewalk. He listened for any sign she was close, but heard nothing.
He’d had to do this more times than he preferred to remember. While Nina nourished his body and soul, her sister repeatedly threatened their very existence with her impetuous and selfish behavior.
“You came for me, Vasilije. I knew you would.”
Vasilije turned and saw Tatiana at the end of the darkened alley. “It’s not safe here. Come with me.”
Instantly, she was in front of him, her hands roaming over his stomach toward the front of his breeches. “No, Tatiana. No.”
She quickly worked to unfasten them and slid her hand in to stroke his cock. Her touch did nothing for him, but she wasn’t deterred, instead falling to her knees to take him into her mouth. Vasilije yanked her up by her hair until she stood facing him, her expression full of hurt from his rejection.
“Don’t. I’ve told you before I don’t want you.”
“Yes, you do. You haven’t forgotten how it felt when we were together.”
Tatiana moved to touch his face and he caught her arm, grabbing her by the wrist. “Your sister is the one I love. She can forgive that we were together once, so you can forget.”
Wrenching her arm from his hold, she screamed, “No! You’re meant for me, not Nina. I had you first!”
Before he could force her back home, she vanished and Vasilije was left standing alone in the dark. Disgusted, he mumbled, “Serves her right if one of the hunters finds her and stakes her.”
Resigned to his role, he walked into the light and began his search for her. He had no choice. If he had, he would have left her, but he knew Nina depended on him to keep her sister safe also. For hours he searched but to no avail. Just before dawn, he gave up to return home. Hopefully, she had returned already.
Their rooms were empty and his body sensed dawn was just minutes away. He spotted Nina standing at the secluded area of a private garden far away from the house. Tatiana was with her, along with someone else he didn’t recognize.
A man.
In horror, Vasilije watched as Tatiana struck Nina across the face, knocking her to the ground. The need to protect his sire—the one soul on Earth he loved—spiked in him, and he raced to help her.
He arrived in time to see the man next to her pull a stake from his coat and then everything seemed to move in slow motion. Nina squirmed on the ground in terror at the sight of the murderous weapon. The man’s arm reared back and he lunged at her, trapping her underneath him. She fought his strength over her, fear in her beautiful kind eyes, as Tatiana stood by as the architect of her death never attempting to help her.
Vasilije charged the man, but it was too late. The stake plunged into her heart and his sire—the woman he loved—vanished into a heap of dust. He turned on her killer and took out his rage and pain with the only weapons he’d ever needed since that night when she’d made him a vampire, not caring if her killer became his killer too.
At the first signs of dawn, he left the remains of the man who’d taken the one creature on Earth that he truly cared for, and unable to return to the home he and Nina shared, fled to find shelter from the daylight that quickly approached.
A pang of loss cut at him as he struggled to push the memory of Nina from his mind. Even now, four hundred years later, the pain of betrayal he’d seen in her eyes just before she was taken from him tore at his heart. Now, at last, he’d get his revenge on Tatiana and finally honor Nina as he should have so many times over the last four centuries.
Vasilije lay there wishing he could forget everything from that time so long ago. Everything but Nina. The sound of the doorknob on the front door turning roused him from his bittersweet memories, and he waited for Sasa to come to him. Whatever she was to him, he needed to feel her in his arms, her body next to his.
Sasa said nothing as she entered the room and slid into the bed next to him. Her skin was warm as she placed her hand on his bare chest and slowly rubbed above his heart, her head snuggling into the space between his chin and shoulder.
“Thank you for helping my mother.”
Vasilije said nothing but pressed a kiss onto the top of her head. He wasn’t what anyone would call caring usually, but he couldn’t let Tatiana’s heartless disregard for her own kind hurt another innocent soul.
Sasa kissed him tenderly on his collarbone and whispered, “Tell me what’s wrong.”
“No.”
“Is it something I can help with?”
“No.”
It wasn’t anything anyone could help with. Hundreds of years of guilt and regret that had become so much a part of him he wasn’t sure he’d ever be free of them would only be helped by finally ridding himself of Tatiana.
Sasa wrapped her arms around him and laid her head on his chest. Squeezing him gently, she said, “Whatever it is, I can feel how sad you are.”
“It will pass.”
It always did. He’d felt Nina’s loss for centuries and had become an expert at burying it under whichever vice was readily available. Power. Women. Sex. Gambling. Nothing ever took the pain away forever, but he’d learned to take whatever reprieve he could find.
For a long time they lay there silently in each other’s arms. He couldn’t exactly figure out why, but just having Sasa near him made the old familiar ache that came from memories of the last time he saw Nina a little easier to bear.
She lifted her head off his chest and stared down at him for a long time before she spoke. When she did, her words surprised him.
“Vasilije, will you make me one of you?”
“No.”
“Why?”
The sadness in her voice made him want to explain what centuries-old pain felt like. Instead, he said, “You wouldn’t be a good vampire. You’re too kind.”
CHAPTER 16
>
Sasa nervously ran her trembling fingers over the antique silver locket Vasilije held out to her. Oval and ornate, it sat safely nestled in his strong hand.
“Whose is this?” she asked as she took it between her thumb and forefinger and lifted it to eye level to examine it more closely.
“My sire’s.”
At the hollow sound of Vasilije’s voice, Sasa looked up and saw something on his face that made her blood run cold. Never in her life had she seen such hatred in anyone’s face. Not even Tatiana’s.
“Why do I need to take this?”
Vasilije’s eyes remained fixed on the locket in her hand. “She needs to believe I trust you...that you and I...”
Sasa waited for him to finish, but he turned away to grab her coat. “Remember who you’re working for now.”
As he slipped the coat onto her shoulders, Sasa felt his anger wash over her. Without thinking, she turned to him and threw her arms around him to hold him to her, hoping to ease some of his anguish. “I won’t let you down, Vasilije.”
Tentatively, at first, he returned the embrace, but then he ran the palm of his hand down the back of her hair. In a low voice, he said, “Be careful, Sasa.”
She stood on her toes and planted a small kiss on his cheek. As she walked toward the door, the full reality of what she was about to do came over her. Turning to face him, she wondered out loud, “What do I do if something goes wrong?”
Vasilije came toward her and cradled her face in his hands. His expression changed from anger to something that seemed like sadness and a faraway look clouded his eyes. “Sasa, your blood is in me, just as I’m in you. If something goes wrong, I’ll know. I won’t let you be hurt.”
His eyes, which had often either frightened or excited her, now comforted her with their hint of kindness. She had no idea what had happened between him and Tatiana, but she knew she owed it to him to bring her to justice for Teagan’s death.
When Sasa arrived at Quiterie’s shop, only the dim light in the back of the store was lit. It seemed only proper that she’d meet Tatiana in the place she’d performed fraud so many times before. This time, though, she had to be more convincing than ever. Her life depended on it.
Carefully, she maneuvered through the dark voodoo store, dodging tables of handmade dolls and boxes of herbs as she headed for the office. Quiterie’s favorite cinnamon incense drifted through the air and for a moment, Sasa was transported back to Christmastime at the house she’d shared with her mother and father as a young girl. Inhaling deeply, she let the memory come over her and mentally prepared for her meeting with Tatiana.
“Sasa, girl, don’t dawdle. Come in,” Quiterie called out.
As she stepped into the disheveled mess of the voodoo woman’s office, Sasa’s resolve faltered for just a moment at the sight of the vampire. Dressed in her usual all black, she was even more imposing than usual as she stood in four inch heels that made her tower over Sasa and Quiterie.
“How is my little empath spy this evening?”
Each word seemed to hiss out of her as she stared down at Sasa. Standing as still as a statue near the door, she didn’t see Tatiana’s fangs. At least there was that.
“Fine, thank you.” Murderous bitch.
“Sasa, how’s your mama?” Quiterie asked, sounding almost sincere.
The answer she wanted to spit out was, “What do you care? You would’ve let her die if I hadn’t helped you.” That didn’t seem wise, though, so she stuffed her resentment down and muttered, “Fine. She’s fine.”
“How nice. Now let’s get to business. Quiterie tells me she had a visitor recently. Why would Vasilije be interested in speaking to our friend, Sasa?”
For a second, the news that Vasilije had found Quiterie and not killed her surprised Sasa and the urge to ask what he said nearly overwhelmed her. Keep your wits about you, Sasa. You can’t seem too interested.
“He found out from some vampire in the Quarter who remembered seeing me here at the shop. I had to tell him I’m an empath to explain what I was doing here.”
In a blur, Tatiana was standing in front of Sasa glaring down at her. “And just what else did you divulge to him?”
Craning her neck to look up at her, Sasa shook her head quickly as real fear raced through her. “Nothing. Nothing else.”
Tatiana remained entirely too close for Sasa’s comfort and turned her head to look back at Quiterie. “Does this work with what he asked you?”
“Yes. All he wanted to know was how Sasa used her ability to help me.”
As Tatiana seemed to consider both their claims, Sasa wondered what else, if anything, he’d said to Quiterie. The very fact that he’d let her live told her he wasn’t the vicious creature he tried to make her believe he was.
Tatiana turned back toward Sasa and sneered. With a long manicured nail, she traced the line of her jaw, stopping under her chin. Lifting her face, she pressed the point of the nail into her skin.
“So how have you been succeeding in your task, dear Sasa?”
Fighting the need to stammer, Sasa worked to keep calm. “I think he’s beginning to trust me.”
She hoped Tatiana couldn’t hear her heartbeat hammering in her chest. This was the most important part. She had to remember her role.
Dropping her hand, Tatiana raised one curious eyebrow. “Is he? And how did you accomplish that in the short time since we spoke?” Leaning in next to her, the vampire inhaled deeply. “I certainly hope you didn’t make the mistake of sleeping with him.”
“No, I did what I said I would.”
“And what’s that?”
“I listen to him.”
A broad smile broke out on Tatiana’s face, and she threw her head back as she let out a loud, full laugh. “You listen to him? And this seems to have worked?”
“Yes. I think he sees me as a friend.”
Tatiana’s gaze roamed from Sasa’s eyes, down her body, and returned to study her face again. “How the mighty have fallen! There was a time Vasilije would have bedded you before he knew your name. Now he spends his time like a teenage girl talking about his feelings for hours. Well, I guess you’re not really his type, so perhaps he hasn’t become completely impotent as a vampire.”
Sasa fought back the urge to explain exactly how much she was his type. And just what the hell did she know about anyone’s type anyway? Like most men would choose her—a towering, bottle-blonde with teeth that could change them from a rooster to a hen in a split second of passion—over a woman who may not be supermodel material but at least had a kind heart?
“I wouldn’t know about any impotence, Tatiana.”
Spinning on her heels, the vampire flung herself into a chair near Quiterie’s desk and crossed her legs. “You were very wise to heed my advice, Sasa. You have no idea how powerful his hold over you could be if you slept with him.”
Quiterie spoke up. “Just like my mama always said. A man won’t buy the cow if he can get the milk for free.”
Sasa smiled, sure that this was nothing like what Tatiana meant. “I follow your lead, Tatiana.”
“Very smart. So exactly why do you believe he’s beginning to trust you?”
Knowing how she acted next was crucial to her success in helping him, Sasa drew out the moment and slowly put her hand in her coat pocket. Grasping his sire’s locket, she withdrew her hand and held her palm out in front of her. The locket sat in the center of her hand, the light reflecting off it making it look almost magical.
“He gave me this. He said it’s been in his family for ages.”
Instantly, Sasa feared she may have slipped up with her reference to family. Did vampires consider their sires to be their family? As the thought of how she’d fix her blunder tore through her mind, she saw Tatiana’s eyes open wide and stare at the locket.
“He gave you this?” Her voice was barely a whisper, and Sasa swore she heard it catch on the last word.
“Yeah. I think it was his mother’s. You know how men are wi
th stuff from their mamas.”
Tatiana slowly rose from her chair and walked over to where Sasa stood holding out the locket. “It wasn’t his mother’s.”
Before Sasa could slip it back into her coat, Tatiana had it in her hand and held it out in front of her. Staring at it, she said quietly, “Not his mother’s.”
Quiterie was up from behind the desk, and leaning around Tatiana, she looked up at Sasa. “It’s very nice. Is there a picture in it?”
Curiosity surged in Sasa, and she reached to take the locket from Tatiana’s hand. What had Vasilije’s sire looked like? Would it even be her picture inside?
Tatiana released the locket, and it fell into Sasa’s hands. As the vampire stalked back to her seat, Sasa opened the locket but saw nothing. It was empty.
“It’s still very nice, honey,” Quiterie sympathized with a squeeze on her forearm.
“And you earned this just by being a shoulder to cry on? My, you are a clever empath.”
The sharpness in Tatiana’s tone brought back the reality of her situation, and Sasa quickly worked to change the subject. “So I believe in a few more days he’ll trust me enough for what you plan to do to work.”
The vampire’s expression hardened along with her voice. “Plans have changed. I’ll call you later to tell you what you’re to do. Until then, don’t leave his side.”
Tatiana stood up and pushed past Quiterie to get out of the room. “And don’t you go anywhere either.”
“Tatiana, tonight...” She was gone before Sasa finished her sentence.
“Quiterie, I have to go. Take care of yourself. This lady is way more dangerous than you know.”
Quiterie shook her head. “Baby, you be careful. You’ve got to deal with two of them, and you don’t have to read fortunes to tell there’s more to her revenge than meets the eye.”
Teagan’s house was dark when she got back, and Sasa immediately feared Tatiana had already gotten her revenge. Unsure of what she’d find but hopeful it wouldn’t be a pile of dust, she opened the front door and called out for Vasilije.
