His grip on my arms loosened as he let out a deep breath. “I thought you were leaving.”
“Where would I go? Back to Pierce? I’ve been looking for a way to escape him for months. Coincidently, my escape was made possible by all of this. There’s no going back for me if I can help it.”
Jameson opened his mouth to say something, but his eyes narrowed as his attention was diverted to something behind us. While he was distracted, I let my eyes trace his jawline and paused as I noticed something. Something that didn’t belong there. Before I could think, my hand reached toward his face and I wiped red liquid from the corner of his mouth onto my finger. I stared at it, trying to make sense of what I was seeing but couldn’t.
“Someone’s coming.” Jameson pressed his body against the length of mine, pushing me against a wooden post, making me forget what he had said.
My mouth dried when he pressed harder against me, chest to chest, thigh to thigh. I trembled as heat coursed through me, chasing away my earlier emotions. His hand swept my dark hair away from my neck, pressing his face into the space between my shoulder and neck. I’d never been touched like that and I wasn’t sure what to do, but what I did know was that I didn’t want him to stop.
My hands grabbed fistfuls of his shirt, needing something to hold on to while I leaned my head to the side. His lips brushed against my skin, and I let out a harsh breath when his teeth scraped my flesh, threatening to break through.
Jameson’s hands roamed over my body, one moving to the back of my neck, while the other gripped my hip, keeping me firmly in place. I gasped softly as his mouth moved just behind my ear, heating my skin.
I heard a rumble behind us, then remembered his previous statement that someone was coming. My body tensed as my eyes landed on a man standing too close to us for comfort. His clothes were tattered and dirty, like Dom and Craig’s had been, and his eyes were glowing red.
He wasn’t a man any longer. He was a vampire.
Chapter 5
Before I could do anything beyond think about panicking, Jameson turned his head calmly to the side, so he could see the newcomer without revealing me. A low growl ripped from his chest, followed by an equally menacing hiss.
The vampire paused mid-step, observing us curiously. “Care to share yer meal?”
“I don’t share,” Jameson snarled. “I’d suggest heading west. I snagged this one from a group fleeing town.”
The vampire cackled. “Good lookin’ out, mate. Come find me when yer done. We can hunt together. I hear thar be a hunter on the island.”
Jameson laughed, dark and threatening. “I’m taking my time with this one, but I’ll be sure to find you soon.”
“Aye, enjoy yer booty,” the vampire offered, before turning away.
My body remained frozen. I didn’t know what had just happened or what to believe.
Is Jameson a vampire?
Once the vampire was out of sight, he backed away from me, closing his eyes and regaining his composure. “I’m sorry about that. I didn’t want to kill him and cause a scene. I would have never touched you like that without your permission.”
My jaw flapped up and down as I tried to process the last few minutes. His last statement about not touching me like that without my permission told me he had been feeling the same attraction I had. I tried not to let the glee from it outshine the fact that I was almost certain he was a vampire. Yet, it didn’t make sense, because he hadn’t tried to hurt any of us.
“What are you?” I stammered, finally getting my mouth to work.
He reached out to me, but I took a step back. “Listen, Lavinia. I need you to understand.”
“To understand what?” I cut him off sharply. “Are you one of them? Have you been playing these people this whole time? What about Nettie? She’s just a child!”
I was becoming hysterical. I knew it, but I couldn’t help it. He had been my only beacon of hope in getting somewhere safe, and the light he provided was diminishing before my eyes.
His hand clamped around my mouth gently. “Calm down and be quiet before you draw attention.” His eyes flashed in anger. “Let me explain, and if you want to leave, I’ll understand, but you can’t tell the others. Let me get them to safety, at least.”
I nodded, and he released his hold. I took a few more steps away from him, finding a dry spot in the sand to sit down. I wasn’t sure standing for whatever he was about to tell me was a good idea.
“Pierce changed all of the men he had recruited to protect him. Everyone in his inner circle are now vampires. He wanted only the strongest to protect him, but he didn’t tell the vampires he had created more at first. That was why Dom thought I couldn’t beat him; he thought I was a weak newborn. He was left here by his master to oversee the takeover of the island, and we were created before he arrived. Another man trained us and taught us how to protect Pierce, but more importantly, ourselves.”
“So, what makes you so different? Why should we trust you to lead us to safety when you’re one of them?”
“As of right now, I’m still in transition. It’s painful, but our trainer became a friend and taught me how to fight the urges. You have to understand, I didn’t want this. It was forced on me, but the man I speak of is called a hunter. He knew how to maintain control and made a point to keep me sane. I can control the monster inside and get you to safety.”
His reasoning was mad, but at the same time, it made sense. I leaned my head into my hands as I pulled my knees up. I needed a moment alone to think. I hadn’t slept well or long enough, and I needed to make sure I was thinking reasonably—not with my heart. There was something about Jameson that called to me, vampirism be damned, but I needed to let my head make the decision if I was going to stay and trust him not to hurt me.
Jameson was almost a vampire. He hadn’t drunk human blood, had denied the natural instinct. That had to count for something, right? I couldn’t blame him for being different. I was slowly realizing I was, too. The only difference was that I had no idea what was happening to me.
He hadn’t had a choice and he’d yet to show he was anything other than protective of all of us. I might have been making a mistake trusting a vampire, or whatever he was, but until I knew more, until we were off the island, I would give him a chance to prove he wasn’t like Pierce, Dom, or Craig. That he was strong enough to withstand whatever change he was going through at the moment.
“Explain to me how you’re doing it,” I requested, tilting my head up. “I saw the blood on you earlier, yet you say you haven’t hurt a human.”
His eyes casted down away from me. “Goats. I’ve been feeding off goats at a house near here. The vampires have left the animals alone for the time being. I thirsted so bad afterward, and animal blood was the only thing that could curb the craving until I saw you again.”
My forehead pinched in confusion. “What do you mean by that?”
“I don’t know.” He settled against the pier post across from me, still keeping a distance I appreciated. “When you ran into me last night, the beast inside of me settled. My protective instinct took over, and the thirst was a mere drifting thought in my mind. Before that, even animal blood didn’t seem to calm me enough. I was out there, keeping my distance from the group until sunrise. I still don’t completely trust myself not to hurt you, because I do crave you, but it isn’t your blood that calls to me. It’s something deeper that I don’t understand.”
I nodded, finally understanding why he’d been so hot and cold with me. Why he didn’t come to me when I thought he would. I wanted to know more, though. What had happened to me that would cause me to heal quickly and calm a vampire? I knew I had been bitten, but I didn’t crave blood, I still tired, and I wasn’t overly strong, as I had observed from the other vampires.
“What am I?” I thought, not realizing I had said the words out loud, until Jameson responded.
“What do you mean?”
Shite, I didn’t want to tell him anything more. He might ha
ve been open and honest with me, but I didn’t know what I was, and I wouldn’t be a pawn in whatever war was happening around us. I needed to divert the conversation back to him.
“I just mean, how am I making you feel better? Why me?”
His shoulders lifted and fell slowly as he shrugged. “I don’t know. There is something different about your blood. You smell different than the others. It’s intoxicating, yet I don’t have the urge to drink your blood.”
I laid my head back down on my knees, not responding. If we continued our conversation, it was going to head in a direction I wasn’t ready to explore yet. It was enough to know he wanted me, and he couldn’t fathom hurting me. It didn’t mean I’d let my guard down. There was still a monster within him that could overtake him at a moment’s notice. He might be strong enough to fight it now, but neither of us had any idea how long that would last.
“Please, don’t tell the others,” Jameson begged, breaking the silence. “They won’t trust me, and I’m the only one who can use the dagger. You need me with you.”
“Why can’t anyone else use the dagger?” I had assumed the blade was special when I noticed the fine engravings on it, and even more so when I had seen the faint glow to it when Jameson used it on Marie.
“These daggers have been blessed by a sea witch. The hunters have them, and when given to another, they are bonded to that hunter by blood. The bond only breaks if the hunter is dead. Then, another can take possession of it.”
His comment triggered a memory of the past stories I had heard about vampires. “Aren’t you technically dead? Doesn’t your heart stop beating once you’re turned?”
“I’m still in transition. I don’t know what will happen if I keep drinking animal blood. I never asked my trainer about that, and he disappeared before our group was turned. If I can no longer use the dagger, then I can gift it to someone in our group and show them how to create the bond, but until then, I can’t break the connection.”
Sea witches, blood bonds, magical daggers, and vampires. My body quaked as it tried to process that this was my life now. All the things I believed to be fable as a child were becoming very real nightmares before my eyes.
“We need to get back to the others. They’ll be worried, and we don’t need them venturing out and getting into trouble. We still have a full day to stay hidden before we can head out to sea. Those boats won’t keep us safe out there for any longer than it will take us to row to the main ship. We might not even get lucky enough to have them last that long.” He stood, reaching his hand out to me.
I stared at it, unsure if I wanted to pretend everything was fine, pretend I didn’t know he was a blood drinker. He could have killed me. He could have given me up to Dom and kept his cover. I had every reason to trust him, but it was the monster I knew was stirring inside him that I didn’t trust. Placing my hand within his, I decided that it was worth the risk to keep his secret for now. I would keep a closer eye on him, but until he proved I couldn’t, I would trust him to lead our group to safety.
Jameson pulled me close, stared down into my eyes, and grazed my cheek with his hand. “Thank you.” His voice was soft and vulnerable, making me shiver.
“Don’t make me regret it,” I whispered.
Leaning forward, he placed his lips on my temple and inhaled my scent, then let out a sigh of contentment. “I promise I won’t cause harm to you or the others. I will protect you all for as long as I can.”
Even though I shouldn’t, I believed him. In that moment, I made the decision to put my life into a vampire’s hands. He wasn’t the only one with secrets, and I needed to remember that before I judged him.
We made our way back to the hiding spot beneath the pier. The others hadn’t had any trouble while we were gone, and it was almost worrisome how quiet the island had turned, even though it was still night. I finally asked why Jameson had said it was safer during the day, and he explained that most vampires stayed away from the sun, because it drained their strength. It didn’t hurt them in any way; they just didn’t like to be weak.
The need to ask him how it affected him arose, but knew I couldn’t with the others around, so instead, we continued to take shifts, watching over our area while people slept. When I woke from my turn to rest, it was high noon, and Nettie was snuggled on my lap. She had used one of the layers of my skirt as a blanket, stirred and whimpered as she slept, but settled when I cooed at her softly.
I hadn’t asked what happened to her parents. I didn’t want her to have to relive the moment, but it seemed she likely was in her sleep anyway. I stroked her blonde curls, wondering if I’d ever have a child of my own. Our world was turning into a war zone, and I didn’t want to bring an innocent baby into a place that wasn’t safe, but the urge was there regardless. Nettie was bringing out maternal emotions in me that I didn’t even know I had.
Alice and Henry slept soundly next to us while Nathan and Jameson walked the perimeter of our area. I could hear them talking about our plans for tonight. We couldn’t stay on the beach all night again. We needed to keep moving to avoid being found, but neither of them thought it was a good idea to go back to the warehouses. There had been too much commotion there before we left.
Just as I was about to recommend we try to go back to my farm, I heard Jameson rumble. I’d heard that same rumble the night before and knew someone was coming.
I wrapped my arms tighter around Nettie. Jameson could protect the group, and that included Nettie, but I felt a responsibility to her. A sort of kinship since we had both lost our parents. I knew her hurt and wanted to shield her from more of it.
“Jameson, I’ve been looking for you,” Pierce’s voice sounded from behind where I sat.
My heart rate increased to a point that I thought I might pass out from the rush. Fear coursed through my body at the sound of his voice. I knew what he wanted, and I had been foolish to think we could hide from him. Pierce Ambrose always got what he wanted.
“I sent Dom on a little errand for me, but he never came home. Is he with you, by chance?” Pierce’s voice sounded calm, but I could picture his face and the condescending look he did so well.
“I haven’t seen him. I went out looking for more recruits. I was just working on this guy here.” Jameson played it casual, but the tension in his voice was evident.
“For some reason, I don’t believe you,” Pierce boomed angrily, no longer playing nice. “I think you ran away with my prize, and I want her back.”
“What are you talking about?”
Pierce snarled. “Don’t play dumb with me, slave. I gave you power and I can take it away. Don’t you forget that. I’m stronger than you, and I don’t have patience to wait any longer for what’s mine. Give me Lavinia.”
Gently, I moved Nettie from my lap—she fussed but stayed asleep. Then, I crawled over to Alice and Henry to wake them and grabbed the sword she’d taken from one of the shops we’d been in earlier. I knew it wouldn’t kill Pierce, but maybe it would be enough to give us a chance to run.
Just as I placed my hand on Henry’s shoulder, Nettie let out a blood-curdling scream. I turned to find Craig standing there, with the child kicking and screaming in his arms.
“I got us a wee lass,” he called to Pierce. “And yer wench is o’er here.”
Everything in me stopped. I couldn’t breathe or move as anger surged inside me. My rage was all-encompassing at the thought of the pirate’s hands on that precious girl.
I watched as he ran his nose against her neck. “The lass will make a fine blood slave.”
Finally snapping, I grasped the sword tighter, and charged Craig. Nettie would never be a blood slave. Not if I was still alive and breathing. I wouldn’t let it happen. I didn’t want to cut Nettie by accident, so I aimed low, slicing the blade across Craig’s ankles.
I’d never used a sword before, and my stance was awkward which prevented my hit from having much power behind it. I barely ripped his trousers before he backed away. Nettie was still in hi
s arms with tears running down her sweet face.
Pierce appeared behind Craig as Jameson and Nathan came around the back behind me. Pierce had leverage against us, and I knew this wasn’t going to end well. Before any more lives could be put in danger, I dropped the sword and stepped forward.
“Let the child go and leave these people be. If you do that, then I will come with you willingly.”
“Lavinia, no.” Jameson rushed forward to grasp my arm. His eyes were wide with fear for me.
Pulling my arm away, I turned to him. “It’s the only way to keep her safe, and you know it. We can’t fight him without risking Nettie.”
He cursed and shook his head, but it was too late. I moved away from him and walked toward Pierce as he took Nettie from Craig, letting her go. Instead of running toward the others, her small arms wrapped around my waist.
“Don’t go, Nia. We need you.”
Bending down to her eye level, I placed my hands on her cheeks. “It’s going to be all right. Stay with Jameson and the others.” I moved closer to give her one last hug, but Pierce grabbed my arm and yanked me back.
“That’s enough. We need to go.”
He dragged me behind him as I struggled to keep up with his pace. I took a final glance back at our group, needing to see their faces one last time.
“Lavinia!” Jameson roared as Nathan and Henry held him back, barely able to keep him in place.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, but I doubted they heard me. All that mattered was that they were safe.
Once I knew the boat had come and gone, I’d try to escape and catch the next one. I only had to survive a week with Pierce. I just hoped when I finally made it out, I’d still be human, if that was what I was.
Chapter 6
I refused to let the tears fall as Pierce dragged me forcefully along the path back to his plantation home.
I wouldn’t let him break me.
I would remain strong enough to make it out of my current predicament somehow and find my new friends again. I vowed to myself that had not been the last time I would see them.
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