Bitten (The Graced Series Book 2)

by Amanda Pillar

  “You can’t go around poking vampires. They might not take it well.”

  “He wasn’t going to bite me cos I poked him with a finger.” Fin squinted at Dante. “Were you?”

  “Thought hadn’t occurred to me, but I wouldn’t rule it out.”

  Hannah stomped a foot. “See? They’re dangerous.”

  “He said he hadn’t even considered it.”

  “If you don’t shut up, I will bite the both of you.” That came from the red-headed vampire. Her overlarge violet eyes flashed. Fin shut his mouth with a snap. So he had the sense not to bait that woman, whoever she was.

  Alice found her attention drifting back to Byrne. His towering height was impressive, if slightly impractical for the things that had suddenly sprung to mind. And that was even assuming he’d be interested in someone like her. Human. Short. Mortal.

  Then, without really thinking about it, Alice blurted, “How are you at painting?”

  Chapter 61

  The doctor — Alice — smelled amazing. It was the same rich scent he’d picked up outside the City Guard building: chocolate and sin, with a hint of formaldehyde, but the fact that she was the city coroner explained that strange tang. And just being near her was drugging his senses.

  Would it be rude to throw her over his shoulder and hightail it out of here?

  Probably.

  Almost certainly.

  And that wasn’t how Byrne behaved. He was the calm one, the centered one. Fin did crazy shit like that — and usually got away with it. Although, Byrne had to admit, he’d like to see the human try something like that with Hannah. She’d probably tell him off for risking his poor human hide. As it was, she was lecturing him on poking her brother in the chest.

  Hannah’s brother.

  There were physical similarities that made it clear the two were related, but the male vampire had Tatiana’s bright violet eyes, rather than his sister’s mysterious Black. The vampire — Dante — knew about the Graced, but how or why Byrne wasn’t quite sure. Just saying that he ‘Chose’ one felt like only half the explanation.

  Tatiana let out an exasperated sigh. “If you don’t shut up, I will bite the both of you.”

  Hannah shoved Fin further back behind her, putting herself firmly between her brother and her mother. She must really like Fin, Byrne thought. To risk being exposed to touch by Dante, to take on her mother’s wrath. She might not even know it herself yet, but she cared for the stupid human a lot. Just like Byrne cared for him. Probably more, since she’d gone ahead and banged the idiot.

  Byrne could admit to himself he’d been morosely jealous about the two of them, until he’d caught hold of that amazing scent. It had taken all his willpower earlier in the day to not leap out of the cart and chase after the woman who produced it, but he’d managed. Somehow.

  But what else could he have done? Followed her home and acted like some crazy stalker. “You smell like my mate,” was a line that might have gotten a door or three slammed in his face.

  You smell like my mate.

  Byrne froze.

  It hadn’t really occurred to him until that moment that this was what was happening. That Alice the coroner — that the woman standing in front of him right now — might be his ideal partner. But he’d never reacted this way to a scent before. Sure, he’d picked up on plenty of nice smells, but this was something else. Every particle of his being was humming, and all he wanted to do was hold her hand and just talk to her.

  Okay. Maybe not just talk.

  But he wanted to be with her. And to get her away from everyone else.

  His heavy gaze alighted on the human woman. The other human — the Graced one with Gray eyes — was glaring at him, but he didn’t care. Alice was even more beautiful than he’d thought from the street. Her curly auburn hair framed her heart-shaped face, and her wide Brown eyes were the color of autumn leaves. Although, she was tiny; she barely even came to his sternum. He was worried he’d break her just by being in the same room.

  You are fine with Rena, his mind said. Alice is an adult, even though she’s human. Don’t panic.

  He kept kind of panicking.

  Alice blurted, “How are you at painting?”

  Taken aback, Byrne stared down at the woman he hoped was destined to be his mate. Did he hear her right? “Painting?”

  “Painting.” Her cheeks flushed a warm rose color. “I have a spot at home that I can’t reach. It needs painting.”

  “You could just use a ladder,” her friend said.

  Alice hunched her shoulders slightly. “Even with a ladder, I can’t reach.”

  Byrne didn’t care that she was interested in him painting her ceiling. He was more keen on the fact that she’d considered inviting him to her house. An unfamiliar wicked gleam entered his gaze. He leaned down and rumbled, “I would love to come and paint your ceiling.”

  Man, did that sound like a bizarre come-on line. Fin was going to give him grief for that. Then again, Fin was still over in the corner arguing with Hannah that while he might have implied that humans were fairly breakable, as a general rule they weren’t, and he didn’t need her trying to wrap him in cotton wool. Hannah looked like she was pondering where she could get that much cotton wool.

  Alice’s warm eyes brightened. “Really?”

  He gave her a grin, and it felt strangely easy. Maybe some of Fin’s charm had transferred to him. “We’ll make it a date.”

  “I’m not sure that is a good idea,” the Gray-eyed woman said.

  “Why not?” That was from Clay. “The woman needs her ceiling taken care of. And Byrne is clearly the man to do it.”

  Now if there weren’t a whole bunch of double meaning behind that statement, Byrne would be shocked. He’d forgotten how much of a rascal Clay was. And the man was millennia older than Byrne. He’d been around when Byrne’s grandfather, Trace, had been in his prime. Although, having been a second-generation were, Trace was always going to be in his prime. If he was still alive. Byrne didn’t know, since he hadn’t seen his family for over a century.

  “You just met him,” the mathematics professor said to Alice. “Maybe you should ask Kyle to help you.”

  Byrne couldn’t help the low growl that rolled through him. He didn’t know who this Kyle was, but he didn’t like the idea of the man going over and painting Alice’s ceiling. He assumed there really was a ceiling in need of paint. Either way, he didn’t like the idea.

  Alice was his.

  Well, she would be his, once she got to know him. And he her. And they discovered that they liked each other. And that...

  Oh, shut up. You’re worse than Fin says you are.

  He didn’t like that his mind had a point.

  Or that it was saying Fin was right.

  “Kyle?” Clay asked. “Trust me, I know Kyle and my man, Byrne. You don’t want Kyle going over to Alice’s house.”

  “Is the man a predator?” Byrne asked.

  Clay nearly choked on his own saliva. “No, he’s just a bit of a...ladies man.”

  Byrne was unimpressed. “Did you meet Fin?”

  Fin, who could woo entire towns without even trying. Although Alice hadn’t seemed too stunned by the human’s pretty face. Which was a miracle in itself.

  “You mean that guy?” Clay pointed at Fin, who was still debating with Hannah about the merits of being allowed to argue with whomever he pleased. “The one struggling over there?”

  “Hannah has a unique way of looking at things,” Byrne said. Rena was beginning to stir, and he rubbed his palm over her back, before gently lifting the cub from her sling.

  “Whose pup is that?” Clay asked. He studied the cub with bright eyes. “She’s got Green eyes.” Clay then looked over at Hannah and Fin. “Those two manage to have a pup?”

  Byrne shrugged. Tatiana had apparently wondered the same thing, which meant to Byrne that there was a possibility that Hannah and Fin could have cubs, if they were luck
y. He wondered if the two of them comprehended that yet. He wasn’t sure that Fin would cope well with that discovery. Fin loved kids, but Byrne knew he’d had some bad luck with them in the past.

  “No, Hannah found the baby abandoned,” Byrne said.

  “Abandoned?” Talan asked.

  “The local townspeople near where Hannah lived fear anyone who looks a little different. They took one look at the cub’s Green eyes and left her out there to die.”

  Alice put a hand to her mouth. “How could they? People with colored eyes are no different to anyone else!”

  Byrne glared at Tal. Her serene expression hardened when she caught his accusatory look.

  So pretty Alice had no idea her friend could move things with her mind?

  “Hannah saved the cub,” Byrne said, “and bumped into Fin and me on the road. The human had just had the shit kicked out of him by a group of townspeople, so he wasn’t doing so well at the time. Hence she’s a little overprotective. She’s worried that humans break too easily, what with having a human baby and a human boyfriend now.”

  Dante whipped his head around. “Did you just say boyfriend?”

  “I did,” Byrne said, taking great pleasure in seeing Fin pale. Hannah looked a little whiter than usual herself.

  “They’re practically married,” he added, just for fun.

  “That baby can’t be more than a month old,” Talan said. “So you’re implying these two are engaged after knowing each other for a month?”

  Clay shrugged. “Hey, when you know, you know. I convinced my darling Elle that she wanted to marry me in less time than that.”

  A snort came from the doorway. Standing next to the human with the cane, and a little girl with bright Teal-colored eyes was a vampire, her own irises a strange mix of purple, Green and Gray.

  So this must be the vampire that Dante had Chosen.

  “I don’t recall you giving me too much of a chance to refuse your proposal,” she said, moving into the room, the little girl coming after her. The child had nut-brown skin and brown hair, and smiled shyly at everyone.

  The vampire wrapped an arm around Clay’s middle. Suddenly, the room felt a little too crowded for Byrne. He backed away to the edge of the parlor, and he stood there, cuddling Rena. He wasn’t used to this many people. Or being surrounded by so many Graced folks. It brought back some unpleasant memories.

  “Are you okay?” Alice had followed him, no matter that her friend was glaring at them both.

  “Sure.”

  “You don’t look it.”

  He gave a weak smile. “Been some time since I’ve had this many people in a room with me. Been traveling for a while.”

  For three years, actually. And before that he’d been locked in a cell for a century.

  Alice reached out a hand — to touch the cub, he assumed — but she patted his arm instead. The contact electrified him. Standing on her tiptoes, her eyes alive with humor, she whispered, “I’m used to spending time with corpses, so this is a bit odd for me, too.”

  Byrne might just have fallen a little in love.

  Chapter 62

  Fin couldn’t believe it. Byrne had announced to everyone in the room that Hannah was his girlfriend. And she hadn’t argued. Not that she would want to, since it was Fin she was supposed to be dating, after all. But girlfriend?

  There was no way that whatever it was that Fin and Hannah had going was so simple as to be girlfriend and boyfriend. Plus, it made the two of them sound like they were fifteen, which certainly wasn’t the case. Fin was thirty, and who knew how old Hannah was.

  Actually, that was a good point.

  “How old are you?” Fin asked, looking at his ‘girlfriend.’

  She was pretty hot. So that part was okay.

  Hannah glared at him. Was it bad that he found that sexy? In fact, everything she did was sexy. He’d thought that after they’d slept together, things would calm down for him in that department. But they hadn’t. Sleeping with her had only made things worse. He now knew what it was like to be with her, and it just made him want more. But he didn’t know if she was keen to be with him again, although the fact that she hadn’t protested at being called his girlfriend was a good sign.

  Maybe he should stop dwelling on that.

  “I’m over two hundred years old,” Hannah said eventually.

  “Well, I assume you are two hundred and four,” chipped in her annoying brother, “since that is my age, and I’m told we’re twins.”

  There was something about Dante that set Fin’s teeth on edge. Maybe it was the fact that he was about as emotional as a brick. Then again, maybe it was because he’d asked Hannah to touch a fucking dead guy. Hence Fin’s poking Dante in the chest.

  “Two hundred and four? Where does the time go,” Tatiana mused, shaking her head. “Dante was born first, in case you were wondering. So that makes him older.”

  “Huh. I’m totally dating a cougar,” Fin said.

  “Cougar? I’m not a were, Fin.”

  As if he didn’t know that.

  “Duh. Cougar — they’re older women who like to date younger men.”

  Tatiana let out a bark of surprised laughter. “Every man on the planet is younger than me. What does that make me?”

  Fin thought fast. “One of a kind?”

  He couldn’t imagine anyone having balls enough to climb into bed with Hannah’s mother. He knew her father had managed it somehow, and frankly, Fin was surprised the bastard was still alive.

  Tatiana tapped him on the arm. It hurt. He had a feeling it was meant to be a light touch.

  “Mother! Be careful!” Hannah said. “Did you not just hear me saying how fragile he is?”

  “For the millionth time, I’m not fragile,” Fin growled. He was glad he was wearing a long-sleeved shirt, so she couldn't see the mark that had no doubt been left behind by her mother’s ‘gentle’ contact.

  “Are your ribs still broken?” Hannah demanded.

  Fin bit his lip. “A little.”

  “Then you have to be careful.”

  “Broken ribs don’t mean my arm is broken.”

  Tatiana sighed. “Hannah, ease up.”

  “Mother?”

  “If you are in a relationship with this human, then you can’t mollycoddle him. Either you take him on as a partner, or you don’t. Although, you could make him a vampire. Then you wouldn’t have to worry about him being breakable.”

  “Humans do break a little too easily,” Dante said, as if to help.

  Fin frowned.

  Dante added, “Not that I’ve broken too many.”

  The man with the walking stick approached then. Anton. Dante’s husband. Fin couldn’t picture an odder combination. Anton actually seemed nice.

  “Too many?” he said.

  A vague shame entered Dante’s expression. “Maybe a couple.”

  “I probably wouldn’t survive being Chosen,” Fin said. He didn’t want to wake up one night having Hannah nibbling on his neck, trying to Choose him. Hazel-eyed Graceds often had immunity to the euphoria-inducing drug in vampire saliva. So it would probably just hurt. And then he’d die.

  “See her?” Dante pointed at the newly arrived vampire, who was now standing with a little girl and her arm wrapped around the were called Clay.

  “Yes?”

  “She had Hazel eyes, too.”

  Fin glanced at Anton, who nodded, as if he knew all about Graceds. But how could all these people know? No one in Fin’s home town had had any idea. He looked more closely at the woman. She was definitely a vampire, she had purple eyes, but within their depths were flecks of Green and Gray. More interestingly, the eyes of the little girl standing with her were bright Teal.

  Oh, his sisters would freak the fuck out if they ever met these two. Hannah would be bad enough with her Black eyes, but a Graced who had managed to become a vampire? And a child with a new eye color? His twin, Faith, would be the worst,
purist as she was.

  Turning back to Dante, Hannah, Anton and Tatiana, he sighed. “But my ability isn’t entirely latent.”

  Hannah frowned. “What do you mean?”

  Fin hesitated. In for a penny... “I can speak pretty much any language you’ve ever heard of, provided I can listen to it for a few minutes.”

  Tatiana snorted. “Really?”

  “Really.”

  She rattled out a sentence in Varsh, then swapped to Skarvs, then another tongue and another. Fin responded in kind, every time. Dozens of languages. He knew all of them because of a quirk in his eye color — she because she’d been alive so long that she’d had to learn them all the hard way. At last she switched to something he’d never heard before, and no matter how long she spoke, he couldn’t pick it up.

  It sounded ancient.

  “Hrm,” Tatiana said at last. She then spoke in Pintonite, which was similar enough to Skarvs that even people who didn’t speak it could follow without too many problems. “I think you couldn’t learn that one because I have a mental shield, too. I inherited it from my parents. They were Graced. That’s why Hannah is Graced. There was always a chance any offspring I had might be. I always expected to just have a Green, Grey or Blue, though. I was surprised that she had a new color, but assumed it was because she is also a vampire.”

  Dante listened, appearing fascinated by the whole thing. A little too fascinated, if one were to ask Fin, which no one had.

  “So you knew you could have a mortal child?” Dante asked.

  “The odds were there. They were low, but they were there.”

  “Perhaps it’s time to move into the dining room,” Anton said with a strained smile. “Mother has been working hard on ensuring there is enough food for everyone.”

  Tatiana swept an arm out graciously. “Of course.”

  As they filed out, Hannah was careful to avoid contact with anyone, even her brother. He’d admitted he didn’t have a mental shield, and Fin wasn’t sure exactly how he knew that, but the vampire knew enough about Graceds that it wasn’t worth pursuing that line of enquiry too far.

  A blonde woman was waiting for them in the hallway. She wore a lavender pantsuit, and her long pale hair hung loose down her back. “Dante! You said it was urgent I attend? I didn’t realize you were having so many guests over...”