“Am I disturbing you?” Sarah looked down, twisting hair in her fingers. “You looked pretty deep in thought. I could leave you alone.”
“No, you don’t have to go. I’m sorry if I’m distracted. I have a lot on my mind. But you aren’t disturbing me.”
Sarah tumbled in, tripping on the threshold, then blushed and sat down on the other end of the couch. “Have you known about vampires long?”
“No. Only a few days. In fact, it’s been a hard couple of days.” Copper eyed the young woman. “How long have you known about them?”
Sarah reclined further on the couch. “About a year.”
“Did you have problems dealing with it? With vampires? That they exist. The killing.” She saw her sister’s body pouring blood. Lucy’s screaming rang in her ears. She shuddered and fought to control her breathing.
But Sarah smiled, an infectious one. It put Copper at ease. “I didn’t. Not as much as I should have. But it was extraordinary circumstances.”
“I have those too, extraordinary circumstances. But I ... I’m having problems dealing with all this.”
“It was your sister? That Evangeline had?”
Copper nodded. “Evangeline killed her and Lucy, a friend of Bastian’s. Crimson’s the vampire Bastian made.”
“Oh wow.” Sarah’s face stretched in surprise. “Becoming a vampire isn’t easy, from what I’ve heard.”
“Bastian did it because I asked. She was dying. I had to save her. It was the only way.” Copper’s voice broke. She took a deep breath, steadying herself. She didn’t want to break down in tears in front of this woman she didn’t know. No matter how beguiling her smile seemed or how she’d had extraordinary circumstances in her life too.
“He must care for you a lot. Vampires made or mentored by Henri don’t make new vampires lightly.”
Copper closed her eyes. “Does Nick feed from you? Take blood, I mean?”
Sarah nodded. “He does. Does Bastian from you?”
“He hasn’t yet. There’s the whole Conduit thing.” She laughed shakily. “Even more of a problem.”
“Is it as powerful as Henri said it was for a vamp to take your blood? I know Bastian had a little, that’s how he knows what you are.”
“Bastian had one drop. It knocked him for a loop. He said he’d never felt anything like it.” She frowned, thinking about what that meant. It put her in danger.
“From what I understand, even if you are made a vampire, your blood keeps those properties.”
“So any vampire could still feed from me? Even after I’m a vampire? Well, damn.” There went the plus to becoming a vampire.
“Any vampire can feed from you. Until you bond with your mate.”
“Bond with my mate? What?” Copper drew her feet up under her, sitting straight up in the seat. Her head did laps. “What mate? How do I bond with them?”
Sarah bit her lip, hesitating.
“No, Bastian didn’t tell me squat about this.” She rubbed her head. “Please tell me what you know.”
“Vampires have mates. They mate for life. Like wolves and a lot of prey animals. But no mating rituals exist to truly bond them together. Nick and I are mates. Henri and Nathan. However, with a Conduit, when they find their mate, the mate can bond to them. So that the mate is the only one the power of the blood works for.”
“So the mate is the only one to get the benefits of the blood?”
Sarah cocked her head with a slight nod. “Henri said Conduits were in great danger until they were bonded. Because if vampires find out what they are, they often will take the power completely rather than let someone else have it forever. Or will take it all rather than a little. A mate is a protection to that. Once the bond is formed, it’s unbreakable, and the mate is the only one who gets the Conduit’s power.”
“How do you know ... that you’re mates?” Copper leaned her head down. It made sense. A Conduit would be in great demand if they stayed on the market too long. “I mean, did a sign pop up after you fuck ... had sex?” She winced at her language. Sarah had to be older than she looked but an aura of innocence surrounded her.
Sarah flushed, but her eyes twinkled. “You can say that around me. And no, nothing happens to let you know for sure they are the one. But ...” She paused. “I once read a romance novel where it said, ‘He sang in my soul,’ about the love interest. Nick sings in my soul.” She shrugged. “He always has since the day we met. Something is there that I can’t deny. No matter what.”
Copper’s hands twitched, and she folded them on her leg. Such a romantic. And idealist. Copper had no romantic illusions. This attraction, the feelings, it couldn’t be this. Bastian couldn’t be her mate. “Does Nick feel it too?”
Sarah’s laugh tinkled like a bell. “Oh yeah. He fought it for a long time. But couldn’t ignore the draw we had. He’d ... made a vampire, someone he loved, and it didn’t work out well. That’s why he resisted me.”
Copper looked down at her hands. That didn’t bode well. Crimson. It had to work out better for Crimson. “What is the bonding ritual?”
“From what Henri said, it’s the binding of the blood.”
“You don’t know for sure?” Copper’s voice shrilled. “How can you not know for sure?”
Sarah looked Copper straight in the eyes. “The ritual itself isn’t hard. Mix some of his, some of your blood together. Say an oath over the mixed blood. Both of you drink it. Poof, you’re bound.”
“Sorry for the snap.” Sarah tried to help, and she’d taken her head off. Quit being such a bitch.
“You’re allowed. Once or twice. Then we’ll see.” Sarah’s voice stayed light, but the tone was firm.
“I don’t know ...”
“If Bastian is your mate?”
“Yeah. Or even if I want him to be.” She didn’t want him to be. But couldn’t explain this to the romantic idealist so in love with her man.
Sarah leaned forward and placed a hand over Copper’s. “As a Conduit, you are vulnerable. I know most vampires can’t read your mind, but now that you know what you are, powerful vampires might, too. They might be able to get into your mind. And some ... some would use you and toss you like a used paper cup at the water cooler.”
“I know.” She wrapped her arms around herself, trying to ward off the chills starting at the base of her spine and moving up.
“Bastian told Henri he thought you were his mate.”
She closed her eyes. Savored that piece of information. Her heart danced in her chest. She was way too excited over this. Wanted to run find him, curl up in his arms forever. And yet also take off the opposite direction and keep running. She didn’t want to end up like her mother. Or Crimson.
“I shouldn’t have told you that. But I know ... well, finding out Nick wanted me, loved me as much as I did him, helped me to sort out things.” Sarah squeezed her hand.
Copper opened her eyes. “I don’t know if that helps or not.” She let out a brittle laugh. “If he is, he gets a ready power source.”
Sarah frowned, her face pensive, nose wrinkling up. “You don’t think he wants you for that as the only reason?”
“Sarah, I don’t know anything anymore.”
The hand squeezed harder. “I have a lot of powers. Nick knew I did when he met me. But being his mate means he wants me regardless of them.”
Copper breathed in deeply. She had to get it together. This wouldn’t rattle her. But Nick couldn’t draw off Sarah’s powers for himself, either. Bastian could. She shook it off. “So what are you and baby face doing here anyways?”
Sarah bit her lip to keep the laughter in, but it shined in her eyes. “If you and Bastian bond, Nick and I came to observe.”
“How come? I mean, why would you two want to watch?” She blinked. That sounded kinky. But Sarah’s smile told that she had followed the reasoning and the unintentional innuendo.
“Henri has rarely encountered Conduits. I’m rare myself. Unprecedented in Henri’s knowledge. I tell him h
e hasn’t known the right people.” She waved a hand. “While my mind is strong, the worry is that I could be controlled to do some awful things. Or that a vampire might be able to siphon off my powers and use them. If I were bound to Nick, the hope is that he could protect me like your mate would you. That maybe even Nick could share my powers once the binding is complete. And be the only one to do so.”
“Can regular vampires bond?”
“No. They can’t. Conduits are a special case.”
“Are you going to become a vampire? Once you’re bound?”
She pursed her lips. “I think I’m ready now. Nick doesn’t. Wants to make sure I’m beyond ready. He worries the vampire powers could make me animalistic. A wanton killer, unable to control the instinctual urges. With my powers, that would be bad. He tries hard not to think like that but can’t help it. So we’ll see.”
Copper glanced down the hands still holding hers. “I want to go see my sister. I’m going to scoot up there and visit. We’ll talk more later?”
Sarah nodded, laying back on the pillows. Copper lifted off the couch and rose.
“Copper?”
She turned.
“Don’t discount Bastian. Henri said he’s been through hell and back in his life before becoming a vampire. And he strives to rescue kids off the streets. That doesn’t seem like the power-hungry type to me.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Somehow that made everything harder for her to process. So much easier to run from a man who wanted her only for what she could do for him.
* * * * *
Bastian rolled over, reaching for Copper. No one on the other pillow.
Damn.
He liked waking up in that special time in the early morning, with lovers. Watching them sleep or rousing them from sleep with hands. Or lips. He’d wanted to wake up with Copper. See her firebrand hair spread out across his red sheets. Her jade-green eyes opening as she smiled wickedly up at him. In his fantasy, they had love in them. He’d bend down to kiss her soundly, rub her all over with the silk sheets, tickling her body. Stay in bed as long as he could, talking, laughing, loving.
Copper had probably run scared. Frightened of the intimacy they’d shared.
He had no doubts left that the redhead was his mate. Not after the passion that had flared to life between them.
He’d drifted off to sleep holding her, her body tangled with his. Talking in low tones to her about anything and everything. Loving her satin skin against his, her hair tickling his body wherever it touched.
Copper didn’t want to love him.
He’d seen it in her eyes numerous times.
He hoped the emotion would overrun the fear.
Bastian had withheld the information about vampire mates and about mates of a Conduit. She didn’t need any more pressure than was already on her. She’d find out in time. But he wanted her to adjust to the new information she’d gotten first.
The desire to bite her and take blood had spiraled at the moment before his orgasm. It had been all he could do each time to control it. It would only get worse. Until he couldn’t resist. He needed to feed. But the only blood he wanted was hers. It was like an addiction had been caused by one pure drop of it.
If any other vampires found out about Copper, they’d kill her. Unless she bonded with a mate, who could keep her safe. Bastian didn’t intend to see her die. But that couldn’t be the only reason she came to him. He wouldn’t let it be. She had to want him. Not only the protection of a mate.
He wanted it all. Passion. Love. All rolled up into one nice pale package.
Her.
She’d probably gone to see Crimson.
Something else he needed to deal with. Crimson had problems. He wasn’t sure how those problems would translate into being a vampire. Last night hadn’t gone well. He’d given Tad and Pope strict instruction on not leaving Crimson alone with her sister. After Tad’s arm, they both paid attention.
However, Crimson hadn’t tried to kill Tad. And she could have. So, not all bad. If she could prevail in the end, conquer her vampire powers, she’d live.
Otherwise, she’d die. At his hand.
Copper would never forgive him.
He sighed. Relationships never got any easier, no matter how long you lived or how many you had. He’d not had many in his human life. Mainly fucked, then. And in his vampire life, something was always missing. A spark.
Nothing was missing from Copper.
The phone rang. Bastian picked it up. “Hello?”
“Hello, baby. Miss me?”
Bastian sat up in bed, the sheet falling around his waist. “Hello, Evangeline. I didn’t expect to be hearing from you again.” He’d felt her in town, but couldn’t tell exactly where she’d gone. They weren’t of the same line. Telepathic contact over distance was minimal, even for him.
“Funny, I didn’t expect to be calling you.”
“Do tell.” His security could trace the call.
“I know you’re tracing. I don’t care. I refuse to be smuggled out of this god-forsaken place in a pine box. And you and Henri have effectively cut off escape avenues. Nice touch freezing all my credit cards. Even my Paypal account. And all my minions’.” She tsked into the phone.
“Wasn’t my idea. It was Henri.”
“Yes, tell him I owe him a big kiss the next time we meet.”
Bastian chuckled. “You’re not his type.”
“Pity. Perhaps Nathan and I could be. So, Bastian, I want to get this over with. Right here and now. Not wait a few more hundred years again to get revenge.”
“Good. I agree wholeheartedly with that. Let’s do it. Where are you?”
A scream sounded in the background.
“Lucky’s Bar. Nice service here.”
“Evangeline ...”
“I know it isn’t like I still hold your girls. You got them away. Did the two sisters make it?”
Bastian growled. “One did.” Crimson had died, so not entirely a lie. The less Evangeline knew, the better.
She sighed into the phone. “Quite a loss. I’m impressed. No threatening. No ‘you better not hurt my friends.’”
“Cut the shit, Evangeline. What do you want?”
“Simple. You’re what I want. You come here. Give yourself to me. And I’ll let everyone else go.”
“Agreed.”
“You are a quick boy. I like that. I was worried with it not being your love interests you might refuse me. But I was right.”
“Right on what?”
“You’d sacrifice yourself for our cattle. The feed that keeps us going.”
“Not cattle.” He shifted the phone, grabbing for his jeans.
“They are, Bastian. You killed Marie because she killed our prey. How stupid is that? You don’t see lions ganging up on each other over the murder of gazelles.”
“Humans are not gazelles or cattle. They deserve my protection. Even from my brethren, when they slaughter them as Marie was doing.” He yanked his jeans up his legs, hastily buttoning them.
“Your mentor is a fool. Thoughts like that will get you killed one day. Like it got Lucy killed. Like the rest. Who you were too late to save. You’d better get here soon. To find out who you’ll be too late to save this time. I’m thinking Barb. Lots of blood there to take. How much will be too much?”
“I’m coming.” He clicked off the phone. Pulled on his shirt.
Who would he be too late to save? Always someone.
He closed his eyes. Remembered Italy. The bodies. The boys he’d grown up with. The blood. So much of it. He’d gotten there too late to save anyone.
This time, he would get them all out. And ensure Copper would never come under Evangeline’s thumb. Even if he died trying.
Chapter Fourteen
Copper walked upstairs to where Crimson had been taken last night.
A small room with a bed and two chairs. Crimson had been chained to a radiator by a window covered by a heavy green drape. The long chain allowed her t
o reach a green chair and a bed covered with a matching bedspread. She sat in the wingback chair, huddled down, legs drawn up under her, head on her knees.
Pope climbed out of another chair occupied by Tad. It sat out of reach of the chain. “Hey, Copper, is it? We met when you were Crimson.” He yawned, shirtless, wearing old faded sweatpants with a hole in the knee. His longish brown hair lay loose around his shoulders. Tattoos covered tawny expanses of flesh on his arms and chest.
Tad sighed, his erection bulging in his tight pants. “Hello, Copper. You here to see the newest blood sucker?”
Copper winced. Lots of getting used to. “Yeah. How’s your arm?”
“Hurts like a son of a bitch. But should be fine.” He cradled it closer to him. It was encased in fresh gauze.
Pope smiled indulgently. “It’s healing well, better than most wounds do. He’s being a baby about it.”
Tad stuck his tongue out at Pope, who winked back.
Copper toddled closer on legs like stilts. She gulped. Shouldn’t be nervous. Crimson was still her sister. “Hi, Crimson.”
Crimson turned to face her. Eyes gleamed but had a haunted desperate look to them. “You look like someone I know.”
“I’m your sister, Copper.”
“That’s it. You look like me.” Crimson’s nose twitched. Wiggling back and forth like a fox on a hunt. “You had sex. Bastian sex. He’s all over you.”
Copper’s mouth dropped open. Not only her face but also her whole body heated. Pope and Tad snickered. She glared at them.
“His come is all over you. Yours all over you, too.” She snuffled again. “But no blood. He didn’t feed.”
“No, he didn’t.”
“Stupid man. Or vampire, I guess.” Crimson got up, taking a step forward, chains clanking. “I could.”
“Whoa, baby.” Pope sauntered over. “Take it easy now.”
Tad shot to his feet, watching.
Copper didn’t back up or flinch. Crimson neared her. “You don’t want to feed from me.”
“Sure, I do. I’m hungry.” Crimson gnashed teeth. “You’re the prey. I ... hear blood. Rushing all around me in the little pipes. It calls. So much more powerfully even than chocolate.”
Blood Lines: Conduit Page 16
