Tempted by a Vampire (Immortal Hearts of San Francisco Book 1)

by Susan Griscom

  “Boys! Stop this annoyingly childish banter,” Jewels shouted, and my head began to swim with all the information that Cian and Kellen had just dumped at each other.

  “Cian, what did he mean?” He ignored my question, but I already knew what Kellen had been talking about. “You’re not going to stay with her, Cian.” I couldn’t believe that he would make that deal with her. “You can’t give yourself to her. Please, don’t.”

  He gently brushed a strand of my hair away from my face and tucked it behind my ear before skimming his thumb over my lips. “I have to do this. You deserve to live a full life. If you’d never met me, your life would not be in danger right now. You wouldn’t even be here. You’ll never be safe with me in the hell I live in.”

  “Please, Cian, don’t.” My vision blurred from the tears welling in my eyes.

  “It’s too late, he’s already made his decision,” Jewels barked out and walked behind me, breaking the zip strips that secured my wrists with a slice of her razor-sharp nails. “See, my love? I kept my word. She is free to go. That is if she can get past the wolf and the ocean back to the mainland.”

  Cian helped me to stand. “You lied to me, Jewels. You said you would let her go, not that you would release her into the arms of the wolf or to the perils of the sea.”

  “She is free to go. But I have no control over what happens to her now. She is no longer my concern.” She clicked her thumb against her finger as if she were flicking dirt from under one of those wretched nails.

  “She is if you want me to stay with you,” Cian growled through clenched teeth.

  Kellen grabbed me and pulled me against him. I pounded my fists into his chest to let me go, to no avail.

  Growls reverberated throughout the cave as Lane, Gage, and Elvis stood just inside the entrance. Lane held some sort of blade in his hand. “Let her go, you giant flea bag.”

  “I believe that was slimeball,” Cian said and winked at me.

  “So nice of your brother and your goons to join us, Cian. How fun it will be to watch you rip their heads off.”

  “You can’t make me do that,” Cian said. “You weren’t able to compel me to fuck you, what makes you think you can get me to kill my brothers?”

  “Oh, but you were on the edge, Cian, my love. You were definitely on the edge,” Jewels crooned out with a seductive grin.

  More, deeper growls joined in from over by the cave entrance. Two black wolves took a threatening stance, ready to pounce. Kellen threw me down, and I skinned my knee on a rock as my arm landed against another. Pain seared through my wrist, and bile rose to my throat at the sight of my hand dangling from my arm at an awkward angle.

  “You asked about my pack. Well, you should know I’d never try something like this without some of them,” Kellen growled then leaped at Cian as the other two werewolves attacked Lane, Gage, and Elvis. I’d seen them all fight—four vampires against one wolf—and win, but I didn’t think the three vampires had much of a chance against two huge werewolves that seemed a lot stronger and faster than Kellen.

  Tears stung my eyes as I fought past the pain, only to see Kellen’s claws break through the skin of his knuckles as he dove at Cian, slicing four large gashes across Cian’s chest.

  A few feet away, the two wolves snarled and bared their fangs, then the vampires growled, showing their own set of sharp teeth before attacking the wolves. Bodies went flying and fur flew through the air in clumps. Howls and snaps smothered the sounds of the ocean outside.

  One of the wolves howled as a blade pierced its side and it fell to the cold, damp ground.

  Lane took a running leap and latched on to Kellen’s neck, hanging onto his back, biting. Cian punched Kellen right in his elongated, wolf-snouted face, sending Kellen and Lane to the floor in a heap. Lane groaned and scrambled to release himself from under Kellen’s massive body as Cian reached out and tugged his brother to his feet.

  Both Gage and Elvis tackled the other black wolf; biting its neck until it, too, fell.

  Everything was happening so fast around me; I had a difficult time keeping track of it all.

  After Lane had gotten to his feet, Cian lunged for Kellen, striking, punching at his jowls over and over again, as if they were ordinary men having a fistfight when he could have simply taken him down by the jugular and let him bleed out. That was when I knew what kind of man, what kind of vampire Cian really was. And I loved him even more.

  Cian honestly hated killing, even if it was in self-defense. Kellen shoved Cian off of him and scrambled to his feet.

  Jewels grabbed me and yanked me from the floor. In all the commotion, I’d forgotten about her. The self-defense classes my father had insisted I take when I went away to college flooded my mind, and I swung my elbow backwards, catching Jewels in the stomach. The pain from my broken wrist made me want to throw up. Fight, fight, don’t let her overpower you. She twisted my arm hard behind me and squeezed me so tightly I couldn’t breathe. The searing pain from my wrist made me break out in a cold sweat and caused spots to obscure my vision for a moment. I clawed at Jewels from behind me with my free, uninjured arm. Taking note of where her face was, I slammed my head back against hers. I heard the crunch of bone and knew that I’d broken her nose. She let go of me. “You bitch!” she shouted. I stumbled, fell to the ground, and scrambled a few feet away. But not far enough.

  Jewels grabbed me by my hair and dragged me back up. I was no match for her vampire strength.

  “Cian, stop this fighting, right now, or she dies!” Jewels shouted as she held the sharp blade that Lane had brought into the cave against my neck, her arm securely around my shoulders.

  Everyone stopped fighting and stared at Jewels as she held me. Then she laughed a vile cackle. “Here, Cian, I believe this belongs to you.” She tossed the necklace Cian had given me to him, and as he caught it, I felt the slice across the front of my neck.

  I barely heard Cian scream, “No!” as I fought for air. But none came, and I felt myself falling, falling, falling.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Cian

  The wolf howled in my ear as I watched Magdalena slink to the ground, blood oozing from her neck. Her once beautiful peach-colored skin turning pale before my eyes. I ran to her, tugged off my shirt and pushed it into the wound, pressing, pressing, trying to keep the blood from leaving my beloved’s body.

  “Magdalena. Baby, hold on. Hold on.” I knew it was too late for her. She was dying. I stroked her hair. Her eyes opened.

  “Look at me. Don’t go. I love you too much, don’t leave me.”

  Jewels’ laughter behind me reverberated off the walls of the small cave. I stroked Magdalena’s head and my fingers grazed the knife that had sliced her throat. Wrapping my fingers around the white, marble handle, I stood. Jewels continued to laugh, holding her stomach as if the fake, uncontrollable cackle she emitted actually hurt.

  “There will never be another for me in this eternal hell, you fucking bitch!” I shouted and shoved the blade hard into Jewels’ heart.

  Her eyes bugged. “Stupid boy, you know you can’t kill…” Apparent pain seized her, and she screamed and fell to the ground.

  I wasn’t quite sure what had just happened. I knew the knife I’d jabbed into Jewels wouldn’t kill her. But there she laid, her chest still as a corpse.

  “Maggie’s dead. She killed her. The bitch killed her. This has all been for nothing,” Kellen uttered. He let out a deafening howl before running out of the cave. The other two wolves hobbled after him.

  I went back to Magdalena’s side, crouching on my knees, I picked up the bloody t-shirt and once again tried to stop the bleeding. So much blood. No human could survive that slice. I scored my wrist with my fangs and held my arm to Magdalena’s lips. But she remained still. Unresponsive.

  “Please, Magdalena, drink a little, just a little to heal the wound. Please, baby, suck a little.” I dabbed my finger into my blood and stuck it in her mouth, rubbing it over her tongue and gums. I repeat
ed the act, several times, then put my wrist back to her lips. Still nothing. There was no breath coming from her mouth, and her heartbeat was so faint, if it beat at all, I couldn’t hear it. I continued to stick my bloodied finger in her mouth, adding another. Then after several minutes, I felt the tip of her tongue move slightly and she swallowed. I held my wrist over her lips again, parting them with my fingers, letting blood drip into her mouth. Then her tongue slipped out and touched my wrist. “That’s it, baby, now suck a little. I know you can. I’ve felt you.”

  She began, gentle pulsating pulls. Her heartbeat picked up and the skin on her neck began to slowly knit together until the gash was completely healed. Her pulse became stronger, and I exhaled a sigh of relief.

  “That’s it. Take more.”

  I wiped tears from my cheeks. “I’m so sorry, baby, I’m so sorry. I never wanted to turn you. Not this way.” Though I knew, eventually, I’d need to make a decision. Turn her while she was still young and beautiful or watch her grow old and die. The latter was not an option.

  Her eyes closed and she fell unconscious. I pulled my wrist away. I’d already ingested her blood, she was in my soul, and now, when she woke, I would be in hers.

  She would be vampire.

  Jewels lay on the cold, wet ground of the cave. “Is she dead?” I asked, knowing that was ridiculous. A small blade like that could never kill a vampire.

  “No, she’s not dead. But she will remain in that deadened state as long as the poison on the blade stays in her system, thanks to Maggie’s witch, Vanessa,” Lane beamed. “She put a spell on the blade to render her completely paralyzed.”

  “Long enough for us to take her far away and secure her in chains for the rest of her life,” Elvis added.

  “We’ll take care of Jewels. You get Maggie home. She’s gonna be pissed when she wakes up as a vampire,” Lane said.

  I released a heavy sigh laden with guilt. “I know.” I gathered Magdalena in my arms and headed back to the mansion.

  Ari was there, waiting, along with Vanessa and Chelle. It had taken Chelle five months just to get to the point where she wasn’t begging to be released from her chains to go out and kill for food, to be satisfied to take just enough to survive. Lane still carried extra blood with him whenever he took her out to feed, just in case. I wondered how long it would take Magdalena. Though, Lane only allowed Chelle to drink from him occasionally, now, as he never wanted that type of relationship with her. Turning her had been an accident. But with Magdalena, I knew it had to be this way sooner or later. But I had wanted it to be on her terms. I didn’t want a puppet. Magdalena had a mind of her own, and just like Lane and me, she would learn to use it to her advantage. As vampire.

  I took Magdalena upstairs and placed her on my bed. I pulled up a chair and watched her sleep. I had no idea how long it would take for her to wake up, but I wanted to be the first thing she saw when she did. I knew it could be days, but I sat and waited. Every so often, Lane would come in and check to see if I wanted anything.

  There was nothing that I wanted, except for my lover to wake up.

  I lost track of time. I heard the shades rise and lower a couple of times, so I assumed maybe two or three days had passed, but I never moved from her side, not once. Not for sustenance, not for thirst. There was nothing that I needed, except to be right there to feed her more blood as soon as she woke. If I didn’t, she would die. When Lane and I had awakened, we’d been forced to kill immediately. I didn’t want Magdalena to ever be forced to kill someone for blood. She’d learn. She would want to, I was sure of it.

  I sat and watched her and smiled when her eyes moved beneath her lids. Her eyes flashed open as if something had startled her. Her silver-rimmed blue irises shone; my blood clearly in her veins.

  “Cian,” she whispered as if the act of talking hurt.

  “Magdalena, sweetheart. I’m here.”

  “It hurts.”

  “Shhhh.” I scored a gash along my wrist and held it to her mouth. “Drink.”

  She shook her head.

  “Magdalena, you must drink or you will die.”

  “No. I don’t want to be a vampire.”

  “Please, my love. Please drink. I can’t lose you now. I love you, Magdalena. I fell in love with you the first time I saw you sitting at that restaurant when our eyes first met. I never believed in love at first sight. Not before that night. I don’t say this lightly. I’ve never told another woman that I love her. I will never hurt you.”

  “No. Can’t. I don’t want this life, Cian. I love you. I do. I will always love you, and I will love you in the afterlife, wherever that may be, but you should let me die. You had no right to bring me back. You should have left me to die in that cave.”

  She turned her head, refusing my wrist. I had to convince her to drink my blood or she would die. The sleep rendering us immobile shortly after ingesting vampire blood for the first time is much like death itself. Drinking immediately after waking from that death-enabled slumber was essential for our survival.

  Several hours passed as I watched Magdalena fight the urge to take my vein. The immense amount of pain she was experiencing grew stronger and her breaths grew more shallow with each passing minute. She needed to take my blood now, or I feared I’d lose her. “Please Magdalena, I beg you. Please take my blood.”

  “No. Let me die. Just please, let me die.”

  “If I do that, then I should have just shoved that poisonous blade into my own black heart because I could never survive an eternity without you.”

  She squeezed her eyes shut then opened them.

  “Please, baby, drink from me. Be strong. Spend eternity with me.”

  I pressed my wrist against her lips and waited. Maybe she was just too exhausted from the agony that the transition caused, or maybe something I said clicked in her mind. Whatever it was, relief swamped me when her tongue licked my arm before she gently suckled at my wrist.

  My blood gave her the added strength she needed to complete her transition to vampire. Rejuvenation after that took only a matter of minutes. Thirty minutes later, Magdalena stood, facing the closed blinds and hugging her arms around her midriff. The sad look on her face practically killed me. I understood the weight of that expression—the knowledge that you will never be able to look upon the sun again or feel its rays upon your skin heavy in your mind.

  “How will I do this, Cian? How do I tell my best friend and the closest thing to family that I have left that I’m a vampire?”

  “The same way your best friend’s going to tell you that she’s a witch,” Vanessa said from across the room. I’d mentally sent Lane to get her as soon as I knew Magdalena was taking my blood.

  Magdalena turned to watch her friend cross the room. “V? You’re here?”

  “Yeah, I’m here.” They ran to each other and embraced.

  “What did you just say?” Magdalena asked.

  “I said I’m a witch. I’ve always been a witch. My mother is a witch. I knew Cian and his brothers were vampires since the night Kellen came into the bar and attacked them. I can’t be compelled.”

  “So you pretended.”

  Vanessa nodded.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Same reason you didn’t tell me about your boyfriend being a vampire. There are just some things you don’t reveal until the time is right.”

  Magdalena looked around the room at everyone standing by, watching and waiting to see what would happen.

  “What happened to Jewels and Kellen?” Magdalena asked.

  “I came up with a spell that would make a knife poisonous to a vampire,” Vanessa said. “The plan was for someone to stick Jewels with it, thus paralyzing her long enough to be dealt with.”

  “Cian stabbed her. But he didn’t know the blade was poisoned at the time,” Lane said.

  “It was purely blind rage,” I admitted. “I was so fraught with anger about her slitting your throat, I grabbed the first thing I saw that would inflict pain
upon her in any way.”

  “She’s securely chained inside a metal box. Lane thought of the chains and the box. I came up with the remote island off the coast of New Zealand,” Gage said. “I happened to know of a great spot where no one will ever disturb her. Not only is she in chains inside a metal box, but we also lowered it down to a ledge inside a volcano. She’ll burn to death if she ever happens to get out of the chains and the steel container.”

  “After the witch had said she could put a spell on the blade, I came up with the idea of the box and the volcano from Cian’s threat to me the other day,” Lane admitted.

  I grinned. “You know I would never have done that to you.”

  He nodded. “Yeah. But you were quite convincing at the time.”

  “What about Kellen?” I asked.

  “He took off after you beat the crap out of him and then stabbed Jewels.” Lane turned to Magdalena. “He thinks you’re dead, Maggie.”

  “I remember watching you fight Kellen,” Magdalena said to me. “You were fist-fighting like humans.” A small smile graced her face.

  “I’m glad you’re okay, Mags,” Vanessa said. “That would have sucked if you died. No pun intended. Vampire or not, I’m glad you’re here.”

  They embraced again, but I had to pull Magdalena away from her friend when her fangs elongated and she looked about to sink them into the side of Vanessa’s neck.

  “I’m sorry,” Magdalena said, covering her mouth with her hand.

  “I get it. Listen,” Vanessa said, taking several steps toward the door. “I’m going to go now. Call me when you’re able to be around humans again.”

  Everyone else left along with Vanessa, and Magdalena stood in front of the window staring at the cream toned iron shades. “You’ve made me into a monster,” she whispered.

  “You could never be a monster.” I came up to stand beside her. “It was inevitable, Magdalena. Sooner or later, I knew I’d need to turn you. I just…I just wanted it to be your decision, not Jewels’ or anyone else’s. Would my eternal fate in hell without you have been better than a life with you as my mate? Would you have subjected me to that, Magdalena?”