“Yes.” Xavier grinned and pushed his glasses back on his head. “He made one donation about six months ago as a sign of good faith and to assure us that the wolves aren’t a threat. In fact, King Heinrich insisted on it. I like him very much,” Xavier said with a smile. “He’s progressive and willing to make changes, like Olivia and Doug. Anyway, I’m sure that’s the reason the czars didn’t put up a fight when Killian decided to stay here in the city.” Xavier’s eyes narrowed and he lowered his voice. “Now, why don’t you tell me why you’re here? Since you obviously haven’t suffered a werewolf bite.”
“I did something really stupid.” Sadie puffed a stray hair from her face and stared at Xavier for what felt like forever before finally spitting it out. “I kissed Killian.”
“Ah, I see. I guess it’s a good thing that their saliva is only fatal when introduced through a bite.” Xavier’s white eyebrows flew up and a look of understanding covered his face. “So, how exactly can I help you with that?”
“You don’t seem surprised.”
“I’m not.” Xavier chuckled. “From what the girls tell me, our royal friend has been spending a lot of time buzzing around you at the club. They all figured that it was only a matter of time.”
“Great.” Sadie cringed inwardly, realizing she’d been fooling no one but herself regarding her attraction to Killian. “Kissing him? That’s not the I-fucked-up part.”
“I’m listening.”
“I tasted his blood.”
“I see.” Xavier’s playful expression evaporated as the weight of her words settled over him. “I’m still not sure why you’re here. I’m not a priest, my dear, and this isn’t a confessional,” he said, a glimmer of humor returning after a second.
“I think it did something to me—his blood, I mean,” Sadie added quickly. She started pacing around the room, hoping that if she said it all out loud she wouldn’t sound as crazy as she felt. “I tasted werewolf blood once before. It was just before the treaty was signed and right after Olivia turned me. We got ambushed by a pack of three wolves, and in those days, it was kill or be killed. Olivia took down two and I got one of them—barely. Anyway, when I tasted his blood, it was definitely supercharged, you know? Made me stronger and I felt kind of invincible for a little while. It’s probably what humans feel like when they’re on cocaine or something.”
“That’s what I’ve heard. But that’s not what happened with Killian?” Xavier asked in his typically calm, fatherly tone.
“No,” Sadie whispered. She hugged herself tighter and rubbed her arms, wishing she could rub away her fears and uncertainty. “It wasn’t just what I felt, Xavier.” Her voice quivered as she finally forced herself to say it out loud. “I saw his blood memories…and…I heard him.”
“What?” Xavier’s voice was barely audible. He flew around the table and, hovering in midair, grabbed Sadie by both arms and looked her dead in the eyes. “How exactly did you hear him?”
“In my head.” Sadie swallowed hard and whispered, “Telepathically.”
“Do you mean to tell me that Killian—a werewolf—spoke to you telepathically and you saw his blood memories?”
Sadie nodded, unable to say another word.
“This…this is unprecedented. I mean, I know that they can telepath with other pack members, but I’ve never heard of a wolf communicating that way with anyone outside the pack. Let alone a vampire.” Xavier took her hands in his and led her over to one of the stools, urging her to sit down. He settled himself on the edge of the table.
“Seeing his blood memories is especially interesting because of your particular gift for shielding. I’ve never met another vamp that’s been able to shield themselves from the blood memories of humans, except for Emperor Zhao, but he’s thousands of years old. Then of course there’s the fact that vamps can’t read the memories of werewolves. Astonishing!”
“I’m scared, Xavier,” Sadie whispered through quivering lips.
“You mean of what you saw in his memories?”
“No.” Sadie let out a slow breath and pushed her hair off her face. “That wasn’t the scary part. Actually, it made me have more sympathy for the guy, believe it or not.”
“Then what about this is frightening you?”
“Why?” Sadie leveled a pensive look at her friend and her voice dropped to a whisper. “Why him and why now?”
“Have you told anyone else about this?” Xavier arched one white eyebrow at her. “Because I think you should speak to Olivia.”
“No. I don’t want to drag her into this. She’s got enough crap on her plate at the moment. Besides, we don’t even know what’s happening.” Sadie swiped her eyes and let out a sound of frustration. “This is crazy, Xavier. You and I both know there’s only one reason a vampire would telepath with anyone other than their sibling, progeny, or maker.”
“Bloodmate,” Xavier whispered.
“Yup.” Sadie nodded and let out a sound of disbelief. “Werewolves and vampires have been enemies since the beginning of time, and the treaty has only stayed in place so far because we mostly all stick to our own territories. Killian and I can’t be bloodmates. That simply cannot be possible.”
“Well, my dear girl, if there’s one thing I learned the night I was turned”—he squeezed her hands in his and gave her that gentle smile—“it’s that anything is possible.”
“Can’t you make some kind of elixir or potion or something? Anything. Maybe a glamour potion for vampires, you know?” Even as she said it, she knew how dumb an idea it was. “Make me forget or make me not want to be near Killian.”
“No.” Xavier laughed softly and shook his head. “I think we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Like any good scientist, I will need more data before making any kind of decision about what we’re really dealing with here. You’ve had a big night, and the first item on your agenda should be getting some sleep. Perhaps in the evening things will be clearer for you. Besides, when Maya and Olivia bonded with their mates, didn’t they stop telepathing with the rest of the coven?”
“Yes.” Sadie nodded furiously.
“Have you tried contacting Trixie or Suzie?”
“Oh my God. Of course!” Sadie rolled her eyes and put her face in her hands, feeling like an idiot. “No, I haven’t. Jeez. I seriously have my head up my ass.”
“Not at all.” Xavier laughed and patted her arm lovingly. “But that must have been one heck of a kiss.”
“Oh please.” Sadie lifted her head and shot her dear friend a disapproving look, doing her best to deny it. “It wasn’t the kiss.”
“Okay, then.” Xavier peered at her over the rim of his glasses. “Try contacting Trixie.”
“She’s probably sleeping.” That was a lie. Trixie was in all likelihood still awake. Sadie didn’t attempt to telepath Trixie because she was terrified she’d be met with silence. What if that happened? What if she reached out to Trixie and Suzie, and no one answered? “I don’t want to wake up Trixie. You know how cranky she can be, and poor Suzie has been working like crazy at the Presidium. I’m sure they’re both fast asleep.”
“Sure, sure.” Still laughing, he waved her off and flew over to the left side of the room. A second later the wall slid open to reveal floor-to-ceiling shelves littered with various and sundry items. Xavier grabbed something off the shelf before flying back to Sadie. “Here. Put on this watch monitor, and let’s see if I can gather some data to help us out.”
“I’ll take all the help I can get.” Sadie held out her arm and Xavier strapped on what looked like a watch. The sturdy, black rubber strap fit snugly around her wrist, and the smooth glass face had a digital screen with couple of symbols and a number at the center. “What is it?”
“It’s a special monitor. This little gadget is reading different blood and enzyme levels through the surface of your skin. That number there is your body temperature. It’s
right at eighty-eight point six. Exactly ten below the human norm, but right on the money for a healthy vampire like you. When you feed, it will rise by ten to twelve degrees, but a vamp’s body temp never goes above one hundred. Any higher than that and we run the risk of combustion, as you know.”
Sadie nodded. There were certain rules you learned early on as a young vampire.
Don’t go in the sunlight.
Don’t get stuck with silver.
Avoid getting a stake in the heart.
No messy human killings.
And never ever feed on werewolves.
Taking in some werewolf blood could make a vampire high, but too much would be like taking a walk in the sun. Boom, baby. Sadie shuddered. She’d almost had that happen when she fought with that werewolf so many years ago.
“Sadie?” Frowning, Xavier pushed his glasses onto his head. “How much of Killian’s blood did you ingest?”
“Not much. Only a few drops, I think.” Sadie rubbed the smooth surface of the device with her thumb. “I didn’t mean to do it at all. I scraped his lip accidentally. Why?”
“Your body temp should be higher than that. Even with only a few drops in your system, I would expect your body temperature to have risen and stayed that way for a while. Wolf blood is far more potent than human and usually takes longer to digest.” He shrugged and waved the thought off, which did nothing to ease the sense of foreboding that crept up Sadie’s back. The word whispered in her mind again. Bloodmate. “Well, no matter. You said there was only a little. Anyway, off you go. If you have any more run-ins with our werewolf friend, bring me the monitor afterward so I can upload the data.”
“Well, if I have anything to say about it, I won’t be seeing him again anytime soon.” Liar, liar, pants on fire, she thought as Xavier gave her a doubtful look. “I mean it.”
“I know you do. Now you need to stop jumping to conclusions and go back to your apartment and get some sleep.”
“Sleep?” Sadie let out a nervous laugh. Nope. The last thing she wanted to do now was sleep. “I’m too wound up to sleep.”
“I’m sure everything will look different after you’ve had some rest. I would encourage you to steer clear of young Prince Bane.” He gave her a knowing smile. “But if you find yourself accidentally in a situation with him, this little gizmo will track any physical changes you experience.”
“It was probably just a fluke.” Sadie didn’t want to mention that she’d promised to go with Killian to his club. She should call the guy and cancel, but like everything else with the wolves, her actions weren’t just about her. She had to take their race relations into account. “When I see him again, I’ll be sure to keep my distance. Thanks, Xavier.”
“You are most welcome, Sadie girl.” He flew up and brushed a kiss on her cheek. The fluttering above them grew louder and he chuckled. “She’s like a daughter to me,” he shouted. Dropping his voice to a whisper, he said, “Bella gets jealous.”
Promising to return with the device in a couple days, Sadie ran through the tunnels back to her apartment beneath the nightclub. Once inside, she let out a sigh of relief, the familiar, comfortable space putting her at ease. Grabbing some blood from the fridge, Sadie heated it in the microwave and drank it in a few greedy gulps.
She rinsed out the glass and placed it in a drying rack on the counter. Her brow knit together when the unexpected sensation of hunger gnawed at her gut. She needed more, which was not the norm. After downing two more full glasses, Sadie finally felt satisfied. Shaking her head at her unusual moment of gluttony, she stripped off her clothes and made her way into the bedroom.
Normally bottle feeds, as they were called, were more than enough to satisfy Sadie’s hunger. She only hunted and fed from humans once a month or so. Bottle feeds hadn’t been a possibility when she was turned, given the technology of the time, so she’d had no choice but to take part in live feeds. And live feeds came with blood memories. Since she didn’t want to carry around other people’s memories—many of which were unpleasant—she taught herself to put up a mental shield and block them out. After that, feeding became a far less tiresome task.
Sadie didn’t need a stranger’s frightening memories…she had plenty of her own.
She shuddered as the screams from that night filled her head. Shoving away the ugly and surprisingly vivid memories from her last night as a human, Sadie shifted her thoughts to Killian. Peeking into his mind may not have been planned, but it was extremely educational. The prince had far more layers to him than she’d given him credit for. Killian Bane wasn’t the vapid playboy she pegged him for, and that revelation made him even more attractive.
Crap. Why couldn’t he have been a total jerk?
Tossing her clothes into the hamper, Sadie went into the spacious bathroom and turned the knob. Moments later, ten shower jets sprayed into the massive standing shower, steam filled the space, and Sadie let out a sigh. This was her favorite room in the apartment, the multi-jet shower her big splurge.
After a long and lazy shower, Sadie toweled herself dry and was about to reach for her pajamas when her phone buzzed loudly from the pile of clothes in the hamper.
“Shit.” She looked at herself in the mirror above the black lacquered dresser. “Some grown-up you are. You’re acting more like some stupid teenage girl.”
After digging through the clothes, she pulled the phone free and swore loudly when she saw the text message.
This is Della with the City Cleaning Service staff. We are outside the entrance of The Coven nightclub. You have us scheduled for six. Do you need to reschedule?
“Damn it.” With everything that had transpired, Sadie had completely forgotten about the new cleaning crew.
She frantically texted back saying that she would be right up. After pulling her clothes on with vampire speed, Sadie raced upstairs to let the new cleaning crew in. Too bad she couldn’t tell them the truth. Sorry I’m late, but I’m a vampire who has developed a dangerous obsession with the werewolf prince, and I’ve got my head up my ass.
Sadie threw the bolt locks on the enormous doors of the club and pulled them open, using the door as a shield from the harmful rays of sunlight. The four-woman crew filtered into the club, armed with various cleaning supplies. She didn’t miss the nervous sidelong glance from the older woman at the end of the group or the quick sign of the cross she made over her ample bosom. Sadie rolled her eyes. Great. Just what she needed, a superstitious religious nut in an old church that now operated as a house of sin.
Closing the door tightly behind them, Sadie followed the crew inside and gave them instructions of where and what to clean. Knowing she wasn’t going to get any sleep, Sadie went into her office in the back of the club. Truthfully, she could have slept. She didn’t want to.
For the first time in two hundred years, Sadie was afraid to sleep.
Aside from telepathy with their bloodmates, Olivia and Maya had done one other thing that vampires never did. They dreamed. And vampires don’t dream. The sleep of a vampire is a shroud of leaden silence and utter darkness, and even though Sadie would probably regret it later, she was going to avoid sleep at all costs.
If she allowed herself to sleep and entered the dreamscape, then she would no longer be able to fool herself. Dreaming of Killian Bane would seal both of their fates and confirm what she already suspected.
Chapter 6
Killian had been staring at the blueprints for twenty minutes without actually seeing them. Barely hearing the buzz of saws and hammering by various workers who were busy putting the finishing touches on the construction, he realized his thoughts were totally and completely preoccupied with Sadie and their brief, albeit sensual encounter last night. He cursed under his breath and ran a hand through his hair, struggling to make himself focus on the task at hand.
But that didn’t stop him from looking at his watch for the tenth time in as m
any minutes. It wouldn’t be long until sunset when he’d see that dark-haired beauty again.
She had turned him into one horny bastard.
In the light of a new day, and with the heady sensations from that kiss not at all faded, the voice of reason grabbed him and tried to shake some sense into him. Dreams or visions or whatever the hell they were, Killian simply could not allow himself to pursue any kind of relationship with Sadie. Aside from the fact that his father would lose his ever-loving mind, how could Killian rule his people effectively with a vampire for a mate? Part of his job as prince was to produce an heir, or preferably heirs, to the throne. There would be no offspring with Sadie. Even if by some fluke of nature they did conceive a child, his people would never accept a hybrid child as a future leader of the Werewolf Society.
With his brother gone, Killian was the only acceptable heir to the throne, and he’d never felt the weight of that impending responsibility more than he did right now. Killian let out a slow breath, his lips pressing together in a tight line. The encounter with Sadie was totally inappropriate. Mark or no mark, he would have to be sure nothing like that happened again.
Killian pushed the disconcerting thoughts aside and refocused his attention on the blueprints. The club was coming together, and if they stayed on schedule, the Loup Garou would open next month. He smirked and ran his finger over the club’s name, printed in bold blue letters at the top of the paper. Olivia had rolled her eyes and her mate, Doug, actually laughed out loud when Killian told them the name he’d selected. That was the extent of their grumblings, and Killian had to admit he was more than a little surprised that the czars were so welcoming of his new business venture.
He glanced at his watch. Again. It was close to three thirty and the sign company still wasn’t here. They were supposed to hang it today, and if they didn’t get a move on, they’d run out of daylight. It was a bit early to put the sign up, but with luck it would help build buzz in the few weeks leading up to the club’s big opening.
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