“She’s just being difficult to be difficult,” Lucy replied. “As usual. Maybe it’s her hormones. How old is she anyway?”
“I don’t know. She always looks great. I mean, when she doesn’t have a sneer on her face.”
Lucy laughed, shaking her blond head of hair. “I can’t say I’ve ever seen her without a sneer.”
We both jerked our heads as an ambulance pulled up, sirens blaring.
Time to get to work.
Chapter Eleven
Dante
She sat above me, her face masked except for her eyes. “Do you miss your father, Dante? Your sister? Your dead mother?” She smiled, her fangs elongating.
I closed my eyes, but she forced them back open with her fingers.
“You will look at me when I talk to you, vampire. You will never look away.” Her light-blue eyes seemed to slice into me with invisible rays. “I am your queen, and you are my slave. You will never forget that. Your only purpose is to serve me.”
Why me? I didn’t dare ask the question out loud. Several months earlier, River and I had sneaked out and hitched a ride to Bourbon Street during Mardi Gras. Our fathers had warned us to stay away, that the supernatural activity would be too much for our young vampire libidos to handle.
So what did two young male vampires do?
We ignored our fathers, of course, and went anyway. The risk was an aphrodisiac. We thrived on it.
It was a decision I now regretted. Big time.
River and I were nearly the same age, he the younger by nine months. We had grown up together and were more like brothers than cousins. We could easily pass for brothers. Our fathers were identical male vampire twins, a rarity in our world.
How I wished now that we’d listened to them.
I didn’t know where River was, whether he had gotten away.
I fought against the woman on top of me. She’d had me beaten, humiliated, starved. But not recently. Recently I’d been served huge meals of beef and blood. I had no idea why.
I’d been in this lair for weeks now. I had lost track of time.
She liked to grind on top of me, as she did now, forcing me into an erection and leaving me unsated. She seemed to have no interest in fucking me, for which I was grateful, but once, just once, I longed to be set free from my blue-balled prison, even if it was by her treacherous hand.
She bent toward me, snarling. “The vampire testosterone is thick in your blood. You’re ready for me. You’re ready to give me what I crave.” Her tongue slithered along my neck.
I winced.
And then she pierced my flesh.
“Auughh!” Knifing pain, but even worse was the humiliation.
Vampires weren’t supposed to feed on each other. I didn’t know why, but that fact had been drilled into my head for as long as I could remember. We fed on animals, and in dire need, we could feed on humans, as long as we didn’t take too much and glamoured them so they wouldn’t remember.
She sucked at my neck, taking my blood into her body.
When she was finally satisfied, she removed her fangs from my neck and gazed at me, her lips and chin crimson with my blood.
“You’ve just given me a most precious gift, Dante. Now I will give you one as well.”
My eyes jerked open.
“Hey, you all right?” River stood over me.
I looked around, for a moment forgetting where I was. I was at Bill’s. On the sofa in the living room. I must’ve fallen asleep.
“You were agitated, thrashing around,” River said. “I thought it would be best to wake you.”
Then I remembered. Her. The first time she’d fed from me. The first time she’d forced me— No. Couldn’t relive it.
“I’m okay,” I said to River.
“I have to go to work,” he said. “But Bill is here.”
“Em?”
“She went back to her place.”
“My little sister has her own place?”
“Your little sister is twenty-five, cuz. She’s had her own place for five years now.”
“Does she work?”
“Of course. She’s a night manager over at the Cornstalk.”
“What time is it now?”
“It’s nearing midnight. I need to get to the station. I’m late. Do you need anything before I take off?”
“No. I’m fine.” That was a big lie, but I wasn’t going to bother my cousin with what was really going on just yet. I needed to talk to Bill first. But what I needed to do and what I could bring myself to do were two separate things.
“All right.” He stuck a business card in my palm. “This has my cell number on it. You call me if you need anything, okay? Seriously, I’ll come running.”
After River left, I headed into the kitchen and fixed myself a small glass of warm blood and a roast beef sandwich.
Bill walked in as I was finishing up. “I thought I heard something down here.”
“I’m sorry to disturb you.”
“You didn’t disturb me, Dante. You know I prefer the night to the day.”
“I’m sorry I fell asleep on you.”
“Stop saying that. No need to be sorry. You were exhausted. I can’t even imagine what you’ve been through.”
No, he most likely couldn’t imagine, and I was damned glad he was spared it.
“Whenever you’re ready to talk.” He poured himself a glass of blood.
“I have so many questions,” I said.
“I’m sure you do. When male vampires reach the age of eighteen, their fathers tell them the history of our people. Julian hadn’t told you yet when you disappeared. Then there are the Texts…” He closed his eyes for a moment. “There’s a lot you don’t know.”
“If my dad and Uncle Brae have been gone since I’ve been gone, who told River?”
“I did.”
“Then you can tell me.”
“I will. At least what I can. After you’ve had a few more days to acclimate yourself. You have a home here with me, Dante. Always. You know that.”
“River and Em don’t live here. I’d just be a burden to you.”
“River and Em have their own lives now. They have jobs. They make their own money. Of course they don’t live here.”
“Did you take care of them after my dad and Uncle Brae disappeared?”
“Yes, they lived here with me until they came of age. And then they went to college.”
College. I hadn’t even been able to finish high school. What kind of job would I be able to get? Bill wouldn’t live forever. Vampire immortality was pure myth.
Again, my grandfather seemed to read my thoughts. “Dante, you know I have plenty of money. You don’t need to worry about anything.”
Bill had inherited millions from his own father, millions that he’d turned into hundreds of millions with wise investing.
“Everything I have will be yours someday anyway,” Bill continued. “Of course you have to share it with River and Emilia, but there’s plenty to go around.”
“I can’t just sit around here spending your money. River and Em don’t do that.”
“River and Em haven’t been through what you’ve been through. They have their own lives now, just as your father and Braedon did. Just because we were all born rich doesn’t mean we sit around and do nothing. I worked until I was seventy, and I still do some consulting and research.” He smiled. “But I’m not working now. I’m here, and I’m a good listener.”
I wasn’t ready to talk to Bill yet. I wasn’t sure that day would ever come. How could I tell my strong vampire grandfather what I’d let happen to me?
But I was ready to listen.
“Tell me. Don’t make me wait. Tell me what you told River when he turned eighteen.”
Chapter Twelve
Erin
Three hours after we’d dealt with the two people in the ambulance, Lucy and I finally got to take a break. We sat in the lunch room, when Lucy jerked her head toward the door.
“Yo
ur brother’s here,” she said.
I swore Lucy had a sixth sense sometimes. “How do you know?”
“I can see him, of course. He’s out talking to Steve. Who’s that hottie with him?”
“Probably his partner.” I stood. River Gabriel was indeed a hottie, though not nearly as delectable as his cousin Dante. Just the sound of his name in my mind made my pulse race. Dante. Dante. “Let’s go see what they want. They’re probably here to do more investigation on the patient who disappeared.”
Sure enough, Jay and his partner were talking to Steve. Dr. Bonneville didn’t seem to be around.
I walked over to them. “Hey, Jay.”
“Hey, Sis. You remember River.”
“Yeah, since he was just in my house this morning.” I shook River’s hand and gestured to Lucy. “This is Lucy Cyrus, another nurse, and one of my best friends.”
“Charmed,” Lucy said, taking River’s hand.
“Hey, Luce,” Jay said.
“So what are you two doing here?”
“Just more questions about Cynthia North. Thanks for your help, Steve. You can get back to work.”
“Oh, joy,” Steve said sarcastically, turning and walking away.
“I’m going to go question the other orderlies,” Jay said. “Can you take care of the other nurses?”
“Sure,” River said.
But once Jay had gone, River eyed me. “We need to talk.”
Chills ran through me. “All right.”
“In private.”
“Hey, three’s a crowd,” Lucy said jovially. “I’m sure I can find something to do around here. It is a hospital after all. Lucky you, Erin.”
When Lucy had gone, I led River around a corner.
“You lied for my cousin,” he said. “Why?”
“You lied for him too.”
“Do you know where he was last night? Other than at your place?”
“I think that’s for him to tell you.”
“Why did you lie for him?”
“Why did you?”
“Because he’s my cousin, and I…hadn’t seen him in a while.”
“Yeah. He told me he’d been gone for a while.”
River’s eyebrows nearly flew off his forehead. “He told you?”
“Well…yeah.”
“What exactly did he tell you?”
“That’s it. Why are you interrogating me? You just said he’s been gone. You obviously already know that.”
River looked down, clearing his throat. Then he looked in my eyes. “It was just a surprise to see him. A great surprise.”
That strange pull tugged at me again. Dante was safe now, so why was I feeling this urge to get to him and protect him? Tingles began in my hand and rushed through my arms into my core. Those kisses. I needed more of them. More of everything Dante.
“I know we don’t know each other at all, but believe me when I tell you I have Dante’s best interests at heart. Could you please tell me where he was? How you found him?”
Something in his tone made me relent. River was worried.
“There isn’t much to tell. He vandalized our blood bank, and for some reason, I protected him.” I rubbed a sharp pain that sprang up on my forehead. “I’m still not sure why.”
“What do you mean he vandalized your blood bank?”
“I found him there last night. He had blood all over his hands and face, and several bags had been ripped into.”
“Did you ask him why he did that?”
“I…didn’t.” Why hadn’t I? “I just assumed he was homeless and hungry. He was wearing tattered old clothes that didn’t fit. He went into the fridge looking for food, I guess, and when he didn’t find any, he vandalized it instead.”
“I see.” River twisted his lips. “Why did you lie for him?”
“My brother’s a cop. I wasn’t going to tell him I was harboring a vandal in my home.”
“Why not?”
“I…don’t know.” And I didn’t. I’d only known the urge to protect Dante. An urge I didn’t understand, though I still felt it to the depths of my soul.
“Well, thank you. I appreciate it.”
“So why did you lie for him? Clearly he wasn’t with you last night.”
“I had my reasons. He’s been gone, as I said, but there are things I can’t talk about.”
“So I tell you what happened, but you don’t have to tell me anything?”
“He’s my cousin. I need to protect him.”
“From me?”
“Maybe. I don’t know you.”
“You know my brother.”
“Jay and I haven’t been working together very long. We both just made detective and got paired together.”
“Then you at least know he’s a good guy. A good cop. And he is. He’s a great brother, too.”
“Fascinating. I still don’t know anything about you.”
“Fine.” This was getting old. “I need to get back to work. The ER doc on duty tonight is a bitch from hell on crack. Ask my brother anything you want to know about me. I’m an open book.” I brushed past him and hurried back into the ER.
Sure enough, Dr. Bonneville was looking for me.
“Erin! Where have you been?”
“I’m sorry, Doctor. I was talking to Detective Gabriel about the pa—”
“Detective Gabriel?” She arched her eyebrows. “Are they still badgering my people about that? Don’t they know this is an emergency room, and we have better things to do?”
A patient had disappeared from this very hospital. How could Dr. Bonneville be so callous?
“Well, I—”
“I’m not interested in your opinion on the matter. I need your help on a case. Follow me, please.”
Chapter Thirteen
Dante
Bill rubbed at his chin, looking pensive. “I’m not sure you’re ready to hear it yet, Dante.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t know where you’ve been, what you’ve been through. You might be scarred, and I don’t want to add to your trauma.”
He didn’t know the half of it. “What you need to tell me is traumatic?”
“No. But it may be for you. I don’t know how ready you are. You were barely eighteen when you left.”
“Correction. I didn’t leave. I was taken.”
“You and your cousin went to Bourbon Street. After your fathers and I told you not to.”
“All kids go to Bourbon Street. It’s a rite of passage. You know that as well as I do. And I was eighteen.”
“But we warned you about the paranormal activity there, activity that’s too much for a young vampire’s acute senses. And you went on Mardi Gras, when the veils between the worlds are nearly as thin as on Samhain.”
“So you’re saying this is really all my fault? That I was separated from my family for ten years? You have no idea what I went through!”
“That’s right. I don’t. And no, it wasn’t your fault.”
“How did River get back?”
“He didn’t. The police found him. The sun had already risen. He was badly burned, though not enough to raise any suspicions.”
“At least he got back.”
“Yes, and we were thankful for that. But don’t for one minute think that we didn’t mourn your loss.”
“I know that. I don’t know why I’m still angry. I don’t know why I’m saying half of the things that come out of my mouth.” Emotion bubbled through my gut. My anger launched itself toward Bill, though he’d done nothing wrong.
“Your sister suffered the worst,” Bill said. “Losing first her brother and then her father.”
A spear of regret lanced through me. I had been focused on my own trauma and hadn’t thought about how any of this had affected my family. “I’m sorry.”
“None of us blame you, Dante. We never did.”
All those years I spent in captivity I had tried to remember exactly what had happened that night. But no matter how hard I con
centrated, all I had in my head was a jumble of blurry pieces to a puzzle that I could never quite put together. “Does River remember what happened that night?”
Bill shook his head. “No. He doesn’t even remember you being taken.”
“I don’t either. I just remember waking up…”
“Where did you wake up, Dante?”
I closed my eyes. Hunger. Hunger and pain. I woke up naked and shackled to a bed.
I couldn’t sit here and tell my grandfather, who I admired more than any other person in the world, what had been done to me. How I’d allowed myself to be tortured. He would lose all respect for me, all love for me. How had I not been able to defend myself? How could I have let it happen?
How could I tell him I had been violated? Had my blood stolen?
How could I live with any of this?
No. Couldn’t talk yet. Couldn’t. But one thing I did have to do.
“You’re not safe. They’ll come looking for me.”
“I assure you this house is safe,” Bill said. “I’d stake my own life on it.”
“How can you? There are no guarantees.” How well I knew that.
“Trust me.” He stared into my eyes. “No harm will come to you in this house or anywhere else. Nor will any harm come to Em or River.”
“What about their homes?”
“They are safe.”
“How? How can—”
“Trust me,” he said again, more firmly this time.
A wave of peace drifted over me, accompanied by an odd chill on the back of my neck. I was safe here. Bill said so. Bill was my ultimate protector. He always had been.
But he hadn’t protected me that night.
“Now…tell me what happened.”
“I don’t remember,” I said.
“What do you mean? Have you lost the last ten years of your life?”
“Yeah. Pretty much.”
How I wished my lie were true. If I could erase the memories, the horrid awful memories, even if it meant having to catch up on ten years, maybe I could live a normal life.
Unchained: Blood Bond Saga: Volume One Page 5
