Vampire Bites: A Vampire Romance Anthology

by Lori Devoti

  She turned away, her eyes dropping to the floor and then fixing on the curtains.

  “Is there anything else that you remember? He kept you alive for a reason. He killed two others, two almost as strong as you. Your strength and skill was not an advantage in this fight. He let you survive.”

  Her words sent a cold chill through him but he didn’t let it show on the surface. She was right. He had lost to this vampire hunter and they had shown him mercy. They had let him live. They had used him to send a message to his species that someone was as strong as they were and willing to fight.

  “Even though he only has the strength of a weakling, he has an advantage over them that meant he bested two of our guards. He is intelligent and he used it well,” Jascha said and then cleared his throat. He was still tired and weak, and speaking was draining his energy reserves. It wouldn’t be long before the rising sun called him to sleep and there was no way he would be able to resist it. He wished that when that time came, Marise would be lying in his arms as she used to. “He separated us. I remained with Timur, to protect him, while the other two attacked the hunter. The hunter led them away from us, into the open where it was easier for him to attack. The fight was fierce and he was not unharmed. We managed to injure him, but not before he had staked the two guards and attacked me. I had to defend Timur. It was my duty.”

  She frowned. He could see the flames of anger as they began to rise in her eyes and knew that she blamed Timur for what had happened to him. That was why he had said it was his duty, reminding her that it was Timur’s right as lord of their bloodline to choose not to fight, instead having his guards die to defend him.

  Her arms folded across her chest and she stared at him. He thought she was going to say something more, but she turned away and walked to the door. She opened it and paused, looking over her shoulder at him.

  “Thank you. I will report back to my colleagues and continue with my mission. I don’t think I will need to question you again. I wish you well in your recovery.”

  And she was gone.

  His heart sank straight through him, pulling him down into darkness as black emptiness filled him. He stared at the door, unable to make sense of her and what was happening. Was she leaving now? Was she going to torture him by remaining in this house until the case was closed, so near to him, but distant at the same time?

  He looked at his brother, trying to see if he had understood what she had said. Tynan had that apologetic look in his eyes that Jascha had always hated, even when they were human and working together as special agents in the military.

  His brother had always had too much pity for his own good, often questioning his orders and feeling remorse for those he had had to kill. Jascha had never had that problem. An order was an order. Duty was duty. Maybe that was why he had become an elite guard and Tynan hadn’t. Maybe that was why he had taken to life as a vampire so easily. He knew his brother hadn’t wanted this to happen to him but he was glad that it had.

  His gaze returned to the door.

  If only because he had met Marise. He had known love for the first time and the last.

  “Tell me she’s coming back,” Jascha said, not taking his eyes off the door.

  Tynan sighed. Jascha took it as a no.

  “She patched me up during the day. I woke to find her cleaning my wounds.” He touched his throat and then removed the bandage so his brother could see. “She was worried about me, I know it.”

  He looked at Tynan. His brother gave him a knowing smile.

  “That was Mari. Now, she’s Marise. A woman will love you while you’re weak, but when you’re strong enough to fight, she’ll fight you again.” Tynan leaned back in his chair, his smile still in place.

  Jascha frowned, not quite following his brother’s logic. It was true that Tynan had superior experience when it came to women, but he couldn’t bring himself to believe that Marise’s change in attitude had anything to do with his returning strength. It was more likely that she had used the time away from him to regain control over her emotions.

  Tynan laughed.

  He shot him a dark look.

  “You think that fifty years is enough time for a woman to forgive a man? You don’t know women, little brother.” Tynan grinned at him.

  Jascha winced when he turned his head and his neck hurt. He scratched at the wound.

  “She did a good job on it,” Tynan said.

  Jascha’s hand fell to the bed and he looked back at his brother. “Who called her?”

  “Timur. He is frightened. What happened out there? Is it as Marise said?”

  “If I had to guess, I would say she was right. Someone has been changing humans, increasing their key abilities. I don’t believe this is a one off either. Once a successful transformation has taken place, and the abilities proven, then others will follow.” Jascha leaned back and took a deep breath, his thoughts returning to Marise. He wondered where she had gone to make her call. Was it far away? He tried to reach out with his senses to locate her but his whole body ached in response to the strain and he slumped into the bed, tired to the core.

  “Do you think Marise will be in danger?” Tynan said and then hesitated a moment. Jascha gave him a look as dark as thunder, silently telling him to reveal what he knew. “She has orders to kill.”

  Jascha immediately sat up and ignored the riot of pain that shot through him, making his nerve endings scream.

  “That isn’t going to happen. We’re going too,” he said, moving to get out of bed.

  Tynan’s hand on his shoulder stopped him. He looked at his brother.

  “Our help won’t be welcome. She is still mad at you, and if we go, we will be a distraction for her.”

  Frowning, Jascha covered himself again and realised that what his brother had said was true. Marise wouldn’t welcome the help. She wasn’t the lowly guard she used to be. She was a Law Keeper now. They were meant to work alone. They didn’t need help.

  But he couldn’t allow her to put her life on the line because of pride and her anger.

  “I don’t fully recall what I did wrong, but it couldn’t have been worthy of so long a punishment,” he muttered to his knees as he stared at them.

  “You slept with Almina,” Tynan said flatly.

  Jascha shot him a look that could kill. It was typical of his brother to remember the details. He had always loved bringing up all the times someone had done something wrong.

  “It was one night with my sire,” Jascha said in his defence. All vampires had times when they needed to be with their sire, to feel the connection between them and strengthen their bond. It was acceptable for a vampire to gain that through physical intimacy. It didn’t mean anything emotionally.

  His brother looked past him to the door and frowned.

  “I think something might be amiss there,” Tynan whispered, distant and as though he was thinking aloud rather than speaking to him.

  “I’m going with her,” Jascha said, overlooking his brother’s comment and going to leave the bed again.

  This time, Tynan’s hand on his shoulder held more force. “You’re not strong enough.”

  “If the hunter attacks—” Jascha started.

  “Marise isn’t yours to protect anymore.” Tynan cut him off and Jascha glared at him for the reminder. “You lost that right fifty years ago. Rest, brother. If it is so important to you, I will not let Marise out of my sight.”

  Chapter Five

  Marise was finding it incredibly difficult to concentrate. As though it wasn’t bad enough that it was raining, freezing cold, and slippery underfoot in the cemetery, she couldn’t get her thoughts off Jascha and Tynan was driving her insane.

  She turned sharply to face him. He stopped, keeping the thirty foot gap between them steady. It was a wise move. If he came much closer, she would kill him for dogging her.

  She put her hands on her hips and glared at him. She really didn’t need him following her everywhere she went. It had been annoying enough in
the mansion and there she had been able to shut herself in a room and leave him outside. Here, she couldn’t shake him so easily.

  “Was it Timur’s idea to annoy me, or Jascha’s?” she said, reaching the end of her tether.

  There was no way she could continue her search for the vampire hunter when all her focus was being stolen by her increasing anger.

  “Does it matter?” he said, cool and calm, as though there was a right and wrong answer and if he chose the correct one, she would let him tag along as he so clearly wanted to.

  Marise knew who had sent him. Her question had been pointless. Timur wouldn’t have ordered him to help her. He was too busy trying to convince his entire bloodline to remain inside the mansion and starve to death. It had been Jascha. Or had it been Tynan’s idea. She knew Jascha inside and out. He was recovering well, healed enough now that he wouldn’t see his injuries as a hindrance and would most likely want to protect her out of some strange, hopeless chivalry. Of course, Tynan would never allow Jascha out of bed until he was fully recovered.

  “No,” she said. “I’ll ask you to leave either way.”

  Tynan took a step closer. It was a brave move, but then her bluff wasn’t too hard to call. She would never raise a finger to hurt him or Jascha. Her heart ached. She loved them both too much.

  “I can’t leave, Marise. I promised Jascha I would protect you.”

  She laughed, mirthless and bitter.

  “Do I need a babysitter? Who is elder? Who has years of training as a Law Keeper? If a hunter attacks, it will be me protecting you!” She went to turn away and then held her nerve, locking eyes with Tynan and allowing her feelings to slip their leashes. “I am not a youngling. I am four times older than you and Jascha!”

  Tynan backed off. “Jascha is just concerned.”

  She laughed again.

  “Go home. Tend to your brother.” She turned and walked away.

  Tynan didn’t seem to take the hint. She could sense him following her. She held the sigh inside. If he tailed her into the next cemetery, she would make him leave.

  “Why did you come back? Wasn’t any of your reason to do with Jascha?”

  Marise spun on a pinpoint to face him. He had stopped a distance back, clearly before he had spoken. Her hands shook as she struggled against the onslaught of feelings that his words had released and she couldn’t stop herself from thinking about them to find an answer.

  Looking into his eyes, she couldn’t ignore the honesty they demanded and the assurance they offered. He wouldn’t tell his brother. He was just concerned about both of them. He always had been, acting like a brother to both her and Jascha, a confidant she could speak to and know he would never tell anyone, not even Jascha.

  She gave a tiny nod, her voice tight with emotion and fear. “It was, in a way. But it doesn’t change what happened, or my feelings.”

  “He doesn’t know.”

  Marise froze, the hairs on her arms rising as she stared into his blank emotionless eyes. Sometimes he looked so much like Jascha. He could hold her motionless with just a look and a few well placed words.

  “Doesn’t know what?” she said, hoping he didn’t say what she thought he was going to. He couldn’t know. He just couldn’t.

  “That you’re his sire and not Almina,” he said in a tone as empty as his eyes.

  She swallowed hard, fighting her instincts to run away and pretend he had never spoken those words. He knew. She couldn’t find her voice to deny him, or explain. All she could do was stare at him.

  His expression hardened.

  “It was a dirty game to play, pretending that Almina was his sire because you didn’t want to admit that you had feelings for him before you turned him... you still have feelings for him. Why didn’t you tell him when you began your relationship with him?”

  She paced a little way towards him, her emotions colliding inside her as she struggled to get a hold of them and find the right words to say, to make him understand why she had done what she had.

  Her gaze lowered to the floor and his feet. She stared at them, her eyes wide and filling with tears as she thought about all the years she had deceived Jascha. She’d had her comeuppance in the end. She had paid her dues for hiding the truth from him.

  “I couldn’t... he would’ve hated me.”

  Tynan chuckled. “He would’ve got over it and he wouldn’t have done those things with Almina, and you would have still been together like you should be. You hurt each other... you’re both as responsible for what happened as the other.”

  She hesitated a moment and then took another step towards him.

  “Tynan... I’m not proud of what I did, and I should’ve told him, but I was scared that he’d only love me because I had sired him.”

  His whole face lightened, softening as he looked at her.

  “And you wanted all of his love,” he said and she nodded. “But now both of you have none.”

  The rain fell and she listened to the sound of it as her thoughts ran over what he had said. The cold water soaked through her jacket, sucking what little warmth she had from her and chilling her. It only added to the feeling inside her, drawing out the despair and the hopelessness.

  She sighed and clawed her wet hair from her face. “It’s too late now.”

  “It’s never too late.” Tynan stepped up to her, giving her an understanding look that made her want to cry. “Fifty years and he’s thought of no one but you, Mari. I saw the work you did on his wounds. I know you still love him and he still loves you. He’s going to come to find the hunter with you whether you like it or not.”

  “That hunter almost killed him.” She couldn’t hide the worry as it strained her voice. Tynan smiled.

  “And your point? He loves you Mari, enough to die if he could die protecting you. Just think about telling him, please? He’ll understand if you do.”

  He reached out to touch her and she backed away, getting the better of herself and her feelings. She was on a mission. This was no time for making amends and patching up her relationship with Jascha. She didn’t even know if she wanted to be with him. He made her feel weak and vulnerable. She hated that. For fifty years she had felt invincible, the elite of the elite, stronger than stone and steel. Seeing Jascha again had rendered her powerless and pathetic. She had become a slave to her feelings again, and she didn’t want to lose control. She was happy as a Law Keeper. She loved her position.

  But did she love it more than Jascha?

  She shook her head and water ran down over her brow and her cheeks.

  “Leave me alone, Tynan. It doesn’t matter how I feel, I can’t do this... can’t you see that? I can’t. I’m not allowed to.” She held onto those last words, desperate to convince herself of their truth so everything would become easier.

  She couldn’t love Jascha, not now that she was a Law Keeper. She was supposed to be emotionless, impartial. They weren’t supposed to love. Love was a weakness.

  Tynan’s face darkened and he straightened to his full height. The rain bounced off his broad shoulders and she wished he would speak because waiting for him to shout at her was unsettling.

  “Then tell him that,” he said with obvious restraint. “If you truly believe it. I won’t sit here like I did that day. If I hadn’t gone to that club that night, you would have never met him and he would’ve had a normal life. Why turn him and then turn your back on him?”

  She lowered her eyes away from his, unable to hold his gaze as guilt welled up inside of her. He was right. She was so wrong. She never should have turned Jascha and then left him to another to teach. She should have kept her distance. Her chest ached and she pressed her hand against it.

  Tynan growled.

  “Forget it!” He almost roared the words. The strength behind them hit her hard, making her shrink back in a way she hadn’t done since the days her sire had been angry with her. “You’re a perfect Law Keeper, Marise—heartless!”

  Her head snapped up and she stared at his
retreating back, watching him as he disappeared into the gloom. The rain got in her eyes but she didn’t look away. She kept staring into the distance.

  “I was scared,” she whispered to the night. “I ran away and then he made moves on me and I couldn’t resist him, and then it went wrong like I’d feared it would... and I ran away again.”

  Tears mingled with the rain as they ran down her cheeks. She wrapped her arms around herself, trying to gain a little comfort. The rain grew heavier, sending the smell of damp earth up into the air and clouding her senses. She lowered her head and sighed, thinking about all the years she had spent with Jascha and how blindly she had believed that it would all be fine.

  Was Tynan telling the truth when he said that Jascha still loved her? She had seen feelings in Jascha’s eyes during the time she had spent with him, had sensed them, but she didn’t dare believe that she was reading him right. Surely his own brother would be able to see his feelings? Had Jascha told Tynan that he was still in love with her?

  Her eyes widened and she spun on the spot the second she sensed someone through the gloom.

  She slipped into her vampire guise and growled at the man standing before her.

  He raised his hand and she saw the stake. A few steps backwards put a more comfortable distance between them and her senses were fixing on him, trying to see if he was just an ordinary hunter or the one who had hurt Jascha.

  Jascha.

  She roared and the man didn’t even flinch.

  “I never realised that vampires had lover’s spats,” he said, a well-bred English accent making the words roll effortlessly off his tongue. They were laced with amusement.

  Marise cocked her head to one side and assessed him. He was taller than she was. Young, probably in his early thirties or late twenties. Fair haired and nothing out of the ordinary in the looks department. He pushed his glasses up his nose, his focus wholly on her.