by Kate Wendley
He hadn’t expected her to know, but it would make things easier on him if he didn’t have to explain himself.
“I have a vampire related question that I don’t know the answer to. I’ve never needed to know the answer, but now I find I do.” He paused and shifted nervously in his chair. “I don’t feel comfortable asking anyone else. I’d like to ask you my question, in confidence, as a friend.”
Echo looked surprised. “Of course, Master. You may ask me anything.”
This conversation made him anxious, so he tried to just spit it out. “I have a human lover. Kaia.” He looked meaningfully at Echo, but she just nodded once, giving him a look like she wasn’t quite following where he was going with this.
“I’ve never tasted a human before her. I’ve always fed from shifters, my entire vampire life.” He let than hang in the air, but she still didn’t seem to be catching on to what his question was. “I don’t know why I feel embarrassed to ask this, but I do. I…”
His pulse raced. Back when he and Echo had become friends, she’d answered many vampire questions that he’d never known the answer to. He even eventually opened up to her about some very personal things. It’d never been easy for him to be so open with someone, but she’d never betrayed his trust. Still, it made him uncomfortable to talk about private issues. It made him feel weak, and in this matter that he now needed her help with, it made him feel incompetent as a Master Vampire for not knowing this particular answer.
He sighed in defeat and leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighs as he looked down at the worn rug on the floor. “I’ve bitten Kaia many times and I’d like to know if it’s possible, and if it’s safe, to heal her bites without her turning vampire.”
Echo made a sound and he forced himself to look at her.
“Master…” She paused, looking like she wasn’t sure what to say. “Master, I’ve fed from humans, but in those days, well, we didn’t worry about healing them.” She shifted slightly on the sofa. “I don’t have a good answer for you, Master. I’ve fed so long from shifters, and having been in this city, in your family for so many years, I’m not familiar with vampires who feed from humans anymore. And anyone I might’ve known long ago that did wouldn’t have let me see their pets, if they were the kept kind, so even then I would not have known the answer. And the humans I fed from, well, we didn’t heal them, if it was even possible. I’m sorry I don’t have a good answer for you, but I’ll find out if you’d give me that task.”
Anthony already figured he might not get a good answer, but this was even less than he’d originally hoped for. He’d imagined she would tell him it was possible, and then he’d be skeptical, but he’d at least have some hope. Hearing her tell him this seemed like all the stories were just that… make believe stories. They were fairy tales to help romanticize vampires.
He frowned in heavy disappointment. “I’m not comfortable asking others. I’m not sure I’d even feel comfortable with them knowing I was trying to find out.”
Echo came closer and knelt before him, then took his hands in hers. “Master, please. You know I won’t betray your confidence. No one has to know I ask for you. Truth be told, I think I know who to go to. I have a feeling, a hunch maybe, that this vampire may know exactly what the answer is. But would you be angry if that were the case?”
He frowned in confusion. Why would he be angry? “How would the vampire kn−” Understanding hit him like a brick. The vampire would know because the vampire currently feeds from humans. His temper rose as he looked intently into Echo’s eyes. She bravely held his gaze. If he forced it, he could make her tell him who the vampire was that she had in mind.
“It’s not a clear vision?”
“No Master. Something’s floating at the edge of my mind, and I wouldn’t like to name names while my thoughts are unclear.”
He clenched his jaw, then made himself relax. It would do no good to scare Echo, especially when she’d done nothing wrong.
“Please speak to the vampire you have in mind, and if it’s true, please ask if these humans are kept or if they’re unknowing. That would make the difference in what my reaction would be.”
She watched him carefully. “In asking for the vampire’s help, may I relay how you feel about the humans, no matter how the feeding is happening?”
After a tense pause, he said, “You may relay that if they’re kept, and they’re willing, and in no mortal danger and no danger to our secrecy, that my question is how does the vampire plan to deal with them as they age? Or the question is more likely how has the vampire been dealing with them? If they’re not kept, well, either way I’ll be lenient if they can help me.”
Echo nodded and sat back on her heels. “Thank you Master. I’ll do my best for you.”
He tried not to sound as furious as he actually was when he said, “Thank you Echo. I do appreciate your help, as always.”
**
Sebastian was anxious to get to Jade’s Wednesday night as soon as she texted him she was home from work. She let him in and they were instantly all over each other again. He felt incredibly possessive seeing his mark on her, and she was as sexy and full of energy tonight as she was last night.
They frantically threw clothes off and stumbled into her bedroom as they fooled around, and he ended up marking her again, though a little lower than the last one since she’d had to cover it for work. The outline of the band aid she’d worn was still on her skin.
Jade bit him, too, which totally sent him over the edge, but she didn’t bite hard enough to mark him. She’d have to draw blood for that, and she still didn’t seem that excited to do that. Regardless, he left her place a few hours later, satisfied and spent, but with a small, niggling doubt in the back of his mind about why she hadn’t marked him as hers. He tried to ignore his worries because he was probably wanting too much too quickly, anyway.
**
Sebastian cursed his luck Thursday night when the same, stupid cook flaked again. He’d fire him if he had anyone to replace him with. Jade agreed to come down for dinner so he could keep an eye on the restaurant while Oskar was off for the night.
He met her halfway as she came into the club. They hugged hello before he pulled back and said, “What’s this?”
She was wearing one of those trendy scarves around her neck. He didn’t like it.
“Just a scarf.”
“It covers my marks.”
“I had to cover them for work, honey.”
“But you’re not at work.”
She pulled the scarf down a little to expose two bandages, and he clenched his jaw.
She breezily said, “I wanted to hurry up and get down here and didn’t want to waste time trying to pry these sticky things off.” She fluffed the scarf back up and his bites were completely covered again.
Sebastian didn’t say anything else about it, and she dodged his eyes when she sat down. He was furious, but mostly disappointed. He’d been trying to make peace with their relationship in his mind, with him not really being able to completely share himself with her, or even be himself with her, besides his nagging doubts that she wasn’t actually comfortable with him. He still felt mostly good around her, though, but if she was actually ashamed of their relationship…
She said, “How was your day?”
“Not much to it yet. I only got up a couple hours ago.”
She awkwardly blurted out, “Oh, duh! I keep forgetting your schedule is so different than mine.”
They made small talk and ate dinner, but the whole time all he could think about was the fact that she didn’t want people to think she’d accepted him as hers.
Chapter 23
Anthony stared at his office door. Echo finally found an answer for his question about healing bites on a human, and he shook his head in wonder that he hadn’t forced her to give him the name of the vampire who knew this answer. She’d asked to be excused from being in the middle of the matter, assuring him this other person could answer all his quest
ions.
He’d let her go, knowing she had no part of going against his long standing rule of not feeding off humans. If anything, Echo was the one he trusted most in the family to abide by absolutely everything he asked. She was physically weak for a vampire, but had mental powers far beyond anyone here. She valued her unique personal abilities quite a lot, but when she was scared, they simply didn’t work. So she followed all of his rules to the letter in exchange for his promise that he’d always do his best to keep her safe.
He had no doubt his temper would flare as soon as he talked to this other person, whoever it was, so he let her go on her way while he impatiently waited.
He opened his senses wide enough to get a feel for everyone in the club this morning. At four a.m. it was always mostly vampires, though some shifters were also here.
He felt a busy energy coming closer, and then a knock on his door. He didn’t even have to raise his voice for the man on the other side to hear him. “Come in.”
A large, red headed vampire stepped cautiously into the room. Dag. He didn’t know the man very well, but Dag had been with the family for years and had never given him any trouble, or even seemed like he wanted to.
It greatly irritated, and disappointed him that the vampire feeding off humans ended up being someone he’d never once had a concern about. The fact that Dag had an answer for him, though, information that might help Kaia, well, it made him curiously hopeful.
Dag stepped inside full of macho energy, as usual. Something about him always seemed ready for action, and his very presence in a room made the air around them feel alive. The man was much bigger than Anthony, but as a vampire he was no more powerful than any of the small family of vampires he’d acquired over the last year or so. They were all fairly low level. Dag’s hyper energy felt more like that of a shifter, though, rather than the calmer, cool feel of a vampire, and he wondered what his presence would feel like if he had more power.
Tonight he looked as nervous as Anthony had ever seen him, which for Dag just meant that he was quiet and didn’t have a devilish smirk on his face.
“Master.” He bowed his head and looked down in submission.
“Please close the door behind you.”
He did as he was told, then turned back around, his eyes still not meeting Anthony’s.
“Please sit.” Dag cautiously looked up and Anthony gestured for him to sit on the sofa. He sat, and still seemed too big for this small room. Dag was a heavily muscled man with deep red hair and pale, ivory skin. He looked and acted very much like a Viking of legend, and in today’s world a lot of men weren’t like him. Then again, maybe a lot of men weren’t like him back then, either.
It was getting late and Anthony was tired, and he knew his thoughts were wandering. He redirected his attention as he put up a sound barrier around them. Dag flinched.
“I’ve been told you may be able to help me with a vampire question.”
Dag sat on the edge of the sofa looking extremely uncomfortable. He cautiously held Anthony’s gaze, not responding for a few moments. Finally he said, “Master, I’ll help with whatever I can.”
Anthony was quiet for a time, trying to decide if he should feel self-conscious for not knowing the answer to such a seemingly basic vampire question, or irritated that Dag was starting off this conversation by trying to play word games and deflect from the real issue. Dag had gone against a direct order, a family and city rule, but if he could help with Kaia…
“I’ll tell you first of all that this conversation is confidential, and I have a sound barrier around us, but also, I’d like it to be kept confidential between you and I. Do you understand me?”
His gaze never faltered. “Yes Master.”
Anthony nodded once. “I’ve been told you might know for certain if a vampire can heal a bite to a human. I’ve never had a need to feed from a human, but I find I need to know this answer now.”
Dag more quietly said, “Yes Master.”
Anthony waited for him to say more, but he didn’t. “Explain. Explain to me how you would know that you can heal a vampire bite to a human, and explain to me how you heal a human, without the risk of them turning vampire.”
Dag seemed to study him before responding. His knees twitched, then abruptly stopped. “Master, I… I…” He sighed, looked away, then slumped back into the sofa. He clasped his hands together in his lap and began again, this time with more resolve, though he looked at the ground as he spoke.
“It was years ago. I was tired of life, wondering at the purpose of my immortality, and some friends of a friend introduced me to some humans they kept as pets. The humans were drifters they’d cleaned up, given homes to, fed them, cared for them, and in turn they let vampires feed from them.” He nervously looked at Anthony for a brief moment before quickly looking away again.
“Like I said, I wasn’t in a good place mentally, and it’d been a long time since I’d fed from a human.” He sighed. “I indulged myself with some of the lady pets, and over the years, two to three of them have spent periods of time in my home.” He looked back up, this time not cowering.
Anthony stared emotionlessly back at him, still not having made up his mind about Dag.
“I… knew… I was doing something you expressly forbade.” Dag’s heart sped up. “Even so, I kept biting them and enjoying myself with them, but I always cared for their physical needs, including healing their bites.”
Anthony perked up at that, but didn’t say anything. He waited for Dag to continue.
“In the days when I was under a different Master we had human pets, but times were different and things were different overseas. Sometimes we couldn’t keep the pets as our feeding slaves because we had nowhere to hide them during the day, so our coterie started experimenting with healing bite marks on people we fed from in society. It didn’t seem to be any trouble at all, usually, so we started to always do that. The need for human pets quickly dwindled.”
Dag stopped talking, then, and patiently watched Anthony.
“Usually. Usually you had no trouble. What does usually mean?”
Dag frowned. “My Master didn’t care for human life. He’d often kill his pets rather than heal them, though it seemed like he never quite got the hang for how to tend to their bites. But I’m not sure. I was never around when he fed, only after, when the human was very nearly or completely dead.”
Anthony ground his teeth and narrowed his gaze. “Your Master never got the hang of it, or your Master’s blood was too strong and did strange things to the human, forcing him to kill them?”
Dag gave him a contradictory look, then seemed to think better of it. “I suppose my family and I may’ve been blinded by our hatred of our Master and narrow mindedly assumed he simply didn’t have the power. Maybe you’re right. Maybe he was just too strong and it did bad things to them.”
Anthony was quiet again. This wasn’t a comforting conversation in some ways, but in other ways it was. Anthony’s blood would no doubt be too powerful for Kaia, but Dag’s might not be. “And you’ve never had any trouble?”
“No.”
“How many humans do you think you’ve healed? A small enough number to count, or many?”
Dag more quietly said, “Way too many to count.”
He immediately asked, “And how do you know none of them have been turned by your healing? I’m assuming you gave them your blood. Elaborate.”
“All you need to do is rub your blood on the wound. And I guess I don’t know that every human had no ill effects, but I know the humans I’ve bitten in this city haven’t turned because I see them frequently and they’re still fully human.”
Anthony’s anger rose. “You knew I forbade this. None of these humans are your mate?”
Dag swallowed and looked away. “I knew you forbade it. As I said, I was out of my head when I first met them. And no, none are my mate. I have no mate, vampire, human, or otherwise.”
“Tell me, Dag, what do you think of my rule? Tell me
what your rule would be in regards to humans.”
“Master?”
“You heard me. Answer my question.”
Dag sat perfectly still as he spoke. “I think your rule about humans is a good one. It keeps us all as safe as we can be. I suppose that’s why I broke it. I was feeling suicidal.”
He tersely shot back, “And now? How do you feel now? Would you still choose to break this rule?”
Dag gave him a wary look. “No Master. Whatever trouble my own thoughts bring me shouldn’t bring harm to the family. I know I was wrong. I shouldn’t have associated with those vampires and their pets.”
“Loner vampires?”
He nodded.
Anthony sighed as he leaned back in his chair and looked him over. “I’m not happy with you.”
Dag gave him a nervous look, then nodded in shame.
“I know I’m a young Master, and some of you have an issue with my age. However, I’m also ultimately responsible for the vampires’ and shifters’ well-being in this family. I do not feel I’ve done a bad job of keeping everyone safe and our secrets guarded.”
Dag hunched in on himself, as much as a hulk of a man like him could. “No Master. You haven’t.”
“I don’t openly seek friendships with my family. Quite frankly, I don’t have the time to, though that’s probably only part of my problem. This responsibility of leading the family is a large one, especially with as many people that I’m in charge of, so when I make a rule it’s not because I’m being frivolous and enjoy exerting control over people. Left to my own devices, I’d leave this place. I’d leave all of you, but that’s not my fate, it would seem, and I’m not one to leave my family without leadership. That’s not what a leader does, no matter how tired they grow of their responsibilities.”
Dag looked up in surprise.
He continued. “I have a human lover and I bite her. I’ve tasted her blood and I do so often. I want to know if she can be healed, though I suspect I wouldn’t be the one who could heal her.” He looked intently at Dag for a moment. “However, I won’t have anyone else heal her, either, without being as positive as I can be that she won’t be harmed and that she won’t be turned vampire. I want to see proof with my own eyes before I try anything.”
