“My sister was turned when she was eighteen. I wanted to support her and being a blood swan was the best way for me to do that.”
I remember she didn’t remain an active blood swan for more than four years. “Why did you stop after such a short time?”
“I met someone–a vampire–and he didn’t want me to share my blood with others. He wanted it only for himself.”
That could only mean one thing. “You became his blood doll?”
She nods, unashamed. “For almost three years.”
Who terminated their relationship? “You ended it because you met your husband?”
“No. He called it off because I was in love with him and begged to be turned. I wanted to spend eternity with him so I pleaded constantly but he refused. He said he had come to love me too much to turn me into a monster like him.”
She must be mistaken. “Vampires don’t love humans unless they are agápe.”
“I don’t know how it’s possible but he loved me. I don’t doubt it for a second.” She’s very confident about it.
“You never saw him again?”
“Not once in half a century but it isn’t from lack of trying. I searched for a couple of years but gave up when I realized he wouldn’t be found if he didn’t want to be.” The sadness is still in her eyes after all these years. “Being in Savannah brings back all of those memories.”
Savannah? “You were here with your vampire?”
“Yes. His house was on East Broad Street. It was our home for almost three years.”
Incredible. I remembered seeing Broad Street on the diagram we were using to map out our search but we hadn’t made it to that side of town yet. “Would you take us there? He could have returned to Savannah. Maybe he has information about Avery and Chansey’s captor and where they’re being held.”
“Of course I will.”
Anna might possibly recognize the Sigil since she once lived among Savannah vampires. I take the key from my pocket and hold it out for her. “Do you recognize this symbol?” She takes the key from my hand but says nothing as she stares at it.
I hear her heart speed as she rubs her thumb over the design of the key. She looks up with tear-filled eyes and then pulls the neck of her blouse over to reveal the black ink hidden just below her hairline–an exact match to the Sigil. “Vincent insisted I mark my body with it so every other vampire would know I belonged to him.”
“Vincent Godfrey?”
“Oh, God. Is that who took the girls?”
Vincent Godfrey was her vampire? What a small world we live in.
She’s in shock. “I don’t understand. Vincent wasn’t at all like this person you describe. I don’t know what happened to change him but he’s giving us those girls back. Tonight. I’ll make sure of that.”
Curry enters the living room and I’m guessing he heard our conversation by the surprise displayed upon his face. “Anna. You can’t walk into a lair of vampires with us. Chansey would never forgive me for putting you in that kind of danger.”
“Chansey will be pissed off for a little while but at least she’ll be alive so she has the opportunity to be mad.”
Curry and I look at one another but Anna doesn’t give us the opportunity to argue. “What time do we leave?”
Anna directs us to the house on East Broad Street and there it is–the sigil we’ve scoured to find for two weeks. The elaborate design is incorporated into the front door, the ironwork around the front porch, even the back iron fence surrounding the property. A vampire would have to be blind to not see it.
Anna stands in front of the place she once called home and takes it all in while my family and I note other things. There are six vampires inside so we’re evenly matched. And two human agápes.
My instinct is to burst through the door so we have the element of surprise but Anna insists violence won’t be necessary. She believes she can persuade Vincent to give Avery and Chansey over without a fight. We tend to disagree. The Vincent she knew and the one we met a few months ago are two entirely different beings.
Anna’s heart is racing and I’m not so sure it’s a good idea for her to go inside. “You sure you want to do this?”
She doesn’t hesitate in answering. “Absolutely.”
She rings the bell and one of Avery’s vampiric guards from the blood ceremony is the one to answer. He eyes Anna without any regard for us. “Tell Vin I’m here to see him.”
“Anna?” he whispers. He recognizes her so that means this guy has been with Vincent at least fifty years.
“Yes, Demarcus. I look much different than the last time we saw one another but it’s me.”
The vampire hugs Chansey’s grandmother and I realize the high regard in which he holds her. “It’s been a few years.”
Anna’s face is solemn. “It’s been more than a few years. I need to see him.”
The vampire steps outside and shuts the door. “I don’t know if seeing him is a good idea. He’s different now–not at all the person you once knew.”
“What happened to him?”
“He went mad after losing you.”
“He didn’t lose me. He’s the one that left.” Her voice is sad.
“And he never recovered from it.”
“That was his decision. I didn’t get a say in it.” She points toward the house. “Now he doesn’t get a say about keeping those two girls in there captive. One of them is my granddaughter and we’re coming in whether it’s by invite or by force.”
The vampire runs his hands through his hair. “Sheez, Anna. Your granddaughter is a blood jewel. Do you have any idea what that means?”
Demarcus would know Avery wasn’t Anna’s granddaughter so there’s our confirmation. Chansey is a blood jewel as well but we still don’t know what it means.
Anna doesn’t reply as she pushes past him. “Move aside, Demarcus.”
He puts his hand up. “Please don’t barge in this way. Let me tell him you’re here so he can be prepared to see you.”
“Or so he can prepare to fight? Not happening, pal.” I step around Anna and streak past Demarcus because I’ve had enough of this spare Vincent’s feelings shit. He reaches out to grab me but he’s too slow. I’m through the door by the time his brain makes the command for his arm to lift.
My family is on my heels as I enter the living room where five vampires are gathered. I scan the room but there’s no sign of Avery or Chansey. Vincent is the first to notice us but doesn’t move an inch. “Well, well. If it isn’t my good friends Michael and Phillip from the Coven of Landra.”
“Hello again.” I pay close attention to my connection with Avery as I move across the room and I’m certain she is down the hall to the left. I look at Curry and he cocks his head in that direction to tell me he feels Chansey there as well.
Vincent stretches his arm out across the back of the couch and begins laughing as he casually crosses his legs. “It took long enough for you to find me.”
He doesn’t appear frightened or the least bit challenged by our presence. I’m sure he believes we come in peace because of who we are and what we do but he couldn’t be more wrong. We will fight until death for the ones we love. “You have my mate.”
“Your mate?” he laughs. “Surely you don’t mean one of my blood jewels.”
“Avery isn’t a blood jewel to me. She’s my agápe so you know that means she is my everything.”
Curry steps next to me. “And Chansey is mine so we’re here to take them home.”
“Agápe or not, all of you are out of your minds if you think I’m going to allow that to happen.” His voice is cold.
“Vin.” I hear Anna’s voice behind me.
Vincent’s expression changes from arrogance to disbelief. He rises from the couch and his eyes are focused behind us. “Anna.” It comes out as a whisper because he’s clearly effected by her presence.
Anna crosses the room and he meets her half-way. He cradles her face in his hands and gazes into her eyes the w
ay a lover would. He strokes her cheeks with his thumbs and then takes her in his arms to pull her close. “My sweet Anna. It’s been so long.”
Both are silent as they hold one another and I’m overwhelmed by the reality of my future with Avery. This is how she and I will be if she remains a human. We’ll be happy but I’ll watch her age. And then die.
Anna is the one to let go first. “What are you doing, Vin? This isn’t you.”
He steps back and slides his hands into the pockets of his trousers. “I’m afraid this is very much me.”
Anna shakes her head. “You were never unkind but what you’re doing to these girls is cruel.”
“There’s no way for you to imagine the way I felt after we separated,” he says. “I was miserable so I searched the world for anything that might bring me some semblance of happiness. The blood of the jewels is the only thing that can free me of my misery.”
“But it’s wrong.”
“Not being able to be with you because I’m one thing and you’re another. That’s what is wrong.” I once believed the same thing about me and Avery so I understand where he’s coming from. “I wanted you to live the dream. To experience everything life had to offer. A husband. A family. Sunlight. Happiness. You could never have had those things with me.”
“I went on to experience everything you wanted for me. I have a husband and a family I love very much including a granddaughter you’re holding captive.” His eyes widen as he steps back. “She’s a mother. She has two newborn babies at home–my great-granchildren–and they desperately need her. They’ve not done well since she was taken and I fear for their health and well-being. Please, Vin. They need their mother back.”
He runs both of his hands through his hair and then laces his fingers across the top of his head as he appears to be thinking. “Silas,” he sighs. “Bring the dark-haired girl.”
“Yes, sir.”
Anna puts her hand up to stop Silas. “Vin, you have two girls to release.”
Vincent shakes his head. “I can’t do it Anna. I have to keep Avery or I won’t survive. I thought I’d die after she was taken a few months ago. I can’t go through that kind of withdrawal again.”
“Coven of Landra can help you. It’s what they’re trained to do,” Anna tells him.
It’s our job to help the unsavable but I’m not sure I could tolerate having Vincent inside my home so close to Avery. I could never bring myself to trust him.
“The only time I’m able to forget all the ugliness is when I drink from a blood jewel. And I don’t plan on stopping. The Landra can’t help me if I don’t want it.” He doesn’t want to be helped. Suits me. I’m happy to kill him.
“Please try. Do it for me.” Anna’s voice is pleading.
“No.” Vincent’s face is pained. “I can’t be cured.”
Anna walks to Vincent and places her hands on his upper arms. “Don’t ever say that. Vampires that can’t–or refused to be helped–are destroyed. That can’t happen to you.”
Silas brings Chansey around the corner and she falls into Curry’s arms as he reaches her. “Thank the gods.” He squeezes her tightly and kisses the top of her head. “I love you, Chansey. I’ve missed you.”
“I love you too. I’ve missed you and the babies.” She lifts her face and Curry showers her face with kisses. “Tell me they’re both all right.”
He squeezes her again. “They’re fine but anxious to have their mother back.”
Vincent watches the union. “Take your granddaughter and leave this place. And remember me the way I once was and not as the monster you see before you now.”
Anna shakes her head. “No. I know what will happen when I leave.”
“It’s the way it has to be.” Vincent pulls her into his arms–and maybe I shouldn’t be so quick to trust him with her–but my intuition tells me he would never harm her. “I was a fool but I’ve never regretted my love for you. I wish I had been selfish enough to turn you. We could have had a good life together.”
“Anna, it’s time to go. Lairah will take you and Chansey home while we tend to our unfinished business.” She’s hesitant to let go. I’m guessing she suspects what will come next. Vincent will refuse the one last offer of help and that’s when things are going to become violent.
“Chansey, please wait for me in the car with Lairah,” Anna says.
I see the exhaustion on Chansey’s face. She doesn’t have the strength to debate the issue and she accepts assistance with walking when Lairah offers.
Anna waits until Chansey is safely out of hearing range. “What makes my granddaughter a blood jewel?” He looks to the floor to avoid her eyes but Anna is persistent. “I need to know for her. And her children. If you ever had any feelings for me, you must tell me.”
He’s hesitant but finally answers. “All blood jewels are agápes but not all agápes are blood jewels.”
“What makes Chansey and Avery different from other agápes?” Anna asks.
“It happens one of two ways.” He lifts his face so he can see her eyes. “Their human mothers or a maternal descendent shared blood with a vampire.”
Shared could mean two different things and we need to know the difference. “Shared as in gave or shared as in drank?” I ask.
“Does it matter?” He deflects answering with a question.
How could he think it wouldn’t? “Hell yes, it matters. There are countless blood swans all over the world. They have the right to know if they’re putting their future daughters at risk.”
Vincent hesitates before replying. “There is no risk for the blood swans. It only happens when the mother or one of her maternal descendants drinks the blood of a vampire.”
I’ve never heard of this and I can tell Curry hasn’t either by the expression he’s wearing. “Why would a human drink blood from a vampire if she wasn’t being turned?”
Vincent looks at Anna. “I won’t have her subjected to any more of these questions.”
Anna closes her eyes and tears roll down each of her cheeks. “I did this to Chansey. She’ll spend the rest of her life in danger because I tried to make you turn me.”
“I would never hurt her now that I know she is your granddaughter.” He’s telling the truth. I hear it in his voice but that doesn’t protect Avery from him.
“But other vampires won’t care,” Anna whispers.
Chapter Fifteen
Anna turns one last time before leaving the house and a look passes between her and Vincent. I think it’s her final plea–begging him to give himself up to Landra. But I see rebellion in his eyes and expect no surrender from him. He’s addicted to the blood of my agápe–my heart and soul–so he dies tonight if he doesn’t willingly return her to me.
There’s no point in being unclear about our intentions. “You have two choices. You can come with us and allow Landra to help you with your addiction or you can die now.”
“Fools,” Vincent laughs. “Chansey had a get out of jail free card because she’s Anna’s granddaughter but you can’t possibly think I’d willingly hand over my only other blood jewel.”
“Actually, that’s exactly what I expect. Avery doesn’t belong to you. She’s my agápe and you know what that means. I’ll fight until the end for her. And it’ll be your demise. Not mine.” He knows this so maybe he has a death wish.
“Your union is ordained by Anteros. Blah … blah … blah. Do you think I give two shits about your bond with her? I only care about her blood so there’s no way I’m handing her over.” He’s persistent. I’ll give him that.
“I’m giving you one last chance as a courtesy to Anna.” I offer him one last out because I promised her I would. “Let Avery go or die.”
“I couldn’t if I wanted to. Something about Avery’s blood has changed. It’s richer now and my addiction to her is nearly insatiable. It’s so bad that I fear my own unquenchable thirst.”
Avery’s blood is becoming richer to nourish the life growing inside her. And every time he ta
kes blood from her, he’s taking life from our child. I’m certain of it.
He has admitted he’ll never let Avery go so there’s no debate. It’s time for him to die. And I’m not a bit unhappy about being the one to do it. “You tortured my agápe for months. You murdered her parents and turned her sister.”
“I turned Jennifer at Avery’s request.”
It’s a weak argument and I feel the need to correct him. “Jenn was dying because you bled her dry. Avery didn’t want to lose the only family member she had left so she threatened to kill herself if you let her sister die.” He doesn’t argue. “You persistently refuse to release my agápe and you have no desire to reform so I don’t have a choice. You have to die tonight.”
“I watched my sister go mad from the withdrawals after you took Avery. She killed herself in the sunlight. It was a gruesome death and it’s only a matter of time before my fate is the same as hers if you take Avery.” He stands before me with his arms spread wide, his signal to invite me to drive a dagger through his chest. “I saw Anna and said goodbye. There’s nothing more I need from this life so I welcome death.”
Killing him like this wasn’t going to be any fun. “You have no fight left in you?”
“I would have fought you to the death if Anna hadn’t come but seeing her changes everything. She is a ray of sunshine in my darkest hour even after all these years.”
I can’t believe I feel mercy for this monster but I understand him on some level. “And you’re sure you want to end it this way?”
“You must be anxious to have your agápe back,” he says. “Wouldn’t you prefer to kill me quickly rather than fight?”
Curry addresses Vincent’s coven. “What about the rest of you? Do you wish to die or go to the New Orleans compound and be reformed? Know ahead of time that it will be your demise if you choose to fight.”
The remaining vampires exchange looks but one speaks up for the group. “We choose reform.”
“Everyone is in agreement?” Curry asks.
“Yes,” they answer in unison.
Blood Doll (The Vampire Agape Series Book #3) (The Vampire Agape Series #3) Page 11
