Blood Oaths
An Anthology
by
Stein Willard
© Stein Willard 2019
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without the express permission of the author or publisher.
Please note that piracy of copyrighted materials is illegal and violates the rights of the author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Editor: DEPE
Editor: JLF
Cover Design: DEPE
BACK OF THE BOOK
Just Add Love
Iramis de Leeuw, a powerful vampire mediator between the Vampire race and the humans, struggles to keep her human family alive as she fights a rebel clan, who could jeopardize the treaty between the vampires and the human authorities. But how could she keep the dark side of her life from them, when the situation demands her to be the monster that lurks just beneath the surface.
Deception
In the deadly world of contract killing, there is no place for love or any personal attachments. When two of the world’s most lethal assassins are pitted against each other. They both must make hard choices to keep their loved ones unharmed.
DEDICATION
To my readers.
Thank you for your support over the past 12 years. I’m always striving to be a better writer to make you guys proud.
I’m your biggest fan, as always!
To JLF.
There are no words to express my gratitude. Thanks, woman, and I hope we can keep this going for as long as we both can still write and read. Baie dankie.
Just Add
Love
PART 1
With wakefulness, came the incessant hunger.
Lying with her eyes closed, she inhaled deeply and shuddered when the sound of blood rushing through veins reached her ears. Sitting up soundlessly, her eyes flickered open and focussed instantly on the shape standing at the window. Moonlight filtered through the open widow and gently caressed the slope of the woman’s neck. She did not need a mirror to know that her eyes were burning bright red at the prospect of a fresh meal. She silently rose and floated over to the woman who stood with her back to the window. The closer she came to the woman, the louder the sound of blood splashing through the woman’s veins became. Her fangs slipped out, brushing against her lower lip. Her eyes bulged slightly in anticipation as they found and caressed the throbbing vein. She came to a stop behind her prey and reached out. Before her hand touched the woman’s shoulder, the woman spoke.
“Brandon’s been suspended.”
Blinking in surprise, her fangs retracted and she gently rested her hand on the woman’s shoulder.
“Again?”
The woman turned and troubled eyes met hers. “Yes, again. I don’t know what to do this time.” The woman gave her a tremulous smile. “I don’t even know what to say to him.”
Suppressing her hunger, Iramis carefully pulled the woman into a tender embrace. When they broke away, she studied the beautiful face. “You look tired.”
The dark head fell against her broad chest and with infinite tenderness, Iramis cupped the head against her breast.
“I’m so worried about him, Ira.”
“Why didn’t you call me?”
The dark head lifted and sad dark eyes studied hers. “You were busy and I didn’t want to disturb you.”
A sense of immense warmth and love pervaded her heart as she studied the woman’s face. “Nothing is more important than you.” She led the woman to the bed. “Why don’t you take a nap while I go talk to him?” The woman smiled, her face lightening up with relief. “Was there anything else? Jenny? Oscar?”
The beautiful face fell again. “I think Jenny’s heartbroken. She hasn’t been herself these past few days.”
“I’ll talk to her too. What about Oscar?”
A small smile formed on the soft lips. “He’s good. With all this going on, he’s been a star.”
Iramis smiled too. “I’ll make a turn there too. Sleep now, my love. I’ll take care of everything.” She lay down on the black sheets with her face towards the woman. “You have done your part and now it’s my turn.”
Her heart constricted with guilt when the dark eyes fluttered closed and the woman’s breath evened out almost immediately.
***
The room was dark except for the light of the computer. Iramis sighed where she stood in the corner of the room.
“We will definitely have a misunderstanding if you keep on stressing my wife,” she said quietly. There was sudden intake of breath before a dark curly head turned to look at her.
“Mother?”
Iramis’ brow shot up. “Were you expecting someone else?”
Coming to his feet, the boy rushed over to her. Iramis opened her arms to receive her son and held him tenderly. “What is this I hear about you getting suspended again?”
The boy pulled away and his eyes immediately sought out the floor. “Did Mom tell you?”
Iramis stared at the teenage boy. He was tall and beautiful just like Sandra. He even reminded her of her wife with that guilty look on his face. Sandra was only a few years older than Brandon when Iramis found her outside a bar. As she gallantly offered to walk the girl back to the orphanage she escaped from with her friend for a night of revelry, something had happened to her. Something so profound, that she went back the next night to stand outside the orphanage. Two nights later the girl slipped out again to her delight. They talked and it became a regular occurrence for them to meet in the orphanage’s garden. Their first, hesitant kiss, four months later, on Sandra’s eighteenth birthday, was the beginning of the most beautiful relationship in Iramis’ existence.
“Mother?”
Iramis turned her attention back to her son and sighed at the anxious look in his eyes. “Your mother didn’t tell me anything else. I wanted to hear it from you,” she said softly, cradling the boy’s cheek. “What happened?”
Brandon took a shuddering breath. “I got in a fight.”
“A fight?” She hoped she did not sound as shocked as she felt. If anything, Brandon was not a saint, but violence was the one thing he absolutely abhorred. His last suspension was because of him smoking cigarettes at school with his friends, but never in all the sixteen years she had raised him, had he ever exhibited any violent tendencies. Just like Sandra, he preferred to avoid conflict. “What happened, son?”
The boy raked long fingers through his curly mop. “There’s this boy who hurt someone and I couldn’t stand by and let him get away with it.”
Loving him more than ever at that moment, Iramis pulled him into a tight embrace. He was an unbelievable boy, compassionate and caring. She should have known that he would have stood up for someone at the cost of having to face his mothers. He clung to her in near desperation.
“I’ve never wanted to hurt someone so much before,” Brandon whispered against her chest. Iramis’ eyes narrowed. This was serious. “But what he said truly hurt her.”
She pulled back so she could look into his face. “Who was it?”
She read it in his eyes before he answered her.
“It was Jenny.”
Rage, dark and merciless, rose in her at hearing him say the name she had dreaded. She quickly suppressed it and placed a gentle kiss against her son’s temple.
“You know your mother doesn’t condone violence, but I’ll talk to her first before you seek her out. Okay?” She gently brushed his wayward curls out of his face and looked into the dark brown eyes. “Thank you for looking out for h
er.”
***
Iramis gently knocked on the door. When a soft voice bid her to enter, she pushed the door open. Jenny was lying on her bed, her face turned away from the door. She quickly made her way over to the bed and took a seat on it.
“Hi, honey.”
Jenny exploded off the bed and into her arms. Iramis’ heart broke at the sound of her daughter’s heart- wrenching sobs. As she cradled her daughter in her arms, her lips brushing over the soft, fragrant hair, Iramis was split in two. A part of her wanted to stay here and comfort her hurting daughter. The other wanted to go out and find the boy who was responsible and tear him limb from limb.
But she would not. She could not. She was a mother now. It was her role and duty to lead by example.
Sandra made her promise. As long as they were together, Iramis would never hurt a human again. At this very moment, her true nature rebelled against the promise she had made while in a state of unbridled love. Her fangs slipped out and her eyes flashed bright red. Just as quickly, the darkness licking at her soul retreated. She would not allow anything to make her wife feel disappointed in her. She loved Sandra enough to suppress her nature. Her fangs slowly retracted and she pressed a soft kiss on her daughter’s head. She sat patiently, helpless, as she listened to Jenny weep.
This was the first time she had seen her daughter like this. Oh, there was that one time, but it did not really count. It was fifteen years ago. With Sandra breastfeeding Brandon, Iramis could not feed off her anymore and had begun hunting again. It was while she was passing a dark opening, that the weak, pitiful cries of a baby had steered her down the alley. As she warily approached the cardboard box next to the dumpster, she had cursed mankind, especially those who so carelessly could discard something so infinitely precious. She had not been human for a very long time, but the love of a beautiful human had somehow, miraculously, restored her humanity. Peering into the box, she fell in love at first sight when the baby fixed large hazel eyes on her and immediately stopped crying. Thin arms reached out for her. Looking around to see if the mother was in the vicinity, she had picked up the baby. Cradled against her chest, the baby had hungrily searched for her breasts. She had taken the girl home to Sandra who immediately fed the infant, cleaned her and placed her back in Iramis’ arms. The next day, Sandra took the bay to Child Welfare and made it clear that she wanted to adopt the girl. It was not easy to persuade the authorities to let the baby be raised in a vampire-headed household, but Sandra was adamant that she wanted to take the baby home with her. A midnight visit from Iramis to the Director’s home, had sped up the process and soon the baby was part of their family.
“I…I loved him.”
The soft voice pulled Iramis out of her thoughts. “I’m sorry, baby.”
The dark head lifted and wet hazel eyes searched her face. “He said…” A sob escaped trembling lips. “He said he couldn’t take someone like me home to meet his parents.”
Iramis cocked her head to the side. “Someone like you?” A succession of scenarios raced through her head as she waited for Jenny to compose herself.
“Someone who wasn’t wanted,” Jenny mumbled. “Someone who didn’t belong anywhere.”
Iramis took a deep breath to keep herself from surging to her feet and rushing off to snap the little twit’s neck. Instead, she gently wiped the tears off Jenny’s cheeks. “You are mine, Jenny. You were destined to be mine and I will never let anyone make you believe otherwise. I love you with everything in me and beyond. We are a family and each of us belong to the other.”
Jenny leaned back into her arms, hiding her face in Iramis’ neck. “But I’m different.”
“Different, no. Unique, definitely.” She held Jenny at arm’s length as she searched the hazel depths. “Do you realize that you are the first and only daughter of a vampire clan lord and that you stole my heart the moment our eyes met?”
Jenny smiled. “I love you too, Mother.” The hazel eyes turned dark again. “It doesn’t matter that I’m black?”
Iramis blinked a few times. “You’re black?” She scratched her head. “I always knew there was something different about you, but I could never put my finger on it.”
Jenny smiled, this time brightly, and crawled onto Iramis’ lap. “You’re silly…for a vampire.”
“As long as you remember that I’m your silly vampire mother.” Iramis heard soft footsteps entering the room. She smiled as she recognized the scent. The bed dipped as the person knelt behind her and reached over to hug them both.
“Hello, Mommy.”
Both Jenny and Iramis lifted their heads to look at the newcomer. Big, bright blue eyes stared at them out of a sombre-looking face. Iramis offered her cheek to accept the soft kiss. Jenny opened her arms and the seven-year-old boy squeezed himself between them. One thing she quickly grew accustomed to was that as a parent, your lap was never really your own. It was also big enough to accommodate more than one person at a time. The two youngsters immediately hugged and Iramis watched, with a warming glow in her chest, as her two youngest held each other.
To think she had to live through three millennia to finally find her true self in the love of four such wonderful humans. She turned her head when she caught Brandon’s scent as he too entered the room to join them on the bed. The three quietly talked to each other with their heads pressed together. Iramis sat quietly as they talked, the boys whispering small nonsensical things to their sister and Jenny basked happily in their presence. Finally, they turned their attention back to her. She shrugged under the weight of three pairs of eyes.
“Well, what do you say we… uhm…we go to that ice cream place you guys like so much and celebrate?” She leaned closer to them and whispered. “As long as we don’t wake your mother, she doesn’t need to know, okay.”
“She already knows,” Sandra said dryly from the doorway, causing Iramis’ head to snap to around to meet her wife’s eyes with a sheepish look. “It’s a school night, so don’t be out too late.”
Soft giggling made her turn back to her children. “Well, you heard your mother. Go get ready.” She made her way over to Sandra and pulled her close. “I thought you were asleep.”
Sandra took her hand and pulled her to the study which was right opposite the children’s bedrooms. Since she did not sleep much during the night, Iramis spent most of her time in the study. It was reassuring to hear her children’s breathing as they slept while she worked nearby. Sandra closed the door and turned to face her.
“You need to feed before you leave. I don’t want you to be tempted to go for a snack and scare the kids.”
She hesitated for a moment, but her mind was quickly made up when Sandra pressed close and offered her neck. She had been out of the country for almost a week and had to survive on the bottled blood she was offered at the Vampire Senate Headquarters. Nothing, but nothing would ever come close to the richness of Sandra’s blood. Maybe it was the fact that it was offered freely and lovingly, that made it the most intoxicating brew she had ever tasted. Her fangs lengthened and she pressed a soft kiss to the pulsing vein before she bit down. Sandra pressed even closer to her, backing Iramis until they bumped into the large oak desk. Pushing Sandra over the desk, Iramis slowly rolled her hips into the cradle of her wife’s hips. Her breath shortened as she listened to the small mewling sounds coming from Sandra. They would not last long. After a week of abstinence, which considering their active love life, meant that they were actually sex-starved, their first touch already brought them dangerously close to the edge. Pushing up Sandra’s dress, Iramis stroked Sandra’s sex through her wet panties. It did not take long before a shudder raced through Sandra’s body, followed by a soft whimper. With Sandra’s orgasm, warm adrenaline-spiked blood rushed into Iramis’ mouth, making her growl in pleasure. She extracted her fangs and held Sandra close as the brunette rode out her climax.
“I’ve missed you,” Sandra murmured after a while as Iramis licked at the small pinpricks. “I needed you so much
with all that was happening here.”
“Next time, call me and I’ll come home immediately,” she whispered into Sandra’s ear. “I love you and I should be here for you at all times.”
Sandra pulled away and looked up into Iramis’ eyes. “What you’re trying to do is very important, darling. One day, if we decide to turn the kids, I want to be assured that they will live in a world where vampires and humans can co-exist. Not having you around for a week is a small sacrifice to make for what you are doing to secure our children’s future.”
Iramis gently brushed her lips over Sandra’s. “Even then, you…my family, is my top priority. I’ve made a pledge to be by your side and I aim to keep it.”
They shared a lingering look before Sandra broke the silence. “The kids must be waiting for you. Please don’t eat ice cream waffles again. I’ll probably be asleep when you get home and might not be available to help you regurgitate later.”
“I promise,” Iramis said quickly and looked away. She did not want a reminder of what happened the last time she took the kids out for ice cream and ended up in a waffle eating dare with Brandon. She was close to dying from the sticky lump in her stomach, when Sandra found her hugging the toilet pot, groaning from the pain of expelling the repulsively sweet, pink pulp. She quickly kissed Sandra and slipped out the study in search of the kids. She found them waiting at the door, dressed in their jackets.
“What’re you waiting for? Let’s go,” she announced.
***
Sandra turned onto her back when she felt the bed dip. Iramis leaned over and kissed her gently.
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