06 Blood Ties

by Mari Mancusi

  “Fine,” I reply, knowing it will do no good to argue with my headstrong sister. “I’ll see you in about an hour.”

  My sister nods and turns to run out of the room. “Rayne!” I call back to her. She stops and turns around, her face impatient.

  “Yeah?”

  “Be safe, okay?” I say, giving her my best pleading look. “For my sake, if not your own.”

  “Always, little sister,” she teases, before disappearing into the night. I watch her go, then head off to try to find Bite Room C and Jayden, trying to shake the bad feeling I have about all of this.

  Jayden is mostly silent on the way back to the ryokan, as if still shell-shocked over the night’s events. Not that I blame him. When I found him in Bite Room C, he was almost catatonic with fear. It took a lot of reassuring to get him to leave his hiding spot and follow me out of the Blood Bar.

  Once we get inside our cozy little room, I pull out the futon mats and help him down onto one of them, covering him with a thick comforter. But he’s still shaking like crazy, so eventually I decide to lie down next to him, pulling him toward my own body to share my mortal warmth. He’s like an ice cube, even for a cold-blooded vampire, as he cuddles against me.

  “They killed everyone,” he whispers, his mouth against my ear. “It was so awful. All these vampires—just exploding into oblivion. And those people... those innocent people...” He shakes his head, remembering. “I tried to get the girl I was drinking from to come with me to hide. But she only wanted to escape.” He shudders. “I heard her down the hall... screaming and screaming... and then... nothing.”

  My heart aches for him; I can’t imagine what it must be like to witness such carnage. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” I murmur, rocking him close to me. “I was so scared that you’d been killed, too.”

  “I’m alive ’cause I hid like a coward,” he spits out ruefully. “Let everyone else die around me instead.”

  I pull away, giving him a sharp look. “What could you have done? You would have just gotten yourself killed if you tried to play hero.”

  “What about you? You risked your life going in there.”

  “I had a disguise,” I remind him. “And besides, I had to make up for you saving my life back in Vegas. Now we’re even.”

  “Actually I think you might be a little ahead at this point.”

  We fall back into our embrace and I can feel his heart beating wildly against my own. It’s hard to believe just a short time ago we were fighting for our lives. Now I feel so warm and safe and cozy in our tiny room. Me and Jayden, against the world.

  “Oh, Sunny,” he murmurs, evidently sharing my sentiments. He nuzzles his head against my shoulder. “I’m so sorry. I’ve been acting like such a jerk to you this whole trip.”

  I reach out to smooth his razor-cut black hair. “It’s okay,” I assure him. “You’ve been going through a lot. It’s understandable.”

  “It’s not that, though,” he insists. “I mean, yeah, the vampire thing is stressful and all. But that’s not why I’ve been so mad at you.”

  I prop my head on my elbow to study him questioningly. “You’re mad at me?”

  He sighs, rolling over onto his back to stare up at the ceiling. “Well, no. I mean, I think I’m mostly mad at myself, I guess. I just...” He lets out a long, frustrated sigh. “I can’t believe I’m going to say this,” he mutters, half to himself.

  “Say what, Jayden?” I press, my heart pounding in my chest as I wonder if I truly want to know.

  At first I think he’s not going to speak. But finally he opens his mouth. “I was lying there, hiding under the bed in the Bite Club, pretty sure I was going to die. And I kept thinking, I’m going to die and I’m never going to get a chance to tell Sunny how much she means to me.” His voice cracks on the last sentence and I can see the tears welling up in his eyes.

  “Oh, Jayden,” I murmur, reaching out to him. But he grabs my hand and pushes it away.

  “Let me finish,” he begs, “or I’ll lose my nerve again.” He laughs bitterly, then he turns to face me, reaching out and cupping my chin with his hand, steering my face to his so our eyes are locked onto one another. A chill trips down my spine and I hold my breath, trying desperately to ready myself for his impending words.

  “Sunny, I love you,” he says simply. “I’ve loved you since the first moment I saw you walk into the Sun Casino in Vegas. I’ve been trying to be good—to hold back and keep it inside—telling myself that I don’t want to make things harder for you by burdening you with these feelings. After all, you made your choice. You chose Magnus and I let you walk away.” He shakes his head, the tears tumbling from his eyes. “God, that was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done. Giving you back to him—who doesn’t even deserve you.”

  I struggle to draw in a breath, my heart breaking at his raw, honest words. I remember that day—in the hospital room when I tried to give my heart to Jayden. And he told me to go back to Magnus and try to work things out. It had all seemed so noble and selfless of him at the time. But had it been the right thing for me to do?

  Since then, I’ve been working so hard at my relationship with Magnus. Trying to get over the trust issues we have and always wondering where his loyalties truly lie. Fighting over stupid things—trying and failing to fit into his world while he tried and failed to fit into mine.

  With Jayden, it’s so easy. We’re like two twin souls, with the same desires and dreams. Like two children coming together, finding each other and bonding together against the cold, hard world. With Jayden, I never have to doubt his motives. I never have to wonder if he’s lying to me. He’s simple and open and pure and good and everything I always dreamed about in a boyfriend.

  And he loves me. With all his heart. He’s already proven he’d gladly die for me. And there’s no conflict of a stupid coven to get in his way.

  “Sorry,” he says, his face pinkening into a small blush. “Again, I don’t mean to make things difficult for you. I just can’t keep going, pretending you don’t mean everything to me.” He gives a sad little laugh. “So now you know. And you can choose to walk away again—and I won’t stop you. Or you can give yourself to me and let me love you the way you deserve to be loved. Dedicating my entire life— mortal or vampire—to making you happy.”

  He stops and looks at me with his big puppy-dog eyes and I find I can’t speak, my throat is so clogged with tears. And so I do the only thing I know how. I kiss him. Our mouths tumbling over each other in desperate abandon—not thinking, not analyzing, not wondering what the consequences might be to something like this. Just kissing and loving and worshiping each other. The salty taste of our tears mixing with the sweetest ecstasy. A perfect dream bubble in a nightmare of a world.

  It’s Jayden who pulls away first. “I’m sorry,” he says, a bashful expression on his face. “I shouldn’t have...”

  I put a finger to his lips—swollen and bruised from my mouth. “It’s okay,” I assure him. “I... I wanted to.” He looks at me with a shy smile. “Yeah?” he asks, his voice so full of hope it breaks my heart all over again. A part of me wildly demands to know what the hell I think I’m doing, but I push it deep down inside. There will be time for overanalysis later.

  “Jayden. I have feelings for you,” I admit. “I always have, as much as I’ve tried to hide them for your own good. I didn’t want to hurt you. Or let you down if I couldn’t follow through. I’ve already caused you enough pain.” I draw in a breath. “But I do love you. I love you so much, Jayden, and I’m sick of trying to deny it to myself.”

  “What about Magnus?” he asks softly, breathing the name I’m trying to block out of my mind.

  I roll onto my back, staring up at the ceiling. “I don’t know,” I say with a sigh. “After how we left things back in England, I don’t even know where we stand right now. I mean, of course I love him. But I don’t know if I can trust him. And I don’t want a relationship based on lies.” I roll back over to face Jayden. “I mean, look
at you. You’re so open and honest. I know I can trust you with my heart and soul. And I need that. I really need that.”

  I lean forward to kiss him again, desperate to feel his lips brush against mine one more time. But instead, he stops me, pressing a hand to my chest.

  “Wait,” he says, his eyes dropping to the floor.

  I look at him, puzzled. “What?” I ask, taking in his distraught expression. “What’s wrong?”

  “I need to tell you something.” He rakes a hand through his black hair. “You say I’m honest, but I haven’t been entirely truthful to you.”

  Fear trips down my spine at his words. “What are you saying?” I manage to spit out.

  “I...” Jayden swallows hard. “Oh God. Promise you won’t hate me, Sun. I couldn’t bear to have you hate me.”

  Now the fear is in my gut, twisting like a knife. “What, Jayden?” I ask, gritting my teeth in an attempt to keep my composure. “Tell me. Now.”

  “I... well, I didn’t tell you the exact truth. About the whole vampire thing, I mean.”

  “You mean Cornelius biting you?”

  “I mean that he didn’t bite me. I was fine after that whole encounter,” Jayden confesses. “But then you disappeared and I started getting really depressed. And... angry, I guess. Angry that you chose someone else. A bloodsucker—a living corpse— over me. I thought...” He shrugs. “I thought maybe if I found a way to become a vampire I’d be more appealing to you. That maybe you’d leave Magnus and be mine.”

  “But that’s crazy! Why would you—?”

  “I don’t know!” Jayden interrupts fiercely. “I told you, I wasn’t thinking straight. I was so depressed and angry and... I don’t know. In any case, I headed down to the vampire bar that I knew Cornelius used to frequent. And I started propositioning vampires, asking them to turn me. My plan was to get one of them to do the job, then take the first plane back to Massachusetts—where I thought you were—and profess my love.”

  “But no vampire would do that. It’s completely against protocol. You have to be certified first! And go through the training.”

  He nods. “I found that out pretty quick. Everyone turned me down. Except for one vampire.” He looks up at me, his eyes brimming with blood tears. “His name was Corbin. He wore a red cloak.”

  I almost fall off my chair. “Oh my God.”

  “He and the other Alphas burst into the bar on a mission of vengeance, killing every vampire and human in sight, just as they did today. I begged him to spare my life—telling him I knew you and Magnus and the Blood Coven—thinking maybe it would help my case. He got this weird gleam in his eyes and asked me if I wanted to become a vampire.”

  “So Corbin turned you,” I say dully. “And let me guess, he can hear your thoughts now. That’s how they’ve been able to stay one step ahead of us. To steal the Grail. To break into the Bite Club.”

  Jayden cringes. “Probably,” he says. “I don’t know. Whatever he did to me... well, he didn’t finish. He got interrupted halfway through the process by a vampire mob, which chased him off. Which I guess is why I only turned half vamp. Too sick to follow through with my plan to go find you. I couldn’t believe it when you found me instead. It was like a dream wrapped in a nightmare.”

  “Oh, Jayden,” I cry, my heart breaking. “Why? Why would you do such a thing?”

  “Because I wanted you to love me,” he says simply, his voice hoarse with pain. “I wanted to be the kind of guy you respected.”

  I rise to my feet, anger churning in my gut. I can’t believe it. Lied to again. Is no man alive worth my trust?

  “And now, instead, you’re a monster who’s put the entire vampire race in danger.”

  “I don’t care about the vampire race,” he moans. “I only care about you.”

  I shake my head. There’s no use arguing. “I’ve got to go,” I tell him. “I’ve got to warn the coven.”

  “I’ll come with you!”

  “Absolutely not! You’ve done enough already.” I squeeze my hands into fists. “God, I should have never taken you away from England in the first place. Magnus was right. Damn it, he was right all along!” Why hadn’t I trusted him? Why had I just assumed he wasn’t looking out for my best interests?

  “What am I supposed to do?” Jayden asks, his eyes wide and frightened.

  “I don’t know. Stake yourself in the heart for all I care,” I growl.

  He looks at me with his big green eyes, his face a study of torment and regret. “I’m so sorry, Sunny,” he murmurs. “I never meant—”

  I catch his expression and part of me melts. Part of me wants nothing more than to take him into my arms and hug him and say I understand and forgive him because he did it for me. He did it to win my love. How can I blame him for something so innocent and pure?

  But I have to. I have to stay strong. It will do no good to be soft on him now. Doing so will only endanger the lives of thousands.

  Suddenly I get a real idea of the kinds of decisions I’ve been asking Magnus to make.

  “Look, I’m sorry,” I say. “I didn’t mean the whole stake thing. But you gotta stay here, okay? When Rayne shows up, let her know what’s going on and have her call me ASAP.”

  “I will,” he says, staring down at the floor. “Sunny, I’m really sorry.”

  I shake my head as I walk out of the room. “I know you are. But it doesn’t do me much good now.”

  19

  “Yes, hi, I’m looking for a guest named Magnus?” I inform the hotel clerk at the Park Hyatt hotel in Shinjuku about an hour later. I thought taking a cab would save me time, but traffic was so terrible, it took twice as long. And gave me way too much time to think about what just happened.

  I can’t believe I actually opened up to Jayden. Gave him my trust. Admitted my love. Only to find out he’s just as bad as the rest of them. A liar. Just like my dad. Just like Magnus. Will I ever meet a guy who will just respect me enough to tell me the freaking truth? God! I can’t believe I trusted Jayden. That I came all the way to Japan to try to save his life— putting everyone I love—and myself—in danger. Blaming myself, thinking I was responsible for his predicament. But no. The idiot did it all to himself. Willingly turned himself into an undead monster, just so he could hook up with me. And, sure, that might sound kind of romantic except for the fact that he then just sat back and let me beat myself up about the whole thing—believing that it was all my fault the poor guy pretty much lost his soul.

  I can’t believe I actually felt sorry for him. I can’t believe I kissed him. I’m so ashamed of myself.

  “Magnus?” the clerk repeats. “No one here by that name. So sorry.”

  I bite my lower lip. Of course there isn’t. They’re here undercover to spy on the Alphas. They’re probably using pseudonyms. “Maybe you’ve seen him?” I ask the clerk without much hope. “He’s about this tall? Kind of looks like Orlando Bloom in Pirates of the Caribbean? Green eyes to die for?”

  The clerk just stares at me. “So sorry,” he repeats. Great. I walk over to a nearby bench and plop down. Here I am, just waiting to confess my sins, and I can’t even find my boyfriend to do it. And seeing as this hotel is at least fifty floors high with nearly two hundred guest rooms, the chances of me finding him on my own are slim to none.

  I try dialing his cell phone again, but it goes right to voice mail. He’s probably in a meeting, as usual. I try my sister, too, but when the call is picked up, it’s not Rayne on the other end. Instead, a high-pitched voice says something I can’t understand in Japanese.

  “Is Rayne there?” I try. “Rayne McDonald?” A gnawing worry starts eating at my stomach. Why would someone else answer her phone? Is she in trouble? “Do you speak English?”

  “Ah, English. Yes,” says the voice on the other end. “I found phone. In alley. You know owner?”

  Oh God. I white-knuckle my mobile, fear now washing over me in a wave. Maybe she just dropped it by mistake. No big deal. She’s already over at the ryoka
n, just waiting for me.

  I hope...

  I try to get more details—what alley, what neighborhood, was it near the Bite Club? But the woman’s halting English doesn’t give me much to work with. Finally I give up, hanging up the phone and pacing the lobby, wondering what I should do. Magnus needs to know what’s going on so he can alert the Consortium. But at the same time, I can’t just hang around here when my sister could be in serious trouble.

  Rayne, why did you have to go play the hero?

  Just as I’m about to give up and head back and look for my sister, I catch movement out of the corner of my eye. I look up to watch the elevator doors slide open. My eyes widen as I recognize the tall blond woman in a crisp blue suit stroll into the lobby. Marcia. Magnus’s annoying Brady Bunch–esque secretary! I’ve never been so happy to see the bitch in all my life!

  “Marcia!” I cry, scrambling up from my seat. “Oh my God, I need to find Magnus. Can you tell me what room he’s in?”

  The vampire arches a cool eyebrow. “Well, well,” she sniffs. “Look what the bats dragged in. Aren’t you supposed to be on some holiday in jolly old England or something?” She looks a little too pleased with herself as she asks. Probably imagining all the trouble I’m going to get in with her boss when he finds out I’m here.

  But I don’t have time to indulge her fantasies at the moment. “Come on, M,” I plead. “You can belittle me later, I promise. But I have to find Magnus now. I’ve got something really important to tell him.”

  “Lord Magnus is in meetings all night with the other members of the Consortium,” Marcia informs me haughtily. “He asked not to be disturbed. Now, if you’ll excuse me...” She pushes by, hip-checking me on purpose, I’m sure of it. She’s still in love with Magnus and hates the fact that he picked a mortal chick over her illustrious vampiric secretarial self.