The Blood Trilogy

by K Loraine

  A family. I wasn’t under any assumptions that this woman truly wanted a family. She wanted power. “Where have you been spending your time?” I asked. “If I’d known you were going to be gone, I could have done a better job of preparing my sister for you. She might have handled your arrival better.”

  “It’s a true test of her will to get to see me like this. She doesn’t have to like me. She has to fear me.”

  She strode so smoothly it appeared as though she was gliding across the floor toward the fireplace. Eerie and a blatant display of her power. Her fingers traced the rim of the wine glass Sorcha had been drinking from and she sneered. “Bottled blood? Why would you drink this when you can have pure blood from the source any time you wish?”

  “My sister…hasn’t hunted since Callie became ill. She doesn’t like the addiction to the vein.”

  “It’s not an addiction. It’s nature. We are predators. We hunt to not only feed, but to feel the fear in the fluttering pulse at our prey’s throat, to taste the heat of their heart’s blood. Drinking bottled blood is weak.”

  I shrugged. “I told her the same. She doesn’t understand. It wasn’t something I wanted to fight.”

  “Go then, you need to hunt. I’ve been depriving you of the thrill for too long by providing a donor each night. As soon as your sister bends to my will, she’ll be free. Don’t worry. She’ll break before long.”

  I was out the door and in the woods before her last statement could echo off the wood-paneled walls. I didn’t need to feed. That was the last thing I wanted. I needed to find my little bird and make sure she hadn’t forgotten me.

  Olivia

  A week had passed since Sorcha and Lucas had found me, and Logan wasn’t ever far from my side. And he didn’t even know the depth of the dangerous situation I was in. The bruises on my arm from Sorcha’s rough grip and the one in the crook of my elbow from the needle that took my blood had finally begun to heal. Now they were turning a sickly yellowish-green. I’d done my best to hide them, keeping my long sleeves rolled down at all times. Even now, in the makeshift pump shower I made sure to pull my shirt over my head before opening the curtain. Usually I braved the short walk to my tent in a towel because I took my showers after most people went to bed. Training all day made showering in the morning a waste. I squeezed my hair with the towel after drying my body, wringing out as much water as I could before sliding a pair of thin sweatpants over my hips.

  When I slid the curtain along the line mounted between trees, I let out a squeak of surprise to find Logan leaning against a big pine. He wasn’t looking at me. Instead, the man had a knife in one hand and a wooden stake in the other. He worked the blade over the tip of the stake, sharpening it until the wood was a deadly weapon.

  “Logan,” I said, wishing my throat wasn’t so tight.

  He looked up with a smirk. “Liv. How was your shower?” He slid the knife into a sheath on his belt and the stake into a holster on his thigh.

  “Cold.” A shiver rocked me as I said the word, and my teeth chattered.

  “C’mere,” he murmured, stepping forward and pulling me to him without much warning. He felt good. Warm and strong and sure.

  His big hands rubbed my arms, and I pressed my face against his chest, taking in the leather scent of him. Even without the jacket, he smelled good.

  “So, why were you stalking my shower? Hoping to see me naked?” I asked after I stopped shivering. He stiffened against me, his breath caught in his chest.

  “I…wouldn’t mind.”

  I had to fight a giggle at the obvious discomfort my teasing question left him with. “I was kidding.”

  “I wasn’t.”

  Glancing up his tall frame, I stared into his eyes, so warm, so open, and fought against the instinct to compare him to Cashel. He didn’t belong in this moment. Cashel wasn’t real. Logan was.

  Logan’s eyes drifted over me, down my body until they stopped on my breasts. My hair was still damp enough that it left my shirt wet and nearly transparent. I wasn’t wearing a bra. He could see pretty much everything I had to offer.

  I covered my nipples with my hands. “I didn’t… I mean, I thought we were taking it slow.”

  He tucked a damp lock of my hair behind my ear and let his fingers trail down my neck. “That doesn’t change how much I want you.”

  That spark of desire lit inside me again, nowhere near the inferno Cashel caused, but it was there, desperate for care and attention. I wanted it to be the right choice, so badly. I wanted free of the connection to a man who had lied and used me. To a man who’d broken me.

  My hands shifted, and I uncovered the translucent fabric of my shirt. “Kiss me, Logan.” I tilted my head up and waited for his full, soft lips to find mine.

  But they didn’t. A throat cleared behind us.

  “Logan, if you’re done staking your claim on Olivia, I need to discuss our migration plan with you.” Hector’s voice sent heat creeping up my cheeks. Embarrassment made me wish for a hole to open up in the ground. My arms went back to hide my breasts, and I turned to walk away from both of them. “Get to bed, Olivia. It’s after dark. You shouldn’t be out in the open,” Hector called after me.

  I wondered if Logan had told him about the attack on us. If Hector knew that Sorcha had found me even with the protective amulet they’d provided. He must’ve said something, but I was surprised to know it had taken so long for the hunters to move. I was a danger. A target. A sitting duck.

  The nights were the hardest. As I lay in my bed, trying to get comfortable on the foldable cot, I couldn’t help my mind drifting to thoughts of Cashel. Of my time with him. Doubt crept into my thoughts, coloring everything I knew. I’d stopped dreaming of him weeks ago, but tonight was different. My traitorous memories assaulted me with everything I loved about him. The rich, earthy scent of bergamot coated me like a blanket, and I whispered his name while I was still in that twilight between sleep and wakefulness. “Cashel, please touch me.”

  I wanted to push my body’s need for him away, but I couldn’t. This time my dreams were filled with him from the moment I fell asleep.

  Heated kisses worked their way up my legs and thighs; his cool hands were rough and gripped me almost desperately as he whispered my name.

  “Fuck, little bird, I missed you. Your soft skin, your scent, your taste. All of you.” His words nearly had me coming apart. I couldn’t take the reverent tone, the need and raw honesty.

  “I need you,” I moaned when his hands parted my folds and one long finger slid deep inside me.

  His lips closed over my clit without wasting any time. He didn’t want to seduce me. He didn’t need to. I was wet and ready the moment he touched me. One finger became two, and his lips became his tongue. He brought me to the crest of orgasm and backed away, dark eyes staring into my soul. “I told you I’d always come for you. Wait for me, little bird.”

  Then he returned to my aching pussy and continued sinking those talented fingers deep inside. I was a moaning, writhing mess, hands curling in his thick hair, heart breaking all over again. I cried his name and came apart with his mouth on me, my head tossed back, eyes closed tight. Then there was pressure at the juncture of my thighs, and I was flung off the edge all over again. I was boneless, relaxed and floating on a river of bliss. Until a branch snapped in the distance and everything I’d been feeling vanished. My eyes snapped open in the dark.

  “Cashel?” I whispered, but there was no answer. My thighs trembled and ached, and between my legs, I was soaked. A dream had never done that to me before. Not once.

  Sitting up, I stared into the darkness, willing my eyes to adjust, afraid of what I might see. I grabbed the flashlight from under my cot and clicked it on, prepared for the beam to reveal my vampire. But nothing was there. It had been a dream. Hadn’t it?

  I turned off the light and fell back onto my bed, my chest tightening with apprehension as the familiar scent of bergamot drifted to my nose. It was the scent of vampires. The scent
of Cashel.

  Pressing my fingers to my lips, I tried to control my warring emotions. Fear and excitement twisted me in two directions. I should have gotten up. Should have taken my flashlight and made my way to Logan’s tent. But part of me didn’t want them to know. If they thought I’d been dreaming of Cash, they might send me away. And if it hadn’t been a dream… well, Cashel could kill them all before they’d have the chance to defend themselves. I couldn’t bring that on them. In fact. I shouldn’t be here at all.

  I needed to leave before they found me again and decimated this camp.

  Tonight.

  8

  Cashel

  The hardest thing I’d ever done was walk out of Olivia’s tent without telling her that yes, I was there. It was real. I’d come for her. The instant she breathed my name, I couldn’t resist touching her. And when she begged me…I had to take my chance at bringing her pleasure, reminding her of what we had. My cock throbbed behind the fly of my slacks. Living that dream with my little bird may have resulted in release for her, but I was still intensely unsatisfied. I ran hard and fast, my hunger building as my persistent arousal reminded me of everything I had lost. Just a small taste from her femoral artery hadn’t been enough. I wanted her blood almost more than I’d wanted to claim her body again.

  I could have taken her with me then and there, but if the hunters had seen me, they would only come after her. I had enough to worry about with Anne. A war with hunters wasn’t on my list of priorities. I’d just have to return for Olivia and convince her to come with me in secret.

  When I was within five miles of the manor, I stopped and searched with my enhanced senses for the beating heart of an animal I could feed from. I had to stop allowing myself human blood fresh from the source. It was fucking with my judgment and my hard-won control. But Anne left a woman in my room nightly, and it was nearly impossible for me to stop. If I did, she would figure out I still craved Olivia.

  “She’s let you out to play, then?” Eliana’s voice was low and measured, barely a whisper on the wind.

  I turned in the dense woods, searching for her. “Where are you?”

  “Far enough from you to keep you from killing me.” Her voice bounced off the trees, floating in the air.

  “Do you really fear me, El?”

  “I fear what you could do to me. I didn’t survive you last time. I won’t this time either.”

  I shook my head and shoved my hands into my pockets. “I’m sorry. For everything. I shouldn’t have left you alone.”

  “And Olivia? You still love her? Even though she’s with that hunter?”

  My teeth clenched hard enough I could hear them grinding. I spun around, staring from tree to tree. “What do you know of it?”

  Eliana dropped like a cat, landing silently in a crouch at my feet. Then she stood and locked gazes with me. “I’ve been keeping a watchful eye on her and her new love. Oh, his head was filled with all the naughty things he planned to do with her.”

  I took a sharp breath and forced the rage burning in my blood down to a simmer. “Leave her be, Eliana. She’s nothing to you.”

  “Is that what you’re doing, Cashel? Leaving her be looks a lot like stalking her.”

  “I…just needed one more time.”

  Her expression said everything I needed to know. It was filled with pity. “You’re pathetic. She’s killed all the bad boy inside you and turned you into a simpering fool.”

  “What are you doing here? Surely you’ve got some council business to deal with.”

  She frowned and cocked her head to one side. “I’ve been invited to stay and serve at the Queen’s side.”

  “What? I wasn’t told.”

  “You’re a liability, not a valued advisor. Of course she wouldn’t tell you. I’m feeling rather peckish at the moment. Care to hunt for some humans? I’d certainly like to see what the blood of the sun tastes like.”

  Glancing up at the sky, I rolled my shoulders and assessed the moon’s position. Not enough time left until sunrise. I wouldn’t be able to stop Eliana and get to Olivia in time. Especially if I needed to get us somewhere safe. Unless I fed on her. That couldn’t happen in my current state. I’d drain her.

  “I’ll have Martin deliver some of our stores to your room.”

  “It’ll never be safe for her, you know.”

  Eliana’s words sent a chill through me. She was right. Unless I bonded with Olivia, made her mine and ruined her blood for everyone else, she’d always be in danger. I had to figure out how to get us to safety. Whatever it took to keep my little bird flying free, I’d do it.

  “She hates you, Cashel,” Eliana said. “I saw it in her head. She wants you out of her life. She wants the hunter.”

  Those words hit me like a whip’s lash across already broken skin. Olivia couldn’t. I rushed Eliana, grabbing her by the throat and shoving her hard against a tree. I’d been feeding nightly on human blood. I was stronger than she could possibly compete with. A turned vampire couldn’t compare to a born one. “Why are you lying to me?”

  “I’m not,” she managed through my grip on her windpipe. “You need to know the truth. She’s in love with him. I saw it in his mind.”

  “I should rip your heart from your chest and feed on it.”

  She laughed and let out a moan. “Go ahead. You already did it once before. Besides, I’ve always liked it rough.”

  I let go of her and staggered backward, not caring that she fell to the ground. “I…you betrayed me with my father.”

  “And what about her? Olivia. The girl who wanted nothing more than freedom from you. She betrayed you as well.”

  “Are you trying to get me to kill you? Put you out of your misery?”

  “I’m trying to show you the truth. She doesn’t want you. You lost her. Move on. Stop being such a pathetic excuse for a vampire.”

  “You know nothing about me.”

  Her gaze softened slightly. “I know you’re lost. How are we going to find you again?” She got to her feet, brushing the dirt off her ass and rolling her head from side to side with a low groan. “It’ll be fun trying to bring you back.”

  “You won’t bring me anywhere. I’m not lost. I’m finally where I’m supposed to be.”

  “Is that what you think? You murdered your family, your king, in cold blood. For a human. You’d never have done anything like that for me. And you told me you loved me more times than I can count.”

  My whole body hummed with the warning of the coming sunrise. We needed to have this fight, to talk through everything that happened between us, but now was not the time.

  “We can’t do this here.”

  “This isn’t over, Cashel. You don’t get to so easily brush me off.” Her eyes held a wild desperation. “I can smell your human’s desire all over you. It’s not right. You are the Blackthorne prince. You should be loyal to your kind, not fucking a human in secret. The council is coming for your pet. You might have been pardoned, but she’s still guilty. She killed them, same as you.”

  I reached for her, frantic she’d ruin everything. “When?”

  “Soon. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll let them have her.”

  She laughed and took off at a run, a blur of dark hair and pale skin. I chased after her, tackling her to the ground.

  “Get off me, Cashel.”

  “The sun is rising, El. You’ll never make it to safety in time.”

  “What do you care?”

  “I care. I’ve always cared about what happens to you.”

  Rage flashed in her eyes. “Liar. You abandoned me. You broke my mind because of what your father made me do. Because of what he took without permission.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “If you think I willingly gave my body to Elias Blackthorne, you’re wrong. You know what he was capable of. He hated that I wanted you. So he got rid of me. I just never thought you’d believe him.”

  “I saw it. In your head.”

&nbs
p; She clenched her jaw. “No. You went deeper into my mind than I could withstand and found the grenade your father planted there. You destroyed my will. Left me a shell of myself. You. Killed. Me.” A tear trailed down her cheek. “And you’ll end up doing the same to her.”

  “He—”

  “Elias raped me. He set you up and felt nothing even close to guilt. I was never willingly unfaithful to you. Not like you were. I wanted you to love me.”

  “I did.”

  She wrenched herself from my grasp and got to her feet. “No. You have to have a heart to love. Yours is nothing but a blackened lump of coal. Just like your father’s.”

  “I am nothing like him.”

  “Oh, really? Tell me, Cashel, does your pet know about me? Does she know you promised me forever and gave me nothing?”

  I nod. “She does.”

  “Are you still in love with her?”

  “You said it yourself, I don’t have a heart. I can’t love anyone. Not her. Not you.”

  Her brow furrowed, and everything in her posture tensed. “Fuck you, Cashel. I hope she gives you exactly what you gave me. A broken mind and an eternity of heartbreak.”

  Helping her to her feet, I made a decision that twisted my gut. I had to make her want me bad enough she’d keep my secret. “It’s her blood. Nothing more. I’ve had it and I can’t stop the craving for her. It’s like a drug. I need to detox. I need help.” I pressed our foreheads together. “I don’t love her. I crave her. Maybe what I needed all this time was you.”

  Those wide eyes softened. “You really never loved her?”

  I shook my head. “Never. Her blood is dangerously addictive. It drove me to do things I’d never normally do.”

  “Cashel,” she whispered.

  “Please, save me from this,” I begged. “Save me so we can be together.”

  I shoved her against a tree and took her lips with mine. It worked. She melted into the kiss and before I could back away, she grew frantic, hungry, desperate for more. Her hands threaded through my hair and she let out soft little mewling sounds. I cupped her face and pushed her away from me. “Not here, El. Not now. The sun is rising and I have a duty to the Queen.”