by Cara E Holt
My father’s face turns frosty and his eyes burn into mine. “You will form the mate bond. This is not up for discussion. Your life and that of your mothers is what matters most in the world to me. Bonded to Beau I will know that you are safe.” Adron empties his glass. “You will start the process tonight in front of our entire coven.”
Eleanor returns just at that moment and announces that my room is ready. My father announces that I should retire and bathe and get ready to be introduced to my family. Beau takes my hand in his and kisses it, his eyes burning with hunger and promise. I can’t help but breathe a sigh of relief when Eleanor escorts me up the stairs and away from them.
My suite is stunning. There is a large living area that is decorated with the opulence of a previous era. Off there is a small study and then there is a large bathroom with an inviting roll top bath. I discover that one of the two doors leading off from the bathroom lead to my bedroom, which must mean that the other one leads to Beau’s. I can’t help but walk over and I open the door to his room and step inside. I eye his bed and shudder inside. How would I achieve what was needed without becoming his physically?
Eleanor prepares me a bath and lost in my troubling thoughts, I undress and slide into the warm, inviting water. I rest my head against the back of the tub and close my eyes. I was exhausted.
A door opens and my eyes find Beau leaning in the doorway that leads through to his room. His eyes dance with amusement and lust as he takes me in as he stalks further into the room. I sink as deep into the water as I can, thanking the mother goddess that the bath was full of bubbles and hiding my naked body from his roving eyes. He sinks to his knees beside my bath and reaches in and grabs the sponge. Not taking his eyes off me, he lathers soap onto it and then holds out his hand. With my heart hammering in my chest, I lift my arm and offer it to him and he begins slowly washing me.
“You’re nervous,” he grins. He drops the sponge in the water and entwines my wet hand with his. “I have waited patiently for you all these years. Now that you are here, I find I can wait no longer.” He leans closer until his mouth is a breath from mine and I prepare myself for what he is about to do. I have to be strong and not flinch away. His lips press lightly against mine and then he coaxes my mouth open and slips his tongue inside. I close my eyes and imagine that it is Drayce’s lips against mine and return his kiss. He eventually pulls away and I open my eyes to find his heavy with lust. He stands to his feet as Eleanor re-enters the room with a towel.
“I’ll take that,” he tells her, taking it from her. “You may go. I will assist her.”
I pale as I watch Eleanor leave the room, leaving me alone with him. He walks back over to my bath and holds out the towel, his eyes predatory and hungry. “Come vixen.”
With a steadying breath, I rise from my bath and step out into the waiting towel. I feel his eyes devour my naked body, his eyes lingering on my breasts, before he wraps the towel around me and slowly secures it in a knot at my chest. He pulls me against him, taking my breath from me and he takes a hold of my chin with his icy fingers.
“One day soon, I will know every inch of this delightful body of yours,” he tells me with determined certainty.
I place a hand on his chest. “But, until that day, you will look but not touch.” I fake a teasing smile.
“You’re a temptress,” he says with a smirk. “You will be hard to resist, but I have waited this long. What are a few more days?”
Days! I was hoping he would say weeks. How the hell was I going to keep him at bay without arousing suspicion as to my purpose here?
“I will come and collect you in an hour and take you down.” He leans down and I ready myself for his lips. I must not flinch. I must not look like I do not welcome his kiss. When his lips meet mine, I wrap my arms around his neck and return his kisses and he groans against my mouth. “I cannot wait to see you come undone for me,” he whispers in my ear, before he vanishes from the room, leaving me cold and shivering from his touch.
I wipe his kiss away with my fingers and shiver in disgust as I remember Drayce’s words to me last night. ‘Do whatever you have to to survive.’ I would do what it needed to save my friend, but there was a line I would not cross no matter the cost.
“How long have you been with my father?” I ask Eleanor as she curls my hair for me.
“I was born into the coven. I am one hundred years old now,” she tells me, her eyes not leaving the task at hand.
There were two types of vampires in this world, those born as vampires and those turned by a vampire. Those born as vampires were the stronger of the two.
“Your father has longed for your reunion,” she tells me. “I don’t think I have ever seen him so happy.”
I nod, watching her through the mirror of the dressing table. “What of Beau? What is he like?”
She smiles at me. “Beau is a beautiful charmer. He has the ladies eating out of the palm of his hands. He is your father’s second and someone he trusts above all others. ”She winks. “He is an experienced lover and you will never go unsatisfied in the physical side of your relationship.”
“You and he have, err?” I ask, trying to hide my surprise.
Eleanor laughs out loud at my face. “We have remained hidden as a coven and there are only so many people you can sleep with over centuries. Beau has been my lover in the past.”
“Okay, then. So basically most people in this coven have slept with one another?”
Eleanor shrivels up her nose. “Well, not if they are related, we do also have relations with the witch coven that is bound to us.”
“Will they be here tonight?” I ask curiously.
“Oh yes. They played a pivotal role in keeping you safe until it was your time to be born.”
I nod and fall silent as she continues to style my hair. I have never met dark witches before, so I was curious. They were the ones that would be the most difficult to convince of my loyalty to my father.
BLOOD TIES
A short while later I am standing before the large ornate mirror in what was now my bedroom until this mission was over. I am wearing a black strapless ball gown of Black that had netting underneath it to make it flare out at the bottom. Eleanor had left my hair down with loose curls and kept my make up simple but finished it with a ruby red lipstick.
“You look perfect,” Eleanor tells me as walks around me, admiring her own work.
A knock at the door makes me jump in my heightened state, and without being told to enter Beau strides into the room. He is dressed in a tailored dark blue suit that fits him perfectly. Even I had to admit he looked very handsome. He takes me in from head to toe and smiles in satisfaction.
“You look good enough to eat vixen.”
“As do you,” I reply, playing my part as I slowly take him in as he just did with me.
He holds out a blue velvet box. “I come bearing a gift.” He walks toward me and I turn from the mirror and face him. He holds the box between us and flips the lid up to reveal a beautiful diamond necklace.
“Wow,” I exclaim. “This is stunning.” It truly was. It looks ancient and very expensive.
“It was my mother’s and now it is yours. Turn around,” He orders.
I turn back to face the mirror and lift my hair to one side. His fingers place the necklace around my neck and I can feel his chilly breath against my ear. He fastens the clasp and then takes my hair and places it down my back.
“Beautiful,” he says. His eyes burn with possession and pride. He leans in and runs his nose along my neck. “When did you last feed?”
“Yesterday,” I lie. “I came across a group of humans camping.”
Beau grins. “Did you drain them?”
I wink. “Almost.”
Beau places his hands on my hips and pulls me flush against him. “How often do you feed?”
“Three times a day,” I tell him and see his eyes flare in surprise.
“My mate has an insatiable appetite,” He grins wicke
dly as he inhales my scent once more. “I hope that appetite extends to the bedroom.”
I smirk. “That is something you will have to wait to find out.” I tell him in a teasing tone.
He smiles a slow and predatory smile in response. “Some things are worth waiting for vixen.” He drops a slow lingering kiss on the vein in my neck and then steps back. “We should make our entrance.”
Beau offers me his arm and I take it and allow him to guide me out of the room and down the stairs. I can hear music and the sound of laughter and people conversing. My vampire sight and hearing reaches out in front of us. There were at least eighty people in that room. All of them waiting for my arrival. My heart thumps anxiously in my chest.
“Worry not, vixen. They will all worship at your feet,” Beau reassures me.
Beau pushes the doors open and we stand in the entrance. One by one people notice us and as more do the room falls silent. My father is animatedly chatting with another man and when he sees me, he smiles with pride.
“Everyone, it is my absolute pleasure and honour to introduce you to my daughter, Elara Mortensen.”
I feel the eyes of every person in the room take me, studying me from my head to my toes. Beau guides me into the room and we walk towards my father who has now taken up centre spot on a raised area to the back of the room.
“Tonight we celebrate my coven. Tonight we are ever closer to achieving our goal. In a few days we will perform the ritual and bring back my mate. Then we will take back what they took from us and destroy those that sought to end us!” He says his words with such passion and fire that it shocks me.
Everyone around the room cheers and claps, and my father hushes them with his hands. “Centuries ago, I promised my daughter to my second in command, Beau Deveraux. Beau and Elara will ensure that the blood of our coven continues and that we grow in power and breed the next generation. Tonight they begin the ritual of their mate bond.” Smiling, he gestures for us to step forward and Beau guides me so that we stand in front of my father.
I look around us as a group of stunning looking women all dressed in beautiful black silk gowns form a circle around us. I look down at the floor and notice a ritual circle there. I take in the women and realise that they must be the dark witches. My father reaches over and takes my right wrist in his hand and he takes Beau’s wrist with his other hand.
“Tonight before this coven Elara Mortensen and Beau Deveraux join by blood. What blood joins together, nothing may part.” With a look of utter pride on his face, he lifts my wrist to Beau’s mouth at the same time as he lifts Beau’s to mine. “Drink and become one.”
With my heart beating like the clappers, I have no choice but to sink my fangs into the vein in Beau’s wrist, as he breaks the skin and drinks from me. Beau’s eyes roll back in his head as the bloodlust hits him and he reaches for my waist and pulls me against him. His dark eyes hold mine as he drinks from me. Around us I can hear the witches begin to chant and I am terrified by the menacing sound of their voices. I had never heard of vampires performing the mate bond needing witches present, and that put the fear of the horned god into me.
As we drink from each other a black mist forms around us and it swirls in circles until I can see nothing around us, only the ancient vampire in front of me. His blood tasted of power. He tasted of sin and darkness. The witches suddenly finish their chant and I feel something stirring in me that I cannot explain. Beau pulls his fangs from my wrist and I follow suit. He seals my wound and I seal his and then he pulls me against him roughly and his lips press against mine, kissing me with fire and want. I do nothing at first, shocked by his kiss, but then I remember that I have to make my father believe I want to be here with him, so I play my part and kiss him back.
All around us everyone cheers and the music starts up again. “Celebrate tonight, my coven. Our dawn is coming.” My father raises his glass and everyone raises theirs to the toast.
“Come vixen,” Beau demands as he presses his hand on my back and guides me down to the dance floor. I look behind me at where my father is standing and see him talking with a stunning-looking woman with long burgundy red hair that falls to about her waist. She wears a red silk gown that clings to her curves.
“Who is that?” I ask Beau.
He follows my gaze. “That is the high Priestess, Mortiana Toscano.”
“She is very beautiful.” And she truly is. Her dark brown eyes fall upon me, as if she has heard my words, and she raises her glass to me. “Why did the witches perform a spell? I have never heard of a vampire mate bond needing Wiccan magic?”
Beau swings me around and pulls me back against him. “The spell will help to speed up the mate bond and forge a greater connection.”
I dread asking the next question. “How much will it speed up the bond?”
“We will only need to drink from each other two more times for the bond to be complete.” Beau watches my face as he delivers this news.
“That is quick,” I comment, trying to steady my voice, when inside I am in a state of panic.
“Can you feel it? That pull?” Beau asks me as we dance together.
I try to clear my mind and it is there, this awareness of his presence. I can feel him inside of me, as if his soul circles mine and my soul responds, wanting to feel his. “I feel it,” I tell him and his eyes flare with satisfaction.
“Soon we will feel each other’s emotions, to find each other wherever we are in the world. Your pain will be my pain and my needs will be your needs. We will burn for each other in a way we have never wanted another.” He leans into me and inhales my scent and a terrible sense of fear creeps along my spine. Two days. Two more days and I will be bound to him and then would I be able to achieve what I came here to do? If he could feel my thoughts he would likely know that my intentions were not genuine. I was on borrowed time.
When the song ends, Beau guides me over to my father and Mortiana and I feel the dark witches magic reach out and test mine.
“She has powerful magic in her Adron. The dark magic that held her soul in stasis is a part of her.” The witch smiles cunningly. “She is without doubt one of us. We should initiate her into the coven as soon as possible. Her power will be useful for the ritual.”
My father nods, his eyes staying on me as he listens to what she has to say. “Her mother was a powerful witch. That was why the Blacks wanted her. She is her mother’s daughter.”
Mortiana reaches out for my hand and grasps it in hers. Her eyes become black and from somewhere inside of me I reach out to the blackness in her blood and pull it to me. “Do you feel that, my child? You were born from the magic of my coven. It is a part of you, a part of your soul.”
I am chilled to the bone by her words. Was I dark? Was there an evil in my soul that had been lying dormant, waiting to be reborn?
“I look forward to you joining our coven,” Mortiana says, her dark eyes studying me. I feel like she can see past my charade and that she knows I am a liar.
Joining a coven was a promise by blood. You became joined to the others in your coven by an invisible connection. The magic of each witch fed and blended with the others. I would be making an oath to serve this coven above all else and I had no idea what breaking that oath could mean. It was at this point that I wish I had paid more attention when I was younger and we were taught about the rites and rules of joining a coven.
“I’d like to dance with my daughter if I may?” Adron asks Beau, who nods his head and offers my hand to him. The feminist in my bristles. How about he asks me for permission?
My father leads me onto the dance floor and he signals to the band with a spin of his finger and the music changes, becoming something old and unfamiliar. “What is this song?”
“It was your mother’s favourite. It is an ancient melody from our time.” His eyes glaze over with memories and I can tell that he is lost to his thoughts of my mother.
“You miss her very much, don’t you?”
Adron winces as
if he is in physical pain. “She was my love. Without her, I am incomplete. I have missed her every waking moment of my long life.”
“I found her diary you know?” I tell him. “She wrote in it every day and it was clear how much she loved you.”
Adron smiles. “I knew the moment I met her that she was mine and I damned the rules that separated us and vowed to break them down and take what I wanted.” He spits his words with venom and revenge. “They fear what power a hybrid could have. That they could be more powerful and that they may not be able to control them.”
“I know. It is unjust and cruel. The way they paint us as unstable and psychotic creatures who crave evil is truly beyond words.” I reply. This was one area where my father and I agreed on something.
“Our day will come my daughter. We will take each and every one of them down and make them crawl at our feet.”
“What about the HDS? I heard rumours you were once part of their cause?”
His eyes narrow, and he purses his mouth. “I was once, but they wanted to reach a peace agreement with the supernatural council. I realised early on that they did not share the same vision as me. Hybrids are the elite race, you are more powerful, stronger and faster and you deserve to rule supreme over the other supernatural races. I chose to leave the cause and strike out on my own.”
I look to my right and see Beau dancing with Mortiana. They look very comfortable in each other’s company.
My father follows my gaze, and he laughs. “You are already feeling possessive of your mate. That is good.”
“Have they been lovers?” I ask curiously as I watch them dance together.
My father shrugs his shoulders. “It matters not. You two will want no other once you are mated.”
“But what if she still wants him?”
This brings a loud laugh from my father. “Mortiana is not a woman who gives herself to one man. She takes many lovers and casts them aside as quickly as she finds them.”
For the rest of the evening I am introduced to various members of my father’s coven and Beau has me dancing with him for most of the night. Everett steps in to dance with me at one point and he laughs in delight at Beau’s scowl as he watches him dancing with me.
