2 Vampires, Warlocks, And Exes (12 page)

“How could you?” I asked her. “
How could you be so cruel?”

She scoffed. “Oh
, please. Like he wasn’t equally cruel to me? I wanted to come back to him after Leo made me a vampire. I begged him!  I told him we could be young together forever, but he rejected me! He told me that he could never forgive me for sacrificing our child.” She rolled her eyes. “Obviously, he just wanted a baby factory, not a lifelong mate.”

I shook my head. “That’s not true. He wanted both, but he fell in love with a human so he had to play with the cards he was dealt. He would have loved you until the day you died of old age. And then your children would have lived very lengthy lives to remind him of the love that he had for you.”

She stood up and grabbed a fistful of my hair. “You bitch!” she screamed. “You think you know him so well? You think he loves you? Well, obviously not as much as you thought if someone as powerful as him couldn’t sense a little potion on my lips!” I couldn’t help it but I winced right then, fueling her fire. “Maybe the truth is that he couldn’t wait to get his hands on me so he
chose
to ignore it!” she continued. “He moved inside of me with so much hunger, so much raw need that it must have been building up since the day I left! He came inside of me with so much force that I almost had trouble containing him. ME…a goddamn vampire!!!  He’ll never fuck you with that much passion! Ever!!”

She released her grip on me and stormed out of the room, leaving me alone with my thoughts. I tried reasoning with myself, telling myself that she was wrong, but I couldn’t see past those horrible images of them together.
My time with Vance had been the best sex of my life, but he didn’t look at me the way he did her. I’d never seen him so elated; he’d touched her with so much tenderness and amazement. He may have been confused about the year, but he definitely knew what he was doing and who he was with. I didn’t know how I could ever be with him again with that knowledge. I almost wished Maria would have drained me so I wouldn’t have to feel this aching hole in my chest. I sobbed hysterically as the pictures of them continued to flash through my mind. It just hurt so goddamn much. I started hyperventilating and instead of trying to fight it, I welcomed the blackout.

*****

I don’t know how long I was out
that time but I awoke to the sound of my name.

“
Karli!” Vance shouted. “Karli, where are you?”

Before
I had a chance to respond, Vance, Leo, and a beautiful, twenty-something brunette were bursting into the room charging towards me. Leo’s nostrils flared as his eyes were instinctively drawn to the matching bite marks on my thighs. Maria had intentionally left evidence. Bitch. His eyes flashed with rage before he composed himself.

Seeing Vance was like being stabbed in the gut
. Unfortunately for me, I knew exactly what that felt like. Before he could reach me I shouted, “Vance, Erica is in here somewhere. You have to find her!”

He halted. “What?” he asked. “How do you know?”

“Just trust me!” I insisted. “Go find her.”

He cast a wary
glance in Leo’s direction. “Go,” Leo said. “I’ll stay with Karli.”

Vance hesitated, but
nodded his head. “Tara, you go left, I’ll go right.”

“Got it
,” she replied and they were off to begin their search.

Leo took off
his shirt and covered me. He nodded towards the marks. “Are you okay, my love? She drank from you?”

I looked
away in shame as Erica and Vance walked into the room. Vance moved towards me in a rather territorial stance and glared at Leo. “What’s going on?” he asked.

Leo looked at me, waiting for a response. “Nothing
,” I snarled.

Vance
seemed taken aback by my tone. Erica cleared her throat, prompting me to look up at her. Oh Christ, she was a mess. Poor Erica must have been just as heartbroken as I was. “Are you okay, Kar?” she asked.

“Are you?” I countered.

She started bawling. “Omigod, K, I’m so sorry. I had no idea he was connected to her!”

“It’s okay
, Eri,” I assured her.

“No, it’s not,
” she insisted. “I should have known something was wrong. I didn’t figure it out until…until…”

“Would somebody please tell me what the fuck is going on?” Vance shouted.

I looked up and noticed that Tara had joined us again. “The area is clear,” she said. “Now, ladies, could you please tell us what happened here?”

I shook my head as I pulled on my bindings. The effort was futile. “I’ll tell you what I can
, but will somebody please untie me first?”

Leo tugged with his supernatural strength but couldn’t break them. “I can’t get them undone. They feel infused with something.”

“They are,” I said. “Jake said they could only be undone with a counter binding spell.”

“Jake?” Vance asked. “As in
, Erica’s husband?”

“Oh
, God!” Erica cried. Now she was bordering on hysteria.

“Nice, Vance
,” I snapped.

He gave me a confused look and awkwardly tried to calm Erica. When she could speak again she said, “
Karli, I can’t help you. He…he…”

Exasperated, Vance threw up his hands and muttered something in Latin.
The leather straps fell away instantly. Rubbing my wrists in relief I asked, “He
what
, Erica?”

She looked down in shame and whispered, “He siphoned my magic.”

Seventeen

“He what?” The four of us shouted in unison.

Her cheeks reddened. “The binding spell of thirteen…the ritual I did with my sisters. It’s all gone. He not only took my heightened powers, he took
all
of my powers. He tricked me into coming here. We were going to do some…uh, role playing.” She blushed again. “When I got here, there was all this freaky shit set up, like a sacrificial altar or something. At first, I thought he was just being really kinky, until Maria walked in the room and he took a knife to his chest…” She held up her hand, which was caked in dried blood. “And he sliced my hand open.”

I gasped. “
Omigod, Erica. Then what happened?”

“I don’t know
,” she replied. “The last thing I remember was the cutting…and then I woke up alone with dried blood all over my hand.”

I pulled her into my arms. “Oh
, honey, I am so sorry. We’ll figure out a way to get your magic back. There’s got to be a way.”

“I don’t care about the magic. I just want to know why he did it. Why
they
did it.”

Vance cleared his throat. “Blood magic is some pretty powerful stuff. You don’t mess with it lightly. It can carry severe consequences.”

“What could they be after?” Tara asked.

“Well, I did hear them talking a little…it’s when my brain was going fuzzy so I’m not too sure. Something about removing a blood bond.” She looked at Leo. “Wait
; something about removing her bond to
you
. Why would you have a blood bond with that psychotic bitch?”

Leo looked away in shame. “We have the strongest blood bond that exists. I am her maker.”

“Oh, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me!” she exclaimed.

“Afraid not
,” I said apologetically.

“I felt it,
” Leo whispered. “I felt it being pulled away but I didn’t understand it at the time.”

I glanced at him. “
That’s a good thing, right? That you two no longer share a bond? ”

Vance and Leo share
d a troubled look. “No, it’s not,” Leo replied.

“Why?
” I asked.

“Because it
means that I cannot track her, which was likely her intent. And we will have to worry indefinitely about her attacking you again, which she no doubt also intended. She thrives on others’ fear.”

Vance grabbed my shoulders, trying to pull me into an embrace
, but I stepped back. I couldn’t bear his touch knowing he’d had his hands all over
her
no more than a few hours ago. “Karli, I promise I will find her. I’ll make her pay for this.”

My
eyes glistened with unshed tears. “Yeah, I’m sure you will find her, Vance. Or she’ll find you. The question is, what will you
really
do with her once she’s in your hands?”

He looked guilty but I couldn’t bring my
self to blatantly call him out in front of everyone for sleeping with Maria.  I turned to Leo. “So blood bonds can be broken?”

Vance’s eyes glittered with triumph as he answered. “Yes, they can. I don’t know the exact process but I can look into it. We can get started as soon as I figure it out.” 

Leo looked profoundly hurt, possibly thinking that I wanted to sever our bond. I glared at Vance. “First of all, I wasn’t asking you. Secondly, I
don’t want
to break my bond with Leo so please wipe that expression off your face. I was just curious.”

Vance
looked stunned.
What is wrong with you, Karli? Why are you acting like this? Why are you so angry?

I
focused with all my might and managed to put up a mental brick wall. He flinched in shock, probably because I’d never been able to block him before. Leo, Tara, and Erica were watching us, clearly uncomfortable with our silent exchange. Leo seemed to pick up on my train of thought and said, “Karli, we can discuss this later.”

“Discuss what later?” Vance
shouted. “What the hell are you two hiding?”

“Nothing
,” Leo and I said in unison.

Vance stood there in stony silence. Erica said, “Okay, well now that that’s settled, can we ple
ase get the hell out of here?” She shivered. “I’ve had more than enough of this place.”

Vance replied, “Yes, of course
. We can take your statements after you’ve had some rest.” He glanced at Leo. “It’s an hour before sunrise. Leo, do you think you have time to give Erica a lift? I’m going to take Karli home with me after I drop Tara off at the station.”

Leo turned towards me. “Is that okay with you?”

“No, actually it’s not,” I replied. I narrowed my eyes at Vance. “I’d prefer that
you
take Erica home, Vance. I’d feel much safer at Leo’s place for the time being.” I looked up at Leo expectantly. “Leo, would you mind if I stayed with you for a while?”

“No, of course not
,” he said. Vance and Erica both stood with their mouths open in shock. Tara looked like she wanted to vaporize into the ether just to get the hell out of the room.

Vance charged forward and reached me in two long strides. He braced his hands on my shoulders,
making me shudder. “Karli, what the hell are you doing?”

I shrugged his hands away. “Please don’t touch me.” I looked away quickly because tears were starting to threaten my eyes again.

“Karli, what’s---”

Leo stepped in between us, obviously sensing my pending outburst. “Vance,
Karli is shaken up. I think you would be wise to respect her wishes and let us leave quietly. I will call you later in the morning and we can discuss our next course of action where Maria is concerned.”

I felt him trying to eradicate the wall I had built but I didn’t acknowledge it. I took Leo by the hand a
s he led me towards the open door. Before walking outside, I glanced over my shoulder at Erica. “Are you going to be okay?” I asked her.

She nodded. “Yeah, I just need some time alone.”

“I’ll call you later okay, Eri?”

“Uh huh.” She hung her head low and walked out with
the two detectives at her side.

I stayed at Leo’s for two days before I
was ready to face Vance. I went through countless mood changes; from angry, to sad, then hopeless, and onto my current state: resolved. I’d resolved to not let this break me. Sure, I could wallow in my self-pity and it would even be justified to most. But not me. I knew that deep down, if I looked hard enough, there was a stronger version of myself. Someone who could face the man that had eviscerated my heart and not shed a single tear. Someone who wouldn’t let this ruin her life.

Leo
asked me many times why I was so upset, but I couldn’t bring myself to speak the words aloud. He was understanding and gave me my space without pushing the issue further. That’s one of the things I appreciate about him. He can be overbearing sometimes, but he’s always careful not to suffocate me. Vance called Leo incessantly since my phone was still sitting in my apartment. With Leo acting as my proxy on the phone, I agreed to meet Vance that night in the club.

As he
lifted the hatch leading to his office, Leo asked, “Are you sure you’re going to be okay?”