Blood Enchanted (Blood Enchanted, Book 1): A Vampire Hunter Paranormal Romance Series (5 page)

He nodded his head enthusiastically, making his over-long dark fringe flop in his eyes. A grubby hand brushed it away and steel grey stared up at me.

"Look after these. And if they aren't waiting for me afterwards, I'll skin you alive."

I handed him my jacket first and then the Svante in its sheath. A murmur of hushed whispers swept around the courtyard, letting me know there were exactly twenty people watching this scene.

Gavin's eyes bugged out at the precious horde I handed over. But ever the opportunist, he said, "What do I get for a job well done?"

I smiled, I'm not sure it was the sort of smile you should offer a young teenager.

"I'll take you on a hunt," I offered.

He contemplated that for a second, then came back with, "I get to stake one."

It hadn't been unexpected, Gavin could drive a hard bargain, but my sword and jacket were worth more than enough for the payment.

"You're on."

He held the items close to his chest, flicking sharp eyes around the area. "Deal," he shot back, not needing to offer a hand to shake. Gavin and I had an arrangement, verbal contracts were our law.

"Good," I replied, then spun on my heel and walked back to a patiently waiting and slightly amused Alain.

"You ready,
Bébé
?" he murmured, eyebrows raised, no doubt knowing my hackles would be doing the same.

"Always,
Patron
," I replied, using a French term I knew he disliked. Alain was not my boss, so when I said the nickname I'd given him at twenty, he knew its meaning was more along the lines of
old man
.

His lips peeled back in a mock snarl, revealing his still visible fangs. A tiger waiting to pounce. As his eyes flicked over my face, my naked arm, and then strangely lingered on my chest, he let them lengthen. Vampire fangs elongate for various reasons; hunger, anger, and lust.

He wasn't hungry, I'd already established he'd fed well tonight.

He didn't look particularly angry, it took a lot to rile the steadfast and battle-worn spy.

So that left only one explanation.

It was the shock of the revelation that did it. I froze. Stunned, disbelieving, and unfortunately a little beguiled.

As the solid concrete came up to meet my back, and a roar of disgruntlement sounded out from those betting on the sidelines, it was painfully obvious Alain had won this round.

And I realised, much too belatedly, that he had played me. A self satisfied smirk gracing his lips as he waited for me to rise.

OK,
Old Man
. Game on.

Arena rules be damned. I was fighting for my life. Or at least my pride.

W
e circled each other
. Two predators assessing their prey.

This was going to be hard and fast, however at the last minute I was sure Alain would pull his punches. But I wasn’t going to give him a chance to play protector, though.

I wanted a fight. I wanted it now. I couldn't fight Hakan Bahar until I had a better idea of what I was going up against, so Alain Dupont, someone I did know a good deal about, would have to suffice.

Worry over Luc had been festering for too long now, it had morphed into an anger and rage that I welcomed. Feeling helpless was never an emotion I could embrace, so if I could channel that debilitating sensation into something more useful, I would.

A snarl escaped my lips, more vampire than human. I may appear, for all intents and purposes, as a Nosferatin, but I am half Nosferatu somewhere in amongst my blood. My father's lineage mixes with my mother's inside me, making me an opponent one should never underestimate.

Or try to protect. I am more than capable of defending myself.

A satisfying crunch sounded out as my fist connected with Alain's cheek. I had spun away before he even had a chance to react.

The look he gave me - part surprise, part appreciation, part pain - said it all.
Your speed has increased, Bébé.
It had, since I had matured, which for a Nosferatin is at the age of twenty-five. I came into more of my Nosferatin powers that night. I was already formidable, now I was a volatile cocktail of abilities I had yet to test.

"Your father was right to summon you," Alain said, his cheek already puffing back out to normal proportions, healing at that supernatural speed a well fed vampire can have.

At the time of our births on our twenty-fifth birthdays, Luc's and my Light, the part of us that is all Nosferatin, swelled, thrumming through our bodies, stealing all our breath, filling us up with such power and beauty that I fled those around me, and did my best to hide the results. I wouldn't be surprised if Luc did too, although I had not seen nor heard from him since to confirm.

It wasn't that I was scared. There
was
an element of the unknown, but my mother had prepared me for the moment. What she had failed to say was how... intimate the sensations felt. Luc and I were celebrating our maturity with our family, we had not been alone. Those closest to my parents were in attendance. It had been private, but not nearly enough.

I had felt stripped of all defences, openly on display. Those at the party had witnessed the Light expanding and blazing in a brightness that would have blinded humans. And it was because of that unusual and surreal display that I was able to slip out of the room we'd all been in and escape. I haven't been back to my father's hotel since, and I've been avoiding my home as well. Although, unlike Luc, I have been in touch with members of my father's entourage. I even met my mother on a hunt two days ago.

But now my father would be wanting answers. Just what had I become? The joining wasn't set for two more weeks, by then Michel Durand would want to know exactly what powers I possessed. Part of that was because he wanted to protect me, keep me safe, make sure I was all right. But there is a part of my father that is completely vampire. The part of him that is the Champion of the
Iunctio
.

He cannot help it. He is vampyre. I have grown up knowing this fact. He loves me, dearly. I believe he would lay down his life for me, if required. Even though a vampire's raison d’être is
survive at all costs
. There is much Light in my father too. He is washed in the Light of my mother.

But he is still a vampire. Just like the vampire I was facing off against right now.

"Papa will have to wait," I said softly, flexing my fingers and then raising a hand and beckoning Alain closer.

He smiled. It was all cunning and wicked intent.

Then he was on me and we were flashing, twisting in the air at such speeds the human eye could not track. Most of those present would have only seen a blur. Vampires perhaps could have made out the odd detail, Nosferatins would have discerned colour changes, but the shifters and Fey would have been as handicapped as the Norms.

I felt concrete bite into my shoulder, then a fist in my hair pulling strands. Immediately followed by a solid punch to my stomach, and a wrench of my elbow in the wrong direction. Blood splattered, bones cracked, and still I knew Alain was holding back.

I laughed as I spun us faster, feeling his movements become uncoordinated as vertigo took hold. Spinning is a Nosferatin's greatest tool. That and Light, but as Light is considered magic, and not allowed in an arena fight that is restricted to hand-to-hand, I couldn't - or shouldn't - call on it. For now, I was happy to use physical prowess.

Alain's head connected with a wall, bricks and mortar dust fell down to the rubble strewn floor. His fingers on his left hand snapped. A snarl rent from his chest, even as they mended while we flew through the air. His knee slammed into a pile of debris, blood left a trail of droplets on the air as I pulled his weakening body away from the obstacle.

He growled, fangs at full length, and lowered his face to my neck. He was quick, and despite my use of spinning, his aim was true; drawn to my large blood vessel by a magnetism that should not exist, it seemed unfair. But it was only instinct and could hardly be called "magic." My arm swept up to intervene his trajectory, his bite punctured skin above my
Sigillum
. His eyes on mine, as the world continued to swirl around us in a dizzying array of colours and shapes and blurs.

Then as his saliva flowed down the long length of each fang and entered my bloodstream, peace stole all anger, effectively rendering me impotent.

"Damn you," I said, as our spin slowed to a dance.

He licked the wound closed, his eyes blazing cyan, eclipsing the darker blue of before.

"Is it magic?" he asked, voice a little deeper and rougher than minutes ago.

Debatable. The saliva of a vampire has healing properties as well as the ability to convey their emotions when they feed, making their victim experience a shadow of their attacker's feelings at the time of the bite. The fact that Alain felt peace when he drank my blood was interesting, but not important right now.

"Or is it considered a talent such as your spin fighting?" he added, his eyes darting down to the serene sunshine yellow of my
Sigillum
confirming my state of mind; at peace.

"Spin fighting is learned, not inherent," I countered, a smattering of my earlier rage returning now the bite connection had been severed. A pale pink darkened as it threaded through the gold.

"And I am vampyre," he whispered. "I bite when I fight." He snapped his jaw at my chin, like he had inside Travis' home.

My hand came up to slap him, a reflex action and a pathetic response to have. It showed too much. It revealed my dislike of that movement. Gave him more power than he deserved.

"Are we still fighting?" he asked, his fingers securing my wrist beside his cheek. "Or have I won?"

"Landing fangs does not equate to victory in the arena."

"Ah, but Éliane, landing fangs on
you
does."

No one bites me. Not many have. This was the first time Alain had, and considering he was to be my joined kindred shortly, an oversight of my parents, for sure. Feeding from a kindred Nosferatin gives a vampire their greatest strength. Of course my father feeds from my mother daily, substituting those meals when apart with a Norm. Unless he is battling, he does not feed from another. Their joining is strong. The strongest I've seen.

Alain's and mine would not be, I fear. I do not wish for him to feed from me. I do not want to touch him all the time. There is an attraction there, certainly. But it is the fact he is Nosferatu and a suitable kindred that creates that feeling, and nothing else.

This
is why I wanted to find my own kindred. Not have him delivered to me wrapped up in
Sanguis Vitam
and a bow.

But the fight in me had left now. Not because of his bite, but because I knew when I was beaten. My father would send more than just Alain next time. Alain had entertained me, fought because he knew I needed an outlet for my rage. He was being considerate. The next vampire - or vampires - my father sends would not be so accommodating.

"A draw," I mouthed, the words like tar coating my throat and shutting off air.

He chuckled. It sent ripples of movement through my frame, making me realise how close he still was. Chest to chest, almost cheek to cheek.

"A draw?" He contemplated that for a second or two, then added, "I guess we landed equal blows." Humouring me again. My
Sigillum
flashed a deep red. Alain blinked slowly, not missing the colour change and significance it meant. "Of course, we both know my bite counts as greater points, arena rules or not," he murmured, only loud enough for me to hear.

"Then in that regard," I whispered back, leaning in slightly, lowering my lashes and receiving a satisfying in-draw of breath from Alain, "my stake should level the score."

The silver bit into his chest. He blinked, flashed fang lazily, and then leaned in farther, making small whorls of smoke rise up off his skin as it burnt.

"A vampire hunter and her stake can be separated easily. Hardly an argument for intrinsic behaviour."

Again, debatable. Had I not been wearing my holstered stakes, I would have used a piece of broken rebar or snapped joist instead. Not silver, so not a death blow, but incapacitating all the same. I cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Would you like to test that theory?" I purred.

His hold on my body tightened, I watched, stunned, as he swallowed visibly. Dear Goddess, it was not because of the threat. A level one
Sanguis Vitam
vampire does not baulk at such a challenge. But I had fallen for his reactions before. I would not now.

"Call it a draw, Alain. Or we fight until one of us is unconscious. And then see how soon my father will be receiving me."

He stared at me for a moment, his breaths a little faster than I would have expected. Vampires are strange creatures. Power, assertiveness, cunning. It turns them on. Regardless of the one conveying those emotions. I doubted Alain was attracted to me in that regard. I had been his master's daughter for too long. A child in his ancient eyes. I was not a woman to covet. Not even a kindred Nosferatin to covet until my father willed it so.

But right now he was a millisecond away from making a move he would regret. I stayed still, unmoving, holding my breath. Willing my
Sigillum
to find a shadow of that peace he'd instilled in me from before.

Nothing to see here. Nothing to want.

He licked his lips, leaned in a fraction farther, making the stake, I still held against his chest, sink deeper. He snarled, crimson coating his eyes briefly, then disappearing to that deeper blue. A smile curved his lips, the tip of his fangs visible through the movement. He blinked, pulled back and released me.

For a split second I felt the loss of heat. But awareness of those watching soon doused the memory of Alain's flames.

"A draw," he murmured, his eyes coasting over my body from head to toe. When they reached my face they lingered on my lips.

I'd inadvertently awoken something in Alain today. Something we would both pay for dearly, I was sure.

"Come,
Bébé,
" he said, knowing the nickname he used for me would return my earlier foul mood.

I almost thanked him for it. This was familiar ground again.

"A car awaits to take us to your father," he added, starting to walk toward the edge of the courtyard.

I stared after him for a second, then sucked in a deep breath and cleared my head. Now was not the time to create more problems for myself. I'd pretend none of this happened, at least until I found Luc, destroyed Hakan Bahar for attempting such an unconscionable act, and faced my joining day. I still had two weeks up my sleeve.

But did Luc?

On that disturbing thought I jogged over to Gavin to retrieve my jacket and sword. He stood shuffling from foot to foot, excitement bubbling up inside him and pouring over the concrete at his feet. I could almost see it, he was consumed in elation.

"He got you good, Ellie," he said under his breath, as he handed back the sword and sheath for me to dress.

"I got a few decent shots in too," I pointed out.

"Yeah but, Ellie, he
bit
you."

I ground my teeth as I tested the sword to make sure I could draw it smoothly. I reached for the jacket he held before answering, giving myself time to curb my tongue. Gavin was young and enthusiastic, and like most of the Norms in the wharves, enamoured with vamps.

"My stake was a moment away from vampire dust," I managed eventually.

"Tell yourself that, Ellie," Gavin said with a smirk, making sure to step back out of reach as he did it. "But me and everyone here saw the way your mark lit up like a firecracker when he sank those big beauties home."

Fuck! If I could cut the damn thing out of my skin I would, but I feared it went deep enough to hit bone. And any healing I ever did at the site of my
Sigillum,
tended to return the design to perfection too. Not a good indication of being able to excise it from my life.

I smiled, it was another of those borderline evil ones that teenagers should not have to see close up, but Gavin could handle it. Hell, he had one of his own on tap when needed.

"Spread the word, Gavin," I said softly. "I
let
the vampire bite me."

He frowned, shook his head and took a further step back.

"Why'd ya do that, Ellie?"

I flicked my hair out from beneath my collar and settled my jacket on my shoulders at last. Fully armed, fully clothed. The only things on display were those I wanted to be seen.

I leant down, bringing my eyes to his level and said, "He is my kindred Nosferatu." I hated the words even as I used them to further my goal. "If any vampire out there wants to challenge that, they should think twice. I have already chosen."