Dominion (Book 1 of The Dominion Series) (4 page)

"No, it's me who's sorry." He takes my hands and examines them, clucking his tongue in disapproval. He looks in my eyes. "What kind of a
prick
would do this to you?"

He bends his head to my palm and then he tongues the cuts. The sensation is so sexual, I gasp and try to pull away, but I can't. He's so strong, his grip like iron. There's a brief bright sting from the wetness, but then his tongue soothes it and the pain is almost gone. He moves to the other palm and repeats this, his tongue following the cuts, dipping between my fingers. I'm horrified that a vampire is actually licking my cuts, tasting my blood. Will he now go all batshit and start biting my neck?

When he finally lifts his head, his face has changed. His eyes have become red rimmed, bloodshot, his pupils huge, his teeth sharp and long, his lips stained with my blood.

"Oh, Eve, now look what you've made me do…"

CHAPTER THREE

"Is it better to out-monster the monster or be quietly devoured?"

Nietzsche

"Come."

He takes my arm, pulling me away from the bus stop. When I try to fight back, he stops, his perfectly-square jaw tensing.

"What are you doing?" I say, standing my ground.

"I'm not letting you go home on the bus with injured hands." Then he takes my wrist and for some reason my ability to resist flags and he leads me towards a darkened parking lot, my body compliant even if my mind still rebels.

Oh,
hell
. Is he taking me there so he can finish what he started? Fear surges through me, choking me.

"Don't be afraid," he says and stops again. "I don't kill humans anymore. I kill vampires."

He seems calmer, his eyes no longer red, his teeth have receded in length and even in the low light, I can see that his pupils are now almost normal.

"Then how do you survive?"

"We don't have to
kill
humans to survive. Merely drink human blood. There are always donors and pets, and when I kill a vampire and drink his or her blood, it is like feeding off ten humans."

"You drink vampire blood? You have human
pets
?"

"No, I don't have pets. I detest the very idea. I subsist off donor blood. But some people actually like being our pets, Eve. You might as well."

"Not likely," I say but,
hell
. Being his pet sounds so … appealing in a vaguely sexually submissive sort of way. I crush that thought immediately, relegating it to the back of my mind somewhere so I don’t have to admit to it.

He turns and smiles at me. "Oh, Eve. Don't tempt me…"

My cheeks burn. How did he
do
that?

"So you can read my mind on top of everything else?"

He doesn't answer as we walk towards a lone car parked near the rear door to the linguistics building. It's a Mercedes hybrid, sleek and jet black. He opens the door.

"In you go."

I sit inside and he has the nerve to fasten my seatbelt, apparently enjoying the opportunity to get all cozy with me, then he takes my hands again and examines them as if checking to see how they are.

God, he's so
gorgeous
…

Then he makes a funny noise in his throat, like exasperation or a grunt of enjoyment, I can't tell which. He leans close to me, smirking, his face just a few inches from mine, and adjusts the strap across my chest.

"Eve, I'm flattered you're attracted to me, but really, I fastened your seatbelt because your hands aren't very useful right now."

Of
course.
I feel another blush rising. How does he
do
that? I glance at my hands and he's touching my wrist. It must be skin on skin contact so I quickly pull my hand away. He remains there, leaning over my seat, his gaze moving over my face.

"You have to learn to build up mental walls."

He stands back up and closes the door. When he gets in on the driver's side, I turn to him.

"How do I do that? Build up mental walls?"

"Oh,
no
," he says and shakes his head. "If you think I'm going to tell you, you're extremely naïve."

So he
wants
to be able to invade my mind?

"It's not fair. No one should be able to do that."

"Life's not fair, Eve. I'm proof of that. Besides drinking blood, it's our ability to affect your minds and read your memories that vampires crave. It keeps us from losing our humanity."

I look at him closely. "You really resent being made a vampire."

"
Duh
," he says and starts the car. For a moment, I'm at a loss.
Duh
? Is that some archaic French curse?

"Did you just say
'duh'
?"

He smiles and looks at me with that grin on his face.

"I may be eight hundred years old but I do try to keep up with the times."

"Well, let me enlighten you, Michel," I say, pronouncing his name in an exaggerated manner – Mee
shell
. "Duh is so
nineties
."

"Oh, Eve, Eve,
Eve
." He smiles as he shifts into gear. "I can see we're going to have a lot of fun, you and I. But let me get one thing perfectly straight. If I'm going to do this – if I'm going to let you
in
– you have to learn obedience."

Obedience? As in obey him? NFW…

"What do you mean, let me
in
?"

"If I'm going to
train
you as my…" he pauses. "As my
Adept
, you have to learn to submit to my will."

I'm a modern woman. I'm a daughter of several generations of feminists. Submission is the last thing that should appeal to me.

"
Train
me? What do you mean, submit?"

He makes a funny throat noise again.

"You know very well what I mean." We drive on for a moment in silence. "Submit as in you take orders from me." He looks over at me once we're on the road and up to speed. "You're a hunter, you know, despite the pretty face. I just need to bring out those gifts that are hidden away."

"What gifts?"

He shifts down as we come to a light.

"You never noticed how fast you can run? How well you can see at night? Those are all traits of hunters. But you," he says and shakes his head. "You're special. You're what we call Adept. This ability to connect minds? That's unique."

"I never knew about the mind thing," I say, frowning. "How come I never felt it before?"

"This connection is unique between vampires and Adepts. It's touch telepathy. All vampires have it, but it's one way. We use it to read our prey's minds, to control your brain chemicals, make you struggle less when we feed. We use it to make you obey and forget things – or at least,
most
of you. For some reason, you're immune to compulsion and having your memory erased."

"My mother never told me about any psychic abilities."

"She didn't want this life for you," he says as we drive off once the light changes. "She and your father wanted you in the arts. Dance or music."

"You
knew
my mother?"

"Only through Julien." We drive on in silence for a moment, and he's frowning as if in thought. Finally, he turns to me.

"Eve, Adepts were meant to be trained from an early age. Your parents wanted to train you as a musician or dancer instead, which I'm sure violated the terms of their contract."

"Contract?"

He turns and glances at me, frowning.

"One thing at a time. Let's get you home and get your hands fixed. Now, please, no more questions. I have to think things through."

Well, pardon
me
.

I want to ask what he means about my parent's contract and what things he has to think through but I keep quiet, watching the scenery pass by. I
do
see well at night and when I glance at him in the darkened car interior, I can see him as if it was the middle of a cloudy day, his skin gray like in a black and white image. I was always a fast runner but my parents said no to track because I had to dance and practice piano instead. They finally took me out of regular school in fourth grade and homeschooled me, giving me dance and music lessons and hiring private tutors.

We drive up to my apartment building.

"How did you know where I live?"

He looks at me and taps his temple.

"Think of using telepathy as a short-cut. We don't always have to use words. Neurons and neurochemicals are so much faster. And, of course, if you were my blood slave, we could even communicate at a distance."

Blood
slave
? Oh, that doesn't sound good.

"What's a blood slave? Do you mean telepathy at a distance?"

"Yes," he says. "There'd be no need to touch. Blood slaves are addicted to vampire blood. Vampire blood causes high levels of neurotransmitters to circulate in your brain and gives a heroin-like high. People try to steal it, sell it on the black market because of its drug-like effects and temporary healing properties. If you drink too much, you get addicted, like any other drug. Whatever you do, don't
ever
let a vampire feed you his blood in large quantity." Then he turns to me and smiles that lopsided smile. "Unless the idea of being a slave appeals to you, that is… And, if I read you correctly, it does."

I make a face at him and turn away. So he can just
touch
me and find out things? Personal things, private things? And until I figure out how to block him, he can do it at will. All he has to do is touch me skin on skin.

Maybe it's great for sex – and that thought makes me squirm in my seat, remembering his kiss – but a person needs privacy in her own mind.

He opens my door after we park on the street and stands too close to me, like he enjoys making me feel uncomfortable. I sidle by him and start up the stairs to my building, opening the door. He follows me in and I stop and frown.

"How can you come in? I haven't invited you."

"I've been in Boston for a long time, Eve. I've been invited in this building before."

He follows me up the stairs to the third floor where my apartment is but I stop at the door, my key in hand.

"Here," he says and reaches for my keys. "Let me."

"I don't
think
so," I say. "This is where you leave."

"
I
don't think so," he says.

"You're not coming into my apartment."

"I am. Let's go, Eve. I need to fix your palms and we need to talk."

I stand my ground. He's
not
coming in.

"I can fix my own palms, thanks. You can send me an email and tell me whatever it is you think I need to know. I'm not letting you into my apartment because then you'll be able to enter any time you want."

"Eve, we
need
to talk. Open the door. I'm coming in."

"You have no right to order me around."

"I'm coming
in
."

"Why are you so domineering?"

"Why are you so emotional?" he says and steps closer to me, touching my cheek. Instantly, I calm down from whatever brain chemicals he's making me release. "Don't get me wrong," he says softly. "I love that in you. It makes it so easy for me to read you without even having to touch you. Of course, I do so like to touch you." He smiles.

"If I'm emotional, it's because this matters."

"I know," he says all full of sympathy, tilting his head in that characteristic way. "I don't trust people who control their emotions too well. You can't lie and I value that. You might as well just stop lying to me and then this will all be so much easier. Now, open the door. Invite me in."

"I don't want you to come in."

"I know you don't, Eve," he says softly. "All of this must be very upsetting to you. I didn't want this either. I
tried
to erase your memories so you could go on and just live your life without becoming involved in our world. But now that you
are
involved, you have to trust me."