Forget Me When the Sun Goes Down (Forged Bloodlines Book 11) (9 page)

“Either way, I’m sticking by your side for the moment.  Hobbits are optional,” he grinned. 

I stood there daydreaming to myself over the memory, wishing I knew more about why his smile made my stomach flutter when I was supposed to be married to Rob.  But Bishop was a good looking guy, it was only natural that I might feel the occasional twinge of appreciation for his smile every now and again, right?  What was more important was how comfortable I’d felt with him in my kitchen, the kind of easy talk that only came from a deep friendship that had nothing to do with his sexy smile.  

“You alright?”  Bishop’s question pulled me out of my daydream.  “You haven’t touched your popcorn.”

I looked down to see his bowl almost half gone.  “No, yeah, I’m fine.  I just... I remembered a conversation between you and me.”

He paused with a handful of popcorn halfway to his mouth.  “Oh?  What was it about?”

“I don’t know much of the background behind it, but you were totally there for me, trying to keep me safe, and I know I wanted you to be safe too.”  I shook my head, it was hard to know exactly what to think without knowing the circumstances, but I knew I’d felt an incredible warmth toward him in that moment.  “I think we’re good friends.  The best of friends.”  I expected him to smile or say something nice back to me, but instead he looked down at his bowl as though he expected to find something in the bottom of it.  “What?  You don’t think we’re good friends?”

“I remembered something about you too,” he said, looking up with a half smile.  “Something a little more... intimate.”

My mouth opened and closed without anything coming out.  He remembered something
intimate
with me?  “Like... how intimate?  Like naked time intimate?”

“No, we were both still wearing clothes, but I don’t think we were going to be for much longer.  And I don’t think it was the first or last time from the way we felt about each other.”

I didn’t know what to say or even think about that, especially when he looked at me with those intense green eyes, expecting... I don’t know what.  “It must’ve been in the past.”  I looked down at the ring on my hand.  “I’m with Rob now.  I’m married.  Whatever we had it must be over.” 

“I know, I know that,” Bishop nodded, looking away.

“And you’re with Carys,” I pointed out.  Why did saying that leave a bad taste in my mouth?  I popped a piece of popcorn in there to try and take it away, but I just tasted salt, fake butter, and regret. 

“I know.”  He nodded again, dropping the handful of popcorn and wiping his hand off on his jeans. 

“I mean, Aubrey remembers kissing me too, that didn’t mean anything.”  And then it hit me, a not so nice personal revelation.  Maybe making out with hot guys was kind of my thing?  “God, maybe I’m a slut?  I don’t feel like a slut.  Do I look like a slut?”

His head tilted ever so slightly as he smiled down at me.  “Actually, you look kind of perfect.” 

Boy howdy, did he know how to keep the flutters coming!  It was my turn to look away, sure I was blushing to the tips of my ears.  “That’s not the sort of thing you should be saying to an ex-girlfriend.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right about that,” he agreed, rubbing the side of his neck as he thought it over.  “Alright then, I’ll try to keep what I remembered in the past where it belongs.”

“I’m sorry,” I started to say, but he waved me off.

“No, it’s fine.  You’re right, we both moved on.” 

“We’re obviously still in each others lives, or at the very least in each other’s phones,” I reminded him, and a furrow appeared on his brow. 

“What if we’re not even friends anymore?  Just because we’re in each other’s phones doesn’t mean we still talk.  Carys remembers you attacking her, what if that’s why we broke up?”

He had a point, but it felt wrong.  If Bishop and I were on the outs, why did I feel so comfortable with him?  “Well, we’re friends now, aren’t we?” I asked.  It seemed important to know the answer.

His lips curved into a smile as his hand covered mine on the counter.  “Yeah, we’re friends now.”

That smile.  It did things to me I had no right to feel, not with another man’s ring on my finger and in my heart.  I felt incredibly drawn to him in that moment, his hand covering mine.  Without even thinking about it, my thumb reached up to stroke the side of his finger, and his lips parted on a soft intake of breath. 

And then all hell broke loose as a blood curdling scream tore through the house.

Bishop and Anja tore into the great room, fast enough to make his head spin, but she was the one to crash into his side.

“Oops,” she said, looking up at him with a sloppy grin as his arm reached around to steady her.  “I guess I need to get used to super speeds again.  I don’t get how the Flash doesn’t lose his balance more.”

“Not a problem,” he replied, though he was quick to remove his arm as he caught Rob looking at them.  Besides, he had way more important things to worry about.  The blonde girl had stopped screaming, her eyes round as saucers as she stared at Carys and Joe locked together in a clinch on the sofa.  Bishop’s stomach tightened; it wasn’t anger or even jealousy, but dread that filled him at seeing her in another man’s arms.  Joe’s eyes were closed, oblivious to the rest of the room, a low, ragged moan escaping his lips as Carys drank from his throat. 

“Help him,” the girl cried out as everyone stood around watching with varying levels of interest.  Aubrey’s eyes were bright, as if thinking about joining them.  The heady scent of blood in the air made Bishop’s mouth water too, but he wasn’t about to turn the feeding into a group activity. 

“It’s okay,” Anja dashed forward, trying to comfort the girl.  “She’s not actually hurting him.”  Another deep moan came from Joe.  “See?  He’s enjoying it,” she added with an uncomfortable swallow. 

“She is
vampyr
, and you are not caring?” the girl blinked, backing away as Anja approached.  Her accent was definitely Nordic, though Bishop had difficulty placing which country she was from.  “Who are you people?  I am being the next victim?”

“Whoa, calm down,” Anja tried again in a soothing voice, adding a burst of compulsion, from the way she calmed immediately.  “I know everything seems strange, but it’s going to be alright, I promise.  We’re not going to eat you.  Bishop, could you maybe do something about her?  That’s kind of distracting,” she added, tossing her head in Carys and Joe’s direction.

“That’s enough, Carys,” Bishop said, agreeing that her feeding wasn’t helping the situation.  Carys stopped after a couple more pulls at Joe’s throat, sealing the wounds with her own blood and then delicately licking the remains from her finger.  “I thought we agreed we weren’t going to do that,” he added, not bothering to hide the disapproval in his voice. 

“It was only a taste,” she pouted.  “He offered his blood as a gift.  And I have not harmed him, as you can plainly see.”  Joe lay back against the couch, his eyes half lidded with pleasure. 

“Is that true?” Bishop asked him, and Joe nodded weakly.

“I didn’t want her to suffer the pangs of hunger.”

“That was more than a taste and you know it,” Anja scowled at Carys, before turning to Rob.  “Why didn’t you stop her?”

Rob merely shrugged.  “I ain’t her keeper.”

“You are all
vampyr
?” the girl asked, calmer, but still deeply frightened.

Anja took the lead.  “Everyone except for you and Joe.  But don’t worry, we won’t drink from you, not without permission.  I guess you don’t recognize us any more than we recognize you.  Do you know who you are?”

“I... am not knowing my name or much of anything else.  My head...”

“It should clear in a little while, the memories might take longer.  We’re all getting them bit by bit.  We’re pretty sure your name is either Hanna or Nelleke though.

She tried them both out on her tongue before deciding.  “I am feeling like Nelleke is more my name than Hanna.”

“Alright, Nelleke it is,” Anja smiled, and Bishop couldn’t help but appreciate the way she’d reached out to the girl.  Carys was only interested in rubbing a spot of blood that’d dripped onto her dress. 

“This is grand and all, sweets, but perhaps you might try asking her something of use to us,” Aubrey suggested from his corner of the room.   

“I thought I’d give her a few minutes to catch her breath before I started the interrogation.  Do you mind?” Anja tossed back, hands on her hips. 

“Ordinarily I’d agree,” Bishop said, as diplomatically as he could.  “But we don’t have time to observe all the pleasantries.  I don’t suppose you feel like you might be a witch, do you, Nelleke?”

“Bishop!” Anja gasped in outrage.  “You can’t just ask a girl if she’s a witch.”

“I’m sorry if I’m stepping on your girl code, but we need to know.  The spells were written in ancient Norse.  I don’t suppose you can read Old Norse?”

Nelleke’s eyes stretched wide.  “I...”

Carys fell back, stumbling over a chair to crash to the floor in pain, gasping for breath.  “Hurts,” she mewled, her face contorted with pain. 

Bishop rushed to her side, cradling her in his arms.  “Where does it hurt?”

“Stomach... burns.”  She doubled over, clutching her middle. 

“Maybe Joe’s blood made her sick?” Anja suggested, and all heads swiveled to him.

“I did not mean to,” he murmured, as shocked as any of them. 

“We have to help her,” Bishop pleaded, his heart twisting with every spasm of pain that rocked through her.  But everyone stared at him blankly, at a loss for what to do.

“Maybe this is serving her right for drinking from him,” Nelleke said under her breath, though they could all hear it easily enough.

“Maybe vampire blood can heal her?” Anja suggested.  “It healed the wounds on Joe’s neck.  Maybe it’ll dilute the poison.”

“And what if it only makes her sicker?” Aubrey asked.  “Or worse, what if it spreads the disease?”

“It’s not a disease,” Bishop scowled.  “We all saw her drink and now she’s sick.” 

“Bishop, you don’t even know if it’ll help,” Anja said gently. 

“I have to try, it’s the right thing to do.”  His relationship with Carys was complicated, but he knew she’d do the same for him in an instant, he knew it deep in his bones.  He held his wrist up to her lips, but Carys was too far gone to realize what he offered, so he bit into it, the taste of his own blood bursting over his tongue.  “Here you go, Carys.  Drink up.” 

Carys didn’t latch onto his wrist as he expected.  In fact, she turned away from the offered blood, perhaps remembering what happened the last time she’d taken a drink.  “Come on, Carys, take some.  It’ll make you feel better,” he crooned, brushing the blood against her lips. 

That was all the invitation she needed, the call of the blood cutting through the haze of pain.  Her eyes fluttered open, capturing his gaze as she drank.  Slowly, she pulled at the wound, and Bishop’s breath quickened at the jolt of pleasure that rippled through him, dancing along his veins.  Pulling her into his lap, it was all he could do to resist roaming her supple curves, the electric connection between them obliterating all else.  It went on and on, until the room began to spin, but he never wanted it to end.  He’d give her his last drop if that’s what it took to save Carys. 

His Sire. 

She’d made him.  The memory teased the edges of his mind, blurred with too many other visions of her drinking from him, both in and out of bed.  He’d felt the same bond he felt now, looking into her eyes. 

“Bishop, that’s enough.”  Anja’s hand was gentle on his shoulder, but he couldn’t look away from Carys.  Her hold on him was too great.  “Carys, you’re taking too much,” her voice sharpened. 

Bishop wouldn’t have minded it going on longer, but Carys withdrew, blinking up at him with sleepy eyes.  “Thank you.  I feel better now, just tired.”

“Rest then,” he smiled down at her, stroking the hair off of her forehead as she slumped lower in his arms.  “I’ve got you.” 

With a satisfied purr, like a cat with a belly full of cream, Carys drifted off to sleep.  He was still dizzy, but not too bad.  As long as he took it easy, Bishop was pretty sure he’d be fine. 

“Are you alright?” Anja asked, her face pinched with worry.  “Do you need some of my blood?”

“Not if I have anything to say about it,” Rob interrupted, pulling her away.  “I’ve claimed you, I’m the only one you should be giving your blood to.”

“This isn’t about sexy times, this is just about the blood,” she insisted, but Rob didn’t budge.

“I’m fine,” Bishop said, hoping to stave off an argument between the two of them.  “I’m more worried about the fact that she got sick in the first place.  If none of us can feed from the humans, this is going to get uncomfortable before too long for the rest of us.”

“We don’t know that she’s poison too,” Aubrey observed, watching Nelleke closely.  “I say it calls for a bit of experimentation.”

“Nobody’s biting anyone else!” Anja declared, hands on her hips.  “I can always find something to chain you back up with again if it gets too hard for you to resist.”

Aubrey’s hands came up in surrender.  “Just saying what everyone else in here is thinking.”

Nelleke had moved to sit by Joe, her eyes still large and fearful, though she didn’t speak. 

“How about we focus on getting out of here instead of biting anyone?” Bishop suggested.  “Where’s that spellbook?  Let’s see if Nelleke can make heads or tails of it.”

“Oh, good plan,” Anja smiled her approval.  “I’ll go get it.”

Bishop watched her go, the familiar tug on his heart growing until he looked down at the girl sleeping in his arms.  What did it matter what he’d shared with Anja in the past?  They’d both moved on.  Carys was his future. 

The memory struck hard and fast. 
Bishop was already mentally cataloging a list of tasks he could see to when he opened his door to find Carys and Rob, naked in his bed.  He stopped short, utterly surprised that she’d chosen there for her tryst.  Was she doing it to make him jealous?  Not in the mood for her games, he was about to leave them be and go find somewhere else to work, when Carys beckoned to him.

“Join us,” she smiled, as Rob continued to kiss her shoulder, unconcerned with his arrival. 

Just as quickly it was gone, but the dread it left in his heart lingered on.  How could he build his future with a woman who cared so little for his feelings?