New Blood (The Blood Saga Book 2) (14 page)

We flew back to the house, racing
each other there. It didn’t take much for him to beat me of course. Staggering
in shock as he reached the house, and stood await, holding open the door for me,
I couldn’t help but smile. Small victories after all.

There was no denying I was an
abysmal mess of blood and dirt by the end of the day. Not wanting to make a
mess of anything else I lingered at the entry. We were both surprised to see
the living room full.

Damien was at my side just after I
entered though he stopped short of reaching me. His eyes lit to see me, but
dulled just as quick. Turning to Phoenix, he crossed his arms getting all down
to business. “Well how’d she do?” Damien asked.

“Amazingly well. Landed three hits
today. She’s a feisty one.” Winking at me, he gave me a little nudge. “We’ll do
some more work tomorrow. Enjoy the rest of your night now, Lianna. You’ve
earned it.” Phoenix punched Damien in the shoulder and took a seat in the
living room before Damien could counter. Adrenaline takes a while to wear off
with us.

“Careful now. I can always get her
to defend me if need be,” Damien boasted as I groaned, rolling my eyes. I
turned and hit him in the same spot. Harder.

His eyes gleamed like jewels as he
caught my wrist just after. Damien pulled me a step closer. The look in his
eyes caught my breath and made my stomach do flips on itself. His fingers
spread over my hand and slowly brushed down my arm as he released me. “Come,
Jezabell has some company.”

“I’m sort of a wreck right now,” I
protested quietly.

“You’re beautiful. Come on.” He
would have said it even if I had rolled in road kill in a torn up brown sack.
Placing his arm around my side, he pulled me close to whisper as low as
possible into my ear, “Sit with me though. Just this once.”

Before I could shake my head to
argue, his hand went back around my wrist with a slight warning squeeze. “It’s
not what you think. Just trust me. You need to be here for this. Sit with me.”

With a slight nod of consent,
Damien walked me to the living room. Sitting in his usual seat, I sat on the
floor leaned against the chair close to him, all the while praying I didn’t
ruin the furniture with my state of grossness. Casually his leg rested against
my arm. Running a hand through m hair, twisting a long lock round and round his
fingers.

There was a new couple that had
arrived in our absence. They wore older clothes, yet still very well-tailored
and clean cut. Their skin was brilliant dark ebony. The woman’s head was shaved
to the scalp. The male sported thick wild braids down to his tail bone.
Entangled amongst his dreaded braids were woven leather strips adorning beads
of bronze and brass, each intricately carved.

True to herself, Jezabell was
wearing a wedding gown and it was stunning. I didn’t need to roll in road kill
to look like I’d become it. They were each immaculate perfection, while I was
just plain filthy. My pale blue jeans and pretty lacy white tank top were brown
with mud and dried up blood. Torn in strange patterns from my knees on up. My
hair had been in a knotty bun was now hung sloppily on my neck, many strands
stuck to my flesh with dirt and my own dried blood.

When I looked over the room my
spine twitched as I laid eyes onto them both. Damien wasn’t reacting much
better. His body was ridged. There was a strange whisper of warning alerting me
in the back of my mind. Maybe that was the new Vampire paranoia. It seemed to
go with the territory to be paranoid.

Jezabell introduced the couple to
me as Gabriel and Dominique Rameire. I gave a slight forced smile with a curt
nod. Their voices had thick strange accents that I couldn’t identify.
Mediterranean possibly, but not from the main lands.

Damien leaned down and whispered to
me, even less audible than usual. It made my thoughts scatter immediately to
hear his voice sound so anxious and concerned. My eyes instantly went to the
two strangers. I could feel a stir inside of me, warning again. “Don’t listen
to them. You’re safe here. No matter what anyone else thinks, you’re safe with
me.”

“Demetrius is coming if you want to
acknowledge that or not. He has New Bloods and Crossbreeds with him. And we
have been told that powerful blood backs him. These are facts. Unavoidable
facts. That’s why we have come here. We owe you far greater debt than just a
warning,” Gabriel’s voice, that thick beautiful accent sounded grave and
desperate.

Damien’s brows lift as he spoke. “If
you come here to repay a debt why are you afraid?”

My eyes couldn’t pull from the
statuesque Vampires perched on one of the white Victorian chairs. Like a
warlord and his queen.

Dominique’s eyes set on me. Her
eyes were burning before Gabriel’s gaze turned to me as well. Followed with the
rest of the room.

Hendrick spoke before anyone else
could. “She’s young. She means no threat.” In the next second Damien had pulled
me up to sit on the arm of the chair, half in his lap with his arm around my
hips. I wasn’t going to argue and make a scene.

Damien touched my forehead and ran
his rough fingers over my eyes. His fingers brushed my lashes down to my blood
red lips. His grip around my waist was snug as ever. It felt good even if I
wanted to deny it.

The change of a Vampire’s eyes
expresses their emotions, but typically these are emotions of hunger or anger.
Either way it shows that they are currently quite dangerous to be around.

Licking my lips, I blew our guests
a kiss. Dominique’s brows rose cautiously. Phoenix covered his mouth to hide a
grin.

They ignored Damien completely. “I
assure you, we are here solely as a gesture of gratitude for your given aid in
the past,” Gabriel spoke after a moment of observing me. It was a lie.

Dominique finally spoke for the
first time since I had been here. Apparently maybe for the first time that
night as she had caught everyone else’s attention as well. Her voice so liquid
and smooth, eloquent and powerful, mystic even- it would be hard pressed for
anyone not to listen, “You can’t hide her forever. You know this. Not even you,
Damien. If you run with her they will light a fire after you. Blazing every
step as they come closer. They will send armies. They will destroy you. Would
you bring that on your House?”

“Leave him alone. This isn’t about
him or anyone else in this House. It’s about me. I have lived through Demetrius
first hand. I am not afraid. I nearly killed him once as a human then. I
survived it. Let them come,” I spoke as calmly as manageable while wondering
how obvious the malice in my voice was to them.

I’m not sure where my vehement
threat came from or the fury burning deep within my core. But there it was. Not
for the first time in my new life I saw a glimpse of ruthlessness within me.

Hendrick was the first to laugh.
Phoenix the first to grin. Everyone else stared at me dumbfounded, for Vampires
anyway. I heard Phoenix’s low voice rumble, “I like her more by the day.”

Everyone ignored Phoenix. “Did you?
Looking at you now I would swear that you did not survive. I see it in your
eyes child. Your soul won’t let go of the demon inside.” Dominique smiled
viciously.

Damien’s hand gripped my arm
fiercely. Phoenix came to stand just behind me. They weren’t protecting me.
They were preparing to stop me.

Amazingly I ignored her. “Demetrius
knew me only as human. He doesn’t know what I’m capable of now.”

“Or maybe he does, and this is why
he wants you so badly. You hadn’t thought of that. Had you?” Gabriel spoke, his
eyes intent on me. “My dear child, do you even know what you are?”

The look in everyone’s eyes, Damien’s
included, looked disturbed. So many questions I brought up in this house. So
many things no one understood. I was a freak even in this world of mystic
creatures.

“Are you telling us that you do?”
Jezabell spoke with dark authority. She was small, whimsical , but anyone who
knew her well would listen wisely. “No, I didn’t think so. You’ll be wise to
tread cautiously.”

“Tell us Gabriel, Dominique, are
you asking us to fight them or turn our selves over to them? Why are you really
here? Who sent you?” Damien’s voice was low, raspy and angered.

“How dare you accuse us of
betraying you! We are here as your compatriots!” Gabriel stood abruptly. His
eyes had turned a glistening crimson.

It was Lara’s turn. Her angelic
voice never slipped once in its calm tone. So soft and childlike. Sweet but
deathly serious. She stood in the center of the room. “That’s enough. I thank
you in every way for your kind gesture of warning, and offering hand. However,
I do believe that your presence is over staying its warm welcome. With things
in the array that have been set afoot... I believe the time has come for your
departure.”

Jezabell nodded, perhaps in
agreement or Lara’s quick reprieve. None the less, she looked relieved. Gabriel’s
same hospitable smile replaced to his lips as he stood.

His hand laid palm down under his
mates which so carefully laid a top of his. Soft nods were exchanged even light
kisses upon cheeks. No words were spoken in this farewell.

Damien refused to meet their icy
stare. Fist was balled in one hand, he idly bit onto his knuckle. The other
hand kept tucked around my waist- clinched tight as he was unwilling to release
me. As soon as they were gone Phoenix was sitting across from Damien and me,
watching me. His good humor was gone.

“Damien, what truth was there in
all of that?” Jezabell asked the moment the door closed behind them.

He sighed deeply. “Demetrius
contacted them personally and offered them immunity. And from what I could tell
a good deal of money for their loyalty. Part of the deal was for them to come
here and learn what they could. If at all possible gain our trust and lead us
directly to him.” Damien’s eyes were black with anger.

What a good night this had turned
out to be.

What happened next came on as a
shock. It was painful. Dizzying at the very least. For the first split second
my mind flinched back. Recoiling from his penetrating ravage of my thoughts. A
blessing in disguise, the pain had utterly silenced me.

I felt my eyes dim. As I stared out
through the glass doors across the room, my expression became stoic and blank.
The only thing that could have given me away was the faintest sharp intake of
breath.

Damien had seen something more in
the threat of my capabilities. Things I had not shared. His anger was a living
thing in that moment. More tangible than I had ever imagined from him.

The only way to describe it would
be to say he raided my mind. He shred any defense I could manage, and ripped
through my head until he had complete control. When I thought it was over, I
was wrong. He was relentless.

Everyone else mostly talked amongst
themselves as if we were not there at all. We sat motionless together. A carved
statue of two lovers I am sure is how we appeared with his arms wrapped around
me, holding my body to his. It had become agonizing though I wouldn’t show it
again even if in slight.

Still he went deeper. The dreams.
Every dream. Every nightmare was fresh in my eyes. They were so much more real
this way, living through them in my waking state. The pain so very real. The
deaths I was forced to relive so horrific.

The dreams I had long forgotten
from my humanity were more alive than they had ever been. Though the dreams had
been a haze in my mortality, and harder to recall even as an immortal, they
were crystal clear to me now. He had become quite determined to unlock my
secrets. Determined the answer to his questions must be hidden in my
nightmares. Be it our future or his past. He wouldn’t stop until he had what he
wanted.

Lara went and slid her lithe tiny
frame onto the back of the couch perched above Jezie, almost protectively. I
couldn’t focus on her enough to know if she was aware of what Damien was really
doing. Had she seen this coming? Not that it mattered. No one could stop him.
No one would. They all wanted answers. Damien had been acting crazed for some
time now. I should have known something like this would happen.

Suddenly, Damien stopped abruptly.
Even the way he did that felt painful, breaking away from my mind so crudely.