Undeniable (27 page)

Diana let her grandmother’s words sink in. The chill that
had plagued her all day wrapped around her heart. “I didn’t know.”

“He didn’t tell you? How could he not tell you?”

“I don’t know.” Picturing the curtain of stars surrounding
them the moment he entered her, she sighed. “Let’s face it, Nana, if I didn’t
want to commit to him, I wouldn’t have…well, you know. But a bonding. I’m not
sure I like the sound of that.”

“Let me explain how the ritual works, dear. It lasts two
months. During that time, there’s four nights where you mate. The first night
of the ritual, you only taste each other’s blood as you mate. Then for a month,
you must not mate or exchange blood. But in the case of human soul mates, the
hunger is too strong, so the elders allow some blood exchange. Then on the
first night of the second month, that would be last night for you, he—”

Diana shook her head. “You’re losing your touch, Nana. Last
night was the first night we…um…you know, mated.” She swallowed, not liking the
animalistic sound of the word or the way her grandmother shook her head.

“No, dear. You’re too pale for it to be the first night.
Last night must have been second time you mated. But I’ll leave that little
explanation up to him.”

Recalling her dreams, Diana opened her mouth to ask if they
were real, but her grandmother shook her head before she could utter a word.

“Let him explain. And don’t beg or I’ll kick you out right
now. As I said, last night was the first night of the second month and final
stage of the ritual.”

Drawing in a sharp breath, Diana glared at her grandmother.
“My dream… Oh, God. The blood on my bed.” She couldn’t believe Sebastian had
deceived her all this time. She wanted to scream, to cry her eyes out. “But
until last night we haven’t shared any blood. This is so sick.”

“Think, Diana. You must have.”

After a few minutes, Diana closed her eyes and let out a
ragged breath. Her hand rose to her neck.

“I think he’s been drinking my blood since the night we met.
And then, the night before last, well, I got a nasty cut on my finger and
Sebastian, well, he licked it. I thought I felt him suck on it, but as soon as
the thought entered my mind, he released my finger.” Diana peeled the bandage
from her finger. She thrust her finger under the lamp. “What the hell? I know I
cut it!”

“His saliva sped up the healing process.”

Diana closed her eyes. Tears burned as they welled behind
her lids. “Oh, God. He’s been carrying on this ritual behind my back!”

“Diana, he’s your soul mate.”

“What the hell does that have to do with it? Does that make
it all right for him to trick me?” Drawing the sweater tighter around her
chest, she bent over as a painful stab of hunger pierced her stomach. “Go on,
Nana. You might as well tell me about this ritual I’ve been tricked into.”

“Last night he had to drain you. They believe that his love
will stop him just before you die.”

Diana recalled the terror she’d seen in Sebastian’s eyes
when she’d opened her eyes and found him cradling her in his arms. “Sebastian
wasn’t so sure,” she said sarcastically.

“I guess it’s natural to panic. Tonight, you will have to do
the same to him.”

“Drink all his blood?”

“Almost all of it.”

Blanching, Diana shook her head. “Oh I couldn’t.”

Nana Lina grasped her chin and stared into her eyes. “Diana,
you love him.”

“It’s only been a month.”

“Yet, you do.”

Diana hung her head and stared at her hands. “To a certain
extent, yes, but definitely not enough to trust myself to drink almost all his
blood without either throwing up or killing him. And definitely not enough to
become a damn vampire.” Her head shot up. “Am I already one? Oh no, did he turn
me into a vampire?”

“No, not completely. You’re soul mates, Diana. That’s all
that matters.” Her grandmother frowned. “For some reason he somehow started the
bonding ritual without your knowledge. Trust him. I saw him not only as your
soul mate, but also as your protector. And I know your heart will guide you tonight.”

“How will I know when to stop? I’m not a vampire. I have no
idea how to tell the difference between most of his blood and all of it.” She
closed her eyes. A wave of nausea swept over her. She remembered how Sebastian
had bitten down onto his lip, how his blood had covered her breasts. “I’m gonna
puke.”

“You’ll do fine.”

“No, Nana, I’m gonna puke now.”

Nana Lina rushed from the room and returned a moment later
with a waste basket. She shoved it into Diana’s hands just in time.

As soon as her hands closed around the rim, Diana started
throwing up all the food she’d ingested over the course of the day to appease
the gnawing hunger that had hit her on her way to work and had yet to abate.

“Diana,” she smiled, handing her a wet wash rag. “I know
you’ll do fine. I’ve never been wrong before, have I?”

“You’ve known about the vampires. Am I the only one who
didn’t believe in them?” After she swiped the cloth across her mouth, Diana
folded it and pressed the clean side to her cheeks. Although she still felt the
chill deep in her bones, the wet cloth cooled her burning skin. She dropped her
head onto the back of the couch and closed her eyes. “I just want to cry. I
want…I want to break something. I want…” Shoving her knuckles against her eyes,
she sobbed, “He’s been lying all along.”

Why hadn’t Sebastian told her all this? How could he begin
this strange ritual without asking her if she even wanted to bond with him?

And what the hell did it mean to be bonded?

“Are you still weak from last night?” Nana Lina lifted her
hand and pressed two fingers to her wrist.

Yanking her hand free, Diana scowled. “God, Nana, I’m not
dead.” She took off her shoes and tucked her feet under her legs, then sent her
grandmother a smile of gratitude when she draped a thick throw over her lap.
“You couldn’t have given me a better hint about him being a vampire, Nana. But
I always told myself that Dad was a little loony in that department. Believing
in them and telling me he destroyed them.”

“Dia—”

“But he did, didn’t he?” Diana swatted at the wave of fresh
tears that flowed down her cheeks. “He killed a little girl’s father. Did you
know that?”

“Let’s talk about you, dear. Last night, when you gave
yourself to—”

“Sebastian.” She groaned. “At least that’s the name he gave
me.”

“As I was saying, when you gave yourself to Sebastian after
seeing that he was a vampire, you offered your life to him. He, in turn, had a
decision to make.”

“Oh? Poor guy. Had to decide to screw or not to screw?”

“No, Diana. He had to decide whether to accept it—your
life—and you as his bonded mate, to refuse and leave or to end it if he chose.”

“Back up! Did you just say he could have killed me?” Diana
jumped up on her knees. “It would have been nice if someone had informed me
about that!”

“Diana, we’ll never finish before dusk if you don’t stop
interrupting.”

“He never said I could die. He never even said it was a
damn, what did you call it, bonding ritual? I trusted him.” Diana started to
tremble.

“In your heart, you knew exactly what you were doing.”

“No! I thought I was deciding whether or not to screw. Not
turn into a vampire. I’m so cold.” Her eyes widened and filled with a fresh
wave of tears. “And I’m so hungry, Nana. What has he done to me?”

Leaning over, her grandmother lifted a panel on the massive
coffee table and revealed a hidden compartment.

“Hey, I never knew that was there!” Diana leaned over,
nearly toppling off the couch.

“Diana, listen. You’re acting this way—”

Standing up and pacing before the fire, Diana laughed
nervously. “I’m just a little tired. And completely freaked out. What with
finding out a vampire’s been drinking my blood and I,” she squeezed her eyes
shut, recalling how sweet his kisses were, how she’d suckled his lip, “I’ve
been drinking his. Oh God. I have vampire blood in my veins.”

“Sit down. Now, Diana.” She held out her hand, revealing a
round wafer. “Take this.”

Diana glanced down at the pink wafer. “A Necco? I never
liked those things.” She began to turn away and gasped when her grandmother
firmly pushed her back down onto the couch.

“It’s not candy, Diana. It’s…it’s medicine. Now take it.”

Within moments of biting down on the hard disk she felt
calmer, the edginess she’d felt all afternoon abated and the hunger, while
still there, no longer hurt. Her chills slowly ebbed.

She turned wide eyes on her grandmother. “How is it you know
all about their rituals? How did you know I’d need one of those?”

“Because I’ve been through it.” Her grandmother sighed.
“Sometimes you lose, Diana. Sometimes love doesn’t conquer all. You find your
soul mate, but it’s too late. You have a husband, a child. Sometimes you think
you can lie down with a man and walk away unscathed. But you don’t.”

Tears welled in Diana’s eyes. “You got pregnant and had to
get married. That’s why you were always so adamant that I stay a virgin. But
you must have gone through the ritual if you knew how I’d need that wafer.”

Nana Lina rose and walked over to the fireplace, gathering
the thick sweater she always wore across her chest. “We nearly completed it. We
spent our month in each other’s arms, fighting our desires, our hunger. It was
torture, but our love was so strong.” She swiped at a tear, and whispered, “We
nearly made it to the final night. It’s magical, Diana.”

Diana couldn’t imagine being wrapped in Sebastian’s arms and
not giving in to her desires. It seemed the moment he so much as touched her,
she had no control over her body.

She should be angry, should want nothing more of him and his
secrets. But she knew that the moment she saw him, her passion would overpower
all else. And seeing the look on her grandmother’s face as she recalled her
final night, Diana could barely stop herself from running out in search of
Sebastian. “Tell me about it, Nana.”

“Well, I’ve already told you what will happen tonight. But
there’s one more. You make love, equally exchanging passion for passion, blood
for blood. You each completely drain each other at the same time until your
blood has completely merged and become one. And then, just a few hours before
dawn, you go before the elders, their oldest, and declare yourselves bonded
mates. I hear they all turn out to celebrate.”

Her voice broke, tearing at Diana’s heart even though the
words bonded mates trapped the air in her lungs. She rose and, walking up to
stand behind her grandmother, wrapped her arms around her. She rested her chin
on her grandmother’s shoulder.

“What happened, Nana? I can tell by the way you described it
that you experienced the last night.”

“No, I didn’t. Your father was just nine years old. He saw
us that last night. By the lake. We thought we were alone. When I’d left the
house, Frank had been fast asleep and I felt secure since he never had been one
to awake during the night.”

Diana nodded. “Once Dad’s out for the night, war could break
out right in front of the house and he wouldn’t know about it until the next
day.”

“Well, something or someone woke him that night.”

“Maybe Grandpa?”

“Your grandfather, bless his soul, knew I had fallen in
love. Accepted it. He would have stopped Frank if he’d seen him leaving the
house. Anyway, Damien and I were discussing our declaration and how I must let
the elders know that I accepted him as a vampire and wished to bind myself to
him for eternity. Frank ran up and started pelting Damien with rocks, calling
him a monster and begging me not to leave him. What could I do?”

Her grandmother turned, wiping tears from her face. “How
could I leave my child? I thought Damien and I could see each other in secret
until Frank grew up, but their most revered elder discovered that I already had
a husband and child. They are one of the few of their kind able to bear
children and consider it a crime to take a human mother from her offspring. As
punishment, Damien was forced to bond with another.” Her voice broke on a sob.

It struck Diana that wherever her grandmother’s tears had
streamed down her face, the fine lines that told her age vanished. She raised
her hand and touched the crow’s feet on the outer corners of Nana’s eyes. “Your
wrinkles aren’t real, are they?”

“My life is longer than it should be because his blood runs
through my veins.”

“Oh, Nana.” She knew she would do anything to experience the
love that shone in her grandmother’s eyes when she spoke of Damien. Even
continue this bonding ritual with Sebastian. Just the thought of losing Sebastian,
of never seeing him again, broke her heart. “I’m so scared. What if I take too
much blood and lose Sebastian? How will I go on? What would become of me?”

“They believe humans go mad from uncompleted bondings,
become what they call Slashers.”

Shuddering, Diana slid her arms around her grandmother. The
scent of fresh baked bread and Dove soap soothed her. “Slashers. I’ve heard
about them.”

“They’re bloodthirsty creatures capable of draining a
vampire in seconds. If they can’t find vampire blood, they drain each other and
humans.”

“If they’re killing humans, why isn’t it all over the news?”

“Because the vampires have been protecting themselves and
us. By law, any human who tastes a vampire’s blood and doesn’t complete the
ritual must be brought to Fentmore, a secret island, and abandoned there.”

Diana shook her head. “But you didn’t—”

“Oh for weeks I imagined every shadow, every noise was
Damien coming to take me there.”

“So they’re wrong about humans going mad?”

“Most do. In a way, we all do, Diana. We’re never warm and a
hunger we can never appease consumes us. Your grandfather, bless his soul,
invested all our money and eventually found a scientist who claimed to have
found a cure for vampirism.”