VA 2 - Blood Jewel (20 page)

She nodded and gave me half of a
smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “I trust that you will be
careful. If it looks too dangerous when you get there, I don’t want
you to do it and whatever you do, don’t drink her blood. I’m the
only one you need to be addicted to.”

Sol looked from face to face and
asked, “So, we’re all in agreement then?” We nodded in unison and
our plan was devised. Once we had the girl, I had no idea what we
would do with her, but that decision was for another
day.

“I think it’s time for Jenn to
return downstairs,” Solomon said.

“It was very nice to meet you,”
Chansey called out as they stood to leave.

Jenn turned and gave us a sweet
smile. “I’m very glad to meet both of you and thank you for helping
my sister.”

When
they were gone, Chansey turned to me. “Does she know that I’ll
be
studying
her?”

I nodded. “Yes, Solomon told
her.”

“When will we start?”

Her anxiousness disappointed me and
I huffed, “After this mess is over with.”

“Jenn didn’t look out of control
to me.”

Chansey didn’t understand and I
could see that she needed an inservice. “That’s because she was
jacked up on a lot of blood. Sol overfed her so she wouldn’t be
distracted by her urge to attack you. We needed her in control so
she could explain things to me. She’ll be much different once the
blood begins to leave her system.”

I reached for Chansey’s face and
tilted her chin up. “Do not trust her until this process is
completed. Do not listen to anything she says. She will say things
to gain your trust, but she will rip into your throat without any
hesitation or regret. Understood?”

She nodded. “How will you know when
she is ready?”

“She will be constantly tested
when the time is right. If she passes, she is ready,” I
explained.

Chansey cocked her head to the
side. “What if she doesn’t pass the test?”

I hesitated because I knew she
wouldn’t like the answer. “She will be destroyed.”

Her eyes grew large. “That’s
terrible. This isn’t her fault. She didn’t ask to
turned.”

“It’s how it is, Chansey. If she
cannot be contained, she will be destroyed. That’s the way it goes.
You remember what Elliott tried to do to you?” I reminded
her.

“But she should be fine, right?
She looked easily contained earlier.”

Chansey always looked for the
positive in everything and it was one of the many things I loved
about her, but she had not grasped how looks could be so deceiving.
“Overfeeding is not how you train a vampire to restrain from
killing humans.”

“So, how will you teach Jenn to
restrain?”

Boy, she wasn’t going to like this
at all. “Jenn will learn control through exposure to humans while
fasting.”

“So, you’re telling me that you’ll
starve her and then dangle a human in front of her?” she asked
angrily.

“We withhold blood for a period of
time and then a Blood Swan comes to tempt them. It’s a gradual
process and we build up to the level of control she will need to
live among humans. It’s a difficult process, but it is doable
unless she completely lacks impulse control.”

She turned from me and shook her
head. “It seems so cruel.”

I could feel her pain and I pulled
her into my arms. “Let’s not talk about it anymore tonight. I want
to enjoy my first night home with my wife.”

I immediately felt her mood shift
and she turned to face me. “Would it be rude for us to go hibernate
in our bedroom?”

“Hmm...Let me see. We’re dealing
with a guy that sticks it to me every chance he can just because he
thinks it’s funny. I don’t think I care if we’re rude.” I stood,
pulled Chansey into my arms quickly and kissed her mouth. “Let’s
hurry before he comes back upstairs.”

16
The Razor’s Edge

Over the next two days, I felt
Chansey’s fear like something tangibly squeezing in the heart of my
chest where I always felt the things she was feeling. Neither of us
mentioned the rescue mission, but I could sense that her fear
multiplied as the time drew nearer.

Saturday evening arrived and I was
standing in front of our bathroom mirror shaving when Chansey
walked up behind me. She snaked her arms around my bare waist above
the towel around my waist and overlapped her hands. “I love
you.”

I dipped my razor into the sink
water and shook it to rinse the lather away. “I love you,
too.”

I reached for my face and stroked
the triple edge razor over my chin and I felt her place her cheek
against my bare back. She took a long, deep breath and blew it out
slowly. “I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to
you.”

It was her first mention that
anything would be happening tonight. I rinsed the razor again and
laid it on the counter before I turned to her. I lifted her chin
and said, “Hey, everything is going to be fine. I’ll be back first
thing in the morning with the girl. Gia and Lairah are here to keep
you company and Gia will only leave briefly to pick Sol up in the
morning. You should have a little girl fun while they’re here. Let
them take your mind off of what will be happening.”

“There’s no way I’ll be able to
think of anything except getting you home safely in the morning. I
won’t rest until I have you back in my arms.”

She went up on her tiptoes to kiss
my mouth and she ran a finger along my lathered face. “Can I finish
this for you?”

I smiled against her lips and put
my hands on her small waist. “You want to shave me?”

She leaned back and gazed into my
eyes. “Yeah, is that okay?”

I reached for the razor and passed
it to her. “You never cease to amaze me, Mrs. Brennan.”

She stepped around me and hopped up
to sit on the raised bathroom counter. She reached for the razor
and then dipped it in the water. “Chin up, Mr. Brennan.”

I lifted my chin as my wife
instructed me and she slowly finished the job I had started. After
her last stroke, she rinsed the razor and let the water out of the
sink. She reached for the hand towel on the counter, wiped the
remaining lather from my face and pulled me closer so she could
wrap her legs around my waist. “We have a few minutes until the
others are up.”

She licked her lips and reached
behind my neck to pull me closer for a kiss. Her kisses quickly
became urgent and I felt her reach for the towel around my waist.
“Chansey...I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

She stopped in her tracks and
looked up at me with hurt in her eyes. “You don’t want
me?”

I smiled and said, “I always want
you...Always. But I don’t think it’s a good idea to chance these
vampires smelling you on me. I mean...smelling you on me in a
sexual way. That would most definitely be a red flag to
them.”

She looked at me with large eyes.
“Do you mean what I think you mean?”

I had never told her that little
tidbit because I knew it would mortify her. “Yep, I’m afraid so,” I
confessed.

Her face became mortified more and
more as she thought about it. “So, Solomon and the others always
know when we’ve been intimate because they can smell me on
you?”

This part was even better.
“Technically, they smell the mix of our body fluids. It’s very
distinctive.”

She lifted a brow. “And you can
smell the mix of us, too?”

“Hell yes and I love it,” I
growled as I leaned into her and nibbled her earlobe.

“How embarrassing! I wish you
hadn’t told me.”

I grabbed her hips and pulled her
closer as I leaned between her legs and groaned into her ear,
“There’s nothing else like it.”

Her slow breathing turned to
panting and she said, “You’ve got time to take another
shower.”

“I laughed, but it sounded more
like a teasing rumble from my chest. “It doesn’t work like that,
Love. A shower helps, but the scent doesn’t completely wash off and
it takes several hours for it to wear off on its own.”

“But last night and this morning
was okay?”

I ran my rose along her jawline.
“Yes, it’s been long enough that our scent has faded.”

“Gah, how embarrassing. I can’t
even imagine what Solomon must think about us.”

I laughed at her consideration of
Sol “He thinks that I am one lucky bastard.”

Chansey leaned back to look at my
face. “Why do you say that?”

“Sol sees how happy we are and he
wants a mate, but not a vampire mate. He hoped Shelby would be his
Agápe.” I shook my head and said, “He would be so pissed at me if
he knew I was telling you this stuff, so don’t mention
it.”

“Sounds to me like he’s lonesome.
Jenn won’t be an Agápe for him, but maybe she could turn out to be
exactly what he wants. We can always hope.”

Yeah, maybe Jenn was exactly what
he needed to turn him around so he would see that a vampire mate
was just what he needed.

≈ ≈ ≈

I would have expected some
confusion on her part, but Jenn’s directions to Vincent’s were
amazingly accurate for someone that had been held prisoner inside
for so long. We turned off of the road and the protective gates at
the entrance to Vincent’s house were swung wide open, welcoming any
fool vampire to come inside and fall prey to his
deception.

Sol pulled the stolen black Lincoln
Towncar forward to allow us a better view of the ornate design
within the black wrought iron gate. He held up Jenn’s sketch of the
Vincent’s Sigil and compared it to the gate’s ornamental design.
“This is definitely where we’re supposed to be. It’s a match, just
as Jenn said it would be.”

I looked toward the house at the
end of the long drive and saw what appeared to be an old
plantation, quite similar to our compound in New Orleans. Sol drove
toward the house and we passed approximately 50 vehicles parked
perfectly along the lawn.

Three men dressed in slacks and
button up shirts with vests stood in front of the mansion and one
motioned for us to pull forward. Sol came to a stop next to him and
said, “Are these guys supposed to be valets?”

The young man standing outside the
car door answered, “Yes, sir. It would be an honor and privilege to
park your vehicle for you.”

“A fledgeling, no doubt,” Solomon
commented before the valet opened the door.

“Yes, sir. I was turned only six
months ago,” the young vampire responded as he waited for Sol to
get out of the car.

We exited the car and then allowed
the fledgeling to take my only mode of escape for the girl and
myself in the morning. That left me more than a little bit
uncomfortable, so we stalled for a minute so I could see the
location of my parked getaway ride before we went
inside.

After seeing where the Towncar was
parked, Sol and I entered the double doors unaware of what awaited
us on the other side, but finding a pair of tall, muscular vampires
just within the foyer inspecting guests as they entered came as no
surprise. The larger of the two vampires huskily asked,“What is
your business here?”

I stepped forward identifying
myself as leader over Sol and said, “My companion and I have come
to celebrate The Blood Jewel Ceremony with Vincent.”

The two eyed us suspiciously before
the smaller one said, “Wait here,” He returned in a moment and
said, “Gentlemen, welcome to the home of Vincent Godfrey. Please
enjoy yourselves this evening at The Ceremony.”

Relieved we made it through the
first round of inspection, Sol and I walked down the wide corridor
through the center of the house. As we wandered, we noted crowds of
vampires gathered in each room we passed, appearing as a sea of
tuxedos and evening gowns. A server carrying a tray of crystal
glasses filled with blood approached us and offered, “Would you
care for an O negative, sir?”

I considered the source of the
blood and doubted it was from a willing patron, but Sol and I
accepted the offer in an effort to avoid any undesired attention.
We knew we would eventually be forced to drink to maintain our
cover, but it was an action that neither of us took
lightly.

“Gentlemen, drink up. There is
plenty more where that came from,” a lovely, blonde vampire said as
she joined us. The jade green evening gown she wore matched her
eyes perfectly and she seductively slithered next to me before
adding, “I don’t believe we have met. I’m Gloriana, Vincent’s
sister.”

I looked at Sol and then reached
for her hand before bringing it to my lips to kiss. “Thank you for
having us in your home. I am Michael Garrett and it is a pleasure
to make your acquaintance.” I gestured toward Sol and continued,
“This is Phillip Andrews.”

“Are you friends of my brother’s?”
Gloriana asked before she lifted her crystal glass of
blood.

“No, we have not had the
pleasure,” Sol answered.

“Don’t worry, gentlemen, it’s a
long night,” she laughed. “You’ll have the opportunity to meet
Vincent a little later. We have something special in store for our
guests tonight, so don’t even think about leaving before you have
had the opportunity to partake. It’s guaranteed to blow your mind.”
She watched me attentively as she spoke and I knew it was my reply
she wanted to hear.