Once Burned

Chapter 18

Hours later, I dressed for dinner with more enthusiasm than I had the previous nights. Part of it was because that former lethargy combined with all-over body ache was gone. Even the bruises from my kidnapping and window dive had vanished. Vlad’s blood was clearly more potent than Marty’s, or I’d had more of it than Marty normally slipped into my shakes. Either way, for the first time in days, I felt great.

I was also anxious to try out my new mental defense. It made me look forward to seeing Vlad even though I berated myself for abandoning common sense with him earlier. To make matters worse, a part of me couldn’t stop wondering what would have happened if Maximus hadn’t come in right when he did.

As if you don’t know, an inner voice taunted.

I sighed. Yeah, I knew. But an affair with him might indeed break my heart. I’d felt lust before—I was a virgin, not dead—and this was more than that. I also wanted to crack Vlad’s shell, discover his secrets, and explore the complexities of his personality to find the man beneath the fearsome protector of his people. The fact that I wanted all this after knowing him less than a week was where the danger lay. A lust-based affair was so simple in comparison.

I’d slipped into a conservative yet flattering navy sweater dress when a rap sounded at the door. I opened it, my quizzical expression freezing when I saw Maximus.

“Uh, hi,” I said, not sure if I should’ve started with an apology. Some dating experience would’ve helped right about now.

“Vlad regrets to inform you that he will not be dining with you tonight,” Maximus said, speaking as formally as he had when we first met.

Disappointment coursed through me that I hoped didn’t show on my face. Then I forced a smile.

“Will Cat, Bones, and the others be there?”

“No, they’ve left. You can still dine in the main room, if you’d like, or I can have your supper brought to you here.”

I couldn’t keep pretending like nothing had happened. “I’m so sorry, Maximus. You have every right to be mad at me. If I were smart, I wouldn’t go anywhere near Vlad. I—I don’t know why I can’t seem to stop—”

“I do,” Maximus interrupted with a grim smile. “For the same reason so many Wallachians fought and died for him over the course of three separate reigns when he was prince—because he draws you in even if you know it will end badly.”

I grimaced. That wasn’t too subtle of a warning. “Hopefully I won’t end up like them.”

He shrugged. “Either way, you’re his now.”

That made my brows shoot up. “Oh really? How odd, because I don’t remember agreeing to that.”

“He offered you his blood and you drank it. I could smell it on you.” Maximus looked at me as though I were slow. “What did you think that meant?”

“That I needed it because apparently, without ingesting vampire blood my abilities would kill me,” I replied, a chill going through me despite the room being warm.

“Think, Leila,” Maximus said coolly. “This house has dozens of vampires. Vlad could have summoned any one of us to give you blood. He gave you his blood instead. That makes you his more than if he’d branded his name onto you.”

“Wait.” I held up a hand even as I continued to shake my head in denial. “Marty has been secretly giving me his blood for years. If I belong to anyone, it’s him!”

“Marty didn’t claim you. Vlad has. Earlier today, he rescinded his offer to let me court you, as if I hadn’t figured out for myself that you were his now.” Maximus gazed at me almost pityingly. “And if you care for your friend, you will never tell Vlad you think you belong to Marty. He’ll kill him.”

This was too much. I closed my eyes, drawing in a deep breath.

“Where is he? I need to talk to him.”

Maximus’s face closed off into polite stoniness. “He’s detained at present.”

My teeth ground. “Please stop the formal talk, and tell Vlad that he needs to undetain himself.”

He snorted. “That’s not how it works. No one gives Vlad orders. When he’s available, he’ll see you. Having a fit in the interim won’t change anything.”

“I’m not having a fit.” I would, that was for sure, but I’d save it for the vampire who’d declared me his without asking my opinion on the subject.

“Then would you like to eat here, or the main room?” Maximus asked, returning to his original query.

I was too mad to have an appetite, but refusing to eat would only be churlish.

“Here.”

Vlad continued to be “regrettably detained” the next morning and afternoon, too. I was torn between being madder than hell and worried. I didn’t know if he was here and refusing to see me—Maximus wouldn’t say, and neither would any other vampire I asked—or if he was out somewhere. It was ridiculous to worry about Vlad considering his age and power, but people were out to kill him. That was how I’d been thrust into his life in the first place.

By evening, when someone other than Maximus came to tell me that Vlad was still “regrettably detained,” I’d had enough. He might not want to see me, but I wouldn’t sit here stewing any longer. I changed clothes and then almost ran out of my room.

I went down to the level where Ben and the others lived. I hadn’t gone far past the chapel when I heard voices. I followed the sounds to a kitchen where several people were gathered.

“Leila,” Ben said in surprise when he saw me poised by the open door. “Hey, come in.”

I gave Ben a big, almost desperate smile. “You know that club you mentioned? Are you guys going tonight?”

He came over, scratching a hand through his curls. “Yeah, but I thought you couldn’t go because of, you know. Your condition.”

“I can’t dance,” I said with a short laugh. “But I can drain my excess energy into something safe, keep my right hand holstered, and drink with whoever else is knocking ’em back.”

“That’ll work,” Damon said, his mouth still full of whatever he’d been eating.

“Well, then, sure.” Ben smiled. “I’m glad you’re feeling better. What was wrong, anyway?”

My abilities are killing me and vampire blood is the only cure.

“Low iron? I’m okay now. No bleeding or fainting, promise.”

“All right, we’ll be ready in a minute.”

Then a depressing realization suddenly filled me. “Wait. I don’t have any money, and I’m not about to hit up one of Vlad’s staff for some.”

“Money?” Ben laughed. So did everyone else there. “You don’t need money,” Ben went on. “Vlad owns the town and we’re his special plasma kabobs. Everything is free for us, and as his guest, same goes with you, too.”

My eyes bugged. “He owns the whole town?”

“The counties surrounding it, too. Romania has communes, and while most people don’t own the ones they oversee . . . Vlad has his own way of doing things, doesn’t he?”

He does indeed, I thought, remembering how he hadn’t told me the implications behind drinking his blood. Then I forced that thought back and smiled.

“Then I’m ready whenever you are.”