The Bite That Binds

CHAPTER ONE

(Sam)

She was there again. She came nearly every night. I still wasn’t sure whether she was a dream or a hallucination. But I knew that as soon as she crooked her finger, I’d follow her like she wanted me to. It was always the same.

It was like being in a trance, and yet not. I knew the choice to follow her was mine, but it was like there was some kind of pull that overrode my reservations. So, like I always did, I slipped out of bed and walked behind the tall, slim vampire who was clothed in only a torn emerald-green dress that matched the colour of her eyes. Her coal-black hair was so thick and long that it covered most of the pale skin of her arms. Just like always.

I followed her into the living area of my apartment where a large oval-shaped mirror stood, totally out of place. The vampire turned and smiled; it was reassuring and friendly, but I wasn’t reassured at all. Then she lifted her arm and pointed at the mirror. It wasn’t my own reflection staring back at me. Instead, it was like I was looking through a large doorway. There was a derelict one-floored house that seemed to be in the middle of no-man’s land.

The vampire stepped through the doorway and gestured for me to follow her. Not bloody likely. Every instinct I had in this dream or hallucination or whatever it was screamed, ‘No!’

So I did the same thing I always did; I shook my head and mouthed ‘no’. Again the vampire indicated for me to follow her, but again I shook my head. Her smile fell as anxiety and dejection filled her eyes. The doorway closed behind her, and that was when it ended.

“Sam,” a familiar voice murmured as fingers combed through my hair. His spicy, masculine scent swirled around me, stirring my senses. But, then, everything about Jared had each of my senses on high alert. And the cocky sod knew it. “Sam, baby, wake up.”

Nah. Although the mattress felt a little harder than usual, I was too tired to care. I shoved at the firm, hard chest I could sense hovering over me, but Jared only chuckled.

“You did it again.”

“Did what?” I mumbled.

“You went for a stroll in your sleep and ended up on your living room carpet.”

Peeking through one eye, I saw that he was right. Groaning, I allowed my eyelid to drift shut again. Apparently tired of waiting for me to move, he scooped me up and arranged me so that I was straddling his lap on the floor. “I dreamed about her again,” I explained drowsily as I rested my head on his shoulder.

He sighed. “You know, I think we should arrange a meeting with Antonio so we can talk to him about this.”

“It was just a dream. I don’t think that warrants a visit to the Grand High Master Vampire.” In truth, I wasn’t as unworried as I sounded.

“Almost every night over the past two weeks, I’ve woken up to find that I’m alone in bed. What if it wasn’t a dream and you weren’t sleepwalking at all? What if it would have been possible for you to follow her through that door, or whatever it was?”

I’d wondered about those things as well.

“I don’t want to take the chance that one night you do as she asks, and I wake up to find that you’re gone. You need to talk to Antonio.” He lifted my head to seize my gaze with those hazel eyes that had more of an effect on me than I cared to admit. It was like they were designed to snatch and trap a person’s attention – they certainly seemed to have that effect on the females around here. The effect wasn’t lessened by the red tinges to his irises that marked him as a Pagori vampire and glowed whenever he was thirsty, angry, or horny.

I didn’t envy Jared being a Pagori, despite that that breed of vampire was the most powerful of the three and had incredible strength and speed as that strength came with a price – their bloodlust was just as strong.

The bloodlust wasn’t so bad for the hypnotically beautiful Keja vampires. All vampires had a preternatural allure, but a Keja’s allure was enchanting and bewitching. The breed was identifiable by the fact that they had fangs and also amber tinges to the irises. Like with Pagoris, the tinges glowed if the Keja was angry, thirsty, or horny.

Sventé vampires, like myself, didn’t have this characteristic, which I was quite happy about – I liked my irises just as they were thank you very much. But although Sventés were stronger and faster than humans, we were weaker than the other two breeds of vampire. We did have some strong points; not only did we have the agility of jungle cats, but our bloodlust wasn’t overpowering – enabling us to walk among humans without losing control and leaping on one. Having a manageable bloodlust, however, meant that the other two breeds considered Sventés to be very tame and human-like and, therefore, inferior. Snort.

Unfortunately, Jared had once been one of those prejudiced vampires. When I’d first arrived at The Hollow from London to partake in the try-outs for a place in the legion − Antonio’s personal army − Jared had thought the idea was absolutely ridiculous. It hadn’t mattered that I was unique in being a Feeder: a vampire gifted with the ability to absorb and manipulate the energy around them. Nor had he been impressed by my perfect control of this overwhelming gift that should technically only be a Pagori power. He, like many others, had been too hung up on the fact that I was not only a Sventé, but female.

As such, it hadn’t helped my cause that Jared was one of the assessors during the try-outs. He had denied me a place in the new squad, despite that I’d earned one. But that attitude had kind of backfired when Antonio then made me Jared’s co-commander. Ha. It had been a while before Jared accepted me as his co-commander, but now the arrogance and narrow-mindedness that had created his prejudices was gone.

Not that Jared had had a personality transplant or had switched from alpha to beta. No, he was still assertive, imposing, and demanding – and could even be cocky and irritating, for that matter. But the narrow-mindedness that had once acted as a huge barrier between us was no longer there.

He wasn’t a chocolate and flowers person, wasn’t the type to spout pretty words or shower a girl with compliments. In fact, he could probably be described as a little emotionally awkward. He very rarely shared those three important little words, but he was also attentive on the most intense level. When I needed him, he was there. When I wanted his attention, he gave it. When I had a problem, he tried to fix it − even when I didn’t want him to.

It was strange to have someone who I knew I could totally rely on. I’d never had that before, didn’t want to lose it; didn’t want to lose this person who I had come to love and had every intention of Binding with in just nine evenings’ time.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that a Binding was a week-long event that culminated in a wedding-type ceremony. The guests would all arrive in two evenings’ time, and entertainment would be provided each and every night as part of the celebrations.

Taking me from my thoughts, Jared gently mashed his mouth with mine. “Want me to help you pack your stuff so we can move it all into my apartment after the meeting?” He narrowed his eyes when I didn’t speak, scrutinising my face in a way that made me squirm. It would be fair to say that I’d been seriously procrastinating taking this big step. “If you expect me to live apart from you, Sam, get that idea right out of your head. Is it that you’re having second thoughts about the Binding? You have to be honest with me. How am I supposed to tie you to the bed and make you come until you change your mind if I don’t even know you’re having second thoughts?”

I smiled – he wasn’t kidding. Lightly running my fingers through his short, chestnut hair, I told him, “It’s not that.”

“Then, what?”

Finding it hard to explain, I released a frustrated sigh. “For so long, I was under the control of Victor” – my deceased Sire and a prick of epic proportions – “and had my every move watched. The weird bastard even chose my clothes; it was part of the control. I didn’t have anything that was mine. So getting a position in the legion…it was the most amazing feeling. Suddenly I had a title, a job, an apartment – things that were mine, and mine alone. So this place is more than just a home to me, and I guess I feel a bit possessive of it since I only got it a few months ago.”

A short pause. “That’s it?”

“Yes.” Even if it didn’t make an awful lot of sense.

He shrugged carelessly. “Fine. I’ll move in here.”

I gaped rather unattractively. “You’re blowing smoke up my arse, right?”

He nipped my lip before sucking it into his mouth. “No.”

“You’d really give up your big, swanky apartment?”

“If you don’t want to move in there with me, yes.”

“But you love your apartment.”

“I love you more, dumb ass.”

Although he didn’t say the words often, there was no doubting that he meant them. It was in his eyes, his tone, his expression. “Thank you for understanding.”

He snorted. “Baby, I’m not that selfless. Maybe you haven’t considered that once we’re living together, I have your body available to me whenever I want it.”

His boyish smile had me smiling back. If I hadn’t seen him fighting during the attack on The Hollow, I would never have believed there was a ruthless, merciless streak to his nature. I’d always thought I’d seen him at his harshest. The first day we’d met, when we duelled during the try-outs, he’d aimed some big bad electric bolts at me. It hadn’t been until the attack, when I saw exactly what he could do with his gift of electrokinesis, I realised just how much he had held back from me.

That night, I’d learned just why so many vampires feared him. He’d killed without blinking, had been almost like a machine. Not once had he hesitated, faltered, or let any of his morals interfere. Not many people could block out their conscience like that. As someone who was still trying to perfect that technique, I was very much aware of how difficult it was.

Touched that he wasn’t pushing me to give up my apartment, even though he probably didn’t get why it was a big deal, I gave him a kiss filled with gratitude.

“If you really want to thank me, you can talk to Antonio about these weird dreams. Please, baby. For me.” He gripped my hips and pulled me tighter to him, making sure I could feel the proof of his arousal. Like I already hadn’t! He seemed to be almost permanently hard, but then, Jared was a randy bastard. Or maybe he just had a gratification disorder. In any case, I saw no need to complain.

“What’s in it for me?”

His devilish smirk surfaced. “The same thing that’s always in you. Exactly where it belongs.”

I sighed at my personal assistant, who had fast become my best friend. His petulant, sulky expression shouldn’t have made him seem more adorable than he already was. Even the indignant look he shot over his glasses made me smile. Watching him type crazily on his work computer, I realised I’d been dismissed.

Perching myself on the edge of his desk, I said, “Fletcher, don’t be an arse. It’s just that I don’t want to look like a slut at my own Binding ceremony. Is that really that much to ask? If I had my way, it would be a small, simple, private event.”

Fletcher – a fellow Brit – was fabulous to go shopping with, but he was never happy unless my cleavage was on show and every curve of my body was accentuated. Not because he was a perv. Being gay, the last thing he was interested in was my body. He was simply determined to get rid of my tomboy look but had taken it to the extreme. Having just heard that he had been secretly working with the designer of my ceremony dress, I had every intention of going to choose something ‘off the rack’ – to his utter horror.

“Sam, luv, you’re going to Bind with the Heir of the Grand High Master Vampire. It isn’t possible to keep something like that private and simple.”

He was right, the smart little shit.

“It’s a good thing that Antonio and his personal assistants are taking care of the plans and not you or there’d be about five people gathered in a garden tent.”

He was probably right about that as well. Actually, I was glad that I didn’t have to worry about things like colour schemes, table centrepieces, and chair covers. I’d be hopeless at it anyway.

“Come on, just trust me on this,” he implored, giving me a pitiful look that was designed to eat at my defences. “I promise the dress is fabulous. And not to be a drama queen or anything, but I think I’ll choke on tears if you reject it again when you haven’t even seen it. I have a very fragile ego.”

“Emotional blackmail? Oh now that’s low.”

“I prefer to think of it as a request said with love.” Pouting, he gave me another pitiful look.

Rolling my eyes, I sighed. “Fine.” It was hard to refuse that cute little face – especially when he had the Keja hypnotic allure. The breath whooshed out of me as, in vampire speed, he was out of his chair and wrapped around me, sniffling.

“I’m getting all emotional here.” Pulling away, he fanned his face as if it would hold back the tears. “You won’t regret it, luv, I swear it.”

“I’m warning you now that if it turns out the dress is slutty, I’ll slash up all your designer clothes.”

He gasped. “You wouldn’t.”

“Oh I would.”

“Now that’s just bitchy.”

I gave him a bright, totally unapologetic smile.

Returning to his seat, he asked, “So…have you decided what to give Jared as a Binding gift yet?”

I groaned. “Don’t remind me.” The tricky thing was that it was tradition for the couple to make each other’s gift. I could just about make a sandwich. Sure, I’d thought about cheating, but then I’d feel like shit when Jared gave me his hand-made gift.

“You’ll think of something.”

I wouldn’t bet on that.

“I’m so excited about all the entertainment for this week. I’ve seen the schedule, and it’s fab. Are you looking forward to the ceremony?”

“Yes. And no. I mean, I’m happy that I’m Binding with Jared, but I’m not looking forward to being the centre of attention. I’m not impressed that I have to spend a week away from training the squad just to have time with snooty Master Vampires.”

“They’re going to test you, luv,” he warned in a grave yet sympathetic voice. “You know that, right?”

“I know. Jared told me.” It hadn’t exactly come as a surprise. They would want to know that when the day came that I ruled alongside Jared, I was capable of protecting them, and that I was someone they could trust, respect, and follow. “I’ll try not to kill any of them.”

Fletcher cocked his head. “It’s not just that that’s bothering you though, is it?”

Again, he was right. It wasn’t that I had my doubts about Binding with Jared. It was that I couldn’t help worrying that he might back out. I had a number of reasons to worry about that. None of which I could talk about right then, because I felt that familiar pull. I felt him.

Turning, I spotted Jared talking to one of the other commanders further along the corridor, just as I’d known I would. As if he felt that same pull, his gaze found mine and he flashed me one of his devilish smirks.

“Why does he only smile at you like that?” griped Fletcher. “Then again, if he did smile at me like that, I’d probably blush like a virgin. Don’t you just love his Californian accent − especially when it’s spoken in that deep voice of his?”

I did actually, and as he liked my British accent, it worked out nicely.

Having exchanged a few more words with the commander, Jared was then striding purposely toward me. He walked like a man who knew what he wanted and would make no bones about trying to get it. He owned every step, filled the space around him with just his air of self-assurance.

“That bloke is a walking, talking advertisement for sex,” commented Fletcher, sighing in appreciation. I had to agree. Jared’s tall, perfectly defined body promised gratification. And delivered it.

Finally up close, he snaked his arms around my waist and dabbed a lingering kiss on my mouth. “Hey baby, I spoke to Antonio on my cell. Apparently, he was going to call me and arrange for me to meet with him, so I told him I’d be bringing you along.” Most likely in response to my sigh, he gave me a pointed look. “You promised me you’d talk to him.”

“And I will.”

“Then let’s go.” I gasped when he lightly bit my earlobe before whispering, “If we didn’t have this meeting, I’d drag you into our office and fuck you on my desk.”

“You’ve done that twice already this week.”

“Never gets old.”

Fletcher was tidying the papers on his desk, totally listening to every word.

“Want to go swimming later? I have this fantasy of fucking you in the pool.”

It was kind of intriguing, but I never ever gave Jared a ‘yes’. Teasing him was too much fun. “Maybe.”

Shaking his head at my teasing, he gave me another lingering kiss before simply nodding at our personal assistant and teleporting us to Antonio’s mansion − the main building of The Hollow. Situated on an off-the-map Caribbean island, The Hollow was much like a gated community, and was surrounded by tropical rainforests. Inside were stores, bars, a club, and plenty of housing for all those vampires and humans who lived there. In the centre was a man-made beach for the residents to use, but there was a private beach for Antonio, his staff, and the legion to use. I most liked the mansion’s private pool which was shaped like a bat with outstretched wings.

As usual, the meeting was taking place in one of Antonio’s conference rooms. The only people seated at the long table were Antonio, his Advisor Luther, and his tracker Sebastian.

“Ah…Sam, Jared,” said Antonio with a smile. His personal guards stood behind him as usual, while his two pit-bulls flanked him. “Come sit down.” Before meeting him, I had expected him to have a very imposing, suffocating presence. But there was something very reassuring about this particular Keja vampire.

Having sat down and exchanged smiles and nods with everyone – and having given the dogs a brief stroke – I raised a brow at Antonio. “Are we early or is this supposed to be a private meeting?”

“Private. It is not work-related. I have some news for you, Jared.” Antonio looked both sympathetic and hesitant. “Your mother…she passed away just last night. I believe the funeral will be taking place in a few days if you wish to make a discreet appearance and—”

“No.”

The one word response took me totally by surprise. Not simply because he didn’t wish to attend his mother’s funeral, but because it had been so hard and resolute.

Antonio released a long breath. “I thought not. However, I felt it better to give you the option.”

“How do you know she died?” I asked, suspecting Antonio had kept tabs on the woman but not understanding why he’d bother.

“As you know, a person must disappear when they have been Turned. Their family often reports them missing, and there are investigations and searches. In such cases, it is imperative to monitor the families and ensure that the investigations fail. The secret of our existence has to be preserved.”

“Jared’s parents didn’t stop searching for him and Evan” – Jared’s twin brother who was also a vampire – “all these years?” I frowned at the look he gave Jared. Again, it was sympathetic. Why be sympathetic about the idea that his parents hadn’t given up on finding him and his brother?

Sebastian’s tone was cautious. “You realise that Evan’s response may be different from yours?”

Jared shrugged at the tall Keja who, as always, was dressed in an Armani suit. “His decision is his own. I won’t interfere with his, just as he won’t interfere with mine.”

I’d never heard him sound so cold and hard before. “Jared, she was your mum, she—”

“She was Evan’s mom,” he corrected, “but never mine.” And then the shutters went down. Apparently that was the only answer I was getting.

When it came to questions, Jared was seriously the artful dodger. I’d quickly come to realise that he was very guarded. Whenever I asked about his past, he would instantly shut down. It wasn’t just his human years that he was vague about; it was his years as a vampire before joining Antonio’s legion. Whenever I pressed him, he turned into an arsehole, literally emitting ‘fuck off’ signals, but I knew it was just to distract me from my questions.

It didn’t seem that he was hiding deep, dark secrets. No. It was more like he didn’t want to think on life before The Hollow. When we had Merged with each other during the attack, I had automatically had access to his thoughts, feelings, and memories. I’d known he was worried for me, had known that he loved me, but as for his memories…There had been nothing from before The Hollow. Nothing that he cared to remember, anyway.

His seeming inability to open up to me was one of the reasons why I worried that he’d find himself backing out of the Binding. Not that I thought he didn’t care for me as much as he claimed to. There was no way I could doubt the extent of what he felt; it was all in his body language, in his vocal tone, the constant touches, the heated glances. And he had this way of looking at me like nothing else mattered. It was all extremely intimate. Powerful. Even disorientating at times.

The problem was that Binding didn’t allow for mental barriers. It wasn’t like marriage − the connection wasn’t something that a person could later free themselves from. Even if the couple came to hate each other, the psychic link could only be broken by death. As such, there wasn’t space for doubts. But if Jared feared being open with me, if he felt this need to hold back, there was every chance that he would back out of the Binding.

Maybe it would make sense for me to cut and run, but this was someone I cared about. If he was deeply scarred by something, I wanted to know what it was. He’d helped me with my scars. He had made me realise that my past as an unwilling consort for my Sire didn’t make me dirty or unworthy; it didn’t mean that I couldn’t have a normal, sexual, and even loving relationship with someone else. With him. I wanted to do the same for him. “Jared—”

Ignoring me, he spoke to Antonio. “There’s something that Sam needs to talk with you about.” He turned to me then. “Tell him.”

I narrowed my eyes at his swift change of topic. We’ll continue this conversation later, I told him telepathically. I wasn’t telepathic myself, but as Jared was, he could hear any thought that was directed at him by anyone. His nod was reluctant.

“I’ve been having these dreams,” I told Antonio. “I don’t think they’re anything to fret about, but they’re bugging me.”

The powerful vampire cocked his head, making his thick, black hair drape over his shoulder like a curtain. “What kind of dreams?”

“It’s always the same. I wake up, and there’s this female vampire there who wants me to follow her into the living area. In there is a huge mirror, which turns out to be a doorway. Through it, I can see a bungalow situated in the middle of nowhere. She steps through the doorway and wants me to go with her, but I never go.”

“And you sleepwalk to the living area every time you have the dream,” said Jared.

“So you may not be dreaming at all,” mused Sebastian, pursing his full lips.

Jared nodded. “Exactly.”

Antonio exchanged a look with Luther before asking me, “Does she speak to you?”

“No.”

Luther, who looked like he’d just stepped out of a J. R. R. Tolkien book with his long white hair and beard, leaned toward me. “What breed of vampire is she?”

“She doesn’t have a red or amber tinge to her irises, so I’m guessing she’s a Sventé. Wait, why are we talking about her like she’s real?”

“Because it’s possible that she is.” Luther rested his joined hands on the table. “There is a Sventé gift that allows a vampire to invade dreams, but they can only enter the dreams of other Sventés. Dreamwalkers, they’re called.”

“And you think she might be a dreamwalker?” At his nod, I asked, “Why would she come to me?”

“If she needs help – which is my guess – she will try to contact someone who can aid her. As I said, dreamwalkers can only invade the dreams of other Sventés. You’re the most powerful Sventé there is, and you are closely linked with Antonio. It makes perfect sense for her to reach out to you.”

“Or,” drawled Jared, “this could be a trap.” Luther tilted his head, allowing that.

“But it could be someone who truly needs help. I can’t ignore that,” I told Jared. I sensed his anger before he even spoke.

“Don’t think you’re going there, Sam. Not a chance will I let you take that kind of risk.”

“Let? Jared, don’t be a wanker.”

“I’m serious. If we find this place, we could be walking right into a fucking trap.”

“And that’s why we won’t go alone. We’ll take the squad.”

Antonio quickly interjected, “Jared, I realise that Sam’s safety is important to you, but you need to channel that protectiveness into watching out for her while on assignments.”

I was expecting an outburst, but what Jared did was shrug. A shaft of smugness shot through him. It wasn’t until he spoke that I understood why.

“The probability of us finding this place is second to none anyway. It could be anywhere.”

“Actually, I may be able to assist with that.” Luther’s words naturally didn’t go down well with Jared. “Sam, if you were to hold my hand while replaying the dream through your mind, there’s a possibility that I can help.”

I shrugged. “Sure.”

“Sam,” Jared bit out.

The overprotectiveness was unbelievably annoying, but sensing his anxiety and concern made some of my anger fizzle away. Holding his gaze, I again spoke to him telepathically. You know you wouldn’t stay behind if I asked you to, just as I can’t, no matter how much this pisses you off. That’s not who we are.

You don’t get what it would do to me if something happened to you.

I do, because I get just as worried that something will happen to you. So stop with the bloody sulking.

Leaning across the table, I took the hand that Luther offered. “All I need to do is close my eyes and recall the dream?”

“Yes, let it play out in your mind.” So I did. A short moment after he had released my hand, his eyes flew open. “I need a pen and some paper.”

In vampire speed, Sebastian disappeared out of the room, only to return with both.

After scribbling down some numbers, Luther slid the sheet of paper to Jared. “Coordinates. If you teleport there, you will find the building from Sam’s dream.”

Jared folded the sheet of paper and tucked it into his pocket. He then went to stand, but Antonio’s words stayed him.

“There’s something else, Jared.” His tone made it clear that this ‘something else’ wasn’t good.

Jared stiffened. “What?”

Again, Antonio’s expression was sympathetic. “I had no choice but to grant her request. Understand that.” There was disdain in the way he spoke of this woman, and that was seemingly all it took for Jared to know who Antonio was referring to. I felt his surprise quickly give way to anger.

Jared’s words were spoken through clenched teeth. “I don’t want her here.”

Although I had no idea who this woman was, I strangely felt a prick of jealousy. “Who are you talking about?”

“Jared, you must have anticipated that she would want to meet Sam.” Antonio didn’t look pleased about that. “Given who you are, there was no way that she would not hear about the upcoming ceremony.”

“She’s not going anywhere near Sam,” Jared stated firmly. “You contact her, and you tell her that she isn’t to come here.”

Starting to feel a little unsettled, I pressed, “Who is not going anywhere near me?”

“I don’t think she will harm Sam,” said Sebastian reassuringly.

“I don’t care.” Jared set his jaw. “She’s not getting near her.”

That was it. I’d had enough. Sucking the energy around me into my palms, I released an air blast harsh enough to have everyone’s hair rising. “Who the fuck is ‘she’?”

Jared rubbed my nape soothingly, but I wasn’t soothed. “Magda is” – a heavy sigh – “the woman who Turned Evan and me.”

“A woman Turned you?” This time, jealousy bolted through me.

Sensing it, he gently squeezed my nape. Hey, you don’t have to feel even the slightest bit jealous. I fucking hate her.

Maybe that should have made me feel better, but it didn’t. To me, ‘hate’ wasn’t a measure of dislike, it was an emotion. A very strong emotion. To feel such a strong emotion for someone, they had to have affected you in a very deep sense. I had to wonder if she was more than just the woman who Turned him, if she was an ex-partner − maybe even the reason why he was so guarded.

Evan had once told me that Jared had never really liked a woman in more than a physical sense before me, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t. No matter how close you were to a person, there would always be something about them that you didn’t know. There was really no ‘knowing’ anyone. Well, in my experience anyway.

Sebastian sighed, flicking his peppery black hair from his face. “She heard the announcement that the Heir has claimed someone. I think we can safely guess that she has not taken it well, though she says she simply wants to meet the woman you have claimed and to…”

“And to what?” I prodded, though I was pretty sure what the answer would be.

“To be present at your Binding ceremony, as is her right as the vampire who Turned Jared.”

“And it’s such a bad thing that she’s present because…?” No one answered me.

“She won’t be present.” Jared’s nostrils flared. “Fuck her rights.”

“Why do you hate her so much?” He didn’t answer me. So I kicked him under the table. “At least tell me why you’re so determined to keep us apart?”

His eyes were sad. “Because she likes to hurt people who mean something to me.” Again, the shutters went down.

Oh he was a pain in my arse.

Jared stood, sighing. “I guess it’s time we go get the squad. First, I need to call Evan.”

I could guess why: he wanted to warn his brother about Magda. As he went to the corner of the room to take the call, I arched a brow at Antonio. “If he’s not going to tell me anything about this woman, can you at least shine a light on things?”

Antonio shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “I would prefer not to involve myself in what may become a domestic argument.”

When I switched my attention to Sebastian and Luther, they both stood so sharply that the table shook and the pen came rolling down to me; I knew they were intending to scarper before I had the chance to question them. Cowards. Huffing at Luther, I handed him the pen. It was as he touched it that he gasped and his entire body tensed. The surprise in his eyes was quickly replaced with worry and unease.

“What?” I demanded, though my voice was shaky. He simply shook his head. “I know you had a vision, and it obviously spooked the hell out of you. What did you see?”

His smile was forced. “Yes, it was a vision, but it did not concern you.”

“Bollocks.” I leaned across the table. “You listen to me, Gandalf. I’m about to walk into what could potentially be a trap. If there’s something to worry about, I want to know what the bloody hell it is.”

“I’m sorry, Sam, but I fear that this is a path you must take.”

“What’s wrong?” asked Jared as he returned to my side.

I pointed at Luther. “It’s him over there doing his ‘riddle me this, riddle me that’.” And right then, I didn’t have the patience for it. “Let’s go before I set his beard on fire.”

Narrowing his eyes at the three Kejas opposite us, Jared linked his fingers with mine. There was a queasy sensation in my stomach, and then we were in the living area of his rather impressive apartment. He pulled me flush against him, locking his arms around me. “I’ll go pack my stuff so we can drop it at your place before we leave. Are you sure I can’t talk you out of going to check out the bungalow?”

“Nope.”

Resting his forehead against mine, he exhaled heavily. “Just promise me one thing. Promise me you won’t Merge with anyone.”

Although vampires each only had one gift, Bestowers like Antonio could impart power to another vampire and, thus, allow them to develop another gift. He had done this for me once as a reward, and had done it twice for Jared. “It’s one of my gifts—”

“And it’s a dangerous one. The last time you used it, you nearly got too overwhelmed by power, and I almost lost you.”

I grabbed the lapels of his matrix-style leather jacket. “Look, it’s sweet that you’re so determined to protect me, but I’m a big girl.”

“Yes, and you’re my girl. I want you safe and here with me. Promise me.”

“I only use it as a last resort.”

“Sam.”

A sly thought came to me. Ordinarily, I wasn’t a sly person, but when needs must…“I’ll make you a deal. You tell me about Magda, and I’ll promise not to use that gift at any time tonight.”

He narrowed his eyes. “That’s a shitty deal.”

“It’s the only one you’re getting. You close yourself off from me all the time, Jared. It’s not fair. I trusted you with all my shit. Now I’m asking you to do the same.”

After a long moment, he nodded and took a seat on his corner leather sofa. It was a minute or so before he finally spoke. “Evan and I already knew about vampires before we Turned. One night on our way home, we were walking down an alley, and we saw this guy chomping on some girl’s neck. He heard us coming and looked up; his irises were glowing amber, and his fangs were showing.

“He told us to turn around, to forget what we had seen and take another route to where we were going. I could feel the power, the push in his voice, but…I don’t know, it just didn’t work. The same went for Evan. I know now that he’d obviously had the gift to hypnotise, but for whatever reason it hadn’t worked on us. The vampire realised and started laughing. He seemed fascinated with us, and we actually became friends.”

Sensing his reluctance to go on, I perched myself on the sofa beside him and nudged his knee with mine. He gave me a put-out look but continued.

“Evan and I went to a club with him one night. It was a place where a lot of vampires went. Magda was there. I’ll be honest, I was a little mesmerised by her. It was mostly because of the natural glamour that comes with vampirism, I guess” – Hmm, not feeling good about Magda right now – “but it was never more than sex to me. She told me she loved me, but I hadn’t felt the same. I’d thought I cared about her at the time, though. In truth, I’d really just been kind of…I don’t know…a little infatuated with her.”

Did that make me feel a little better? No. Although I’d never been a possessive person, I could be quite possessive with Jared and I even had my jealous moments. This was to be one of those moments.

“She said that she wanted to Turn me. I probably should have considered it. My job bored the hell out of me and it didn’t exactly pay well. My apartment was a shithole. I owed a serious amount of money to some seriously bad people. But there was Evan. I wouldn’t have left him like that. And, although I’d thought I cared about her, I still hadn’t wanted to give up my life for her. So I said no. She looked pissed, and I thought she was going to Turn me anyway. Instead, she told me to spend the next day thinking it over. But I hadn’t changed my mind, so I didn’t go back to the club that night.

“It was later that same night that I got a call from Evan’s cell. Only it wasn’t Evan. It was Magda. She’d Turned him, Sam. She’d Turned Evan against his will. She said she’d done it for me, so that I’d have Evan when she Turned me. But she hadn’t done it for me, she hadn’t loved me. She’d done it out of spite because I hadn’t gone back to her – I knew it, she knew it. But how could I have said no? It was my fault that she’d done it to him, how could I have left him alone to live that life? So I let her Turn me. She could have just Turned me and left Evan out of it, but she hadn’t because she’d wanted to hurt me. She used Evan to do it.”

Feeling his pain and guilt, I straddled him and cradled his face with my hands. “Evan would never blame you.” The brothers were too close for that.

His arms immediately went around me. “I know. But the dumb fucker should. Instead, he jokes how weird it is that in both our human life and vampire life we were born on the same day, yet both times he was born an hour before me.”

That was typical of Evan; he could find humour in just about any situation. “What happened after that?”

“Once he and I had a good hold on our bloodlust, we left her.”

“Has she ever been in touch?” I couldn’t envision her letting him leave without a struggle.

“In the beginning, she tried to track me down. But when none of the vampires she sent ever returned to her – courtesy of my gift of electrokinesis – she stopped sending any. So I haven’t seen her since we left, and that was the way I’d wanted it to stay.”

“I guess Sebastian’s right. She won’t be happy about us.”

“No, she won’t. And I don’t want her near you.”

“You don’t need to protect me from her.”

He started playing with my hair, stroking it and combing his fingers through it. “I know that. You’re stronger and more powerful than she is. But I also know she’ll try to play mind games with you. It’s what she does. And she’s good at it, because her gift is to sense a person’s fears and insecurities. Underneath your bitchy streak, you have the biggest heart, and I don’t want her playing with it. She’s toxic, Sam.”

Well now I understood why he was so concerned. Admittedly, he had good reason to be. I’d met someone with that gift once. In a bitch’s hands, it could be very destructive.

“She’ll feed your insecurities, and she’ll do her best to come between us. I don’t want that.”

“I get why you want to keep her away from me and I grant you that, yes, her gift is notable. But so are both of mine. If she tries to play with me, I’ll make sure she’s sorry she did it.”

He grinned. “So bloodthirsty…I love it. And yes, you can take care of yourself.” His smile turned apologetic − falsely apologetic. “Having said that…Although you don’t need me to protect you from her or anyone else, I’ll always do it. I’ll kill anyone who tries to hurt you. Make your peace with it.”

Stubborn sod. But I was more stubborn, which was why I wasn’t willing to drop my earlier question. Softly, I coaxed, “Tell me why you don’t want to go to your mother’s funeral.”

Instantly, his entire body stiffened. “I just don’t.”

“You must have a reason.”

He shrugged. “It’s not important. She’s not important. You are.” He brushed his lips against mine. “I love your mouth.”

“Jared.”

He exhaled a long, heavy, tired sigh. “Why do you want to hear about it?”

“Why don’t you want to tell me about it?”

Another sigh. He lifted me from his lap and placed me on my feet. When he was upright, he stepped away, releasing me completely. Just like that, I felt cold. Not simply because his body heat was gone, but because I literally felt frozen out. “We’ll talk about it another time. Right now, we have other things to concentrate on.”

Although I wasn’t satisfied with that response, I said nothing as he headed for his bedroom to begin packing his things. One thing I could be sure of was that his relationship with his mother had been somewhat strained, but that didn’t mean that her death was necessarily good news. And if he did find it good news, he’d undoubtedly feel guilty about it − that was the way Jared’s mind worked. The last thing I wanted was him hurting, especially during the week of our Binding.

But I’d noticed the determined set to his jaw; it wouldn’t matter how much I pressed him right now, I wouldn’t get any answers. Fine. If he needed to think that I was going to drop it, then I’d let him think that. I’d lull him into a false sense of security where he thought question time was over, and then I’d probe again when his guard was back down.

Maybe that was a little ruthless, but Jared could be his own worst enemy sometimes. He needed to talk, and maybe even vent. So that was exactly what I’d make him do.

And he thought trying to freeze me out would actually work? I almost felt sorry for the daft sod.