The Bite That Binds

CHAPTER SEVEN

(Sam)

I was surprised to find Wes and his snake on my doorstep at dusk. “Everything all right?”

Wes gestured to a small gift-wrapped box he was holding. “I have something for you.”

Not comforted by his impish expression, I nevertheless stepped aside to allow him to enter.

Jared, who was seated on the sofa drinking a NST and eating toast, looked up from his breakfast. “Hey,” he greeted simply, and then his eyes went to the box. His expression – complete with the questioning brow – mirrored my own.

“I have a gift for Sam. As I believe you will benefit from it to an extent, I suppose it can double as a Binding gift from Lena and I.”

Curious, Jared rose from the sofa and went to take the box, but Wes shook his head and turned to me. “Firstly, may I ask how you slept?”

Translation: Had there been any more pain? “Actually, I slept really well.”

His smile was wide. “That’s good to hear.” He held out the gift to me.

Not liking the roguish look on his face, I eyed the prettily wrapped box suspiciously. “What is it?” I asked dubiously.

“That’s for you to find out, my dear girl. Here, open it.”

Sighing, I took the box and carefully placed it on the coffee table. Just as carefully, I removed the wrapping paper, only to find a wooden box. Taking off the lid, I felt my eyebrows crash into my hairline. “Wow, a pen – just what I’ve always wanted.” Of course he was giving me a pen. Why wouldn’t he give me a pen? Clearly his antenna didn’t pick up all the channels.

“This fountain pen is what I use to draw pictures or tattoos. Using it as an outline, I then project the image in my mind onto paper, skin, or whatever my ‘canvas’ is. A needle is not necessary and would not work with vampires anyway as the skin would heal too quickly.”

I had to refrain from backing away when Toto leaned toward me, but he didn’t touch me. Instead, he flicked his forked tongue out at the box. Then it snapped into place. “Oh you’re bloody joking.”

Jared frowned as the same realisation hit him. “You’re giving her a snake?”

“Like Antonio, I reward those in my service who have truly earned it.” Wes turned back to me. “I have only ever done this for my most prized warriors.”

I might have felt a little flattered by the sentiment if it wasn’t for the twinkle of mischief in his eyes. “I don’t know if ‘warrior’ is a word that could be used to describe me.”

“Of course it is. Trust me, you will be more than happy with my gift. These snakes are such intelligent creatures. And so uniquely beautiful – not only in appearance, but in temperament. They are loyal to their…I suppose you could say ‘owner’. I am certain that Jared will be happy for you to receive anything that adds to your protection. Strikers are particularly protective.”

I raised a brow. “Strikers?”

“That is what I have named the breed. He will guard and protect you, just as Toto does me.”

I probably would be better not asking, but, I had to. “And you picked the name ‘Striker’ because…?”

“You see, in most instances it is easy to tell when a snake is feeling uneasy or threatened. This breed always appears calm and docile, but it is forever alert” – a little like Butch, then – “and it will strike so quickly, not even a vampire would have seen it coming.”

Well wasn’t this special. Common sense advised me to tell him to shove that pen up his arse and sod off, but something in his eyes made me pause. He really, really wanted me to accept this gift, really wanted me to have this added protection. It wasn’t like I didn’t need protection right now, was it? Finally, I nodded. He smiled in satisfaction, while Jared gave me a look that said ‘Fair play to you’.

I led Wes over to the dining table and gestured for him to take a seat. He did, but stopped me when I went to sit beside him. “It would be better if you could stand due to our differences in size.”

Oh again with the ‘size’ remarks. “Whatever,” I grumbled.

“Are you happy for me to draw him on your arm? I’m quite certain that Jared will object to me sketching anything on your chest.”

Jared threw him a playfully dark scowl. “You got that right.”

I held out my arm, watching in fascination as he took the pen from the box on the table and began to draw. “You said ‘him’. Does that mean you’re drawing a male?”

“Yes,” confirmed Wes. “He will be physically identical to Toto, though much shorter. He will grow with time. Growth, for Strikers, is an extremely slow process.”

“So he’ll be a baby?”

“No, he’ll be what you might call an adolescent. But this will not make him any less lethal. Size makes no difference with this breed. In tattoo form, however, he will always remain the same length.”

Jared came to stand beside me, watching closely. “Does it hurt?” He ignored Wes’ impatient look.

I shook my head. Strangely, the pen left a tingling sensation as it moved on my skin. It wasn’t pleasant or unpleasant, simply a sensation. Although the ink was black, other colours appeared in the intricate drawing, and I realised that Wes was projecting them onto the image.

It was an hour later when Wes was finally finished. A very detailed four-inch long, piebald snake was then twined around my upper arm. The brown patches on his pure-white scales were small and spaced far apart.

“Before I bring him to life, you need to give him a name. He will not simply be your guard, but a pet; an individual in his own right with a personality all of his own.”

After a moment, I said, “I quite like Dexter.”

“Why ‘Dexter’?” asked Jared with a smile.

I shrugged. “I just like it. Or I could name him Slick, or Conan, or Boomer.”

Jared chuckled. “No, Dexter’s good.”

“Yes, I rather like it myself,” said Wes. “Now, Sam, stay as still as you can for me.”

Fighting the urge to tense, I held still and waited. Wes did nothing other than stare at the image. Then, suddenly, heat travelled up my arm. Seconds later, there was a live snake where the image had been. Only it was five times the length that it had been as a tattoo, making it one and a half foot long.

He had a good look around before his black eyes locked onto me. I would have expected that I’d be shuddering and backing away. Instead, I was smiling at him fondly – like a crazy person.

Wanting to be sure I didn’t startle him, I slowly raised my hand and lightly ran a finger over his coffin-shaped head. Amazingly, he leaned in to the touch, still staring at me. His gaze was intelligent, observant, and curious. I almost shit my pants in surprise when his colour abruptly changed to the same brilliant blue that Toto had earlier been. “So that means he likes me, right?” I asked Wes without moving my gaze from Dexter.

“Yes, it does.”

“He’s actually kind of cool.” Jared took a step toward me, and Dexter’s head shot around to face him. Just like that, his colouring went to jet black and his tail rattled slightly. I remembered Wes saying something about Toto being grey or black whenever he was wary. And obviously the rattling tail wasn’t a good thing.

“Whoa,” said Jared, freezing on the spot.

Wes held up a hand. “He’s just being cautious as he doesn’t yet know you, and he’s intent on protecting Sam. It’s instinctive for him.”

Jared looked slightly placated. “Why does it feel like he’s assessing me?”

Wes smiled. “He most likely is. Come closer, so he can get a better feel for you.”

I almost laughed at Jared’s ‘Do you think I’m stupid?’ look. “Oh behave. You face big, bad vampires all the time. He’s just a snake.”

“With venomous fangs. Did you forget that part? And he spits, too. I like being able to see, thanks.”

I rolled my eyes. “Come here, you big Nancy.”

Jared tried his best to seem cool and calm, even moving with a very casual, cocky strut. “What do you want me to do?”

“I need him to get used to you. I don’t want him thinking I need protecting from you, so just sit down on this chair near me. But slowly.” Once Jared had done as I asked, I took his hand in mine and waited. At a steady pace, Dexter slinked his way down my arm and up Jared’s. “Don’t tense.” To Jared’s credit, he didn’t.

Much like Toto had done to me, Dexter flicked out his tongue, ‘tasting’ Jared. It had to have been at least a full minute before he returned to my own arm, switching back to a brilliant blue shade. “You’ve passed muster, by the looks of it.”

“He didn’t change colour again until he was with you.”

“Yes, but he didn’t bite you.”

Jared jiggled his head. “Fair point.”

I looked at Wes. “What do I feed him?”

“He’s totally independent; perfectly capable of catching a rodent. Taking him into the rainforest regularly would be good for him so that he can feed himself. Do not feel guilty returning him to his tattoo form. He will be just as content in that form as he is in this.”

“How do I turn him back?” I didn’t particularly want to, but I’d have to soon enough.

“All you need to do in order to get him to change from one form to another is repeat the word ‘novo’. It’s Latin for ‘change’.”

“That’s it?”

“Yes. Try it now, as practice.”

Feeling a teensy bit guilty, I nonetheless repeated, “Novo.” Instantly, Dexter seemed to melt into my arm and was back in his four-inch long tattoo form.

“Whoa!” exclaimed Jared – and not just because of how strange it had been to watch Dexter change. No, what was stranger was that the tattoo was moving.

That mischievous twinkle was back in Wes’ eyes. “You’ll find that he’ll often move around your body like that, just as he’ll also change colour while in tattoo form.”

“Does it feel weird when he moves?” Jared asked me.

I shrugged, chuckling. “I can’t feel anything at all. But I can sense his mood. He’s…content.” So Wes was right. Dexter was just as happy as a tattoo.

Wes slapped his knees and rose. “Well, I shall let myself out.”

Just as he reached the front door, a thought occurred to me. “Wait, just what exactly does his venom do?”

Mischief returned to his eyes. “If he spits the venom, it will cause irritation to the skin and eyes, but will eventually wear off – unless the victim is human, in which case it can cause blindness. A single bite would not be fatal to a vampire, but it wouldn’t be pleasant. There are, in fact, three stages.”

That didn’t sound good. “Stages?”

“Each stage is only temporary and should wear off after a few hours. Stage one is blindness. Stage two is mental disorientation. And the final stage is paralysis.”

I shouldn’t ask, I know, but… “And if a second bite is delivered, what would that do?”

Wes shrugged. “Merely cause excruciating, cry-wrenching pain, which is then soon followed by death.”

Of course it did.

To look at Fletcher’s skinny frame, you wouldn’t think that he had the strength to cut off a person’s air supply merely by hugging them. I struggled inside his hold, managing to wheeze out, “Fletch, I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine and you bloody well know it.” The Empath pulled back, wearing a stern expression. “I can sense that you’re a mess right now. I want to know everything, lady. Don’t leave a single thing out.” So we went inside my office, and I revealed everything – the brothers, the pain, and my problems with my gifts.

Fletcher shook his head and put his hand to his chest. “This isn’t good for the heart. I think I feel a palpation coming on.”

“I’m trying not to worry. I really, really am, because I know that Jared will sense it if I do. He’s in a bad enough state as it is.” It was nice not having to pretend for just a little while.

“Well of course he is. He loves you and he’s used to saving the day and having all the answers. He’s so worried about you, it actually hurts me to feel it. And—” Hearing the tap-tap-tap of high heels coming down the corridor, he groaned. “Oh here comes Widow Twankey. She’s intent on trying to put a spanner in the works, isn’t she?”

I laughed. “I call her Jessica Rabbit, but Widow Twankey’s better, without a doubt.”

Seconds later, wearing a superior grin and a dress that left nothing whatsoever to the imagination, Magda strode inside. Seriously, someone needed to tell her that she wasn’t the only one with a pair of tits. “I was hoping we could talk.”

On receiving a nod from me that said I’d be okay, Fletcher strutted past Magda, snarling, and left the office. Of course he’d be eavesdropping, as usual.

I arched a questioning brow at her, being sure to look disinterested.

“Hi again, Sam.” When I didn’t respond, she sighed. “I feel like you and I got off on the wrong foot. Truly, I am not the enemy. In fact, I can help you understand Jared much better. I thought you and I could spend some time together and get to know each other.”

“Oh you did? Well see, here’s the thing. I don’t want to get to know you. I have no reason to. If Jared had wanted me to, I’d have made the effort. But as he doesn’t…well, I’ll just tell you to fuck off.”

“Aren’t you curious to know what he’s keeping from you?”

“I’m curious to know why you don’t own any decent clothes.” I heard a snort of laughter from behind the office door.

“Jared always liked them.”

I could tell by her smug expression that she thought that was all it would take to set me off. Sure, I was pissed, but I was not about to give her what she wanted. “Do you want to know what he likes better? When I bite the head of his dick. Yeah, my Sventé saliva does the trick every time.”

A sound came from her that sounded suspiciously like a hiss. “I didn’t need to resort to tricks.”

“No, you needed to Turn his brother before he would stay with you.”

“He could still have said no, but he didn’t. He chose to Turn, chose to be with me.”

“He chose to be with Evan – dress the situation up with a pretty bow if you like, but that fact remains. Now,” I drawled, leaning forward. “I’m going to make myself very, very clear, and if you have any sense in your messed-up head, you’ll listen. Jared is not yours. He does not want to be. He has absolutely no interest in you, and I can’t say I blame him. If I’d been in his position, I’d rather have sucked cow snot through a straw than go back to a manipulative, calculating, devious bitch.”

She snickered. “You’re jealous of the blood-link, aren’t you? That’s why you’re being so hostile toward me.”

Jealous? Yes. Hostile? Pfft. “When I’m being hostile toward you, you’ll know it in those precious seconds before I punch a hole into your chest searching for a heart that’s probably not there.”

“I really am sure that I told you to stay away from Sam.” Jared’s tone was flat, cold.

Magda twirled to face him, spluttering. “It’s natural for me to have an interest in a person who wishes to Bind with one of my vampires.”

“I’m not one of your vampires,” he objected through clenched teeth. “You may have Turned me, but I cut my ties with you a long time ago.”

She shook her head, looking almost desperate. “You’ll always be linked to me, Jared. Running away wasn’t going to get rid of it. Dim it, yes. But you’ll never get away from it.”

His words were quiet, but not soft. “Oh, but I will when I Bind with Sam. My blood-link with her will replace the one I have with you; you already know this.” In a blink, he was stood behind my chair with his hands on my shoulders.

“Yeah,” I agreed. “So get out.” To my surprise, she did.

Jared dragged me from the chair and pulled me against him. “You okay?”

“Agitated beyond belief,” I answered honestly, relaxing in his hold. “But this will all be worth it when she feels the link die. My conscience goes asleep when she’s around.” He didn’t smile as I’d thought he might. Instead he sighed, resting his forehead against mine.

“She’s only just getting started, Sam. This is just a taste of what you’ll have to deal with. I don’t want our time together being spoilt by her. I don’t want her causing problems for us.”

As I met his gaze, I realised something. “You’re waiting for me to leave you, aren’t you?” I knew why: it was hard to trust that someone you wanted so much could really want you back.

“I’m waiting for you to try. I won’t let you go.”

“There are only two people who have the power to mess this up. You and me. I have no intention of doing that and neither do you.”

“We’re tight, I know that. But she only needs one crack, Sam. One crack and she’s in.”

I smoothed my hands up and down his t-shirt. “And if she gets in, I’ll kill her. But the only way she can get in is if we aren’t as solid as we think we are. We could look at this as a test. If she manages to mess this up, it was never going to go the distance and the Binding would have been a mistake.”

He shook his head. “That’s a nice way of looking at it. But you’re wrong, baby. She’s poison, and it doesn’t matter how strong a person’s body is, poison can still have the intended effect. It can still hurt and it can still kill. Like I said, all she needs is one crack. One crack and that poison will get into our relationship and spread.”

“No.”

“She’s getting to you. If she gets to you badly enough, she’ll get in here” – he gently poked my temple – “and she’ll poison your mind. She can make you destroy what we have.”

“I’m too strong a person for her to do that.” Even I heard the doubt in my voice. With everything that was going on, I wasn’t at my strongest. Still, I insisted, “She can’t do that. It’s not possible.”

He gave me a gentle, sad smile. “Neither is a vampire becoming deformed or crazed.”

A knock on our office door was quickly followed by the entrance of Antonio, Luther, and Sebastian. I was glad. A distraction was just what both Jared and I needed right then.

Antonio gave me a soft smile. “How have you been?”

“No more pain, if that’s what you mean.”

“Good. You will both be glad to hear that my researchers were able to clear up the meaning of ‘Orrin’. As it turns out, Orrin is a Pagori vampire living in L.A. He is not a Master Vampire, but he has Sired a large number of vampires.” Antonio placed the folder of information on my desk. Inside it was a photograph of a blond, blue-eyed Pagori.

“That’s not either of the brothers,” I said.

“It’s possible that he does not know the brothers at all, that ‘Orrin’ isn’t a person and, instead, stands for something.”

“Still, it’s worth following this up.”

The grinding of Jared’s teeth was audible. “Sam, please don’t tell me that you think you’re going.”

I gave him a pointed look. “Jared, please don’t tell me that you’re going to be a prat.”

He cursed. “I don’t want you leaving The Hollow while you’re ill. Fuck Sam, vampires aren’t supposed to be ill.”

“I’m not ill, it’s just that my gifts are playing up.”

“And there’s the unbearable pain, remember. I don’t want you out there while you’re vulnerable.”

“Vulnerable to what? We’re just visiting a Pagori vampire in L.A, who may or may not be linked to the Brothers Grimm. Besides, I have Dexter.”

Antonio neatly stepped in. “Sam is right, Jared. This isn’t an assignment. You will simply be paying another vampire a friendly visit.”

Naturally Jared hadn’t been happy with that response, which was why he sulked the entire time we gathered the squad, and right up until we reached the gates of Orrin’s Spanish style duplex in L.A. Although we had taken the entire squad, we decided it would be best to leave most of them outside so that we didn’t appear threatening. As Antonio had said, this was supposed to be a social visit, nothing more.

Jared’s knock was answered by a large, sleazy-looking Pagori who I would bet had an affinity for banjos. He ran his gaze over Jared, myself, Max, Salem, and Denny, scowling. When his eyes focused again on Jared, he demanded, “Who the fuck are you?”

Ignoring his tone, Jared simply said, “I’m here to see Orrin.”

“And who—” Realisation must have dawned on him, because his eyes widened and he spluttered. “Jared…For a second there, I didn’t recognise you. Come in.”

Entering, we found ourselves in a small, bright hallway. Branching off it was a living area on our left side, and a dining area on our right side. In both rooms, a number of vampires were lazing. They tensed at the look of Jared, but bowed their heads respectfully.

Have you met any of them before? I asked Jared.

No. But they’ll recognise me as being the Heir. Antonio made sure that would be the case worldwide.

“I’m Rudy, by the way,” the large vampire informed us after chasing the vampires out of the dining room. “Take a seat. Can I get you anything before I go tell Orrin that you’re here?”

Jared shook his head. “No thanks.”

Rudy nodded and left the room.

No sooner had we all seated ourselves at the large, glass dining table than Rudy returned with the lanky, blond Pagori from the photograph. He wore a timid, shy smile as he walked toward us. He had an awkward way about him, much like one of those school geeks who totally lacked social skills. Not that my social skills were much better.

“Jared,” he greeted simply, shaking his hand. “A pleasure to meet you.”

Jared nodded. “Likewise. This is my fiancée, Sam, and three of my squad.”

Orrin must have looked at me a little longer than Jared was comfortable with, because he stiffened beside me. Personally, though, I didn’t feel that Orrin was ogling me. His gaze was studious, searching.

“It’s an honour to meet you all.” Having taken a seat directly opposite Jared, Orrin again smiled shyly. “I’m not in trouble, am I?”

Jared returned the grin. “No, nothing like that. I’m hoping that you can help us with something.”

Orrin suddenly looked eager, perhaps flattered that the Heir would come to him for any assistance.

“The Grand High Master is looking for a vampire with a certain set of skills. Namely, someone with the ability to alter DNA. But he needs one strong enough to alter the DNA of vampires. We know that one of your vampires has that gift. We’d like to borrow him for a short time.”

I thought that was quite clever of Jared. Vampires could be quite protective of those they had Turned. Therefore, if Jared had said that he wanted to punish any of them, Orrin would most likely have concealed their location.

Orrin scratched his nape. “I don’t have a vampire with a gift that strong. However…put him and his brother together and you have a force powerful enough to achieve that.”

“It requires two of them?”

“Yes. Quinn can manipulate DNA, and Wyatt has the capability to freeze and unfreeze things. Vampires are physically frozen in their development, but if Wyatt can very slightly affect that, it enables his brother to play with DNA.”

I hadn’t thought of that. “Where can we find them?”

Orrin’s expression was sheepish. “I’m afraid that’s something I can’t help you with. Once the Trent brothers realised how strong they were, they felt that they didn’t need their Sire or anyone else. They felt that they were quite capable of starting their own line. I heard that they were seen in Vegas a few days ago. I doubt it was really them, though. They prefer solitude.”

I strongly suspected that it had been them and that they were trying the trick of hiding in plain sight.

“Do you want me to have a few of my guys search for them?” Orrin seemed keen to help, clearly wanting to impress the Heir.

Jared waved a hand. “That’s not necessary. There are other vampires on the list that we can approach.” Very smart of Jared to not seem desperate. Besides, now that we knew their names and a little more about them – including where they were last seen – it was very possible that Sebastian could track them much faster than Orrin ever could. “Thanks for your time.”

Back at The Hollow, Jared and I relayed all of the information to Antonio. Going by the strain in his expression, I suspected that he was sincerely looking forward to getting a grip of the Trent brothers and making them pay for what they had done. Well he’d better get in line.

“Sebastian, I do not need to stress to you the importance of the brothers being found,” said Antonio. “Track them as best and as fast as you can, but do not act when you finally find them. Simply report back to me with their location.”

With a nod, the tracker left.

Antonio looked between Jared and I. “You should both go and get ready for tonight’s entertainment. We shall see you soon.”

Ah, yes, the Opera. So not my thing, but I was willing to keep an open mind.

I had expected to find Fletcher waiting outside my apartment with a shopping bag containing a revealing dress, as he normally was. Instead, I found Evan, smiling like the cat that got the cream. Nope, that wasn’t good.