Embrace The Dawning (The Covenant Series Book 1) (20 page)

Kayci confidently met his gaze. “Four days,” she replied, her tone perhaps a little too sharp.

“So this is all very new to you then?” Beatrice asked politely.

“Very new. It’s been a whirlwind,” Kayci admitted.

“How long have you known Adrian?” Orrick spoke up.

Kayci couldn’t tell if his tone was cold or if he always sounded that way. She noticed while looking at him how dark his eyes were. He seemed to be looking right through her, reading her very thoughts. She shivered before instinctively looking away from his eyes.

“Almost a week.”

“Do you know your parents?” Natalia asked.

Kayci noticed once Natalia asked the question, the others looked at Eva, who showed no emotion on her face, and then back to Kayci.

“No, I don’t. I was adopted by human parents.”

The group seemed disappointed with her answer. The majority of their expressions transitioned from anticipative gazes to scorn.

“What vampire abilities do you have?” Florence asked between gritted teeth. He and Natalia seemed the most displeased.

“All my life I’ve been faster and stronger than others. I can heal quickly. My eyes turn golden just as yours do. My senses and emotions are heightened. Otherwise, I do not know. You’re the first vampires I’ve had the chance to talk with besides Adrian. I don’t have enough knowledge yet to compare my skills to others. From what I do know, I seem to be equivalent to an average vampire. The only difference is that I can withstand being in the sun because I have enough human blood in my system.”

Kayci felt like a criminal in an interrogation. Their questions were as invasive as Rosemary trying to discover why she reacted to the talisman.

“Have you ever had to drink human blood?” Vladimir asked politely.

“No, I haven’t. Although lately I’ve noticed unusual hunger pains. I believe I’m beginning to crave blood.” Kayci intentionally left out the charmed moldavite stone and her change since wearing it.

“Sounds like the best of both worlds,” Beatrice said with a kind smile.

Kayci frowned. “I’m not sure yet. So far being a half-breed has brought me nothing but problems.”

“You being a half-breed is going to bring
us
problems,” Orrick announced to her and the Covenant members. “Danika is still out there and now carries the knowledge that a witch was successful at binding the vampire’s curse. She could create chaos amongst vampires just with that knowledge.”

“Settle, Orrick,” Eva replied firmly.

She slowly rose from her chair and stood, confident and resolute. She looked out at the Covenant vampires and calmly addressed them.

“While discussing the background of our young half-breed vampire, I was able to confirm that she is indeed my niece.”

Several gasps escaped the vampires around the room, including Adrian. Kayci’s own eyes widened. She hadn’t expected her aunt to be so frank or to share that fact so soon.

Her fingers dug into her palms. Her chin raised. She awaited the others’ reactions.

Orrick spoke first. He rose out of his chair.

“Niece or not, she is an abomination, Eva! She can’t be allowed to live! We must adhere to our laws. No exceptions!”

Adrian stepped closer to him, clearly ready to defend Kayci if need be. Florence immediately grabbed Adrian’s arm, keeping him from doing so. For the first time, Kayci saw Eva move quickly. She blocked Orrick’s path toward Kayci and brought herself within reach of him.

“She is my niece!” Eva’s voice was not raised but unmistakably forceful. “Any harm that comes to her will be punishable by me!”

Orrick quickly realized the level of severity in Eva’s threat and sat back in his chair. Kayci saw Adrian grin and then look serious again.

“You only fear what she is because you fear that she may be more powerful or that she could change our undisturbed existence. I can assure you that even if she is more powerful, we have much to gain from her joining us.”

Adrian instantly thought of Danika’s intentions of taking over the Covenant.

“She isn’t one of us,” Florence said fiercely between extracted fangs.

Eva’s head whipped in Florence’s direction, her eyes wide. She spoke through gritted teeth. “She is born from my brother’s blood. She
is
one of us.” Eva’s tone was threatening.

The redheaded vampire began speaking, her voice tranquil and melodic. Everyone seemed to instantly calm when she spoke.

“Let’s not make any hasty decisions. It’s clear the young woman isn’t a threat to us now.”

Eva moved away from Kayci and took her seat again. Her eyes began transitioning back to their normal color as she sat down. Once seated, she exhibited her usual calm composure.

Kayci caught Vladimir smiling at her. She was relieved to see he wasn’t against her. However, Natalia looked at her with narrowed eyes. Her body language indicated she wanted to attack. Kayci’s adrenaline rose in reaction. She was ready to defend herself.

Natalia moved swiftly across the room, passing Vladimir and Orrick, and launched at Kayci. Kayci was within Natalia’s reach when Adrian swiftly leapt up and reached around Natalia’s side, punching his solid fist to her abdomen. The blow knocked her back several feet. She landed against a stand with a decorative vase sitting on it. The vase shattered into pieces across the floor. The wooden stand broke beneath her fall. Natalia stumbled to get up and was immediately apprehended by Adrian. He lifted her up, ready to deliver another blow. Florence approached Adrian from behind, fangs bared, ready to attack.

“Stop!” Kayci erupted.

Adrian and Florence looked back at Kayci. Each of the vampires watched her change. She struggled to control herself.

“I don’t want you to turn against each other. You have no need to fear me. Deal with the real problem you have. This rogue vampire Danika is obviously a danger to your Covenant in many ways. Your focus should be on her and not what chaos rumors could create. I haven’t been a part of the vampire world long, but I’m intelligent enough to know that rumors are easily dispelled.” She looked directly at Orrick. “Rumors don’t bring down a thousand-year-old vampire government overnight.”

Kayci stood straight. Her eyes were transitioning back to their dark-blue color. The vampires eased off their offensive and defensive stances. Adrian let go of Natalia. He was by Kayci’s side instantly.

Kayci met the gaze of each vampire. Her eyes stopped on Florence to address him in particular. “I know I may only be
half
a vampire, but I belong with your kind. I never felt like I belonged among humans. For the first time in my life, I feel like myself, and I imagine that if my father
was
here, he’d say the same thing. I don’t want to cause any of you trouble, but I do want you to accept me. Eva
is
the only family I have.”

Kayci looked out at the vampires, trying to read their expressions. They were at least considering the things she’d said. No one else’s body language indicated an imminent attack. Her tension eased.

“I think our young half-breed has indulged us enough for tonight. Shall we let Adrian take her home?” Vladimir seemed to be asking the group as a whole.

Vladimir, Kayci, Adrian, and Eva waited for the other vampires to respond. One by one each gave a gesture of approval.

Chapter 12

Danika’s energy pulsed. Her urge to feed was quickly rising. She leaned forward in the sticky neon-green booth, skulking, as the pathetic humans ignorantly danced and rubbed on one another as deadly vampires walked among them. She hated having to hide what she was. It made her feel ashamed. Something she had to suffer through as a bastard child of a white master. After being sold to her father’s acquaintance out of guilt to his wife, she was bought at thirteen and forced to be the man’s concubine. From the very first beating, she vowed to do what it took to rise in society and have power and influence so she never had to hide her identity or be ashamed ever again.

For more than a century and a half, she had followed the Covenant’s laws that hid vampires and their existence, but no longer would she and her coven members be oppressed by old, rigid vampires that couldn’t recognize the superiority of the vampire species. She refused to be a secret. She refused to wither away in the darkness while humans destroyed the world that vampires were forced to take minuscule blood servings from. She wanted to see humans bow down to her and offer themselves as what they were—
food
.

A crooked venomous smile appeared on her face as she thought about running up the wall, flipping into the crowd, and extracting her fangs in full view of them. Perhaps she would do just that, or perhaps she would rip out the jugular of one of the pretty little females, in front of everyone. She licked her lips while scanning the crowd of club-goers.
Who would become her stage meal tonight?

Danika stood up from the ugly green sticky booth and stalked toward the dance floor. She eyed a pretty petite redhead dancing with two men. Watched them nearly drool over the girl’s small waist and tiny perky breasts. She was doing the girl a favor, honestly. The glimpses Danika received from the men’s thoughts were nothing short of vulgar. What they wanted to do to the girl was far worse than what Danika would do. Danika’s kiss of death would be swift and merciful.

As Danika pushed through the first few sluggish drunks, one of her coven vampires approached, and she stopped abruptly, sensing his tension.

“What is it, Max?” She nearly growled.

“The Covenant let the half-breed vampire go,
with Adrian
,” he nervously added.

“You’re sure?” she asked, nearly hissing.

“Yes. I waited outside the hotel during and after their meeting. She was escorted out by Adrian and Vladimir. Not a scratch on her.”

Her eyes narrowed. “I see.” Her face contorted from the rage boiling inside of her.

“You see the young redheaded woman there?” Danika pointed her out to Max.

Max nodded.

“See the two men groping her?”

Max nodded again.

“Turn the two men into one of us. Let them feed on her as their first meal.”

“Not a problem. Would you like them brought to the suite?”

“Yes,” she hissed as she stormed away.

***

Kayci poured the wine into the clear glass, corked it, and set it aside. She took a long swallow before returning with the glass to the living room, where Adrian waited for her.

“Is it helping?” he asked.

“Yes, thanks for the suggestion. It’s taken the edge off.”

Kayci sat next to Adrian on the sofa and took another sip before lowering the glass from her mouth.

“I can’t believe I just had a meeting with the vampires of the Covenant and came out unscathed,” Kayci said. “Honestly, Adrian, I don’t think I’ve ever been that scared in my life.”

Adrian smiled. “I don’t think they knew you were scared. You hid it well. I have no doubt you left an impression on them.”

“Is that good or bad?”

“Not sure yet,” he admitted. “But the meeting went better than I’d expected.”

“Why is that?”

“Because the oldest vampire that I know to exist and who is also the prominent ruling leader of the vampire species is your aunt,
and she was willing to fight to protect you tonight. Not to mention that you’ve won over half the Covenant members already. Vladimir and Beatrice like you as much as Eva does.”

“Florence, Orrick, and Natalia sure didn’t.”

Kayci set the empty wineglass on the coffee table and repositioned herself to face Adrian. “Do I need to be worried about them?”

“I hope not. Right now Eva has control over the other members, and as long as she is the Covenant leader, I don’t see any of the other members trying to harm you. If they decide you’re an asset, I don’t believe any of them will want to harm you.”

“What do you mean by asset? How could I help them?”

Adrian studied Kayci closely. The energy reverberating off her was something he hadn’t been able to figure out. Not until after Eva announced that Thorne was her father. He had heard the rumors of Thorne’s offense, exile, and ultimately his escape. He had even been recruited to help locate him. Now more than ever, he was relieved he had shirked that responsibility and left it up to others. If the rumors were true and Kayci was a product of both witch and vampire, then the other energy he had been unable to identify until now was
witch
energy.

“Eva made a point to confront the other Covenant members’ fears about what you are because you were born from both a witch and a vampire. In some of their minds, that combination could be deadly for both vampires and witches. However in Eva’s mind, she sees you as an ally and something to be coveted. She doesn’t fear you. She sees your potential skills as an asset.”

Kayci wondered if that was all she was to her aunt, a weapon against enemies. What if she was only a tool for Eva to use at her disposal? She hoped that wasn’t the case.

“What skills are you referring to? I noticed the same comment, but, Adrian, I don’t have any witch powers whatsoever. I don’t know anything about witches or witchcraft other than the little bit I’ve seen from the witch who helped me make this necklace.”

Adrian reached up and curiously touched her charm between his fingers. He could feel energy exuding from the stone. He sensed its energy mingling with Kayci’s. The sensation of the two energies mixing beneath his hand fascinated him. He could even feel the stone slightly pulling at his own energy. That mild pull caused tingling in his fingertips and continued up his arm and across his neck and back. Mesmerized by the stone and its effect, he became fixated on its intricate colors while twirling the stone in his fingers.

Kayci brought her hand up to Adrian’s and gently pulled his hand from the stone. The stone obviously caused a reaction in him, based on his incognizant gaze.

He must have realized what she was doing when she pulled his hand away. He smiled at her with visible fangs and let his fixed stare rest on her eyes. He slowly let his hand drop from the stone, and as it did, his hand grazed her skin, causing a warming sensation and a burst of arousal, which evaporated as his fingers departed. Kayci bit her lip and looked away from his fixed stare. She was embarrassed at how easily his touch stimulated her.

Adrian’s voice was more husky now, as if fresh out of sleep. “Kayci, witches aren’t naïve. They can often see glimpses into the future. The witch wouldn’t have made you that amulet if she didn’t have good reason to.”

“So what are you saying?”

“Perhaps you should visit this witch again and learn what you can about that part of you. She’ll know how to help you and clearly is willing to.”

Kayci frowned. “I doubt I have any witch powers. I never noticed any while growing up, and I noticed the vampire attributes just fine. Besides even if I do have witch abilities, I’m not sure I would want to know. The more abilities I have, the more I can be taken advantage of.”

Kayci thought of Adrian’s involuntary job working for the Covenant. She didn’t want the same life. She pitied Adrian’s situation.

Adrian gently ran his hand across Kayci’s neck and pulled the hair away from the beautiful face that displayed a forlorn expression. He enjoyed the reaction to his touch, and the gold flicker in her eyes.

“Perhaps being able to protect yourself better will make you feel less vulnerable.”

Kayci met his gaze. Adrian was staring at her with such adoration. It comforted the deepest corners of her mind.

“I didn’t thank you yet for coming to my rescue
again
when Natalia tried to attack me. I’m sure that would have gone sour very quickly had she reached me. I don’t want you to think that I always need saving though. I don’t want you to think I’m vulnerable. If you think that of me, I may begin to believe it, even feel it, and I’ve never been the kind of person to feel vulnerable.”

If he was honest with himself, he did want her to be vulnerable, but only to let him in. But he couldn’t be selfish. She was strong, and she needed to know that.

“Kayci, I don’t see you as being vulnerable in any way. You’re a very strong woman, and not because you’re a half-breed vampire. You have an aura of strength surrounding you. You can see it in your actions, the way you care for others, and the way you take care of yourself. I can’t help wanting to protect you. It’s instinctive for me. Ever since the first moment I saw you, I’ve wanted to know you, and now that I do, there’s no going back for me.”

Kayci stared at Adrian’s striking green eyes before looking over his chiseled jaw and handsome face. Strength and sex appeal seeped from his rugged exterior. He was without a doubt the most attractive male she’d ever seen. As she stared at the vampire that just expressed his fondness for her, she remembered Rosemary’s reading: Adrian would grow to love her. The feeling growing in the pit of her stomach was an awful combination of nerves, temptation, and her own affection for Adrian. She was relieved he didn’t see her as a damsel in distress. Perhaps now she’d allow herself to be vulnerable for just a little while.

Kayci leaned in toward Adrian and took his face in her hands. She pressed her lips against his and welcomed the feeling of his fangs against her tongue. When she felt the tickle of the tiny pricks on her tongue, she moaned with pleasure.

Adrian reacted to her moan and eagerly squeezed her behind while lowering her on top of him. He pulled her toward him and pressed his erection firmly against her, showing her how much he wanted her.

As his erection pressed against her, Kayci gripped his shoulders. His hand roamed beneath her shirt, touching her skin and finding his way to her breast, adding to her arousal. She wanted him wholeheartedly. She wanted him inside of her. The humming of their energies elevated that feeling. She lost herself in the moment.

Adrian caressed and pinched the nipple beneath his fingers before exploring the warmth and wetness he knew was below. When his fingers made their way to her crevice, he plunged deeply, reveling in her breathy and enthusiastic moans. He grabbed a handful of hair between his hand while gripping the nape of her neck. He pulled her down to him and covered her breathy moans with his mouth. He sensed her climax was soon to come and made sure to steady his touch.

As her breath escaped and the sensation of her orgasm overtook her, Adrian willed every part of his vampire nature not to plunge his teeth into her. He yearned for just a small taste of her. He tilted his head back and closed his eyes, trying to steady his breathing. The scent of her alone edged his hunger toward total loss of control.

“Let’s go upstairs,” Kayci coaxed breathlessly.

He knew she wanted more of him. He wished he could give it. He wanted to explore every crevice of her body, and slowly, but he knew that was nearly impossible. The feeling of her body warm and longingly against his was near torture. If he let his arousal continue, he would need to feed from her.

“Kayci, I can’t.” The words came out in a painful stammer.

Kayci immediately noticed his teetering self-control. She slowly backed away, remembering the last time they were intimate. His vampire nature was taking over again. Kayci watched as Adrian sat up and put space between them, his face still vampiric, his eyes a very bright gold. A look Kayci hadn’t seen on Adrian yet, a look of hunger and pain.

“Is it the same for all vampires? That when you’re aroused, you also want to feed?”

Adrian avoided eye contact. He was still reeling from the hunger.

“Yes, but I’m worse,” Adrian said between a tight jaw.

Kayci’s brows furrowed. “What do you mean?”

Adrian’s hunger settled enough that he was able to look at her.

“When vampires have sex, the only way for them to climax is through biting their partner and feeding. The blood that’s taken isn’t much. I wish it was the same for me. I don’t think I’ll be able to take just a little from you, Kayci. I don’t want to hurt you. You’re only half vampire. I could kill you if I took too much.”

Adrian looked away uncomfortably.

Kayci wasn’t sure how she felt about being bitten, but she was curious to know more. “Why couldn’t you stop yourself?”

Adrian stood up and began pacing.

“Remember I told you that a vampire took a liking to me and taught me most of what I know about vampires?”

Kayci nodded.

“That vampire also took me on as her lover.”

Kayci cringed from the thought of Adrian with another woman, let alone a vampire woman. She stayed silent, trying not to reveal her jealousy.