Hope and Vengeance (Saa Thalarr, book 1): Saa Thalarr, book 1 (20 page)

"Was it that way for you?"

"Xavier invited a crusty old bastard named Cecil to his manor. He could have been more courteous during the bite," I grumbled. "After that, you have to prove that the lesson was learned by biting another, experienced vampire. I bit Xavier—he insisted on it. He didn't complain, but he didn't praise, either. He never has."

"Have you bitten any vampires since then?"

"No vampires. Only humans, before bagged blood became available."

"I see."

"Sweetheart, I don't consider them cattle. Some vampires do—I don't. I recall being human, although Xavier has made considerable attempts to drive it from me. Did Joey hurt you?" I moved closer, reaching out with a hand to touch her throat. No marks were left behind—vampires healed their bites to hide their existence.

"No. It just—scared me."

"That's not how it should be," I leaned closer. "It's supposed to be pleasurable. A gift, in exchange for the blood taken."

"Your donors have always been under compulsion," she pointed out as I attempted to pull her into my arms. "They're not afraid when you bite them. Compulsion doesn't work with me, remember?"

"I know." Gently, I lowered her head onto the pillow. "I know," I breathed against her mouth. "My girl was scared. Mistreated." I kissed her again.

"Adam," she struggled against me.

"Shhh, sweetheart, it's all right." I stroked hair back from her forehead. "You taste like sunlight," I whispered reverently, kissing her again. "I promise I won't hurt you. Let me know if I scare you. We'll take it slow."

I didn't want to take it slow. I wanted her. Immediately. I couldn't do it that way. Perhaps in the future, when she might want me as badly as I wanted her. This was like soothing a virgin or a frightened mare. I realized she was practically both those things.

Had I thought to have sex when she returned? We were well on our way. My tongue probed her mouth gently as I ripped through her clothing with a claw barely formed on a finger.

"These are perfect," I nuzzled and nipped her breasts before kissing my way to her throat. "All of it, perfect," I declared.

Yes, I allowed my lust, which I'd kept in check for nearly a hundred years, to surface, and my fangs descended. The words came swiftly, tumbling from her lips as I pierced her throat and drank.

* * *

"Aaadam," Joey sang. "Time to wake up. Are you hungry? Lion's cooking steaks."

"What?" My eyes opened slowly and I blinked to bring Kiarra's bedroom ceiling into focus. "Where's Kiarra?"

"Walking on the beach. Adam, you dog." Joey slapped my shoulder with a wide grin. "Lion says you should apologize, but you need to come with me, first. It's daylight, and we're both awake!"

"Is that true?" I flung the quilt back and sat up in bed, still fully clothed. Kiarra's blood had been both sweet and potent, rendering me unconscious in seconds.
Just as it had Joey
, I reminded myself.

I hope you intend to honor your commitment to her
, Dragon sent as Joey and I walked into the kitchen minutes later. Daylight streamed through the tall windows and I blinked in the brightness of it. I hadn't seen daylight in a very long time.

"What are you talking about?" I focused on Dragon, who sat at the island, polishing one of his blades.

"We're allowed to form a blood-bond, but only with those who are our mates, healers or have made a great sacrifice in our defense. Our blood-bonded must be above reproach and fully committed to us in some way. Our blood makes them immortal, if they aren't already. Blood bonds are generally for mates and healers only. Griffin received a great deal of assistance from Merrill in the past; therefore, Griffin has a blood bond with him."

"What he's saying," Lion thumped a plate of steaks on the island, "is that you better be ready to stay with Kiarra—as a mate. Otherwise, both of you are in trouble. You for taking her blood without permission first, and her for giving you permission during the act. Got that?"

"How does she feel about this?" I asked.

"At least he knew to ask about her first, instead of looking to protect his own ass," Lion turned to Dragon. The blade Dragon wiped carefully gleamed in the afternoon light as he examined it with a practiced eye. I swallowed nervously, only realizing then that I could perform that simple act. These two sought to protect Kiarra. I was an outsider, and may have gotten her in trouble.

"Lunch," Lion indicated the plate of steaks. "Bearcat's bringing the vegetables. Grab a plate and sit down. You'll be able to eat this, now."

"I've done nothing but eat since I woke up," Joey whispered beside me. "Come on, Adam, it's like heaven."

I'll admit—the food did smell good for the first time since I'd been turned vampire. I sat down, Lion placed a thick steak on my plate, Bearcat added a baked potato and asparagus and I dug in.

"I could serve this in my restaurants," I muttered, swallowing a half-chewed chunk of steak.

"That's just because you haven't eaten real food in a while," Lion said, cutting into his steak and brandishing the fork in my direction. "I figure your chefs can do better than this."

"I don't care. This is the best food I can remember," I said, cutting off another bite.

"Appreciates food—I like that," Lion nodded to Dragon.

"He's decent in a fight," Dragon agreed, laying his blade aside and cutting into his steak. Joey sat beside me, his mouth continuously too full to speak. Bearcat smiled at him often and shook his head while eating.

The thought hit me like a thunderbolt, then, and I dropped my fork. "Will I," I began.

"You still have your claws, fangs and red eyes, in addition to the vampire speed," Kiarra sighed. She'd appeared near Lion. Not me—Lion. "The biggest difference is that you can obviously eat," she didn't look at me, "and sit in daylight while doing it."

"Kee, your plate is on the barbecue," Bearcat said. "I'll get it."

"No, I will." She sat beside Lion, who shrugged away my pointed glance and made the plate appear in front of her.

"It's called
Pulling
," Joey explained." Bearcat taught me how to do it, too."

"Here," Lion did the same,
Pulling
in an unopened protein drink. "You need this," he pushed the drink toward Kiarra.

With a sigh, she opened it and drank.

* * *

"Pheligar is bad enough. Thorsten will be worse if he shows up."

Kiarra still hadn't allowed me to touch her. We stood on the deck outside the kitchen, not far from the barbecue where Lion had cooked steaks. She leaned against the heavy, wood railing, staring at the ocean beyond.

"I want to stay with you. I'm sorry, sweetheart, but ever since I saw you the first time, I haven't been completely rational," I admitted. "So that's nearly a century of irrational behavior."

"What?" She whirled toward me.

"I saw you, Lynx and another woman in the 1920s," I said. "I fell in love with you, then. Haven't been with a woman since."

"What?" Her pretty bottom lip was gripped tightly in her teeth.

"I saw you. I barely remember Louis Armstrong, that night. All I could do was stare at you the whole time."

"But what about—all right, I guess it doesn't matter." She turned away from me again.

"What about Anna Kay, you mean?" I asked, moving toward her carefully. "That was never Anna Kay. That was always you. Admit that, at least." My arms went around her. She shivered; I tightened my embrace.

"Kee," Lion poked his head out the door leading to the kitchen. "Thorsten's here."

"Fuck," she sighed, moving away from my embrace. "Adam, stay here. I'll handle this."

I felt lost as she walked away from me. Lost
and
guilty.

* * *

"Thorsten. One of The Powers That Be. He supervises the Liaison and the Saa Thalarr," Lion said, pouring me a drink from the bottle he'd purchased at a bar.

"What exactly is that—The Powers That Be?"

"We can't say what they really are, but to you, they'd be a demi-god or something similar."

"How much trouble did I cause?" I tossed back the glass of whiskey. I tasted it, too; felt the burn as I swallowed that I'd almost forgotten from my early, human life.

"Enough." Lion drank his whiskey and poured more. I held out my glass and he obliged my silent request, the liquid smooth and quiet as it slid into my glass.

"I haven't been drunk in a very long time," I said.

"This is a good time for it," Lion said.

"This is good whiskey," I countered.

"They serve good whiskey on Wyyld," Lion agreed.

"Wild?"

"Wyyld."

"Got it."

"No, you don't. W-y-y-l-d. That's how it's spelled—in English."

"I am English," I covered a half-drunk burp.

"I could never tell by the accent," Lion muttered.

"Is that sas-casm? Sar-casm?" I corrected myself.

"Most assuredly." Lion spoke in a British accent. I blinked at him in confusion.

"We have to fit in, wherever we go. That means languages, dialects and accents. If we stand out, we die."

"But what about," I waved a hand in the air, searching for words to describe the events on Earth.

"Completely out of the ordinary." He poured more whiskey for both of us. "In fact, we usually go in alone or accompanied by our healers. This one, well, this one is really strange. It's strange, too, that so many of us were available to go at the same time. Usually, we're scattered across the universe."

"How many?" I drank this glass slower than the others.

"Seven, plus our healers. We're the smallest race—in numbers—in existence."

"Bugger me," I sighed after emptying my glass.

"No, thanks."

I laughed.

* * *

I did appreciate the food and daylight portion of my new existence. I didn't appreciate the hangover I had.

"It's your own fault," Karzac chided as he held my head in his hands. In seconds, there was blessed relief.

"Partly Lion's fault," I said automatically.

"And that's why I'm here, instead of leaving you to suffer."

"How's Joey?"

"Learning quickly. Appears to have a talent for healing."

"Where's Kiarra?" That's the question I really wanted to be answered.

"Running on the beach. Come with me—it's time you saw."

"Saw what?" I blinked at Karzac in confusion.

"Come."

I still hadn't grasped the concept of folding space, although I appreciated it greatly. Karzac folded me to the beach below Kiarra's home. I must have gaped, because Karzac asked me to close my mouth. He may have added something about letting insects in if I didn't, but I ignored him.

"This is her fighting animal. You've only seen the smaller version before."

Nine feet tall at the withers. I couldn't speak. Couldn't breathe. Blindingly white, she glowed in the sunlight, her reflection as she ran echoed in the water washing onto the shore. That's not what drew my attention, however.

"If that touches evil, the evil dies," Karzac sounded smug.

Three feet in length and wickedly sharp, her horn would skewer almost anything. "Why couldn't I see it before?" I breathed.

"You're lucky to be seeing it now. Do you understand how close you came to dying?" Karzac turned to offer me a scowl. "If she hadn't done as she did, you'd be nothing more than a pile of ash and a memory."

"I made a mistake," I admitted. "Do all of you take pleasure in punishing me for it? She won't talk to me, and the rest of you keep telling me how fortunate I am to be alive."

"We cannot lie. Do you wish us to?"

"Hell, no. Why would I want that?" Before he could answer, I began to run. Yes, I can run very fast as a vampire. I ran after Kiarra.

* * *

"We've been assigned a test," Kiarra said as we sat in the kitchen later, having juice and a sandwich. Mine was roast-beef; hers was cheese. "But I have to take you somewhere, first."

"Where is that? What's the test?" I bit into the sandwich, which was quite excellent. I appreciated the crunch of the lettuce and the texture of the meat and cheese as I chewed.

"I can't tell you. You'll know it when you see it," she sighed. "If you'd just waited until I could present all the pros and cons, giving you the option of making an informed decision, we wouldn't be in this uncomfortable spot."

"I smelled your blood, sweetheart. I think that's what did it."

"Adam." A hand went over her face.

"When?" I asked.

"Tonight. We're going out for dinner, first." Her hand dropped to the island and she shook her head before turning away.

"I'll settle for dinner," I agreed amiably. "Any chance I can get you in bed before then?" We still hadn't had sex, and that irritated me.

"Wait until after the test," she replied. "I'm going out for a while. Please stay here." She walked through the kitchen door and onto the deck before disappearing.