An Angel Among Vampires (21 page)

Roman shakes his head and gives Christien a stern look.

We climb into the limo. I sit next to Christien. Roman sits directly across from us.

Christien reaches for my hand and our fingers intertwine. Our hands are resting on his thigh. He uses his thumb to rub circles on the back of my hand. Christien leans towards me and whispers into my ear, “I have missed you,
ma chatte sauvage
. And you look as lovely and beautiful as ever.” Then he kisses my cheek. My heart melts.

Why does this one have to be a vampire?

Roman grunts, drawing my attention away from the soft lips on my skin. I look over at him and see the angry look on his face. I sit up straighter and slide closer to the door and away from Christien forcing him to release my hand.

Memories of earlier that day bombard me and I begin squirming in my seat. Both men notice my discomfort and move towards me. I hold up my hands, stopping them both. “Why are we going to Christien’s place?”

Roman settles back into his seat. “Christien needs to speak with you privately and I need to speak to him.”

I look over at Christien and he is studying me.

Christien blanks his face before I can read his expression. “I told you earlier when I came to your place that I needed to speak with you.”

“Then why don’t you tell me now? I will probably end up telling Roman anyway.” I ask, looking into Christien’s beautiful green eyes.

“Will you still tell him if I ask you not to?” Christien asks me.

I look over at Roman and hesitate in my response.

Roman growls at me angrily. “You are unbelievable Jess! You have known him days and me years. Now he has you believing that I can’t be trusted?”

“I didn’t say anything, Rome. Of course, I trust you. You know that.” I say with all sincerity.

Christien directs his comment to Roman. “What I need to speak to Jessica about, regards her. I only ask for her thoughts on a dilemma I am having.”

After his vague response, the three of us ride the rest of the way to Christien’s in silence.

Chapter 25

It is well past midnight when we arrive at Christien’s place. Roman and I naturally scan the area for danger as we walk inside.

Christien directs Roman and me to the same room as Christien brought me into earlier. Someone has since then cleaned the room and it is as beautiful as ever. Moments later, after finally convincing Roman to allow him privacy with me, Christien directs me to the master bedroom we went to before, leaving Roman to wait for us in the sitting room. Once inside the bedroom, we sit in a comfortable seating area in the corner of the room.

“My sire and I have a difficult relationship at best. When he turned me into a vampire, it was a horrendous experience. When making a new vampire, the fledgling has an uncontrollable bloodlust. It is up to the sire to control the fledgling, teach them how to feed and hunt. Additionally, it is the sire’s responsibility to teach the fledgling what it means to be a vampire. Not all sires have the same technique, but usually the results are the same. The fledgling should learn from their sire how to feed without killing, control their abilities, and live among humans.” He admits before pausing.

“This is very difficult for me to discuss,
ma chatte
. I must ask for your patience.”

“I’m sorry, please continue.” I lower my head in embarrassment.

“After my sire turned me into a vampire, he left me in a dark room for days, refusing to feed me. My blood thirst was so bad that I could not see, think or hear anything but the rush of blood in the bodies of those in the building. Once the blood thirst was so far beyond control and I was nothing more than a vicious animal, he brought in humans for me to feed on.” He chokes out before he lets go of my hands and turns away from me.

I remember what happens to a vampire’s victims when a vampire loses control of his blood thirst from stories that Austin told me. Their attacks are similar to what I did to the woman earlier this evening. They completely mutilate their victims until they are unrecognizable. Usually, their sire or the Vampire Council terminates the vampire because they lose their sanity. The vampire turns into a rogue vampire, a vicious outlaw.

“The humans are often tied up and gagged.” Christien explains angrily. “He would leave their eyes unshielded so they can watch their fate. By then, it did not matter to me who they were. My blood thirst was all I was. I was nothing but a vicious monster. It was horrible. When my blood thirst finally subsided, I looked around and saw body parts and pieces all over the room. Blood was everywhere. All over me, the walls, the floor, even the ceiling. I remember walking through the carnage in confusion as my sire came into the room. He told me, ‘I thought you might have wanted what was left of your human family with you on this monumental occasion. Apparently I was mistaken.’ Then he left the room.”

“Oh God!” I gasp, unable to hide my shock.

He continues quietly. “I turned and looked again at the remains all over the room. I could not remember what the humans looked like when they brought them into the room. I could not… no, would not believe someone would be as cruel as to bring in someone’s loved ones for a blood-crazed vampire to feed on. I was looking for anything I can recognize from my human wife and children. I could see shreds of clothing but nothing looked familiar. I would find hair but it was soaked with too much blood to differentiate if the color was the long, honey blonde hair of my wife or the golden strands of my daughter. After getting on my hands and knees, digging through the carnage, I found a ring. I wiped it off the best I could and recognized it immediately. The wedding ring I had given her had belonged to my mother. It was a family heirloom.” He stops his recall, stands and begins pacing the room.

I watch him walk back and forth across the room in silence. I want to go to him to tell him how sorry I am. Kill the son of a bitch sire of his after making him feel the pain of his dick and balls grow back painfully after I repeatedly cut them off.

Christien stops pacing and returns to the seat next to me. “I confronted my sire after confirming with other vampires that it was truly my family that I slaughtered. I attempted to kill him, but at the last moment, multiple vampires from our line prevented me from doing so. I fled, barely escaping with my undead life and began plotting for revenge. I was a fledgling but thankfully, other masters took pity on me and sheltered me because of our mutual hate for my sire. I would kill any new vampires he had created at the first opportunity. I figured that if I could weaken his support structure, I’d weaken him. He was an old vampire, nearly 1200 years undead at that time. He has accumulated a lot of power over his undead years. Even with all the power he has gained, he is still not as strong as he could be. I eventually decided to leave France and go to Canada to begin a new life. I did not forget or forgive what he had done to me. I have nearly wiped out his
ligne de sang
in revenge for what he did to my family. Not all of his current vampires have been with him long, besides the two vampires you saw today. I am the oldest, strongest and most powerful of his line now. Since he does not have very powerful vampires in his line anymore, the other
lignes de sang
do not consider him a formidable adversary. The other master vampires consider him a joke among them. He enjoyed the power he had when I was a fledgling, tormenting other masters just because he could. Since I have destroyed his most powerful vampires, he has been trying to regain his power. A little over 24 years ago, he received a large power gain with no explanation that anyone could find. Also at the same time, two other vampires, the ones you saw earlier today, also receive more power. Soon after the increase in power 24 years ago, he challenged another master vampire and lost. He barely escaped with his undead life. I have been searching all over the world, looking for information on how they could achieve that much power so quickly. I have been unsuccessful in finding anything useful until I heard that some have seen him throughout the United States over the past 25 years. That is what brought me to America. I had heard that he lost two strong vampires in an attack seven years ago. No one knew more information than that, so I came to investigate the story myself. There had been rumors that he was looking for someone that could give him the power he needed to restore him to his former glory.”

“Christien, I find all this incredibly fascinating and horrifying, but I’m not sure what all this has to do with me.” I interrupt.

“I can see your patience is running thin,
ma chatte petite
, so I will get to the point. When you kissed me and shared your blood with me, I immediately felt better and noticed my power begin to feel stronger and change.”

“When my powers strengthened, I knew
what
you were. There have only been legends and stories of those who had roamed the earth that could give a vampire more power than they naturally accumulate. Only angels have that property in their blood. My sire could have only received more power by draining the blood of an angel 24 years ago.”

My blood chills. I find it hard to breathe. I stand up and start pacing as Christien was before.

He couldn’t mean my mother. My aunt always told me my mother died in childbirth. I did not have details or any information other than her name so I could not find out what truly happened. Seven years ago, my mother finally confessed to me who she was, but only said that vampires killed her and my father, Jacob. The vampire that forced me to kill my aunt admitted to killing my mother. So, could Christien’s sire and the others be the same vampires that killed my parents? Is that why he came to my aunt’s house? Was he looking to kill me in the same way he killed my mother? He admitted that much to me. That Indian vampire’s name was Hassan. Could his sire and my mother’s murderer be the same person?

I turned to Christien, barely containing my emotions. “What is your sire’s name?”

“Hassan.”

Chapter 26

“Son of a bitch!” I exclaim angrily.

“Pardon me?” Christien replies with a look of confusion.

“Hassan is the name of the vampire that killed my parents. He told me right after he caused me to kill my aunt. He said, ‘The only good thing about your mother was her blood and I drank that down to the last drop.’” I repeat coldly, mimicking the tone in which he confessed his sins.

Christien nods in confirmation. “That does sound like something he would say. He is cruel, sadistic, and mad. The Vampire Council should have killed him long ago, but since they do not feel he is a threat, they do not act.”

“So, your crazy sire killed my mother and your family. Now you think he’s looking for me to drain me dry to get more power?” I repeat aloud, confirming my own suspicions.

“I am not sure of his plans for you, but it is not a coincidence he is here in Arizona. How he found out I am here is quite a surprise. I am not certain if he is looking for you or me, but after today, I am almost certain he will be coming for me again.” Christien thinks aloud.

I look up at him. “You never really explained why he wants you alive or what happened after I left.”

“Let us return to your friend and we can all discuss what happened and what we are going to do next.”

He escorts me back into the sitting room where Roman is waiting with clenched fists. I walk over to him and hug him. I am not sure if it was for his benefit or mine. Roman seems to relax and return my hug.

“Are you okay?”

I nod. “Yes, I’m fine Rome.”

We all sit down. Roman sits directly across from me in a chaise lounge and Christien sits down beside me. I see Roman is tensing up again and I move a little away from Christien.

Christien notices my movement. “Why do you move away from me,
ma chatte
? I will do nothing to harm you.” He states almost in a hurt tone.

“Maybe it’s because you and your kind want to eat her. She should be even more cautious than she is. You should be grateful that we are here at all.” Roman snarls, his eyes turning the golden wolf color they get when emotions run high and the wolf inside is about to surface.

Christien starts to respond but I interrupt him. “Just hear him out Roman. He has some things we need to hear. I have learned a lot about who Christien is in the past hour we have been talking. He is a vampire, but there has to be at least one that doesn’t want to drain me. Maybe he is that one, maybe not. There is something about him that is different, Rome. I know I am losing my mind in regards to Christien. I will not deny it anymore. I don’t know why and I don’t have the time right now to find out so I need you Roman. I need you to be who you are and take care of me. I need my friend here with me so I don’t do anything too stupid.”

“Preventing you from doing something stupid like falling for a vampire?” He says with disgust.