Eternal Seduction (25 page)

Logan considered the monstrous lump of fur in her lap. She’d never had a pet before, and she had to admit, even though it was probably only the silky black fur, he did remind her a little of Kerestyan.

She ran her finger over the velvety fuzz just above his nose. “Are you going to follow me everywhere I go?” When he nodded and licked her fingers, she smiled at him. “I bet you get tired of me really fast.”

He sat up and stared down at her through steely blue eyes that were unbelievably expressive for a dog. He whined a sad note then licked her chest just above her left breast before resting his head on her shoulder.

Without her even asking the question, Trinity answered. “He says you’re in Kerestyan’s heart, so you’re in his, too.”

Logan wasn’t sure how to respond to that. With the realization she’d made last night in regards to her feelings for Kerestyan, she felt like she should be able to smile and accept the words for what they were…but she couldn’t.

At least, not yet anyway.

She wound her fingers back into Syn’s soft fur and focused her attention on Trinity. “So what’s the plan? Do I get to go wander around the castle now?”

Trinity shook her head, her ponytail swinging wildly with the movement. “Nope. I talked to Dad earlier and we’re going to skip the wandering part and go right into training. I figure you’d probably like to get back to New York as soon as possible, so I’ll tour you around the castle during the parts where it’s a lot of me talking and you listening. That sound good to you?”

Logan nodded. Getting her feet back on familiar ground sounded more than good to her. Not to mention who that ground lead back to. “Works for me.”

“Good.” Trinity reached out and shook Syn’s tail. “Mr. Syn, would you be so kind as to go tell Alfred that Logan and I will take our breakfast in the courtyard, please?”

He jumped up and looked between Trinity and the door, and then snapped his jaws together a few times.

“Yes,” she sighed. “You can eat with us, too. We’ll meet you out there.”

Syn jumped off the bed and bolted towards the wall across the room, but just before he would have clobbered himself against the stones a doorway appeared.

Logan cocked her head and stared at Trinity. “The wolf can make his own doors, too?”

“Yes, he can. And look,” she motioned to the opening, “he even left it there for you.”

“That’s all well and good, but what happens if I’m in here alone and I want to get something to eat?”

“First off, the chances of Syn not being at your side are slim to none. He’s about as loyal to Kerestyan as Odin is.” She stood up and walked over to the armoire. “Second, if for some reason he isn’t with you, a door will appear. Consider the castle a living extension of my Dad, it knows what you want and need as much as he does.” She tossed a pair of jeans and a dark green t-shirt on the bed, followed by a bra, underwear, socks and a white pair of tennis shoes. “And if for some reason a door doesn’t appear, then you don’t really need whatever it is you think you do.”

Logan eyed the clothes. “I take it you want me to get dressed?”

Trinity folded her arms over her ample chest, which was propped up by a light blue corset, and then shot her a playful glare. “Not yet. I want you to get your naked ass out of bed and come over here so I can turn you into a
Servio
. Then you can get dressed and we’ll go eat the best pancakes and sausage you’ve ever tasted.”

Logan arched a brow. “You realize that isn’t hard to accomplish, right? Unless, of course, they’re made of New York trash, because then they won’t taste any different than the pancakes I usually eat.”

“Even if Alfred did make them out of garbage, they’d be the best damn garbage cakes you’ve ever tasted. Now, are you going to keep stalling, or can we do this so at least one of us can eat the greatest pancakes the world has ever known?”

Busted.
Logan flipped back the covers and stood up. “Can I have one last meal first?”

Trinity’s mouth dropped open, her face a study in disgusted jealousy. “What the hell did Kerestyan do to you last night?” She gasped rather loud. “Oh my God! Are those his fingerprints?”

Logan cast a glance down her body and grinned, even as heat flared in her cheeks. On both flats of her hips there were four distinct bruises in the shape of a semi circle. And she was willing to bet, though she couldn’t see them for herself, there were two more just above her ass.

But, oh, how she’d enjoyed earning every single one of them.

“Did he bite you?” Trinity asked, sounding a tinge appalled.

Logan looked up, grin still firmly in place. “He taught me a lesson about the cravings of the beast. And yes…there was definitely some biting.”

Trinity clucked her tongue in rapid fire bursts. “Well,” she said with a sigh, “at least you know how it feels to be a Neck.”

Logan frowned at her. She didn’t like the sound of that at all. “What the hell is a Neck?”

“A slang term for a human a vampire feeds from.” Her red lips parted in a wry grin. “I bet you understand why most don’t fight now.”

She laughed at that. She’d gladly be Kerestyan’s Neck anytime he asked, as long as he kept the poetry to an absolute minimum. “Yeah, you could say that. It makes all kinds of sense now.”

“Alright, enough with the girl talk.” She curled her index finger at Logan, wielding the age old gesture like a professional. “It’s time you become mine.” A flash of concentration lit her face before her fangs elongated.

A small ripple of nausea rolled through Logan’s stomach as Trinity bit her wrist, and with another focused look, blood welled up in the puncture wounds. If this were the movies, she’d kick her head back now and let out a really bad laugh.

Luckily, although Logan thought she was more than capable, Trinity spared her the dramatics.

It’s now or never.
Logan drew in a deep breath and slowly moved towards the Dominatrix, who would soon become her Master.

“Come on, Logan,” she whined like a five year old. “I’ll be as old as Kerestyan by the time you get over here. I’ll tell you what, just close your eyes and open your mouth, okay?”

Logan did exactly that. She closed her eyes, opened her mouth and stood there waiting. Yes, she was being difficult. Yes, she was being a chicken. She’d even agree that after living on the street for as long as she had, blood was not the worst tasting fluid in the world.

However, even for as detached as she knew she was…the concept of drinking someone else’s blood was still foreign and disgusting. She remembered health class. Diseases lived in the blood. She knew Trinity couldn’t have any viruses due to the whole healing factor Vouclade said she’d have herself, but still…

She squeezed her eyes tighter as Trinity’s warm wrist touched her lips. The hot fluid filled her mouth in a gush, sliding down her throat with the same cold burn of alcohol. But the taste…the sweet taste wasn’t anything like what came from the bottle. There was only a slight metallic tang, a small coppery hue.

Trinity’s quiet voice, chanting in a language Logan didn’t understand, echoed in her mind as a feverish sensation coursed through her veins. She felt a surge of power, as if the introduction of Trinity’s blood into her system unlocked some long lost magic that’d always been inside her. But at the same time, something dark and heavy curled deep into the pit of her stomach and made itself at home.

She opened her eyes when she felt Trinity’s wrist leave her lips. Part of her was glad the experience was over, but another part, a strange and angry part, wanted to grab Trinity’s bloody wrist and keep drinking.

Trinity licked her wrist, an action that shoved an unexpected spear of envy straight through Logan’s gut. “Give it a minute. Take a few deep breaths and let everything, for lack of a better word, marinate.”

Logan followed her advice and drew in a series of deep breaths then slowly blew them out. After a few minutes, the room took on a brighter tone, filled with new and vibrant colors she’d never noticed before. Her body felt strong and agile, her mind, sharp and focused.

“Feels pretty good, doesn’t it?” Trinity asked.

She nodded but stared hard at Trinity. Odin had said something about a monster in his stomach. Did she have one now, too? “What the hell is in my stomach?”

Trinity smiled. “That’s a discussion for a different day.” She pointed at the bed. “Get dressed. Then we’ll go have breakfast and talk about the physical limitations of being a
Servio
.”

Logan quickly dressed then turned around and nodded at Trinity. “I’m ready.”

She blinked and shook her head. “That was unnaturally fast.”

Logan brushed off the sleeve of her t-shirt and laughed. “I used to hide and wait for guests to check-out of motel rooms so I could sneak in and take a shower before the maids came around. I learned to dress and undress pretty fast.”

“Impressive. Come with me.”

She obliged Trinity’s request and followed through the doorway Syn had made. After winding through a few hallways filled with paintings and tapestries, Trinity pushed open a set of plain wooden doors and held them open until Logan passed.

Stepping out into the warm night air had never been such a welcomed feeling for Logan. The whisper of leaves rustling in the wind filled her ears, while the same floral scents from before filled her nostrils.

She smiled as Trinity walked her over to a table set with plates and silverware. She could only imagine this was what the world looked like thousands of years ago and completely understood why Kerestyan admitted he missed it at times.

If she was him, she would, too.

She moved to take the seat across from Trinity. “So is it always night time here?”

Trinity unfolded a white linen napkin and dropped it in her lap. “Always. Outside of the castle walls the sun is rising right now. Dad doesn’t like the big ball of fire in the sky so he blocks it out. He’s never been a fan of not being able to walk through his home at any given moment just because a star doesn’t like him.”

“I don’t blame him.”

She cracked a grin. “A man’s home is his castle.” She relaxed back in her chair as her features sobered a bit. “So here’s how it goes. The blood I feed you is what sustains your ‘life’ and power as a
Servio
. As soon as my blood passes your lips, it bonds to yours, since you obviously can’t have more blood in your system than your body can hold. Right now, all of your blood is charged from the power of mine. But every time you call on your blood to perform feats of magic, be it running fast or picking up a car, some of my power dissolves.”

Trinity picked up the glass sitting in front of her plate. “Because you seem to be a fan of comparisons, think of your body right now as a full glass of purified water. Now, let’s say you decide to get up, walk into my Dad’s throne room and punch him in the eye. Naturally, you’re going to call on the power of your blood for speed so you can run away, right?”

Logan shook her head. Had Trinity lost her mind? “Hell no. First, I’m going to pull my fist out of the man’s eye socket and apologize. Then I’m going to smack myself as hard as I possibly can, and ask myself what the hell I was thinking.”

Trinity’s loud laugh echoed all around them. “Okay. But the point is, you call on your blood for speed, and even though the glass remains full the purity drops.” She set the glass down. “If you ever get to a point where you’ve used up all the power in your blood, you’ll grow fangs and only have twelve hours to feed from me, or a vampire older than me, or you die.”

Logan took a deep breath. Well that was a damn good thing to know. “Do I get a warning or something when I’m running low?”

“No. It’s something I’ll be teaching you how to recognize over the next few weeks. The only real warning you get is when your fangs grow. Now, depending on how strong the bond is between us, if you pop fangs I might be able to feel it. Then, of course, I’ll come get you and feed you. Try not to worry about running out of power though, because it rarely happens unless you get severely injured or just aren’t paying attention.”

“Well, I don’t have any intention of stepping out in front of a Greyhound or playing Hot Potato with grenades, so I think I’m safe.”

“You will be.” She snickered. “I mean you’ll be safe, not playing with grenades. But that leads right into the next topic. Healing. If you sustain a fatal wound or internal injuries, even if you’re unconscious, your body will automatically begin to heal them. If for some reason you catch a disease, the same happens. I’ll be teaching you how to heal other injuries during the course of your training.” She folded her hands in her lap. “And, that’s it. In regards to your physical condition anyway.”

Logan nodded. So far, it all sounded relatively straight forward. “So then, what’s next?”

Trinity shrugged. “We’ll eat breakfast, then probably wander around the castle and talk about what vampires do all night. I’ll teach you about politics, how to play the favor game, how to survive in general, and how to keep yourself ahead of the competition. To be honest, the last part should be pretty easy for you considering your former lifestyle.”

Logan couldn’t disagree with that. Part of successfully living on the street was keeping track of which restaurants dumped their trash when, because a well informed veteran could pick a Dumpster clean in less than a minute. Knowing which buildings were vacant but still had utilities, how often the police or gangs patrolled a neighborhood, and who called an alley their turf meant the difference between life and death.

And something deep inside told her, although the Veil raised the stakes a little higher, life as a vampire or
Servio
wasn’t much of a departure from the life she already knew.

Logan pushed her thoughts aside and returned her attention to Trinity. “What comes after the politics?”

She laughed. “There’s really no formula, Logan. One subject just kinda leads into the next, and the next, and the next…until we cover everything. Don’t worry, in two weeks time you’ll be fully trained and back in New York.” She wrinkled her nose. “And I’m sure, much to your very feigned dismay, some hot guy named Kerestyan will be there waiting for you.”