Reborn to Bite (Vampire Shadows Book 1) (12 page)

"She has this new trick: sending pleasure into a donor. People are already lining up. It's amazing how good it feels."

Darren looked again at Sabine with lust in his eyes. "Really."

Sabine rolled her eyes. "I'm not biting any of you ever again."

Darren put his elbows on the table and rested his chin on his hands in contemplation. "How about using that vamp power to get some other girl to sleep with me?"

Sabine blinked, then stared at him open-mouthed. Maybe her Karmic balance wasn't far off kilter with Darren, and it would be better to walk away. She glanced around the table to see how the others felt about what Darren had just said. They all watched for her response. Gabe looked annoyed. Sam looked angry, and Kim glanced from behind her drink.

"Darren..." She began, then paused, rubbing her temples. "How do I phrase this nicely? I'm completely offended. On behalf of women everywhere, I'm going to decline to use supernatural persuasion to assist you in getting laid."

Gabe turned to Darren, a bulldog facing down a weasel. "See Darren, I keep telling you. This kinda shit is why you don't have a girlfriend."

"You're not on a high horse anymore, Gabe," Darren shot back.

That seemed to touch a nerve with Gabe, and he gritted his teeth. He glanced at Sabine and decided not to reply.

Sabine concentrated on Gabe and tried to read his mind. It wasn't difficult once she focused. He had been dating a woman named Patty for a few years, and they had broken up a few months back. He had loved her, but the stress of dealing with his obsession over vampires had torn them apart.

It was Patty's dog he had been walking that night.

Sabine turned to Robert. She started to wonder what his aura was about. It didn't feel like werewolf or witch. "Robert, you're looking a lot better than last year. You've been working out?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact. I've been on a self-improvement kick."

Darren grumbled at the loss of attention. "He's studying necromancy, like it'll actually work."

Robert shook his head. "Darren, you're a piece of work. That was more useful as a secret with a vampire at the table."

Darren shrugged. "Whatever, dude. It's all B.S. anyway."

Sabine turned to Robert. "I'm guessing necromancers have power over the undead. If that's true and you're any good at it, you could be really useful hunting vampires."

"I'm getting good at it."

Trent rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "From what I've heard, necromancers are born, not taught. Like witches, they have an innate ability that just has to be trained. If that's the case, how could Sabine have gotten the better of you a year ago?"

"I worked in the morgue because something about working with the deceased fascinated me. And contrary to Darren's opinion, it wasn't necrophilia. It was some kind of affinity. I had been holding that part back..." He turned to Sabine. "And when you came to life there and bit me, it changed me. Suddenly I felt different. For the first time, I realized that there was something beyond normal; and I reached for an understanding of it. I did some research on necromancy and things just started to click."

Sabine nodded. "So are you happy I bit you?"

Robert squinted in thought for a moment. "I see it as an unpleasant event that had a beneficial outcome. Like when a superhero gets his powers from being dropped in a vat of radioactive acid or something. I learned that monsters existed, and I learned that I could do something about that. This last year I trained to be ready when we would meet, but I haven't tested myself on a vamp yet."

"I bet you're itching to try me," Sabine said, slightly nervous.

"As a matter of fact, I would like very much to test what I've learned."

"If I cooperate, then you'll forgive me?"

He nodded, a gleam in his eye.

Trent looked anxious. "Sabine, are you sure this is a good idea?"

"I guess that depends." She turned back to Robert. "What would this experiment entail exactly?"

Robert sat back and crossed his arms. "I'll take over your mind and make you do something against your nature."

"So, am I supposed to resist, or let it happen?"

Robert smiled. "Resist all you like. Ready?"

Sabine nodded, and almost immediately felt the power wave thrust at her. She tensed and held the image of a fortress in her mind. It felt like the world was spinning on its side, and she couldn't tell which way was up.

Sabine felt her mind coming apart, and felt a sudden desperation. Her thoughts started melting, evaporating. She grasped for anything to fight back and remembered Esmerelda's smiling face and the way Esmerelda had trapped them in her mind. She wished she knew how to do that, but she knew how to use her other powers. Even as her defenses crumbled, she sent out a wave of her own power at Robert.

The smile on his face faded, as they stared each other down in a trance.

Kim looked from one to the other. "What happened?"

Gabe put a hand between the two of them and waved it back and forth. "Hmmmm."

Trent looked from one the other and got up, walking around Robert to Sabine.

"Don't interfere. Something bad might happen," Sam said, readying his cross again.

Trent whispered in Sabine's ear. "Sabine?"

There was no reply.

"Sabine, can you hear me?"

Gabe waved his hand in front of Robert. "Robert! You in there?"

Robert started to lean over, and Gabe propped him back up. Gabe snapped his finger in front of Robert. "Dude! Wake up! Snap out of it!"

Sabine's head lolled forward and she collapsed on the table, just as Robert did the same.

Trent grabbed Sabine and shook her. "Sabine! Are you okay?"

"She'll be fine in a minute." Sabine's mouth had said the words, but with Robert's inflection. Her head lifted, eyes vacant.

Gabe put a hand on Robert's shoulder. "Robert? Are you controlling her?"

Sabine nodded and smiled.

Trent stepped over to Robert and glared at him. "Let her go."

Robert turned vacant eyes toward Trent. "Patience, Lone Ranger."

Trent stepped back. "Sabine?"

Robert winked at him, then fell forward again. Gabe caught him before his head hit the table.

Sabine took a deep breath and pushed away from the table. She stood and shook her hands, then patted herself. "Damn it, I do NOT want to do that again."

Trent eyed her suspiciously. "Is it you?"

"We need to help Robert, quickly!" Sabine said. She pushed Trent aside and picked Robert out of his seat with one arm. The others jumped out of their seats as Sabine rested Robert on the ground. She started CPR, pressing on his chest.

Gabe rushed around the table. "What the hell are you doing?"

Sabine pushed up and down on Robert's chest, careful not to push too hard. "His heart stopped. What does it look like? Do any of you know CPR?"

"I'm a firefighter! What do you think?" Gabe said, pushing her aside to start CPR. "Sam! Call nine-one-one!"

Sabine pinched Robert's nose and held his chin, opening his airway. She lowered her mouth to his, ignoring the exclamations of the vampire hunters as she breathed into Robert's mouth. She pulled back just as Robert's eyes flew open and he grasped at her and Gabe.

Sabine looked into his shocked eyes. "Welcome back to the land of the living, Robert."

Robert took a few breaths and pulled himself up, arms shaking. "Sabine, I think you're supposed to be alive if you're the greeter for the land of the living."

Kim had rounded the group to kneel beside him. "What happened Robert? Are you okay?"

He breathed deeply. "I will be in a minute."

Sabine looked around. Darren had his gun aimed at her, Sam had a stake out, Trent was blocking them from Sabine's back. "You guys thought I'd attack him right here?"

Their looks told her she was right.

She looked to Sam. "You didn't call for paramedics."

He swallowed. "I thought-"

Sabine used a fraction of a second to jump up and grab their weapons before they saw her move. She held them up, staring at Sam. "How do I prove myself to you? You thought I was attacking him? Damn it!"

Darren held out his hand. "Give that goddamn gun back."

She stared him down. "Don't you get it? You just had me dead-bang. Did you even see me take it from you?"

He glared at her.

"Same goes for you Sam. Did you see me move?"

Sam shook his head.

She turned to Gabe, Kim and finally to Robert, now getting on his feet. "How about you guys?"

Robert brushed himself off as Kim shook her head.

Gabe let go of Robert. "You're a vampire, I believe you already."

Sabine nodded. "So you'll all acknowledge that if I had wanted to kill all of you by now, I could have. You wouldn't have seen it coming. I moved slowly when I picked up Robert so I wouldn't hurt him. Do you see that now?"

They all looked somewhat sheepish; except Trent, who was wondering if he had misjudged her speed.

Sabine handed the stake back to Sam and the gun back to Darren. "You guys need to believe me when I say that I'm trying to be a friend and make up for what I did to you before. So stop drawing weapons on me and just assume that no matter what I do, I'm not going to hurt you."

Most of them nodded, except Gabe.

Robert spoke up. "You saved my life just now. I'd say we're even."

Sabine smiled. "I wish I could take credit, but I think it was my fault your heart stopped."

Gabe's expression showed his confusion. "How so?"

Sabine struggled with what to tell them, of what she had experienced. She settled on bare essentials. "Basically, we traded bodies, but I'm not used to breathing and having a normal pulse."

"So I stopped breathing and my heart stopped," Robert added.

"Shit," Darren said, stuffing his gun away again. "So our great white hope can't even beat a newbie vamp."

Sabine looked to Trent. "How long was I out of it?"

Trent glanced around at the group, then looked back to Sabine. "You were vulnerable for about a minute."

Sabine nodded and looked Darren over. "Darren, you seem like the kind of guy who would only need a minute with a vulnerable girl."

"That's what she said," Trent added.

Darren sucked in a breath. "Hey! I take way longer – I mean – screw you!"

Kim laughed.

Robert bowed his head slightly as he straightened his tunic. "Thanks, Sabine."

"Robert almost died giving us that minute," Darren shot back.

"Sabine saved him," Kim said, stepping around them to sit down.

"Right, and if I hadn't, Gabe would have," Sabine added, as they followed Kim's lead and returned to their seats. "Being part of a team means everyone brings something to the table."

Kim took a shaky breath. "I'm not sure I bring anything."

Darren licked his lips. "You're the hot cheerleader."

Sabine put a hand on Kim's shoulder. "She brought you together. I could see that from the forum. She inspired you all to be here as much as my bite did. If it weren't for her courage in posting her story, you all never would have found each other."

Kim blushed.

"That's true," Sam said.

Gabe nodded. "She doesn't need to kill vamps to be here."

They sat in silence for a moment before the waitress walked up. "Are you folks ready to order?"

The group placed their orders in a daze, and the waitress got to Sabine last.

"I'll just stick with my Vampire’s Bite, thanks," Sabine told the waitress.

The waitress got their drink orders and collected the menus before walking away. A bus boy refilled their water glasses and departed, everyone still staring at Sabine.

Sam raised his glass. "I think it's time for a different toast."

"Let's hear it, Sam," Gabe said as everyone raised their glasses.

Sam smiled. "To Sabine: for saving Robert's life; for defending Kim; for her promise to help my neighborhood."

"What about me?" Darren asked.

Kim piped up. "She didn't kill you."

Gabe nodded, raising his glass.

"How about just 'to finding the vampire that bit us'."

Darren, Robert, Sam and Gabe said their goodbyes and headed for their cars, ready to start their vampire hunt. Not wanting to participate, Kim was ready to take the bus to head home.

Sabine took one look at Kim's shaking hand. "We'll give you a ride."

"Thanks. I'm kinda nervous about being out alone after dark," Kim said. "You really won everyone over."

"I'll say," Trent exclaimed. "I have to say that I'm amazed."

Movement across the street and a tingle of awareness caught Sabine's attention. A biker ducked into the liquor store on the corner, holding a cell phone up to his ear. He'd been facing away, but she could see his that his eyes tracked her and Kim in the reflection of a store window.

"So, Trent, we didn't talk much about you in there. How do you know Sabine?" Kim asked.

"I'm a private investigator. We met earlier today through a mutual friend."

"So are you and Sabine an item?" Kim asked, looking between them.

"No," Sabine said before Trent could open his mouth.

Sabine scanned the street for more bikers while Trent tried to dodge answering Kim. Plenty of people were walking around, but none of them looked suspicious to Sabine. She had the feeling she was being watched; which usually meant she was. She had set herself up to be stalked too often over the last year to miss the signs that a trap was about to be sprung.

A couple hurried toward them on the sidewalk, casting furtive glances towards whatever was around the corner a few steps ahead. Their thoughts about the bikers around the corner painted a lot of worst-case scenarios. Sabine tapped Trent on the arm and pointed to the corner while Kim talked. She sensed four heartbeats, one more elevated than the others.

As they turned the corner, the mouth of a small alley came into view. It pierced the corner of the block diagonally, which created an interesting hiding place behind a Deli.

Kim started to say something, but paused as they heard the clinking of chains.

"That's them," a woman's voice said, causing Kim to stop mid-thought and freeze.

Beatrice and three tough looking biker guys stood in the alley. One was holding a metal pipe, another had a knife, and the third had a chain wrapped around an arm. They all had matching leather jackets and scruffy beards.

The one with the chain was holding Beatrice by her jacket lapel. He let go of her and stared at Kim. "Bitch here says you roughed her up. Time for you to find out what happens to people who mess with the Outlaws."

Trent flexed his arms and smiled, cocking his neck. "Oh, I'm gonna enjoy this."

Sabine stood with arms akimbo next to Trent. "Didn't Beatrice warn you about us?"

She used their eye contact to send a wave of glamour into their minds.

Trent cursed. "You know, I could have handled this."

Sabine rounded on him, and caught sight of several more bikers approaching. She pointed behind Trent. "More coming."

"Great," Trent said, as he turned and counted a dozen more bikers approaching from every direction.

"Oh my God, Oh my God..." Kim said, panic filling her voice as she looked wildly between the bikers. She started hyperventilating.

Sabine's fangs came down at the scent of fear. She grabbed Kim's flailing hands and looked into her eyes. "It's going to be okay, Kim. Trust me. I won't let anyone hurt you."

Kim shook her head, avoiding Sabine's gaze. "There's too many of them."

Sabine put a hand on Kim's cheek. "It's okay. The more the merrier. Trust me, okay?"

Kim looked up at Sabine and her breath caught at the sight of a fang-filled smile. "Your-"

Sabine nodded and smiled wider. "Fangs, yeah. I promised to protect you, remember? Watch me work, and calm down. I'm on the job. You're safe."

Trent loosened his jacket so he'd be able to reach his gun better. "What are you going to do?"

Sabine gave him a wicked smile. "Glamour them all."

The bikers slowed their approach. They were within twenty feet. She calmed herself, putting aside her doubts and let the power flow. She didn't know what it would take, so she just opened the flood gates.

Traffic on the street in both directions rolled to a stop.

That was the first sign she had used too much. Sabine pulled back on the wave as quickly as she could, but it felt like closing a door while water was rushing through it. Her control shuddered against the torrent of power until she was finally able to reign it in.

Hundreds of minds filled her consciousness. Thousands, even. She looked at Trent and Kim, and they were in the same trance everyone else was. Everyone on the sidewalks and in the cars on the street had just... stopped. She couldn't focus. Sabine started to panic, not knowing what to do next.

The voices in her head went from small club chatter to something like a baseball stadium during the last game of the World Series. She sat on the sidewalk, crossed her legs and assumed a meditation pose, trying to go for calm and peace. She broadcast that feeling as the world started to get darker, and Sabine thought someone might have screamed. Strange. It felt like it came from her own throat.

"That was amazing," Kim was saying.

"Those bikers turning out to be nice?" Trent asked.

"Yeah, I thought we were gonna die when Sabine fainted like that."

Sabine felt the leather of Trent's back seat on her face, and bounced up as they hit a bump. She sat up and rubbed her head. Her fangs were out, and she felt dehydrated and thirsty. This day had been really draining.

Trent saw her in the rear-view mirror and glanced back. He smirked. "Sleeping beauty has awakened."

Kim looked back and giggled.

"What?" Sabine asked, wiping hair out of her face.

Kim smiled back at her. "I'm sorry, I was just thinking about how you said you'd protect me. We had to protect you!"

Sabine shook her head. "But I-"

Trent laughed. "Yeah, that was pretty interesting."

Sabine frowned. Then it hit her. Maybe they didn't even know what she had done. "The bikers were nice?"

Kim twisted in her seat to look back. "Yeah, they offered to help us get you to the car, but Trent picked you up like you were a rag doll and told them it was okay."

"So we're headed to drop Kim off at her place," Trent added, taking the turn onto Kim's street.

Trent parked the car in front of a low rise apartment complex. Sabine and Kim got out and stood on the sidewalk.

"I'd like to start jogging tomorrow night if that's okay with you. Can you meet me here at seven?" Kim asked, adjusting her bandolier of stakes. A group of kids in costume with their parents walked by, accompanied by giggles and nudges.

"Happy Halloween!" One of the parents said as they passed.

"Ditto!" Kim said, smiling back.

One of the kids stopped and stared at Sabine.

Sabine smiled at the little boy, showing her fangs. "Happy Halloween kiddo."

"I'm a fairy! In your face!" The kid said, and stuck out his tongue before strutting away. One of the parents grabbed him and whispered something sternly at him before smiling and apologizing.

Sabine stared at the kid until the trick-or-treaters rounded the block and were out of sight. "About the bikers-"

"It's okay, really. I would have fainted if you hadn't."

Sabine stared at Kim for a minute, fatigue dragging at her before she remembered her promise to be a bodyguard. She forced a smile, fangs still showing. "So I guess I'll see you tomorrow night."

"Great!" Kim said, and spun on her heels. She ran up the steps to her building and went in.

Sabine watched the blonde cheerleader bounce away and felt amazed. If nothing else good came from the day, at least there was Kim's rediscovered spirit. Taking the front seat Kim had vacated, Sabine closed the door to Trent's Caddy. She turned to face Trent and took in his mischievous smile.

"What?" She said it like an accusation, his smug look annoying her.

"You fainted."

"Did you not feel what I did before that?"

"A little tickle but that was it."

"Has it occurred to you, that maybe the bikers weren't nice to begin with, and to question why they suddenly were?"

He glanced over at her, then shrugged and pulled into traffic. "Maybe we just misjudged them initially?"

Sabine shook her head, trying to concentrate on her fangs. She gave up after a block, reasoning that nobody would pay any attention to them on Halloween night anyway.

"So you're saying that you used glamour on them," Trent said after percolating for a while.

"I fainted because I lost control of the power."

"If you say so."

"Believe what you want. Can we stop someplace soon? I need to find someone to drink."

Trent glanced at her, his shoulders tensing. "Maybe Janet has another donor for you."

"She knows I've fed twice today. I don't want her to think that I'm a crazed three-meal-a-day vampire."

"Then don't let her see the look in your eyes right now," Trent said, smirking.

Sabine's phone rang, distracting her from her otherwise perfect death stare at Trent.

She rose up off the seat to fish in her pocket, hitting the button to answer it on the third ring. She didn't recognize the caller's number. "What!"

"Hi, Sabine. It's Esmerelda. Did something happen to you a short time ago? Over near St. Francis church?"

Sabine paused and looked at Trent. "Yeah, as a matter of fact."

"What happened, dear?"

"We had dinner at the Stinking Rose, across the street. A few bikers attacked us. Why?"

"My phone has been ringing off the hook. Every witch in the city felt a power surge from that area, including me, and I recognized the feel of it. Was it you?"

Sabine stared out of the window of the car in shock. "You felt it?"

"Sabine, this is important. Was it you?"

Sabine sighed. "It was an accident. I was trying to glamour the dozen bikers that were threatening us, and I'd never tried that many at once before, and... it got out of hand."

"Dear, you panicked three covens of witches with that display."

"I didn't mean to."

"I know, and we can tell them that together. If you can convince them you're not a threat..."

Sabine's jaw dropped. "A what?"

"Two of our witches have gone missing."

Sabine almost bit her tongue with a fang. "Regina and Michaela?"

Esmerelda's sharp intake of breath sent a jab of panic through Sabine.

"They're my friends! I haven't seen them for a year, and I just saw them today coming out of a laundromat, but I had nothing to do with-"

"Trent has been with you this whole time?"

Sabine glanced at Trent. "Yes."

"Excellent. You need to meet with the covens, as soon as possible. We're gathering at Golden Gate Park to meet you."

At that moment, Trent pulled into a parking spot, and Sabine looked across the street to where Gabe, Sam, Robert and Darren were standing in the trees of Golden Gate Park. The twilight dimly illuminated the sky, but to her eye it was as bright as daylight used to be as a human. The guys looked impatient.

Sabine unfastened her seat belt. "We're there now."

"Yes, I know."

"How?"

There was a smile in Esmerelda's voice. "I'm a witch, dear."

Trent got out. Sabine hardly noticed as she closed her phone and sat there wondering what was going to happen when she met with the witches. Her fangs ached. Her stomach grumbled. She felt agitated and close to losing it.

Trent held her door open, smiling.

Sabine took the hand he offered and climbed out of the car. She turned and reached back to get her bag. Trent cleared his throat as he admired her backside. She realized what he was doing and scowled back at him. "Would you like a picture? It might last longer."

Trent reached in his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. "Good idea!"

Sabine hurried to extricate herself from the car and huffed at him, getting a laugh in response. He put away his phone and held out his arm, patiently waiting as she put the bag over her shoulder. "May I escort you, milady?"

She tried to focus on something other than the beating of everyone's hearts and the call of their blood.
Hold it together
, she thought to herself, taking his arm. They walked over and joined the vampire hunters.

Darren smiled, raking Sabine with his eyes. "So you decided to join us."

Gabe passed out night-vision goggles to Sam, Darren, and Robert. He looked at Trent and Sabine. "Sorry, I only have enough goggles for us."

"Um, vampire. Night vision comes with the package," Sabine said, looking to Trent.

"I'll manage," Trent said, and the group returned their attention to Gabe.