Reborn to Bite (Vampire Shadows Book 1) (20 page)

"I didn't expect you and Melina to turn on me," Sabine said in a shaky voice. "I thought because I had bonded you before that you were on my side."

"The power bond only works as long as you maintain control. It can be broken easily if you're not paying attention. It was important that you understand – vampires under a power bond are likely to seek every opportunity to escape it."

"And when I'm challenged is the best time," Sabine said.

Lorenzo nodded. "Exactly."

Sabine remembered back to the ceremony with Neville, and how he hated using a blood bond. He only used a power bond on his followers. Interesting. "Let's get going."

As everyone stood and filed towards the plane, Heather turned to Sabine, who had taken up the rear of the group. "Thank you, Sabine, for saving my life at the rocks and at the church. And for saving me from the taint of killing Claudia. I know you wanted to walk away from all this."

"I just figure you owe me, big time. Either that, or you could just be my friend for life and we'll call it even."

Heather nodded. "I have no idea how I'll repay you. For everything." She glanced at Claudia. "But crazy as it sounds to me, I think I'd like being your friend." She chortled. "My ex-husband will have kittens if he finds out I became friends with a vampire."

"I'm guessing he-"

"Left me because of my obsession over the wards and the anti-vampire crusade? Yep," Heather finished. "Our daughter is kinda peeved with me as well."

"Maybe you can mend some bridges?" Sabine offered.

Heather smiled. "We'll see."

"Are you okay?" Sabine asked Trent, adjusting herself in his lap to look at him. The rest of the passengers in the tiny plane sat quietly, occupied with reading or looking out the windows. Trent hadn't spoken since takeoff.

He stared straight ahead, not meeting her gaze. "I'm fine."

She took in the rigid line of his jaw, and thought about trying to read his mind, but she had trained him well and it would mean a fight that she didn't have energy for. "You don't look fine. You look stressed out. Is it me? Did I do something wrong?"

"It's not you," he said, glancing at her and then closing his eyes. "I just need some rest."

She swallowed back the bulge in her throat. Letting him into her heart had been a mistake. Trent was backing away. She took a shaky breath and got up. Fine. If he didn't want her, it was his loss. She should have trusted her first impression. Jerk.

Sabine spent the rest of the flight loading everyone's contact info into her phone and trying to think about anything but Trent's rejection.

When they landed, Esmerelda's husband Mike was waiting for them with a van as promised. He and Esmerelda hugged when she reached the van. Mike's gaze raked the vampires with obvious suspicion before landing on Sabine. He gave her a small nod.

Sabine left them to load the van and approached Lorenzo as he secured the plane. Learning about the care and feeding of her new Family might be enough to keep her mind occupied.

"The blood we had at the house before we left – will that be enough for everyone tonight?" she asked.

Lorenzo watched the others as they took their bags to the van for a moment, considering. "It could be, but I think we all miss the city. We will most likely split up and hunt near the hotel, as a sort of homecoming."

Sabine remembered the vampire hunters and her heart thudded once. "What exactly does a hunt involve for this group?"

"You must know, Sabine. Surely, you have hunted."

"I mainly pretended to be an easy victim. When someone attacked me, I'd control him and drink from him, then wipe his memory."

"While that sounds very interesting, it's a lot of work. We find someone who appeals to our tastes, and use glamour to lead them to a secluded place and partake from them."

"And after?"

Lorenzo shrugged. "We let them go. They don't even realize it happened."

Sabine watched the others as they loaded their bags in the van. "So, nobody dies during these feedings?"

Lorenzo shook his head. "Accidents happen, but it is very rare. We try to pick carefully, avoiding the weak, and we avoid drinking too much from any one donor. Killing while feeding can become... addictive."

Sabine didn't want the vampire hunters and these vampires to meet without her there. She needed to find out where the hunters would be. "Is there any way I can convince you to keep everyone in tonight?"

"You have but to order it, and we must obey you."

"And if I just make it a request?"

"Then we are free to choose to disregard it," Lorenzo said, a smirk on his face. "For myself, as long as what you ask is reasonable, I would tend to cooperate. If for no other reason than being grateful that someone else is in charge now."

"You didn't like being Master of the house?" Sabine asked.

Lorenzo put a hand on Sabine's shoulder, leaning in to whisper. "Many of the vampires I know take an interest in things unrelated to power. To distract us from the thirst and the potential for corruption."

"Like what?"

"I love to fly," Lorenzo said, patting his Beechcraft King Air. "My goal is to fly every plane ever made."

Sabine smiled. "How is that going so far?"

Lorenzo's eyes lit up. "Oh! If you get me started, we shall never get home. I have loved almost all of the planes I have ever flown. I didn't even have to glamour some of the owners, so enthusiastic were they to share the experience. With my new-found lack of responsibility, I intend to indulge my obsession and locate some of the newer planes that have come out in the last few decades."

Sabine's heart warmed at his enthusiasm. "I look forward to hearing your stories someday. Tonight, I'd like to ask though that you and the others please stay in."

"Of course, Sabine. I am patient. Ethan and Deirdre may not be as agreeable."

Sabine nodded and patted his shoulder. "I had guessed as much. Thanks, Lorenzo."

***

Mike stopped the van at The Fairmont Hotel, and Sabine got out with the rest of her new vampire Family. Claudia was going on to Heather's place, so she stayed in the van.

Sabine hesitated until they had their bags out of the van and sent the bellhop away before addressing the half-dozen vampires. "I want you all to stay in tonight. No hunting."

Ethan and Deirdre glared at her, letting their eyes communicate their discontent over being told what to do. Just as Lorenzo had predicted, Ethan challenged her. "Is that a command, or a request?"

Sabine sighed. Even though it went against her grain to command people who were a hundred years her elders, she had to bite the bullet and take charge. They were counting on her to be strong. "I need to make sure everyone's safe, since you're my responsibility now, and I can't be with you until later."

"No need to explain yourself, Mistress," Lorenzo said, stressing her title as he stared down Ethan. "Unless it is a request. If you command us, we are Bound and must obey."

Sabine gauged the feeling she got from their auras, sensing that only Lorenzo and Melina were happy to oblige. Shelby had mentioned on the flight over that she was itching to experience vampire life in San Francisco, and Ernesto missed his lady love. Sabine took a calming breath. "I command you all. Stay in. No hunting. Ernesto, feel free to have Lana come visit."

As the words left her mouth, Sabine felt a tingling, like a shiver down her spine. The reaction on the vampire's faces told her that something had happened.

What was that?
Sabine wondered.

Claudia's thought came to her mind.
The magic of the power bond. Not as strong as our blood bond, but not without a small effect.

The vampires gathered their bags to head into the hotel. Sabine watched them enter, worried about the burden of leading them. She got back in the van and nodded to Mike.

You will grow accustomed to it, Mistress,
Claudia thought.

We need to talk about boundaries,
Sabine thought back, wondering how to block Claudia out more consistently. She focused, and was rewarded with a sense of blissful seclusion.

A welcoming committee waited for them outside Heather's squat three-story Spanish-style home, standing in the driveway that led down to a sunken garage under the left side of the house. The two levels above ground were covered with windows, and centered around an arched front door. Heather's daughter stood beside several women Sabine recognized from the earlier gathering of witches. Julie looked like a miniature ten-year-old version of Heather, complete with matching facial features and blonde hair.

As Mike stopped the van, Heather jumped out and ran into her daughter's embrace. Sabine saw a tear streaming down the girl's face as she hugged her mother. The witches bristled when Claudia stepped out of the van, followed by Mike, Esmerelda, Sabine and Trent.

"You brought a vampire back with you?" One of the women asked, staring at Claudia, then looking askance at Sabine. "And isn't she the one you just exiled?"

"Sabine saved my life in Nevada-" Heather began.

"You must be under their control somehow," Another witch said, reaching into her pocket. Magic rose in the air.

Heather shrugged. "Cast the spell and see for yourself."

One of the witches tossed something that looked like glitter on Heather, speaking Latin. The glitter faded and disappeared. The witch seemed disappointed. "I don't understand. This isn't like you."

Heather flipped her hair in case any glitter was left. "As I was saying, I got to know the vampires in Nevada, and I got to know Sabine."

An I-told-you-so smirk grew on little Julie's face, contrasting with the fist on one hip and her tapping foot. "What happened to the mom who missed my birthday party to banish a vampire?"

"She learned a valuable lesson," Esmerelda said, approaching and hugging the teen.

"Or three," Heather added. "Like I said, Sabine saved my life. Twice. And she wants to help protect us from vampire retribution."

They all looked at Sabine.

Sabine shrugged. "It seemed like the right thing to do."

"The point is, I came to realize that I was wrong to banish vampires, because it just gave someone else our problems. I practically destroyed a poor town in Nevada with an invasion of pissed-off blood suckers. No offense Sabine, Claudia."

Sabine snorted, and Claudia just nodded.

"So the vampires have most likely returned to the city, and I hear that a few of them are upset enough to come after me," Heather finished.

"We can reinforce the wards around your house," One of the witches said.

"That would be nice. Oh! We'll need to keep the garage outside the ward so Claudia can stay here."

The witches gasped.

"Mom, you're going to let a vampire live with us?"

Heather nodded and brushed her daughter's hair back from her face. "I can't always be at home to protect you, but Claudia can. Esmerelda helped me cleanse my spirit of the dark magic I held so long for Claudia, but I still need to atone for what I did. And Claudia needs to atone too, so it works out. She's going to protect us for the rest of our lives."

Julie nodded, then looked at Sabine and Claudia. "So Claudia-"

"She's the vampire who killed my parents."

"Mom-"

"She spent the last twenty years in a dungeon, wanting to die. We're giving her a purpose."

Julie stood there, speechless. Then tears started flowing down her face.

"What is it?" Heather asked.

Julie hugged her mother, squeezing fiercely as she buried her head in her mother's shoulder. After a minute, Julie stepped back and wiped her tears away. "I prayed to the Goddess that your rage would end."

Heather laughed through her own tears.

Sabine took a calming breath and gave Claudia a hug, sensing that Claudia was sad but determined.

I don't want to let them down,
Claudia thought.

I know,
Sabine replied telepathically.
How long until you need to feed?

I can go two nights before the craving gets really bad, Mistress.

Call me Sabine, okay?

Claudia shook her head.
I will always call you Mistress.

I'll be back tomorrow to take you out for a bite,
Sabine thought, shaking her head.

Yes, Mistress.

The witches made themselves busy prepping a magical ward. Esmerelda stayed with them to help, and Mike joined Trent and Sabine back in the van after giving his wife a kiss and hug goodbye.

"Back home then," Mike said as he put the van in gear.

"Actually, can we stop at my apartment?" Sabine asked, pulling out her phone. "I didn't pack a jogging outfit before, and I made a promise to a girl named Kim."

"Anything for the girl that saved my wife's life," Mike said.

They pulled up in front of Sabine's apartment, and Trent got out of the van with Sabine. She turned to him with a questioning look on her face.

He shrugged. "I'll just tag along, in case you run into trouble."

Sabine grinned at him. "You're cute when you're trying to be protective."

Trent chuckled. "Yeah, okay. You can probably handle yourself, but I'd feel better watching your back."

"So you like my back?" Sabine said, bending over and wiggling her butt at him.

Trent gave her a shove. "Go on, crazy woman. Kim's waiting."

As they walked up the stairs, Sabine listened to the heartbeats in the building and smiled to herself. She scented the air, and heard Trent do the same. As they reached Sabine's floor and opened the stairwell door, the smell of werewolves filled their noses, and Sabine paused mid-step. She could sense two heartbeats in her apartment, forty feet away.

Sabine took a deep breath and pushed her power out down the hall, through her door and into her apartment. Trent watched as her eyes clouded and she grimaced.

"Gus and Tony wanting payback," she whispered. "I'm having trouble taking control of their minds."

Trent nodded beside her.

Sabine shook her head.
I defeated a whole vampire Family, and I can't control these guys now? Why?

Claudia shocked her by responding telepathically.
You're weak. You didn't feed after the contest with Lorenzo and the rest. You need blood.

Sabine fought down her rising fear. She didn't need telepathy and mind control. She could still beat these guys the hard way. They were in her place. Her home. Anger started to take root in the back of her mind. She cocked her head from side to side and gritted her teeth. Then she ran at the door as fast as she could.