Reborn to Bite (Vampire Shadows Book 1) (24 page)

"How much?" Lorenzo asked.

Sabine shook her head. "My memory is vague there."

"She probably drank at least a half-gallon," Trent said, recalling the incident.

"Oh my God," Melina said, covering her mouth.

Lorenzo regarded Trent. "Might we have a moment alone with Sabine?"

Trent narrowed his eyes. "Why?"

"I wish to discuss a sensitive matter with her, not intended for your ears," Lorenzo replied.

"So do it telepathically or whatever," Trent said, crossing his arms.

Melina smiled. "You're quite taken with her, aren't you?"

Trent glared.

"We won't hurt her, Trent," Lorenzo added. "I would like to involve our whole group in the discussion, and we are not telepathically linked. If you would please go to the lounge and get a refreshment, and give us time for a discussion, I would appreciate it greatly."

Sabine sighed. "I'll be okay, Trent."

Trent took a deep breath and let it out. "Fine." He paused, staring down at Sabine. Sabine listened to his thoughts about this being her "pack", and how he wasn't part of it. He thought he sensed a longing in her expression, and wondered if she wanted him to be part of her life. Did he want to be here? These vampires were not breathing, and smelled to his sensitive nose like something from the grave. Sabine hadn't smelled like them, but she was like them. Could he live with that? He had a lot to think about.

He went to the door. After one last look over the assembled vampires, he opened the door and left.

"The solution may be very simple," Lorenzo said, after the sound of Trent's footsteps receded to the elevator. "You can share your energy with us though a blood bond."

"We refuse," Ethan said without hesitation, and Deirdre nodded.

Lorenzo smiled at Ethan. "You might want to reserve judgment until you have all the facts."

Sabine shook her head. "I don't want any more blood bonds. I'm not sure I can deal with being linked to Claudia forever, much less all of you. I could send more of my energy to Claudia to fix this."

"No," Lorenzo warned, his hand out. "If you send what you have now, it would be too much. Her aura would glow like a beacon. The Masters of the City would become aware of her. And with her current status, that could be a terribly bad thing."

"We'd prefer no bond at all," Ethan said. Deirdre nodded beside him.

"Are you truly suffering under the weight of Sabine's leadership now?" Lorenzo asked Ethan.

"I'm not," Shelby said, smiling. She stuck out her tongue at Deirdre when the older vampire glared at her.

Deirdre showed her fangs, and Sabine sensed that Deirdre was close to striking at Shelby if it weren't for Ethan's grip on one of Deirdre's shoulders.

"We would have enjoyed a good hunt outside," Deirdre said through clenched teeth.

"Instead we're forced to listen to the food copulate around us," Ethan said, finishing the thought for his wife. "But I have to say, it's almost as convenient as living inside a blood vending machine."

Sabine stared at Deirdre and Ethan, agape.

"Don't mind them, Sabine. Deirdre and Ethan woke up on the wrong side of the coffin a hundred years ago and haven't been the same since," Melina said, giving the couple a pitying look.

"If Ernesto hadn't drained us that night, Frederick wouldn't have had to turn us at all!" Ethan growled.

Aha
, Sabine thought. Ethan and Deirdre were reluctant vampires, and held a grudge against this group. She watched the blank look on Ernesto's face turn to one of guilt under her stare, but the emotion was fleeting. He crossed his arms and stared dispassionately at Ethan.

"So," Sabine said, standing, "Let me get this straight. Ernesto fed off Deirdre and Ethan, to the point that they were dying, and even though they didn't want to become vampires, Frederick turned them."

"They were bleeding internally," Melina said. "A mugger had attacked them. Ernesto smelled the blood and found them first, and he fed from their wounds. The outside healed, but they continued to die. We gave them a choice."

"Some choice," Ethan spat. "Die in an alley or become an undead monster. I couldn't bear to lose Deirdre, so this was the only option."

"Nor could I bear to lose Ethan. But we were forced into this life, make no mistake about that. We have not been free to follow our own path for over a hundred years."

Sabine contemplated the pair. "Would you like to be free now?"

"Yes," they said at once.

"What would you do? Where would you go?" Sabine asked.

"We would buy our own house, hunt our own meals, build our vampire catering business, and finally enjoy our existence."

Sabine shrugged. "And you can't do all that while living in the same home with Lorenzo, Melina, Shelby and Ernesto?"

"And you, presumably," Melina added.

"Right," Sabine amended. "What's the difference between living with us and living on your own?"

"Freedom," Deirdre said.

"Then go. I release you."

Lorenzo cleared his throat. "It's not that easy. Without a Master protecting them, the first Master to come along would just sweep them into his House or declare them Rogue."

Sabine sighed, sitting back on the bed. Her head started to hurt again. She thought about her options, and it seemed like fate was leading her to this whether she liked it or not. Was she ready for a "Family with a capital F" as Shelby had said? It couldn't be as bad as the family she'd had before, which was dysfunctional beyond words. She sighed again, making up her mind. "So Ethan and Deirdre are opting out of the blood bond. What about the rest of you?"

Lorenzo spoke again. "Shelby was blood-bonded to her sire, as is usually the case. I was forced to dispatch him, freeing her from that blood bond. The rest of us were blood-bonded to my predecessor, Frederick. When he was killed, I took over."

"And you didn't blood bond everyone?"

Lorenzo shook his head. "I did not want to lead, but I was the only one of us who could be a Master; Melina and I share a mutual blood bond as lovers, as do Ethan and Deirdre. The non-mutual, one-sided bond is something I did not want to inflict on the others, and we didn't feel close enough to share mutual bonds all around."

"When you say one-sided, that was like when I gave my blood to Claudia, and before I bit her?" Sabine asked.

"Yes. If one vampire bites another, the one who takes blood also takes a key into the mind of the other. Thoughts, memories, secrets. The one who takes blood can take energy also. The only way to counteract that effect is to make the bond mutual. Then each vampire can block the other."

Melina smiled and patted Lorenzo on the chest. "My noble Lorenzo did not wish to invade the thoughts of his Family."

Lorenzo swept Melina into an embrace and kissed her. "You're more than Family, and you know it, minx."

Melina nuzzled Lorenzo before turning back to Sabine. "Sabine, you have strength and compassion, like my Lorenzo. That is such a rare combination in a vampire that you have no idea how blessed we are to have you, especially as our leader."

"Yeah, yeah," Ethan grumbled under his breath.

Sabine sat on the bed and contemplated her options. As it was, she was stuck with Claudia for life. She looked at the vampires, feeling their auras. She could sense that they were nervous, but she could feel deeper inside them than she had ever felt before. Being alone with them, without any non-vampires around, had allowed them to be more open. She could see liking them. She thought about how she was able to block out Claudia even through the bond. At least there might be some privacy.

"You have no aura," Lorenzo said. "Do you know why?"

Sabine sighed. "Esmerelda thinks it's because I have my soul."

"That's not possible," Ethan said.

Lorenzo smiled. "It is if you're a Damphir."

Ethan and Deirdre gasped.

Sabine took in the expressions of awe on the vampires' faces, her own face pinched in confusion. Wasn't Damphir just another name for Vampire? "So what? What the heck does it mean to be a Damphir?"

Melina bowed her head. "You are the rarest of the rare, Sabine. We revere the Damphir as sacred."

Sabine stood and paced. "The ceremony that made me... what I am... Neville probably did it again this year. If he's making a Damphir every year, we can't be that rare."

"Sabine, are you able to walk in daylight?" Deirdre asked nervously, clasping her hands to her chest. Ethan held her around the waist.

Sabine stopped pacing for a second and stared at Deirdre. "What difference does it make?"

"Can you or can't you?" Ethan asked.

Sabine started pacing again. "Yeah, sure. But-"

Everyone sucked in a breath at once, cutting her off.

Melina spoke. "Sabine, it is said Damphir have the power of a master from birth, can walk in daylight, and can free vampires to live again."

Sabine shook her head. "I can't make vampires live again."

"Are you saying all the rest applies?" Deirdre asked, a note of astonishment in her tone.

Sabine sat on the bed again and crossed her legs, swinging a foot nervously. She looked across the faces of the group and shook her head. "I guess. It's been a busy week, okay?"

"Holy shit," Ethan said.

"You," Deirdre said, shaking off Ethan's grasp and staring Sabine down, "can walk... in daylight."

Sabine sighed and nodded. "Yes. And crosses don't do anything to me. Hardly."

"Heck, she walked on Holy ground, remember?" Shelby said.

Deirdre knelt in front of Sabine, her eyes pleading. "I want to live again. Please. Please, Sabine. I'll do whatever it takes. I hate being a vampire!" She sobbed, her eyes still dry. "I can't even cry right!"

Ethan knelt too, holding Deirdre. "If there's even a chance that you can help us, we'll take the blood bond."

Sabine stared at them in shock. "What happened to hating being bonded?"

The others knelt too, and Lorenzo spoke again. "I will take the blood bond now, if you wish it."

"Me too," Melina said.

"Where Lorenzo goes, so I go," Ernesto said.

"Whatever. Count me in too," Shelby said, smiling.

"We're talking a permanent commitment here, right?" Sabine asked, feeling overwhelmed. This group was pretty decent, aside from Deirdre and Ethan, but maybe if they had their choice of lifestyle for a while they'd turn out alright too.

Ethan spoke, his expression solemn. "We prefer not to be bonded, but if it means that we can be free of this half-life..."

Sabine rubbed her temples. The thoughts were getting louder again. She started feeling the thoughts from the vampires, sensing their dreams and their desires and hopes and fears. Even Claudia's voice was in there, from across town. "What if a blood bond doesn't bring you back to life? Then what?" She thought about how she'd become a living, breathing human again on Holy ground.

"You're still a great person, Sabine," Melina said, resting her hand on Sabine's knee. "We could do much worse than becoming bonded to you. Trust me."

Sabine looked into Lorenzo's and Melina's expectant faces, saw the excitement in Shelby's smile, and the serious but trusting look on Ernesto's solemn face. "I could do a lot worse than you guys, too."

They smiled, and the joy in their auras covered her like a warm blanket.

"Okay, so how do I do this?" Sabine said, leaning forward.

"We trade wrists, and each bite at the same time," Lorenzo said, lifting his wrist.

Sabine stood up and tossed off her coat. "Lorenzo, you're first," she said.

Sabine passed her arm to Ethan last, since he seemed the most reluctant. He took it nonetheless, and drank from her wrist as she bit his.

As with the others before, Ethan's memories flooded into Sabine's mind. His life before turning was filled with painful childhood traumas and scrapping his way to a decent life for himself and his beloved Deirdre. His memories of their lives as vampires echoed Deirdre's, both feeling an intense sadness about becoming undead; though neither could imagine an existence without the other.

The whole Family shared the memories through their blood bond with Sabine.

Deirdre hugged her husband.

Sabine felt worlds better after the wound closed. She could feel all the vampires in her head. What if she couldn't block them out? She'd worry about that later. For now, she had to offload some power.

"Okay, ready?" Sabine asked.

They nodded, and Sabine took a deep breath. She let out the breath and released her power through the link she felt with the vampires. Just a small amount.

They all swayed back from her and then returned upright as though in a shared trance. She stopped the flow.

The vampires stared at her with amazement.

"I've never felt anything like that," Melina said.

Lorenzo pouted. "What about when I-"

She smacked his arm. "Oh stop. You know what I mean."

He smiled and nodded. "I felt peace."

The others nodded, agreeing.

"I don't feel the thirst at all," Ethan marveled. "Not even a little bit. I've always felt some, even after drinking several times. But now-"

"-It's gone!" Deirdre finished his sentence, smiling at her husband.

"Are we becoming human?" Shelby asked, feeling for a pulse.

The others followed Shelby's example, pausing in silence, waiting.

Shelby gave up and opened her mouth to say something when she felt a thump-thump in her chest, echoed around the room by the others. One set of beats, then nothing.

They waited another minute, and felt the beats again.

"Omigod!" Deirdre started hyperventilating. Then she grabbed Ethan's face and smothered him with a kiss. "We have heartbeats!"

Lorenzo felt Melina's heartbeat after his own, and couldn't resist taking her into his arms for a passionate kiss as well.

"Well, it was fun while it lasted," Shelby said, getting up.

"Whoa, hold on," Sabine said, grabbing Shelby by the hand. "What do you mean, Shelby?"

"I mean, I was really enjoying being a vampire. I guess I'm gonna go back to being a normal college student. I'll have to call my folks and figure out how to explain my disappearance."

"You're still a vampire," Sabine said. "And you should call them anyway."

Shelby got up and leaned against a wall. "My heart's beating. I don't crave blood."

Sabine shook her head. "It's beating once a minute. That's not enough to keep an EMT from putting the paddles on you. None of you is stepping out in sunlight without putting a finger or some extremity you don't mind losing out there first. Just because you're more like me now doesn't automatically guarantee a package deal. And no walking on Holy ground just yet either."

The memory of what happened when Sabine walked onto the grounds of the church in Nevada passed through her mind, and the group fell silent. They stared at her as she relived those moments when her pulse returned, and her vampire powers had vanished. They felt how vulnerable she had felt. They felt and understood her fear that they might try the same thing and die. Sabine closed her mind to them, feeling a sudden need for privacy.

Ernesto stood and bowed his head. "Thank you, Sabine, for this gift."

The others stood too.

"So let's try something," Sabine said, going to the mini-bar. "Were you able to drink anything but blood before?"

"A few things," Lorenzo said, adding "most things need to be mixed with blood for us to consume them."

Sabine pulled out a soda and popped the top. She held it out. "Who wants to give it a try?"

Shelby stepped up and took the soda, spilling a little into her mouth. She passed the can back as she swirled the drink over her teeth. She carefully swallowed, waiting. "Tastes kinda like I remember it, only sweeter. It's like too much flavor."

They paused, watching her for a minute.

"You would have thrown up by now if you were going to," Ethan said. "I've tried this before, many times, while trying to make our recipes. Sodas don't work well with vampire physiology."

Shelby let out a little burp. "Excuse me."

Everyone watched her.

"I
said
excuse me," Shelby said, blushing slightly.

"Look!" Lorenzo said, pointing at her cheeks. "She's blushing!"

Shelby blushed more and the whole group laughed.

They passed the soda around, each taking a taste and marveling at it. Then Sabine tossed more drinks out until everyone had one.

The sound of three sets of hurried footsteps in the hall caught their attention. The thoughts of the people in the hall came to their minds louder than the whispers they could hear as the men approached.

Gabe headed down the hall, carrying his custom double-rack crossbow, watching the doors as they passed them. He'd have to be careful not to hit a human by mistake. Darren followed him with two very large pistols, and he worried that the idiot might shoot him in the back. Robert took up the rear, armed only with a large silver cross.

Robert whispered to the men to stop. "Guys. There's six of them. We can't take on that many."

They weighed their odds and whispered back and forth, eventually deciding that they needed to leave. They could wait for daylight and return.

"Friends of yours?" Lorenzo asked Sabine, as the Family read her thoughts. The vampires had all sensed when Sabine recognized the hunters.

"They have issues," Sabine replied. "And it's my fault."

The vampires waited as the sound of the hunters walking down the hall diminished and the elevator dinged.

Sabine put on her sunglasses and slipped out into the hall, leaving her Family behind, texting Gabe as she walked. She could sense them riding the elevator down, and she sent a simple message to Gabe: "Send Robert & Darren home. Meet on Fairmont's rooftop garden. Alone."

Gabe stood by the fountain in the middle of the garden. Sabine did a quick check of the surrounding area to see that he was alone. Just a couple she didn't recognize, out for a late stroll. Gabe wore what looked like a guitar case on his back, but she knew that it held his crossbow.

Sabine approached. "Hi Gabe."

"You want to tell me how you knew I was here?"

"I was upstairs and felt you guys walk by. You want to tell me why you'd be hunting at night? Didn't you get my warnings?"

"I figured we could handle it."

"One vamp, maybe. But you need to be a lot more careful. And they're not all bad. I met a few that are nice."

Gabe rubbed his face. "Sabine. You can't possibly have feelings for blood suckers. Like you said, they're soulless monsters. You're either with us or you're one of them. Which is it?"

"I got to know some. They're just like people in most ways. Some are bad, but some are good. Or at least they try. Just like me."

Gabe gritted his teeth and crossed his arms. "Say for a second that I believe you. Why did you want me alone to tell me this?"

"I happened to read something in Robert's thoughts that really bothered me, and I think you need to know what it is before you go hunting with him anymore."

Gabe sighed, and stared at the fountain. "Assuming I believe you."

"Robert's planning to put a crew of vampires to work robbing banks. He's hoping to capture a vampire or two and have you guys forget what part you played, courtesy of a vampire mind wipe. He wants to make sure that he doesn't get hurt, so you're the muscle."

"What about Darren?"

Sabine smiled. "Darren has some pretty detailed fantasies involving female vampires."

Rawr,
Shelby thought into the Family's minds, imagining toying with Darren the vampire hunter.

The collective mental laughter kept Sabine from concentrating for a second. She worked on walling off her thoughts from the group as Gabe spoke.

"You're right. I didn't want to know that. There are vampires out there, biting people and sucking their blood. You expect me just to do nothing?"

"I've learned a lot about them in the last couple of days, Gabe. Most vampires try to keep what they do hidden, and they almost never kill anyone. They have rules and laws. They prefer to take blood from willing donors. I screwed up big time, letting you all run around knowing what you know. It turns out there's a Council that governs everything vampires do, and I could get in big trouble if I let you all go with your memories of vampires intact."

Gabe stared at her for a minute. "You mean you're going to erase the last year from our minds? Or kill us?"

Sabine stared at her feet. "It's either that or..."