Vampire Bonds (Darkbloods Book 1) by Delia E Castel

Author:Delia E Castel [Castel, Delia E]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-07-30T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

Rage floods my veins, my heart pounds with indignation, and my eardrums resound with the roaring of my blood. I clench my teeth and suppress a roar. Every instinct wants me to explode into a fit of temper and defend the honor of Saint Theodora, to say that she’s a long-dead empress who would never have allowed herself to become a vampire. But what do I really know? Until now, I thought vampires Alaric’s age would be dormant and forgotten to the ages.

Breathing through my emotions, I stare at the ceiling and consider Alaric’s story. What if Saint Theodora was a vampire like him? What if she drank her husband’s blood, thinking it was a cure for the plague and not knowing its effects?

Alaric remains silent, his face turned to mine, and I guess he’s waiting for me to respond.

“Why?” I whisper.

“Why am I telling you this?” he asks.

“It doesn’t make sense. If a slayer gets killed with vampire blood in her veins, she will turn.” I shake my head. “The Order would never feed ancient vampire blood to their best-performing acolytes.”

“The slayer inhales the blood in the form of a vapor,” he replies.

My mind conjures an image of Fortescue transforming into a haze and choking Poppy. “Like vampire mist?”

He offers me a tight smile. “They curdle the blood and remove the solids that cause thirst and immortality. What is left is power.”

My eyes flutter closed, and I exhale a breath of relief. Two days ago, I would have balked, but after sprouting teeth and feeding from a vampire’s arm, the vapor seems tame. “You warned me against it because it came from a vampire?”

He brushes the backs of his finger over my cheek, and I meet his gaze. Today, his eyes are ultramarine-blue with flecks of gold from how they reflect the light. His pupils widen, and he edges toward me.

“I don’t want anyone’s blood in your body but mine,” he murmurs.

“That’s why you don’t want me to take the Blessing?”

“The first time I visited Alice Kyteler, she told me that my destiny lay with an Augustine slayer, who would recognize me on sight.”

My heart thuds, and my breath quickens. On the plane and several days afterward, I knew he was a vampire, even though all evidence said he was a warlock. Alaric walked through Agia Square, a place filled with slayers and slayer acolytes, yet nobody accosted him.

“What else did she say?” I ask.

Alaric stares at me with an intensity that makes my heart flip like a crepe. “That you would one day cause my heart to beat.”

My brows furrow. “What?”

“She ejected me before I could ask for details.” Alaric glides his hand over my hair with slow, rhythmic strokes. “Rest.” His hypnotic voice resounds in my ears. “You’ve had two trying nights.”

My eyelids droop, and I stifle a yawn. I don’t know if this is a form of mesmerism or if recent ordeals have finally caught up with my body, but my limbs become heavy, and my muscles melt into the mattress.

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