Ties to the Blood Moon 2nd Edition Read online

  “Don’t you see? I couldn’t trust anyone. Not even Luna and her brothers. We still don’t know who it is. Genevieve, I hate to say it, but it could be one or all of them.” He lowered his eyes.

  “I refuse to believe that,” I scoffed.

  “I’m not saying it’s them. I’m just trying to make you understand that until we find out who the traitor is, you can’t trust anyone.”

  “Not even you?” I asked, my voice husky from tears.

  The side of his mouth curved up in a smile, and he raked his hand back through his russet hair. “Well, you have to start somewhere, and personally, I can’t think of a better place.”

  I giggled and slapped his arm a little harder than I meant to. He laughed and rubbed his arm.

  He leaned over me, putting his hands on my pillow on either side of my head. I reached up and placed my hand on his chest. I felt his heart barely beating at first, but the longer I left my hand there, the quicker his heartbeat grew.

  He moved slowly toward me, his eyes locked onto mine. I inhaled deeply and exhaled in short nervous bursts. As soon as his lips touched mine a tingling rushed through my body. His kisses were short and soft at first, but when he really kissed me the passion became so intense I thought I was going to explode. I felt his hunger for me, but it was more than just lust. For the first time I felt William’s love for me, and in between kisses I looked at him and saw his tears. I gently pulled my head back.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked quietly, confused.

  “I didn’t want to admit it, but I … love you. I love you so much my chest aches for you,” he answered, kissing me hard afterwards, so hard in fact, my lip started to bleed. “Mmmm,” he moaned passionately, running his tongue over my lip.

  I knew he was weak from his bloodlust, and I saw my opportunity. I bit down on my lip so hard I wanted to scream, but didn’t. He gently sucked on my lip until it stopped bleeding again. I turned my head revealing my neck to him. My heart pounded so hard, I knew he couldn’t resist me.

  He moved to my neck, kissing it softly at first. Then I felt his teeth press against my neck, but he hesitated. I sunk my nails into his back, pulling him against me, pressing my neck to his mouth until he finally gave in and bit down.

  A sharp pain shot through me, but gave way quickly to a euphoric pleasure that filled me completely. It was an indescribable feeling. I trembled and went limp under him, moaning, and praying he wouldn’t stop. His mouth worked ferociously against my neck and everything started to fade away.

  Chapter 45

  William jerked away from me, but I was so drunk feeling I was unable to move. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that,” William whispered, not unkindly, and rolled away from me.

  “You didn’t do it … I did.” I had my eyes closed and was still smiling, but had started to come around. When I gained enough strength I turned toward him and lay my head on his chest. He put his arms around me and held on tightly. “Did you mean what you said earlier … you’re in love with me?”

  “I’ve loved you since the first time I saw you,” he whispered, pushing a few damp tendrils of hair away from my eyes. He looked at me in a way that seemed genuine enough, but how would I really know for sure.

  I slowly began to feel normal again and that confused me. Once I’d been bitten, I thought I would almost immediately start going through some kind of change, but I just wasn’t feeling anything. I sat up and stared straight ahead, thinking for a minute before saying anything. “I thought I would feel different,” I uttered, turning to look at him.

  William raised an eyebrow. “Why?” He asked earnestly.

  “Because. I thought being turned would feel different.” I lowered my eyes feeling cheated somehow.

  William laughed lightheartedly, shaking his head. “Is that what you think happened?” He laughed again. This time a little more heartily as he reached for me. “Come here,” he said, with his sexiest smile.

  I lay back on the pillow, and he propped up on his side, gently running the back of his fingers down my jaw. It tickled, and I finally smiled.

  “You weren’t turned,” he said matter-of-factly.

  “I get that. But why not? You bit me … and you drank my blood.” I searched his eyes for an answer.

  “That’s not how it works. If it was, this planet would be completely overrun with vampires.”

  “Oh?”

  “The only way to turn is to drink from the blood of a mature vampire.”

  I quickly sat up, looking at him. “Drink your blood?” I threw my hands up. “It just figures all those vampire movie writers would get it wrong.” Afterward, I dropped my shoulders and sighed deeply.

  William sat up and put his hand on my knee, and stared intently into my eyes, seeming confused. “Why do you want me to turn you?” he asked, but didn’t wait for an answer. “You are the Adlet Princess. You have responsibilities to your kind.”

  “I’m not strong enough to defeat Zane yet. It takes time to build Adlet powers. Time that I don’t have.” William wiped away a single tear that ran down my face.

  “I don’t think you have thought this thing through. If I turn you, your wolf powers will disappear, and you will leave your people without a leader.”

  “If I don’t turn, Zane will kill me anyway, and my ‘kind’ still won’t have a leader.” That was the truth. Even the chief had told me I wasn’t strong enough to defeat Zane. “I’ll just have to figure all that out later. I have to do this.” I wasn’t ready to tell him what the chief said. If William knew, he would never agree to turn me for the sole purpose of killing Zane.

  “It’s more painful than anything you’ve ever imagined. I just can’t put you through that kind of pain.”

  “It would be nothing compared to the pain of losing my mom twice. That is what’s going to happen if I don’t get to her soon.” I snapped, but didn’t mean to. “He will really kill her this time. I just couldn’t bear the guilt of knowing I could have stopped him but didn’t.”

  “If I turn you and you kill Zane, it would be like putting a target on your back.” He shook his head. “I just can’t do that to you.”

  “Why? You said yourself that you were sent to stop him.” I pulled away, eying William severely. “Was that a lie?”

  “No. It wasn’t. The difference is the Amalric sent me. If I turn you, and you kill him, the Amalric will have you hunted down.”

  “I don’t care.” I scooted off the side of the bed, and grabbed up my shoes and jacket.

  “Where are you going?” He stared at me, perplexed.

  “I’m going to find my mom,” I said in a low growl.

  “That’s crazy. You said yourself that you’re not strong enough.” He hurried off the bed.

  “I don’t care. I have to try, William. At least if I’m killed, my mom will know that I died trying to save her.” I grabbed the doorknob. “Not running away because I was a coward.”

  I threw open the door and took two steps before William crossed the room in a blur and stepped in front of me.

  “Wait.” He held his hands up to my shoulders. “I’ll do it,” he uttered softly, sounding defeated.

  “You will?” I asked skeptically.

  He lowered his eyes. “Yeah … I’ll do it,” he said, sadly. “On one condition. Promise me that you won’t go after him until I say you’re ready.

  I couldn’t help but grin. I raised my hand excitedly. “I swear!” I took his hand and followed him back into the bedroom. The reality of what I was about to do hit me, and I started to shake.

  “When was the last time you ate?” he asked over his shoulder while walking into the bathroom.

  I furrowed my brow. “Um … hours ago. Why?”

  William came from the bathroom carrying wash cloths, towels, and a garbage can. “Sit down.”

  I got really nervous, and began having second thoughts. What if I had misunderstood the chief, and turning into a vampire wasn’t what he was referring to? I shook it off, because it
really didn’t matter. One thing I was certain of was I couldn’t beat Zane in my current state. Turning into a vampire was the only way. I would be as fast as Zane, and he wouldn’t be expecting it . I would defeat him with the element of surprise.

  William raked his arm across a table beside the bed, knocking everything to the floor, then placed the wash cloths and towels on top. He then crossed the room to a built-in bookcase and removed an old book.

  “Are you going to read to me?” I asked bemused.

  He glanced over his shoulder at me briefly, then turned back and did something causing the bookcase to swing inward like a door, revealing a small room.

  “What’s that?” I leaned, trying to see around William.

  “After you turn, you will need to feed, so I have to make sure there is plenty of blood on hand.

  I raised an eyebrow. “Huh?” I guess I hadn’t thought about where the blood would come from. I just assumed everything would magically fall into place. I also started to wonder where I would get my blood from after I turned. Would I have to go bite people? I found the thought kind of silly and smiled.

  “All right,” William said when he came back out of the room. “There’s enough blood in there for two or three feedings. That should be enough for now.

  “Let me ask you … where do you get the blood?” I asked earnestly.

  “Actually, there’s a couple different ways. One way is to bite someone. But, in a case like yours, where you’re just turning, your bloodlust will be so high it would be too hard for you to stop before completely draining someone and killing them. So, we also have help getting blood. There are doctors’ offices and blood banks we can buy it from.”

  “So, what … you just like, go in and order blood?” I laughed nervously.

  “Yeah, pretty much,” he smiled, but I detected sadness in his eyes.

  I patted the bed. “Come sit by me.”

  He closed up the room and walked to the bed, flopping down next to me.

  “I know you have mixed feelings about doing this, but there’s really no other way.”

  I looped my arm through his and rested my head on his shoulder, staring at the door. He said something, but I wasn’t paying attention. For some strange reason my chest ached when I thought about Joseph and how he would react when he found out what I had made William do.

  I promptly shook the thought from my mind. If I kept thinking about Joseph I wouldn’t be able to go through with it, and I had already made up my mind. No matter what the consequences were, I was doing what I had to in order to save my mom.

  Chapter 46

  The last conversation I had with William before he turned me started out with him saying how happy he was that he would no longer have to bear the thought of living forever without me. He seemed saddened when he placed a soft kiss on my lips and I think in that moment he had finally shown me the true William. A kind, gentle, loving, sincere man that would protect me until the end of time.

  A single tear dripped from his eye and he looked shocked when he wiped it away. “Did that come from me?”

  “Yeah.” I smiled. “It’s okay to cry. I cry like every five minutes.”

  He had this really serious look. “No. You don’t understand.” He sat up, and that worried me.

  “Don’t understand what … tears? As much as I cry, I think that qualifies me as an expert on the subject,” I said, smiling, trying unsuccessfully to make him smile.

  “Vampires can’t make tears.”

  I raised up and propped my weight on my elbows. “Boy, I’m in trouble then, huh?” I laughed, but only faintly.

  “There’s certain things we can’t do, and crying is one of them.” A concerned look came over him, and he just kept staring at me.

  “Genevieve … there’s something else you have to understand before you go through with this.” His voice was low and throaty, just like it would be if he was crying. “Once you turn, you can’t ever … uh, you know.” He paused and cleared his throat before finishing. “Have a baby.”

  “I kind of figured that. I’m not stupid, William. I understand anatomy. But, hey … you never know?”

  “No,” he said, adamantly, shaking his head. “This is one thing I’m definitely sure of.”

  “Yeah? You also said vampires can’t make tears, but you just did.” I gazed at him, taking my hand and running the backs of my fingernails down his arm. “I’ve thought about this a lot. I know what the consequences are and I’m okay with everything. Honest.”

  William gazed longingly into my eyes. “I love you more than anything else in this world,” he whispered and kissed me. At the same time he gently lay me back on the pillow.

  “I love you, too,” I whispered, while he used his fingernail to slice open the vein on his neck.

  The taste of William’s blood was much different than the blood I remembered tasting. As soon as I swallowed the first sugary gulp, my insides exploded. Pleasure rippled through me, making me feel truly alive for the first time. My whole body tingled with excitement. His blood was more intoxicating than a million drugs rolled into one, and I instantly became addicted.

  I bit down, rolling over on top of him and latched on, wanting more. The intense passion I felt was unlike anything I could have ever imagined, and the more he gave the more I wanted. I didn’t realize until that moment, but when he had bitten me earlier it not only affected him it affected me as well. My body longed for the sweet nectar coming from within him.

  It was the most intimate feeling two people could share. The moment he pushed my head back and broke the bond, I fell away, sated but in agony, too. It felt like someone had ripped off one of my arms.

  I lay back on the pillow too intoxicated to move. I could just barely open my eyes, and when I peered at William he was so ghostly white it frightened me.

  I tried to nudge him, but I was so weak I couldn’t move my arm. “William,” I breathed his name so quiet I was afraid he wouldn’t hear me.

  He reached over and took my hand, interlacing his fingers with mine. “Shh … it will start soon,” he whispered. “Don’t be afraid. I’ll be right here until you wake.”

  ***

  The next days were a blur. I drifted in and out of consciousness. The pain grew to be unbearable at times and I begged for William to kill me. I writhed around on the bed in severe agony one minute and begged for water the next. I could actually feel my insides rolling around in my stomach. All of my organs seemed to be hardening. I was dying.

  It grew increasingly hard to discern fantasy from reality. I had nightmares on top of nightmares. Not just your average “bad guy trying to kill me” nightmares either. These were more terrifying than any horror movie I ever remembered watching.

  At one point I thought I saw William standing over me and when I reached for him he turned into a Joseph. He had giant black fangs and he bent down and started tearing my guts out with his teeth.

  Once the pain finally started to lessen, my hunger grew. I wanted blood. I needed blood. I remember William holding me down and I tried to claw his eyes out. He said it was too soon to eat. I had to fully transform first or my body would just reject it and the pain would become even more excruciating. I couldn’t even imagine anything more painful than what I had already gone through.

  He didn’t tell me about all the vomiting I would have to endure. Oh my God, I never would have thought one person had so much inside them. I threw up black bile for hours until I became too weak to move and passed out.

  I cracked my eyes open for a moment when I heard William calling my name. “The light is too bright,” I heard someone say in a low guttural voice, and quickly realized the strange voice I’d heard was mine.

  Even though the lights were off in the bedroom, the door to the bathroom was slightly ajar and that light seemed like it was a million watts. “Sorry, I forgot.” William hurried and pulled the door closed, then I passed out again.

  I didn’t think the pain would ever end. I felt like I had been on a
rollercoaster ride to hell and back … in all actuality I had. My body had died and was transforming into the ultimate undead being … a vampire.

  When I awoke that last time, I felt so much better. I was weak and hungry and my throat was on fire. I called out for water, but William knew that’s not what my body craved. Instead, he went into the other room and returned with two bags of blood. It smelled heavenly and my mouth instantly watered when he carried it into the room. He tore open the bag and I ripped it from his hands. As soon as I finished both bags I wanted more. My hunger was taking over and I noticed a sound I hadn’t heard before … William’s heartbeat. It was amplified and pulsed in my ears. My thirst quickly took over and I wanted to rip out his throat.

  “More,” I growled. “I need more.” My voice sounded almost like a man.

  “All right. I just wanted to make sure you were ready.” He opened the door to the secret room, and returned a moment later with two more bags of blood.

  I grew impatient watching him take his time opening the first bag. I ripped it from his hands and tore off the top with my teeth, gulping it down. He made sure to open the second one quicker than he had the first.

  “Ahh,” I said, falling back onto the sweat soaked pillow, smiling, fully satisfied, and completely intoxicated.

  William locked the door to the hidden room, and climbed into bed with me, very gently pulling me close to him. It hurt like hell just to move, but I held it in. He gently wiped at the excess blood on my lips around my mouth. “How do you feel?” he asked quietly, close to my ear.

  Still smiling, I cracked opened my eyes. “Like a million bucks … well, like a million bucks that’s been to hell and back.”