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‘Plenty of time’ turned out to be only about fifteen minutes. Rather than settling back into the corner, he headed for the dais where Remus had already settled into his seat on Victor’s left. Sebastian did his best to mask the disgust on his face as he took his place to Victor’s right.

Remus glared at Sebastian and even opened his mouth, but seemed to think better of making any snide comments with the master vampire sitting between the two of them. Sebastian pointedly ignored him.

As the clock above began to strike 11, Victor stood with his hands raised and the hall fell silent. “My children, the time has come to renew our bonds. As we have a few new family members among the ranks, I will be speaking to each of you individually in the order you joined us. We will exchange blood, and then you will enter the chamber to my right. Bathe yourselves, put on a new robe, and enjoy your evening amongst the humans.”

Cheers filled the hall. Sebastian rose and dropped to one knee in front of Victor, pulled his sleeve up, and offered his wrist to the master vampire. Victor’s fangs sank into Sebastian’s flesh for a moment, then retracted. The bite felt like fire racing through the veins of his arm as Victor’s venom made its way to Sebastian’s heart. His tongue brushed the wound and it immediately sealed.

Sebastian breathed heavily as the burning reached his chest. He took Victor’s offered arm and returned the bite, the master vampire’s cold blood filling Sebastian’s fangs and extinguishing the fire in his body. “It is done, Father,” he murmured and rose to his feet.

He felt unsteady as he walked across the dais with cheering ringing in his ears. Remus had already taken his place in front of Victor, but Sebastian barely spared him a backward glance on his way through the door to the bathing pool.

This chamber was a quarter the size of the ballroom and entirely made of stone. Most of it was taken up by the natural hot spring bath which the coven had carved out of the earth when they first built the keep. Sebastian peeled off his bloodstained clothes and lowered himself into the water, sighing as the heat pulled the stress from his body and soul.

He quickly washed; despite his desire to spend time in the glorious spring, he didnotwant to deal with Remus alone. Nor did he want to spend any more time in the keep than was necessary. As soon as he had removed all the blood from his skin and hair, he hoisted his dripping body from the water. Torchlight glistened in the droplets that lined his pronounced muscles until he wicked them away with a rough towel.

Rather than put on one of the coven’s black cloaks and join the second half of the festivities, Sebastian forced himself to put his dirty clothes back on. The only thing he wanted was to be back in his own castle, away from the rules and politics that came with spending time with the coven. It would be a long run home, but at least he’d been able to sleep earlier.

CHAPTER11

Vernazza, Italy. 5 June, 2007

Anxiety didn’t strike until she took her first steps into the Genova airport. “Maybe agreeing to be picked up at the airport by my long-distance, ‘we’ve only met once for an hour’ boyfriend in a foreign country wasn’t the brightest idea…” she muttered as she followed the crowd from her plane toward what she hoped would be baggage claim.

As she walked, she couldn’t help feeling the same pull she’d felt in Paris. How silly was that? Obviously it was just the anticipation, but it was fun to think something otherworldly was directing her toward Sebastian.

And then…there he was. Standing back from the crowd in a black leather jacket, fingerless gloves, and jeans was Sebastian. He’d pulled his long hair back into a tight man bun, which exposed the sharpness of his jawline. Like something out of the movies, he held a piece of cardboard with “FRANTZ” written on it in black sharpie. Isabel felt her heart flutter and her pace increased.

They locked eyes and Sebastian’s face lit up. He tossed the cardboard to his feet and opened his arms wide. Isabel ran the last few yards and jumped into his embrace, wrapping her arms around his neck. His strong arms encircled her waist and he spun in a slow circle as they stared into each other’s faces.

Isabel couldn’t help but notice how strong he was, yet gentle. Sebastian set her back down and ran his fingers through her hair. “I can’t believe you’re here! No waiting for letters, just standing in front of me to hug and talk to. And maybe kiss?”

“I don’t know about that, yet,” Isabel giggled. “But I’ll take another one of those hugs after we get my bags. I don’t want them to wander away without me.” She watched the carousel for her blue Jeep suitcase and, when she saw it, rushed over to grab it. Her second bag, a smaller grey one, wasn’t far behind.

No sooner had she dragged them away from the rotating belt than strong arms wrapped around her waist from behind and pulled her in close. A soft breeze of vanilla and leather dominated her world and Sebastian whispered, “I’ll take those for you,dolcezza.”

Her chest tightened and her heart flopped again. She leaned back into the embrace and closed her eyes, baffled by how familiar this all felt. “Thank you.” Sebastian gave her one more squeeze and took both bags, lifting them as if they weighed no more than a handful of cotton.

“Follow me. We’re going to take the volabus into the city center, then the train to Vernazza. I know you’ve already had a long trip, but we’re still a couple of hours away from our destination. Are you going to make it?” Sebastian led Isabel out into the salty evening air while she nodded.

“Yes, that’s okay. At least the bus and train should hopefully have more leg room than the airplane!” She shook her leg in emphasis and Sebastian chuckled. He led her to the blue and white bus, purchased their tickets, and helped her inside before validating their tickets and joining her.

Isabel chose the two seats at the very back of the bus and took the one near the window. Not only could she look out at the scenery as they traveled, but that also put Sebastian between her and any strangers who might try to talk to her.

It wasn’t until they were settled that Isabel felt the weight of her day’s travel settle in her bones. She allowed her muscles to relax and her head drooped to Sebastian’s shoulder. “Sleepy,dolcezza?” he asked, and when she nodded, he shifted so she could rest against his chest. “Then just nap here in my arms. I’ll wake you when it’s time to board the train.”

Sebastian began to hum softly and the vibration in his chest quickly lulled Isabel into a deep and dreamless sleep. She somewhat blearily made the transfer from the bus to the train, then crashed again as soon as they were underway.

The next time she became anything close to alert was when the train came to a stop and Sebastian gently brushed the hair away from her eyes. She heard his voice floating through her dreams, calling, “Isabel, we’re here. It’s time to wake up.” Her eyes fluttered open to see his face looking down at her, as she had somehow ended up laying with her head in his lap.

Embarrassed, she shot up and smoothed her messy hair. “Uh, sorry. I swear I’m not usually this quick to sleep in guys’ laps…or on them in general. The trip must really have knocked me out more than I thought.”

“I don’t mind in the least,tesoro mio.Let’s get you home so you can rest properly.”

While she had no idea what the foreign nicknames meant, just the way they sounded caused her heart to speed up. He could honestly call her anything he wanted, as long as he continued usingthat voice.Isabel allowed Sebastian to take her hand and filled the other with the handle of her grey suitcase. He took the blue and together they disembarked.

“Welcome to Vernazza! I’m sorry we’re going to have to walk a little bit to get to the castle.”

Isabel took in a deep breath of sea air and smiled at the lit windows all around them. “It’s beautiful here,” she whispered. “And…it somehow feels so familiar. Isn’t that strange? Maybe I’ve spent too much time on Google Earth staring at it. But I should be okay to do some walking. I’ve been sitting all day long.”