Page 29 of A Bond Beyond Blood (The Butcher’s Daughter Trilogy #1)
E lias
My patience wore thinner as the weeks after the Christmas holiday passed by at a snail’s pace, and the young vampire I’d decided to take under my wing proved that I’d been in solitude for far too long.
At times, even the young vampire’s breathing irritated me. I’d told him time and time again that he no longer needed to, and I’d begun to wonder if perhaps he still breathed terribly loudly just to irk me, the brat.
But his connection to Franco’s daughter forced me to tolerate him.
She’d loved him once, that much I’d gleaned from his stories about their upbringing, and I was determined to figure out why . As far as I could tell, the boy was childish and quick to temper, without proper training in anything really, least of all self-governance and vampirism.
The fact that he had no recollection of who’d given him the gift of everlasting life continued to intrigue me even as his presence continued to grate on my nerves.
The boy was aimless in this second life, and I had the feeling he’d been even more lost in his first go ‘round. He needed a strong hand and firm guidance, and though I loathed being the man stuck with that job, I’d seen positive changes in Gannon during our time together.
I imagined fatherhood might be a lot like this, with its ups and downs and endless annoyance. Hundreds of years ago, I’d wondered, albeit fleetingly, about siring children of my own, and whether or not that was something I wanted to do—
Blood spurted in a sideways arc and I recoiled from the sight. With a swift snap of my fingers, Gannon froze.
“Again,” I said on a heavy sigh. “This time, try not to make such a mess.” I swiped a handkerchief over my mouth where a few wayward droplets had landed, then stepped farther away from the boy with a curl to my lip and a barely-controlled desire to disappear while he was distracted.
I’d been gone for the past year, but even before that, my interactions with others—human and vampire alike—had been limited to my monthly appointments with the butcher since we’d created our blood bond twenty-one years ago.
“Well?” I snapped. “We don’t have all day. Clean up your mess and start again.”
With a growl of frustration Gannon didn’t bother hiding from me, the boy licked the wounds on the girl’s neck, whispered something into her ear, then mopped up the mess he made as best he could while she leaned quietly against the exposed brick wall of the abandoned warehouse we’d brought her to.
It was the same one where I’d found the lad a week ago, jumping off the rooftop repeatedly as if hoping to sprout wings.
When he’d finished tossing all of his dirty towels and the plastic we’d brought with us into a trash bag, he brought his mouth to her throat again and tried to feed with patience and composure.
Since the moment the treaty had been signed and vampires commingled with humans openly, there were food banks in place for us to feed from willing volunteers, but Gannon had not yet gotten a handle on his hunger and I found it best to guide the boy in private.
A willing participant had been easy enough to find in a local tavern.
I hadn’t even finished debating whether or not it was safe for me to journey inside for a pint before he’d secured his meal and returned to the car with her in tow.
One quick sweep and he had a young woman on his arm.
Even I had to admit that what the boy lacked in charm and self-control, he more than made up for with boyishly handsome good looks.
He slurped and I rolled my eyes, though he’d been improving thanks to my guidance.
At least, if I could help it, he wouldn’t leave a trail of bodies in his wake ever again, and when he drank his fill, he wouldn’t leave a crime scene behind or paint the town red.
Quite literally. That poor Rockefeller Center security guard hadn’t stood a chance.
I watched patiently as he continued to feed, wrapping his arms around the girl and keeping her propped up as she fell deeper into the spell of his bite, a look of sheer satisfaction and joy on her otherwise unremarkable face.
When her eyes fluttered closed without opening again for some time, I cleared my throat.
Gannon didn’t act as though he’d heard the sound, so I said, “Enough.”
His body went stock still, but the sound of her blood leaving her veins remained until I snapped my fingers and intoned my voice with power as I repeated, “Enough!”
Gannon stopped sucking and I grunted with annoyance. “In the future, if I have to tell you twice, there will be punishment.”
He needed a strong hand, a task the vampire who sired him should be residing over, but alas, here I was.
I sighed and turned my back on the boy, striding outside to wait for him. That was his mess and his meal, and one thing he needed to learn quickly is that no matter how many people he once had in his corner, he was now alone in this world and therefore responsible for his own messes.
R eturning to the same establishment where we’d picked up the girl earlier, Gannon parked the car, a China blue Mercedes AMG coupe that he’d helped me pick out following my decision to remain in the city—and a vehicle he found more joy in driving than I did.
Perhaps I’d keep him around as my chauffeur.
After a moment, when the girl hadn’t made a sound or any indication that she planned to exit the vehicle, I glanced back at her.
Bite-drunk and grinning at the boy in the driver’s seat, eyes still a bit glazed over and clearly still in the throes of his bite, she had no idea I was even present.
Young vampires had that effect on their victims until they gained control of themselves.
The venom in each bite would leave their meals sated and damn near orgasmic for hours.
If anyone noticed she’d been gone, one look at her and they’d easily assume she disappeared with another bar patron to sneak off for the shag of her life.
With a huff of annoyance, I shot Gannon a pointed glare. “Well then,” I said, motioning toward her, “I believe we best be on our way.”
With a quick nod, Gannon turned toward the girl and flashed a boyish grin. “Thanks for lunch, it was... uh... you were great, but...” He cleared his throat. “It’s time for you to go,” he said firmly.
When his persuasion didn’t work and she made no move to obey, he turned to me with a pleading pull to his eyebrows and I shook my head with a huff.
“What the boy means,” I said without looking back at her, “is that although I’m sure you were delightful company, he’s afraid he has a prior commitment and must be on his way. Get out of the car,” I intoned, lacing my voice with just enough power to persuade her.
She blinked, then did as I’d instructed.
“Nice!” Gannon jumped out and hurried around the car to open the door for her. Quite the gentleman.
When the door was closed and I was once again alone, I breathed deeply. I’d gone from constant, near-suffocating silence to a life filled with vampires and humans alike in a matter of days, all because Franco’s little surprise had caught me off guard—and what a surprise she was.
She’d intrigued me so much that I was loath to return to my solitary existence.
For the first time in centuries, I felt as though there might be something... more for me.
Jack Fiorino, the butcher’s daughter, to be precise.
I’d been able to think of little else since meeting her and absorbing the boy’s fascinating stories of their childhood together.
At times I even found myself, dare I say it, a tad envious that Gannon had lived such a normal existence, had been allowed—nay, encouraged —to choose who he loved, while I’d been betrothed to another royal vampire since the beginning of time.
It really wasn’t fair.
I’d managed to avoid holy unholy matrimony for centuries, and I had no intention of interrupting my streak, but stepping back into the light and reclaiming my rightful place on the throne meant many things—not all of them pleasant.
In fact, most of them were the opposite. Unpleasant things like enemies and upheavals, turncoats and treaties...
Demands and declarations.
Expectations and... well, marrying a born vampire like myself.
Breeding. I shivered at the thought.
Gannon tapped the hood of the vehicle and I glared at him as he strode around the front end to climb back behind the wheel.
When he opened the driver’s side door, I glanced at the young woman one last time to check for anything askew.
Pale green eyes still dazed, nothing else was amiss that I could tell—the marks on her neck had already healed.
Her color would return as her blood replenished and she’d remember a lovely luncheon date with a handsome boy—who’d sadly never call on her again.
I motioned to the building behind her when it seemed like she wasn’t going to move without a bit of help, then rolled down the window. “Hurry along now. Best that you get back to your festivities, love.”
She blinked a few times, then nodded and hurried into the tavern.
I sighed and tipped my head back, but the sensation that the boy continued to glance my way as he drove was impossible to ignore.
“I assume you know where you’re going,” I said without opening my eyes.
“Of course.”
“Splendid.”
As we headed east, Gannon continued to side-eye me every few moments, his silent curiosity speaking louder than if he’d actually muttered a word.
I motioned toward him with a flick of my wrist. “Out with it.”
“What makes you think Jackie will go along with this?”
I rolled my eyes. “She won’t have a choice.” The influence of the blood bond combined with the power I had over those around me would ensure that much, but Franco Fiorino had been an intelligent man; I trusted the girl was logical as well.
When presented with the facts, she’d agree that my proposal was truly in her best interests.
Gannon’s head swiveled toward me and I pointed at the road ahead. “We cannot die easily, Gannon, but we can be injured. If you insist on driving, I must insist you keep your eyes on the road.”
“It’s just that...” He chewed on the inside of his cheek. “She hates me.”
“Yes, well, considering how you left things, I don’t blame the girl. But she’ll come around.”
“How are you so sure?”
God help me, I should never have engaged with this vampire.
“Trust,” was my response, then I resumed resting my eyes while he drove toward the butcher shop.