Page 54 of Vampire so Virtuous (Boston Vampires #1)

She gaped at him. “Impulsive and dangerously reckless?”

He shrugged. “You turned up at my house, walked into Minh’s club alone, and refused to stay out of the way when Belle arrived.”

“I didn’t know it was Minh’s club, and I wasn’t alone.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe you described me exactly the way Eve would, after what, two weeks?”

“What is going on, Cally? What has happened?”

“I’m a witch , Antoine.”

He blinked twice. “Pardon?” Whatever he had been expecting, it wasn’t that.

“A witch. A real—apparently—witch.”

“Okay…” What was he supposed to say to that? “Do you have a pointy black hat? Ride a broomstick?” He grimaced. “Do you own a cat? I do not like cats.”

She studied him. “You don’t know, do you?”

“Know what ?”

“How vampires were made.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” He frowned again. “You’re not making any—”

“Antoine.” She cut him off. “Do you know how vampires were made?”

“Of course I do,” he said, trying to quell the flicker of irritation. “Belle made me, and it was not pleasant.”

“No.” Cally shook her head. “Not how they are made. How they were made. The first vampire, Antoine. Do you know the legends, the history of the vampires?”

“I…” Belle had obviously seen fit to tell her something she’d never told him—and he’d never cared enough to ask. “No,” he said stiffly. “Belle was nothing if not selective in her education.”

Cally leaned back against the sofa. “So you didn’t choose me because I’m a witch.”

The door behind him opened, and he leaped to his feet. Somehow, he hadn’t heard her until she was already there.

“No, ma fillette , he didn’t,” Belle said as she entered. “As I told you already, I believe.”

In the hallway outside, he glimpsed her two thralls still sprawled on the ground before the door swung shut behind her.

He fixed her with a hard stare. “You left her here, with only two thralls to guard her?”

Belle’s lips twitched in that knowing smile, the one she wore whenever he tried to challenge her.

The one that inevitably ended in his pain.

“She was safe enough, mon amour . I left explicit instructions that no one was to venture into my rooms.” She arched an eyebrow. “Only you, it seems, disobey.”

“You left her alone in a house full of vampires—”

“I would kill them if they touched her,” Belle said, bored. “Have you forgotten? Power is everything.”

“A great comfort if she is already dead,” he spat.

Her interest piqued as she studied him. “Does she matter so much to you?”

He straightened, éliane’s memory pressing against him like a ghost. “She is mine , Belle. Not yours. Not this time. She is mine, and mine alone.”

“The hell I am!” Cally said, pushing to her feet. “No one owns me, Antoine, least of all you!”

“Ah! A lover’s tiff,” Belle said airily. She wagged her finger at Antoine. “She deserves better, don’t you think?”

He shifted position to keep them both in sight. Turning his back on Belle was never wise, least of all when she was in one of her strange moods. “That’s not what I meant, Cally—”

“I’m not your property , Antoine.”

“So forceful,” Belle said. “Such a vampire she would make.”

“No,” Antoine said sharply, almost a shout. “You cannot have her.”

“ On se calme, là, ” she tutted. “One cannot make a witch into a vampire, mon amour .” Then, as if toying with the idea, she tilted her head. “Although, it might be interesting to see what would happen.”

“Stop talking about me like I’m not here,” Cally said, her glare flicking from him to Belle.

What had transpired that made her think she could talk to Belle in such a manner with impunity?

He braced himself, expecting Belle to be at Cally’s back faster than he could track, her hand tightening around Cally’s throat. But Belle only drifted gracefully across the room, settling onto the sofa where Cally had just been. She patted the cushion beside her, looking up expectantly.

Cally ignored her, crossing to an unoccupied armchair and perching on the edge of its seat.

Belle folded her hands in her lap, seemingly unbothered. Antoine had never seen her so accommodating, and it was unsettling.

He sat back down on the sofa and looked at Cally, trying to ignore Belle’s presence. “You were saying?”

She took a breath, glanced at Belle, who was watching serenely, then met his gaze. “The short version. If a vampire feeds on a witch, they bond, growing more powerful. It’s irreversible, and they both die without one another.”

“Oh,” he said, leaning back as he let her words sink in.

That explained… a lot. The potency of her blood.

The surge in his power, even in the time since feeding on Minh.

Why nothing else tasted as good or as filling.

How much he craved her, and only her, all the time.

His possessiveness… maybe. Or maybe that was all him.

Her awareness, her nightmares afterwards. Even the bilateral mark.

And her bitter comments about marriage and life-long commitment.

“Is that all you have to say?” Cally asked sharply. “Just ‘oh’?”

He looked at Belle. “Is this bond already formed? Is it too late?”

Cally bristled at the question, then tensed and turned hopeful eyes to Belle.

“You have fed from her more than once?” Belle asked.

“Three times.”

“Then yes, mon amour ,” Belle said. “It is likely the bond has formed.”

And Cally hated him—or at least, she seemed to half the time. The other half, he wasn’t quite sure. He remembered how she’d bitten his neck, and the recollection made his skin prickle.

Even now, she was glaring at him. As she usually did.

“I am sorry,” he said to her. “I didn’t know.”

Belle tutted. “It is you that are to blame, mon amour —even though, as you say, you didn’t know.”

“What? How?”

“Once you had fed on Minh, your power was great enough to awaken Cally’s dormant witch blood.”

“You mean to say, my power awakened hers ?”

“Just so.”

“Because I fed on Minh?”

“As I have just said.”

Then it hasn’t been three. He narrowed his eyes at Belle. “How many feeds until the bond is irreversible?”

“Who knows? We are discussing matters largely lost to the passing of history.” She shrugged, then answered him.

“More than one, but whether it is two, three or more…” She fixed him with a look.

“The question you should be asking is whether or not your craving can be sated by any blood, or only hers.”

The fleeting hope died as fast as it had come, and both women saw it in his face.

“We’re screwed, aren’t we?” Cally whispered. “It’s like learning I’m pregnant, only so much worse.”

“A vampire cannot get anyone pregnant, ma fillette ,” Belle chimed in with a hint of amusement.

Antoine hadn’t known that, either. It was turning into a night of revelations, and he wondered what else Belle had been remiss in not passing on.

“Hardly relevant.” Cally stood abruptly, her gray eyes flashing with anger. She paced across the room before spinning on her heel. “I can’t believe I’m tied to a goddamn vampire. There must be a way to reverse this! Don’t you people have libraries for researching solutions to this sort of thing?”

“Is it so bad?” Belle asked, her tone almost playful. “You will grow in power, live far longer, be the consort of a vampire who—”

“‘ Consort ?’” Cally spat.

“Not helpful,” Antoine murmured.

“—of a vampire who will be one of the most powerful to have lived in modern times,” Belle continued, ignoring the interruption. “If not ever.”

He stiffened. “That much?”

“ Oui ,” she said. “Oh, it will take time to reach such heights, and in the meanwhile, you will be vulnerable. There will be those who will try to stop you. ”

“Great,” Cally said sarcastically. “All this, and we’ve painted a goddamn bullseye on both our backs. There’s no way we can keep this secret.”

“Only those in this room know,” Belle said calmly.

“Yeah?” Cally shot back. “And what if the vamp who owns this house bugs the rooms of his esteemed Curia guests ?” Her words dripped with scorn.

“Then I expect my thralls would’ve informed me after their sweeps,” Belle replied casually.

He stirred. “I think we should leave. It isn’t safe here.”

“You are right,” Belle said, her tone taking on a more serious edge. “We have done what we need to do. Take her away, Antoine. Keep her safe.”

“I’m not leaving.” Cally folded her arms. “This place is massive, it must have a library. Even a database. There must be records we can look through.”

“Têtue et impulsive, mais très séduisante,” Belle said with amusement.

Antoine ignored her, addressing Cally. “This place will be swarming with vampires soon, as they come in from the night. We should leave now.”

“It’ll be dawn. Won’t they go to sleep? What better time to search the library?”

“Why do you not just drag her out?” Belle asked with genuine curiosity.

Again, he ignored her. “Not all of them will sleep during the day, and I can’t protect you from those. Please?”

“‘Please,’ he says,” Belle remarked, “when what he should do is put you over his knee until you learn obedience.”

Cally purposefully didn’t look at her. “Oh very well. But you can take me back to my apartment, not your house.”

“We can stop there and you can get what you need,” Antoine said. “But you need to stay close to me now.”

“Hell no,” Cally said. “You’re not babying me just because I’m your only food source.”

“If you die, I die.” That was the easiest part to accept. He’d tasted other blood, and it was nothing to him. He could only imagine how much worse it would get with time.

“And if you die, she dies,” Belle added, clearly enjoying herself. “ Fatum coniunctum.”

“God damn it!” Cally burst out. “You fucking vampires have fucking ruined my fucking life!”

“Such language,” Belle said, shaking her head. “You may need to put her across your knee more than once. ”

Cally glared at her then retrieving her jacket, walking toward the door. “Fine. We’ll leave.”

Antoine rose to intercept her. “Let me go first.”

“And again, without a proper goodbye,” Bella said in mock dismay. “Au revoir, mon amour. ”

Cally waited until he opened the door, then deliberately walked past him, head held high.

The hallway was empty, save for the two thralls still lying unconscious on the floor. Cally stopped when she saw them. “You did this, didn’t you?”

“They wouldn’t let me in.”

She gave him a long look, then turned away and walked on.

A half-dozen vampires loitered in the main living area, glancing up as they entered. Cally hesitated mid-step, then headed straight for the front door, eyes fixed ahead.

Matteo moved in a blur to intercept them, and Cally stopped abruptly—from her perspective, it would’ve seemed as if he just appeared before her. Antoine stepped up beside her, close enough to brush her arm, offering silent support.

“Yes?” he drawled.

“Why do you bring a chattel here? Why is she still alive?”

“What I do with mine is none of your business,” Antoine replied, his words dripping with indifference. Channeling my best Belle.

Matteo sniffed the air. “She smells of sex,” he said, running his tongue over his fangs. A mocking laugh followed. “Are you fucking your chattel?”

Cally stiffened, her fists clenching at her sides.

“Get out of the way, Matteo,” Antoine said, voice still bored. It was surprisingly easy to maintain the tone. He casually brushed his fingertips against the back of Cally’s hand. Don’t attack him, ma chérie.

“He’s fucking his chattel!” Matteo called to Nico in the corner, ensuring as he did that the whole room heard—they would have already, of course; this was just a petty display.

Laughter came from more than one of them, scornful and derisive.

“Whose rooms did I just leave?” Cally asked Matteo, her chin rising in defiance and her tone contemptuous. “Is it him you can smell on me? If you disapprove so much, why not take it up with Lady Belle? I’m sure she’d be so fascinated to hear your opinion on her interests.”

The room stilled unnervingly, and Matteo’s eyes flashed a deeper red. “You dare address me?”

“When you’ve already addressed me, it’s called a conversation,” Cally said, then yawned in his face. “Oh, excuse me. Long night. I’m quite worn out.”

“Indeed,” Antoine said, deadpan. “Best get you some rest.” He brushed past Matteo, placing himself between the vampire and Cally, clearing her path to the door.

“So nice to meet you,” Cally told the furious vampire as she walked past him.

Antoine opened the front door, and together they stepped out into the dawn.

The sky was nearly cloudless, tinged with oranges and reds on the horizon against a deep indigo blue, and Antoine winced at the brightness.

The Lamborghini was parked haphazardly before the house in his haste.

He opened the passenger door for Cally and waited expectantly, ignoring the curious glances of Roberto’s thralls.

“Didn’t you have an Audi?” she asked. She didn’t wait for an answer but climbed in, with a mutter of, “Figures.”

Antoine walked around the car, keen for the protection of the heavily tinted windows.

He gunned the engine and sped away from the Curia’s house.