Authors: Maya DeLeina
“Boundary. It only works on mortals. But I can immediately sense a male vampire who is lingering, waiting in the wings, unless he has the ability to shield. If he can shield, sensing him is a little harder to detect, but still very possible for me. ”
“Shield?”
“There are vampires who possess the ability to go undetected by shielding their thoughts, intent, or even their mere presence from other male vampires.”
“Okay, but there are laws and rules nowadays that prevent this, right?” Anya asked, longing for reassurance that she was not in eminent danger.
“Yes, of course. But laws and rules, like anything else, are developed for order and are followed by those who respect civility. There are still rogue vampires out there. They are the vampires who roam without a family. They do not respect the laws or the orders our kind have created. They choose to live among society as we once did in the early years of our existence as ruthless, feared monsters.”
Steffan could feel Anya’s hold on him tighten though she remained still and quiet. He sat up and leaned against the boulder, pulling Anya tight in his arms.
“Anya, I would never let anything happen to you. Rogue vampires stay away from areas where there are family units. They know family units are strong and that we carry out the laws and orders of our society. And for our family in particular, we are considered a very formidable lair.” Steffan looked down into Anya eyes. “I am the leader of the family here in Manitou. I have us embedded just about everywhere in the community, law enforcement, hospitals, you name it. We’re even deeply entrenched in politics and the media. I have it this way so we can detect any possible vampire activities. All of this is to protect our family, to protect the humans and to protect our identity. The family, they have all pledged an allegiance to me and the orders I set forth for us to remain civilized. You are not only protected by me, but you’re very well protected by the entire family.”
“You are the leader of the families here in town? H–How many of you are there?” Anya stuttered in shock.
“Seventy-four. Soon to be seventy-five, I’m happy to report.” Steffan winked as he moved to give Anya a peck on the lips.
“I’ve always felt a connection to this town even though I lived way up north. I intentionally looked for a studio near here. I love the atmosphere, the people, and the mood. I don’t know. I’ve always felt comfortable here. Maybe that was part of our fate drawing me to this place. I was drawing me to you.”
Steffan smiled.
“What exactly are the rules, the order you talk about?” Anya inquired.
“All lairs set their rules along the same lines, respect for human life and order, guard against attacks, safeguard against mate abduction and manipulation, and protection of our identity. All families have the same set of consequences for the offense, although the final method of punishment can vary from lair to lair. You’ll learn all of this in depth after your turning.”
“I’m curious, though, what if someone breaks the rules?”
“For the most serious offenses, it’s death.”
“But you’re immortal, you can’t die.”
“Being immortal means we stop aging, are immune to diseases and have the ability to repair our bodies if something happens, which basically allows us to live forever. But we can definitely expire if anything happens to things we need to sustain our functions.”
Anya looked at Steffan. A sense of disbelief held her features.
“Again, we have all the time to go over this, my love. Right now, I want to get you home. Our home.”
“Our home? Mr. Matthews, are you asking me to move in with you?”
“Anya, you are my fated mate. We have started the claim. Quite soon, in a matter of hours in fact, we’ll start experiencing eternal cravings for one another that will consume us. We won’t be able to part with one another. It is part of the ritual. The process is meant to promote bonding and protection of the mates. Even though the process is not yet complete, it’s the human equivalent of a marriage.”
“Well then. That was probably the quickest courtship I’ve been through,” Anya responded.
She immediately appeared to drift into deep thought.
Steffan searched Anya’s eyes.
Damn. It hasn’t taken effect yet. I can’t hear what she’s thinking.
“Huh. Marriage?” Anya asked.
“The existence of vampires doesn’t make you flinch, but marriage does? You have doubts in marriage?”
Anya’s vacant look slowly illuminated to a smile. “No. None. It’s just that marriage conjures up bad memories for me.”
“Anya, I was married once. My wife was Arianell. I lost her years ago. I went to find her after I was transformed. When you turn, you lose most of your human past. The only recollections you have are to things that you held true in your heart. For me, I loved Arianell with all of my heart, everything I had. She was the only thing that consumed my thoughts after I turned. When I returned to her, as a vampire, I discovered she’d died in childbirth. ”
“God, Steffan, I’m so sorry. What of the child?”
Steffan shook his head. “My son only survived for a few hours after the birth. I lost my entire family in an instant.” Steffan paused as he recalled Arianell’s face. “I know what you went though with your husband’s death. I know how you feel. The hurt was so strong. For me, I never thought I would want to love again. Over time, though, I realized I have so much more of myself and my heart to give to someone. I love being in love. I love being loved. So I searched for years. And here we are.”
Steffan and Anya held each other close, quiet in their exchange. No words were spoken. Their embrace exposed all that they meant to one another.
“You only remember people, events, and things in your life that you held true in your heart.” Anya quoted Steffan, breaking the silence of the moment
.
“Correct.”
“So, what you are saying is that if your heart truly didn’t hold a place for people in your life, they won’t transfer as a memory to a vampire existence?”
“It gets a little complicated, but yes, it’s something along those lines.”
“Huh.”
Steffan watched Anya’s face transform through different emotions in a matter of seconds. And while he wanted to ask a million questions of her looks, he let the moment pass, deciding self-reflection is what Anya needed.
* * * *
The soft light of the mirror on the passenger seat visor pierced the darkness. Anya stretched her neck to examine the area where Steffan had made his entry.
Nothing.
No scar, no mark, no trace. She ran her fingers up and down her flesh, noticing that the sensation of merely tracing the area sent waves of pleasure coursing through her.
“Shit!”
Steffan grabbed her hand in concern as he momentarily took his eyes off of the road. “Anya?”
“Sorry. It’s just that my neck is very sensitive. But in a good way.”
Steffan smiled. “Tell me, did I hurt you at any time? I know it got a little out of control for a second there.”
“No. And, Steffan, don’t get me wrong, I crave the intimacy of slow lovemaking. But I also love being seduced, taken, and ravished beyond control.”
“I’m definitely keeping that in mind.”
“I know you said it happens in stages. But am I a little like you now since you bit me?”
“No, you’re still very human. What we did tonight allows me to mark our claim, and slowly, I’ll be able to her your thoughts. One day soon, we can communicate telepathically. By the way, I don’t know why movies and books depict us as ‘biting.’ I don’t think what we do is anything like biting at all. We drink from people by puncturing the flesh, sucking up the blood, and sealing the wound instantly.”
“So when you drink from someone, you don’t necessarily kill them?” Disappointment washed over her. She had a little fantasy brewing. If she somehow remembered Ryan after the turning, she would seek him out with the help of the new abilities she would gain as a vampire and suck the life right out of him.
Damnit, he will one day hear my thoughts
! Anya reminded herself to start practicing control within her thoughts.
“We never kill anyone we feed on. Just as I did with you, that’s how we feed on humans. That is, minus the sex. And we enthrall them after the feeding so they don’t remember any of it. With you, I want you to remember everything that I did to you, so no enthrallment, little lady.”
The thought of Steffan’s mouth on another woman’s neck sent a spark of jealousy burning through her. “Is it the same sensation, drinking from feeders and me?”
“No. Drinking from you was very different. It’s like your chocolate mousse tonight. If you had bought it in the store, it still would’ve tasted good and would satisfy my sweet tooth, but because you made it, the texture, the richness, the depth of the ingredients mixed together burst with a flavor that was beyond description. It satisfied my craving and left me wanting a more helpings.”
“More helpings? You went into convulsions from my mousse.” Anya stated in a playful tone.
“You got me there. But it wasn’t caused by the mousse, I’ll explain that one. You get what I am trying to explain here?”
Anya smiled at the comparison, clearly understanding the difference he had experienced drinking from her. “I get it. When do I become like you? How does this happen?”
“The ritual is called ‘the claim.’ It happens in three stages. It’s not meant to be rushed. We completed the first stage tonight. In the second stage, I will drink from you again and will infuse more of my blood in your veins. But this time, I’ll drink from a different artery, a much stronger artery. The last stage, I’ll drain you of most of your human blood and you’ll drink from me, filling your veins with our infused blood. Your transformation then will begin”
“Will it hurt?”
“Yes. This is the one thing I regret that you have to go through. But the wine you loved so much tonight? I shared that with you because it’ll help minimize the pain during the process. I want you to continue to drink this as we go through the ritual.”
“The wine? Why would alcohol help in the process?”
“For anyone else, the wine would taste like vinegar. It’s laced with my blood, Anya. Because you’re my fated mate, it’s probably proven to be the best tasting wine you ever had.”
“I finished almost two bottles. Of course the taste was excellent. But you allowed me to drink blood without telling me? Why would you do that?”
“I’m sorry, but it was with good intentions. I don’t think you would’ve tried it if I told you it contained blood. But if you were going to agree to become my mate, I wanted to give you everything that would help the transformation go more smoothly for you.”
“Why wine though? Wouldn’t I get the same effect if I drank from you directly? I mean, I sucked on your finger when you cut yourself and consumed your blood.”
“And that’s why I had to stop you. Fresh blood is too potent for you right now. The potency of the blood is lessened in the fermentation process when the yeast begins to digest the sugars in the grapes. And just like carbon dioxide and alcohol are by-products of the process, the essential components of my ancient vampire blood are suspended in the wine to effectively introduce my blood to your system while decreasing the potency so your body won’t go through an automatic rejection.”
“How many bottles of this wine did you make?”
“There’s an entire cellar. Eilian and I have to make new batches every year. Aging takes two years in order to create the perfect balance. Once it goes past two years, we dump them all and start all over again. We’ve been doing this for almost six years now since we discovered the process, and I never broke open a bottle for anyone in that time.”