New Blood (The Blood Saga Book 2) (24 page)

He said nothing as I fished out the
black ankle socks and the French tennis shoes that probably cost more than a
whole pay check from what I made at Riad’s. Kneeling down, my back still to him
of course, I quickly slid them on and tied them double knotted.

As I stood to push past him, he
took hold of my arm to stop me. “I don’t want to apologize to your back. You
deserve better than that.” My brow arched curiously but I kept silent. He could
read minds anyway. There was no need to respond at all I figured.

“You’re right. About everything. As
angry as it makes me about Phoenix being bonded to you it doesn’t matter. He’s
there for you and has been when I have not. And I think that’s why I’m so
bothered with it.” He laughed once, hard and dark.

Hand still on my arm, Damien
looked to the floor. “I’m not used to dealing with emotions quite like this. I’ve
spent most of my life alone as you know. And with the overwhelming love you
have shown me, comes just as much jealousy it seems. I don’t know how to
process it, so it’s hard for me to contain.”

That couldn’t have been easy to
admit. I didn’t want to feel my anger melt away so easily. I wanted to be
stronger. Of course I understood but I wasn’t in the mood for excuses. He
seriously needed to adjust his attitude at this point, and I wouldn’t give in
until he did.

“All right, then I won’t give you
any more excuses. I swear that I will get rid of the attitude. I’m sorry,
Lianna. It won’t happen again. I’m sorry for my behavior and I hope you can
forgive me. I will do whatever it takes for you to forgive me.”
Eventually.

“Fair enough I suppose. Will you at
least do me the favor of letting me know when you do?”
Maybe
. He sighed.
“Please say something?”

I nodded, gathering my thoughts
quickly. “Just ask yourself this sometime. You have known Phoenix by far for much
longer than I have. Would he hurt you in that way? Or better… Do you think he
wanted this? When I came here he couldn’t stand me. He almost killed me if you
remember. And then he wasn’t given a choice in the matter but to deal with me.
Only for the fact he didn’t think I should be left alone when everyone else
turned away from me.” Damien’s mouth dropped. I kept going.

“Don’t interrupt. Yeah, you had a
reason. I get it. But next time instead of trying to bite his head off for
being my friend, maybe you should thank him. Cause right now it feels like he’s
the only one I’ve got.”

Pulling my arm from him, I walked
from the closet to the bathroom. Grabbing my brush, I ran it through my hair
viciously. Damien stood behind me in the doorway and waited for me in silence.

Flustered as I’d possibly ever been
the brush got tangled in my hair. The embarrassment fueled my anger. If the
brush would have come out I would have chucked it.

Without a word, Damien came up
behind me. His hands covered mine gently, releasing my death grip from the handle.
Our eyes caught in the mirror while he brushed the tangles out and skillfully
pulled my hair into a pony tail.

He’d done this for me a few times
before. Not because I was too upset to manage but simply because we both
enjoyed it, silly as it might sound. It wasn’t enough to be called a smile but
both of our mouths pulled up at the corners faintly, remembering.

With that we both knew the fight
was over. Damien kissed the bare skin of my shoulder. We left the bedroom
together side by side.

Walking through the hall, I stopped
at Hendrick’s door and knocked three times hard before entering. “Ryce. Get up.
We’re going to get Neesa.” My words were harsh, barking at him practically.
Guess I could have meowed, but it wouldn’t have had the impact that his did.

He seemed dead to the world until I
said Neesa’s name and then he was awake and standing in less than a second.
Ryce had passed out on the floor. A pair of Hendrick’s jeans hung on his waist
synched tight with a belt- thank God.

He followed right on our heels and
because of his closeness, Phoenix was standing on the stairs before I could
take another step. “Relax. He’s not stupid enough to try anything right now. I
think everyone feels the murderous rage radiating from me. Right?” Ryce gave a
shrug and a nod to confirm. Yes I was still infuriated. It just wasn’t directed
at Damien or anyone else in this House. I had to be honest with myself. Damien
had made me mad, yeah. But my real anger was for Demetrius, Nekayla, and me.

I’d been weak, and I’d been stupid.
Because of that the lives of those I cared about most were going to hell in a
real hurry. They’d all been put in danger. Now something was going to suffer
for it.

Phoenix shook his head with a
smirk. “You know, I like it when you’re angry. You’re almost fun.” He handed
the bottle from before back to me. Once more it was filled to the brim with
human blood. He winked.

“Ah, you’re a good man, Phoenix.
Hendrick?” I called from near the bottom of the stairs into the living room. He
was standing in front of me so quickly I nearly ran into him.

“Take the Hummer with Ryce in the
back. Make sure no one sees him. If you’re being watched I don’t want them
knowing he’s with us if it can be avoided.” Hendrick nodded tersely. “Having a
cat with claws might just come in handy tonight.” I looked back at Ryce to see
if he reacted.

He blinked and shook his head. “You
haven’t changed like I thought.”

My eyebrows wagged a shrug as I
turned back to Hendrick. “Head straight to the city. Once there make sure you
don’t have a tail, and get to the house in Vermont. You know where?” More nodding.
“Good. Both of you cover the woods to make sure it’s empty and wait there. If
you find something, kill it quick. We can’t let them know we’re onto them.”

No one said a word. Hendrick just
kept on nodding. My brow rose skeptically. “Jez? Lara? Are you two coming or
not?”

“Wouldn’t miss it!” Jezabell
chirped. Amusing she was dressed similar to myself for once. Well, almost. I
was sure I had never seen her in anything other than dresses.

Today her skinny cut jeans were
finely embroidered, glitzed and glammed to the max. Very… flashy. Her black
tank top was embroidered in the same style with something that sparkled like
pure silver threading. Perhaps it was. And of course, she topped it off with
the most amazing black stilettos I’d ever seen. They brought her up over my
height.

I just shook my head, too
bewildered to comment. She beamed her million dollar smile proudly. No one
could deny it. The woman was as stunning as she was deadly.

Lara came up beside Jezabell,
looping slender arms around a perfectly slender waist. Lara was still adorning
her flowing white strappy dress that barely reached mid-thigh. “Me, too, of
course.” She smiled vivaciously.

“Good, they’ll need you watching
what’s coming. You’ll all ride with Hendrick.” I turned back to Damien, meaning
he was to be with them. He frowned but said nothing. “They know you. If they
see me with you I will never make it to Vermont. Phoenix, too, of course.”

“No.” Damien shook his head. “Phoenix
will stay with you. If I can’t be with you then he should be. I won’t leave you
alone with Nekayla’s blood thirsty mutts on the loose.”

Well that was surprising. “Fine
then. If you think that’s best. Get ready. It’s time to go.”

Damien moved to stand in front of
Phoenix and stopped. The entire room grew instantly quiet. Frozen with tension.
Finally Damien’s hand came up and stretched out to Phoenix. “I know you’ll take
good care of her.”

They shook and did the whole
masculine head nod. “I’ll get her safely to you as quickly as I can, brother.”

“So if she blacks out again?”
Damien questioned as his arms folded over his chest.

“I’ll call you for directions and I
can carry her to you where we can lock her up safe and sound. While we wipe out
Demetrius and his minions, of course. To be honest, I think you’d prefer it in
that light. Hm?” Phoenix had that wicked grin spread over his lips. Damien
couldn’t argue that. He liked the idea of me having nothing to do with the
fight.

“Phoenix, it is increasingly
disturbing that you have the perfect answer for everything.” Damien’s eyes
narrowed as he shook his head with a slight bitter laugh.

“What’s that saying? Don’t hate the
player hate the game?” Hendrick spoke up with that one and it was just good
enough to make everyone laugh if at least in slight. Thank you, Hendrick.

He chuckled again as Phoenix cocked
a grin. Damien sighed, but smiled as he kissed my temple. “You heard her. Let’s
get going.”

“Can everyone give us a minute? I
need to talk to Lianna.” We were ready to go.

Ryce was lying down in the back of
the Jeep, already asleep with Lara in the seat in front of him. Hendrick was
riding shot gun while Jez was set to drive.

Damien and I were left in the house
while they all went for the garage. Phoenix went with them, but he would be
waiting for me.

Leaned into the back of the chair,
he reached for my hand, and pulled me into him. “I have a lot of making up to
do. I know that. I’ll do whatever it takes from here on. And since that is
going to take so long I am pleading with you to be careful. This isn’t going to
be like you fighting with Phoenix. You’re the one that they want the most. Don’t
forget that.”

My mind stayed focused on the
moment, refusing to let him see my fear of the near future. My lips curled into
a slow full smile. “Forevermore.”

Wrapping around my waist, he pulled
me in close as my arms slid around his neck, holding each other tightly. “Forevermore?”

“Forevermore. My heart and body
shall be yours, for forever and more.” It’s not what he’d wanted to hear, but
it was enough.

“Forevermore, Lianna. I will love
you for forever and more.”

Our lips found each other’s softly.
Fire lit between us in a way that I ached for and had every moment since I’d
first met him. His hands slid to my hips, lifting me from the floor my legs
spread as he pulled me up to wrap around him.

Jezabell cleared her throat from
the door. Without letting me pull from him, Damien reached for a throw pillow
and chucked it at her. Who knew that’s what they we’re actually for?

It was hard not to giggle which
broke my concentration from kissing him. One arm stayed around me as he stood.

Jezabell left, shutting the door
behind her. His lips never stopped as he worked down to my neck. His mouth
resting over the place he’d bitten me more than once.

“I’ll see you in Vermont,” I
breathed with a gasp, reluctantly pulling my legs from him, stepping back. Damien
moaned but it was a sad, I don’t wanna stop moan. “Okay,” he whined. “Vermont.
And then our bedroom after that?” I laughed halfheartedly.

“You’re lucky I don’t drag you
there now.” He sighed, his hands taking mine tightly. “Vermont?”

“Do you think we’ll lose?”

He paused pondering that. “No.” He
shook his head. “I am worried we could lose people though.” His shoulders
stiffened. “I know that some will get hurt.”

I started to argue, but he shook
his head. “Don’t doubt that, Lianna. It would be a dangerous mistake. These
Crossbreeds will make us all look tame. You’ve never been subjected to this. I’m
not meaning to be pessimistic by no means, but you need to be prepared for what’s
going to happen.”

He thought a moment, watching me
closely, reading me. “And yet I’ve never seen someone quite so ready.” His hand
brushed my cheek. “That, too, worries me.” No, it frightened him. He knew I had
a violent streak. No one knew how big it may be. Unable to answer him, I kissed
his cheek, forced a smile and drug him to the garage.

A ramp led down from the doublewide
garage door below the rest of the house, matching square foot for square foot
in size. Only a slight platform about the size of your standard three car
garage stood at ground level.

They had a ton of cars. Though they
only drove a couple of them. Damien’s Jeep Rubicon- otherwise known as the “baby
hummer” and of course Hendrick’s true H1 Hummer and Jez’s Ferrari. I hadn’t
really paid much attention to the others. There was one old classic I liked to
sit in sometimes when I needed some space.

“Remember, the city first. I don’t
want you followed. Take detours. We’ll give you as much of a head start as we
can. I won’t start running until I have to.”

Jezabell nodded at my instructions,
and hugged me tightly quite suddenly. “I’m so sorry for everything, Anna. I’m
such a harpy. I hope you still love me.”

As she hugged me, images flashed
through her mind in quick precession. The sudden shock nearly froze me in
place. I saw her going to Phoenix, and asking him to go to Nekayla. I saw her
with Lara. I knew as well as she did that she’d lied to him. Once I recovered I
pulled away from her quickly. Without a word I nodded to them as the garage
opened.

“Stay close to her, Phoenix.”
Damien slid his hands around to hold my hips. I was still nearly paralyzed.

It barely registered when he kissed
my cheek. Had anyone else seen what I had? Had Phoenix or Damien picked up the
thoughts? Phoenix nodded to him understandingly. Phoenix didn’t seem taken aback
as I did, so surely not.

Damien seemed completely normal.
Not at ease, but no shocking revelations for him either apparently.
Well,
okay then. Deal with it later
, my brain snapped at me.

Damien took his Jeep separate from
the others. He watched me through the mirror until he was out of sight. I
stared after them for a long time, still as stone and perfectly expressionless.

Phoenix came up and stood before me
with a sigh. “I did it for you. Not her. I just would have done it differently if
she wouldn’t have come to me. Yes, Damien knows. Don’t worry. You’ll come to
terms with seeing and hearing crap you seriously wish you hadn’t” He smirked
ruefully. “Eventually.”

Uhg
.
How do they deal with it all?
“As I said, you’ll eventually get used to
it.”
Uhg
. Phoenix snickered.

He handed the metal bottle back,
again filled to the brim. “You need all the advantage you can get.” I smiled my
thanks as I took the bottle and drank it down in one steady long swig. Shaking his
head, Phoenix took the emptied aluminum bottle from me and set it up on a key
shelf by the garage door.

“You do look ready for this,” he
commented with an amused yet bitter smirk. “I don’t recall the last time
someone bossed them all around without anyone fighting back.”

“Did I scare them?” I asked with a
smirk of my own.

He chuckled shaking his head. A
hand placed to the small of my back urging me outside. “No.” He chuckled. “But
you did intimidate them. You’re still a New Blood, just not average for a New
Blood.” Stopping, he moved to enter the number on the key pad allowing the
garage door to shut.

“So I’m a freak. I’ve certainly
heard that enough.” My eyes rolled as we waited for the door to close.

“Not at all. You’re unusual, yes.
But you’re also more controlled than you give yourself credit for. Despite the
black outs of course. You’ve learned how to shut off your anger and fear. It’s
not instant, but it’s given you an advantage.” We strolled from the house
leisurely, needing to give them plenty time for a head start. “You’re by far
stronger than most New Bloods.”

“Please.” My eyes rolled as my lips
spit disdain.

“Please? Oh you’re begging me now,
huh?” Phoenix grinned wickedly. His fingers pinched and prodded at my ribs
making me jump and swat at him. “Oh I love it when the wild ones beg.” He
laughed as I grabbed his forearms.

In a simple twist he’d caught me in
his arms and contorted my wrists unnaturally backwards forcing my back flush
against his chest. “Owe!” Laughing despite my pain, I kicked him in the thigh
as he lifted my feet off the ground.

“Awe poor Sticks. Did that hurt?”
Phoenix chuckled wrapping an arm around my shoulders in a loose hug as he sat
me down.

Grumbling, I gave a whiney mocking
sound. His hand ruffled my hair. “I meant it. I get it, Lianna. I really do.
You feel out of control am I right?”

Shrugging. “Maybe.”

“You only see how
we
act.
You forget the youngest other Vampire in this House is still over a hundred
years old. You’ve yet to meet another New Blood. They’re like out of control
teenagers on every drug imaginable. You’re strong, Lianna, believe me.”

I let out a sigh, leaning my head
against him as his arm stayed on my shoulders. He complied only by not pulling
away. “I’ve never seen another Vampire as young as you are control themselves
enough to keep from killing a human. And you managed not only that, but you
didn’t even hurt Paul.”

“I wouldn’t let myself touch him.
If I would have, I’d have ripped his spine out. You know, you say that and it’s
nice to hear, yet they treat me like a child,” I grumbled to myself irritably,
thinking of the times they fawned over me as if I were an infant.

“Do I?” he asked, honestly curious.
His lips curled into a grin though his eyebrows lift curiously.

“Don’t be absurd.” I had to laugh.

“I mean it. I know how people think
of me better than most usually. But I dunno. I just try not to do that with
you.” My brow rose, obviously not believing him.

“Okay. I do.” He shrugged the other
shoulder. “But only when you have that certain look about you.” He looked to me
for a long quiet moment as we came to a stop near the edge of the woods. His
eyes shown with complete honesty.

“Why is it you seem more connected
to me than Damien?” I’m not sure where it came from but there it was. And nope.
Never did answer his question.

“I’ve drank more than he has. And
more recently.” He didn’t look as if he regretted it at all. I nodded. I
thought that may have been it.

“What would change if I were to
ever feed from you?” This seemed like a rather important question, didn’t it?

“Well for one thing, Damien would
kill me.” He laughed freely. The threat didn’t bother him though.

“No. I think I put a stop to the
childish behavior. And anyway, that’s not what I mean.” I stared at him as we
walked, completely serious.

Phoenix took a deep breath. He
seemed to be contemplating. “I guess it is time that some of my secrets finally
come out.” My brow rose to the intrigue.

Taking my hand in his, Phoenix
stopped walking. Pausing, he stared down at our hands a moment before motioning
me to follow with his head, pulling me to a fallen tree to sit.

“It’s different when I drink from
you. I don’t just mean the bond, Sticks. If this same situation had happened
between you, Damien and Hendrick for example, things would be
very
different.” He released my hand. Leaning forward with his elbows on his thighs.
Phoenix watched the woods intently for a long silent moment.

“Damien is worried that I may fall
in love with you. More than that he’s worried you’ll fall in love with me.” My
brows furrowed unsure where this was leading or how to respond. “You don’t. You
let me finish.”
Fair enough
. “What Damien doesn’t know is that I get
more from your blood than anyone else possibly could. Like the mind reading, I
can read your blood as well. No one else can do that you see.”

Sighing deeply, he ran a hand
through his shaggy obsidian hair. “We’re bonded yes. I’ve only been so
connected one other time in my life. I never would have expected for it to
happen again. But it has. There’s no point in ever wishing to change our past
so I don’t. I have no regrets in my life. That includes you, Lianna.” A long
pause of silence. “I do care for you a great deal.” Phoenix looked back at me.
Our eyes locked for a long quiet moment.

Leaning forward just as he was, my
hand slid into his and laced our fingers together. “How do you read blood?”
Didn’t figure there was anything else to say.

“Reading blood is like reading
someone’s soul rather than reading someone’s mind. It’s very difficult to
explain beyond that. Now you may be interested to know, very few humans ever
actually reincarnate. Not as many that think they are anyway. From the day we
met, that first small taste told me there was something truly different about
you. I could taste the power inside of you. Anna, you were an
extremely
powerful
shaman. Of course at the time I had no idea what it meant or where it came
from.” He shrugged.

My brow rose skeptically making him
snicker. “Let me explain this easier. On a scale of one to ten. You, cupcake,
were an easy twelve. Your blood has a very unique taste.”

My brows remained high with
surprise, and it was kind of an ego boost at that.
Interesting.
“Though
getting back to the question at hand if you drank from me, we’d be even closer
still. I could also show you certain things that I chose to. It’s sort of a
part of the gift of blood reading combined with the telepathy. Through the bond
we become so connected I cannot only read your mind, but I can project as well,
but only while you feed.”