Slate's Mistake (23 page)

“Correct. Like shifters whose animal first comes out
during puberty, vampires don’t require blood until puberty. We go into a coma-like
state from about two weeks to a month, coming out once a night to feed. That’s
how the myths of vampires draining people and only coming out at night came
about. Because their bodies are just starting their change, their urges are the
strongest they will ever be. Their parents would supply donors or bagged blood
and watch over their teen, making sure to keep them from killing or hurting the
donor. Over the month’s time, their urges lessen, and after they come out of
their coma state, their control is much more manageable.”

“Huh, I did not know all of that. Ok, so does Elise
understand now?”

“Yeah, but I think she’s still a little doubtful.”

Slate glanced at his vampire brother-in-law. He looked
like he was hiding his true hurt. “Don’t
worry,
she
will understand it all in time. Just
be
patient.”

“I am.”

Because of the heavy clouds, Slate used his headlights
to see through the rain as Dex pointed him toward a refurbished old factory in
an area of the city where large warehouses and old factories were abandoned.
This is where he lives?
As they
approached the one Dex pointed to, Slate wasn’t sure how to respond. It looked
maintained, and greenery grew and hung in various places, but once he drove
into a parking spot inside the large structure, he caught his breath.

Beads of rain dropped on the glass skylights that
allowed light to filter into the well-lit forest of vegetation. The vampire had
an indoor garden spanning the entire open space. A river rock stone path in swirling
structured patterns led them through the maze of foliage. He could see other
paths leading in other directions to inlets within the shrubbery that created
various “rooms”.

Dex explained where things were as they passed. One
path led to the dining area, another to a fire pit. Comfortable furniture lined
the path in various spots, and in the center was a large stacked stone
fountain. The water bubbled from the top and cascaded all around through
various places over live plants. In the pool at the bottom swimming around lilies
and lotuses and other water plants, were different kinds of koi.

The air, even to a shifter nose, smelt fresh. Colors
from flowers dotted areas here and there. At the very end, they made their way
up to the second story platform. Below it was the kitchen and office, but the
second story held a “patio” and some bedrooms. On the patio, Slate looked over
the space from a higher point and was amazed at the various spaces hidden in
the foliage. There were even two more bedrooms
complete with bathrooms. He
marveled further at the open stone and floral showers they sported.

On the patio and overhead catwalk, draping plants grew
long and full in a multicolored floral fall. Chairs and couches lined the patio,
and underfoot grew a carpet of soft moss in different shades of green and
textured patterns. All around Slate saw amazing things, from stone statues to
actual fruit trees.

Slate closed his eyes and took in the scents and
sounds. His companions spoke in awe at the place, and the babble and clatter of
water from the distance gave a calming effect.

“You like it?”

Slate looked over at Dex, who now held a small inlaid
wooden box. “It’s the most amazing home I have ever seen.”

“Do you think your sister will like it?”

Ah.
Slate saw where this was going. “I think you should
ask her, but I can’t imagine anyone not loving this place. So you’re hoping she’ll
move here with you instead of you moving to Bancroft?”

Dex gave a slight shrug and looked down at the box in
his hand. “I could always sell it or keep it as a vacation home. I’ll be happy
wherever she is.”

“But?”

“It took me decades to make it, and I’ve enjoyed the
jobs I’ve been contracting lately. I enjoy living in the city.”

Slate didn’t know his sister enough to give Dex any
promises, but he felt he could give him hope at least. “Well, she’s going to
need to re-enroll in a good school for her field of study. The best place would
be here, and this is a great space to let out her lion, and if that doesn’t
work, you can always come up to the pack. It’s only a few hours away.”

Dex gave him a wide grin, showing off his fangs. Most
vampires didn’t make a habit of smiling too big because their fangs couldn’t be
brought up into their gums like a shifter’s. Slate smiled back, knowing he’d done
a good thing for his new family member.

The rain started coming down heavily as they twisted
and turned heading through the neighborhood, on their way back home. They were
all talking excitedly about Dex’s talent and possible ideas for the pack. They
weren’t watching for possible trouble, which turned out to be a big and costly
mistake.

Glass shattered around them, and Slate saw a mist of
blood spray out from Dex’s chest. Slate swerved the vehicle as the chaos
continued. Shots were camouflaged in the rolling thunder that spiked overhead.
Slate turned the car sharply into a parking lot of an abandoned warehouse.
Pierce was attempting to help shelter Dex and stop his bleeding while Matteo
was on his cell, from the sounds of it, with Alphy.

Veering around the corner of the building, Slate
slammed on his brakes, but they hydroplaned into a three foot cement wall.
Their airbags popped out, and the old fence that was on the small wall fell
forward, landing on top of them.

With the airbag going off in his face, Slate was
dazed. As he started to come around, he felt strong hands shaking him and
Matteo’s voice pleading with him. “Come on, Slate, snap out of it. They’re coming.
You need to come around.”

Slate shook his head and blinked his eyes. “That’s it,
Slate, come on. We need to get out.”

Slate looked around. The windshield was mostly caved
in into a web of shattered glass. The fence that had landed on them covered the
front half of the car, so the only way out was through the back doors.

Behind him, Pierce hissed in frustration. “Dex won’t
be able to heal faster until he gets blood, and he can’t drink any blood other
than his mate’s.”

“Fuck!” Slate slurred. “We’ll have to fight. Matteo,
can you shift?”

“Yeah.”

“Good, slip up high somewhere. Take your cell with
you. I don’t care if you have to hold it in your teeth.”

“Take it anyway.
Got it.”

Slate huffed with slight amusement at the “Oh fuck”
coming from Pierce. Most shifters, when they shifted, were larger than the
average of their kind. Matteo was an anaconda, and their kind was already
pretty massive.

Before any more could be said or done, a speeding
vehicle turned the corner and slammed into them. More glass projected forward,
and they were rocked forward by the impact. Slate unbuckled his seatbelt and
tried squeezing through the center seats into the back. He followed the leather
clad Pierce out his side door and into the rain to face their aggressors.

Through the haze of the heavy rain, Slate could see a
dazed Carl in the passenger seat clutching a rifle, and a man he didn’t know in
the driver’s seat of the smashed blue Chevy.
Smoke curled between the
opened creases on the hood and licked across the metal until the wind puffed
and moved it around Slate rushed Carl. He reached through the open side window
and pulled out the rifle and threw it aside. It landed with a metallic splat
and
clatter
as the metal hit asphalt though a heavy
mud puddle. Slate wanted to gut this piece of shit himself.

Pierce attacked the driver, driving his fangs deep
into the man’s neck and began draining him. Slate could tell it was another
lion shifter, but this one wasn’t anywhere near as strong as Carl. Slate said,
“Hey Pierce, don’t drain him. I want to question him.”

Slate pulled Carl out of the truck. Carl threw a punch
that Slate easily dodged, but another punch slammed into his gut staggering him
backward, but he kept himself from falling. The telltale signs of his father
shifting had him reaching for his lion. With his practice, he was able to
finish his shift before his father. Another thing that surprised him was how
much bigger and stronger his lion was than his father’s. Coming out of his
shift, he could tell when his father noticed the same thing.

Slate’s lion chuffed at seeing the startled, worried
look in his father. Slate had worked hard to make himself and his lion stronger
just for this day of retribution. He might have found it in him to be merciful,
but after what his father did to his mother and sister, his lion wanted blood
and he didn’t want to deny him.

Slate leaped into the air, coming down with his claws
extended and his mouth pulled back to reveal his massive canines. A rush of
water droplets flew and danced around him as he swiped his claws across his
father’s furred face, making contact and stretching a line of blood the length
of his face. Blood mixed with rain, rolled down his muzzle and maw.

His father roared and lunged back, swiping but
missing. Slate countered with another swipe to the face. This time after he
made contact, he lunged forward and closed his powerful jaws over his father’s nose.
His father’s pained yowl reached his ears, but had no effect on him. Claws
futilely slashed at his mane, but it was too thick to do any damage. With a
flick of his head, he sent the older lion skidding along the puddled ground.

Now he circled his father as the lion staggered up. He
could see the rage in Carl’s eyes as he appeared to be going over his options
in his head, but Slate wanted him to know he didn’t have any. He lunged again
and leaped back, and repeated the move several times. Each time he was
successful at drawing a line of crimson over the golden fur. His father tried
to lash out with a counter strike, but he missed every time.

He gave his father a look that spoke his future. His
father tried to submit, but it was too late for that. Slate was going for
retribution. He let a low growl echo though his enlarged
ribcage,
and he gauged his next attack. Water showered down upon them and cascaded off
their furred forms. In the case of his father, a rusty colored puddle gathered
beneath him.

Slate lined up his death-blow and struck. His powerful
jaws sank his enormous canines deep into the underside of his father’s neck.
The metallic flavor of blood flooded his mouth and streamed down his jaw and
into his mane. He clamped hard while his father struggled beneath him, closing
the airway as his canines bled his father out. He continued to hold the
position for a while after the form stopped struggling.

He let the knowledge run though his head that he had just
killed his father. He wasn’t a vengeful man, or bloodthirsty, and yet he felt
satisfied with the outcome. His mother, sister, mate, and cub were now all
safer because of this.

Finally letting go, he let the lifeless form drop into
the filthy water that pooled on the ground beneath them. Looking over to Pierce
and the unknown lion, he roared out his victory. It was probably a good thing
the thunder chose to shake the sky, because a lion’s roar could be heard for
miles away, and his victory would have most definitely been heard.

The smaller lion was conscious, but weak. He shivered
under the guarding vampire’s hand. Slate initiated his shift and stood naked,
letting the rain wash the blood from his now furless skin. Shifters ran hotter
than humans, and it was still summer, so the rain didn’t bother him at all. It
actually felt good to let it wash over his flesh.

The sleek form of Matteo’s wet anaconda slithered down
the building and shifted. “Raymond has men on their way.” He took over guard
for Pierce so the clothed paranormal could rush back to Dex.

Suddenly worry bit through his gut. If Dex died, so
would his sister. He couldn’t go too close because of all the glass, so he
could only stand there and watch as the man checked over his sister’s mate. Two
black SUVs pulled up to the scene. Several jumped out and rushed to the crashed
car, while the others helped take over the prisoner and help him and Matteo.
But he refused to move until he got word that Dex was still alive.

Pierce looked back at Slate and nodded. He watched
them found a way to pull him out of the wreckage.

Slate continued to watch the crew carry the bloody unconscious
vampire and place him in one of the vehicles. It tore him up inside to see the inlaid
box still clutched tightly in Dex’s hands.

He hadn’t realized how shallowly he was breathing
until he started walking to one of the SUVs. He had to take in a few deep
breaths before jumping in and being sped away from the scene.

Back at the coven’s main building, he and Matteo were
given some sweats and a t-shirt and a phone to call his alpha. While the two
recounted over the speaker to Alphy what happened, Raymond and a few others of
his inner circle listened.

“We’ll have to keep a watch for the alpha and his
crony councilmember,” Alphy grumbled.

“And that Damon Miller guy from the herd,” Matteo
reminded him.

“Fuck. Anything else you want to add?” Alphy growled.