Chapter 4
four
BLAIR
I floated on my back in the water, waiting for my phone to ding with a text from Johnny. It took effort, but I was pointedly ignoring the hunger gnawing in my middle and pounding in my head.
My sisters were all at the bottom of our indoor pool. It wasn’t huge, but it was about eight feet deep.
The humans’ mermaid lore was based on sirens, though we didn’t actually have tails. We just needed water. A lot of water. We could breathe it the same way we could breathe air.
We needed peppermint leaves too, though that hadn’t made it into the stories.
There was a leaf on my tongue at the moment, actually.
The four of us had been intensely productive the first day after we left Clementine with the vampires. We made our money through a handful of online shops that we ran together, and we needed to get through our assload of orders so we were ready when the vampire king deigned to call us back.
We’d gotten through them within five days.
After that, we made some more things and sold them as-is, to stay busy.
By the time the third week was over, though, my sisters were useless. They weren’t used to starving. They were so out of it, they’d barely left the pool at all.
We’d nearly reached week five, and I was drained too. I was used to going a month or so without feeding, but I’d felt like I was in withdrawal since I walked away from Damian. My sisters had teased me about it, but none of them seemed to understand how seriously it was bothering me.
I wasn’t just hungry—I was craving him .
And the cravings were so intense, I’d started to wonder if they would ever fade at all.
My phone started to ring on the side of the pool, and hope flooded me.
No one at the Manor had ever called before.
Johnny usually just texted.
I answered the call from an unknown number just before it stopped ringing, with a breathless, “Hello?”
“Is this Blair Davidson?” a masculine voice asked. It sounded a little familiar, though I couldn’t place it.
“Yes.”
“The vampires are ready to see you. A protective team will be waiting for you and your sisters in the Manor’s parking lot.”
“Thank you.” The relief that rolled through me was immense.
My sisters wouldn’t last much longer without feeding, and I—well, I didn’t really matter. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to feed on anyone but Damian again, and I had no way to find him.
Maybe I’d get lucky and he would live at the Manor or something.
“Come quickly, and don’t bother packing your things,” the man said, before he hung up the phone.
I grabbed one of the painted rocks we used to call each other to the surface, and tossed it into the water. My sisters made their way up, though they didn’t move anywhere near fast.
“The vampires are ready,” I said, my heart beating fast.
“Thank fuck,” Izzy groaned.
“Finally,” Zora mumbled.
Avery just crossed the pool and climbed out. Her arms shook a little, so I pulled her up. Despite my intense cravings, I wasn’t weak from hunger the way my sisters were. I chalked that up to my past experiences with starving.
None of them had the energy to get dressed, so I just grabbed their swimsuit coverups. I pulled mine over my head, then grabbed the van’s keys. My sisters all piled in, sagging against doors and windows, so I took the driver’s seat.
“How do you do this all the time?” Izzy asked me, mumbling the words from where her face was pressed to the passenger window.
“I don’t like kissing strangers,” I said with a shrug.
“Kissing is fun,” Zora grumbled.
“There will be plenty of vampires to kiss at the Manor,” I said.
It wasn’t a guarantee, but I had to be hopeful. Otherwise, the fear might break me.
We made it to the parking lot soon enough, and my eyes widened as I pulled in.
There wasn’t a small protective team waiting for us—there were lines of at least three dozen vampires on the sidewalk and in the road.
Before I could pull into a parking space, one of the vampires waved me forward.
I hesitated, and Izzy groaned, “Follow the bastard. We need to eat him. Eat from him. Eat—argh.” She groaned against the window.
“You’re almost done starving,” I promised, pulling up to the guy and stopping when he held out a hand. I noticed an elegant black line around his neck, marking him as mated. “Doesn’t his mate mark look like the lady’s who took Clem away?”
“Who cares?” Zora muttered.
I bit back a grin.
Them being hangry was kind of hilarious. If they hadn’t been underwater for multiple days, I probably would’ve been tired of it, but I’d barely spoken to them since their hunger set in.
I parked the minivan and unrolled my window. “Blair Davidson?” he asked.
“And my sisters,” I agreed.
He lifted a hand to his ear, and I noticed some kind of communication device. “I’ve got it, cool down,” he murmured, then flashed me a small smile. “We’ll take your vehicle from here. Go ahead and get out.”
“Thanks.” I unbuckled, grabbing my sisters’ swimsuit coverups off the floor by their feet. “My sisters are starving, so I’m sorry in advance for the barrage of desire you and your team are about to feel. Just try to ignore it.”
The guy winced, lifting his hand back to his ear. “Fine,” he growled under his breath. “Are you not starving as well, Blair?” he asked, his voice strained.
My forehead creased. “I don’t know why it matters to you, but I haven’t eaten since they have. I’m just used to being hungry.”
And just craving one meal in particular.
I pulled the back door open and dragged Zora out of her seat. Her little red bikini threatened to pop off entirely, so I pulled her floor-length coverup dress over her head.
He relaxed. “Good to know. I’m Egan, by the way. You met my mate, Louise, the last time you were here.”
“I thought your mate mark looked like hers.” I grabbed Avery’s hand to help her out after Zora was leaned up against the door. Her swimsuit was a tight one-piece that covered more skin, but she was dazed too, so I helped her into the plaid button-up she usually threw on with her suit.
Izzy, thankfully, got out of the car herself. She was leaning heavily against the front of the van, though, and her sporty bikini did little to hide her from the view of the now-horny vampires staring hungrily at her.
Yikes.
“I’m going to need some help here,” I said apologetically. “Unless you have some guys willing to volunteer to feed us out here.”
Murmurs rolled through one of the lines, and Egan winced again, lifting his hand back to his ear and growling something that sounded like, “Shut the fuck up.”
He cleared his throat and said, “Hale isn’t a fan of that idea. I have a few mated males who can carry your sisters in, if you’re comfortable with it. Since you seem alright, it would be better if you walked.”
So King Hale was the one on the other end of the line.
Interesting.
Considering how annoyed his right-hand man seemed, it probably wasn’t a good omen for us.
“That would be great, thank you,” I said anyway. “And I’m fine with walking, but I don’t quite have the energy to match vampire speed right now.”
I needed to play nice if I was going to try to get information about Damian from Egan, and I did need to try. Though I was surviving, I really did have to feed soon.
“No problem. Vampire speed is prohibited on the path up to the Manor anyway, for security reasons.”
“The chase instinct?” I checked.
“Yep.”
I nodded, and a few vampires scooped up my sisters. Then, we headed down the path.
A few minutes down the sidewalk, my legs started getting shaky.
I couldn’t afford to wait any longer before asking him.
“Do you know any vampires named Damian who live in the city?” I asked Egan, and felt multiple sets of eyes land on me.
He glanced sideways at me. “Why?”
My face warmed a little. “I met him at a nightclub a few weeks ago, and we seemed compatible. Feeding-wise.” I added the last bit, just to make it sound less weird. I really needed their help if I was going to find him.
“I can ask around,” Egan said vaguely.
My hope dwindled a little.
I was going to have to feed from someone else.
Dammit.
“Thanks.” I tried not to get emotional about it. Damian had promised no strings attached, so he probably didn’t want to feed me again anyway.
By the time we reached the Manor, I was leaning heavily on Egan to stay upright. He didn’t seem to want to help me, but the alternative was to leave me on my ass on the sidewalk. Luckily, he seemed against that.
The vampires marched right past the reception area, and Johnny waved at me. I waved back, and Egan swore under his breath.
“Try not to wave at people,” he gritted out.
I flashed him a look. “Why not?”
“Just… never mind.” He muttered another curse.
“I could ask someone else to help me,” I said.
“No, you can’t.” He made it sound like it would literally be impossible.
I opened my mouth to do just that, but before I could, we stepped through the doors and into the vampire wing of the Manor.
Insanely tall windows with gleaming white paint on the walls between them filled my view. The stone tile beneath my feet was a charcoal gray so dark it was nearly black, and the glimmering obsidian bits within gave it insane depth.
The furniture we passed was sleek but looked comfortable and worn, and the people in the hallway looked curious enough to make me think their king wasn’t a tyrant. If he’d been a dictator, they would’ve been scared.
And he probably wouldn’t have offered to help us.
Then again, he hadn’t offered to help us. He’d just sort of… summoned us.
Maybe I’d gotten excited too soon. He could very well still turn us away. Or use us the same way Curtis wanted to.
We made it through two endless-feeling hallways and down half of another one before we finally reached a set of huge doors.
That seemed to be a pattern in the Manor, not that it surprised me. A building that gorgeous deserved doors to match.
Two of the guards opened the doors, and Egan all but dragged me inside. Though I was still on my feet, he was holding most of my weight.
My gaze moved over the large, mostly-empty room. Why was it so empty? It looked like a… well, a throne room. But where was the…
My eyes lifted up a few steps, and landed on a gigantic chair that looked like it was worth more than our minivan.
It was definitely a throne room.
My gaze finally landed on the man sitting on the edge of the throne, and I swear, my heart dropped into my stomach.
I knew that dark hair.
That blue, button-up shirt.
Those piercing eyes.
“Damian?” I asked.
“Damian Hale ,” the man on the throne said, his eyes moving slowly down my figure. “I’ve been looking for you, little siren.”
Shit.
Holy shit.
“You had my phone number and left my sisters and I starving , so you must not have been looking hard,” I finally said.
He chuckled, not looking away from me for a moment. “Egan, clear the room.”
“She can hardly stand, Hale. Her sisters passed out in our guards’ arms half an hour ago.”
His eyes narrowed in on the place Egan was holding me up.
He was on his feet and down the stairs in a heartbeat, and then his arms were on my waist instead of Egan’s. “Wake them up and let them choose from the volunteers,” he said. “After you clear the room.”
Egan grumbled something that sounded like an insult, but he and everyone else filed out.
I looked past him, watching my sisters go. “What are you going to do to them after they feed? You still haven’t agreed to protect us.”
“I’m getting there.”
“I don’t see why everyone had to leave for you to—ohh.” I groaned into his mouth when his lips captured mine. My magic kicked in immediately, and his emotions flooded me.
Thrill.
Hope.
Desire.
Need.
Desperation.
Fear.
He still tasted amazing.
His magic relaxed me so much I couldn’t help but lean in, kissing him deeply as I took more and more.
I pulled away as soon as I could, panting near violently. My fingers were fisted in his shirt again, wrinkling the smooth fabric. His were in my hair.
“At least you managed not to bite me that time,” I managed, between deep breaths in.
He chuckled, his voice low and rich. “Don’t get used to it.”
My forehead creased. “What do you?—”
“You need protection,” he said. “I need you .”
I blinked.
“You’re my blood mate, Blair. I realized the moment I tasted you in the club, but you left before I could stop you.”
I blinked again. “Blood mate, as in…”
“As in, your blood can free me from the desperate hunger I feel constantly as a vampire.”
“Oh. That.”
“Yes, that.”
“What are you proposing, exactly?” I asked, my breathing finally growing steady.
“A mate bond.”
My heart nearly stopped. “A what ?”
“A mate bond, Blair. A marriage. You become my mate, and I protect you and your sisters indefinitely.”
Fuck.
“And what if I refuse?”
“Then you have no one to protect you.” His words were careful. “And considering the conversation I had with Clementine about exactly who’s coming after you, I don’t think you have a choice. I’m a fair leader; you can find out that much from my people alone. Curtis and I don’t get along.”
“So I get to choose between spending my life mated to you, or letting my sister be used by a werewolf who I watched kill a bartender just because she made him angry.”
He hesitated just a beat.
It was such a small moment, I thought I might’ve imagined it.
“Yes,” he said.
“Fuck you.” I shoved his chest.
He took a step back, but didn’t release his hold on my waist.
“I would be trapped here, with you, for the rest of my life.”
“You would.”
“What about my sisters?”
“They can come and go as they wish, though it will never be completely safe to do so until they’ve taken mates.”
“Will you force or manipulate them into mating with any of your vampires?” I demanded.
“Of course not. If my vampires want siren mates, they need to win them over themselves.”
I let out a harsh breath. “Fine. Seeing as I have no other choice, I’ll do it. Let’s make the vows.” I lifted my hand to his throat, but he caught my wrist before I could touch him.
“I’m empathetic enough to your situation to give you some time to consider it. Wearing my mark on your throat willingly is enough for me right now.”
“Fine,” I repeated, the word coming out clipped. “Do your worst.”
He lifted one of his hands to my throat and pressed his palm to my skin lightly. When he leaned in, his lips brushed my ear as he murmured, “You are mine, little siren.”
The magic that accompanied the words rolled over my neck and down my chest. My body arched as it slowly spread over the rest of me, drawing me toward the man who’d just marked me as his.
Damian dragged his fingertips lightly over the sensitive skin there, and my hips jerked a little. With a soft growl, he pulled me against him harder.
He inhaled against the side of my throat—then without warning, bit down.
I gasped as the tidal wave of his magic crashed into me, flooding every part of me. Ultimate relaxation melded with hot, intense pleasure, and I grabbed his shirt to anchor myself again.
There was no pain, this time.
Not even a brief moment when he first bit me.
I felt nothing but calm desire, a monstrous swell of need, and the absolute fire of knowing I was exactly where I belonged.
In his arms.
Beneath his fangs.
Giving him what he needed.
When he released my neck, dragging his tongue over the mark he’d left on me, I finally started coming back to my senses.
I shoved him away again.
“Fuck you, Hale ,” I snarled.
“If that’s an invitation, I accept,” he said without batting an eye.
Fury, outrage, and a little bit of sadness burned in my veins. “You can’t just bite me whenever you want.”
“I can, and I will. And you’ll do the same when you need to feed from me.”
“Go to hell.” My hands trembled, and I turned to storm out of the room.
He caught me before I reached the door, stepping between me and my escape route. His eyes were even brighter than usual, and his shoulders were relaxed in a way that surprised me. “You’re sharing my bedroom. Don’t try to convince me otherwise.”
“Any other helpful advice?” I bit out.
“Don’t run from me.”
“Wasn’t planning on it.”
“Our room’s on the top floor. Only one of the elevators can get you there. The black one, furthest from the entrance. Level fourteen. The code is 0615. If you’re not there when I go to bed, I will find you.”
I growled, but bit back yet another useless argument.
He had all of the power.
I turned to leave again—but he stopped me once more with a hand to my hip. I didn’t turn around, but he didn’t try to turn me around.
“You’ll want to go see the pool soon. The entrance is on the eleventh floor.”
When he released my hip, I finally managed to leave the throne room.
As soon as the doors were shut, I collapsed against them, sucking in a breath and squeezing my eyes shut.
What had I just agreed to?