chapter 30
The scream came from downstairs, catapulting Quinn out of bed. Rose, whose warm body had been molded against his, woke simultaneously. Exchanging a worried look, they recognized immediately who had screamed.
“Blake!”
Jumping up, Quinn snatched his pants off the floor and pulled them on, not bothering with underwear or anything else. A split-second later he was out the door, knowing Rose wouldn’t be far behind him. He charged down the stairs and past the other guestrooms. Doors opened as he flew past them, voices chasing his rapid descent to the first floor.
The scent of human blood now reached his nostrils.
“Shit!”
Had Keegan managed to gain access to the house? It should be impossible: Wesley and Nina were supposed to be keeping watch during the day to alert them should anybody approach the house.
Panicked, Quinn almost collided with Wesley who came running from the living room.
“Is it Keegan?” Quinn asked without slowing down.
“Nobody got in,” Wesley claimed, following him.
Voices and footsteps from the other residents filled the previously quiet house.
Quinn kicked the kitchen door open and barreled in. He rocked to an abrupt halt when his eyes quickly assessed the situation.
“Oliver! F*ck!”
His prodigy had his fangs lodged deep in Blake’s neck as the latter struggled against the attack, his eyes open and drenched in fear and panic.
Quinn rushed to them and clamped his hands around Oliver’s arms, holding him immobile. He couldn’t simply pull him away from Blake or he would risk tearing his grandson’s neck open.
“Release him! Withdraw your fangs! Now! I command you as your sire!”
A low growl came from Oliver.
“Do it, son,” Quinn urged more quietly. “You don’t want to hurt him. I know you don’t.”
Slowly, Oliver’s shoulders relaxed, and Quinn felt him shift his head backwards, away from Blake’s neck. From the corner of his eye he saw that the kitchen was quickly getting crowded. The scream had woken everybody.
“Oh, God, no!” Rose screamed as she pushed past him and reached for Blake.
As Quinn pulled his prodigy away from his grandson, he looked at the damage he’d done. The incisions on Blake’s neck were deep and bleeding profusely. Blake instantly pressed his hand against it, but he was swaying.
Pushing Oliver behind him, Quinn barked out an order, “Cain, Amaury, take care of Oliver.”
Then he reached for Blake. Simultaneously, he and Rose caught him before he could fall. But Blake struggled even against them, fear and distrust coloring his eyes.
“Don’t touch me!” he yelled, trying to pull away from them.
“He’s bleeding so much!” Rose’s eyes brimmed with tears.
Quinn slid his hand over Blake’s, slowly prying it away from his neck. Rose was right; there was a lot of blood loss. It had to be stopped immediately.
“Don’t be afraid, Blake, I’m not going to hurt you. I’ll seal the wound.”
Blake wildly shook his head, trying to get away from him. “No! Oh, God, no! Shit!”
“Hold his head still, Rose.”
As Rose put her hands on Blake’s head, his eyes shot to her. “You too? You’re all like him aren’t you?” he cried out in desperation.
Not losing any time, Quinn lowered his mouth to Blake’s wound and let his tongue snake out. Quickly and efficiently he licked over the site. Twice, until he felt that the wound had closed due to the healing effects of his saliva. The bleeding stopped instantly.
Just as quickly, he pulled back from Blake, not wanting to cause him any more distress. He caught Rose’s pleading look when he straightened.
“Wipe his memory,” she urged.
A frightened widening of Blake’s eyes together with a shocked gasp, made Quinn contemplate her request for longer than he should. Then he slowly shook his head.
“I think he has a right to know.”
“No!” Rose’s protest was instantaneous.
Reaching for her, Quinn sent a silent plea to her. “It’s for his own safety. We can’t keep on wiping his memory whenever he sees something he shouldn’t. He needs to know what’s going on.”
When she squeezed his hand and gave a little nod, he knew she had finally seen reason.
“But I’ll be the one telling him.”
Then she turned to Blake again, whose entire face was a mask of worry and fear. As soon as she loosened her grip on him, he jerked back from her.
“Now, now, son,” Quinn tried to calm him, still holding onto his upper arms. “Just stay calm. Nobody wants to hurt you. We’re all here to protect you.”
Blake’s doubtful look darted past him. Quinn turned his head and saw that Cain and Amaury were talking soothingly to Oliver, who looked devastated. He caught Oliver’s look.
“I’m so sorry, Quinn. I didn’t mean to disappoint you. I couldn’t help it. The temptation . . . ” Oliver dropped his head and turned away.
“We’ll talk about it later,” he assured his prodigy and turned back to Blake. “Why don’t you sit down, Blake.”
Wesley pulled a chair to assist.
Quinn shot him a quick look. “And weren’t you supposed to keep an eye on him during the day?”
“If your grandson wouldn’t be such an ass, it would be easier not to avoid his company,” Wesley griped. “But if he keeps on pissing people off by invading their privacy—”
“That’s enough,” Quinn interrupted.
“Grandson?” Blake croaked. “What the f*ck?”
Quinn looked at Rose who pulled another chair and slunk into it. Now eyelevel with Blake, she leaned closer. Instinctively, Blake shrunk farther back into his.
Blake watched them with suspicion. His hand went to his neck where Oliver had bitten him, yet the skin was now flawless as if it had never happened. It was freaky to say the least. But he knew what he’d seen: Oliver had fangs, and that made him a vampire.
And if he was one, then the others had to be vampires too. When Quinn and Rose had held him while Quinn had licked his wound to seal it, he’d felt the same kind of supernatural strength from them as Oliver had displayed.
Shit! How could vampires exist and how the f*ck had he gotten mixed up with them?
“Blake, honey,” Rose suddenly started. “There’s something you need to know. We’re vampires, but—”
“No shit!” he interrupted. He’d figured that out in the last thirty seconds himself. There couldn’t possibly be anything new she could tell him now. “The cat’s out of the bag.”
And now that he knew their secret, what would they do with him? He cast an assessing look at the assembled crowd. Nobody was missing. Amaury and Cain were huddled with Oliver who had turned away so Blake couldn’t see his face anymore. Zane stood at the door as if wanting to make sure nobody entered or left the kitchen. Thomas and Eddie were frowning. Nina looked concerned, while Wesley had a defiant look on his face.
Jerk! He was ready to bet his first paycheck that Wesley had purposefully not come running to his aid, because he was still pissed off about that stupid book. For good measure, Blake glared at him before looking back at Rose.
“Blake, please remain calm. I’m sorry you had to find out this way. I wish I could have spared you this, but—” Her gaze strayed to Quinn, who answered with an encouraging nod. “—you need to know who we are. Quinn and I, we’re your great-great-great-great-grandparents. You’re our flesh and blood, and we’d do anything to keep you safe.”
As Blake pushed back in his chair, its legs scraped on the tile floor, making an eerie sound in the kitchen. Nobody was saying anything, as if they were all waiting for his reaction.
“Bullshit!” He reared up from his seat and instantly swayed, gripping the backrest for support. Clearly, the blood loss was still affecting him.
But his mind was sharper than ever. They were vampires, all right, but no way in hell was he related to any of them.
“I’m no bloodsucker!” he protested. “I’m not like you!”
“Of course not,” Quinn interrupted calmly. “You’re entirely human, because Rose’s and my daughter was conceived and born when we were both still human, back in 1814. Rose and I became vampires after that.”
Blake looked at him, allowing his eyes to inspect his face, then did the same with Rose. The two looked nothing like anybody in his family. And besides, they looked younger than him!
“You’re barely 25!”
Unexpectedly, Rose smiled at him. “One of the advantages of being a vampire: you don’t age.” She exchanged a warm smile with Quinn. “We’ll always look as young as the day we were turned.”
“Well I knew that, of course! I watch movies. I’m not stupid,” Blake quickly replied. “But that doesn’t mean we’re related. So spit it out, what do you want from me?” He glared at them, then motioned his head toward Oliver. “Cause I already know what he wanted. And he’s not getting it. I’d rather slit my own throat!”
Because nobody could ever find out that he’d found Oliver’s bite arousing as hell. That’s why he’d fought him with all he had. Because, f*ck, he was no homo! He loved women, one hundred percent, and no f*cking bloodsucker would ever get another chance at making him doubt his sexuality. No f*cking way!
For good measure, he glared at the other two gays in the room: Thomas and Eddie. No matter how masculine the two had looked when he’d met them the day before, all dressed in their biker gear, there was no doubt in Blake’s mind that the two were queer.
When Rose suddenly stood up from her chair and took a step toward him, he shrank back, hitting the kitchen counter behind him. As much as he didn’t want to display fear in front of these predators, he couldn’t help himself. He was outnumbered, and that alone freaked him out.
“Men in Black, my ass,” he murmured under his breath. “More like Dracula.”
“It’s the truth. Quinn and I are your ancestors. And you’re here because somebody wants to take revenge on me by hurting you. That’s why we had to come up with this ruse; so we could protect you twenty-four-seven.”
He shook his head, because he didn’t want to believe it. It changed nothing about the facts. They were what they were. And somehow he had to get away from them. Outsmart them, since fighting them was not an option. There were too many of them. And if they were all as strong as Oliver, Quinn, and Rose, he had a snowball’s chance in hell at landing even a single punch.
Mixed emotions battled for supremacy inside him, stirring him up. He’d never been so confused in his entire life. While fear for his immediate future was still at the forefront of his thoughts, other emotions invaded. Confusion and disbelief were paramount, but annoyance crept in too. They’d tricked him into believing that he’d landed a fabulous job, when they’d lied to him from the start.
He felt like an idiot that he hadn’t spotted their deception any earlier. Hell, they’d fed him all kinds of crap, and he’d eaten it up like it was mother’s milk!
“I’m not stupid, you know!” he ground out.
“Nobody says you are,” Rose cooed, her soft tone only underscoring that she thought him to be a dimwit.
When she reached for him, he recoiled from her touch. At any other time, he would have welcomed her hand on his skin, but not now. And hell, if she was really his great-great-whatever than the fact that he’d thought her hot was just utterly gross and disgusting!
“Don’t touch me!”
He tossed a warning look at the vampires that all stared at him like he was food and they were starving. Instinctively, he pressed his hand to the spot where Oliver had bitten him only minutes earlier. Shit, they were all after his blood.
“Nobody will hurt you,” Quinn assured him. “Oliver is young, he hasn’t learned yet how to control himself. It won’t happen again, I swear it.”
“You’re right about that!” Because he’d be out of here as soon as he could find a way to escape. He had no intention of waiting around until the next one of them got hungry and took a bite out of him. Not even if that hottie Nina was the one to do it.
Blake thrust his chin up in a show of defiance, when inside him everything was crumbling. He’d put all his hopes into this new endeavor. When he’d moved to San Francisco, he’d hoped to finally find something that interested him, a job he could dig into and make his own. For a few short days he’d believed himself in luck. Scanguards probably didn’t even exist. It wouldn’t surprise him if the whole things was some front for a criminal operation. No wonder Quinn had made it sound so mysterious. And been so secretive.
“Are you feeling better?” Quinn suddenly asked.
Blake shrugged. “How do you want me to feel? You imprison me here under some pretense and then you let one of your guys attack me.” He pointed at Oliver. “He would have drained me!”
Oliver whirled around to face him. “I said I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do it. I told you to run, I did . . . ”
“Don’t think I didn’t try,” he shot back.
Quinn shot a surprised look at Oliver. “You used mind control to paralyze him?”
Oliver shook his head. “I didn’t. I don’t even know how yet.”
“I suppose your instincts kicked in.” Then Quinn looked back at him. “As I said, I’ll make sure Oliver behaves from now on. And from the rest of us, you have nothing to fear either. We don’t attack humans.”
He wanted to believe it, for his own sanity’s sake, but when Blake looked at the other vampires, his gaze fell on Zane. There was something mean looking about him, and he knew that he never wanted to meet that guy in a dark alley. Something told him that he was dangerous. No, he wasn’t safe here, even if Quinn and Rose tried to convince him of it. Even if they were his 4th great-grandparents.
“I don’t feel so good right now,” he pressed out.
“Of course, the blood loss,” Rose agreed quickly. “Why don’t you lie down in your room a little, and when you’ve rested, we’ll talk more, okay?”
He nodded, then looked toward the kitchen door. Without saying anything, the others parted to make way for him. Zane even held the door open for him until he’d stepped through it.
Blake briefly eyed the front door at the end of the corridor, but remembering how quickly Oliver had moved when he’d attacked him, he knew that even a mad dash for it wouldn’t succeed. He’d never reach it in time.
But he wouldn’t give up.
Determined to find a way out, he walked upstairs, leaving the vampires and their quiet murmurs behind.