Night's Promise(98)
“You must have questions,” Derek said. “What do you want to know?”
“Nothing. I don’t intend to be a vampire very long.”
“Right. Pearl’s formula. The one you wouldn’t let me drink.”
“Maybe I should have.”
“Well, I’ve got news for you, sweetheart. I’m not letting you drink it, either.”
“You can’t stop me!”
“Can’t I?” He jerked her to a stop, then cupped her chin in his hand, forcing her to look at him.
She had felt touches of his preternatural power before, but never anything like this. It crashed over her like a wave, stealing the breath from her body, the strength from her limbs.
“I made you,” he said. “If I want, I can control your every thought, your every move. Do we understand each other?”
“I hate you.”
“So you said. Hate me all you want, love. But you’re not taking that formula.”
He transported the two of them to her house, stood behind her while she unlocked the door.
She crossed the threshold, then turned, blocking his way. “I rescind your invitation,” she said, her voice thick with triumph.
He snorted softly as he stepped across the threshold. After closing the door, he leaned against it. “Lesson number one. I’m your sire. You can’t keep me out.” Following her into the living room, he said, “Lesson number two. You need to feed every night for the first year or so. I will teach you how it’s done.”
Sheree flopped onto the sofa, her arms folded across her chest.
“Lesson number three. Holy water and silver will burn you. Fire will destroy you. A stake in the heart will kill you. Lesson number four. Other vampires are your enemy.” He dropped into the chair across from the sofa. “We do not share territory willingly. Master vampires, like Mara, will fight to the death to defend what is theirs.”
“What about your family?” She didn’t want to ask him anything, but she had to know. “They all get along.”
Derek stretched his legs out in front of him, elbows resting on the arms of the chair, fingers interlocked. “The Cordova family seems to be the exception to the rule. I think it has to do with the fact that they truly are family.”
“Like you and Mara.”
He nodded. “Exactly. And you’re part of our family, whether you like it or not.”
“Am I going to meet them?”
“I think that might be a good idea.”
“I still hate you,” she said.
“Yeah, I got that.”
“Is it okay if I go to my room now, master?”
“It’s your house.”
She glowered at him, then flounced up the stairs.
“I can live with your hatred, heart of mine,” he murmured. “But I can’t live without you.”
Derek took Sheree hunting at Nosferatu’s Den the next night. She had expected to hate it, to be clumsy. Embarrassed. But it came all too easily.
She chose a single man at the bar, one who was attractive and smelled clean. She called to him with her mind and as simple as that, he was hers.
Derek followed the two of them outside, stood behind her as she bent over the man’s neck. She hesitated a moment, but the temptation of his blood could not be denied.
“Careful,” Derek said. “You don’t have to bite hard. Your fangs are razor sharp.”
A gentle nip was all it took.
“Not too much,” Derek warned. “If you drink your fill, you’ll kill him.”
She fed from three different men.
“They all taste different,” she mused as they left the Den. “Why is that?”
Derek shrugged. “Different blood types, different diets.”
“What if they’re sick? How will I know?”
“You’d know, but you needn’t worry about catching anything. You’re immune to human disease.”
When they reached her house, she bid him a frosty good night and went to her room. It was like being a prisoner in her own home, she thought irritably, knowing he was downstairs. She was a big, bad vampire now. She didn’t need a keeper.
She was trying to read when Derek opened the door and poked his head into the room. “Tomorrow night,” he said.
“Tomorrow night, what?”
“I’m taking you to Mara’s to meet the rest of the family.”
Before she could say yes or no, he dissolved into mist and was gone.
She couldn’t help feeling a little nervous at the prospect of meeting Derek’s vampire family. What if they didn’t like her? What if she didn’t like them?
In an effort to put her fears out of her mind, she tried to dissolve into mist. Derek seemed to do it without any effort at all. Why couldn’t she? She had tried on several occasions when she was alone in her room, but, try as she might, nothing happened. Had her sire done something to prevent it?