Bound By Blood

“I take it she knows I refused her offer,” Zack said dryly.

Kaitlyn shrugged. “It’s no big deal. It’s probably just as well.”

“Oh?” He lifted one brow. “Why is that?”

“Because she couldn’t keep her eyes off of you.”

“Don’t tell me you’re jealous?” Zack exclaimed, grinning.

“Of course not.” She moved past him, walking quickly to the stairs. “This floor has been remodeled,” she remarked when they reached the next level.

There were no windows down here, since this level was underground, but plenty of overhead lights to turn away the gloom.

“There used to be dormitories here and two large recreation rooms,” she said. “Of course, that was before my time. The dorms and one of the rec rooms were turned into individual bedrooms when my father took over.”

“You don’t have any reason to be jealous, you know,” Zack said when she refused to look at him.

“The second rec room is now a combination TV room and playroom.”

“All right, have it your way,” he said, amused by the fact that not only was she jealous of a mortal woman, but she refused to discuss it.

Zack peered into the playroom. There were rugs on the floor, boxes overflowing with toys, shelves filled with books and DVDs, a wall-mounted TV, several sofas, chairs, and tables, as well as a crib in one corner.

All the comforts of home, he thought as he followed Kaitlyn. Yet it still amazed him that there were humans willing to live among vampires, to trade their blood for a place to live. Bizarre. Totally bizarre.

“Our people live here,” Kaitlyn said when they reached the fourth level down.

There were no overhead lights down here. The corridor was dark. As dark as a tomb, Zack thought. Which, in a way, was what it was, at least when the sun was up. He glanced at the narrow door at the end of the long hallway and shivered in spite of himself, knowing it was the door to the dungeon below. How many people had died down there in ages past? It was obvious the vampires no longer kept prisoners locked up, since there had been no scent of fresh blood—other than his own.

When they returned to the main floor, Kaitlyn’s father was waiting for them. A woman with long black hair and beautiful brown eyes stood beside him. She looked enough like Kaitlyn to be her older sister.

The woman took a step forward, her hand extended. “Hello, Zack. I’m Kaitlyn’s mother, Elena.”

He shook her hand, his mind automatically brushing hers. He was surprised to find a mental block between them. Apparently, her husband had taught her how to shield her thoughts. “Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Sherrad.”

“Just Elena. We were on our way upstairs to watch a movie. Would you care to join us?”

Zack glanced at Kaitlyn, hoping she would decline. The thought of spending the evening with her father was less than appealing.

Unfortunately, Kaitlyn smiled at her mother and said, “Sure.”

“Come on,” Kaitlyn said, taking Zack by the hand. “Wait until you see this.”

He slid a wary glance in her direction as they passed through the narrow doorway that led up to the tower.

“Don’t worry,” she said with a reassuring smile.

Right, he thought. What was there to worry about?

As they climbed the stairs, he caught the sound of excited conversation and laughter, and the scent of . . . buttered popcorn?

He couldn’t hide his amazement when they entered a room filled with not only vampires, but men, women, and children. The room itself was something to see. Three of the walls and most of the ceiling were made of glass, affording a splendid view of the valley below and the star-studded sky above. A long table held bottles of wine, cans of soda, a variety of candy bars, and an enormous tub of popcorn. Rows of chairs took up most of the floor.

Standing there, Zack overheard conversations in several languages, including English. It wasn’t surprising. Vampires lived a long time. Learning new languages was a good way to while away the hours. He, himself, spoke Spanish, French, and German.

When the lights dimmed, people quickly took their seats.

Kaitlyn guided Zack to a pair of chairs in the back row. “This whole movie thing is a new addition,” she whispered. “My mom’s idea.”

Zack nodded. The sound of so many beating hearts didn’t bother him. He was used to it from spending his nights at the casino. But he could have done without the combined smells of popcorn, candy and soda, not to mention the stink of urine that came from an infant girl sitting on her mother’s lap in the row ahead of him.

Someone hit a switch. Sliding doors opened on the room’s one solid wall, revealing a large movie screen. A projector descended from the ceiling. The lights went out. And the movie began.

It was all Zack could do to keep from laughing out loud when he read the title. It was the old black-and-white film, Dracula, starring Bela Lugosi as the infamous Transylvanian count.

When the movie was over, the humans hustled their children off to bed. The vampires clustered around the table, uncorking the wine bottles which, as it turned out, didn’t hold wine at all.

A few of the vampires went off with the humans, apparently in the mood for something straight from the source.

“You’ve got an odd look on your face,” Kaitlyn remarked. “What are you thinking about?”

“How bizarre this all is.”

She glanced around the room. “Is it?”

“I wouldn’t expect you to think so, seeing as how you grew up here,” Zack replied. “But believe me, this is like some kind of... I don’t know . . . a fever dream, maybe.” He shook his head. “It just isn’t natural.”

“No,” she said slowly. “I guess it isn’t.”

Zack took her arm and they moved to the side as a couple of male vampires quickly folded up the chairs and put them away. The doors closed over the screen, the projector slid back up into the ceiling.

A woman with long red hair took a seat at the piano and began to play a waltz.

Drake took his wife into his arms and swept her onto the dance floor. Several other couples followed their lead.

Zack looked at Kaitlyn. “Shall we?”

“I’d love to.”

It felt good to be in his arms, but it was hard to relax when her parents were nearby, surreptitiously watching her every move. Determined not to let it bother her, she smiled at Zack, her stomach doing a crazy flip-flop when he smiled back.

“It’s like dancing among the stars, isn’t it?” she asked.

“Yeah. I thought the Skylight Room was pretty amazing, but this place beats everything I’ve ever seen.”

“You aren’t . . . you’re not going to leave, are you?”

“Not unless you go with me.”

“I love you, Zack.”

“I know, Katy darlin’.” Bending down, he kissed the tip of her nose. “I love you, too, although I don’t think your father will ever approve.”

She couldn’t argue with that, not when her father was scowling at her from across the room.

“Come on,” she said, taking Zack’s hand in hers. “Let’s go for a walk.”

It was a beautiful, clear night. Hand in hand, they strolled along a winding narrow path behind the Fortress that meandered through a copse of trees and opened into a lush green meadow.

Zack glanced back at the Fortress. It perched on the top of a craggy mountain like some medieval giant bird about to take flight. “Looks like Dracula’s castle,” he muttered. The only things missing were a full moon and a couple of wolves howling in the distance.

“It does not!”

“No? Take a good look. It wouldn’t surprise me to see Bela Lugosi peering out of one of the upstairs windows.”

“That’s my home you’re talking about,” Kaitlyn said, punching him on the arm.

“Ow!” He lifted his head as the breeze shifted, carrying with it the scent of prey. It aroused his innate instinct to hunt and stirred his hunger. “Katy, come hunting with me.”

Chapter 24

Kaitlyn stared at Zack. “What?”

“You heard me. Let’s go hunting together.”

She stared at him, speechless. Was he serious? A part of her was excited by the idea, another part was repelled. It was one thing to share blood with Zack in the intimacy of their relationship, quite another to feed from someone with him there, watching. Aside from sexual intercourse, which she had not yet experienced, she couldn’t imagine anything as intimate or private as hunting.

“Come on,” he coaxed, tugging on her hand. “It’ll be fun.”

“Fun!” she exclaimed. “You think hunting is fun?”

“Don’t you?”

She shook her head. It was necessary, it was satisfying, but it had never been fun.

“Have you ever gone hunting?” Zack asked. “Aside from those times with your father?”

“Rarely. It seems so . . . undignified. So . . . feral.” Truth be told, it embarrassed her.

He laughed softly. “Feral? Yeah, I guess hunting does tend to bring out the beast in me.” He stroked her cheek with his forefinger. “You don’t like that feeling of power, of being in total control?”

“Well, I’ve never really thought of it like that.” Hunting with her father had been remarkably civilized.

“And you call yourself a vampire!” Zack chided gently. “Come on, Katy, give in to your wild side.”

Hunting with Zack. How could she refuse? Just thinking about it awakened something buried deep within her, something that had been dormant for far too long.

He grinned, seeing the excitement in her eyes. “Stay close, Katy darlin’.”

“Zack, wait.”

“Come on, don’t tell me you’ve changed your mind?”

“What if . . . what if I can’t control myself? I don’t want to kill anyone.”

“Trust me. I won’t let that happen.”