“I can feel your years. As I explained before, my ability is related to the age of a vampire. With older vampires, I can feel their age and power. I know we all have a sense of power, but mine is more precise. WhileI can read the thoughts of a newborn, it does not help me with older vampires.” The way he spoke was much older than his appearance, and I didn’t question that he was more powerful than he would completely admit. “Like you, I don’t know the exact time I was changed. Time was different then and not measured as accurately. But my life began in a small village in what is now Romania. Long before you were created.” He grinned up at me.
“How did you end up here?” Blake asked.
“That is another story for another night. Tonight, we find the vampire who murdered your mate,” he said to me.
Blake explained all he knew about how he’d dug me up and let me feed from him, how I’d lied about not needing much blood, but he still wanted to help. He wasn’t compelled by me. I wanted him to choose.
“I hated knowing that anyone related to me could be so evil, and I needed to make it right. But I never thought I’d be drawn to Marlon that way. Especially the way he looked at first.” He gave me a guilty look, but he wasn’t lying.
“Even as a human, your bond was there,” Elias said.
“In a way, but it’s different now. I can—feel him,” Blake said.
“You are tied together in many ways. An unbreakable bond caused by a vampire who did not understand it,” Elias said.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Who is the vampire you hunt?” Elias asked.
“I thought he was meant to be my mate,” I admitted.
“Even though you seem old in human years, you are young for a vampire. Most never find their mate, and many more never try. There are humans who are aware of us and the powers we possess. Being immortal has its advantages, and humans like to think they want to live forever without ever thinking beyond the obvious,” Elias said. “There are humans who try to use us.”
“They pretend to be a mate?” Blake asked, but my mind raced.
“He couldn’t have fooled me so easily.” Since Blake had dug me up, nothing was clear. My mind didn’t work the way it once had, and my time underground was lost. I was cut off from all sensation except the dirt that surrounded me.
“Your body and mind will heal with time. Being alone for so long, unable to feed, would weaken even the strongest of us. I suspect the human you trusted was one of those who try to take our powers. You said you did not change him?”
“No, he tried to take it for himself.” I explained what Josiah had done and how I had nothing to do with it willingly.
“The silver could have caused you to not remember and since you had no way to dilute it for so long it may take a while for your mind to sharpen again. We will know the real truth when we find him,” Elias said.
“If I get to him first, he won’t be able to talk,” I said.
Blake drove through the night mostly in silence. I needed to feel him, to know he was safe and that nothing had changed between us. Even though I knew the only thing that had changed was the passenger that rode between us, but doubt filled my thoughts. Blake took an exit and pulled off to the side before getting out of the truck and hurrying to my door and pulling it open.
“We’re fine. Nothing could change the way I feel for you, Marlon. No matter what we find out. I know this is all new to you same as it is for me. But you need to trust our bond. I can feel everything you feel.” He held my hand over his heart and meant every word he said. “Close your eyes.”
“What do you mean?”
“Trust me. Close your eyes.”
I did as he asked and forced myself to trust him. “Now feel me, open yourself to me.” He pulled me closer and rested his head against my chest. His feelings for me were all consuming. He loved me with everything in him. Far beyond our bond, and completely unbreakable. “Understand?”
“Yes, love. But we’re still going to kill that fucker,” I said.
“Now you sound more like me,” Blake said.
“Boys, we need to go if we’re going to gain some ground,” Elias said.
Blake kissed me before hurrying back to the driver’s seat. “My mate needed me,” he said.
“It seems you’re right,” Elias said as Blake turned around and headed back to the freeway.
Twenty-Three
Blake
