She reached out and squeezed his knee, and a jolt of electricity shot up his leg. “Oh, Garrett, I’m so sorry. What a terrible thing for your family to go through. How did you escape?”
“We had to go into hiding.”
The rush of memories forced him to swallow hard. He refocused his attention on his hot and sour soup instead. She didn’t press him, and he was grateful.
After he finished his soup, he continued, “Our only hope was to get over the border to Hungary where we’d be safe, but the villagers followed us. We tried to hide in abandoned shacks and caves, but I grew weaker, and we were starving. I knew I was going to die. The only thing I cared about was saving my family.”
Her chest rose and fell as though she needed to get something out.
“What is it? Gillian? Please, talk to me.”
“We share a brutal history. My great-grandfather was Gilles Howe, the only male accused of witchcraft and later pressed to death back in Salem,” she said in a soft voice. “Was there anyone who tried to help you, anyone who realized that you and your family were innocent victims in all of this?”
He stared into her beautiful face and wanted so much to be the kind of man she could see herself with, not the monster he had become. “A local blacksmith and his wife took mercy on us and let us sleep in their root cellar, but I knew deep down it would just be a matter of time before the villagers found us. They were out for blood and wouldn’t rest until they chopped off my head and drove a stake through my coffin. The blacksmith and his wife devised a plan to get us safely to the border, but it was too risky. There was a very good chance we’d all end up dead. That’s when Malcom showed up.” A thick silence settled over them.
“Did you know he was a vampire?” Her brown eyes grew wide. He’d never been with a woman this easy to talk to. In all his years of courting, he’d never felt the need to until now.
“Not right away. I’d see him around the village—in and out of the pubs. I just knew there was something unusual about him. I never imagined that vampires could be real, let alone that he was one of the most powerful ones. The night before we were supposed to escape, I snuck out of the cellar. I was close to death. I wanted one last look at the stars and the feel of rain on my skin. That’s when Malcom approached me. I didn’t realize it at the time, but he was an Ancient traveling through Europe, trying to turn as many males as he could.”
She stiffened beside him on the chair. “Why? What did he get out of turning men into vampires?”
“I discovered later he was an aristocrat who lost his title and all his money,” he muttered. “It turns out he was a greedy bastard and needed a way to live the lifestyle he’d grown accustomed to. Malcom showed me what he was and made a deal with me, one I’d live to regret. He vowed to get my family safely over the border if I agreed to let him turn me.”
The only sound came from the crackle of the fire and her soft, shallow breaths.
“After he turned you, what did he want from you?” She motioned with one of her chopsticks, digging into the veggie lo mein.
“He ran a business and wanted me to work for him as a kind of apprentice. I soon learned there were other vampires like him looking for women to bond with. Back then this kind of thing was quite lucrative, especially for women who didn’t have good prospects for marriage or those who couldn’t get work in other fields.” When she grew silent, panic began to set in. “Say something, Gillian. I need to know what you’re thinking.” He half expected her to recoil in horror, but she surprised him when her expression changed from shock to compassion. Warmth filled his chest.
“I’m thinking you did what was needed to save your family.” She set the carton on the coffee table and wiped her hands on a napkin. “No one could fault you. What choice did you have? Stop blaming yourself.”
“You say that now, but you haven’t heard the rest of the story.” He let out a pent-up breath, amazed at how easily he could confide in her. Since the day she’d walked into his home, she turned his dark, dreary world into a place of light and beauty. “Malcom kept his promise and delivered my family safely to Hungary. I couldn’t check on them right away because the first few months of the transition are very difficult. The fact is many end up dying from the toll it takes on the body. The thirst for blood is so consuming you can’t see straight. I thought I’d go out of my mind from the craving.”
Her brow creased in concern. “You’ve been through so much. I had no idea.”
“When I could finally control my urge to bite anyone with a pulse, I held up my end of the bargain and found a willing young woman who’d fallen on desperate times. She was looking for a way to earn some fast money. I sent her to Malcom and prayed I wouldn’t be damned for eternity.” He lifted his glass to his lips and took another sip.
She paled. “What happened?”
“He blood bonded with her and offered her up as chattel to the highest bidder.” He raked a hand through his hair. They’d just started to get to know each other. Now he risked whatever solid ground they’d gained. But he wouldn’t lie to her. “In some cases, when a bond is broken, it can lead to madness. The selfish bastard tired of her, leaving her to go mad. I was sick with what I’d done and confronted him.”
Her jaw dropped. “You confronted the most powerful vampire in the world?” Gillian whispered. “Weren’t you afraid he might kill you?”
“No, not at that point. I think I wanted to die for what I’d done to an innocent woman,” he said, shaking his head. “But Malcom did something far worse than kill me. He bragged that he’d done the same thing to my sister. It was all a sick game to him. I found out later that he’d turned entire families into blood slaves and took twisted pleasure in destroying them.”
She gaped at him, opening her mouth and closing it again like she wanted to say something, but then thought better of it. Curiosity flickered in those warm eyes of hers. “Do all humans who blood bond with a vampire go mad if that bond is broken?”
“Not always. It happens with some. I can only compare it to the same predisposition of those who become addicted to alcohol or drugs. Once a blood bond takes hold, there’s no denying an emotional connection, as well as a constant thirst for blood.”
For several agonizing minutes, neither of them said a word. The air became thick, snapping with sexual tension.
A few bites of lo mein and then she asked, “What about Malcom? Did you ever go after him all those years ago for what he did to your sister?”
“I went to Hungary and found my family. My parents couldn’t take the pain and shame of it all. They’d already endured my death and were still fragile. I wasn’t thinking clearly and showed up at their door.” Reliving that fateful night, even after all these years, made his gut clench with pain. “When they saw me, they realized what I’d become. The shock was too great. My father had a stroke and died, and my mother went shortly thereafter from a heart attack.”
Gillian sucked in a breath. “What a horrible way to lose your family. You didn’t deserve it, Garrett. No wonder you hate him. You can’t blame yourself for what happened. It was all just a terrible tragedy.”
“I hold Malcom responsible for killing them. I tried to find him to enact my revenge, but he was gone.” Garrett rubbed a hand over his face. “I followed him through Europe for years, but I never found him. I moved around a lot. I lived in France, then Ireland, where I decided to finally change my name, hoping to put the past behind me. Around the turn of the century, I gave up searching for him and came to America to start fresh. I’m glad I did, or I would've never crossed paths with you.”
