Page 29 of Three Bites

“…like birds and bees?”

“Obviously not! Like vampires!”

“Geez, calm down, I was only trying to make the atmosphere a bit lighter,” Theo lifted his hands in surrender then took hold of a chair and sat on it backward, his head pillowed on his arms laying on the back of the chair. “So, where do we start?”

“Tristan explained some things but he was reluctant to talk about the bond? Can you shed some light on that?”

“Ah,” Theo and Matthias exchanged a meaningful look. “I see. To put it bluntly, vampirism can be passed to another person who is fed True Vampire’s blood. The change has to be willed by the True Vampire so it’s not something that can occur accidentally. However, intent, or even willingness, is not necessary on the part of the person being changed.”

Cold danced down my spine. But surely Tristan changed them with their permission?

“As such,” Theo continued. “Some of the people turned by True Vampires have been their victims, forced into a life after death they didn’t want and into servitude for their Sire. The True Vampires could keep their control by providing access to blood, information about our kind, connections to people in the know, and places where you wouldn’t be burned on a stake if you showed red eyes...”

“Or they could brainwash you into doing their bidding,” Matthias butted in.

“Matthias, I’m trying to be subtle here! It’s a process!” Theo scowled.

“Well, you said you were going to be blunt! Dancing around the truth is not being blunt!”

“Brainwashing?” I asked. If I looked like how I felt I had to be pale as a ghost.

“Shit,” Theo cursed. “You see... ah...”

“Just tell her,” Matthias said, his voice defeated. He curled away from me.

“A Sire’s bond to their Spawn means they can telepathically communicate with them, find them anywhere, summon them, and they can... force their actions,” Theo said quietly.

“Please, tell me Tristan never forced you to do anything with his powers,” I pleaded.

Theo’s lips thinned.

It was Matthias who answered.

“That would be a lie.” It felt like my whole world was crumbling, the carefully constructed view of the oldest vampire shattering apart. No wonder he didn’t want to tell me he made slaves out of the two younger men in front of me. But then Matthias continued. “Hediduse his powers on me and I’mgratefulfor that.”

I reached for him until he turned to face me and looked at me. I needed to see his face, his expression, for this.

“I was a soldier and Tristan saved me in the middle of a war. He didn’t want a brat of merely sixteen to hang around him but I gave him no choice. I pestered him until he took me under his wing and I left the country with him. He bestowed the gift upon me when I was twenty-nine and I decided my body was in the shape I wanted to keep forever. You know, I worked hard for all those muscles, I was strong and proud of it. But the change made me even stronger and it didn’t take away my nightmares like I had hoped it would. It was a bad combination and one day...” He closed his eyes but I knew it wasn’t to avoid me but to avoid something inside of himself. “One day I found myself with my hands around the throat of a poor maid who had startled me. I was so deep in my mind, in the grip of what I know nowadays is called PTSD, I would have killed her if not for Tristan forcing me to let her go.”

“He helped you,” I said, my fear vanishing like the monster under the bed when you turn on the light.

“Yes, and every time he used his ability on me it was for good reason,” Matthias confirmed.

It was hard to look away from him, from the downturned corners of his mouth but I needed to hear it from Theo as well.

“He forced me to move when we were in danger and I froze because I spotted someone in a suit identical to what my father had made me wear,” Theo revealed, his expression serious. “And there was the whole thing with the sirens... he ordered us both to not listen to them and the mental block gave us a chance to fight against their magic.”

“It’s... a comfort, knowing he can do that,” Matthias revealed. “That there’s always someone who can find me, reach me no matter where I go, a bond deep in my soul I can touch when I’m lonely.”

“We have chosen each other and we chose Tristan as our leader. Let the poor man take all the responsibility of making big decisions while we play around,” Theo grinned, his somber mood disappearing under a smile.

“You two are a handful, aren’t you?” I said affectionately.

“We are menaces,” Theo puffed out his chest in a comedic display of pride. “And you will soon learn what that means. I have a few hours to spare before I have to go back to scheming with Tristan and I brought games.”

He pulled out a board game from the bag he carried and I watched unholy glee appear in Matthias’s eyes.

“I’m going to destroy you,” Matthias said, his tone a growl with an undertone of excitement.

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