Page 1 of Blood Ties
PROLOGUE
Alone in a dimly lit room was a raven haired man. He sat behind a desk looking busy sorting through mountains of paperwork. After spending years acquiring countless businesses across the world under different aliases, it was impossible for him to keep them under his true name. It would cause suspicion if anyone tried looking into him. For now he’d deal with the paperwork if it meant keeping himself away from scrutiny.
“Anton is dead!” Announced a young man barreling into the office. His confident stride into the room, without knocking, showed his lack of fear which stood in contrast to what others might have felt in his place. He respected the man with raven hair and knew he was a fair leader. Harm would not fall to anyone without a legitimate reason and reporting this great news was not one.
“Are you positive?” questioned the man behind the desk with hope lingering in his voice. Anton’s demise would mean a fresh start for him and his family.It was something he feared, but always secretly hoped for. After twenty three years, it was time.
“We just received confirmation from the new leader of the New York nest.”
A tall muscular man with chiseled features and dark blonde hair walked through the open door with an assertive air.He and the man behind the desk shared a similar kinship. It was noticeable whenever they were in the same vicinity. “Is it true? Is Anton truly dead?” the new arriver inquired.
“So it would seem,” he pondered the raven haired man taping his finger anxiously on his desk. Standing, he made his way around to the blond newcomer. “Do you know what this means, Sebastian?”
Sebastian nodded.He certainly did know. It was something that had been discussed in depth for the past twenty three years and he was ready for it.
“Make the preparations. I want us ready to move out in two days. It is then that we will make our way to New York.”
CHAPTER ONE
Drip. Drip. Drip went the sound of the leaky pipe. It was the only way I was able to mark time because I didn’t dare move even though the phone in my pocket was going off once more. Its incisive buzzing alerted me that the battery still had some charge left. The building was abandoned, by all but myself. That statement was mostly true. I couldn’t say I was the only living person, because I wasn’t technically living and I couldn’t say I was the only body, because there were two others there too. I suppose saying I was the only person with active consciousness was politically correct.
It was dark and cold as if no sun rays dared shine through the windows to grant me the privilege of knowing the time of day, but being a vampire gave me certain advantages. Feeling the sun’s movement was embedded in the makeup of every vampire, even for a day walker like myself. A storm had come in during the night blanketing the day in darkness with the exception of a random bolt of lightning brightening the sky for a brief moment before darkness would fall once again.
There was no warmth, hardly any light and the only sound was the dripping of the leaky pipe. My heart was even silent for the first time since my transition. The air surrounding me was tinged with the coppery sweet smell of blood and the horrid musk of death; a dreadful combination. I wish I could say it was the first time I had been forced to inhale the appalling stench, but it wasn’t. After finding the body of a friend of mine just a few short days ago, the foul odor was something I was all too familiar with.
Hours had passed, yet I still didn’t know the time so I counted the drips.Ten thousand, four hundred and sixty three. Ten thousand, four hundred and sixty four.All the warmth had faded from Grayson’s body long ago, yet I stayed curled next to him unable to move, unable to leave him until I knew for certain. I had longer to wait still and many more drips to count before I would know if Grayson’s transition would be complete. The sun had not even hit its apex yet. Even though I could feel the change in the sun, it did not compel me to rest, yet rest was what I needed. Fear kept me from closing my eyes.
I had never heard of a vampire conversion being done the way I had been forced to do Grayson’s. He had received fatal injuries from the evil, psychopath vampire, Anton, who had left him to bleed out on the floor, slowly, in hopes he would die before I could get to him. I found Grayson just before he slipped into unconsciousness and fed him my blood. The normal transition process is when the sire vampire first drains the human of all their blood. When the heart starts to slow, the sire then feeds their blood to the human, replacing the human blood supply with vampire blood. All of it must be done before the heart stops beating.
With Grayson bleeding out on the floor, I didn’t have his blood to drain. I simply gave him what was left of mine. After my battle with Anton, I had lost a large portion of my own supply before my body could heal its injuries. My only saving grace was the fact I had fed before seeking out Anton. At dusk, if the transition worked, Grayson would rise as a vampire and possibly hate me for changing him against his wishes, although we had never really discussed it. All I knew was I couldn’t live in a world where he didn’t exist and I prayed that’d be enough for him to forgive me.
Twenty two thousand nine hundred and forty seven. Twenty two thousand nine hundred and forty eight.My phone buzzed again but I ignored it. It had started going off around dawn. I didn’t bother checking to see who it was. I was pretty certain it was Shawn, my best friend, who just happened to be a werewolf. I had spoken to him briefly when he first called only answering it because I knew Grayson would need blood when he woke. If he woke.I almost forgot about the thirst after transitioning.
“OMG! Gaby! I thought something bad happened. You never called. Where are you? Did you find Grayson?” Shawn shouted.
“I don’t have time to explain, Shawn. I need you to come to the address I’m going to text you. I need you to gather as much blood as you can; preferably about six quarts, if not more.”
“Six quarts? That’s a whole human!”
“I know and I really need twice that. Just be at the address a few minutes before the sunsets, no sooner. Please respect my wishes on this.”
“Respect your wishes? Gaby, what happened?” I hung up and texted Shawn the address.
I wanted nothing more than to talk to my best friend, but I knew he’d want to know detail of things I wasn’t ready to or could not explain. Like clockwork my phone would buzz around every three to four thousand drips.
Anton was dead, that much I knew for sure. Grayson was a different situation entirely. Currently, he was dead, but that didn’t mean anything in my world. He could wake when the sunset and be like me, a vampire, or he wouldn’t. The latter was an unbearable thought. So for the moment, I did my best to stay focused on anything other than my current situation. Death was the only certain thing in this world, even for us immortals. If Christian mythology was correct then one day the world would end and I doubted it would leave even us behind, but if it did, we wouldn’t survive without humans and our death would follow shortly. We hadn’t evolved beyond needing human blood and there was noTrue Bloodfor us.
As time passed, I watched Grayson’s blood begin to dry around us, yet I stayed where I was at his side. I didn’t care that I was resting in it. My mind didn’t register the feeling of it drying on me. The man I loved, my mate, the other half of my soul was lying there beside me and I cared about nothing else but him opening his eyes.
My head rested on his chest, like it had so many times before when we had been lying in bed together, tangled in sheets and each other. But now I rested it there begging to hear the sound I had carelessly disregarded as commonplace. I reasonably knew that what I was craving was impossible. Even if he became a vampire, until he fed, he would have no heartbeat, but I just didn’t know what else to do. Letting my mind be hopeful was the only thing that kept me sane. My body tingled with the lack of blood in my system. I needed to feed after giving Grayson my entire blood supply, but I refused to leave him. Right now there was still hope he’d wake and hope was the only thing I had to cling to.
I shifted my head, switching ears on his chest. The small movement showed how achy my muscles were. I had barely moved since his heart had stopped. I let my eyes drift to the window high above the floor even though no light showed through it. I could feel the sun was beginning its descent. The time was growing closer. My anxiety hit me like a sack of bricks.Forty thousand. Forty thousand and one.I closed my eyes, clutching Grayson tighter to me.God, please let him wake up. I didn’t know if god answered the prayers of vampires, but I didn’t know who else to pray to. I’d pray to anyone that would hear me. I just wanted Grayson to live, even if he hated me. Hating me was easier to handle than him being dead.
I sat there quietly, unmoving until I heard a car pull up outside the building. I was grateful Shawn had listened and waited until just before sunset. Grayson would need to feed immediately after waking or he could risk dying permanently and if he didn’t wake, I would need my best friend to comfort me.
I rushed to the door, not wishing to be away from Grayson for too long, swinging it open. My body fought me every step of the way. It was a struggle standing much less putting one foot in front of the other. Exhaustion was beginning to weigh heavily on me, but I tried to stay focused on the task at hand which was get the blood, then get back to Grayson. Shawn stood just over the threshold clutching several blood bags. Doing a quick assessment, I knew he barely had enough for Grayson. It was fine. I could wait to feed until I got him home. Shawn’s eyes widened as he took in my appearance. I had completely forgotten that I looked like a victim out of a horror film, being covered in blood, with my clothes shredded. I dropped down in a defensive crouch when I heard a second set of feet.
“Gaby, it’s cool. It’s just my brother, Chris.” Shawn spoke rapidly. Trying to ensure me everything was okay. I stayed crouched for a moment making sure what Shawn said was true then slowly nodded when I saw Chris standing frozen on the other side of the car. I could see him fight his natural impulse to flee, but werewolves knew enough about vampires to not do anything when our hunter instinct kicked in. Any quick movements were likely to set us off. I turned and rushed back to Grayson, before my knees gave out. I placed my hands over his chest waiting for even the slightest movement. I closed my eyes trying to allow my hands to feel more. I could hear Shawn and Chris right behind me.
