Page 22 of The Love Bitten Series: Vol 2

My mother sniffed in disapproval. “And I expect you to apologize to your sister before you leave.”

“But—”

My dad heaved a deep sigh as he lifted his palm toward me. “You heard your mother.”

“Okie dokie, then.” I pushed my seat back and stood. Turning to Minerva, I murmured, “I’m terribly sorry I implied that the reason you got engaged to Charles was because he’s wealthy. Since he’s not actually here to celebrate Christmas with us, please do pass my apologies along to him as well.”

“Narkissa,” my mother growled.

Luckily, my dad interrupted before she could get going. “That’s enough, Carmilla. Narkissa has apologized. I’m not going to spend the holiday listening to the three of you bickering. It’s over.”

“Fine,” she huffed.

I made a beeline toward the door, mouthing to the housekeeper, “Please bring me some dessert, too,” along the way. About five minutes later, she brought me in a pot of chamomile tea and a chocolate souffle. I had planned to leave once I was done with them, but with my belly full and curled up on the couch, I drifted off to sleep and didn’t wake up until hours past midnight.

The teapot, cup, and dessert plate were gone, and a cashmere blanket was tucked around my body. I must’ve been totally conked out because a fire was also blazing in the hearth. I was half tempted to stay where I was until morning except I didn’t want to bump into my mother at the breakfast table. So, I forced my feet into the heels I’d slipped off and went in search of my coat before heading out to my car.

It was windy and bitterly cold outside. I was freezing by the time I made it into my car, and I was grateful that my dad had talked me into getting a model with seat warmers. As I made my way across town toward my home, I decided to make a quick detour to a twenty-four-hour convenience store to pick up some supplies in case the snowstorm headed our way was a bad one. I was perfectly content to get stranded at my place for a few days without having to see anyone, but only if I had plenty of snacks to tide me over.

No other cars were parked in front when I pulled up, so I was able to snag a spot near the door. In the short time it had taken me to get here, the snow had already started to fall. I raced inside as fast as I could, hoping to stay dry and relatively warm.

I had expected the store to be empty except for a clerk, but several men were inside. As the door shut behind me, I came to an abrupt stop, second-guessing my decision to pop in and grab supplies. I didn’t like how their conversation had ended the moment I’d stepped into the store. Or how they were looking at me. My imagination must’ve been going haywire because I would almost swear their eyes had a red glow to them. They were staring at my neck, and I had an odd urge to cover my birthmark. The two little circles on my neck were yet another thing my mother looked at as a blemish.

Deciding that I’d rather starve in the middle of a blizzard than get any closer to them, I swiftly turned to throw the door open again, but I crashed into a hard, male chest instead. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“What? How?” I didn’t understand how he’d slipped behind me when the bell on the door hadn’t jingled like it had when I’d opened it. But then my fight or flight instinct kicked in when he wrapped his hands around my upper arms and started to push me deeper into the store. The self-defense training my dad had insisted I get when I moved out of their home took over, and I kneed the guy in the balls before ripping myself from his grip. Only I didn’t get far. There were too many of them for me to make my escape.

I quickly found myself hauled off my feet and carried to a dimly lit back room. “Help! Somebody help me!” I screamed.

The man closest to me chuckled darkly. “Nobody is going to come and save you, consort. Our master will be very pleased with us for capturing you.”

Consort?Master?What in the heck did that even mean? Were these guys on drugs or something?

I was dropped onto a chair, my arms and legs zip-tied into place. The man who’d carried me trailed his cold fingers down my cheek to my neck and brushed lightly over my birthmark. When I tried to jerk away, someone else shoved my head back, and I opened my mouth to scream again, but they stuffed a piece of cloth inside.

Then in a move that freaked me out even more—which was saying a lot, considering the current situation—they all turned in unison to look toward the front of the store. Their eyes did that glowing red thing again, and one of them rasped, “Mmm, more fresh blood.”

A man I hadn’t seen before stuck his head into the room and grinned, showing off abnormally sharp teeth. “The fates are finally showing us their favor. Two consorts in one night. The master will be very pleased.” He looked at me and licked his lips, sending a shiver of icy dread through my body. “Perhaps he will reward us with a taste of their blood.”

In the blink of an eye, the men surrounding me were gone. Poof. Just like that.

I was left wondering what in the literal hell had I stumbled into.Taste my blood??And then my freak-out meter climbed even higher when they carried another woman, kicking and screaming, into the room and tossed her on the floor next to me. One of the men muttered something about getting another chair, and after he walked out, all hell broke loose. The woman pulled a bottle of something out of her purse and started to flick droplets of whatever was inside at the men. They hissed in pain and backed away from her.

I would’ve gasped in surprise when she pulled a knife out of her purse, except for the gag in my mouth. But that was quickly removed after she cut the restraints away from my arms and legs. I didn’t have any time to ask questions, though. I was too busy making my escape to care.

I still had no idea what was going on, but one thing was clear...this was seriously the worst Christmas ever.

2

JARETH

That was a hell of a fight, I thought with a grin. It had been a while since I’d faced more than one nightwalker at a time in pursuit of a consort. Easy kills just weren’t as much fun. And it had been ages since my cousin Stephan and my three brothers, Liam, Braedan, and Ren, had brawled together. Fisticuffs and carousing had been so much more acceptable a century ago. Sometimes progress leaves behind great traditions.

As the adrenaline ebbed, my worry over my brother’s new consort returned to the forefront of my mind. She was huddled between two dumpsters where she’d been protecting herself and another woman by flicking holy water at the vampires. Ren had glimpsed a birthmark on her neck as Amaia pulled her into their little crevice, so we knew she was a consort. I knew Liam’s first thought would be for Amaia, as it should be, but someone needed to take care of the other consort.

While Stephan, Braedan, and Ren walked into a huddle to talk, Liam and I approached the terrified women. He immediately dropped to his knees in front of Amaia and embraced her.

My attention lasered in on the pretty brunette who hugged herself close as her eyes bounced around wildly. “Wha-a-a-...um...what the heck just happened?” she stammered in a shocked and horrified voice.

---