Page 37 of Scorned

“Anyway, I told Strike and his brothers to get in and I would take them home so they didn’t get arrested. Before I could pull away from the curb, Winnie coughed up blood, and my panic set in. So, I headed across town toward the hospital, hoping he made it, but once we were a few minutes away, Winnie started having a seizure. Luka was sitting behind him in the car, and I could hear him and the others arguing about something, but had no clue what they were talking about. I told them to shut the fuck up unless they could save my brother.”

I laughed because I could totally see Vivi doing that.

“Luka made eye contact with me in the rear-view mirror and told me he was going to do something weird, but I was going to have to trust him if I wanted Winnie to live. At this point, I didn’t have a choice, so I told him to do what he had to do.”

I sucked in a hard breath. “Oh shit. Did he turn him in the car?”

“Yes, and no. The next thing I see is Luka biting into his wrist. He wrapped it around the seat and covered Winnie’s mouth with it. Of course, I freaked out and started screaming at him. But Strike grabbed my shoulders and leaned forward, whispering calmly in my ear, promising me Winnie would be okay. And I believed him. There was something about him. Some kind of force drawing us to each other. We felt destined to be together.”

“I know the feeling.”

“I know you do. The bond is similar to what the wolven feel for their fated mates. It doesn’t care what you want.” Vivi stopped and pointed to the ground. “Watch out. There’s a fallen tree.”

I held my lantern down and made sure I didn’t trip as I went around it.

“Anyway, Winnie stopped seizing and went still,” she continued. “Almost too still, but I could tell he was still breathing. The guys were in discussion in the backseat, saying things like, ‘if he turns, he’ll kill her,’ and ‘he’s gonna need blood soon.’ And I didn’t know what any of it meant. Strike gave me directions to their place, but by the time we got there, Winnie was gone.”

“Were you scared?” I asked.

“More than I had ever been at that point in my life. When Luka yanked Winnie out of the car and took him in the house, my human vision barely caught it. That was the first time I realized these guys weren’t human. Andrei ran after Luka, leaving me alone with Strike. My ass was out of the car and ready to follow, but Strike was in my face. He told me everything was going to be okay, but if I went into the house, I could be hurt. He’s an amazing guy who always had a way of calming me. I think that’s why I fell for him so quickly. He just knew me.”

Vivi inhaled deeply before releasing it.

“After Winnie came back to life, the guys had no choice but to let me in on their little secret. Luka promised to teach my brother how to be a vampire, and they went out feeding a lot. With Winnie being the only family I had left, and scared of being left behind, after a week of hanging out with them, I wanted to be a vampire, too. Not to mention I wanted the kind of strength where no one would ever make me feel too uncomfortable to sit in a bar. When I asked, everyone refused to turn me. They said it shouldn’t be something you want, it should be something you need. Well, I disagreed with them. It only took me another week of threatening to stake them all, including my brother, while they were sleeping before Strike gave in, deciding he would be the one to do it.”

“Is it common for someone to be bonded to their origin and their mate?” I asked, completely fascinated with the magic system of supernaturals.

“Actually, everyone’s bonded to their origin. It’s called a sentinel bond. It feels different from the lenxus bond one has with a mate. If you have both bonds with the same person, it’s called an ardent.”

Feeling like I needed a dictionary, or possibly an encyclopedia on vampires, I didn’t even ‌attempt to remember everything she was telling me.

Vivi stopped walking and took a seat on a fallen tree. I did the same, plopping down next to her.

“Can you explain the difference between them? Sorry if I’m asking too many questions.”

“It’s fine. I did the same thing to Strike when I first found out about vampires. I loved annoying him, and I secretly think he loved being annoyed by me.” She smiled but it melted off her face rather quickly. “The lenxus is a mating bond. It gets you in your feels. Makes you want to kiss, hug, fuck, and protect your mate at all costs. The sentinel bond someone has with their origin is about loyalty. You have an attachment to the person, almost like they were one of your birth parents. You love them like family. If you fall in love with your origin and the bonds combine, it’s like magic. I can’t even explain it.”

“I don’t want to sound like a nerd, but this shit is cool.”

“If you think vampire statistics are cool, you should talk to Drag about the wolven. Theirs is the coolest.”

“I’ve heard them say some things about it. It fascinates me.”

“We better get back before someone thinks I killed you.”

Vivi hopped up, and I did the same with a laugh. “Why would they think that?”

“I may have told Winnie I was going to murder you in the woods because you got us in trouble with him.”

I laughed again, and for the first time in a long time, it felt good.

Chapter 11

Luka

Blood gives vampires their strength. Being the only thing that sustains us, we rely entirely on it for survival. It fills our muscles, our bones, and our veins with power. It fuels our bodies in ways a human can’t even imagine.

Blood can also be our weakness. Our kryptonite. Like a car without fuel, a vampire becomes nonfunctional without enough blood—devoid of energy, power, and eventually life.

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