Blood Born Read online

Chloe blinked. “Her?”

  The expression on his face subtly changed. “They, I should say. There are three of them, but the most powerful is a woman.”

  Three of them. Great. The more the merrier—The doorbell made her jump. Holy crap! He’d warned her that vampires were coming, but she hadn’t thought he meant right now. And what kind of sneak attack started with ringing the doorbell?

  Luca started toward the door. Chloe darted forward, grabbed his arm. “Uh, isn’t this the time we should use one of those other exits?”

  “No. I want to hear what they have to say.”

  “They’re here to talk?”

  “I imagine so.”

  He took her hand from his arm and maneuvered her farther from the door, all the way back to the entrance to the living room, as the doorbell sounded again. “Stay,” he commanded.

  “Woof!” she said, narrowing her eyes at him to let him know what she thought of the order.

  He slanted a quick look at her, but the sharpness of the glance was offset by the tiny smile that quirked his lips. Still, she recognized the seriousness of the situation.

  “Okay,” she said in a lowered voice. “I’ll stay.”

  Luca opened the door. Chloe could see the three vampires in the hallway; Luca only partially blocked her view. The three looked ordinary enough, she supposed; well, no they didn’t. One was a beautiful, statuesque woman with red hair, wearing a simple black dress that probably cost a couple of thousand dollars, and killer high heels. The two men wore expensive suits; she knew Italian tailoring when she saw it. They looked human enough to her eyes, but then, so did Luca.

  Luca would fight to protect her, but there were three of them and only one Luca, and she knew how strong vampires were. Chloe didn’t fool herself into thinking for a moment that she would be of any use at all if a fight broke out here. No, she’d only be a liability, as Luca attempted to protect her. On the other hand, if these three were here to kill her, would they be dressed the way they were? They looked as if they’d be right at home at a White House function.

  If she hadn’t been so scared, she would have laughed at the idea of vampires having a dress code for killing, but female was female, and she’d bet there was no way the redhead would risk getting blood on that fabulous silk dress.

  “Council members,” Luca said very politely, but without any welcome in his tone. “Come in, please.”

  Chloe stiffened. Oh, shit; he’d invited them in. That meant—well, she didn’t know what it meant, because this hotel suite, as lovely as it was, wasn’t her home, so she supposed the vampires could have invaded at any time anyway, if they’d been so inclined. She needed to have a long talk with Luca, find out exactly how all these details worked.

  The woman vampire fastened her gaze on Chloe, and abruptly she no longer looked entirely human. There was something feral in her eyes and in the way her muscles tensed, as if she were ready to spring forward, claws exposed.

  “Alma,” Luca said curtly, drawing her attention. “How unexpected that you’ve found me here.”

  Alma looked away from Chloe, focusing on Luca, and waved an indolent hand to indicate one of the men. “Benedict can locate specific energies, if he puts forth the effort. He hadn’t tried in decades, but he came through for us.”

  “And you, Theodore?” Luca asked, turning to the other man. “Why did you tag along?”

  Theodore was thick-bodied and looked ill-tempered, with his heavy dark brows and perpetual scowl. He gave Luca a long, cold look, one that struck Chloe as being … something else, something she didn’t understand but was somehow different. Different from what, she had no idea. “I was curious to see what was keeping you from your duties to the Council.”

  Luca didn’t hesitate in his answer. “Protecting Chloe is my only duty, at the moment.”

  Alma once more turned her attention to Chloe, her eyes hard as stone and mean as a snake’s.

  “Don’t waste your time trying to glamour her,” Luca said, menace lacing his tone. “We’re bonded. She’s immune to you. And she’s mine.” He didn’t have to say, but implicit in the word “mine” was the dark promise that if anything happened to her he would have his vengeance on the offending vampire.

  Alma turned her snaky stare to Luca. She actually looked shocked. “But … you’re a blood born. Why on earth would you bond with her?”

  Luca gave a cold smile. “My reasons aren’t any of your business. All you need to know is that Hector’s warning about an uprising was the truth, and there’s a traitor on the Council. Chloe is a conduit. The rebels want her dead. I don’t.”

  The one named Benedict took a step back, as if he could escape the news with physical distance. He looked distressed. “Rebels! What on earth are they thinking? Why do we have to go through this every couple of hundred years? Doesn’t anyone remember that it’s always a disaster? It’s in everyone’s best interest to maintain our world as it currently exists. Any intelligent vampire can see that.”

  “Apparently not,” Luca said drily. “From what I’m able to sense, there are a large number of rebels involved and they’re gathered very near. Didn’t you pick up on the energy?”

  Benedict looked stricken by the question. “N-no,” he stammered. “I didn’t. Are you sure?”

  “Yes, I’m sure. They’re not afraid of you, or they’d be gathering somewhere else, in California or Seattle or London. But they’re here, and you all have a decision to make. You can fight with me, you can wait to be taken over by rebels, or you can hide and hope this war shakes out in your favor.”

  Theodore said, “Open war isn’t the answer. Any war will result in our existence being made public, and from there on out the fighting will be constant. It’ll never end. Any idiot can see this, if they know anything about humans.”

  “It appears that war is coming, like it or not,” Alma said. “We can hardly sit back and wait to see if the warriors win it for us.” She hesitated. “Or if, perhaps, the rebels are right and taking over will mean a better life for us.”

  “You don’t look as if you have it rough now,” Chloe said sarcastically, then wished she’d slapped her hand over her mouth before saying anything, because four sets of vampire eyes settled on her with expressions ranging from warning to outrage.

  Luca kept his attention on the visitors, but Chloe could feel something of him with her, as if he were all around her. She knew, through her connection with him, that Theodore was somehow different from the other two. She couldn’t put her finger on exactly how, but she knew that difference existed.

  “We’ll be lucky if many warriors arrive,” he said. “The rebels’ initial strategy has been to kill as many conduits as possible.”

  “I never thought to hear the words ‘lucky’ and ‘warriors’ used in the same sentence,” Benedict grumbled, almost beneath his breath, “but I swear, it seems they are our best hope for ending the rebels.”

  Chloe could feel Luca’s anger bloom, as if it had weight. She could almost see it, the color and form of it. “If that’s your position, that the Council will just sit back and let the warriors fight our battles for us, then the Council has become useless. You’re no better than any other group of politicians.”

  All three were offended by that remark, if she judged their expressions correctly. Well, who wouldn’t be?

  “You will protect us if the rebels come for the Council directly, won’t you?” Theodore asked.

  “No,” Luca responded, his voice soft but pretty damn certain to Chloe’s ears. If he’d told her no in that tone, she wouldn’t bother to ask again.

  “You serve the Council,” Alma responded, her voice and expression going cold and haughty.

  Luca snorted. “I worked with the Council, not for it. You were never discerning enough to tell the difference. But I hereby offer my official resignation. Council business is no longer my concern.” His voice was so cold, Chloe shivered.

  Benedict began to sputter and protest, but he didn’t get far. Luca herded