B Positive by Jewel Killian

Thirty

Just like before,the afternoon sped by in a blur, and before I knew it, I was in front of BDD, getting my first lesson in vamp cloaking.

Except B looked tired, haggard even. The shadowy tinge of stubble along his blocky jaw and bloodshot eyes aged him at least ten years. “Is everything okay, B?” I asked before getting started.

He let out a long sigh and pulled his hand through his hair, messing it up. “Yeah. The week leading up to incursions are always tough on us.”

“Can I do anything to help?”

He gave me a weak smile. “Afraid not. The teams and I are practicing maneuvers. We practice until we can’t fail.”

“Maneuvers? Like military ops?”

BDD nodded. “It’s hard on everyone.”

“I guess you don’t have a mate to drink from to freshen up?”

“Uh, I—” B’s face screwed up in a combination of embarrassment and shock. “Um, made vampires don’t usually get mates.”

“Oh. I didn’t realize. Sorry.”

BBD smiled. “It’s okay. It’s just like the king not to explain how rare your coupling is.”

“You say that like it’s a good thing. Like withholding information is an enviable quality.”

B nodded. “I know it’s hard coming into a new world when you’re used to the way humans do things. But you have to trust that the king always has a reason for his actions. Usually multiple reasons. It’s likely he didn’t tell you how rare mate bonds are or that mate bonds between made and born vampires are even more so because he didn’t want to put any extra pressure on you.”

“It’s not his job to manage my emotions. It’s his job to give me the facts so I can make informed decisions.”

“That’s another way of looking at it.”

I huffed out a breath. “Let’s just get to the lesson.”

“Right.” He took a wider stance and I did the same. “Remember, you’re trying to coat yourself in vamp magic. Just enough to cloak your physicality. Okay?”

“Okay.”

“And you’re sure you’ve removed your emotions from your powers?”

“Yes, B. I already told you that. I put all my powers in nice, neat, mental safes, far away from anything that might make things go boom, okay?”

He nodded. “Then close your eyes and let the compulsion slide over your body.”

My lids fluttered closed and I unlocked the safe housing that power and willed it to travel over me.

“Good. That’s great, Eden. You’ve dampened your heart, respiration, and your lunch digesting from my ears.”

My eyes flew open. “Really? Oh wow, that was easy.”

“Yes. The hard part is getting it to stick while you’re busy doing other things.”

“Oh.” Of course there was a catch. There was always a catch. And the moment I focused on that, and not keeping the compulsion surrounding me, it all slipped back into its safe.

Fantastic. “Well, how do I keep it where I want it?”

“Practice.”

I pulled a face at him. “That’s not what I wanted to hear, B. Isn’t there some kind of shortcut or something?” I really wanted to have all this vamp shit down before the incursion.

“Sorry. Repetition and exercising that muscle. That’s all there is to it.”

I shook my head. “There’s got to be a faster way, B. I can’t go meet Titus like this.”

“Do you drive?” B asked.

Okay, non sequitur. “Yeah?” Though not recently. A car was an expense I didn’t need, not when saving for my nest egg.

“Do you remember when you first learned? How overwhelming everything was? You had to remember to look in the mirrors and use the blinker and stay between the lines and control your speed all at once.”

I nodded, seeing where he was going.

“And now you can drive anywhere and not really think about any of those individual steps. Your brain has done them so many times, it’s automated it for you.”

I sighed. His point was clear. “So I have to do this enough times that my brain automates it for me.”

“Exactly. Do it all the time. And don’t beat yourself up when it slips because that’s just part of the process. Just keep practicing and I promise you’ll get it sooner than you think.”

I slid my compulsion over myself again and tried to focus on something else. “Hey, so I know you said mating bonds are rare, so maybe your knowledge is limited, but what do you know about mates reading each other’s thoughts?”

By the time I finished the question, that sneaky shit had made its way back to my internal safe. I yanked it back into place as B answered.

“Well, I can’t say from experience, but from what I understand, most mates develop a mental link that grows stronger as they move through each of the stages.”

“And is it two-way?”

The compulsion shuddered, seeming to want to slide back but I held it down tight.

“Yeah. That’d be kind of weird, only one person hearing the other’s thoughts, right?”

Yeah. It would be.

Except I’d never once heard any of Julian’s thoughts.

As I thought of the reasons that might be, the compulsion almost made it back to the safe. I caught it just in time.

“Could a mate potentially shield the other from that? Like what I’m doing now with my heartbeat and stuff, but with their mind?”

B thought about it a moment, before his posture changed, He stood straighter, face blanked to neutral.

Damnit, I’d hit on something I wasn’t supposed to ask.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

“I didn’t say a word.”

“I know, I know. And Julian won’t hear any different.”

At that, B relaxed.

“One last question.”

“Yeah?” he said, stiffening warily once again.

“Do you know how much time should be between each of the stages of the mating bond?”

B’s posture relaxed. Apparently that question didn’t fall into something Julian had expressly said not to talk about. “I believe it should be forty-eight hours between each stage to make sure the bond sticks.”

I chewed on my cheek, doing the math. I fed from him last night, Saturday. That meant Monday night we could do the mark, and Wednesday night we could finally bone.

Just the thought turned me on, and I was grateful I’d been able to hold on to the compulsion so BBD didn’t know just how turned on I was.

“Thanks, B. You’ve been a big help.” I said, a plan formulating in my head. One that I hoped Julian would agree to.

“Good. So, just keep practicing with the cloak, and I’ll see ya tomorrow to see how you’re doing.”

“Sounds good,” I said and BDD made his way up the metal steps, leaving me to my safes.

I plodded through the next safe while also trying to keep my cloak in place. Safecracking required more concentration than simple conversation and so the cloak kept wiggling around.

The way it was going, I wasn’t sure I’d have it down by Friday. But I had to try my best.

Eventually, I got another text from Julian inviting me to dinner, and I used it as an excuse to clock out for the day.

Cracking the safes while keeping that damn cloak in place had exhausted me and I was half tempted to decline Julian’s offer. That was, until I remembered that I could drink a sip or two of his blood and feel totally refreshed.

I rushed upstairs to shower and change into different jeans and a different halter, glad not to find another dress on the bed. Picking out my clothes for an important event like the incursion was one thing, but doing it every night? That would have been weird.

Julian met me in the great hall, dressed in his ever-present dark gray suit. He took my hand as I descended the last few steps. “And that’s exactly how you’ll enter the incursion in the courtyard.”

“Uh, the courtyard only has a few steps, there’s no grand staircase like this one.”

Julian smiled wide at me, his eyes alight with glee. “That’s what I’ve been discussing with the witches these last days.”

“Ooooh, are they going to glamor the courtyard or something?”

“Something like that. I’ve employed some very talented spell casters, and I’m excited for you to see what they can do.”

When Julian said he was meeting with witches a day or so ago, I hadn’t questioned it. I hadn’t even given a second thought to the fact that there were witches. I’d been pretty proud of rolling with that latest supernatural punch.

But now, to hear they could change the courtyard, which in my opinion was already perfect… “I’m excited to see it too,” I admitted.

Julian guided me into the dining room, and tonight I hoped we’d actually get to eat.

As we settled in our seats, the secret panel opened and the server vamps placed our covered plates in front of us. I was starving, and didn’t bother waiting to start. I tore into the potatoes and rare meat, hardly taking time to chew or even make eye contact with Julian.

“Rough day?” he asked, a smile clear in his tone.

“Yeah, B and I were working on getting my vamp powers under control before the incursion.”

“Good. I’m glad you’ve taken an interest in such things.”

I set my fork down, staring at him. “What’s that mean?”

“It means you were hardly willing to accept being a part of this community just last week. You wanted nothing to do with me, or vampire life in general.”

Okay, that was a fair point.

“So listen, along those lines, I think it’s important that we’re fully mated before the incursion.”

I expected an argument. A rebuttal at least. Instead, Julian nodded. “I agree. We should be able to take the fourth step by Thursday, just to be certain. There can be no shortcuts, Eden. We must wait the prescribed amount of time between stages.”

“Right, forty-eight hours, got it. Glad we’re on the same page.” I forked a few more pieces of meat into my mouth and decided since he was so amicable, I’d press my luck. “And while we’re on the subject, I think it’s important that Jaxson be there.”

Julian didn’t even glance up from his plate. “Out of the question. I won’t have a wolf whose pack I freed in negotiations there as a reminder to Titus. The last thing I want to do is hit that sore spot.”

“But it’s his pack on the line. If shit goes wrong, he’ll have to pay just a high a price as any of us. I don’t think it’s right that the wolves are excluded from what amounts to their future.”

Julian set down his fork, meeting my gaze fully. He took a long pause before answering. “What you said has merit, Eden. I will take it under advisement.”

“Uh…okay then. Great.”

I honestly didn’t know how to respond. I’d expected a fight. Actually, I kind of wanted to fight. That was the only way it seemed I could get in his pants, anyway—when we were arguing about something and shit inevitably got hot.

Maybe he was beginning to see me as the equal he kept claiming I was? Maybe he was trying?

I moved on. “So, I was wondering…” I let the sentence trail off as Julian stiffened. I smothered the urge to roll my eyes. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to push my luck with any more requests. But today was kind of a rough one. Who knew keeping a cloak around yourself at all times was draining? Anyway, I was hoping I might have a bit of your blood.”

Julian eyed me. “You didn’t drink at lunch or breakfast?”

“Oh, I asked Sunny to cut back on my rations. So, I did drink, but not as much as I’d like.”

Julian uncuffed his sleeve and offered me his wrist. “Eden, it’s imperative that you drink your fill while we’re bonding, especially leading up to the incursion. Cast all worries of your former addiction from your mind. Drinking until your sated solidifies not just our bond, but your strength, Eden.”

Now, that was something I could get behind. Drinking as much blood as I wanted and getting strong? Yes, please and thank you. I scented his wrist, running my nose along the flesh and pierced his flesh carefully, allowing my venom to filter into Julian’s vein a moment.

Blood rushed in my mouth, warm and familiar and delicious, and I gulped it down as fast as it flowed. Julian pulled in a sharp breath and as my venom continued to flow, a low rumble rattling his chest.

“You’ve gotten quite skilled at making the experience pleasurable,” he rasped.

I sighed against his wrist as drank my fill and sealed the wound. “I’m glad you think so,” I said and ripped my shirt off.

Julian’s eyes went full dark. “Eden, you know we can’t until—”

“I know. But that doesn’t mean we can’t have some fun.”