The Blood Boss by Davidson King
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Cain
The next day was a flurry of excitement, nerves, and chaos. Vampires arrived in droves and Jayce, Emil, Petru, and the rest of the staff did their best to give them all accommodations. Sibell was keeping a low profile since many knew her to be a witch, and while they might not know the whole story about me and how I came to be a vampire, they knew she had something to do with it. We’d have to ease them in.
“Emil, have you seen Jayce?” I asked as he was talking to Margarite.
Emil grinned. “He found Hans.”
Fucking fuck.That guy used to be a professor and could talk your ear off, making you want to kill yourself.
“Thanks.” Grumbling, I went on the hunt for Jayce and Hans. It didn’t take long; they were in the library on the sofa, talking.
“It just always amazed me how vampires were perceived in folklore. How garlic, sunlight, all those things kept a vampire at bay. But to see how oddly humans portrayed them, it’s strange.” Jayce was smiling at Hans, and Hans was loving the conversation.
“Ahh yes, it’s like that with dragons, fae, most creatures. Humans never knew; therefore they made things up.” Hans leaned closer to Jayce, a glint in his eye. “Humans often tricked themselves into believing they could defeat anything. Telling kids, or other adults, that there’s a way to destroy something that scares you, gives them a sort of peace.”
Jayce nodded, eating up every word. “It’s fascinating.”
Hans nodded as well. “In the 1600s—”
“Sorry to interrupt.” I wasn’t at all, but I knew that Hans would keep Jayce there, and I had something very important to discuss with him. “Jayce, I need to speak with you.”
“Oh, okay, sure. Hans, maybe later we can talk more?”
Hans smiled, likely feeling he found a soulmate in the art of boring conversation. “I’d like that, Jayce.” He tipped his head to me. “Sir.”
“Thank you for being here, Hans.”
“I’d never refuse an order from you. And the more I learn about Jayce here, the more I understand the need to keep him safe, as well as Black Veil.”
“That’s kind of you.” Jayce stood and came over to me. “What would you like to talk about?”
“Somewhere more private.” I took Jayce’s hand and led him up the stairs.
“I don’t think we have time for sexy time, Cain.”
Chuckling, I said, “I need a private place to talk to you. My rooms are the only ones not taken.”
Once inside, I shut the door. “Well, you have me here, whatever will you do with me?” Jayce dramatically dropped onto my bed.
“Listen.” That was how I started off the conversation, and I should have known better. Any time anyone begins anything with “listen,” someone reacts.
Jayce darted off the bed. “This is serious, isn’t it? Did something happen to my family? Are the vampires pissed about Sibell? What—”
“No, sorry, I didn’t mean to make you worry.” Quickly, I went to him and wrapped him in a hug. “I wanted to talk about something more personal, and you and me.”
“So, everyone is okay?” His voice was muffled against my shirt, but I understood what he was saying.
“As good as can be expected. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Jayce nodded, his face rubbing against me. “Your face, it was so grim. I know things are dire and the future is unknown, but would it kill you to fake a smile?”
He looked up, resting his chin on my chest and a genuine grin brightened the whole situation.
“I will try.”
“Great. So…” He patted my chest. “What’s up?”
“There’s no way to say this that will—”
“Like a Band-Aid, Cain. Rip it off. Spit it out.”
He was right, quicker was better. “I want you to drink my blood.”
Jayce’s eyes widened, and he tilted his head. If I didn’t know better, I’d think he was trying to translate foreign words.
“Drink your blood?”
“Yes. I was speaking with Sibell earlier, and then Emil brought it up when we couldn’t find you. Through all of this, it would be best if I could locate you at all times, and the easiest way to do that is through a blood bond.”
His face scrunched up, and I knew he was thinking. I’d become very good at reading his quirks.
“But you drank my blood.”
“I did, but that doesn’t help me connect with you the same. I can sense emotion and you can sense things about me through that transaction, but for you to truly link with me, I need you to take in my blood.”
“I see…okay, okay, I’m following you, makes sense. And how long does this bond work?”
“I only ever linked with one human who never turned. It was an extremely long time ago and it lasted almost a month. If you wanted to link longer, you’d simply need to drink a little of my blood every day.” Jayce listened as I moved and sat on the ottoman near my bed. “There was a female vampire who fell in love with a human man. It was well over seventy years ago. They had a strong love and she very much wanted to have him turned. It wasn’t something she was able to do as she wasn’t one of the gifted. So, she came to me. I told her I’d need to speak with him to see his feelings on the matter.”
Jayce sat on the bed, beside me. “What did he say?”
“He loved her dearly, but the thought of immortality went against everything he believed in, and he said he couldn’t do it. She was devastated but loved him all the same. He drank a little of her blood every day to maintain a bond and until he passed, they were linked.”
“That’s so tragic.” Jayce’s gaze fell to the carpet. “He didn’t love her enough to be with her forever?”
“No, you’re missing the point. For him to turn would have made him miserable. If you’re not completely committed, it can turn to great resentment. There would have been no eternity for them, Jayce. The time they had was perfect for who they were.”
He shrugged. “Well, I’d be honored to drink your blood and bond with you, Cain. The safety aspect alone, but…”
“But what?” Taking his hand in mine, I lifted it to my lips.
“Eternity with you doesn’t sound so bad.” He smirked, causing me to laugh.
“It’s not something you experiment with, Jayce. Should it ever arise, we can talk about it. As for right now, here’s how we will do this: I’d like you to drink from my wrist. It will taste delicious, trust me. You need a large dose of me, so to speak. Then every day thereafter, I will put some in your drinks. After this madness is over—should we come out of it—as there is no withdrawal, we simply stop.”
Jayce rubbed his thumb over my cheekbone. “And after, what, it all fades away?”
“Yes.”
“What if I don’t want to stop?”
I pressed a kiss to his palm, loving it when he scratched my beard. “If we don’t want to stop, we don’t.”
He nodded. “When do we do this?”
“Tonight. It’s fairly intimate, the first time. Let me make sure everyone and everything is squared away. We have time.”
Jayce looked over to the golden clock on the nightstand. “It feels like it’s late, but it’s only early afternoon.”
“Days fold into each other sometimes.”
“After I eat dinner, I’ll come up here and you join me when you can.”
I slid a hand behind his head and pulled him closer, relishing in the taste of his mouth against mine. His tongue licked inside, and a growl rolled through me.
“We need to stop, or I will have you right here and now.”
Jayce chuckled. “Is that supposed to be a threat? Because I’m feeling a lot of things right now, but scared isn’t one of them.”
“Incorrigible little minx.” I stood, dragging Jayce up with me. “Let’s go back downstairs. I need to see that things are in order. Until tonight.” With one more kiss, we parted to tend to the army of vampires roaming around my estate.