Bitten by the Beast (Virgin Blood 1)

“I don’t know, I’ve never seen anyone act like this before,” Erik answers.

“We should take him to the tunnels. Just in case we need to keep him underground,” Ezra says, and I try to jerk free of his hold. “Jesus, Kane, calm down. We’re not here to hurt you.”

“Then let me go,” I say through gritted teeth. “This is all a mistake. I need to get to her.”

“Do you hear yourself right now? You sound crazy. You’re going nuts over a human!” Ravana spits the last part as the twins pull me down the stone stairs that lead to the tunnels. “You can’t be trusted right now. You need to calm down and we need to figure out what’s going on. Did she slip you some kind of drug?”

We reach the bottom of the stairs and I let all my anger and strength surge forward and break free of their hold. “Fucking hell, would you guys just look at my dick already? She’s my mate!”

The twins both stop and look down in shock to the front of my suit. Ravana is behind me so she can’t see, but the look on the twins’ faces must be enough. I hear her gasp and step back.

“Holy shit,” the twins say in unison.

“But this can’t be right. Our kind doesn’t mate with humans. When we’re changed, we can only be with another vampire forever. That’s how we stay alive.”

“Don’t you think I know how this works?” I shout as I straighten my suit jacket and button it closed to hide the bulge in my pants. “I’ve been told the same stories as you, little sister, remember?”

“I think we should talk to Bishop,” Erik says, stepping forward when I go to argue with him. “I’m not saying she doesn’t belong to you, because clearly the magic is working.” He holds up his hand for a high five, and I roll my eyes. “That’s cool, leave me hanging.”

“What he’s trying to say is that we should just talk to our leader before we let you run around in the streets like a crazy vamp chasing down the smell of her pussy.” Ezra leans in close to whisper, but we’re all freaking vampires, so it’s not like the others don’t hear. “How does it feel getting a chub? It’s been so long I can’t even remember.”

“That’s enough,” Ravana says. “Let’s take the tunnel to Bishop and figure this out. I don’t want to risk going above ground right now.”

“I’ll drive,” Erik calls, and I decide to just give in and go along with them.

I get into the back seat of the Mercedes SUV, and Ezra slides in beside me. Ravana gets up front with Erik, and then he’s taking off into the dark. Our eyes are made for night, so there’s no need to put on headlights. And it’s not like we need them. These tunnels have been here for hundreds of years. They were made long before any of us came along for this very reason. A lot of times when a vampire is coming to the end of his life, he will leave all his belongings to another vampire in his coven. The tunnels connect all of our houses and are here for when we need to travel during the day. It’s not my favorite form of traveling, so I only use it when I have to.

The twins are the youngest in our coven at just twenty years old. Bishop turned me and then Ravana years later. But the twins were an unexpected surprise. Covens can be larger than the one we have, and then there are rogue vampires that live alone. We talked about expanding our family, but the closer Bishop gets to the end of his two hundred years, the less he brings it up. I can imagine it makes him sad to think of creating someone new in our family only to leave them behind.

The drive doesn’t take long, but my skin feels too tight and the burning in my stomach is irritating me. Somehow it comes and goes. One moment it brings me to my knees and the next it’s only a dull throb. I can’t understand why it won’t stop.

When Erik stops the car we all get out. There are stone steps identical to mine nearby, and the four of us take them up to Bishop’s house. When we reach the hallway at the top, we walk directly to his study. He’s always here this time of night either writing or recording our history. He said he didn’t want to die without us knowing all that he’d been taught. I’ve told him before that I think he never found his mate because he doesn’t leave his house, but he seems to think that being our vampire historian is better for all of us.