Blood Ties (Blood Lust Sequel)--COMPLETED

Chapter Fifteen: Out of the Frying Pan (Audrey's POV)

It had taken me a moment to find my way back to the university, though I wasn't sure if it was because I was so upset, or if it was due to how dense the forest was. The tears stinging my eyes made me think it was the former. Huffing quietly, I brushed away a stray tear with the back of my hand, and trudged on toward the square.

...You're an eighteen-year-old little girl actin' out...

...If ya wasn't so busy spreadin' your legs...

...I just wanna save you from bein' a vampire slut...

When had Linc become so cold, so cruel?

Was it when he lost his grandmother?

Simone's lithe frame leaning against Dean Lachlan's statue at the square made me push everything to the side. I didn't know her well enough to let her see me so vulnerable, so consumed with these painful thoughts. Clearing my throat, I turned away to fan my eyes, a poor attempt to dry up my unshed tears. And then I faced her.

"Hey, Simone!" I said, a little too cheerful.

She didn't seem to notice anything off about me. "My queen." She bowed deeply.

When she stood up straight, I gave her a smile. "You can call me Audrey, you know."

I had asked her to do so only hours earlier. Had she forgotten already?

"Apologies, my que--Audrey." She amended quickly. "Sorry, Audrey. It's not easy, being so lax around a Royal."

That piqued my interest. "Am I the first Royal you've met?"

We started to walk away from the square, toward a wooded path to the west. One that I had never been on before.

She shook her head. "Oh no. I've met your grandfather. He was a handsome man. Very funny. And then, of course, there's Nero. And Master."

"Master?" I repeated. Suddenly I thought of the memory Gabriel showed me earlier that morning. "The vampire that turned Gabriel and Gildoroy?"

She flashed me a pleased grin. "The very same. How did you know?"

"Long story."

"I see."

"So what is--or was-- he to me?" I asked. "This Master vampire."

"It is not my place to tell." She stopped walking to shift nervously. "Perhaps you should ask Sire, or Gabriel."

"Sire? Do you mean Lucius?"

Simone nodded.

"Why do you call him Sire?" I asked. "You two seem close; why not call me him by name?"

She looked at me, and simply shrugged. "Because he is my sire. He made me Vampire."

My jaw dropped. "He made you a vampire?"

There were too many questions in my head then.

When was she turned?

Why was she turned?

Was it a life or death situation, like it had been when Lucius became a vampire?

"Aye, he did." Simone answered, disrupting my silent musings. "Accidentally, of course."

"Seriously?" I giggled. "How did that happen?"

Simone shot me a glance, her full lips curving up in a wicked half-smirk, before she looked ahead with a sigh. "He hadn't been Vampire long. Still learning about himself, how to control his urges. It was dark time. I had barely escaped an ambush on my village when I ran into Sire. I was wounded--a slice across my clavicle." She pulled the neck of her hoodie out so I could see a very faint white scar that crossed her delicate collarbone. "As the saying goes, I was out of the frying pan and into the fire."