Blood Bonds (Vampire)

Chapter 38

Demi

To say that I was alarmed was an understatement. Whatever happened last night had nearly triggered my dark form to come out after all these years. My mate, who I had been searching for for centuries, was truly put in harm's way and I couldn't defend her at all. For years, I had been ignoring the fact that Cairstine's coven wanted my blood, but now they had threatened the most precious thing in my entire existence.

When Elli spoke of the strange dreams, I initially suspected that the coven may have been using dream projection magic to get to her, but after seeing the mark on her beautiful skin, I realized that someone had actually been here and touched my mate.

The pendant that I had found outside Elli's house was enchanted with a powerful charm that allowed whoever had last possessed it to come close to my mate without feeling the ill effects of Lana's protection charm. Such a pendant was not easy to create and no doubt a family heirloom. At first, I was bewildered as to why they would be careless enough to why leave the pendant behind, but then I realized that once the mark had been transferred to my mate, they would no longer require the physical pendant. By leaving the pendant behind, they wanted me to know they had been here.

The only possible explanation for the powerful magic on the pendant and my unconscious state during the night invasion was that Cairstine's coven had combined their bloodlines with our species. It was very ironic to consider, especially knowing her hatred for vampires, but Cairstine was a firm believer in "the end justifies the means".

My initial reaction was to rush my mate back to California. Even if I could be influenced by the witch there, as a witch vampire hybrid, Lana would be able to protect my mate. However, I couldn't ensure her safety during the journey back and I was against the idea of teleporting with her. In fact, I actually suspected that by teleporting here, I had attracted the attention of the coven and allowed them to track me.

Luckily for me, I recalled Lana speaking of an old family friend in Pennsylvania who happened to be a skilled witch. I called Lana to ask for a favour to contact her. I initially intended on taking my mate with me, but I decided against it. If Cairstine's coven was tracking me through my teleportation magic, they would assume that my mate was with me. By keeping her far away, I was actually protecting her for the time being. Using a drop of my mate's blood that I had previously collected in a vial, the witch was able to produce a physical counter charm for me that would defend against the effects of the sleep hypnosis charm used against me the other night, as long as I wore it.

Once I arrived back at her mother's house, I knew I had to convince her to go home. However, the fact that she was equally as stubborn as me didn't help. Even though I had the counter-charm now, I was still concerned. If Cairstine had brought an entire coven against me, I would need to gather supports of my own.

Lana was back in Berkeley along with a few of my "siblings". I still hadn't managed to track down Erik. The last I saw him was only a few years after he had been turned. Although he was the youngest out of all of us, he still showed a great amount of potential and I needed all the help that I could get.

I had convinced the other siblings to help out with my predicament already. Usually we had a few interactions with one another, but when one of us were in need, the others would generally help.

By no surprise at all, Elli flat out refused to leave with me, concerned both for her mother's safety and what her mother would think if she just left. It wasn't prudent to physically force her to come with me, so I decided that we would resume this conversation in the morning.

I watched over Elliana as she slept, admiring her physical features. The slight crease of her eyebrows showed me that she was a bit uneasy, and this further spurred my protective instincts.