Feral Bonds

Chapter 17

Three weeks later, seven months into their bargain, Natania lifted her head blearily as the smell of smoke touched her nose. It was faint, maybe one of the cooks had burned something. She lowered her head, intending to go back to sleep, then frowned. She glanced at the clock, it was only 3pm. None of the vampires would be awake yet, and therefore, none of the staff. Natania thought about the old wood of the house, how easy it would be to burn, and she leaped out of bed.

When she stepped into the hallway, the scent intensified slightly, still faint, but enough for her to confirm she hadn't imagined it. Fully awake now, Natania raced into Lily's room, the vampire was still limp and unresponsive due to the daytime, and no amount of shaking her had any effect. Shit, Natania swore, and scooped the vampire out of the bed. It felt like a violation to touch her when she was rendered helpless by the sun, but she couldn't leave her if there was the possibility of a fire.

She couldn't take her out of the house, or she would just burn in the sunlight, but the basement was stone. If something was burning, she'd be safest there. Natania carried Lily across the house to the top of the stairs, scanning for any signs of something on fire.

She carefully put Lily down at the top of the stairs, the smell was still faint enough that she felt confident in her safety while she got the others, then raced back towards Vincent's room.

Her path led her past Ray's room first and she hesitated. The guy was a bastard, but he was Vincent's right hand, and Lily considered him family. Grumbling under her breath, she picked him up and brought him back to the stairs as well.

Starting to get nervous, she shifted and sprinted across the house. Her paws slipped as she tried to stop and she tumbled ungracefully into the side of Vincent's bed. "Fuck," she grumbled as she shifted, rubbing her arms.

"What exactly are you doing?" Vincent's angry voice made her leap out of her skin.

She whipped around. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, eyeing her with distrust.

"You're awake?" she said, when her heart started beating again, frowning in confusion.

"I am now," he growled.

"Well, good," Natania tried not to flinch under his glare, "I was running out of hands."

"What is going on, Wolf?" Threat laced every word.

"There's a fire in the house," she snapped. Vincent's eyes widened and then he was gone. Natania would have followed after him, but she had no idea where he went, so she returned to the other two unconscious vampires. She scooped Lily up in her arms again, and carried her downstairs, laying her carefully on the ground inside the stone crypt, then returning for Ray, who she dropped onto the floor haphazardly. It wouldn't hurt him.

She closed the stone door, then ran back upstairs. The smoke was visible now, Natania shifted forms and raced through the house, nudging the still sleeping staff members awake and urging them out. Vincent stopped her after she had gotten half of them, smoke lay thickly around him and she coughed. "It's contained," he told her.

Natania shifted so she could speak. "What was it?"

Vincent held up a soaking wet black bag that was still leaching smoke. "A trap. If you hadn't smelled it, by the time we woke for the night it would have been too late. As it was, the attic is a mess."

"Someone wants you dead," Natania commented.

"Lots of someones do," he replied. "But this is witchcraft, so that narrows it down." Vincent pulled his shirt over his nose. "Can you take this outside? I would, but the sun is still out."

Natania nodded and took the bag from his hands. She sprinted through the house, trailing a heavy layer of smoke with her. She slammed the main doors open, flooding the hallway with sunlight, and quickly closed it behind her.