Bloodlines

Four

Dante stared at his children. He couldn't believe Lazarus had come out of his lair after all these years, gone halfway around the world to sire a newborn vampire, then showed up to the coven who boards the Vampire Council and threatened them for the sake of that newborn. Dante had to know; what the hell was so important about Elair? She seemed indignantly ordinary to him. Sure, she was young, beautiful, and undoubtedly innocent. But that didn't explain her importance to Lazarus.

"Papa?" Izabel whispered.

Dante hugged her small body to him, stroking his hand down her straight sandy hair. "It's okay, sweetie. Everything is going to be okay," he said.

Nodding, Izabel kissed him on the cheek. Glancing up, Dante met the hard gaze of Jacobi. The Master's cold eyes bore into his. Dante flinched.

"Justin, take your sister inside. Send Annabelle for this nice lady here, alright?" Jacobi said, voice light. Justin nodded and scurried off. When Jacobi spoke again, his voice was hard, sharp, and full of authority. "Dante, come with me."

Dante stood. Before he could move, he felt Elair grab onto his arm and worry flooded through the bond. He felt Jacobi's scrutinizing gaze on him as he looked back at her. 

'It's alright, Elair. It's going to be okay. I won't let Lazarus hurt anyone,' he assured her.

And he meant it. Dante had promised himself he would protect her the moment he'd bitten her. She was young and scared. Innocent. She didn't deserve whatever it was Lazarus had planned for her.

"Dante, come. Now," the ancient Master snarled.

Dante felt the command snag on his coterie bond, forcing him to listen. He sent calming emotions to Elair as the bond made him follow after the Master who controlled it. 

*                      *                    *

Elair watched Dante and the other man disappear into the castle. Despite the waves of calm Dante was sending her, she was a mess. Her bond to him was making her agitated and worried for her bondmate. It wasn't anything close to what a mate would feel, but it was effecting her all the same.  Wringing her hands, Elair paced back and forth on the front stoop until a woman appeared in front of her. She put her hands on Elair's shoulders to stop her fidgeting. Elair jumped, looking up at her with wide eyes.

"Whoa, it's okay. I'm Annabelle. Master Jacobi sent me to bring you inside. Are you hungry?" the woman said, removing her hands.

Elair sighed. "Sorry, I'm just....kind of freaking out. It's been a really rough couple of days."

Annabelle smiled. "I know. Dante told Jacobi about you and Jacobi told me. He said you're Lazarus's spontaneous newborn."

"Jacobi?"

"The Master of the Ashes coven. My mate and Maker. The scary guy who took Dante to one of the conference rooms," Annabelle explained.

Elair nodded and took a moment to look at Annabelle. The smiley girl was the type of beautiful that comes with royalty. She was tall, most of her height originating from her legs. She was pale-skinned with piercing green eyes and wavy, sandy brown hair. Despite her striking appearance, there was an aura of kind-hearted childishness about her. It was calming.

"Well, shall we go in? Newborns have to feed a lot to stay in control."

Elair nodded and followed the girl inside.

*            *             *

Dante flinched when Jacobi slammed the door to the conference room behind them. He braced himself for his Master's wrath.