Blood Enchanted (Blood Enchanted, Book 1): A Vampire Hunter Paranormal Romance Series by Nicola Claire Page B
Authors: Nicola Claire
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tattle on you to Frank."
Ah-oh.
"He was a cowardly bastard," I muttered.
"And you have become rash and undisciplined."
And here was the lecture. Somehow we always ended up in the roles of sanctimonious teacher and reprimanded student.
As Alain waxed lyrical about maintaining a level of decorum and setting an example for all vampire hunters to attain, I wondered if he ever doubted how our joining would fare. Oh, he cared for me. I knew this. Beyond his title of Michel Durand's Second. It had been Alain who had fetched me when I was sucked in too deeply in the writhing rioting crowd of anti-vampire protesters, having thought it a good idea to gather intel on my own. It had been Alain who had offered a shoulder to cry on when my Prom date - a human, I was going through a I-want-to-be-as-normal-as-possible stage - had stood me up having found out I was connected to the Nosferatu. It had been Alain who had been the first of my trainers, other than my mother, to draw blood. Teaching me the valuable lesson of pain. He hadn't held back, he'd made me push harder. He’d stood there as tears welled up in my eyes and said, "Éliane, use the pain to focus your rage. Strike back."
No one had dared harm the daughter of the Champion. But Alain did, because he knew it was a lesson I had to master.
And now this. Alain finding out about Luc being missing and once again turning up out of the blue to offer.... what? His help? His shoulder to cry on? Or the lesson of drawing blood and using the consequent pain to survive?
"Are you quite done?" I asked, when he wound down from his tirade, having noticed my blank stare in answer.
"Not nearly. But I guess it can wait for another day."
My lips curled in a small smile.
"How long do you think?" he asked. I understood the question immediately. How long had Luc been missing.
"One week."
"Are you sure?"
"We had a date the night after our birthdays."
He let a slow breath of air out.
"You both disappeared that night." He didn't need to say it, I could see the knowledge in his eyes. When our Light flared and our Nosferatin talents were received. This explained his need to retest our compatibility for joining. He'd been concerned by the power on display before Luc and I managed to escape.
I knew he wanted to ask. I could see the desire in his eyes, a lighter blue imbuing the deeper tone usually there. A smattering of Sanguis Vitam relaying his need to find the answer. What talents had I received?
Even my mother and father did not know. Strangely they'd allowed me some time to adjust privately. That time would be running out now.
But I would not tell this vampire before I divulged my secrets to my parents. Even if my father trusted him, I did not.
"What have you heard?" I repeated my earlier question.
He didn't repeat his answer of before. "He started fighting in the arenas the night of your party."
My heart clenched. Luc was not a fighter. He was a politician, a talker, a lover, a smooth operator. He could hold a sword and palm a stake. He was Nosferatin so had inborn skills. But he had not taken to the cut-throat arenas like I had. He supported my desires from afar. I think I could count on one hand how many times I've seen my brother in the stands at a fight.
My fists were clenched. My Light thrummed in a menacing warning. Not for Alain. But for whatever torment my brother had experienced that led him inside the cages.
"He did not fare well," I guessed.
"Initially," Alain said, purposely not looking at my Light, giving me a modicum of privacy, even if only for show, "he proved quite adaptable. Even winning a few rounds. We believe he became cocky."
We . Alain was referring to his stable of spies. They'd been watching Luc. Which meant they watched me.
My nails cut into the flesh of my palms. Sweat beaded on my brow. I concentrated on breathing, because I knew what would come next.
"We have not been able to find much of use on Hakan Bahar," he concluded in that abrupt way he often
Ah-oh.
"He was a cowardly bastard," I muttered.
"And you have become rash and undisciplined."
And here was the lecture. Somehow we always ended up in the roles of sanctimonious teacher and reprimanded student.
As Alain waxed lyrical about maintaining a level of decorum and setting an example for all vampire hunters to attain, I wondered if he ever doubted how our joining would fare. Oh, he cared for me. I knew this. Beyond his title of Michel Durand's Second. It had been Alain who had fetched me when I was sucked in too deeply in the writhing rioting crowd of anti-vampire protesters, having thought it a good idea to gather intel on my own. It had been Alain who had offered a shoulder to cry on when my Prom date - a human, I was going through a I-want-to-be-as-normal-as-possible stage - had stood me up having found out I was connected to the Nosferatu. It had been Alain who had been the first of my trainers, other than my mother, to draw blood. Teaching me the valuable lesson of pain. He hadn't held back, he'd made me push harder. He’d stood there as tears welled up in my eyes and said, "Éliane, use the pain to focus your rage. Strike back."
No one had dared harm the daughter of the Champion. But Alain did, because he knew it was a lesson I had to master.
And now this. Alain finding out about Luc being missing and once again turning up out of the blue to offer.... what? His help? His shoulder to cry on? Or the lesson of drawing blood and using the consequent pain to survive?
"Are you quite done?" I asked, when he wound down from his tirade, having noticed my blank stare in answer.
"Not nearly. But I guess it can wait for another day."
My lips curled in a small smile.
"How long do you think?" he asked. I understood the question immediately. How long had Luc been missing.
"One week."
"Are you sure?"
"We had a date the night after our birthdays."
He let a slow breath of air out.
"You both disappeared that night." He didn't need to say it, I could see the knowledge in his eyes. When our Light flared and our Nosferatin talents were received. This explained his need to retest our compatibility for joining. He'd been concerned by the power on display before Luc and I managed to escape.
I knew he wanted to ask. I could see the desire in his eyes, a lighter blue imbuing the deeper tone usually there. A smattering of Sanguis Vitam relaying his need to find the answer. What talents had I received?
Even my mother and father did not know. Strangely they'd allowed me some time to adjust privately. That time would be running out now.
But I would not tell this vampire before I divulged my secrets to my parents. Even if my father trusted him, I did not.
"What have you heard?" I repeated my earlier question.
He didn't repeat his answer of before. "He started fighting in the arenas the night of your party."
My heart clenched. Luc was not a fighter. He was a politician, a talker, a lover, a smooth operator. He could hold a sword and palm a stake. He was Nosferatin so had inborn skills. But he had not taken to the cut-throat arenas like I had. He supported my desires from afar. I think I could count on one hand how many times I've seen my brother in the stands at a fight.
My fists were clenched. My Light thrummed in a menacing warning. Not for Alain. But for whatever torment my brother had experienced that led him inside the cages.
"He did not fare well," I guessed.
"Initially," Alain said, purposely not looking at my Light, giving me a modicum of privacy, even if only for show, "he proved quite adaptable. Even winning a few rounds. We believe he became cocky."
We . Alain was referring to his stable of spies. They'd been watching Luc. Which meant they watched me.
My nails cut into the flesh of my palms. Sweat beaded on my brow. I concentrated on breathing, because I knew what would come next.
"We have not been able to find much of use on Hakan Bahar," he concluded in that abrupt way he often
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