Legacy of Blood by J. L. McCoy, Virginia Cantrell

shook my head, my mind in a whirlwind of thought.  Oleif had been given permission from Hagan to spar with me and the thought made my upset stomach even more upset.  There was no way in hell I stood a chance against him and I had no doubt he’d seriously injure, if not kill, me.  On top of that were the words Oleif had said to Archer.  Some of my new family put up with me because they thought I was interesting, some were attached.  It was easy to figure out who loved me; that was Trey of course.  I liked to think of him as my ‘brother from another mother’.  But who was the one who lusted after me?  That has to be Archer , I thought silently.  But then I remembered Oleif had questioned why Archer put up with me, so the one who lusted couldn’t have been him.  What the hell? I wondered as I sat up and looked around the room.  At that second, Lochlan looked over from his domino game and gave me a wink.  Ah… of course .  It had to be Lochlan, the notorious flirt.  His advances had always seemed like harmless jokes at the time and if it was him who indeed lusted after me, I was pretty shocked.  I guess I had just never taken him seriously before.  While I liked Lochlan and thought he was incredibly funny and a nice guy, I didn’t have any romantic feelings toward him whatsoever.  He was absolutely gorgeous, don’t get me wrong, and I was a sucker for a red head, but he really wasn’t my type.
    I heard the doorbell ring just then and jumped in surprise.  In the month that I had lived here, no one had ever used the doorbell before.  I stood as Trey went to answer it and prayed it was food.  If I didn’t eat soon, I was sure I would die from the pain of my hunger alone.
    I heard the sound of Trey greeting someone and then several pairs of footsteps as the door closed and they walked further into the house.  My mouth instantly watered when their scents and heartbeats hit me.
    I must have made some sort of sound because Archer was instantly next to me and had his arm wrapped around my waist.  “Hold your breath and silently count to twenty.  Do not allow your eyes to betray your hunger or you will scare them.”
    I nodded my head and closed my eyes as I leaned my head on his shoulder.  I did exactly as he instructed while he greeted them warmly and exchanged pleasantries.
    “Vanessa,” Archer said next and my eyes flew open to see the curvaceous, bottled redhead step forward.  I had seen her before at The Mausoleum.  She had fed Archer once and it had made me incredibly jealous when I naively thought they had slept together.  “I wasn’t expecting you.  What are you doing here?” he asked as I felt a low growl start at the back of my throat.  As far as I was concerned, she’d be feeding Archer over my dead body.
    Archer quickly pinched my ass, reminding me to behave, as he continued.  “I specifically asked for Mona, Jason, Chris, and Bethany today.”
    “Well,” she purred as she flipped her long red hair over her shoulder and stuck out her large chest, “I thought I’d fill in for Mona.  I haven’t seen you in a while, let alone been out to your place before, and I know how much you enjoy the taste of my blood so I thought I’d surprise you.  Surprise!”
    Archer let out a long sigh, obviously displeased, as he motioned to the front sitting room off the foyer.  “Trey, escort Jason, Chris and Bethany to the parlor and make sure they are comfortable.”
    Trey smiled brightly and motioned for the three of them to follow him.  “Right this way, please.”
    I watched the three of them eagerly follow Trey and disappear around the corner.  When I looked back at Vanessa she was smiling like she had just won the lottery.
    “So, where should we go?” she asked as she slowly walked up to Archer.  She never even looked at me which surprised the hell out of me (okay and royally pissed me off too) as she stopped in front of us.  Archer’s hand tightened on my waist as he addressed