He licked, she chuckled, and he extended his canines, not showing them to her for fear of making her afraid of him and sank his teeth into her neck. He drank from her blood and then he sealed the bite marks. He kissed her again, waiting for her canines to extend, stroking her tongue with his until he felt her canines start to grow. He realized since she would have so little control over them to begin with, they would probably extend every time they were kissing.

  Levka said telepathically, “What is taking you so long? We’re waiting on you for dinner, Arman. You and Fiona.”

  “Coming.” Arman didn’t want to say anything more than that. Not when they were trying to complete the blood bonding. “Do you want to bite my wrist or neck?”

  Fiona looked a little dazed. “Hmm.”

  “If you’re afraid to bite me, I can bite my own wrist and you can drink my blood that way.” He hoped she didn’t back out on him now, worried about going through with it. Though if she did, they could try later. Maybe her teeth would extend given time.

  She licked his neck. That tickled, which was why she probably had laughed earlier when he had done that to her. But she didn’t bite.

  “Arman?” Levka persisted. Maybe he was worried about them.

  “I don’t mean to rush you, but Levka is worried about us not joining them for dinner.” Arman bit into his arm and offered his blood to her. “My sleeve will cover the teeth marks and then we can keep the secret from everyone. If you bit my neck, everyone would see it.”

  She was eyeing his blood.

  “You have to hurry, or the wound will heal enough that the blood will be gone, though I’ll still have the puncture marks for a while.”

  She took his arm and hesitantly drank his blood, but then really had a taste for it. Though he was glad she was alright with drinking his blood, he finally had to stop her. “Okay, that’s enough for you for now. You can drink some more from a cup when you need more. Let’s join the others. I’ll hold onto you, but you try and take us down to the bottom of the stairs, not to the dining room in case you land in the wrong place.”

  “We did it.” She was so bright eyed when she gazed up at him, full of wonder and she appeared happy that they had done it.

  “Yes, and Levka will be up here momentarily if we don’t go downstairs.”

  She wrapped her arms around Arman. “How do I do it?”

  “Imagine you’re at the bottom of the stairs.”

  The next thing he knew they were at the bottom of the stairs…in the swimming pool.

  “Ohmigod,” she said, both of them standing in warm water up to their waists.

  He laughed. He couldn’t help himself. This was going to be interesting. He told Levka, “I turned Fiona. We’re in the swimming pool again. As soon as we get changed again, we’ll be down. You can tell our friends, no one else.”

  “Not even Fiona’s parents or brother?”

  “Not yet.” Then Arman said to Fiona, “Okay, take us to our bedroom.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes. The more practice you have, the better you’ll get at it.”

  “Thanks, Arman.” Then she tried this time and got the bedroom right.

  They hurried to change, but before they went downstairs, she gave him a hug and a kiss. “Thanks for understanding.”

  “I have to admit I hadn’t expected to be standing in the pool.” He chuckled again. But this time, he took hold of her and transported them to the dining room. They took their usual seats while everyone was passing around a casserole dish of lasagna and a platter of garlic toast. Several glanced in their direction and Arman figured they were curious about what was going on.

  Arman wondered if Levka had told their friends what had happened.

  Then Levka said to Arman, “We’ll tell our friends after dinner, since you don’t want to mention it to the others and we don’t want to accidentally give away the secret.”

  “Thanks, Levka.”

  “So how is the guard schedule going to work?” Michail asked.

  “We have Scottish friends who will be responsible for guard duty. The rest of us will just get our sleep unless something happens that requires our action,” Levka said.

  Jasmine finally said to Arman, “Did you turn Fiona?”

  “Yes, but we were going to keep it just among ourselves, and no one else. Not Fiona’s family even.”

  “And you aren’t going to tell Shelly and Michail either, right?” Jasmine asked.

  “Right.” Arman saw Jasmine lean over and kiss Stasio and she squeezed his hand. She knew she was telling him what was going on, but making sure he didn’t give away the secret.

  Levka probably had already told Caitlin. Arman had to tell Ruric then, not wanting him to be left out in the cold.

  Ruric toasted to Fiona, “May your birthday tomorrow be the best ever.”

  Arman had been afraid he’d mention her being turned, so he was glad he hadn’t said anything about that.

  “Have you discussed being turned again?” Michail said. “I really believe it would be in your best interest, Fiona. Especially since your brother and parents are already turned.”

  “No. I don’t believe it would help me. Maybe later, but it would probably take me too long to use any vampiric abilities to my advantage,” Fiona said.

  “Fiona’s right,” Caitlin said. “Some of these abilities took me months to really get used to and some I still haven’t been able to master.”

  “I don’t know,” Justin said. “I still think you would have an advantage against rogue vampires if you’re one of them. Or maybe not an advantage, but at least more on an equal footing.”

  “If I had mastered the abilities. If I hadn’t, it could prove disastrous.”

  Arman hoped Fiona really didn’t feel that way because of the mistake she’d made in transporting them to the pool.

  She leaned over and kissed his cheek as if reassuring him she was fine with it all.

  “So what time were you really born?” Shelly asked.

  “One in the afternoon,” Fiona’s father said.

  “Yes, I kept thinking I would have Fiona. I had gone in at eight in the evening and then it was hours and hours and hours before she was born. I actually went home and walked for a while, returned to the hospital and walked some more. And then finally at one in the afternoon, she was there. Well, ten after one to be precise,” Fiona’s mother said.

  Had Fiona mixed up the hour of her birth or were her parents trying to pretend she was born later so that she would have the full advantage of her dream abilities before anyone knew she had them?

  If so, that was a great ploy.

  Arman was trying not to glance at Fiona too much, hoping she was able to keep her fangs sheathed or not while she was eating. He hoped she would have an easier time of it than Caitlin had.

  “So should we have the birthday party at ten after one then?” Fiona asked, sounding happy to do it.

  “Absolutely,” her mother said. “We got you a couple of gifts too.”

  Fiona smiled. “Thanks, Mom.”

  They visited after dinner, but then everyone was eager to go to bed to be ready for the day ahead of them. Especially since Arman and his friends knew that Fiona’s abilities would most likely appear at one in the morning.

  Everyone retired to their rooms and Fiona and Arman settled in bed together. They snuggled together. He was worried about her, but with their extra guards and everyone else here who would protect her, he felt pretty certain Fiona would be okay.

  She smiled and kissed him. “We’ll be fine.”

  He sure hoped so, though he couldn’t help but think about the dream he’d had and that he couldn’t find Fiona, then the fighting had started. When did that actually happen? All he knew was that it was dark out when he found Fiona was missing from the bed.

  Fiona was torn between wanting to sleep before she might end up in a fight against Tobias and his minions, practicing using her vampire skills, practicing sword fighting some more, or trying to infiltrate her friends’ dreams. Still, she was tired, and while she was cuddling with Arman, she fell into a sound sleep.

  Fiona felt she was drifting into the wispy clouds, the dark sky filled with twinkling stars, the full moon taking on a reddish cast. The blood moon! It was huge, taking up most of the sky, beautiful, amazing and she felt connected to it all at once.

  Fiona “saw” Levka fighting Arman in sword practice and Caitlin exposing her small canines in a grin. Fiona watched as her brother floated below the van’s ceiling as he tested out his vampiric abilities. She saw her mother biting her father and him biting her back, then hand-in-hand, running for their lives. Ruric came into view, being hunted by a man and a woman dressed in black leather, both armed with swords, hunters? Vampire hunters? She didn’t know, but she made them stop, toss their swords, and begin to kiss each other. Ruric glanced back at them, raised his brows, but then he vanished, free of the hunters’ pursuit. Jasmine was after a hunter, but lost him, and saved a little girl from harm, returning her to her human parents. Stasio was reading one of his books on…War Tactics.

  Then she saw Shelly and Michail walking through the gardens. She drew closer to listen in.

  “They’re here, waiting for the signal,” Shelly said.

  “I hope they have enough of a force to overwhelm about forty vampires, well, and one huntress,” Michail said.

  “They won’t approach until it’s one-ten in the afternoon, the time when Fiona turns eighteen.”

  Fiona knew not to trust them! Her instincts were often on the mark. She was so angry, she envisioned a king cobra the size of a man biting at Michail, and a sinkhole swallowing up Shelly. Not that Fiona could actually make them dream of those things, but suddenly, both were crying out and Fiona nearly fell to the ground. She hadn’t been dreaming that part. She was really floating up in the clouds and spying on Michail and Shelly! Well, giving them nightmares while they were awake, terrorizing them.

  She had to return to tell the others that she had learned of their deceitfulness, that Tobias and his people were here, waiting to attack them.

  Suddenly, Tobias was next to Shelly and Michail, shaking Shelly first. “Snap out of it. Fiona’s got her powers already, damn it. It’s after one in the morning. Her mother lied to you about Fiona’s actual birth time.”

  But Shelly couldn’t shake loose of the feeling that she was sinking into the sinkhole, and it was closing around her. Tobias shook Michail then, trying to get him to listen to him. “Get ahold of yourself, man.”

  Boy, was Tobias pissed.

  Fiona was going to call out to Arman and their friends telepathically when Tobias saw her. Crap! She tried to vanish, but she couldn’t. The next thing she knew, she was trying to fly out of Tobias’s reach. He knew now she was a vampire, no longer just a huntress. Thank God, she also had her sword belted at her waist. Still, she needed to alert the others because more of Tobias’s vampires were here, and they could be a threat to her friends and family.

  But she realized she couldn’t send them a warning, not while she was trying to evade the powerful vampire.

  20

  Arman woke. He wasn’t sure why, then he realized Fiona was no longer in bed with him. He immediately alerted his friends, their guards, and Fiona’s family, though he really didn’t want Justin in the middle of all this, feeling he wasn’t ready to fight vampires yet. Which really was the same for Fiona. He did not alert Shelly and Michail. “The blood moon is out, Fiona’s not here. It’s after one in the morning.”

  He threw on his clothes, grabbed his sword, and headed out of the room. Everyone was leaving their bedrooms at the same time, pulling on shirts or shoes, their swords sheathed at their waists.

  “Did you check the bathroom?” Caitlin asked.

  “Yes.”

  “The kitchen?” Ruric asked.

  “No. But if this is anything like that dream or vision I had, Fiona is not in the mansion any longer,” Arman said, then vanished and was in the gardens. “Fiona!”

  Levka joined him. And then the others did. “Spread out. Let us know if you find any trouble.”

  Then they heard sword fighting in the herb gardens, and they all headed that way.

  Arman couldn’t believe it when he saw Shelly writhing on the ground in distress as if she’d been poisoned, and Michail was holding onto something, trying to keep it away from him, his arms outstretched, his face a ghastly mask of horror, but there was nothing in his grasp that Arman could see. But then he heard the sound of clanking steel again, and he hurried past the crazed vampires in search of the source of the fighting. “Fiona!”

  All at once the gardens were filled with vampires, not Arman’s friends, but strangers they didn’t know. They were likewise armed and intent to fight, their expressions full of malevolence. Levka and the others began engaging them in combat, but Arman was still searching for Fiona, avoiding fighting anyone as much as possible so he could reach her more quickly. But a tall, slender vampire targeted him, and Arman quickly dispensed with him, furious beyond measure that anyone would try to thwart him from his mission.

  Fiona cried out behind one of the greenhouses, and Arman instantly reappeared there and saw her fighting Tobias. Arman’s heart beat triple time, fear for her and anger swamping him.

  “You turned her, didn’t you?” Tobias said, angry as hell. He whipped around to kill Arman. But Arman wasn’t a new vampire.

  Though Arman also knew that Tobias would realize he was the real threat to him.

  Fiona was favoring her arm and Arman realized Tobias had cut her. He smelled her blood and wanted to end the vampire instantly, but he had to keep his head. Getting emotionally embroiled in a fight could be the death of him and he had to protect Fiona at all costs.

  He swung his sword at Tobias and the vampire connected with his, hitting it so hard, Arman’s whole arm vibrated with the jolt. “Tobias is here behind the greenhouse,” he told his friends, suspecting the reason Fiona hadn’t called out to them was because after being so newly turned, she couldn’t manage telepathically communicating with them while fighting to save her life against the vicious vampire. “Fiona’s injured.”

  “Coming,” Caitlin and Jasmine said.

  Arman knew they were all fighting. He could hear the sword fighting going on around the perimeter of the estate. But he also knew they needed more help here to protect Fiona. She was the real target.

  “Regina’s here,” Arman said as she went straight for Fiona.

  Fiona had been resting, holding her injured arm, in obvious pain. She wasn’t healing as fast as he thought she should. But then Caitlin and Jasmine showed up and both took Regina on while he continued to fight Tobias. The next thing he knew, Clarissa, the Egyptian girl came out of nowhere and headed for Fiona.

  “You don’t want to mess with me,” Fiona told Clarissa, her voice threatening. She swung her sword at Clarissa, but to swing well, Fiona needed the strength of both arms, but her injury was making her swing much weaker than when she’d practiced. She hated coming to the fight that she had to win, injured before she had barely begun.

  “Or else, what? All I need to do is turn you and then you’re mine,” Clarissa said.

  She was going to be in for a surprise when she realized Fiona was already a vampire. Fiona saw Arman glance in her direction, and she knew his worried look meant he feared for her when she wanted him to concentrate on the fight between him and Tobias. He couldn’t safely risk watching her fight while battling Tobias.

  Just like right now, she needed to watch out for Clarissa’s powerful swing and not concern herself with how Arman was faring as much as she did worry about it. Clarissa purposely struck Fiona’s sword with such power, Fiona lost her sword, and she swore under her breath.

  Fiona disappeared—to her surprise and from the look on Clarissa’s slack-jawed expression, Clarissa’s too—and then reappeared where her sword had landed. Fiona grabbed it up, but Clarissa was attacking her with a vengeance, probably pissed off that someone from Fiona’s court had turned her and Clarissa now didn’t have the chance.

  Fiona feared she wouldn’t win this fight against the powerful teen vamp as hard as Clarissa was striking her sword and Fiona could only defend herself. She tried to control Clarissa’s thoughts like it seemed she’d done with Shelly and Michail, but like she’d tried with Tobias, she wasn’t able to. Maybe later, when she had better control of it. But not when she had a lot of distraction—like trying to keep herself alive while in a sword fight and she was newly trained at it.

  She heard her brother shout off in the distance and she prayed he was alright. She worried about her mother, that Tobias might try to influence her to show up here too and force Fiona to fight her own mom. She wouldn’t be able to do it.

  Fiona thought about being a dragon, breathing fire, to wedge that fear into Clarissa’s thoughts but only for a split second as Clarissa’s thrusts were taking way too much of Fiona’s focus. Her arm was hurting something fierce, a burning sensation growing. Blood dripping down her arm made her realize just how much she could smell blood now, and she noticed how Clarissa had glanced that way several times, as if she wanted a taste…or to drain her. More likely the latter.

  But then Clarissa slammed her sword with such ferocity against Fiona’s again, the impact sent her sword flying through the air. Before Fiona could vanish, Clarissa lunged and grabbed for Fiona’s throat.

  Arman was still fighting Tobias, both slicing at each other, both trying to keep from being fatally cut. He couldn’t help but glance in Fiona’s direction though, worried for her. For the second time, she’d lost her sword as Clarissa had struck it so hard.

  Arman wanted to destroy Tobias and go to Fiona’s aid, but Caitlin suddenly left Jasmine to fight Regina on her own, and targeted Clarissa. Caitlin screened Fiona in fog, allowing her to escape Clarissa’s wrath. Then Fiona could move from where she was last standing to a new location. Caitlin waved her hands in her witch’s way and threw Clarissa over an ancient stone retaining wall and the vampire fell into the rosebushes.