Bloodlust, page 9
“I want to know more about you,” Sebastian said as he looked down at her.
“What do you want to know? You know I’m an open book for you, Seb.”
His head quirked a bit and the corners of his mouth upturned slightly. “Seb?”
“Oh no. Is that one of your off-limits nicknames?”
“No,” he laughed. “Nobody has ever called me that. Charlie calls me Sebby and Victor goes for Bas sometimes. Never Seb.”
“Can I call you Seb?”
“Sure. That’ll be off-limits for you.”
“I’ll take it.”
She smiled widely at him, her lipstick still perfectly in place. “Why does Charlotte call you Sebby?”
“God knows,” he said, shaking his head. “Vic and I met her in college in New York a decade ago. She kept calling me ‘adorable,’ and it always pissed me off. So she coupled that with ‘Sebby’ and it just stuck. I don’t mind it so much now. But she’s the only one I’ll allow to get away with it.”
“You do look like a Sebby.”
Sebastian glared at her, but the expression melted with her giggles. He pulled her closer to him and they spun around once. “You changed the subject. Tell me more about you. I know I ask questions about your present, but what about your past? What was your family like?”
“For the record, you changed the subject,” Leona teased, earning her an unamused look. “My family was fairly normal. I had a sister called Petrie. My father was Robert and my mother was Daisy. We weren’t peasants, but we weren’t any sort of royalty. We got by just fine, had a small-sized estate. We did have this large garden in the back where I spent much of my time as a girl. The flowers were just beautiful. My mother really lived up to her namesake,” she said fondly. “We never wanted for anything, but we also never asked for things outside our reach. I took it for granted. I always wanted something outside of my mundane life. I wanted to travel, I wanted to marry a rich lord, and ride horses all over the world. I wanted adventure.”
She sighed sadly to herself, thinking about it. “But of course, when I met Gideon, everything changed. He was my sense of adventure. I was a fool.”
“You didn’t know,” he said reassuringly.
“Still,” she shrugged. “I miss them dearly. When Gideon changed me, he planted some story that I had a riding accident and was too mangled to be seen. My parents and sister mourned me deeply. It was horrific to watch from a distance. He forbade me from seeing them after I turned. He said it went against our laws. I later found out that no such laws existed — outside of his personal reign. I watched them for years after that. I was there when my father died, my mother, and eventually, my sister. Gideon disappeared from their life soon after I ‘died.’ I always wonder what they thought. If they truly believed that I was dead or if they were suspicious… But I’ll never know.”
Sebastian regarded her thoughtfully. It broke his heart. He couldn’t imagine sitting on the sidelines, waiting for his loved ones to die. Not getting to say goodbye. He didn’t have the same poetic relationship with his blood family, but he would absolutely feel the same way about losing Charlotte and Victor.
“What about your family?” Leona asked, sliding her hand from his shoulder to the back of his neck. Her fingers toyed with the curls she found.
“Charlotte and Victor are all I have. My parents are long dead,” he admitted. “My father was an abusive alcoholic the world is better off without. My mother was a frail, scared woman who was too weak to protect her son and stand up to her own husband. They got married out of principle. I wasn’t planned, so he wanted to make an honest woman out of her. I wish he hadn’t,” he sighed. “I didn’t spend much time at home from the time I was a teenager to when I went to college. Victor’s family practically adopted me. He taught me manners, how to conduct yourself in public, and that even if you didn’t have money, you could still trick people into thinking you had money. So I sat up straight, I came out of my shell and learned how to negotiate a deal, I learned how to schmooze politicians. All of it.”
“But… you work with art,” Leona said.
“I do,” he said. “But it wasn’t always that way. I wanted to be like Victor. I wanted to be successful. I didn’t want to act like I had money, I wanted to have money. I wanted to have everything I’d ever wanted. When I was younger, I thought money was the key to everything: a happy life, success, love. I found out it wasn’t. I pursued my passions, and Victor and Charlotte both encouraged that. He has never tried to make me into something I’m not. I cannot say the same for the other people that have flitted in and out of my life.”
Leona carefully played with the locks between her slim fingers. “How did your parents die?”
Sebastian sighed. He hadn’t ever told this story before. The only two people who really knew everything experienced it happening. He wasn’t sure where to begin.
“It happened after I got home from college. My dad came home too drunk, stumbling in in the middle of the night. The only reason I was even at the house was because Victor and Charlotte were celebrating graduation with his parents and I didn’t want to intrude. My mother requested me home so she could do something similar for me, though we just shared in a cheap bottle of wine and talked. It was always easier when it was just us at home. She was more relaxed. I tried to protect her, but after a while… it just became impossible. A growing boy should not have to worry about fending off a grown man from beating him and his mother to a pulp,” he muttered. “But… he came home and they got into a fight. I was about to leave when things just… shifted. It was worse than it had ever been before. He was accusing her of all sorts: cheating, stealing his money, abuse. I didn’t believe a word of what I heard… but even if it had been true, nobody deserved that betrayal more. Things escalated and escalated until I heard this loud pop. Then two more. I ran into the room and saw my mother on the floor in a pool of her own blood. Shot dead. The bullets killed her instantly. My dad turned the gun on me and I tackled him to the ground. I just… saw red,” he said, his eyes distant. As if he were back in that moment again. “I got the gun from him after it went off a few times. I still don’t know how it didn’t get me. All I remember is pulling the trigger as many times as I could toward him and… that was it,” he said. “Both of them… gone in an instant.”
Leona stared at him, completely horrified. How could a man so sweet and gentle have such a turbulent youth? How had he come out so… normal?
“The police came and arrested me. I have a record so it was expected. I called Victor in a panic when I got booked into the jail, and he bailed me out. He paid off the courts and the district attorney and made everything go away. The justice system is so corrupt in the parish that I’m not sure if a jury could have been convinced of self-defense.”
“How could you possibly get off on a murder charge? It was self-defense, but…”
“The unknown power of a family in all the high places,” Sebastian teased, but the smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Victor has never gone into much detail about how he pulled it off. But I know that money talks, and the Labasques have more money than I can even comprehend. I had to do some community service, but that’s a far cry from life in prison. From the small parts Vic’s told me, his dad went and sweet-talked the DA. They’re pretty good friends, given his father is also a politician, but… I shudder to think about how many zeros were on the check he had to have written.”
“Wow,” Leona said. “Well… I’m glad you’re not in prison.”
Sebastian chuckled softly. “That makes two of us. After all of that got brushed under the rug, I officially moved into the Labasque Manor and tried to regain my footing. They helped me build my art business and soon I got enough money to move out. They offered to buy me a home, furnish it, everything, but I wanted to do it off my own back. I owe them everything I have,” he said. “You can understand why I am not giving up their mortality so easily.”
Leona frowned and moved both her hands to cradle his cheeks. “Thank you for telling me, Sebastian. I know that couldn’t have been easy to relive. I feel much closer to you now,” she murmured. “You are a wonderful man. Though we’ve only known each other for a few weeks, I feel like I’ve known you my whole life. There’s nothing you could say that could scare me away.”
Sebastian leaned into her touch, his entire body melting. She was like a warm blanket on a snowy day. Everything around him ceased to exist when he looked into those gorgeous, bright eyes. He gently moved his hand to hold the back of her head, the other one sliding around her waist to pull her closer. Dipping his head down, he leaned closer to her, Leona’s eyes fluttering closed as she gave into his touch. The distance between them almost closed—
“Well, well, what is going on here?”
Sebastian didn’t recognize the voice, but when Leona immediately tensed, as if fear had completely paralyzed her, he knew who this was.
Gideon.
14
Sebastian stared at the beast of a man. He was taller than him by several inches, his hair dark and cut around his slightly pointed ears. His eyes were as dark as blood, peering into his soul as if he owned his entire being. He was wearing a suit of the deepest purple, so much so that it looked black in the right lighting. Sebastian could just tell this creature was dangerous. He felt stricken with fear, but compelled to hold eye contact. He assumed Gideon was taking advantage of his powers against him.
“Don’t be rude, my Leona flower. Aren’t you going to introduce me to your new… toy?”
Leona instinctively moved closer to Sebastian, standing slightly in front of him. “What the hell are you doing here?” she hissed.
“Well, Whitney had to come back for a party and Damien was so upset at her early departure. I wanted to see what sort of event was so important that it tugged her away from her mate. Dame has been pouting for the last six hours. He’ll be pleased to know that this was well worth the escape,” Gideon said smugly, his eyes moving to scan over the room. “Is this where you live now?”
“No,” Leona said. She didn’t want him anywhere near this home, these people. Sebastian. “You need to leave, Gideon. Right now.”
The man smirked and finally turned his attention to Sebastian. “Gideon Valdis.”
“I know who you are,” Sebastian ground out, his hand laced tightly with Leona’s. “And you were not invited.”
Gideon full-on bellowed at him, his hand moving over his chest. His pale fingers were topped with long, pointed nails. He was a vampire in every sense of the word. “Leona, sweetheart, this is so adorable. A human bodyguard. A bit of an oxymoron, but I’ll play along,” he said, then shifted his attention to Sebastian. He stepped close to him and in a flash, brought his hand up millimeters from his face.
Sebastian did not flinch.
Gideon raised an eyebrow and scoffed, before grabbing him. He nearly hoisted him up off the ground. “Still want to protect her now, human?”
“With my dying breath,” Sebastian ground out, glaring at him all the same. “I told you to leave. It would be in your best interest to do as I say.”
The tall vampire focused on Sebastian, holding his gaze as he regarded him carefully. Hungrily. Sebastian saw something flash in those red eyes of his. He almost wanted to say it was recognition, but that wouldn’t make any sense. Surely if Gideon already knew who he was, he wouldn’t be putting on a show like this, and he wouldn’t be allowing him to live any longer. Honestly, Sebastian was rather confused as to why he was letting him live at all. Though, Leona had said he liked to play with his food. Now he understood.
Gideon let go of him and grinned. “Leona, where do you find these men? This is the first one that actually has some nerve, I’ll give him that. Or perhaps he’s too stupid to understand what’s going on.”
“Gideon,” Piper said from behind him. “Leave Sebastian and Leona alone. If you came here to cause trouble, then you need to go. Nobody has bothered you. You’re the one who showed up unannounced,” she said firmly.
Gideon turned his head to look at her, then slowly released Sebastian. “Fine, fine… I was just having a little fun,” he laughed, putting his hands up. “Nobody can take a joke around here anymore. But if Leona wants to play with her food a little longer, that’s fine. I’m a patient man,” he said, eyeing Leona intensely. “You and I are going to need to have a talk though. It seems you’ve forgotten our understanding with each other. You should know better than to try and hide.”
Sebastian stood in front of Leona and squared up to him. “You don’t speak for her anymore. Say something else, I beg you.”
“You really are stupid, aren’t you?” Gideon cooed.
“Let’s find out,” he said, holding eye contact. “I will not ask you to leave again.”
“I could kill you here and now, boy. You wouldn’t even know what happened.”
“Here I stand. Give it your best shot.”
Gideon let out an amused breath and he looked over Sebastian’s shoulder to Leona. “I think I like him. Good choice.” He nudged Sebastian back with one finger, the strength causing the mortal man to stumble back into Leona. The woman steadied him and held him close against her chest.
“Enjoy your meal, flower,” Gideon said, his gaze locked on Leona like a lion stalking its prey. “I’ll come back for you later.”
In a moment, the space where he stood was empty. Whitney stood, horrified, from beside Piper. She hadn’t given any sort of information away to Damien, merely told him she had to go. He had accused her of cheating, to which she merely scoffed at and left. She should have known better than to think he would let it go. Why had she been so stupid? She had garnered Gideon’s attention through her idiotic boyfriend’s tantrum and now… now she was potentially the reason Leona got dragged back to England and Sebastian ended up a bloodied puddle on the floor.
“Clear the party,” Piper said. Charlotte, Victor, and Whitney were nearby, having watched the entire encounter unfold. “We need to talk now.”
“Turn us!” Victor said as they gathered in the kitchen of the manor. “There’s no time to waste. That prick is back and knows where we are. You need help. An army.”
“Nobody’s making an army,” Leona said, her head resting against her hand. She yearned for something as simple as a migraine at that moment. “Gideon is my problem. I knew I should have never come here.”
“Stop it,” Sebastian said. “Gideon is all of our problems now. You came here and that’s how it is. We need to figure out how to either hide you or fight him.”
“Perhaps Victor has a point, Leona,” Piper said. Whitney had been quiet thus far, the guilt of being what led Gideon to their gates eating her alive. “You and I both know that Gideon will stop at nothing until he has you under his thumb again. Sebastian might have squeaked by tonight sheerly by amusing him, but that will get old quickly. He needs protection, or else he’s going to suffer a fate far worse than death.”
“No,” Sebastian said whilst standing up. “I’m not going to be the reason you murder my friends.”
“It’s not up to you, Seb—” Charlotte started, but stopped when Sebastian lost his temper.
“NO!” he boomed, silencing the room. He seemed to gather himself and he took a deep breath, his chest heaving slightly. “No,” he said in a quieter voice. “I will not be the reason you die.”
“I can’t do this again. I don’t want to be here. I don’t want to talk about this,” Leona said, growing upset. The thought of losing Sebastian to something other than natural causes decades from now was too much to bear. She knew better than to run from Gideon. He would kill Sebastian purely to spite her and torture her, no matter if she ran into his arms freely at this very moment. It was too late for apologies. She would rather endure a hundred centuries in Gideon’s castle than sign Sebastian’s death warrant.
However, it looked like she already had.
“He has to have a weakness,” Sebastian said. “He has to.”
“He doesn’t,” Whitney said from the corner of the room.
“There’s a reason he’s been alive for millennia. Nobody has stood a chance. Damien is the only one who has ever come close. And…”
“And what?” Sebastian asked.
Whitney regarded him thoughtfully. “Nothing. I’m trying to say it’s pointless.”
“I don’t buy that,” he snapped. “At all. This is insanity,” he said. His heart had been racing at a dangerous level ever since that monster had snuck into their doors. He was scared. “How do you kill one of your kind? A normal vampire.”
“Fire is the most effective option. Destroying beyond recognition or reincarnation. From the few times I’ve done it, I’ve ripped the extremities off and burned everything I could until it was nothing but ash. It’s similar if we stay out in the sun for too long,” Whitney responded.
“Okay, so why don’t you just go rip him apart and throw him in a giant fire?” Sebastian asked whilst throwing his hands up.
“That’s easier said than done,” Piper scoffed. “You think it’s easy to kill a vampire? Especially him? We can’t just go up to him and rip an arm or two off. He has to be incapacitated first for us to even come close. Nobody’s gotten that far. Obviously.”
“I want to go home,” Leona said quietly. Sebastian came back to earth and looked at Leona. He’d never seen her this way before. She seemed so small.
“He doesn’t know where I live. Come with me,” Sebastian said.
Piper looked uneasy at that suggestion. “Regardless of her location, he can find her if he really wants to. Leona, you need to at least come with us so you can have some sort of protection. Perhaps we can call Damien and Theodore… see if they can distract him for a few more years. Enough for us to develop a plan.”
