Love Bites (Book one)

Chapter thirteen

*Yasmin*

“I couldn't believe it when you changed into that lioness.” Frankie told Nicole, bubbling over with energy as we headed back towards the dorm.

“Well I was amazed by Isla’s ability to control the wind, and even more shocked when Yasmin started to use it as well.” Nicole laughed in response. There was an atmosphere of celebration around us. Isla, Lilbeth, Nicole, myself and the Telvey who turned out to be called Astrid, all managed to make it through to the guard.

Frankie had warmed up to them, given that she had joined in the chanting from the stand like she was part of the group. I was happy about that, given that we would be the ones guarding her from tomorrow night. I felt happier that she would be safe with anyone here.

“Just remind me not to piss off Lilbeth if she is going to shoot one of those spines at me. That guard will surely have a headache when he comes around.” I giggled as we got to the dorm and flopped onto our beds.

“Is it bad that I am happy that bitchy and bitchier didn’t make it through?” Frankie giggled.

“Nah, I would not have felt confident with them around. They really seemed to be in it all for themselves.” Lilbeth told the group as she grabbed her towel and headed to the shower.

“I think Lilbeth has the right idea, you guys should get some rest. You won’t know if you are on the day shift or night shift until tomorrow.” Frankie announced as she pushed to her feet.

“There is a day shift?” I asked, not sure why anyone would want to attack during the day given that that was when we were at our weakest.

“Yeah, my sire insists on it. Don’t worry, after a day shift you will have at least one night off to recuperate your strength, but it can be exhausting and so you should all get some rest.” Frankie gave us all a wave as she exited and we all quickly showered before crawling into bed.

Whilst I slept, I dreamt of the Master vampire. I don’t know why my brain sought him out, but I dreamed about his strong arms wrapping around me protectively, his hard jaw rubbing against my own before working along my neck, nipping and sucking at my flesh. It was not like when Antonio had done it, I didn’t feel confused about the need that pooled between my legs or the way a moan escaped my parted lips.

He pulled back, his blue eyes shining as they burrowed into me. “You are mine, never forget that.” He gritted out possessively before his lips crashed into mine.

I bolted up in bed gasping for breath. I had never had a s****l dream before, well, not since I had been changed. It felt so real, as if he was right there in front of me, and I could still feel his touch against my skin. I bolted out of bed, heading for a shower to reign in my raging hormones.

Why did it have to be him? Why was my mind sending me s****l images of the Master vampire? Frankie warned me against him, warned that he liked to use women, just like Antonio did and had a bad temper, like Antonio and my father had. I did not crave a man like that, not one bit. But there was something about the possessive way his eyes stared at me, about the protectiveness that I felt when his large hard body was pressed against me, that I could not seem to shake.

I got out of the shower, pulling on the clothes from my chest before returning to my bed, Mt body flopping on it. “Still couldn’t sleep?” Nicole asked. I felt my cheeks heat slightly, nodding my head, not wanting to explain that my sleep had been disturbed for a whole different reason than the day before. The others got ready, chatting away to each other as I pulled on my trainers.

The door opened and Martyn walked in, letting out a loud groan as he realised the others were not ready yet. “Hurry up! You need to be up and ready at dusk, not half an hour later.” There was a flurry of speedy movement and then Nicole, Astrid, Isla and Lilbeth stood at the ready by my side. “We are going to go to the mess where you will meet up with your partner. You will have tonight to get to know each other’s gifts and how best you might work well together before you start work at dawn. The schedule is on the wall in the mess, memorise it, it works on a rotation basis and so when you reach the end, it loops back to the beginning. Any questions?” We all shook our heads and followed Martyn out of the dorm.

For a Sedvey, Martyn had the air of a Physvey, just as Drex did for a Telvey. I wondered if the Master vampire chose them because of that reason, although not even Charles and Phillippe matched his obvious physical strength and powerful aura. I shook my head, not sure why my mind was trying to torture me with such thoughts.

We walked into the mess and Martyn started to pair us up with male guards. It seemed like he was selecting from those that were part of the trial that we completed the previous evening and I crossed my fingers behind my back, hoping that I would not be paired with…”Yasmin, you will be partnered up with Nelson.” I had to resist groaning as Nelson started to high five those on his table before strutting over to where I stood.

“I am sure it makes your night being paired up with such a fine specimen of the vampire kind.” He drawled, leaning on the wall behind me, penning me in.

“Touch me and die stretch boy!” I sneered, an uneasy look crossing his face as I pointed out his gift before barging past him to the fridge.

I let out a long sigh as I grabbed a blood bag and drank it before walking over to the notice of the rota on the wall. It was confusing to look at at first, given that it was the rota for the entire guard, but I soon found the list for protecting Frankie and that it seemed to go two night shifts, one night off, day shift, one night off before it would repeat. Poor Nicole had the first day shift, and I did not envy her that.

I walked over, waiting for her and her partner to stop flirting with each other before she looked at me. “You have the first day shift, you may need to try and take a nap at some point to keep going.” I pointed out.

“That is actually a good idea.” Her partner, who I remembered as the Physvey who could shoot fire from the trials, interjected.

“Thanks Yasmin, I will.” She smiled as the two of them went off to talk about their pairing.

I looked around, noticing that all the girls were chatting away to their partners, but Nelson had gone and sat back at his table, still looking pissed at my previous comment. I walked over crossing my arms when he did not stop talking, even though he knew I was there. I cleared my throat and he turned around giving me an annoyed look. “Is there anything I should know before our first shift?” I gritted out, hating that I was having to ask.

“Be on time Sedvey.” He growled back before turning around.

“Nelson!” A voice boomed out. I turned around to see a pissed of Physvey marching his way across the room. “You have been gifted with a talented partner, and ordered to prepare her for guard duty. I am sure that you would not want Martyn to learn that you are disobeying him, would you?”

Nelson muttered about groups staying out of guards business before he pushed to his feet and pushed past me towards the door. “Thanks…”

“Angel.” The guy introduced himself, offering his hand.

“Yasmin.” I said back, taking his hand as a smile spread on both our faces as I saw why he had the name, realising he had purposefully let me know his gift for that reason.

“I know.” He whispered, leaning closer, just as Nelson shouted across the room.

“Hey Sedvey, are you coming or not?” I gave Angel another grateful smile before I jogged across the room and followed Nelson out up the stairs before going up to the first floor and down the corridor to one of the spires. I paused for a moment, remembering Frankie's words about not entering without permission, before I followed him through and up another flight. He gave a brief nod to two guys who stood outside a door before turning to me. “This is Frankie’s room, when on day duty you stand here and make sure no one enters, listening out for sounds of struggle from inside before you are relieved. When on night duty, you keep a discrete distance from her, letting her have her space. When you are on duty, you are not Frankie’s friend, you are her protector and you have to be alert at all times, not having idle chit chat.”

The door burst open and Frankie threw herself at me, pulling me into a hug. “You are not on duty tonight are you?” She asked, eyeing Nelson wearily.

“No, Nelson was just showing me where your room is and informing me to not talk to you when on duty.” I told her.

She let out a long sigh. “I think it is a stupid rule to be honest with you, but I understand that you have to stay alert and will try not to distract you too much.” I laughed as Frankie rolled her eyes before looking ever so innocently at me.

“If that is all, I have better things to do than babysit tonight.” Nelson huffed as he turned on his heels and stormed back down the corridor.

Frankie grabbed my hand and pulled me into her room, closing the door behind us. “Why the hell has Martyn paired you with Nelson? The guy is a creep!”

I could not help but laugh, thinking the exact same thing. “I don’t know, maybe your brother just hates me.”

“Maybe, but that is still no reason to lumber you with an asshole like that.” We both let out long sighs as I sat on a small stool by the door. “Hey, have you had a chance to explore the town yet?” She asked.

A shudder ran down my spine. “I am not sure if I want to after what I saw on my way here.”

Frankie nodded her head in understanding. “I know what you mean. I hate the way that women are treated here. I have tried to speak to my sire about it multiple times but he always dismisses me.” Another shiver went down my spine at the mention of the Master vampire, but of a different type. “Come on, you may find that you enjoy it. Plus, as long as you stay with me, no one will try to put a collar around your neck, I promise.”

I let out a humourless laugh, really hoping no one would try to collar me anyway. “I don’t really have any clothes here.” I pointed out, wearing the same type of baggy workout gear I had since I got here.

“I have just the thing for you.” Frankie squealed as she headed to the closet and pulled out a short red dress. When she saw that I was about to decline again she put on a cute little pout and stamped her foot. “Come on Yasmin, pleaseeee.”

“Fine.” I said, unable to resist her charms, making her clap her hands together with glee as she pulled me to my feet and thrust the dress into my hands before returning to her wardrobe. I slipped into her bathroom, pulling on the dress that was like a second skin trying not to think of how short and revealing it was, reminding me of the dress I had worn when I first met Antonio before I walked back out to the bedroom.

Frankie let out an exaggerated wolf whistle which made me blush, passing me a pair of matching shoes as she pushed a pair of large hoops into her earlobes. Frankie had on a matching dress but in black, and I wondered if she had chosen them so that we would look like sisters. I had hardly finished putting the strappy shoes on before Frankie grabbed my hand and started to pull me towards the door.

I noticed that it was a different set of guards on duty as we ran past them down the stairs and out of the front door. I kept my head bowed as we walked through the streets, still afraid to look at someone the wrong way which made Frankie giggle. “I told you, no one is going to bother us.”

I trusted Frankie’s words, looking up to see that although a few men did stare at us as we trotted past them in our heels, no one openly approached us. We went to a club close to the castle, heading down to the basement where Frankie leaned over the bar to order our drinks. I looked around, noticing that there were humans walking around, being given money to be fed on, as well as vampires dancing with great speed in cages hanging from the ceiling.

“Don’t worry about them. Everyone here works here voluntarily, it is one of the reasons I wanted to bring you here.” I let out a small sigh of relief at Frankie’s words, suddenly feeling a lot more settled than I had before. I was passed a glass of some sort of spirit and I could tell from one taste that it was strong and laced with blood. We stood at the bar, sipping our drinks for a while before a song came on that Frankie loved. She grabbed my hand, pulling me towards the dance floor.

For the first time since I was turned, I let my hair down, dancing like no one was watching, laughing with my friend. In fact, I could not remember ever feeling this free, as me and Frankie swayed our bodies to the music, the alcohol fueling us as we put on one hell of a show. The night passed with more drinks and dancing, I decided to not feed from a human, even if they were willing, when Frankie offered me a taste. She didn’t judge my decision and instead had a quick feed herself before pulling me back to the dance floor for another song.