Blood of My Blood(Blood of My Blood #1)

By Joann L. Polite

It's good to be king. Well, in Bonnie's case, a vampire, but when your Sire is the Grand Lord of one of the most prestigious vampire families, you might as well be royalty. And life, undead life, is good. That is, until pesky werewolves decide to throw your whole world upside down. Now things aren't looking so good for Bonnie. Due to one foolish mistake, she's being accused of high treason and has a mile wide target on her head. Unfortunately the only people who may be able to help are those same pesky werewolves. Bonnie has to tread carefully since her next move may be her last.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Joann L. Polite
• Release date: Feb 1, 2016
• ISBN: 9781311899644

Joann L. Polite

I'm just your typical, cliche'd book-lover who decided to write down the stories she kept day dreaming about. I've worked as a call center operator, an accountant in a bakery, and most recently, a high school teacher. Luckily I was able to do these jobs while daydreaming without getting in any trouble for it. :). I live and work in the West Indies and one day I plan on travelling the world accompanied by a backpack full of books. My taste in books is very diverse so I have aspirations of writing stories in all possible genres. *takes deep breath. Well, here I go!!

Book preview

Blood of My Blood

By Joann L. Polite

Copyright 2016

Smashwords edition

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of the author.

CONTENTS

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty – One

Epilogue

Acknowledgements

About the author

DEDICATION

For Zack; always.

CHAPTER ONE

Bonnie was stalking her prey. And what a delicious-looking prey it was; just over six feet of lean hard muscles that could make even Adonis jealous. Deep brown eyes and shoulder-length blonde hair completed the scrumptious look that had drawn her sights to him earlier at the club. From what she’d heard from his conversations, that she had shamelessly eavesdropped upon, he was also Australian. She couldn’t remember the last time that she had Aussie. International travel, human travel anyway, had slowed down considerably since humans found out that the things that went bump in the night were no longer satisfied with remaining in the dark. Foolish of them really. They were naïve to think that restricting their travels made them less likely to encounter someone like her. Her kind was everywhere. She licked her lips in greedy anticipation.

He knew he was being followed. They always knew. It was that sixth sense that had been instilled in humans back when they did not fool themselves into believing that they were at the top of the food chain. Right now this same instinct was screaming at him to run for his life. She could see his discomfort plainly in the set of his shoulders, the way he kept on clenching and unclenching his fists, but his pride wouldn’t allow him to run. She almost wished he would. She loved a good chase.

He stopped and quickly turned around. Bonnie sidestepped into one of the shadows cast by a dilapidated warehouse, one of many down the deserted street. She made sure to do so just slowly enough for him to catch a glimpse of movement. He squinted his eyes, trying to see into the corner where she stood. She smiled and although she knew he couldn’t see her, she took pleasure in his slight shiver of fear. Yes. He knew that someone, or something, was there. Just then a light rain began to fall, casting an eerie gloom to the overcast night. She almost laughed at the cliché of it all.

He turned back and picked up his pace from before. Her tooth ached and her blood hummed with desire. The sound of his frantic footsteps, the only ones audible, matched the pounding beat of his heart. She could practically taste him. Oh how she craved to rip it out of his chest and feel it in the palm of her hands; look into his eyes as his life drained from his mortal coils. Bonnie shook away the thought, surprised by it. It had been a long time since she’d been that person. She was in control of herself now. Saint she was not, but neither was she a mindless monster.

He turned a corner and she eagerly followed.

This time when he turned she didn’t bother to hide. He reared backwards, almost tripping over his feet, confusion and fear written plainly on his flushed face, wet from the rain. Obviously he was not expecting to come face to face with someone standing so close; someone who looked like her no less. She kept her face impassive and he visibly relaxed. They always did. She didn’t exactly look like the picture of eminent death.

Bonnie was 5’5" of soft, feminine curves and creamy pale mocha skin. Her usually wild, curly, dark brown hair, now straightened and dyed blonde, hung down to her waist. It made a startling contrast to her dark green eyes, leaving her with a disarming appearance. She knew she was beautiful, downright gorgeous really. But the best thing of all was that she looked non-threatening. That is, except for when she smiled. She did so now and was delighted by his immediate change in demeanor. What was the name that Mikhail had for it? Ah yes, the grim reaper smile.

Before he even had time to scream, she had already sunk her fangs into his tender neck. Hot, coppery blood gushed into her mouth as he struggled in vain. Pure pleasure filled her core as she fed. He was at her mercy, as tentative as that was. Even in her feeding frenzy she made sure to hold back just a little, not allowing herself to go over the edge. Even so, Bonnie lost herself to the high.

When she’d had her fill, Bonnie pulled back and reluctantly let her prey go. He slumped to the pavement, weak from blood loss. Already the two puncture wounds in his neck were closing up. Soon they would be non-existent. He looked up at her through unfocused eyes, confusion already setting in. By tomorrow he wouldn’t remember much. He’d remember being scared, being followed, but not much else leading up to her attack. Besides a headache he’d be right as rain.

Maybe he would suspect that he had been fed on by a vampire but he would thank his lucky stars that he was still alive. Even though the humans knew that it was forbidden for vampires to murder them unnecessarily, they didn’t exactly put much faith in vampire ethics. Fair enough.

It had been over fifty years since their existence had become international knowledge and since the mass panic that had almost lead to war had followed. After diplomatic talks with the human leaders, they had smartly agreed to leave well enough alone. Her kind had been in existence for as long as humans and had already had measures and laws in place for their protection. Much the same way that humans protected their wildlife. The vampires just had less altruistic reasons behind it. Either way, the humans settled down and for the most part things went back to the way they had been. Humans mostly ignored their existence (they couldn’t tell their kind apart from vampires anyway) and vampires kept to themselves as they always had.

Sated on a fresh meal, Bonnie began walking back in the direction that she’d come from, wiping her chin to ensure there weren’t any errant drops of blood. Sometimes she got messy.

When her phone rang, she rolled her eyes in exasperation. Nothing like a call from Mikhail to ruin a meal.

Yes Sire, she answered sarcastically. Mikhail hadn’t sired her. He just liked to act as if he had.

Where are you?

Leighton District. Just came off a hunt before you called.

Sorry about that.

It’s fine. What’s up?

I just got a report that a few werewolves were seen in the Steeling division.

Steeling division?

The Leighton District was one of the neutral zones where werewolves were allowed free movement. It was on the outskirts of the city; the neighborhoods closer to the heart of the city were strictly vampire-controlled. Werewolves needed express permission from the residing Grand Lord to travel there. The Steeling Division, while still a neutral zone, was very close to the city center and the werewolves normally tended to avoid that area all together.

Exactly. At a time like this, it’s a bit too close for comfort. Could just be few dumb pups looking for trouble.

They’re all dumb over grown puppies to me. Well, if they’re looking for trouble, I’ll be sure to deliver it to them.

No, Bonnie. Do not engage them. There’s only just over a week or so left until Father wakes up and we don’t want problems over something as petty as this. If everything isn’t damn near perfect when he wakes up we’ll all pay for it.

Fine, Bonnie answered. But Mikhail was right. The werewolves could be very irrational and downright stupid in her opinion. The mere fact that they were skirting the boundaries at a time like this when all the vampires in Greenich were on edge was proof enough, but if she got into an altercation with them and killed a couple, they would likely blow the whole thing out of proportion. Drama queens.

Father was her Sire and the Grand Lord of all the vampires of Greenich. He was also set to be the next head of their global governing council, the council of eight, when he woke up. Although, it was technically the council of seven, since at any given time one member is asleep. For the past twenty years Father had been sleeping in his heavily guarded chambers and Mikhail (his son by blood) had filled the position as head of the Greenich family during that time. Suffice it to say he was glad that his duties were ending soon. He’d never enjoyed dealing with vampire politics even when he was his father’s second in command.

Now that Father was waking up soon, everyone was nervously and excitedly awaiting his return. Like Mikhail had said, everything had to be perfect. No one wanted to suffer Father’s wrath and he was notoriously cranky upon Awakening. A break with the tentative truce between vampires and werewolves would definitely not be welcomed.

Not even Bonnie, whom he adored and dotted on more than his own flesh and blood, would want to face him then.

After their existence became known, partly due to the ongoing fights and bloodbath between the werewolves and vampires that they could no longer cover upon the occasions when they had taken place with human witnesses, they had agreed to a ceasefire of sorts. Not everyone was for it, Father in particular, but it had been agreed upon nonetheless. They refrained from slaughtering each other and the humans no longer feared that they would get caught in the crossfire.

Annoyed at her interrupted post-meal euphoria and thwarted plans on kicking some werewolf ass, Bonnie scaled up the nearest building and began to run at full speed across rooftops, heading back towards the club. It was time to go on a different kind of hunt.

CHAPTER TWO

Club Blackout was located in the Leighton District and even with it being in one of the neutral zones in Greenich where werewolves were allowed, it was still a popular party spot among vampires. The area was mostly comprised of abandoned warehouses and factories, pawn shops, body shops and the like. It was also a hub of criminal activity. Despite all that, or maybe because of it, when Blackout opened its doors a couple of years ago, it quickly became one of the hottest night clubs in Greenich and incidentally one of Bonnie’s favorite hunting grounds.

Trying to be true to its name, the club’s décor was black. Black walls, black floors, black curtains closing off the VIP area that was furnished in black leather and black satin. Dim flood lights lit the dance floor while strobe lights moved to the booming bass of the loud music.

As Bonnie made her way through the writhing crowd of sweaty bodies that filled the dance floor, she kept an eye out for potential prey. She wasn’t there to feed again; her last meal had left her satisfied enough and it would be a few more days until she felt the urge to feed again. She had gone back to Blackout to satisfy a different kind of hunger.

When she settled at the visual monstrosity that was the huge chrome and glass bar (she supposed it served as some sort of beacon among all the black, drawing customers in), a guy, clad head to toe in ripped denim and reeking of cheap cologne settled unto the stool (black leather on black wood of course) next to her.

Hey, baby, He said in what she could only assume was supposed to be his sexy voice. She looked him over. 5"8’, stocky, blonde hair, blue eyes, dimple in the right cheek and a pervy gleam in both eyes.

My name’s Steven, but my friends call me mad dog.

Bonnie gave him a sympathetic look and replied, Surely not to your face?

He seemed taken aback for a moment, but then smiled. Funny. So, what’s your name?

Well my friends call me a bitch most of the time. Behind my back mostly. But to my face they call me… well they call me a bitch to my face too, come to think of it.

He thought that was really funny.

Well, bitch, he said, still laughing, why don’t we get out of here? I’ve got a place not too far away.

Humans. What little sense of self-preservation they had. They knew vampires regularly fed off them even though most preferred to have blood delivered instead of going on live hunts, but they were still easily fooled by a pretty face. He was willing to go off alone with a complete stranger, not considering what she could be.

What a lovely offer, Mad Dog, was it? But it’s not really safe, or smart to go home with strangers.

He leaned in close and she could smell the cheap gin on his breath. He laid a sweaty hand on her bare thigh and said, Are you scared bitch?

She grabbed his hand and squeezed, instantly breaking every bone in it. His scream of pain was muffled by the loud music and he tried to pull his hand back. She kept him pinned where he was and grabbed him behind the neck with her other hand. Leaning in to whisper in his ear so that anyone watching would think she was beguiling him with sweet nothings, she said, Are you? and let him go.

He jerked back so hard then that he fell off his stool and unto the floor. Eyes wide from fear, he scrambled away, broken hand cradled to his chest. She could smell the odor of fear that he left behind and had to resist the primal urge to chase after him.

That’s wasn’t very nice, a voice said from behind her.

She turned to see Avery and Amelie, two vamps from the Stancamp Family, one of the oldest and most powerful Families in Europe. They were identical twins with platinum blonde hair and light blue eyes. She saw that Amelie had cut her hair in a pixie cut that made her look even more like her brother.

It’s just a broken hand. He’ll live.

I see you still have your amazing people skills, Bon, said Avery, giving her a slight bow while his sister kissed her lightly on both cheeks.

I didn’t know you guys had already arrived. I didn’t expect to see you for at least a few more days.

We just got here. The others will be on their way soon.

Amelie and Avery were the most recent vamps sired by Nikolai, the Grand Lord of the Stancamp Family. He was scheduled to go to sleep soon after Father woke and after he himself woke twenty years from now, he would then be the new Leader, as per tradition.

Nikolai was a member of the council of eight. The council was comprised of the oldest and most powerful Grand Lords. Each Grand Lord ruled his Family autonomously but they still had to answer to the council. It was the council who had the final say on approving the truce with the werewolves and it was they who had convinced the human world leaders to forget any ideas of waging a war.

I would think you guys wouldn’t want to leave Nikolai’s side at a time like this. After he goes to sleep, you won’t see him for a long time.

Bonnie missed her own Father dearly. She had always been close to him, dependent on him, and these past few years without him had been rather difficult. This was the only time he had slept since she had been turned into a vampire and she hadn’t anticipated just how much she would missed him. Sired vampires like her had a tendency to get overly attached, especially when their Sire was a Grand Lord since the bond created when turned was stronger with older vamps.

Well you know Father isn’t one for sentimentalities. He thought it best to keep this one as far away as possible before he went under. Avoid any waterworks.

Amelie shot her brother an annoyed look. Idiot. That’s not why. With things the way they have been the past couple years, he thought it best we came ahead of him as a show of support and unity.

And by that she meant the rumored discourse there was between the various Families, particularly the aristocrats; the aristocrats being those born vampires, like Mikhail.

Then why didn’t he send one of his blood? No offense.

Those Heathens? You really think Sergei or Eva would take a break from torturing kittens to come here a second earlier than necessary? asked Avery.

Fair point.

They’ll most likely be here the same day as Dimitri’s Awakening. So, until the rest of the wet blankets arrive and we’re forced to attend boring meeting after boring meeting, we’re gonna have some fun, said Avery, pulling Bonnie off her stool. Let’s dance Bon.

You guys have fun. I’m hungry. Wonder what’s on the menu tonight? asked Amelie. With a hungry smile she stalked off in search of her own prey. She, like Bonnie, appreciated the thrill of a hunt.

Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, Avery called after her and she flipped him the bird.

Bonnie had to hand it to him, Avery could dance. After a few minutes, she was considering rethinking her whole No fraternizing with vampires policy. And by fraternizing, she meant screwing. It’s not that she wasn’t attracted to Avery or other vampires in general, it’s just that vamps by nature were a selfish, self-serving lot, looking to use anything to claw their way to the top. Sired vamps were always trying to get into the aristocratic crowd and the aristocrats were always trying to one up each other. Theirs was a species built on aristocratic hierarchy, where who you were was determined by who you knew and what you knew about them. Sex was often a part of a more complicated manipulative plot to extract information. Many a family name had been ruined by pillow talk.

Dimitri’s Family was very well respected, aristocrats and Sired both. He being the only Grand Lord in North America that held a seat on the council. She was the only existing vampire Sired by him and though not an aristocrat, held a coveted position in the Family. A lot of vampires would love to use her to get what they want.

How about… he started, but she clamped a hand over his mouth.

You have such pretty hands. I would hate to have to break them Avery. He knew it was no idle threat either. She was older and stronger than him.

He laughed though, brushing it off.

So prickly tonight Bon. Maybe I could help with that.

She rolled her eyes and let her attention wander to the other people on the dance floor. She could sense a few werewolves in the club but couldn’t point out who or exactly where they were. The ability was a lot stronger and more reliable in older vamps.