Blind Love( Completed, Kings Series, Book 4)

Gone

"Uhm, so you are okay?" Alessandro asked.

Yes, I was okay. "Why are you here, again?" I said. Now that my heartbeat was back to normal, I could think more clearly.

"Well....to be honest, I'm here for more blood. He needs it."

I knew who he was. Samuel. The Vampire King. The one who would do terrible things if he did not have my blood. At least that's what they had told me. I didn't know much. All I knew was vampires were real. Though vampires could satisfy their thirst for blood by taking little from friends and lovers, Samuel needed more. Maybe because he was the King. And, maybe because he'd once been an addict of human blood. But, I was neither his friend nor lover. So, why was he so insistent on taking mine? Not to mention, I'd just delivered my supply a week ago. It should have sufficed.

"Are you nuts? What is he doing? Taking my blood by the gallons?" I burst out. Didn't know why but sharing blood with him, knowing he was drinking it like he would die if he didn't, disturbed me. The whole thing was ... rather intimate. I was sharing my essence, my life source. He needed it to survive. He needed it to remain sane. We were bound by blood. Yet, this was all happening without my explicit wish. I had no choice. I was not given one. And, I was not going to say no to a group of vampires, thank you so much.

But, it wasn't just that. I hadn't seen him in months. Hadn't talked to him in ages. Wasn't even there when he drank it. But, I could imagine it. Him pouring my blood into his glass, taking it slowly to his lips, his voice wavering with the desire to taste, his tongue coming out, his throat swallowing it.

I couldn't get rid of these images. They were driving me crazy. My body shook with tremors. Just like those times when he'd taken it straight from my vein. In his mansion, many times. Without asking, without apologizing, without a mere thank you. I dabbed away the sweat piling on my forehead. My heart beat fast. Was I coming down with the flu?

"Is it getting hot in here?" I asked. Had to open a window. Maybe I could get rid of the ugly pajamas. Sleep naked. But, he wasn't leaving.

"Mmm... Alessandro?" He was not speaking. I could feel the tension in the room. I heard him sit down. Heard his troubled sigh. Didn't care what his problem was. Alessandro was Samuel's best friend. So, I didn't trust him one bit.

"He's not doing very well. I'm worried about him," Alessandro said.

What did that mean? Would Samuel go rampant in the world? Would he kill innocent beings?

I refused to feel guilty. I was not responsible for his actions. He was.

"And, that is my concern because?"

I was angry. Why? I didn't know. But, I was. Samuel had torn me from my life, forcefully taken my blood and then sent me home as if he couldn't wait to get rid of me. He was a vampire. He was dangerous. But worse he was impudent. He was rude. He was obnoxious. He was crazy! And, yet he and I were irrevocably connected.

Like a curse, I was reminded of him every day. The medallion on my neck. It was his. It had latched onto my skin and wouldn't come off. No matter how many times I'd tried to snap it off. Tried cutting the metal that chained it to my neck. No. It just wouldn't let go.

The damn medallion. Always warm to the touch. Always a brutal reminder of that day. A reminder of his kisses searing me, his fingers drawing out my secret cravings. I'd thought I'd been dreaming. He'd thought I was someone else.

True, in that bed, I'd been somebody else. It wasn't me. I'd been led by an unseen force, doing things that I didn't want to remember. But, I couldn't deny it. The passion, the excitement, the sensations had been real. He'd been my dream lover, unraveling desires, emotions that had simply exploded like a pressurized can under his touch.

But, he had changed like a chameleon shedding its skin. Had become someone else. Within seconds, his voice had become more bitter than the frozen air in Antartica.

Starting with, you are a gem ... I want you so damn much, he'd sped fast to denial and anger. His rude interrogation of Who are you? had been followed by an irrational outburst, I know that voice, tell me, please tell me, it's not her! Then he'd turned on the light.

And, hell had broken loose.

He'd left but not before saying his piece laden with a thousand insults. Had called me names. Free woman. Conniving. Deceiver. As if, I'd stoop to any of that to get into his bed.

It was long ago. Better forgotten.

Nothing had happened. True, my pride was hurt. I'd been disappointed with myself. Not a small price to be paid.

But, still... I'd come away rather unscathed. He'd let me go. Immediately. As if he couldn't wait to get free of me. I'd gotten my freedom. He'd gotten his supply of blood.

He sent me my check every month. My services were bought and paid for. Amply paid for. That's what he said. Now, you don't have to work for the rest of your life. His conscience remained clean. His arrogance knew no limits.

I didn't touch that money. Never cashed it. Never asked how much he was paying me. Didn't care. I had too much money on my own. He didn't know that. He thought I needed his money. Thought he was doing me a favor. The poor blind woman whose blood he purchased. That's what he thought about me. All he thought of me.

"He needs more blood," Alessandro said again.

I accepted the finality of his words. Who was I kidding, I didn't have a choice. It wasn't as if Samuel would hesitate to burst in and take what he wanted.

The medallion became warmer on my skin. I tugged at it angrily, knowing full well it wouldn't budge.

"Fine," I said. "But, he needs to go on a blood diet. Tell him, I'm not happy."

It was the first time Alessandro laughed. "Thank you."

"By the way, can you help me find my cane? I thought it was near the bed." I knelt down the bed, trying to detect the one thing in my life that I trusted. My dependable cane. It had even gotten me out of a deadly situation once when I'd been pushed off a cliff by a Ferox. It was my cane which had saved my life. I'd found myself dangling from a tree until I was saved. Saved by Samuel himself.

A warm flush hit me again. I was coming up with fever. There was no doubt. Never mind that, where was my cane?

"Here," Alessandro said, pushing it into my hand. "Weird...it's a bit dusty," he said. "Here, let me clean it for you."

"Never mind, was it under the bed?" I said, embarrassed. I cleaned my house regularly, but it wasn't as if I could spot all the dirty places and corners in the house. I wanted to pull the cane from his hands. Didn't want him cleaning my cane. Didn't want him telling Samuel how dirty my house was. But my hands came up empty.

"Alessandro?"

He didn't reply. "Alessandro?" I repeated.

He didn't respond.

I no longer felt his presence. He was gone.

I tried to reach for my cane. But, it was gone, too. 

Thanks for your patience with my updates. I put the new cover today. Option 6 lovers, this week is for you. What do you think happened to Alessandro?

Alena