Vampire Vow (Scorned by Blood Book 3) Read online

  VAMPIRE VOW

  SCORNED BY BLOOD, BOOK THREE

  HEATHER RENEE

  Vampire Vow © Copyright 2022 by Heather Renee

  All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No parts of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, alive or dead, is purely coincidental.

  For more information on reproducing sections of this book or sales of this book, email [email protected].

  ISBN: 979-8792604650

  Line Editing and Proofing: Jamie from Holmes Edits

  Cover: Covers by Juan

  Character Art: @kalynne_art on Instagram

  Chapter Images: Samaiya Art

  CONTENTS

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Epilogue

  Afterword

  Stay in Touch

  Also by Heather Renee

  About the Author

  CHAPTER 1

  They were dead. I’d finally found my people and they were gone. Burned to ash right before my eyes. I didn’t know how I was supposed to process their deaths, or what I was supposed to do once reality set in. All I knew was that the longer we stared at the inferno of Maciah’s house, the fewer tears I cried and the more fury I felt.

  Sirens sounded in the distance. Given the flames were nearing fifty feet in the air, a neighbor must have called in the fire, but the homes had nothing to worry about. The fire wasn’t spreading. It seemed magically contained to the nest. Not even the rose bushes had flames on them.

  Maciah snapped out of his rage-filled stupor and muttered something about being right back. It took me a moment to register his words. By the time I did, he was already speeding across the lawn back toward me.

  “There is no way in, and the flames are tainted with dark energy. I can’t get to them,” he said, voice devoid of emotion.

  “They’re smart vampires. If there was a way to hide from the fire, they’ll have found it,” I said. Though, the words felt flat to even me. It was hard to believe even immortal vampires could have survived against the billowing flames and crumbling building.

  The fire trucks turned into the driveway, sirens quieting as the brakes squealed.

  “Stay right here,” Maciah said to me before approaching the first fireman out of the truck. Maciah was probably coming up with some lie that nobody would believe but wouldn’t be able to prove otherwise.

  At least, that’s what I thought until his voice started to rise. “Just look for them!”

  I stepped in, bringing my power forward. “Sir, this fire is unique. The firefighters should be extra cautious. There is an unknown chemical fueling the blaze, but you’re not going to note that in your report. On paper, this was a gas leak. More importantly, there are still people in the house. If you find them, you’re not to call for an ambulance. Just leave them in the yard and be on your way.”

  His brown eyes glazed over as he nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

  I grabbed Maciah’s hand, pulling him away so that the men and women could do their job. He took several deep breaths as I held back tears. Speaking so formally about the house and the people inside was painful, but necessary. Screaming at the man to save them would have done nothing. Maciah knew that, but with trembling hands, I knew he was losing control by the second.

  “The sun is coming up. We should go,” Maciah said gruffly.

  “What if they find…” I didn’t even know how to finish that sentence. Would there even be anything left other than ash?

  “We’ll sort that out later.” Maciah’s ire and grief were rolling off him in tangible waves. His sweet vanilla scent had changed to something darker and mustier. I wanted to make all this better, but there was nothing either of us could do. Not when both of our hearts were shattering.

  Maciah didn’t show his emotions often. He kept the other vampires at arm’s length, but there was a reason those in his nest had stayed for as long as they had. Maciah’s actions spoke louder than his words.

  I followed him to the SUV we’d driven back from the fight with Silas. Inside were my crossbow and phone, the only two things I still owned besides the tattered clothes on my back. Yeah, that was a trauma to process later. Much later.

  All of the firefighters were gathered around as Maciah drove toward the road. The chief we’d spoken to seemed to be relaying the information I’d given, but a few of the others were pushing back. Understandably so, but I could fix that.

  “Roll down your window and stop,” I said to Maciah. He did as requested, and I leaned across him, directing my energy toward everyone present. “Listen to the chief. He knows what he’s talking about. When you leave here, you’ll only remember this was a fire caused by a gas leak with no casualties.”

  Heads nodded and eyes glazed over for the briefest of seconds. When I settled back into my seat, Maciah drove the vehicle forward. I turned around to stare out the back window, watching the burning house and the sun rising behind us before he turned onto the street.

  Fissures formed in my chest, and my throat burned with heavy emotions I wasn’t ready to process. On top of my growing grief, I hated that we had to leave because of me. Being unable to withstand the UV rays was a weakness I wasn’t okay with. I wanted to be there to watch the flames go out and be the first one to dig through to rubble, searching for any sign that at least one of my friends had not just been murdered.

  My nails were digging into my thighs as I thought about having lost all of the vampires. I needed to channel my ire into something productive and stay focused to avoid becoming unhinged.

  “Where are we going?” I asked, hoping Maciah’s answer would give me something else to focus on for a moment.

  “A hotel. We’ll shower, get some clothes, and call Eddie. He and Nick need to know what happened.” Maciah kept both hands on the wheel as he spoke. His knuckles were white, and everything about him was stiff.

  “You’re going to have to keep using your mind control to get us in the hotel. Are you okay to do that?” he added.

  I nodded. “I’ll do whatever we need.”

  Maciah turned the corner to get on a highway, and the sun came shining through the window. At first, I welcomed its warmth, but then my skin started to itch and Maciah yanked on my arm. “Get in the back!”

  Before I scrambled out of the front seat, the itch turned into something I didn’t think I’d survive. My blood felt like it was boiling just beneath my skin. Red splotches appeared on my arms and chest, and breathing became nonexistent.

  I slammed into the backseat, hoping for relief, but none came.

  “There’s a blanket in the back. Reach over and grab it to cover yourself,” Maciah said, speeding down the highway. There was nowhere to turn off and no point in pulling over. I
t was better that we got to the next road.

  I did as he said, my arms shaking uncontrollably as I barely managed to grasp the wool blanket. I tugged it painfully and slowly over me. The relief was almost instant, but my skin was still heated and itching, so I did my best to stay as still as possible.

  “Are you okay?” Maciah asked as I felt the SUV swerve.

  “As good as I can be,” I answered, my jaw aching from keeping it so tense.

  Tears fell down my cheeks from the physical and emotional pain that was coursing through me. I couldn’t fathom moving past this loss. Rachel, Nikki, and Zeke had meant so much to both of us. How were we just supposed to move on?

  For the first time in years, my initial thought was to just run away. There wasn’t a single part of me that wanted to face this grief or continue to deal with the vampires hunting us. I wanted to be done with it all, but I did my best to shut those thoughts down one-by-one.

  I’d been strong for seven years for my family, and I’d continue to do so for Maciah’s because I’d grown to care about them just as much. Blood wasn’t the only tie to a family.

  “Almost there,” Maciah announced as he made another sharp turn.

  I considered peeking out from under the blanket, but I was better off hiding my tear-stained cheeks from Maciah. Instead, I spent the next minute trying to get my crap together for him. The grief was trying to make me weak, but I wouldn’t let that happen. The vampires we lost tonight deserved better from me.

  I reminded myself that the only way forward was to put one foot in front of the other. The need to curl further into myself couldn’t be allowed to grow. Though, the more I tried to push the sorrow away, the darker my thoughts became.

  Maybe I was the problem. Maybe I was the reason people around me kept dying before their time. Maybe I was cursed the moment I was born. An heir that shouldn’t even exist as a woman. One with too many powers. All this death? It was my penance to pay.

  As each thought hit harder than the last, I lost the feeble control I’d been fighting to keep hold of. Sobs grew within me at the thought that I would never be happy. The thought that Maciah would be better off without me. I couldn’t stand the idea of staying with him and causing him further hurt, because that was all I’d done since he found me in that alley.

  I hadn’t heard the SUV stop, but suddenly, I was in Maciah’s arms. He was rocking me back and forth, his hands stroking over my sensitive skin.

  “I’m so sorry, Amersyn. I don’t know how I can make this okay, but I’m going to do whatever it takes to figure out who did this to us,” Maciah murmured in my hair as his grip on me tightened. His words were low, and he was breathing hard. A few tears from him fell on my shoulder.

  As much as I wanted to push him away for his own good and let the dark thoughts win, I selfishly held on tightly to him, needing his love and strength to get me through this moment. Maciah’s touch reminded me of the bond we shared, the magic that had been shared between the two of us when I’d bit him. I couldn’t ignore power like that, no matter how maddening my thoughts became.

  Maciah was my anchor, and I wasn’t ever going to let him go.

  We stayed wrapped in each other’s arms for an unknown amount of time. We each went through a barrage of emotions, some lasting longer than the previous. With every wave of sorrow, there was never any doubting that Maciah’s love for his nest was the kind made for a family.

  His palms moved up my arms until he grasped my cheeks, wiping away my tears with the pads of his thumbs. “I love you, Amersyn.”

  I gripped his shirt, holding on to the black fabric as if my life depended on it. “I love you, too.”

  Maciah pressed his forehead to mine as we tried to regain our composure. We smelled like death and smoke, and it was time we washed away the nightmare we weren’t going to be waking up from anytime soon.

  He pulled me from the vehicle, and we were in an underground parking garage of some fancy hotel. There were expensive cars parked all around us and a shiny gold elevator up ahead. Yeah, I’d be messing with as many human minds as it took to get us a room in this ritzy place.

  I entered the elevator first and pressed the button for the lobby as Maciah stood next to me. Soft music played that was probably meant to be relaxing, but it grated on my last nerve along with the chime that sounded just before the doors opened.

  A man and woman in fur coats were standing in front of the door. The man wrapped a protective arm around who I assumed was his wife, and she put her hands up in the air as if we were pointing guns at her.

  We brushed past them, not bothering to convince them we were anything more than whatever their snobby minds had conjured up.

  As we continued through the lobby, people stared, gasped, and whispered about our appearance. I didn’t blame them. Our clothes had numerous rips in them from weapons and vampire nails. I was sure there was dried blood on my face. Maciah had some on his back where he’d been shot.

  By the time we made it to check-in, we’d been called mobsters, hitmen, and contract killers. As Maciah began talking to the concierge, I turned back to the nearest gawking couple and smiled widely, tilting my head down in the creepiest of ways, then waved my fingers at them for good measure.

  A woman clutched her pearl necklace and gasped at the sight of me while the man next to her ushered them in the opposite direction. I had no idea why Maciah chose this place. It wasn’t somewhere we belonged, not even on a good day.

  Though, I smiled softly, thinking Nikki would have enjoyed messing with all these rich pricks as well. Rachel would have been chastising us both to leave the innocent humans alone, even though we weren’t actually hurting them.

  “I’m sorry, sir. I can’t give you a room without a credit card and proper identification,” the young man said as his fingers trembled over the keyboard.

  Maciah nudged me. “Are you going to help, or are you having too much fun distracting yourself?”

  I glared at him, mostly because he was right, but I’d needed that moment of grounding.

  I nudged Maciah out of my way and drummed my fingers on the polished wooden surface. After checking the name tag of the young man behind the counter, I smiled at him. His breathing increased causing his pulse to rise and blood to flow faster through his veins.

  The sweet scent of honey hit me right in the chest. I took a deep inhale and licked my lips. I was overdue for a feeding, and he smelled delectable.

  Maciah’s hand rested on my back, and he leaned in close to me. “You’re going to give him a heart attack. Get us a room and I will get us food.”

  I closed my eyes, searching for the will I’d been so hell bent on keeping when I was first turned. I would not kill a human. I wouldn’t ever feed from one.

  Reopening my eyes, I toned down my psychotic-ness and pushed my compulsion out. “You’re going to comp us a suite because of how we were treated when we walked in. We’re high-profile clients who require discretion and privacy. We will be here for as long as we’d like. There will be no housekeeping or visitors welcome to our room, which you’ll book under Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Do you understand, Paul?”

  “We also need clothes. Places like this have personal shoppers,” Maciah added to me as the young man nodded.

  I sighed. I didn’t really want someone else picking out my underwear, but we didn’t have much of a choice in the matter.

  “You’ll also find someone to bring us an outfit each. Give me paper and pen, so I can write down what we need,” I said.

  His blue eyes blinked slowly as he reached for what I asked for. “Is that all, Mrs. Smith?”

  “Yes, Paul. That’s all.” I wanted to ask him for blood, but I doubted he could get that on his own without too many questions being asked.

  I wrote down the sizes for me and the items I wanted before passing the paper to Maciah. He probably wanted a suit, and I had no idea how those things were sized.

  Paul slid two room keys across to us and took the information for our clot
hes. “I’ll get something brought up to you within the hour.”

  “Thank you, Paul,” Maciah said, grabbing my hand and leading us to the elevators.

  As soon as we entered, Maciah had to scan our room key before the doors would close. The light for a penthouse floor lit up once the keycard was accepted.

  “You did good out there,” Maciah said softly, rubbing his thumb over the back of my hand.

  “I’m hungry,” I replied because it was better than saying how I really felt. Miserable. Dejected. Pissed-the-hell-off. Raging. Murderous. Sorrowful.

  I understood how vampires could turn into evil creatures. The grief currently waging a war inside me was too much to handle. Messing with the humans? Wanting to feed from Paul? Those weren’t things I would have normally done, not even as a newborn, but they were something that offered a distraction from the mourning. A distraction I so badly wanted. More than anything else.

  “Why don’t you take a shower, and I’ll go see about food. I chose this place because it’s close to a blood bank. I shouldn’t have any issues getting in and out on my own,” Maciah said as we entered the opulent room.

  I was on autopilot and hadn’t even realized we were inside. I glanced around. It wasn’t a hotel room. It was a full-sized house. There was a kitchen to my right, along with a dining area. In front of me, there was a recessed living room with a large sectional and a massive flatscreen hanging on the wall beside the double glass doors that led out to a balcony.

  On the left was a hallway, which I assumed led to the bedroom and bathroom. Maciah pressed against my back, guiding me that way. My steps felt heavy as reality once again set in.