“We’ll make him welcome. I’m proud to have a new brother with such courage.”

Zane wiped his hand on his shirt and held it out to Wesley. “Two new brothers and a sister.”

Hesitantly, Wesley put his hand into Zane’s. Zane squeezed it. “You’ll always have our protection.”

Kimberly left her brother’s embrace and stepped toward Zane. With a sideways glance toward Yvette, she smiled through her tears. “They love each other.”

Zane felt himself compelled to replace his usual scowl with a friendly smile. “That’s why he won’t regret it.”
Thirty-Six

Haven’s head swam. His dreams projected in the most vivid of colors he’d ever seen. A multitude of scents invaded, and his brain worked like a computer, analyzing them, comparing and processing them. Among the smells was one he felt drawn to more than any other: oranges. Home. Finally home.

He forced his heavy eyelids open. Images burst into conscious being. Despite the semidarkness, he had no trouble seeing every detail. A room, one he’d never been in. Decorated by a woman, the feminine touches leaving no doubt about that. The softness of a bed underneath him. Soft cotton sheets brushed against his naked skin.

Haven sat up in a fluid motion, the light duvet dropping to his stomach. It reminded him of something. Far away, like in a different lifetime, he remembered pain. A blade. Blood. His gaze traveled down his stomach, where the ghost of a memory lingered. But nothing marred his perfect skin.

As he touched his belly, a flood of memories rushed back. He saw Francine as she performed the ritual. Then the dagger was in his hand. The pain came a second later as his hands plunged the sharp blade into his stomach. And after that, he remembered only one thing: Yvette, feeling her arms around him, then her fangs in his neck, draining him.

Instinctively, his hand went to his neck, but there, too, his skin was unblemished.

Yet he knew what had happened. He was one of them now. He felt it with his body and his heart. Every fiber of his new body was alert, every pore of his skin poised to take in impressions, sensations, and stimuli. Not in his wildest dreams could he ever have imagined how alive he would feel.

Haven took his first conscious breath as a vampire and inhaled an utterly enticing scent, one he knew from his earlier life. Only now, it was more pronounced, more intense, and ultimately impossible to resist. Underneath the covers, his body responded. Pulling back the covers, he slid out of bed, not the least bit surprised that his cock jutted out like a tent pole.

His ears picked up the sound of water running: a shower. With single-minded determination he crossed the room and followed the sound. The door to the bathroom was ajar. He pushed it open without making a noise and stepped inside the steam-filled room. The large soaking tub to his right was empty, but next to it was the large glass-enclosed shower. And in it, Yvette stood under the spray, her back turned to him.

Haven’s heart raced as he opened the glass door and slipped in. Yvette turned in the same instant, startled.

“You’re awake.”

“I’m alive.” Alive and hungry. The thirst in his throat burned like a furnace.

Her eyes roamed his face. “Do you remember what happened?”

Haven nodded. “Every second of it.” His gaze drifted to the pale column of her throat. “I’m hungry.”

“I left you a bottle of blood on the nightstand.”

While he instinctively knew that he needed the nourishment she’d left for him, he wanted something else first, to still a different hunger. “Later.”

“Haven … I … I had no choice.”

He put his finger onto her lips, stopping her from saying anything else.

“It was the only way.”

Yvette’s breath ghosted against his finger as she parted her lips. “I couldn’t let you die.”

“I’m afraid I’ll have to punish you for that. You see, Yvette, you turned me into a vampire, now you’re stuck with me.” He let his eyes drift down her nude form. She was even more beautiful than he remembered.

“Why did you do it?” the anguished sound in her voice gave him pause.

“It was the only solution to destroy the power. No witchcraft can live in a vampire’s body. Francine said so herself.”

“You should have discussed it with me.”

“And have you stop me?” He shook his head. “No, baby; you would have tried to talk me out of it.”

“But what if I hadn’t gotten to you in time?”

Unshed tears stood sentry in her eyes. Haven stroked his hand over her cheek. “But you did. I’m alive. And I’ve never felt better in my entire life.”