Love Bite - 1. Chapter 1

Rhys’ POV - Present Day

It’s been 160 years since the day I was turned and I’ve had many regrets, but many fond memories as well. I was thrilled Gwyn wasn’t mad at me when she figured out I had indeed turned her into a vampire.

Neither of us have found our beloveds in the past century, but not for lack of trying. However, it’s a little hard to do when your creator, the person who turned you, is trying to kill you. He wasn’t mad I had turned Gwyn, in fact he had expected it, but he was beyond pissed when she killed his beloved, Orga. It had come down to kill or be killed and I don’t blame Gwyn for defending herself.

Orga had thought since we'd moved away from the path Spencer wanted us to go in, we were a threat to their plans. Spencer had been building an army and planned to eradicate those he felt were beneath him. He had in fact financially backed and gave intel to Hitler until 1941 without the Council’s knowledge. When the Council started to hear the rumors about the army Spencer was building and the assistance he was giving to a war criminal they decided to put a stop to it. It was then that Spencer, Orga and their followers broke away from our ruling authority, causing there to be a target on their backs.

After the Council got wind of Spencer’s plan Gwyn and I were about to turn in Spencer because of his plans to make vampires the superior race. He was building an army to wipe out other supernaturals, so all that was left was vampires and humans. He had gone away from not feeding on humans and had decided they were the weaker race.

When he and Orga found out that we were going to turn them in, they came after us. I was away on business and Orga caught Gwyn alone. It was a kill or be killed situation and I’m thankful every day that Gwyn got lucky and killed Orga. The downside to killing her was that Spencer had been hunting us ever since.

Due to the constant threat on our lives, we’ve had to change our names over the years; plus we wanted to have the same last name, since everyone claimed we could pass for siblings. We’re now known as Domonique and Damon Arthen.

We simply wanted to be left alone; we had no grand plans to usurp their authority, but when they broke away from the Elders, we knew nothing good would come of it. The Elders were not going to let anyone who followed Spencer live and had set about taking the followers out, hoping to weaken Spencer’s defenses. Unfortunately, he had gone away from the edict of his followers only being able to turn one person plus their beloved and was now allowing them to turn people at will, which caused a great exposure risk to us all. It was completely unacceptable.

I was brought out of my musings by my sister, Domonique, saying, “Earth to Damon.” She also snapped her fingers in front of my face.

“What, Nique?”

“I want to go to a club tonight. I know we are going to meet our beloved soon, I can feel it.”

“How many times do I have to tell you, by going out too often it will be easier for Spencer and his followers to find us?”

“60 years is a long time to hold a grudge,” she pouted.

“You know it and I know it, but what would you do if someone killed your beloved? Wouldn’t you go to the ends of the earth for revenge? Besides, we are in an area populated by werewolves and other were-creatures who do not like vampires.”

“I know, but I heard about this club in Seattle for supernaturals only and all are welcome as long as no one fights,” she pleaded as she gave me her best puppy dog look.

“What’s the name of this club?”

“Club Blue Moon.” She jumped up and down in glee because she knew we would be going. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” she exclaimed.

“Just don’t get into trouble tonight,” I muttered.

“I am not the one who tends to start fights; that would be you, brother dear.” She turned and walked out of my office.

I shook my head in amazement. We weren’t actually related, but she knew me so well and we looked enough alike that we told everyone we were.

I really didn’t want to spend my night surrounded by other supernaturals and it was a risk for us to be that visible. We have tried to stay under the radar, which is part of why we changed our names and altered our appearance as best we could, but it was nice to be able to let loose every once and awhile. I had better go get a shower and get ready, because if I didn't get in the shower before she gets in the bathroom, Nique would take forever in there and then be screaming at me to hurry.

***

After I stepped out of the shower, I wiped off the mirror and looked at myself for a few moments, before I grabbed my electric razor. What I saw when I did that was a young man who looked no older than 18 with blond hair and green eyes. Not to be conceited, but I thought I looked damn good with my washboard abs. I didn’t care if some might say I looked feminine with my long eye lashes and high cheek bones.

I walked into my midnight blue room with its cream colored carpeting, where I had laid out my clothes for the night. With a final inspection of my outfit, I grabbed my dark blue skinny jeans and a shimmery pale blue shirt, which almost looked silver. I slipped on a pair of black Doc Martens and took one quick look in the mirror. I guess I looked okay and headed downstairs to wait for her to come down. She always took longer than me to get ready but I guess most women do.

When she came down, I marveled at how she looked. She was stunning in her black mini skirt that barely covered her ass and a red sequined halter top. I was not surprised when she tried to match my 6 foot frame by wearing a pair of black stilettos.

Not to sound cocky, but we looked good and there would probably be several men and women looking at us tonight. I had decided long ago, however, that I would not be a man whore. Don’t get me wrong; I’ve had relationships throughout the years, but they were always with humans so they would not still be hanging around when I finally met my beloved. I didn’t want to deal with jealous ex-lovers.

“You ready to head out, Nique?” I asked as I grabbed the keys to my black 2012 Mazda 6.

“Yeah, let’s get this party started.”

“It’s not a party, just a night out.”

***

The club was pumping when we got there, you could hear the music from a block away, even without enhanced hearing. I knew I would regret going there when morning came, but I simply couldn’t say no to her when she gave me the puppy dog look. I would do anything to make her happy.

The bouncer gave us a dirty look as we walked in; I guess he didn’t really like vampires too much. We headed straight for the bar and ordered our drinks, a scotch on the rocks for me and a martini for Nique.

“Do you think we might find out beloveds tonight?” she asked.

“It’s possible, but I have almost given up hope of ever finding her.” I took a sip of my scotch as I looked out over the crowd that was on the floor dancing.

“Don’t give up hope; we’ll find them.” She patted my arm as she set her drink on the bar. “Now, come dance with me.”

“Nique, you know I don’t really care to dance. I’ll sit here and watch you, while I keep an eye on your drink.”

“You’re such a party pooper.” She pouted, before she turned and walked away into the sea of people.

She danced and didn’t care whether she had a partner or not, because the werewolves stayed clear of her and the only ones who would dance near her were other vampires. A slow song came on and she started to head back towards me when a man grabbed her arm and tried to force her to dance with him. Her response was to slap him in the face. I watched as his eyes turned gold and he let out a roar. I was immediately on my way to her when I noticed he was hunched over. She must have kneed him in the groin first, before she brought her knee up again and smashed it into his face.

A crowd had started to form around them and bouncers were hurrying on the way over. I quickly made my way to her side and pulled her away from him. I hoped this wouldn’t get us kicked out of there, but I knew it would be seen as vampires trying to start something inside the club. We were always to blame, according to the wolves.

“Alright break it up!” yelled the bouncer.

I turned to go back to the bar and the next thing I knew, Nique let out a startled scream. When I looked at her, I noticed the bouncers had her by each arm and were pulling her towards the exit of the club.

“Why are you throwing me out? He's the one that started it and I just finished it.”

I made my way towards them and heard one of the bouncers’ snarl, “That’s not how we saw it. We don’t want any trouble so you need to go.”

“Didn't you see the way he grabbed my arm and started manhandling me as he tried to drag me out on the dance floor with him? I was just defending myself!”

They didn’t listen to her and continued to pull her to the door. Out of the corner of my eye I saw movement in the owner’s box and noticed a man on his phone. I hurried to them just in time to see Nique break free from the bouncers.

I grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the door. “Nique we were supposed to keep a low profile. Getting kicked out of the club is not staying low. Now let’s get out of here before any more unwanted attention comes our way.”

“You’re right Damon. Let’s go home.”

“Get your Vamp asses out of here and don’t come back,” snarled the guy who I assumed was the manager or the owner. It was the guy I had seen on the phone up in the booth a few minutes prior.

***

We were almost home when I noticed we were being followed, but with their lights on bright I couldn’t make out the make/model of the car or see who was driving it.

“Damon, what are you doing?” Nique noticed I had sped up and I could tell by her voice that she was concerned about what was going on.

“We’re being followed. They’ve been behind up since we left the club.”

“You passed our turn.”

“I know, but I’m not going to lead whoever is following us back to our house. What if it’s some of Spencer’s men?”

“Then where are we going?”

“I don’t know yet, but I’ll figure something out soon.”

“Okay.”

***

We had been driving around for a half hour when I noticed they had finally turned off and there was now no one behind us. I made the turn to head back toward the house so we could go home. It’s not like we really needed sleep, but I prefer to at least get some rest before I have to begin my day all over again.