Blood Ties Bundle: Blood Ties Book One: The Turning / Blood Ties Book Two: Possession / Blood Ties Book Three: Ashes to Ashes / Blood Ties Book Four: All Souls' Night

What concerned me more was Cyrus’s sudden interest in Ziggy. He kept his word and never harmed the kid physically, and after the first few visits to his chambers, it seemed Ziggy had grown to genuinely like my sire.

“It’s not like we’re dating or anything, Doc,” Ziggy said when I cornered him in the kitchen one evening. He rooted through the large refrigerator of people food, claiming various items with a Sharpie pen. I didn’t bother telling him that most pets didn’t live to mooch off their host for long.

I leaned against the freezer. “I know, but Dahlia is going to kill you. And do you have to act like you’re enjoying it so much?”

He shrugged. “He’d actually be a pretty decent guy if he wasn’t an evil vampire. But more important, if I want to live through this thing he’s got planned, I need friends in high places.”

Was there more to the New Year’s party? “Well, don’t leave me hanging. What’s he got planned?” I asked.

“The party,” Clarence said as he emerged from the walk-in freezer.

I hadn’t even known he was there, and his sudden presence gave me a start. “I knew about that. But I’ve been pathetically out of the loop for a couple of weeks now. Fill me in.”

The butler didn’t look at me as he slammed a block of ice on the countertop. He no longer watched me from the corner of his eye, but there remained a sliver of unease between us, most likely because I was still a vampire. But he’d continued to relay messages to Nathan when possible, and he’d dropped the stuffy butler act and refrained from calling me ma’am every second word.

“What the hell are you doing, boy?” he barked.

Ziggy grinned sheepishly and tossed a can of soda over his shoulder. The older man caught it in his nimble fingers and popped the top. “This shit will rot the teeth right out of your dumb head.”

“I ain’t gonna live that long,” Ziggy replied as he drew a thick Z on another can.

My stomach lurched. I’d never believed all those stories from med school about patients who knew they were going to die and freely dispensed the information to everyone, but I didn’t want to hear Ziggy make such predictions.

“Don’t talk like that,” I snapped. I tested the blood tie to see if Cyrus was listening in. All I felt was a vague, alcoholic haze before the tie seemed to evaporate between us. The fact that he could so easily ignore our connection created a sick, lonely feeling in my stomach. But if he closed himself off, I at least had some time to talk about the impending event without the risk of him knowing my thoughts. “Since Cyrus won’t be back for a few hours, tell me what’s going on with this party.”

Clarence groaned and rolled his eyes. “Same as every year. A few human sacrifices and a whole lotta pain. That’s sorta his thing.”

“Human sacrifices? You mean the kids on the list?” I hoped he did.

Nodding grimly, he wiped his hands on his apron. “Them, and a few others he’ll lure in from out of town. Can’t get them all from around here or it’ll look suspicious.”

I shook my head. I wish Nathan would get his ass back here.

Every night, I’d faithfully checked for Nathan at the gate under the guise of walking the perimeter of the lawn. If I were still human, I would have considered the long distance as good cardio exercise. Now my only concern about my heart was whether someone would suddenly give it the Big Splinter. But Nathan hadn’t returned, and as the time of the New Year drew nearer and nearer, my nerves were pulled tighter and tighter.

“Don’t you worry about our boy,” Clarence drawled lazily. “He got himself in good with the Master. He ain’t on the menu.”

He pushed a sheet of paper across the island and I snatched it up.

It was a list of names. Nearly every one of Cyrus’s pets were on it, except two. “Ziggy and Dahlia are going to be spared?”

“Guess it’s not so bad hangin’ with the boss after all,” Ziggy said as he slipped a brick of cheese into the pocket of his baggy black jeans.

I relished the thought of Dahlia being selected for the Soul Eater’s consumption. But I guess she wasn’t much of a “pure soul.”

Two guards entered and I stepped away from Ziggy. “Excuse us, Doctor,” one of the thugs said curtly. He turned to Ziggy. “The Master would like to see you.”

“Duty calls,” he said with an apologetic smile. “Hey, we gotta stop by my room on the way ’cause I’ve got a book C wants to borrow,” he told the guards as they led him away.

C? I pulled one of the stools from the island and plopped myself down.

Clarence had gone quietly to work on the block of ice with a chisel and hammer, but he chuckled at my spite. “You still gonna help rescue him, even though he stole your man?”

“He did not steal my man.” I made an appalled face, hoping it would fool the old man. But I knew it wouldn’t. “I just don’t understand why Ziggy would have such an interest, after what Cyrus did to him.”

“The Master is a good one for winning somebody back after he’s wronged them. Look at you. He wrecked your life, and you still came back to him.” He turned the ice and started chipping away on the other side.

“That’s different. There’s a blood tie. You wouldn’t understand because you’re not a vampire. But it really makes a difference.”

Clarence bobbed his head up and down in agreement. “You’re right, I don’t know about blood ties. But I do know you wouldn’t be here if you didn’t want to be. You’re not that type. If you’ve got to tell yourself it’s some magical thing keeping you at his side through all his bullshit, I’m not the one to argue with you.”

His words cut me to the core. He was right. Yes, there was a blood tie, but that wasn’t why I was here. Sure I’d made a promise to return to Cyrus in exchange for Nathan’s life, but why hadn’t I called the Movement, or even asked Ziggy for help? I’d been Persephone, eating the pomegranate seeds with delight and blaming it all on big, bad Hades. I knew what I was doing when I’d committed myself to this Underworld. I’d resigned myself to accept my plight, and now I wanted to explore the life Cyrus had offered me, but I feared his interest in Ziggy might do something to usurp my place.

It sucks when your little palace o’ denial comes tumbling down.

The next night, Nathan waited at the gate.

“How’s Ziggy?” he asked as soon as I was near enough to hear him.

“He’s fine. Hello to you, too.” I stamped my feet, trying to get some feeling back in them. It had snowed during the day, and the depth of the stuff almost kept me inside.

Nathan’s hands were nearly blue where his gloveless fingers gripped the iron of the gate. “Is he on the list?”

“No.” I thought relief would register on his face.

Instead, it twisted with horror. “Tell me he’s not—”

“A guest of honor. I just don’t know which one.” I looked at my feet. “I know how you were turned.”

A muscle in his shadowed jaw twitched. “He told you?”

“I saw it.” I don’t know why I felt the compulsion to tell him how, but I did. “I drank his blood…from him. And I saw it.”

Nathan was repulsed, but I knew he was scared more than he was disgusted. Maybe he was afraid I wouldn’t help him. Or that I’d throw Ziggy to the wolves.

He cleared his throat. “That’s all in the past. I just don’t want it to happen to Ziggy. Who’s the other one?”

“Dahlia.”

“Dahlia and Ziggy, and they need to pick the one with a pure soul? Oh, that’s going to be a tough call.” Nathan looked away, but not before I saw the suffering in his eyes. “Are the Fangs staying for the party?”

“They were supposed to leave a week ago. I think they’re hanging around so Cyrus will have to invite them to the party. What’s going to happen?”

“He’ll probably invite them to the party.”

I glared at him. “You know what I meant. When you and your little friends show up. What’s going to happen?”

“We’ll bust in, I’ll grab Ziggy, and they’ll kill all the vampires.”