Read Online Bitten by Darkness by Marie E. Blossom - Free Book Online Page B

took a deep breath and thanked Sara, instead.
    “Do you
know what happened? How he lost all that blood?” John asked.
    Sara
darted a quick glance at Jasper, then shook her head. “We're not sure. There
are no visible wounds and we've ruled out internal bleeding.” She sighed. “I'm
sorry.”
    Jasper
tried not to let his anger show on his face. He knew exactly what caused the
blood loss. So did Sara. Sienna was rubbing her finger over her lips as if
trying to keep from talking and he had the sinking feeling that she knew what
had happened too. Not that it surprised him. She knew about vampires. What she
didn't know was that vampires and revenants were essentially the same thing,
with one small distinction. She didn't know that they came from his birth
planet. She didn’t know he had a
birth planet other than Earth. Hell, she had no idea that he could all too
easily become a revenant himself if he let the hunger get too strong. It didn’t
take much to slip and feed on the closest living being, sentient or not.
Keeping perfect control was the first and last thing his true father had taught
him.
    “Jasper? You said you'd give me a ride home,” Sienna tugged on his arm. “I can get a
ride with Linda and John though, if you want to catch up with Sara.”
    He looked
a question at Sara who shook her head. “I don't get off shift until tomorrow
around noon.”
    Jasper
made a quick decision. “Here, give me your phone.” Sara eyed him warily. “I'll
give you my number. Call me when you can. We can talk.” What he really meant
was he could grill her for information on where she’d been all these years and
why she hadn’t tried to contact him, but she didn’t need to know that.
    Sara's
face cleared. “Of course. Let's just go to the hall so
we don’t disturb Dillon and his family.”
    He
followed her out as Sienna said her goodbyes. As soon as Dillon's door shut,
Sara moved in, hugging him tightly. He noted that she was very careful to keep
from touching his bare skin, though he wasn’t sure why.
    “Jasper,
I thought you were dead,” she whispered.
    He hugged
her tightly, dismissing his worry. It had been so long since he'd had a family,
he almost didn't believe she was real.
    “Sara. I
looked everywhere for you and Peter. I searched for days, but then they came
for me. I'm so sorry I had to leave.”
    “Hush.”
She pulled back, eyes wet. “I know they hunted you. Ambrose knew. He had a
hiding place for Peter and me and that's where we went. I felt awful—I knew as
soon as they had you they would let us go. You led them away.” The guilt on her
face tore at him.
    “No, no, shh . I'm glad you had that. Glad they took me and
left you to live.” He wiped at her cheeks with his sleeve, but she shied away.
“How are you still alive?” Her silver hair and the fine wrinkles around her
eyes put her age at sixty-something. Jasper knew better.
    She
smiled shakily. “I think it's the bond I had with your brother. His blood
changed me. I thought I would die when they killed him, but I had Peter. I had
to live even though it felt like my heart had been ripped out of my body. I had
to take care of my son.”
    That was
possible? One could survive after a mate-bond had been broken? He certainly
hadn’t been that lucky when his father was killed. His mother died not a day
later. Shoving the implications down, Jasper squeezed her arms. “I'm glad. I
wish I could've stayed and taken care of you.”
    She let
him hang on for a moment, then pulled away, adjusting
her sleeves. Before he could ask her more about how she’d survived, the door
opened and Sienna walked out, head tilted inquisitively. Jasper smiled a
welcome.
    Sara
stepped back. “No, we were fine. There was nothing you could've done. Peter and
I were fine. I need to get back to work. Would you give me your number?” She
motioned to the phone he still had in his hand.
    “Of course.” Jasper quickly typed in his number and handed her cell
back. “Call me