Thicker than Blood

25. Geordi

CHAPTER 25

Geordi

E lias has an unusual expression on his face, drawing my curiosity to the surface.

“What are you thinking about?”

His eyes pulse and he moves closer. “A scandalous thought.” Elias tickles his fingers under my chin. “An indulgent end to this nonsense.”

“Tell me.”

“Will you think poorly of me?”

I shake my head. “Impossible.”

He bends down so that his lips brush against the shell of my ear, whispering dirty thoughts of how he’d like to unravel me with pleasure, making me come over and over until I’m spent, all with a jealous and evil Tristan forced to watch.

My body unexpectedly heats and I sway towards him. “Please.”

A sexy smirk graces my vampire’s lips. “You’re like me in more ways than we’ve yet discovered.”

“But we’re not alone. Lucius is on his way.”

“My desire isn’t going anywhere.”

“Same.”

My mind conjures images of being fucked while Tristan is forced to watch, recalling the magic veil Elias got for us the first time he took me apart. It shouldn’t sound so good to me, but it does.

I check back in when a loud thumping noise interrupts my thoughts. Lucius enters the room. He’s covered in blood and gore with a maniacal grin on his face. In one hand he’s holding a headless body, in the other—the head of that body.

Tristan gasps, cowering and groaning as the chains sizzle on his flesh. “Fisher.”

“How did you find him?” Elias asks. “I just learned of his existence.”

Lucius, using the back of his hand, wipes blood from his chin. “A glorious nugget of sex appeal led me to him. He heard him recruiting in a club and my loyalty is to you. I would have brought Fisher alive, but he didn’t allow it. My hand was forced.”

Elias hums happily. “Wonderful. I told you that you chose the wrong vampire, Trist.”

Tristan frowns, his expression morphing into true concern now. “It’ll happen again, you know. The vampires will always choose defiance.”

“And I’ll be here to extinguish it.”

“Tristan,” Lucius says. “You were involved in this?”

“He tried to kill my consort,” Elias says, pulling me closer. “I plan to make his death long, painful, and tortuous to his fragile psyche.”

Lucius chuckles. “Ooh. Delicious. Are we invited to watch?”

“I’m afraid not, my friend. You see, the one thing Tristan wanted more than freedom is me. He’s going to watch me choose another man.”

“Damn, that’s savage,” Enyo says, clinging to Jagger’s arm. “Lucky.”

I wink at him. “Can I talk to you for a sec?”

“Yeah, of course.”

I lead Enyo away and we sit on a loveseat. It takes me a minute to find the courage to tell him what I remembered about myself today, but as usual, I sense nothing but acceptance from him.

“You know how my family was killed during the war?”

Enyo nods, his expression sympathetic. “Yeah.”

“I guess with the trauma of it all, I blocked out the details. Elias unlocked my memories. Or maybe Tristan’s attack did. I don’t know, but I remembered. All of it.”

His brow creases. “What happened?”

“My dad was turned. Before I was born.”

“Before you were—” Enyo’s eyes go wide. “Wait. Are you saying…?”

I nod. “I’m part vampire. Me and Emma.”

“Whoa. Why were they killed then?”

I shake my head, dragging a hand through my hair. “The war triggered something in my dad and he was trying to change me and Emma. Apparently, we needed to be fed vampire blood for our vampiric traits to come out.”

“Shit,” he whispers.

“My mom staked him after he turned Emma. I don’t know why. Elias thought maybe it was something my folks talked about. Then the vampires busted in. They attacked Emma and my mom, but they left me there. I don’t know why they did that either. One of them told me I would be ready someday. My guess is that they killed my mom because she killed my dad, a vampire. I’m not really sure why they killed Emma. Maybe just because she was trying to attack them instead of my mom.”

“Fuck, Geordi. You’ve been holding on to that for five years?”

“I buried it. Forced it into a place in my head where it didn’t exist and convinced myself I was just fascinated by vampires, but now it makes sense that I’ve always been drawn to them. It’s the reason I wanted to know everything about them. It’s why it was so easy to break all the rules with Elias. I’m one of them.”

“But… but your mom was still mortal?”

I nod. “I’m a dhampir.”

His jaw drops.

“That’s the real reason for the ‘no romance with vampires’ rule. It can lead to people like me. People who seem normal and mortal, but deep inside us…” I blow out a breath. “How do you choose, Enyo? Your mortal side or your monster? I suppose it depends on who gets to you first. Maybe I would’ve become someone like Tristan, wooed by evil. Because of Meredith, I avoided it.”

Enyo throws his arms around me in a surprise hug. “I don’t care. You’re still my friend.” He pulls back, holding my shoulders. “You’re good, just like Elias and his friends.”

“I don’t know if I would describe them as good.”

He laughs softly. “Okay, maybe that’s not the right word, but I know you, and no matter what, you wouldn’t turn on mortals.”

“If Elias turns me, I have no idea what I’ll be.”

“You’ll be you. Geordi.” His eyes light up. “Geordias.”

“Geordias?”

He nods happily. “Geordi, Elias—Geor-Dias. It’s your ship name.”

I shake my head as happiness bubbles out of me. “Yeah, okay.”

“Are you gonna do it? Let him turn you?”

I nod without hesitation. “Yes. He wants me forever. Just me. I’d finally have a home and someone to love me.”

“Does he love you?”

I shrug. “I don’t know if it’s the same for vampires, but he’s convinced I’m the one for him. That’s good enough for me.”

Enyo holds my hand in his. “Do you love him?”

The question bounces around my head. “What does that even feel like? All I know is that I want to be with him. I want the promise of forever. I want the security he provides. I want to stop hiding in a lab and experience life.” I smile with tears in my eyes. “And I want to be authentically me. All parts of me.”

“That’s awesome.”

“I’m afraid to lose Meredith though. And my job. What if she can’t trust me anymore? What if I shouldn’t be trusted anymore?”

“I don’t believe that. I don’t think you’re gonna change. I mean, obviously, parts of you will, but you’ll still be you. Meredith will understand.”

“I hope so.”

“Worst-case scenario, you can just hang out in Paradiso doing whatever the fuck you want.”

I laugh. “True. What’s going on with you and Jagger?”

His expression turns wistful as he gazes off past me and a sappy smile paints his lips. “I like him. I feel so… alive when I’m with him. He treats me like I’m something special.”

“You are.”

He shrugs. “Maybe. If he wanted to turn me, I’d say yes.”

“I should be scandalized, but I’m not.”

“I’m not afraid of it. I think it’s cool. Why do you think I became a vampire researcher? You were drawn to it because it’s in your blood. I was drawn to it because I’m a freak.”

We both laugh at that.

Elias, Jagger, and Lucius walk over to us. I can feel Elias’s emotions and desires pouring off him, warming me with waves of heat, like when you open the oven to check on your food. My stomach flips and my cock twitches in my jeans.

“We’re going to invite our friends back to the club,” Elias says. “You and I will have a private room with an audience of one.”

I nod, swallowing hard. I’m really going through with this. I’m going to let Elias fuck me in front of Tristan, and then, if all goes as planned, make me his for eternity. By morning, I’ll be changed forever.

Enyo squeezes my shoulder before allowing Jagger to lead him away. “Have fun,” he whispers.

“You too.”

“I’m starving,” Lucius says as he follows Jagger and Enyo. “Please let there be a pretty mortal to indulge me tonight. I’ve earned it.”

“We’ll find you two, or even three,” Jagger promises.

“Good man,” Lucius says.

Elias offers his hand, and when I take it, he pulls me to my feet. “Are you ready, my prize?”

I nod, full of confidence and desire for the stunning being in front of me. “I’m ready, Elias.”