Blood Mate: A Paranormal Romance by Natalie Kristen Page A

vampire, a PAC
Enforcer.
    And she was still Nana's
grandbaby.
    Bryn leaned her cheek against
Nana's wrinkled, bony hand. “Mom and Dad...” Bryn began
slowly. “They were killed by a rogue vampire. Yet...you let
me be turned into a vampire. Weren't you...scared?”
    Nana snorted. “I wasn't
scared, Bryn. I was mad. I was furious! Beth died in my arms. I
will not have you die in my arms as well.”
    Nana tilted Bryn's face up and
looked her straight in the eye. “Your turning only changes
what you are, not who you are. You are my granddaughter,” Nana
said emphatically. “You will always be my sweet little
grandbaby.”
    “ Nana!”
    After a while, Bryn muttered
softly, “He was never caught.”
    “ No. They never caught
your parents' killer. I don't hate him, but—” Nana's
mouth was set in a tight line. “I will tie him up and watch
him burn in the sun if I ever catch him! I know what the murdering
coward looks like. The killer has a birthmark at the corner of his
left eye. Like dark red flames, Beth told me with her dying breath.”
    Bryn stared out the window,
watching the sky change color ever so subtly. Nana started, “Oh!
It's almost light! You should be in bed! Come along, quickly now.”
Nana got up and shooed her towards her bedroom. “I'll tuck
you in. You've stayed up way past your bedtime!” Nana
scolded.
    Bryn washed up quickly,
changed and crawled into bed. As Nana was tucking her in, Bryn
pulled her grandmother down for a quick hug.
    “ Thank you,” she
whispered. “Thank you for everything you've done for me. I
love you, Nana.”
    “ I just did what I
could,” Nana said, bending down to kiss her forehead. “You
did the rest yourself.”

CHAPTER
TWELVE

    Bryn's eyes were closed, but
her mind was swirling with thoughts and memories. Some happy, some
troubled. She could vaguely hear voices, but she couldn't be sure if
the voices were here in her present, or just echoes from her past.
    Her body tended to shut down
during the daylight hours. Her strength just drained away, and it
took too much effort just to stay awake. Glenn hardly slept, but he
told her it was normal for young vampires to spend the day sleeping
and recharging. In fact, it was healthy for them to sleep a lot.
“Just like babies,” he'd quipped to her annoyance.
    Even in her sleep, Bryn
thought she could sense the presence of an older vampire near her.
But it wasn't Glenn. Her limbs jerked as she fisted her sheets. She
was still sleeping but not really asleep. Her body was struggling to
wake up even though it was still daytime.
    She could hear a voice, so
familiar but so distant. Bryn knew she needed to wake up. Someone
needed her, needed her help.
    She tried to force her eyes
open, but something seemed to be pressing down on her lids. Bryn
gasped and felt a hand over her mouth.
    “ Scream, and we'll kill
her,” a male voice said.
    Kill her?
    Nana?
    “ No!” Bryn choked
out, her eyes flying wide open.
    She heard a cry. It was Nana.
Nana was yelling and shouting, but her voice was growing weaker,
softer, moving further and further away from her.
    Bryn let out a muffled sound
against the large hand over her mouth. She stared into a masked
face, and felt a blade against her neck.
    “ Let me go, you bad, bad
man! Take your hands off me, I'm warning you!” Nana was
screeching down the corridor.
    Bryn let her fangs stab out.
She bit hard through the leather glove and tasted blood.
    Her eyes widened.
    Vampire.
    She saw red eyes glaring at
her from behind the mask. The black mask covered only the upper half
of his face, so she could see his long fangs pushing past his thin
lips. The vampire was strong, and vicious. With his gloved hand
over her mouth, he stabbed the silver blade into Bryn's neck.
    “ If you scream, I will
do the same to your grandmother,” the vampire hissed into her
face. “I will slice her neck open, like this.” He
twisted the knife hard and yanked it out. Blood spurted out from the
deep gash. He