Tangled in Blood

By Melinda Killen

“Why did she feel so sad? She barely knew him, but in their very brief moments together, she felt like she had known him forever. Then it hit her. She knew why she was sad. She didn’t want him to be a freak. When she thought Bain was dead, she had given up on life and love, but Sevon had reawakened her passion and made her believe in love again.

She had wanted to love him.”

In Tangled in Blood, Melinda Killen’s epic sequel to A Time to Dance, feisty café owner Barcelona Morgan (Barr) is faced with some disturbing unanswered questions. Why had Bain—her husband, the love of her life, faked his death and abandoned her?
And why did Sevon—the man who revitalized her will to live and love again—want to kill her?
Sevon is the seventh son of the seventh son of the Roman family, and he is currently undergoing a critical Transformation, which happens every seven hundred years, into becoming the Divine One, the leader of the vampires. But Sevon, handsome and charismatic, with some human blood still remaining in him, is in love with Barr. So is Bain, her scientist husband, who faked his death to protect her and who is reluctantly working for Patrick Panini, the Roman family’s arch-rival, as he engineers a power grab.
The novel takes us through sinister intrigues and intense power plays, from CDC scientists trying to find the source of a deadly flu virus to disingenuous doctors covering up their crimes. Tangled in Blood is both an emotionally powerful love story and an action-packed paranormal thriller. It will ultimately climax in a battle to the death between Patrick Panini and Sevon Roman and a New Year’s Eve rendezvous at a fountain in Spain, where Barr will confront her destiny—and learn the truth.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Melinda Killen
• Release date: Jun 21, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310283543

Book preview

Part One

He takes me in his arms, and then I wake up.

Yes, it’s only in my dreams…

Sleeping Beauty

Chapter 1

I know I love him. I’ve always loved him, Barr convinced herself, but still, everything seemed too rushed. Although smack-dab in the middle of her own wedding, she felt removed, like she was watching it from a distance.

Standing in the center of the gazebo that overlooked the sunset beach, Barr felt like a beautiful Grecian goddess in her simple white dress and sandals as the warm ocean breeze swept over her. For a brief second, she let her gaze wonder toward the turquoise sea and watched as the sun melted into it. It was gorgeous. She should have felt perfect but love had happened so fast, and the reality was just hitting her

To love, honor, and cherish, in sickness and in health, till death do us part, Bain recited flawlessly, as his eyes glittered over her.

Barr couldn’t breathe. Could she really go through with this after all of the grief? Before her mind could answer her own question, she felt his warm, dominant hand grasp hers, and he glided the cool, smooth metal ring over her finger. Her mind ordered her reflexes to pull her hand away, but how could she resist him?

She had never been able to resist him.

Repeat after me, the minister said. I, Barr McKenzie, take Bain Morgan as my lawfully wedded husband.

Barr felt a flush of anxiety rush through her. Could she trust him? Why was she insecure, when she was certain that she was 100 percent in love with him?

She ever-so-slightly turned to her best friend and maid of honor and searched her eyes for comfort. Lucy had told her that she thought that she was making a mistake, moving too fast as usual, but that she would support her, as always. Lucy smiled, and Barr shifted her eyes to Mr. Hensley. He wasn’t a big Bain fan either, but as any grandfather did, he wanted her to be happy, and his eyes adored her.

Barr directed her attention back to Bain, and she guessed that he had sensed her nervousness because he gestured to the minister that he needed a minute. It was a subtle, slick gesture.

That was Bain...slick.

He leaned into her, so close that she felt his breath on her cheek and smelled his incredibly intoxicating cool male scent.

I promise that I will take care of you and make you happy, he whispered and squeezed her hand, all the while hypnotizing her with his eyes. Barr heard her voice repeat the sacred words before she realized that she was even saying them.

I, Barr McKenzie, take Bain Morgan as my lawfully wedded husband.

She felt Bain’s strong grip on her hand relax…a little. The minister recited the rest of the vows, and she unconsciously repeated them, To love, honor and cherish, in sickness and in health, till death do us part.

Lucy handed Barr the ring, and reflexively she placed it on Bain’s finger.

Hurriedly, Bain picked her up into his arms and passionately kissed her. She clung to his strong embrace. She knew that it was his way to seal the deal and keep her from over-thinking their rushed decision. He knew that she had fretted over the past and was having a hard time letting go of it. Could she forget the past and move on?

She was positive that he felt her angst because his kiss was unrelenting and lingered until he was sure that she had succumbed to it entirely. Again, how could she resist him? He was such a good kisser, and Barr knew that his kiss was designed to diminish all of her doubts. And it did...temporarily.

Barr heard the minister in the background. I now pronounce you husband and wife. It was evident in his tone that he did not approve of Bain’s preemptive action, but that was Bain. It was his way or no way, and, Barr had to admit, that was part of her attraction to him. His confidence was seductive.

Barr waved to Lucy and Mr. Hensley as Bain carried her off of the beach and into the sunset. She couldn’t deny that the feeling of being in love was amazing and that she was swept away in the magic of the moment. Everything felt…right!

With passion swirling through her, she licked her lips and tasted Bain’s kiss. She smiled and savored his tang and finally knew in her heart that everything was going to work out when, suddenly, the taste on her lips turned sour. Instead of his delicious male flavor, she tasted the bitter, metallic flavor of blood. Then, the feeling of swirling passion that rocked her core became somewhat painful. Ouch! The thrilling buzz of love became a sharp and painful thumping ache in her head. It wouldn’t stop pounding. It hurt. Bad!

In a flash, Bain was gone, and she was alone, surrounded in darkness. She gasped for air as tears streamed down her face. She tried moving, but her body was heavy, like concrete. She was confused. Where was she? She felt her finger flinch and the tiny movement sent excruciating shock waves through her. Still, her body wouldn’t budge. She tried calling out for Bain, but she couldn’t find her voice. Each breath felt like fire scorching through her lungs and throat.

Hell’s Bells, one of Nana’s favorite sayings, rang through her mind and caused the already insurmountable pain to intensify. Why was she in so much pain? She tried to open her eyes but it was a futile attempt, and out of nowhere she thought of Sleeping Beauty. She had no idea why her subconscious resorted to a fairy tale, but guessed it was to soften the harshness of the reality that she was experiencing. She wondered if Sleeping Beauty’s finger sent insufferable shock waves through her when she pricked it on the spinning wheel’s spindle, or if she had willed herself to wake from her endless, tormenting sleep, like she was presently doing. Barr realized that Sleeping Beauty was just a fantasy, but just maybe her Prince Charming, Bain, would find her and wake her from the anguish that she was experiencing.

She waited for her true love’s kiss and tried to forget, but memories attacked her subconscious.

Your husband’s dead, the coast guard with pale blue eyes said sternly. Then she was standing on the deck of a boat, drenched, crying, and freezing. Bain was missing. All they had found was his capsized boat off the coast. No body.

She remembered walking through the cemetery toward Bain’s empty grave and the funeral that she had passed along the way. Her eyes were fixated on the priest. She clearly heard his words echoing throughout her pounding head.

"There is an appointed time for everything. A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance…"

Bang! Scrape! She heard the explosion and harsh sound of abrading metal. She tumbled over and over, feeling blinding pain in the back of her neck. She smelled black powder and metal mingled with the acrid scent of blood. She felt warm, sticky blood.

Her blood!

She knew it was bad. She knew that it was a defining moment and that her life would be changed forever. Upside down, bleeding, and losing consciousness, she knew that, like Snow White, she had just bitten the poison apple…

The lights were so bright. Blinding! She was in an operating room and felt like she was being stabbed by a thousand knives. She was paralyzed and wanted to die. Then she was lying on the hospital’s chapel floor looking up and into the eyes of a hauntingly beautiful, over-sized statue of Virgin Mary. She heard her own crying sobs as she pleaded with Mary for death.

Don’t shed another crocodile tear, dear. Barr heard Nana’s words ring through her mind.

I can fix you, Barr, Dr. Rooney told her, and she was under bright lights again.

In just a minute, you’ll feel as though you had a few cocktails, Riley told her with his boyish smile and stabbed her with a syringe. She felt her blood rush warm.

Then nothing.

* * *

"A time to dance" lingered in her mind, and she vaguely heard music. She was held in a strong embrace and dancing with a beautiful stranger at Majik Café. Her café. Sevon was twirling her, and she was spellbound by his irresistible scent. She had never felt such raw desire and an overwhelming internal need to be with him.

His scent dissipated to the familiar and disgusting hospital stench that reeked of part antiseptic and desperation, and she and Sevon were at the hospital. She saw the gun pointed at her and heard the shot. Bang! Sevon rushed in front of her and tackled the mad shooter. He had saved her life.

Then she felt dizzy with desire, and they were in her cottage and entangled on the floor, kissing. It was perfect…so very perfect, until...suddenly, an evil voice interrupted them.

Sevon is a vampire. He was going to kill you, the stranger with red eyes told her.

A man in a white doctor’s coat entered her cottage, and she began trembling uncontrollably and felt the breath leave her body. She saw his face as clear as day. It was him. It was her husband. He was supposed to be dead!

She’s my wife, Bain said.

Before anything could resonate, she felt a blow to the side of her face and an instant of sharp pain in her temple as she crashed against the fireplace mantle. Her eyes met Bain’s one last time as he cried out her name and then, on the floor losing consciousness, she looked into Sevon’s eyes: her beautiful stranger. They were rimmed with tears and full of love. But, he was a vampire and was going to kill her… She was confused. It didn’t make sense.

Then nothing. Blackness.

Gradually…painfully, Barr gained consciousness and she knew that she was in her cottage. She knew that her Prince Charming was not going to wake her with his sweet kiss, and unlike Sleeping Beauty, she didn’t have magical fairies watching over her. Instead she was alone, lying on the couch, and experiencing the worst headache of her life. The room was spinning and her head was throbbing unrelentingly. She willed herself to stop remembering. God, her chest hurt. She couldn’t catch her breath, and she began to spasm with coughs. She knew that she had to breathe. She didn’t want to die. She had just found Sevon, and Bain was alive…but they had both betrayed her.

Maybe death wasn’t so bad, she thought for one brief second.

Slowly, she inhaled and her entire body heaved. Her lungs were on fire and felt like they were going to explode. She concentrated and forced with all of her might until finally her eyes shot open. She turned her head slowly until the excruciating pain stopped her mid-motion. She began shivering and saw the fireplace sparkling with tiny embers of the once-flourishing fire. They cast no warmth.

She concentrated on inhaling, one breath at a time, gasping for air. It seemed like eternity as she lay there, focusing on breathing and gathering enough strength to move. How could Sevon be a vampire? Vampires don’t exist. But they must. She saw them with her own two eyes. And how could Bain be alive? Why would he have faked his own death and abandoned her? What was he doing with vampires?

This is ridiculous! What am I thinking, she asked herself? Vampires don’t exist. This was all one big joke…and she was the butt of it. Perhaps Sevon was just a freak who played sick games with women for amusement? Maybe he had drugged her and she had just imagined it all? But the pain she felt was real, not illusory. It was all so…fuzzy.

Her head was hammering pure pain now, and she was soaked in sweat. She felt like she was going to be sick. Bit by bit, she raised herself up and painfully made her way, half-walking and half-crawling, into the bathroom. Her entire body pulsated with acute pain, and she kneeled in front of the toilet. She couldn’t hold back the sickness in the pit of her stomach and retched over and over.

Finally, completely depleted, she reached up and grabbed the sink. She pulled herself up and splashed cold water over her face. She saw the dark stain of red blood mingle with the water and spiral down the drain, and she began to panic. Her fingers grazed over the large gash on her forehead, and she was scared to death to see the extent of the damage. She tasted vomit in her mouth at the thought of having to go to the hospital for stitches.

Reluctantly, she raised her head and looked into the mirror. She was appalled. Thank goodness her Prince Charming didn’t come to awaken her. She would have scared him away, she thought mockingly at the sight of her reflection. The gash on her forehead consumed the whole side of her face. Ironically, it wasn’t as deep as she thought it would, or should, be from the force of the hit. The gigantic bruise surrounding the gash was the most striking part. It was a black, blue, yellow, and ugly greenish mark. She felt sick again and kneeled in front of the toilet.

She was burning up with fever and was drenched in sweat. Had she really seen Bain? Was he really alive? Tears overtook her and flooded down her face. She felt like she was going to vomit again, but nothing came up and she just dry heaved. How could he be alive? How could he have deceived her? Why?

Her body exhausted, she fell to the floor. The tile was cool and welcoming against her burning flesh. She felt her body calming down. Okay, let’s be rational, she told herself. Sevon couldn’t be a vampire. It was just a sick joke. But why? She hardly knew him, and he could be just a freak.

Why did she feel so sad? She barely knew him, but in their very brief moments together, she felt like she had known him forever. Then it hit her. She knew why she was sad. She didn’t want him to be a freak. When she thought Bain was dead, she had given up on life and love, but Sevon had re-awakened her passion and made her believe in love again.

She had wanted to love him.

She noticed her handbag lying on the floor inches from her, and stretched out her arm and pulled it toward her. She dumped the contents out and there it was: the gorgeous wedding ring that Bain had designed just for her. She remembered that she had put it into her handbag the day that she left the hospital and had since forgotten about it. She put it on her finger, rolled up in a ball on the cool bathroom floor, and sobbed.

Why did Bain-her husband, the love of her life-fake his death and abandon her?

Why did Sevon-the man who revitalized her will to live and love again-want to kill her?

Although she had found two gorgeous Prince Charming’s, neither would be coming to her rescue with a sweet kiss, and there would be no happily ever after…Betrayal stung.

Chapter 2

Have the plane ready for takeoff. We’ll be there in less than ten minutes, Santino said into his cell phone, and although his voice was urgent, his tone was commanding and controlled. He looked into the back seat of the SUV. Both of his brothers were beat-up, but Sevon was bloody and sprawled out with his head resting against Phillip’s shoulder. Also, have an ambulance waiting, Santino added into the phone, and he and Phillip exchanged a look of concern.

No matter how confident his voice sounded, it didn’t conceal the apprehensive expression on his face. He was worried about his brother. Sevon didn’t look good, and was fading in and out of consciousness. Santino was furious with himself. If he and his brothers had arrived a few minutes earlier, Patrick and Robert Panini, their family’s arch-enemies, wouldn’t have beaten Sevon to a pulp.

Can you go any faster? Santino barked at Drake, his other brother, who was speeding them through traffic.

I’m going 90-. Drake was cut off by a moan from Sevon.

Santino reached back and clasped his hand. Hang in there, Sevon.

It’s all my fault. If only I was there a few minutes sooner, Sevon wouldn’t be cut-up, bruised, bleeding, and drained of his blood, Santino thought. He couldn’t let Sevon die. As the oldest of the seven Roman brothers, he had a duty to protect all of them, especially his youngest brother, Sevon.

Sevon was the seventh son of the Roman family, and his fate was predestined. His blood was almost midway through the biological process that was transforming his human cells into indestructible vampire cells. It was the Roman family legacy that the seventh son, who was born purely human, biologically transformed into the divine leader of the vampire kingdom. This occurred once every seven hundred years and was called the Transition. It was tradition, and the law and order of the dark kingdom. During the Transition, the Divine One-Sevon’s father and leader of the vampires-disintegrated, and his seventh son’s blood naturally began the transformation into divine vampire blood for seventy days.

Although Santino was jealous, he had finally accepted the hard fact that it was his brother’s birthright to become the divine leader of vampires, and not his. Santino’s promise to his dying father was to protect Sevon and keep the Roman family at the head of all of the vampires, and he did not take this commitment lightly.

Sevon groaned in agonizing pain, and Santino knew that keeping him alive until they arrived home in Romania was going to be a challenge. Patrick had drained a substantial portion of Sevon’s blood...enough to kill him. Actually, Santino knew that Sevon should be dead and that the only reason that he clung to some life was that he wasn’t 100 percent human. Luckily, the small supply of divine blood that was intertwined with his human blood was exceptionally powerful and kept him alive…for now. But the divine transformation of Sevon’s human blood into vampire blood had only been in place for thirty of the seventy days that was needed to make him the most powerful vampire leader, and practically invincible. He was still more than 50 percent human, which made him vulnerable to human injury, pain, and death…

He’s unconscious again, Phillip said, and moved Sevon’s head from his shoulder to his lap. Painfully and slowly, Phillip took off his T-shirt and used it to wipe away some of the blood from Sevon’s face, before propping it under his head for a pillow.

He’s going to be alright, Santino reassured Phillip, his next oldest brother. Phillip looked as worried as Santino felt, and this thoroughly concerned Santino. Phillip was always cool and collected. He was the most logical brother out of the seven of them. If Phillip was worried, Santino knew it was bad.

Sevon, can you hear me? You’re going to be alright. You must stay strong. You will survive, Santino confidently encouraged him. He had to take control. As his father had told him a million times: he was the oldest brother and, therefore, a role model. It was his responsibility to take care of his six younger brothers.

"Are you alright?" Santino asked Phillip, noticing the bruises and cuts that covered his torso and ignoring his own pain.

I’ll survive. My ego took a bigger hit than my body, Phillip joked, in a lame attempt to lessen the tension and his immense pain. Damn, they were strong. Whatever synthetic blood they’re drinking has brought back a lot their strength. Phillip pushed on the right side of his rib cage and flinched. If you hadn’t shown up when you did…

I should have been there sooner, Santino interrupted. I can’t believe Patrick got away! Santino punched the dashboard with his fist.

We’ll get him, Phillip said, assuredly.

Turn here, Santino told Drake, and the speeding SUV skidded and screeched as it turned abruptly. In the last half hour the weather had changed from freezing rain to snow flurries, and the roads were slippery. Luckily, there was very little traffic and the roads were eerily empty since the flu scare kept most people at home.

Santino glanced into the side-view mirror and made sure that the other SUV carrying the rest of his brothers, Will, Michael, and Sebastian, was still following them. It was keeping up, and they were almost at the local airport, Santino thought with some optimism. After being a vampire for almost six hundred years, time was the one thing that was never a matter of concern to him, until now. He knew that Sevon’s life, as well as the family’s legacy, depended on getting him home to Romania as soon as possible, where Demetri, the eternal Roman family caretaker and protector, waited with a few vials of Sevon’s own precious, replenishing blood.

Although the fight between Sevon and Robert Panini had been brutal, all of the Roman brothers had taken a beating before they kicked the Panini clan’s butts. Santino flexed his left arm and cringed. He glanced into the side mirror again and examined his black eye. His anger rose at the sight of it. A hundred years ago, before human blood turned fatal for vampires to drink, his body wouldn’t have shown any signs of damage. Human blood had made him practically impervious to injury. But now, all remaining vampires were almost as weak as humans…almost, and no one resented it more than him-especially since he knew that the feeling of pain would be following shortly.

Right now, he was too pumped-up on adrenaline to feel anything but dull pain, but the acute pain would come. That was one of the most difficult human-like fragilities for him to deal with. Although he felt pain when he got into altercations as a vampire, it was short-lived, because vampire blood healed his wounds rapidly. Today he knew that he would still heal way quicker than a human, because his blood was still vampire and superior; unfortunately, though, without rejuvenating human blood to drink, he would suffer pain...

Still looking in the mirror, he glanced back at the other SUV again and saw Kimber’s silhouette. He had almost forgotten that she was with them. He was surprised that she was at the cottage. Everyone knew that she was utterly in love with Phillip, but Santino thought his brother was smart enough to stay away from her. Phillip was by far the most practical brother, and Santino was surprised to learn that he was still involved with Kimber. She was undeniably gorgeous, but bad news.

What was Kimber doing with you? Santino turned and asked Phillip, who, besides nursing Sevon, was rubbing his own aching shoulder.

You know how she is, Phillip answered.

Yes. Nothing but trouble.

Before Phillip could respond, his cell phone rang, and he gently moved Sevon’s head from his lap and onto the seat in order to retrieve it. Sevon groaned in pain, but his body remained limp.

Hello, Demetri, we are almost at the airport. Sevon is holding on. Do you have the vials of his blood ready for when we return? Phillip asked into the phone, and nodded in affirmation to Santino.

Phillip thought back to the night in the morgue when he and Kimber were searching for Sevon’s body, after hearing that he had jumped to his death off of the Coronado Bridge and into the bay. All of the brothers knew that Sevon was defiant of his predestined fate as the seventh son, and that he didn’t want to replace their father as the divine vampire leader, but they never expected him to try and kill himself to avoid it. Fortunately for the family, and unfortunately for Sevon, his drowned body was retrieved from the bay, and his meager yet unbelievably powerful vampire cells miraculously brought him back to life…as part-vampire.

By the time that he and Kimber arrived at the morgue, Sevon had already disappeared. Luckily, Phillip had confiscated a few vials of blood left on the counter top at the morgue that he suspected belonged to Sevon. Now, he hoped more than ever that it was Sevon’s blood and that those few tubes of human blood intertwined with a few precious divine vampire cells would save his brother’s life.

We’re here, Drake said, relieved. He parked as close as he could to the already revved-up Roman family’s private plane. As the SUV came to a rapid halt, Santino jumped out, snatched the gurney from the ambulance that was waiting on stand-by, as he had ordered, and sprinted to the other side of the vehicle. He and Phillip carefully placed Sevon onto the gurney just as the other SUV arrived.

Help Phillip get him onto the plane, Santino shouted to his brothers over the sound of the plane’s engine. Come with me, Santino said to Drake, as the rest of the brothers lifted Sevon onto the plane.

Santino rushed past the paramedics, entered the ambulance, and began confiscating medical supplies.

What the hell do you think you’re doing? the larger of the two paramedics asked, and physically attempted to restrain Santino.

Drake grabbed the paramedic, who outsized him dramatically, and slammed him up against the side of the ambulance with force.

Back off, buddy. It’s all good, Drake warned him with an uncontainable smile on his face. He had felt a small spark of power surge through him, and it reminded him of what it felt like to be a vampire before human blood turned bad. Since then, he had turned almost as weak and pathetic as humans, like all of the other vampires that survived and hadn’t disintegrated from starvation. With his grasp around the large paramedic’s neck, Drake reveled in the tiny bit of strength that he felt returning. He knew it was just a teasing inkling of what he’d felt like prior to the human blood drought. But, he would take it.

Drake was sixth in the Roman lineage and the youngest vampire, except for Sevon. Being a young and new vampire, he was untamed when human blood turned bad. He had experienced only a small taste of what it was like to be a truly powerful, blood-thriving vampire, and he had loved it. He was instantly addicted to the invincible feeling that only sweet human blood protein fueled, and he constantly craved it. He was desperately hoping, like every other vampire, that with the 700-Transition in place, and Sevon’s transformation successful, human blood would become viable again and naturally turn all of them back into powerful vampires.

The paramedic was shocked by the force of Drake’s grasp and saw the seriousness in his eyes. His instincts told him not to mess with him. It’s cool, dude, he said, and backed off.

Santino handed Drake as many medical supplies as he could carry, including IV bags, bandages, medications, and a medical kit.

Take these to the plane, he ordered Drake and jumped out of the ambulance. He pulled out a roll of hundred-dollar bills. For your compliance, he said,thrusting a wad of hundreds into each of the paramedic’s’ shirt pockets.

Within minutes, all seven of the Roman brothers, along with Kimber, were aboard the plane and headed for Romania. The fate of the Roman family, the vampire kingdom, and ultimately the world, now depended on Sevon’s survival. It was-ironically for vampires-a frantic race against time.

Chapter 3

Get out of here! Patrick Panini shouted at Nicolai, who was bustling all around him and picking up numerous shattered liquor bottles, glasses, and cigarette butts.

Guests will be visiting all week to pay their respects for Robert. You don’t want them to see this mess, do you? Nicolai questioned, without waiting for or expecting an answer, and continued cleaning. He knew that Patrick was grieving the loss