She was angry at herself for thinking that he would come back, for thinking that their time together had even meant anything to him, she should have known better. There was no reason for him to come back and see her. She was a common vampire, a villager who made her living by stealing it. Why would he come back? They had shared a few kisses but that meant nothing, at least not to him anyway. He'd probably kissed dozens of girls, probably done far more than that with them; she was just another one of the many.
That was fine by her, she was glad he was gone so that her life could get back to normal. She told herself that over and over again yet she couldn't shake the ache in her chest and she couldn't deny the fact that she still yearned for him to return. No matter how much she said she didn't care if he came back or not, she did.
Her feet stopped swinging as her head bowed down and she stared into the clear water beneath her. Brown trout darted in and out, swimming with the flow of the river as they headed to some destination that only they understood. They were beautiful and something that she normally found joy in watching, but just now she only felt sadness.
"You would really scandalize the humans if they came across you like this."
Genny was so startled by the sudden intrusion that she almost toppled off the log when she jumped a little. She managed to catch herself before she fell into the water below and turned her head toward where the voice had come from. Atticus stared back at her with an amused smile curving his full mouth. His hand rested against the trunk of an oak tree; his long legs were stretched out to the side as he leaned against the oak. The sun filtering through the leaves lit his eyes and made them appear almost incandescent.
Pushing himself away from the tree, he climbed down the small embankment and stopped at the end of the log to shed his boots and hose. She was still trying to accept the fact that he was truly there when he began to unknot his belt before pulling off his outer tunic. "What are you doing?" she managed to squeak out as he placed his bare foot on the log.
"You shouldn't be the only half-naked one here," he informed her.
The log shook beneath his weight as he rapidly made his way toward her. Genny's head tipped back to look at him. He obscured the sunlight as he stood over top of her, grinning like a child who had just been handed a sweet. She couldn't stop staring at him, couldn't bring herself to believe that he was actually there even as he settled onto the log beside her. She'd missed him so much over the past twelve days that she almost believed he was a mirage, something she had conjured in her mind.
His finger touched against hers, the contact sent a thrill of pleasure throughout her body that caused her to start. Her eyes flew to his hand as his index finger slid over the back of her hand again. The uncomfortable feeling she'd been experiencing ever since she'd parted from him last time vanished at the contact. Tears of relief filled her eyes but she hastily blinked them back, she refused to give into the childish urge to cry as her fingers sought out his.
Awe filled her; she lifted her head to meet his eyes again. The air between them crackled and pulsed with something almost palpable. He held her gaze for seconds that slid into minutes as his hand continued to hold hers. The smile had vanished from his face, his eyes appeared almost troubled but before she could ask what was wrong his head was bowing to hers and he was kissing her. She'd thought that the feel of his hand had eased her tension, but the sensation of his lips moving over hers was like being transported to an entirely different world.
Where she'd failed to find any solace by being in her beloved woods today, the taste of him brought her a comfort she'd never thought to experience. His hand pressed against her cheek and slid back to grasp her head as his tongue slipped in to take possession of her mouth. In this world, the one where only he existed, there was only happiness and a feeling of belonging. She never wanted the feelings he could arouse in her to end and she eagerly met his thrusting movements as his kiss became even more demanding.
His hand slid around her waist and he pulled her closer against him. The feel of his chest pressing against hers through the thin layer of her chemise was the most intimate thing she'd ever experienced. Unable to escape the rising tide of passion he aroused in her, she gladly gave herself over to his demanding kiss. She rested her hands upon his solid chest. Her fingers curled into the linen of his tunic, she pulled him nearer in order to feel more of him as his hands ran over her shoulders. He pulled one of her sleeves down, allowing spring air to rush tantalizingly over her exposed skin.
"Wait," she whispered as his hand burned into the flesh of her bared shoulder and caused her stomach to flutter. She pulled away a little to meet his eyes. Her hands pressed flat against his chest as she tried to gather her scrambled thoughts. "Wait."
"What's wrong?" He tenderly brushed back a stray wisp of her hair.
"It's just…" her voice trailed off as she continued to search his face. She didn't know what it was. She'd been hoping for his return, to feel his lips against hers, to have him hold her once again but this was all moving too fast. This man made her feel as if she was the only woman on earth, he made her wretched existence immeasurably more tolerable, but she didn't know him. She'd been sad and lost these past twelve days without him but if she continued to allow this to happen between them, he would leave again, probably often, and one day for good. She'd be even more lost when that day came. "I'm not the kind of girl that you can just show up and kiss whenever you feel like it."
It was a lie, she'd yet to turn away one of his kisses. He appeared to know it was too as amusement lit his eyes and his head tilted. "And what kind of girl are you, Genny?" he asked in his seductive voice. His time on English soil had caused his English accent to become more pronounced.
Her chin jutted out. "Not that kind," she replied haughtily as she jerked the sleeve of her chemise up.
The amusement faded from his features. He rested his hand on her cheek and rubbed his thumb across her skin. "I didn't think you were." Despite her plan to place some distance between them, and not just physically, she found herself believing his words as his eyes searched hers. "That's not what this is about."
"What is it about then?" she inquired.
He leaned so close that she could see the flecks of brown in his eyes. He was mesmerizing to her as she caught the minty scent of his breath. "I'm not sure but I enjoy being with you. Do you not feel the same way?"
"I do," she finally admitted. "But you turn my life upside down."
There was that smile again, so cocky and beautiful that she didn't know if it irritated her or melted her heart. This man was used to getting what he wanted but she never gave anything that she wasn't willing to give. That's what she told herself anyway, but all she could focus on were those lips just inches away from her, and all she could recall was just how exciting and addicting his kisses were.
"I'm going to take that as a compliment."
She couldn't help but laugh over that statement. "Where have you been?"
His forehead briefly rested against hers. "I had to go to London for the first Council meeting."
Genny's hands slid away from his chest as she sat back from him. "What is a Council?"
He released the back of her head but took hold of her hand again. "The aristocrats have decided there will no longer be a king."
Genny couldn't stop her mouth from dropping open. "But what will we do without a king?"
"The aristocrats will be ruling and making the decisions together."
"Will they be capable of working together in order to do that?" she inquired.
- CHAPTER 7 -
Atticus's gaze drifted to the water as he mulled over her question. The Council had gotten along with each other far better than they ever had when the next target was on the throne. There had been some argument over where the next meeting would take place and what would happen to the palace that had always gone to each new king upon his rise to power, but that had eventually been smoothed over too.
They had unanimously voted
that all future meetings would be held at the King's palace in the mountains of Transylvania and it would now become a community property. There was enough room for all of The Council to stay there for the meetings. Some of the aristocracy still lived in what many considered the homeland of the vampires, but others were far more content in the lands they had spread into and now called home. He was one of the vampires that far preferred the outer lands, but then he'd never spent much time in Transylvania.
"I think they might be," he admitted.
"It would be good to put an end to the fighting," she murmured as she turned back to the stream. "What made them decide to create this Council?"
"None of them wanted to step forward to become king."
She released a small snort of laughter and idly kicked her feet at the water again. "I don't blame them."
"Neither do I. Things will be fairer this way, there won't be just one voice representing us all, but many of them."
"None of it really affects the village vampires," she replied.
"What do you mean?"
She gestured at the woods around them. "Ours is a different world than yours Atticus. We obey the laws because the retaliation for disobeying them is swift and brutal. We pay the taxes for the same reasons, but otherwise your world doesn't coexist with ours. They don't know; you don't know that the taxes are breaking most of us and that sometimes the laws must be broken in order for us to survive. We're all extremely careful about keeping our race a secret because that keeps us all alive, but sometimes mistakes happen.
"Many of us are excellent thieves, as you've witnessed, because that is how we are able to survive." She gave him a smile as she waved her delicate fingers before him, but her eyes were troubled as they met his. "Sometimes we slip up though, as you know I once did. If it hadn't been for Matilda, I may well be dead now. It is allowed for us to steal from humans. However, if a vampire is caught stealing by the humans they will be put to death by the vampire community. Any mature vampire that actually gets caught stealing from a human is no thief in my book though. They shouldn't be stealing if they can't escape detection from a human," she murmured. "Humans also don't have the money that our kind does and I know that some vampires have been driven to stealing from other vampires in order to pay their debts. That is a crime that is also punishable by death, but that is a death no one wants."
She shuddered and began to wring her hands before her. "No matter how much I may need money one day, I would never stoop to stealing from our own kind."
He understood her reasons why. A vampire caught stealing from another was placed on the rack for a week, before having to endure living and sleeping in a room where the floor was lined with broken glass for another week. During this time they were denied any blood but their starvation didn't matter as the final steps of their punishment was disembowelment before finally being drawn and quartered by horses. His hand clenched around hers, he would never allow such a hideous death to happen to her.
"There are others of us who aren't as strong, children who are punished when they shouldn't be. It's unfair to lock them up, but it's better than when they are slaughtered outright for losing control and having their fangs extend in public or in front of one of the King's Watchmen," she continued.
Atticus couldn't tear his gaze away from her as he absorbed all of her words. He'd never really thought about what her world was like; he'd never stopped to consider how the village vampires lived before meeting her. Of course, he knew they existed but he'd never spent time in the villages before.
"I've seen the Watchmen kill a child before," she whispered. Her eyes were haunted when they came back to his. "The child didn't even change into his vampire form first; the man was just being cruel. The death and brutality rate amongst the villagers is extremely high; they're constantly fighting with each other and some of the Watchmen enjoy abusing the villagers."
The idea of her growing up and living in such conditions was intolerable to him. "Why do you stay?" he inquired.
"Where am I to go? There are other villages but I've moved through most of them in this country and they are all much the same. Camille isn't fully grown yet and I couldn't travel to the continent without her, ever."
"You've thought about leaving then?"
"Often."
The idea of her leaving was even more unpleasant than the thought of her residing within the villages, but then he most likely wouldn't be staying in England either. His father hadn't said what he intended to do next, or where he planned to go, but though he and Nyles had been born in this country, they also preferred Italy to England. His father wouldn't want to stay here, and normally Atticus would be eager to leave too, but he found he wanted to spend time with her.
While he'd been gone his desire to see her again hadn't lessened in even the smallest measure, it had only intensified. It had been a miserable twelve days of separation from her, and when he'd found her here, half dressed in her white chemise and sitting on a log, he'd briefly thought that perhaps he'd stumbled across his own angel.
Or perhaps she was the devil; no one else had ever made him feel this tormented before. All he wanted was to touch her, all he craved was to feel her skin, and yet sitting beside her on this log and holding her hand was just as magnificent as kissing her again had been.
"Where would you go?" he asked.
She frowned as she seemed to debate what she would tell him. "France," she finally said.
"And what is in France?"
"Not my mother," she said with a wan smile. "And she'll never return to it."
"I see." A fish jumped from the water, drawing his attention back to the stream. "And what will you do there?"
"I don't know but I suppose that's the point of starting over, isn't it?"
He got the feeling there was more to it than that but she wouldn't meet his gaze anymore as her eyes had become focused on her feet. But then, what did he know, he'd never had the chance to start over nor had he ever thought about doing so. "I suppose it is," he agreed.
She looked up at him from under her inky black lashes and gave him a half smile. "Don't worry I'll make sure that The Council knows we've moved."
He knew that the village vampires were allowed to move about freely but they had to report their destination before they left, and they had to check into their new location as soon as they arrived so that the King, and now The Council, could keep track of them in order to collect taxes and enforce the laws. There were always some vampires that tried to slip through the cracks and went missing every year, but if a vampire turned up where there weren't supposed to be, or was unregistered in their area, they were put to death with no questions asked.
Their world was governed with an iron fist; it had to be in order to keep chaos from ruling. If they slipped, even a little, their existence could be revealed to the human masses. Humans were already far too superstitious, the last thing the vampire community needed was for them to realize they weren't at the top of the food chain. Panic would descend upon the world if that ever happened; there was no telling how many deaths would result, human and vampire alike. They may be vastly superior in strength and speed than a human but they were also outnumbered by them by at least ten to one.
"That's good to know." His fingers slid from her hand and over the sleeves of her chemise. He froze when he spotted the faded bruise marring the skin at her wrist; he pushed the sleeve further up to reveal the purplish mark that spread all the way to her elbow. She grabbed hold of the sleeve and pulled it down before he could go any higher. "What happened?" he demanded.
"Just clumsy," she told him as she held the sleeve in place against her wrist.
His eyes narrowed as he searched her face. "I've never found you so."
"I almost fell off a boulder in front of you," she replied flippantly.
"I thought that was because of my overwhelming presence."
She laughed but it sounded strained to him or perhaps he was reading too much into it. "My fingers may be fast but
my feet sometimes don't know where to go." She gestured to the log beneath them. "This isn't the only log in the forest and I'm not always so agile."
Atticus glanced down at the log and then back at her. He wasn't entirely sure he bought that explanation but he didn't know why she would lie about it either. "Will you have to leave again soon?" she inquired.
"The Council will be meeting once every three months to discuss the state of things."
"Will the King's Watchmen still be present in the villages?"
"Yes, as far as I know. They just won't be known as the King's Watchmen anymore."
She leaned against his side. "No, I suppose they won't. Will they be The Council's Watchmen?"
"They will just be The Watchmen now." Her subtle scent filled his nostrils; he rested his lips against her bent head. The end of her braid dangled between them, he picked it up and began to play with her hair as it tickled against his arm. "Do you mind if I take this out?" he asked as he tugged lightly on the faded blue ribbon tied at the end of it.
She sat back to look at him. "No," she whispered.
The ribbon gave way beneath his fingers; he placed it on the log before beginning to undo the braid. The last of the braid fell away to reveal the glorious hair that was always so neatly tucked away. The thick waves of it spread over her shoulders and fell across the log. The rays of sun spilling through the trees caused it to shine like onyx in the light.
"Beautiful." He was surprised to realize that he'd never said that to a woman before. Not even to the women he'd known who were more beautiful than she was, who wore finer clothes, and didn't stare at him as if they were half convinced he was going to eat them. The idea of tasting her was extremely tantalizing as he brushed the hair back from her neck to expose the vein running through there.