CHAPTER TWENTY
Light-hearted and carefree, I snooze waiting for Daniel to return. I relax into the plush bed humming to myself. The Vampire stronghold is a safe haven for me now, right?
My nose fills with the fresh saltwater scent of a Vampire.
A voice breathes in my ear, “You are here when you should not be.”
My eyes snap open.
Daniel’s blood, no longer hampered by my reconciled wolf spirit catches fire in my veins to strengthen me. I bare my teeth in a snarl. My canines lengthen, and bloodlust makes my eyes burn and glow.
The lady Vampire standing over me leans back, quirking an eyebrow.
She has blonde hair to her waist and light grey eyes. Face long and androgynous her fangs are the colour of ivory. She’s fucking freaky looking. Dressed in a diaphanous sheath of pastel green her swanlike neck has bluish veins running up to her jaw like crooked twigs. She’s so skinny, but the sylphlike gauntness is natural judging by the size of her wrists and narrow shoulders.
This foreign predator is too close and unearths my primal instincts to attack. I apply subtle, but steady pressure to the restraints at my wrists and ankles. The material starts to give.
I growl low in my throat. “Who the hell are you?”
She leans forward. “Who are you?” Her voice is strident. The pronunciation of each word clipped and tinged with a foreign cadence.
“I– Oh my Christ.”
I gape as a leviathan-sized man with a Viking-buff beard freezes in the doorway. “My heart?”
He’s as fair as her, but not as pale. The tanned skin of his forearms, face, and neck has an ashy overtone that’s off putting. He’s so tall the top of the doorframe hides him from his brow bone upward. The rest of his face is ageless. Lush hair ripples to his broad shoulders. Replace the tailored trousers with a loincloth, and the casual shirt with smears of dirt you’d have the barbarian I’m sure he was born as. The Vampire’s grace as he moves – bending at the knee to pass into the room – is otherworldly.
“A Lycan female,” he says in astonishment.
Stranger Vampires looming over me as I’m tied to a bed like some pagan blood offering.
Yeah.
The female probes my thoughts. I drop kick her out of my head. So rude. “Don’t you dare–”
She claps her hands in front of my face. It hurts my ears. “Quiet. We are deciding what to do with you.” She gives me a condescending look of sympathy then turns her attention to her companion. “She is unharmed physically.”
“Has he driven her to insanity?” The male Vampire rubs his beard. “Can we salvage this?”
Just wow.
Daniel is a handful – dynamite on frayed nerves – but he’s not that bad. “Listen, you’ve got it wrong. I–eeek.”
I shrink back into the mattress. I tuck my chin into my chest to hide my neck when the Vampire thrusts her face into mine and hisses.
She straightens. “Her mind is closed. Bizarre for a Lycan to possess such advanced abilities. Usually they cannot detect a mental touch.”
“This used to be Daniel and Anya’s room.” The male Vampire reveals his wariness in his tense posture.
He stops beside the female, and possessively rests a hand at the nape of her neck. He relaxes at the contact and so does she. It’s as if his touch is protection against anything and everything, and they trust that absolutely.
This was Daniel and Anya’s room? That explains the coldness that seeped into my bones before. I’m not jealous of a dead woman. Intimidated is more accurate. Did he bring me here to form new memories?
“He has gone mad, mein schatz.” The lady Vampire’s eyes flash, and her pointed chin lifts imperiously. “I should have destroyed him when I broke his legs. See the fruit he cultivates from Lee’s mercy. I will correct my mistake.”
Destroyed him.
This conceited bitch shredded my Daniel’s legs? The wolf and I growl and snap at her.
“We shall find Lee. This is her mate’s home, and we cannot dispense justice without their knowledge or permission.” The male Vampire’s voice is firm. “They are close.”
Their eyes shut, and their heads lift until they both face the ceiling.
“The roof,” the female says.
“They are fucking. We are unwelcome, Simone. The Lycan female?”
“Will keep until Daniel is dead. This matter will not hold. Lee and Ben must pass judgment.”
How dare they think the worst of Daniel, and consider his demise so callously.
My temper snaps the same moment as my bindings.
Snarling like a rabid beast, I leap off the bed and lunge at the Vampire spitting my rage.
Simone barely blinks as she slams her hand into my breastbone.
Pain explodes across my torso from the contact. I tumble ass over tit in a summersault.
Screaming, I crash into one of the bedposts. It cracks it in the middle as my body bends backward. I shriek when my shoulder pops out of place.
The bed frame buckles.
Canting to one angle, the heavy wood top thunders to the floor echoing through Castle.
A gust of wind blows out the candles, and extinguishes the last of the smouldering embers in the fireplace leaving wispy smoke.
Death creeps beside me giggling evilly.
Submerged in darkness, I roll off the ruined bed and land head first on the cold floor. Whimpering, I blink repeatedly. My sight is fuzzy. My left arm won’t move. Dislocated? Don’t I need that impediment like motherfucking hole in the head? My other limbs tense in readiness as I shake off the hard fall, and there’s a moment of blissful relief when I feel my spine is unharmed.
I push tangled hair out of my face to see better, and scan as much of the room as possible. There’s no way out that doesn’t take me past them. Terror cartwheels over my courage. The stink of my panic is pungent, seeping from my pores in a cold sweat. I call on my wolf. It’s difficult so far from the woods, but well within my reach now I have accepted my place in Daniel’s life.
The musk of my skin intensifies, an earthy scent recognizable as a shift. My nose lengthens and my spine cracks. My shoulder pops back into place, ready to be moulded into my new frame. Panting, I throw myself into the change, allowing it to fall on me like a hot blanket. My magic overflows and slices throughout the room.
With a silky hiss of outrage from one of the Vampires, the magic I pull from the ground is dammed; the revitalizing flow stanched by an overwhelming swell of mysterious power.
My body shudders then shrinks back to normal form. I’m left in a bewildered muddle. My wolf instincts are raging, but my body shape’s wrong. On all fours I scramble away from the advancing threat, unable to process getting up onto two Human legs and holding my ground.
Simone glides around to the side of the bed. Her skirt flutters around bare feet that slap the cold floor. She grabs my neck, and moves with ghostly speed to throw me across the room.
I connect with the wall, my face mashed to the stone in a tooth-jarring kiss. In an explosion of blood my nose breaks. I drag a painting down with me and glass shatters. The bridge of my nose swelling painfully muffles my whimpers.
I pick up a wicked sharp piece of glass then discard it for a jagged length of broken frame. I lurch up wielding the pointed wood like a stake. Total misinformation in common lore that a Vampire needs a good staking to die, but this is what I’ve got. A punctured heart is an effective method of death for most creatures.
Transfixed by the blood streaming from my nose, the Vampire rushes over to me. Effortlessly, she avoids the jab of my arm and rips the wood away with an ease verging boredom.
Life is not fair.
All monsters are not created equal.
This lady Vampire is kicking my ass all up and down this room.
Long fingers wrap around my throat. Her nails dig cruelly into my oesophagus, blocking my airway and breaking the skin. I scratch my hands down hers; grappling for a hold, fuck it, just to make the bit
ch bleed once.
Ignoring the bloody grooves I tear into her flesh, she lifts me high into the air.
My legs dangle.
I’m bleeding, bruised, and breathing funny.
She’s calm and delicately composed. Her bearing is as regal as any queen. Flat eyes unblinking she regards me like a bug to squash. Tongue clicking once in uncertainty, she cocks her head, expression preoccupied.
Wondering if her inclination to rip my head off is amoral, perhaps?
Her hand flexes, penultimate, terrifying.
‘Daniel,’ I think sluggishly. I send all my love and shattered hope into the calling of his name.
Simone hesitates. Her face twists in confusion. “You call to your captor.” Her painful grip on my throat eases. “This close I sense our curse.”
“Something strange happens.” The barbarian is uneasy. “I smell our blood in her.”
Simone’s face is stark white. Her pupils shrink until they’re vertical slits glowing eerily. “What are you?”
An ear-splitting roar sounds from the doorway. The sound of bodies colliding is like a deafening crash of boulders.
Black spots scatter across my vision going dark at the edges. My lungs burn, contracting tightly as they force me to drag down a breath.
Daniel evades the male Vampire blocking his path with herculean leaps into the air. Twisting his body, he lands in a crouch. The next instant he’s airborne and hurling his body at the woman strangling me.
Dragging me with her, she skips then spins back to dodge him.
The barbarian Vampire body-slams Daniel into the wall. The room shakes. Dust and plaster falls from the ceiling.
“You expected the outcome of this folly to be different, Danielius?” Simone lifts her chin. “You have killed yourself and this poor creature.”
Our eyes connect, and I see the guilt. This is his worst fear realised, that I’m be punished by his people for his crimes.
“She is mine,” Daniel gasps.
“Pathetic. You restrain this beast to your bed and call her yours?”
“My Bride.”
“YOU LIE.”
Simone rattles me like a rag doll and slams me into the wall.
The knock to the back of my head stuns me. The force of the blow has the room receding to black. My dangling legs thrash, and my neck muscles cramp. Fighting to stay conscious, I sob as the pain blooming across my scalp intensifies.
Daniel’s pleading groan is choked by horror. “Stop hurt–”
Wrenching her arm back, Simone slams me back into the wall.
I black out, and come to screaming.
Jaws snapping, Daniel’s warning hiss carries a menace that frightens the hell out of me.
Simone blanches chalk-white.
Blue eyes will never look the same. Daniel’s irises smoulder. Transform into grotesquely sadistic pools of death. They’re blisteringly vivid, and shooting balefire. “Strike her again and I’ll rip out your spine through your–”
“Enough.” The male Vampire’s eyes ping between Daniel and I. An immense mental presence probes my mind, cold fingers burrowing deep.
‘Please.’ I don’t resist him. ‘Don’t let her hurt my mate.’
His hold on Daniel loosens as he rummages through my memories. Images flicker in my mind’s eye of Daniel rocking me to sleep in his arms. I see us fighting, me crying, him shaking me in anger. There are memories of Daniel grinning as he beats me at chess, and laughing as I say something rude and inappropriate. I relive each of his kisses, and enjoy recalling the scorching passion he tortures my willing body with. Lastly, most importantly, I remember how Daniel’s eyes softened and shimmered with affection when he tied me to his bed and refused to let me go.
“Release Harmony, my heart.” The barbarian lets my mate go. “For the first time, Daniel speaks nothing but truth.”
Simone obeys the male Vampire without a moments pause. She flings me to the floor.
Curled on my side, I clasp my bruised throat coughing and gasping. Hot tears blur my already foggy vision. I keep my eyes on Daniel. The bitch is vicious, and I’m terrified she’ll hurt him too.
Her hate towards my mate spreads from her in sonic booms of revulsion. The intensity of her emotion funnelled into her power makes my stomach knot and my chest squeeze.
Screaming her rage, she rushes forward and slaps him across the face. The crack of sound is loud. The blow leaves her handprint on his cheek – snaps his head to the side.
Daniel doesn’t flinch.
He doesn’t back down, and he doesn’t say a word. My mate stares, his rigid jaw clenching rhythmically.
Simone’s energy spits and sparks dangerously. “You disgrace Anya’s memory with this perversion.”
Daniel hisses. “You know nothing of it.”
Simone shakes her head so fast her features bleed into a warped mask of grief. Shrieking angrily she becomes Vampire rigid. “You are bad, and need to be put down.”
I expect an eruption of apocalyptic proportions from my mate. That’s simply his way, but with all that’s inside me, I pray he’ll hold back so we might live.
“Before my betrayal of Ben you respected me. Fallen from grace, I did not know how to claim back my place in our world.” Daniel lowers to one knee and bows his head. “I suppose this is as good a start as any. I offer an apology.”
The Vampires stumble standing still.
“Nein.” Simone is utterly shaken. “I will not forgive. I will not.”
Staggered, the giant stands behind his woman and sets his enormous hands on her shoulders. “Listen,” he commands, voice soft-as-ash. “Hear from the one who should be like a son.”
Daniel holds out his palm to me.
I ache all over, but I stagger up and collapse at his side. I take his hand in mine and hold it over my heart. Overwhelmed and relieved I get to touch him again.
Fortified, he turns to Simone. “You were good to me and I shamed you. I let the darkness of my grief consume me. I treated you with less respect than you deserved.” He looks straight at the giant and winces. His fangs peek between his lips. “You are a better lover for her than I ever was. It eases my heart to know she has the strongest of us to care for her.”
I swallow a growl. My suspicion Daniel hurt Anya by sleeping with her Sire is confirmed.
Lord, he can be a callous bastard.
Daniel laughs grimly.
I glower. ‘Accidentally overhearing my thoughts again?’
Curving lips press to my temple in a chaste kiss. ‘Ah, sweetling, so well you judge me.’
The barbarian vampire inclines his head solemnly. A halo of candlelight rings the waterfall of his hair.
It’s remarkable there’s no outward display of jealousy from him at Daniel’s mention of his past relationship with his Bride. I suppose if he’s as old as Daniel alludes to this ancient’s perspective on life and love is be boundless. To be so old, and to still love so deeply, to be as vibrant and present as he is – look at those sparkling eyes – is something magical to witness.
‘She is my wife not my Bride in the old way.’ Adam – he has given me his name – thinks to me privately. ‘I have lived too long for my true Bride to have not lived and passed on. I love Simone, and that is all that matters to me.’
I’m honoured he felt to share this with me. It’s obviously something the others will be aware of, and he recognises me as part of the family by ensuring that I know.
“Though you deserve more,” Daniel continues to Simone, oblivious of the welcome I’ve received from the strongest of them, “I cannot tell you what happened between Anya and I. That scar is too ugly to expose. Know you were right. I did not love her as I should, but in my way I did care. I ask forgiveness for not explaining how deeply I was hurting, and for only seeing my own pain.” Daniel pauses to pull me close. Crimson moisture pools above his lashes, but he hides it well. “Cut me till I bleed. Beat me until I am broken. Injure my body as you must for retribution.” He trembles and
crowds closer to me, his body hunching over mine. Sucking in a breath, he lifts his head to pin her with his gaze. “Show me mercy one last time. I beg. Do not insult my Bride or our union. I can withstand all else, but not that.”
Adam looks taken aback. His smile beams his pride as he looks down on my mate. Nuzzling Simone’s hair, he rubs her arms, and lowers with her as she sinks to her knees.
A bloody tear rolls down Simone’s pale cheek. “Ich habe dich liebe, Danielius.”
“Ja. You always did.”
Adam’s expression melts into beatific peace. He cuddles Simone as she cries, finally able to grieve properly for her lost Protégée, Anya.
How these people have suffered for each other. I reconcile my lost sense of self and make peace with my past.
This is my family, and where I belong.
Silence descends, and three sets of Vampire eyes snap to mine. ‘Always,’ they echo in my mind.
“I told you,” a familiar voice trills from the doorway.
I twist in Daniel’s embrace to see Lee wrapped up in Ben. Their clothes are crumpled and untidy. The scents of sex and moonlight drift from them.
Ben looks traumatized. “I can’t believe it.”
Lee beams. “I knew they’d be fine without me.”
“No,” Daniel says. He gifts her a smile, a real one. Not that sardonic curl of his lips he’s so fond of. “You are needed here. I see that now.” He stares at my face. “I see now.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
I wake expecting a kiss from my mate. Instead, I smell saltwater, sugar, and the lingering smell of Ben. “Lee, we’re going to be great friends, and I like you, and everything, but what are you doing in bed with me?”
“I’ve been sent to collect you.”
I crack an eyelid. “This is weird.”
The Vampire Queen is curled up next to me, dainty hands tucked under her chin. She’s dressed in a gown of black silk, her back completely bared. Her hair is swept into a sleek chignon, and her green eyes sparkle, thickly rimmed with smoky kohl. Two slashes of excited colour ride high on her pearlescent cheeks.
If she keeps looking perfect all the time, I’m going to throttle her.