Shattered: Paranormal Vampire Romance (Immortal Love Series Book 4)

by Anna Santos

  “I’ll get changed in my pajamas, and you can sleep with me in bed.”

  His answer was a smile and a kiss on my lips. Then I got up to change my clothes in the bathroom.

  When I came out in my pajama-shorts and top, Eric was shirtless in his boxers, waiting for me in bed. I blushed from head to toe, lingering my eyes on his perfect torso, well-shaped legs, and beautiful chest. Sleeping wrapped in his arms would be dreamy.

  I noticed he was staring at me, studying my figure. I was showing more skin than he ever saw on me. I was embarrassed and feeling naked. I should have dressed in something less revealing, and he should have left more clothes on him. Was he trying to make me feel nervous or just tease me? Why was he staring like a voyeur at my breasts?

  I instinctively covered them with my arms and growled. He smiled and licked his upper lip, making me swallow hard and breathe heavy. That was sexy!

  Maybe having him in my bed wasn’t such a good idea. He was a male and could have difficulties in controlling himself. I could have those, too! Maybe. I didn’t know. Lusting was something new for me. I’ve always seen it as a sin, a taboo and after the rape, I saw it as disgusting.

  Eric was all but disgusting. He was gorgeous and sexy. He was sweet and respectful because he got up and took me in his arms and laid me in bed. Then, he held me in a hug and turned off the light.

  “Goodnight. Sleep tight, honey.” He feathered my neck with a kiss.

  I sighed from happiness.

  We were supposed to sleep. It was night, so why had I had no sleep at all? He, on the contrary, fell asleep fast. I knew it by his breathing. I relaxed slowly until all I felt was the bliss of his arms around me and his presence calming me and making me feel incredibly safe. Sleep came after that.

  Chapter TWENTY-ONE

  Eric

  Caroline's shop in town looked like any other store that sold witchcraft items and healing potions should look. It also sold trinkets and dreamcatchers.

  I relaxed in the chair that Caroline had told me to sit in. In front of me was the roundtable she used to tell the fortune and help the ones with afflictions. I’d gone there for advice and help. We used to be lovers, but all ended, without me needing to say a word the moment Beth came into my life. All our subjects were fully aware of that blessed event. My former witch lover wasn’t an exception.

  Caroline brushed her long, dark hair behind her ear as she sighed deeply. “Eric, you need to find her professional help.”

  “I was hoping you had something to help her,” I retorted.

  “Your new mom is a witch. A lot stronger than me. Why not go to her?”

  “She thinks that Beth only needs time to be cured,” I explained, folding my hands over his lap.

  “And you don't?” the witch inquired with narrowed brown eyes.

  “I wish it were that simple,” I confessed.

  “Well, I don't have a magic spell to fix her. Unless you want a potion to make her forget. But then she might forget everything about herself and make it all worse when she tries to remember who she was.”

  “Do you have something to ease her nightmares?”

  Caroline sighed again. “How are you planning to pay me for my help? Because now that you’ve found your soulmate, you have nothing that I need from you. Unless.” She paused and smiled mischievously as her hips wriggled in her chair and she leaned forward. The bracelets on her arms chimed as her hand rested against her cheek. “Unless you want to blow off some steam since she isn't giving you any!”

  I sneered at her.

  She leaned back. “Geesh, you are so self-righteous that it hurts! Your dad taught you well.”

  “I don't need anyone to teach me that betraying my soul-mate is wrong. I'm not some brainless kid who can't keep it in his pants. I came here to talk to a friend, not to be reminded of what we had before. You know it was over between us from the moment I met Beth.”

  Caroline moved lazily in her chair, relaxing her back against the support and smiled. “Well, it didn't hurt to try. I'll stop being a bitch because you are right, we are friends. Good friends. So, I'm going to tell you what you need to do.” She paused dramatically. “Find her help. No matter how much you love her, she needs professional help. Rape and abuse are ... despicable. She needs therapy like the other girls you found there and are seeing Dr. Kent.”

  “Couldn't you offer her spiritual help?”

  “That would be the day!” Caroline let go an echoing laughter. “Your former mistress and your mate being friends.” She air-quoted the word friends. “First, she would be pissed if she found out. Second, I envy her too much to be nice to her.”

  I leaned forward, sighing. “The Mating Festivals will be in two months.”

  “Yes, like every year. I'm aware that I might find my betrothed this year. I just hope it isn't some possessive werewolf jerk.” Caroline covered her mouth with widened eyes. “Damn! I shouldn't say those things out loud, or I'll be signing my fate.”

  I smirked.

  Caroline's eyes lingered on mine. “I'm going to miss our one-night stands.”

  “No, you will not,” I declared. “By tomorrow you will find a new lover.”

  “Who said I don't have one already?”

  I shrugged. “Not my problem, Caroline. We will remain friends.”

  “Yes, sure. Probably only acquaintances from now on. Your pretty and damaged pureblooded vampire will make sure you just have time for her.”

  I looked at my watch. “Speaking of which, I need to get back home.”

  I got up and fixed my clothes.

  Caroline moved from her seat and walked to a cabinet where she fetched a vial.

  “This is valerian with a secret ingredient. It's extremely concentrated so three drops in any beverage will do. The best is to add them to her blood at night. It will help her sleep. But speak with her about this. Don't go using without her permission. The last thing you want is for her to lose her trust in you.”

  “Thank you, Car,” I said, leaning down and kissing her cheek.

  “You're welcome, gorgeous,” she whispered, brushing my cheek with her fingertips. “Go be happy. I'll be here if you need anything else.”

  Smiling, I waved her goodbye before heading home.

  Chapter TWENTY-TWO

  Eric

  Going out with Beth to Affinity and talking about all the projects I had for renovations and new ways to evolve the village into a bigger city for supernaturals had become a recurrent date on my schedule. Sleeping with her at night had brought us closer. She also seemed happier and had changed the way she dressed. That afternoon, she was wearing a flower-pattern, summer dress that showed cleavage. Her hair was loose and falling in waves of curls about her shoulders. She was even wearing makeup, and her eyes shone every time she smiled when I fed her ice-cream.

  “We are running out of flavors,” she said, wiping her mouth and fixing her hair.

  “The nights will become colder, and I know a nice coffee shop with a wonderful hot chocolate that I can take you to tomorrow. You like that, don’t you?”

  “Yes. It’s family night tomorrow so we might have to raincheck the hot chocolate.”

  “Yes, but I want to show you something tonight.”

  Beth leaned back in her chair. “What?”

  I rested my elbows on the table and folded my hands. “Do you know that building you love next to the central park?”

  “The one falling into pieces? I didn’t know you noticed that I liked it.”

  “You spend a lot of time looking at it when we are in the park.”

  Beth smiled, and her eyes sparkled. “It reminds me of home. Seriously, the design looks like a European building. It must have been stunning when it was new.”

  “It was.” I leaned back and brushed my hands against my pants. The memories made my heart squeeze. “It was my brother’s house when he was alive. Well, when he was still living with us.”

  “Anna’s father?”

  I nodded.
r />   “No one talks about him. Or her mother. I’m assuming that their love was forbidden, but your niece is young, and the house looks like it’s been abandoned for a long time.”

  “It’s more complicated than that. George met Anna’s mom, Anika, more than a century ago. They waited to have children.”

  “I see. So, they ran away to be together.”

  “Yes.”

  Beth’s lips curled into a smile. “That was bold of him. I like him already.”

  Her words made me grin. I leaned forward and grabbed her hand. “I would do the same if you weren’t a pureblooded vampire.”

  Even if her eyes softened with my admission, she squinted them after and questioned, “Does this mean that your father didn’t approve of interspecies marriages and this place wasn’t always a haven for hybrids?”

  “Yes. He eventually changed his mind, and he did all in his power to have his son return. When we found him, George didn’t believe my father’s good intentions. Anna was a baby, and we lost track of him and his family shortly after. Destiny brought Anna to us.”

  Averting her gaze, she mumbled, “Alaric killed a lot of hybrids.”

  “Yes, he’s a powerful enemy and has several vampire kings supporting his twisted agenda. George founded an agency to help protect the hybrids and hide children and couples. George and Anika dedicated their lives to help others.”

  “They seemed to be wonderful people. Anna is strong and kind, I’m sure her strength comes from them.”

  “What did your parents think about interspecies marriage?”

  Beth sighed. “I’m not sure. My father was a good man. My mother had her strong beliefs in the gods and might have had a few radical views, but my father believed in freedom and evolution. We often had to run because of his liberal political views. However, when we were growing up and even when we were adults, my parents were impartial about that. In Europe, the vampire community is closed to the other species. We didn’t hear about hybrids until we arrived here. By then, Mum and Dad were dead, and there was just Marie and me.”

  “Were you against hybrids?”

  “We are artists, we accept everybody. Hybrids, werewolves, and the other species are entitled to live and love as they please.”

  I grinned at her answer. It made me respect her.

  Then her eyes hardened. “I’d never killed anyone until I was forced to. Before, my eyes were gold when I turned. Now, I’m ashamed of what I’ve done.”

  “Your family didn’t drink from the source?”

  She shook her head. “My parents were aware of the madness that resulted from that process. They taught us to respect our prey, to enthrall but not kill. We had blood servants who donated. Once we arrived in America, we had suppliers.”

  “Where were you when Alaric took you?”

  “New York.” She moved in her chair and looked around. “Do you want to go back home?”

  “Are you sleepy? I’ve noticed that you sleep better now since I brought you the drops.”

  “Yes, they help me calm down, and I’m less anxious.”

  “I’m glad the medicine is working.”

  Beth tilted her head and scratched the table with her nail. “Sleeping with you also helps.”

  “That’s my favorite part of the day.”

  She giggled. Grabbing her hair, she twisted it and let it go behind her shoulders making it fall like a chocolate waterfall. Her skin glowed, and she looked healthier.

  “We should go out to hunt sometime.”

  Her interest piqued. “Hunt? What and where?”

  “Animals so you can drink from them. It will help you recover faster. The fresh air will also do you good.”

  “I get plenty of fresh air when I go practice with the girls. But I’ve never hunted. I mean, not in the wilderness.”

  “Never?”

  “I’ve always lived in big cities.”

  “We’ll talk about that some other time, then. If you want.”

  She nodded with a smile. “I wouldn’t mind going for a run in the forest with you. Shane and Anna do that all the time. It looks fun. Anna said there’s a waterfall and we could do a picnic there sometime.”

  “Yes, we can do that on the weekend. Are you enjoying your classes with them?”

  “It’s tiring. I’m out of shape and my body is constantly sore, but I love having something to do.”

  “I hate that you still bruise so easily.” Red spread on her cheeks, and she looked down. “I didn’t mean to make you feel bad. It just that I hate seeing you hurt. It’s just my protective side.”

  Her voice was hoarse when she spoke. “I need to know how to protect myself. Even if you are here with me now. Still, he will come back.”

  I spoke tenderly since I knew Alaric being alive still terrified her, “Beth, he wouldn’t dare to come here. He knows best.”

  She looked me in the eye. “I was always too weak to defend myself from him. I don’t want to be like that anymore.”

  I caressed her wrist. “You’ll do whatever you need to do to feel safe and heal.”

  Nodding, she smiled. “Shall we go home?”

  “Home?” I smirked. “Don’t you want to see the house?”

  She raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean by seeing it? Don’t we see it every night we go to the garden and sit there talking?”

  “Yes. But I brought the key this time, and I was wondering if you’d like to explore.”

  Beth leaned forward. “Wouldn’t that be dangerous since the house seems to be falling apart?”

  I removed my hand from hers and entwined my fingers on the table. “Maybe, but it will be fun, and there’s a lot of antiques that George left behind when he closed the house and left for Boston.”

  “You had so many years to explore it, why now?”

  “Now you are here with me, and you like that place. Maybe we can do something about it. It’s a pity to have it decaying year after year.” I lowered my voice. “I might have someone interested in buying and renewing it for a special project.”

  She bit her lower lip. “Do you think there are ghosts there?”

  I chuckled. “I didn’t know you believed in ghosts!”

  “If we exist, why not ghosts?”

  “Good point. But that would make this a lot more fun. I brought flashlights, and we can use an iron stick to fight away the unearthly souls.”

  “An iron stick?” She giggled. “Maybe we should also bring salt with us.”

  Getting up, I offered her my hand to escort her out of the ice cream parlor. “Where’s your sense of adventure?”

  She got up and ignored my hand. “Let’s go explore the haunted mansion. I just need to get my phone. I left it in the car. I want to take pictures. Or call for help.”

  “You can always hold on to me if you are scared,” I teased her.

  Chapter TWENTY-THREE

  Elizabeth

  Things were less scary. Day after day, I got closer to Eric. I also continued my training with Anna and Shane. They said I had a natural gift to learn fighting techniques and acrobatic stunts. I was a pureblooded vampire, and I had an extensive background in dancing. In fact, before I was kidnapped, I spent my time dancing and performing in shows with my sister.

  Marie loved to choreograph and draw body movements. She always said that I was the most skilled at the actual dancing. We performed in many ballet companies. By the end of the twentieth century, we fell in love with contemporary dance. We studied it in the best schools in the United States and we even performed in Broadway shows and with some dancing companies in different towns and famous cities. Music and dancing was my life. It was what made me happy and gave me the willpower to live, to laugh, and love the world. Dancing was like blood to me, without it I would surely die.

  It had been a long time now since I thought about dancing. In a way, fighting was like dancing, we had to rehearse steps and move the body to the rhythm and pace of our opponent while defending. My favorite weapon was the fighting sti
ck because it was elegant and challenging. I thought it had an exquisite choreography using a stick to attack and defend. It reminded me of a video game I had played a long time ago using Kilik as my favorite fighting avatar. The game was named Soul Calibur. Even if I had no clue how to play the game, and mostly I pressed buttons randomly, I liked to see his movements: fighting and beating down his opponents. It was beautiful, and now that I was learning how to do the moves and bounce the stick around my body without hurting myself in the process, it was like I was dancing when I faced my opponents.

  In the next weeks, I became really good with the fighting stick. I was so good that Anna would put six big and powerful werewolves to fight against me. I have to confess that it scared me the first few times. I was clumsy and nervous. They had to be patient and endure my lack of ability to fight them off and control all their movements. They looked mean, even if I knew that they wouldn’t actually hurt me. But I couldn’t help but panic. The abuse was still fresh in my mind, the first times facing men was terrifying.

  That was until I realized I was faster, stronger, and I could handle them. I could swirl in the air, jump, backflip, and manipulate my stick with an ease that it would appear I had born with it in my hand. I could manipulate my impulses in the air and use wind like I was an airbender. It was awesome! Even I was surprised by how good I was with a stick.

  With time, I developed the power to use my speed to shake the air vibrations and send my opponents flying in the air. Jumping high and landing with speed, I mastered a wave of wind so strong, it would shake and throw away everything around me. Anna and Shane helped me develop that ability so I could take the most advantage in a fight against heavier and meaner opponents than me.

  By my request, Eric wouldn’t watch my training. The first times he did, I wouldn’t do anything right. So, Anna sent him away like the persuading and sweet niece she was. Without his eyes on me, I felt less pressured and intimidated.