Bloodspell

by Amalie Howard

  Victoria froze. Something was terribly wrong. She pushed against him, and he held her tighter. Fear uncoiled in her chest as she pushed away with all her strength and stumbled backwards, staring at him, her eyes wide with alarm.

  "Christian?" she said.

  "No, but now I can certainly see what all the fuss is about." His tone was insolent.

  "Lucian." Victoria's voice was flat even though her heart was racing with panic, her hand unconsciously fluttering to her neck. Lucian noticed and smiled a very white, toothy smile. She dropped her hand immediately, which made his smile even wider.

  "What are you doing here?"

  "I wouldn't miss it for the world. I'm one of the sponsors of this year's event."

  Suddenly everything became crystal clear in Victoria's head as she understood why Christian had reacted so violently when she had told him of the party. She wished he had just trusted her enough to explain it to her, but then she realized with a rush of guilt that she hadn't given him the chance.

  Lucian was still watching her, and she was glad that her mask at least partially covered her face, although she wished that she could see his more clearly. It was uncanny how much he and Christian looked like each other.

  Victoria glanced at her friends at the far end of the room, and looked back at Lucian, who was still watching her with a speculative, calculating expression. In that single look, she could see exactly what Christian had meant when he had said his brother was ruthless and would stop at nothing to get what he wanted. The amulet burned a warning against her chest as her heart pounded rapidly and she shivered, knowing intuitively that he was very, very dangerous.

  He stepped toward her and she tensed, poised to attack, but he smoothly removed two glasses of champagne from a passing waiter, and handed one glass to her. Victoria knew she had to be calm even though every instinct was screaming for her to run away as fast as she could. She looked at him evenly.

  "Well, it was nice to meet you," she said.

  "Yes," he agreed, "it was very nice to meet you." His suggestive reference to the stolen kiss set her on edge, and her temper flared.

  "I am sure you enjoyed our ... meeting far more than I did. I can assure you I found it indelibly distasteful." Lucian's eyes hardened.

  "Shall I remind you how distasteful you find me?" Victoria blanched at the sheer menace in his tone but before she could even move to step away, Lucian grasped her arm. She winced in pain. He leaned in, his eyes glacial. "Don't even think about it, your neck would be in my hands before you took another step."

  "And you would be dead before you could flex your fingers," she said with scathing contempt.

  Lucian stared at her in reluctant admiration, her eyes flashing and defiant. He was impressed, but that didn't mean that she didn't need to know her place. He squeezed his fingers around her arm and watched her eyes dilate. He squeezed harder.

  Victoria felt like she was going to faint from the agony. As Lucian's face swam out of focus, she tried to pull herself together to step outside of the pain. She could only think of one thing.

  Christian.

  I'm here.

  Relief flooded her body like a wave as her eyes swept the room and fell on the tall figure near the entrance. His face was a mask of freezing rage, and Victoria could see that even beneath the edge of the demi-mask, his lips were clenched so tightly that they were a white, fierce line. He was at her side in a flash, removing Lucian's fingers like they were twigs. Victoria could have sworn she had heard a crack but Lucian's expression didn't change.

  "You touch her again, and you will spend a decade growing a new hand. That I promise you."

  "Relax, brother," Lucian said. "No harm done, just introducing myself to your new ... friend."

  "No harm done?" Christian said, holding out Victoria's arm bearing red welts from his fingers.

  Lucian didn't answer but grinned cruelly. Victoria saw Christian's hands clench uncontrollably at his side, and she knew that Lucian was just trying to push Christian's buttons. It was working.

  She pulled her hand out of his and as she did so, she saw Lucian's gaze settle on her fingers. His look was one of bitter disgust as he noticed the ring.

  "I see you have now completely dishonored the Devereux legacy, Christian. Our mother's ring? To a filthy witch?" The derision in his voice was unmistakable.

  Christian's muscles tensed reflexively and Victoria grasped his hand.

  Christian, please. She squeezed urgently. Please.

  Hearing the desperation in her thought, he forced himself to calm down. He had never felt such terrifying, furious rage—he wanted to rip his own brother apart, let him heal, and do it all over again! Make him bleed in an endless cycle of unforgiving pain! People were starting to make a wide berth around them as if they could feel his wrath. He leaned in.

  "You come near her again Lucian, and I swear I will kill you," he said in a silky, ominous voice. "I will do nothing to stop the Council. I will no longer protect you. Go ahead on your absurd search for Le Sang Noir and when you find it, may it bring you peace or death, or both." He paused and kissed Lucian on both cheeks. "But I am done, brother."

  Lucian's expression was inscrutable as he watched them walk away. He turned as a waitress walked past him.

  "Drink, sir?" she asked with a coquettish smile. Lucian smiled back, her eyes glazing over in complete submission.

  "Yes, thank you. That would be just perfect," he said, his terrible teeth lengthening as he escorted her to a side door.

  ON THE FAR side of the room Victoria leaned against Christian. He felt so warm and strong; all she wanted to do was to melt into the safety of his embrace.

  "You look beautiful, just like I knew you would," he said.

  "Thank you," she said, flushing. Christian leaned toward her and held her face between his palms. Victoria stared at him, she could hardly believe that she hadn't seen the differences between him and Lucian—they were like night and day. It was as if a part of her subconscious had wanted to see Christian so badly that she'd been blind to what was now so glaringly obvious. As identical twins, Lucian's beauty was also ethereal, but his beauty had a dark edge to it. He was colder and harder, more vampire than man, whereas Christian was the reverse.

  Christian looked at her intently, brushing his thumbs against her soft cheeks beneath the edges of the mask.

  "I should have come with you. I'm sorry," he said.

  "No, it's my fault, Christian."

  All of a sudden the noise in the room started to escalate, and they realized that it was five minutes to midnight. The countdown in Times Square had already started.

  "Say goodbye to your friends and meet me downstairs in a half an hour. It's almost midnight, and they are looking for you. It's a black limousine parked across the street on the corner, right in front. Don't worry about Lucian. He won't hurt you." Christian kissed her fingertips and melted into the crowd. Victoria wanted to run after him but forced herself walk toward Gabriel and the rest of her friends.

  "TORI!" Charla screamed at the top of her lungs. "Where've you been?" She hugged Victoria and then started hugging random people walking by. Victoria raised her glass in anticipation as they started the countdown.

  "Ten ... nine ... eight ... seven ... six ... five ... four ... three ... two ... one! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!"

  It was a magnificent firestorm of blinding color as fireworks exploded in the sky all around them, and confetti littered the ballroom. Everyone was kissing everyone else. Gabriel kissed her quickly on the mouth, the intense expression in his open eyes conveying far more than the chaste kiss, but the contact was so brief that she didn't have time to dwell on it. Wyatt also kissed her, which was disgusting. She needed a napkin after he was through. Angie and Taylor were locked at the lips, only interested in kissing each other.

  As Victoria stood next to Charla and Gabriel watching the last of the fireworks, her eyes met Lucian's across the dance floor. He inclined his head and raised his glass in a toast. Victoria noti
ced that he looked distinctly less pale and felt disgusted. She didn't understand why the idea of Christian feeding didn't repel her, but looking at Lucian and knowing he had just fed, repulsed her completely. She felt like throwing up.

  He watched her knowingly over the rim of his glass as he sipped his champagne, his lips red, and winked. Victoria stared back, her expression flat, and then looked away. She could swear she heard him laughing, and the sound chilled her.

  All she wanted to do was to get to Christian. She was just thinking about the best way to make a graceful exit when Angie and Taylor announced that they were heading out. Charla and Gabriel exchanged a knowing look as they danced, and Victoria jumped at the opportunity to say that she would walk out with them, and catch a cab back. After waving to Charla and Gabriel, and saying goodbye to a crestfallen Wyatt, she followed Angie and Taylor out.

  Victoria could feel Lucian's heavy stare boring into her back but refused to give him the satisfaction of acknowledging him. She left without a backward glance.

  Outside of the building, they parted ways and Victoria waited until Angie and Taylor were out of sight before getting into the long black limousine across the street.

  "Where are we going?" she asked, as she removed her mask. Then she stopped and stared at Christian. "Don't tell me you have an apartment here too?"

  He smiled sheepishly. "Yes. Sorry."

  Victoria laughed. "Well, I guess after a hundred odd years, it's only natural that you should collect several homes I guess."

  "We could just drive around too. I know you are supposed to be staying with Angie, so I don't want it to be awkward for you."

  "I doubt that anyone will be in any frame of mind tonight to worry about my whereabouts. I'm really glad that you came, Christian, although it's too bad that we didn't get to countdown the New Year together."

  "We still can .." His eyes smoldered. "Five ... four ... three ... two ... one ..."

  And suddenly Victoria was the recipient of the sweetest, hottest kiss, and she forgot how to breathe. The fireworks started all over again. They couldn't get enough of each other. Maybe it was because of Lucian, maybe it was because of their fight, it didn't matter. Everything disintegrated into that one moment when their lips met ... love, regret, forgiveness. It enveloped them, its intensity suffocating, until Christian carefully extricated himself.

  The minutes collapsed into seconds, their raw breaths harsh in the silence. She reached forward and he flinched, his face feral as he grappled with the change that tore through him. Stricken, she looked away, her attention drawn by a couple kissing on the side of the road. She sighed, touching her lips in unconscious mimicry.

  I want more ...

  The thought was fleeting but cracked like a gunshot in the silence. She'd thought it aloud to him. Christian felt his heart constrict; he had known that at some point it would come to this. He moved closer, as close as his shattered senses allowed.

  "I know you do," he said. "And I'm sorry. It's too dangerous. I could hurt you."

  "But I know you, I know you wouldn't. You didn't before, remember?" she said. He could barely hear her, her voice was so soft. She was still staring at the couple.

  Christian closed his eyes. She couldn't possibly know what she was asking. Or maybe she did.

  "Tori, remember when you said you couldn't control the blood's hunger, and how it consumed you?" She nodded. "Well, that is my fear, that one day my hunger will overtake my control, and I will lose you."

  "You won't," she said fiercely.

  Christian smiled. "Your faith in me is humbling. Unfortunately, my faith in myself is not as strong. I could hurt you without meaning to. What's that saying? The road to hell is paved with the best intentions? I, more than anyone, know how true that is. And I won't lose you Tori, can't ..."

  Victoria was silent. Chances were if he bit her, he would die, and they both knew it. It was a somber truth. Their relationship was utterly impossible! Yet even as she thought the words, she knew that there was no way she wanted to be without him.

  She felt guilty for making him feel bad about something that neither of them could circumvent. It was painful and frustrating for them both but sometimes she just wanted ... well, more. She wanted the heated embrace that the couple outside had, with just their feelings for each other taking over, without having to hold back or worry about one of them killing the other. She wanted to touch him, to hold him against her, to give herself to him in every way. She wanted normal, but she wanted normal with Christian, and that was just not possible, so the only remaining option was their impossible love, because it was with him.

  "I'm sorry," she said.

  "It's okay, Tori. It's hard for us both."

  Poignantly Victoria remembered the night at his house when he had asked the question, thinking the words he hadn't been able to say out loud. She wrapped her arms around him and felt him dip his head to gently kiss her bare shoulder.

  "Stay with me, Christian," she said.

  "I will."

  JANUARY WAS DARK and dismal with icy frost and mountains of unending snow. The brutal wind chill of negative twenty made it impossible to venture outside except straight to class and back. On colder days, students chose to remain in the warm library, the most central building between classes, and head home when the day was done. It didn't get any better over the next month with several punishing winter storms. It was not a pleasant time.

  Between classes, Victoria passed the time in the library. She had barely seen Christian as he'd had to travel to Boston and Los Angeles for Council business. Whenever he was in town, she went to his place where they studied or played the piano or just read in companionable silence. It was the safest place for both of them, as she still hadn't the faintest idea how to broach the subject of their relationship with Leto.

  She had rarely seen Angie and Charla either as they both had full class schedules that semester. She'd seen them a few times in the library and then only a couple other times at the bar, which had also been quiet. If it weren't for the standing project session that she and Gabriel had in the library on Thursdays, she would probably have gone stir crazy.

  Somehow, they'd ended up in the same Calculus class despite Victoria having the sneaking sensation that Gabriel had already taken the class, and they'd been paired together for a class project. They usually caught up for dinner afterwards, and it had grown into something that she actually looked forward to.

  Over the last two months, they had become good friends. She felt connected with Gabriel in a way that she didn't feel with anyone else, not even Christian. As she had discovered, they were connected by a similar experience. He and Angie lived with foster parents because their biological parents had died in an accident when they were children. The admission had floored her and opened a wound she'd thought closed.

  "We were eleven," Gabriel told her, "and the police told us that it was just one of those freak electrical fires. Angie was at a friend's house. I tried to help them but the smoke was too much. I fell out a window and broke my leg. They died."

  "I'm so sorry," Victoria said.

  "Well, you do what you have to, right? Try to put one foot in front of the next and repeat." She knew exactly what he meant.

  In return, she confided to him about her parents, something she'd only ever talked about with Holly and Christian. But they couldn't understand the hurt as Gabriel could because he'd been through something exactly like it. Talking to him had been cathartic. He knew her pain, her sense of loss, and her fear of being alone. Victoria realized that Gabriel's constant desire to succeed and prove himself stemmed from the death of his parents. In his mind, he'd failed them.

  Although their friendship discovered its roots in a common tragedy, Victoria found that she connected with Gabriel on many other levels. They loved the same music, the same television shows, and the same books and movies. It was a little uncanny, and Victoria had once joked to Gabriel that if she didn't know him any better, she'd think he was making it all up j
ust to get into her good graces. He'd smiled and goaded her to "test him," which she'd done. He'd answered every single question, even ones she didn't know herself and had to Google.

  "You are a total sham!" she'd teased him, unwillingly impressed.

  "All part of my evil genius master plan," he'd joked back.

  She understood him and Gabriel understood her. And as long as he was happy to keep it at friendship, she was fine with that.

  Sitting in her warm chair and staring out the big glass windowpanes of the north library wall at the falling snow, Victoria saw Charla and a group of her girlfriends out of the corner of her eye, and sighed. Not that she didn't want to talk to Charla ... well, actually she didn't ... for some reason Charla had gotten very catty in the last few weeks, especially about the Thursday night sessions, which Gabriel had told her were Gabriel/Victoria only.

  Although Victoria had made it clear that she was not interested in Gabriel, Charla had started behaving like a jealous, over-protective girlfriend. When she'd mentioned it to Gabriel, he had just told her to ignore it, but it was hard especially when Charla was with friends and wanted to put on a show. She had started walking through the library on Thursday evenings now just to make a point, and it was starting to wear on Victoria's nerves.

  Glancing around to see if anyone was looking, Victoria did a quick invisibility spell as the group got closer, hoping that they wouldn't decide to sit near her. She'd left her books visible so it looked like an occupied spot. Fortunately, they walked past chatting loudly, earning them looks from the resident librarian at the entrance. Victoria glanced around again and took a deep breath making herself visible.

  "Hey!" She froze and looked up to see Gabriel striding toward her. "I could have sworn I just looked here like a second ago and you weren't here. And then all of a sudden, there you were!"

  "Um, I went to the bathroom, just got back."

  "The bathroom on the other side of the building?"