Vengeance (The Blood Trail Chronicles Book 1)

by Tara Brown

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  One fight didn’t feel like enough.

  I’d won too easily and didn’t get the rush I'd hoped for.

  The second fight was going much better.

  The pain shooting across my possibly broken jaw was unreal. I tasted the blood rushing into my mouth and gave my opponent a grin, knowing blood coated my teeth.

  He grimaced like he needed to convince himself the fight was still a good idea. He was a beast of a man with a clean-shaven head the size of half my body.

  I waited for him to strike again, but he only hopped back and forth, watching me. He was good at guessing what my next move would be. He was the first truly worthy adversary I'd had.

  He lunged forward, faking me. I stepped back. He lunged for real and knocked me to the ground, but I elbowed his throat with my free arm and then wrapped the other around his neck. I took him to the ground, landing at an odd angle and jumped off, but not before he drove a meaty backhand into my ribs. I cried out just as he did.

  Not giving him a chance to get up as he rolled onto his back, I scrambled on top of him and pressed his arms into the ground with my thighs. He struggled, but as he lifted me I hopped, driving my boots onto either wrist.

  He grunted and struggled, but I held him, leaning forward to choke the life from him. His stomach was too big for his legs to get at me as I bent over him, completely folded in half. He took a breath and screamed, throwing me into the air. I soared into a flip and landed back on his throat with my knees on either side of his head. My pelvis crushed into his windpipe. He gagged and heaved. I choked him until his eyes bugged out. His huge hands dug into my thighs, but I held him there.

  “WHAT A WAY TO LOSE!” Tom screamed.

  Thick, meaty hands grabbed my arms, dragging me backward into the dark. The crowd was losing their minds. Money changed hands, but I didn’t get to see my own victory. I spun, expecting Maddox.

  Grayse grabbed my face and squeezed. “What the seven hells is this?” He spat as he spoke.

  I flinched and watched his eyes turn to slits. His fangs had sprung. He snarled at me and turned, dragging me from the dark room to the alley.

  A man and woman were walking down the road, clinging to each other. He grabbed the man and broke his neck. The woman screamed but Grayson grabbed her and sank his face into her throat. Slurping noises filled the alley. My jaw trembled. I stepped back. He turned his face and growled. “Don’t fucking move, Princess.”

  He turned back and finished, letting go of the woman as she dropped to the ground in a heap on top of the man she had been with.

  Grayson's body rose and fell with huge breaths.

  I understood exactly what kind of monster he was. He too could lose his control over the beast, just like Maddox did.

  He faced the ground for a moment and then turned, slowly rising.

  I took another step back as he wiped the blood from his face and pointed a finger at me. “You will stop this.”

  Being an adventurous child meant I never did have much common sense. I grabbed his face and planted my mouth on his. His rusty-tasting fangs pressed against my lips. He wrapped my legs around him and carried me. I wore my band and trousers only as my shirt was ripped from the fight.

  His fingers were kneading me, groping at my legs and skin as he slammed my back into the side of a building.

  His lips left mine, tracing a hot trail of kisses down my throat and neck until he put me down and grabbed my hand, dragging me up the street.

  We didn’t speak as he dragged me up the back steps of the inn and down the hallway to my room.

  His fingers shook when he put the key in the lock. He had barely gotten the door open when I shoved him inside. He spun and grabbed my hand, slamming the door as I dropped onto the bed.

  He knelt between my thighs, looking up at me with his weird blue cat's eyes.

  In the dim moonlight coming in the window, I ran a finger along his cheek, noting the fangs were still there. Something about them made me excited.

  I lowered my hands and unbuttoned my trousers. His jaw flexed and my stomach felt like butterflies were fighting in it.

  Whatever hesitation he felt was over the moment he ripped his shirt off. I leaned into his warmth, running my hands along his strong chest and abs. His skin glistened from sweat as I traced the lily and the other marks he called tattoos. His velvety skin felt like it was burning my cold hands.

  “I can’t do this.”

  “You haven’t ever done it before? I thought you had. I know what we do once we get to this point. I walked in on Roland before so I sort of know the basics.”

  “That's not the problem.” He laughed a little. “I mean I cannot do this.”

  I cocked an eyebrow and lowered my gaze. “I’m no expert, but I believe the evidence proves that you can do this, and I’m fairly certain talking isn’t crucial once we have reached the point of taking off clothing.”

  “No, I have done this before. I know what to do! Bloody hell.” He sighed, looking at my fingers for a moment, his smile leaving his trembling lips. I rested my hands on his chest, just feeling the shake of possible anticipation inside him. He lifted his hands and cupped my face. “I forget sometimes what you are. I have no right to take this from you, Millia.”

  “Why don't you—” I closed my eyes and felt the crushing shame creeping upon me. “I want you to have it—me.”

  He leaned in, shaking his head against my forehead. “I cannot. You must be virginal for your wedding. A sullied princess is one thing, but an orphaned, sullied princess who is fighting for her crown is another.”

  I pulled back and looked at him. “I don’t want to marry, and if I do I’ll lose something far more important than my virtue.”

  “You have no choice in the matter. You must heal the seven kingdoms, and unfortunately one of the games we royals like to play is auctioning off our virtue.”

  “I can tell you want me.” My words had become nothing more than a soft whisper.

  He gave a heavy chuckle but it sounded thick with emotion. “I never said that was the issue.” His mouth turned up into a wry grin. “But I will not be the man who stopped the girl with the fire in her veins from saving our world.”

  “No one will ever know the difference if we do this.” I looked up at him, but he jumped back like I was holding a dagger instead of my heart for him to take.

  “What?”

  He looked confused. “Your eyes, Millia.”

  “You don't have to pretend something is wrong, Grayson.” I swallowed and licked my lips breathlessly. “I won’t force you to take me, like I’m some sort of villainous whore.”

  “Stop putting words in my mouth.” He grabbed my hands, pulling me off the bed. I tried to wrap my arms around him, but he forced me to turn and look at the mirror. I jumped when I saw it too. My eyes were aflame with green light, just like Artan's.

  “What is it?” I touched my cheeks and shook my head. My face and pale-blonde hair were muted in the mirror against the powerful green flames.

  “The fire in your veins.”

  “Maybe it’s just because it’s night and I was fighting and we’ve been kissing. Maybe it’s heightened from all of that.” I glanced back at him, seeing his desire had diminished.

  “Maybe it’s just the fire in your veins telling you not to spoil yourself.” He looked like a statue made of stone.

  “No one tells me what to do, not anymore.” I stood on my tiptoes and kissed his rigid lips slowly.

  He was battling himself, but I watched him lose the control.

  His fangs popped as he bent and kissed me passionately, his tongue sliding in and out of my mouth.

  I could tell that he wanted to argue, but I never gave him a moment to do so.

  And instead of looking at it like we had sullied each other, I looked at it like we had finally fallen in love.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  His body was wrapped so tightly around me I could barely breathe.
r />   I just watched him sleep. I smiled at him as I listened to his breaths. In the light of the morning, I saw him in a new light, possibly a couple of new lights.

  I acknowledged the monster he had become when he had eaten that woman.

  But I couldn't force myself to see only the monster. Most of the time I saw the sweet boy who slept next to me, or mostly on me. The sweet boy whose smile made my heart melt. The sweet boy who gave me a room when no one else would.

  And if I let myself repeat the images of the memories from the night before, I saw the man who had taken my heart and virtue.

  “Are you watching me sleep?” he muttered.

  My smile cracked wider.

  “I can hear you smiling.”

  I laughed and kissed the side of his face.

  He covered his eyes. “It's only dawn, Millia.”

  I traced the lily on his chest tenderly. “I wasn't trying to wake you.”

  “And yet you have.” He opened his eyes and looked at me. “I think I've made a monster. Look at you all giggles and smiles. No one will recognize you now.”

  “Perhaps.” I grinned.

  He laughed and rolled himself on top of me. His lips pressed against mine, making heat swirl in my belly. “You told me once I was your favorite form of denial. I get it now.” He kissed my nose and shook his head. His blue eyes beat down on me. “You are willing to risk it all, aren’t you? Willing to forgo your entire destiny because you fear it?”

  “You're wrecking my mood.”

  “Your mother has died and your solution is to misuse that necklace. The moment I take it from you, you end up in a pub and in a fight. I lose control of the beast inside me, and your response is to desire me instead of running the other way. You can't let me, booze, or fighting distract you. We need to regroup and figure out your next steps. You are lost in this path to vengeance and redemption.”

  I could see the words were meant to be kind, but they burned, and I desired something to fill the hole they created, just as he had pointed out I would. “I don't want to talk about it.”

  “How will we ever have a future if we can’t get past the revenge you seek and the army you need to build?”

  I heard only one word. “We?”

  He furrowed his brow and gripped me tightly. “After what just happened, last night, we are a ‘we.’ I gave you the chance to get out of it. You chose not to. We are a ‘we.’ You are mine and I am yours, as best as people like us can be.”

  “I like the sound of that.” I nestled into him and let myself love every second of it. I tried to tempt him into staying in bed longer but he refused. He refused to be my distraction.

  “No, we must go to the witches and find the answers we need.”

  I nodded, not wanting to move as I lay there watching him dress and marveling at his chiseled body. I'd never really seen the male body the way I was seeing it now. His strong, thick thighs made mine weak. His rippling muscles in his abs and chest made my fingers itch to touch him. His strapping arms and broad shoulders made me want to hang on to him.

  “What?” He looked down at his abs and trousers.

  I blushed and looked away when I realized what I had been staring at.

  “I'd ask a coin for your thoughts, but I'm scared you might actually tell me.” He scowled as he pulled his pants on. “You and I both know you have a brother that isn’t accounted for, another brother to kill, and a grandmother to rescue. And all of that is before you build your army to take on Roland and his father.”

  I glanced at the door and dreaded walking through it and facing all of that responsibility. I looked down and nodded. “I know. I just wish everything else was a dream, and this was the part that was real. Not the other way around.”

  “This is no dream—you and I.” He leaned on the bed and lifted my chin. “You know what you are, Millia. You know who you are. There is no rewriting the stars. You have a destiny, and I can only be part of so much of that. The rest you must do, but I will never leave your side. You will have all of my help and my heart. Even if it means I have to watch you marry another for the sake of that army.” He winced. “I didn’t mean it that way. I just mean—”

  “What could you possibly mean other than you still believe I may have to marry to secure an army?” My tone spiked on the word army. “What happened to us? To our we?”

  He sighed. “You and I will always be what we are, you will always have my heart. But one day you may have to marry. You need an army—something I don't know if you have noticed I lack. That doesn’t change what we are or how I feel about you. We have to live in the moments we have, I'm afraid. You are more important than I am.”

  Fire flashed through my face. “You mean you're comfortable with me being married to some ass of a prince or a king?”

  His face grew angry. “That’s not what I said and stop cussing.”

  I jumped off the bed and pulled on my breeches. “That’s what I heard.”

  “Wait. That’s not what I said. But one day you will have to be the princess who saves the seven kingdoms, and I'll always be the Vulkodlak who sucks blood in an alley. I won’t ever be a king with an army.”

  I shoved him. “You're a PRINCE! I would have married you, ass!” I screamed at him and pulled on my band, pressing my breasts into my chest with it.

  His eyes burned. “Stop flaming cursing. You know I can't be that prince. You stubborn girl. I am not that kind of prince. I cannot go back there and live that life. I would disgrace you.” He ran a finger along my chin. “Some love is allowed in the light of day. Ours is not that kind.”

  I couldn’t even glance at him. I was forcing back the tears. I looked down and realized I had no shirt. My eyes caught a glimpse of his on the ground. I snatched it up and pulled it on. I crossed to the door and looked back at him. My insides ached. I gritted my teeth. “Thanks for the good time. When I get a chance I’ll be certain to send you the bill for the ride.” I opened the door and left, pulling on my boots.

  I would be damned if I would ever be the mistress of one man while being forced into the marriage of another. He was as mad as Maddox, and I was a fool for not seeing it. All that talk of you are mine and I am yours had blinded me.

  My face burned with anger and humiliation.

  “Millia, wait up,” he called out. I stood in the doorway to the inn and whistled.

  Grayson rounded the corner, storming toward me. He looked savage as he stormed down the hall pointing. “You will wait for me.”

  But I didn't. I climbed onto the railing of the stairs and waited until I could hear the sound of flapping in the gentle breeze. As he neared, I jumped.

  Grayse ran hard and jumped at the same time as I did. He clung to the back end of Artan who struggled with us both as he pushed hard and got us into the air.

  “We are not finished with this conversation.”

  I looked back at him with a snarl, as I gripped Artan for dear life. “Oh, we are. You think I'll be your whore or mistress while you and everyone else gets to decide my future for me? Sell or trade me for an army?”

  His face twisted in anger. “That’s not what I said.”

  “It’s precisely what you said.” I shuddered with rage and took several breaths to calm myself, regardless of the storm brewing inside me, before I smiled. “Grayson, you said you want us to be who we are, and then you said we can't ever be anything but this—so to me we are nothing. Last night was a childish venture in which we both overstepped our bounds.”

  His jaw tightened as his face filled with rage and his eyes turned to slits. I rolled mine at him, no longer afraid of the man behind the monster. What was the worst he could do? Bite me and leave me for dead? We both knew I wouldn't die anyway. I scoffed and turned back around, hugging Artan's neck as hard as I could. At least I still had him.

  He landed with a thud in front of the cottage. Grayson grabbed my arm as I jumped down and tried to flee. He spun me and held me to him. “I don’t want you to marry anyone but me. I don’t w
ant you to be the girl you are. I want to protect you and keep you with me.”

  “But?”

  His eyes were full of emotions. “But you are going to need an army, and you are going to need to save your siblings and your grandmother. Your life is planned. But don't think I will ever stop fighting for the chance we might have.”

  “What chance is that if my life is planned and the whole thing is just waiting for me to take that first step? I haven’t even taken it and I’m already exhausted.”

  He nodded, laughing a little like he was exasperated. “I know. I’m exhausted just imagining where this will all take us.”

  I sniffed, realizing he was right. I did have to face the fact of who I was. I had to take a hard look in the mirror and accept certain aspects of my future. I pulled back and sobbed, “Why can't you be the boy at the inn that I suspect is a little bit more than he pretends to be?”

  He laughed and swallowed hard. “Why can't you be the dirty urchin Mabel told me not to rent a room to?”

  I laughed and cried and buried my face in his hard chest. His body wrapped around mine, and I pretended it was an alternate world where all the things I wanted would work out.

  But I knew that was never going to be the case.

  I let him lead me to the tree where Artan circled like a hound making a nest. Grayson leaned against the tree and smiled weakly. He ran his hands down my cheeks. “You’ve been avoiding too many things for too long. What’s your plan?”

  I leaned into his hands, shaking my head slightly. “I don't know. I suppose I will force Maddox to take me to see my brother, and then I’ll go and save what’s left of my family from Roland’s clutches. If I can kill him and end this without finding an army, that would be best. If I require an army, I’ll have to figure that out.”

  “Are you done with your vengeance?”

  His question was answered immediately in my heart. “No.” A wry grin crossed my lips. “A man once told me that there are infinite places love will take you, but revenge is the business of hate, and there is only one place hate will take you—the end. The end of you and the end of everything you once stood for.”