“Would you allow me to?” he asked, hitched lip giving away that he knew her answer.
She tilted her head back, exposing her neck, teasing him. He swallowed hard and for a moment, she thought about letting him.
“Perhaps the next Lady of the Estate will let you. Since you’ll find her so…satisfying and all.”
His smile was wicked as his hands moved, catching the soft material and pushing it even higher as they slid along her skin, goose bumps breaking over her thighs. He stroked his thumb through her wet folds, his rough skin against the sensitive flesh winding her tighter.
May as well get a few more orgasms from him before she slit his throat.
Louder than the clang that woke her, she jumped from his lap, her gaze frantically searching the wall behind the couch for cracks. The sound was too close, yet there Galen sat, stretching out his long legs and resting his arm along the back of the couch. The sound, hammering, now that she had a moment to process, grew more insistent.
“It’s nothing, love. Just some workmen dismantling part of the catacombs.”
She jumped again when in the corner, someone hit the other side of the wall hard enough dust flew from the stone. Pointing, she asked, “Are they dismantling this part? And why are you dismantling any of them at all? I’m sure the new Lord would have something to say about that.”
Her jab did nothing. Only made him rub his bottom lip again, as if he were indulging her. Finally, he shrugged. “I’m the Lord of the Estate. I wished the fake sections to be removed so proper chambers can be built. Simple as that.”
She gaped as her mind spun. Her pulse sped as the pieces finally clicked. She wasn’t wearing the amulet. Kicking the rug under her feet, it rolled back to reveal the circle of bones, skulls looking up at her with blank sockets.
She took a tentative step onto it, careful not to put too much pressure on any of the skulls, and the tingle, stronger than she’d ever felt, tickled the bottom of her foot.
“You can come and go as you like now. As can all grave shifters. As it was meant to be.”
“What’s in it for you?”
His smile was slow, beautiful and smug. “Besides the Estate? For the rest of my existence?” He shrugged.
Crossing her arms, she stared him down. Standing over the circle, her form started to dissipate. She could be anywhere else in the world before he could rise from the couch. Galen seemed to fear just that, swallowing hard.
He jumped when something hit the wall behind his head.
“Hmmm…. I didn’t know vampires could sweat.”
He stood, extending a hand to her, but she raised an eyebrow at him and shifted.
All through the catacombs, workmen were gathering their tools in some chambers, apprentices sweeping and cleaning in others. The faint sound of children’s laughter caught her attention. Assembling above a grave in the small cemetery originally designated for servants of the Estate, Penelope peered through a copse of trees. On the great lawn behind the Estate, a dozen children ran in circles, an army of energetic pit bull puppies nipping at their heels. She slumped onto a headstone, chin propped on her fist.
The Council would never have gone for activity like that. A slight girl, spiky black hair shining in the sun, emerged from the back door, calling to the kids that dinner was ready. The entire herd, puppies and children alike, ran at her en masse, but she laughed as she caught the first one up in her arms and carried him inside.
Behind her, a twig snapped. Penelope just gained her feet when three soldiers, laden with equipment, assembled behind her. Her eyes went so wide they actually hurt. How were they shifting with guns?
She reappeared as quickly as she’d left. Galen was still standing in the same spot, only now his fists were planted firmly on his hips, a scowl on his face.
“Who’s the soldier squad?” she demanded.
“Shifters. Who else would they be?”
“How are they shifting with guns? And all the rest of that gear? There’s no way all of that is natural elements.”
“This is what you wish to talk about?” When she only glared, crossing her arms over her chest, he ran a hand through his hair. “Fine. In the time you’ve been resting, we’ve invested resources in creating new materials, combinations of natural and man-made materials that shifters can carry. We’ve had some success, but it takes a very strong shifter to do it.”
Stillness settled through the catacombs as the workmen left for the day. Faintly, she could hear the children and dogs running through the buildings.
“That’s a lot of resources. Why?”
Galen’s eyes darted over her shoulder, then to the other side of the room. She let herself dissipate slightly.
“Elsbithy wasn’t the only one.”
That brought her back immediately. “Only what?”
Galen reached over and plucked his book off the table. He thumbed through a few pages, stared hard at a page, and then turned it around for her to see. The pages were parchment, slightly yellowed around the edges, and carried the scent of centuries.
Her admiration for the ledger ended when the words sank in. “This is a book of the Council?”
“Yes. A copy made from their original scrolls sometime during the Middle Ages. Elsbithy had it secured in a room upstairs. It contains all the secrets of shifters. Among other things I haven’t been able to thoroughly research and understand just yet.”
He picked up another document, a modern printout on thin copy paper. “What he accomplished, to begin to gain the power, took more than one person. Elsbithy assembled his own council.”
The implications of that sank in quickly and her breath stuttered in her throat. Instinctively, she let herself begin to dissipate, sink into the bones. “How do we stop them?”
“We create better shifters.” Galen shrugged. “Better weapons.”
“Do I get a puppy?” she asked, needing to change the subject.
“They are all your puppies,” he ground out. “Now would you just hold still a minute?”
Penelope grinned at him. “See? You can use modern vocabulary when you choose. I don’t want all the puppies. I want one puppy. Do you think they can shift? I want to take him with me.”
Galen heaved a sigh. She knew how much that hurt a vampire. She bit back a smile at her ability to irritate him so much.
“If you make me break open your amulet, I swear on the gods…”
Her humor faded at mention of the amulet. Holding out her hand, she demanded, “Hand it over. Now.”
The fluid grace of his movements wasn’t lost on her. Unlocking a cabinet fitted into the wall in the corner, he pulled something from the middle shelf and brought it to her. She tried to see over his shoulder to what was in the still open cabinet, but she wanted to see what was in his hand more. She reached for it, but he snatched it back.
“I can’t stop you from leaving,” he said. “But this can be your home if you wish it.”
Penelope couldn’t stop the fidget. Home was a foreign concept to her, the thought making her both ache and anxious.
The tension dropped from Galen’s shoulders, and he held out a small clear cube, her amulet nestled inside. She gingerly took it with both hands, understanding of both its value and its danger making her wary.
“It’s encased in resin. A man-made material grave shifters cannot get through. Also a material that prevents the amulet from affecting them.”
She turned it over and over, examining every marking. Her heart stopped at the gouge on the back from the end of her sword, and she shivered at the memory. Galen stepped close, cupping her hands with his. “Stay, Penelope. The Estate needs a Lady. The shifters need a leader. I need you.”
Her head shot up, the amulet almost falling as she snapped her hands back to her ribs to hold in a burning gasp. Galen caught it, wry amusement quirking his lips. He tossed the cube like some would toss a ball and her nerves jumped at the sight.
Pointing to the cabinet with her chin, she asked, “What else
is in there?”
“All the amulets from the grave shifters Elsbithy killed. Also encased. I don’t wish to take the chance they’ve been tainted. If the Council chooses to call more grave shifters, they can forge more amulets.”
“How do they feel about your wish?”
He gave her his full smile, and she melted, just a little. “My plan was a success. They’ve decided to trust me.”
“Was me almost dying again part of your plan?”
“Yes.”
His straightforward answer slammed into her brain. She backed up a step, then another.
Galen turned, replacing her amulet in the cabinet, then closing and locking it. He walked to the couch and sat, placing his elbows on his knees. He rubbed his hands over his eyes, then looked at her. She continued to inch toward her swords.
“Once I’d figured out Elsbithy had a ritual, I convinced him to let me build him a chamber better suited. I didn’t lie when I said I hid the bones of shifters he gave me. I did. I had just started to do it before we even met. He thought only those in the circle were shifters. But underneath there”—he nodded to the design in the floor—“is a full skeleton, whole. He died a very long time ago, in Rome. I interred him in the catacombs there when he died. I’d brought him here before I’d started this chamber, but it wasn’t until after I was blind that I thought to bury him there.”
“Because…” she prompted.
“Because I knew the only way to kill Elsbithy would be when he was vulnerable during the ritual. And that by then, the grave shifter he was using would be almost dead. I hoped the skeleton would be powerful enough to pull them down. All the bones in the walls are shifters as well. I designed this entire chamber to save the grave shifter from the brink of death.”
“And I just happened to be the shifter who got to do it.”
“You’re the only one that could. He never let me watch the ritual. But after he released me from the cairn, when he gave me over to Lady Elsbithy and put me back to caring for the catacombs, he’d taunt me with the return of my sight if I brought you to him. That if I did, he’d even let me watch your death. Since you hadn’t loved me enough to come back for me.”
Her heart lurched at that, her eyes prickling as tears gathered.
He was there before she’d raised her hand to brush them away, his thumbs brushing the moisture from her lashes. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you everything. But Elsbithy would have known, and everything would have fallen apart. I couldn’t risk that. There was too much at stake.”
Penelope sniffled. “What about what Lady Elsbithy said. Were you only ever using me for more blood?”
“Of course not.” His voice went all starchy with indignation, and she cracked a bit of a smile.
He shoved his hands into her hair, bringing her nose to nose with him so she had no choice but to look deep into his eyes, to let him look deep into hers.
“I never cared for her. The sexual relationship was only a survival tactic.”
She unclasped her hands, their movements jerky until they found his waist, the solidity of him beneath the fine suit bringing a small amount of comfort.
“Don’t you know, Penelope?” he pleaded. “You are the only one I have ever loved. Or ever will. Please, stay with me. Grant me the opportunity to regain your trust.”
A wall inside her began to crumble. She bit her lip. “It’s sort of dreary in England.”
His muscles hardened, the tension vibrating from him.
“I like your villa much better.”
“We can shift there whenever you like.” His fingertips massaged her scalp as he set his forehead to hers.
“Really? You don’t like shifting.”
The corner of his mouth quirked. “I despise it. Most unnatural feeling I’ve ever had.”
“But you’ll do it for me.”
There was no hesitation. “Of course.”
A spark of hope flared in her chest. It would be a very long time before she agreed to any of his plans, or she let him touch one of her swords, but she believed him sincere. That he was willing to shift went a long way. That he pressed his body to hers, scrambling her senses, went a bit further. She trailed her fingers up his back, snuggling a bit closer. She wasn’t done with demands yet.
“Will you build me a bathroom here like the one at your villa?”
He smiled then, his wicked smile. “If I do, will you tell me you love me?”
“Build it and I will.” That would give her more time to grow accustomed to the feeling before she had to admit it.
Galen raised her chin, meeting her eyes. “It’s already done.”
Damn it. Just when she’d gotten comfortable, he pulls her right out of it. But she was good at following her gut. She looked deep into his eyes, finding a new comfort zone in the openness there.
“Then I already love you.”
A word about the author...
As a kid, Gretchen Rily thought the vampires under her bed were there to protect her...from the goblins in the closet. As a teen, she got in the mosh pit with her inner rock chick. Now, she rides motorcycles and writes romance novels. Usually about vampires, rock chicks, and motorcycles. Whether contemporary, paranormal, or post-environmental apocalypse, Gretchen believes falling in love is the most madcap adventure of all.
Gretchen loves to connect with readers. Find her online at:
www.gretchenrily.com
[email protected]
Facebook: www.facebook.com/gretchenrily
Twitter: @gretchenrily
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Grave Shifter: Shades of Black (Shades of Black: Grave Distinction Series) Page 7