“I have killed vampires for the past fifty years,” he told her gruffly. He shifted his eyes and took in the small, cramped room. Despite the large house, this secret room was not as big as his flat. It was the perfect place to hide these sorts of documents and other things that were essentially treason to the empire. And no one would think humans had such artifacts. “What makes you think they’ll follow me?”
“Because,” Carter insisted, his calm demeanor almost suffocating. Thyos wanted to get out of this room. It felt entirely too cramped in here. He was starting to get hungry, and every time he got hungry, his cock throbbed because he thought of Aurelia and her legs wrapped around his waist or his shoulders. He wanted to take her from behind tonight. But he could not think about that now. “You do not kill for entertainment. If you did, you would prolong the death, make the vampire suffer. You do not do that, Thyos.”
“You make their deaths short,” Olivia said. “You give them the honor of a swift, clean death. And you always give them a chance to best you first. You never attack right away. You wait.”
Thyos did not like where the conversation was going. He did not like that these humans had watched him so thoroughly and picked up things he did not think anyone else had.
“Other vampires recognize it,” Carter told him. “If we humans do, I am certain other vampires do.”
“Regardless,” Thyos said. “Leading is not a responsibility I want. I like being on my own.”
“But you are not on your own,” Olivia pointed out. “We all saw what happened at the Colosseum. We all saw how you reacted when you saw her getting whipped. You lunged for the whipper even though he was a witch. And you got punished for it. It’s obvious that you care for her.”
“And that she cares for you.” Carter shifted in his chair, looking over at Olivia with a warm smile on his face. “She protected you through everything. I saw her expression when you were hit by the light spells. She was devastated. And then she was furious.” He sighed through his nose. “I’ve never thought, in my entire lifetime, that I would ever see a witch and a vampire in love—”
“We are not in love,” Thyos corrected.
Olivia bit back a smile, and she exchanged a look with Carter. “No,” she agreed. “Of course not.”
“A relationship, then,” Carter corrected. Thyos saw a sparkle in the human’s eye that he didn’t particularly like. “A familial relationship. Do you know how impossible that is? I still can’t wrap my head around it, and yet, here I am, staring at one-half of that relationship. You are a legend. You’ve always been a legend, Thyos. But this… We need you. Vampires need you. The Citta di Paludi needs you.”
Thyos rolled his eyes. “I’m not going to pretend to humor you,” he said. “Just because a need is present does not mean you get to dictate who fills that need.”
“Who better than you?” Olivia asked, her blue eyes burning bright. She clearly was passionate about this. “You already have the vampires in your corner. The humans love you and the entertainment you have them for the past fifty years, being a warrior in the arena.”
“And the witches?” he asked with a sneer. “What about the witches? Because I slaughtered them for sport before the Rift, and that was something the Berkano made sure everyone knew. I was Witch Killer and I wore that title like a gods-damned crown. How am I supposed to win the witches over?”
The question was just curiosity getting the better of him. He didn’t actually care.
“Aurelia,” Olivia said with a small smile on her face.
“What?” Thyos asked, snapping his head in her direction. “You female humans speak in one-word riddles.”
Olivia laughed and looked to Carter for assistance.
“What she means is that a witch, Aurelia, trusts you,” Carter explained. “She saved your life. She took lashes for being with you. She was punished because she knew you.”
“You do not need to remind me,” Thyos got out, huffing out a breath. The images of Aurelia, bloody and topless, knees in the dirt, still haunted him. Her cries kept him up at night, even though he could feel her safe in his arms.
“I have listened to your nonsense the past hour. I am going to return. I do not plan to lead. I do not plan to rule Citta di Paludi. Let some other ignorant fool do so. I do not care. It does not affect me.”
“You are still a citizen of the city, whether you live on the border under the storms or in the heart of the city,” Olivia told him. Her eyes were an ember-colored blue, flickering with both patience and frustration. “If we do not get the people’s attention, if we do not bring them this solution, all hope could be lost.”
“Or it could turn out perfectly fine,” Thyos said, his back already turned. He reached down to grab his brown bag full of groceries.
“You do not believe that, Thyos,” Carter said. “You are going back to Aurelia, are you not? Isn’t that why you have human food for her? Because you cannot replenish her psychic energy so you must replenish her to the best of your abilities. Am I right?”
Thyos turned and glared at the human. “What did I tell you,” he said slowly, “about discussing Aurelia, even saying her name, in front of me?”
“Look,” Carter said. His voice was curt but still friendly. “I’m not trying to be disrespectful at all. I’m trying to make a point. Do you want to be on the run, coming to liquor stores in East Babylon, getting food for Aurelia and living wherever you’re living for the rest of her life?”
Thyos twitched at the question. He hadn’t actually thought about the future of this city, a future with Aurelia. He was simply living in the moment and enjoying what he had. Deep down, he knew he would not be able to keep her, keep this life of tranquility where nothing else existed except her and except him, where they could join together whenever they wanted without having to worry about anything like others making snide remarks or getting violent simply because they were intimate with each other.
He did not know if he wanted a future with her. To be wrapped up in someone so completely for an indeterminate amount of time where she belonged to him and he belonged to her and no one else was allowed to be involved was a foreign idea. Monogamy was not something he liked; it was an icky word, but he knew he did not want to share Aurelia, and he did not think he would ever want anyone the way he wanted her.
“Or,” Carter continued tentatively, “do you want, instead, to live in a place where you do not have to constantly look over your shoulder? Where you can hold hands and walk around without anyone spitting at you, harassing you?”
“I understand what you’re fighting for, Human,” Thyos said. He was sincere, which surprised him. “I don’t think it’s possible. Not in our day and age.”
“But do you want it to be?” Olivia asked.
“What?” He was getting tired with these riddles, tired with these games.
“You are a well-traveled, highly experienced vampire, Thyos,” Carter said, looking him in the eye. “And you are open, which is why you chose to listen to two human strangers talk your ear off about the sort of future they want, the sort of future they can only hope to achieve with you. Clearly, you’ve been around for a long time. You’ve seen the world change drastically, and now you’ve seen it still, caught in a place with no progress, with no movement forward. But you must realize there is always a way to push forward, even if it’s just a step. What Olivia is asking you is if you think a world she described—where you were free to be with Aurelia in public, where you know she would not be persecuted and neither would you—is something you want to try for? Even if it’s just a step.”
Thyos paused, allowing Carter’s words to slowly sink in. He did not like to humor things but Aurelia—it was always Aurelia who he came back to.
“I cannot make this decision right this second,” Thyos said, huffing out a breath through his nose. He did not want to admit that this was something he was actually considering. “This is a lot to think about, a lot to digest.”
“Will you meet with us?�
�� Olivia asked, her eyes eager.
“And will you bring Aurelia?” Carter asked. “Will you both speak tomorrow?”
“As I said before,” Thyos said, opening the door to the cramped room and stepping out in the hallway. He felt as though he could breathe again. “I cannot and will not speak on Aurelia’s behalf.”
“But will you go to her with what we’ve shared with you?” he asked.
Thyos took another moment to think about it. There was part of him that wanted to keep this to himself, not because he wanted to hide anything from Aurelia, but because he wanted to stay in the cabin with her for as long as possible, just the two of them, without anyone else. Without this city.
If he had a choice, he would watch the city burn and not feel sorrow. He might even smile.
But he did not know what Aurelia would want. She should be able to choose. But telling her would be telling her about what happened to the city since they left, how it was going to burn unless someone intervened. He did not want her to pick up a burden she did not have to carry.
However, he wanted to keep her right to choose intact.
“She has a right to know,” Olivia pushed.
Thyos held back a snarl. As much as he hated to admit it, the human was right.
Chapter 25
When Thyos returned, Aurelia was making a second cup of tea for both herself and her sister. They had been talking for the last forty-five minutes, and Aurelia was not any closer to a decision than she had been when Ashana had begun talking to her.
Thyos reacted too fast for Aurelia and Ashana could not cast a protection spell over her. She knew he would react after seeing the look on his face but hadn’t expected it to be that forceful, that sudden.
Aurelia dropped the cup of tea, shattering the glass on the floor, as she ran to the living room.
“Thyos,” she said.
“Has this witch harmed you?” Thyos asked, not letting up on his hands around Ashana’s throat, not even to tear his eyes away from Aurelia to look and see the state she was in for himself. “How did she find you?”
“Thyos,” she murmured in a low voice, trying to keep her tone soothing. She walked up to him and placed a comforting touch on his forearm, not to pull him away, but to relax him. “I am all right. Ashana has not harmed me.”
“Should I release her?” Thyos asked.
Aurelia said, “Yes. Please.”
Thyos slowly placed Ashana back on the floor and released her throat. He did not take a step back from her, however, and his body was still tense. Ashana could not see Aurelia from where she stood because Thyos blocked the view, something Aurelia knew he did on purpose.
“Why is she here?” Thyos asked. “How did she find us?”
“I was able to track you using my magic,” Ashana said, speaking before Aurelia could. “And if I can do that, so can anyone else. You aren’t safe here.”
“Are you threatening us?” Thyos asked.
Us. Thyos and Aurelia. Aurelia felt her insides warm, something silly and foolish and not to be thought of right now.
“I am here because now that the emperor is dead, the empire has fallen,” she said. It was obvious she was trying to look for Aurelia since it would be easier to speak to her rather than Thyos. But he refused to budge, and if Ashana wanted them to trust her, it would behoove her not to use her magic in order him to prompt him to do so. “If leadership does not swoop in to right the empire, chaos will take over.”
“Then swoop in and take over,” Thyos told her, crossing his arms over his chest. Aurelia could not help but notice the way his back muscles rippled, and she felt herself begin to pulsate between her thighs in anticipation of reuniting with him physically once more. “What are you doing here?”
“You are the first witch-vampire couple this division has seen since the Rift first occurred,” she told him. “For this to work, we need you. People need to see you, to believe that peace is possible. That we can overcome our differences and unite regardless of our factions.”
“It’s quite strange that you found Aurelia alone while two humans approached me regarding the same nonsense you speak of,” Thyos mused.
“Carter and Olivia found you?” Ashana asked, clearly surprised.
“Why does this surprise you, witch?” he asked, his brow wrinkled. He looked so ferocious, Aurelia almost wanted to laugh. How different he looked from the way he normally was with her. “I have a feeling you know them.”
“Yes, I do,” she admitted. “I do.” She looked away. “Compel me to tell you everything, vampire, and I will. You will see that it’s true. Would it be all right if we sat down? Can my sister make me another cup of tea since you’ve all but broken my neck?”
Thyos looked to Aurelia to see what her opinion was. She felt her insides melt. The fact that he was willing to ask her for her opinion on something so important meant that he trusted her, at least, a little. And that, for Thyos, was a start. Aurelia would not take that for granted.
“I can make tea for us all,” Aurelia suggested, slowly releasing Thyos’s arm.
“I’ll take coffee,” Thyos said. “Black.”
“I did not know coffee worked on you,” Ashana said as Thyos backed up and gave her space to sit down.
“It doesn’t,” he snapped, “but I like the way it tastes going down my throat. Much like human blood.”
“And my sister’s,” Ashana said, not letting him bare her with his snappy retorts. “You think I do not know the true extent of your relationship? I can smell your sex all over this cabin. It reeks of lust and Sangre.” She wrinkled her nose. “You took her innocence, vampire. Do not take this for granted.”
“I would never,” Thyos said. “What I do with your sister is none of your business.”
“She is my sister,” Ashana pointed out.
“And she is my Bonded,” Thyos said and then clenched his teeth together, almost as though he hadn’t meant to admit such a thing.
The word caused Aurelia’s ears to perk, and as she brought three mugs over to the table, she turned her head to Thyos. “Bonded?” she asked. “What does that mean?”
“Aurelia,” Ashana interrupted. “Please do not tell me you have actually drunk his blood.”
“That is none of your business,” Thyos snapped once again.
“Aurelia,” Ashana said, her tone a warning as she pointedly ignored Thyos’s remark. “Tell me. Please.”
“Ashana,” Aurelia said slowly. “Thyos saved my life. When I told you a human attacked me, I was not lying to you. What I kept to myself was that a vampire saved me. Thyos saved me. The human was going to rape me. When I fought, he slashed my chest. I was bleeding out. I would have died if Thyos did not give me his blood.”
“You drank from him?” Ashana said before her gag reflex kicked in, and she cupped her mouth with her hand. “No wonder you smelled so foul when you came home.”
Aurelia narrowed her eyes at her sister. “Ashana,” she said. “This is Thyos’s home. It is not mine. He does not have to allow you to be here. He did not have to stop choking you. I asked him not to and he was gracious enough to do so. However, you cannot continue to insult him in his own home and expect me to allow it.”
Ashana opened her mouth, most likely to defend herself, before she stopped and pressed her lips together, looking away. Aurelia had to bite back a smile. Her sister was so stubborn it was almost comical. In fact, it was interesting to see her sister have to respect that someone else was in charge when she was the one who typically planned everything, when she was the one who structured lessons, the day, everything.
Thyos smirked at Ashana, not bothering to hide his pleasure. Aurelia smacked him on the arm and shot him a warning look.
“You both are entirely too familiar with each other. It is almost sickening,” Ashana muttered, staring into her half-full cup of tea.
Aurelia grinned. “Is it not your entire platform for all three factions to come together in unity?” she asked, raising a brow.
Thyos frowned. “What are you talking about?” he asked.
“If Carter and Olivia actually managed to track you down,” Ashana said with a glare, “then you already know. We want Aurelia to come speak at the Colosseum.”
“You want Aurelia to lead, you mean,” Thyos pointed out.
“Don’t you think she would make a good leader?” Ashana said, her voice not defensive, rather testing him.
“I think it’s her choice about what she decides to do,” he replied with an elegant shrug of his shoulders.
Aurelia felt her heart warm at the sentiment.
“You care about her, don’t you, vampire?” Ashana asked, tilting her head to the side. “If you do, then you’ll tell her how important she truly is to this city.”
“She’s important, period, witch,” he said, leaning forward, his words clipped. “She is not important because of her role. She is not important because what she can do for you or for this city. She is important, period. Do you understand?”
Ashana stared at him, her eyes narrowed, her face stoic. “You love her,” she said. “You are in love with my sister.”
Aurelia stepped forward. She knew Thyos well enough to know he would deny it. And that was perfectly fine because she knew he did not love her. It was too soon, and Thyos was not the sort to love. She knew she was cared for and that was probably the most he could do. And for her, that was enough.
That didn’t mean she wanted to hear him say he did not love her.
”Ashana,” she said. “What does that have to do with anything? Thyos is a vampire. I am a witch.”
“And you love him,” Ashana continued. “I can see it in your eyes. The fact that you both care for each other…” She swallowed, and Aurelia could tell she was thinking of what to say next. “That is important because it shows that something that was thought to be impossible is actually possible. It helps our cause a great deal.”
Poisonous Temptation: Division 2 (The Berkano Vampire Collection) Page 15