3.0 - Shadows In The Garden Hotel

by Krista Walsh

  What if Tim sends the draugrs after me and they find Matthew instead?

  The thought of him outside, unprotected, finally pushed her to move. She would do her best to make him go away, as brutally and honestly as possible. Then he would be safe, and she would be free to plan her own revenge. She would not let Tim drive her out without standing her ground.

  Drawing in a breath, she rose to her feet and went to the door. Her robe fell open as she walked, and she clutched it closed.

  “Here I am,” she said, pulling the door open. She kept her gaze on his chest to avoid any possible rise of passion that might come from seeing the expression on his face.

  “You look awful,” he replied, in a tone so matter-of-fact that she wasn’t even offended.

  “I had intended not to see anyone tonight. I have no need to dress up for myself.”

  “You’re the sort of woman who would put on makeup and her best dress just for a night in with a bottle of wine. Don’t try to bullshit me into thinking this is your casual getup. You shouldn’t be here wallowing by yourself over what happened. Why don’t you get dressed and come downstairs with me to the bar. You’ll feel better.”

  He crossed his arms, and Allegra thought of how warm they would be wrapped around her. She swallowed her longing and shook her head.

  “I appreciate the suggestion, but I have no wish to go.”

  She moved to close the door, and Matthew stuck his foot in the way.

  “I recommend you leave before I break something,” she said. “Do not think that I won’t.”

  “I don’t doubt it for a moment,” he said. His voice was strong, but Allegra heard the waver of emotion underneath. “I know you could tear me apart right now if you wanted to. I know that I could be putting myself at risk by pushing you, but I feel it’s worth it.” He paused and released a breath. “What happened tonight is the kind of thing you hear about in the news, but this time it was someone I knew. Cody seemed like a good kid, and you got along well with him. Now he’s dead. Because of a creature you thought you’d gotten rid of. How can you not be cut up about that? But sitting alone in the dark replaying it in your head is not going to bring him back, and it’s not going to help you get over it.”

  Allegra’s throat closed, and she dropped her gaze to Matthew’s foot, unable to voice any reply to his observations. She wished she could deny every single one of them, but he had summarized her thoughts perfectly.

  He took advantage of her momentary distraction to push the door open and step inside. Allegra clenched her hands at her sides, but he’d already closed the door behind him, so there was no pushing him out.

  “You need to leave,” she said.

  “Maybe, but I won’t. Not until I’m sure you’re all right. Not until I see the Allegra Rossi that captivated me and left me a slave to her whims.”

  He said the last with a hint of a smile in his voice, but Allegra closed her mind to his teasing. “You have no idea who I am or what I’m capable of. You think you do, but you could not begin to dream of the pleasure I could give you and how quickly I could take it all away.”

  She met his gaze and saw the flash of fear in his dark eyes. Good. He had to understand.

  “Being with me is a guarantee of death at some point in your future, and it would be wise for you to walk away while you still have a chance at escape. You should have accepted the opportunity the last time I presented it.”

  Let him believe the threat came from her and not the draugrs stalking her. She wasn’t lying. How long would it be before she slipped and consumed him — precisely because of her lust for him?

  She expected him to see reason, or at least to accept her dismissal, but he laughed. “You didn’t send me way because you were afraid of hurting me. It’s a nice line, but you pushed me away because you were afraid for yourself. Because you enjoyed yourself too much and were scared to see what might happen next.”

  Allegra bristled at the accusation. Of all the ridiculous, fabricated — “Well, you clearly did not suffer from too much enjoyment. It did not appear to pain you a great deal to walk away,” she shot back, before she realized what she was saying. Her hurt had spoken for her, her thoughts and mouth too at odds with each other.

  “I’m not the type to beg,” Matthew said, and his brown eyes glinted.

  In the downturn of his mouth, the working of his jaw, Allegra spotted his pain. Pride, not lack of interest, had made him leave — just as her own pride had been her motivation in pushing him away. Her resolve to make him leave now trembled, but she caught hold of it. This moment had nothing to do with whatever she felt for him. She had to keep him safe.

  “You tell me you don’t want me, and that’s fine,” Matthew went on. “I don’t need to waste time trying to convince a coward that she wants me to stay.”

  His angered hurt piqued hers. A bitter laugh bubbled in Allegra’s chest, and she didn’t hold back. “Me? A coward? Is that the only reason you think I would not want you? You really do believe yourself to be the gods’ gift to women. We all reap the benefits of your magnanimity in coming down from your mountain to spend a night with us.”

  “And that’s not what you do?”

  She narrowed her eyes and flashed her teeth in an expression that might have made some men flee in terror. Matthew clenched his jaw, but stood his ground. “I offer a different gift, darling,” she hissed, “and you would be wise not to forget it.”

  “How could I?” he pushed back. “The moment you told me you were a demon, my entire relationship with you came to me in a flash of revelation. You sway your hips into a room and every single person in it turns toward you and prays you choose them. At least I have to work for it — you just have to take your pick.”

  “Then you should feel fortunate that I chose you over anyone else in that bar. You got to enjoy what only a handful of people live to tell about.”

  “And I do feel fortunate,” he said, the anger melting out his words. His voice turned husky as he stood over her, his pupils dilated and his breath quick. “You don’t understand. I feel like the luckiest man alive that you chose me. You opened the door to the darkness and made me realize I don’t care if I ever see the light again.”

  Allegra’s blood caught fire at his words, and her desire for him grew into a physical ache. She wanted him as badly as he wanted her, and in that moment she saw no reason to resist.

  Matthew’s mouth found hers. His arms wound tight around her waist as she twined hers around his neck, pulling him closer.

  He drifted one hand over her hip and down her thigh, his fingers digging into her flesh. He tugged her leg up to rest against his waist. Allegra braced her hands on the back of his neck and lifted herself up so she wrapped both legs around him, her robe falling open between them.

  His kiss was hot and urgent, and each time his tongue brushed against hers, the fire spread deeper into her body until every inch of her was alive with the burning rage of it, filling the emptiness that had consumed her since she’d walked into the bathroom and found Cody on the floor.

  She pulled away and stared at the fullness of his lips and the steady pulse beating in his throat. Her mouth watered at the thought of running her tongue over that ticking clock, each beat of his life belonging to her while they were together.

  He carried her over to the bed and lay her down, fitting himself on top of her.

  The sting in Allegra’s shoulder when she raised her arms above her head reminded her that there would still be pain to deal with in the morning, still ghosts that would haunt her in the darkness, but for tonight she allowed Matthew to help her chase them away.

  Just for a while, she chose to forget.

  19

  Allegra tapped her fingers on the surface of the bedspread, her muscles as tense as they’d been hours earlier. Instead of calming her, the continual rushes of pleasure had awakened her desire to move, and her restless limbs refused to lie still as she and Matthew lay stretched across the bed.

  Tonight
, no moon cast its glow through the window, the clouds too deep to let any glimmer of light escape, so they lay together in a darkness broken only by the red glow of the alarm clock and the tiny red light on the television.

  As Allegra stared at that red light, her mind played tricks on her, telling her it was a draugr’s eye glowering at her from the corner of the room. She tried turning away from it, but Matthew hugged her tighter against him, holding her in place. The gouge in her shoulder stung at the contact, but by the mildness of the pain, she guessed it had already healed considerably from the day before.

  “What are you thinking about, beautiful?” he asked, reaching over her to turn on the bedside lamp. The warm brightness of the bulb banished the shadows out of the room and turned the television back into an innocent lump of technology.

  Allegra looked up at him and arched her eyebrows. “So I’m beautiful now, am I? What happened to my looking awful?”

  He grinned unabashedly. “I just said that to push you out of your stupor. I don’t think it’s possible for you to look horrible.” He brushed the backs of his fingers along her cheek. “Even right now, with your makeup smudged and your hair flying all over the place, you’re still a drug with a high that never fades. It just makes me want you even more.” His eyes brightened. “I think you should try it more often.”

  She chuckled at his concession, but her humor evaporated as her thoughts returned down their previous avenue. “I was thinking about how this isn’t over.” She sighed. “Maybe we were idiots to believe it ever was. I was so sure the banishment spell had worked. I didn’t even consider the possibility that a threat still existed.”

  “How could you have known?” he asked, running his fingers through her hair. “You may be many things, but you’re not psychic.”

  Allegra thought of the dreams that had plagued her since moving to New Haven — the dark clouds approaching the city with death lurking in their shadows. She’d dreamed of ghosts and omens of terrors to come. Perhaps somewhere in there, she had missed some clue that might have helped her avoid this mess. Now it was too late to find out, and no amount of guilt would repair the damage that had been done.

  She groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose to soothe the pressure building in her head. “What if someone else dies because I failed to put an end to it? Will their lives also be my fault?”

  Matthew smiled softly and pressed a kiss on the top of her head. “Considering what I just said, how do you expect me to reply to that?”

  She let her hand fall to the bedspread, then rolled onto her stomach and propped herself up on her elbows. “I doubt that what I am about to say will surprise you, but a year ago I would not have cared. I would have abandoned everyone here to their fates and walked out without a second thought.” She frowned. “In the last couple of weeks I have helped others I normally would have scorned, but my motives were far from pure. Their issues affected me, so it was a reasonable decision to do my part to help if it meant my life could continue in peace.”

  “I don’t think that sounds so strange. We’re all out for ourselves, Allegra. Even when it benefits other people in the process, the goals that drive us are ultimately self-oriented. They have to be. Otherwise, our species would die out when we put everyone else’s needs before our own.” He grinned at her, the corners of his eyes crinkling. “I think that’s a big part of why we get along. We have the same healthy understanding of how the world works.”

  Unthinking, Allegra brushed a stray lock of dark hair off his forehead, and he tilted his head to kiss the inside of her wrist. She understood what he meant. Most humans bored her because of their deep-seated need to think of themselves as “good people,” whatever that meant. Matthew was one of those rare specimens who did what made him happy. Consequences meant little. If he derived pleasure from something, he chased it.

  He had even chased her, which was a rare experience for her. Yes, she allowed men to believe they were the hunters — it satisfied them to believe that, which gave their energy a lustier strength — but in reality, she was the one to choose. With Matthew, they’d come together as equals, their strengths and weaknesses complementing each other. He’d called her a drug, but the effect he had on her was the same. He stirred her blood in a way nothing else ever had, and it didn’t matter that sending him away would keep him safe. She wanted him with her, just as he was now.

  “You’ve disappeared again,” Matthew said, tapping the center of her forehead.

  “I was just thinking how much trouble we could create with our similarities.”

  He grinned. “That’s right, beautiful. You and I could take on the world and come out on top. I know how much you’d enjoy that.”

  “We could indeed.” She quirked an eyebrow. “If we didn’t tear each other apart in the process.”

  He propped himself up and angled his body in such a way that it showed off the taut muscles of his stomach and the indentations of his hips. He leaned forward and kept his lips tantalizingly close to her own without going for the kiss. Allegra felt the pressure of them in spite of the distance, and her body melted in response.

  “Knowing each other as well as we do would have advantages,” he said. His voice had dropped to the smoothness of custard, and butterflies waltzed in Allegra’s stomach.

  “What exactly are you proposing?” she asked. In spite of her revelation a moment ago, she was still amazed that she’d allowed him far enough into her life that he considered proposing anything.

  “You and me. This. Grabbing the shovel and seeing where the adventure takes us.”

  Her heart beat faster at the thought. To acknowledge her side of the connection was one thing, but to entertain the idea of them sharing it was something else entirely. The possibility dangled in front of her. She considered it with disbelief, but kept an air of calm. “I see. Even if it leads to more dead bodies?”

  He gave a half shrug. “The surprises will keep us on our toes. But think of it — no restrictions, no expectations. Just an understanding of each other’s desires and needs.”

  You only think you understand my desires, Allegra thought, remembering other men in other hotel rooms. Her stomach dropped, but she forced herself to sound serene.

  “That is quite the picture you’re painting,” she said, her words coming out in a purr. “But I wonder how well the fantasy would fit with reality. How would you feel about my slipping out in the middle of the night, of me going home with another man and sucking the soul from his body? You see me as beautiful, but I am a monster. I could even do the same to you someday.”

  He exhaled slowly, his pupils dilating and his breath quickening. “I would take the chance. I may only be standing at the threshold of your world, but I’ve seen enough to understand that we all need to survive somehow. I still won’t say I like what you need to do in order to survive. An open relationship works for me, but maybe we can find some other way for you to feed rather than killing these guys.”

  “It is the way it has always been done,” Allegra said, pressing her heels into the mattress to keep herself focused, to prevent herself from getting defensive. “Do you not think that we would have found a way around killing before now if such a method existed?”

  “Would you really have tried?” Matthew trailed his fingers over her collarbone, sparking fresh desire between her legs. “Instinct runs deep, no matter how much you might hate where it takes you. From what you’ve told me, your family wouldn’t have been in a rush to try something new, so maybe you’ve never had the inspiration to get creative.”

  Allegra hated the glimmer of hope he was creating in her mind. The idea of feeding without killing, of luxuriating in the pleasure without tainting it with death — the dream was wonderful, but she couldn’t hinge the future on a possibility.

  “And if that does not work?” she asked.

  He exhaled and bowed his head to rest his forehead against hers. “I care about you too much to begrudge you your life. Until we’ve exhausted other options, I c
an figure out how to cope with looking the other way. I have too many vices to fit them all on a single sheet of paper to hold yours against you, and each of them brings a certain amount of risk. But none of them brings me to life like you do. You are beautiful, Allegra. I want you — all of you — and I want to be with you. Don’t you want to know what trouble we could get into?”

  Allegra licked her lips. Her heart drummed uncomfortably in her chest, and her thoughts buzzed so loudly she couldn’t decipher one from another. She wanted everything he offered. If it meant continuing this feeling he created in her, how could she turn away?

  He believed it worth the risk, but did she?

  “I do not usually take risks on anything but guarantees,” she said. “It is rarely worth the effort.”

  “There are no guarantees in life,” he said. “Haven’t you learned that yet? If you never take a chance, you never see how the story could play out. Aren’t you curious?”

  Allegra’s pulse raced so fast she was sure her trembling nerves would burst from her body and take off through the window to take on lives of their own. Never had she believed she was the sort of woman who could fall for a human being, and yet Matthew had challenged every belief she had. He made her feel whole — no longer segmented by her demon, but complete. Herself.

  Antony would be laughing at her from whatever dimension he existed in now, but she didn’t care. She could no longer hold herself over him, or scorn him for developing a connection with Jermaine. She had fallen victim to the same weakness, and there was no severing herself from Matthew now.

  Regardless of her concerns, she saw only one answer. “Yes.”

  Matthew brushed his lips over hers, then trailed them down her neck. Allegra sighed and rolled onto her pillows to luxuriate under his warm, roving tongue.

  “You can all watch this place decay into nothing!” Tim’s shout from outside jerked them both out of their lust, and they turned their heads toward the open window. “I made the Garden everything it is. None of you would be here, enjoying your visit in the lap of luxury, if it weren’t for me. Penny knew nothing. She did nothing. It was always me. I’m glad the bitch is dead, you hear me? It was my pleasure to get rid of her, and I hope she’s burning in hell! Maybe you’ll all be next!”