“I won’t have to because I’ll personally be checking in on your progress as I see fit. I’ll feed then.”
“Let’s get this over with.” She tilted her head, exposing her neck to him. Warmth spread over her, and her skin began to tingle. At her core, desire rose as he leaned forward.
Remy moved closer to her. The sound of her heart thumped in his ears. In that moment, the love and passion he had for her fully returned. He fought desperately to cling to it as he kissed her neck instead of drinking from her. He strained to tell her how he felt, but every time he opened his mouth, the words wouldn’t come out.
Despite his efforts, the love fell from his grasp while hunger set in, blocking out everything except for satiating himself. He bit down hard on her skin, his teeth puncturing the artery as her blood flowed down his throat.
Managing to move her arm, she reached up to run her fingers through his hair. She knew it was the power he had over her, but there was nothing more she wanted in that moment than to give her body to him. It didn’t matter that he didn’t act like the man she fell in love with because he was still Remy.
Pulling his fangs out of her, he licked at his lips so as to not spill any of her precious blood. He quickly healed the two tiny puncture wounds. His power followed him away from her as he sat up, preparing to leave.
“Wait,” she said with barely a breath. “I need something from you before you send me away.” Sabine sat up on her knees facing him. Touching his shoulder, she gently pushed at the neck of his shirt, exposing his collarbone. She inhaled sharply as her fingers grazed his skin, warm from her blood coursing through his body.
“I’ve told you I still want your body,” he said in a husky tone, placing his hand over hers.
“I know,” she said, briefly looking away before meeting his gaze once more, “but I need something else.”
“And what would that be?” he asked, finger grazing her jawline.
“Lie to me,” she whispered.
He leaned in and kissed her hard on the lips. It wasn’t at all like the passionate, love-filled kiss she remembered. It was cold and primal.
Pulling herself away from him, she said, “You don’t understand. Pretend like you still love me… like you still care.”
He studied her intently with a look on his face somewhere between laughing hysterically and giving into her wish. Just when she thought it best to tell him never mind and that she’d made a mistake, he reached out and lightly gripped her side. His touch sent chills up her spine.
Pulling her closer to him, he kissed the curve of her jawline ever so softly before nibbling at her ear. His cool breath grazed her flesh as he whispered, “No need to lie. I love you still.”
A single tear slid down her cheek. His tongue caught it before it could fall from her face. When she pulled back to look at his beautiful face, brilliant green emeralds returned her gaze.
“Remy! Your eyes…”
“Shhh… Lay back, love.”
The term of endearment didn’t go unnoticed. It was the first time since he’d come back from the dead that he’d called her that. Her breath caught in her throat as the word “love” flowed passed his lips. She hadn’t realized just how much she’d missed it until the moment he said it.
His body, heavy against hers as he kissed the hollow of her throat, felt familiar. He worshipped her body, taking his time undressing her and himself as he paid special attention to the most sensitive of areas before positioning himself between her legs.
“You’re sure this is what you want, love?”
She bit at her lip as she nodded, urging him to keep going. Once he was inside her, all her thoughts and fears of the unknown with him disappeared. The connection they had was still there. She could feel it, even if he tried to deny it before.
Her mind was made up. Giving up on him wasn’t an option. If her Remy could appear now, he could be there with her all the time. Maybe all it would take was some sort of spell to harness his power so it didn’t command him. He’d told her himself that power like that could drive a vampire mad. Since she was to learn magic anyway, she would find it for him and make him be what he was once again. She would save him.
Her hips rose to meet his as he thrust into her. Clearing her mind, she let herself relax and enjoy him—his body, his scent, the taste of his lips. Her body clenched, sending an orgasm rocketing through her body as she screamed out his name.
She’d finally gotten what she’d been looking for all this time—her Remy.
CHAPTER 9
Awakening in his arms was a dream come true. Her head lay on his chest as the faint beat of a heart thumped occasionally. A smile danced across her face as something from the other side of the room caught her attention.
It only took her eyes a second to focus before seeing Remy standing in the corner of the room with chains binding him. Manacles attached to thick chains placed on either wrist restrained him from reaching out to her. Her brows crinkled, mouth slightly agape, as she sat up, looking back and forth between the two identical vampires.
Lightly placing her feet on the floor, she walked over to her chained lover as she glanced at the sleeping Remy on the bed. She touched his face. His flesh was cold and sallow.
He blinked heavily and licked at his cracked lips. The chains clinked as he struggled to move toward her. “Don’t trust him. He isn’t me.” His voice was thin and raspy.
“What do y—”
She was yanked from sleep abruptly as Remy pushed her arm off him and got out of bed. He walked across the room, reaching for the bathroom door.
“Come back to bed one more time before I go. I’m going to miss you.” She allowed herself a moment of weakness with him because she knew it was only a matter of time before she could figure this all out.
He turned and glared at her with eyes even darker than they’d been before. “I’ll see you in a few days. Perhaps we can reconnect then.”
“What’s happened? Your eyes were normal last night… even after.”
“You told me to lie to you, so I did.” He walked into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him.
How could I be so stupid? It was all an act. Exactly what I asked for. She could hear the faint sound of water running in the shower as she sunk back down into the covers. I’m never leaving this bed. I’d rather die than face another day outside of these blankets.
*
“Get up, girl. We’ve got shit to do today.” Mary flipped the covers off Sabine, only for her to flip them back over her head.
“I don’t want to.” She pulled the covers into a cocoon, shielding herself from the light.
“I know it, but you have to. I don’t know what’ll happen if we don’t get this started soon. You need to get your stuff packed if you haven’t already, but I’ve got an exercise for you to do before we go.”
“I don’t have anything packed. I hate packing. I’m a master procrastinator and have mastered the art of packing at the last minute.”
Mary chuckled. “Well, come on already. I’m going to teach you how to clear your mind today. I think that trick just might come in handy. I guess you can pack when we’re done.”
Reluctantly, Sabine got out of bed and made herself somewhat presentable. If throwing her hair in a wet, messy bun after getting a quick shower, and slipping into some yoga pants and a tank top was considered presentable.
Within the hour, Sabine followed Mary down a path into the woods. The sound of birds echoed through the trees as the breeze blew around them. The slight buzzing of insects caused Sabine’s skin to crawl. She was never a fan of bugs, and they tended to creep her out. If she could just manage to get out of there without seeing a snake, well then, maybe the day wouldn’t end up being quite so shitty.
“This’ll do,” Mary said, spreading a purple blanket out onto the ground. “Sit.”
Sabine did as she was told. She sat with her legs crossed and leaned on one knee. “Now what? I close my eyes and block everything out?”
> “You’ve got it. It’s a little harder to do than you might think. The reason I want you to learn this now is because once you start doing more complex magic, you’ll need to have mastered this skill. It’s the state of mind you will always need to begin with when using the magic within. Plus, it helps to clear your mind when you’re going through stressful shit. The sooner you can do it, the better for your mental state.”
“Do I just begin?”
“Yeah, just close your eyes and try to visualize yourself in a place with no noise… no buzzing, no chirping, no nothing… just silence.”
She closed her eyes and tilted her head to the side. “Can I lay down or do I have to stay sitting up?”
“It’s up to you, but if you lay down, you’re probably going to fall asleep, and that’s taking it a little too far. Now, take a deep breath and let it out. Continue to breathe in and out deeply as you focus on silence.”
She envisioned herself in a white room, sitting in a comfortable chair. Try as she might, the chirping of birds kept ripping through her silence. The skin on her arm began to itch. Trying hard to ignore it, she finally had enough. “I can’t do this,” Sabine said, scratching at her arm. “How in the hell am I supposed to block everything out if something random like an itch is going to snap me right out of it?”
“It takes time and patience. You’ll eventually get to the point where someone touching you won’t bring you out of it if you don’t want to be bothered.”
“That can’t come soon enough.”
“You can practice more in the Jeep on the way back to my house.”
“Is Sam coming with us?”
“I’m not sure yet. I think she’s probably going to go wherever her mom goes, and I don’t think Remy has officially released her or the others yet.”
“I hope he does soon. I realize I’ll probably never be free of it all, but maybe the others can be.”
“You’re going to make an excellent witch, you know that?”
“What do you mean?”
“I can see how much you care about others. I just have a feeling whatever magic you master, you’ll use for good.”
“Let’s just hope ‘good’ is what he has in store for me, though I’m not counting on it.”
“All the more reason for you to get as strong as you can as fast as you can, so maybe you won’t always have to do things you don’t want to do.”
Sabine stared off into the distance for a few minutes before speaking. “I need to tell him goodbye.”
“We’ll have time before we leave.”
“No, I mean tell him goodbye for good. He isn’t the person I knew, and no matter how much I want him to try to be, he isn’t. I have to let him go.” It was the last thing she ever wanted to admit to herself, but in her heart, she knew it was what she had to do. The connection from the night before that she thought she felt was nothing but a lie. It never would’ve happened had she not asked him to lie to her in the first place. She still couldn’t believe she’d fallen or it so easily.
“He really isn’t acting anything like himself, is he?”
“Not one bit.”
“It’s the power. Drives them all mad when they get a taste of it, and he seems to have hit the jackpot.”
“He told me that once, but I guess I didn’t fully understand it at the time,” Sabine said, shaking her head. “I do now…”
“Tell ya what, when we get back to my house later, we’ll crack us open a bottle of wine or two or three, I’ll bake you something chocolaty and decadent, and we’ll have a good old-fashioned, girly mope fest. Then we’ll start magic learning tomorrow. Sound good?”
Sabine nodded and reached out to Mary for a hug.
They headed back to the Manor shortly after so that Sabine could get ready to leave for an indefinite amount of time. Her nerves worked against her, and every time she stopped for more than a second, she became nauseated and her hands shook. Whether it was leaving the Manor, saying goodbye to Remy, or just the overwhelming doom she felt in regard to her life and the loss of her family, she wasn’t sure. They were all equally nerve-racking in their own ways.
I’m going to focus on them instead of all the other bullshit going on. Remy is gone. I know that now, and I need to focus on getting my family back. Maybe Mary can teach me a location spell so I at least know where they are. But just then, a thought hit her with such force that it almost knocked her off her feet. What if they don’t want me anymore either? She shook the thought away as quickly as it’d come. There was no reason to believe her family didn’t want anything to do with her. There had to be some other explanation for their sudden disappearance than that one.
As she perused her belongings, trying to decide what to take, she came across the jewelry box sitting on top of one of the chest of drawers in the room. When she pulled on the handle, the door opened. She’d only meant to put the necklace with the Eiffel Tower pendant Remy had bought her for her birthday back into it. If she were saying goodbye to him, she had to go full force or she’d never get over him, and she didn’t need a constant reminder of the wonderful time they’d had in Europe.
As the door opened, she gasped. There, hanging from one of the tiny hooks, was the necklace that belonged to Remy’s mother, the one he’d killed another vampire over just to get it back. He kept it on him almost all the time. In fact, if he had clothes on at all, the necklace was always tucked into a pocket or around his neck, hidden just underneath his shirt. He’d vowed never to lose it again. It wasn’t something he took lightly.
Her fingers reached out, gently grazing the purple stone. He’d never leave this behind for anything.
“You can have that if you like it.” She’d been so entranced with the necklace that she hadn’t noticed him entering the room.
“You’ve never offered it to me before. Why would you now?” She eyed him curiously.
“It’s nothing to me. Just a cheap piece of clutter really, but you seem to like it.”
“This was your mother’s… your wife’s…”
Remy shrugged his shoulders
“You know what? I think I will take it.” If he doesn’t care about it anymore, at least I can. He doesn’t deserve to have it if he wants to throw it away.
Undoing the clasp, she fumbled with putting the necklace on herself. His cool fingers took the chain from her and placed it around her neck. She quickly tucked it down into her shirt and turned to him.
“I guess this is goodbye.”
“I will see you in a few days. I see no need for goodbyes.”
“No, I’m saying goodbye to the Remy I knew. I know I can’t ever get away from you completely since you’re having me trained to be your magical lackey, but this time away with Mary will be a Godsend. I can’t stand to look at your face while I mourn the man I love. Feed on someone else and leave me be… Please?”
His eyes grew intense and for a split second, she feared he would hurt her.
His hands fisted at his sides as he glowered at her. “I’ll feed from only you.” Grabbing her face on either side, he kissed her deeply, claiming her with his lips.
Her body relaxed into his arms, commanding her mind to give in. Why did he have to taste so much like she remembered? As her arms instinctively wrapped around him, she pressed herself against his body. Her heart raced as if it could beat out of her chest at any moment. Could she ever truly make herself let go?
Pulling his lips away from hers, he stepped back. His eyes were bright and green. Just as she noticed the change, he looked away, closing his eyes as he shook his head. When he looked back, dark pits peered back at her. He leaned in once again as if he were going to kiss her.
At the moment his lips should have crashed into hers, he caught her gaze, lulling her into a light trance, and said, “Don’t try to run away from Mary’s. You won’t go far without my permission.” When he looked away, the trance was lifted.
Her hand jolted out and smacked him hard on the cheek. His flesh reddened for a split secon
d before returning to its normal pale hue. Jaw clenching, he stared at her with his mouth set into a straight, hard line.
“How dare you use coercion on me?”
“You have a history of running, and I can’t have you doing that. I need you to focus because I need a witch. The sooner, the better.”
“Why did you kiss me? What the hell are you trying to prove?”
“I have nothing to prove. I like kissing you, and it seemed like the best thing to do to lighten the mood. Your lips are soft and have a taste that is all too familiar to me. Truth be told, I rather enjoyed our time together last night. I do believe it was you who wanted me to try to love you again. That’s what I’m doing.”
“Don’t bother.” Pulling the handle up on her suitcase, she began to wheel it behind her as she walked heavy-footed to the door. Just as she turned the doorknob and pulled it open, she turned back to see him one last time, though she knew she shouldn’t.
Sneering, he took a step toward her.
“I fucking hate you,” she said, slamming the door behind her as she left.
CHAPTER 10
The cork gave way with a loud pop. “This Amish wine has a pretty good kick to it. Should do the trick in no time,” Mary said, handing Sabine a glass of peachy alcoholic goodness.
“I’m not much of a drinker, so I’m guessing I’ll feel it shortly.”
“I ordered us a pizza with extra cheese. They also have a to-die-for hunk of chocolate cake, so I figured I’d just buy us each one. No use in waiting all evening for me to bake something.”
“Sounds glorious… Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Am I doing the right thing? By letting him go, I mean…?” She searched her mind for the words she needed to express the confusion she felt, but none of them felt adequate.
“Honey, I can’t give you the answer to that. That’s something you have to figure out on your own, but I will say, if he isn’t the same person you fell in love with, then I think you made the right choice.”
Awakening (Willow Creek Vampires Series Book 3) Page 6