by Ava Ivy
Chapter 10
When everything came to a standstill, her new friend was blocking another Fraser from her. The other Fraser--fangs extended and golden eyes flashing murder--would have probably been latched onto her throat by now if her Fraser’s hand hadn’t been around the warrior’s thick, straining neck.
For a moment, though, Ariel had almost gotten the impression that the new Fraser vampire was attempting to defend her, as if he’d been worried that her new friend would be angry with Ariel for throwing the knife at him. Surely her imagination was running away with her on this one.
The sight of the new Fraser’s fangs should have frightened Ariel senseless but for some reason they didn’t even faze her. She had always known that the Frasers were monstrous, why should she be surprised when it was confirmed in front of her very own eyes.
To be honest, the sight of his fangs quite pleased her.
To the new Fraser’s surprise, Ariel sighed and smiled quite happily at him. She’d grown up with violet eyes that could glow when her emotions were running high and small delicate fangs that lowered from her gums when she was truly angry or had gone too long without eating. Ariel didn’t crave blood, so she’d always wondered why she had been born with fangs. It was such a confusing mystery to her.
Ariel’s warrior released his clansman. “Get back on your horse!” he commanded, his low, very unpleasant tone made goose bumps rise on Ariel’s arms. She was glad that simmering anger wasn’t directed at her.
Suddenly, Ariel realized that the horrid, low snarling sound hadn’t stopped. It was coming from right beside her. Muffin--no longer docilely lying next to her horse--was almost unrecognizable in his protective rage. His huge body seemed to have grown to twice his size, every hair on him crackling with evil intention. All his teeth were bared and his eyes were flashing an unholy blue. He looked fiercely demented, like the best dog ever!
“Why is she throwing knives at you, Randolph?” the angry Fraser demanded hoarsely, inspecting the girl and wolf with guarded interest.
Ariel blinked at the use of her Fraser’s name, secretly grateful that she now knew what to call him.
Randolph.
The secrecy and mystery surrounding the three Fraser brothers was immense, only increased by their clan member’s covert silence and unwillingness to share information with anyone outside the Fraser clan. She had never heard any of the Fraser brothers called by their individual names before. But her conscious had been sorely pricking her that she had been kissing a young man, when she hadn’t even known his given name.
She noticed Randolph suddenly stiffen, his gaze immediately sliding to rest on her face. Penetrating, light yellow eyes surveyed her closely, as if wanting to judge her reaction to something.
When Ariel raised one delicate eyebrow, giving him a patient, questioning look, his lips curled up on one side in smug satisfaction.
Pursing her lips, she gently shook her head, judging his sanity to be sorely lacking. This vampire named Randolph was so strange.
“Elizabeth, this is my brother, Connor.” Ariel’s eyes immediately shot to the other man, her pretty face suddenly drained of all color until he quickly clarified, “He’s my middle brother.”
Ariel took a deep breath, giving an obvious sigh of relief. “Oh, good!” Despite what she might think of the Frasers, she had to grudgingly admit that masculine good looks obviously ran in the family. With those strong jaws, muscular builds, plus intimidating height, they both appeared quite formidable.
The red-headed Fraser who had ridden up with Connor was introduced to her, as well. Hearing that his name was Ross, she turned her head and gave the burly man a shy smile of acknowledgement.
Clever brown eyes beamed with amusement as he gave her a confident head nod. “Tis a pleasure,” he said by way of greeting.
Giving the other two men an oddly pointed look, Randolph mused, “Elizabeth is not too keen on meeting Lord Fraser.”
Connor’s eyebrows rose at this information, his golden gaze fixing on hers, so many emotions coming off of him that Ariel couldn’t even put her finger on one. “Why is that?” His tone was casual.
Feeling flustered and hot all over from embarrassment, Ariel delicately shrugged her shoulders. “I’m afraid I tend to sprout a few chicken feathers at the thought of meeting your Lord. I’ve heard too many stories, I suppose,” she whispered breathlessly, nervously rubbing her clammy palms against her boy britches, not realizing how vulnerable and utterly adorable she looked in that moment.
Connor, who smelled oddly comforting and familiar to Ariel’s keen senses, though she couldn’t quite decide how that would even be possible, suddenly shifted slightly and then went very still, as if he had instinctively wanted to move closer to her but had immediately thought better of it. Seeming unable to remove his eyes from her, he repeated, “Why were you throwing knives at Randolph?”
“I was picking on her dog…Murphy,” Randolph explained to Connor, altering her pet’s name.
At this point Muffin relaxed and sat back on his haunches, tongue hanging out. Tilting his huge furry head, he gave Ariel such a can-we-keep-him look that she laughed. Obviously, he liked the name change. She smiled down at her pet. He had always seemed almost human in his intelligence.
“It’s not as if the lass could have hit me with that paltry blade of hers and those poor throwing skills,” the annoying warrior taunted mockingly. Ariel’s spine immediately stiffened at that, all traces of vulnerability disappearing as her violet eyes sliced Randolph a challenging look and she casually flipped out an extra knife.
Before she had time to blink, Randolph was right next to Ariel, capturing her wrist warningly. She glanced down in time to see Muffin subtly lick his leg in friendship.
“You traitor, Murphy,” she grumbled, altering his name as well. At which point, the now christened Murphy, opened his jaw as if to lock it around Randolph’s leg. Ariel laughed at his play.
Peering around Randolph, she reassured the other dark-haired vampire, “I could have hit your brother if I had wanted to, Connor! But perhaps you could help me by tying his hands together…”
Randolph interrupted, “I could still move my body out of the way.”
“…and his feet …”
“I could hop.”
“And waiting for him to fall asleep might be quite helpful, as well.”
“I sleep with one eye open.”
Ariel glared at Randolph and then continued addressing his brother, “I do not see how someone so annoying has managed to live this long!”
Randolph chuckled, thoroughly entertained, as the other two Frasers just gaped.
When he could finally get a word in edgewise, Connor looked at Randolph, thoroughly bemused, “Did she just threaten to kill you in your sleep?!”
“Aye, but I fear this one just escaped from the crazy house in the lowlands and one must always show compassion for the daft, right brother? We Frasers are known for our kind-heartedness,” he boasted with a self-satisfied smirk.
Ariel snootily turned her head as if she were refusing to acknowledge his statement. “The way I see it, the Frasers have to show compassion. If you killed off all the senseless baboons in the area, you’d have no men left to defend your castle.”
Connor’s mouth fell open, almost indignantly. “Did she just insult all of the men in our clan?”
But Randolph, who still stood next to Ariel on the horse, was not listening. He had laid his head down on her upper leg, snorting with laughter.
Ariel’s eyes brightened when she realized how inattentive Randolph was being. Very gently she touched the top of his head with the flat side of her knife and gleefully pointed out, “I could have stabbed you just now but I didn’t! You owe me!”
Randolph’s head lifted and he took a deep breath. “You smell good,” he rumbled low.
“Thank you,” she acknowledged, feeling slightly flustered, and nervously hoping that he didn’t intend her for his next meal.
Negating her previous statement, he reminded her, “I saved you from my brother’s attack.”
“But you tried to kill me earlier!” she pointed out. Looking cute and disgruntled as she gingerly rubbed her head where there was now a large, egg sized lump.
“That was an accident,” he protested, looking as if his conscience was sorely pricking him.
She gasped loudly. “Lifting your hand and striking me as hard as you could was an accident?”
Connor eyed his brother in bewilderment “You hit a lass, Randolph?”
“She didn’t look like a female!” Randolph grumbled.
“She looks like a female to me,” Connor murmured approvingly.
Ariel felt Randolph stiffen and watched his expression slip to reveal a cooler darkness. His lips curled slightly and it wasn’t with amusement. The glowing flash of pure evil menace he sent towards his brother had Connor letting out a low, throaty chuckle. Apparently, Randolph intended to protect her on their journey and for that, Ariel was extremely grateful but she also felt a strong need to break this new tension between the two brothers.
Her somber gaze went from Randolph to Connor, her eyes widening innocently as she distracted them by tattling, “Randolph also told me that he fully intended to rip out my throat!”
Obviously disgruntled, Randolph turned and looked over at her with an indecipherable expression on his face, as if he couldn’t quite decide whether or not to be amused or annoyed. While the other two warriors stared at him in amazement, their eyes alight with pleasure as if they were thoroughly savoring her new tales.
Appreciating their absorbed fascination a bit too much, Ariel continued her animated chatter. “After he injured my head, I specifically asked him if he was going to rip out my throat and he said yes,” she informed them with sham gravity. “And, at that point, he already knew I was a female.”
Her eyes wide, she lifted her brows, pointedly looking to Randolph to see what he had to say for himself, as she defiantly held his gaze. Ariel couldn’t help the little grin that tugged at the corners of her mouth as Connor and Ross again looked at her warrior friend as if he must have taken leave of his senses.
Crossing his arms over a very thick chest, Randolph continued to give her a long steady look, his golden eyes gleaming with amused arrogance. “Are you enjoying yourself?” he demanded dryly.
She actually paused for a moment to think about it. “You know…I am,” she acknowledged slowly, sounding sort of surprised by her own admission. “These two are quite an attentive audience,” she praised, angling her head to indicate Connor and Ross.
“What else did he say to you, lass,” Connor demanded, his yellow eyes dancing with mirth.
“Then I told her that I did not want to touch her throat,” Randolph quickly defended himself.
Ariel gasped. “Because he said my throat was hideously disfigured and puny!” she exaggerated, feigning dismay. When the other men looked sufficiently appalled by her new statement, she turned and flashed Randolph a deliberately self-satisfied smile.
Randolph’s brows lifted in mocking challenge then he shook his head and chuckled as if he could not help himself. “Elizabeth, you have turned everything upside down. You’re like a warm, hypnotizing light in an otherwise cold, dark world.” His voice lowered to a menacing purr as he slanted Connor a pointed look before adding, “You will never know how incredibly pleased I am to have found you in the forest. You are now in my keeping and under clan Fraser’s protection and we will eliminate anyone who poses a threat to your welfare.” Then he grumblingly added, “But…I think you’ve said enough.”
She burst out laughing. Then he reached out and poked her hard in the side. “Ouch!” she squealed over-dramatically, squirming away. “You see! He is quite the violent sort,” she accused with absolute conviction.
He leveled her with a reproachful look. “I apologize,” he muttered a bit waspishly.
Ariel sucked in a sharp breath. “You’re not sorry at all!” she admonished in a fierce whisper, glowering at him.
Randolph flashed a beautiful smile. “You’re right,” he silkily drawled.
Eyes alight with humor, Randolph climbed up behind her on the massive steed. With her lower lip tucked in her teeth, Ariel twisted a little and looked back at him, secretly thrilled when his gaze swept to her face, his golden eyes hotly territorial as he positioned himself behind her in the saddle.
Seeing the intensity of his gaze, she faced forward again, trying to keep from blushing with pleasure but the heat was stealing up her neck into her cheeks, a deep thrill running through her body as she came into full contact with the big warrior again. Taking a deep breath, Ariel sighed with an odd sort of contentment when he then wrapped one strong arm around her waist, allowing her to snuggle back against him as if they’d done it a thousand times before.
Ariel would let this enemy clan shelter her, because in the end, she would find a way for the MacDonnel clan to be the victor over the cruel Fraser warlord and his people.
Pointing their animals in the direction of the castle, their small group finally set off.
THE END
A Preview of FORSWORN
Ava Ivy excitedly presents a preview of
Book two
in
The Bittersweet Vampire Chronicles
FORSWORN