She clawed at his hand in a desperate bid for air while he continued to talk. “I guess I always assumed, since you’ve been around these three hundred years, that you were immortal, too. That’s not the case, though, is it? You just have a long life span. Is that it?”
When her eyes bulged, he nodded and continued. “Well, think about this. I don’t have to kill you, but I could take away everything you enjoy in this life. If I just keep squeezing, you’ll begin to lose consciousness. A little longer and your brain will suffer from lack of oxygen until little by little, you’re nothing more than a body that doesn’t know how to die.”
He opened his fingers slightly to allow her a gasp of air. “Now, I know this surprises you, especially since I’ve never tried to kill you in all these years, and you want to know why? Because if I killed you, I thought I might be cursed forever, and I wasn’t willing to take that chance. Now, though, well, things are different. You just took away my only chance at a normal life so if killing you means I might have to continue this existence, I’m willing to risk it.”
When he gave her a little more leeway, the witch coughed and sputtered his name. “You…don’t…have…the…courage…to…kill…me.”
“You never cease to amaze me.” He flexed his fingers again and secured them against her windpipe. With just the hold on her neck, he lifted her until her feet dangled several inches off the floor. “I just gave you a chance to redeem yourself, and you question my character. Such a shame, too. You could have taken the opportunity to save your own life.”
“I…can…wake…her,” she managed to wheeze.
Nathaniel refused to listen to the hope in his heart. This witch had toyed with him long enough. Her only intention now was to knock him off balance to gain the upper hand, and now that he had her, he wasn’t letting go.
“I don’t believe you.”
“Just a little air,” she pleaded. “I can wake her.”
He relaxed his hand marginally. “Then do it.”
“More air.”
“This is all you get, Witch. Wake her now, or I squeeze again.”
Her hand shaking, the witch lifted a finger and pointed it at Abigail. She whispered a few words in her raspy voice, and every muscle in Nathaniel’s body tensed.
Abigail moved. Or was he imagining it? His eyes could be playing tricks on him, or it could be another one of the witch’s games.
“Nathaniel?”
Hope knocked disbelief out of the way. “Abigail? Are you all right?”
She rubbed the back of her head. “Yeah. My head hurts and…why are you holding the witch like that?”
Relief poured through him, and his knees shook so badly they threatened to collapse. But there was still one more thing he had to do, something he should have done a long time ago.
The witch must have read the intent in his eyes fore she renewed her struggles, her feet kicking the air in violent whirls. But she couldn’t escape him, and when her eyes closed, a weight lifted from Nathaniel’s shoulders, and he opened his hand to allow the witch to drop in a heap at his feet.
“Oh my God!” Abigail skidded forward on her knees. “Did you kill her?” She leaned in to listen to the witch’s heart.
“No.” Even in the last hour, he couldn’t kill her. He’d been a lot of things in his life, but a killer wasn’t one of them. “She will awaken eventually. By that time, I will have formulated a plan.”
Abigail looked up at him, her nose wrinkled. “What kind of plan?”
“Something that will prevent her from harming anyone again.”
“Oh.” She climbed to her feet. “Too bad you couldn’t put her on a plane bound for Siberia.” Still rubbing her head, she walked toward the piano bench.
As her words sunk in, Nathaniel’s mind whirled into action. If the witch’s reach didn’t extend beyond England, perhaps it would not enable her to return to her homeland.
“You really are a brilliant woman, Abigail. Please make yourself comfortable.” He lifted the witch’s limp body in his arms. “Mr. Hiller and I have something to attend to.”
* * * *
“It’s about time,” Abby rounded on Nathaniel the moment he walked into the great room. “You’ve been gone for hours.” What she really wanted to do was fling herself into his arms. She’d imagined all sorts of bad things had happened to him while he was gone, and as angry as she was with him, she just wanted to hold him.
“My apologies, but since none of my staff can leave the grounds, Mr. Hiller and I had to be quite creative in assuring the witch caught her flight.”
“Her flight?” Realization sank in. “You put a witch on an airplane? What if she harms the other passengers?”
“She can do little damage in the cargo hold, and beyond that, she will not awaken until she is far enough away from England to render her harmless. Apparently, my butler has made friends with some rather questionable characters who have access to certain medications with sedative qualities.”
Abby crossed the distance and wrapped her arms around him, unable to restrain herself from being close to him again. “Do you think the curse is broken?”
“Alas, no. The fangs are still intact.”
“I’m sorry, Nathaniel. I know how much you wanted to be mortal again.”
He kissed the top of her head. “Your safety was more important to me than my mortality.”
If the witch could have broken the curse, he would never know now. He’d just sent away his only chance at freedom. Well, not his only chance. She tipped her face back to look up at him. “There is still one other way.”
Light flared in his eyes. “I must find love, Abigail. Even if you were to stay, there is no guarantee you would love me.”
She reached up to touch his cheek. “Do you have to have a guarantee to try?”
He cupped her face. “Would you really stay?”
Had she completely lost her mind? Was she really considering staying in an 18th century castle with an immortal vampire and his host of cursed staff? Before she could answer his question or her own, Nathaniel kissed her, his full lips caressing her so softly her brain turned to mush.
“I could probably be convinced,” she whispered. “I have a lot of vacation time saved up.”
“You would have to see the countryside alone, I’m afraid.”
She stood on tiptoe to match his kiss. “Actually, I was thinking I wouldn’t mind seeing your room first.”
He crushed her closer. “I believe that is the first stop on the castle tour.”
“Really?” She looped her arms around his neck. “How convenient.”
About the Author
Rachel is a multi-published author of fantasy and paranormal romance. She currently writes for Ellora’s Cave, Red Sage Publishing, and Samhain Publishing.
She lives on the East Coast, and when she’s not writing, researching, or editing, she’s either reading, sleeping, or thinking about writing. To Rachel, there is no greater joy in this world than spending her time doing what she loves…writing.
Readers may visit her on the web at www.dawnrachel.com or connect with her on Facebook at rachelcarringtonwrite and Twitter at rcarrington2004.
Vampires Destined Series
Vampire Cursed—Book One
Vampire Forgotten—Book Two
Vampire Betrayed—Book Three
Coming Summer 2012
Vampire Cursed Page 4