The Deviant Curse (The Braykith Series Book 1)

by Jennifer R. Kenny

  Evangeline laid in bed and was staring at the ceiling when the door to her chambers opened. Instantly she felt her body spike in reaction to an intruder. She found it hard to remain calm even after Wick became visible by the candle light she was carrying. Silently the girl approached, her shuffle a little more pronounced as she offered a letter to Evangeline.

  “Who sent it?” Evangeline asked, but Wick gave her nothing. Empty and blank eyes looked back at her, her mouth slack with no expression. The only intelligence in her posture was the way she held the candle high to give Evangeline enough light to read by.

  The envelope was beautiful. Crisp and a pale golden colour rested in Wick’s hand elegantly waiting for her. She turned the envelope over and tossed it across the room as she as she recognised the seal of Braykith in black wax keeping the paper sealed. Wick obediently went to fetch it and returned to Evangeline. “No. I will not read it. I dare not touch it.” She protested but Wick ignored her and continued to force the envelope upon her until finally Evangeline was forced to read it.

  Dear Evangeline,

  I can never quite put into words the emotions you make me feel daily. I have many of them and while not all of them are pleasant, the one which seems to recur with some frequency is inadequate. Though a series of events we have lost any connection we might have had. However, you continue to make me feel this way.

  Once, though, long ago, I was but a boy. I had a future planned for me and there was nothing to change that. I had no say in any of those things. My crown, my heart, and my soul had been bargained off to separate realms. I needed to find my own way to claim ownership of the circumstances that were my birthright. I was only ten or so if I remember correctly when my mother mentioned your birthday.

  I ran to my room and found the sewing had been abandoned by my nurse, and with it was a length of lace. Although we had been betrothed for almost four years by this time, I knew little about you but did know most girls were fascinated by the details of well-made lace. I snatched it up and begged my mother to send it to you. The lace had no significance beyond I had seen it and I thought you would like it. The moment I gave it to the messengers, though, suddenly it was something.

  You claim I was distant, and I agree I was but in response to your accusations I vow to move forward with you as your partner and not your foe. I beseech you, Evangeline, to find room in your destiny for me.

  Glais

  Evangeline read the note twice before folding it back on itself and setting it aside. She was unsure of how best to move forward. Evangeline touched the paper with her fingertips, trying to picture Glais as he sat his desk and wrote to her. She had asked him to, and he had done so. Evangeline remembered the lace of course and the assumption that it had never come from Glais but on his behalf. Clearly she had been wrong.

  Evangeline had been looking for his mark on her life all her childhood, growing up and believing the truth to be in his letters. She had been ashamed that her betrothed had been so distant, and yet he had been available to her. Evangeline sat with her shoulders slumped, petting the paper and confused worse than ever before.

  “You need to speak with Glais,” Wick said. She always spoke gently as if she feared that even though it was clear they were alone that someone might overhear her. Evangeline had been hoping that perhaps Wick would talk more now that it was indeed safe to do so, but her fears as a child lived as an adult and Wick was consistently silent in her daily routines.

  “This comes to me too late.” Evangeline decided, impulsive but with no delusions she firmly rejected Glais. His letter had come too late and not on his own merit but after her insistence. She had lost so much and he had ruined their friendship too far beyond the limit for her to forgive him. “I need not speak to this monster.” Evangeline crossed her arms under her bust. “For you to ask me to do this is beyond what our friendship can stand.” She warned Wick, but she didn’t seem at all bothered by the threat.

  “You cannot continue to lose your sleep and wish for intervention. No one will dare threaten the upcoming wedding of the future King.” Wick spoke the very thoughts that Evangeline had considered herself.

  Evangeline drew her legs up and rested her chin on her knees. The blankets stayed covering her body, the fire still burning low and keeping the room warm. “Perhaps Luella?” Evangeline was clinging to the girl believing she had some kind of claim to make to Glais.

  “Perhaps before, but he rejected her for you once. She will not face embarrassment so publicly.” Wick sat on the edge of the bed but found it difficult to get closer than that. She was not the touchiest person and she still preferred her own company. Wick knew that Evangeline would not reject her, but Wick was accustomed to the strange looks she received for her appearance and reacted accordingly even in the company of those who sought to do her no harm. “Your mind will settle after you speak with Glais.”

  Evangeline did not want to admit that perhaps Wick was correct. Sighing, she gestured to her robe before untangling herself from the bed.

  “You mean to speak with him now?” Wick was taken back but was quick to react to Evangeline’s request.

  “You demand it and then retract the advice?” Evangeline took the robe when Wick offered it. “I will speak with him now. Clearly he is awake, just as I am. Perhaps I can surprise him into some honesty.” Evangeline tied the robe at her waist in a tight knot to keep the fabric from exposing her sleeping clothes as she walked.

  Wick did not argue with her and as she made her way to the bedroom door, Evangeline did expect Wick to stop her. This was foolishness, and yet Wick allowed it to happen and Evangeline had no choice but to face her demons. She did not think that the night gave him better sensitivity to what was going on in the castle. The stories of demons and those who drunk on blood were lacking details but still widespread. Sensitivity to the sun was familiar and yet she had seen him several times walking in the direct rays of the sun. He ate regular food and seemed to have no problems with running water. Whatever he was, he was similar to the lore of old yet not the same demon. The curse of Braykith had created its own brand, one that did not follow the rules and seemed to thrive just fine. Her minimal research had led to further distress rather than the closure she was expecting.

  She did not pause outside his door but rather knocked once and then opened it. There was no light in the main sitting room and at that Evangeline paused. She had been expecting to find him waiting for her. Her bravado was quickly fading and Evangeline doubted very much that she would regain it again. “Glais?” Evangeline tried to call out to him but her voice was barely more than a squeak. “Glais?” she tried again but it seemed no matter her will it could not raise above a strained whispered yell.

  Looking in the hallway, Evangeline spotted a candle burning and she carefully collected it from its perch on the wall and used it to light her way. Crossing to his bedroom door was far more intimidating than she imagined. Many times Evangeline had imagined this room and the way she would confront Glais over different matters. She imagined herself standing tall and defiant with righteousness on her side.

  The reality never stood up to her fantasies. Instead of marching in and demanding an audience, she was hunched over a flame with her hand working as a wind barrier to keep it from going out. Evangeline knocked sharply with her knuckles on the wood and then held her breath as she strained to hear for movement on the other side of it. The door was thick and had stood the test of time. This room being inherited and abandoned over the years with little concern for its wellbeing and still it stood.

  Surprised, she jumped back when the door swung open. As she suspected, she had not heard his approach. Glais stood shirtless, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Yawning, he frowned. “Eva?” the shock of seeing her there made him forget the elegance of her name and instead he used the short one she preferred. “What are you doing here? Is everything ok?” He reached out to touch her and she took a slight step back. His hand dropped back to his side but it was getting increasingly
harder for him to act as Evangeline desired when she continued to send him mixed messages such as arriving at his sleeping quarters in the middle of the night. He never imagined that his letter would be read until the morning.

  “I couldn’t sleep.” Like this, Evangeline could almost have forgotten he was a monster. Missing the strict black on black uniform he seemed to live in, Glais felt far more relatable than ever before. It helped his image that his words were still vibrating around in her head. It took effort for Evangeline to move past them. She couldn’t actually forget that Glais was a monster. That was when he would be truly dangerous. However, for just a glance Glais appeared so non-threatening, she almost relaxed.

  “Did you want to sleep in my bed?” Glais asked, his voice cautious even as he suggested it. The stern look on her face in response to his suggestion that was illuminated by the single candle was the only answer he needed. He realised that it was a terrible thing to suggest. “Then how can I help?” Evidently the letter had been poorly received, although he could not be certain why. Glais was not sure how to judge her moods anymore and it seemed no matter what he did, it was never the correct thing to do. While his father had warned him of such things about women, it seemed this mixing of signals stemmed from his own limitations and not normal female behaviour.

  “I want to talk more. About you and your ailment.” Evangeline stood back, deciding that speaking in his sitting room was far more inviting than his bedroom. She also did not want to embarrass either of them. Truthfully, she was reminded too vividly of the attack in her own room to ever be comfortable with Glais in a bedroom.

  Glais nodded and followed her unspoken suggestion. He took the time to build up a new fire from the dying embers in the fireplace and took a seat opposite her. He remembered how she called him intimidating so Glais was trying his best to appear less so. He had been told that many times over the years and yet it had hurt him to hear it coming from her. “What do you wish to know?”

  “I have many questions, but I cannot imagine that you have all the answers. There is one thing that I have been troubled with and I hope you can assist me?” Evangeline asked. Glais gave her the nod to continue, and she was glad to see he was cooperative. “Why did it take so long for your family to call me here?”

  “What did you suppose it was?” Glais asked, leaning forward because he almost dared to believe they could have a regular conversation without her turning him into something inhuman.

  Evangeline bit her bottom lip, not having the strength to look him in the eye. “I thought there was something wrong with me. That your parents had found you a possible better match but did not know how to tell my parents the deal was off.” Evangeline remembered the nights where she would sit and watch her reflection looking for the reasons that Braykith did not call on her. “I am far older than what is considered usual.” She was shy in admitting it out loud, but for her it had been a dark spot for her soul. “Most in our position would have been wed years ago.”

  Glais nodded. “It never occurred to you Evangeline that there was something wrong with me?”

  She shook her head. “No.”

  He nodded and sat back with a sigh. “My parents were concerned with my unique needs. Since they showed up so early, Father were unsure if I would be able to control it. The older we get; the blood lust grows until it is uncontrollable. They didn’t want me to kill you.”

  “Do you think you would kill me?” She asked, Evangeline’s voice barely above a whisper. With the room full of shadows and Glais appearing so inviting, Evangeline felt a little drunk and clearly overwhelmed.

  “No.” He answered her confidently as if it was the only possible answer he could give. “I don’t ever want to hurt you Evangeline and that is why I struggled when you first got here. I didn’t want you to become another victim.”

  Evangeline wanted to believe him, but she could never just listen to Glais speak and believe that what he was saying was truth. He had hurt her, and just when she thought that she might understand him she remembered all of this. “How are your victims chosen?” She went with perhaps the most dangerous question to clear her head of other thoughts.

  Glais was a quick study and when dealing with Evangeline’s questions about his condition, he knew it was best to keep it short and sweet. Too many details and she felt inundated with the wealth of information and absorbed little of it. It was during those time that was when she struck out just to hurt him. “My parents found them,” Glais answered.

  “But how?” she demanded far more than it seemed Glais was willing to give. “If speaking of the curse kills any who shares, then it must be dangerous to even suggest such a partnership.” Evangeline frowned, watching him in the eerie light.

  Glais nodded, understanding her concerns. He had asked the same thing himself once “Enough people know of it for the pickings to be slim but acceptable. There is no coercion. Usually, they come to us and we then decide if they are acceptable.”

  “Are all of your victims female?”

  “Yes.”

  “By design?”

  “Yes.”

  “You do not like men?”

  “I prefer women.” There had been one man but Glais did not mention him to Evangeline. “In a dangerous situation, I could take either but I prefer women.”

  Evangeline paused slightly as she came to one of the most important matters concerning Glais and his partners. “Is that because you sleep with them?”

  Glais paused. No one had asked him before, but he supposed indeed that was the simple answer. “Yes.”

  Evangeline bit her cheek to keep herself from showing any other outward expression. She didn’t bite hard enough to taste blood but it did have the desired effect on her face. She managed to maintain a neutral expression. “Do you sleep with all the women who you attack?” She did not feel sorry for using the word attack to describe the action of taking blood from someone else this time.

  “I do.” Glais nodded.

  “Except me?” she asked. Evangeline tried to remember the sensations when she woke up alone but it was so broken that often all she got was a headache whenever she considered the events of that night.

  Glais leant forward and meant to take her hand. When she refused, he merely pressed his fingertips together. Being constantly rejected was hard for him since he rarely experienced it. “Except you. You were unconscious and after checking the strength of your heartbeat, I left you in bed.”

  Evangeline nodded, and Glais thought she would leave but she was adjusting her position on the seat. “Do you have to?”

  “Sleep with them?” he asked just for clarification and Evangeline nodded. “I suppose not.” Glais shrugged. “But biting them, the moment can be quite intimate as you rightly remember.”

  Evangeline’s face went red but not from embarrassment. Anger fuelled her reaction. “I assure you Glais there was no pleasure from me regarding your attack.”

  “But there was.” He countered. “I held you in my arms, Evangeline. I could taste your blood and feel your heart beat struggle in anticipation. You raced to climax and the intensity was unlike anything I had ever seen. Had you kept consciousness, I am quite sure more would have come to pass between us.” Glais was not boasting. His voice was very even, his fingertips pressed together still to keep from touching her as he sat in his chair. It had excited him at the time and he felt that excitement return as he remembered the exact way she felt in his embrace. Never would he admit this to Evangeline since she refused to admit the attraction was between them at all.

  Evangeline’s mouth opened and shut twice before she seemed to decide to keep it shut. There was nothing polite she could say. “I am not telling you this to embarrass you, Evangeline.” Glais said. “I get no pleasure from making you feel discomfort, but it is as it is and there is nothing I can do to control how one will react to my bite.”

  As he described it to her, she remembered it. The pleasure of the weight of Glais against her body. The intensity of the moment
when she was expecting a kiss still struck her heart and forced it to skip a beat. But waking in the morning, cold, alone, and in her own blood tainted anything that could have been confuse with preference. “There was no pleasure in that. “After we are married Glais, will you continue as you are now?” Evangeline asked, refusing to comment on his observations.

  “I suppose I shall be forced to.” Glais sighed gently.

  “Can you…” Evangeline paused as her words failed her once more. Blushing she moved on. “Without sleeping with them?” she asked. Glais paused and Evangeline knew that was reason enough to suspect that even if he could, then Glais might not do as she asked.

  “The attraction works both ways. The high of the victim is mirrored in me.” A small smile dared to skim across his lips as she hid her face in her hands, evidently imagining just as he said and then hating herself for thinking such things about him. “I am but a man still Evangeline. I have urges and demands that need to be met.”

  “Did you sleep with Wick?” she suddenly asked

  Any smile he might have had was gone at just Wick’s name. She was a sore subject for Glais and one that Evangeline didn’t seem to respect. She saw this all as him being a monster and the other innocents. He wished it was so easy to define the two groups. No one would ever consider Luella an innocent. “I did.”

  “Why?” Evangeline demanded, never imagining that Wick could deserve such treatment.

  Glais looked around the room for inspiration that would not come. He was alone in trying to explain this to Evangeline and he felt the walls closing in, the fire splattered but offered no support. “Only near the end of her time with me as a donation. Not in the beginning. I was too young to understand it. She initiated it.” He tried to save himself in Evangeline’s eyes although he believed there was no salvation.

  Her breath had stuttered before she spoke. “Did she initiate the bite as well?”

  Glais sighed. “Evangeline, do not ask me questions if you do not want the answers. I will not lie to you but that means admitting that perhaps I am not the monster you think I am.”