I sighed and listen to the fancy wall clock tick the seconds. It was framed in ornate brass, much like everything else in the giant room. The bedspread was full of rich reds and purples and browns that all blended with the fancy trim and plush carpeting. While I paced, I began to count the ticks until they drowned out my anxiety.
The knock at my door startled me out of my counting.
I opened it and exhaled in relief when I saw Owen. I peered left, then right, searching for Brent or anyone else loitering nearby. The hall was empty.
“Relax,” Owen breathed in my ear, slipping into the room behind me so fast I barely saw the movement. His breath on my ear shot goose bumps down my spine. I leaned on the door until it clicked shut.
Owen bent his head and pulled me into his arms, planting light kisses along my temple. “Owen…”
“I shouldn’t be here. Not like this…” He kissed across my forward, down my cheek. “But I couldn’t stay away.”
“I missed you, too.”
He pulled away, a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth. “I don’t know if I believe you. Feels like I’m doing all the work here.” He tucked his fingers under my chin and lifted my lips to his. I rose on my toes and met him halfway, kissing him back hard enough to make him groan and pull away. “Okay, okay. I stand corrected. You’ve just done more than your share.”
I laughed. “You’re so hard to please.”
His smile came and went quickly. “Having you here, seeing you in my home … it pleases me very much. But it’s also difficult to pretend I don’t want to do this.” He pressed his lips against my hair. “Painful, even,” he whispered.
“Dinner was hard,” I agreed. “Do you guys eat like that every night?”
He hesitated. “Not every night, no.”
My stomach tightened at the way he said it. We’d never spoken specifically about his meal choices before. I hadn’t asked and he hadn’t volunteered the information. But now, coming face to face with it, I knew I couldn’t ignore it any longer. I thought again of the rental cabins, the very normal-looking human families that I’d seen inside them. “Owen? What do you eat?”
He blinked. “Blood, of course.”
“Of course,” I echoed. “What I meant is … How do you eat it, exactly?”
“Oh.” He stepped back, creating a space between us that left me chilled. He folded his arms over his chest as he leaned against the far wall next to the window. The curtains had been left parted and behind the glass, engulfing blackness pressed in. It matched the darkness in his eyes. I felt his defensiveness across the room. “We like our meals fresh, if that’s what you’re asking. But I told you the truth earlier, we don’t harm the humans.”
“I know what you said. I just wondered if …” My cheeks heated but I stepped closer and forced my expression open and forgiving. “I thought you might be saying those things for Regan’s benefit. You know, to keep the peace. If that’s really how it works here, you can tell me. I want you to know that you can tell me anything.”
Owen’s head tilted and he watched me thoughtfully. “You would forgive me if I told you I was a killer?” he asked, genuine curiosity lacing his words.
I nodded, pressing my lips together to hide the tightening in my belly at the thought. “You are who you are, Owen. I’m not going to ask you to change it. I just want to understand you. All of you,” I said.
Owen lifted a hand and ran gentle fingers over my hair, tracing the strands back to the tight knot. “You amaze me, kitten,” he murmured before pressing his lips to my cheek. “So unlike your family…” The words were whispered, so low I almost missed them. It unwound the ball of uncertainty inside me because I realized how true that was for both of us. No matter how unfeeling or detached his parents were, Owen was nothing like them.
“You still haven’t answered my question,” I said.
He smiled softly. “The wait staff and servants you see around you are all volunteers. No one is forced. And no one is killed. It is part of the terms of our treaty with them.” My brows rose. Owen smirked. “Don’t look so surprised. Yours is not the first peace treaty we’ve made.”
“I didn’t mean…” I trailed off at Owen’s silent challenge and my shoulders fell. “Okay, maybe I did.” I swallowed the next question, but Owen’s brow rose.
“You want to ask me if I’ve killed anyone, don’t you?”
I nodded.
“I’ve never killed a meal.”
“Werewolves?” I asked, forcing my voice light although it pained me to imagine it.
His mouth tightened. “Some,” he said quietly. His gaze drifted from me to the wall and I waited knowing there was more. “And some of my own kind. Years ago, there was an attempted coup against my father. Seven vampires attacked us during a family dinner. Two of them never reached the patio thanks to security. Another was staked by the human butler. That left four of them against my parents and me. Two of them went after my mother. It was more than she could handle. I did what I had to in order to protect the ones I love.”
The story was heavy in my mind even after he turned his gaze back to me. The picture it painted rattled me. Not because Owen and his family could’ve been killed, but because what he spoke of could happen again at any time.
What would his people think of seeing a werewolf at his side? As his bride?
For the first time, doubts crept in. I’d been so focused on Owen, on winning and securing my place beside him, I’d missed the effect that would have on my future, on our safety. A treaty was pointless when the enemy was in your midst.
“And you would kill again? If it came to that?” I asked.
His eyes were on mine, hard and cool. “I will always protect my family.”
I closed the distance and wrapped my arms around him, squeezing as tight as I could, knowing I couldn’t possibly squeeze hard enough to hurt him. “I want you to teach me how to kill vampires,” I whispered.
“What?” He yanked his head up in alarm, his eyes searching my face. “Why?”
“Your story,” I said. “Something like that is ten times more likely once you’re married to a werewolf. You can’t tell me all the vampires in this place are overjoyed at the thought of your bride being an outsider.”
“They wouldn’t dare.”
“They absolutely would and you know it. I need to be able to defend myself.”
“No, Charlie, it would be too dangerous. I’ll be there to protect you.”
“I’m assuming your father told you the same thing the day you were all attacked. You didn’t listen, either.”
He frowned. “That’s different.”
“You’re right. This is worse. I’ve already been threatened. We can pretty much count on this happening at some point.” Owen didn’t answer and I pushed on, hoping I wasn’t pushing too far. “Eventually, they’ll get tired of bloody animal hearts and go for mine instead.”
He scowled. “I’m serious, Charlie.”
“So am I.” I planted my feet and even stuck my chin out a little as I looked up at him. I felt completely immature for doing it, but I wanted this. I needed to feel safe. And if I was going to build a future with Owen, I needed to trust him completely. I needed to come clean. “A vampire has been following Regan and me around since I arrived in Paradise,” I said.
Owen’s eyes narrowed. “Who?”
“I don’t know his name,” I said, shaking my head. “But I’ve seen him several times, and Regan is convinced a vampire is responsible for her mother’s murder so...” I shrugged. “Regan wanted to use our time here to look for him, to investigate.”
He rubbed his face and when he faced me again, the mask had lifted. Pain and fear shone in his crimson eyes. “Charlie,” he began, bending low so that I could feel his breath on my cheek. I felt his hesitation and leaned in, nuzzling so that his palm stroked my cheek. “You’re going to be the death of me.” He sighed.
I waited, but he didn’t continue.
“Tell me what you’
re thinking,” I whispered.
I waited and, finally, Owen dragged his gaze to mine, saying, “Before you, I felt nothing. I walked around detached from everyone and everything. You’ve met my parents. Vampires—we don’t like to feel things. It’s too intense, too much. So we shut it off. But you make me feel and that’s not easy. I … I can’t lose you. I won’t.”
His eyes flashed and for the first time, I saw what it really meant to be on the wrong side of Owen Rossi. Utter violence lay there just behind his compassion and love for me. And I knew that whoever tried to harm me would have to go through him first. I shuddered, but it was a strange sort of comfort knowing what he was capable of. For once, I wasn’t the biggest monster.
“We need to identify this vampire of yours,” he said. “I’ll try to arrange something that will allow for us to take a closer look at more of my people. Maybe you can spot him without drawing attention.”
“That would be great,” I said.
“In the meantime, we’re going to be more careful.” His eyes filled with regret. “No more big risks like this one. Charlie, if anyone found out we cared for each other … I can’t put you in danger that way.”
“I had a feeling you would say that.” I wound my arms around his waist and pressed my cheek against his chest. He felt cool through his dress shirt, but when his arms came around me, pulling me closer against him, my body warmed.
I caught sight of our reflection in the window pane. Hard and angled met soft and rounded. It was an impossible picture. I couldn’t imagine it any other way.
Owen smiled down at me, leaning in until his nose brushed my cheek, then my ear. “One for the road,” he whispered and my lips curved as I turned into him.
When Owen’s mouth met mine, I sighed.
Chapter Nine
Regan
All I could see was the vampire’s broad-shouldered silhouette as Carter and I rounded the corner of the gardens and plunged between the stalks of towering sunflowers and something else Mrs. Rossi had called Heliconias. Their blue petals glowed in the darkness. I used them as a reference point to keep from getting lost in the labyrinth of tropical fauna. Up ahead, the stalks shook as the strange vampire passed through.
Carter was right on my heels. Neither of us made a sound and I was grateful that if anyone had come with me, it was him. He was one of the few who could move as silently in human form as he could as a wolf.
The stalks fell away and we entered the grove of trees that lay beyond the gardens. Mrs. Rossi had pointed them out on the tour but we hadn’t come this far back. She’d said it was a mix of cherry and pear trees—I’d wondered then why vampires even cared about growing human food. Now I knew it was to keep their “staff” alive.
Without the low branches to track the vamp’s movements, I slowed, careful to keep his pale flashes of skin in sight as he darted among the trees.
Carter caught my hand in his and I startled. Now was so not the time for hand-holding. But he brought a finger to his lips and motioned me quiet. Then he let go of my hand and pointed to himself and then out to the left. I nodded and pointed to myself and then to the right. He nodded back and we split up.
My pulse thrummed in my ears. The urge to shift was strong as I left Carter behind to circle our prey. It would’ve been so much easier to catch him had I been a wolf. His scent alone would’ve made him easy to find. I wouldn’t even need to rely on watching for branches swaying. But I couldn’t risk being found in wolf form on vampire territory. Not with the treaty in place. They’d only see it as a threat, or worse, as a betrayal of our agreement. If I was going to start a war, I’d rather not do it in vamp-ville while my dad sat upstairs getting drunk with the king and queen bloodsucker.
I darted around trees and underneath low branches, keeping to the arc I knew Carter would follow. It wasn’t long before I caught the distinct scent of undead. My hackles rose but I bit down on the growl building in my throat. I knew I was close if I could smell him.
Something moved from behind a narrow tree trunk and then the man appeared in front of me. Reflexively, I jumped back out of reach and heard my breath catch as I swallowed my scream. I didn’t even have time to swing out before Carter materialized behind the man and grabbed his arms, pinning them behind his back.
The man grunted but didn’t struggle against Carter’s hold. I stared at him, suddenly unsure of the situation. It had all been too easy.
“Let him go, Carter.”
“What? Are you crazy?” Carter asked, eyes wide in the darkness. “He’ll run off.”
“No, he won’t,” I said, forcing myself to straighten and relax my shoulders. I fixed my gaze on the man. His smooth jawline, broad shoulders, and razor-sharp eyes. He stared at me right back, completely at ease despite the fact that he was captured and outnumbered.
“How do you know?” Carter demanded.
“If he was going to run off, he wouldn’t have let himself get caught in the first place,” I said.
The man’s eyes glittered in agreement.
Carter frowned, considering my words. Finally, he let go of the man’s arms. He walked over to stand next to me, watching the vamp warily. I could feel the tension still pulling his muscles taut and knew he wasn’t completely convinced.
The vamp seemed not to notice. He shook his arms out and then brushed the hair out of his eyes.
“Why did you let us catch you?” I demanded the moment our eyes met.
“What makes you think I let you?” he asked. If he hadn’t been a vampire, I would’ve called him friendly. His stance was relaxed and open, the opposite of someone prepared for assault. Still, I didn’t let my guard down. He’d correctly predicted danger not hours before Charlie was targeted. He wasn’t off the list of suspects just yet.
“The stalks moved when you passed. That was careless,” I said.
“Very astute of you.” Instead of offense at my tone, his eyes sparkled with some private amusement.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” I demanded, hating the discomfort I felt underneath his study. It wasn’t threatening—it was much more personal than that.
“You are so like her,” he murmured.
“Like who?” I asked, but I already knew.
“Your mother.”
My eyes narrowed. I felt suspicion wash over me anew. Not because I didn’t believe him—but because of how intimate his voice had become when he spoke of her. Unease rippled through me. “You have no right to talk about her …” My chin rose and I added, “Unless you’re here to confess to her murder.”
Carter moved to my side and adjusted his footing. I knew he was ready for whatever attack my words provoked.
The man drew a deep breath and blew it out slowly, purposefully. “I could never hurt her,” he said quietly. “I told you the last time we spoke, we are on the same side, you and I.”
“I saw you following me and Charlie that day in town.” I was bluffing my way through, but he didn’t deny it, which I took as admission. “How do I know it wasn’t you with the heart, too?”
His expression hardened. “I followed you through Paradise to protect you. There are rumors, quiet talk. I fear whoever killed Myra will not stop until they’ve done the same with her legacy. Those fears were confirmed at the Test of Strength.”
His words sent a ripple through me. Rumors? From where? My people or his?
“Charlie isn’t Myra’s daughter,” Carter pointed out.
“But she’s willing to broker peace, just like Myra did,” the man said. “Which makes her a prime target. Your people want war with us. They couldn’t get it with Myra as alpha so they removed her.”
Despite their callousness, I didn’t like that his words made sense. I didn’t want to believe him. If he was telling the truth, I was after someone much more dangerous and traitorous than a rogue vampire murderer. And I couldn’t be angry he’d just called my mom a sort of roadblock, not with the pain of her loss so evident in his expression.
“They went
after Charlie because she’s easier to rattle than me,” I said finally. The man nodded and my shoulders fell. This was real. He wasn’t lying. I pushed them back again, determined not to let him see me affected. “Who are you?” I demanded.
“My name is Valentino.”
My eyes narrowed. “I’ve never seen you before. How did you know my mother?”
He hesitated a second before explaining, “Your mother and I were friends many years ago. Before the war between our people escalated to violence.”
“Our history with your kind has always involved violence,” Carter shot back.
Valentino shook his head sadly. “Not always. The catalyst, yes, involved death. Thill’s parents … but it was an accident. A misunderstanding. We are a peaceful coven. You’ve seen the way we feed and live with humans. We respect life. When the pack settled here and realized we weren’t the threat they thought it was too late for Thill to admit his mistake. Discord remained. Strife always at the surface. But no violence. We had no quarrel with you, but the pack elders couldn’t be reasoned with. Thill was determined, and so we have been at odds. But not war.”
Valentino eyed me and then looked away, his gaze lost in the grove of trees behind me.
“What changed?” I asked, caught up in the story of politics before my time. It had always fascinated me even when I’d been little and pushed out of the room before secrets were spilled.
“Your mother,” Valentino said after a beat. He turned back to me and then Carter. “Myra wanted peace, and for a time, there was hope that goodwill would last. Relations were …. different then. I was ambassador for the Rossi family. Myra and I became friends. Times were easier and for a while we thought…” He shut his eyes, anguished by some memory I couldn’t reach. “Someone else on the council found out about your mother and I. Someone tried to do her harm. I intervened, which exposed our friendship. I was removed from my position at the main house. Sent here to the orchards. Myra married shortly after. I heard she had a baby so I stayed away. The peace talks died and the fighting began.”
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