by E. J. King
“What?” Grace’s jaw dropped open. She looked back and forth between us before finally saying to me, “Please say he is joking. You can’t possibly be that dumb.”
“I think we both know that I absolutely can be that dumb,” I said, attempting a joke that fell flat. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m not doing anything that you haven’t already been doing for weeks.”
Confusion passed over her face until she caught me looking at William. “Oh,” was all she said as her cheeks flushed hotly.
“As much as I’m loving this awkward reunion, I need to make the rounds. You know, converse with my people.” Drake gave William a pointed look. For his part, William had done a good job controlling his emotions, but he was clearly relieved that Grace and I wouldn’t be spending the evening together.
“Can we talk tomorrow?” Grace asked eagerly, squeezing my hand.
“Sure.” I tried to look reassuring. “This is good, Grace. We’re together again.”
“In the Darkness,” she said quietly.
I couldn’t understand the conflicting emotions I saw in her eyes. She didn’t seem thrilled to be living in this place, but I’d also seen how she’d looked at William. “Have fun tonight. I’ll find you tomorrow.”
Drake was already walking away and I had no choice but to follow him. Our arrangement was very specific. Drake had brought me to the Darkness under the guise of being his companion and in exchange, I told him everything I knew about the Guardianship and agreed not to tell anyone the truth about my identity, including Grace.
It bothered me somewhat that she believed I was Drake’s willing companion. Letting a vampire feed off me was something I would never do. I had to remind myself that Grace didn’t know I was a Hunter. She didn’t know that vampires had been my sworn enemy for my entire life.
I spent the rest of the night following Drake around the room. He drank glass after glass of blood and spent a lot of time flirting with the female vampires. I spoke with a few of the companions, trying to understand the appeal of the Darkness. It didn’t make any sense to me why a human would choose this kind of lifestyle, but they all seemed happy to be there. I wondered if they had been compelled.
Any time I wasn’t chatting with someone, I looked for Grace. She and William stayed in their corner for a while, talking and occasionally kissing. Each time I saw that, I flinched. It took all my self-control not to storm over and stake him right then. I refused to believe that Grace was with him willingly.
They didn’t stay too long and I watched them leave the room together. William’s arm was around Grace’s waist and she was leaning into him. They looked very much like a normal couple in love. I was sure they were headed to William’s chambers and I couldn’t let myself think about what would happen when they got there.
Shortly after they left, I told Drake that I would be doing the same. He wasn’t pleased by my exercise of free will, but he didn’t argue. Since I wasn’t actually acting as his companion, he wouldn’t miss my company. I was anxious to leave the party and be back above water. The glass ballroom had been exciting for the first few minutes, but my claustrophobia prevented me from truly enjoying it.
Back in the foyer, I ran right into yet another Blackwood. Kathryn and I had been introduced briefly at the party and I was surprised to see her upstairs.
“Skipping out on your own party?” I said.
“No, silly.” She gestured to her red dress. “Wardrobe change.”
“Naturally.” I found myself smiling. “That dress is stunning on you.”
Her eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Are you flirting with me, human?”
If I was, it hadn’t been intentional. I didn’t make it a habit of flirting with vampires, even ones as beautiful at Kathryn Blackwood. Her dark, glossy hair contrasted perfectly against her porcelain skin. As her magnificent red lips curled into a perfect smile, I felt a surprising surge of attraction. “I’m your brother’s companion,” I said evenly.
“You’re a fool,” she said with a laugh. “You’d have a lot more fun with me.”
“I’m not going to argue with that.” I sucked in a breath as she floated over to me. Without hesitating, she put a hand flat against my chest.
“Would you like to take a walk with me, Cole?” Kathryn’s gold eyes sparkled with mischief. “I think I’d like to get to know you better.”
My Hunter instincts screamed at me to walk away. I was all too aware that just because a vampire was beautiful that didn’t mean it wasn’t also evil. Taking a late-night stroll with one of those vampires couldn’t end well, even if I was in a place where vampires didn’t kill humans. At a minimum, Drake would be furious that I was spending time with the other vampires and would likely be suspicious of my motives.
My curiosity about the beautiful creature before me won out. “I’d love to take a walk with you, Kathryn.”
“You should be flattered,” Kathryn said, looping her arm through mine as if we were old friends. We strolled through the door and headed toward the beach. “I rarely associate with any humans except for my companions and Grace.”
“Considering this place is a vampire haven, that doesn’t exactly surprise me.” I held myself rigid, careful not to get too comfortable with a vampire I just met. “Do you really prefer living in seclusion like this?”
Kathryn stopped at the edge of the walkway and kicked off her shoes. As she stepped onto the sand, she said, “Not really. I take a lot of trips away from the Darkness whenever I can, but it’s not safe for us out in the world. Aside from the general Hunter community constant prowling for vampires to kill, the Guardianship has made us their top target. This is the only place we can live without constant fear.”
“Don’t you ever get bored?” I asked.
“I know we just met, but isn’t it already obvious that I don’t allow things to get boring?” she fluttered her eyelashes as she looked up at me and I found myself relaxing just a little. “I overheard part of your conversation with Grace. You two know each other?”
“We were in school together,” I said quickly.
“Did you date?” she asked coyly.
I laughed. “No, no. Definitely not. Grace and I were just good friends.”
“Good,” Kathryn said with a satisfied nod of her head. “I didn’t want to be the one to break your heart when I told you that she is madly in love with my brother, William.”
“In love?” I stuttered over the words. “She’s only been here a few weeks.”
“You don’t believe in love at first sight?” she asked with humor in her eyes. “Because I think they’ve been in love since the first time they saw each other, even if they didn’t admit it to themselves until later.”
“Are vampires even capable of that?” I asked, a little hostility creeping into my tone.
Kathryn stepped closer to the water, letting it lap gently over her feet. “My siblings and I all love each other. If you mean romantically, I can’t speak from personal experience, but there’s nothing that stops a vampire from loving a human.”
“You’ve never been in love? Haven’t you been around a really long time?” I instantly felt bad about my question. I hadn’t meant to sound so judgmental, it was just surprising.
“Haven’t you ever been told not to ask a woman her age?” Kathryn smirked at me, but I detected sadness in her gold eyes.
“I’m sorry, you just seem like someone that would be open to falling in love,” I said.
Kathryn finally dropped my arm and she looked over the water, seeing things in the distance that my human eyes couldn’t see. “When you can live forever, life loses urgency. I think urgency is a key component of love. If you know you have forever to be with someone, you never really appreciate it.”
“Grace isn’t going to live forever.” I studied Kathryn’s profile and wondered what she was really thinking. She’d lived a lot of years and knew more than I ever could about life.
“Never say never,” Kathryn said, looking at me with
a glint in her eye.
“What do you mean? You think William will turn her?” My heart started to race. “Grace would never choose that.”
Kathryn shrugged. “You are thinking of the Grace you used to know, before she met William. Her priorities might be different now.”
We stayed on the beach for almost an hour, though our conversation moved to lighter topics. Kathryn was deeply interested in all things new and modern. She wanted to know about high school and what exactly humans did when they went camping. We talked about movies, music, and television. Kathryn was surprisingly well-versed in pop culture and also had a quick wit. I was surprised at how much I laughed.
Later, after I’d walked her back to the party, I went to my bedroom in Drake’s chambers. I’d requested the room farthest from Drake’s and closest to the entrance. I didn’t want to be trapped in this glass coffin that the Blackwoods called home. Finally alone, I couldn’t block out what Kathryn had said about Grace possibly choosing to become a vampire.
I couldn’t believe that Grace would turn her back on her Hunter heritage and her humanity, but I’d also seen the way she looked at William. If Kathryn was right and Grace truly was in love with him, it wasn’t farfetched for her to at least consider a transition. One thing I did know was that now that I’d found her, I wasn’t going to give up on her without a fight. If William wanted to turn Grace, he’d have to go through me first.
CHAPTER EIGHT
GRACE
Seeing Cole in the Darkness felt like a dream. He had been my best friend back in the real world and I’d been worried about him ever since he’d disappeared the night Drake abducted me. I had told myself that I would eventually return to let him know that I was alright. I had never expected him to be the one to find me.
I would have been thrilled to be reunited with my friend if it had been under any circumstance other than him being Drake’s companion. It didn’t even make sense to me. Had Drake purposefully found Cole just to get to me? I wouldn’t put that past him.
William tried to distract me at the party for a while, but it was futile. I couldn’t stop worrying about why Cole was there and if Drake was going to hurt him. Eventually, William suggested we leave and I agreed. It was too uncomfortable watching Cole following Drake around the room.
“I don’t understand why Drake would do this.” I had followed William into his bedroom out of habit. He was busy removing his suit and trying not to react to my overreaction.
“With Drake, it’s best not to overthink it,” he said, slowly unbuttoning his shirt. “I’m sure he’s just messing with you.”
“Cole would never agree to be a companion,” I said firmly. “Drake must have compelled him. You can’t let him get way with that.”
“There’s nothing I can do, Grace. Unless you can prove the Cole isn’t here of his own accord, Drake has every right to have companions.” William removed the shirt and tossed it on the bed next to me.
His masculine scent floated in the air and I inhaled deeply. I’d been so consumed by my rant that I hadn’t appreciated that William was slowly undressing right before me. As good as he looked in his suit, he looked even better out of it.
“Nice strip tease,” I said, eyeing his bare chest.
“You like what you see?” He winked suggestively at me. “If not, I can stop.”
“Don’t you dare,” I said instantly.
William removed his pants and then stood before me in just his boxers. “I’m not going any farther until you start participating,” he said with a gorgeous smile.
“I’d love to comply,” I said, standing. “Except I can’t reach the zipper on this dress.”
“All you had to do was ask, love.” William moved with his super vamp speed and gripped the zipper, yanking down with one smooth motion. Then he slipped the fabric off my shoulders and let it drop in a puddle at my feet. “I’ve been wanting to take this dress of you since you walked into the party.”
“That would’ve been a little embarrassing with all those people watching,” I joked. With William standing so close to me, I couldn’t not touch him. His chest was smooth and chiseled like marble. I tilted my head back to see his beautiful face. “Do me a favor?”
“Anything,” he said.
“Make me forget everything, just for tonight.” I searched his eyes imploringly.
William cupped my cheek in his hand. “I can do that,” he said, his other hand stroking my body in a way that was impossible to ignore. When he kissed me, every thought flew out of my head other than how much I loved being kissed by William Blackwood.
For the next few hours, William did his best to make me forget. I was completely lost in him and the moment, savoring what might be one of our last nights together in the Darkness. If Drake got his way, this place would no longer be a place I could call home.
“William?” I said after we lay in silence for a long time.
“Yeah?” His voice was a deep rumble in the darkness.
I lifted my head from his chest to look him in the eyes. “I love you.”
“I love you, Grace.” He smiled softly and brushed away a strand of hair that had fallen across my eyes. “No matter what else happens in my life, you will always be the most amazing thing that’s ever happened to me.”
“If Drake somehow wins the recall vote, will you leave the Darkness with me?” I asked, nervous about his answer. I couldn’t stay in the Darkness if Drake was in charge, but I didn’t want to leave without William.
“I’d follow you anywhere, love,” he said.
My heart did a happy flutter. I leaned down to kiss him and was surprised when his body tensed. “What’s wrong?” I asked.
“I need to tell you something,” he said.
“Okay…” I pulled away.
“You’re not going to like it.” William sat up and turned his back on me, letting his long legs drop over the side of the bed. “You asked me earlier today what happened when I found Drake. I didn’t want to tell you because I’m afraid it’s going to change everything between us.”
My stomach dropped. Instinctively, I reached for William’s shirt at the foot of the bed and pulled it on. I didn’t want to be naked if we were about to have a dramatic fight. From William’s tone, I was sure he was about to tell me that he had cheated on me.
“Go ahead,” I said evenly, scooting across the bed to sit next to him.
“Drake was having a party that night. Lots of vampires and even more humans. I had to make a deal with Drake to get him back to the Darkness. He agreed to leave with me in exchange for one thing.” William turned to me. “He wanted me to drink from one of the humans.”
In a way, this was worse than if William had cheated on me. At least that would have been William’s choice. Instead, he had been forced to do something that went against everything he believed in and he’d done it to protect his sister. “You did it,” I said, not needing to ask it as a question.
“He picked a girl that looked like you, Grace.” The tormented look on William’s face said that he was still haunted by the memory. “I only drank a little, just enough to satisfy Drake. I was able to control myself, but it was hard. When I got back to the Darkness and saw you…smelled you…” He trailed off without finishing.
“That’s why you were so aggressive,” I said, finally understanding what had happened between us. “You almost bit me.”
“I know.” He swallowed hard and looked away. “I’m so sorry about that, Grace. I didn’t expect it to be so hard to resist after just one little relapse. But your blood has always been different than other human blood, it has always been more tempting.”
I put a hand on his shoulder. “You did resist, though. You didn’t bite me. You didn’t hurt that girl. You are still in control, William.”
“Barely.” He looked at me again. “I’ve had to drink a lot of donated blood just to keep the urges at bay. Being with you is hard, Grace.”
“You should have told me sooner,” I said, feeling ter
rible. “I would never have asked you to be with me tonight if I’d known what it was doing to you.”
“No, Grace. Not being with you would be a million times harder than being with you. I can handle it. I would do anything to be with you.” He put a tentative hand on my leg. “Please, don’t push me away now. I promise I will get this under control.”
There was such urgency in his eyes that my heart ached. “I’m not going anywhere, William. I believe you, but I think we would be fooling ourselves if we don’t revisit my suggestion that you try drinking from me.”
“No way.” He shook his head furiously. “That’s never going to happen, Grace.”
“William, you have to at least consider it. Just a small amount of my blood could help you control the cravings and it would protect you from my abilities. It will make you stronger and you are going to need your strength with all the challenges we are going to be up against. I trust that you will control yourself with me, just like you did with that other girl.” My stomach twisted painfully at the thought of William drinking from someone else, but I did my best not to let it show.
“You know what the prophecy says,” William reminded me. “If I can’t control myself and I drink too much of your blood, I could kill you.”
“And you would turn human,” I said, finishing the part of the prophecy that William never liked to discuss. “You don’t have to pretend that part of the prophecy doesn’t exist. I know that you would never drain my blood to make that happen. I trust you.”
I knew that William would give almost anything to be human again, but he would never risk my life for that chance. If all he wanted from me was my blood, he could’ve drained me a long time ago. I took his hand and turned it over, placing my own hand in it with the palm facing up. “Just try, William. For me.” When he didn’t say anything, I added, “I can always use my power to make you stop.”
“Are you sure this is what you want?” He looked hard into my eyes.
I nodded. “This is what I want.”
It took almost a minute for William to lift my hand to his lips. He pressed his lips to the center of my palm and breathed deeply. Still looking into my eyes, he moved his lips to my wrist and I could feel his fangs grazing my skin. His jaw moved almost imperceptibly as he bit down and I gasped from the pain. When I saw the worry flash in his eyes, I said, “Keep going. I’m fine.”