Raven ran so quickly that everything was a blur. The fact that we were alone dawned on me. “I thought you said there were other vampires with you.”
“I am sorry, Charity, but I lied.”
Anger pulsed through me. “Levi! I screamed.
“I am afraid it is too late, my love. We are much too far away now. He could not possibly hear you.”
I cried heavily, resting my head on his shoulder in pain and defeat. My mind became heavy with despair, and I asked myself what did it matter without Levi? What did anything matter? Suddenly my head perked up and I inserted my fingers in my mouth, but before I could whistle Raven covered my face causing darkness to fall upon me.
I woke with a start and was instantly overwhelmed with grief. I sat up in confusion only to realize I was lying in an oversized bed in the middle of a huge bedroom. As my mind cleared, I got quickly to my feet and ran to a set of French doors at the end of the room, flinging them open widely. I stepped out onto a small balcony and noticed it was still nighttime. I couldn’t see much and had no way of knowing where I was, or how far away Levi was. In a desperate move, I whistled, just praying for a miracle. I started to whistle again when Raven grabbed me.
“Stop that!” he demanded as I fought against him. “He cannot hear you! We are too far away!”
I stopped, crumpling to the floor as the tears came and despair took over.
“Really, Charity, you disappoint me. I thought you were stronger than this.”
I glared up at him. “Why do you want me anyway if I love someone else? What’s wrong with you men? Is this the I-want-what-I-can’t-have syndrome?”
“So, I take it I am not the first one who has taken you from Levi.”
“No, but you’ll be the last. Once I get back to Levi, I’m never leaving his side again.”
“Oh you are right about one thing, I will be the last, and you will never see Levi again.”
I stared at him in shock, tears streaming down my face.
“I wish you would not do that. It has been a long time since I have witnessed a woman’s tears, and I clearly do not enjoy it.”
“I don’t give a fly’s guts!”
“Careful, Charity, you might be angry with me now, but you will come to care for me, you will see. I will have some clothes and food sent up for you. Feel free to shower. I am sure it will make you feel better.”
I glared at him in anger. If my eyes were daggers he’d be staked to the wall.
Once he was gone, I banged my fists against the hard, wooden floor. It did little to ease my pain, actually adding to it. After I finished my temper tantrum, I went into the bathroom, stripped my clothes off, and looked in the mirror. My body was still bruised from my fight with the redheaded Broom Hilda. I was so glad I killed her. I turned on the shower, got the water nice and hot, and stepped in. And once I was in, I started crying uncontrollably, my body convulsing in pain. I somehow managed to wash my hair and body in between sobs. I rested my head and hands against the shower wall, allowing myself to be completely swallowed by the pain. My spirit—crushed, my resolve—gone, my heart—broken, my life—over.
When I finally exited the bathroom, Raven was lying across the bed waiting for me. Beside him was a beautiful, long, pink gown.
“Please, Charity, wear this. It will be much more comfortable than those dirty jeans you are wearing.”
Lethargically, I took the dress and went back into the bathroom, not wanting to argue, and not really caring. When I emerged he was still lying in the same position. He hadn’t moved an inch.
“You look lovely. Come lay with me.” He patted the bed with his hand. All of a sudden my stomach rolled with nausea. I knew I was going to have to lie convincingly to get out of what he was planning. I didn’t know exactly what he expected, but my mind could only imagine. I had to make him believe my lie. Everything depended upon it.
“Raven,” I began, trying to keep the panic out of my voice, “you were right when you said I was mad at you. I want more than anything to go home to Levi, and I wish you hadn’t taken me from him. I can’t have a relationship with you. I’m consumed with thoughts of Levi. If—you would give me some time perhaps I will feel differently.” My hands were visibly shaking.
I prayed silently that he believed me and would be convinced enough to leave me alone, for the time being. I knew it wouldn’t work forever, but I also knew I wouldn’t last forever. I already felt myself becoming weaker. My heart was broken, and the knowledge that death would soon come was strangely comforting.
“Well, I guess I could give you some time to grieve. I want you to want me, after all. Okay—you may have your time. Now come lay with me. I want you to eat, and then we will sleep.”
I sat up gasping for air as the nightmare woke me. But too soon I realized it wasn’t a nightmare at all, but reality. The vampire was there and tried to soothe me, but this was his fault. I became angry and slapped him. He grabbed my arms and held me down and tried to kiss me, but I swung my head from side to side. He grabbed my face and tried to force a kiss.
“No, Raven, please,” I begged, crying heavily. He must’ve taken pity on me because he released me and vanished out of sight. I turned over and continued to cry until I fell asleep from pure exhaustion.
“Raven, let me out of here! I’m not some pet you can keep locked up!” I yelled against the door. I had awakened to find myself locked in. I gave up and went to the French doors, opened them, and stepped out onto the balcony. I could see the beautiful grounds below me. There beyond the grounds I could see a forest. I knew that if somehow I could get to that forest then perhaps I could get back to Levi. It was too far down for me to jump. I glanced over and noticed another balcony. It was close enough that I thought I could jump to it. I threw my legs over the rail and took a few deep breaths. It would’ve been so much easier if I had on my jeans, and then I jumped across. I grabbed the railing and held on. Once I realized I made it, I climbed over the railing and onto the balcony. I opened the French doors that led into another bedroom. It was empty. I ran across the room and through the door. It led out into a beautifully decorated hallway. The house was huge, a mansion perhaps. I ran down the hall as quietly as I could. At the end of the hall was a winding stairway. I darted down it swiftly, my eyes focused solely on the door beyond. A vampire stepped in front of me, but I was going too fast to stop. I plowed right into him, knocking myself to the floor. I looked up at him in disbelief, realizing that I had never seen him before. He was very handsome, almost as handsome as Raven, but older.
“You must be the one causing all our trouble,” he said.
I jumped up as he started toward me, instinctively backing up until he had my back pressed against the far wall.
“The pack would be dead right now if it were not for you. Hmm, what is it that Raven sees in you anyway? You are beautiful, that is for sure, but he has never been drawn to human women before. Why you? He sniffed me, and then he moved my hair, pulling my dress back as if looking for something.
I slapped his hand away. “Do you mind?”
“I see he has not bitten you yet, but it does not matter. Now that he has taken you there will be a war regardless. See what you have done?”
Oh boy, weak or not, that was it. “Excuse me! I don’t know who you think you are, but this is not my doing! I was kidnapped by Raven and brought here against my will! All I want to do is go home to my husband!”
“Well, there is no going home now. Raven crossed the line and your pack will never rest until we are all dead.”
“I fail to see how that’s my problem. What did you think would happen by attacking my pack? That the wolves would forgive you and everyone would live in peace. You wanted a war, you bloody leech! And now you’ve got one!”
Before I had time to register what was happening, I was flying across the floor, my head smacking into the far wall. I watched in a blur as Raven appeared out of nowhere and kicked the vampire in the chest, sending him sailing into the air. He flip
ped and landed softly on his feet.
“She is mine, Griffin, and you had better not touch her again!” he growled.
“You are willing to start a war over this human girl? This alpha will not rest until he finds her and destroys us. Need I remind you they outnumber us? That is why we always attack them when they least expect it, so we have the element of surprise on our side, but this girl blew that! And for that you brought her home with you? You fool!”
“I disagree. His pack killed our brother, and I took his alpha female as my own. Score is settled.”
“If it were only that easy my brother. You are either going to have to take her back, or you are going to have to kill her, Raven.”
“No I am not.”
“If she stays here, eventually they will trace her here.”
“Then we will move around a lot. Do not worry, Griffin, I have got it all under control. I know exactly what I am doing.” He picked me up and carried me back to the bedroom, sitting me down gently on the bed.
“Are you all right?” he asked, feeling around in my hair. “You have a mild concussion, but there is no blood.”
“I-I think I’m okay.” I couldn’t tell him that it didn’t matter if I were hurt or not. What was one more pain when the pain I was feeling was already so unbearable. I looked down at my left palm and drew in a quick breath. The tail of my connection symbol was beginning to turn black. Any hope I was still holding onto left me in that very moment. None of it mattered anymore. I was already dying, and if I was dying that meant Levi was also dying. That thought alone almost swallowed me completely.
“You should stay in here for a while until Griffin gets used to the idea of you being here.”
“Raven, why do you have me here? You have a bride, you don’t need me.”
He sighed and sat down on the bed beside me. “Remember when I said I loved someone once?”
I nodded.
“Well, you remind me of her. She had a lot of spirit, like you. She kept me in my place, and that was rare for the nineteenth century.” He looked sad all of a sudden. He stood, walked over to the dresser and opened it, pulling out an object. “This is Rose,” he said, placing the photograph in my hands.
She was very beautiful, with big, brown eyes, long, dark hair, and a lovely smile. “What happened to her?”
“She died. Her name was Rose Monroe and as you can see she was very beautiful. We were engaged to be married. My family and I went on a trip to Italy and we were to wed upon my return home. While we were in Italy, our home was invaded by a coven of vampires, mostly all female. They killed all of our maidservants and our mother. The females convinced the master vampire to spare my father, my two brothers, and myself because they liked the way we looked. Instead they turned us. I never returned home to Rose again. I could not. It would be too dangerous for both of us. I heard she eventually married and went on to have five children. Though I never saw her again, I kept up with her, secretly of course, until the day she died.”
“I’m sorry, Raven. Whatever happened to the coven that turned you?”
“As soon as we were strong enough we killed them all as revenge for what they did to us and to our mother.”
I didn’t know what to say. I wanted to comfort him, but I knew that was a bad idea. But I would be lying if I said I wasn’t moved by his story. At least I understood his motives a little better.
“I’m sorry, Raven, for your loss and your pain, but I’m not Rose. I love Levi. Maybe if I had met you first things would be different, but I didn’t. I can’t change how I feel. Please, just let me go home to Levi, please.”
“I am afraid it is too late for that now. The damage has been done. Taking you home now would not change anything.”
“Yes it would. It would save my life.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Oh never mind. I’m too tired to talk about this anymore. Please, just let me rest.”
“Of course. I will bring something for you to eat. Please eat it this time.”
I shrugged.
He left, shutting and locking the door behind him.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Every day I became more and more frail. Raven tried to make me eat, but my will to live began to waver. I’d lost hope. It’s just as simple as that. I knew Levi would never find me. He was most likely too sick to attempt a search. And even if he could somehow manage to have a search party underway, Raven would keep moving me so that Levi would never get a lock on my scent. It looked like the love of my life was lost to me forever. Every time my eyes focused on my connection symbol, and its growing blackness, it was a comfort to know that death would be coming—putting an end to the pain my broken heart was causing.
Raven spent the evenings telling me stories of his early life—his human life. Despite what I wanted to believe, he really wasn’t the monster I first thought him to be. Based solely on his actions, I was beginning to think maybe somewhere deep down he genuinely cared for me. The fact that I reminded him of the love he once lost was evident. He missed Rose very much.
By early Friday evening I was so weak every movement was a labored effort. Raven had spent the entire day pacing my room trying to figure out how to make me well, but nothing he did worked because he didn’t understand the power of my connection to Levi. No one did. Our connection gave deeper meaning to the words ‘soul mate’.
“Charity, what can I do? Tell me what to do,” he said in a desperate but surrendering voice.
I turned my head slowly to peer at him. “Take me home—to Levi.”
He face turned sad as he studied me for a long moment. He closed his eyes briefly and then smiled. All at once, he lifted me gently in his arms, walked over to the balcony doors, and kicked them open, jumping off onto the ground below.
I was aware of him running for quite a long distance when he finally slowed his pace to a walk. My heart leaped with hope when I heard a wolf howl in the distance. I looked on in disbelief as Raven cautiously approached a huge and snarling werewolf, his eyes glowing with the anger he possessed. When the werewolf glanced down at me, recognition registering in his golden eyes, he stopped, and after a brief moment, shifted into his human form. I gasped. It was Hector. I felt a shifting below me as Raven laid me gently into Hector’s arms. Hector then gazed down at me with a huge smile, but his expression of relief quickly turned to fear.
“She is very sick. I only hope I did not wait too long,” Raven said to Hector before looking down at me again. “Goodbye my angel, please forgive me. I did not realize the depth of your love, nor could I ever understand it. I only hope I see your lovely face again someday.” He leaned down and pressed his lips to my forehead, ignoring Hector’s growling. I was aware that other werewolves had formed a circle around him. I knew they were planning to kill him.
“Hector,” I said weakly, looking up to meet his gaze, “let Raven go. Please. Just this once, obey me. The war is over now, right Raven?”
“It is for my part.”
Hector reluctantly turned and nodded at the others, causing the werewolves to slowly disperse. I watched as Raven backed away cautiously before turning and disappearing into the forest.
I knew it was hard for him to let me go. Losing wasn’t something he was accustomed to doing. I also realized that he risked his own life to bring me back. He could’ve left me where the werewolves would find me, or even taken me to a hospital. But instead, he delivered me directly into the hands of his enemies knowing that he would most likely be killed once he was free of me. The thought warmed my heart, and I couldn’t hate Raven for what he’d done, because in the end, he made the right choice. He sacrificed his own desires to bring me back to the man I love.
Hector turned and carried me swiftly through the forest. He drew me close into an embrace.
“I missed you too, Hector,” I breathed.
“You’re going to be fine, Mrs. Charity, now that you’re home.” He almost believed it.
“How is he, Hector?” I
whispered into his ear.
“He’s been on the border of madness. He’s not stopped looking for you, and I believe he would’ve found you eventually, but—” He hesitated looking down at me, “I fear it would’ve been too late.”
“I have to get to him now.” I could feel myself starting to fade, and weakly lifted my hand to show him.
He stopped dead in his tracks. My connection symbol was completely black. His face registered alarm. He bolted through the forest in a blur of speed. I almost became nauseous. “Mrs. Charity, stay with me now. We’re almost there. Charity!”
I fought hard to stay alert, thinking solely of Levi. I longed to touch his face, to feel his lips on mine, to hear his heartbeat, to feel the heat of his skin, and to smell his all-too-familiar scent. It was those thoughts alone that kept me.
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