“We were slaughtered!” she burst out, her calm facade shattering beneath a violent wave of rage. “I was just a child when my family was executed. I escaped with a few others, and we hid, living like animals. But we planned, and began to search for others of our kind. And now there are more of us than you’ll ever know!”
As she finished her impassioned speech, her guards stepped forward, ready to do battle as Lenora turned her mad gaze on her son. “You’ve ruined everything, Raphe. I only kept that little Deschanel bitch alive tonight because I planned on teaching you a lesson. I was going to make you watch me carve her into pieces, feeding them to my boys here.”
“You sick bitch,” Ashe snarled, and together he and Raphe charged forward, meeting the Medeiros guards in the center of the great, high-ceilinged room. He roared for Juliana to stay back as they slashed and tore their way through the guards. From the corner of his eye, he watched as Raphe took his Medeiros form and neatly sliced one guard’s head from his shoulders, then had to turn and block a powerful blow aimed for his throat. Blood arced across the gleaming hardwood floor as Ashe drove his talons beneath another guard’s jaw, ripping open the bastard’s venom sac. Lenora held back during the gruesome battle, allowing her guards to do the fighting. They were some of the strongest opponents Ashe had ever gone up against, but no way in hell was he going to let them win. He hadn’t survived a bloody war with his friends in the Specs team only to stand back and allow this psycho bitch to start another one.
And he sure as hell wasn’t going to let her lay a finger on his woman.
Fighting back to back, he and Raphe made short work of the remaining guards, and as the last one fell to the floor in a bloody heap, Raphe turned toward his mother. “It’s over,” he rasped, his chest heaving from the ragged force of his breaths. “Surrender, and I’ll let you live.”
“Like hell,” Ashe growled, a scowl wedging between his brows as he noticed Juliana edging her way around the side of the room. The wild look in her eyes worried him, since she had her bright gaze focused on Lenora.
“It’s the only way,” Raphe argued, failing to notice Juliana. “I’m not saying she doesn’t need to be punished for her crimes. But as long as she knows where the other Medeiros are hiding, she needs to be kept alive.”
Lenora seethed with rage. “You would do this?” she snarled at Raphe. “You would turn your back on all your kind? And for what?” she screeched, pointing at Juliana. “For that troublesome little whore?”
“Watch your fucking mouth,” Ashe warned in a low, deadly tone. But Lenora wasn’t listening.
Wishing she could reach one of the heavy swords that hung high on the room’s pale walls, Juliana continued to edge her way toward Lenora. If Ashe gave in to Raphe’s demand and allowed the woman to live, she knew it would be up to her to take the bitch down. It would be too dangerous to put her in the custody of the Council, who were obviously as corrupt as they were spineless.
“You’re not worthy of the Medeiros blood that runs through your veins!” Lenora screamed at Raphe, releasing her talons. “You never have been.”
Raphe shuddered with fury. “No,” he forced out through his gritted teeth. “What I haven’t been worthy of is my father’s blood that flows through me. You’re just a poison that’s destroyed everything in this world I ever cared for!”
“Then I might as well finish the job,” Lenora hissed, turning her hate-filled gaze on Juliana.
As Lenora ran toward her, Juliana could hear Ashe shouting for her to get back, his long legs racing across the floor in his desperation to reach her. But Raphe had been closer to the place where she stood, and it was his body that leaped in front of her just as Lenora struck. Juliana let out a high-pitched scream, everything seeming to happen in slow motion as she watched Lenora’s claws rip across Raphe’s throat, nearly taking his head. Blood spurted in a thick spray, pouring over her as his body crashed into hers, taking her to the ground. Her hoarse cries echoed through her head, so loud they drowned out all the other sounds around her. But she could see Lenora, a maniacal smile on the deranged woman’s face as she quickly turned to face off against Ashe. Terrified for Ashe’s safety, Juliana was trying to push Raphe’s lifeless body to the side, when she saw one of the heavy battle swords swing through the air. It struck the side of Lenora’s neck, taking her head from her shoulders in the blink of an eye. Her lifeless body slumped to the floor, blood spilling over her pristine white suit in a thick, sluggish pour.
And then Ashe was tossing the sword aside as he crouched down on his knees beside Juliana, his face tight with concern. He lifted Raphe’s body away from her, and pulled Juliana into his arms. Holding her tightly, he carried her to the far side of the room, away from the bloody carnage, before setting her back on her feet.
“Is it over?” she asked, staring up at him in confusion, her mind overwhelmed by all that had happened.
He nodded, looking as if he very much wanted to pull her back into his arms, but was…unsure it was where she wanted to be.
“Thank God,” Juliana whispered, covering her face with her hands as the enormity of what they’d been through crashed over her. She took a hitching breath, trying to hold it together, but couldn’t. Giving in to the burning need inside her, she threw herself against Ashe’s chest…holding on to him as tight as she could.
And that was when the tears started to fall.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
TWENTY-FOUR HOURS LATER, Juliana and Ashe still hadn’t slept.
After the battle at Lenora’s château, they raced to Rome. With the evidence that Alex had dug up in their hands, the Granger brothers confronted the Council and gave the leaders absolute hell. They demanded all the high-ranking officials within the Deschanel Court be present, and before the end of the meeting, all charges had been dropped against Juliana’s family. In addition, the Sabins’ lands and wealth were restored, with interest. Thanks to Ashe’s friends, word of this wonderful news was already on its way to the Wasteland, and a private Court escort would arrive within days to transport her family back to their nesting grounds.
Though Ashe had wanted nothing less than the Council’s blood, Juliana and Gideon convinced him to take the official route and file charges against the corrupt leaders. An investigation was currently under way to determine how the charges should be handled. Before it was over, Juliana had a feeling the Council would have undergone many changes, but it was about time. There needed to be fail-safes in the Deschanel system of government to keep what had happened to her family from happening again—as well as to ensure that maniacs like Lenora Delacourt never again attained positions of power.
In addition, an official search was being conducted for the remaining Medeiros. Once the vampires were tracked down, they would be given a choice: live under clan law within the Deschanel Court, where they could be monitored…or imprisonment. The investigative team would start by searching Lenora’s château near Marseilles for any documents or information regarding the Medeiros, and Juliana asked Gideon to make sure that Raphe’s body was given a proper burial.
Ashe also assigned a group of Förmyndares to search for Raphe’s sister, Jessica, and she prayed that they found the girl soon. The soldiers were checking all of Lenora’s properties first, and hopefully it wouldn’t be long before Jessica was rescued and returned to her mother’s family, who had been thrilled when Ashe contacted them with the news that a search had begun. They’d feared Jessica had been killed when she’d been kidnapped, and were praying for her safe return.
When the last of the arrangements were finally in place, they shared a quick meal with Gideon, who was relieved to have his brother back in one piece, before heading off to find a hotel. Though Ashe wanted to take her to the apartment he kept in Naples, neither of them was in any condition to make the journey, as exhausted as they were. Instead, Ashe told their taxi driver to take them to the Hotel de Russie, where he booked them a suite for the night. They showered separately in the suite’s two luxurious bat
hrooms, and while Ashe was taking a call from one of his friends on his Specs team, Juliana slipped into a T-shirt and panties and pulled back the covers on the bed in the smaller of the suite’s two bedrooms. She was closing the curtains on the windows, when she heard him say, “Is the fact that you’re in here meant to be some kind of message?”
God, she thought, closing her eyes as she savored the husky timbre of his voice, thinking it was the sexiest thing she’d ever heard. Then again, everything about Ashe Granger was sexy-as-sin…and twice as wicked.
Turning around, Juliana opened her eyes and found Ashe standing in the doorway with one shoulder propped against the door frame, his tall, mouthwatering body covered in nothing but a tight black pair of boxers. He had a few scrapes from the battle with Lenora’s guards, and more bruises than she could count, but they only accentuated his dark, dangerous beauty.
Coughing to clear the knot of lust from her throat, she managed to find enough of her voice to say, “I thought it might be a good idea if I gave you some space and slept on my own tonight.”
He crossed his arms over his broad chest, studying her with a deep, measuring gaze. Quietly, he asked, “Why’s that, exactly?”
She licked her lips, wishing she’d kept one of the hotel’s bathrobes on. “Well, things are different now.”
His eyes narrowed. “Like hell they are.”
“Ashe, please,” she whispered, not even sure of exactly what she was asking him for. “I wasn’t trying to upset you.”
As if sensing how unsettled she was, he softened his expression. “You’re a free woman now,” he murmured, smoothly changing the subject. “Have you thought about what you want to do?”
Baffled, she said, “I don’t have a clue.”
“If you hadn’t been banished, what would you have done with your life?” he asked.
“I…I don’t know,” she answered, the question making her feel ridiculously anxious. “I was such a different person back then. Just a naive girl with foolish dreams.”
His smile was gently encouraging. “Dreams are never foolish, sweetheart.”
She touched her fingers to her throat. “It was so long ago, I hardly remember. I…I guess I would have wanted to keep painting. I loved art.” Fear slipped down her spine, all those lost years spinning out before her. “But I couldn’t now. I mean, it’s been years since I’ve even tried to draw anything.”
Sensing her panic, he came to stand in front of her, his warm scent dazzling her senses. “There’s no rush,” he told her, the tender look in his eyes making her breath catch. “I just…I want you to tell me whatever it is you need to be happy. If you’ll tell me, I swear I’ll move heaven and earth to make it happen.”
Juliana pulled her lower lip through her teeth, just like she always did when she was troubled. Though her heart was dangerously opposed to the idea, she knew she had to be strong and do the right thing. “Ashe, I…I appreciate what you’ve done for me and my family. So much more than I can ever possibly make you understand. But we both know that this…thing between us was only temporary.”
“No, we don’t know that.” He caught her hand and pulled it to his mouth, his breath curling hotly inside her palm as he pressed a tender kiss to her skin. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart. For everything that you’ve been through, and for all the awful things I said to you last night. I know I was an ass, and you can spend the rest of our lives making me do penance. But I’m not going to let you just push me away. I can’t.”
She opened her mouth, trying to think of what she could say to convince him he was just feeling guilty, and that he didn’t really want to be with her, when he rubbed his thumb over her knuckles and asked, “Do you still care about him? Is that it?”
“What?”
“Raphe. Do you still care about him?” he rasped. “That was a pretty intense confession he made last night. I just wondered if it’d…if you…”
She struggled for a moment, trying to figure out how to explain the way she felt. “No,” she whispered. “I…I guess I feel sorry for the life he had, and I’m sorry for the terrible way that he died. But I…I don’t have those kinds of feelings for him.”
His eyes went dark with emotion. “I’m glad. I mean, yeah, it’d make me jealous as hell, but it’s more than that. I wouldn’t…” He paused, exhaling a shaky breath as he gently squeezed her fingers. “I wouldn’t want you to suffer because he was gone.”
“It’s okay.” She lifted her hand, cupping the side of his face, loving the silky heat of his skin. “Thank you for coming for me last night, Ashe. The day was so crazy, I don’t remember if I told you that. But…thank you.”
“Nothing could have kept me away,” he said in a low, velvety rumble. “Just like there’s nothing in heaven or hell that could keep me away from you now.”
“Nothing,” she whispered, “except for a cold, hard reality.”
His eyes took on a molten gleam as he stared down at her. “Reality is you and me,” he told her. “Together. Forever. So you had better start getting used to it.”
“What about trust?” she asked, closing her eyes as she sniffed back tears. “How can you want me if you don’t trust me, Ashe?”
“Jules, look at me.” He waited until she lifted her lashes, his voice a hard scrape of sound as he said, “I was an idiot. I’ll shout it to the rooftops if I have to, but I know that won’t be enough. But look at it this way,” he offered with one of those deliciously crooked smiles. “You can make me pay for it for the rest of our lives.” The smile slipped away, and his voice got rougher. “And I give you my word, on my soul, that I will never let you down again.”
“This is crazy,” she said unsteadily, completely undone by what he’d said, as well as the mesmerizing way he was looking at her. “We…we have to be sensible, because we both know that you wouldn’t want me if it weren’t for the Burning.”
With a quiet snort, he pressed her palm against the heavy beat of his heart. “You don’t know anything, sweetheart.”
Her response was soft. “I know you, Ashe.”
He took a deep breath. “No. You know the man I’ve been. But you don’t know the man I could be, damn it. The one you make me.”
She spoke in a frightened, breathless rush. “But you’ll…you’ll eventually find a way to have the Burning undone.”
A slow smile tucked its way into the corner of his mouth as he shook his head. “That will never happen, Jules, because I’m not interested in having it undone. I even stopped taking the ‘inhibitor’ I’d been given.”
She blinked with confusion and shock. “When? Why?”
“I threw it out when we were at Essie’s. And why do you think?” he asked, shrugging his massive shoulders. “I love you.”
She stared, stunned. “But you…you like your variety.”
Insult tightened his expression. “Let me get this straight. You think I’m going to fall in love with one woman and waste my time screwing around with another one? Jesus, Jules. What kind of jackass idiot do you think I am?”
“I don’t think you’re an idiot or a jackass. I just thought…”
He snorted again. “That’s your problem, sweetheart. You’re always thinking everything to death. For once, just turn your brain off long enough to listen to the rest.”
“I can’t,” she breathed out. Her eyes burned with tears. “Bad things happen when I do that.”
He took her face in his hands. “Wrong. A bad thing happened, and it wasn’t your fault. And now something good has happened, and you’ve got to learn how to accept it.”
The first tears spilled down her cheeks. “Oh, God, Ashe. I don’t know if I can.”
Watching the movement of his thumb as he brushed her tears away, he said, “When Gid and I were little, we asked my grandfather to explain the Burning to us. He told us that the magic happens for a reason, but that fate isn’t something that’s always kind. That sometimes men end up in situations that are more hell than heaven.”
“What
are you saying?” she asked, her voice little more than a croak.
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