by Apryl Baker
Madame’s magic is older than mine, more experienced, but mine is raw power, its strength born out of desperation. Whatever is dead in Aleric knows Madame’s magic, and it struggles to hold on to the familiar, but Aleric himself is fighting, reaching out to me. Sweat beads my head as we struggle, my magic intent upon wresting control away from Madame, and hers just as determined to crush mine. She has the advantage because I was weak from lack of food, water, and now blood. The odds are stacked in her favor.
Except for one thing.
Aleric is full of my blood. The thought rattles through my head like some random fact I learned when I was little. Maybe I had. Maybe some of Gran’s stories stuck with me. Or maybe I know it because my magic understands it. My blood will call to his death and bind him to me in a way Madame’s can’t.
Aleric’s death brushes up against my magic like a cat rubbing on its owner’s legs. Bad analogy, but that’s what feeling the thing inside of him that is dead does to me. I caress it, tease it, tempt it to come to me. It purrs, and I use the magic in my blood, filling up every cell in his being to call it to me, to pull it away from Madame.
The link tethering him to Madame snaps and his eyes glow, only this time, they are waiting for me to fill them up with my own directions. I don’t want to do it, but if I don’t, it leaves him wide open for Madame to steal him back.
“Take us away from here, to safety. Now.”
The bite of the command in my voice is unmistakable. He staggers to his feet, picks me up, and then we’re running. I blink, trying to focus, but before I can do anything more, I black out, trusting Aleric to get us both to safety.
Chapter
Thirteen
The crackling of a fire arouses me from my oblivion. I snuggle closer to the warmth, my nose immersed in the smell of sandalwood, hazelnut, and the scent of winter. Aleric. I’m dreaming about Aleric. Dead or alive, the man is smoking hot. My hand roves up his chest, delighting every time his skin quivers under my questing fingers. I climb up his body, my mouth finding the salty taste of his skin. I lick the hollow spot at the base of his throat, trailing kisses up his neck.
A loud groan interrupts my dream. It is a dream…isn’t it?
Aleric shifts and I slide down him. He flips me and I’m on my back, his body blanketing mine. His nose ghosts along my jawline, lips trailing feather kisses in its wake. The feel of his lips is enough to make me moan and wrap my arms around his neck, pulling those very talented lips to mine.
Dream Aleric sure does know how to kiss. His fingers slide into my hair, tilting my head the way he wants it, and deepens the kiss. His death and my magic collide, roll around each other, and intertwine. We both groan at the feeling. It’s intense, and I feel it all the way to my core. My breathing hitches when our combined powers echo through each other. I come gasping up for air.
“Easy, Draga.” His lips nibble at my ear. “You are no’ well.”
My mouth pops open in a silent O. I’m not dreaming. Holy hell. And he’s not pushing me away?
I blink and stare up into his very concerned eyes. They are bright with lust, but the worry is as plain as day. I push at his chest and he moves up, but pulls me along with him. The rush of dizziness accompanies a swift jab of pain that strikes at my temple. My stomach rolls and the bile rushes up, and I barely manage to turn my head before I’m vomiting nasty green water.
How did I go from all hot and bothered to so sick I might actually be dying? Aleric holds my hair away from my face while my stomach empties itself. When it’s over, I collapse against him. What is wrong with me?
“Dis is no’ good.” Aleric’s chest vibrates against my ear. His heart is beating, the staccato loud and erratic. How does he have a heartbeat? He’s a vampire. “You need help.”
“Help?”
“Oui, ma fille.” He strokes my hair as he worries. “You be sick, de ghost sickness. No food or water, and now no blood. Dis is no’ good.”
“Where are we?” My gaze sweeps the room, lit up in shadows by the blazing fire. It looks like some kind of hunting cabin. There’s a makeshift kitchen in one corner, a bed in the other, and a chair in front of the fire. The stench of vomit wafts up and I gag again. One good thing about puking your guts out? You get over your kissing embarrassment real quick.
“In de swamp, ma fille.” He places a gentle kiss on the top of my head. I can feel his lips moving against my hair. “I swam until de sun was almost up.”
“You swam? In the swamp? With those…those…”
“Easy, Draga.” He pulls me tighter, wrapping himself around me. “Dey cain’t hurt you. You be safe, chere. Not’in’ touched you, I swear it.”
“What does Draga mean?” I clench my hands to stop them from shaking. Those things…I was in the water with them. Maybe God is real and really does work his miracles in small ways, because I was out cold.
“Is Romani.”
“Your English is better than Luka’s. He is always searching for the right word, but yours is good. You only miss a word here or there. Why is that?”
“He grew up in Romania. I did no’. I grew up here, in da swamp with de Cajuns who live here. I learn from dem and Madame.”
“How old were you when you were taken? Luka said they killed you. I thought it was recent. The pain that shook his voice when he talked about it…he hasn’t gotten over it. He’ll be happy you’re alive.”
Aleric grunts. “I’m no’ alive. I be good and dead.”
“I hear your heart beating, Aleric. Some part of you is still alive.”
“Your magic is wha’ drives my heart to beat. Your blood…” He stops, and I can feel the shame coming radiating off him. “Your blood is wha’ gives me life. I am sorry, chere. I wou’ no’ have done dat to you…”
“Shh.” I cut him off before he can get any farther. “That wasn’t you. It was Madame. I knew it the minute I looked into your eyes and then confirmed it when you started to speak. Nothing that happened was your fault. I am the one who is sorry. I never wanted to control you, to make you do something.”
“Non, ma petite sorcière de mort. Do no’ blame yourself. I tol’ you to do it. I cou’ no’ fight her. I tried so hard, but it was useless.” Shame clouds his words. “I will no’ allow her to hurt you again. I swear it. From dis day, my life belongs to you.”
“No.” I sit up so I can look him in the eyes. “I don’t want to own you, Aleric. No one has that right. You are a person and you belong to yourself. Don’t ever let anyone tell you different.”
A gentle smile tips his lips. “I know, Draga. I did no’ mean you own me as Madame did. I said it wrong.” He takes my hand and places it over his heart. “You give me life. You give me hope. You make me see der is still good in people, even people cursed wit’ de devil’s gift. You protected my bro’der, protected me. I thou’ you wou’ give in to de pain, tell her where Luka is, but you didn’t. You are a good person, loyal, kind. I didn’t wan’ to see it. I thou’ you were like Madame. One taste of the devil’s magic and you wou’ be just like de rest. You would give in to de dark that calls out. But you didn’t. You resisted and you tried to help me. Dat is why you have my respect. Dat is why I pledge my life to protect yours, Draga. Forever.”
His heartfelt words rattle me. I didn’t expect this from the man who only a few days ago wanted to string me up and feed me to the gators.
“You live here now, Draga. In my heart.”
Another wave of dizziness hits me and I sway, blinking back tears as his words touch my own heart. No one has ever spoken to me like that, looked at me with such emotion in their eyes. It reminds me of the way Luka looks at Alex, and it gives me tingles.
Aleric catches me before I fall flat on my face. My stomach heaves as the walls spin. What is wrong with me?
Aleric holds me while I heave, my stomach empty, but doing it damnedest to push something up. His concern has morphed into fear. “Dis is goan to kill you. Do you trust me, Draga?”
Do I? He risked his life to save me. He did save
me. If that doesn’t merit a little trust, I don’t know what else would. “Yes, Aleric, I trust you.”
“I am goan to do som’den dat will help you heal.”
I keep my eyes closed, my face pressed against the soft wool rug in front of the fireplace. “I hear a but in there, Aleric.”
“But it will bind you to me, juene fille. For as long as I live, it will bind you to me.”
“I don’t understand.” The walls spin faster and faster. My head pounds and my stomach is churning. “Just do it, Aleric. If it will make this stop, just do it.”
He pulls me up off the floor and my head falls to the side. I seriously think I’m dying here. “Listen careful, Draga. I need your permission to do dis or it woan work. Say the words.”
“Yes, Aleric, you have my permission, just make it stop, please.”
His eyes grow intense, the green swallowing up the pupils and the whites until I’m staring into a lake of green fire. The air in the room gets sucked out and I’m in a vacuum; all I can see are those eyes. The sensation of falling forward causes my stomach to protest, but before I can topple into the water, a warm wind picks me up. I barely register the fact Aleric pulls a pocketknife out and slices open my palm and presses it to his lips, his tongue licking the blood clean.
It’s not until he begins to speak that I register what he’s doing. I’ve read enough vampire novels to grasp the enormity of what I agreed to. It is not something I want. I open my mouth to protest, but he is too quick.
“Flesh joined to flesh, blood joined to blood, hear this call, and join us now forever unto all.” His arm is thrust at my mouth. I struggle, but I am no match for his strength and his blood is filling my mouth. It’s either swallow or choke to death. I swallow.
A wave of energy sweeps into me, joining with my own magic, seeking a place to rest, to call home. My necromancy reaches out and grasps it, pulls it to me like a long lost lover, and I gasp at the sensation. It feels like he’s caressing every inch of me, inside and out, places he shouldn’t be able to reach.
“Shh, Draga, just let it ride you. Let it in.”
That sounds so dirty, but I understand what he’s saying. The magic is trying to find a way to co-exist with my necromancy. They are dancing a duet, warring with each other, one trying to win out over the other. Like the fight I’d had with Madame earlier, only this fight is subtle. His magic is seducing mine. It feels like his hands are running over my skin, his mouth doing all sorts of things to my body. I clench, a moan escaping as the two warring factions collide and my magic finally concedes. I let his ride me as he said. It washes over me, through me, and settles until it’s invaded every cell, every fiber, every crevice. Aleric is inside me in places he was never meant to be.
I sag against him when the magic finally releases me, only it hasn’t, really. It’s there, it’s just quiet.
“You are mine now, Draga, and I am yours.”
With that, his mouth crushes my lips like an invading army, and I cling to his shoulders, my nails biting deep. Passion explodes, our combined magic making it all the more intense. My exhaustion goes out the window, and my anger melts away as he backs me toward the bed.
“Do you understand, Draga?” His words are hash, his breathing as ragged as my own. “Say the words.”
Words? He wants words when he’s set my entire body on fire with that kiss? All I want is to get him naked, and he wants words?
“Say them, Saidie.” He’s unyielding on this. My dress slides down my body and he pushes me until I fall on the mattress. “Tell me.”
“I’m yours.” And I am. I don’t know how it happened. I barely know him, but the truth hits me in my gut. Somehow fate decided I belonged to him, and him to me. His shirt gets tossed and I greedily drink him in. “Your turn, Aleric. I want the words.”
“I’m yours.”
And with those simple words, the world stands still and we’re both swallowed up by a desire we can’t control.
***
It’s much, much later when I finally manage to string together a coherent thought. I’m a healthy girl. I’ve dated, and the sex has always been good, but never in my life have I felt this…this shattered. My soul exploded. That’s the only way to describe it. Let it ride you, he said. He did that and more. I’m exhausted, but in the best way.
“Sleep, Draga. We must go when de sun comes up.”
“I can’t sleep.” I stretch lazily and he laughs, his hand curled around my hip, holding me close. “And just so you know, I’m pissed at you.”
He tips my head up so I’m looking at him, a wicked gleam in his eyes. “Wha’ else you require, jeune fille?”
I burst out laughing. The last time he asked me that he’d been spitting mad. Now he looks eager to please. “Not that.”
Disappointment fills his expression, but it doesn’t take away the twinkle in his eyes. “It was de only way to save you, Saidie. I wouldn’t have done it if dere was any od’er way. I am sorry, chere.”
“Somehow I don’t think you are sorry, you crazy Cajun.”
Laughter rumbles deep in his chest. He doesn’t deny it, which ignites my anger again. He went and bound me to him as his servant. Not my plan for my life. I don’t want to be bound to anyone. I fought to not force my will upon his, and now he’s gone and done precisely that to me.
“Be still, ma belle lumière. I did wha’ I did to save your life. You had lost so much blood, and as weak as you were…” He trails off, pulling me tighter. “You wou’ no’ have survived de night. It was de only way I cou’ protect you.”
“I don’t know what this thing is between us, Aleric, or if it will last…”
His fingers dig into my hips and he cuts me off with a kiss—a deep, demanding kiss. “You were saying?”
I roll my eyes at his highhanded tactics of distraction. “I don’t like anyone making me do anything, Aleric. I hated how I felt earlier when I took control of you. Hated it on a level I can’t even begin to explain. It wasn’t right.”
“And you be worried I will do dat to you?”
I nod.
“Hear me when I tell you, chere, I do not woan to own you or to control you. I gave you all of me, my gifts, my strength, my ever’thin’ just as you gave me the heart dat beats in my chest. I woan ever force you to do anythin’. I promise.”
“Will you tell me what happened to you? Luka said you were dead.”
He grumbles and shifts until we’re both comfortable. “Dey came to our home, demandin’ Mama kill a child. She refused again and again. When dey grew tired of her refusal, men showed up and dey kill Papa and our sister. Luka, he try to stop dem, but he was so little, only a boy. I push him down and de men laugh. They take me and give me to Kristoff. He…he fed from me, so much I blacked out. I thin’ Luka thou’ I was dead because he saw me black out.”
“How old were you?”
“I was nine, and Luka, he was only seven.”
My heart breaks for them both, but I don’t say anything, waiting for him to continue.
“Madame, she decided I was to be used to feed dem, her children. It was only Kristoff and Antonio. Lucien came later.”
“You have been with her all this time?”
“Yes.”
Such a simple word, but it houses a wealth of ghosts and inner demons. The few nights I was with Madame, it almost turned me into a raving nutcase. To spend a decade or more under her thumb, suffering God knows what? How did he survive it?
I yawn, and Aleric rubs my back in lazy patterns. “Has de wailing stopped?”
“No.” The wails of the damned I’ve been able to block out so far, but I have a feeling that’s temporary. Aleric’s next words confirm it.
“De spell…it is a dark one, a curse. It will only get worse wit’ each hour.”
“We need to get home, to Sabien and Bree.” They’ll know how to fix this. Even now, the wailing gets stronger every time I let them in just the tiniest crack. I have a feeling it won’t be long before madness sets
in.
“Home?”
I nod. “It’s time to go home, Aleric, home to West Virginia.”
Part II: Alexandria
Chapter
Fourteen
I knock on the door, but get no answer. Expecting this, I knock harder.
Mrs. Walker called me, very nearly in hysterics. Saidie came home. Not a good sign. My uncle sent her to study with a necromancer he knew so she could gain some control over her new abilities. It wouldn’t do to have the neighborhood pets crawling out of their graves and following her around like the Pied Piper.
We didn’t expect her back before late March, at the earliest. Her mother had planned to go this week to file all the paperwork for her over at the college so she could take the semester off. Why is she back?
“Saidie, I know you’re in there!” I call through the door.
“Go away!”
“I’m not leaving. You know I’ll stand here all day.”
“Please.”
Her voice sounds hoarse and ragged.
My hand wraps around the doorknob and I pause, afraid to open it. Mrs. Walker wouldn’t tell me much. She looked terrified, though. That said more than enough. What will I find on the other side? Get a grip, Alexandria.
I push the door open and stare in shock at what I see.
Saidie isn’t curled up on the bed like I expect. She’s crouched in a corner, her eyes hunting the room. Every light in the room blazes, but in the corner where she hunkers down, the shadows gather around her like a cloak. I smell…decay. It tastes of mold and bitterness.
Saidie herself catches and holds my attention. Gone is the vibrant girl I’d seen only a week ago. Her gaunt face houses eyes that burn with a madness I’ve never seen before. She’s filthy. Dirt and grime cover every inch of her. Her hair hangs dirty and stringy around her face. Honestly, she looks more like an animal than she does human. What happened to her?