by Amy Richie
Elizabeth followed Dominick and Achilles followed Elizabeth from the room. I leaned my head back against the wall. I half-way considered slamming my head into the wall. It would certainly make me stop thinking of all the mess that we were in. That Nadia was in. And all because of me. Why did I have to be so bull headed?
I sighed and closed my eyes. Better not knock myself unconscious. Dominick would just come and stop me. I pinched the bridge of my nose. No way would I cry. And no way was I going to lose it. My breath shook when I breathed, but my eyes stayed dry.
It was some time later that I felt someone sit beside me. Elizabeth’s pretty eyes lit up in a tender smile. “Did Dominick make you come over here to see if I was ok?”
Her teeth flashed. “Yes.”
“I am.”
“You don’t look so good.”
“Better than Nadia.”
“She will be ok,” she shrugged; unconcerned.
“How can you be so sure?” She shrugged again. “You don’t care about anything,” I snapped.
Her smile was kind. “It must seem that way to you my young friend. But I have learned a lot in my years.”
“And you think she’ll be alright,” I persisted.
“I cannot give you false promises my love.”
“What can you give me?”
She smiled but I couldn’t tell if she was amused or sad. “There will come a time in your life when you will realize what truly matters to you.”
My eyes narrowed. “Are you saying…?”
“I am saying that to me, an old warrior, the life of one human makes very little difference.” I wanted to be outraged but I wasn’t. Her voice suddenly sounded so ancient. “I already have what matters most to me.” I followed her gaze to where Dominick stood his usual glare in place.
“Dominick.”
“I used to think so.” She looked back to me. “Dom used to be my world. He saved me, you know. I am sure you know the story.”
“Of your father.”
Her intake of breath wasn’t audible to my ears but I noticed that Dominick noticed. “He beat me and raped me nearly every night. I would have died at his hands.” She let her words stop so she could compose herself again. “When Dom first hid himself away, I was devastated.”
“You got over it though.”
“I still love him, but you are correct. My heart beats only for Achilles now. As long as we are together, other things in this life don’t matter anymore.” I regarded the fiery beauty sitting next to me with new eyes. I didn’t think she could be so romantic. “Tell me young Eva, what was Neleh like?”
“She was…different than you are.”
“Not many can measure up to me. That is hardly fair to compare us.”
“I just mean…she didn’t love…anyone.” I fumbled over the awkward words. “You know what I mean.”
“Was she crazy?”
I giggled despite my awkwardness. “Yeah. You could say that.”
“What was the craziest thing she ever did?”
Flashes of memory assaulted me, taking my breath. “She burned my book,” I blurted out.
“She burned your book? Was it a nice book?”
My nose crinkled with a smile. “No, I guess not.” She made a face and we both laughed. “When I disobeyed Neleh, she locked me in a room with no light. The warriors would attack me from the dark, breaking my bones and piercing my skin.” She didn’t laugh. “It was terrifying. I tried so hard to be good.”
“This one is worse than the book.”
“When I was ten or eleven I could only scream and cry out. But as I got older, I was able to fight them off.”
“Do you not hate Neleh?”
“I admire her.”
Her eyes grew tense but she immediately relaxed. “So you are crazy too?” She winked.
“Maybe I am.” I wriggled my eyebrows dramatically.
“I will never understand humans,” she said shaking her head. We sat with each other in silence until an unspoken call took Elizabeth from my side.
I watched David closely, feeding off the distress I saw there. Eventually my eyes closed without any conscience thought. I was awakened later by the sounds of a whispered conversation.
“Will you leave again?” Elizabeth’s sultry voice asked.
“I haven’t decided yet.” She was talking to Dominick.
“She’ll come around.”
“Maybe.” I heard his heavy sigh. “I don’t know.”
“Dominick…”
“We’ll be there soon,” he cut her off.
Almost there? How long had I slept? I stirred slightly to warn them that I was awake. “Hey.” Claudia was suddenly in my face, causing me to be on the defense. I sprung onto my feet and crouched low. “You’re insane, come on,” she reached to take my hand but my instincts were still on high alert.
I brought my knee up and caught her directly in the stomach. The motion caught her off guard, that was the only reason she made any noise at all.
The next chain of events was instantaneous. Marcus rushed at me in defense of Claudia. In his blind rage he slammed me into the wall. I felt it crack against the metal with a sickening sound. My instincts completely took over.
I reached up and broke a piece of the metal ladder above me. It felt good in my hands, natural. I no longer saw anyone else in the room, only my opponent. And Marcus turned into the warrior he was. His nostrils flared with the challenge.
“Marcus, stop it.” I heard Claudia but neither of us paid her any attention. Mere seconds had passed. My eyes never left Marcus’s eyes.
“Brother, do not make me fight you.” Dominick’s voice sounded far away but I knew he was close.
Marcus slammed his fist into the wall, but I refused to flinch. “Do you challenge me human?” he snarled.
I growled deep in my throat.
Chapter Forty-Two
Marcus was the first to relax his stance. Claudia put herself in between the two of us. “Are you going to fight me?” she demanded angrily of him. He relaxed immediately, seeming to remember where he was. He looked at me over her shoulder with a look of slight horror on his face. “What do you think you’re doing? You could have hurt her.” Her voice became shrill with her anger.
“I didn’t.” He tried to laugh it off, but sounded strangled. “Dominick wouldn’t have let me.”
Somehow, Dominick managed to be by my side. Maybe he had been there the entire time. Probably. At least he hadn’t tried to touch me. I was grateful for that. “Come along dear,” Elizabeth half whispered in my ear.
Awkwardly, unwillingly; I turned away from Marcus. It wasn’t easy for me to relinquish my crude weapon but I was able to give it up to Dominick. “It’s ok,” he said gently. I focused only on his face but I still heard Claudia berating Marcus.
“No one blames you, Eva. Clearly this idiot over reacted,” Claudia spoke to me but Dominick didn’t let her come any closer.
How had this all started? I tried to force myself to remember what had triggered my reaction. I had struck Claudia first. It was I who had overreacted. “I didn’t hurt you did I Claudia?” I asked, calm now.
“Of course she is ok.”
“Don’t worry about me at all. I wouldn’t even have known you were being serious if mountain man over here hadn’t acted like a fool.”
“He was only trying to protect the one he loved.” I was surprised that Dominick would defend someone who so obviously wanted to hurt me.
Marcus looked properly contrite. “I am sorry about that Eva, old habits die hard.”
“I would have hurt you too,” I reminded him. It irritated me when they all laughed. I ground my teeth together.
“I must say, Eva, you are a gem. A little spitfire,” Achilles commented with a grin. “You weren’t going to back down.”
“I am so glad that I amuse you, Achilles.” I was entirely too close to punching him and that would have only generated more laughter. I scrunched my face and stomped to where
David sat with Nadia, seemingly unaware of all that had transpired.
“Her pulse is dropping.”
Mine sped up. “How far are we?”
“Twenty minutes or so.”
Since when is David not exact? “How’s she doing?”
“Did Claudia talk to you?”
I rolled my eyes. “No.”
“She didn’t give me a chance,” Claudia came up behind me.
“To tell me what?”
“We are going to give her another injection.”
“Why? I mean is that safe?”
“Not entirely, but we need her to be strong enough to get to Blakesly House.”
After the injection, Nadia was almost like herself. Her lips were pale and shaking and dark circles ringed under her eyes. But at least she was smiling.
“Paris will be waiting for us with an auto,” Marcus announced. He seemed so excited, putting our incident completely out of his head.
The sun was blinding outside of the shuttle. I flinched back, right into Dominick’s hard chest. He didn’t smile at all, just helped me to right myself.
As expected, Dominick went into protective mode on the way to the auto. It wasn’t that far of a walk but he hovered far too close to my shoulder for comfort. “I’m sure I can manage to walk all by myself.” I shoved against his chest but it was like a brick wall.
“I’m sure you can,” he replied with no amusement.
It made me uncomfortable that I noticed how different Dominick was with me. He seemed distant and his expression was hard. When I caught his eye, he glared and looked away. Why should I care that something was wrong with him? Why would I even notice?
The auto came into view and the man that stepped out of it made me falter in my steps. Paris Letrell looked exactly like Marcus. They were brothers, maybe even twins.
“Paris!” Marcus embraced the man with fervor.
“Marcus, look at you. You look like an old man.”
When I looked closer I could see the differences between the two. Paris had a more youthful look. The dark circles under Marcus’ eyes and the pronounced five o’clock shadow did indeed make him look older. Or maybe not older, just more rugged. More stressed.
“And you must be Eva.” When he turned his beautiful dark eyes to me, my jaw dropped. “I am called Paris,” his voice purred. I felt my face heat up. “Dominick, you certainly have chosen a beautiful woman.”
I tucked my hair behind my ear and ducked my head. No one had ever called me beautiful before. “Paris, you would flirt with anyone that had two legs,” Elizabeth accused. “Let us be on our way. You will be lucky if I don’t tell Alexis.” She shoved her finger into his chest. He grinned widely, unaffected, and nodded in my direction.
“You will be sad to hear sister that Lexi is not currently at Blakesly House.” He turned to open the door. “It may be a tight fit.”
“Where is she?” We all piled into the vehicle, sitting on laps and in the very back. I squished onto Dominick’s lap in the backseat next to the window.
It wasn’t until Paris had us on the road that he answered Elizabeth. “She’s in India,” he said without turning, “at least I think so.”
“What is she doing in India?”
“The sisters ran into a werewolf infestation. The wolves managed to tear Maggie up pretty good.” My eyes grew wide. “And you know my Lexi.”
“She went to show them who is boss?”
“She’s a little warrior. You know Eva,” he looked back at me; “you and Lexi will get along great. You’re so similar.”
“They are not the same,” Dominick denied softly.
“Lexi just embraces her inner warrior.” I saw his smile through the review mirror. “One day Eva will too.”
“Eva was trained to be a warrior. It’s not in her heart,” Achilles spoke as if he knew me.
Time to change the subject. “Aren’t you afraid for her to be fighting werewolves?”
“I am fearful every time I can’t see her, but I learned from the very beginning that she can hold her own. If I try to hold on to her too tightly…well, she wouldn’t appreciate that.”
“He doesn’t often let her go so far alone, especially with wolves involved,” Elizabeth added.
“But I wanted to see my brother.”
It was hard for me to believe all that Neleh had told me about the Letrell’s when I saw them together. They seemed kind and obviously they cared greatly for one another. Marcus and Achilles laughed heartily behind me at something I didn’t hear. This only furthered my confusing feelings about these warriors that I was taught to hate. I sighed lightly.
“Behave boys,” Elizabeth scolded good-naturedly, “we’re almost home.” I heard the pride in her voice and the anticipation in the car was almost palpable. “Eva, keep watching out of your window. Blakesly House will be just around this bend.”
I obediently pressed my face to the window. As promised, when we rounded the curve the grand house stood strong and proud. It seemed to rise out of the hill it sat upon in all its formidable grace. The stone structure belonged in a different world. A world of heroes and Jane Eyre. My lips curved upward at the thought. It was a castle, and I loved it immediately.
The first time I had been to Blakesly House, I was unconscious. This was immeasurably different. I couldn’t tear my eyes away as we all emptied out onto the drive. I hadn’t seen Damien during my last stay. My heart thudded wildly at the thought of seeing him now.
Dominick left me standing by the auto alone. The others followed him, seemingly drawn to the house. Nadia’s hand found mine and I gripped it eagerly. We crouched closer together when the huge door opened.
Damien himself stepped out to greet us. “Welcome to Blakesly House,” he said dramatically; arching one eyebrow. His eyes rested for half a second on me then flickered over to include Nadia. He stood menacingly with no trace of kindness. His lips were stretched tight into a straight line. Nadia shivered beside me.
“Taking lessons from Bram Stoker, brother?” Dominick asked lightly.
Without warning, Damien’s whole face changed. He laughed heartily and thumped Dominick in the back. “I couldn’t help myself,” I couldn’t detect an accent at all, “it’s not very often we have guests.” He bounded down the steps to get a closer view of us. Nadia and I still clung to each other. He pinched my jaw with his two wide fingers. “Eva, I am glad to meet you.” He bowed dramatically, taking my face down with him.
“Don’t rip her face off you idiot,” Dominick scowled.
Elizabeth laughed with Damien. “Of course not.” But he didn’t let go. “I have heard much about you, young one,” he said in a voice with more tenderness than I thought he had.
“I’ve heard about you too,” I tried to say clearly through my scrunched jaw.
“I am sure you have.” He winked. “All lies.” He let go of my jaw so he could sweep his hands through the air. I doubted they were all lies, but I bit my tongue.
“And you must be the lost sister; Anya’s sister.” He turned his attention to Nadia.
“I am,” Nadia spoke bravely.
“What has happened to your hand child?” He gestured to her bandaged wound.
“The VC cut it off.”
“Eww.” He crinkled his nose as if he’d smelled something unpleasant. “That is unfortunate for you.”
I heard a slight chuckle from behind him but I didn’t turn to see who it was. I didn’t need to, I already knew. I bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself from saying something foolish. I let go when I tasted blood.
“Why do you bring her here?” No one said anything. “Kiera does not like for humans to come here. You of course are an exception,” he looked at me.
“Damien we want you to change her,” Claudia finally spoke.
“We need you to,” David added.
Damien’s eyes narrowed as he saw Nadia through their eyes. My heart took on a new rhythm. What if he didn’t change her? Suddenly my earlier worries about he
r changing fell away. It would be worse if she wasn’t changed. If she wasn’t changed, she would die.
Chapter Forty-Three
The shadows behind the opened door moved and Kiera appeared before us. I felt like I should bow to her but no one else did. “Don’t be silly,” she murmured softly, “I am not royalty.” Great, did that mean she could all my thoughts? That could get really annoying. “I am sorry if I annoy you my dear.” I’m sure my face turned every shade of red possible. Her lips twitched slightly but I couldn’t tell if she was smiling or not. Damien seemed to enjoy the exchange.
She turned her head to Damien, he turned to me, grinning widely. I pursed my lips and tried not to breathe too heavily. There were more important things at stake; I needed to keep my cool.
“I will show you to your room now,” Kiera said kindly. Was she talking to me? “Everyone else knows where their rooms are.” Her eyes twinkled. “You and Nadia may share a room. I thought you would be more comfortable that way.” Nadia and I both took a step forward at the same time. We followed Kiera through the door and into the entranceway. I had never given much notice to houses before but Blakesly House was magnificent.
A beautiful wide staircase opened up in the middle of the floor. The others trailed behind us as we made our way up the steps. The silence of the house was broken by their laughter. At the top of the steps Kiera turned to go right, but the others went left. I paused.
“Dominick will be just down that hall,” Kiera assured me. “Your rooms are down the east corridor.”
“I don’t care where Dominick is going.” Did I?
I cringed when I heard his voice next to my ear. “Do you need anything Eva?”
“No,” I managed to say.”
“My room is the third door on the right if you need anything. I won’t leave before talking to you.”
No matter how hard I tried to deny it, my heart still sped up at the thought of him leaving. “Ok.” I still didn’t make eye contact.
Nadia’s face pinched up. “We’d best hurry. If I am not mistaken, Nadia will need to lie down, and soon.” Kiera’s warning came as a gentle caress.