Her aunt might as well have shot a steel pipe into her backbone. Avery stiffened and instead of crying like she thought she would, she felt heat. The heat of relief.
“I’d tell them to go to hell too,” she whispered.
Her aunt’s answer was a triumphant grin.
***
Now that her mind was made up, Avery couldn’t wait to get to the club. Surely Brennus would turn up this time. He had to be missing her as much as she missed him. And it wasn’t just him she missed. It was his weird, abstract world. It was fragmented. She was fragmented. But somehow it fit. She liked who she was in that world.
Sarah and Jemima kept tugging on her and asking her what was bugging her as she drew on to her tiptoes and tried to see over the crowds. She wanted to tell them but the truth was she knew they would never understand. Maybe they were still too young. Maybe life needed to happen to them more. Shrugging them off with a soft mysterious smile, Avery pushed through the dancing throng on the floor and swept the room for Brennus. Surely she would feel him if he was here. God, she wished he’d come. She wanted to dance with him so badly.
“Looking for someone?”
Avery whirled around, her heart stuck in her throat as she gazed up into the fiercely beautiful face of Anonna. “What are you doing here?”
Anonna sneered at her. “Correcting a mistake.”
Avery flinched as the woman reached for her, her slender fingers wrapping around Avery’s arm in a painful grip. The room blurred and spun around them and Avery stumbled out of the sensation and into a dank basement. Her heart was thumping so hard she felt sick.
“What do you want?” She backed away from Anonna. But the Ankou stalked her right into the cold brick of the basement wall. Her chilled hand slid up Avery’s throat, circling her neck gently but menacingly.
“I was going to let you live, you little fool,” she whispered, her eyes bright with anguish. “But you had to change your mind. You had to come to your senses…”
“How did you…?”
“I’ve been watching. Just in case. I knew you had to fall in love with him.” Her eyes brimmed with emotion, her lashes growing damp with tears. “He’s exquisite darkness.”
Remembering what Brennus had told her about this woman, Avery glared at her. “You didn’t used to think so.”
Anonna’s face sharpened. “I was a stupid, shallow mortal. I know what love is now. I know that you and Brennus can never be, because he and I are linked.”
Avery shook her head. “You’re wrong.”
“You think a silly little girl like you can have what we have? You can never understand Brennus like I do.” She wrenched back from Avery and Avery watched in confusion as Anonna turned, giving her, her back. And then she lifted the hem of her black shirt and drew it up so Avery could see her damaged flesh. Deep lashes, hundreds of them crossing over one another, marred Anonna’s pale flesh. The lines of those lashes reached down past the waistband of her trousers and Avery could only guess that her body was covered with them.
“How?”
Anonna spun back around, her eyes black with hatred. “I gave myself to a man who brutalised me. Despite what I had done to him, Brennus came for me and saved me from that existence. That’s the kind of man he is.”
Avery crumpled inwards. “You really do love him.”
“Yes.” For a moment there only silence, and then a tear slid down Anonna’s cheek. “When I first saw him, I was thrilled that’d he be mine. Other girls, my so-called friends, had married old, fat, rich Roman men and still Papa had not arranged a marriage for me. Instead he took me away from Rome when I was fifteen. I despised Londinium; but soon I began to enjoy the superiority of my high birth among many of inferior origin. At first when Papa told me I’d be marrying a non-citizen I was furious, the other girls would have sneered at me behind my back, so happy to see my downfall. They’d always been jealous of me. But my husband was young and handsome and rich. I thought I loved him just because… we were beautiful together.” She shook her head, a bitter smile curving her lips. “And then he was attacked in the street by that mad man and I wasn’t even frightened that he could have been killed. All I cared about was the hideous scar that took my beautiful husband and replaced him with someone people didn’t want to look at. I hated the thought of him touching me. And Brennus… oh my sweet Brennus, he was so patient. And all the while he pandered to my selfishness I was sleeping with his father.”
“Why?” Avery asked hoarsely, trying to keep the anger out of her question.
Anonna shrugged pitifully. “Because… he looked very much like Brennus. The Brennus I wanted. Not the Brennus that was. And then I fell ill and I couldn’t remember what happened, only that I had awakened to find Brennus was gone. I was angry. Angry and relieved. I was a hateful person, Avery. Hateful. I made many more foolish mistakes after that. And one of them brought me to where I am now. By the time Brennus came to me and explained what he had done for me, who he was, I was so damaged by what had happened to me I would have gone anywhere to be away from that vile man I had given myself over to. So I became Ankou. Brennus didn’t just leave me to stumble through life as an Ankou. At first he visited with me, helped me come to terms with what had happened to me. With it came perfect clarity, and I could see past that scar and into the soul of a man who had given everything for me. It took dying for me to finally love Brennus the way he deserved.”
Avery could feel the waves of pain rushing and undulating out of Anonna and hated the pang of anguish she felt for her.
This woman wanted to take Brennus from her.
“I am sorry, Anonna,” she whispered, “But I think for Brennus, it’s a little too late.”
A strained silence fell between them until Anonna made an odd choking sound. “This is terrible.”
“What?”
She shook her head, her light brown hair seeming black in the darkness of the basement. “You’re a sweet girl, Avery. It makes this so much worse.”
With the same intuition that had told her what Brennus was, Avery understood why Anonna had brought her to this basement; that there would be no talking her down.
The fear came back in air-crushing floods. “Anonna…”
Anonna shook her head. “He loves you. He’d choose you. I have to… I’m sorry.”
Avery had always imagined that if she found herself facing death she would be dignified. Stoic. Like Aunt Caroline. Chin up, eyes blazing with strength and resignation. That’s not the way it was. Avery was so scared her legs buckled and her chin trembled. Knowing you were going to die was terrifying. The helplessness was unbearable. She wasn’t ready. There was no peace. They lied. There was no peace.
“P-please,” she whimpered, shaking her head as tears streamed out of her eyes. “Please d-don’t,” her teeth chattered.
Anonna shook her head and looked away. “I love him.” The knife slid out of the sleeve of her shirt in a practiced motion.
“Oh god,” Avery beseeched, choking on hard sobs. Her legs gave way and she slid down the wall to the floor, watching as Anonna approached her slowly, the knife gripped hard in her hand.
This couldn’t be happening. This wasn’t supposed to happen. She was supposed to be with Brennus and Caroline was supposed to be saved and they were supposed to have the happily ever after thing that she knew just couldn’t be true but she had so hoped, oh god why had she hoped, she couldn’t have done anything worse than hoped. All that time wasted, dreaming about him, wanting him, all those books and research on the web about the Ankou… all that-
“Oh God.” Avery looked up sharply and Anonna stilled at the look in her eye.
“What?” Anonna asked hoarsely.
Avery shook her head as the answer came to her. She prayed the thick tome from the library had it right. “I’m so sorry.”
“What-”
“THANATOS, I SEEK AID AGAINST A FALLEN ONE!” She screamed, her face rushing with blood.
“NO!” Anonna shrieked.
A scut
tling sound, like a million cockroaches appearing from the dark, enveloped the room. Avery tried to shrink back against the wall as Anonna swung around, her eyes stark with terror. She brandished the knife. “No,” she whispered as the scuttling grew louder.
And then Avery saw it and her stomach clenched in absolute horror. Dark, misshapen shadows crawled along the walls and floor, all heading for Anonna. They swam towards her, in bobs and fits, the scuttling so loud it was a like a shriek. Anonna turned back to her, staring at her as if she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. And then she closed her eyes as the shadows swam up her legs, torso, chest, mouth… covering her in its shrill black ink until she was drowned in the entities grasp. With one last wail the shadows fell to the floor, disappearing and melting into nothing.
Avery stared at the empty spot before her, her heart slowing.
It worked.
Thank God.
During her research she had come across this passage about Ankou that broke the rules and stalked humans. It sort of majorly pissed of Thanatos who was kind of their leader, and if you called to him, he’d come and take care of the problem. Avery was so glad the scholar who’d written about it, knew what the hell they were talking about.
She blinked and tried to stand to her feet, but as she did the room spun and she fell forward, collapsing onto familiar wooden floors. She groaned and flipped over, staring up at the ceiling of her sitting room. Craning her neck around, she saw Caroline asleep on the sofa.
She closed her eyes in relief and sagged against the cold floor. “Where are you, Brennus?”
“I’m right here.”
She snapped her eyes open. He towered above her. He was the most beautiful sight. His scent enveloped her. She felt stupid tears prickle in her eyes and her lip trembled. “You came.”
Brennus glanced over at her sleeping aunt as though checking he hadn’t disturbed her, and then he knelt down beside Avery, hesitantly reaching out to help her sit up. “Are you OK?” He asked softly and she nodded, disappointed as he let go of her quickly.
“I’m fine.”
“I heard.” His face was dark. Dangerous. She knew that look. He was seething. “Anonna has been punished. She’s no longer an Ankou. She’s been sent into her afterlife.” He shook his head, regret in his dark eyes. “I am so sorry, Avery.”
“No.” She hurried to assure him. “Don’t. It wasn’t your fault.”
He waved away her reassurances and stood back up. “I just came to see if you were alright. I don’t know where you learned to do what you did, but I’m glad. I’m glad you weren’t hurt because of me. Goodbye Ave-”
“No!” She yelled and then bit her lip, glancing back to make sure she hadn’t woken Aunt Caroline.
Brennus stilled, startled by her exclamation. He frowned down at her. “What?”
Feeling a little unsettled sitting at his feet, Avery struggled to her feet and gazed up into his face imploringly. “Brennus… I- I miss you.”
His jaw clenched. “I miss you, too.”
“No.” She reached for him, clutching a hold of his arm, her fingers digging into his skin in desperation. “I mean, I miss you. Tonight I went to the club looking for you.”
His eyes widened and he clasped her hand tight. “Avery?”
She smiled softly, reassuringly, and then lifted a hand to silence him. In a hush, she went over to Caroline and stared down at her aunt’s peaceful, yet sickly face. Slowly, so not to wake her, she leaned over and pressed a gentle kiss to her aunt’s forehead.
Just as silently she returned to Brennus’ side to take his hand. “I want to make the deal.”
The colours of the room faded around her until she vanished from the Brooklyn apartment. The only evidence of her existence was her tiny teardrop that had dripped onto her aunt’s cheek.
It slid down off Caroline’s chin and splashed onto her favourite sweater.
Indelible. Eternal.
You Can Feel the Earth Shake
When They Start to Dance
They closed the deal. In more ways than one.
Avery stretched like a cat. A naked, satisfied cat. She smiled with her eyes closed and let Brennus pull her back into his body.
“I don’t ever want to get up,” she said softly, stroking a finger along his cheek.
He took hold of it and kissed it. “I know. But we have to.”
She grinned at the colour of his pallor. He was no longer pale. He was no longer Ankou. And she was no longer mortal. “Why? We have all of eternity to get up.”
The sheepish look he gave her made her draw back from him a little.
“What did you do?”
He sighed, rubbing his cheek with his fist. It was a gesture of his when he wasn’t looking forward to telling her something. “I may have promised the house to the new Ankou.”
She felt a twinge of disappointment. She loved the house. “But this is your home.”
“If I can use the old cliché, my home is wherever you are.” He pressed a soft kiss to her lips and she melted into him happily.
***
As they sat on the fire escape, peering inside her old apartment, Avery was glad that some of Brennus’ powers remained intact. Like not being seen by her Aunt Caroline as they watched her move around the apartment. She was wearing cycling shorts and a sports top, her sneakers squeaking against the hardwood floors as she rushed around getting her stuff together. There was no sign of the cancer. She looked younger than ever. Avery’s eyes prickled with happy tears. Brennus had given her such a wonderful gift. As Caroline passed the telephone cabinet in the corner, Avery spotted a picture of her parents instead of the photo of her at her prom.
Brennus had kept his promise. She hadn’t existed. No one remembered her to miss her. Avery thought she’d feel sadder about that. But the truth was… maybe she hadn’t ever existed.
“Brennus?” She asked softly as Caroline left the apartment. “Would you have taken Caroline away from me before her time, like you threatened?”
He stared deep into her eyes. “I wouldn’t have had to. She wasn’t going to last long.”
Avery took a deep breath. “But if she hadn’t been…?”
“Truth?”
“Truth.”
That ruthless glint she had seen in his eyes that first night was back. “I would have done anything to have you.”
She nodded slowly. He was being honest. There was a darkness in him. He had lived too long. Seen too much. And in the end he hadn’t taken Caroline before her time. Plus…Avery had chosen him, hadn’t she, despite all that. She shrugged to herself. There was darkness in everybody. She loved Brennus. Not the man she thought he should be. Maybe that made her dark and twisty like him, but at least it made her something.
“You glad you made a deal with the devil?” Brennus murmured in her ear, his arm warm and strong encircled around her back.
Avery smiled into his eyes and leaned forward to press a quick kiss to his mouth. “With this devil, yes.”
When he grinned back at her, she saw herself in his eyes. That person in there, shining back at her… that person existed. He and Caroline had made sure of it in the end. She brushed her fingers across his jaw in affectionate thanks.
“So what now?” He asked softly, glancing around them pointedly.
“Now?” Avery grinned and wrapped her arms around his neck, drawing him close. “Now… dance me home.”
The End
Read on for a Sneak Preview of Samantha Young’s upcoming Fantasy Romance ‘Slumber’...
Slumber (The Tale of a Sleeping Beauty)
…Sleeping Beauty may be the damsel in distress, but her White Knight? Why her rather un-knightish best friend of course. And the White Knight’s White Knight? Well… none other than her reluctant mortal enemy…
When Haydyn falls victim to the mysterious Sleeping Disease, the world of Phaedra is thrown into Chaos.
Rogan, Haydyn’s best friend and handmaiden, is the only one who can save her. Together,
with the Royal Guard and their young Captain, Wolfe Stovia, Rogan must set off across the provinces to find the Somna Plant that will wake Haydyn from her dying sleep.
Beset on all sides by the chaos, Rogan tumbles into a dark world of kidnapping, prejudice, betrayal and love… a journey that will change her forever, and a journey that will change their world forever, if she does not retrieve the cure.
YA Fantasy for Older Readers…
Prologue
When I was a child the world smelled of summer.
The heady perfume of the dancing wildflowers would hug my senses every time the breeze rattled their song and took them with it on its journey to soothe my cheeks from the heat of the afternoon sun. The relieving scent of the damp soil when the sun had pushed the sky too far and it wept rain for days on end, before wearily turning the world back over to its golden companion. The refreshing aroma of lemons in the thick air of the house, mixing with my mother’s baking as she prepared our afternoon repast of bitter lemonade and thick warm bread, slathered with creamy butter made cold from the sheltering shade of the larder.
And my father’s pipe.
The sweet odour of tobacco tickling my nose as he held me close and whispered the stories of our Salvation and the mighty Kral who lived in the grandest palace in all the land with his beautiful daughter the Princezna... how kind and gentle they were... the reason my private world was one of innocence and endless summer.
My memories of that life never leave me. The sounds of my brother’s laughter carrying back to my young, happy ears as we ran through the fields of gold and purple, racing over the farm to the brook that ran behind our land. The gentle trickle of that stream drew us each day; my brother for the rope swing he had looped around the strongest tree, the one with the trunk that seemed to bend towards the water as if thirsty for a taste of its pure relief. For me I was drawn to its coolness on my skin, its moisture in my dry mouth, its familiar smell... like damp metal and wet grass.
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