Blood Betrayed

by Gabrielle Bisset

  "And she was kind enough to give you her house? A very generous sire too."

  Terror raced through Solenne's body at his statement. She may have been unsure how much she'd mentioned concerning her past, but she was absolutely sure she'd never said anything about where she lived. The smug look he wore told her she'd been found out.

  It took every ounce of strength she could muster to remain calm, even as the sick feeling of pure fear turned her stomach. "Yes, sir. She has been very generous with me."

  Like an animal circling its prey, Verrater stood and walked around his desk to stand behind her. His lean form pressed against the spot between her shoulders and his smooth jaw touched the side of her face.

  "Onto those consequences, Solenne."

  Fear of what he'd say or do next made her hold her breath and her heart raced wildly, pounding against her chest. "Pardon? Sir?"

  "There can be no pardon, dear. But you may still save yourself," he whispered, grazing his teeth along the top of her ear.

  Desperate thoughts raced through her mind. If he knew who she was, he knew who she'd been protecting. Was he keeping her there while another assassin was ending Declan's life?

  "Does he know what you do when you come here, Solenne? Does he know how much you've given up for him? I doubt he does. No matter. It was all for naught, it seems."

  "Sir, please. I can explain."

  Verrater slid his hand down the side of her neck and began to drum his long, slim fingers on her collarbone. His breath came in shallow pants near her ear, terrifying her. What would he demand in return for allowing her to live?

  "What would you be willing to do to save yourself? Give yourself to me? Ah, I can feel by the way you stiffen that this frightens you. Not to worry. You will do that, but I require more now."

  He slid his lips down the column of her neck to just below her jaw and pushed the points of his teeth against her skin. Staring straight ahead, she focused on a tiny spot on the wall where the white paint had yellowed slightly and waited for the Archon's next words.

  "For your deception, you must pay. You've shown yourself to be an enemy of our world. However, I believe there is a worthiness in you. To stay alive, you must prove this worthiness truly exists."

  Solenne knew what was to come next. Fighting the tears that welled in her eyes, she listened as he spoke the words that struck her like a fist to her chest.

  "It's your life or his. Your choice, dear Solenne."

  Verrater buried his teeth into her skin and roughly pulled her blood into his mouth. The pain tore at her, as it always did, but soon she felt none of it, her mind instead focused on the terrible thought of the world without Declan in it and by her own hands.

  No longer able to contain her tears, they rolled over her cheeks at the choice the Archon forced her to make. All those years she'd waited to have Declan back in her arms, even willing to debase herself by supplying him with the women he demanded, for a chance to right what had gone wrong so long ago, only to have this be their end.

  As the Archon greedily devoured her blood, grunting and slurping noises filled her ears, but Solenne clung to the hope of finding a way to save both Declan and herself. There had to be some way. She couldn't let them take him away!

  Verrater lifted his mouth from her neck and returned to his desk, his face still wearing that same cruel grin. "I'm sure your mind is feverishly trying to come up with some way that both your lives may be spared. Try as you might, you won't find one. Our world is embroiled in a war, and he is the enemy who must be destroyed. Whatever feelings you may have for him, ask yourself if they're more important than your life."

  "I won't do this. I won't kill him, so just do whatever you plan to do to me now."

  "You're wrong, Solenne. You will do this because whether you believe it or not, you're one of us. The desire to live will win out. You're a true vampire, not one who loathes her nature, like he does. But if you choose him, know that he will still die, but by crueler hands."

  Verrater finished speaking and in a flash was behind her, holding her in her chair with his hands crushing her shoulders. "You see, dear Solenne, I favor you, so I've chosen to give you a choice in how he dies."

  His lips pressed against her neck, but this time he didn't prepare to feed. Solenne closed her eyes and struggled to be free of him, but he was stronger and her resistance only served to make him angrier. At last, she submitted and prayed that this would be the last time she'd ever feel his hands on her.

  When he was finished, he dismissed her with a wave of his hand. His last words echoing in her ears, she stumbled out into the night air, weak from his attack and desperate to return home, hoping she wasn't too late.

  ***

  Saint sat quietly watching Teagan eat, uneasy at the sense of discomfort he felt around the one soul he should feel some connection to. When he'd heard about his brother's death, he'd genuinely wished he'd had that one last chance to speak to him, but now that the chance had presented itself, all he felt was the sting of old hurts anew.

  Teagan looked up from his plate and wasted no more time with silence. "As her sire, I can't keep you apart since she can't sire you. I can make it difficult for you, however."

  His fists in tight balls, Saint held back the urge to beat the hell out of him. It would be easy. Indulgent and even more addicted to the luxuries the world offered than his sire, his brother would be no match for him.

  "Why? Why do that?"

  "Or maybe we should reverse the past and I can take her away from you."

  So that's what this was going to be. Finally, after a century of silence, they'd clear the air.

  "I didn't take anything from you."

  His brother's eyes narrowed to angry slits. "She was mine. As my brother, you should have respected that."

  "Yours? Solenne isn't an object you can possess. She's a woman with a mind of her own."

  Teagan stood and walked into the next room. With his back turned to Saint, he stood looking down at the fireplace and said, "I loved her. You knew that."

  "Loved her? You left her alone constantly while you were off siring other vampires and fucking anything in sight."

  He spun around and Saint saw the fire in his eyes he remembered from when they were teenagers, but now that fire seemed darker. Angrier.

  "She knew what I was when I turned her. I never promised her she'd be the only one."

  "And did you know her when you turned her? That she never enjoyed those parties you loved, full of Absinthe and women begging to be fucked?"

  Teagan snorted in disgust at Saint's words. "Don't confuse her preferences with yours. She was fine with our life until you showed up."

  "Invited. Remember, you invited me here so you could gloat about being a sire?"

  "And don't forget that I am her sire. She will obey me. All I have to do is say the word."

  Saint stood and faced him. "Why? You don't love her, if you ever did. Why can't you be happy that she loves me, your brother?"

  Teagan's eyes flashed pure hatred, and he yelled, "Like you were for me? How's it feel to know the person closest to you is a stranger set to take away something of yours."

  "I never took her. She's like me. When you left her, she needed someone—someone like her."

  "And then she left you and you became Saint, a vampire who only fucks humans and whose vampires don't care if you live or die."

  Teagan's look of disgust hurt more than his words, but Saint stood silently enduring his attack.

  "I'd like to think I had something to do with that, Declan. And she'll leave you again this time too."

  "You're wrong. I became that man because of her. Love will do that to you, but you wouldn't know about that, would you? I pity you, Teagan. You became just like your sire."

  "Who is happily in love with the woman he made vampire. You've never understood the pull a sire has over his vampires because you're just like yours. All I have to do is let nature take hold once again and Solenne is mine."

&nbs
p; Saint knew full well how much control a sire could exert over their vampires. And he knew now that Teagan intended to do exactly that with Solenne.

  "I'm not the same man you last saw all those years ago, brother. Get in my way with the woman I love and I'll see what that bitch in New Orleans thought she did really happen."

  A noise behind him made Saint turn around to see Solenne staring at the two of them. "What's happening here?"

  Teagan pushed past Saint and walked to where Solenne stood. "I was just explaining to my brother how strong the bond between sire and vampire is."

  Cringing at the sight of him with his arm around her, Saint stepped toward them but stopped when he saw Solenne turn out of his hold. Standing between them, she looked first at him, her eyes full of sadness, and then at her sire.

  "I'm sure Declan understands quite well how strong that bond is. What he also knows is that it isn't absolute."

  "Maybe for someone like him, who ignores his vampires, that's the case, but not for us. Even after all these years, I'm still your sire in whatever way I choose."

  Solenne shook her head. "Don't do this. I won't let you take him away from me again."

  She took a step back and grabbed hold of Saint's hand. Her eyes were wide with tears as she stared up at him. "I made that mistake once. I swear I won't make it again."

  "What mistake?"

  "She means when I made her give you up last time. If I recall, you made the choice quite easily."

  "What choice? You told me you'd kill him if I didn't let him go," she cried. "I won't let you do this again."

  Saint's rage grew with each word. His own brother had been the reason for his losing the only woman he'd ever loved, and he threatened her with killing him? The man who stood in front of him truly was a stranger.

  He pushed Solenne to his side and took Teagan by the throat. "Tell me you weren't behind those bastards shunning me for ten years! Tell me my own fucking brother wasn't behind taking everything I ever cared about from me!"

  Pushed against the wall with Saint's hand pressing on his neck, Teagan rasped, "You broke vampire law. You deserved to pay."

  From behind him, Solenne sobbed, "How could you do that? You had him punished for what we did? You promised me when I let him go that he wouldn't be hurt."

  "You had me fucking shunned! You sent me to fucking hell!"

  The need to punish the one who'd stripped him of everything—love, friends, a brother, his freedom—pressed on Saint's heart, and he became blinded with rage. How many nights had he wished to know who'd turned him into the Archons, never once thinking his own flesh and blood could be the architect of his misery?

  It would end tonight.

  Saint easily overpowered Teagan and pressed his fingers into the straining cords of his neck, ready to snap it and end his life. His heart raced at the thought of what he was about to do—kill his own brother. As he looked into his eyes, so similar to his own, Solenne tore at his arm and pleaded for him to stop.

  Turning to face her, he said, "I'm already wanted by the Archons. Another crime won't matter."

  Solenne's eyes were wide with fear. "Don't do this! Please!"

  Saint felt Teagan's pulse throb in time with his heartbeat, felt his life in his hands. "Why? Because he's your sire?"

  "No. Because I love you and you'll be tortured by the memory of killing your only brother. Don't do this."

  The sadness in her voice touched Saint, and all the strength seemed to vanish from his hands. He let them fall from Teagan's neck and stepped back in disgust. "Don't come back here again. The next time, I'll fucking kill you."

  Chapter Sixteen

  Solenne stared in horror at the man Teagan had become. Everything she'd admired in him seemed a distant memory, replaced now with a heartless desire for vengeance against the man she loved.

  "How could you Teagan? Wasn't it enough that I ended it with him, breaking both our hearts?"

  "You were mine. Are mine."

  "No. Not anymore. I can never forgive what you've done. You have no claim on me now."

  His face twisted in disgust. "Do you think the Archons are going to approve your turning your back on your sire for Declan, a vampire they want dead?"

  Unable to believe there wasn't something of the sire she'd known and loved, Solenne touched her hand to the spot above his heart and searched his eyes for any sign of kindness. "I've been a loyal vampire to you, except for this one transgression. You have women around the world, and whatever you felt for me then you haven't felt for years. I can't believe the sire I adored would deprive two hearts he cared for the love they deserve."

  For just a moment, she thought she saw a softening of his expression, but instead of answering her, he looked away and then in a blur, he was gone.

  Alone, Solenne walked the grounds behind the house searching for Declan. She needed to talk to him, to show him she'd chosen him. In the darkness, she walked the gravel path that wound through hedges and fountains until she found him sitting on the stone bench where they'd shared that first illicit kiss. In the light of the moon, he looked just as he had that night. As she drew closer, she saw deep brown eyes full of pain gazing up at her nearly breaking her heart.

  "I never knew, Declan. I had no choice when he found out. He said he'd kill you if I didn't end it. It broke my heart to say goodbye, and when you disappeared, I thought it was because you couldn't stand to be around me."

  Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and hung his head. "I would've never given up. He knew that."

  Declan opened his eyes and stared up at the sky. "For so long, I blamed you for what he did. Every night I asked myself why you'd punish me. And every day I laid awake in bed trying to convince myself that I hated you, even as your face haunted me, making the lies I told myself useless."

  The pain in his voice nearly strangled the words as he spoke them, and Solenne touched his shoulder wanting so much to take away his sadness. "Please forgive me. I had no choice."

  Shaking his head, he stood and faced her. "There's nothing to forgive. You took me in when none of my vampires were there for me. You suffered bringing me women..."

  Declan stopped and lowered himself to his knees. Wrapping his arms around her, he held her to him. "It's you who must forgive me. I was so consumed with hurt when you left me and I carried that need to hurt you inside me for so long it became who I was."

  Solenne ran her hands over the soft growth of hair on his head, unable to speak a word. The man kneeling in front of her, so strong and powerful to everyone else, wanted her forgiveness.

  After everything that had happened—how she'd broken his heart making him the hardened soul he'd been for so long—he was asking her to forgive him. How could she deny him? No one else since him had touched her heart the way he had.

  Crouching down to kiss him, she cradled his face in her hands. "That's not who you are. I know the rest of the world sees Saint, but I don't. No matter how much hatred you carried, no matter how much rage you show everyone else, I've never doubted the man inside was the Declan I fell in love with."

  "You're all I have, Solenne. But years of being alone have taken their toll. The Declan you fell in love with died a long time ago."

  Solenne kissed him softly on his cheek and shook her head. "Not dead. Just buried under years of anger. But I've felt that man in your kiss, in the way your hands caress my body when you make love to me."

  He slid his hand to the back of her head and pulled her toward him. The lips that had thrilled her with simply a kiss in that very spot that first night pressed against her mouth, and she felt the passion flow from him, exciting her more than she'd ever imagined she'd feel again.

  His tongue slid past her lips to mingle with her tongue, sending a jolt of need straight to between her legs as he expertly explored her mouth. Their years apart melted away until it was as if there had been no time between that first kiss and this one.

  Soft lips teased hers and left her wanting more when he turned his attent
ion to her neck. Still sore from the Archon's feeding, she froze as Declan dragged his tongue up the column of her neck in one long, sensual stroke and over the spot the Archon had abused.

  Sensing the change in her, Declan raised his head and looked into her eyes. "What's wrong?"

  The way he asked made it clear he expected her to tell him everything. Tilting her head to hide the evidence of what she'd done, she forced a smile onto her lips. "I would do anything to see you safe."

  Declan squinted his eyes slightly and stroked her cheekbone with his thumb. "What happened? What did they make you do?"

  Solenne stood from him, but he grabbed her hand and held her next to him. "I did what I had to for you and the Sons."

  "Fuck the Sons! I need to know why you pull away when my lips touch your neck."

  He looked up at her, his eyes blazing with anger, and she shook her head. "No. You'll do something stupid!"

  In a second, he was on his feet in front of her, his hands holding her shoulders as he stood staring at her impatiently waiting to hear what she dreaded saying.

  "Solenne, what did the Archon do to you?"

  Quietly, she said, "Nothing I didn't let him do."

  Brushing her hair off her shoulder, he moved to use the moonlight to examine her neck. His expression told her he saw the bruises.

  As if to alert the world of his intentions, he said in a low voice, "I'll fucking kill him."

  "No, Declan! Don't do anything stupid!"

  "Solenne, it's not stupid to protect the woman you love. If I'd do it with my own brother, don't you think I'd do it with one of those bastards?"

  Tears filled her eyes and for one of the few times in her life, she didn't try to stop them or hide from them. "That's the first time since you got here that you told me you love me."

  "Solenne, they've called me Saint for nearly a century because I refused to sleep with any female vampire—not just mine but any female of our kind. Did you doubt that I love you? That I never stopped loving you?"

  In his serious tone, she heard the pain he'd suffered all those years. Willing to show him some of what she'd endured, she said, "More than you'll ever know, Declan."