Erik pulled at the red book which opened the secret door and it swung inwards.
“After you.” He placed his hand on my spine, encouraging me into his private space. The air seemed thicker somehow as he closed the door behind us.
He moved up behind me and suddenly his mouth was on my neck, taking my body hostage. I arched into him, reaching up to brush my fingers through his hair.
“I have never hungered for blood like I hunger for you,” he murmured against my skin. “This last day has been an agony of a kind I can’t quite explain.”
I clutched the back of his neck, my nails digging in as his mouth moved to my ear, leaving a trail of fire in its wake.
“You’re procrastinating,” I said, a smile pulling at my lips.
“I am,” he admitted. “And I would like to do so a little longer.”
“That would be a bad idea,” I stifled a laugh, trying to pull away from him.
“Do tell me why.” He hounded after me as I headed to the spiral staircase and started walking up it.
“I assume the mirror is up here with your other secret things?” I asked, ignoring his question.
“Why are you running from me?” He ignored mine.
I picked up my pace, jogging up the stairs, but a shadow surged past me and Erik appeared at the top of the steps, barring my way forward.
“Password.” He quirked up a brow.
His mischievous expression was my undoing. How could I resist him when he looked at me like that?
I decided to play along, my mouth curving into a teasing smile. “I don’t know. Erik’s a big-headed royal A-hole?”
“Surprisingly not.” He grinned. “It’s more of a physical password.” He tapped his lips with a devilish smirk.
I laughed, shaking my head as I tried to duck under his arm.
He caught me, pressing me back. “If you want me to play by your rules, Rebel, do play by mine.”
I pressed my hands to his chest, stepping closer as I gave in. “Am I warm?”
“Very.” His eyes flickered with lust.
I slid my hands up to his neck, tip-toeing toward his lips. “Warmer?”
“Volcanic.”
I placed a kiss to the tip of his nose and he released a rumbling laugh. “Why do I have to work so hard for you?”
“Nothing good in this life comes easy,” I whispered with a dark smile.
He captured my chin between his finger and thumb. “Very true. But I’m working my ass off here.”
I leant in to his kiss and my heart melted like hot wax, pouring through me in a waterfall of pleasure.
A strange energy trickled over me followed by an icy breath of air.
“Well, well, I do hope this display isn’t for me, Erik Larsen.” A cold, powerful voice filled the air and I nearly slid off of the step in alarm.
Erik caught me, pulling me forward onto the balcony, his arm locked protectively around my waist.
“Andvari,” Erik growled. “We were just about to call you.”
“I know and yet how distracted you became. I fear if I hadn’t come to you now I would have interrupted something much more interesting. But I am ever the gentleman.”
I gazed around the room as the shadows seemed to dance and flicker beneath the bookshelves, my heart pattering in my chest.
Erik released me, moving to one of the shelves and taking a beautiful hand mirror from between two of the books. I recognised it from his room and my blood ran hot as I approached him, eyeing the object.
He gazed down at the polished glass and his reflection stared back at him with a strange smile. It wasn’t him, I could tell that from the prickling sensation in my gut.
“Erik Larsen,” the reflection spoke and I wondered why it called him by that name. He was a Belvedere, wasn’t he? “You come to me for answers…as always.”
“I may have the right one this time,” Erik said, angling the mirror toward me.
The reflection didn’t change, despite the fact it was facing me now. Andvari started laughing then reached toward the glass. When his fingers touched the mirror, they slipped through them as easily as if it were liquid.
I gasped as the hand extended from the frame and ice-cold fingers grazed my cheek.
In an instant, the reflection vanished and the mirror started to expand as if the glass was made of water, spreading out before me. Erik released the handle, but the mirror remained in the air, stretching out wider and wider until Andvari was able to step through it.
Erik caught my arm, dragging me away as the deity materialised through the pane. As he did so, his form changed. The god had long hair like bracken and a huge brown robe encompassed his slim body. His feet were bare and gnarled as they hit the floorboards. His eyes were almost white and his face was a hollow, beautiful thing.
The mirror clattered to the floor, returned to its previous size and the noise rang out around us, sending a tremor through to my core.
Erik’s fingers curled around my hand in a fierce grip.
Andvari surveyed us, his eyes skimming across our faces then down to our clasped hands. “You surprise me as usual,” he spoke to Erik in a deadly purr. “I have always seen something in you. Your heart is as strong as the day I cursed you. And unlike most of your kin, you follow the beat of it. Despite the world you have allowed your family to create, you still think of yourself as a good man, don’t you Erik?”
I glanced up at Erik, my heart crashing against my chest.
He lowered his chin, his eyes dark. “I wouldn’t say that.”
“No, but you wish so much to believe it,” Andvari said. “In the deepest hours of night your thoughts turn to your immortal soul. You still hope for it to be saved, even now.” The god stepped closer and I noticed he left wet footprints as he walked.
My courage floundered as he approached. The power of him was a living thing, moving around us like a silent breeze.
Erik didn’t answer, but his posture grew rigid.
“Do you think she is the answer?” Andvari asked, his eyes flashing to me.
I gasped as icy hands seemed to squeeze my lungs, forcing the air from them. My vision darkened and my knees hit the floor as I buckled. I felt Erik’s arms around me, but he couldn’t do anything to stop it. I couldn’t draw breath, I could hardly see.
“Release her!” Erik bellowed and my lungs decompressed, allowing air to rush into them.
I spluttered, gripping Erik’s arm for support as I tried to right myself. My cheeks flushed hot with anger as I rose to my feet.
I glared at Andvari with every ounce of strength I had. “Is it true? Am I a part of your prophesy?” I demanded though my legs were shaky with fear.
Andvari chuckled lightly, his eyes hooded as he took me in. Erik straightened his spine as the god addressed me. “Mortal girl, how brave you must think you are to speak to me with such insolence.”
I bit down on my lower lip to stop it from trembling. “I want answers,” I hissed. “And you have them, don’t you?”
“Yes,” Andvari chuckled again. “Oh how fine a moment this is.” He turned to Erik. “You don’t even realise it yet, do you?”
“Realise what?” Erik snarled.
“You love her. A human girl. After all the years you have fought to protect your soul, a mere woman has claimed it instead.” Andvari threw his head back with a cruel laugh and my thoughts spiralled madly.
I stole a glance at Erik but his face was stony and unreadable.
“Say it,” Andvari abruptly stopped laughing, pointing at him. “I want to hear it.”
“I’m tired of your games, Andvari,” Erik growled and fear rolled through me.
“One more game and I shall answer the question you seek,” Andvari promised, pressing a finger to his chest and striking an X across his heart. A glimmer of gold glowed across his robes then faded away to nothing.
Erik wouldn’t look at me as I tried to catch his eye. I grew terrified of what he was about to say. Did he really love me? Was
it possible?
“I cannot love someone in this form,” Erik snarled and my throat constricted tightly.
I glanced away, turning to Andvari as Erik’s words resounded in my skull.
He doesn’t love you. How could he?
“Liar,” Andvari spat and his shadow seemed to grow behind him, casting us in darkness. His face turned to a wicked thing, his features contorted in a fury I didn’t want to face. But my feet remained rooted in place. I wouldn’t run. I wouldn’t leave until I had my answer.
“Defy me again and I will have your tongue,” Andvari hissed and power stretched over me like his breath was seeping across every inch of my skin. He reached out a hand, and his taloned nails pinched together in the air.
Erik coughed, jerking forward as blood poured from his mouth, dripping to the floor.
“ANSWER ME!” Andvari roared and the walls shuddered around us.
Fear scorched a path through my chest. I grabbed hold of Erik, trying to help him but there was nothing I could do.
Andvari twisted his hand in the air and Erik slammed into me, throwing me into the nearest bookshelf. His weight crushed me in place but I knew it wasn’t really him. His eyes met mine with a bitter apology inside them as more blood oozed from his mouth.
His jaw trembled as his lips parted and the blood trickled down his chin. His voice was throaty when he spoke and I could tell the pain this was causing him. “I love you,” he rasped, but I didn’t know if it was him speaking or Andvari moving his tongue.
Andvari’s high laughter rang in my ears as he moved his hands in a weaving motion behind us. Power flooded my body and I lost control of my own limbs as I reached between us and started unbuttoning my shirt.
I cried out, battling back with all my strength. Erik’s hands slammed into the bookcase either side of my head.
“Stop!” he begged, pushing himself against me.
My chin lifted and Andvari forced my mouth to meet Erik’s. The metallic taste of blood slid onto my tongue and a tear escaped my eye as I desperately tried to halt this.
The wave of power released me and I fell against Erik, taking in a shaky breath of relief. His hands encircled me and he rested his chin on my shoulder, muttering an apology in my ear.
“You won’t have answers from me unless I am appeased,” Andvari said lightly. “You have displeased me, Erik.”
Erik was forced away from me and my legs moved of their own accord, walking me towards Andvari. I winced as I moved into his arms and his hand slithered down my spine.
“Perhaps I’ll taste how sweet her kisses are for myself.” He angled his horridly angelic face toward me and I leant back as far as his power would allow, disgust weaving through my gut.
“Get away from her,” Erik growled in a deadly tone. “Touch her and I’ll end you.”
“An idle threat as always,” Andvari sneered, wafting his hand so Erik was knocked to the floor, forced to remain there. Andvari's eyes wheeled to me with a flicker of amusement. “Kiss me as if you were kissing him,” he ordered and I felt the power of the command run through me like ice-cold water.
For the second time in a minute, my lips were taken hostage by this monster. He tasted like ash; as dry as dirt and as bitter as alcohol.
I shuddered as his arms seized me, so strong I was immobilised.
Erik cursed the god with all his might, begging for him to stop.
Andvari released me and licked his lips with a black tongue before shoving me to the floor. I scrambled away from him, backing up to Erik's side.
I wiped the back of my mouth, horrified at what he’d made me do. At the impossible power he held over us.
Erik dragged me into his arms and I drew comfort from his fierce hold.
“Sweet enough,” Andvari whispered. “I will answer one question. Make sure it is a good one.”
I gazed up at him, unable to get my thoughts together to form a question. Erik was better prepared, snarling at the god as he posed his question. “Is she the answer to the prophesy?”
“She is half of the answer,” Andvari nodded, then disappeared into a swirling shadow, leaving the mirror rattling on the floor.
I leant against Erik’s chest as tears scorched my eyes. It was too much to bear. The cruel things Andvari had done to me and now his answer resounding in my skull. Did it mean I had to become a vampire? I still didn’t know. And maybe I didn’t want to know right then. I just needed to be away from that vile god and forget about what he’d done.
Erik stroked my hair, holding me tight and muttering apologies over and over until I pressed a hand to his mouth to make him stop. The blood was gone. Perhaps it had only been an illusion. One of Andvari’s dark tricks.
“Let’s go,” I whispered. “I want to get out of here.”
Without a word, Erik scooped me into his arms and sped down the staircase in a blur of motion. He moved through the house at speed until we were upstairs in the bedroom I’d woken in just days ago.
Erik planted me in a chair, kneeling before me and resting his head in my lap. “I cannot undo what he did.”
I reached into his hair, trying to soothe him. “You don’t need to.”
“I should never have taken you to him.” He clutched the sides of my thighs, his fingers gripping my jeans.
I reached down to cup his face, pulling him up to look at me. His eyes twinkled with regret and I ran my thumbs over the anxious creases beside them. “I can handle it, Erik. I’m okay.”
He nodded stiffly, but didn’t look convinced. In fact, he looked broken and so desperate it tugged at my heart. “I want you to go. To leave. Forget all about this place. Find your sister and-”
“No,” I cut him off. “You heard what he said. I’m part of the prophesy.”
“I don’t care!” he roared, rising to his feet with incredible speed. He glared around the room, looking ready to rip the world apart. “I will not make you a part of this. Who knows what he’ll ask of you. I won’t let him hurt you again.”
“Erik, stop,” I begged. “If this is the answer to the curse, we have to face it. We can do it together.”
I stood, taking hold of his shirt and forcing him to look at me.
He sighed heavily. “You are so strong. Stronger than me. I am weak. Broken. Floored by you and your resilience. What I’ve put you through, what all of my kind have done to yours…it isn’t right that you must shoulder this burden.”
“If I can end the curse, I have to, Erik. For you, for my family, for all of the humans.”
His gaze burned into mine. He seemed transfixed and I felt my heart weakening under his scrutiny.
“I won’t ask this of you,” he breathed.
“I’m not asking for your permission,” I replied. “Whatever it is I have to do to end this, I will.”
“I love you,” he said on a choked breath. “I would never have revealed it to you at all, but now you have heard it. Twice. The first look you gave me struck a fire in my heart I’d long-forgotten was there. The second stoked the flames. And every look since has turned that fire into a deadly force that can never be put out. I don’t want you to love me back. I want you to despise me. To do what you do best, Rebel, and goddamn rebel. Don’t be mine. Don’t ever be mine. Because if you are, you will burn up in this fire that lives in me and I will never forgive myself for it.”
“Erik,” I gasped, shaking my head. How could he say such a wonderful, terrible thing? How could he ask me not to love him back? To go against the beating of my own heart, the longing of my soul for his?
“I won’t rebel,” I whispered, leaning up to brush my lips against his as tears slid from my eyes and painted a heated trail down my cheeks. “I want to burn.”
“Magnar!” Julius hammered on the door as he tried to wake me and I groaned in displeasure as I clawed my way back towards consciousness.
I tossed the blankets aside and headed for the door, only remembering that I was naked as I pulled it open.
“For the love of the
gods Magnar, I’ve seen your ass far more often than I ever wanted to and more in this lifetime,” Julius cursed as he pushed his way into the room and bolted the door behind him.
I let out a laugh as I started to retrieve my clothes from the floor and pulled them back on. “What’s got you so worked up?” I asked as he paced away from the door, pushing a hand through his short hair.
“We may have outstayed our welcome. The barkeeper came looking for his daughter and wasn’t best pleased to find me on top of her.”
“Are you telling me you couldn’t handle one old man without having to come crying to me?” I teased.
“One old man wouldn’t be an issue but he stormed off to raise the rest of the townsfolk against us and see us on our way. I suggest we get out of here before-” He stopped mid-sentence as he spotted Elissa in my bed. Her cheeks flamed red as she clutched the blankets over herself. “Please tell me this one is a whore and not another village girl!”
“She’s Ocean Clan,” I replied lightly as I tossed the girl her dress.
“Thank the gods for that!”
“Oh and she’s also betrothed to someone here. Or was I guess. I might have ruined her.”
“Ruined? Who was she supposed to marry?” Julius asked incredulously.
“An old man, you can imagine why she preferred to take me to her bed.” I tightened Tempest’s sheath across my chest as I replaced the heavy blade on my back.
“Well let’s hope they don’t know about her yet. We should leave.”
“He’s old and fat,” Elissa added as she pulled her dress on. “And the mayor.”
I exchanged a look with Julius and we both burst into laughter.
“Well if we’re going to piss off a whole town, we might as well do it thoroughly,” he said.
“And my father’s the magistrate,” she said. “Just so we’re totally clear on everyone who’s involved.”
I couldn’t help but laugh harder as I yanked my boots on.
A clamour of noise began to grow outside and I pulled the curtain aside, spotting a horde of angry townsfolk marching our way. They held various weapons, none of which would do much good against two fully trained slayers but our vows forebode us from willingly engaging them.
Age of Vampires- The Complete Series Page 66