by Kim Loraine
He shrugged. “We operate on…what’s it called? A need to know basis.”
“Callie already said my blood alone won’t cure it.”
“But it will keep her from burning to a cinder if she loses her battle with the madness. With your blood in her system, she can walk in the sun.”
I sighed and strode across the room, the weight of his gaze on my shoulders following me with each step. “Why wouldn’t Cashel tell me this?” I stood by the window, hands pressed to the sill as I gazed out at the garden below.
“You hurt him.”
I spun on Lucas, anger burning in my chest. “He lied to me.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake. Are we going to continue dancing around in circles? He loves you. If he lied, it was to protect you.”
“He killed my mother, Lucas!”
The vampire stared at me, slack-jawed and shocked. “I’m sorry, I don’t think I heard you quite right.”
“I saw the video. Cashel was at my house the night my mom died. He was walking away covered in blood. He…licked her blood off his fingers.” I fought a shudder and worked to tamp down the sob threatening to escape my chest.
“You may have seen that, but I promise you it wasn’t Cashel who killed her.”
“How would you know?”
“I was with him. We found her shortly after her death. He tried to turn her, but it was too late.”
A somber sense of relief hit me square in the chest. “So, the blood?”
“Was hers, yes. But only because he held her as he tried to force his blood down her throat and heal her.”
A single tear slipped down my cheek. “Why would he taste her blood?”
“We’re vampires. And besides that, the only way to check for the magic in your blood is to taste it. He had to be sure it was gone after her death.”
It made so much sense. But why? Because it was true or because I wanted desperately to believe his words? “Who killed her?”
He shook his head. “I’m not sure, but if I had my guess, I’d say a witch had something to do with it.”
“Because you hate them.”
“No. Because we caught the scent of strong magic around her body.”
“Oh, God,” I whispered.
Soft rustling caught my attention, and I looked up from my hands to see Sorcha standing in the doorway between the bedroom and sitting room, eyes haunted, lips drawn into a thin line. “How much have you told her?”
“All of it.” Lucas took my hand and pulled me toward him. “She knows as much as we do.”
“Finally. Where’s Cashel?”
My tall brooding vampire appeared behind his sister. “Right here. What the hell did you do to her, Lucas?”
“Nothing. Forgive me for trying to patch things up between you two.” Lucas held up his hands and backed away from me. “Though, it looks to me like you did plenty to her last night.”
I shifted uncomfortably as all three vampires looked at me intently. “I need to shower.”
“That’s a good idea. You smell like sex,” Sorcha said. “Then we’ve been instructed to get you ready for the ball. You should be used to being on display by now. I’ll be here when you’re finished…cleaning up.”
“No, you won’t. Leave us, Sorcha. I need to talk to Olivia.” Cashel’s firm tone spoke of nothing short of dominance. “I’ll summon you when she’s ready.”
Sorcha sighed and rolled her eyes. “Fine. I’ll just…find myself a snack.”
She left but Lucas remained. Cashel turned his attention to his brother, a frown darkening his features. “Why are you still here?”
“To make sure you don’t do something you’ll regret.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know, say something stupid because your pride is hurt.”
I put myself the two of them, locking eyes with Cashel. “Why didn’t you just tell me?”
“Tell you what? You made up your mind about me. But what’s more, you wanted him. How could you be mine if you desired someone else all along?”
Lucas cleared his throat, drawing glares from both of us. “It looks like you have this situation in hand. I suppose I’ll collect you when it’s time for the ball, Olivia.”
Cashel growled low in his throat. “She’ll be attending the ball on my arm.”
Lucas opened his mouth with a protest on his lips, but seemed to think better of it. He nodded and backed away, leaving the two of us in the bedroom. Alone.
“Cashel,” I started, but he rushed me, catching me in his arms and claiming my mouth before I could say anything else.
His kiss was hot and hungry, filled with all the things we hadn’t said and still hadn’t worked through. He cupped my face and threaded his fingers through my hair and pulled away. “Don’t talk. I just want to be here with you in my arms while I can.”
“No, you can’t just kiss the daylights out of me and make me forget everything I heard. Your sister is dying. Callie is dying.”
He stepped back and dragged a hand through his thick, dark hair. “I know.” Frustration filled his tone. “It’s killing me to watch her waste away. I can’t do anything to save her until this is over.”
“What do you mean?”
“Until Anne takes the crown and things settle down, I can’t make it known Callie survived. If I do, Anne will most certainly kill her and dispose of the contaminated Blackthorne.”
“What can I do? How can I help her?”
“We’ll need more blood from you. Callie was so close to harnessing the cure, but our escape complicated things.”
I separated us, walking toward the bathroom. “If you need a donation, you’d better get it from me now. There’s no telling what Anne is going to do to me tonight. You might think you can protect me, but we both know better. I’ve never been safe in this house.”
“Fuck,” he muttered. “I forgot about the blood Anne ordered me to take. I don’t want you at the ball tonight. Everyone will taste you. They’ll taste what’s mine and mine alone. The thought of that destroys me.”
“But that’s just it, Cash. I’m not yours. You keep saying that, but you’ve never claimed me. You didn’t bond with me when you had the chance, and now I’m back here where all they want is to use me.”
“If I bond with you—”
“Yes, I know. There’ll be no way to cure sun sickness. I understand. Saving your kind is more important than saving my life. So when you say you love me, I need you to understand why I think that’s not true. If you loved me, you’d never put me in this position.”
He reached for me, but I backed away. “Olivia, please.”
“I’ll help you. Just like I did before. You can have my blood, but if this ends the way I think it will, my death will be on your hands. I’m willing to sacrifice myself to save Knight, to help Callie, but I’m not fooling myself into thinking I’m doing it because you love me.”
I turned and strode into the bathroom, closing the door a little too hard. But I had to get away from him before he saw the tears spill down my cheeks. Cashel Blackthorne was skilled in many ways, but his greatest accomplishment was the way he could break my heart.
14
Cashel
“It’s a shame you turned down every date I secured for you, Cashel. You’d look so much more dashing with a beautiful vampire of noble birth on your arm.” Anne’s cool, calculating voice made me cringe on the inside.
“Well, I’m still a traitor. No self-respecting family would saddle their daughter with me until I prove myself.”
We stood at the entrance of the ballroom, Anne holding a glittering gold leash that was connected to the matching collar around her latest pet’s throat. This one was a curvaceous woman with long blond hair and big blue eyes. She looked scared or high. It was hard to tell without being able to read her mind.
“At least you’ll have your pick tonight. There are plenty to dance with. And not having a date will free you up to meet with the heads of the clans. Stockholm arrived on
ly a few moments ago, I see they brought their adopted son. How unfortunate. He and his mate are an affront to the purebred vampire lines of the royal families.”
“Mattias is a good man. He’s loyal and a strong fighter.”
“Certainly, but that doesn’t change the fact he was born human.”
I scanned the crowd, searching for the tall blond vampire and his mate. I found them in the corner chatting with another couple and Lucas. Lucas, who had his arm around my little bird’s waist. Everything came to a standstill as I focused on her. The diamond collar around her neck glistened in the light, but it was the velvet gown she wore that sent me teetering on the edge. Black and form-fitting, the dress left little to the imagination even though her arms were covered in long sleeves. The back was low enough I could almost make out the dimples over her perfect ass. And my brother’s thumb kept rubbing up and down on the base of her spine. A diamond-studded leash wrapped loosely around his knuckles.
“Cashel, if you know what’s good for you, you’ll leave our pet with Lucas. There are more important matters at hand.”
“He’s flaunting her like a prize.”
“Because she is.”
“I understand that, but the point is, she’s out in the open. Anyone could snap and tear out her throat in search of her blood. They’d die at my hand, of course, but it wouldn’t bring her back to us.”
Anne narrowed her eyes and followed my gaze across the room. “You have a point. Perhaps I was rash when I gave her to Lucas.”
“He’s not as strong as I am. Simply because of the circumstances of his birth.”
She waved a hand in their direction. “Go, see to her safety.”
I crossed the room before her last word was completely uttered. As though she sensed me behind her, Olivia shivered and tensed. Lucas turned his head and caught my eye.
“Brother,” he said. “You’re making my pet uncomfortable.”
“Am I?”
Olivia set her gaze on me, expression stony. “Yes.”
I hated that she thought her life wasn’t important to me. That the last words she’d said before this were filled with doubt. I leaned in and let my lips brush the shell of her ear. “Little bird, I’m going to have to make you a great deal more uncomfortable before I can rectify that situation.”
“She’s mine tonight, Cashel. Or have you forgotten?” Lucas pulled her against him, his gaze filled with challenge.
“As interesting as this is,” Mattias said, “my mate and I will take our leave, Your Highness.”
He looked at me with an amused grin twisting his lips, then bowed and took his woman with him to the other end of the room. It was then I noticed the small swell of her belly. She was carrying his child, and he’d done what a mate should, put her first. Protect her from two vampires about to come to blows. What had I done for the woman I loved? Brought her back to her prison.
“I need to speak with Olivia,” I grumbled under my breath. “It’s important.”
Lucas lifted his brows and opened his mouth as though he were going to reply when the music stopped. Anne walked out onto the dance floor in the center of the ballroom with one of her turned vampire lackeys on her arm. Then she glanced at me. “Esteemed clan leaders and family members, I’m grateful you’ve taken it upon yourselves to join us tonight as we celebrate the end of the tyrannical reign of Elias Blackthorne. As you know, his son, Cashel, did the unthinkable and slayed both his father and brother in an act some call treason. I know different. My husband and his son were both mad with sun sickness. A fact he hid well from all of you. Tonight, I take the throne left empty by this act and claim my husband’s bastard children as my own.”
My skin prickled at her words. We weren’t bastards. Well, by definition, Lucas was, but that didn’t matter. Sorcha stood on the other side of the room, a glass filled with a mixture of wine and blood in her hand, emerald green gown sweeping the floor. Her eyes burned with fury, and when she caught my gaze, I shook my head in warning.
“Come, children. Join me in the first dance of the evening.” Anne held out her arms and we all reluctantly walked toward her. She gestured to someone on the edge of the crowd and almost instantly Eliana was at my side.
“Hello, lover. Shall we?” she purred.
The music began, a swirling waltz I hadn’t danced to in over sixty years. But Eliana placed herself in my arms and we began a turn around the room. All the while, my eyes were trained on my brother and my little bird. His palm on her bare back, his smile as they spoke, and her complete lack of focus on me.
Lucas leaned in and brushed a soft kiss to her cheek and I nearly came apart with jealousy. He was toying with me, letting me know he could have her if he wanted to. What he didn’t know was that neither of us could truly ever claim Olivia Stewart. She’d given away her heart before she’d stolen mine. Logan may have been dead, but he was still very much alive for her.
“Why can’t you move past her?” Eliana asked. “Do I have to kill her for you to notice me?”
“If you harm her, I swear, Eliana—”
“Oh, look at that, my date has arrived.” Eliana wrenched herself from my hold and dashed from the ballroom in a blur of red skirts and dark hair.
I took the opening and stalked toward my brother. Tapping him on the shoulder, I stopped them mid-step. “My turn,” I said, not giving an opportunity for either one to protest.
In one smooth move, I took the chain connecting them and brought her to me. She was exactly where she needed to me, waist cupped by one of my hands, body close to mine. The music swelled to a crescendo, and I led the way around the floor. “You belong here, in my arms. Not Lucas’.”
“It bothers you that much to see me with him?” Her eyes were filled with challenge.
“Yes. It bothers me beyond measure. It’s part of my nature, but also, I think there’s more to it.”
“Such as?”
I smiled and shook my head. “Not here. Not now.” Then I pulled her close, letting the feel of her skin and the curves of her body overtake me momentarily. “Do you know how delectable you look tonight? If your scent wasn’t cloaked, everyone in this room would be struggling with hunger for you. As it is, every eye is on you for a different reason.”
“Even yours?”
“Especially mine. God, little bird, I can’t get you out of my head. I can still feel you, hot and tight, slick with desire for me. I want it again. I need it.”
Her face reddened, and she looked down, her dark lashes casting a shadow on her cheeks. “You can’t say things like that to me.”
“Yes, I fucking can. There’s nothing keeping us from being together.”
“Except your need to use me for my blood. Oh, and the fact that I’m going to be sold to the highest bidder. Did you forget that part?”
A chill ran down my spine. “How…who told you?”
“Sorcha. She’s been exceptionally chatty.”
“I’m doing everything I can.” She rolled her eyes and pulled out of my hold, but I had the chain attached to her collar. She didn’t get far. “Olivia, stop.”
“Let go, Cashel. I need a minute to get some air.”
“I’ll accompany you.”
She closed her eyes and sighed. “I suppose saying no won’t help.”
“Not on your life.” I slipped my arm around her waist, and the two of us walked toward the closed French doors. “We’ll go to the garden and settle this.” I needed to explain the depth of what I felt for her and a bit of privacy sounded exactly like what we needed.
“Fine.”
The doors swung open as I reached for them, and the world turned on its axis. Eliana stood with a smug smile on her face, her arm loosely draped through the crook of her companion’s. A newly turned vampire by the smell of him. His handsome features sent rage jolting through me and my heart splintered at Olivia’s gasp of surprise.
Her entire body tensed and she croaked a weak, “Logan?”
“Hello, Liv. Why am I not sur
prised to find you here again?”
Olivia
My heart leaped at the sight of Logan, but immediately plummeted when he smiled and revealed his brand new set of fangs. “Oh, God,” I said, disbelief welling in my chest. “Logan, what did she do to you?”
“I saved him from a painful death, of course. Are you saying you wish him dead?” Eliana plastered herself to his side, fingers trailing in his hair. “I’m making myself a harem of sexy hunters. It’s proving to be much more enjoyable than I imagined.”
“So you give a hunter all the benefits of being a vampire and bring him into the center of our nervous system? Just because he’s been turned, that doesn’t make him an ally.” Cashel eyed me before turning his attention back to Logan. “He still hates us. Now he hates himself as well.”
“I love a tortured soul.”
“I’m standing right here,” Logan protested.
“And you look like hell.” Cashel’s brows pulled together. “What did you do to him, El?”
“He’s in transition. I’m not sure I want to keep him, honestly. He’s too caught up in his feelings for Olivia.”
Sorcha joined us, her hard expression revealing nothing. “You turned him? Why didn’t you just kill him?”
“I have to give Olivia credit, he’s hot. I think I’ll keep him.” Eliana ran a finger over his jaw. “I bet he fucks like a champion.” She turned her gaze on me. “Does he?”
Cashel’s grip on my waist loosened enough that I knew he was angry. I straightened my shoulders and looked her straight in the eye. “I wouldn’t know. He never fucked me.” Not a complete lie. What we’d done was slow and tender. Sweet. Fuck wasn’t the right word to describe our one time together.
“Oh, I beg to differ. The things I’ve seen in his head. You made him moan your name more than once that night before he spent himself inside you.” Buzzing in my brain, right between my brows, made me take a step back and bring my fingers to my temples. Pressure like the beginning of a headache built but never crested. Then Eliana narrowed her eyes and strode slowly toward me. “Why can’t I hear you?” she asked.