Her hands clawed at him, pulling him closer to her, urging them to become one, but their clothing kept them apart. She cursed their clothes even as she relished the gift he had given her; her womanhood throbbed with desire, still wanting what she had never before experienced.
When she opened her eyes, she looked at him. And though she knew he couldn’t see her, she could swear he stared at the pulse pounding in her neck. She tilted her head, offering herself to him.
He broke the contact and leaned back.
“Do you not fear me?” he asked, his voice filled with awe. His eyes darkened with lust. “I am a monster. A hideous beast not meant to walk this earth.”
She shook her head. “Nonsense. I cannot believe it.”
“My blood hunger has not been fully satisfied,” he told her, pulling cautiously back. He set her on her feet. She wobbled, but he held her to support her, then leaned his forehead against hers, breathing heavily, his eyes squeezed shut. “I have not fed properly. I should not have come to your room. You are in danger here.”
He stepped away from her, and she felt helpless as her heart tugged uncomfortably in her chest.
“Lock your door,” he said, and she knew he was about to leave her. She opened her mouth, ready to say anything to stop him.
A soft knock interrupted and they both turned to the door.
“Miss Merriweather?” a feminine voice whispered, loudly. “It’s Mrs. Morrison. May I speak with you?”
Melora looked back to Sebastian who regarded her curiously with just a hint of anger flickering over his face.
“What does she want with you?”
“How should I know such a thing? I’ve never met the woman before tonight.”
“Is that so?”
“Of course,” she said, brow furrowing with confusion over his sudden disbelief. Why would he think she had a prior acquaintance with the woman?
Quickly she hurried to her valise, which remained untouched where she had placed it on her bed. She rifled through, searching for the bottled powder she would need to cast her spell. Finding it, she hurried back to Sebastian, and, taking his hand in hers, she urged him to the edge of the fireplace.
“Unless you wish to be found in my room, I can cast a spell to render you invisible. Only for a few moments,” she warned. “I lack the skill to strengthen the spell for longer intervals.”
He hesitated for a moment before nodding. Melora spilled a bit of powder onto her palm, then blew it into a cloud onto his torso. She whispered a few words, and Sebastian’s image shimmered and faded. He was still there. If she reached out to touch him, she would find him solid enough. She and Lillian used to practice this spell after their cousin taught it to them when they were young. They managed to create all sorts of havoc before their parents discovered them and forbid them to use it again.
“Miss Merriweather?” Mrs. Morrison’s accented voice became agitated, and the knocking grew steadily louder.
Melora hurried to the door and opened it, admitting Mrs. Morrison and her husband into her room. “My apologies, I did not hear you, as I was just drifting off to sleep.” It was a foolish lie, Melora reconsidered after Mrs. Morrison and her husband looked her up and down, noting her lack of sleeping apparel and robe, then glanced knowingly at each other. Could they see what Sebastian had done to her? The passion she had experienced with him only moments ago?
“You must come with us,” Mrs. Morrison stated firmly. She took another step closer to Melora, as if fearing she might run away. “You can stay here no longer.”
Melora stared at her. “What do you mean?”
“It’s dangerous for you here.”
Melora frowned. Why did everyone feel it necessary to claim she was in danger? The threat of Uncle Arden discovering her whereabouts was enough danger for her to handle, at the moment. But how could this woman know of it?
“I don’t understand you at all,” Melora said, anger beginning to swell within her chest. Why was this woman here? All Melora wanted was to be alone with Sebastian.
“You must trust us,” William Morrison told her. He stood by the doorway, glancing periodically into the hall. His hands twitched along his thigh, tapping his leg in agitation.
“I cannot trust you,” Melora replied, her voice rising higher as she noted their distress and anxiety. It poured from them in waves, making her uneasy as to their intentions. She was well aware of Sebastian standing unseen by the fireplace, listening to their every word. The Morrisons’s heightened anxiety surely increased the beat of their hearts, pounding their blood quickly through their veins, amplifying their scent to Sebastian, who stood only steps away. How much strength did he possess to deny himself this feast that had walked unaware into his home? As he had admitted, his hunger had not been satisfied.
“We haven’t time for this, Tatya,” William growled, throwing off the veneer of a gentleman. The sudden hardness in his eyes chilled Melora. “We must hunt the beast before he claims another. Let us leave now.”
“No,” Tatya said, her voice altering from a gentle lady trying to persuade a dear friend to accompany her into a woman who was used to giving orders and being obeyed. The strength of will flashed in Tatya’s eyes as she regarded William. “I will not leave her to him. She will not last another night in his keeping. This one…he is not like the others. His patterns are not the same.”
“He’s weaker.”
“Not at all,” she said, shaking her dark head. “He’s stronger than any other we’ve encountered.”
Melora’s stomach tightened with each word they spoke. An image began to form in her mind, and as she looked more closely at the couple, she became aware of several things at once. Though they both dressed as an elegant couple, complete with the perfect behavior to mark them as gentleman and lady, as she looked closer Melora noticed the various bulges barely noticeable on their persons. The outline of a pistol in William’s jacket, another smaller one in his boot. Tatya’s gown revealed an intricate design around her waist but Melora’s searching gaze picked out the outline of a dagger, craftily sewn into the dress. Easily hidden within the intricate design and yet very accessible in a moment’s notice.
“What do you want here?” Melora asked, in a horrified whisper. She knew it foolish to hope Sebastian could not overhear. His vampire hearing would be sharp to compensate for the loss of eyesight.
She briefly considered going with the Morrisons to lead them away from Sebastian, so she might learn all they knew without increasing the danger of him losing control. She wondered if he would allow such action.
Or would he fear for her safety and follow them? Did he know what these people were?
Tatya turned to her, her beauty hardening as she spoke, “We want to rid the world of monsters, Miss Merriweather. We are vampire hunters.”
Chapter Five
“Come along, Miss Merriweather,” William said, grasping Melora’s arm and pulling her toward the hallway. “We must away before the creature comes in search of you.”
An inhuman snarl echoed through the room, chilling Melora’s already cold skin. Gooseflesh raised along her neck and arms at the horrible sound coming from the fireplace. She saw the reactions on the Morrisons’s faces before she turned to see him.
The mist from her spell that had masked his presence dissipated like wisps of smoke as he took a step toward them. Anger flashed like deadly ice in his light blue eyes as he regarded them, warily. He held himself back, but from the aggressive step he had taken, she realized it was with a tenuous grasp he held onto his humanity. The vampire was hungry, but his human heart was strong enough to rein the beast.
“Unhand her,” he said, and his voice caused trembles to ripple through her. She blushed as she realized it was not in fear that she trembled, but desire. His voice had such an amazing effect on her. It was silky sensuousness. Satiny whispers. Even as he spoke with such menace, and his posture clearly demonstrated his violent intentions if they did not obey him, she yearned to touch him. He w
as a vampire, a creature, a monster. But she desired him above all else.
William’s grasp tightened on her arm. He pulled her back and behind him as he yanked out the pistol hidden in his jacket. Beside him, Tatya held the dagger Melora had noticed, and in the other hand she held a pistol similar to William’s. Melora took a moment to ponder where she had been hiding that in her dress.
Sebastian snarled again in warning, a hideous sound coming from so gentle and caring a man. Melora cringed at the sight of him stiff with every intention of attacking. His lips curled back as another monstrous growl erupted from his throat. There was a flash of glistening white teeth, and Melora’s stomach clenched as she realized his fangs had descended.
“Stop!” Melora said, pulling at William’s hold on her arm. He must have anticipated such action. He held fast.
“We can protect you,” William said, never taking his eyes off Sebastian. “He will never harm you again.”
“No,” Melora said, shaking her head. “He’s never hurt me! You don’t understand.”
“He is a monster,” Tatya said, her voice growing low and husky as she took a fighting stance. “We are vampire hunters, Miss Merriweather. If you’ve been bitten, he has power over you. He holds sway…possession.”
“He hasn’t bitten me!”
William grunted. “That’s what they all tell us.”
“Unhand her, now!” Sebastian was losing patience. He began pacing across the floor. Back and forth, hands clenching and unclenching, his sightless gaze never moving from their direction. He remained focused on her. Listening to her every movement, her every breath. She could see the torment he felt as he held himself back from her, from them.
“Please, you’re hurting him! He doesn’t want to kill you! He’s searching for a way to stop his hunger!”
Melora struggled against William, enough so he had to pocket his pistol to hold her back with both hands. She swung her free hand until he captured it and pulled her tightly against him, binding her to him with his arms. She tried kicking, but he deftly sidestepped her efforts. She panicked when Sebastian’s growl thundered through the chamber.
He was losing his control. It would not be long now.
The more she struggled, the faster Sebastian’s restraint melted away.
She forced herself to calm. She needed to think rationally. She ceased her struggles, going completely still in William’s arms. There was another way to escape these vampire hunters who tried to rescue her.
Melora closed her eyes, tilting her head forward so her hair fell over her, masking her face. She concentrated on the spell. Focusing on the words she would need to utter, hoping it would work without the necessary preparation that usually accompanied spells such as these.
William’s surprise at her sudden acquiescence loosened his grip on her. She took a deep breath and then quickly raised her head, saying the words to invoke the spell, focusing on each word, each phrase, and willing the spell to work. She watched in fascination as William and Tatya stilled. Slowly, they began to sway on their feet.
“Wh-what’s happening?” William mumbled, his speech slurring as the spell took effect. A moment later, he crumpled to the floor, with Tatiana collapsing on top of him.
Melora jumped away from them, pleased with her work. She hadn’t used the sleeping spell in such a long time that she had feared she might have misspoke the words. When they remained motionless, Melora checked their breathing to be sure she hadn’t killed them by mistake. Their chests rose and fell evenly, and she was satisfied she had done them no permanent harm.
Then she turned to Sebastian. His beauty struck her anew. His skin was so pale as to be mistaken for translucent. His eyes so blue, so cold, yet filled with so much emotion…so much life, it felt cruel to her that they belonged to something that so many considered dead. Or undead.
The sound of his ragged breathing filled the sudden silence. Her heart pounded wildly from her fear for him, and she fought her raging emotions, she struggled to calm herself so she would offer him no more temptation than she already did. But even as she tried, she knew she lied to herself. The moment she caught sight of him rescuing her from that carriage, her life had altered irrevocably. Meeting him had changed her. She knew if she fled, right at this moment, if she left this house, left him, and never turned back, she would never be whole. She could never…be…without him.
“Melora?” The sound of her name whispered so painfully nearly undid every nerve in her body. She held herself still, though she wanted nothing more than to run to him, to wrap her arms around him. The fear she heard in his voice caused tears to slip from her eyes.
“I’m here,” she said, softly. “I’m safe.”
He took a deep ragged breath, leaning his head back to stare at the ceiling. His lips moved though he spoke no words. To her, it looked as if he were praying, or giving thanks for having his prayers answered. Was if blasphemy if a vampire prayed? She would need to ask him.
“What have you done to them?”
“I cast a sleeping spell,” she said. “They’re unharmed.”
“Are you…?” He paused, looking in her direction. His eyes narrowed, squinting at her, as if trying to force his eyes to see her. “Did they hurt you?”
“I’m fine,” she whispered, but her voice trembled suddenly. In his every action, every word spoken, she could see so clearly that he cared for her. The knowledge struck her heart with such ferocity her knees felt weak, and she feared she might collapse. She wanted him. She cared for him.
She loved him.
That she knew he had feelings for her brought her such joy as she had never known.
She took a step toward him. She couldn’t hold back any longer. She wanted to run to him. She needed to feel his arms around her. Holding her, keeping her safe. And she wanted to hold him and keep him with her forever. To love him and protect him.
A painful groan stopped her.
Sebastian grimaced and bent over, holding out one hand against her. “No, please, stop.” He dropped to his knees, bending over to press his head against the bed, his hand around the bedpost, white-knuckled, his fingers biting into the carved wood. “Come no closer.”
“Sebastian…?”
“I cannot,” he whispered, his voice filled with agony and despair. “I will kill you… I could not bear it…”
“No, I can help you. I know I can.” She had to help him. There had to be a way. If she could find the right words, the right spell, to give him strength, to give him power, she knew she could help him. She knew together they could be stronger. Stronger together than alone.
“Go,” he whispered in a fierce growl, sounding more animal than human. Resisting every survival instinct now humming through her body, she forced herself to take another step toward him. This was Sebastian, she reminded herself.
He would not harm her.
Every step she took made him cringe and tremble. She bit her lip as she neared him, suddenly rethinking her plan of comforting him in the usual human way. It seemed to her now that she was hurting him, causing him undue pain. Tears fell from beneath her lashes, and she stifled a sob.
She didn’t know what to do for him.
She didn’t know how to help him.
Suddenly, Sebastian stood in one graceful move and, with an inhuman growl, lunged at her. Shock held her in place, and she watched him coming for her, his lips pulled back in a sneer, and his teeth lengthened into sharp daggers created for piercing flesh.
She should have closed her eyes in fear, but instead she faced him, a sudden calm descending over her, keeping her still. This was what he needed. He needed her blood, and she willingly offered it to him. It would save him.
To her dismay, instead of attacking her he flew past her. She looked over her shoulder to watch as he struggled past the two inert figures on the floor and, with a speed she had never seen, disappeared down the hallway.
A mere moment later, she heard the loud crack of the front doors flying open. She hurr
ied to the window, pulling back the curtain in time to see a dark figure clear against the blaring white of the snow even as the heavy flakes fell fast and furious.
Melora had no time to think about what she had seen. A moment after Sebastian’s figure disappeared within the dark of the forest, another figure emerged from the house.
She gasped as she peered closer. It was the third guest, Frederick Dawes. He paused, crouched against the wind from the storm, and then trudged on, following the clear path of footsteps that Sebastian left behind.
“No!” she cried, and turned to search for her cloak.
****
It had been inhuman strength that kept him from feeding upon her. Sebastian crouched low, lifting his head and tilting it to the side as he scented the wind. A deer was close, burrowed in a warm nest of leaves and forest debris as it slept during the falling snow. It wouldn’t hear his approach. It wouldn’t sense the danger until it was too late. Sebastian hungered, so he doubted he would give the woodland creature a chance to understand what was happening.
He suppressed a growl of rage as he started moving again. The wind blew his hair back from his eyes, biting at his unprotected skin. He was past feeling anything but hunger. It was a living beast within him, clawing at his insides, fighting to be free of its fleshy prison. How he had managed to bypass Melora he might never understand. And, furthermore, the Morrisons, who lay prone and defenseless within easy reach. He had paused briefly above their bodies, smelling the blood that thrummed quietly in their veins. The memory of William holding Melora against him had nearly undone him then, until he sensed her watching him. The mere thought of Melora seeing the monster he had become had given him the strength he needed to move on, to move past such an easy and delectable meal. And now, he hunted like an animal in the wild, searching for something, anything with a pulse that could suppress the hunger and thirst. Even as he fought against the wind and the snow, searching for the deer he had scented earlier, he knew it was only a temporary solution. Animal blood could not quell the hunger. Human blood, in all of its complicated magnificence, was the only thing that could sustain him. It was the only thing that would keep him sane for another month.
The Witch and the Vampire Page 6