Clearly, I was affected by him far greater than he was affected by me.
Unsurprising on so many levels.
I was weak, but he was strong.
I was vulnerable, but he was powerful.
I was desperate, but he was calm.
Well, he was relatively calm. Outwardly for now at least. I, on the other hand, was like a raging tempest on the inside, terrified that the future would have me six foot under.
He was old even though he appeared to be in his late twenties. He was wise and capable.
I thought I needed him when I was eighteen.
I was wrong.
Now was when I needed him, and it was possible that my stating I needed him before might cause me to not have him when I truly actually did need him.
“If you had known Viktor was my rival,” Maxwell prompted.
I had been so lost in my thoughts I forgot he had asked me a question.
“I might not have come,” I informed him. “I would have tried to run and hide and become a ghost. I would’ve changed—”
Maxwell held up a finger. “Anything you could have changed would not have been good enough.”
“He wants me dead,” I said, “and honestly, I guess I can’t really blame him. Accident or not, I killed his son. If I had a son—”
“Have you a son?”
“No.” His question took me aback.
“Have you a husband?”
I considered him more than I did the absurd, ludicrous question. His voice was absolutely delicious, but it had only the barest hint of an accent. Honestly, with how long he’d lived in the United States, it’s a bit surprising that he had an accent at all. Then again, he had lived in various parts of Europe after he fled Italy once he had been turned.
As far as my research showed, he had never returned to Italy, not once. That always intrigued me.
He opened his mouth, perhaps to repeat his question, but I hadn’t forgotten it.
Not that I answered it.
Instead, I crossed my arms. “Have you a wife?”
Maxwell circled around me as he had before, but this time, I remained rooted in one spot, allowing my back to be to him. If he held any rage against me for killing a vampire, he would have attacked me when I first alerted him to my transgression. No, I was safe here with him.
Relatively safe.
Finally, he stopped when he was directly behind me. “I presented you with a golden necklace.”
I nodded.
“Do you know what that entailed?”
“The ouroboros? Yes,” I breathed.
“Being my patron won’t be enough protection,” he said firmly.
“If you can’t help me—”
“I didn’t say that,” he said, almost snapping, and I whirled around.
“You aren’t saying much at all.”
“Maybe I would if you would let me speak.” His dark eyes narrowed to the point that I couldn’t see any bits of gold anymore. “I learned a long time ago to not bother with small talk. Words can be rather useless, so why speak more than must be done?”
A valid enough point, even though I would want to red mark his little speech to cut out a few words here or there. I might not have had a proper, formal education growing up, but once I became a hacker, I taught myself a lot more. My mom taught me to read, but her own education had been lacking. They had sent Amber and me to public school for a bit, but when the teachers started to notice that we never had food for lunch, the teachers started to ask too many questions, and my parents yanked us. The teachers never followed up once we weren't their pupils anymore. I used to wonder what might have happened to us if a teacher had pried and wrestled us away from my parents. How different my life could've been. Would Maxwell have still sought me out and given me what I needed?
Who could say? The vampire had been a mystery since I first met him, since I first fell in love with him, and he remained a mystery to me still.
And his speech about small talk meant I wouldn’t learn every detail about his long-lived life. I won’t ever get to know him.
Why do I care? Why was I so drawn to him?
It was almost… No. No, I didn’t believe in—
“Do you believe in reincarnation?” I blurted.
Maxwell blinked a few times and even took a step back. “I tell you I don’t bother with small talk, and you ask me a completely random question?”
“It’s not random,” I argued. “I was thinking about my childhood, and how it could have been different, and why there is a…”
I couldn’t quite continue, and I gazed at him, wishing he would urge me to continue. Maybe then I could find the strength to admit my thoughts aloud.
But he didn’t.
And I didn’t either.
“The only way for you to be saved from Viktor—” Maxwell started.
Again, I interrupted him. “Maybe I don’t deserve to be—”
Maxwell raised a hand as if to strike me, but he slowly curled his fingers into a tight, angry fist that he then slowly smacked against his open palm. “I did not save you from suicide so that you could be slaughtered by Viktor.”
"Why did you save me?" I demanded, even though I didn't expect him to answer.
And he did not disappoint.
“The only way for you to be saved from Viktor…” He glowered at me, as if he expected me to interrupt again, but I remained silent. “We must wed.”
“What?” I balked at the suggestion.
“We will wed.”
"Are you insane?" I snapped. "I will not give in to this, give in to you."
“I demand it.”
“You have no right to demand anything from me.”
He merely lifted his eyebrows as if to suggest otherwise.
The vampire had just brought up how he had saved my life…
But why? Why marriage, and why now? If he wanted to marry me, why not have claimed me at eighteen? Then, I would have been willing. Then, I would have followed him to the ends of the Earth.
Instead, I felt like I was in a downward spiral, freefalling with no hope of rescue, no end in sight.
“I won’t marry you,” I said coolly.
No way. No how. It was bad enough that I was a virgin. I couldn’t be sure, but I thought he desired me seven years ago. Before he left after I said I needed him, my gaze had fallen down his body, and his pants had been tented.
Although I only had ideas for Maxwell back then, I knew what sex was. I knew how a man’s body reacted to a woman he desired.
He desired me seven years ago, and he had fled, never to return again.
And as much as I wanted to hate him, this tether, this invisible bond wouldn’t relent. He asked me if I had a husband, and honestly, the thought sickened me. I couldn’t abide the idea of another man having me.
But a fake wedding?
“Don’t think of it as a fake wedding,” he dared to say.
“Then think of it as what?” I spat out.
“A marriage of convenience.”
“Convenience, huh? Convenience for me how exactly?”
“Just the fact that it would spare your life doesn’t strike you as enough?” he asked dryly.
“No, actually,” I said coolly. “It doesn’t.” I lifted my chin. “You don’t know anything about me.”
“So you believe. If I knew nothing about you, I wouldn’t have bothered with you.”
“You didn’t for seven years,” I grumbled.
He had no response to that.
“Why would you even want to marry me anyhow?” I demanded. “What’s in it for you? Because if you think…”
I trailed off. Yes, I made him hard once, but that didn’t mean anything. He was a handsome, rich vampire. He could have any woman he wanted—human or vampire.
Why would he want me?
I didn’t want him to answer that because the thing was, I didn’t believe that he truly wanted me. He had an erection, yes, but he fled because it had disgusted him.
I disgusted him.
“You need protection.”
“Yes, that’s what I need now,” I said, throwing up my hands. “I made a mistake coming here, coming to you. I thought…”
He said nothing, forcing me to continue.
"You were the first person I thought of who might be able to help me. I wasn't about to drag my parents into this, and not Amber either. By the way, she's doing great. Never had another nightmare ever, not one. She's married now to a surgeon, and they're trying to get pregnant. She's living right next door to my parents. They're doing really well, too, and you want to know something crazy? It turns out that my mom has a secret sister. I didn't know until two years ago that I had an aunt. Aunt Petunia. My mom's parents had been as poor as we were, and they could hardly afford to keep my mom fed, so when Grandma became pregnant again, she opted to put the baby up for adoption."
I was rambling, but I did that when I was nervous, and Maxwell hadn’t asked for any of this—not for the details about my family, not for this mess I created with Viktor.
"Don't you worry about me," I mumbled. "I'll be fine. Go back to your ball. Were you celebrating something? I know you're dabbling in all kinds of businesses, from finances to consumer services to real estate. Technology too. I can't imagine how you do it all, even with your super speed. And have you found other…"
I trailed off, horrified. I’d been about to admit that I had fallen in love with him as a girl.
Without another word, I walked away, past the golden fence, leaving Maxwell behind.
5
Not even thirty seconds later, my phone rang. Unreal. Did he know my number? No. Why would Maxwell bother to call me when he could be beside me in seconds even if he didn’t use his vampire speed?
My phone continued to ring and then stopped. It had gone to voicemail, but then it started to ring again.
Annoyed, I grabbed my phone from my bra. I hadn’t wanted to bring a purse, and I hadn’t exactly been thinking the most clearly when I came here. Not that I was on my alone, abandoned by Maxwell again this time by my choice, I no longer had the help of adrenaline, and the bitter chill ate away at me. My teeth chattered as I checked the caller.
Amber.
“Hey, Amber,” I said. “How are you? You—”
“Amber isn’t here.”
My heart skipped a beat at the cold voice. “Who is this?” I demanded, my tone far sharper than it had been when I snapped at Maxwell. Who knew I could sound so tough? As if my words were poison.
“Your sister’s murderer.”
I dropped my phone. It bounced. Shock had me frozen, and it took me a moment to recover.
I snatched up the phone. The screen had cracked. Maybe just the screen protector.
“Who the hell do you think you are?” I asked, my words more desperate than anything.
Only the line had ended. He’d hung up, or the phone had when I dropped it.
I went to return the call when my mom’s name popped up. She was calling me, and I didn’t hesitate to answer.
“Mom?” I hated that I sounded like a little girl, but I was terrified to hear that cold voice again.
There was nothing there.
“Mom!”
“Annabel. Sorry.” Mom could hardly talk. She had clearly been crying, and she let out a sob.
“Mom, what is it?” I asked. Hope died. For some reason, when I heard Mom’s voice, I thought the first call might’ve been a prank, but no. For Mom to be calling this distraught…
“It’s your sister. It’s Amber… We just… We found her…”
“Mom.”
“She’s dead.”
"Dead? How?" I asked, even though it was a terrible question.
“Honey, she was drained.”
Drained of blood. A vampire.
Of course it had been a vampire.
It had been Viktor, or else he had some lackey do handle it.
“Mom, I need you to listen to me,” I said desperately. “You and Dad both need to go to the police station and stay there.”
“What? Why? I mean, we’re waiting for them to arrive—”
“No. You two go—”
“That would mean leaving Amber—”
“You have to,” I said desperately. “If you don’t… Do you want me to bury all three of you?”
“What is going on?” Mom cried. “Do you know why this happened?”
"Mom, just please, listen to me," I begged.
Mom said nothing.
“I love you,” I murmured.
“I love you too,” Mom said, her voice cracking.
I disconnected the call.
What a nightmare my life had become, and all because I fought against a vampire. I didn’t think I had a chance to get away from Magnus. All I wanted was to try and survive for one minute longer, one more minute.
But who wanted to stand around and be a blood bag? To be drained of their blood?
Despite my fear, I fought back, and I reached down to my right heel. The heel concealed the folded-up knife I had used to kill Magnus, the knife I purchased for myself when I had a full belly after I hacked into a bank account and gave my parents’ a boost.
I was living on my own, and I had no one to look after me but me.
No one attacked me, though. For the most part, I had been innocent and naïve despite being a hacker.
But that all changed when Magnus found me.
My parents, would they be targeted next? I don’t see why they wouldn’t be.
Maybe… Maybe if I do marry Maxwell, maybe the offer of protection would extend to them.
But I still didn’t know why Maxwell would want this, why he would do this for me. I didn’t know enough about him. Yes, I knew he lived in Prague in 1763 and in Spain a decade later, but I didn’t know his psyche, his thoughts…
His soul.
His cravings.
Were they as fatal as my own?
At this point, his motivation didn’t really matter. I needed him like I never had before. Not even five minutes ago did I need him like I did not.
My chest ached. Amber. Poor Amber. Her hair was the same as mine, but she always kept it cut in a short pixie style. We were five years apart, but we looked like twins. She always had a smile on her face… a smile I would never see anymore.
Her husband, Pierre, had to be devastated. He was a surgeon, which meant he was far older than her twenty years. In fact, they had met because she was in med school. Yes, med school. She had been accepted into med school younger than most because once I made enough money, she had a tutor that I hired. She graduated from high school at fifteen and managed to fly through a fast track BS program to get through to med school in three years. Amber had been insanely smart and talented. Yes, she had been hoping to get pregnant, even though she still had more schooling yet, but I never doubted her for a second. She would’ve made an excellent open-heart surgeon.
She had met Pierre during one of her rotations. At least I thought that was the case. Something like that. Their chemistry had been off the charts, and while Mom and Dad had some reservations because of the age dynamics and the power and authority figure Pierre was compared to Amber, I had no issue with it. I knew what it was like to fall for an older man.
The difference was—Pierre was human and completely and utterly devoted to Amber, whereas Maxwell was a vampire, and I had no notion what his motivations were, what he thought of me.
If he was using me.
Trying to use the wedding as bait to lure out Viktor.
Would Maxwell be willing to hand me over to his rival, to his enemy, so that they could bury the hatchet?
Amber deserved to have a better sister than me.
The last time I’d seen her had been for Thanksgiving. She wanted to host, and I brought along an apple pie. I’d baked it already the day before, so it only needed to be warmed up. It always tasted better the second day.
But Amber forgot, and we got caught up talking, and the pie bu
rned, and we just laughed and laughed about it. It didn’t matter. We had no dessert as a result, but we didn’t care. We had all been there—our parents, Pierre, Aunt Petunia too.
She was a hoot, Aunt Petunia. She said things you shouldn't really say out loud. She claimed she was too much for any one man, which used to make Amber wonder if that meant she wanted two or more guys. Our aunt's fashion sense was a bit all over the places, florals with stripes, vertical and horizontal stripes, all of the big fashion no-nos, but she didn't care. She did what she wanted.
Would she be in danger, too, as a result of my actions?
I left the house, left Amber behind, so I could protect her, so I could fill her belly and then to get her even more new clothes, to get her an education that eventually paved the way for her to meet the love of her life.
And I also was the reason why the love of her life had to bury her, and I most likely couldn’t show my face at the funeral.
To save my parents, to save my aunt and brother-in-law, I had no choice. I had to go back to Maxwell and grovel and beg for him to take me.
With slow, resigned steps, I made my way back to the fence. I’d almost hoped that Maxwell wouldn’t have returned to the ball, that he would have lingered, that he could have overheard the conversation so I wouldn’t have to utter the words out loud.
But he wasn't, and there was nothing for me to do but continue along the path all the way to the front door. The same servant from earlier opened the door and granted me entrance, a good sign, I hoped. After all, he could have been instructed to bar me from the door, considering I had been thrown out for my outburst.
Which, honestly, had been a bit ridiculous. Had Maxwell done that so we would be removed enough from the vampires that we could talk without being overheard?
Who knew what went on in his head?
Maxwell was talking to a group of vampires. As I approached, they all as one turned to stare at me. Maxwell nodded, and the others left. The female vampire from earlier was nowhere to be seen.
“You’ve returned,” he commented.
“I reconsidered,” I said stiffly.
“What happened?”
I glared at him, hating him for making me say this, but it was necessary. As before, I wished for him to hold all the cards. Considering how vile and dangerous Viktor was already proving to be, it would be foolish and just plain wrong for me to withhold information from Maxwell.
Fatal Cravings: Immortal Keeper Vampire Paranormal Romance Series Page 3