I was his wife, but I wasn’t.
“We need a plan,” I announced. “We need to bring down Viktor.”
“We do, and I know how.” Maxwell took my hand in his. I should feel vulnerable, being naked in front of him like this, but I didn’t. Somehow, I felt emboldened by it all.
I tilted my head to the side, waiting for him to continue.
But he said nothing.
So I said what he couldn’t.
“I have to be the bait,” I said. “It’s the only way. I have to be captured so Viktor can be taken down once and for all.”
“But, Annabel…”
I stared at him. Since we had married, he had only ever called me sweet terms of endearment in Italian. Before we had wed, he only ever said Annabel Gates, not just my first name.
Maybe I was making something out of nothing, but what could that suggest?
It didn’t matter. My life and the lives of those I loved were threatened, and it was all my fault.
“Maxwell, we don’t have a choice.”
“I don’t want any harm to come to you,” he growled.
His eyes. They were almost entirely golden now, the black edged away, and it was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen. Yes, beautiful and not handsome. A man could be both, or at least Maxwell could.
I inhaled deeply. “Then help me. Gather your goons. Make sure my parents and Pierre are protected.”
“I’m sorry,” Maxwell growled, “but I care about you, not—”
“If you truly care about me, then you care about them.” I put my hand over his. He flipped his so our fingers could interlace. It felt so natural, so right to hold his hand.
If only he would hold me his heart. He already had mine without his asking for it.
The bond between us had never been stronger than it had in this very moment, and I leaned forward to press my lips to his.
And he gripped the back of my head, deepening what I’d intended to be a sweet, tender kiss, and I swore he stripped me of my very soul.
Breathless, I drew back, staring into his golden eyes, and that was when the truth hit me.
I didn’t know why or what I had done to deserve it, but whether or not he could admit it or say the words aloud, but Maxwell loved me.
“I can’t be armed,” I mused, trying to focus on the plan and not the sight of his bare chest. “Or if I am, they’ll just strip me of it.”
He released a low growl from the back of his throat. Probably because I said “strip.” I couldn’t help a slight grin.
“One moment.”
Maxwell departed, and I scrambled to put on clothes. Jeans and a shirt. Maxwell’s maid had only brought me dresses, but I had asked her to get me some regular attire too. I would need to run potentially, and I would much rather be in pants for that.
When Maxwell returned, I was just finishing tying my sneakers. Yes, the maid had brought them for me too.
I straightened, and Maxwell shook his head. “If you go dressed like that, he will know we are planning something. You must be dressed as my wife.”
He opened the box in his hand to reveal a different golden necklace, an ouroboros still, but this one seemed to weigh more, to mean more, and I did not move an inch as he stepped around me to put the necklace on me. Somehow, as I brushed my fingers along the interlaced snakes, I felt as if Maxwell was with me.
Ridiculous. He was with me in the room, but I had the sense that I would feel his presence even if we were parted.
Which we would be if everything went according to plan.
To my surprise, Maxwell lifted my left hand and placed on it a wedding ring. The ring was grooved, and I could spy a clasp beneath the bezel, that of a black rose. Beneath the rose along the curved upraised portion was a red band. The ring itself was gold with lines of sapphires and diamonds to form many infinity symbols on either side.
I had never seen a ring like it before. Maybe it was a customary ring that vampires gave their human lovers.
I thought about making a quip as such because I was ignorant about their customs and ways. Maybe I should have researched vampires as much as I had the specific vampire standing before me.
But when I saw the look in his eyes, his expression—that of longing—that of craving—and the words died on my lips.
“With this ring,” Maxwell uttered, his voice thick with desire, “I promise that I will never be far from you.”
He truly did love me. I could doubt that no longer.
9
Not two days later, Maxwell told me that he was ready. I hadn’t even wanted to wait that long. Viktor had killed all of the vampires Maxwell had assigned to protect my aunt. It was personal now, on both of our sides, but even I knew and understood that we could not rush against Viktor or else more heads would roll, more bodies would be drained of blood.
My parents.
Pierre.
My own.
I waited until it was twilight, that hour when the day is dying and the moon is rising, when the world seemed to pause, holding its breath, waiting to see what the night might befall.
Then, I left behind the palace that had become my temporary home, and I marched along the path that I had walked before with such trepidation, and I went for a walk.
Alone.
A blue clock fluttered behind me, and I didn’t have to pretend to be in anguish. Tears flowed freely, tears for my family. Tears about the lives lost. Tears about my grief. Tears about what kind of a monster I was that I could weaken vampires with my blood.
For so long, I had been curious about who exactly Maxwell was.
Now I had a new question.
Who was I? Who was Annabel Gates?
Shadows descended all around me, and I lowered my head. I did not resist as they approached, and I could smell the blood clinging to them like perfume before the first one grabbed my arm.
“You’re to come with us,” the vampire hissed. A female. Her eyes were as red as blood.
I offered no opposition. This had been the part Maxwell feared the most. If he sent any vampires to watch over me, those sent by Viktor would deal with them first. Also, he worried that the vampires might be sent to kill me. We had no way to know if Viktor had done the killings himself or had his goons do it. Maxwell and I both assumed that Viktor would want to kill me personally, and it seemed our gamble had paid off.
The vampires grabbed me, and in the blink of an eye, I was thrown down. I slowly rose, my head down, and I lifted my gaze from the black stone floor to realize that I had not been brought to a room that contained Viktor. I had half-expected to be in a throne room, with Viktor surrounded by heads on spikes. He disgusted me, the vampire I had never met but had wronged.
Instead, I was in a cell that the vampires laughed as they locked shut.
I rushed to the bars. They were wet, and I drew back in horror at the sight of blood on my hands.
I shrieked, and the vampires laughed all the more.
“Let me out of here!” I cried, but they taunted me, telling me all about my sister and how she had died, about my aunt, about how they had discovered where my parents were. Oh, and supposedly Pierre was already dead. I didn’t want to believe it, but they called him by name.
I backed away into the corner, and my foot bumped against something. A bucket. It spilled over. Human waste. Disgusted, I jumped out of the way and almost fell. The vampires laughed even more at that, but at least they left.
Not that I wanted to be here in the first place.
I had to think of this as a holding cell, but what if it wasn’t? That bucket clearly showed that someone else had been here for a long time.
The thought made my stomach churn.
It was hard to think with the stench, and I made my way back toward the cell bars. I didn’t dare touch them this time, and I waited impatiently for my eyes to adjust to the darkness.
When I finally could see, there honestly wasn’t much to see. There was a dark wall across from me and a hallway. Maybe ot
her cells on either side, but I couldn’t be sure. I just couldn’t see enough.
I was too weak.
Too vulnerable.
Too easily exposed.
I tightened my hand into a fist. As much as I wanted to rage and scream and cry, I didn’t. For many reasons.
One, I wouldn’t give Viktor the satisfaction.
Two, I wanted to be captured. While I didn’t want to be in the cell, I was in Viktor’s clutch, which was ideal.
And three, I had tears to shed for the ones I was grieving, the ones I hoped not to grieve for.
I had no tears to shed for myself.
After all, I had caused this.
Time passed. Between the stench and the sickening blood coating the cell doors—the victim who had been housed in the cell before me?—I wasn’t hungry.
Footsteps sounded, heavy. A human approached, if I had to guess.
“Time for you to eat.”
He pressed a button, and two of the cell rods lifted just enough for him to shove the thin tray through.
The food looked disgusting and smelled just as bad.
The guard left.
Yeah, there was no way I was eating that.
More time passed. I didn’t know how long. Whenever my fingers brushed against the necklace, a sense of calmness washed over me, but Maxwell was nowhere to be found. Where was he?
More importantly, where was Viktor?
No, even more importantly, what was Viktor up to?
I had been planted as bait for Viktor, but I had a terrible suspicion that Viktor was using me as bait as well.
When the guard returned, he lowered his head. “You need to eat.”
I snorted. “You eat it.”
“If you don’t…”
“What do you care?” I snapped.
“You’re the one who killed his son.”
I snorted again. “Vampires can’t have sons.”
“Not his biological son, but his heir just the same. Viktor has amassed a great deal of wealth and influence, and if you can’t—”
“I don’t care to hear whatever rhetoric you’re going to spew at me.” I shook my head. “I’ll starve before I eat that.”
“You might hate Viktor, but he took me in. I had no one. I was living on the streets, chasing down rats to eat,” the guard said.
"Ah, yes, so now you're his grunt man, doing his dirty work. Aren't you special?"
“You won’t feel so damn special soon enough,” the guard said with a sneer. “You might be a Chosen, and you might be a vampire’s wife, but you’re going to help to draw out your vampire husband.”
I sucked in a breath. My fears were confirmed.
“Maxwell is going down,” the guard continued. “He’ll face off against Viktor in a duel to the death, and everyone knows which vampire will win. The one who is out for blood because of blood spilled by a human.”
10
“Viktor—”
The guard reached through the bars and slapped me hard.
“You aren’t worthy enough to say his name!”
I grabbed his wrist, but he pulled his arm back.
“If you don’t want to eat, don’t eat, but that won’t matter. Either way, you’ll end up dead,” the guard said. “Before Maxwell dies, after… That will be Viktor’s decision, but it looks like it might have to be before. After all, Maxwell hasn’t shown up yet. He must not give a rat’s ass about you after all.”
I glowered at the guard. He looked like a rat himself, with his beady little eyes and hooked nose that wiggled about the angrier he got.
“I—”
“I don’t want to hear it.” The guard stomped away.
“Viktor won’t kill Maxwell!” I shouted. “He won’t kill anyone!”
But the guard didn’t return, and maybe I shouldn’t have let him get to me like that, but I couldn’t help being worried. The guard thought Maxwell should have come by now. He hadn’t.
Why not?
Obviously, Viktor hadn't gotten to him, so there was that, but Maxwell was an old vampire. He most likely had more than one rival, more than one enemy.
And more than one lover.
What if a scorned lover had taken exception to the fact that he had married me? A vampire might not be too keen on his marrying a human. There were many vampires who thought humans were food only and weren’t meant to be played with.
Was that all I was to Maxwell—a plaything?
No. No, that was just the guard getting into my head. Maxwell loved me. I knew he did.
My fingers brushed against the necklace, but for once, it brought me no comfort. Being one of the Chosen hadn’t protected me. Neither had been Maxwell’s wife. I was locked up, left to root until a vampire decided to use me to lure out my husband, his enemy.
Right where I wanted to be.
Only I wanted to face Viktor myself. I didn’t want Maxwell to have to rescue me.
All along, I hoped to be the one to end Viktor. Not just for revenge.
But to ensure Maxwell wasn’t another person to die because of me.
A rush of wind caused my hair to flutter and cover my face. I yanked it back and stared at the woman standing on the other sides of the jail cell.
Unlike the guard who had worn black pants and a dark blue shirt as his uniform, this vampire wore a beautiful dress, reminding me of the vampires who had attended the ball/reception.
But she was not here to praise me and congratulate me about the wedding. She hadn’t been there.
No, she wasn’t Team Maxwell.
She was Team Viktor.
I backed away from the bars toward the other corner.
She reached toward me. No, not toward me, but the bars. With no effort at all, she bent the metal easily and stepped through the opening she had created.
The vampire stalked toward me and then paused, tilting her head to the side.
“You are nothing. You’re pathetic and… You’re unworthy of my time. How was it that you managed to kill Magnus?”
Her voice had a lovely quality to it, beautiful, as if she were a singer. There was no power to her words, just a simple question. I baffled her.
“I…”
“You killed my love.”
Well, shit.
The vampire grabbed me and lifted me into the air, her hand on my throat. She squeezed, her nails digging into me.
“I’ve been begging Viktor to allow me to kill you. Alas, that he won’t allow, but torture…” She grinned recklessly, wildly. The vampire was deranged. I had no doubt at all that she would go too far with her antics and kill me.
In her mind, I deserved it. I killed her lover.
I hadn’t thought about that. I had only reacted. Magnus was going to kill me, so I killed him instead.
I never thought it would actually work. Vampires were notoriously hard to kill.
But they could be killed.
She was Magnus’ lover.
I was his killer.
The vampire shook me like a ragdoll, and my hair came forward to cover her arm. She scowled. "I should pluck out every last one of your hairs, trace your veins with a knife. If I could cut out your heart, I would eat it in front of Maxwell if I could, but that pathetic excuse of a vampire doesn't care enough about you to even show up. I guess he doesn't care about you all that much. A vampire and a human just don't belong together. Not as man and wife. A vampire needs a true woman—"
“If I’m not a true woman,” I interrupted, “then what am I? Oh, I know. A vampire killer.”
As soon as the words left my mouth, I wished I could take them back because that had been the precisely wrong thing to say. Her face turned an interesting shade of purple. Huh. I didn’t realize that was possible for a vampire.
She grabbed my hair and slammed the side of my head into the stone wall. I could feel liquid run down the side of my face.
“That all you got?” I asked. “I mean, I killed your lover. You don’t want to go easy on me.”
&nbs
p; She opened her mouth and bared her fangs, but she didn’t move to bite me. No, she slowly closed her mouth.
“You want me to kill you,” she said slowly. All of a sudden, her mouth looked almost too small. Had her fangs enlarged?
I forced my eyes to grow wet, which wasn't all that difficult. All I had to do was think about those I missed, those I had let down, those who had been buried because of me.
“I… I can’t do this anymore,” I mumbled. “I… I didn’t mean… I’ve always loved vampires. My entire life! I always wanted one to bite me, to love me. But then when Magnus bit me, he scared me. I… I… I didn’t know what I did. I didn’t mean to kill him! I just wanted to stop, but… he… He’s not dead. I see him in my dreams. He… He bites me all over, rips off my limbs… It’s terrible. Please, please, just… I don’t deserve to live. I thought… I thought Magnus could make me whole, but… I can’t stop my mind. I can’t stop feeling guilty. I… I just want to die.”
“You can’t,” the vampire spat out. “I’m glad Magnus has found a way to exact revenge, but you deserve to feel nothing but fear and guilt. You’re pathetic, a disgrace, an abomination. You’re a monster, and if I could rip you limb from limb, I would. I would do it gladly. I would feast on your bones and drain you dry, leaving you just enough blood so you won’t die so I can do it again and again.”
“Go ahead,” I said, weeping openly. “Go ahead and kill me.”
The vampire's nostrils flared. I could tell she wanted to give in to her rage. She wanted to end me so very badly, but Viktor had some kind of hold over her because she would not give in.
I wasn’t the weak one.
She was.
I lifted my head and stopped crying on a dime. Coldly, I shook my head, my lips twisted into a sneer.
“You’re pathetic,” I snapped. “You won’t even avenge Magnus. How could you claim to have loved him?”
“You know nothing—”
“I know that I will be taken to Viktor.”
“Not now.”
“Yes, now,” I challenge.
Mocking laughter exploded all around me, but it did not come from her or from anywhere inside the cell.
Fatal Cravings: Immortal Keeper Vampire Paranormal Romance Series Page 6