“Why not just stake our heads?” I snapped, infuriated at his insinuations.
“Perhaps I will.” Viktor’s laugh was deathly chilling.
Without another word, the vampires raced at one another. They fought with punches and kicks so swiftly that I couldn't see them all. At first, it seemed that Maxwell had the upper hand, but Viktor was cunning and sly and, most of all, elusive. His counters were devastating, and he made Maxwell stagger once, twice, three times.
The fourth time Maxwell backpedaled, I circled around them and headed toward Maxwell’s coat. No. I couldn’t. That wouldn’t help any. There was no way for me to get a stake to Viktor, and I wouldn’t be able to kill him with one.
But might it cause a distraction? Would it give Maxwell enough time to regain the advantage?
As I waited and watched and worried and wondered what to do, the two vampires continued to fight, locked in a grueling, terrible, vicious brawl to the death. I was so anxious I wrung my hands, and my fingers brushed against my wedding ring.
The clasp.
What was the bezel of the black rose hiding?
I lifted it and realized the wedding ring was actually a poison ring. Inside was a bit of a green liquid.
Quickly, I shut the clasp again, and my heart almost stopped. Maxwell was on his knees. Viktor was standing high above him, poised for the killing blow.
“Wait!” I called out. “Don’t you want to know what your brother said before I killed him?”
“My brother? You mean my son, you ungrateful—”
"Oh, yes, Magnus. Do you want to know what he said? Do you want to know how weak he was? What a sniveling little wimp he was? He didn't call out for you. He didn't call out for Angelika either. No. He called out for his mommy."
Viktor’s eyes flashed. “You lie.”
“Maybe. Maybe I am lying, but there’s one way for you to find out.” I rubbed my neck. “Go ahead. Kill me first. After all, I was the one to kill your son. Why should I take another breath when he’s nothing but ashes?”
Viktor threw Maxwell aside and was next to me in the next moment.
“Drink my blood. See my memories,” I taunted. “See your son one last time. Or don’t. Believe that your son was strong and noble and all that jazz. But in the back of your mind, you’ll always wonder. You’ll always think back to this moment when you could have learned the truth and—”
Viktor yanked my head back and bit my neck savagely, and I could feel him force my blood into his mouth at an even faster clip than Magnus had. I could smell blood, and I realized there was some on the iron knuckles Viktor wore. The damn cheater!
But I could play dirty too.
As he drank my blood, I drank the poison. Maxwell had given it to me for a reason, and I could feel myself grow weak. My body felt pins and needles everywhere, and then I felt as if I was burning from the inside out.
Viktor tossed me down and staggered back. He licked his lips, looking confused, and he shook his head as he swayed this way and that.
My blood was weakening him.
So was the poison.
Viktor glowered at me. “What did you… What did you do to me?”
I said nothing, not daring to react at all as Maxwell crept up behind Viktor. My vampire husband was covered in blood, his blood, but he seemed all right enough as he lifted his hand and slashed a chopping strike that took Viktor’s head clear off his body.
His body remained upright a moment longer before collapsing, and I shrieked and jumped back even though he wasn’t close enough to fall on me.
But jumping wasn’t a good idea, and I fell. The poison was still in my system, and I could feel my tongue swelling, my face… I couldn’t breathe, and…
Maxwell was there, sitting on the ground, cradling my head in his lap. His fingers touched my cheeks, parted my lips, and something cool and slimy went down my throat. It tasted disgusting, but I swallowed it all.
“The antidote,” Maxwell murmured.
“The antidote…” I was feeling better already, and I sat up, twisting to glare at him. “Why didn’t you give me your blood like you did early?”
“I could have, but I’m a bit beaten up, in case you didn’t see,” he said dryly.
My eyes widened. “You… You wanted me to have vampire blood in my system in case…”
“I walked away from you once because I thought it would protect you from me, from vampires, from all of this. Vampires are monsters. We bring chaos and carnage wherever we go.”
“You aren’t a monster,” I protested.
“I needed you then,” Maxwell murmured. “I needed you since before you were born.”
I shook my head. “How is that… Why me?”
“Do you believe…” He blew out a breath. “I couldn’t bear to leave you, but I wanted to spare you a life of pain and misery and sorrow. Instead, Magnus found you. Maybe he sensed our bond—”
“What is the bond?” I cried. “What is it? Why have I felt as if my life means nothing without you? When you left me, I was ruined!”
“I never intended that,” he assured me. “The bond… It’s complicated.”
“It’s also not small talk,” I said sharply. “It’s a bit important, don’t you think?”
“Yes,” he murmured, “but how about we leave this place? We can go in the bathtub, wash each other off… See what happens next…”
“I would need to brush my teeth first,” I said tartly, “and I would rather talk…”
“Here, around the dead bodies of our enemies?” he asked with a wry grin.
“Well, when you put it that way…”
I allowed him to help me to my feet, and the next thing I knew, we were back at his palace, standing just inside the closed fence.
“Do you think his followers will come after us?” I asked Maxwell.
“Are you worried, cuore mio?”
“No, but I do think it’s a legitimate concern,” I protested.
"It is not something we need to worry about."
“How can you be so certain?”
“With Viktor dead, his lieutenants—”
“Goons,” I corrected.
“Goons,” he allowed with a grin and a kiss to my forehead. “His goons will be too concerned with fighting over his properties and trying to gather as much of his wealth as they can for themselves for them to come after us.”
“But his lover—”
“Viktor had no lover, no wife.”
“Magnus…”
"His mother sold him to Viktor. She owed Viktor a debt she couldn't pay, so she handed over her son. Viktor took pity on the boy and groomed up, and once he turned twenty-one, Viktor bit him."
I sucked in a deep inhale.
“Did he cry out for his mother?” Maxwell murmured. “Forget I asked. I don’t need—”
“Yes. With his last breath, he did. He was cruel and vicious as he drained me, but… once he realized he was dying, he was on the ground, and he called out her name, and then he passed.”
Maxwell shook his head. “Come,” he said even though he was carrying me still.
He walked with bold steps toward his palace.
“We’ll bathe and then talk.”
“We’ll talk as we bathe or else no bathing,” I correct.
“Is that so, Mrs. Maxwell?”
My heart skipped a beat. “Yes, Mr. Maxwell.”
He chuckled.
It didn’t take long for the bath to be drawn, and this tub was luxurious, large enough to hold six people, and I wasn’t talking about six Barbies.
Maxwell had a knowing glint in his eyes as he came over to me with soap in his hands, but I maneuvered away from him.
“The bond,” I reminded him.
“What do you think of the name Allison?” he asked me.
A chill ran down my spine for some reason, to hear that name from his lips.
“Amy? Alice? What about Alexis?”
A chill accompanied each, and I felt as if I were
fracturing. “Why are you…
“Aubrey,” Maxwell continued, gazing deeply into my eyes. “How about… Amalia?”
“What do those names mean?” I cried. “Do you have some kind of fetish for girls with names that begin with ‘A’?”
“Not girls,” Maxwell corrected. “One girl.”
Reincarnation.
Was it possible after all?
“Growing up in Italy, I met and fell in love with a girl named Amalia. She swore we would always be together. Neither of us had very much, as poor as poor could be, but Amalia was beautiful, with dark, luscious locks, and a rich aristocrat wanted her for himself.”
“Let me guess, he was a vampire,” I murmured.
“He was. When he discovered I meant to run away with Amalia, he killed her in a fit of rage. He meant to kill me too, but I managed to make him bleed. He bit me, and I managed to run away.”
“Isn’t a bite enough to turn some without blood?” I asked.
“Sometimes, yes, but not all bites will always turn a person.”
I rubbed my neck. “So I won’t…”
“All of your other lifetimes—”
“How? How was I… How was Amalia able to come back again?”
“The ways of the universe cannot always be explained,” Maxwell murmured, “but I believe that our love brought you back time and again. I found you again and again, and it seemed that each time, our love was doomed. You never consented to be turned to a vampire, and a vampire would always kill you.”
“Is that why you moved from place to place?” I asked.
He nodded. “For the most part, yes.”
“And now what is to become of me? To become of us?” I whispered.
“We never married before,” Maxwell said, his voice husky. The glint in his eyes was all love, only love. “I will be with you, loving you always, desiring you always…”
“Craving me always?” I asked, quirking my brow.
He laughed. “Yes.”
“Cravings can be fatal,” I warned him.
“I’ll take my chances,” he said.
I nestled against him. “I like the sound of that.”
Epilogue
A week after Viktor had been killed, I was starting to feel a little better. I had been able to visit my parents and Pierre, and I visited my aunt's and sister's graves. It had been rough, and I still hated myself for what happened. I even hated myself for being happy with Maxwell.
Which led me back to the question he’d asked me last night.
“Will you consider letting me turn you this time?”
It would mean no more incarnations. It would mean Maxwell never falling in love with me again.
It would mean we could be together for the rest of our lives.
Maxwell’s confession about our long history and my many lifetimes made me wonder if the reason behind my blood causing vampires to weaken could be related to the bond.
But Maxwell had been weakened by my blood. Shouldn’t it have strengthened him?
I was strolling along the grounds of his estate, and my fingers brushed my golden ouroboros necklace.
The wind stirred as Maxwell joined me.
“Cuore mio,” he said warmly.
“My heart,” I said. “Isn’t that what that means?”
“Yes. I never did tell you. Accept my apologies.”
I grinned because I had a secret. This past week, I had accomplished more than just familial obligations and duties.
“Ti amo,” I murmured.
“I love you too,” he replied, clearly amused.
He took my hand in his, and we walked for a bit before I worked up the courage to ask, “My blood, why does it weaken vampires?”
“Not all vampires.”
My heart began to race. “It didn’t weaken you.”
“No. You joke when you say cravings are fatal, but your blood… I want to lap up every drop. It strengthened me—”
“Then why didn’t you drink some of my blood before facing Viktor?” I cried.
“Because I wanted you to be at full strength, and I knew you might have to drink that poison.”
“What poison was it?” I asked, curious.
“The Green Death. You needed to be as strong as possible to survive that. It was a risk. I hated myself for it, that I wasn’t strong enough to take him out without your having to—”
“It’s done and over with,” I said gently. “Now, we can move on.”
I stopped walking and faced him, holding both his hands in mine.
“Ho un debole per te,” I murmured slowly, hoping my accent wasn’t terrible. I said the truth—I’m weak for him.
“Non posso vivere senza di te,” he returned with tears in his eyes. I can’t live without you.
“Mi hai cambiato la vita.” You changed my life.
“Sei la mia anima gemella.” You are my soul mate.
I melted at his words, but I had learned a bit more. Yes, I only studied enough Italian to be able to flirt with my vampire husband, but it was a beautiful language, and I would love for him to tutor me in it.
“Sei l’uomo dei miei sogni.” You’re the man of my dreams. Again, the truth. I dreamed of being with him so many times, and now, I learned that I had been with him before in other lifetimes, and again now.
With tears in his eyes that made me love him all the more, he murmured, “Sei tutto per me.” You’re everything to me.
“Ti voglio sempre al mio fianco.” I want you always by my side.
I sucked in a breath. Time for the big finale.
“Mi vuoi sposare?” I whispered.
He didn’t respond.
So I asked in English. “Will you marry me?”
“We are married—”
“Yes, as vampire and human.”
“You want to have a human wedding for your parents,” he said. “Yes, of course—”
“I want my parents to be there, of course,” I said slowly, “but I want the wedding to be vampire and vampire.”
“Annabel, are you sure?”
“If you want to marry me, then yes, I am sure.”
“Sì!”
And we kissed and kissed and kissed, outside along the path one second and then swept up into his room and on his bed—our bed—seconds later. Our bodies moved together as if we could move both heaven and earth.
I had loved him since we first met.
And I would love him for the rest of our lives… for the rest of all time.
I hope you enjoyed Fatal Cravings! I absolutely loved writing a love story for a vampire and a human, so I just might have to write more in the future!
If werewolves are more your jam, be sure to check out Forbidden Love, my new, upcoming series about a wickedly hot werewolf. It’s basically Romeo and Juliet with warring werewolf packs!
You can also check out my To Love and Defend series about sexy, hot werewolves and their amazing mates!
Thank you for reading Fatal Cravings! I hope you’ll write a review!
Until next book,
Daniella
Other Books By Daniella Starre
Fatal Cravings
Vampire romance
Forbidden Love
Werewolves, slow burn
Wolves in Lust - available for preorder
Wolves Bound by Desire - available for preorder
Wolves Torn - available for preorder
Wolves Betrayed - available for preorder
Wolves in Love - available for preorder
Forbidden Love Boxed Set with Wolves With Hope bonus short story - available for preorder
To Love and Defend
Werewolves
Protecting What’s His with His Alpha Valentine
Protecting What’s Hers with Her First Wolf, Her Lonely Howl, and Her Last Wolf
Protecting What’s Theirs with Her Only Wolf, Her Deceased Wolf, and His Elated Howl
Protecting Their Home with Her Wanton Howl, Her Frustrated Howl, and His Sole Soul
Protection with His Complicated Howl, His Discouraged Howl, and His Satisfied Soul
To Love and Defend Boxed Set with Their Joyous Howls bonus short story
Clashing Claws
Dragons romance, reverse harem, slow burn
Flames and Fervor
Smoke and Seduction
Embers and Ecstasy
About the Author
Daniella Starre loves love, chocolate martinis, and… okay, any kind of martini. When she’s not writing about werewolves finding their mates, she’s binging all kinds of shows and movies on Netflix.
Follow Daniella
www.DaniellaStarre.com
[email protected]
Fatal Cravings: Immortal Keeper Vampire Paranormal Romance Series Page 8