The Vampire Trap: A Shadow World Gothic, Paranormal, Romantasy, stand alone novella (Shadow World: T

Chapter 8

The red ringsof demon power flare so brightly the rich brown of his irises is nearly swallowed up by the color. His expression twists with confusion and anger.

“What are you doing?” he demands. There’s a low growl to his words that reminds me just how dangerous he is.

What would I have found in that journal if I’d read further?The question buzzes at the back of my thoughts.

I thrust my arm out in a wide arc. It’s the opposite of what I’ve been taught to do—it gives your opponent time to see your intent and avoid it. He frightened me, but my head is clear enough to recognize that he caught me going through his things and anyone would be angry—but he didn’t attack me. Not yet.

Thomas leans away and takes half a step back, effortlessly avoiding the blade’s edge. I swing again and again. Each time he manages to block or dodge my attacks.

“Was this all some elaborate ruse to steal a weapon?” he continues to question me as we move through the room in a deadly dance.

I swipe the blade through the air. Spin and slice downward.

He side steps— “Will you stop this?” —blocks me with an open palm to my forearm— “If that’s what you want, then take it.” —grabs my other arm and spins me away, then retreats several steps. “Just stand still and talk to me for a moment!”

I feign to the left, then the right. Then strike. The blade cuts diagonally across his shoulder. He lets out a hiss of pain through his teeth and presses a hand to the cut.

Thomas slowly looks up, eyes flashing a luminous crimson with his power.

Before I can think or react, strong arms catch me about the waist, pinning my arms to my sides. His chest rises and falls against my back as if fighting me is no more strenuous than waving away a fly, while I pant from my efforts. I struggle against him, but his hold is like iron and won’t budge.

“Let me go!” I try to sound furious, but my voice sounds hollow and small, like a scared child.

Thomas tsks. “If I did that, then you would kill me, and I quite enjoy being alive.”

I throw myself back, using my weight to knock him off balance. He doesn’t let go, and we crash into the bookshelf behind us. Bending forward as several books clatter to the floor around us, he grunts as one bounces off his head.

All the fight leaves me at once. Even now, after I attacked him, he uses his body to protect me from being struck by a falling book.

“I don’t understand,” I huff, annoyed at my slightly panting breaths while his are smooth and even. “Why aren’t you trying to kill me?”

For several heartbeats, he doesn’t respond. Then, ever so slightly, his arms loosen. “Lady Hall,” he says slowly. “There are many things I would like to do to you. But killing you is not one of them.”

I twist, straining to look back at him, but he’s still holding on too tightly for me to meet his gaze.

“If I let you go, will you promise not to attack? I only want to talk, and it would be much easier if I’m not driven to distraction by having to hold you so close.”

A shiver runs down my body, and I’m surprised to find that it’s not from fear. It dawns on me that the reason I am drawn to him isn’t the result of his vampire powers but straightforward attraction for who he is. And from what he just said, it doesn’t seem to be one-sided.

“Yes,” I say.

Thomas lets his arms fall away. I take a few steps, then turn.

“How did you do that with your dress?” he asks. It’s one of the last things I expect him to say in this situation.

I can practically feel his gaze sliding up and down my legs. I open my mouth but find I can’t speak. Finally, he drags his eyes to my face and raises both brows as if he genuinely wants to know.

Swallowing hard, I force the words to unstick where they’ve lodged in my throat. “I wear these under my dress. It’s supposed to match.”

He bends to pick up the fallen books, examining them in the low light before placing them back where they belong.

“How did you know I was in here? Your hearing can’t be good enough to have heard me from your room.”

Thomas slides another back onto the shelf. “I told you,” he says over his shoulder, “I have a demon.”

Momentarily frozen with panic, I stare wide-eyed at his broad back.

He finishes cleaning up, then sits on the edge of his desk, hands folded in his lap. “I don’t know why you’re so surprised. You looked them in the eye before you started snooping.”

I shake my head.

“What did you think they were?” He waves a hand toward the other side of the desk, and a cat leaps up. It’s the same color and size as?—

I jerk my gaze to where the figurine sat. But it’s gone. I gawk at the living cat….

No. Not cat—demon.

They watch me with dark eyes that brighten until they look like hot coals. Aside from the side-to-side swish of their tail, the demon remains perfectly still.

“You watched me through that thing’s eyes?” The words are far too shrill. “I thought that was an odd little door stop.”

Thomas chuckles and scratches the top of their head. “Did you hear that Mesto? She thought you were a common?—”

The demon hisses, cutting him off. Then the creature leaps off the desk and bounds into the wall, passing through like fog.

“To be honest,” Thomas begins with a sigh. No trace of the humor from seconds before remains. “I expected you to sneak into my room and try to kill me before you went rummaging through my belongings.”

“I wouldn’t?—”

“There’s no use denying it.” He stands and moves nearer until there’s only half an arm’s length between us. I think to lie, but he presses a finger to the space between my brows, rubbing tiny circles. “Did you know you always get a wrinkle right here when you are about to lie? What I don’t understand is why you went through so much trouble if you only wanted me dead.”

I drop my gaze to the floor.

My emotions are a mess. I can’t deny that everything that brought us closer wasn’t part of a plan to kill him, but that’s not everything. I don’t want him harmed if he’s not the one responsible for the murders.

“Oh!” I jerk my head up and reach for him, remembering that I had cut him. But I stop myself, curling my fingers into my palms, and lowering my arms before I make contact. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cut you… I mean, I did, but not?—”

Thomas rolls his shoulder forward. “You are not like other women, Lady Hall. You are quite skilled at fighting. I think you would have had me if I were human.”

I snort. All my life, I’ve been told I’m different. Sometimes as a complement, other times as an insult. Everyone loves to generalize about everyone else.

“You’re wrong, Lord Morgan,” I say. “I am exactly like other women. We all have different skills and interests unique to us all, because we are all individuals.”

He blinks and his head tilts slightly. For a moment, he seems to struggle to form a response. “My apologies,” he says finally. “Of course, you are correct. What I should have said was: your fighting abilities were unexpected as such a skill is not commonly taught to many—man or woman.”

Realizing now isn’t the best time to quibble over semantics, I clamp my mouth shut.

“I cannot see through Mesto’s eyes, but they do tell me of things they see.” he says simply.

Thomas takes half a step closer. I retreat to keep the space between us. Something in him shifts. Whatever confidence I had moments ago vanishes like a hiss of smoke.

“Now that I’ve answered your question, perhaps you would be so kind as to tell me why you are really here?” he continues with a dangerous edge, warning that one wrong move could cut. He nods to the night-forged silver blade in my hand. “You don’t strike me as the type to steal valuable belongings for monetary gain—so you must want that for some other reason.”

My throat has gone dry. I’m not sure what I can say that wouldn’t be a lie, but not so truthful he will kill me for it.

“You apologized for wounding me. Which means you are either the world’s most empathetic assassin, or you don’t quite have the stomach for murder you thought you did.”

“I am not a murderer,” I rasp. Not yet, anyway, But I don’t say that part out loud.

“Then please, enlighten me.”He gestures with his hand for me to attempt an explanation.

I can tell he’s reining his anger in, though barely. The crimson rings flash in his eyes—this time they don’t dim as if he’s preparing to compel me to if I don’t answer him… and quickly.

“I came to stop you….”

Deceptive.

Murderer.

Monster.

Though I cannot bring myself to throw the accusations at him.

“Lady Hall, I might be a patient man, but I do not possess an an endless supply.” He reaches out and hooks a lock of my hair around a finger, then lets it slide back against my shoulder.

My hands have gone ice cold. I ball them at my sides, attempting to hide my shaking. “From killing anyone else.”

The thump, thump, thump of my pulse roars in my ears as I wait for him to react. There is little chance he’ll let me go as I am now that I’ve confirmed knowing about the one thing that could ruin him.

“You believe I am the one behind these murders?”

Who else could it be? Is what I should say, what comes out instead is, “I don’t know.”

Thomas raises his gaze to hold mine. “Then why, Zadie?”

The hurt on his face knocks me aback. It’s so genuine that it only creates more doubt. It would be far easier for him to compel me into believing a lie, even threaten or kill me instead of manipulating me.

“This is what you were doing the night of the equinox,” he says more to himself.

He gradually pieces our plans together. My chest aches with a hollowness from my deception, and his form blurs in front of me.

“ So from the beginning, everything has been a lie?” Thomas asks.

I close my eyes, releasing the hot tears I can no longer hold back. I shake my head. I’ve never been able to handle confrontations like this or stand seeing someone upset over something I’ve said or done.

“At first…” I hiccup as a sob forces its way free. There is far too much I want to say, and I don’t know if he’s willing to listen to me until the end. I’m not sure when things changed, but now, there is one thing I do know. “It wasn’t supposed to be real—but it was.”

“How can you stand there, telling me you think I’m guilty of such gruesome acts while claiming that you haven’t been deceiving me since the moment we met?”

It’s understandable for him to feel confused. Nothing about it makes sense to me, either. Subterfuge is not my strong point. I wasn’t supposed to grow to like him—but how could I not?

The ache and longing in my heart make it hard to think until his fingers wrap around my wrist when I go to wipe my face with my hands.

My eyes widen at his proximity and how, despite how I’ve wronged him, he still stopped me from bringing the silver claw near my face. I’m not so distraught as to be that senseless. Nonetheless, the gesture speaks volumes. I straighten my fingers and let it drop to the floor.

“Forgive me,” I plead. “Please, forgive me.”

Thomas releases me, then brushes his thumbs under my eyes and over my cheeks. “Tell me whatever you have to say, and I will hear you out.”

Grateful for his ability to read me in a way no one else has ever been able to, I pull in a shaky breath and nod.

“I don’t think—I haven’t—” I stumble, then start again from the beginning. “I did attend the ball because the evidence pointed to you. I thought I could stop you. But from the moment we first spoke, you were nothing like I expected.” Pausing, I glance up. What I have to say next will make him hate me.

He patiently waits for me to continue.

“I was supposed to kill you tonight, but I couldn’t—I didn’t want to—not without definitive proof. I also invaded your privacy and then hurt you. I don’t expect you to believe me when I say I have come to care for you so much, it frightens me?—”

“I believe you.”

“You do?” I feel as if I should question his sanity. Anyone in his position would be furious.

Thomas presses a finger to my forehead. “I already told you, I know when you are lying.” Then his arms are around me, one hand moving in soothing circles up and down my spine.

I can no longer pretend I haven’t fallen for him.