Chapter 16 Faye #2
“Please don’t blame them. It wasn’t their fault.
” Faye feared he would go after her friends for helping her, and she couldn’t bear the thought of him hurting them.
“I shouldn’t have left.” She dared to pull away slightly to get a better look at him.
He didn’t look like himself. His cheeks were sunken, emphasizing his sharp fangs.
“This was your doing?” he asked as she stared into his blood-red eyes. His pupils were dilated with bloodlust. He hadn’t fed recently.
Faye nodded.
Ian tutted, stroking her hair. She didn’t dare speak.
“Let me tell you how your dear husband returned home to find our house deserted. A notice from your beloved coven was posted on the door – the same door we painted together, the same threshold I carried you across after we vowed to spend our lives together. My loving wife’s clothes and belongings were gone.
How I worried about what could have happened!
I searched high and low for you. I went to our new house, thinking you must be there.
Instead, I found a trio of Hunters waiting for me, who seemed to think I was a threat to humans.
Me? I’ve never laid a hand or a fang on a human.
None but one – my wife, the only person who could accuse me of such a thing.
You know I would never hurt you, not on purpose.
Sometimes my nature gets the best of me, but we’ve always got past it. ”
“I didn’t report you to the Hunters, I swear. I would never,” Faye pleaded, confused about what he was talking about.
“Shhhh, my love, I’m sure you wouldn’t, but many close to you don’t understand our love and will do anything to keep us apart. You’d never leave me without their influence. We should’ve moved away sooner.”
“I’m sorry the Hunters hurt you, but I swear I’d no part in it!”
“I believe you, but you deserve to know the pain your dear friends caused me. The Hunters held me for a month. They left me to starve in a crypt at one of their secret locations. You’ve no idea how painful it is to go thirsty, to feel like you’re burning from the inside out.
They exposed me to sunlight, then allowed me to heal, repeating the process until I was charred.
With the lack of blood in my system, the healing alone was agony – enough to drive a man insane.
The thought of getting home to you kept me alive and fighting.
” Ian’s voice trembled. “I can’t believe you would want to cause me such pain. My heart breaks to even consider it.”
It didn’t matter whether he believed her about the hunters. He would punish her either way. She had to distract him.
“You’re safe now. They let you go, and now we’re together again.” She didn’t want him to kill her or, worse, turn her. “Let’s go home and put all this misery behind us. I can’t believe they sent Hunters after you! I was a fool for trusting them.”
Ian’s gaze softened, as if he believed every word. “I’ve missed you so much – your face, your scent… your blood…”
He tipped her head to the side, exposing her neck to him.
He inhaled deeply, and Faye squeezed her eyes shut, knowing what would happen next.
The bite of his fangs made her cry out, but he clamped a hand over her mouth as she felt the pull of her blood leaving her body.
It wasn’t long before she started to feel woozy, but before she got to the point of blacking out, Ian recoiled from her, choking and gasping for air.
Infuriated, he tossed her to the ground. The gravel cut her hands, but at least she was free. She ran to the end of the alley, but he caught her by the back of her neck.
“What have you done?” he growled, shoving her hard against the wall. “You’ve tainted your blood with ungodly magic.”
Faye struggled to catch her breath, woozy from the draining.
Ian shouldn’t have been able to taste Grams’s potion.
Faye had been drinking one dose a week ever since she left, just in case, but his senses must be heightened after being starved for so long.
He’d kill her now for sure. Accepting that, she suddenly found courage to be honest with him.
She wasn’t going to go down without a fight, without telling him how much he disgusted her.
“You’re never going to feed from me again,” she told him, managing a smile.
“What witch has polluted you?” Ian raged, as though they were the villains and he the victim.
“I did it to myself,” Faye snapped, leaving Grams out of it. “I wanted to make sure you’d stay away from me.”
“You don’t have the skill to perform such magic. Why protect the witch who has ruined you? Do you really hate me so much?” He seemed genuinely confused.
“I despise you. I’ve been repulsed by your touch for years, let alone your bite. You’ve abused our love and used me as your own personal blood bag for years, and I’m done,” Faye rasped, waiting for him to finish what he’d started.
Instead, Ian’s grip on her neck loosened, and she dropped to the ground, gasping for breath.
He reached for her as if to help her up, and Faye noticed a flash of fear in his eyes.
She grabbed the steel lid from the nearby bin and swung it into the side of his head as hard as she could.
It distracted him long enough for her to reach the end of the alley, where she collided with Gwendoline and Benedict Matherson.
A cry of relief escaped her as she saw them.
“Faye?” Gwendoline asked, holding her gently as she eyed the blood running down Faye’s neck and staining her T-shirt.
“Ian’s h-here,” Faye stammered, staring into the alley.
Gwendoline ushered Faye behind her as Ian stormed toward them from the shadows. Faye didn’t want Peter’s mum to get hurt, but she knew not to underestimate how fierce a woman she was, let alone a powerful witch.
“This is none of your business, witch. Leave my wife to me,” Ian snarled as Gwendoline positioned herself between them.
Ignoring him, Gwendoline spoke to Benedict, standing protectively at Faye’s side. Ian flashed his fangs, but Gwendoline didn’t even blink. Faye envied her fearlessness.
“Benedict, summon the coven to the temple and find Lucinda. We’ll need her to sentence this violent intruder for breaking his banishment order.” Gwendoline’s calm demeanour was almost unnerving; Faye hoped she could one day be so heartless.
“I can deal with him,” Benedict said, his hands engulfed in fire instantly.
“No, son. As much as Ian deserves it, we must do this by the book. Remember your promise.”
Promise? Faye wondered what she was referring to.
Benedict’s hands were extinguished.
“That’s right – be a good boy and do as Mummy tells you. Pathetic. Living under your wife, the Grand High Priestess, and your mother’s thumb,” Ian mocked with a twisted laugh.
“Keep their names out of your damn mouth before I rip your tongue out and feed the rest of you to the werewolves,” Benedict warned.
“Try it. I’d drain you before you can even blink,” Ian retorted.
“That’s enough, Ian. Don’t test my patience,” Gwendoline told him. “Do as I instructed, Benedict.”
Benedict gritted his teeth and then vanished.
“You should’ve stayed away, Ian.” Gwendoline’s smile was downright terrifying. “Disobeying coven orders isn’t smart, and now you’ll have to come with me and face your sentence.”
In a flash, Ian attempted to charge at her, but the witch sent him flying back down the alley with a flick of her wrist. One of the most powerful witches in Foxford wasn’t going to take any nonsense from a young vampire.
“I’m not going anywhere without my wife, and I don’t recognise your coven law. You’ve been trying to hurt us, break us apart since we left for the woods,” Ian snarled, getting back to his feet.
“Faye decided to leave you of her own free will, and she wishes to remain in Foxford. She’s under our protection.
Once, she trusted you would control yourself, love and protect her.
Instead, you abused your power and made her suffer a fate worse than death.
To call yourself a husband is an insult to all the good men out there,” Gwendoline scolded.
Faye wanted to cry.
Ian chuckled, pacing back and forth in front of them.
“What would you know about a good husband? Yours was sentenced to death for slaughtering an entire village! Does anyone truly believe he was trying to help the sick with that mercy spell? It was just a cover for his wickedness. You’ve no right to lecture me.
Matherson blood is tainted with evil, no matter how much you try to erase it. ”
Gwendoline raised her hand and squeezed it into a fist.
Ian gripped his throat as he choked on thin air. “Go on, kill me and prove my point,” he gasped. Blood, black as ink, ran from his eyes and nose. “You act so sanctimoniously, but you couldn’t even protect your husband or the son who tried to resurrect him. How is dear Peter?”
“Gwendoline, please don’t do this. This is what he wants,” Faye pleaded, resting her hand on Gwendoline’s trembling arm, despite the risk of touching a witch in such a fury. “Please, let him go. Benedict will be back soon, and Ian will face the coven’s justice.”
Gwendoline’s gaze softened as she looked at Faye.
She dropped her fist, releasing Ian. He dropped like a sack of potatoes.
“You should be thanking Faye for helping spare your life. As for my family, they’ve suffered the consequences of their actions regardless of their intent – as will you.
What you’ve done is unforgivable. Your parents would be ashamed to see what you’ve become. They didn’t raise you this way.”
Gwendoline turned back to Faye while Ian coughed up blood. “Thank you for helping me see reason,” she whispered. “I can’t remember the last time I let my anger get the better of me.”
“Ian brings out the worst in people,” Faye said. Given enough time, she was sure he could corrupt even the most pious and forgiving soul.