Chapter 4 #2
Mustering up all the fake courage I have left, I glare at them. They’re staring at me like predators, but I don’t want to show them any kind of fear. Even if my frantic heartbeat is giving me away.
“Henri gave me permission to be here,” I say. Despite my best efforts, my voice still quivers.
“I’m sure he did,” Keagan drawls, his Irish accent making him seem sweeter than his expression portrays. “And on such a beautiful morning, too.”
Taking a step closer, Cornelius tries to reach out his meaty fingers this time, and I twist to avoid him, snarling. “Leave me alone! I have permission to be here.”
“Come on, sweetness. We won’t hurt you.” Keagan grins.
“She smells so sweet, Keagan,” Cornelius whispers, as if I’m not standing right here. His eyes darken. “Can I—”
Keagan hisses. “I told you, I get first taste.”
So much for not hurting me.
I never want to use Henri to my advantage, but in this case, he just may save me. “But Henri said—”
“Henri isn’t here right now, is he?” Keagan snaps back, and flashes pointed teeth at me.
I shiver.
“I’ll make sure to tell him of this,” I say through clenched teeth. “He’ll kill you for it.”
Keagan meets his friend’s eye, and a wave of hesitation passes over them.
“You know it’s true,” I go on, feeding into their doubt. “I’m meant to be his, after all.”
That last part nearly made me sick to say, but if it’d get them to leave me alone, I’d scream Henri’s name from the top of my lungs.
“We’ll make it quick,” Keagan says, his eyes flashing black. He snatches my upper arm and pulls me to him. Digging my nails into his flesh, I do all I can to loosen his hold while yanking back. He tightens his grip.
“It’s almost dawn!” I keep fighting against him. “Shouldn’t you be hiding in a shadow somewhere?”
Cornelius growls, grabbing hold of my other arm and wrenching my body to his. Being much stronger than Keagan, I bounce off his broad chest, pain lancing through my shoulder.
“I like it when they scream,” he says.
I press my lips together to not give him the satisfaction.
“What’s going on here?” A new voice rings out from behind us.
Like a trigger, Cornelius releases me. I hold my tender arm, hoping another bruise won’t surface as the two men step apart.
Avrum strides forward, and when his eyes find mine, and I glance away. I don’t know why, but shame stirs. I don’t want him to see me like this.
“We were just making our last rounds for the night,” Keagan answers and shrugs. Cornelius grunts in agreement, but Avrum doesn’t appear to believe their lie.
Brows rising, he says, “And now I think you’ve finished.”
Keagan stares at him for some time, his beady eyes narrowing but not saying a word. But, to my surprise, Avrum doesn’t back down. He stands there, almost bored, as Keagan speaks his hatred for him through his gaze.
The air sparks with intensity as the two continue to stare each other down. I don’t dare move or say a word. But the growing tension has my gut churning with worry.
Then, Keagan turns on his heel and trudges back towards the manor, mumbling curses the entire way.
Cornelius, on the other hand, causes his muscles to bulge under his too-tight shirt. He’s twice the size of Avrum. Maybe more.
“You are not my lord,” he barks, his nostrils flaring. “You hold no power over me.”
Like with Keagan, Avrum holds his ground. “That is true. But Henri does, and I’ll be sure to tell him all about this.”
Apprehension passes over his face. “He won’t believe you,” he replies as he takes a step back.
“We will see,”is all Avrum says, but his smile radiates. It’s a forced one with the promise of a threat behind it.
“You can’t hide behind Henri forever.” He snorts before following in Keagan’s wake.
Once we are alone, I turn back towards the lake. In a perfect scenario, Avrum would leave me be, too, but I know better. He hovers close, not saying a word.
Soon, the silence becomes suffocating, and I can’t take it anymore. “Shouldn’t you be heading back too? It’s almost dawn,” I say.
“I will,” he replies softly. His fingertips brush the hand that still nurses my sore arm.
I jerk away out of reflex.
“Did they hurt you?” he asks, voice strained.
“No.” I have been through worse.
“Are you sure?” He tries to reach out again.
“Will you just leave me alone?” I begin to march back to the manor.
Not only have I now missed my chance of leaving, but this constant act he’s putting on, like he actually cares, is really starting to infuriate me.
I’m not a fool. I’m not going to believe he’s so different compared to every other monster in this place. He’s wasting his time.
It isn’t long before he’s walking at my side, matching my quick strides.
I halt and give him a hard look. “Why are you here, Avrum?”
He stops, his eyes widening. “Er… I was sent… by Lord Henri to see…”
“Exactly.”
His brow furrows in confusion. “I don’t understand.”
I study his face. Fine dark hairs shadow his upper lip and strong jaw. Soft brown eyes watch me for an explanation, waiting patiently. He can’t really be that na?ve, can he?
My anger numbing, my shoulders drop. “You didn’t come here on your own account. You were ordered to watch me.”
“Yes.”
“And that isn’t concern. That is a duty,” I tell him. “If it wasn’t for Henri, you would have never even come out here.”
He’s quiet for a moment. Behind him, the night recedes farther to the west.
“That… isn’t true,” he whispers finally.
“It isn’t?”
“I have been wanting to see you again.”
My stomach flips.
“I wanted to apologize again for the way I acted… in the foyer.” His hands tremble, and he quickly stuffs them into his trouser pockets. “It was impolite of me.”
The foyer, the pending kiss, his body pressed against mine…
Heat floods me as my mind takes the memory a step further.
Suddenly, I’m seeing an image of the two of us laying in a bed, bodies naked and tangled in acts of passion.
His body hovering over mine, his lips capturing mine as we rock together…
I suck in a sharp breath to try and regain control of my wandering thoughts and wild libido. To remind myself of what his kind is capable of, I rub the bracelets around my wrists, making my raw flesh sting.
No matter how handsome and attractive he might be, it can’t hide the fact of what he is. A night-dwelling, blood-sucking demon. The damned.
Still, my pulse quickens as he steps closer.
Despite the truth repeating over and over in my head, something inside me yearns to feel his thick arms around me, holding me, promising me he’d take me away from here. It’s a worthless fantasy, I know, but I can’t help but want it. Desperately.
My mouth is dry. What is it about Avrum Brenin that makes me feel this way? And so conflicted?
Glancing away from him, my eyes go to the horizon again. “The sun…” I murmur, worry running rampant through me. My knowledge on his kind may be limited, but I know that they all seem to avoid the daylight and sun. It seems to be a weakness to them.
Avrum glances over his shoulder. “We should go inside. Lord Henri wanted you back before dawn.”
There he is again. Henri. He always seems to wiggle his way into any situation, even when he’s not around.
Sighing, I give in, and together we walk toward the manor in silence. When we reach the back doors, I look back to the lake one last time.
As if it can no longer be contained, the sky ignites with fiery colors, and the sun lifts its head over the black lake.
I draw in a shaky breath, taking in the beauty of it all.
A flicker of warmth touches my cheeks. I revel in it for those few seconds before the doors finally close behind me, cutting off the light, and I enter the night once again.
Avrum
Iwalk down the hallway on stiff legs. The dull thuds of heeled shoes on a carpeted floor tells me that Haven is still following close behind.
It does little to muffle the sounds of her rapidly beating heart or her quick breathing, though, and those are the things that captivate me the most because they reveal two very important things to me.
One, she doesn’t want to be here—she’s terrified to be, actually.
And two, she doesn’t want to be here with me.
Silently, I curse myself. Despite my best efforts, I’ve made her uncomfortable again, and I hate myself for it. Why is speaking to her so hard?
I look over my shoulder.
As she walks, her eyes stay downcast, more interested in her feet than anything else. Today, she wears a pale blue, cotton dress that hangs loosely around her slender frame.
I think of when I had found her near the lake’s edge with Keagan and Cornelius hovering over her like two hungry dogs.
The moment I’d seen them touch her, my blood boiled.
How dare they lay a hand on a woman, especially one under Lord Henri’s care?
They knew Henri’s orders, yet intentionally disobeyed them.
They need to be put in their place, and I will make sure of it the moment I see Henri.
With every step up the stairs, I’m tempted to turn around and ask Haven the questions that are hovering on my tongue. What is it that made her want to leave here so badly? Why does she act so coldly towards Henri? Is she really afraid? Has something happened to her that I should know about?
Then there are the questions I’m constantly asking myself. Like, why can’t I stop thinking about her? And why do I care so much?
I don’t have answers for any of them.
At the top of the staircase, we face a hallway where every bedroom door is closed. With dawn rising, most of our kind are asleep now, and a hush has settled over the manor because of it.
I peer at Henri’s door at the end of the hall, where the bronze crow is hung frozen in mid-flight. The two guards that normally stand outside Henri’s door during the day are not at their posts yet, meaning that Lord Henri is still awake.