Chapter 5
Haven
“I’m glad you enjoyed your stroll along the grounds,” Henri says, once Avrum has left. As much as he irks me, I wish he was still here. Henri is far worse. Far, far worse. And being alone with him only leads to equally terrible things.
“As I said before,” I reply, “it was too short.”
“What?” He reaches out a ringed finger, and I cringe when it comes close to my cheek. “Not even a simple thank you?”
“Thank yous are never simple with you.”
His hovering finger captures a curl beside my face. I try to hit it away, but the moment my hand lifts, he snatches it by the wrist and squeezes the bracelets tighter against my raw skin.
“You are so ungrateful,” he says. “All I want is to help you.”
I snort at that. “Help me?”
“For hundreds of years, I have waited for you to return to me. I have never stopped loving you,” he explains. “I want to help you remember how much you love me.”
Wait… Had I heard him right? Hundreds of years? This man’s lost his mind! “I don’t know what you are talking about.”
“Kiss me,” he commands, gripping my wrist tighter. Pain shoots up my arm, but I swallow the scream down. “All I want before I sleep is a simple kiss.”
“Go to hell.”
Suddenly, the crystal end of Henri’s cane is at my throat, pressing into my skin. I yelp in surprise.
But he licks his lips, enjoying my pain and struggle. “Everything has to be so difficult with you,” he hisses, but there’s a smirk curling the corners of his mouth. “Just one kiss.”
For a split second, I consider it. Just a quick peck and maybe he will leave me alone. But the idea of doing something even that trivial makes my stomach turn. I don’t think I could do it without vomiting up my dinner.
When Henri’s head turns back toward his bedroom door, my gaze follows and what I see freezes me in place with fear. Cornelius and Keagan stand in front of it. Their hungry eyes flash black as they take their posts as Henri’s personal daytime guards.
My first reaction is to scream. Hopefully, Avrum is close by and maybe he can help in some way. But as I open my mouth, Henri’s hand presses against it, and my scream is muffled by his cool skin.
With his eyes changed to that terrifying, demonic black again, he leans down until his face is only a breath away from mine. I force myself to look away.
“Look at me,” he demands in a harsh whisper.
I squeeze my eyes closed.
The hand over my mouth shakes me. Hard. “Look at me!”
I obey, and a sickening smirk lifts his lips. “Much better.”
I squirm, but the grip he has on my face pins me in place.
“Don’t fight me, Haven,” he warns, as his lips brushed against my cheek. “You know you can’t win.”
It’s true, and I hate it. I’ve never wished death on anyone before, but for him, I pray for the most painful and cruel end a person could endure.
“Now…” Moving his kisses along my jawline, he removes his hand from my mouth. “Tell me you love me.”
I stare at him in disbelief. I would rather have my tongue ripped out than produce those words. Even if it’s only to fulfill this grand delusion he has.
His voice deepens as his irritation grows. “Say it.”
I don’t.
“Say it!”
“Never,” I snap. “I will never love you.”
The back of his hand meets my face with a hard smack that leaves my ears ringing. The pain is so harsh and sudden, my stomach roils and acid burns up my throat. My vision darkens for a second before the prickle of tears comes.
God, it hurts!
He examines his ringed finger. Upon the large onyx stone, my blood glistens. I can already feel a trail of it running down my cheek.
Pain now fueling my fury, and I grab his arms and wrench him off me. When I swipe at my cheek, my hand comes back red and bloody.
Henri’s unfazed. He brings the ring to his lips and licks the black stone clean. Then, he dips his head and lets his tongue catch the rest of it before it drips off my chin and onto my dress.
I shove him back, but he only laughs. “Hmmm… You are sure are delectable.”
“Don’t you dare touch me,” I bark, even though I’m trembling on the inside with a mixture of rage, disgust, pain, and fear.
“Oh, Haven,” he says almost sweetly, “I own you.” He reaches for the buttons of my bodice.
My heart thumps wildly in my chest, and I can’t stop the tears now as they begin to fall. I’ve never been this angry and scared in my life. “Leave me be!” I keep swatting at his hands, but it does little to deter him. “Leave me—”
When he finally meets my gaze, he pauses and his head tilts to the side. His thick brows knit together, and for a moment, he looks confused by what he sees. His eyes soften.
“Oh, my love,” he murmurs, stepping back. “Don’t cry. Please.”
He reaches for me again, but I flinch back, afraid of what he might do. This time, he strokes my unmarked cheek, almost tenderly. Like a lover might do.
I hold my breath.
“Linna, please understand…” he whispers.
Linna? There’s that name again.
Why does he keep calling me that?
“Who are you talking about?” I cry, my voice shaking. “I’m not Linna. I’m Haven. Haven!”
Ignoring me, he continues to ramble as if in a daze. “You have to love me. You have to.”
Lost in his delusion, he buries his face in the hollow of my neck, and my entire body stiffens. I don’t move, don’t speak, too afraid of what might happen if I do.
“Love me,” he pleads. “You have to love me, Linna.”
As he continues to mutter nonsense against my skin, the grip he has on my shoulders becomes tighter, his nails biting in. More waves of pain spike through me, making me gasp. “You must love me.”
Avrum
Agentle rap on the door stirs me from a deep sleep. The moment I open my eyes, the swirling, rushing power of nightfall fills me. It’s like we’re fueled by the moon; it’s a drug, and I’m suddenly buzzing with energy.
The knock comes again, this time with a little more vigor. I throw off the thick quilt and rise to my feet. The smells of sweat and blood invade my nose, making my stomach clench. What’s happened?
“Just a moment,” I call to the stranger waiting for me, and quickly dress in slacks and an ivory shirt. Still fumbling with the buttons of my gray vest, I hurry to the door. When I open it, I find the little maid I’d spoken to before about Haven. Emma is her name, if my memory serves me.
She stands there with her small fist raised to knock again, looking grave. “I’m sorry for disturbing you,” she mutters. “I was sent by the lord to retrieve you.”
The scent of blood is stronger out here. It fills my nostrils and makes my head whirl with hunger. “Is something wrong?” I ask.
Emma’s bottom lip quivers. She wants to tell me, but she’s afraid.
Haven.
I know this is about her. I can feel it in my gut, and my insides spin with worry. “What’s happened? Haven… is she alright?”
“I… don’t know,” she replies, voice catching.
She’s gone. She ran off again to the city.
It feels like more than that. Like she needs me.
It must be the reason Lord Henri has summoned me. Something must be wrong.
I run a hand through my hair, still mused and untied from sleep. “Thank you for bringing me the message, Emma,” I say and slide past her. I head straight for Henri’s bedroom door.
As I turn the corner, I’m shocked to see both Keagan and Cornelius standing there, arms crossed and swords resting against their hips. They sneer my way as I approach.
“Look at this,” Keagan says, nudging his friend. “The hound has wandered back home.”
Cornelius chuckles.
Why Henri has chosen these two buffoons to watch his room, and not the normal human guards, strikes me as odd. Especially after I’d told him about their degressions at the lake.
Annoyance prickles. “The lord sent for me.”
“You must feel so damn special.” Keagan lifts his pointed nose.
“Just let me in,” I say.
Cornelius slaps a meaty hand on my shoulder. “Why should we? Now that Henri has permanently appointed me as one of his guards, we are the ones who decide who enters and who doesn’t.”
Now I wish Lysander had gone through with it and killed the bastard.
I open my mouth to speak, but before I can say anything, Keagan steps aside to allow me to pass. He even holds out his hand, like a gentleman.
“Now, now, Cornelius. We should let Avrum through. He was sent for, after all.” Despite his sudden discovery of manners, a smirk curves his mouth. “Go on.”
Shrugging off Cornelius’s grip, I shove past them and push the door open.
A little more excited now, Keagan pushes against my back to get me inside faster. “Go on.”
When I close the door behind me, their laughter booms through it.
I can’t let them get to me. That’s what they want, after all—to crawl under my skin.
Blowing out a breath, I search the room. I’m alone, it seems; Henri isn’t here. At least not yet. But the coppery scent of blood is so thick here, it seizes me by the throat and squeezes. Then I hear the slow, faint drum of a beating heart, and my fangs start to descend without my permission.
When is the last time I’d fed? I can’t even remember. I’ve been so distracted lately, that I haven’t visited the reserve in the cellar since before the party, and I’m regretting that choice now. My stomach clenches painfully with unnatural hunger.
The silver light of the moon shines through the stained-glass windows, creating colored patterns on the dark wooden floors. A four-poster bed takes up most of the space, its white sheets still pulled back and disheveled from sleep.
I take another step and pause. That sound of a heart beating… it’s coming from inside this very room. Acting on instinct, my feet move me around the bed.
There, in the corner, a shadowed figure stirs.
I freeze.
“Hello?” I whisper cautiously, getting closer. Whoever this person is, it isn’t Lord Henri. The heartbeat is low and distant, but the smell of blood becomes stronger the closer I get. “Hello?”
The darkness moves again, but this time, I can see the paleness of a face surrounded by a long mess of brown hair.
My heart plummets.
“Haven?”