Chapter 14
CHAPTER 14
VALARIC
N estled securely in my arms, I hold Juliet as she sleeps. The warm firelight casts her features in a golden glow. She lies facing me, her palms resting against my bare chest.
Her trust is both intoxicating and terrifying in the same breath. The primal instinct to protect and possess her is a dark impulse that I can barely contain and I cannot ignore.
She is mine. The words whisper through my veins, imprinting upon my very soul as a maelstrom of emotions wash over and through me, unbidden and irrevocable.
I’ve heard stories about the fated bond and never truly believed them. But as I study her lovely face, from the rounded shell of her ear to the plush bow of her lips, I know it is true.
My heart is not my own anymore. It is entirely hers.
Rage swirls through me as I remember when I first saw her, lying upon her deathbed, balanced upon the edge of the dark abyss. Whoever harmed her, I will discover who it is. And when I do, I will end them.
Juliet murmurs, pulling me back from my dark thoughts. My breath hitches when she whispers my name and snuggles even further into my arms. It seems she is dreaming of me, even now.
As I watch the gentle rise and fall of her chest, I cannot help but think that she has woven a spell upon my soul. Binding me, changing me.
For the last fifty years, all I have known is survival. But as I study my bride in the warm firelight, I feel alive for the first time since I was turned.
Gently, I run my fingers through her hair, the long strands slipping through my fingers like fine silk. I will do whatever it takes to be worthy of her—to win her love.
Without warning, the world around us falls unnaturally silent. The hairs rise on my arms, and dread coils around my spine as a subtle ringing begins in my ears. I tighten my wings around my bride, desperate to shield her from what is coming.
A dark haze gathers before me. Amber eyes meet mine a moment before the witch appears and steps out of the smoke.
“What are you doing here?” I hiss, trying not to wake Juliet.
“You don’t have to whisper.” She waves her hand and a wisp of red magic curls around her fingers. “Only you can see me, and I’ve made sure she cannot hear us. She will not awaken right now.”
“Why are you here?” I ask again, this time more forcefully.
Her cat-like eyes drop to Juliet and a menacing grin spreads across her face. “This is interesting,” she muses, ignoring my question. “You were never this close with any of the others.” She lifts one brow. “Could this be the bride that will break your curse?”
A low growl rises in the back of my throat.
“I think not.” A cruel smirk twists her mouth. “After all, she doesn’t know everything about you, now, does she?”
When I don’t answer, her grin widens, revealing a hint of gleaming white fangs.
She leans down and a vicious snarl rips from my throat as she lifts a lock of Juliet’s hair, allowing it to slip through her sharp, black claws. “Do. Not. Touch. Her,” I grind out, pulling Juliet away from her grasp.
“My, my. You’re already halfway in love with her,” she says mockingly. “Aren’t you?”
I narrow my eyes.
“It begs the question: How can she love you when she doesn’t know what you really are?” She tips her head to one side. “And once she does, will she be able to truly love you?” She shakes her head in mock sympathy. “I think we both know the answer to that, don’t we, Valaric?”
“Leave,” I grit through my teeth. “Now.”
“Enjoy this”—she glances at Juliet—“while you can. She may speak the words… profess her love, but when she sees your cursed form, any love she has professed will be swallowed up by her fear.”
My fangs extend and my claws lengthen. If I could, I would tear her to shreds.
“You believe I am wrong?” Talindra asks incredulously. “Well, consider this: She already ran from you, and she hasn’t even seen the dark creature within—the feral and monstrous thing you become when the new moon is upon you. And if she cannot accept it, if she cannot love both the monster and man, once she knows… then she will not be the one to break your curse.”
Even as she says this, the darkness stirs inside me, restless and thrashing beneath the surface, demanding to be freed.
I clench my jaw as I force it back down. The blood witch is wrong. Already, Juliet is different from the ones who came before her. I gaze down at her sleeping form. None of the others ever trusted me to touch them, much less hold them like I am holding her now. And they never made any attempt to know me as she has.
The witch is wrong. Juliet will pass the test. I will earn her love and she will break the curse.
“I can see your mind working, Vampyr.” The witch’s lips curl up in smirk. “You believe she will be different, but I already know she is not.” She chuckles darkly. “You have until the last petal falls before you must place her in her lovely glass coffin like the others. Perhaps then you will know the pain of heartbreak like I do.”
Frustration burns in my veins. “It is not my fault your lover didn’t survive the change, witch.”
“Don’t you dare speak of my mate.” Anger twists her features. “I’ve been merciful to you, Vampyr, and you have taken it for granted. But perhaps I should up the stakes.” An evil grin splits her face. “What do you think of that?”
Worry ripples through me. “What are you talking about?”
“You believe she’ll pass the test?” She lifts one brow. “That she’ll love both the monster and the man beneath.”
I do, but I will not tell her this. Although, judging from the sinister glint in her eyes, I suspect she already knows the answer. She’s right. Juliet and I are still so new to each other, but she has already allowed me to hold her… to touch her. The others never did.
“Until now, you’ve always believed the worst fate that awaits your brides is an enchanted sleep in a glass coffin. But I realize now that this has made things easy for you.”
“Easy?” I ask incredulously. “How?”
“They are not dead; they are merely sleeping.”
A chill runs down my spine as the pieces begin to fall into place. “No.” I can barely breathe out the word as horror grips me in an iron vise. “You cannot do this.”
“Figured it out already, have you?” The corner of her mouth tilts up in dark amusement. “Well let me state it plainly.” She lifts her hands and magic curls around her fingers like wisps of red smoke. With a flick of her wrist, she directs it toward me.
Panicked, I struggle to move, but I’m frozen in place as the long tendrils of red magic wrap around me and Juliet like binding ribbon before disappearing beneath our skin.
“To break your curse, she must speak the words. She must love both the man and the monster,” the witch says darkly. “If she does not, she will die.”
“No.” Strangling tendrils of fear wrap tight around my chest. “You cannot do this.”
“I can and I will,” she snarls. “ You broke our bargain first, Vampyr.” She pins me with an ice-cold gaze. “I gave you the means to avenge your people, and you owed me a favor in exchange. I asked you to turn my mate, not to kill him.” She points an angry finger at Juliet. “She will never love you. Not once she sees the curse change you, turning you into your monstrous form. And when it finally claims her, you will understand my pain.”
Rage blisters through me. “If you dare try to take her, I will—”
“I don’t have to take her,” she sneers. “Her fickle human nature and the curse will do it for me. Do not worry, Vampyr. Even in death, you can keep her close. She can stay in one of those lovely glass boxes like the others.”
“Lift the curse,” I demand through clenched teeth. “Or I swear I will find a way to kill you.”
“You can try,” she says darkly. “But you will fail, Vampyr.”
With a flick of her wrist, she vanishes into thin air.
Glancing down at Juliet, I run my hand through her silken hair and cup the back of her head as I hold her to my chest. I cannot bear the thought of Juliet ending up like the others.
Worry spirals through me as I think on the witch’s words. Juliet was terrified when she saw a brief glimpse of my dark thirst. And if that scared her, how will she react when she sees the true monster within?
Clenching my jaw, I gaze at my ashaya. She is my fated one. Surely, she will love me enough to see beyond the monstrous transformation that will be brought about by my curse. Because if she fails in this test, I will lose her forever.
I glance out the window as the moon begins to rise. Juliet is still sleeping peacefully, but I know I must wake her soon. The storm has passed, and it is safe for us to travel again.
A soft knock sounds at the door, and I move toward it. My nostrils flare as I scent the innkeeper on the other side. Effortlessly, I push aside the dresser and then open the door.
Startled, she jumps back. “Seven hells,” she swears, pressing her hand to her heart. “You gave me a fright answering the door like that.”
I arch a condescending brow. “How should I have answered it?”
“To be honest, I was hoping your wife would have been the one to come to the door.” She clears her throat. “I came to tell you the weather has cleared up a bit. So, I suppose you will probably want to be on your way again, to return to your castle.”
Before I can reply, she leans to one side, peering around me to my bride. Juliet is still asleep by the fire. “You take good care of that wife of yours.” She points a stern finger at me. “And never give her any reason to lose that lovely smile she has.”
Minda is indeed brave to speak to me like this, and I bite back a grin of amusement. I cannot help but admire her spirit. Crossing my arms, I arch a brow. “I see you’ve decided you are no longer afraid of a Vampire.”
“I’ve had time to think on it,” she muses. “And it occurs to me that you’re not just any Vampire, now are you? You’re a Shadow Blade.”
Painful memories resurface, but I push them back down. “I told you not to speak of this,” I say in a low voice. “The man I was is gone.”
“You cannot truly believe that.” She eyes me speculatively. “I’ve heard the stories about you, Sir Valaric, First Knight of the Order of the Shadow Blade, and how you avenged your people after those monsters turned you.”
She grabs a thin chain around her neck and lifts it over her head to hold it out to me. My breath catches when I notice the silver pendant that dangles from the end—the banner of our Order. A white cross with a rose-covered vine wound around it, set on a green background.
I’m so stunned to see this relic from my past that my voice comes out as barely a whisper. “Where on earth did you get this?”