Chapter Fourteen #2
My words caused a reaction of anger and he pointed a bony finger in my direction.
“They aren’t hunting shadow bloods! They are sacrificing them.
I have been retired because those in this town with shadow blood have taken to a peaceful life.
Agatha was running on animal blood and imported blood packs.
Even your mother agreed to hide her true identity from the others and I provided that necklace she had,” he stopped when he stared at the blank area around my neck.
“The one you aren’t wearing. Where is the necklace? ”
“Lucien took it off so I could find you. Wait, you made the necklace?”
“No, I had gotten it from the body of a witch from back in my active hunter days. Your mother used her magic to bind it to her blood which also flows within you. That was meant for protection. A shadow witch’s magic is unpredictable so it’s best if you remain spellbound,” he explained with a gruff sigh at the end.
When I looked at him confused with accusations ready, he ran a hand over his face in exasperation.
“Now, all your questions are answered and I graciously answered a third. You will track down this killer and that silver stake you have will be the key. I saw you take the stake from Jeremy Pickens’ chest. The killer used it which means you can still track him.
One more body was found in the greenhouse of Chief Dorian.
He was just taken off the case, but I know he is not the killer. Dorian is a garden pixie.”
I blinked, my mind trying to imagine Dorian with fairy wings, but couldn’t. Shaking the weird images from my head, I lowered the gun. “Okay, let’s say I know what that means. Who could it be?”
“That’s the thing that confuses me. There are many people in this town that could do this, but those who would are a different matter.
I will say, your father was on the list, but I’ve hunted deer with your father.
His hands shake when he shoots and this killer has a very steady hand.
While the list is small, it’s hard to say who it could be. ”
I set the gun back down on his desk before backing away. “We were already going to find the killer. However, you try another stunt like today and you’ll see that where my dad lacks the initiative, I do not.”
Hugo sat down in his chair with an amused chuckle, retrieving his gun. Putting the safety back on, he put it into his desk and waved me off. “I’ve had my fun. Worry not about your pet vampire.”
“He is not my pet. And stop calling Bryon pup. It’s weird,” I snapped.
With that I turned on my heel and left the mechanic shop behind. Waiting for me was Lucien in his normal personification of beauty. It honestly pained me a bit that he looked so good. How can someone so handsome be mine?
“It sounds like you got the answers.”
“I would have gotten them sooner if you didn’t react every time he provoked you,” I commented, still irritated from how close I had come to dying due to the squabbling.
“It was an idiot move. He was clearly doing it on purpose and you fell into his trap.” He pushed off the wall to appear in front of me.
“Me? The idiot?”
“Yes, you let your feelings get in the way of getting the answers we needed.”
“Don’t you dare pull that card out,” he retorted.
I took a step back at the malice in his words.
I struck a chord without meaning to, but there was no going back now.
“I may not have followed your plan, but you still got the answers you needed. As for feelings, if you find my feelings for you such a burden then just say it! I won’t apologize for loving you not now or in the future. ”
Love.
My own cowardness had kept me from it, but apparently not from the man who hated the idea of it. I felt the tears burn my eyes and my heart swelled at the realization that Lucien was fully accepting the bond. I hadn’t imagined him to be the one to say it or even this quickly.
“Lucien, I—.”
When he saw the tears, he was quick to fuss over me. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to raise my voice. Is it your wound? I can heal it fully.”
“You said you loved me.”
His eyes widened at my words, then his lips curved affectionately, his thumb swiping at a fallen tear. “Is that why you were crying? That’s no reason to cry, my love. You had me worried.”
I wiped the remaining tears with a small embarrassed laugh.
Lucien shed his jacket to place it around my shoulders and pulled me closer so he could kiss me.
I melted into him, pulling myself even closer to feel him against my exposed skin.
That bonding pull was back with a vengeance and a desire for him.
It was as though something had snapped in me and all I needed was him.
Now.
“Lucien,” I finally gasped as his lips moved across my jaw and towards my neck.
“I’m trying to hold back.”
“Don’t,” I panted. “Because I don’t have the strength right now to fight myself. I need you.”
“Are you sure?” he questioned while nipping at my neck. I nodded, too enamored by his lips on my sensitive skin to form a sound beyond gasps and soft moans. “Then don’t expect me to hold back.”
Gathering me in his arms, he sped off to take me somewhere to explore the bond more intimately, but managed to only make it to a meadow clearing before tearing off my clothes.
Lucien showed me everything he had held back until now and I responded in kind.
Over and over until the sun set behind its violet clouds.
***PAGE brEAK***
“You have a heartbeat,” I pointed out, my head lying on his chest as the damp earth clung to our bodies. His jacket covered me modestly, but our other clothes remained strewn about and some in pieces. I heard the rapid beating of his life under my head. “I thought vampires were the undead.”
“Turned ones are considered undead, but if you are born to pureblooded vampires then you will retain most human functions,” he explained.
His words weren’t condescending, nor were they delivered in any way to put me down.
Lucien was happy to share this part of himself with me and I was glad he was finally allowing me in more.
“Turned vampires can only ingest blood and it must be human blood. They cannot stomach the blood of animals because they must feed on the blood they once held in their human bodies,” he continued, his hand absentmindedly running up and down my arm as he spoke.
“If I became a vampire, would I be undead?” I asked. I expected him to shut down the idea or even get upset that I even had the idea, but he didn’t.
Instead, he seemed intrigued by the idea.
“I’m not sure. There are loopholes to it, but if we wait until I become head of my coven then you would become a pureblood vampire if I turned you.
The power of a head vampire is unparalleled to the most powerful pureblood vampires.
I’m sure Isadora has told you about our eyes. ”
“Yeah, she told me that you were born with the eyes you have now and that meant you would take over the coven.”
Lucien nodded, resting his chin atop my head. “Yes. It’s why my father resented me from birth when he saw me. Sometimes he went overboard with his punishments, but he lessened after he found his mate.”
“I wish I could have met your mother.”
“She died of witchbane,” he admitted with a soft release of air.
I could tell he was still in great pain over the loss, but didn’t draw attention to it as he continued.
“I hadn’t realized her state until it was too late.
I went to see her in the room she had secluded herself inside of.
She only allowed a single maid and myself inside.
That day, she tried turning me away. Her attempts were weak, allowing me to force myself inside the room. But I was too late by then.”
“You don’t have to—.” He squeezed me gently, letting me know that my concern wasn’t necessary. Today was turning into one where Lucien was ready to share his life, his home and his heart with me. So, I let him continue uninterrupted.
“She had already consumed a very large dose of witchbane, an amount that would kill even her. I tried to save her. I wasn’t skilled enough with my magic to save her.
She died in my arms. That’s why I panicked when you had been poisoned with it by that hunter.
I could only see you dying in my arms and I felt like I was that weak child holding his mother as she died in his arms. I didn't want to be that powerless again.”
I moved this time, sitting on my arm as I stared sternly in his eyes. “You came to my rescue. I’m here. I’m alive. And I have no plans of leaving you any time soon.”
His hand reached up to brush my hair behind my ear, smiling adoringly at me. “There’s one thing I can’t do.”
“And what’s that?”
“Hold myself back around you,” he answered before pulling my face to his. It was a diversion from the topic, the walls returning after so much had already been shared. I didn’t mind. I knew he would drop the walls for good whenever he was ready and I was content where I was.