Chapter 10
I don’t think, just react, and I summon a ball of energy and throw it at Xavier’s back. It hits him right between his muscular shoulders and he tenses, shocked more by the fact that I attacked him than by the pain.
All at once, he releases Alan and rounds on me. Blood is on his face as he takes my arms and brings me close to his body. His skin is cool, yet heat comes off him in waves.
“You are my wife,” he says in a low growl. “No one talks to my wife like that and gets away with it.”
I open my mouth only to close it again. The insult was there, just barely.
You are different from the others. In a good way, I promise.
Which is why I don’t understand why you’d get yourself tangled up in this—Alan didn’t need to finish what he was saying for me to know how he feels about humans getting personally involved with vampires.
Which is kinda fucking ironic for someone employed by them, but that’s not the point.
Xavier’s hands slowly move down my arms, stopping when his fingers get to my hands. There’s something delicate in his touch despite the fact that he could close his fists and crush every bone in my wrist without breaking a sweat.
“I’m not your wife,” I say, hating how breathy and small my voice comes out. “Not yet.”
“You will be before midnight tonight.”
I inhale slowly, looking right into his dark blue eyes. “I don’t even know you.”
“That doesn’t matter,” he replies gently. “Besides, you can get to know me.”
“True, though dealing with a dead employee might put a damper on it.”
Xavier’s fingers sweep down my hand and I can’t help but notice how large his hands are. I blink and the image of his hands on my body flashes before my eyes. Sex with a vampire is supposed to be an incredible experience…or so I’ve heard.
And a vampire as old as Xavier has had centuries of experience and practice. A man like this—tall, muscular, and powerful—is sure to break your back…and then your heart. I look him dead in the eyes and make a promise to myself: I will not fall in love with this man.
This monster.
“He’ll be fine.” Xavier steps back and turns, locking eyes with Alan. “Clean yourself up. And if you ever feel like flirting with my wife again—”
“Not your wife,” I interrupt.
Xavier presses his lips together and huffs. “You have no desire to talk to Florence unless you are asking her about food to eat.”
Alan, held spellbound, gets to his feet and nods. He puts his hand over his neck and walks out of the room.
“He’s…he’s not gushing blood,” I say. “But you bit his neck.”
Xavier turns back to me and takes his time to look me up and down. “Your particular sect of the Order never dealt with vampires much, did they?”
I pull my lips over my teeth, looking at the spice rack behind him. “No. I know why now, but before…” I shrug and shake my head. “I guess it was foolish loyalty not to question them.”
Picking up a towel to wipe the blood from his face, Xavier continues to eye me curiously. “You aren’t an official member yet you followed without question.”
“Yeah, and I feel pretty fucking stupid for it now.” I hold out my hands. “Look where it’s gotten me.”
Xavier takes my right hand in his and runs a finger across my palm. “Do it again.”
“Do what?”
“The spark.”
“Oh,” I say when I realize what he’s talking about.
“It’s called summoning energy.” I push my shoulders back and move my hand out of his.
The air around my fingers gets warm as the energy rushes around me.
A little swirl of blue and yellow light forms above my palm.
Xavier leans in, curious. Somewhat apprehensively, he touches the energy ball.
It burns his skin and he pulls his hand back, the raw, red welt healing in just seconds.
“And you’ve never really dealt with witches before, have you?” I ask, voice soft.
“It’s best to avoid them.” He cups his large hand under mine and closes my fist. The energy is absorbed within and the light fades. “How did you learn anything about magic? I know how the Order views witches.”
“I spent a few winters with a small coven,” I tell him. “They taught me everything I know.”
“Just a few winters?”
“Yeah.”
“Hmmm.” He studies me again and then extends his hand. “Walk with me. I’ll show you the garden.”
I glance back into the formal dining room, able to sense the other vampires still in there. I’m sure they know better than to eavesdrop, besides, with their better-than-human hearing, they don’t need to be close to know exactly what is being said.
We go through the kitchen and into a sunroom. Double French doors open onto a patio, and right away I can tell this garden was designed for the night. It’s a breathtakingly beautiful garden, with sparkling lights in the trees, reminding me of something from a fairytale.
Xavier holds out his arm for me to take, and we start walking down a path. The stones glow under the moonlight. This yard is straight off my Pinterest board, and it feels like I’m walking in a dream…that’s about to turn into a nightmare.
The cobblestone path leads under an archway of dark red roses that look almost black in the dim light.
There’s just enough of a breeze to blow the sweet scent of the florals around us.
We walk another few yards, stopping and sitting on a stone bench next to a koi pond that has a little fountain in the middle.
There are lights inside the pond, giving it an ethereal glow. This place is truly enchanting.
“What is your active power?” Xavier asks.
“I can manipulate energy.”
“All witches can. What’s specific to you?
” His blue eyes drill into mine, but his questions hit differently than I’m used to.
He’s not asking so he can know how to counter my powers.
He’s not trying to figure out how dangerous I am.
He’s genuinely curious…and not scared of me.
At all. He’s sitting here, in the dim moonlit garden, completely at ease while fully knowing who I am.
No one has ever done this before.
“I’m really good at reading people. I can sense their energy and just know things.
Sometimes I can even hear their thoughts but not in a telepathic way.
It’s like I just hear something, or just know it.
It’s hard to explain.” A warm breeze blows through the yard, bringing with it the sweet scent of lilacs.
My hair dances across my face and he reaches out, not hesitating as he pushes it back over my shoulder.
His fingers are cool to the touch, and I swear I feel an electric spark when his skin meets mine.
“It’s a shame no one has cultivated your powers in the past. That can change here, you know.”
“Why?” I ask, resisting the urge to lean up against him and see if the rest of his body is as cool as his hands.
It’s a curious thing, the way vampires are room temperature.
They look so alive when they’re up and moving.
You have to watch for the little things that give it away, like the lack of breathing and blinking.
Lots of vampires continue to do such things, though, just out of habit.
Nothing happens when they take in air; there’s no oxygen exchange, no blood cells waiting to take the O2 molecules while getting rid of carbon dioxide.
Black magic is their heart, so to speak, circulating their blood throughout their body.
“It’s who you are.”
I take a moment to look at him, feeling so damn confused.
He’s an attractive man—or vampire, technically.
That part is obvious. But there’s a quiet elegance to him, something that had to come from his upbringing.
It’s as magnetic as it is dangerous. Because men like this are controlled chaos. Their anger and wrath are earned.
And once it’s unleashed, there’s no going back.
“Vampires and witches don’t have the best history,” I start.
“No, they don’t. Witches almost killed every vampire.”
“The War of Light and Dark.” I nod and look out at the garden. “I know about that.”
“We’ve come a long way since then. Not just witches and vampires, but humanity as a whole.”
Twisting to look at him, I ask, “Do you consider yourself part of humanity?”
“No,” he replies with no hesitation. “I stopped being human nearly seven hundred years ago.”
“Did you want to be turned?”
He gets up, moving with vampire speed, and picks a flower off a tree.
“There are things, my dear wife, that you do not need to know.” He tucks the flower behind my ear and I shiver from his touch.
Shaking myself for dumbly feeling like his actual partner for a minute there, I take the flower and spin the stem in my hands.
“Magic is passed down through family lines.”
“I’m aware.” His full lips pull into a slight smile and suddenly it hits me that he wants his offspring to possess magic. That’s why I’m still here, still alive.
And forced to be his legal wife.
Vampires and witches teaming up would create a hella powerful couple. From what I know about the Malus family, power is something they crave.
“Witches can’t be turned into vampires,” I say carefully.
“Any human can be turned if done correctly. However, the ability to do magic isn’t retained in death.”
A few minutes of silence tick by. I carefully run my finger over the soft petals of the flower in my hand. “Do you turn every child born into a vampire?”
Xavier takes a slow breath in. It’s purposeful, as he hasn’t had the need for air in centuries. Then he speeds forward, startling me. “It depends,” he starts, pushing my hair back.
“On what?”
“On whether or not I think they’d add value to our family vampires.”
“And if they don’t?”
“Then we determine if they can produce more heirs.”
“Wait, isn’t that bordering on the line of incest?” I make a face and slowly shake my head. “The in-breeding explains a lot though.”
Not reacting in the slightest to my insult, he extends his hand again and takes a lock of my hair between his fingers. “Back when I was human, it was perfectly acceptable to marry a second cousin.”
“Yeah, well, science has proven it’s not acceptable.
You’re going to get deformities and mental disorders—actually, what happens to a person with mental health issues when they’re turned into a vampire?
I was wondering about that earlier, actually.
That’s not the point,” I rush out, shaking my head again.
“The point is that I don’t care how many seconds you put between cousins, it’s fucking disgusting. ”
“It is.” He brings his face in, inhaling and getting a read on my scent. “That’s why we made the deal with the Order several centuries ago.”
“Right.” I step back and toss the flower into the pond. “You get a book of Order members to look through so you can take your pick.”
“That was the idea,” he chides. “Though you were a surprise. One that is going to work in our favor, if you can be agreeable.”
“You mean shut up and listen since you can’t hold me spellbound.”
“Yes,” he agrees bluntly. “This could be mutually beneficial if you accept your position willingly.”
“I’ve never been good at shutting up or fitting in.” I turn and shake my head. “I don’t want to be here. I don’t want to marry you and I don’t want to be forced to have babies.”
“What do you want?” He silently closes the distance between us and my heart skips a beat in my chest. Right now, I want to find out what it would feel like to have his lips press against mine. The kiss would be cool, wouldn’t it? I want to know how soft—and hard—his seven hundred year old body is.
“I want to go home.”
“Home?” His brows go up. “Home to the people who kept you hidden like a dirty little secret for years? Who exploited you for personal gain and used you? The Order did have a file on you, Florence Russo, aka Jane Doe Number Fifty-seven.”
“What? No.”
“Yes. Here, Wren, you will learn the real definition of family.”
“I…I had a family.” The pain of betrayal stabs away at my heart. It’s almost too much to bear, it hurts so bad. “They saved me when they didn’t have to.”
“Saved you?” His fingers slide under my chin, tiling my head up so I’m looking at him. “No, Wren, they kidnapped you.”