With sharp hisses given to those gathered, including Nicholas, their aggression was a sight to behold. For Mathias, the scene was also reminiscent of his first trip to the Citadel as a human—though Isadora was certainly upstaging that clumsy endeavor.
Instead of laying on the ground with a few busted ribs, she remained perched on the back of a mount with a serious expression on her face directed at Nicholas.
“What is the meaning of this?” he demanded.
Mathias knew the vampire well enough to realize he was hiding his confusion under a mask of bluster, but Isadora's response was sharp, and given more aggressively than he'd believed her capable.
“I want to see Mathias right now. We have business to conduct, and if anyone stands in my way, or even thinks about drinking my blood, they'll learn pretty damned fast just how fucking wrong they are!”
The high griffins hissed as if to prove her point while Mathias reformed with Marlese several meters behind them, and he stared in surprised awe. This was the first time he could recall hearing Isadora swear, but the colorful language wasn't necessary to know she meant business.
If her mount's aggressive behavior was a reflection of her own mood, her rage was crystal clear. The only question was whether her attitude had anything to do with what happened in the grove, or if she only wanted to make certain the vampires present thought twice before giving into impulse.
Either way, Mathias tried to speak, hoping to defuse the situation, but Nicholas had a quick temper, and obviously didn't appreciate her aggression.
“If you wish to see Mathias, fae, you should ask politely. Do not mistake us for common—”
“Stow it, bloodsucker,” she snapped. “Just tell me where he is!”
As Nicholas groused, Marlese chuckled airily.
“Oh, I like her.”
Indeed, her attitude was making him regret the situation even more, which hadn't seemed possible. But he finally called her name, earning the gaze of everyone present—including the high griffins.
Immediately, the beasts turned to face him, hissing as their tails snapped from side to side. But if Isadora asked them to tear him apart, he couldn't say it was undeserved. Leaving her in the grove was bound to have caused indignation, and he didn't move a muscle while waiting to see what might come.
But instead of suffering an attack, Isadora climbed down from the back of her mount, and both griffins stayed close, watching over her as she crossed the distance.
In the process, he realized she was indeed wearing the masking potion. Yet he could only focus on her face when she stopped a few feet away and glared up at him.
“I want you to take me somewhere private right now.”
Her demand left no room for argument, though Mathias had to ask, “For what purpose?”
“Because I thought, since you're my mate, that I'd forgo telling you how much of an ass you've been in front of everyone. But if you want, I'll berate you for it right here.”
At that, several disbelieving whispers spread through the small crowd gathered, causing Isadora to look back in curiosity. Then, as if realizing they were discussing her claim, she nodded and confirmed, “Yeah, he's my mate, and he has a lover's blood link to me. So if any of you vampires are even thinking about drinking my blood, you'll just piss us both off.”
“Isadora—”
“No,” she snapped, spinning around to face him. “You've said enough. In the grove, you kept cutting me off and then left before I could tell you about my plan to prove once and for all whether you can safely drink my blood. So now, I want ten minutes where you sit down, shut up, and let me explain.”
Of all the things Mathias expected Isadora to say, learning she had such a plan wasn't even on the list. The notion of it stunned him into silence as Marlese laughed and stated, “I really like her.”
Eyeing the vampiress, Isadora inquired, “Who are you?”
“Marlese Nevachev,” she qualified politely, adding, “youngest of The Five, and someone who hopes you'll convince Mathias not to go through with this silly hibernation he's planning.”
“Hibernation?”
Isadora looked between them questioningly, but he didn't explain. Instead, it was a better idea not to keep the fae waiting—she was a practiced witch, after all, and he'd rather not spend the rest of his life as a toad. Or worse.
That aside, he was too curious over Isadora's plan to stand around exchanging barbs with Marlese. So instead of allowing her to continue, he grasped the fae's wrist with the words, “We'll talk in my quarters.”
She didn't hesitate to follow, casting a single look back at the high griffins and, as if communicating a message of goodwill, the beasts turned around to take flight.
Everyone stared as they left, but Mathias ignored them to lead Isadora up to his room as soon as possible. On the way, she gazed at the architecture of the corridors in awe, but must've been as eager to explain her plan as he was to hear it because she didn't bother asking questions, even when they arrived in his private quarters.
Instead, she merely removed a small pouch from her belt and took it to the nearest flat surface—an ornate table made of cherry wood with a marble top at the foot of his bed.
There, she stated, “Please lock the door and come over here so I can show you something.”
Doing as requested, he soon joined Isadora, watching as she pulled a folded piece of parchment from her pouch along with two braided, leather cords, a pen, a box of matches, and a capped vial containing a golden liquid.
“What is this?”
Turning to face him, she explained, “This is part of my plan. See, I knew you wouldn't feel comfortable taking my blood without having a safety net, but I wanted you to because I thought it was the only way you'd know if we had a blood link. So I checked my spell books, and found an incantation for binding bracelets.”
“Binding bracelets?”
“Yep! Basically, I cast the spell on these cords, and they'll bind your will to mine when worn, allowing me to give you a single command you can't deny. So if you drink my blood and lose control, all I have to do is utter the activation word and command you to stop.”
Intrigued, Mathias looked the bracelets over and asked, “What's the activation word?”
“I choose a word when I cast the spell, and it could be anything, like … Arizona, or volcano. But it should be a word I won't utter at random so I don't accidentally engage the magic until I really mean it.”
His heart increased its pace, gaze locking on hers. This plan sounded promising, though he didn't want to get ahead of himself, asking, “Are you sure it would be strong enough to make me stop? Because the instinct to feed is prevalent, Isadora, particularly on the blood of a lover. Adding to that the fact that you're a fae, and it's a powerful temptation.”
“I'm sure it is, but there's two points to this spell you missed,” she started, explaining, “First, I'll need some of your hair to weave into the bracelets, or a little blood dripped onto them. You're also agreeing to give me those things, and to wear the bracelet, meaning you're agreeing to the spell's magic.”
That certainly sounded binding enough to thwart his desires. So he asked, “What's the other point?”
Grinning, Isadora inquired, “Why do you think I made two? So we could test one with some silly command like hop on one foot.”
Hearing this, his gut knotted again with the same painful yearning for companionship he'd carried throughout the years, a yearning she'd briefly eased in the grove. Could this actually work?
As he considered the prospect, Isadora added, “That's why I asked you to stop before you tried to bite me, by the way.”
“What do you mean?”
She shrugged, motioning at him in stating, “I just get the feeling you think I was scared of being bitten. But I was actually afraid you'd never forgive yourself if you lost control. I hadn't told you about this spell yet, and wanted a moment to explain it first, but you just … left me.”
She sounded so
disappointed he nearly grabbed her to offer comfort without thinking. But he didn't feel worthy, not after causing her disappointment to begin with.
So instead, he apologized.
“I'm sorry, Isadora. I never wanted to hurt you, but it feels as if I've been walking a tight rope where your safety is concerned. One false step, and I'd plummet. So the only option that seemed viable was leaving you and putting myself back in hibernation.”
“Hibernation? That vampire in the courtyard mentioned it, but what does it mean?”
Grumbling, he admitted, “Literally, it means putting myself in the grave for an extended period, going without blood and wasting away until my only hope for revival is to be fed again.”
Isadora stared with a shocked expression, but her silence didn't last long before she grabbed his sides and adamantly protested.
“No! You can't do that!”
Somehow, her desperation warmed his heart. But despite understanding the source of her reluctance, he groaned low, feeling the weight of the years bearing down on him.
The thought had his hand raising to her cheek with a gentle caress, admitting, “I realize how it sounds, Isadora, but understand, I've longed for what I've found in you for so many centuries I'd given up on the prospect. Yet here you are, rekindling that desire, and I don't know that I can bear another disappointment after … .”
He nearly mentioned the children and siblings he'd lost, but decided at the last moment there was no need for such detail. Instead, he merely concluded his statements with the obvious information.
“I want this bracelet to work, to know if your instincts are right about me—about us. But even if your plan succeeds, there's still so many questions left to answer.”
“Like what?”
“Like just how compatible we truly are. Or how we'd build a life together.”
It seemed like she might argue, or start naming the reasons they'd work. But Isadora remained strangely silent, a look in her eyes he couldn't quite place. Maybe she was reasoning things through, or hadn't considered how long he'd waited to find her.
Whatever the case, as she placed a hand against his cheek, one thing was clear—she wasn't giving up.
“Then I guess we'll have a lot to consider as soon as you give me some hair for this spell.”
Her determination put a smile on his lips. The possibility of finding out once and for all had him feeling much less like a five thousand year old vampire, and more like a giddy young boy.
Of course, a negative outcome would still be devastating, but no more than putting himself in hibernation without a solid answer.
And giving up a bit of hair or blood was certainly a small price to pay to get it.
— TWENTY-SIX —
“Wouldn't blood be stronger?”
There was an enthusiastic weight to Mathias' voice Isadora hadn't heard before, and the sound made her grin. His willingness to assist with this spell made it almost impossible to resist grabbing him in a tight hug instead of focusing on the tasks at hand.
Yet her own enthusiasm was too much to ignore, prompting an immediate answer.
“Maybe, but it'd definitely be quicker since I won't have to braid it into the bracelets.”
He must've thought that was reason enough to offer blood instead because he walked over to a weapons display on the wall next to the balcony doors and grabbed a dagger to bring back to the table. There, he lifted the blade to grasp in his left hand and, without flinching, swiftly drew it across his palm.
The act must have been more painful to watch because she couldn’t prevent a grimace, but he only held his bleeding fist over the cords as if nothing happened.
Once several drops of crimson saturated the bracelets, he inquired, “Is that enough?”
“Plenty,” she confirmed, taking the vial in hand to open.
Lowering his arm and setting the dagger aside on the table, he motioned at it. “What's that?”
“Just a honey mixture with sandalwood and dragon's blood blended in for binding.”
With her answer given, she drizzled the concoction over both bracelets, then set the vial aside and took the pen and parchment in hand to jot down the activation words—and it was easiest to stick with those she'd used as an example since she wasn't likely to utter Arizona or volcano at random.
With that task complete, she placed each bracelet over the words, then explained, “Now I'll chant the incantation, and you can join in if you'd like. It's optional, but it could make the binding more powerful.”
He nodded, and waved a silent hand for her to proceed, which she did with little trouble. Latin was an easy language—because it wasn't actively spoken, the words remained static, leaving their definitions clear. This made it a perfect language for casting spells, and she spoke slowly at first to allow Mathias to pick up on the verses if he wished to join in.
After repeating them several times, the vampire finally did so—and she could certainly feel a shift in the air. The magic they were conjuring together was growing at a substantial rate, flowing through their bodies like a conduit.
Once that sensation overwhelmed her, she took the matches and pulled one from the box without stopping their chant, striking the tip across the flint to ignite a flame.
With it burning, she set both cords ablaze one by one. Like a fuse, the flame spread across each, and as soon as they were engulfed, a bright light flashed, causing the parchment to go up in embers. But as the glowing light faded and the particles drifted back down to the table, the cords remained perfectly in tact.
Seeing them, Isadora grinned, excitedly clapping her hands before grabbing the first bracelet that had been sitting on the word volcano, and turned to tie it around Mathias' left wrist.
“Is that it?”
“That's it,” she announced, then stepped back and asked, “so are you ready to try this out?”
The vampire didn't hesitate to nod in confirmation, so she followed suit, wasting no time using the activation word to trigger the bracelet's magic.
“Volcano. Now … pat your head and rub your stomach at the same time for five seconds.”
Without question, Mathias performed the task described, and excitement surged through her to see it working. But instead of commenting on how successful they'd been, watching the vampire pat his own head while making circular motions against his stomach was too amusing to immediately speak.
He just looked so ridiculous, and his annoyed expression made the sight even more humorous.
Still, he smiled when she erupted in a fit of giggles, lowering his arms after the time allotted while muttering, “I'm glad this is entertaining someone. It's just a good thing the rest of The Five aren't here, or they'd never let me live it down.”
“At least we know it works!” she retorted, grabbing the other cord to replace the one they'd used for the test.
But before she could toss the first away, Mathias grasped her wrist to pull her in without warning.
Gasping as their bodies pressed together, she stared up into his eyes as he cupped her cheek, murmuring, “The task was certainly worth finding out, and you're extremely clever to devise such a scheme.”
Flattered by his praise, her heart fluttered. “You think I'm clever?”
“I think you're brilliant,” he remarked sincerely, “and if we discover I won't lose control, Isadora … ”
He trailed as if trying to get the words right before uttering them, and smiled when she urged him on with a breathless, “Yes?”
Lowering his lips to hers, he pressed a gentle kiss to her mouth, their foreheads meeting before he finally stated, “Things will change between us, sweet fae. I've spent fifty centuries wondering if I'd ever have a lover, and you're more than I ever dreamed I'd find in all that time. So needless to say, I'm keen to have you. All of you.”
Her breath left her in a rush, the used bracelet still clutched in her fingers now forgotten, dropping to the floor as she grabbed him in a tight hold.
“You rea
lly mean that?”
Finally, he grinned. “Of course I do, and I truly hope I'll have a chance to finish what we started in the grove, because leaving you there was the most difficult thing I've ever done.”
Her body tingled at the suggestive tone of his voice, particularly now that she understood his reasons for leaving her. The thought, combined with her complete frustration over the past several days, had her quick to remark, “Okay, if you're going to talk like that, then please drink my blood now so we can get this stupid uncertainty out of the way.”
Chuckling, he murmured, “As you wish.”
At that, the vampire turned to lift her from the floor and carry to his bed. Perhaps he thought the mattress would be more comfortable than standing, but she was too busy gazing up at his face to consider the matter. He's so handsome.
Her lips pursed at the thought. Despite enjoying his facade, and knowing her desire for him was sincere, it was hard not to be annoyed by her lack of information over who this vampire was. The time they'd spent together so far had only revealed personality traits, and she wanted to ask so many questions it was hard to know where to start.
As if he'd noticed her stare, Mathias settled her on his mattress so her back was propped up against the large pillows and asked, “Is something wrong?”
“No,” she hurried out, then shrugged. “I was just thinking it seems strange to want someone I know so little about.”
Climbing over her—a movement that had her heart racing even faster—he drew his knuckles across her cheek and replied, “That can easily change. If this works, it will change.”
“Then you'll stop pushing me away?”
Smiling, Mathias replied, “Of course. You may actually be annoyed at how hard it will be to get rid of me.”
Isadora nearly snickered, but his fangs captured her attention, sharp and ready to draw blood. The last time they'd done so was painful, but she had to wonder if things would be different now that he was alert and not starving.
She also couldn't resist the temptation of reaching up to draw a thumb across one of the sharp points.
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