Bitten (The Graced Series Book 2)

by Amanda Pillar

  “What do you mean, ‘not right’?” Alice asked.

  “Your mother always used to say he didn’t really think of people as if they were people. At least, that’s what she thought. Ashok thought of people as things he could either own or use. He didn’t have much time for you, so he largely pretended you didn’t exist. I’d heard him even say he was an only child, back when you were ten and he was fourteen.”

  “That doesn’t make him a bad person. And you don’t know that he thought like that,” Alice argued.

  “No, but it does make him unstable. And they never found him after your mother was killed and you were stabbed. And I know the City Guard looked.”

  “I just...what are you saying?”

  Aunt Zara pressed her lips together.

  No.

  Alice wouldn’t believe it. Aunt Zara couldn’t really think that it had been Ashok who’d hurt their mother. Even if he had had some problems, Alice couldn’t see him ever wanting to hurt her, or their mother, who had been laughter and sunshine. Sure, Aunt Zara was right that Ashok had ignored her a lot, but she was four years younger than him; most older siblings didn’t want anything to do with their annoying kid sisters or brothers.

  Aunt Zara gave Alice a narrow look, but didn’t say anything further. “So how is Talan going?”

  She was clearly trying to change the topic and Alice let her. She didn’t want to think about what her aunt had implied.

  “Well, I think she’s dating an aristo vampire.”

  “Talan?” Aunt Zara’s jaw dropped. “Is dating a vampire?”

  “Well, you know how Tal isn’t too discriminating; if she likes the person, she likes the person.”

  “But a vampire?”

  If she was honest, Alice also found it odd. Tal had had flings with vampires before, but she mostly dated humans. Then again, Alice didn’t know everyone Tal had ever seen or slept with, nor did she want to.

  “A vampire. An aristo.”

  “Dating? As in, in a relationship?”

  Alice thought back to Tal’s interactions with the viscountess; yes, they were heading into a relationship, even if they hadn’t acknowledged it yet.

  “Wait until Talan’s mother finds out.”

  “No! You can’t tell her.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because you would be the worst aunty on the planet, ever.”

  “Really?”

  “Really.”

  “Hrm.”

  “And Tal would kill me.”

  Aunt Zara burst out laughing, and Alice chuckled too. Suddenly the world seemed a little bit brighter.

  Chapter 44

  Skarva City

  “So Randall touched you — that sounds perverted, but let’s move on — put you in the cells, tried to convince you to marry him, then admitted he was going to kill you both?” Montrose’s dark eyebrows were nearly at her hairline as she ticked off the list of events.

  “That about sums it up,” Fin said, crossing his ankles. The heavy metal desk was between the three of them and the disbelieving vampire, and Fin was glad of it. Not that he doubted Montrose could leap the desk in a second and attack them if she chose, but it gave him a false peace of mind he wasn’t going to argue with. He didn’t trust Montrose — was that her first name or her last name? — and he didn’t know what the woman felt about Hannah, or how loyal she was to Tatiana. Sure, Hannah seemed to trust her, but then, Hannah hadn’t expected Randall to attack them, either.

  He avoided Hannah’s eyes, simply because he didn’t know what to say to her. “I’m sorry you ripped a guy’s heart out of his chest,” just didn’t have the right ring to it. To be fair, he didn’t know what to think. He’d never seen anything like that before, and he’d seen some pretty fucked up shit.

  But Fin hadn’t believed Hannah would be capable of something like that, which told him how much of an idiot he was. Hannah was a vampire, no matter that she rescued babies off the sides of mountains. Well, one baby off the side of one mountain, but whatever. She might seem human, but she wasn’t.

  Montrose shook her head in disbelief. “I don’t understand what he thought he could gain.”

  “He thought that he would inherit my fortune with me dead,” Hannah said, “and that if Mother suspected anything, he could kill her, then he would inherit the duchy, too.”

  Montrose gave a humorless laugh. “He thought he could kill Tatiana Romanov?”

  “I didn’t say he had a good plan,” Hannah said.

  “Kill Tatiana...” Montrose shook her head in something like wonder.

  Byrne let out a low whistle. “I leave you guys alone for a few hours and you descend into utter chaos.”

  “It wasn’t my fault!” Fin snapped.

  Byrne turned his steady yellow gaze on him. “I didn’t say it was.”

  “You implied that it was Hannah’s and my fault. We can’t help it that we were attacked.”

  “You’re overreacting.”

  “You’re—”

  “Enough!” Montrose’s voice lashed out. She was rubbing her temples. “You three are giving me a headache.”

  “Vampires don’t get headaches,” Fin said. Then he tapped his chin. “At least, I don’t think they do. You don’t get headaches, do you, Byrne?” Weres and vampires had similar healing abilities, so Fin reckoned the same rules should apply.

  “I have had a constant headache since the moment I met you.”

  Fin stuck his tongue out. “Oh, funny.”

  “How did you travel with these two and not kill them?” Montrose asked Hannah. It occurred to Fin the older vampire was serious. He shifted uncomfortably on the chair.

  Hannah sighed. “I had the baby to care for.”

  Montrose’s face went curiously blank. “Baby? Is this Rena?”

  “Yeah, Hannah’s a mother,” Fin added with a grin. So he wanted to mess with the vampire a little. Sue him.

  “You had a baby? How did you even get close enough...” Montrose turned her mauve eyes on Fin, the stare turning incredulous. “You? You’re the father?”

  “Me?” Fin squeaked.

  Byrne laughed, the sound booming through the room. He slapped a hand on his thigh. “This is fantastic.”

  Fin glared. “Byrne!”

  “I found the baby,” Hannah said, ignoring the two of them.

  “You found a baby? So it’s not yours? You can’t just take babies. Where are its parents?”

  “No, the Trsetti had abandoned her to the Old Mother. I found her on the slopes, and brought her here.” Hannah’s jaw set. “I’m not taking her back.”

  “She’s ours,” Fin added. To his side, Byrne nodded.

  Hannah gave them both an odd look. Fin didn’t care that she’d technically been the one to find the little girl; Fin and Byrne had known Rena almost as long as Hannah. The baby was theirs.

  “So, you brought the infant here. With these two,” Montrose said. “What are you planning on doing next? You have a plan, I hope.”

  “Well, I was thinking of getting Mother’s help, but she isn’t here. Randall said she’s visiting my brother, but that’s ridiculous.”

  “Ridiculous?”

  Hannah clasped her hands together, the skin stretching taut over her knuckles. “That she’s visiting my brother. I mean, all my siblings are dead, right?”

  Man, this is going to be tough, Fin thought. He had four sisters, and they were hard enough to deal with at the best of times, although he did love them. Usually. But to not know you even had any brothers or sisters, and then for it to be sprung on you? Some people wouldn’t care, but someone like Hannah — who’d been isolated nearly her whole life — would. She’d care a lot.

  Montrose glanced at Fin and Byrne, before letting her gaze rest on Hannah.

  Oh boy, Hannah really does have a missing brother.

  “It’s not ridiculous...” Montrose said.

  “Randall wasn’t lying? I have a
brother?”

  Montrose sighed. “You have a brother.”

  “Why didn’t Mother tell me? Why didn’t anyone tell me?” Hannah stood up, and went to slam her hands down on the desk but stopped and wrenched her arms back angrily.

  “Your mother signed a breeding contract with an earl in Pinton. If a male child was born of their union, the earl would have custody of the infant until it reached its majority. Tatiana was planning on staying in Pinton until the babe grew of age, but she didn’t expect there to be two children.”

  “Two?” Hannah repeated.

  “As in twins?” Fin asked.

  Montrose shot him a dark look. He ignored it. Well, pretended to, anyway. He was pretty glad Byrne was in the room, even though the were had barely spoken. But Byrne didn’t really need to. His presence alone spoke volumes.

  “As in twins, yes. And when you were born and Tatiana saw your eye color...she abandoned her plans to oversee Dante’s childhood and moved back here.”

  “I have a twin brother. Wait — he’s normal?” Hannah’s beautiful face went slack, then tight with anger.

  “Well, normal might be exaggerating things. I’ve been keeping tabs on him over the years, and he’s a bit eccentric. But he had purple eyes, and no obvious Graced abilities. He recently got himself into a bit of trouble, so your mother went to check things out now he has reached his majority.”

  “A bit of trouble? Eccentric?”

  “He seems to be a psychopath or sociopath, from the reports, although he doesn’t go around killing people...often. He is apparently very intelligent and is interested in human anatomy. He has another sister from his father’s side, and was recently married to a human baron. And he just Chose his first human.”

  Fin listened attentively to the report. It was clinical and to the point, and he was sure that reflected Montrose’s personality, rather than anything else in particular. “So you’re saying he’s like the duchess?”

  Montrose whipped her head around to glare at him. “What did you just say?”

  “Montrose—” Hannah said.

  “This human just called your mother a psychopath.”

  “I could have meant that she was very intelligent,” Fin said.

  “Do not take me for a fool.”

  “I would never,” Fin agreed. He may be a smartass, but he wasn’t stupid.

  Byrne snorted.

  “Well,” Hannah rubbed a hand over the back of her neck as she sat back down in her chair. “Mother is both.”

  “Hmmph. You can’t allow outsiders to speak of her with disrespect.”

  “I don’t think Fin and Byrne are outsiders anymore,” Hannah muttered. “Byrne, where’s Rena?”

  “Yeah, where is she?” Fin asked, leaning around Hannah to glare at his friend. “You can’t just leave babies by themselves!”

  “She’s back at the inn. I left her with a...friend’s sister, who also happened to be in town.”

  Fin wanted to question Byrne more about that, but didn't get the chance.

  “Okay, so first thing’s first,” Montrose held up a hand. “Get the baby and bring it back here. I will organize things for your journey, because I presume you are going to still go after your mother?”

  Hannah looked at Montrose. Did Fin detect a hopeful gleam in her eyes? “Do you know how to look after babies?”

  Montrose snorted. “That can be your mother’s problem. I’m no babysitter.”

  Hannah looked uncertain. “I guess I should meet my brother. Dante, you said his name was?”

  “Dante Daemon Ernest Romanov Kipling.”

  “Right. Why didn’t Mother ever tell me about him?”

  Montrose looked to the bookshelves. “That is something you’ll have to ask her.”

  Byrne stood. “I’ll get the baby. If I come back here and anything has happened to these two, I will hold you responsible.” The large were pointed a finger at Montrose. “I have had a shit day and I should be hibernating, so don’t piss me off.” With that, he turned on his heel and headed for the door.

  Succinct as always. Fin liked that about the bear.

  “Are you angry?” he asked Hannah. He would be, if he was her. Kidnapped by her mother’s retainers, held in a cell, touched against her will, all to find out that she had a twin brother she never knew anything about.

  She met his gaze, her Black eyes unreadable. “Furious.”

  PART III

  Nothing endures but change

  Chapter 45

  Pinton-Skarva Road

  They’d been back on the road for five days. They had two horses now, since Hannah had insisted on keeping their semi-covered wagon, rather than riding in the nicely sprung carriage that Montrose had offered. And so Montrose had insisted they take another horse. Byrne had kind of hoped they’d get the nice ride, since it would give his butt a bit of a break. But Hannah had worried about touching anything in the carriage, so that was a no.

  At least poor Baldy got time to rest now; she was only harnessed to the wagon for half a day, and could then plod alongside for the other half, flicking her tail in irritation whenever the stupid goat got too close. The new chestnut mare, Foxtrot, didn’t like Byrne much more than Baldy did, but now that Fin was up and about, he could make the human harness the horses each day. Saved Byrne from feeling like a complete dick, chasing the beasts around and scaring them.

  The gravel road this far out of Pinton was littered with potholes and lined with large oak trees, so the cart ride was bumpy, since they didn’t have much room to maneuver around them. There wasn’t much traffic, so Byrne directed the horses down the center of the road for the most part. He could smell that they were approaching a small town on the outskirts of a large vampire estate. The icy-cool odor of vampires hung in the air, indicating that there were a number of them congregated together. With so many around, it was unlikely that they’d have were-friendly establishments a day’s ride away from Pinton, and Byrne doubted he’d be sleeping in an inn when they got to the town.

  The journey from Skarva had felt like six bloody weeks, with Fin’s stupid non-stop chattering. The human was talking more than he normally did, like he was trying to cover something up, but Byrne hadn’t been able to work out what that was. The only time he shut up was when Rena was sleeping restlessly.

  Hannah was no different; perhaps a little quieter than normal, but then, she didn’t say much at the best of times. That’s why he preferred her as a traveling companion. She knew when to keep her trap shut.

  Still, he reckoned Hannah should probably talk about what had happened to her at her mother’s estate. Being attacked and then ripping a guy’s heart of his chest weren’t things that happened to people like Hannah very often. But then, he was hardly one to preach about sharing. He hadn’t told anyone about the things that had happened to him while he’d been imprisoned for a hundred years, and he’d been set free three years ago. Hypocrite extraordinaire.

  Well, Fin knew a bit about it, but that was only because the human had freed him. He’d seen Byrne chained to a wall, drugged with regular doses of soluble silver to keep him weak. Seen how one of the women in particular treated him...Bile surged to the back of Byrne’s throat. She’d thought that Fin had wanted to join them, be part of their sick little fantasy world, where they wanted to create the ultimate Graced.

  But Fin wasn’t like that.

  Byrne hadn’t known that at first, because the human had played along, acted like he was into torture and the idea of immortal Graceds. As a result, Byrne had wanted to tear Fin’s throat out just as much as he had the bitches who held him prisoner. For a week, Fin had danced to their tunes, but he’d never actually hurt Byrne, claiming he got off on watching the ‘experiments’, rather than doing them himself.

  Byrne could still remember the smell of the place: pain, blood, sweat, death, and silver, all intertwined with the odor of lust. Not his, though. Never his. The were hadn’t thought he’d ever be able to lo
ok Fin in the face again, not after what the human had seen happen. But then Fin had showed up downstairs in the dungeon with a set of keys. He’d jangled them against the bars of his cell, then given Byrne that cocky grin, the one he’d wanted to rip off the human’s face.

  “Freedom is within your grasp,” Fin had said. “But there’s one condition.”

  “Fuck off.”

  “I’m not lying to you, I will set you free.”

  Byrne had shut his eyes, convinced this was another prank. Another ‘test.’ But he’d learned his lesson. Play along, at least as much as he could tolerate. And right then, Fin hadn’t actually been doing anything to him. “Okay, what’s the condition?”

  “That you don’t kill me, or hurt me.”

  Opening his eyes, he’d stared at the human, at the pretty golden blond hair and those Hazel eyes. “Since you aren’t going to let me go, I don’t really see why I should agree to that.”

  Fin had opened the cell door, and Byrne had strained against the chains, silver wires digging into his flesh. Then the human had stepped inside. Byrne had partially changed in response, even with the silver burning his wrists and legs, even with the silver burning him from the inside out. But he’d been so weak, he’d only managed claws and fangs.

  “I will let you go, but you can’t hurt me. I’m going to get you out of here.” Fin had been standing close to him by then, too close. Byrne had been able to smell his aftershave, which had a hint of sandalwood and something else, something like verbena. He didn’t stink of rot or decay, or even anger, like some of the humans there.

  “Fine, if you let me go, I won’t hurt you.”

  Then Fin had done the stupidest thing in his short life that far. He’d unlocked the shackles holding Byrne. At first, the were hadn’t believed what had happened. One hundred fucking years of being chained in the cell — they hadn’t dared move him after they got him inside — and with a flick of the wrists from some pretty boy, he’d been freed.