by Kitty Thomas
She glared up at him. “You mean mess with my mind so I don’t remember it, so you can get away with it and it’s all okay?”
“That’s not what I mean. I can’t erase your memories. But I can take the sting out of them. You’ll know what happened. It won’t affect your free will or your memories, just the pain.” He bit into his wrist and held it out to her.
She made a face and scrambled away. “No.”
“It won’t hurt you, it won’t make you a vampire. All it will do is activate the bond to heal the pain you’re feeling. You can still hate me if you want.”
Nicole hesitated. If she ever wanted to find a way to escape him, she would need to be mentally and emotionally whole. Her best chance of getting away was being offered to her now. “Okay.”
August relaxed. “Okay. Good.”
She closed her eyes and took the offered blood, trying not to think too deeply about what it was she was ingesting. The memories became images with no emotion attached—like a long-forgotten recollection of a movie. And then the pain and guilt were just… gone.
“I need you to eat a real meal. No more picking over your food. You’ve made your decision now; extra suffering won’t serve any purpose.”
She followed him into kitchen and sat at the bar while he took some food from the fridge. She hadn’t thought much about it before. The food she’d been served in the cellar hadn’t been bad, but it was the kind of thing that was hard to notice while in such a frightening situation. The feeling of dread had edged out any possible enjoyment from food.
She’d never wondered where her meals came from, but it was clear from his, large and well-used kitchen that he’d made them. He’d cooked for all of them every day. Nicole wasn’t sure if it was creepy or kind. She watched as he arranged leftover steak and some vegetables on a plate and popped them into the microwave. While it was heating, he poured her a glass of water.
Nicole sat quietly for a couple of minutes trying to pick her words. She didn’t want to risk angering him and was afraid he’d go back on his word now that he had her, but she had to know.
“A-August?”
He placed the plate of food in front of her. “Yes?”
“When can I go back home?”
The muscle in his jaw twitched, and she held her breath, her eyes pleading with him to not change his mind now. He could. No matter how sincere he’d been when he’d begged her for this, now that he had her, he could withhold Dominic. He could punish her for reducing him to begging tears, for dragging this out so long, for not following his plan to the letter.
The reality of the power he held to take more and more from her was only now sinking in. She couldn’t even kill herself to escape him. She could only run and run and run. Run until she ran out of earth and fell off the edge. Because surely if you ran that much, gravity would give up the ghost and there would be nowhere left on the earth to go, and then you would just fall. Forever.
August was oblivious to the path her thoughts had turned down. After a moment, the tension in his jaw released, and he sighed. “In the morning. I’ll go with you and take the thrall off your husband. We’ll need to do damage control with the flower shop and your friends. How often do you speak with your family?”
“My parents live in town, but we don’t speak often. Still, they might know I’m missing.”
“And your husband’s family?”
“There’s only his dad left, but they don’t speak and haven’t in years.”
He nodded. “We’ll deal with everyone on a case-by-case basis.”
“You mean you’ll use mind control.” She didn’t like the idea of him being inside the heads of those she loved and cared about.
“Would you prefer they suffer thinking something happened to you?”
She shook her head. “You know I wouldn’t.”
“Okay, then. Eat your dinner. I want you to start taking care of yourself. Put some weight back on, and get back out in the sun. You’re far too pale and thin.” He trailed off abruptly and she wondered if that sentence was about to end with “for my tastes.”
When she’d finished eating he led her through the huge entry hall and up a grand staircase. She followed him to a closed door and waited—feeling awkward and afraid of what he might expect next—while he produced a key from his pocket to unlock the door.
“This is your room.”
Nicole couldn’t focus on the room for all the extra stuff that was in it. Bags filled with designer label clothes, boxes of shoes, cases of fine wines, most of them Cabernet Sauvignon—her favorite. Boxes of fine chocolates, plush bath robes, an uncountable number of velvet jewelry boxes, as well as bubble baths and lotions and expensive cosmetics and fragrances. There were several tall stacks of first edition books, many of them classics that would have been very hard to find in such condition.
Every available table and solid surface held vases and vases of red roses which had wilted and died, the petals dried and crumbling apart.
“I apologize for the roses. It’s been a long time since I’ve been in this room. I thought things would happen more quickly between us.”
She dragged her gaze away from the gifts. “You can’t buy me! I’m not a thing you can purchase!”
His eyes were sad. “You’re already mine, poppet. If I’d thought I could buy you, I would have brought you here first. It’s already sealed between us, these are only small tokens of my gratitude. I know they can never repay you for your sacrifice. Just know that there is no limit to what I will give you now that you’re mine. There are glasses in the minibar if you’d like to try the wine.”
Nicole hadn’t noticed the minibar in all the piles of boxes and bags.
“I won’t hover. I’ll leave you alone for now.” He shut the door on his way out.
A corkscrew lay on top of the minibar. Nicole poured a glass of wine as she sifted through the bags and boxes. It was no surprise that all of his gifts reflected the same level of good taste as the rest of his remote estate. She opened one of the jewelry boxes to find an ornate, glittering filigree gold necklace which would lay flush against her skin and make her look like royalty—if she could ever bring herself to put it on. Wearing any jewelry but the bracelet her husband had given her, felt like more betrayal.
She closed the box and went back to the wine. It didn’t matter what the vampire said; she felt bought. And he had bought her—with the promise of Dominic.
***
Nicole woke the following morning, her mouth dry. Something shifted across the room and she bolted upright to find August sleeping—or trying to—in a chair in the corner. He’d watched her for hours, which made her more grateful that she’d be sleeping in Dominic’s bed tonight.
She’d been surprised when the vampire hadn’t tried anything sexual. He hadn’t insisted on sharing the bed. Maybe he wasn’t into her—only her blood and the hope of freedom it brought him. If that were true, she hoped his feelings remained that way—blood only. She squeezed her eyes tight against the memory of his bite, of the unrelenting sting. Large, dull needles poking at her skin like some medieval torture.
Though no physical mark had been left on her—and she didn’t want to begin to guess about that—she felt bruised, somehow broken inside beneath the skin where he’d bitten her. The soreness was a different kind of virginity lost, and she prayed it was only a remnant of the first time. Somehow she doubted it. Flesh was never designed to take fangs inside it. There was no reason to think it would ever stop hurting when he bit her.
She breathed slowly and deeply to push away the edging hysteria. If it built too large in her head, being fed on would hurt even more from the anticipation and tension.
“Nicolette, are you all right, my dear?”
She opened her eyes to find his sharp gaze on her. How long had he been staring like that?
“I’m fine.” She wasn’t going to get weepy and weak. She’d made her choice, and she would make it again if it meant Dominic’s arms could be around her
tonight.
August stood and stretched, popping his neck and back. “Let’s get you fed and back home.”
She’d worried he would take it all away. Especially in the light of day, he had to know he didn’t have to keep his word.
“Why are you going to so much trouble for me?” Shut up, Nicole. Don’t draw attention to it. Just take it and go.
“You’ve freed me from my curse. You’re everything—the sun and the stars, the universe. There is no request too great. I told you that last night. There is nothing you could ask for that I would deny you now. Including your husband.”
“Last night in the kitchen I thought you’d go back on your word. The expression on your face… I thought… ”
“I was hurt that you wanted to get away from me so quickly. But why wouldn’t you? After the hell I put you through to get here.”
Shouldn’t her first thought upon awakening have been of the cellar? Of her suffering and fear and sadness? It had been a constant companion upon every other awakening since she’d been there. Now it was chillingly absent. It had been a comforting blanket that reminded her which one of them was the bad guy and which one of them was the real victim. But this morning it felt unreal. Even with his blood, she somehow hadn’t believed she would still feel whole the next morning.
Nicole’s hand moved to her neck and her eyes met his, imploring him to answer the questions she couldn’t yet put words to, but he looked away then left her alone.
She ducked into the bathroom to freshen up, drawing back in shock at the skeletal face that greeted her. She’d lost so much weight, gotten so pale. No wonder he hadn’t tried to sleep in the bed with her. Who would want that? She was a walking corpse, little better than he’d looked that first night in the cellar.
She turned away from her reflection and went to the kitchen where the vampire was already cracking eggs in a skillet. “August, I can’t go home like this. I look… dead.”
He glanced up. “You’ll regain your weight and color soon. Much faster with the bond. I can make your husband and family see you as you were until then. Stay away from work for a few days until you’re back to full strength and color. And get some sun.”
“Okay.” Of course. If he could manipulate minds anyway, it would be such a small matter to change their perception of her. Still, she hated that when Dominic saw her, he wouldn’t really see her, but the image August projected onto the screen of her husband’s mind. This whole thing was sordid and dirty.
“Just my blood, right?”
He glanced up. “Excuse me?”
“That’s all you want from me?” Her voice squeaked as she pushed the question out, and she knew she must sound ridiculous.
His gaze swept over her, but he turned his focus back to the eggs without comment.
Nicole felt stupid for asking. Even someone who could be as hideous as August could wouldn’t find her bedraggled look appealing, but she wouldn’t look this bad for long.
It was hard, seeing him now, to imagine that first night—the way his face had seemed as if it were rotting off the bone, as if he were decomposing before her eyes, like watching a flower bloom and die rapidly through the magic of time-lapse photography.
Since that night, she’d seen him look tired, and once, when he’d skipped a day’s feeding, like an older, distinguished man, but then he’d fed and been returned to perfection and youth once again.
The plate thudded on the table in front of her, jolting her back. August, in his perfect incarnation, sat across from her. She felt like a new puppy that had been brought home where every boring activity was filled with voyeuristic fascination for the new owners.
“Aren’t you eating?” She grimaced as soon as the words left her mouth.
A slow smile spread over his face as his gaze slid to her jugular. “I already ate, poppet.”
Blood rushed into her cheeks as she tried to concentrate on her eggs. Her mind drifted back to the creepy vampire rotting thing. “Will you still decompose if you don’t feed from me?”
“Yes. And don’t try to get out of it. There is no place far enough for you to run. You and I are stuck together now.”
“I-I didn’t mean… ” What did she mean? “What will happen to me? Will I age?” She hadn’t thought about any of this last night. She wasn’t a vampire. Maybe she would be immortal and feed him, but continue to age. She imagined herself old and shrunken and hiding away in the cellar from people and tried to think about how long he’d be able to stomach feeding from her before he just went back to killing.
He left the room and returned with a gilded book that must have been created at the beginning of time. The paper would surely flutter into dust at the lightest touch. But when he opened the book, the pages were strong and thick. They were made of stiff cloth with words written in an ornate script in ink that refused to fade.
August thumbed through several pages and pointed at the top of a new section. “It’s all there. No. You won’t age. You can’t die. You won’t have to drink blood to maintain anything. You will be you, but stronger. Able to heal faster, regenerate blood more quickly. For me.”
She shivered as that last part vibrated against the air. He stood so close. He smelled good. Masculine and clean. Nicole tried to ignore him. She loved Dominic. Any chemical attraction she might feel toward August was a weird mixture of pity, sadness, gratitude, and whatever supernatural thing he’d done to her through the blood exchange. Nothing more.
Chapter Six
August didn’t attempt to engage her in conversation on the ride home. She would have to come to him in her own time. Did he have plans for more than her blood? Of all the questions. She was his mate. Her blood sang to him like a lullaby, asking him to take her in every way a woman could be taken. But such a thing couldn’t be explained without sounding sinister. And he didn’t want to have to chase her.
It would be best if she could learn to accept things. He would grant this compromise because he’d spoken the truth when he’d said he would give her anything. If it was in his power, she could have it.
They sat in the driveway of her parents’ house while the rain beat against the windshield, occasional streaks of electricity lighting the overcast sky.
“Maybe they don’t know I’m gone. I don’t see them a lot. Maybe we should go.” Her foot bounced against the floorboard.
She jumped when August put his hand on her knee to stop the constant movement. “Why don’t you want to see them?”
Frightened eyes rose to his. “You’re a vampire.”
“You think I’ll hurt them.”
“I don’t know. You could.”
Her gaze went from his to his hand on her knee and then back up to his eyes again. Pleading. She wouldn’t say the words out loud. She wouldn’t ask him to stop touching her, but he knew she wanted him to. It was almost as if he could read the thoughts right out of her head. She wanted it to just be her blood. Too bad, but they didn’t have to talk about that now.
August patted her leg like a father or platonic friend, and the breath she’d been holding spiraled out of her in a soft sigh into the stillness of the car. “Come on. Let’s get this taken care of so you can go home to your husband.”
When he reached the front door, she was behind him, waiting like a stray he’d picked up instead of someone who belonged there.
He rang twice before a woman in her late fifties opened the door. She had kind eyes that resembled how Nicolette’s might be if age were allowed to grace the edges of her features. Silver streaks highlighted the woman’s dark brown hair.
He hated having to do this, but seeing a strange man on the doorstep with her emaciated daughter would not garner him an invitation through a simple request. It was the one thing he couldn’t gain from people through mind control. Humans had been allowed that one safe haven when the gods had worked their curse. It didn’t mean he couldn’t use threats to gain compliance. And he had strong collateral.
“Can I help… ” The woman’s word
s died when she saw Nicolette shivering in the rain.
August grabbed his mate roughly by the throat. Her heart rate ratcheted to an impossible speed. He felt the sense of betrayal with each erratic thump that pounded against his hand.
“Invite me in,” he hissed at her mother. The tears he smelled on Nicolette made his stomach turn, but it had to be convincing.
“C-come in,” the woman sputtered, barely believing what was happening in front of her.
Once they were inside, he released Nicolette and turned to face her accusing eyes. “I needed an invitation. I won’t harm them. Just trust me for one minute.”
Despite her time in the cellar, despite watching him kill, it took this close brush with her parents and her real world and life to fully grasp his predatory nature.
“What’s your mother’s name?”
“L-Lois.”
“Lois, look at me.”
“What’s going on here? What have you done to my daughter? We’ve been worried sick.”
Nicolette’s father stepped into the entryway. “Nicole, baby, is that you?” The man rounded on August, his eyes blazing fury. “And who in the hell are you? What have you done to my daughter? You sick bastard.”
The man moved quickly to grab something from behind the coat rack, and in the next moment August was staring down the barrel of a shot gun. He caught the father’s gaze. “Put the gun on the ground.”
His eyes widened as he found himself complying.
When the gun was on the floor, August said, “Now kick it over here.”
A moment later, the vampire heard a crunch and then everything went black.
***
Clink. Clink. Clink.
August woke in the spreading pool of his own blood. It was the sound of the bullets squeezing out and clinking on the hardwood floor that woke him as his body raced to mend itself.
Three bullets. Nicolette’s family had to be NRA members. While his attention had been on the father, Lois had gone for a second gun and shot him. Two in the back, one in the head.
