Father stood at the top of the steps, eyeing us dispassionately. He didn’t look as furious as I had anticipated, but I wasn’t fooled for a second. Julius’ grip around my waist tightened as he used me to shield against attack. I couldn’t decide whether his presence made me feel threatened or comforted because I couldn’t decide who the greater threat was.
“The prodigal daughter returns.” Father’s mouth lifted into a slow smile— a fruitless gesture. “And she’s brought us entertainment.” The knowing look in his frigid blue eyes froze my insides, as if they were carved from glaciers.
Behind my father stood the rest of my family, wrapped around the second story balcony, looking down at James, Julius, and myself. The mutual disdain in the room was suffocating.
Suddenly I felt like the main attraction at a three ring circus. There were probably a hundred sets of eyes watching me with distaste, wondering how I could be so stupid as to run, and even worse, to get caught. My feet suddenly seemed really interesting in my lace-up boots, and they managed to occupy me momentarily while my cheeks cooled.
“What have you come here for?” Father’s voice cut through the room; I jumped a little. The question was intended for James, though; As far as father was concerned, I had no rights here after what I’d done.
James looked pointedly at me. “I have something that belongs to you.”
“This is the twenty first century.” Father’s voice was bored. “I do not own her.” Steeling myself to meet his gaze, I looked up. But his eyes carefully avoided me, focusing on James as he assessed the threat...or lack thereof.
“I’m here to negotiate a covenant.” James’ words fell around the room like a weight, leaving a deafening silence in their wake. If it hadn’t been obvious before, it was now… I was a bargaining chip. If father didn’t meet the terms James proposed, the werewolves would kill me. I didn’t think anyone other than me was bothered by this.
Some of these people I had grown up with. Some of them I had sort of liked on occasion, and others had been less than cruel to me. One of them had been the world to me once. Xian’s eyes met mine, as if he too had been seeking me out. Seeing him left me colder than I had been before, and after disconnecting eye contact, I tuned myself back into the conversation taking place in time to hear the terms of James’ bargain. “The proposal is simple. Your daughter’s safe return, in exchange for your relocation.”
“Our relocation?” Father laughed, a deep, rolling sound with almost no humor in it.
“Move off this land,” James commanded, “and take her with you.”
Peals of laughter rang in my ears, which burned with anger and embarrassment. I hated this and I hated James and Julius. I hated all of them. Especially Xian, who was coming down the stairs for me, not entertained by the request in the very least.
“If you want to negotiate,” My father spoke slowly and deliberately; his voice was strong enough to hold the rest of the room silent. “Then you must have something with which you can negotiate.”
James paused, taken by surprise. Julius inclined his head in my direction. “What do you think we brought her for?”
I turned around to hide my flaming cheeks and found myself face-to-face with Xian. Julius jerked me closer to him the minute his eyes settled on the approaching threat. He fixed Xian with the coldest look I could have imagined from him. It almost rivaled my father’s. I moved in front of Xian just as the anger on his face was about to ignite, barring the brothers from his impending attack. Upon seeing me, Xian calmed visibly and seemed to forget the werewolf’s presence.
“Lilith.” There was so much in those two syllables that composed my name. Anger, accusation, disappointment, confusion, and relief. They wound themselves into that one word, despite the fact that Xian had rather close keep of his emotions. “May I speak with you in private?” It was a command cloaked in the words of a question and following his commands had always been one of the few things I was good at.
“Go.” James said, reading my hesitance as a request for permission. Julius’ grip on me loosened, and I shook him off, though I was no happier to be passed over to Xian, particularly with my hands still tethered behind my back.
It was with great reluctance that I allowed Xian to lead me deeper into the shadows of the foyer and into the blackness. We were close enough to hear the negotiation, yet far enough away to keep our meeting private. The hollow formed by the great curve in the staircase offered seclusion; I’d been here a time or two with him, concealed by the shadows. Uncomfortable with thoughts of the past, I glanced toward the door and saw Julius had his eyes trained on me.
“What do you want?” I demanded, keeping a comfortable distance from him. My voice was about as warm and yielding as a blade of steel. I wished the words really could cut right through his heart, but he was unfazed.
“You left.” His voice was low, like he was fighting to keep from yelling. It wasn’t an accusation, nor was it a question. It was fact, hard and unmoving. He’d known I’d intended to run—as close as I’d let him get, he could determine my moves oftentimes before I’d decided upon a course. But he’d never expected I would really do it.
“Yes.”
“I knew you would be back.”
A harsh laugh loosed itself from somewhere deep in my throat. “I wouldn’t have been back, if I had any choice.”
Xian looked like he had his doubts about that statement, but he let go of them and looked at me, almost sadly. “You’re different now,”
“I told you I wouldn’t play your games anymore, but you chose to ignore me. I finally found the courage to do something about it.”
“That’s not what I meant.” Xian waved a dismissive hand. “I meant you are different because of him.” His face sobered, eyes narrowing in James’ direction. “He bit you, didn’t he?”
I didn’t answer, surprised by the knowledge he had obtained. Xian was clearly revolted. “Where is it?”
“What?”
“The bite. Where is it?” He moved closer, searching for the mark he was now sure would be there. Stiffening to fend off the chill of his curiosity, I shrugged my hair over my shoulder. A few of his powerful strides closed the distance between us and he pushed the rest of my hair away, exposing the old scars—the ones he’d left, shining pink against my pale skin. And then the most recent one…Xian’s index finger traced a path along the crest of it, his actions more gentle than I had ever known them to be. But when he held my eyes the ferocity was the same I’d come to know as his. “I’m going to kill him, Lilith.” He spoke crisply, as if he had just decided that seemed like a swell idea. Xian released his grip and his gaze, turning toward his victims.
“You can’t!” I yelled. When he turned back, the fury in his eyes was acute. The solid blue of his irises, which I had once found endearing, now looked like the center of a hurricane. “If you do that they will attack,” I swallowed, recognizing that provocation. He didn’t take kindly to being told what to do and what not to do. “It will mean war.”
“That’s what I intend.” Xian snapped. “Clearly they’ve grown too comfortable, coming here making demands. Kidnapping you was their last move ...It’s time we set them straight.”
“No, it’s not!” I insisted. I didn’t know why I was defending them, other than that I didn’t want to be at the center of this. My mind kept turning back to the painting James had shown me the previous night…in the werewolves’ absence, the vampires ran amok. “No good can come of it. Just drop it, please!”
“Drop it?” He repeated, as if he’d never heard the expression before. I suppose it was kind of a foreign concept for him to relent. “After what he did to you?”
“You’ve done far worse.” I was desperate and would have said anything to stop him from waging war. It just so happened the first thing to come to mind was the truth.
Xian’s response for that was what I should have anticipated, if past experience were relevant now; the quick slap across the face hurt more than I had remembere
d it to. My cheek seared where his hand most likely had left a stinging red print, but I recovered immediately, turning back to him. I’d long ago perfected my stone face. I might have even hit him back, if my hands weren’t chained at the wrist.
Something like satisfaction radiated from him briefly, before he moved closer and pressed his lips to the burning spot on my cheek. That kiss wasn’t to make it feel better, or even to make me feel better. It was a prelude to the bigger kiss: his lips moving against mine. His actions were so reliable I could have set a clock by them. I pulled away from him, tearing from the hollow familiarity, and caught a little glimpse of the shock on his face before Julius seized our attention.
“Sorry to interrupt, Romeo,” His voice dripped with unveiled sarcasm. “Time to go.” His hand closed around my arm again, a little tighter than necessary. James watched over his shoulder with cold, hard eyes. He did not look pleased.
“You’re not taking her anywhere!” Xian said. It was a sound of danger to me, but James looked unaffected.
“We will return her to you when our terms have been satisfied.” He appraised Xian with a relative lack of interest. No doubt, he was wondering who Xian thought he was, making those kinds of demands.
“I’m not letting her leave again!” Xian growled, jerking me in his direction, pulling against Julius’ hold on me. A gasp of pain tore past my lips, and Julius released me only to make better use of his hands…he lunged at Xian and wrapped them around that pale neck, squeezing tight. He could have collapsed Xian’s throat in those two seconds, but the fact that he hadn’t told me he was holding back.
“Julius!” James growled. But Julius had no mind for anything other than Xian at the moment, and he squeezed him so tight I expected he would behead him right there. Instead, he threw Xian across the room with ease, sending him skittering into a pile at my father’s feet. Perhaps I’d have laughed if the action hadn’t been so shocking and simultaneously frightening. Fury was written on his face. Xian stood, jaw clenched, and tried to advance but one of father’s hands upon his shoulder stopped him from coming after us.
Julius found his hold on me again, dragging me toward the door.
This couldn’t be real. My father may have been angry with me, and he may have wanted me dead. But why would he let them take me? I had expected at the very worst that he would kill me in front of them to set an example. Was he letting me go with them because it made a better example, advertised ramifications worse than death?
Father turned away, leaving me to stare questioningly at the receding form of his stiff black blazer. Xian’s murderous gaze latched upon my shoulders; I couldn’t suppress the shudder that wracked me as James and Julius pulled me into the crisp morning light.
“You don’t know what you’ve done!” Xian’s voice trailed after us. “You’ve just turned a fruitless battle into a war!”
Despite the yelling James remained calm, as though he hadn’t heard a thing. “I will come for her,” Xian yelled. “And I will kill you all!”
“We’ll see about that.” Julius said, and as a ray of sunlight flashed upon his face I saw the smile.
“I’ll come for you!” Xian called after us as we disappeared through the gates, about to be swallowed by the forest. Whether it was a threat or a promise, I wasn’t sure, but I didn’t like either.
“What’s going on?” I demanded. James was silent as we pushed onward. I half-expected to see Father issue from the dark shape of the house and put a stop to this. But nobody moved behind us and Julius dragged me forward still. When we had cleared the property without any indication that we had a tail, I tore my arm from his grip and rounded on him, livid. James walked by, undaunted, and carried on a few paces before turning back to face me. I took in the fist clenched at his side and his squared jaw, but I couldn’t bring myself to care that he was mad. “He denied the proposal.” His voice was irritated. “He wasn’t interested in negotiation at all.”
“What do you mean ‘he wasn’t interested’?”
“He denied our terms.” Julius explained. “Every offer we suggested, he turned down.”
“Every offer?” I repeated, though he clearly was telling the truth, based upon the fact that I was here with him instead of locked in that dark old attic room at Xian’s mercy. “What did you ask of him?”
“Only to move off this land.” James explained. “I know of accommodations thirty miles outside of this city’s limits that would be better suited to his wicked lifestyle.”
“And in exchange? What did you offer him?” I knew the answer of course, but I wanted to hear it aloud. What did he have now to offer that he didn’t have two years or even seven days ago?
“You.” He was unashamed of divulging that, even though the admission sent a blow through me that hurt worse than Xian’s hand crossing my face. “And continued peace. An extra night of hunting each month...” He shook his head, bitter. “The man is stubborn. He wanted nothing that I offered him and even when I proposed that he create his own terms since I’d oblige most anything, still he refused me.”
“That’s not true.” Even I could hear the denial in my voice, petulant and wavering. I knew it full well, but rejecting that truth as falsity gave me a sense of hope, no matter how small, that my father cared. He was my father after all, how could he turn me away so resolutely? “There must have been something he desired.”
James shook his head. “Nothing I could offer was to his satisfaction.”
“You’re lying!” I was dangerously close to crying; my throat felt thick with unshed tears. Don’t let them see you cry. “You were never going to let me return home. You only needed me to get you in the door alive.”
“I haven’t lied to you.” James said with a shake of his head. He looked at me pitifully and began walking again.
“You have! And I have a right to know, what are you keeping me for?”
“Because he didn’t want you!” James whipped back around just in time to see my denial falter as the pain of reality hit me. His face was still a mask of anger, but when he saw my reaction, it began to mellow. “If it were up to your boyfriend, I’m sure you would have stayed, but since he’s not in charge you’re stuck with us.”
“Don’t talk about things you know nothing about.” My voice was dangerously low, possessing a venom I didn’t know I had in me. The mention of Xian as my boyfriend was jarring, and I wasn’t about to take that from somebody who hadn’t the slightest idea what sort of monster he was.
“Oh,” Julius chimed in. “Is Prince Charming a touchy subject?” The threatening look I shot his way did nothing to quell his sarcasm. In fact, it seemed a direct line to his anger. “His kiss didn’t save you from all of this, Lilith. You’re stuck here and things aren’t going to change. This is your reality now. Accept it.”
I tried to cling to the tatters of my patience and my dignity but the tears sprang to my eyes anyways. Biting my lip staved off the onslaught enough for me to mutter, “You don’t know anything.”
“Maybe I don’t know your love story or how much being away from him kills you, but I do know this: your father told us to take you. He didn’t want you.”
In an instant any sense of sorrow in my body was replaced with rage. I loathed him and his brother and the situation they had put me in, and I was going to show him just how much. He was just as surprised as I was when my head collided with his jaw. The act caused me more pain than him, but it succeeded in catching him off guard. The instant became an opportunity to escape.
I was fast, but surely not any match for a werewolf, which is why I was hoping the element of surprise would give me an advantage. My own breathing grew so loud it was like a beacon, alerting them to my location, and I focused on remaining quiet through my carefully placed footfalls. The ground would catch me if I tripped, and they’d be upon me in the next instant.
This time was no half-hearted attempt. On top of my father rejecting them, my violent escape had probably contributed to Julius’ anger; I didn’t ev
er want to witness the full extent of it. If I could only outrun them a little while further, a call for help ought to send someone in my direction. Just get into human territory...they can’t attack you in front of a human without risking exposure.
Once again, I was off without a plan. Last time that hadn’t seemed like such a problem what with the adrenaline of escape coursing through my veins, but last time hadn’t worked out so well. Of course, this time things would be different. I needed to go farther than I had been before.
A sudden sound issuing from nearby underbrush caught my attention, causing me to turn in spite of my good sense. I did not trip on a fallen branch and twist my ankle or tumble into a concealed pit, but I did the next most awful thing and ran directly into someone. A pair of strong arms wrapped tightly around me and though I didn’t look up to see who was holding me, I fought to get loose. The grip that fastened me in place tightened and the movement caused me to catch a drift of a familiar, earthy scent. I looked up into the face I’d hoped to never see again. “Where do you think you’re going?” Julius crooned, mocking me.
I struggled against him, desperate to get away. But Julius was not to be tested; he wrenched me close, his hands like vices on my arms, and for a moment I thought him capable of murder. That was the moment it took for a gigantic wolf to pounce, knocking me to the ground. I rolled, covering my face, and willed the ground to swallow me whole. Anything to escape this fury.
But instead of seeping into the ground, I was practically lifted into the air. Julius grabbed me by the collar of my shirt and dragged me up to my full, unimpressive height. His image was blurry from where a few tears had dotted my vision at the pain erupting in my shoulder. “Do you really think you stand any chance against us?”
I looked away. It had seemed like no answer was the best answer, but he did not seem to appreciate my silence. He gave me a little shake, rattling my chain, which felt so heavy they might tear my arms from their sockets.
The Celestial Kiss Page 9
