The Shadow (Florentine #2)

by Sylvain Reynard

  “So you say.” Raven wrapped her hands around her middle, fighting the creeping ascent of nausea. “I heard about what happened in the Middle Ages. How you laid waste to them.”

  “Revisionist history. Did the vampyre describe what Europe was like before the Curia was formed?”

  Raven pressed her lips together. “Not really.”

  He leaned forward in his chair. “Then let me enlighten you. They were like animals, feeding on everyone—women and children, the aged, the sick. And in every case, every single case, they violated the victim sexually. When they feed, they rape. Their victim is never the same.”

  Raven shut her eyes and turned her face away. “I don’t believe you.”

  “It’s true. They use mind control or force to overpower their victims, then they take what they want, leaving a damaged person behind. They’re horrible, evil beings.”

  Raven coughed, fighting the urge to retch. “William doesn’t allow them to feed on children. And he would never do what you described.”

  “Raven.” The priest’s eyes filled with pity. “Have you ever seen him feed?”

  “He feeds from bottles.”

  Father regarded her with what could only be sorrow. “And from you. Tell me, was sexual activity part of the feeding?”

  Raven’s skin flamed. She said nothing.

  The priest took her hand. “If you’ve fornicated with him, the darkness has been transmitted to you. You may not be possessed at this moment, but you’re under its influence. It clouds your reason.”

  “Nonsense.” Raven tossed his hand aside and stood. “You believe a bunch of fairy tales.”

  “Careful.” His tone grew sharp. “I’ve devoted my life to those fairy tales. I would die for them. And they’re the only things that can save you.”

  “I don’t want to be saved.” She huddled against the kitchen counter, her body shaking.

  The priest’s gaze moved to the trio of objects that sat on the table. He touched the disk briefly. “This isn’t the first time I’ve tried to help you.” He spoke gently, without looking at her. “In all the years we’ve known one another, have I ever deceived you?”

  “No.”

  His eyes met hers. “Have I ever lied?”

  She shook her head.

  “I swear before God, I am not deceiving you. I’m trying to save you!” His hands began to shake. He stuffed them in his pockets. “The Curia was formed by the Church to keep the vampyre population in check. We protect humanity and keep the vampyres from taking over.”

  “If they’re so bad, why don’t you eliminate them?”

  “Not even God can eliminate the evil perpetrated by free will.”

  Raven rolled her eyes.

  “It’s true,” he continued. “We can limit their evil, but we cannot eliminate them. At least, not all of them. To do so, we’d have to eliminate the demon population that spawns them. And that is beyond our capabilities.

  “Just like demons, vampyres are allowed to operate within certain boundaries and according to certain rules. When the boundaries are breached, we intervene. They fear us and they are right to do so. We have goodness on our side.”

  Raven resisted the urge to scoff, mostly because she happened to believe that the person sitting in front of her was a good man.

  The priest changed the subject. “Tell me what happened with your sister.”

  Raven leaned heavily against the counter, favoring her injured leg. “What did my mother tell you?”

  “I prefer to hear your version.” The priest’s tone grew gentle once again. His gentleness tore through her the way a sword tears through flesh.

  “I called Cara and tried to talk to her about our stepfather. I asked her what would give her closure.”

  “How did she respond?”

  “At first, she was indifferent. Then she got angry. She said I fell down the stairs.” Raven’s lips twisted at the memory.

  “That was cruel. It was also a lie.”

  “I defended myself. She got upset and yelled at me. Then Dan told me to stay out of their lives and not call again.” Raven bit at the inside of her mouth to keep the tears at bay.

  Father gave her a sympathetic look. “Obviously, Cara doesn’t want to remember. But I’m curious why you broached the subject with her now.” His gaze dropped to the gold bracelet on Raven’s wrist.

  “I didn’t tell Cara about William. But since you already know . . .” She gestured to the items on the table. “William brought my stepfather to Florence.”

  “Why would he do that?”

  “He promised me justice.”

  The priest frowned. “Vampyres don’t care about justice, especially justice for a pet.”

  “Not all vampyres view human beings as pets.”

  “Perhaps he was bored and looking for amusement.”

  “So he sent someone all the way to California to track down my stepfather because he was bored?”

  The priest didn’t respond.

  “William gave my stepfather to me as a gift. He wanted to give me the opportunity to kill him.”

  The priest sat back in his chair, horrified. “Raven, you didn’t—”

  “Of course I didn’t,” she snapped. “Don’t you know me at all?”

  “I thought I did.” The priest stroked his beard thoughtfully. “What happened to your stepfather?”

  “I asked William to send him back to California and turn him over to the police.”

  “And did he?”

  “Only because I asked. He wanted to kill him.”

  Father Kavanaugh looked puzzled. “Why would a vampyre, a prince, take so much interest in your stepfather?”

  “I told you—he loves me.”

  The priest turned, facing the talismans on the table. “That’s impossible.”

  “For someone who trades in the impossible, you’re incredibly skeptical.”

  “I’m not a skeptic about facts. The Prince is the subject of extensive discussion in Rome. I’ll grant he’s more conservative than the other rulers, but that doesn’t make him good.”

  “He’s different from the others.” Raven’s voice grew quiet. “If only you knew how much.”

  “His control is slipping.” The priest picked up the disk and showed it to her. “We don’t want a repeat of the Black Death, when bodies lined the city streets.”

  “William won’t let that happen.”

  “Perhaps not.” He cleared his throat. “Finding you here, with him, changes everything.”

  Raven crossed over to him. “Please don’t bring the Curia here. William enforces the laws. The others won’t.”

  The priest surveyed her expression, noting her clenched fists. “Then come with me.”

  She took a step back. “I can’t. I love him.”

  The priest sighed loudly. “I am not eager for war. But I am only one among many. Those decisions aren’t up to me.”

  “But they’ll kill him!”

  “They’ll free him,” Father insisted. “And by association, you. Don’t you think you deserve to be free?”

  “I am free,” she hissed. “I never thought anyone would love me for myself. I never thought anyone would defend me. He does.”

  A pained look filled the priest’s eyes. “I tried to defend you. I love you, Raven. You and Cara are the daughters I never had.”

  Raven looked down at her shoes.

  “I love you, too,” she whispered. “I know you defended me.”

  “I still defend you. I’m defending you now.”

  She lifted her gaze. “Then help us,” she pleaded.

  He drew a deep breath. “Perhaps you love him. Stranger things have happened. But the human being you love is possessed by a great evil.”

  She shook her head fiercely. “That’s a lie.”

  He pulled at his beard in agitation. “If he is a vampyre, the darkness in him is more powerful than his humanity. Even if that weren’t the case, he will still be held accountable for his choice.”
/>   “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “A vampyre can’t enter a home without being invited. A demon can’t possess an adult human unless the adult grants it entrance.”

  Raven’s mouth dropped open. “You’re telling me he wanted this?”

  “I’m not saying there wasn’t a seduction. But if the human rejects the darkness forcefully, the demon looks elsewhere.”

  “William is different.”

  “William is a vampyre.” Father stood, picking up the cross from the table. “Do not be deceived. He’s controlled by darkness, and it’s darkness you see when you look into his eyes. It’s darkness you take into your body when you fornicate with him. If you aren’t careful, that darkness will overtake you as well.

  “Reflect on that, Raven, and stay away from him.” He held the cross out to her. “Take it. It will protect you.”

  “I don’t need protection from William—he protects me from the others.”

  The priest held her gaze for a moment and placed the cross in his pocket. He gathered the remaining objects in his hands.

  “I will return to Rome tonight. Come with me.”

  “No.”

  “It’s dangerous here. He might kill you.”

  “He’s as likely to hurt me as you are.”

  The priest’s face grew stricken. Raven felt tears form at the sight.

  She wanted to go to him. She wanted to hug him.

  But she loved William more.

  The priest sighed and rubbed at his beard before crossing to her and placing his hands on her shoulders. “Think about what I’ve said. Even if you have nothing to fear from him, you have everything to fear from the other vampyres, especially if they wish to attack him through you.”

  The priest kissed her forehead. Then, with his thumb, he made the sign of the cross over her skin.

  “May God protect and defend you.”

  He walked to the door and unbolted it, placing his hand on the doorknob. “I’m not giving up on you, Raven.”

  She nodded, her eyes wet.

  “Whatever you do, don’t feed from him.” The priest’s tone was ominous. “That is a line, once crossed, that cannot be uncrossed.”

  Father Kavanaugh exited her apartment, closing the door behind him.

  A few minutes later, she realized he’d left the cross on the table.

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  William’s first concern was for the safety of the principality. He ran from building to building, leaping across the roofs, searching for any sign the Curia had invaded. He made a circuit around the city, examining the borders and the patrols with an assessing eye.

  Eventually, he stood high atop the Palazzo Vecchio, staring down at the city he loved, and felt fear.

  Under normal circumstances, he would have gone to the Consilium, shared his intelligence, and sent out search parties to see if any other Curia members had entered the city. But he couldn’t risk exposing Raven.

  The Consilium would demand to know about her connection to the Curia and would likely sentence her to death, a sentence he could commute to transformation, as prince. But either outcome was unacceptable. Raven didn’t want to be a vampyre. And the thought of her death . . .

  William shuddered.

  How was it that his love for Alicia had been reduced to a small ember in comparison to the raging fire of his love for Raven? He thought he’d known love. But the warmth and affection he’d felt for Alicia was nothing compared to what he felt for Raven.

  He felt desperation and desire.

  The Consilium would have to be told about the infiltration of the Curia in the city, if they didn’t know about it already. The intelligence network would inevitably discover the priest’s presence. He would have to conceal Raven’s involvement, through whatever means necessary.

  With a cry, he leapt from the top of the palazzo to the stones below, breaking into a run upon impact. He’d done his duty assessing the security of the principality. Now he needed to make sure Raven was safe. If the priest had decided to take her with him . . .

  William didn’t want to think about the consequences.

  As he raced over the Ponte Santa Trinita and over to Santo Spirito, he didn’t pray. But he spoke to his friend the saint, long dead, and begged him to pray, not for himself but for her.

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  Raven felt as if she were underwater; all sounds seemed distant, all sights seemed blurry.

  She sat at her kitchen table, staring at Father Kavanaugh’s cross, completely immobile. Her thoughts returned to the day William had revealed what he was. She recalled watching in horror as he stuck a dagger through his hand and began to bleed. She remembered trying to flee from him.

  The revelation that Jack Kavanaugh, the man she’d thought of as a father, was a member of the Curia was just as shocking, if not more so. He was the best person she knew. The most saintlike. And he belonged to a group that killed sentient beings. Furthermore, he believed William to be evil.

  How could someone so wise and so kind be so deceived?

  Unless he isn’t deceived, she thought.

  A sliver of doubt burrowed its way into her mind.

  Had William really chosen this life? Was he culpable for that choice?

  Raven covered her eyes with her hands, unable to trace that line of thought to its conclusion.

  Mechanically, she moved to the window, noting with some concern that William’s motorcycle was still parked outside.

  He’d left her. He’d promised to protect her but he’d left. Surely he was as afraid of the Curia as she, if not more so. And he’d abandoned her.

  She wondered if he’d return.

  She wondered if love could be killed.

  With these worries weighing on her, Raven stood, preparing to switch off the lights and go to bed. She took a step forward, pausing when she saw the cross Father Kavanaugh had left behind.

  It was small and primitive looking, a wooden crucifix with a crudely carved figure of Christ. He had been so sure it would protect her, which was no doubt why he’d left it behind despite her protests.

  It must be a relic.

  She examined the cross, wondering what kind of relic it was. Some crucifixes had the relic inside, visible through a tiny window on the back. This one had no such window. She was about to place it back on the table and go to bed, when a sudden realization seized her.

  If this were a relic, William would avoid it. He didn’t want the others knowing about his resistance to relics. He’d removed the relic he’d initially given her from her apartment when they first came to know one another, so as not to arouse suspicion.

  If she wanted William to return, she needed to remove the cross as soon as possible. She grabbed her keys, tucked her cell phone into the back pocket of her jeans, and exited her apartment, locking the door securely behind her.

  As she descended the staircase, clutching the railing in the absence of her cane, her heart beat quickly. She moved through the back door and walked to a neighboring building, which also faced the piazza. She wasn’t sure what kind of radius a relic projected, but she decided that three buildings away should be far enough.

  She placed the cross in a small alcove next to a shuttered window. At least it would offer her neighbors some kind of protection. She turned around and was just approaching her back door when she felt a sudden gust of wind.

  She opened her mouth to scream, but a hand closed over it, muffling the sound.

  Chapter Thirty

  Raven struggled, but only until her eyes met William’s.

  He motioned to her to be quiet before lifting her in his arms and sweeping around the side of the building to his motorcycle. He placed her on her feet, his arms wrapped like iron bands around her waist.

  “I thought I’d lost you.” His normally neutral facade had cracked, revealing intense emotion.

  “I thought I’d lost you.” Her voice was tremulous.

  His kiss was fierce as he squeezed her body tightly
. He placed the helmet on her head and mounted the bike, pulling her to sit behind him. Soon they were racing across the Arno and up the winding road that led to the Piazzale Michelangelo and beyond, to his villa.

  Raven clutched his back like a drowning person, eyes screwed shut. This was not like the journey they’d gone on hours before. William drove like a madman, taking the curves at an inhuman rate of speed, the motorcycle screaming its acceleration.

  Raven’s stomach lurched into her throat and she fought back the urge to vomit.

  He pulled through the gates that protected his villa and shot down the driveway toward the freestanding garage. When he stopped, he had to pry Raven’s arms from around his waist.

  “We’re safe,” he said, lifting her helmet.

  “I wish I could believe that,” she managed, clutching her middle. Without ceremony, she leaned over the side of the bike and promptly emptied her stomach’s contents on the ground.

  The library was dark despite the dim light that shone through the windows and the panes of glass that formed the high, domed ceiling. William had eschewed electric lights, as he was wont to do, opting instead to augment the starlight with a few candles.

  “I forgot.” He crouched in front of Raven’s chair and wiped her mouth with his handkerchief.

  “Forgot what?”

  “I forgot to temper my speed. It’s my fault you were sick.” He tossed the handkerchief aside and pressed a glass of water into her hand.

  Raven’s hand was shaking so badly, the water sloshed over the sides of the glass.

  With a curse, William placed his hand over hers. “We’re safe here. I swept the city, looking for any sign of the Curia. I think your priest is the only one.”

  “What if there are more?”

  “My patrols will raise the alarm. We’re safe inside the villa. The relics will confuse the Curia and cause them to look elsewhere.”

  “You aren’t thinking of leaving?”

  William pressed his lips together. “I cannot leave my people.”

  Raven took a few sips of water before pushing the cup aside. She curled into the chair, leaning against the armrest.