by Nora Ash
And yet this Ancient… this powerful being chosen to rule over others and uphold the laws of old… He fed his sacred blood… to a witch.
“You are horrified,” Zet said. His face was passive as he looked at Warin. “No doubt your Sire taught you the gruesome tales of vampires of Old, who shared their blood with witches. Of how the witches grew so powerful they could possess our immortal flesh, and we were nearly made extinct in the Great Witch War?”
Warin nodded once, not taking his eyes off the Ancient. Thea was breathing quick, shallow breaths behind him—even if she didn’t know their laws, she was picking up on the danger in the room with ease.
“Then he was a fool.” Zet’s lips curved up into the ghost of a smile. “Your blood is your power, young one. Chain a witch with your Compulsion and feed her your blood until she is addicted…” He touched his now healed fingertip to the witch’s chin. “…and you have yourself a very powerful ally. Isn’t that right, Marie? The Great Witch War was started by an idiotic fool too young to Compel a strong witch. I am no youngling. And I am no fool.
“I brought you here because I believe I know what your little human truly is—but only a witch will be able to tell you for certain. So… the choice is yours, young one. Will you let Marie taste your blood to truly understand the human whose heart sings to you?
“Or will you see her wither and die with age without ever fully knowing what she is? Who she is?”
“Warin, this is nonsense,” Thea whispered behind him. She touched his back—the lightest brush still fraught with hesitance—but she reached for him nonetheless. “There is nothing to learn—I am human. I am Thea. Please, let’s leave. I’ll… I’ll follow you willingly.”
And that was precisely why he couldn’t.
That something between them—the song in her heart and the roar in his veins that drew him to her also touched her. He could never leave here when the answer was this close, because he knew—in the depths of his being and the blood in his veins, he knew…
Warin stepped forward and let his fangs descend. Without taking his eyes off the witch, he bit into his wrist and stretched his arm out in offering.
She latched on like a starving wolf, her lips forming a tight seal around the wound. The erotic sensation of his blood being sucked from his body first surprised him—and then repulsed him.
Growling, he shoved the witch away with a hand on her forehead.
She looked at him with a faraway expression in her dark eyes, blood still dripping from her lips. His blood. “What is your question, vampire?”
“What is she to me?” He pointed at Thea with his unwounded arm. “What is she?”
The witch looked at his human and held out her hand in invitation.
Slowly, as if resistant but too curious to deny the request after all, Thea walked to his side and put her hand gingerly into the witch’s upturned palm.
Marie placed her other hand on top of Thea’s and closed her eyes. The stench of magic increased, and something dark seemed to pass between the two women.
“Do not interrupt them,” Zet warned before Warin could move to rip his human away. His tone allowed for no argument. “You have my word your human will not be harmed here tonight. Let the witch do what you asked of her.”
It mercifully only lasted a few moments. The second the witch released her grip on Thea’s hand, Warin wrapped her in his arms and pulled her away, anxious to put his own body between her and the threat of magic.
Marie slowly opened her eyes, but when she did, there was no longer a faraway look in them. They were crystal clear and filled with hatred and fear.
“What is she, Marie?” Zet asked, his voice cracking like thunder.
“No!” She bared her teeth at her Master, defiance flaring in her darkened eyes. “No, you cannot make me! I will not break my sacred vows!”
“Tell him, witch! I command you,” Zet snarled.
Marie let out a pained howl and ripped at her hair, but despite her magic, even she could not fight against the command of Compulsion.
“She is your soulmate,” she said, face twisted with revulsion. “She is your salvation. If you bond with her, you will never be who you were again. She is the light that was snuffed out the day Death Embraced you. She is doomed to love you, and she is fated to betray her sisters to stand by your side.
“That is what she is, vampire. And if she values the light that still flickers in this world, she will end her life before you can use her against her own sisters.”
Chapter 9
Thea
“That… that can’t be true. She’s lying,” Thea croaked as she stared at Warin. He looked dumbfounded.
“She can’t lie under my influence,” Zet—the scary one with the dark hair and golden eyes—said. He looked at her with his head cocked, as if he were a cat and Thea a particularly interesting mouse. “And she confirmed my suspicions. What your Master told me sounded too similar to the old stories to be a coincidence.” His disturbing gaze shifted to Warin. “You have been granted a gift unlike any other bestowed upon our kind. Why, I cannot tell you.”
“How long will she live?” Warin asked, his usually so confident voice betraying something sounding an awful lot like fear.
Zet lifted his eyebrows in surprise. “I do not know if her lifespan is different from a regular human’s, but I cannot see it mattering. Surely, you will wish to Embrace her?”
“Never,” Warin hissed. “I will never damn another, let alone my… my soulmate.”
An incredulous look lingered on Zet’s face for a moment before he shrugged. “I suppose others of our kind may know more about this phenomenon. They might be able to tell you how long she may live without the Embrace.”
“Do you know where I might start my search?” Warin asked, unconsciously grasping her waist and tugging her closer. He’d done that a lot since they entered London, and much to her surprise—and confusion—she found she didn’t mind. She should mind, she knew she should. This was the same creature who’d slaughtered her village and hunted her through the forest to lay claim to her like some kind of a… a pet.
And yet… it felt… safe.
Thea frowned. Nothing about this… this monster should feel safe. He was dangerous—she’d seen what he was. His achingly handsome face and blazing blue eyes couldn’t erase the horrors he was capable of.
But… he’d also saved her.
She had run from him, certain that any other fate would be better than staying with him. When she’d first seen the bandits in the forest, she’d been so relieved. Other humans. Help.
She bit the inside of her cheek at the memory of their rough hands and salacious threats. Warin had come for her, his monstrous wrath not aimed at her, but the humans who wanted to hurt her. He’d saved her from her own kind.
“I first heard of this phenomenon from the Lady of Rome,” Zet said, breaking Thea’s swirling thoughts. “Perhaps your search for answers should begin in Italy.”
Warin nodded. “I know of the Lady Elyse. We will begin our travels south tomorrow night. I thank you for your time and your answers, ancient one. We will retire for the night.”
Zet and his witch watched them as Warin led her back toward the door, but when Aleric—Warin’s auburn-haired travel companion—made to follow, Zet said, “Stay, young one. Leave your Elder to his human for the night. London has much to offer, and I sense I would enjoy a night in your company. Your lip is most refreshing.”
Aleric exchanged a glance with Warin, who nodded almost imperceptibly.
“Well, I wouldn’t say no to a taste of witch blood,” Aleric drawled as Warin closed the door to the disturbing room behind them.
Thea looked back at the now closed door while Warin led her down the hallway. As any God-fearing Christian would, she’d been raised to fear witchcraft, but she still felt a pang of empathy for the woman trapped in the room with two vampires. Ever since Warin had cornered her in her hut back home, she’d feared his fangs. But he hadn’t bitt
en her, despite his obvious urge to bury those razor-sharp daggers in her neck.
She feared the witch would not be so lucky tonight.
They walked down the narrow streets of London, safe from the night’s rowdy drunks and lurking dangers on the arm of the monster who’d chosen her as his.
Her soulmate.
She had never heard that expression before, but it resonated through her like a church bell.
Soulmate.
Thea looked up at her silent protector—her kidnapper and savior. Yes, she had recognized him the first time she saw him, even though she was certain she’d never seen him before. Recognized something buried deep within those startling blue eyes of his. It was that same thing that had kept her from running again, after he’d saved her from the robbers. That delicate, beautiful something that seemed to tie the deepest parts of her to him, pulling her toward him even if she knew she should do anything she could to flee.
Was it his soul?
Did monsters even have souls?
He led her to an inn several streets away from where Zet kept his witch captive, and paid the innkeeper with coin taken from the robbers’ corpses. He asked for wine and food to be brought to the room, even though she’d already eaten the leftover rabbit he’d caught for her the previous night before they entered the city, but didn’t spare her so much as a glance. Instead he took up vigil by the small window in what she supposed was now their shared room, staring out into the night with a deep frown marring his pale features.
Silence fell over the room, and Thea wasn’t sure what to do. So far, he had initiated all their interactions, but now—when it seemed they most certainly had something to discuss—he was silent.
Thea took a deep breath, steeling herself to voluntarily draw the vampire’s attention to her for the first time, but before she could speak, a knock on the door announced the arrival of her supper.
She thanked the serving girl, not oblivious to the hidden looks she shot at Warin while she set up the food and drink, and felt a small measure of relief when the other woman left again. If she’d met Warin under different circumstances, she too would have been enamored by his beautiful face. When his fangs were hidden, he looked the part of a handsome young man from a faraway land in his animal skin trousers and roped hair. Thea had never seen anyone like him, nor anyone with features so angelic. It was bitter irony, or perhaps by design, that what hid beneath his so attractive appearance was anything but divine. Maybe his looks were so appealing to allow his prey to be lured to him.
She watched his profile lit up by the moonlight filtering through the window as she ate. He seemed lost in thought and didn’t look at her once while she ate, nor when the serving girl returned to clear up after her meal.
“Is this why you haven’t killed me?” She hadn’t meant to ask, but the words slipped out before she could stop them.
Warin finally turned his head to look at her. His blue gaze seemed to glow from the moonlight, enhancing his supernatural appearance.
“Yes,” he said. It was such a simple answer, but it held so much truth. Yes, he had planned to murder her the night they met. She would have been just another corpse on an unending list of people he had killed. And the only reason she wasn’t…
“How can this be? How can we be…” Thea drew in a deep breath, forcing her voice to steady. “Soulmates? We are not even the same species. You… you eat people.”
“I do not know,” he said, his glowing eyes fixated on her face. “But I know the truth in the witch’s words. You belong with me.”
“I…” She paused, unsure of what to say. As much as sanity demanded she refuse his claim, she couldn’t. Not when the truth of his words sang through her blood. She did belong with him—she belonged to a monster.
What did that make her?
Was this her punishment for those nights she’d snuck out to gather herbs under the full moon? The village priest had never trusted her, and in the depths of her soul, she’d known he had reason to. She was no witch, as he suspected, but she had felt the Earth’s magic flow through her bare feet on those nights.
And now, her soul was tied to a creature of the dark.
“Will you hurt me?” she asked.
The flash of vehemence in his eyes made her stumble a step backward.
“Never!” Warin snarled, his lips pulled back in either anger or disgust. But when he saw the fear on her face, his shoulders slumped and his pale features smoothed into grim acceptance. “I know I am… frightening. A monster. But I will never hurt you. I cannot.”
Slowly— so as not to frighten her, she thought—he walked across the floor until he towered over her. She didn’t move when he reached out to cup her cheek in his cool hand.
“I have been a monster for centuries. But for you, my Thea, I will become something else. I will always be a vampire, but I…” He paused, hesitance flickering in his gaze as he peered into her eyes. “I will find a way of chaining the beast for you. You are… everything to me.”
“You don’t even know me,” she whispered, but even as the words flowed from her lips, she knew it wasn’t true. He knew her better than anyone ever could. In his touch she felt their connection hum with an urgency she couldn’t deny.
She knew him, too.
Her soulmate. Her monster.
Slowly, as if he was trying to resist the nearly magnetic pull between them, he bent his head down toward her. She raised her lips to his, drawn in by the same force.
His kiss was hesitant—a cool brush of soft lips against her own, trembling mouth. When she didn’t pull back after that first, light kiss, he pressed against her again, so achingly gentle she would have never believed this was the same man who could rip people to shreds with his bare hands, had she not seen it with her own eyes.
Thea closed her eyes and kissed him back with all the anger and confusion and fear she’d felt since she saw her village burned to the ground what felt like so long ago. His soft lips parted for hers, a low growl escaping him at her aggression. Strong hands slipped around her hips and jerked her tight against his hard body. She moaned into his mouth at the sudden sensation of his muscles against her, suddenly no longer seeming a threat as much as a promise. Her hands roamed up his bare chest of their own accord, earning her another growl. His muscles tensed under her exploration, but despite the hardness of his form, his skin was soft to the touch.
When her fingertips dipped to his navel, the proof he’d been born by a mother rather than created by a devil, Warin’s growl rose to a snarl. He clutched the fabric of her tunic, and with a speed that shouldn’t have been possible, he ripped the garment up over her head and clean off her body. Her long dress followed, until she was left in nothing but her linen underwear.
Warin made a noise deep in his chest, a rumbling sound different from his growls. It made the small hairs on her body stand on end and goosebumps break out on her exposed flesh.
The vampire pulled back from their kiss, his blue gaze roaming hungrily over her body.
“You are… beautiful.” His voice was filled with such wonder, it made a blush rise from her chest. She’d lain with men before, but none who had looked at her with so much reverence.
None who had been her soulmate.
Thea held his gaze as she slipped out of her undergarments until she stood truly bared before him. Her nipples hardened under his attention, her shallow breaths making her breasts swell in quick waves.
The tension in the air between them had her trembling, even if any lingering fear for the dark creature in front of her was quickly evaporating from the hot rush of yearning burgeoning between her thighs.
Warin made the rumbly sound again, the one that made her body vibrate with energy—and then he moved, faster than she could follow. He shoved her none too gently, sending her flying back on the straw-filled bed.
She squeaked in shock, but before she could sit back up he was on her, the wild expression in his eyes both terrifying and exhilarating. His fangs snapped out of
his gums, and he groaned with relief before he buried his mouth in her breasts.
“No!” she gasped, bracing for the pain even as she grasped his hair to push him away from her flesh. But no sting of sharp teeth bit into her breast. He simply licked and sucked at the plump hills until his mouth closed around a stiff nipple in a cold embrace.
A groan she hadn’t known she could produce escaped Thea as shocks of crackling pleasure shot through her. Her hands slipped from his hair and her head fell back on the bed while he sucked her nipple into an aching point.
Nimble fingers slipped between her thighs, ghosting cool touches along her smooth skin until they reached the tuft of hairs hiding her sex. Warin trailed a single digit up between her lower lips, parting her heated flesh and sending shivers of anticipation through her.
“You’re so warm,” he groaned into her heaving breasts, his mouth coming off her nipple with a wet pop. “So full of life.” On that last hissed word, he shoved his questing finger deep, penetrating her slick cunny.
Thea gasped and arched off the bed, Warin’s cool presence inside her setting her every nerve afire. He raised above her, his eyes alight with untamed yearning—for her. His beautiful face was twisted with desire, and those deadly fangs gleaming in the moonlight were a stark contrast to his angelic features. She knew she should fear him, fear his fangs and his desires alike, but every part of her only ached to unite her flesh with his.
When he curved his finger after a special place within, she lost the final shred of worry of what he was to the fire blast of raw pleasure burning through her writhing body.
“Oh! Warin! Yes! More!” Thea gripped him, every instinct within her aching to feel him, but he moved down between her spread legs before she could reach him… and put his mouth to her quivering heat.
The sensation of being kissed there, of feeling the flat length of his fangs press up against her most sensitive flesh before his tongue delved in to part her, stole her breath away. She collapsed flat on the bed with a gasp, only to arch up high the next second when his cool lips closed around the little nub at the top of her cunny.
