“No. I have no idea.” She spoke frankly, never letting her eyes stray from his, “but I know what loneliness feels like. My father erased most emotions from me through abuse growing up. I don’t know how to love, feel compassion, empathy... but I know hatred, anger, numbness and most of all, loneliness. I think it was inevitable that you found someone to fill that void for you for a little bit before you have to go back to being empty again. But you can’t free me from my worries or my fears. He ingrained those in me long before I could walk or talk.” She twisted her hand to grip the arm of her chair, resisting the urge to reach out and touch him now. “I don’t want your gifts, I just want your honesty. So you need to promise me something else if I’m going to stay here with you.”
“What if I promise you this... Just me like this: honest, bare and lonely. Can you stand to be around me if I’m not Nero the Great and Terrible? If I’m just myself and not that angry little boy still trying to get back at an absent and neglectful father? Or the young man still trying to prove that he is worth the love he was given by his mother? That’s all that I am Isabelle. I am just trying to survive an existence where I have no one because I eventually push them away if they see too much, or if they get too close. I collected people who I know I cannot love and make them my family just so I could be more alone. I don’t want you to be perfect, not in the way you suspect, but I want to make you whole again. That’s all I have to offer beyond what you see… so, you will stay?”
She shook her head, “don’t promise things you can’t fulfil to me.” Her voice was lower than before as she finally released the arm of the chair and reached for him. “Just work on being honest and bare with me, and I’ll stay. I might even relinquish some control. Not all of it, but some of it... so long as you stay humble about it.”
“Very well, I will try to be honest with you, but it makes me vulnerable and I do not like it. But if you’re willing to do the same, then we shall share that uncomfortableness together.”
She nodded because it was the only answer she could give him. They were so close, she could see the precipice on the other side. All she had to do was admit to him the revelation she had come to last night. If that was still what he wanted.
When the door to the room reopened, it was such an abrupt action it echoed in the silence that had fallen over them. Nero reluctantly looked away from her to glance at the doorway where another vampire had entered. He seemed to frown so she turned to look, taking in the much older in appearance man who stood in the doorway.
“Isabelle, this is Damien. He will be accompanying you.” Immediately her surprise at Damien’s role rose on her features.
“I’m sorry - you’re sending a babysitter with me?” She pulled away from him and sat up straighter in her chair, feeling alert and tense.
“Damien is not a babysitter, he is your guide. As per our agreement, he is simply there to ensure your return. I have not instructed him to help you should you encounter any trouble.”
“The hell you haven’t.” Her eyes flicked to Damien’s face which was as stoic as Nero’s words. She couldn’t very well believe he would send someone with her who would just stand by if something were to happen to her.
“Damien has been told to deliver you, alive, to your sister and back here again when you are ready.”
“I believe that constitutes saving me if anything troublesome arises.”
“No, it only means he’ll step in when your life is threatened.”
“Babysitter.”
“Guide.” She turned back to him, trying to rein in the anger she felt surge. Nero looked bemused at her sudden change in emotion. He had never met a woman who could so quickly turn around without any notice. When he decided she wasn’t going to argue anymore, he cranked out another one of those mega-watt smiles she knew were only for her benefit and torture.
“He’ll also help transport you as, naturally, vampires move faster than humans so it will ensure you don’t waste time getting to your sister.”
“He’s going to carry me?”
“I believe you humans use the term “piggy-back”.”
“I’m supposed to ride on his back like an animal.”
“If that is your desire, he could carry you in his arms if it is preferable.”
“Being carted around like a baby, in general, is not preferable, I’m going to use my feet.” Damien and Nero exchanged a secret smile with each other like they knew something she didn’t which only proved to further enrage her. “Would you like to share with the class?”
“It’s nothing, my beautiful mate, if you prefer to walk I’m sure Damien can accommodate you.”
“How thoughtful of him.” She rose from the chair and grabbed her bag. She didn’t acknowledge either man as she walked by them and headed to the front door, wrenching it open before stepping out onto the dim porch. Damien was behind her immediately, brushing past as he took off - taking his job far too seriously in her opinion - looking for any looming dangers.
“What makes you think I need a Damien on this trip?”
Nero was at her elbow, his cool breath on her ear, “I have had word that there are some who are suspicious about your death and my involvement. It is purely precautionary my mate.”
“Don’t call me that, we’ve discussed this.”
“Ah yes, I’m sorry Isabelle.” The way he said her name sounded like it was the most cherished thing in the world, like no one else but him was worthy of saying it. But not only that, his tone was low and sultry, each syllable resonating down through her body straight to her core. Her thighs tightened not for the first time this morning as she struggled to regain some composure.
He didn’t wait until she pulled herself together to unravel her all over again as he reached out, sliding his fingers along the side of her jaw furthest from him drawing her face toward his. His lips pressed hard against hers, another careless whisper of his affinity for her. He hated to think he had to let her go to prove himself to her. Because this was what that was - wasn’t it? She was testing him and he wouldn’t fail because of selfish greed.
His fangs brushed against her lower lip, drawing it into his mouth as he sucked feeling her blood pulse right to the pressure before one little slip and he allowed the tip to puncture her plump flesh. Her warm, heady blood filled both their mouths and to his surprise and delight she didn’t pull away for nearly 10 seconds. To him, it was nothing, but for her it was an eternity and that was more than enough to tell him everything he needed to know.
“Be safe my warrior queen.” She grunted as she pulled back, armour going straight back up again as she didn’t even look at him before descending the steps of his home. He chuckled to himself, watching her ass sway as she walked quickly to catch up with Damien. But she wouldn’t, that was the whole point. He didn’t want to change her, but sometimes it was fun to break her stubborn resolve.
CHAPTER 14
Damien kept himself exactly twenty paces ahead of her. She knew because only once she managed to catch up to him by sprinting those last 20 steps only for him to dart off and disappear again. She knew, though, that even if she couldn’t see him he could see her and that was the whole point of him being there. She pushed a brush branch out of her way, listening to it snap backwards when she released it only to jump when Damien suddenly spoke next to her.
“You tired of proving you can manage on your own?” She turned wildly to face him where he so casually leaned against a tree, arms crossed over his chest as if to accentuate the bulging muscles of his arms.
“No,” she said with a stomp, moving forward without him. He chuckled behind her but was in front of her again before the sound had even disappeared into the void of the forest. He was taunting her, and blatantly taking pleasure from it too. He darted in and out of the trees, going in and out of her line of sight but never more than twenty paces ahead. They walked for most of the night, circling the main wall of the city and as they drew closer to the compound her eyes left Damien’s perfect ass and
began looking for signs of anything familiar. Her heart was pounding in her chest with anxiety, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to see the compound although a morbid curiosity left her needing to see it.
“This way.” Damien drew off toward the west, south of where the compound would’ve been. She frowned, kicking her own paces up a notch to catch up with him.
“Why aren’t we going to the compound?”
“Because that’s not where your sister is.”
“It’s where I left her.”
“Well, she’s not there anymore.” She tripped over her own feet trying to catch up to him, flailing forwards and grabbing his elbow with her hand. He stopped moving, flipping around quickly and catching her before she landed. “The point of this is excursion is because she isn’t at the compound now, is it not?”
He arched an eyebrow at her, righting her on her feet before holding her down at the shoulders. He exerted less control with his movements than Nero did. She could feel the weight of his hands right down to her knees. She shrugged him off with a scowl, stepping away as she crossed her arms. Her stance was far less intimidating than his was when in the same position.
“Then where are we going?”
“Deeper into the woods.” She glared at him, her nostrils flaring as she dropped her hands at her side in a tight fist. “Nero gave me your sister’s scent, I am following it for you.”
“Guide,” she said incredulously, staring at him in wonder. Why hadn’t Nero just told her that? “Fine.” She held her arms out like she was a child and Damien looked down at her in amusement.
They stared at each other long enough for it to start to get awkward before he finally grabbed her wrist and twisted her around, sweeping her up onto his back in a low crouch. He didn’t wait for her to settle before he leapt, taking off at a run so fast she felt her cheeks pull back on her face against the wind. Ducking her head against his shoulder she kept her head down until Damien suddenly slowed, his head twisting from side to side before he started running again, changing direction.
She wouldn’t guess how long she was on his back for, time seemed irrelevant against how fast he could move. No wonder Nero had mocked her before she left. He’d known all along that Damien would’ve been able to get her there in a fraction of the time it had taken her to stubbornly go as far as she did. When he slowed the second time, she knew they were there because he lowered her carefully before releasing her completely and her feet hit the ground.
“She’s nearby.”
“How nearby is nearby because I don’t see anyone.” Damien nodded at her and started walking again, following whatever smell he’d caught. They pushed through into a clearing and Damien stopped, holding an arm back to stop her. She pressed against the muscled barrier, peering into the space beyond but she still didn’t see anything. Damien inhaled so sharply she looked up at him in time to see a curious express cross his face. It was almost as if he smelt something foul, but there was nothing putrid in the air.
“Werewolves.” He snarled with distaste.
She knew her face betrayed her incredulity as she continued to stare up at him, “sorry did I hear you correctly?”
“Werewolves,” he repeated like she was deaf and dumb.
“Thought so,” she said, pushing his arm out of the way as she stomped into the clearing. Damien snarled again from behind her, following her too close for comfort. “Hello? Anyone here?” She shouted into the void, standing with her hands on her hips like she was still in Nero’s home where she could command like his mate.
A man stepped out from the far side, shirt missing despite the cold fall temperatures and a pair of low hanging jeans on his hips.
“Hello,” he said, stopping far enough away from her that she knew he was precautionary but also he knew exactly what was standing behind her. She turned sharply and looked up at Damien, giving him a very clear look.
The suggestion bypassed him entirely and she sighed. “Go stand in the trees where he can’t see you but knows you’re there. You’re going to make it hard for me to get any information out of him.”
“I don’t negotiate with vamp bitches.” Damien had started to move away until the man insulted her.
“I’m not a vamp bitch,” she said coldly, turning to look at him, her fingers suddenly itching for the familiar blade she was used to having on her hip. Damien was intrigued by her ferocity, seeing now - finally - what Nero did in her. She didn’t need him to defend her, she was fully capable of that on her own. Although she did wish she had her knife with her. Why hadn’t she thought to bring weapons with her? Oh right, she hadn’t known her sister was settling down with werewolves. “I’m looking for Rose.”
“Rose?” he asked with genuine confusion, neither Quill nor Damien had to ask again to confirm it. He didn’t know her sister. She frowned as she spun around to face Damien in the woods.
“I thought you were sniffing her out!” The vampire appeared again, so she saw his shrug as he took another deep breath and looked around in confusion.
“If she isn’t here, someone is here who knows her. I can smell her, I swear it.” She didn’t need Damien’s pledge of loyalty. If he smelt Rose or Rose on someone, then someone here knew Rose.
“Are there others?”
“Yes, but I will not take you to them.”
“Listen, Rose is my sister. I’m not here to cause any trouble, I’m just trying to find her. I’m human, I swear it to you.” He eyed her with uncertainty before his eyes shifted to the vampire behind her. Finally, the man nodded his head and turned, taking off in a run and shifting mid-motion into a great wolf-like creature.
For the second time, Quill’s fingers fell to her thigh, twitching with desire for her knife. Although she knew Nero’s babysitter wouldn’t let anything happen to her, it didn’t stop her desire to defend herself. She turned to face the vampire, this time shrugging herself. But he wasn’t looking at her, his eyes were distance and his face stoic.
“He’s gone to consult the rest of the pack. They want you to stay until daytime to prove you are human.”
“You’ll have to go to sleep somewhere.” She stated the obvious which immediately snapped Damien’s attention back to her.
“Nero charged me with your protection, if you stay with them during the daytime I will not be able to protect you. You will be completely exposed to them.”
“I think that’s the whole point.”
“If something was to happen to you...”
“Nero would get over it. It’s not a big deal. He’s pointed out enough himself how disposable I am.” As nonchalant as her words were she didn’t exactly know what kind of truth there was behind them.
She turned to the clearing, watching the wolf lumber back into it. She said wolf because that was the only way to describe what he was. In general it was a wolf-like form, there were four paws, fur, a muzzle and fangs - which no longer scared her. But then there was something different about him from other wolves. His back was more hunched and spiny like a monster’s. His eyes were a bright red that glowed. On each paw was a collection of huge, arching claws that she could see the deadliness of them in the way he tread on them. And where she would’ve expected a pink, lolling tongue there was a black lump, so awful smelling she could smell it as he got closer. She understood now where Damien’s disgust had come from.
In mid-stride, the wolf shifted back again to an entirely naked man. He bent down and retrieved the jeans he left behind, pulling them back on without a care in the world.
“You know our conditions.” He nodded at the vampire and she crossed her arms, taking a deep breath. Damien wasn’t going to be happy and Nero was going to be pissed.
“I’ll go with you. The vampire has no claim on me so he doesn’t speak for me. You deal with me.” The werewolf looked down at her like she was nothing more than an annoying child before nodding.
“Very well. Come with me and when the moon is gone and the sun arrives you may speak to my brothers about the whereabou
ts of your sister.”
“Human.” The vampire hissed, making her turn and cock an eyebrow at him.
“Vampire?”
“Do not do this, it could be a trap.”
“You would’ve heard them discussing a trap if there were one.”
“They could have one already, they like women...” he said ominously.
“Well, I like men. Should be okay.” She turned back to the wolf and sauntered toward him and right past toward the edge he had gone through. She heard him mutter something under his breath, not quite catching the words but Damien snarled from behind her so she assumed they weren’t nice. Taking a deep breath she walked into the dark edge, pausing to wait for the half naked man who appeared all too readily behind her. There was an unnatural heat radiating from his chest, compared to Nero’s coolness it was blistering.
“This way.” His breath too was warm on her neck where he leaned in, not so subtly sniffing her when he did.
“Right,” she said, yanking herself away from him to start walking again. He passed her and pushed the brush out of her way as they walked. He hadn’t been gone so long before so it was surprising to her to find how long they had to trek through the woods to make it to the pack. But when she reached them it became a little clearer to her. With the last of the dwindling night, the wolves - literally wolves - were finishing off their night by romping through the wood, playing and chasing each other. Their games continued to drag them further away from them with each nip and bite, not a single one noticing her presence among them. She certainly didn’t feel like she was in any danger.
“You can sit there. They’ll return to human form shortly.”
Desecrated Beauty (Twisted Fairy Tales #1) Page 14
