The Blackwater Legacy (The Bloodlines Legacy Series Book 2)

by Apryl Baker

  “Madame doan woan you by yourself, ’specially with Kristoff eying you.” He stands, breaking whatever connection we had, and goes back to his old hateful self. “Was a stupid thin’ to do, walkin’ alone. Doan you know wha’ danger is out dere?”

  “No, Aleric. I did not know what dangers were out there. Until yesterday, I was just Saidie Walker, college student and part time waitress. I didn’t know about vampires and zombies and other dark and deadly things that live in the night. I was tired, overwhelmed, and I just needed a few minutes to think somewhere I felt at peace.”

  “If you wan’ to go prowlin’ at night again, you ask me.”

  The hardness in his voice sends another shiver through me, but this time it has nothing to do with desire and everything to do with Kristoff. Just the thought of that thing’s touch makes me want to find one of my mama’s guns and shoot him where he stands.

  I crack open an eye, and thankfully the walls remain still. He’s looking out the window again, and this time he looks almost lethal. Not someone I’d want to meet down a dark alleyway. Or maybe I would. What would it take to get him to take his shirt off, I wonder? I bet he has abs to die for.

  What am I thinking? Dear God, I need to stop this madness. He is not someone to lust after. He’s a vampire, for heaven’s sake. Not boyfriend material, Saidie.

  But maybe some bedtime material, though, my inner sass snaps back. She needs to set her ass down. Aleric has no desire to be anywhere near me, and that’s not gonna change just because I have the hots for one very beautiful vampire. He’s dead, I remind myself. Can’t take him home to meet the parents. They’d freak.

  Well, he doesn’t look dead; he’s not really even pale. His dark skin might get darker if he spent some time in the sun, but he wouldn’t scream vampire.

  “You hear me, ma fille?”

  “Yes, I heard you.” Who couldn’t hear him the way he stands over there throwing attitude? Undeserved attitude, I might add. I haven’t done a damn thing to him.

  “Den answer me.”

  I stick my tongue out at his turned back. Hateful man. “I will come get you the next time I decide I need some alone time.”

  He glances over his shoulder, and his eyes have turned a deeper shade of green. I can’t stop the hitch in my breath, and his eyes flare darker at the sound. He turns and lounges against the window frame, careful to keep himself out of the rays of the sun and his eyes trained on me.

  Okay, him staring at me is not the best thing either. All it’s doing is getting me hot and bothered imagining things that won’t happen. I try to sit up again, and this time, the walls don’t spin. I must have just sat up too fast earlier or something. I need to use the bathroom anyway.

  “Careful, ma fille.” He comes over and grasps my arm when I try to stand. “Dat power you used dis mornin’, it takes sometin’ out of you. You be weak.”

  “I am not weak.” Saidie Walker doesn’t have a weak bone in her body. I yank my arm, but he has an iron grip on it.

  “Fine, den.”

  He lets me go, and as soon as I stand up, my legs get shaky and I fall right back down. Dammit. All I want to do is go to the bathroom.

  After three failed attempts to stand, I give up. “Aleric, will you please help me to the bathroom?”

  I want to slap the smug grin off his face when he simply picks me up, strides to the bathroom, and deposits me on the toilet seat. At least he didn’t drop me on the floor like he usually does.

  “Some privacy, please?” I ask when he doesn’t leave the room, but continues to stand there, staring down at me.

  “And if you fall, ma fille?”

  “Then I damn well fall, but you are not going to watch me pee!”

  The first hint of a real smile ghosts across his face.

  “Out!” I point to the door and try to adopt Luka’s meanest expression. He’s given me enough of them for me to know them by heart. Not sure I quite manage, because he laughs, but he does leave and close the door behind him.

  Alex told me sometimes she can’t decide between kissing Luka until he shuts up or just outright slapping him when he gets obnoxious, bossy, or arrogant. I finally understand her frustrations. The lug outside sets off the same reactions inside me. One minute I’m lusting after him, the next I want to hit him.

  I really need to call her, I decide as I take care of my business. She’d at least sympathize with my urge to do Aleric bodily harm.

  When I get up, I have to grip the sink for strength. What the hell happened? I was tired earlier, but I feel drained. Like I just got the strength sucked out of me. It’s weird. I was fine up until the very end of our first session, and then I all but collapsed.

  Two steps toward the door and I fall, banging my arm against the toilet. I’m rubbing the sting out of it when Aleric throws the door open, frowning. “You shou’ have called me.”

  “Yeah, well, I thought I could make it.”

  He picks me up and I fall against his chest, worn out. “I have no idea what’s wrong with me. I was fine this morning, even after last night. Not sure why I reacted differently today.”

  Instead of replying, Aleric sets me on the bed. Then he goes and gets me a glass of water from the pitcher sitting on the dresser. “Drink.”

  The cool liquid does wonders for my dry throat. I still have a serious case of bad breath, as I am in desperate need of a toothbrush. I set the glass down and settle back against the headboard. “Aleric?”

  “Wha’?”

  Grumpy much? “Can I ask you some questions?”

  His eyes grow frosty, but he nods.

  “How old are you?”

  “Twenty-eight.”

  “Twenty-eight in vampire years plus your age, or just twenty-eight?”

  “I have only been dis way for four years.”

  “How did you end up here?”

  His eyes get even more hooded than before. “I was given to Madame as a gift.”

  “Gift?”

  “Oui.” He cocks his head. “Why you asking dis, ma fille?”

  “Because I’m trying to understand everything. I don’t know jack about any of this, and you’re the only person I have right now to ask, even if you are rude and uncooperative.”

  “Uncooperative? I be answerin’ your damn questions, oui?”

  My lips thin at his open hostility. “Never mind, Aleric. I’m going to sleep. Keep your secrets to yourself.” I sink down in the bed, roll over, and pull the covers over my head, very much aware of the man staring holes in my backside.

  ***

  The next time I wake up, I’m not so weak. Maybe all I needed was some sleep. Aleric is still standing like a statue over by the window, staring out. It’s not dark, but it has to be early evening since the sun isn’t as bright as it was. Throwing off the covers, I get up and again—no dizziness. Without a word to Mr. Grumpy, I go to the bathroom, relieve myself, then brush my teeth before I go back out to face the dark angel in my room.

  “Good evening, Mr. Grumpy Pants.” I keep the smile on my face when I greet him. Just because he’s going to be irritable doesn’t mean I have to. The first thing I do is grab my purse and dig out my cell. It has a decent charge, but no bars. “Where’s the best place to get cell reception? I need to make some calls.”

  He snorts. “We be in de bayou, ma fille, no cell service here.”

  “How about internet, then? I can email…” I trail off when he starts shaking his head. “TV?”

  “No.”

  “What do you do all day with no internet and no TV?” What am I going to do without being able to watch my shows?

  He shrugs and turns back to the window.

  Okay, then. He wants to go silent, that’s fine. I guess my cell and my laptop are all but useless, aside from the games I have downloaded into them. I start unpacking my clothes, and when I get to the photos on the bottom, I pause. I didn’t put these in here. It must have been Alex. There’s a photo of the two of us, grinning like idiots at the fall festival.
Then there’s a photo of me and my family. The other photo she’s included is the one of all us—me, her, Luka, Bree, Micah, and Conner. We sure are a strange, mismatched group. Witches, shifters, a Seer and a necromancer.

  I start to put them up on the mirror like I had back home when the photo of all my friends is ripped out of my hand. “What the hell, Aleric?”

  His breathing has sped up, his eyes are flashing with shades of red, and he looks like he’s been sucker punched. “Who…”

  “Those are my friends.” Why is he so freaked out?

  “Put it away.” He shoves it back at me and snatches the one of me and Alex down too. “Hide dem where Madame can’t find dem.”

  “Why would I do that?” Maybe lack of blood has made him super cranky and now crazed.

  “Because if Madame sees it, you will never get out of here alive.”

  “Say what? You’re not making any sense, you crazy Cajun.”

  He grips me by the shoulders, his fingers digging into the skin hard enough there will be bruises. “Doan argue with me, ma fille. Hide dem pictures from her.”

  “But why? They’re just of my friends and family.”

  “Because she know you know dat girl, and you be dead.” His eyes aren’t cold anymore but full of panic. It’s almost like he’s worried about me.

  “That girl?” Does he mean Alex?

  He releases me and points right at Alex, his finger lingering a little too long on Luka’s face. I’m not even sure he’s aware he did it, but I catch the longing in his expression. Staring from him to the picture, it hits me. Those eyes. Why he looks familiar to me.

  “He’s your brother.”

  His nostrils flare and his face hardens. “Hide it.”

  I take the picture, open the drawer I’d just dumped my underwear and socks in, and place the two photos there, only leaving out the one of my family. The fear in that man’s eyes is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. I know his fear is for his brother, and I’m pretty damn sure Aleric is Luka’s brother, even if he hasn’t confirmed it. I can see the similarities, especially his eyes. They are the exact same shade of green as Luka’s.

  “There, all hidden.” I shut the drawer and face him. “Do you want to explain to me why I just did that?”

  “Do you know who dat girl is?” He starts to pace. “Do you?”

  “If you’re referring to the fact she’s a witch, then, yes.”

  He growls. Seriously growls. “Witch. It is more complicated den dat, chere. She be de greatest source of power born in hundreds of years. No’ just for other witches, but for any creature craving more power.”

  “Are you saying Madame could steal her power too? She’s not a necromancer and not another witch, though.”

  “Doan matter. Power is in de girl’s blood, and Madame, she deal in blood magic. If you care for your friend, you keep dat picture hidden good.”

  “And your brother?”

  He closes off faster than I can blink. “Doan know what you be talkin’ about, bon fille.”

  “I’m not stupid, Aleric, so please don’t treat me like I am.” I move so I’m standing right in front of him and he has to look at me. “Luka is your brother.”

  His nostrils flare and he takes a step back, forcing me to follow him. “It doan matter. Just keep dat picture away from Madame.”

  “Of course it matters,” I argue. “He thinks you’re dead. Do you know how happy he will be to know you’re alive?”

  “I’m no’ alive.” His fury rolls over me and I cringe. “I’m dead. Needs to stay that way.”

  I place my hand on his chest, an attempt to calm him down, and instead of the steady beating of his heart, I find only silence. His own hand comes up to cover mine.

  “You see, jeune fille? I be dead, no heartbeat. A monster. Dat is wha’ I am.”

  “You might be dead, Aleric, but you aren’t a monster. You wouldn’t be scared half out of your mind for your brother if you were.”

  He shakes his head and goes to move away, but I grab his arm. Aleric stares down at me, a snarl curving his lips. “Doan touch me.”

  I touched him a second ago and he had no problem with it. What is his deal? “I will touch you if I want to. Stop being surly and listen to me.”

  “Just cause you have da power to make me do wha’ you want…”

  “You stop right there,” I interrupt him. “I am not making you do a damn thing.”

  “But you will.”

  The finality in those three little words shakes me to my core. He seriously believes I will do something like that to him? Force him to do something. I don’t care what he thinks or what Madame thinks, I am not hurting him.

  “Believe what you will, Aleric, but I’m not going to hurt you. You’ll figure that out soon enough.”

  I let go of his arm and go stand by the window myself, deeply disturbed. The sight of all the flowers in the garden below settles my nerves somewhat, but nothing is going to calm down the rampant beating of my heart. It’s a mixture of anger, lust, frustration, lust, resentment, and lust.

  He comes to stand behind me. I can feel him pressing into my back, and I take a deep, shuddering breath. “You have to hurt me, bon fille.”

  “No. I don’t.”

  A full body sigh leaves him and rolls around me. “Oui, ma chere, you do. She will hurt you until you do.”

  “Then she’ll hurt me. I’m not doing a damn thing to cause you pain. Your brother would kick my ass. He hates me enough as it is.”

  “He hates you?”

  I nod. “Yes. As soon as he found out what I was, he wanted to kill me. The only thing that’s stopped him so far is Alex.”

  “Alex? She de girl in de picture?”

  “She’s his girlfriend and my best friend. He knows if he hurts me, he’s hurting her, and that is the only thing that keeps me safe.” I don’t mention the fact that he’s admitting Luka is his brother. He’d clam up on me, and I know it.

  He makes some kind of humming noise, shifting closer, and I gulp. Trapped between him and the window, I have nowhere to go. The top of my head doesn’t even reach his shoulder. He’s a giant compared to my five foot, three inch self. When he leans down and sniffs my hair, my hormones kick into overdrive.

  “Ma belle lumière.” His breath tickles my ear, causing my body to almost seize with the force of my shudder. What the hell is he doing to me?

  “What does that mean?” I attempt to move forward, almost jamming my body into the window, but he only follows.

  “Doan matter.” This time his voice has gone all husky, and, dear Lord, that voice. It makes me clench my thighs together. His lips skim my ear then travel down my neck, settling on the pulse point. His tongue swipes over it, and I go from clenching my thighs to all out moaning. Aleric shoots back so fast, you’d think he’d been thrown.

  Several deep breaths later, I turn and look at him. His eyes are wild, the green all but gone and replaced by a deep, pulsing red. He looks downright hostile.

  “Wha’ are you doin’ to me?” The rough, raspy edge in his voice slaps at my sensitive skin, and I fight to control letting him see how much he affects me.

  “I’m not doing anything to you. You’re the one who invaded my space and decided to play handsy with the lips. Don’t blame me for that. That was all you, bucko.”

  He snarls and rips my door open, slamming it behind him with a shout to lock the damn door.

  What in the hell just happened?

  Crazy Cajun.

  Chapter Eight

  Hours. Hours I have been locked up in this damn room, afraid to go outside the safety of the walls of my bedroom. Kristoff’s scary mug keeps taunting me every time I go to unlock the door. He has to be awake by now. It’s dark.

  Aleric fled my room like the hellhounds were hot on his heels. He felt something. I know it. I’m not the only one lusting here. He felt something, and he ran.

  Or he was just hungry and almost bit me, my rational side gloats. My inner sass punches her
then purrs, thinking of Aleric. We want that man in a bad, bad way. Which is just stupid. Like his brother, he’s told me he could kill me without a second thought.

  Yeah, Saidie, lusting after your potential future murderer is not such a good idea.

  I flop back on the bed and stare at the ceiling for the thousandth time. No phone, no TV, no internet. I have been bored out of my mind. Why didn’t Alex think to pack my Kindle? I could try to read on my phone, but the screen is so small.

  Another thought occurs while I lie here lamenting being cut off from everyone. If Madame did decide to do something shady, I have no way to call for help. I’m up the proverbial creek without a paddle and no one to throw me a lifeline. Aleric certainly won’t. He’s made that abundantly clear.

  I need to talk to Alex. She’ll listen to me rant over the crazy Cajun driving me nuts. And Luka needs to know his brother isn’t dead. Well, he is, but that’s not the point. He’s still around. Telling him might even score some brownie points for me when it comes to Luka. I know Aleric pretty much forbade me to say a word, but he can shove it. That’s not a secret I’m willing to keep. If it were me, I’d want to know my brother was still around. Sure, he might be ten and a brat, but if something happened to him, and then someone told me later he wasn’t gone? I’d be clawing my mom to get to him. I love the little guy.

  My doorknob rattles. I drop my phone and slide off the bed. If it were Aleric, he’d demand I open the door, but the doorknob rattles again a little more forcefully, making the door shake. That is definitely not Aleric.

  Kristoff.

  Madame wanted Aleric to stay with me because she was concerned about what Kristoff might do. And now he’s gone, leaving just a flimsy door between me and Kristoff or whatever else might be out there trying to get in.

  My hinky feeling ratchets up a notch when I hear someone start to hum on the other side of the door. Why would they be humming? To freak me out more than I am right now, that’s why. What can I use as a weapon? The only thing that has a good grip and is slightly heavy is my laptop, but if I bust it over some asshole’s head, I have nothing left to entertain me.