“Well good luck,’” he said. ‘Go out and be whatever you want, but don’t think you can come back and run my businesses after you’ve spent your life looking for that girl you’ll never find.’”
“I did find you,” his voice quiet and emotional. “But after you disappeared again with Terry...”
I didn’t want him to go down that road so I said, “We are here to enjoy this day. I don’t want to be reminded of such a horrible time in my life.” But in reality it wasn’t as bad as all of that.
When you are taken from your family and they are replaced by a caring loving person it makes a terrible situation a little better. And I was able at some point to see my parents again and that was all because of Sebastian. Where is he? I wondered. Was he sleeping somewhere in the basement? I knew I would see him tonight. After all, he’s getting married.
A lump rose in my throat. It was hard swallowing the idea that the man I’ve loved all these years from child to woman is marrying a woman who just tried to kill me.
I knew now that it was great that we didn’t leave earlier as we had planned. I wouldn’t have been able to handle this knowing what I know about myself. No one thought that was a good idea but Ryan. But then Ryan knew nothing about what I had gotten him into.
Chapter Twenty-Zoey
I was still somewhat shaky from the poison by Samantha and even I had to ask why I was here, but I had to find out why Sabastian would marry that witch. My jealousy had consumed me and I wanted to discover what she had that I didn’t. How could he want her more than me? That seemed to be my constant thought.
Why would Sebastian say he loved me, yet he sent me away when I was fifteen? Why did he enjoy the blood of someone else when I as much as flung myself in his arms and invited him to do what he wanted with me? Why now would he marry that creature when he knows that she vowed to kill me whether he’s with me or not?
This was his fault. Not mine. He got me into this mess. I didn’t ask for this. Now that I’m in love with him and it’s impossible for me to function without him, he invites me to his wedding.
The servant an older woman opened the door to my room and I looked around. For some reason I felt safe because Ryan was near and Robbie was at the other end. Samantha wouldn’t dare try something now that she knows Sebastian will marry her or would she?
Lying in the bed I look at the ceiling, and somehow I fell asleep. When I wake it’s because someone is knocking at my door telling me to get ready for dinner. It’s late in the day and I haven’t talked to Terry or seen her. Maybe at dinner, I thought.
After taking my shower and dressing I opened the door and there I met Ryan wearing a ready smile.
“I guessed we timed this just right. I hope this is okay because I’m tired of wearing ties,” he said dressed in a dark suit, white shirt with no tie. There was something sexy about him. He was a matured man with more confidence than I had seen in a mortal in a long time.
“There was nothing that said we had to dress in formal wear for dinner. I think you’ll be fine,” I said straightening his collar.
“And you’re lovely. Everyone won’t be able to take their eyes off of you. I’m already blinded by your beauty.” I smiled to hide that I wanted that compliment to come from Sebastian. Ryan’s confidence was natural. Mine was nonexistent. My confidence disappeared when I was a child and was kidnapped off the streets.
It’s easy to have confidence when you are immortal because there are very few things you having seen in a long life that will make someone nervous or disturb them. But a mortal like I am, is forever under the threat of death and loss all the time.
Maybe the uncertainty of things makes life worth living. But I wanted to be an immortal for a different reason. I wanted to be with Sebastian forever. I wanted to be his queen and have his children.
I gave Ryan a small smile. He took my hand and we walked down the stairs. At the bottom were two men dressed in black suits white shirts and white gloves pointing to the dining area.
“I thought I was home,” Ryan said. “But then father said we were being too pretentious by sporting our wealth. Mother complained but then she gave in.” I thought he was just kidding with me and trying to make me feel better or make himself more comfortable.
Walking hand and hand into the dining room we found Robbie and Ann sitting at the table with Robbie having a pained look on his face. Robbie a werewolf with a plate of rare roast beef setting in front of him looked out of place, annoyed and bored, as if he was made to go to the opera by his wife.
“The food smells good and it looks great,” Ryan said. We sat together across from Ann and Robbie and ordered our food. There wasn’t a menu but it appeared everything was cooked to order and when we finished, dessert, coffee, and tea were offered to us. Then to our surprise Terry and Loren showed up.
She walked over to me and kissed me on the cheek. Looked at Ryan and nodded with a wide smile. She sat beside me and Loren sat across from her looking beautiful for a young man. He appeared to be so young that Ryan had to ask his age. The detective in him couldn’t resist.
“We weren’t introduced. Terry took you away before we had a chance to socialize,” Ryan said as Robbie tried not to notice.
“I don’t socialize,” Loren said in a dry shy voice.
“Are you eating? The food was outstanding,” Ryan said.
“I’m a vegetarian,” Loren said with a curious smile.
“I’m thinking of going that way too,” Terry said and placed her hand on the table and Loren leaned to touch her as she smiled incessantly at him. “This wedding thing has got me and Loren. We’re thinking of making it a double wedding.”
“Have you thought about this, Terry?” I said.
“How old are you, Loren?” Ryan said. “Seventeen?”
“I’m much older than that. I just have a youthful look. It’s a curse of my family.”
“Who is your family?” Ryan questioned with a raised eyebrow.
“Why the Vespers. My brother is marrying Samantha.”
Ryan leaned back and gazed at Loren. Then Loren looked to his right and standing in the door holding hands were Samantha and Sebastian. Our eyes locked and Samantha saw what we couldn’t hide. Ryan saw what had been kept a secret from him—we were more than friends. He saw the desperation of two lovers who were torn apart and then brought together.
Ryan looked to my face and then to Sebastian’s. We couldn’t hide that lover’s look. I stared at Sebastian with longing in my eyes. His soft steady gaze caressed and weakened me. I didn’t know if I could continue with this farce. I wanted to run screaming away from everyone.
Sebastian eyes turned from me. “I didn’t know you would be here, Zoey?” Sebastian said. And no one told me you would bring a guest,” he said looking over to Robbie and Robbie turning his head in Ann’s direction.
“Good to see you in good health,” Samantha said.
“I didn’t know you were sick, Zoey?” Sebastian said looking back to me.
“She was very sick,” Ryan said and Sebastian’s eyes glowed and turned to Ryan but Sebastian didn’t say a word.
“I’m well but I had been awfully sick. I thought I wouldn’t be able to make the wedding but here I am,” I said glaring at Samantha.
“Yes here you are a picture of health. You have to give me your secret,” she said with gritted teeth. “Did you find everything to your liking? When I was notified that you were coming I tried to give you one of our best rooms.”
“Everything was just great,” Ann said and Samantha turned to look at her as if she was insignificant. Robbie watched at Samantha and she turned her head back to see the look on Sebastian’s face.
“We would join you but we have too much to take care of before the wedding,” I hope Loren will show you around our home. We have something to talk about, don’t we Sebastian?” He turned away from me and looked at her and didn’t say a word.
Sebastian’s face showed a pained expression. Then his face turned chalky w
hite as if someone had carved it out of stone.
“The festivities begin at midnight, I hope you all will attend when we make our formal announcement,” Samantha said with a cheerful restrained voice. And they turned together and left the room. And left us staring thunderstruck at the open door.
Chapter Twenty-One-Sabastian
As I watched Zoey, I could feel the heat of my passion crest. It was boundless. I couldn’t control myself. My body reacting with explosive sensations. My breathing deep. My eyes changing from blue to blood red. She had torn apart my soul and I was ready to take her, taste the warm sweet blood of my passion, and make her mine. Change her so we could be together forever.
She is so beautiful and I’m beside myself with awe and I can’t hide it. Just knowing that I could be near her made me feel alive yet I didn’t want her here. Why is she here? Who invited her and why is she with that human Ryan Cole?
Doesn’t Zoey know she’s in danger?
Never had she done what was expected of her and never would she. She had been stubborn from the day I set eyes on her lovely little terrified face, with her large eyes looking up at me. Then she held out her arms for me to pick her up, and I did with everyone looking at me wondering what the Prince and heir to the Vesper throne of vampires would do.
This little girl kissed my cheek as I held her and she whispered in my ear, “I love you. I will love you forever because you are so kind to me.”
When I left her in front of that church in England when she was fifteen, she thought I didn’t care. She screamed at me when I walked away, “I hate you. I hate you.” If ever I could have died, I would have then because of the sound of her voice had driven a stake into my heart deeper and stronger than Aare could have done.
I had pleaded with her to walk into that church, but her stubborn nature wouldn’t let her and she searched around for me. I was never far from her, but I couldn’t risk Aare and Samantha knowing where she was. I had hoped she would go back to the church, but she walked the streets calling out my name and every sound of her voice weakened me.
Hearing her voice in my sleep many nights, chills rose on my body. I felt responsible for leaving her there alone. I know she blamed me once she realize who I was. When I recognized that she would never stop searching for me, it was then I contacted Detective Ryan Cole, who headed the search for missing children. He brought a team to England, and they found her cold and hungry sleeping behind a tree.
When I first saw Ryan Cole with Zoey, I knew right away that he loved her and would protect her, but I didn’t know he was so young and handsome. I wished her well and still I couldn’t get her out of my head. The dreams became too much for me and I had to see if she was okay so I moved to the US to watch her grow up. I left my home and my parents to the treacherous and diabolic nature of Aare.
Aare was almost able to take everything from me including Zoey.
Now Ryan Cole is doing that without my help. He is replacing me and I can’t do anything about it. I must see Zoey this one last time. I have to feel her body next to mine and tell her why I consented to marry Samantha.
The guest would be arriving around midnight and I have little time. Samantha expects me in her chambers before I dress for the ball.
“You should keep your windows closed,” I said to Zoey as she entered the room after leaving her shower. She reached for a robe and placed it around her beautiful youthful body. “Why are you covering yourself up like I’m a stranger?”
She glanced at me with disdain and said, “You are a stranger.” She looked around. “How did you get in here?”
“After all this time, do you have to ask?” I moved to her and she moved back.
“You’re not afraid of me.”
“Of course not.”
“Then why run from me.”
“Because I don’t want you around. You’re marrying that evil woman who tried to kill me. I almost died if it wasn’t for Robbie.” I opened my eyes wide. It was the first time I heard Zoey explain what had happened to her.
“I didn’t know,” I said my voice breaking. She could always make me nervous and afraid. I had never been afraid of anything in the world, but Zoey had a way of letting me know that the things you love can be taken away, and I loved her more than anything in this world and I wasn’t ready for her to die, by me or anyone.
“Marrying Samantha is a small price to pay to keep you alive.”
“So that’s why you did it. You left me all alone and then you expected that woman to keep her word?” I grabbed her by her arms.
“I didn’t leave you alone. Robbie and Terry were there to protect you.”
“Why didn’t you ask me what I wanted? I would rather be dead than to live without you,” she said to me. Her eyes sad her voice soft.
“Then why did you have to bring Ryan Cole? You know he loves you and I can’t bear to have him near you.”
“I know he loves me,” she said to me. I touched her arm and wrapped my hands around her heated wrist. I felt her pulse and the blood pumping through it to her heart. “All I know is that I want to be with you, and you don’t want me.”
“Can’t you understand that I am freeing you? When you love you have to let the one you love be free.”
“I don’t want to be free. I want to be your slave,” she said.
“I am your slave. And I will remain your slave until I die,” I said.
“Then what do we do?” she asked.
“We love each other when we can. We see each other and I try to figure out how to rid myself of Samantha. She is using Aare to consolidate her power. She has him under her control and she is powerful now. With her charms and spells and potions not even a vampire would risk her wrath. That’s why Aare gave into her. She knew where he slept and it was easy to put a steak into his heart because she can walk in the day and night, therefore, he joined with her to control me and to save himself.”
“Where do I fit in?” She asked. I looked at her. I knew she didn’t want to hear this but I had to make her aware of what he would do.
“He would impregnate you and then give your baby to Samantha for god knows what.” I could see the horror in her eyes and feel her body shudder in my arms.
“You could marry me. It would be both of us against them. I can learn how to fight Samantha. She’s a woman like me.” I put my finger over her mouth. “You don’t know what you’re saying. I would have to change you, and I would rather she killed me than to have you like that.”
Zoey pulled away from me and took her warmth with her. I felt the cold and chill of my lifeless soulless self. I knew then I couldn’t live without her.
“I will go and talk to Samantha. I will reason with her one last time. If she tries anything then I will make sure she never touches you again.”
“What are you going to do, Sebastian?”
“Don’t talk. Let me love you,” I whispered. “I want to feel your burning passion.” She fell into my arms and I carried her to the bed. I stripped away her clothing and mine. “I have never seen you like this.” Her breasts full, her hips round and shapely. “You became a woman in front of me. I must have been blind not to see how desirable you are.”
Looking down at her warm full lips, her extended nipples, her shapely body, and I ached for the fulfillment she offered me.
All I wanted was to kiss her and trace every inch of her body. I watched at her breasts and passed my hands over her nipples. “You are so cold,” she murmured, “yet it feels so natural.”
“I need your warmth. Don’t you realize that? I need what you have to make me human. I know I can never be human again, but when I’m with you and next to you, I feel almost as if I am. As if I have a soul.”
Never in my five hundred years had I been that honest. It was because she was so innocent and trusting of me. I had never seen her rely on anyone the way she had been with me.
My family had taken everything from her as a child and now I have a chance to give her back what she had lost. I knew
now what she required of me and I had to give her what she sought.
“What do you want more than anything, Zoey?” I asked her as she opened her eyes and looked into mine.
“I want you. I want to be your wife and have your children.” I was stunned. Did she think that she could be with me and become as I am and have children? That’s what I wanted and dreamed about, but I didn’t think it would become possible.
“If you are to bear my children, then you have to remain as a mortal.” I could see her mind thinking. Her eyes showed she considered what I had said to her.
“I want children most of all with you. If it means not being immortal then I will be with you the way I am. I don’t care if Samantha does something to me as long as I have your children and I will die a happy person.”
“She will not harm you. Never again,” I whispered into her ear. Her finger touched my lips as I eased into her. Her hands gripping my shoulders as my body collided with hers. I became one with her body and no one existed but us.
I left Zoey in the bed with another promise that I would return before the party. I went to talk to Samantha. I had a new resolve. Zoey knew what we were up against. I opened Samantha’s door after knocking.
Walking into her room, I looked around. She wasn’t there but when I turned she stood in front of me smiling, “What are you doing here? You should be getting dressed. You aren’t going to wear those drab black things are you? I have some friends coming in from Europe and they wanted to see the handsome Vesper King.”
She walked close to me and then her face wrinkled. I heard her heart race. “Where have you been? I smell that human on you.” Her eyebrows rose. Her nostrils flared and then she calmed. “Saying goodbye I suppose. I’m not angry with you. But there is one thing I want from you?” She slid her fingers through my hair. I tensed.
The Soul of a Vampire Book 2 Page 11
