“Excuse me?” I spin around to find a waiter, sans tray, standing behind me. “Mrs. West? Lord Augustus requests your immediate presence in his box.”
Great. “Thank you. Tell him I’ll be there in a mom—”
“Immediately, madam. He was most insistent on that point.”
Merde. We really can’t afford to anger him further. “Could you please do me a favor? In the salon at the bar, there is a very tall and thin American man. Will you please tell him I’m going?”
“Of course, madam.”
I nod at the waiter before continuing down the hall to a staircase. This cannot be good. I don’t think I’m in physical danger. Augustus won’t assault me without provocation and certainly not in public, at least I don’t think he will. At worst he could officially order us to leave, and since I’m here as a consort, I’d have to obey. In that case I’ll beg, get down on my hands and knees if necessary, pride be damned. I’m not leaving. I’m not. Not without seeing Asher, speaking to him. I am not leaving.
The Lord’s loyal subjects have thinned, off enjoying the night, when I return to box. Only a handful remain, including Augustus who is too busy feeding on a nubile redhead to notice my approach. I clear my throat, yet it takes another several seconds for him to realize I’m in the room. His hand remains up her skirt, but the vampire removes his mouth from her bleeding neck to scowl at my intrusion. “What?” he snaps.
“You wished to see me?”
“You? Why would I want to see you?”
“You didn’t …” That damn knot twists inside me so tight it takes effort not to double over. Merde. I make it three steps back the way I came before I notice Alain striding toward the box. Alone. I quickly bridge the gap between us.
“He summoned you as well?” Alain asks.
“No. Where’s Nathan?”
“Searching the ballroom for you. Augustus insisted I—”
I take off as fast as my heels can carry me past him. Alain returns to my side when I reach the main staircase. “I am sure he is fine. He can take care of himself, can he not?”
Not in the bar. Not in the hallway I was in earlier either. No, no, no, no, no … When we reach the ballroom, I can barely breathe from the panic leaking through my crumpling walls. One quick glance, and I can tell he isn’t here. No one’s tall enough. “You go right, I’ll go left. We’ll meet back at the bar in five.”
Alain moves right as instructed while I veer the opposite way. Nathan’s face isn’t the only person’s I search for. I check every waiter’s face to locate my messenger. Alain’s right, Nathan can take care of himself. I’ve seen him take on werewolves, pyrokinetics, even three ghouls at once and come out victorious. He’s fine. He has to be fine. We will find him. He’s fine. He’s fine, he’s fine, he’s fine, he’s fine …
When I end up right back where I started, a few agonizing moments later I notice my hands are trembling. I ball them into fists as I hustle toward the bar. Alain waits at the entrance. “I did not—”
“Go check the men’s bathrooms. I’ll wait here.”
Alain nods before carrying out his task. I’ll stay here. Nathan’ll search here too. He’s probably as worried about me as I am him. We shouldn’t have split up. I should have come to the bar with him. Stupid. So stupid. He’s fine though. He’s fine. He’s—
“My, have you aged.”
My head jerks to the side where a waitress stands with tray in hand. It takes my addled brain a moment to place her. Thick black framed glasses, platinum blonde hair in a pixie cut, baggy pants and white coat, but that cruel smile affixed to those sensual lips cannot be disguised. I’ve waited for this moment, chased it over two continents, rehearsed my speech to this bitch for a decade, but now it’s here … stinging bile rises into my throat, stopping my powers of speech. “And not well.”
Instinct takes over and I begin to raise my finger for a hex, but Christine grabs my wrist, squeezing so tight I moan in pain.“Before you attempt anything else idiotic,” Christine whispers, “you should know I just delivered your husband to our Asher. If I fail to return within five minutes, you shall become a widow. And just between us girls, black has never been your shade. So are you going to be a good little girl?” she asks with a sickening saccharine smile. I have no choice but to nod yes. She studies my face, trying to catch my eyes, but they remain downcast. “Excellent. Now, I have been watching you all night. I know Alain aids you, but is he your sole ally? Your husband’s life depends on my believing the answer to this next question. Who else have you enlisted? The police? INTERPOL? Byron?”
“No one else. I swear on my children’s lives. It’s just us. If it wasn’t, they’d be advancing on you right now. You are technically assaulting me,” I say, nodding to her hand.
Christine scans the room for potential bogies, but of course finds none. Just disinterested aristocracy lost in their own little worlds. “Fair point,” she concedes. “However, please note, I wish nothing more than to plunge my fangs deep into your carotid and shower in your blood as death takes you. If you are lying, then Asher would not blame me one iota.”
“Then why not kill me now? Lie to him?”
She leans in to whisper, “Because you do not deserve a quick death, little girl. Because I wish to watch as you lose all you love. To watch as your mind cracks while I slaughter your husband, your children, your little dog too before you finally meet with an unfortunate accident when I deem your punishment over. I owe you all that and more for what you have done to that magnificent man.” She twists my wrist, literally bringing me down to my knees. “But patience is a virtue, no? My only one.” She releases me, and I let out the breath I held in a pant. The grin of hers returns, fueled by my misery. “Now, let’s not dilly-dally a moment longer. Someone is not getting any younger. You do look dreadful by the way. Perhaps he will not want you anymore.”
“You wish,” I growl as I rise.
Her grin drops. “Time to go, hausfrau.” She wraps her arm in mine. “You have kept him waiting long enough.”
Christine leads me out of the salon arm in arm as if we were girlfriends strolling down Fifth Avenue on a shopping trip. No one gives us a second glance as we move through the ballroom. Christine maneuvers me into another hallway, then a more isolated, narrow corridor. Two more twists and there’s not a soul in sight. Judging from the racks of costumes and props lining the passages, we’re backstage, but I can’t be sure. It’s so dark I can only see a foot or two ahead.
“Your husband is quite handsome, at least up close. Nice eyes. A definite downgrade without a doubt, but I suppose you could have done worse. In my experience, tall men are often hung like elephants. Perhaps I can persuade Asher to spare him, at least until I satiate my curiosity. If memory serves, you always did enjoy a good foursome, or at least pretended to. Does hubby like strange too? He must. Sex with you would be intolerably dull otherwise. I speak from experience.”
“And still Asher risked imprisonment and death to find me and not you,” I point out. “Imagine th—”
Something hard smashes into my stomach with the force of a plane crash. I not only double over, but puke the bile from earlier all over the floor. Shock gives way to intense pain through my muscles, my organs, even back to my spine. I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe or gasp or hell even blink for a few seconds. “Well, that shut you up,” says Christine. “I must say I like you far better when you know your place.” I manage to take a breath. Another. Fresh tears fall when I attempt to straighten. Too soon. “Oh, you better hurry, little girl,” Christine chides in a little girl voice. “Three minutes left and counting. You know the importance Asher places on promptness.”
Get up, Anna. Get up. Now! I manage to force myself upright though my abdomen protests with further agony. She may have broken a rib. I know, despite the darkness, she can see my face even if I can barely make out hers. I clench my teeth shut and stare at the bitch with enough contempt and determination to fuel an army trudging to war. I wipe the bile from
my chin and spit the rest on her shoe. She didn’t break me a decade ago, she sure as hell isn’t going to tonight. “Do you feel better now? Why don’t you smash my face as well? We both know it wouldn’t matter. Not one iota. You can gouge out my eyes, slash my face to ribbons, rip off my jaw, and he would still love me. He would still chose me over you. And you know why, Christine? Why after centuries of chasing him, of sacrificing for him, of being his willing slave, he only feeds you the table scraps of his love? Because you’re beneath even him. You’re nothing but a pathetic, weak, vindictive, stupid, common whore. To him you’re just a mangy dog who follows him around, but he won’t allow in his house. He pities you. And in the end, no matter what you do: save him, fuck him, lay down your life for him, nothing can change that because nothing can change what you are. And you know it.” With my chin up, I take a step ahead of her. “Your master awaits. Let’s get this over with.”
I’m more than a little surprised she doesn’t kill me, right here and now. If she had half a brain, she would. Or maybe she gets off on emotional pain. That’s all that awaits her up that staircase. But Asher’s wishes are her commands. Without a word, she takes point, leading me up to a staircase. Each step is utter agony and the only sound beyond my pants are her chuckles at my pain. I trail her as fast as I can. At least the pain distracts me from the myriad of horrors that may await me at our final destination. A gust of arctic wind assails me when Christine opens the door to the roof.
Ten years. This moment was ten years coming. I’m prepared. I’m strong. Descended from Vikings. Survivor. Federal agent. Wife. Mother. I am the woman who can take care of herself. I am Anna Olmstead Asher West. I can do this.
“Mo chuisle.”
And there he is. You really can’t fight fate.
“Hello, Asher.”
Even now, even after all he’s done to me and mine, he still takes my breath away, though for an entirely different reason than before. He’s so gaunt now, cheeks so hollow his cheekbones could cut glass. Even here in the dim light I notice the bruised circles under his eyes. Gone is the lustrous, thick curly hair now cut to perhaps an inch and dyed black. The white waiter’s coat like Christine’s washes his already pale skin to an almost gray hue. A corpse. I’m gazing at nothing more than a corpse. But for a moment, just one tiny moment, it was as if we are back to the beginning where I was just a lost girl and he was this heavenly creature sent to save and love me as I was meant to do for him. How full of hope and promise that moment was. But it’s over and this is what remains. I stare at the corpse of my soul mate, but only for a moment before turning my attention to the love of my life.
Above me on the ledge, Nathan stands as still as a nearby gargoyle, staring at nothing, seeing nothing. He’s locked inside himself, nothing but a puppet and with one tug, one word, he’ll topple like one. I hope Christine took his emotions away, otherwise he has to be scared out of his mind. I’m not even on that ledge, and for a brief second, my own fear paralyzes me. Like a knight wielding a sword against a dragon, something deep within me manages to fight the emotion back. He’s helped me find my strength for so long, taken care of me when I was facing the worst.
My turn.
I meet Asher’s eyes, my scowl deepening until my lips curl up like a wild animal’s. “Let him go,” I growl. “This has nothing to do with him. This is between you and me.”
“You are still so beautiful,” he says breathlessly, completely ignoring my pronouncement.
“Did you hear me? I said let him go, Asher,” I order with the sharpness of a razor.
“The most beautiful creature I have ever laid eyes on.”
He’s not listening. He’s lost in his own world where he expects me to run into his waiting arms and shower him with kisses and promises of eternal fidelity from this moment on. Anna Asher would. She begs from her grave for this very action. Anna West banishes her back to hell. I pick up my skirt, and hoist myself the three feet up onto the ledge mere feet from my husband. As I catch sight of just how high we are, almost ten stories with nothing but hard pavement below, I instantly regret this action. One misstep and it’s certain death. That doesn’t only apply to the fall.
“What are you doing?” Asher cries as he moves toward me.
“Don’t come any closer,” I warn. He takes another step, and I hold out my hand. This time Christine, probably thinking I’m about to curse him, moves to his side to deflect the attack. I lower it. “Don’t. I’ll jump. I swear I will.”
Both vampires actually listen, stopping where they stand. The gesture does have the desired effect, snapping him back to reality, probably for the first time in years. “Please come down from there, mo chuisle,” he begs. “It is not safe.”
“I come down when my husband does.”
“This is madness! Come down at once!” he orders.
“Madness? Madness?” I shout, voice echoing over the wind. “You dare lecture me on madness? You murdered my friends. You kidnapped me. Raped me. Tried to kill my husband. Terrorized my children. And you expect me to forget it all? Run off into the moonlight to spend an eternity locked up in a house in Jersey with you and your psychopath girlfriend? That is madness. I tried to kill you, Asher. I tried to murder you in your sleep. You should hate me.”
“I could never hate you. Never. I deserved what you did. Without question. What happened … what I did … what I did was unpardonable. There was no excuse. None. And more nights than not, especially when I recall my offense, I wished Christine had not saved me.” He pauses. “Since you left, I have been in hell, exactly where I belong. But I wish to make amends, my Anna, my darling, my blood.” Asher moves a pace toward me. “Yes, I am mad. Madness has gripped me since the moment we met. And in that madness I have committed crimes that I never thought myself capable of, but even through the worst, there has been one shining beacon to guide me out of the maelstrom: you. Our love. Anna, I have existed for almost a millennia. I have experienced all this world has to offer thrice over, but when I met you, when you allowed me to love you, when you gave that love back in return, I was reborn. I was alive, mo chuisle. And you were happy. So happy. You shone as bright as the sun every moment we spent together. I know because … we are one, Anna. I am yours, and you are mine: body, mind, and soul. Our fates are intertwined, and when you fight against that, nothing but misery follows.”
He takes another step. “I know you harbor love for this man. He is the father of the children I could not provide you. But he has imprisoned you in a world of mediocrity. You were meant for more than he can provide, Anna. You are so much better than that.”
“But you’re wrong. That’s what you never understood about me, why we will never work. There is nothing better than that. Not for me. I don’t want, no I don’t need the world. I don’t need fancy clothes and trips around the globe and constant parties. That is not who I am, and it never was. I need love. I need to wake beside a man who I know fifty years from now will be there, no matter how difficult things get. Who will be as loyal to me as I will be to him. Who respects me and my wishes even when they’re inconvenient or he doesn’t agree with them. I need more than you.”
“Whatever you need, I shall give you, I swear I shall.”
“You’re not listening to me. You never listen to me,” I snap. “I loved you. I loved you with every fiber of my soul, of my being, and you took advantage of that. You took all I had and left me with barely a grain for myself. And you expect me to let you do that again? What will be different? Nothing, except I’ll hate you. You have managed to destroy almost every bit of love I still have. I am not in love with you anymore. I’m sorry, but I’m not. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t forgotten you, or forgotten what we did mean to one another.
“But it’s over. We cannot get it back. I cannot save you, Asher, and I don’t need you to save me. You did your job. You taught me everything I needed to know in this life. I have a good family, good friends, I’m good. I’m happy. I am happy, Asher. And if you love me even half as
much as you claim to then you would be happy for me, as I would be happy for you if you found peace. And love. Why can’t you do the same for me?” It’s a risk, I know it’s a risk, a grave risk, but I leap from the ledge and walk toward the crumbling vampire, even meeting his red tear rimmed eyes. Even now, his despair moves me, stirring the same within my soul.
“I’ll go with you. If you promise to leave my family in peace, I will go with you. I won’t flee. I will be by your side until you cast me aside. But it won’t be real, my Asher,” I say, caressing his frozen cheek. “What we had was real. It was. It was real, and beautiful and transcendent. But it’s over now, my Asher. And you’re tarnishing it. Sullying it out with acts like this. And if I go with you, every touch, every time I have to play make-believe, it’ll be another stab at that love until we’re choking on its ashes. And I would rather have ten years of true, pure love that we experienced together than an eternity in its pale shadow.” Cradling his face in my hands, I wipe his falling bloody tears with my thumbs as my own fall unabashed. “The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return,’” I whisper. “I love you. I will always love you. Please love me back. Let me go. Please, my darling, my blood, let me go.”
“I … cannot,” he whispers. “I cannot. I …”
“Then I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I’m so sorry, my love.” As fast as possible, I reach around to the hidden knife taped to my back and slide it between his ribs straight into his chest. “I’m sorry.” He is so shocked at first, mouth opening as if he wishes to speak, but only for a moment. Then just … relief. Sweet relief. Asher stares into my eyes as I do his. I literally watch as his heart not only crumbles around the blade but under the weight of my truth. I feel it within me, crushing me as well. Yet what’s left is understanding. There’s no hate, no fear, no doubt. I just see … him. My Asher. I knew he was still in there. That I’d find him.
“Anna …” he whispers.
“I know.” I lightly kiss his lips. “I forgive you. Just please forgive me.”
Witch Upon a Star (A Midnight Magic Mystery) Page 25
