“Do that,” he said as his hand skimmed over my cheek, turning my sightless eyes to his. His mouth brushed over mine, kissing unmoving lips as his forehead touched mine. “I need to know the truth of what happened. I need to know if she was planted to destroy us. If she was, if this has all been some kind of plan to get to my father, I will rip her apart and bury her around the world to send a message to the witches that we will not allow such an atrocity ever to occur again.”
“Do you love her?” Luca asked.
“Since the first moment those pretty green eyes looked up at me as if I’d hung the fucking moon for her. I loved her enough to let her go, and that love destroyed us. There hasn’t been a single day that has passed that I have not wished for her to be by my side or with me. I need to know the truth, so I can either end her life or begin it anew with her, Luca. I need to know she wasn’t planted to destroy me.”
“And if she was?” he asked.
“Then she will die by my hand, and I will show the world that I have no mercy against those who trespass against my hive. If she was, then I do not deserve to be King. If she was placed in my path and I fell for it, I will vacate my throne and allow Mayhem to ascend to King of the hive. I will go to ground and sleep until I am ready to rise.”
“Mayhem isn’t ready to be King. He’s a fucking menace to the female population. He’d spend his time doing nothing but wrecking uteruses and sleeping his way through the damn continent. Royal is too twisted to even consider as a King, Addison isn’t interested in ruling, and the hive follows the bloodline. Your bloodline. You are one of a very few born vampires. The four of you lead us together, and if you go to ground, this entire hive will fall apart. You know that.”
“If Avery was placed into my path to bring down my father and the hive, I don’t think they’d stay together either way, Luca. I fell for my enemy, and I fell hard and fast. I watched her grow from a dirty street urchin into a woman. I brought her into our ranks because I couldn’t stomach the idea of her dying in that dirty fucking alleyway with the others who had perished. Avery wasn’t a decoy to me; she was my mate even though I didn’t allow it to happen. I have never looked at a woman and not compared them to her. Fuck, Luca, I moved the entire hive out of England to these fucking mountains because I can’t let her go. Do you know what it took for me to hand her to my father? I was drained, placed into the ground, and given the eternal rest of the dead for an entire year before Addison and Mayhem brought me back from it. I had to be mindless, unable to go after her to let her go. So she can’t be mated, because she is mine. She’s always been mine. We both knew what we were, and we were careful to not conceive a child, or for me to feed from her vein because that is all it would have taken for her to receive my mating mark, of that I am sure. That would have been a death sentence, one my father assured me he would carry out for both of us should it happen. I need to know why she murdered them, but more than that, I need to know what happened after I left her with my father. He was to wipe away her memories of me, of us, from her mind and release her to the Americas. Something went wrong, or it was what she was placed there to do, and I wasn’t there to stop it. I have to know what happened and I’ll do whatever it takes to get that information.”
“I will prepare the spell and see what I can discover about the magic holding that amulet in place. I fear she may have been planted, and if she were, you would be forced to murder the woman you love, Conner. You have not stopped loving her, not even with what she did to your family. If she is mated to another, what happens then?”
“I feel her, Luca. I feel that girl so fucking deep inside of me that I fear I am her mate. Maybe we fucked up and I claimed her, or maybe she found another when she first left, but there’s been no vampire around her since she left me that I am aware. I only lost her for twenty years, and in that time, I can’t know what happened, so maybe it is possible. I’ve known where she was since the moment she crawled out of the shadows. I do know that she didn’t go outside after sundown, and never before sunrise. I followed her here from England, and I ripped apart any male who looked at her with lust. I thought she’d taken lovers, but after last night, and what I discovered as I fucked her, I don’t think she has taken a lover in over two hundred years. Tell me, how is that even possible? They breed bloodlines like we do, and yet Avery wasn’t lying, and she is one they’d want to breed for power. Yet it was as if she was a virgin again last night, she had a fucking hymen, and she fucked me better than any trained whore could have ever hoped to please me. I had to feed her blood to keep her from bleeding out after I’d fucked her.”
“That doesn’t seem possible. Cheveron witches, in general, are too powerful to leave dormant, and I don’t think they’d let that go. They would have had men trying for her hand and bed often, and the elders would have demanded she be bred to bring more of her line into this world.”
“Nothing with her makes sense, other than her being here with me. She’s not leaving here, not even if I have to slaughter witches and start a war,” Conner said with enough anger in his tone that I knew without seeing his eyes that he meant it.
“She isn’t worth starting a war over,” Luca uttered.
“You’re wrong. Avery is worth it to me. My father knew it too; that was why he forced me to sleep. It’s why he had to corner me and make me see what would happen if I mated with her. I was willing to go to war for her then, and I am willing to do it now. Find me a way to keep her without starting this war, or give me the proof I need to make it easier to let her leave this world and have the peace she desires. Do it quickly, because the witches are coming and I will murder every last fucking one of them before I hand her back to them.”
Chapter 8
I’d woken up alone in his room. The tub had been filled and beckoned me invitingly. He’d filled it to the brim with steaming hot water that rose over the rim, spilling the delicate scent of peonies into the air thickly. I settled my wary frame into the sudsy water, letting the tears slip free as memories of another lifetime filled my mind with the scent that filled the air as I bathed.
His touch was my heroin, a drug that I couldn’t get enough of. I’d been lost the moment he’d first kissed me at sixteen, but the day he’d taken me for the first time, I’d wanted nothing else, and no one else, and so he’d promised never to allow another to touch me as he did. Not even his father had swayed him from that promise.
I sunk beneath the water, listening as the door opened and closed before I slipped from the water’s embrace to stare into the shadows, but he wasn’t there. Instead, Amery sat on a chair, watching me through a cold stare.
“He is going to kill you, you know. It is all the hive speaks about.” she buffed her nails on her sundress, lifting green eyes to watch me as she spoke icily. “You’re nothing to him; he doesn’t even care about you.”
“Good,” I shrugged as I hugged my knees to my chest and watched her through my lashes. “And you came here to tell me I’m in danger, or to convince yourself that I am not a threat?”
“You’re nothing to me, less than nothing to the King,” she hissed as she stood up, walking to the sidebar to pour herself a drink.
Watching her as she poured the drink, I replayed what she’d said over in my head. She spun around to stare at me as she brought the glass to her lips, drinking deeply. There was malice rolling off of her in waves. Waves that bespoke of hatred and anger for being removed from his bed, but that was something I could work with.
“If I am nothing, then why am I in his bed and you’re in the feeder quarters? Or better yet, Amery, why do you look like me?” I asked, noting the subtle differences between us.
“I look nothing like you. I was also here first, so I’m above you, bitch,” she hissed before she tipped the glass back, polishing it off for courage.
“Okay, so you came in here to size me up. Are you finished?”
“You’re no
t even pretty. You have nothing to lure him away from me. He hasn’t fed from another since I was purchased, and I am the only one he fucks. As I said, you’re nothing to him. He will continue to summon me because I soothe him, and we have something good together. You will be dead soon enough, and everything will go back to as it was before you were brought here.”
“Except the part where he plans to keep me as his feeder,” I said offhandedly as I rose from the water, showing her the red, swollen flesh he’d used until the early morning hours, even as his sleep began to take him into nothingness where vampires slumbered. I’d felt him pulling me closer, securing me as he spoke to the other man before he’d left.
“You lie, whore. It is all everyone talks about. You murdered his father, and for that, he will demand your head. It is the law to kill those who betray the hive!” she hissed as she turned, refilling her glass as I slipped out of the tub.
Green eyes traced my steps as I moved to the bed, naked. I hadn’t been given clothes, which I was sure hadn’t been an accident. Sitting down, I pulled the covers over my nudity, moving my hair to give her a bird’s eye view of the bruises on my neck from his endless hours of feeding. She frowned as she took in the small, angry red marks his fangs had left behind.
“He fed from you?” she asked softly as though she was unaffected by it, yet her mottled red complexion gave her away. “He has fed from no other whore since I came to him. What did you do to encourage him?” she demanded.
“I’m not here willingly, so don’t assume I am or that I am encouraging any of what is happening to me. I’d prefer to escape him and this place.” Bait and hooked, if she fell for it, I’d find a way to escape him and his seductive touches.
I studied her for a moment. Her eyes weren’t the same shade as my own, but they were pretty. Her blonde eyebrows gave her dye job away, and I knew it had been done on Conner’s request. Her breasts were much larger than mine, but he hadn’t ever been impressed with attributes, which she apparently hadn’t noticed. Her curves plumped out around her hips, flaring invitingly, even with the unflattering sundress she wore. She was taller than me, not as petite or delicate as I was. I had stopped aging at seventeen, which meant I was tiny compared to others. Luckily, my curves and breasts had formed before then, not that it mattered now anyway. Amery’s hair was frayed from being dyed, as well as split at the ends from countless hair products that stunk. Even now, as I stood there, I could smell her overwhelming perfume and products she’d applied.
“You do look a lot like me. I can see where he would be attracted to you. However, I’m sure you noticed when he fucked you so carelessly the other night, he was staring at me, wishing it was me he was fucking.” I almost felt bad about goading her into assisting me, but her haughtiness and attitude told me there were countless feeders being abused by this petty bitch in the quarters. “Let me guess, when he fucks you, you can’t speak. You wouldn’t have my accent, you were born in this era and not in ours. He probably only takes you from behind, as your face is not the same shape as mine either. Stop me if I’m wrong here,” I said with a knowing look burning in my eyes because I knew him like I knew the back of my hand, or I had.
“He loves me, and he will never stop. He and I have something special. I will become the Queen, and I will watch him remove your head while I relish it and cheer my King and lover on.”
I felt bad over the delusions she suffered, but then she’d just spoken about my head being removed, and I was sort of attached to it. “You did, he punished you for me escaping him and his reach. If I were to escape again, you’d have that part of him back. He won’t summon you back into this room as long as I am in his bed. In fact, I doubt he spares you a second thought now that he has what he really wants within his grasp. You were, after all, my stand-in until he could get to me. Were you even born with your name, or did he change that for you too? Much easier to whisper Avery if the whore you’re fucking is named Amery. How often did he scream my name instead of yours?” I asked as I climbed from the bed and moved to the sidebar, bypassing her angry stance as I poured myself a drink and tipped it back before grabbing the bottle pointedly and moving back to the bed. The moment before I scrambled back beneath the covers, her eyes dropped to my swollen sex that was still angry red from being used endlessly throughout the night.
“Never, he knew who he was with the entire time. Only when his hands settled around my throat did I allow him to pretend I was you. He is mine; he has been since the moment he purchased me from my mother. I come from a long line of prestige feeders that are skilled in areas that most vampires cannot even begin to afford to purchase, let alone own. I am worth more to him than any other whore here, including you. The honor of being his only feeder is widely known in the quarter. I am respected by all because he favors me and only me! You will be dead, and who do you think will comfort him when that day comes?”
“I am immortal, so not sure you should hold your breath on that one. I mean, you said he has not fed from another since he purchased you, and yet he drank from me all night long, and I don’t have the same limitations that you, as a mortal, suffer from. I can be drained, but I won’t die from it like you would. I also spent last night with him knowing who he was fucking, and it wasn’t him pretending he was fucking someone else. So, while you’re tooting your horn, there are some things to consider. Also, maybe consider that I don’t want to be here, and if I were to leave here, you could go back to being my stand-in cunt for the King.” I shrugged and lifted the bottle, sipping from it as I watched her turn red with anger.
“He is mine, and I would never help you escape. I am not an idiot. That would end up with me being given a traitor’s death. You will lose your worth once he has fucked you out of his system.” She crossed her arms, glaring daggers at me.
“Because he has yet to manage that after centuries, also might not want to hold your breath on that one either,” I said, slowly turning away from her and dropping the blanket strategically as the bedroom door opened and Conner entered, heat banked in his violet-blue depths as they settled on my naked form.
Those eyes dropped to my exposed breasts greedily. A sinful smile lifted his lips while he walked towards me, not sparing Amery a single glance. I fidgeted with the blanket as he moved towards the only chair in the room, sitting down slowly. His stare moved to Amery before it dismissed her entirely.
“Come to me, imp,” he purred thickly. I stood up to do as he had asked when Amery rushed forward, bending down and began to unlace his shoes. He watched her before he lifted his eyes to observe me as I slowly walked towards him. “Get the fuck out, Amery,” he growled as his eyes dipped to the swollen flesh he’d abused last night.
“My King, I am here to pleasure you. Use me as you like,” she offered in a seductive tone that bordered on desperation.
“Avery, come to me,” he said thickly, holding his hand out for me. Stepping over Amery, I straddled his legs while he cupped my cheek while his thumb ran down my jawline before he brushed it over my lips. “I’m ravenous, little witch.” His eyes watched me carefully as I pushed my hair away from my neck and offered him my throat, even as my heart thundered with what was coming. He smiled darkly and lifted me, forcing my back against his chest as he turned me in his arms. He parted my legs, running his other hand down my smooth stomach to my apex, pushing his thumb against the sensitive nub there. “You’re wet for me. I’m glad to find you more willing to your new part today, imp,” he pointed out, and I hissed as his finger pushed into the mess that flooded my core with the images of last night playing through my mind.
“Conner,” I uttered hoarsely as he continued toying with me. His mouth touched against my throat, and I moaned huskily as his finger pushed into my sex. He licked my neck, using his tongue to mimic his fingers as he brought me close to the edge of the cliff and left me teetering there. His fangs pushed into my throat as he used his other hand to squeeze one breast b
efore his other hand lifted along with the first to pinch my nipples until I squirmed as pain mingled with pleasure. My moans grew louder, and the storm within me seemed to grow stronger.
Something wet touched my cunt, and I stared down while Conner held my breasts. Amery licked through the mess he had created of me. I stiffened as his tongue closed the wounds and his hands stilled. He pulled me closer, staring down to where she had started fucking me with her mouth. A shiver raced through me as I closed my eyes, turning away from what she was doing to me without my permission and panic rushed through me.
“Amery, get the fuck off of her,” he snarled icily. Conner lifted me carefully the moment she raised her head to stare up with my arousal coating her lips. One moment I was in his arms, the next I was in the chair alone, and he held her by her hair, glaring down at her. Amery was forced to stand on her tiptoes as he shook her. “No one fucking touches her, ever! She is mine, whore. You were told to leave; do you prefer to be removed by force, or will you leave on your own?”
“I’m here for your pleasure, Conner,” she whimpered as her hands reached for him. He set her on her feet, watching as she struggled to undress him through shaking hands while her wide green eyes wept fat alligator tears.
“Do not ever address me informally, Amery. You are here because you offer me relief, nothing else. You were told to get out,” he hissed coldly, watching her struggle. She turned wild eyes towards me where I surveyed them, and I swallowed hard past the uneasiness her desperation made me feel. She dropped her hands and lunged at me with murder in her eyes. She never made it to me. Instead, Conner caught her mid-lunge and threw her back towards the wall where she crumpled to the floor.
“Sire, I am yours,” she sobbed brokenly.
“You are not mine. Avery is mine, and you just tried to hurt her when she is off-limits and here as my prisoner. Leave now, before I take your head from your shoulders or do something worse yet. You betrayed me and should face a traitor’s death, but I think not. I think you will be given to the men to assuage their egos at never being able to touch you until now.”
Immortal Hexes Page 8
