Eddy was the first to stand and take his plate to the kitchen. He took his time washing his dishes, then dried and put them away. When he came back to the table, he didn’t sit down. He looked at me with a certain intensity in his eyes, and said, “Roman hasn’t fed yet.”
I frowned, because I really hoped he didn’t expect me to feed him. “What’s he talking about?” I asked Roman.
Roman shook his head. “This is not necessary,” he said to Eddy. “LeKrista has proven herself to me more than once.”
But Eddy shook his head. “Leave now, so you won’t see it.”
Oh. I get it.
I slumped down in my chair and leaned against Pierce’s shoulder. He put his arm around me and pulled me close. When he kissed the top of my head, Roman’s demeanor change from nonchalant to stoic. That simple act of fealty to my boyfriend was enough to make him change his mind.
An image of me running screaming from the room flashed across my vision, but was gone before I could grasp the whole thing. Roman shut himself off from me, but I knew his intent. He wanted me to stay now.
When Eddy realized I wasn’t going anywhere, he shrugged and walked over to Roman. The vampire wrapped his arms around him.
“You give me life,” Roman whispered softly to Eddy in another language, then he hissed at me and bared his fangs just before he struck his neck. Eddy uttered a cry of pain, and I jumped at the sound. Pierce wrapped his arms around me and whispered across my ear, “I’m proud of you.”
No one looked away as Roman’s lips worked at Eddy’s neck, pulling the blood and life from his body. I couldn’t make myself look away.
Roman held Eddy in such a position that he could look straight at me over his body and his eyes weren’t friendly. He was looking for some kind of reaction, some semblance of disgust. I don’t know what kind of face I made, but when he looked at me, his eyes lost their fire and he had to close them.
The feeding lasted a lot longer than I expected, but I don’t think it lasted as long as it felt. Roman finally pulled away and lowered Eddy’s limp body to the clean, white carpet in heap of flesh. Not a drop of blood was lost.
I thought it was over, but I was wrong. Bomani stood next and went to Roman. He held his arms out to her with a smile on his face. Roman caressed her cheek and locked his eyes on hers. “Such beauty,” he said in Africans. “Such beauty.”
Bomani went to her knees in front of him and placed her head in his lap. Roman stroked her long hair back so her smooth, dark neck was bared before he struck at an angle that looked uncomfortable, but he didn’t have to look at me. The sound that escaped The Princess’s lips when he struck was a little moan of ecstasy, and I felt my stomach lurch for the first time. She’d gone to him willingly, with something so much like loving devotion that it was almost too much to watch.
I dug in my nails into Pierce’s leg and he held me tighter. I couldn’t look away because I wasn’t a coward. I had to watch to prove myself and I just knew I was going to have nightmares.
This feeding didn’t last as long. Roman let Bomani go and she dropped to the floor next to Eddy.
Dayla stood next, but Roman put up a hand to stop her. “That is enough for now,” he said.
“But it takes all of us to-” Bomani tried to protest, but she was weak and it showed in her voice. Roman cut her off quickly with a little tap of his pale foot over her mouth. I thought that was kind of rude. And gross.
“You may go, LeKrista, Pierce. We are done here for the night. I know you’re very tired. Enjoy the rest of your evening.”
Pierce and I stood as one and started to gather our plates, but Roman stopped us.
“Leave them. I will clean them myself.”
We left them and retreated up the stairs through the kitchen to our room. I think I was in shock, but Pierce seemed to be handling it just fine. He ushered me along as if I’d lost my way, and guided me through the bedroom door and into the bathroom. I found the toilet when I bumped into it, and heaved until there was nothing left in my stomach.
The willingness Bomani exhibited, though it was induced by Roman’s mind tricks, was just too much. I couldn’t imagine someone willing to give up their blood like that, and it made me wonder just what exactly Tate liked so much about vampires.
“You alright?” Pierce finally asked. I nodded and he helped me to the sink so I could rinse my mouth out, then guided me into bed.
I began to drift to sleep as my body settled into the comfortable mattress and Pierce had to roll me around to get the covers pulled down. The comforter was thick and heavy, but warm and it made sleep come even faster.
When Pierce climbed into the bed next to me, he wore nothing but his boxers. I started to lay my head on his chest before realized I was on the side that had been cut up. I looked up to tell him to switch sides when I noticed that the scratches had already begun to heal, and that was exactly what they looked like. Scratches. Not the deep wounds from earlier.
“Pierce,” I said. “Your chest.”
“Hm?” He looked down, then back up at me. “What?”
“It’s healing.”
He shook his head. “No, it’s not. You’re dreaming.”
I blinked. “No, I’m not.”
“Yeah, babe. You’re asleep. This is a dream.”
I frowned. “What are you talking about? Your chest is healing.”
Pierce shook his head again, but this time he put a finger to his lips to tell me to be quiet and pointed to the door. He mouthed, “We’ll talk tomorrow.”
I put my head back on his chest and closed my eyes.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
I woke the next morning and stretched. Pierce wasn’t next to me, but the bed was still warm where he’d lain. The drapes on the window were pulled back a little. Just enough light streamed in to show that it was late morning.
Pierce came out of the bathroom. “Morning,” he said and sat on the edge of the bed. “Sleep okay?” I rolled to him and wrapped my body around him.
“Yup. It has been a while since I had a good night’s sleep. Pierce.” I reached up and touched his lip. The stitches were gone and there was barely a scar. He caught my wrist and looked down at me. There was nothing in his eyes to tell me what he was thinking. I sat up and swung my legs over the side of the bed until I was standing and I tugged at the hem of his shirt. Pierce put his arms up and I pulled it over his head.
The claw marks across his chest were now raised white scars that looked like they’d just knit themselves together in the last few moments. I ran a finger over the soft, tender flesh, so stark against his dark skin, and he tensed.
“Pierce,” I whispered again, but he shook his head.
“Get dressed, love. Let’s go for a walk.”
I rummaged through the closet until I found some jeans and a t-shirt and some knee socks. I grabbed a yellow and purple striped sweater, my new boots and a heavy jacket with a hood, and met Pierce at the front door.
“Don’t you want breakfast?” Adelina called. Pierce closed the door before I could tell her we’d be right back.
“Pierce,” I said, but he was already making his way up the drive. I followed him and wondered if Roman had provided snow boots. Pierce led me down the drive and into the snow paved street. Enough vehicles had driven over it to pack the snow until it was solid ice.
I caught up to Pierce and slipped my hand into his. He slowed down a little so I could keep pace with him and we walked up the snow packed street.
“What’s up?” I asked after we’d walked about twenty yards from the house.
“Not far enough.” Pierce cut across the street with me in tow, and we stepped down into a ditch that was filled with ice.
“Pierce,” I complained as I slid and narrowly escaped landing on my butt. “What the hell.”
Pierce grabbed me around the waist and lifted me out of the ditch. The ground under my feet was hard and frozen and oddly bare. There was no snow in this one spot and the red dirt crunched and shifted
. Pierce was by my side in an instant, having no problems with the ice and snow.
We rummaged through the woods for half an hour, climbing over felled trees and sliding across frozen puddles hidden under the snowfall. At one point, Pierce kicked the snow off a puddle as he crossed, making it treacherous for me when I tried to follow his footsteps. I slipped. Pierce reached out to grab me, but his footing was bad and he slipped too, pulling us both to the ground. I laughed so hard I snorted.
“Pierce, get off of me,” I exclaimed. “I’m getting wet.”
Pierce pushed himself up and reached down to help me once he had his balance right. When we came to a clearing, Pierce stopped us.
“Here,” he said. “I think this will be good.”
“For what?” I asked.
“I just don’t want to take the chance of anyone hearing.”
I frowned at him. “Hearing what.”
“LeKrista, listen. Stop talking.”
“Sorry.”
“Last night... Roman wants...” Pierce tried a couple times to say what was on his mind, but he couldn’t seem to get it out. “I’m not all that I seem to be.”
I narrowed my eyes, but fought to keep my mouth shut and won.
Pierce sighed heavily and continued. “Roman knows there’s something more to me, but he doesn’t know what it is. He knows you don’t know either and he’s trying to use that against us. Against me.”
“He’s trying to break us up.” That wasn't anything new.
“Exactly and I can’t tell you what I am. It’s a family secret.”
I waited a moment for Pierce to go on. When he didn’t, I spoke. “So, you can’t ever tell me. Is that what you’re saying?”
“No. It’s a secret that can only be shared after consummation of a marriage.”
“So...we have to have married sex for you to be able to tell me. That's why you've refused me.”
“Yes.”
“What can you tell me?” I asked.
“Very little. You really aren’t even supposed to know this, I shouldn’t be able to tell you, but since Roman has caused you to suspect...” Pierce shrugged. “You get this much by default.”
I nodded. “What if I found out on my own?”
He shrugged again. “Like I said, default.”
I smiled and slipped my arms around his waist. “I want you to tell me.”
Pierce wrapped his arms around me and released a sigh of relief.
“Can you tell me, though? Does the family business you had to take care of have anything to do with this?”
He nodded. “You didn’t believe me, did you?”
“Not really.”
“It sounds like you have some family secrets of your own.” I looked up at him. “Mage magic is familial,” he said, then shrugged. “I know about mages.”
“How?”
Pierce shook his head. “Can’t really say. It would give away too much. Just know that I know about Mages.”
“It doesn’t seem right to me,” I said after a moment. “It just seems against everything I know and believe.”
“I can understand that,” Pierce said carefully.
“But you don’t agree.”
“Well, think about it, Stace. Vampires are against everything you know and believe too. So are Shape shifters. So are werewolves. Mages aren’t any more against your beliefs than they are.”
“I guess you’re right,” I said, “but it requires some thought that I don’t really have the time for.”
“I understand that too, and you’re right. It’s a big step to take without putting the proper preparations into it. It’s your decision, though. Don’t let anyone else make it for you.”
The skin on my arms tingled and tried crawl up my shoulders to my back. Pierce turned at the same time and looked around.
“Pierce?”
“Let’s get back to the house,” he said and I knew something was wrong.
The trek back to the house seemed to take less time. Pierce pushed the front door open and we stepped inside.
Ah, warmth!
Everyone was in the kitchen, chattering and talking like there was nothing wrong with the world. But everything was wrong.
“We’ve got daywalkers,” Pierce said as we walked into the kitchen. Everyone turned to look at us.
“Daywalkers!” Pierce said louder. “We’ve got daywalkers!”
“What the hell is a daywalker?” I asked.
“It’s a vampire that can be out during the day,” Eddy said, then to Pierce, “You’re sure?”
Pierce nodded. Eddy pointed at Dayla and Amber and they melted into their jaguar forms. He let them out the front door and came back to the kitchen.
“They’ll take care of it. Where were you?”
“We went up the street,” Pierce answered,” then cut into the woods to a clearing about half a mile from here.
“Half a mile?” I asked.
Didn’t know we’d walked that far.
Eddy nodded and zoned out. I’ve seen this before, but I just thought it was a weird glitch he had.
“What was that?” I asked when he came back.
“I was communicating to them where you went,” he answered.
“Oh. That’s cool.”
Eddy nodded. “Yeah, I know.” There was a slight smile on his lips as he said it. “Might as well get something to eat,” he said. “No sense in starving for no reason.”
Adelina turned from the stove with two heaping plates of food; bacon, eggs, pancakes, sausage, everything. I looked at my plate, then at Pierce.
“I’ll eat what you can’t finish,” he chuckled. I gave Adelina an apologetic smile.
“I eat like a bird,” I said. “Sorry about earlier. We had some business to discuss.”
“I know,” she said, and there was an understanding in her eyes that suggested Roman might have told her what he suspected. I smiled back and sat at the small kitchen table across from Pierce to eat.
I was hungrier than I thought and inhaled half of the food on my plate before I realized I was full. When I pushed it across the table to Pierce, he accepted it graciously and scraped what was left onto his own plate.
Eddy watched with rapt attention, completely enthralled by the way Pierce ate.
“Back off,” I said. Eddy looked up at me. There was a sparkle in his eye that made me shiver.
“What?”
“Stop staring at my man. Back off.”
“Oh.” He didn’t even blush. “I don’t want your man, honey,” he said, and it became clear that we were having a “moment” however unwanted and forgotten it would be in the moments to follow. “Not my type.”
“Not tall enough?” I asked, and shot a shameless smirk to Pierce who growled at me.
“Definitely not,” Eddy retorted.
“That’s fine with me,” Pierce said. “I like women anyway.”
“I like women too,” Eddy said, crossing the kitchen to get a glass of water. “I just prefer men.”
“That’s interesting,” I said. “I did not know that.”
“Like I said, I prefer men.”
I smirked. “What’s the difference?” I asked, and the look I got made me realize I was pondering something in my head, but no one else knew what it was.
“Between men and women?” Eddy asked. He looked over at Pierce. “I blame you for that, not the parents, because I’ve met her parents and I’m pretty sure they never gave her ‘the talk’.”
I laughed. “No. I mean, what’s the difference between you, a shape shifter, and a werewolf.”
“Oh, now see, that makes sense. Not all shape shifters are lycanthropes,” he said, “but all lycanthropes are shape shifters.”
I thought about that for a moment. “So, you’re saying werewolves are lycanthrope’s, but you’re not.”
“Right.”
“What’s the difference?” I still didn’t understand.
“Lycanthropy is a disease, very contagious, but also very unpr
edictable. Lycanthropes have no choice but to answer the full moon’s call. We do.”
“So, how do you get to be a shape shifter?”
“You’re born with it.”
“Oh.” That was a simple enough answer, but... “Did your mother have it?”
“No.”
“So, it’s like, what? A gene mutation? Are you an X Man?”
“Something like that.” I could tell there was more to the story that he wasn’t keen on telling me.
“When you have little Edgar Appletons, will they have it?”
“It’s possible, but there’s no real way to tell.”
“What do you get with your shape shifting abilities? Do you have the strength and speed and whatnot like a werewolf?”
“For the most part. I can communicate to my people telepathically, for lack of a better word. Amazing sense of smell. I know you two slept in the same bed curled around each other because you smell the same. Your two scents combined to make one unique one. It’s what your children will smell like.”
I blushed, even though I wasn’t embarrassed.
“I can smell your embarrassment.”
“I’m not embarrassed.” He didn’t even let that register, he just kept going.
“I can smell your happiness when you’re with him or your anger when you’re fighting. Your sadness when he’s not around. Your hatred for me and my girls.”
I blushed again, definitely embarrassed this time. “Can you blame me?” I asked softly and stole a piece of bacon from Pierce’s plate to give me something else to think about.
“I never said I did, I just never understood completely until last night, and I am sorry for that. I should have paid better attention.”
“Not your fault.”
“It is my fault. That’s the thing. I’m supposed to know when things are going on behind my back. The fact that...” Eddy looked up at Bomani and the super model’s protégée, gave them wary looks, and didn’t look away. “The fact that my girls were able to lie to me like that means one of them is dominant, probably Dayla, and she will have to be handled.”
I frowned and Pierce shook his head at me. I wanted to ask questions, but it wasn’t the right time. I didn’t know when or if I would get the chance to ask again, or if Eddy and I would ever get along amicably, so I asked a question that was probably best left for later.
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