Inhale. Exhale. His chest expanded and compressed. The muscles there were strong and firm. His abs might well have been chiseled from stone.
Even without magic, he was strong, powerful, and capable.
Her fingers itched with want to run all over his body, but she rejected that. He needed to sleep.
Actually, she did too.
She rose from the edge of his bed to stretch out in her own. After a few minutes of tossing and turning, she became frustrated. Maybe she would not be able to sleep after all. Even with her back turned to Antoine, he consumed her presence, an unwanted intrusion in her mind.
Unwanted? Or wanted and that it was wanted was what was unwanted?
It was so confusing.
Soft footsteps approached, and she stilled. Antoine lay behind her with his arm wrapped around her. Without hesitating, she snuggled against him, her back to his firm chest.
Now, sleep did come and with it peace.
Seraphine stirred. Antoine remained behind her, and she forced herself not to jerk. She had never slept with another before, much less a witch. She was not experienced when it came to sexual relations. For the most part, she had always been aloof with the other vampires. As far as she knew, none of the other vampires had humans for friends. They might not have realized that about her, but they seemed to know instinctively that she was not quite like them.
She seemed to fit perfectly into the crook of Antoine’s arm. As if we are made for each other? Yeah, right.
His scent of soap, musk, and cinnamon washed over her, and his body heat warmed her. She rolled over in his arms, intending to watch him sleep, but his eyes were already open.
“You must have really needed to sleep,” he murmured.
“I have been denying myself,” she confessed.
“Like you have with blood?”
She shook her head. “I’ve been drinking more lately,” she confessed. “I used to be able to go for nearly a week—”
“A week! I thought no vampires could go more than three days without becoming vicious, terrible…” His words trailed off.
“I built up the ability to last that long without blood.” She shrugged. “But I’ve lost it. I haven’t killed anyone for it and only drink from Franz and whatever they’re serving at The Mean Gladiator. That’s all.”
“And now from me.” Antoine pulled away from holding her and sat up.
Like Carlos, he offered his wrist.
“Trust me,” he murmured, nearly begging.
She sat up, cupped his face, and stared into his dark brown eyes. Her fingers brushed back his hair.
“Can I trust you?” she asked in a whisper.
He nodded.
She gently lifted his wrist and hesitated.
“If you do, it shouldn’t hurt,” she said.
“I do trust you.”
His words sparked a fire within her.
Please don’t let this hurt him.
She pressed her fangs to his wrist and bit. He did not jerk or pull away. Instantly, warm liquid flowed into her mouth, and she drank.
Seraphine had only taken a few swallows before he tapped her shoulder.
Confused, she pulled away and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
“You’ll be able to get more from here.” He tilted his head to offer his neck.
Her fingers traced along the bulging vein there, and her heart raced at the thought of drinking from him there.
“You have that much faith in me?” she asked.
“With my life.”
She sat up straighter, startled. “What have I done to earn that?”
“Your willingness to save me. How many times have you hesitated to fight me before? You never gave up on me. You never stopped hoping I would see the future as anything other than what the queen wishes for us all.”
“But I didn’t save you. Maybe I just said that to trick you onto our side.”
He brushed his thumb over her cheek. “I know when you’re lying. You meant that. You wanted to save me. Now drink.”
So she did. Blood flooded her mouth, and she swallowed, swallowed, swallowed.
The moment his heart beat noticeably slower, she stopped. She licked her lips and turned to see if he was all right.
He bumped his nose against hers and kissed her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and soon realized she was sitting on his lap. His hands rubbed her back, and she trailed her fingers across his firm, strong muscles. Raw power and might, masculine, sexy.
When his hands reached under her shirt, she jerked away.
“Are you all right?” she asked, breathless.
“Yes,” he answered, but he fidgeted as if uncomfortable.
She nodded, scooting off his lap to sit beside him, and refused to look at him. “We should talk.”
“Yes. Talk.”
21
Talk. After kissing him like that, running her hands through his hair, pressing herself against him, she wanted to stop.
And talk.
To say he was frustrated was an understatement. A fact that was killing him.
His fingers brushed against the wound on his neck. A few words and the puncture marks there and on his wrist healed.
It had been a simple enough spell to prevent his poisonous blood from hurting her. Well, simple mostly when compared to the massive illusion spell he’d created earlier. Already, he was feeling the need for more nourishment and sleep.
Belatedly, he realized she was talking.
Worse, she was asking him a question.
If he was listening.
He grinned at her and opted for the truth.
“Would you be upset to learn I wasn’t listening because you’re distracting me?”
She laughed and stood. “All right. I can see that. And you’re a little distracting too without your shirt on.”
Seraphine reached down, picked up the crumpled shirt, and tossed it to him.
He caught it one-handed. “You know,” he said as he buttoned it, “I don’t remember taking this off.”
“You were sweating,” she said.
Her cheeks turned red with embarrassment.
Because she had enough blood to flush.
His blood.
The thought pleased him, as ridiculous as that was.
“You don’t…” She hesitated. “You don’t feel weak or dizzy, do you? I didn’t take too much?”
He stood and swayed. Damn. She noticed and cursed herself under her breath.
“Not from the blood loss,” he rushed to assure her. “Because of the spell.”
“The spell for the vampires?” Her eyes widened. “To keep me safe. Do you need more food?”
“If you have more stew, that would be great.”
While she prepared another bowl for him, he walked outside. A new day had come. The storm clouds were a slightly more gray than the normal blackness during the night.
The queen would expect him to be out locating more vampires to behead.
Right now, though, there was only one vampire he wanted to be with.
They both ate. Every few spoonfuls, he would glance at Seraphine. She was staring at him or smiling.
She was happy.
Even more surprising… he was too.
Maybe it was wrong for him to not think about Franz Weber locked away somewhere.
With Antoine in her life, she wouldn’t need to keep Franz alive anymore.
If any witch or former witch deserved to be killed, it was Franz.
And then what? Could Antoine be her living blood bag? Could he supply her with the blood she needed to survive?
Would he be willing to do that?
What was he considering? A relationship? Or something more? With a vampire?
Not with just any vampire.
With Seraphine.
“Your brows crease and form a V when you’re thinking,” she observed. “What is troubling you? The queen?”
He coughed. “No. Not the queen.”
“Then who? Or what?” she pressed.
This he would not confess.
To divert attention away from what he had truly been thinking, he said, “I’m glad everything worked out the way it did. With the vampires.”
She tilted her head to the side. “If I hadn’t found vampires willing to trust me, willing to believe in the uprising… If I hadn’t sent them, what would you have done?”
“If you’re asking if I had rounded up three other vampires, the answer is no.” His words were emphatic.
Her pleased smile only lasted a moment.
“So what was your plan? I know you must have had one. Or would you have found a way to magically make everyone think you had vampires all along?”
“No.” He laughed. “That would have been impossible. I was inspired to create the illusion because you sent the vampire.”
“So what was your plan?” she repeated eagerly.
“I originally never intended to make it onto the platform. I tried to find the queen so I could…”
Saying it out loud would make the ridiculous plan even more so.
“Could what?” she asked. A measure of obvious anger and worry colored her tone.
“I was going to see if I could get her alone and kill her,” he blurted out.
She frowned, confused. “They say her jewelry is charmed. You would have had to remove those first.”
Her eyes widened and then flashed with more anger or maybe disappointment. It was difficult to say.
“You were going to seduce her,” she said.
“Jealous?” he joked.
She scowled at him. “Not at all.”
He grinned.
She slammed her fist on the table. That the table didn’t break was a miracle.
He had seen a play performed once, a harkening back to the olden days before the Rift. What was the saying? Methinks the lady doth protest too much. Something like that.
He covered his mouth because he could not stop smirking.
“Regardless of your jealousy or lack thereof, I was going to try to assassinate her. I could not find her. So I figured I would try to kill her on the main platform, but there were too many protectors. Honestly, if your vampires had not shown, I don’t know what I would have done. She would have had three of my friends brought forward. I would not have killed them, so I probably would have tried to take her out instead.”
“And die with everyone gathered as witnesses.”
“Yes.”
“Antoine, why? No. No. We can’t go after her with only one witch. We need an army. An army of vampires, humans, and witches. You and Noella aren’t enough.”
“Noella?” he asked, surprised. “I would’ve thought she would like to stay out of it for the sake of her daughter.”
“I would prefer that myself, but she wants a better world for Sera.” Seraphine grinned.
“So what is the grand plan?”
“Well…” Seraphine’s happiness vanished, replaced with despair and worry. “We do have more on our side, but not even three dozen. Given the population of the division, we don’t have enough. And…”
Her hesitation confused him but not as much as the sudden fright and worry in her eyes.
“What’s wrong?”
“The idea of you facing her by yourself terrifies me. Even if you have five witches with you or ten.”
“She’s powerful but not that strong. Ten of us can definitely bring her down.”
“Are you certain of that?” she murmured.
The last thing he needed was for her to doubt him.
“The queen is—” she started.
“I know all about her. All of her talismans, her charms. I can try to alter them—”
“Without her knowing?” She shook her head, unconvinced.
“It’s a risk, but do you know a better way? The purpose of an uprising is to change the status quo. How can we do that with her in charge?”
Antoine narrowed his eyes as a sickening suspicion hit him like a tidal wave. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, anger and disappointment burning within him.
“You aren’t seriously considering leaving the division, are you? That’s suicide. Vampires can’t reach it. Witches can’t. Humans don’t stand a chance. The terrible storms are too vicious and deadly. They put the ones here to shame. Vampires might be able to swim as fast as they can run, but they can’t survive such strong elements. Witch magic isn’t formidable enough to withstand the enchanted might of the storms. It’s just not feasible.”
“I know that, and I think most vampires are resigned to that fact.” She hesitated again. “The vampires are thinking that remaining underground is our only viable option for long-term survival. It might be safer for us than leaving entirely.”
“What about the witches and the humans? The mad queen is mad. She will be furious. She will hunt down the vampires and go after the witches and humans. She already is.”
“I know. We can make the underground a refuge for those who oppose the queen.”
He shook his head. “She will find—”
“That’s where you and Noella and any other witches come in,” she said in a rush. “If you hide us all so we can’t be discovered, we won’t have to worry about dismantling the shield. The division will eventually be completely underground. It will be paradise! Just think of it, Antoine! We won’t have to worry about the rain season, the heat, the ice.”
Antoine stood, shaking with dismay.
“Are you serious? That is your plan? This is what you want to reduce your uprising to? I was willing to risk my life even though I knew I would most likely die for it. Not for this. It’s selfish. It’s self-serving.”
“It’s not,” she protested. Hurt shone in her green eyes. “Just consider it, Antoine. Think of it. The last time I asked you to ponder something, you realized I was right. Not all vampires are evil. Maybe going underground is the best option for everyone. Some are too set in their ways. Others are too loyal to the queen. More subscribe to her way of thinking. They will never be willing to change. They will never agree to live in harmony with vampires.”
He said nothing, his disgust and anger growing.
She stood too. Her hand reached toward him, but she did not touch him.
“We found ways to ensure that none of the flooding during the rain season reaches our underground homes. Some of the ice comes down to the earth, making it impossible to burrow more, yes. During the dry season, we can dig furiously and expand more, supporting it as we go. Maybe we can even try to grow crops beneath the earth! With artificial light, of course. Think of it, Antoine. We can make a new division. It’s not selfish if we’re willing to include those who follow our beliefs.”
“And who is going to locate new potentials,” he asked bitterly. “There is a flaw in this plan. I said it before, and I will say it again. It’s self-serving.”
Antoine could not listen to another word of the foolishness and headed for the door.
22
The fury and anger in his dark eyes when she laid out her plan made her heart sink. She had hoped he would agree with the idea.
Granted, it was not the best option. She understood and accepted that. But she did not want to risk losing him. He meant as much to her as any vampire.
Maybe even more so.
He opened the door.
Disappointment and anger of her own seized her. In half a second, she stood between him and the door he’d closed behind him.
She laid her hands on his shoulders, effectively forcing him to stay in place.
“Do you realize how many vampires have already died?” she asked. “Even before you took up the axe?”
He winced. She grimaced. Being hurt and upset was making her lash out. That wasn’t fair for her to say. If Antoine hadn’t been appointed vampire executioner, someone else would’ve.
“If I go through with the original plan, if we do,” she continued, “many more will die. I don’t want to risk more vampire blood b
eing shed.”
“You care about the humans too because you starve yourself. You protect them from the bulls.”
“I do. Maybe it stems from guilt because we need their blood to survive. Or maybe that’s why I first started to help them. But humans are good for the most part, even though some are evil.”
“The queen, though, she’s all evil,” he countered.
“Yes, I agree.”
“So we should kill her! She cannot be allowed to continue her reign of terror. The mad queen is an abomination.”
“I don’t deny that, but she is powerful. And she does have followers. How many? At least three-quarters of the population of the entire division. Probably more. A few hundred against thousands is not enough, Antoine. Can’t you see that? The writing is on the wall, and it’s been written over and over again in vampire blood.”
“Once she has her bonfire, the blood will be witch and vampire too,” he spat out. Hatred colored his words. “She has already killed one human and a witch.”
Seraphine pushed him back. “Can’t you see that I don’t want you to die?” She was pleading. “I don’t want to live in a world that doesn’t include you.”
He said nothing, his gaze on the rocky ground of her dwelling.
“You keep me going. Without you and the hope that you would join us, I might have given up a hundred different times. It’s not easy living in this world. Change and forcing change is even harder. I know we don’t have the numbers—”
“So we wait until we do. We rally more to our cause. I continue to pretend to execute her enemies. They will join us, and once we are strong enough, we can rise against her. We can overthrow her. We can kill her. Seraphine, you’re a vampire. You live and breed violence. How can it be that you would rather allow a known killer to live? How is that preferable to her death?”
“If you die—”
“Stop.” He held up a hand.
The amount of anger and frustration in his voice forced her to take a step back.
“Do not make me out to be more than I am,” he said coldly. “You have shown kindness to humans long before you met me. That would not change if I were to die.”
Dark Hunt: Division 4: The Berkano Vampire Collection Page 14
