by K Loraine
“You…you’ve lost family to this?”
The flash of grief in his eyes sent a pang of loss through my own heart. “Mother was the first. The hunters came, they took my youngest brother when he was only a baby. Then they sent us back his ashes. She wouldn’t let anyone touch the box with his remains and she buried him under the cherry tree outside his bedroom. After that, she was never the same.”
I placed my palm on his chest, needing some deeper connection, some way to convey my empathy.
“We thought it grief. But it was sun sickness. The hunters had infected the box, the ashes, everything, with tainted vampire blood. Eventually she walked into the bright morning light despite the chains we’d bound her with.”
“How long was she sick?”
“A decade. We struggled through her illness together for ten years before she lost the battle.”
“And your brother? How long?”
“Much longer. But every night that passes means the disease progresses. My father visits him, sustains him, and keeps him safe from himself.”
“How do you know my blood will cure him?”
His jaw clenched, eyes going hard and I knew I’d get nothing else from him on the subject. “I have to take another donation, Olivia,” he said in the quiet darkness of the hallway as we walked back toward my room.
I stiffened. I knew it had been coming, after all, it had been nearly a week since my last donation. “When?”
“The sun will be rising soon, we’ll have to wait until tomorrow at dusk.”
“Has my blood already worn off for you?”
He threaded our fingers together and squeezed. “I was back to my normal self by the next nightfall.”
“Is that what you expected?”
A shrug, so casual and cool, made him seem far more relaxed than he’d been all this time. “I didn’t know what would happen. The last time we thought we had someone as special as you…well, we were wrong.”
“Eliana?” I asked, hating the jealousy that rolled through me.
He released my fingers and shoved his hand in his pocket. “Yes. Father thought she was the one we needed. At least, that’s what he told us. He took her from her family, but she fought, just like you.”
“And she ended up dead.”
“He tossed her in a cell within two nights of her constant screaming for freedom. Nearly starved her to death, then finally released her to us. Said she was wrong. That her blood was too weak. But now that I’ve tasted yours, I think she never had what we needed in the first place. He was just desperate to find a cure.”
“For your brother?”
He shook his head. “This cure was for my mother.”
I placed my palm on Cash’s arm and stopped walking. He waited for me and when pained eyes met mine, I had to suck in a sharp gasp from the wave of emotion cresting in my chest. “I’m so sorry, Cash.”
“Thank you. So, you see, little bird, we both know what it means to lose a mother.”
“And Eliana? You loved her?”
“We all did, except for my father. I would have blood bonded with her if my father hadn’t had his way with her one night not long after my mother’s death.”
“He raped her?”
“That’s not the story he tells, but I don’t know what to believe anymore. I found the two of them in bed together. I…used my gift to force her to tell me her deepest, darkest secrets, to answer all of my questions. In the end, I broke her mind.”
The raw hurt in his voice, the guilt, swarmed me, making my skin flush hot and cold. “What did she tell you?”
“That she wanted him. That he could give her more power than I could. She never wanted me or my love.”
“And you believed her?”
“She couldn’t have lied. Her mind wasn’t strong enough.”
“Did you ever forgive her?” The words stuck in my throat, I wanted to know but didn’t all at the same time.
“I left her alone. Abandoned the woman I swore to love because of her betrayal. But the more I thought on it, the more I wondered if what she’d done was to protect herself from my father’s wrath. Callie had a strong bond with her as well and she sent for me when Eliana’s behavior grew steadily more erratic.”
My heart hammered, dread curling in my belly. I knew this wouldn’t be a story with a happy ending. I’d known that from the start. “You said you killed her.”
“I did. I left her. I broke her mind and left her. Then on the night I came home, she flung herself from the balcony of the room you’re in.”
“And you blame yourself still?”
A tight, bitter laugh escaped him. “Don’t you blame me? Everyone does. I drove her mad because I couldn’t handle her betrayal. I forced my mind control on her and ruined her. She died to get away from all of us.”
“I’m not her.” I said the words with a strength I wasn’t sure I really possessed. “Did you sleep with her? Feed from her?”
“No. She was forbidden. Just as you are.”
“And do you always do what your father tells you?”
His jaw tightened and he looked away from me, pressing his palm against the small of my back. “I do what I must.”
When we reached my door, he opened it without a word and waited. “Are you coming in?” I asked.
“No. I need protection from the sun. You need your rest.”
“You could taste me again, this time with a little fang.”
He chuckled and gripped the nape of my neck with gentle but firm pressure before pulling me against him. “Careful, little bird. I might take you up on that offer.”
“I’m not stopping you.”
Now that I’ve had part of him, I wanted more. I wanted it all.
Forehead pressed to mine, he took a long, shuddering breath. “No. Not until I figure out a way to keep you.”
Then he left, his delicious, intoxicating scent still in the air, and my heart twisted with a mixture of desperate sadness and the flutter of anticipation for our next meeting. I couldn’t go through with my plan now. Cash didn’t know it, but this conversation, this layer of him that he’d revealed, changed everything.
16
Cashel
I needed to stop staring at Olivia, but as she walked around the garden, fingers brushing the tops of the night-blooming flowers my mother loved so much, my heart ached. Something cracked inside my chest and I instinctively pressed the heel of my palm to the place it hurt most. I had to go out and remind her she needed to provide another donation. I had to break the peaceful moment in her chaotic life, and I hated that. Not because I didn’t want the inconvenience of a fight, but because I found myself caring about her.
“Fuck,” I muttered, shoving my hands in my pockets. I couldn’t let myself care. She was supposed to fall for me. I wasn’t supposed to fall for her.
“Would you like for me to go get her? I could do with a little one-on-one time with our little pet,” Sorcha asked me the question from her place at the table where she’d been slowly sipping wine since the sun set.
“No. I’ll do it.”
“You’re hers now, you know. You were right. You weren’t supposed to fall for her.”
Ice filled my veins and settled in my gut. “Stay out of my head, Sorcha.”
“Stop being lazy and keep your walls up, Cashel.”
My hackles rose and a low growl built in my throat as Sorcha got to her feet. “Don’t touch her.”
Her palms were pressed hard to the top of the table, and everything in her radiated tension. “It’s not her. Don’t you hear them?”
I closed my eyes and let my ears take over. Heartbeats. Five distinct heartbeats that weren’t the cadence of my little bird’s. They could just be the odd group of mischievous teens, searching for the hidden estate rumored to be in the woods, but honestly, with Olivia’s blood as valuable as it was, I doubted it. “Go. Get Lucas. Seal off the lab.”
Throat tight, I raced out of the house and into the garden where Olivia stood
bathed in moonlight. She turned and her smile gave me pause. For the first time, she seemed absolutely happy to see me. There wasn’t hesitation or even a small bit of fight in her eyes. She wanted me here with her. But I couldn’t revel in that. There were other beings outside, and I didn’t think they had good intentions.
“We have to go inside. Right now.” I bit the words out through clenched teeth, not wanting them to hear me.
“Why?”
“Now is not the time to question me, little bird. Walk with me, don’t look behind you.”
Her eyes widened and she took a sharp breath. “You’ll tell me what’s going on as soon as we get inside, Cash.”
“I promise. Please just trust me now.”
She bit her lower lip, eyes locked on mine and shining in the light of the moon. Then she nodded, and we were on the move. Every footstep that crunched on the gravel had me wishing I could just pick her up and rush her inside, but they’d know we were onto them if I did that. Then we wouldn’t be able to get the jump on them.
Their pulses were louder by the time we got to the door, definitely approaching. “Inside, to the dining room.” I whispered the words against her temple, soft and calm even though inside I was a mess.
As soon as she stepped inside, Sorcha grabbed her by the arm and hissed, “Run, now.”
“No. What is happening? You promised me you’d say.”
“Hunters,” I said, holding her gently by the forearm. “Hunters who’ll do anything to get you.”
“We should get to the shelter,” Sorcha said, panic in her voice making the pitch unusually high.
“Take Olivia, I have to fend them off. If they get inside…”
“There were at least five, maybe more on the way.”
“I can handle five.”
She shook her head. “Not if they have silver.”
A deafening boom left my ears ringing as something outside exploded. The walls shook, windows blew inward, the shards of glass moving at such velocity they embedded into the hardwood floor. I pulled Olivia into my chest and readied myself for a fight. Three blurred figures came toward us from inside the house, becoming at once Callie, Lucas, and Brenna. All were dark-eyed, growling things with fangs and claws extended.
“Get behind us,” I told Olivia. This time, she didn’t argue.
“They must know Father is gone. That we’re weakened without him.”
I cut a glare at Sorcha. “Father isn’t the only one with power.”
Pulling open the door, I stared into the faces of the approaching humans. Fifteen men and women stood in the dark, fear scenting the air, but there was a strong odor of absolute hatred as well.
“Olivia!” one of them called. “Come with us, Olivia. We’re here to help you.”
I didn’t glance back at her, but I prayed she’d stay put. “This is Blackthorne land. You’re trespassing.”
“You stole that girl. You’re holding her captive.”
He was right. I took her. I made her stay and I brought her back. “Get. Off. My. Land,” I snarled. “No one has to die tonight.”
“Wrong,” another one of them said. Then he raised his gun. Before he could pull the trigger, I was at his throat, my fangs digging deep into his vein, not feeding, just tearing open the artery until he bled out.
Screams erupted around us, the other hunters swinging silver chains at my family. I dropped the man I’d killed and watched as Sorcha took out one while Callie cried out when a chain hit her arm. She knelt and swooped one leg around, taking the man down before climbing atop him and ripping his throat out with her claws. I killed another, and another, not stopping to see whether they were young or old, male or female. They were threatening my family, my little bird. They deserved death.
The iron tang of blood filled the air, and I looked back to find Olivia standing at the door, hand raised to her lips, eyes haunted. A young hunter was near her, his hand outstretched, and I heard him say, “Come on. It’s okay. I should have known he’d take you back.”
“Logan,” she said. “You have to get out of here.”
Everything in me twisted in bitter agony. No. She knew him. She fucking knew the hunter. He took her hand, he fucking touched what was mine, and now he stood no chance of survival. I stalked toward them, but a snarl close by caught my attention. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of Brenna holding a large male in her grasp as she fed. But then, her posture stiffened, brows pulled together as though in pain, and she released him. The man fell to the ground and Brenna looked to her chest where the point of a wooden stake protruded coated in her blood.
“Cashel,” she said, her voice faint and desperate.
“Brenna.” My words were a tortured groan. She fell to her knees and began turning to ash before my very eyes.
Logan pulled Olivia down the stairs which led to the front door, her hair streaming behind her as they tried to make their escape. But my little bird stopped and locked eyes with me. “No, I can’t,” she told him. “I have to stay.”
Logan’s face twisted into a disgusted grimace. “What? You tried to get away once already. You have to come.” His voice was filled with incredulity. “They’re monsters.”
I stalked toward them, ready to kill the bastard who threatened to take her from me. Hand raised, I moved to slash his throat and spill his blood on my land, but Olivia’s soft palm on my chest stopped me. “No, Cashel. Don’t.”
“Why would you have me spare him?” Anger burned through me.
“You’ve killed so many of them.” Her voice wavered and part of me understood. No matter what happened between us, we’d still be from different worlds. She valued every human life. I killed without guilt if they deserved the fate I’d deal them.
But I couldn’t deny her this. I took her hand and tugged her toward me and out of Logan’s hold.
“Olivia, you can’t stay here.” Logan’s disbelieving tone had a smirk twisting my lips.
“Get out of here, Logan. Take what’s left of your little army with you.” Fierce pride welled in my chest as she stood her ground.
Shaking his head, Logan said, “He’s got you brainwashed.” His hand was wrapped in thin silver chain and I knew he’d try to kill me if he could.
“You heard her. She doesn’t want to leave. She’s mine.”
I heard it the instant before the shot rang out, that click of the round being loaded into the chamber. From the blood-soaked ground, a hunter had raised his hand and aimed his gun at Olivia. I screamed in rage, shoving her behind me and taking the bullet meant for her directly in my chest. It burned like fire as it tore through bone and muscle, the silver poisoning my blood as sure as my body saved hers.
Olivia’s scream of my name was the last thing I heard before I fell to the ground and darkness washed over me.
Olivia
I knelt at Cashel’s fallen form, heartsick at the sight of this strong vampire, broken and bleeding because of me.
“Get out of here!” I screamed, tears burning my eyes. “Get out of here before they kill you.”
Logan shook his head. “They’re going to kill you, Olivia. Come with me.” He held out a hand, desperation in his gaze.
“No. They’re keeping me safe. If I go with you, I’ll get you killed.”
Logan was the only one of the living hunters still left on the property. His heavy breaths cutting through the silent surroundings. I looked behind me and found all of the Blackthorne vampires standing in a line in front of the house. The menace rolled off them in waves that said they were barely restraining themselves.
“Go back to your people, hunter. Tell them how easily we took down their paltry army. Then, remind them that they are not welcome here.” Sorcha’s voice was strong and harsh. Rage lurked behind her tone, and I knew there wasn’t much time before she added Logan to the list of her kills. “Unless you’d like me to take you in as my personal plaything.”
“Go, Logan,” I urged, not wanting to see him killed. He’d come here to save me
, however misguided his thoughts.
His jaw clenched and eyes narrowed on me. “You’re digging your own grave.”
I nod. “We all have to die sometime.”
Then, with the laser focus of all of the vampires at his back, he walked away, not turning his head for another glance at me. I wasn’t satisfied until he disappeared in the mist and the vampires converged on me and Cash. Sorcha shoved me out of the way, kneeling at his side and inspecting his wound.
“Is he—” I started.
Her furious gaze found mine. “Stop speaking. It’s bad enough they came here for you. We lost Brenna. We can’t lose him too.”
“What can I do to help him?” I pull my hair to the side and bare my throat. “Can he feed from me? Will that help?”
“He will do nothing of the sort,” Elias Blackthorne’s booming voice said from the distance. The man strode through the destroyed gate, the mist parting around his ankles like it feared him. “Get him to the cellar. Lucas, carry your brother down while your sister prepares our supply.”
Everything moves so quickly I can barely process it. Cashel is gone, the vampires are gone, and Elias is standing over me, pure menace in his gaze. “You have been talking to someone, pet. You brought those hunters to our home. What has my son been hiding?”
“He…he brought me back.” I hated that I stammered over my words, but I was alone with him. The last time that happened, he assaulted me. “I asked him not to say anything.”
“The fool. He’s too besotted to see what a liability you have become. Though now, I’m sure he will understand exactly why you should have been locked up from the beginning.”
Locked up. No. I will not spend my life in a cell for them to feed whenever they want. “I’ll kill myself before you can get what you want if you put me in a dungeon cell.”
His cold fingers wrapped around my throat and a snarl ripped from his chest as he lifted me with ease until my toes dragged on the ground and I was gasping for air. “You’ll do as I say. I’ve humored him for too long out of sympathy for what happened with Eliana. But no longer. If you want your precious Cashel to live through tonight, you’ll do exactly what I tell you. Do you understand?”
