“What of my brother?” he asked.
“Nothing happened between us. Nothing ever happened between Leandro and me. He just wanted you to believe—”
Marcello didn’t let her finish as he pulled her forward to his mouth. He groaned into her, letting her fall firmly onto his arousal. He wanted her, needed her. Without her, he had not been whole.
Their fangs tangled as they kissed, nicking the tender tissue of their lips. Neither vampire cared, for the wounds healed as soon as they were made. Their passion welled between them, almost desperate for fulfillment. The gown was ripped from her body, the corset torn away until she was naked before him. His hands touched her, remembering her feel, the texture of her skin.
Tatiana’s flesh tingled, so sensitive in her new state. Each stroke was like fire to her soul, and she burned for him like never before. It was too much. Her vampiric blood boiled in a way that shouldn’t have been possible. When she looked at Marcello, her eyes glowed with her strength. His passion matched hers as they joined with their minds.
Soon he too was freed from the restraints of his clothing. The tapestry was crushed beneath their feet as he spun her to the stone wall. Tatiana pushed up, reveling in her newfound strength as she wrapped her legs around his hips. Her heat called to him, warmed him. Her mouth opened wide. Her lungs did not seek breath. She watched him intently as he thrust up into her body.
When he was deeply embedded, she stopped. “This is our eternity. You belong to me.”
Her possessive statement stunned Marcello, but he couldn’t deny it. It was true. From that first night, she’d controlled him, made him want her, need her, thirst for her. It was her power that brought them together, enslaved him. It was her power that allowed him to bind her, control her. And it was her power that enslaved him once more.
“You are mine, vampire,” she whispered, keeping her body still on his. The ache was almost unbearable, the need torturous and strong. “And I am yours, whether you wish it or not. Fate has chosen you to help carry my burden.”
Tatiana kissed him again. Only this time, she poured her energy into him, letting him take the burden of her soul into himself. He could’ve stopped the kiss, stopped her accursed gift, but he accepted it, accepted her. He felt what she felt, the voices, the pain of the past. As his torment grew, hers lessened. He weakened slightly as she pulled back. Her eyes cleared by small degrees.
“I am sorry, Marcello,” she whispered. “It is I who has cursed you, more so than your vampiric father. Can you forgive me?”
His answer was a strong thrust of his body into hers. He continued to pull out only to push back in, hard and ramming. She screamed in pleasure. His hips moved at a frantic pace, and she met him eagerly. Their desire had been delayed for too long.
It didn’t take long for their bodies to build as they writhed and thrust against each other. Tatiana trembled, clenching him in every possible way, urging him to hurry his release to join hers. Their bodies quaked in the violent outburst of their climax.
A slow clapping sounded over the bedchamber. Tatiana’s eyes narrowed as she hugged Marcello to her, keeping him deeply embedded. Her eyes found the door as she glared at Leandro. Her vampire maker watched them with hooded eyes that glimmered, a testament to the fact that he had not just arrived, but had seen all of it.
“My turn, bella donna?” Leandro asked with a small smile pasted cruelly on his lips.
Marcello hissed as he looked at his brother, craning his neck as he pulled Tatiana possessively against his chest.
“I’d curse you to hell,” Tatiana answered. “But we already live here. You took my human life. Marcello has what is left of my human body, all of it.”
“So I see,” Leandro smirked, though she felt he wasn’t amused.
“Take your jealousy elsewhere, brother,” Marcello said. “We have no wish for it here.”
“Ah, but I have come to collect my child,” Leandro said. “I am duty bound to train her in our ways.”
“I will train her,” Marcello yelled, his body rigid.
“That I can’t allow. As she said, her human life was mine, her body yours. Come, Tatiana, you know what I say is true. Marcello can’t be the one to train you. He is too attached to you. He will allow your weaknesses whereas I will not.”
Tatiana closed her eyes and nodded. She waved him away with an arch of her hand. Leandro bowed and backed from the room.
“You will find gowns in the wardrobe, bella donna,” Leandro said, before shutting the chamber door.
“He is right,” Tatiana said. “You will make allowances for me because you can feel as I feel. Leandro must be the one to train me in my new vampiric ways. And, when the time comes, I will be trained as a witch by the lycans. It is the only way I can be strong enough. My ancestors were many. I am merely one. If the evil comes back, I will fight it alone.”
“You are not alone,” Marcello answered. He set her down gently and took his body from hers. Turning, he walked to the wardrobe to get her clothing. “For, as long as I walk this accursed earth, you will have me.”
Chapter Fifty-Six
Spoleti Castle, Autumn 1899
Leandro walked beside Tatiana through the fairytale gardens of Spoleti Castle. Many nights had passed since her changing though none who lived within the walls bothered to count them. Their immortal lives fell into a routine, like that of a family, Marcello her lover, and Leandro her teacher. Both were her friends, dark and twisted as their friendships were.
The brothers still fought their ancient battle, but they did so silently. No words were settled between them. Tatiana knew old feelings were deeply buried, and she did not force them into each other’s company too often.
She knew Leandro well enough to feel his pain beneath his smiles and cruel remarks. She felt his anger and jealousy each night when she came to him from Marcello, only to leave him again with the dawn. Marcello had dreams with her, vague impressions of the past. Hers were more real, sometimes riddled with meanings they couldn’t interpret, and sometimes clear in their message of death.
“It is time,” Tatiana said. “We must go to England.”
Leandro nodded as they strolled through the garden. “I know.”
“I have seen the future of my line through Henry’s child. I must go to save the boy,” Tatiana said. “Henry’s son is weak and is dying. I must give my nephew my blood to make him strong, to connect the mortal line to me.”
“Do you think it wise?” Leandro asked. “Your blood is potent, too potent for mortals and he is only a young one at that.”
“I have seen it,” she said quietly. “I have seen more of it than I wish. There is no choice. If I don’t do it now, the line could be lost. I must connect myself to it. If the boy dies, the line dies with him.”
“Your brother may have more children,” Leandro said.
Tatiana looked up at the stars and sighed. Clouds dotted over the heavens, blanketing beneath a bright moon. Over the months she’d come to see the night as she had the day. Its faces were many, ever changing, always beautiful and mysterious. “How many are there, do you think? The stars?”
Leandro nodded, not prying more. He knew well that Tatiana’s visions were her own. He turned to the heavens. “I have often thought of counting them, studying them, learning their names. But, in the end, I never do. I prefer to keep them unknown to me. I would see my own pictures in their depths, not some ancient Greek’s imaginings.”
“Domin spoke to me last night. All is well with the lycans. The last have gone into a sopor. Only Domin and a handful remain awake to guard the others,” Tatiana said. “Domin is weary and wishes to find his rest, but will stay awake, hidden from the world. He agrees that I should go to London.”
“Are you asking me to release you?” Leandro asked. A sadness passed over him to her.
“No, I am not asking to be released. We will never be free of each other,” Tatiana said. “My only hope is that you will make peace with Marcello. You are of the sam
e blood. Don’t discount that.”
It wasn’t the first time she’d tried to bury what was between them, and it wouldn’t be the last.
“You know I don’t want him to have you, bella donna,” Leandro said touching her cheek in brotherly affection. “But, I would give you to him if you asked it of me.”
“I don’t,” she stated. “However, I do ask you to come with us to England. I have need of your strength and guidance.”
“You have little need of my guidance,” Leandro laughed.
“Ah, but I have need of your friendship,” she answered. “Come with us.”
Leandro nodded. “Very well, bella donna, very well. I have taught you what I know of our ways. In truth, Marcello can tell you the rest. You should seek out the witches next and learn about their craft.”
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Marcello glared across the carriage at his brother. He did not like Leandro’s hold over Tatiana. The short year spent together had not changed their feelings. What he knew to be a long time to Tatiana was only but a brief instant to him and Leandro. A year was nothing when compared to the century they had lived.
He knew Tatiana thought his brother sad and lonely. That is why she insisted he come with them to England. She did not want him left alone. Her kindness amazed him in light of what she was. Though, he knew it shouldn’t have. He felt her desire for him each day as they slept as he shared the burden of her dreams. He couldn’t get enough of her, and his only regret was that he could never give her all that she should have, a normal life.
“I don’t wish for one,” Tatiana whispered, opening her eyes from where she lay against his chest. He pulled her tighter against him, and she nuzzled along his steel frame.
Suddenly, Leandro tapped his cane against the roof of the carriage. Tatiana looked at him, confused. Marcello stiffened. The carriage rolled to a stop. Leandro stepped out.
“What…?” Tatiana began, looking deeply into Marcello’s eyes.
Marcello frowned, following his brother into the night, ready to fight him. To his surprise, Leandro stood by another carriage. A servant opened the door to it, and Leandro motioned that he should go inside. Tatiana came up behind Marcello, holding his arm.
“Leandro?” she asked softly. “What is the meaning of this?”
Servants began moving Tatiana’s and Marcello’s trunks from one carriage to the other. Leandro waited until they were finished. Then, going to Tatiana, he ignored Marcello. Leaning over, he kissed her lips and held her to him for a long time. Marcello’s hands balled into fists.
Leandro pulled back. His hand lifted to her cheek, rubbing it softly beneath his knuckles. “I release you from me. Never come back to Spoleti Castle. You are no longer welcome there.”
“Leandro?” Tatiana questioned with a gasp. “What is this? What have we done?”
She reached for his arm, moving to stop him as he tried to climb into his carriage. He turned to her only to glare at her hand. His eyes were red with the beast he carried inside him, a beast they all carried. Demonically, he growled, “I have released you from me. Go! Before I change my mind and spill Marcello’s blood.”
“Leandro?” she said again, weak, breathless.
“Tatiana.” Marcello’s voice was calm as he pulled her back. Leandro shut the door on her, and the carriage sped off into the night, going back the way it had come.
“What is the meaning of this?” Tatiana asked.
“He doesn’t like lengthy farewells.” Marcello’s humorless expression followed her gaze to the departing carriage, watching it.
“But why do this at all?” Tatiana let him guide her into the new carriage.
Marcello frowned, not liking the hurt look on her face and the pain in her voice as she gazed after Leandro. Suddenly, he gripped her arms and shook her roughly until she faced him. “I thought you would be happy to be rid of him. Just what exactly does my brother mean to you?”
“He...I...nothing,” Tatiana said. The lie was weak and written all over her face. “He means nothing.”
“You love him,” Marcello accused. “I can feel it.”
“As a brother, yes, I love him as my brother, my father, my friend,” Tatiana said. She felt the jealousy in him and was sorry for it. “Leandro has my loyalty, but not my heart. He is a necessity. His friendship is something I need. I’ve felt that it is. You are something I choose, something I want, but also something I need if I am to survive. I understand if you feel your heart is dead. I don’t demand your love, I never have. I only demand your presence with me if it is freely given.”
Marcello said nothing, only listened. His face was cautiously blank as he hid his emotions from her.
“I know what you took from him. I know about the woman you killed, his woman.”
“He told you that?” Marcello asked.
“He didn’t have to. I felt it,” Tatiana said. “Despite what she was, he loved her. She was his humanity. You killed that in him. I only wish to see him have it back. That is why I wished for us to stay with him. He needs a family. He is so alone. We are all alone. Being alone together makes it more bearable.”
“He doesn’t want us,” Marcello spat. “He has banished us from him.”
“You never once offered to bridge the gap. You never once said you were sorry for killing that woman,” Tatiana said. She stepped up into the carriage. Marcello followed, sitting across from her in the darkness. He hit the ceiling, signaling for the driver to go.
“I don’t regret the fact that she died. He knows that. Any words I say would be false,” Marcello answered when they were moving.
“Tell me, then. Why did you do it? Did you not wish him to have her? Please, tell me you were not so cruel as to torture your own flesh and blood for a sick moment of pleasure.”
“I was different. Jirí was a harsh master. He didn’t have our regard for human life. I starved myself until I could no longer fight the hunger. I didn’t know what I had become or why. The woman was a whore. She’d been sleeping with almost every man in the village for years, from old farmers to young servants. Leandro wouldn’t believe anyone but her. He was happy only in ignorance. He wanted to change her to be with him. I felt that he did. He protected her, gave her money, jewels, clothing, anything she wanted. If she wanted revenge against someone, he would take their life. She was an evil, cruel woman who discovered Leandro’s immortal secret and used it. So I went to her to tell her to leave. I was going to pay her off. But she kept offering her neck to me, taunting me. I was so hungry. I bit her. So help me, I bit her, and I drank the life from her.”
“You killed her?” Tatiana asked, breathless. “The woman he loved?”
“She wasn’t worthy of his eternity.” Marcello looked out of the carriage window.
“Eternity is a long time to hold a grudge,” Tatiana said. “Are you sure there isn’t more to it?”
Marcello’s sadness and regret clouded over them. “Only afterward did I remember her wanting me to change her. For some reason, Leandro had refused up until that point. Now, I think he must have known my blood was too weak to do it.”
“What happened?” Tatiana moved across the carriage seat and gently cupped her hand on Marcello’s jaw, drawing his eyes back to her. She kissed him lightly, unable to hold back. Soothingly, she stroked his hair.
“Leandro saw what I had done and tried to save her. He forced me to give her back her blood mixed with mine. She drank it greedily, almost draining me completely, and I let her have it. Her body died a horrible, painful death that went on for days. We sat and watched it like two confused children wondering what we had done wrong. Leandro refused to end her suffering, and so we waited. That morning, before dawn, we carried her to the graveyard and stuck her in a coffin and left her there because Jirí would have expected us back in our own beds. Now, I think, Jirí must have known what we had done, but he said nothing to us.”
“And the next night? When you went to get her? She was a vampire?”
“No.
She was still there, screaming in agony. She’d ripped gashes into her skin and pulled out all her hair. Leandro tried to feed her, but she wouldn’t drink of blood, wouldn’t partake of human food. She just kept clawing at her flesh and screaming, crouching on the ground in a corner. After that, Leandro refused to leave her again. I was forced to tell Jirí what had happened. Jirí told Leandro to put her out of her misery, to kill her. He refused. She stayed like that for about a week. In the end, she didn’t change. I was too young to change anyone, the vampiric blood in me too new. He stayed by her side the entire time. And when it was finally over, she was reduced to ash in his arms.”
Tatiana continued to caress the side of Marcello’s face. “That is why you promised never to change me.”
“Sí, bella mia,” Marcello said, reaching to press his hand over hers. “I have never changed anyone. Leandro has never forgiven me for it. He said that I killed his love for me that night. It has not grown back since, and after being dead for so long, I doubt it ever will. We are not the boys we once were. Jirí saw to that.”
Tatiana leaned up and kissed him gently. The year had passed for them, sleeping in each other’s arms, making love. But, neither of them spoke of their hearts. Hers beat his name in a constant rhythm, but she hid it from him. She couldn’t bear to have her love unreturned, so she kept it quiet. But to sense his pain, so fierce inside him, she only loved him more. The truth of it choked her until she wanted to cry. She pulled her lips back.
“And yet, he released me to you,” she whispered quietly. “That is something.”
“Sometimes, bella mia, when you face eternity alone, you have to hold onto certain things in order to survive the years. Leandro has embraced his revenge, his anger, his hatred of me. It gives him something constant to hold onto when the world about him changes in ways he can’t understand. You saw his castle home. It is the same as when we were boys. He doesn’t wish to change with the times. And now he has changed you to punish me, or that is at least why I believe he did it. Perhaps his revenge is my looking at you and knowing what path I led you down, knowing the demon inside you is my fault as much as his. I could’ve left you in Eastwich. I should have. I should have let you marry Thomas, regardless of how your heart felt for him. I think you would’ve been better off.”
Eternally Bound Page 29
