I rubbed at the ache in my chest. My top lip curled back. I could barely think, I was so tired. My gaze raked over Shane’s sweat-slicked skin. The dried evidence of our release covered him, which wasn’t acceptable. He deserved to be cared for. I’d clean him up, then feed and rest. I staggered to the bathroom and fell to my knees twice on the way back. Still, I managed towipe away the proof of our lust before covering his regenerated body with the soiled sheets.
Silence hung heavy as I stared down at his sculpted muscles, so it was easy to hear when there was a tiny splash. I looked down, blinking slowly. Blood dripped from my forearm onto the muscle of Shane’s chest, my brain taking its sweet time to process what that meant. Shit. I hadn’t fully healed. Now that I looked, there was a patch of dark, clotted blood on the floor, where I’d knelt next to Shane, and a trail of it across the floor to the bathroom and back. I spied my phone on the chair. One step towards it, and my knees buckled. My heart drummed a staccato rhythm, and it echoed in my throbbing head, those dual beats a tune I’d not acknowledged for years, but now too loud to dismiss. My palms were slick, and beads of sweat rolled down my temples and cheeks. Fear wasn’t an emotion I’d felt in so long that it took me a while to understand what the tight feeling in my chest was all about. Fuck, I had to get to my phone. Even I could die from blood loss. Not caring what I looked like, I crawled towards the marvel of modern technology that would save my life. Dav would make sure I got blood… That was my last thought before I dropped on my belly on the floor and succumbed to the darkness.
7
Sorcha
“Doyou have everything you need, Miss?”
I held in a sigh. Davlov still refused to use my name, no matter how many times I asked him to. His presence was intimidating, but I had the sense it wasn’t personal. Like most vampires, he was a control freak. Unlike them, though, he didn’t seem to need to control others. Only himself. I smirked…and maybe Elliot. Of course, he could probably compel anyone he wanted. He had to be almost as ancient as the Count, and I’d heard he was a cold and controlled killer.
Listening and fading into the background at Nicolai’s had become my superpower, so I’d often heard chatter and rumours about the Count and the members of his House. I’d only ever seen Davlov lose his cool when Elliot was in danger, but, then again, my experience with all vampires, even the liars who had called themselves my parents, was that they were either as cold as ice and cruel with it, or in a rage. I hadn’t met any in-betweens before Balthazar had rescued me. I wasn’t scared of Davlovas such; he’d never been anything but polite and professional towards me. But he wasn’t a friend. If Elliot was with him, then he relaxed a little more, but he remained coolly professional, even during their downtime.
As the Count’s second in command, Dav was always somewhere close. His loyalty was unquestionable, and I respected everything about him, I really did. Especially since I’d never seen that kind of regard for another person.
“I’m fine, thank you, Davlov.”
Perhaps I should feel bad about lying with such ease, yet I’d become so used to saying what other people wanted to hear that it was a part of me. It had been three days since I’d seen the Count. I was still making plans to leave the safe haven of this castle, but until I saw him and Shane again, I just couldn’t bring myself to actually do it. My stomach clenched. The last time I’d seen them had been so unexpected that all I could do was stand and stare. My body had heated, reacting forcefully to seeing the Count use his strength to control a wild and very naked Shane. It had been one of the most erotic things I’d ever seen, and I’d been slammed with so many feelings that I’d frozen to the spot. Until Shane had started to shift, and the Count had yelled at me to run.
Since then, Davlov had stubbornly refused to let me anywhere near the Count’s wing. His determination to keep me away was my fault. I’d wanted to make sure Shane was okay, and snuck upstairs while Dav had been on the phone. There’d been no other guards in the house to stop me. It was strange not to have other burly vampires wandering around armed to the teeth. For some reason, the Count didn’t want anyone other than me, Dav, and Elliot in his home while Shane was vulnerable.
The thought of Shane being at Balthazar’s mercy nettled me. Shane was my friend. He’d been kind to me from the first time I’d met him, when, for years, others had treated me cruelly or with utter indifference. Balthazar had never been cruel, butit often seemed like he only tolerated my presence. He didn’t spend any time with me, outside of travelling to London or back. I was naive in many things, but that didn't mean I was unaware or stupid. Someone like Balthazar Rossi didn’t do anything without an agenda. I just had no idea what he could possibly want from someone like me. He didn’t completely ignore me, but he only spoke to me when necessary; there was no small talk. Not that someone like Balthazar did small talk. I didn’t think…
The castle was quiet, only the wind stirring the trees outside, and the ping of Davlov’s incoming phone messages disturbing the silence. I returned to Balthazar’s wing several times a day, but Davlov or Elliot were always blocking the way to the upper floors, and they stopped me from climbing the grand staircase. Elliot always did it with kindness and understanding, reassuring me that they were both well. It didn’t matter, though. Anxiety made me twitchy. Shane shouldn’t still be in bloodlust after so long.
My heart thudded and a deep breath didn’t calm it. I had to try to get up there. Despite Elliott’s reassurances, I needed to see them to know that they were okay. I was being ridiculous. I knew that. Especially when Balthazar Rossi was one of the most feared vampires in existence. I’d certainly had his long and bloody past rammed into my brain often enough during my schooling. Yet, no one could tell me how old he was. It was almost as if the history books told stories about a completely different individual than the one with whom I now shared a castle. I held in a snort at that thought. Me being in a castle was unbelievable enough, but to be in the home of one of the most notorious Original vampires in history was utterly insane.
Davlov’s face remained neutral as I glanced up, but his eyes softened a little as I took another deep breath and wiped my hands on my jeans. My gaze narrowed on his face, his aftershave tickling my nostrils with its pleasant scent. As far as I could tellfrom those same historical accounts, Davlov had been with the Count for hundreds of years. I almost wanted to poke his skin to see if it was really as unlined and real as it looked. Maybe it was glamour. I knew some vampires were capable of doing that....
He stared, his brow lifting minutely. “I admire your tenaciousness, but you still can’t go up there. It’s not safe.”
I almost screeched in frustration, but I knew that kind of reaction wouldn’t get me anywhere. Dav didn’t get angry; he just did what he needed to do to keep his master safe, without any remorse or guilt. It was hard to keep the disappointment off my face, but years of acting and being submissive helped. “Can you at least tell me if they’re both okay?”
His eyes met mine. Silence.
I bit my lip and sighed heavily, my bottom lip trembling. Days of not seeing either of them were taking their toll. “Please?” I hated that I was practically reduced to begging for information about the two men I cared for so much. Not just Shane, but Balthazar as well. He’d taken root in my life, burrowing into my heart, even though I knew feeling more than grateful towards him was pointless. I couldn’t live in Balthazar’s castle like some kind of princess and hide from the world forever. I needed to leave and somehow figure out how to survive on my own. This worry and need to see him was probably just hero worship stemming from all he’d done for me. It couldn’t be anything else because in a world where supernaturals were far stronger than any human, I was nothing. I didn’t even know who my parents were or where they came from. And Shane wouldn’t be able to leave Dundean, not for a long time. Being with him, even as friends, wasn’t ever going to happen now. Turned supernaturals were against vampire law. That meant Balthazar owned Shane’s life. Or the vampire king did. He wouldn’t be safe even if he survived.
My shoulders dipped forward. I’d never cared about anyone before, not like I did them. Even my relationship with my ‘parents’ had been a cold and distant one, though, as a child, I hadn’t realised it. It was all I’d known.
Davlov’s face softened a tiny bit more, and he tilted his head. “I will go and make sure…”
Then he was gone, running at vampire speed up the stairs. At my more human speed, I followed, beating my feet up the steps towards the Count’s room.
“Help! Davlov! Sorcha!”
Shane!
Davlov was already on the landing by the time I was halfway up the stairs. I pushed more speed into my legs, my heart racing as I ran past the spot where the Count and Shane had been mashed together, one clothed, one not. That image was burned into my brain forever. I skidded on the polished wooden floor, grabbed the doorframe, and catapulted myself into the room.
“Oh, my gods!” My hands flew to my mouth.
The Count was on his stomach, his naked body shrunken and almost translucent. Shane knelt next to him, his strong hands curled over Balthazar’s shoulders, and he shook him hard.
“Count? Come on. You son-of-a-bitch! Wake up!”
My feet were carrying me closer before I could stop them, but an outstretched hand across my stomach stopped me. Davlov caught my gaze with his and shook his head. I swallowed as I realised he was warning me. The memory of what Shane had become in the throes of bloodlust had me nodding back.
“Shane, I need to get near him,” Davolv said calmly and quietly.
