“Thank you,” I say, even though she’s gone. Relieved Ididn’t have to explain myself more, I head down the hall to catch up to Lysander.
Henri
Idraw in a deep, filling breath. Everything about me tingles as the living blood pumps through my greedy veins. Leaning against the desk, I close my eyes. There’s never silence after drinking from Haven. I can hear the hum of both new and old power under my skin, the slow, steady beating of my lover’s heart in the adjoining room, and even the muffled voices of the manor’s occupants as they ready themselves for the morning’s sleep.
It’s as if her blood is made for me; it brings my centuries-old heart back to life.
Last night had been a success. My newest turn, Avrum, is proving to be more loyal and more capable than most of his older counterparts. I see promise in him. Since the beginning, he’s been eager to learn, to improve, whatever and however he could. He has ambition. He has courage. He has strengths that—with my guidance—could someday make Avrum Brenin a lord very much like me. He just has to be pushed beyond his limits and encouraged the right way. Swayed.
My current issue lies with the poor girl I found on the streets of Birmingham. Haven. What am I going to do with her? She’s all attitude and defiance. She likes to challenge me, to push my buttons, and while I find it amusingsometimes, I’ll have to break her will eventually to get her to my side.
She may say she hates me, but I know that can’t be true. Not after what we’ve shared. She’s stubborn and young still, there are ways to change that. I’ve done it before.
Returning to the city was an act of naïveté, one I wouldn’t allow to happen again. She’s better off here. With me. And if that means taking out the sole reason she feels she must leave, then so be it.
I sigh, a dull ache starting to build at my temples. As much as Haven reminds me of my dear Linna, she’s still too young to know how to properly love me like she used to.
Linna.MyLinna.
I lick my lips as the memories come flooding back to me. Some of the metallic taste of Haven still lingers there, and flames of desire lick over my skin. As a youth, I had known loneliness. It had been my companion for many, many years. My own mother had died during my birth, and so, as a young man, my father remarried, aware of the womanly absence in my life. His new wife was named Lady Caroline Beatrum?or as she soon became to me, Linna.
My life changed the moment she’d come into my world. Even with twelve years over me, she was still a masterpiece handcrafted by God. A tall woman, as tall as I’d been at fifteen years of age. She had hair the color of autumn leaves, and it was long, sweeping across her waist and curved hips. She was perfection wrapped in glossy, cream skin. A vision. A temptation no man could resist.
Despite all her stunning attributes, it was her eyes that had gripped me. Her eyes were the strangest color I’d ever seen, but really, they were not truly one color at all. More like an array of colors. The prominent shade, and the one seen upon first glance, was a radiant sapphire. It matched the gem she wore each day around her neck on a gold chain. As time went by, I’d discovered the irises also held a band of green around the pupil and a few shimmering specks of gold. It was those eyes that had haunted me since my first death and rebirth.
It was Linna who had shown me what love was. When my father was away at the king’s court, she invited me to her bed at night. She’d instructed me on how to properly please a woman with every inch of my body, and she was forceful, at times demanding, always wanting more of me. But I would always oblige. She was all I ever wanted and all I needed. I loved her fiercely.
Linna may have been my life before this one, but after so many decades and centuries of being without her, I truly believe I have found her again.
Haven reminds me so much of Linna… Not in manner—no—but there is a glimpse of fire in Haven that I remember burning so bright in Linna. And those eyes! Haven bore the very eyes that had captivated me so long ago! The blues, the greens, and golds. They were just too similar.
Our paths have crossed for a reason, I’m sure of it. We were supposed to find each other again so that I could relive what had been unfairly taken away from me almost three centuries ago. I just need to guide Haven like I have with the others of my coven. I need to awake in her thefeelings I know she has for me, buried deep. I just have to show her, as Linna had done, what love feels like.
Glancing at the door that separates us, I can still hear her soft breaths as she sleeps in the next room. The bronze crow figure looks back at me with fierce pride, and I find my chest swelling with it as well.
Like it used to be then, she will love me again. I will make sure of it.
She is my Haven now.
Haven
Iawake from my peaceful sleep, but instead of opening my eyes, I squeeze them shut tighter. I pray for the numbness that comes with sleep to stay with me a little while longer, but the moment I draw in a lungful of air, all my senses return with it. Everything is throbbing?my chest, my neck, my hands. Even though a part of me wants to open my eyes and assess the damage Henri has done this time, the other part wants to remain ignorant.
I try to think back to the night before. Henri’s study, the letter opener, his mouth on my breasts… A violent shiver rockets through me and nausea rolls.
Doing all I can to block that out of my thoughts, I try to focus on what happened after, but only blackness stirs. Emptiness.
I must have passed out. It was the only explanation I could come up with. He had taken that much blood from me.
But my biggest concern is what happened during those unconscious moments.
I rub my legs together. Nothing hurts, as I expect, and I don’t feel anything slick like blood or manly fluids.
Relief washing over me, I release a held breath. I’ve been saved. This time.
But for how much longer?
Henri is insane and just too strong. He keeps pushing his boundaries with me, and it’s clear what he’s after. He isn’t going to stop the torture until I gave in—willingly or not.
