Blood, Body and Mind (18 page)

“
Colin. Colin!”

Colin turned to look at Sara, shock at what he had seen her do evident on his face, Aaron noticed. Everyone was shocked.

“
Have these men taken to a cell. Colin! Are you listening? Have these men taken to a holding cell!” she snapped. Her voice was exhausted sounding.

“
Yes,” Colin said with a shake of his head. “Daniel, Scott, please take them below and lock them in a cell.”

Colin moved to do her bidding. Aaron wondered if Colin had even noticed that he had not asked his master for permission.

After a minute or two, Sara touched Marcus. “Wake up, Marcus, you’ve been lazing about long enough.” Aaron watched as she gave the dead man another hard poke to the ribs. “Get up, you lazy bastard. We have things to do.”

Aaron started to move forward, to pick her up and away from the body. He was sure that killing this man had pushed her over the edge of reason. When Marcus rolled over and looked up at Sara with tears in his eyes, Aaron was shocked once again, more so by the man’s statement than then by the fact that he was not dead.

“
You saved me,” Marcus told her.

“
Of course I did. I said I would, didn’t I? Now get up. You’re making the vamps nervous. They believe I murdered you.”

“
He’s not dead.” Colin turned to look at Aaron. “You dinna kill the mon. But the blood, all that blood. I saw you slice his throat. I donna understand.”

Neither did Aaron, actually, but waited to see what she had to say.

“
I couldn’t kill anyone in cold blood, but I thank you for having such a high opinion of me and thinking that I could.” She shrugged as if it mattered little. “When I found him among the guards, I found out he was here against his will. As are those men you took below. Sherman has their families. He’s holding them captive until he succeeded in killing you, Aaron. He told me what was happening and asked that I save his family.”

“
My family!” Marcus jumped from the floor and toward the doors when Sara’s voice stopped him.

“
The queen has your family with her in the high tower of Molavonta Keep. They are all there, including your mother and that stupid dog of yours. The other men’s families are there as well, safe and sound.”

The man staggered slightly and Aaron leaped forward to grab him before he fell to the floor. He gently sat him down and watched the man’s tears flow freely.

“
The queen is sending someone to get you, and you will be reunited with them as soon as possible. The other men will need to stay here, at least for a few days. If that’s all right with you?” She had turned toward Aaron as she spoke.

Aaron looked at her. Sara was pale, and her skin was clammy-looking. Then he noticed that her hands were trembling. When she noticed him staring, she put her hands in her lap and held them together.

“
Oh, so now you want to involve me? How nice,” Aaron growled. He was annoyed. No, he was pissed at her. “You planned this all without as much as a word to me? Did it occur to you that I may have been killed for real had I embraced that, that mad man? That anyone in this room may have attacked you, or any other person standing here when they saw you ‘pretend’ to take that man’s life? This blood...” He looked down at the now clean floor. He looked up at her, confused when she stood up. “Sara?”

“
I didn’t cut him. My knife is still upstairs in my bag. You saw what I wanted you to see,” she said, and then staggered before she fell to the floor in a heap again. Aaron immediately went to her aid. She was weak; he could feel it when he touched her.

“
And the others? What if they had attacked you? How would you have handled the two hundred vampires that also saw all this blood? You can barely stand now.”

“
No one in this room knew what she was doing. No one saw anything at all, save those of you who were involved.” This voice came from just behind Aaron. He turned to see who was speaking and found himself looking at the woman from his bedroom. Had that only been yesterday afternoon? “She’ll need juice, lots of juice. Using that much magic takes a great deal of energy.”

“
Someone go to the kitchen and have Duncan make her what he has that’s fast,” Aaron told the person next to him. “If he doesn’t have anything, send someone who can move quickly to get it for her. Tell him to bring whatever he has right now, quickly please.”

As a younger vamp took off into the kitchen, Aaron looked around the room and saw that Mel was correct. Everyone was mingling and talking as if nothing was out of the ordinary. In fact, other than the occasional glance their way, no one seemed to be paying the slightest bit attention to them.

“
How is that possible?” He asked Mel as she moved closer to the group.

“
I told you she was very strong yesterday. Sara made everyone standing here believe that she’d killed Marcus, the knife slicing through him, spilling his blood on the floor. Also, the house itself has been held. Whatever wasn’t a vampire, their magic was taken from them and left at the door. So as soon as Sherman entered, he was magically powerless against her.”

Aaron looked down at the woman in his arms. “That still doesn’t explain why I wasn’t warned. I could have helped you. I should have helped you.” He handed her the juice off the tray Duncan had brought in. He had perhaps nine full glasses of juice there, varying in colors and smells.

“
I needed you to believe he was harmless,” Sara said after draining the first glass. “Had I given you a warning, let you know what he was up to, he would have read that in you and acted accordingly. He would have simply thrown himself against you at first opportunity.”

Aaron handed her a second glass and she drained it as she had the first. He looked around the room again. No one was the wiser. But he was no less pissed about the whole thing. She could have been hurt, or killed. As his mate, it was his job to protect her, not the other way around. As soon as possible, they were going to have to set up some guidelines. Not rules, she would not follow rules, but guidelines she may.

“
So you have made your decision then. Good choice, Master of the Realm. But I wouldn’t count on the guidelines either if I were you,” Mel said with a laugh.

“
Choice? Guidelines? What are you talking about? Come to think of it, how do you two know each other?” Sara struggled to stand and he held her still. He liked holding her, regardless of how mad he was at her.

“
Lie still, you’re still weak. Here, drink another glass of this yellow stuff. Mel came to my room today, well, yesterday and we had a long talk. You and I will talk about it later.”

Aaron should have known better. He felt her trample through his mind like a steam roller. Had it been physical instead of a mental search, he would have bruises all over his head. And from the way she was looking at him right now, he may end up with them anyway.

“
You’ve decided to keep me? Well how fucking nice for you, you arrogant ass. Was I going to get a choice in this? No, I can see that it didn’t occur to you, either of you, for that matter. How could you?” She was crying. He had made her cry again, damn it. She turned to Mel. “And you, what right do you have making any choices for me? You hoped that I would, what, roll over and do what you say?” She struggled out of his arms as she yelled at Mel and rather than hurt her, he let her go. “Oh my God—and the queen? You’ve decided that I would be the queen, too? How dare you? How dare either of you?”

“
I told you that I’ve made decisions,” Melody snapped at her. “I told you that they affected you. If I hadn’t done this, you would still be floundering about using only a small part of what you are. I helped you.”

Aaron took a step back. He could feel the anger rolling heavily off of both women. He had learned many, many years ago never to step between women when they fought. They fought by their own rules and they were not always...nice about it.

“
Helped me? Are you insane? What happens to you? Do you just fade away again? End up in some field while I deal with everything again?” Sara looked at the door when no one answered her. “And what about Sherman? Huh? You think he’ll just say ‘Oh good, you’re queen now. You go right ahead. I’ll be seeing you around?’ Fuck you!”

“
Sara, she was only trying to help,” Aaron said. “She couldn’t go on. You know as well as anyone why she can’t.”

He knew the queen’s plan for him and Sara; they were to rule her kingdom together. While he did not necessarily agree with her methods, he was at least willing to acknowledge that the continuation of the lineage was vital.

“
You knew about all of this? Before us...before the bathroom?” she asked him, hurt in her voice. “You bit me!”

“
You wanted that as much as I did,” he snapped. “You are not going to lay that one on me alone. And yes, I knew before you came down stairs tonight, so what? It makes no difference now; you are mine, my mate for all eternity.”

He regretted saying it the moment it left his mouth. Not the words, no, never that, but his timing could have been a tad better, he thought.

There was a sudden tightening in the room, as if it somehow grew bigger than the space allowed. No one moved, no one dared to. When Aaron started to speak again, Sara held up her hand to silence him. He was too stunned by the move to ignore it. After several tension-filled seconds, Sara spoke to them.

“
I want you both to never contact me again. I am not going to be queen, nor am I going to be a mate to you or anyone else. Period. I hate you both for what you’ve presumed to think for me, the decisions you’ve made for me, and the secrets you kept from me. Stay away from me.”

Sara stood again and took a look around the room. Then she turned on her heel and ran from the room, toward the front entrance hall, and out into the late evening night.

“
Sara! Sara, come back here right this minute!” He flashed himself forward only to be stopped suddenly by a wall. Her magic, he thought. Her magic was working against him rather than for him now.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

After everyone had paid homage to Aaron and left the mansion long before sunrise, the remaining people adjourned to the massive living room to go over the strange events of the evening. The coziness of the room was in complete contrast to the mood of the people in it. The Carlovettis were very worried about Sara; she was becoming very important to them and they wondered what she would do now.

Colin was still marveling at the way she made them all believe she had killed a man. He was also amazed at the way she took charge, and did what needed to be done without a second’s hesitation or any lack of confidence.

Mel was mad, thinking that Sara was being extremely selfish about the whole thing. She would rule all of the magical elements of the world. Why should she not want that?

Aaron was angry as well, but he was not sure at whom he should be the maddest at, Sara for leaving without letting him explain, Mel for not allowing him to explain things to her in his own way, or himself for not telling her anything. No, he mused, he was mad at himself most of all. He should have trusted her; he should have told her what he suspected from the beginning…that she was his mate, his partner. More than that, he should have treated her like one.

“
Do you have any idea what level of power was required for what Sara did tonight?” Mel asked the room in general after she had been introduced to everyone.

“
I know she made a believer of me. All that blood, not a drop of it real. I didn’t know you could hold that many people in thrall. Did you, Aaron?” Colin turned to his friend and master.

“
She didn’t, not really. You see, that’s what I’m talking about,” Mel went on to clarify. “She held each vampire in a state of separate thrall, unique to each one of them.”

Aaron didn’t really care how she did it. He just wanted to bring her back so he could tell her how sorry he was.

“
I don’t understand. What do you mean separate thrall?” Colin asked her.

“
Each vampire has unique abilities of their own, right? Colin, you can read a person’s lies, scan their body for hidden objects and whatever else they may be hiding. Demetrius, even for your age you’re a remarkably strong and talented telepath. Aaron, you have a great many talents. Some of them from age, others from practice.” Mel started to pace the room as she spoke. Aaron noticed that Sara did the same thing. “You see, each of your minds works differently with your magic. Sara couldn’t just rely on one bit of magic to keep others from becoming involved. She needed to take each one of your abilities and use them against you. No one saw or heard what she didn’t want them to. She didn’t get that from me. She’s using power well beyond what I’ve given her. Beyond anything I’ve ever seen. She isn’t just a Keeper like me; she is more than me in some ways.”

“
What are you saying? Are you saying Sara is not human, that she is a different species than any of us?” Aaron finally asked.

“
Is she tattooed with any markings?” Mel asked. “Anything more than this?” She showed everyone her tattoo as the Queen of Magick. Looking almost like a photograph, the tattoo depicted a half-moon in light blue-grayish tones with the sun, a bright yellow, rising from it. Beneath the sun and moon stood a tree in different seasons of the year: spring with tiny buds on strong limbs; summer with full, dark-green leaves straining toward the heavens; fall with blended leaves of orange and red; winter with bare limbs. “Sara’s would be smaller and without color...or very little color...maybe just shades of gray.”