Blood Secret (30 page)
“What did he say to you?” he asked gently.
“That when you look at me—every time you do—you will remember how your siblings died. You will remember your mother pleading for your life to be spared. You will remember how your father fought to try to protect you and your siblings.”
He frowned, looking grim. Her heart made a slow, painful twist in her chest.
He was thinking of those things now, and there were deep lines framing his mouth. “He couldn’t have known that.”
That stunned her. “What do you mean? He told me what your parents endured—”
“He could not have known it because I didn’t know what they went through. My father told me to run, with my brother, and I did. I didn’t see my parents die. I never heard what they said. He could not have heard those details from me.”
“Your sister perhaps?”
“Possibly. Or there is another possibility. One I was too blind to see before. For him to know so many details ... it is like he was there.”
Her stomach lurched. “But you saw dragons—”
“I saw what I thought were dragons. I was only nine and I’d never seen dragons before. The prince had a great deal of strength, and the power to manipulate a mortal mind.”
“He lied ... you think he lied. That he killed your family and made you think dragons did it. But why would he do that? To make you into a dragon slayer?”
“I don’t know, Lucy. But I intend to get to the truth. For now, we should go home.”
Home. It had been so long ... would home even feel the same anymore? She nodded. “Yes, I should go home. I must get my sisters from the brothel and take them home.” She stared at Jack. “What are you going to do?”
He flushed, and flinched, obviously embarrassed. “I don’t know. I guess I can’t go home. Not after what I did. Maybe I’ll go to the Continent—”
“Jack, you can come home.” She reached out and gently touched his arm. “Sinjin is correct. You did save my life, Jack. And you protected James. Come home, Jack. I don’t want to lose you.”
Sinjin watched Lucy’s brother walk uncertainly into her embrace. She truly was a queen amongst women. But when he had said the word
home,
he had meant his home. And he wanted her there with him. He wanted his house to become her home.
home,
he had meant his home. And he wanted her there with him. He wanted his house to become her home.
But he couldn’t ask her that now. She needed to recover from all the horrors of this day. She needed to be with her family.
He had lost his family and he knew how much he longed to be with them. He knew how much it would mean to her to be with her family.
And he had James to take care of.
He watched her and her brother walk away, and wondered ... would she marry him? Or should he let her go? She had said how she feared she would remind him of pain. Would he do that to her? If he asked her to be with him, would she be forever reminded of the horror of this day?
Did she deserve to be with one of her own kind?
What if he opened his heart and she refused him? What if he asked her to marry him, and he ended up losing her for good?
Hell.
He didn’t want to lose anyone ever again.
The door opened slowly, as if by magic, and the scent of dust and old books made Lucy sneeze. A tiny gnome-like man hurried forward, almost dancing from foot to foot. “A dragon!” he cackled, and he rubbed his hands together. “What an honor! I have never met a dragon before.” He stopped in front of her, and swept a deep bow. “Do you take tea, my dear? What of biscuits? Honey? Jam? I am so afraid I have nothing more to offer you.”
Taken aback by his breathless questions, Lucy tried to focus on him as he leapt from side to side, then turned swiftly away. “Are you Guidon?” she called after him.
“Indeed. Indeed.”
She followed, winding through stacks crammed with books. She smelled leather bindings and titles flashed by her eyes as she hurried behind the tiny, stooped man.
She caught him as he reached a small kitchen, set off the bookshop, and was putting a kettle upon his stove.
“I was told that you know about my mother. That you know something special about her. I—I wish to find out what it is. Whatever the price, I am happy to pay you—”
“I require no payment.” He whirled around, his tufts of yellowish-gray hair flying up to stick out from his face. “I would wish to tell you, my dear. Truly I would. But I think it would be best if the Duke of Greystone explains the tale to you. He wished to do so. You are very important to him.” He cocked his head. “The only other union of a dragon and a vampire was the one between the duke’s sister and the dragon Nadezda, who came from the old country. But you are now a vampire and a dragon. It shall be interesting ... I will be delighted to follow the births and lives of your children.”
“Children! I am not married to the Duke of Greystone. There are no children. I am sure he—”
“He has not yet asked you to marry him? Even though he survived the death of his sire? Even though he took command of the slayers? I was certain, when he left my shop that day that he intended to propose marriage.”
“He—he said that?”
“Eh?” Guidon had set two dainty white cups on a tray. He held a tin of biscuits from Fortnum and Mason’s. “Of course he did not say it. No gentleman ever would. It was obvious from his agitation that he was preparing himself to take that frightening step.”
“Frightening step?”
“A proposal is a very terrifying endeavor for a gentleman to make, my dear Lady Lucinda.” Guidon’s eyes held a twinkle.
“You will not tell me about my mother?”
“Not now. Not when it might be the only thing to force the two of you together again.”
The kettle whistled and he swiftly put in his tea leaves, then set the pot on the tray. “But you will, of course, stay for tea.”
“I—”
“There are many things I would like to tell you about dragons! I am the chronicler of all the preternatural beings that inhabit England: the vampires, the werewolves, all the shape-shifters. There is so much I want to ask you as well. Please, Lady Lucinda, would you indulge me with a little of your time?”
He was such a strange little man. She glanced around. “These books—they are not about vampires and werewolves are they?”
He chuckled merrily. “Some are, but only accountings of legends and tales. The books that chronicle the truth, I keep well protected. I had lost all my books before, and fortunately I had memorized every word of them. I have spent much time writing them all again.”
“Heavens,” Lucy breathed. “How many books?”
“Hundreds. But let us have our tea.”
She stared suddenly at the tray he held and the pot that wobbled slightly on it. Remembering what she now was. “I—I am now ... I mean, I cannot—”
“Oh, you can drink this tea, my dear. It is specially created for we vampires. Do not worry. And I am so delighted to be able to have tea with the future Duchess of Greystone!”
The footman brought her to Sinjin’s study and from the doorway, she saw Sinjin raise a tumbler to his lips, just as he had done on the very first night she had come to him. That night she had come to offer her body. Tonight she wanted to surrender her heart.
He had sent instructions to her house—pages of written guidelines on what it meant to be a vampire. He had sent her bottles of his special blood, for her to drink, and he had sent her notes of apology. Even though she had told him she understood he had given her a chance to live and survive, he did not seem to think she could forgive him for making her a vampire.
Was that why he had not seen her for so long? Why he had not come to her house? Or was it because of what he had learned about his family’s deaths? Had he learned that dragons were to blame after all?
Guidon, who had proved to be both charming and gentlemanly, had insisted the duke intended to marry her. But she ... she did not know. But where she would once have been afraid to hope, now she was willing to do so. Her heart was filled with hope, so much it felt it would burst.
She stepped forward into the room, and he jerked his head up. She had asked that the servant not announce her. What would be Sinjin’s reaction when he saw her?
“Lucy,” he said. And a large smile lifted his lips. He set down his drink and came to her, arms outstretched.
She could not have dreamed for a better greeting.
As he gathered her into his embrace, she whispered, “It has been a whole week. And I was afraid to come to you. I was afraid you had learned that ... that you do have a good reason to be angry with dragons—”
“I’m sorry, love. I had to track down some of the vampires who had supposedly rescued my sister and me that day. It has taken me all this time to find them, but eventually, from them, I got the truth.” He lifted her hand and bestowed one of his melting kisses to her palm. “They were the men who destroyed my family. It was not the dragons. They had killed my family for blood, then when the prince discovered my sister and I had survived, he decided to turn us into vampires. He also engineered my sister’s marriage to a dragon, to produce a child. He wanted to see what powers such a child would have.”
“Oh my goodness.”
“My sister deeply loved her husband. The prince was responsible for my brother-in-law’s death. The prince wanted him out of the way so he could eventually take control of James. I learned that my sister’s despair and melancholy was caused by the prince. He used his powers to affect her emotions. Again, she had served his purpose—she had borne a half-dragon child, and the prince then wanted to get her out of the way.”
Lucy cupped his face with her fingers. Deep lines gouged into his forehead and framed his mouth. “And because of you, the prince can no longer hurt James. He can no longer hurt anyone.” She took a deep breath. “Did you destroy those other slayers—the ones who killed your family?”
“It may surprise you, but I didn’t. I had decided there would be no more death. I also decided I am not going to run the dragon slayers, and I put another slayer in charge. A man who also believes there should be peace between our clans. He had those vampires arrested under the laws of our clan. Their punishment was destruction.”
“Then it was done because it was the law. Not vengeance, but because they broke the laws of your clan.”
“Yes.” He took a deep breath and his sparkling, glittering eyes held hers. “Lucy, you gave me the most amazing gifts in the world. You gave me the truth. You forgave me for what I did, because I was misguided and wrong. You helped me to crack the ice that had formed around my heart. You gave me my life back, a future, a nephew who can grow up to be strong, healthy, happy. You’ve given me peace, Lucy. I don’t know what to give you in return.”
“There is only one thing I want,” she whispered and her heart ached.
“If you want my heart, it is yours. On a silver platter.”
“I want to spend forever with you.”
Sinjin smiled, then he batted his lashes, making her giggle. “Are you proposing marriage to me, Lady Lucy Drake?”
“Were you ever going to propose it to me?” she countered, but she knew she was blushing. The heat of it scalded her cheeks.
“In matters of the heart, I don’t have as much courage as you do. I had to be certain I wouldn’t offend you if I asked.”
She sighed and rolled her eyes. “You won’t.”
“Then ... Lady Lucy, will you do be the honor of becoming my bride?”
“Are you certain? You will be marrying a dragon, you know.”
“You will be marrying a vampire. I love you, Lucy, and I still think it is too much to ask of you to take me on. I want you to be happy. You wanted normalcy, Lucy. Marrying a vampire won’t give you that. By making you a vampire, I took away any chance you have to try to live a normal life.”
“I’ll never be normal and I would never want you to try to be ‘normal,’ either. I love you, Sinjin. And if you will let me give you my answer, I will.”
“First, love, I have to tell you what I learned about your mother.”
“I spoke to Guidon,” she told him. “I went to him to find out what he had told you.”
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