Darling (3 page)

“I keep myself
away from her because she is still a child!”

“My lord, that
child would be over 400 years old if she were subject to a human’s
linear time.”

Constantine
tightened his fists. It frightened him to think of how Cassandra
would have been dust centuries ago if he hadn’t brought her
into his world. Even now Constantine knew he was only delaying the
inevitable. “I cannot risk making her my Beloved.”

“She is
physically ready and has been for over three centuries mortal time.”
Lenore’s black eyes sparkled with amusement before shuttering
flat. “I also believe my lord is finding that out for himself?”

Constantine was
quite grateful he couldn’t blush like a human. “She is
becoming harder to resist.”

“It is not my
place to ask, my lord—”

“But you will
anyway,” Constantine sighed. “Understand you are to be
given my confidence because you have been Cassandra’s keeper
for all these years and I know you care for her.”

“I do, my
lord.” Lenore’s gaze lost its hard edge. “I wish
her to be happy, my lord. You are the only one truly able to do
that.”

“Am I really?”
Constantine shook his head. Defeat overtook him. “You know how
unstable these relationships usually become, Lady Lenore. Obsession
replaces the emotion of love between a vampire and a human, keeping
them locked in a miserable echo of what they once had.”

“It does not
have to be that way between you and the Mistress.”

The questions
spilled out, hard and antagonistic. “What if it does? What if I
surrender to Cassandra, make her my Beloved, and then we become a
nightmarish caricature of who we are now? What if I cannot control my
feelings for Cassandra and they become dangerous to her? What then,
Lady Lenore? What will happen to my darling?”

“My lord, I
fear you are overstating the possibilities—” Lenore
argued even though she had warned Cassandra of the very same thing.

Incensed and drawn
into his grim speculations, Constantine snapped viciously, “I
will tell you what will happen! If I allow Cassandra to die she will
reincarnate, hating me as much as she loves me, demanding
satisfaction for the damage I inflicted upon her during this
lifetime. If I have truly sinned against her, Cassandra will come
back with a Hate Mark—guaranteeing misery will haunt us both
until one or the other dies. I cannot take that chance, Lady Lenore.
Not with her. Not until I am assured that Cassandra’s feelings
for me will not rot and my feelings for her will not stray into
madness.”

Lenore’s
emerald gown rippled as she approached him. It reminded Constantine
of a woman’s heart—a thing of beauty, to be sure, but
always carrying darkness within its exquisite folds. And as a man,
foolish creature that he was, Constantine determined to look beneath,
to see if there was something other than perverse passion, only to
find more questions than answers.

My folly is to think
it can be different between Cassandra and I. History has shown it
will not be.

“My lord, you
cannot continue this way much longer. You must make a decision
regarding the young Mistress. I have done as much as I can to protect
and shield her from your dalliances, understanding you see those
creatures for what they are, but also knowing how much it would
destroy Mistress Cassandra to learn of their existence.”

Constantine again
suffered the desire to rush back to his darling and beg her
forgiveness. He wanted to explain it to her but knew he couldn’t.
To do so would introduce other questions Constantine was not ready to
answer.

“They are but
a means to an end. They signify nothing to me other than sustenance.
I do not treat them unkindly but I never have tender feelings for
them either. Their names, faces, have no more meaning than those of
Cassandra’s meals.”

“I understand,
my lord. However, she does not. She feels you prefer them over her.”

“Which is
absolutely not true!”

“Mistress
Cassandra has consciously been ready to be your Beloved for the last
human century. She cannot be placed in this unnatural stasis for much
longer.”

Constantine’s
shoulders dropped an inch. His cheeks hollowed. “You think me
selfish?”

“I think you
scared.”

He barked rudely in
scornful laughter. “Amazing, is it not? I am a Pureblood
vampire of noble lineage and king of all you survey. I bring about my
subjects greatest fears, inspire their nightmares to come to life,
and here I am caught in my own noose.” He slammed his fist into
the richly paneled wall. Constantine’s nostrils flared; the
only outward sign of his suffering.

I want it to be
different between us. I want her love for me to remain pristine. I
want her to see me as her savior—not her tormentor.

He pulled his arm
back. The wood healed itself within moments. He wondered if his
darling would be so lucky.

“My lord puts
Mistress Cassandra’s safety above his own happiness. Perhaps
she would understand if you would but explain it to her.”

Constantine waved
away Lenore’s suggestion. “I will fix this. I promise you
that but it will have to be in my own way.”

“My lord—”

“I have
already spoken my will, Lady Lenore.” His eyes brightened to
the color of freshly spilled blood. “Do not attempt to
undermine me in this.”

She bowed in
apology. “I understand, my lord.” Straightening fully,
Lenore noted, “If you have no further need of me, my lord, I
will assist the young mistress in her preparations.”

Constantine nodded
in dismissal. He waited until she glided away, careful to keep her
back from him, before asking, “Do you think this is why we are
engineered to be paired?”

Lenore stopped,
halfway between her lord and her mistress’s rooms. The corridor
lengthened, leaving the vampiress unable to reach Cassandra until she
answered Lord Constantine’s question adequately.

“You were
paired because you are complementary. Mistress Cassandra has the
ability to withstand this world and bear strong sons and daughters
for your esteemed line.”

“And what of
me? What do I bring her?”

“Joy.”

“Joy.”
Constantine contemplated Lenore’s reply. “There must be
more she would want from life than to be my Beloved and mother to our
children.”

“A partner,
perhaps? One who can respect her wishes and support her when she
needs him?”

“Lady Lenore,
you sound far more human than I ever expected!” Constantine
teased, amused to see her twitch in chagrin. “You are right, of
course.” His easy smile faded away. “She cannot stay
sheltered forever, can she?”

“Mistress
Cassandra is your true match, my lord, for a reason. She can survive
our dreamland of terror and nightmares. She is capable of taking the
burdens of managing this world by your side.”

“Can she
really? She is not afraid of what goes here because I keep much of it
away from her. I constructed this house to be the antithesis of our
reality. She is all smiles and happiness, untouched of mortal
concerns, living in beauty, thinking she knows how this world works.
If she only knew. . .”

“Mistress
Cassandra is ready to move forward with you, my lord.”

Constantine allowed
himself the luxury of hiding his face behind his gloved hand. The
partial obscurity gave his words the freedom to tumble forth.

“I do not want
to let her go, Lady Lenore. I want to keep my darling all for myself.
Once I make her my Beloved, she can no longer hide away in these
rooms or stay attached by my side. She will have to fully face the
world trapped inside this kingdom and I am deathly afraid she is not
strong enough to do so.”

Lenore understood
what Constantine secretly feared. “Mistress Cassandra’s
love for you is eternal, my lord. Truly living among us will not
change that.”

His mouth curled.
Arm falling back down, Constantine remarked, “Eternity is our
birthright, yet Nephilim keeps their sovereignty over us by enslaving
us to these cruel, delicate humans. Cassandra has the power to slay
me, to make me a shadow of the man I am now, and all in a handful of
years.” Constantine whispered in bewilderment, “Love is
truly a terrible thing, is it not?”

“Yes, and
entirely worth it, my lord.”

“I hope you
are right, Lady Lenore, for all our sakes.” The hallway
darkened before returning to its normal length. He bowed slightly to
his subject. “Thank you for your generous counsel, Lady Lenore.
You may assist our little darling now. I have promised to entertain
her and I shall keep my word.”

Even if it tortures
me to the point of madness.

4

Cassandra sat next
to her lord, ensconced in a luxurious sedan that meandered its way
towards the center of town. Curiosity tempted her to pull back the
velvet curtains, to see what peculiar events were happening outside,
but one peek at Lord Constantine’s foreboding expression
promptly killed the urge.

He has warned me not
to look out unless he has given me permission. I do not want to upset
him further.

She sighed and
continued to stare straight ahead. Their driver remained a shadowy
outline behind the privacy curtain. Cassandra wondered what he
thought of her and her lord. Did he too see her as a nuisance?

Perhaps it is better
that I am not seen out with my lord very often.

“Does my
company not please you, darling?”

She shifted in her
seat towards him. “Of course it does, my lord. Why do you ask?”
The corners of Cassandra’s plump mouth turned down. “You
heard my thoughts.”

“Fears are
amplified beyond the castle. That and,” his gloved hand found
hers, “you have yet to speak a single word to me.”

Cassandra lifted her
arm and rubbed her cheek against their entwined fingers. “I
have been afraid that you were angry with me.”

“Do you fear
such a thing often?”

She bit her lip and
shook her head. “Not often.”

“But the fear
you feel often centers on me, does it not?”

Her cheeks bloomed
in embarrassment. “I am truly sorry for the way I acted
earlier. You have always been so kind to me and I repay you with bad
behavior. I do not know what came over me.”

“You were
already forgiven, my darling.” Lord Constantine leaned down and
whispered in her ear, “You are very beautiful this evening. I
am pleased to see you wearing one of your new gowns.”

Cassandra preened.
“Did you notice my hat as well?”

The vampire
inspected the delicious confectionary of ribbons, feathers, and
roses. “It is rather large.”

She gasped in mock
outrage. “I designed it to be so! It gives me the illusion of
being taller so my lord does not look like he is escorting a small
child.”

“You can never
be confused for a child, darling.”

Cassandra felt the
sadness in his voice. Thinking back to Lenore’s warning about
the danger of love between them, she wondered if Lord Constantine
believed it as well.

“Well, I must
trust you are right.”

He noticed her lack
of enthusiasm. “I seem to be making you unhappy again. Forgive
me, darling. I meant no offense. Your hat is beyond lovely. I
especially like the blue rose.”

Cassandra mustered a
cheerful smile. “It is beautiful, is it not? I love all the
roses we grow but these are my favorite.”

The vampire studied
the decorative composition further. “I see you have included a
raven feather or two. These are mine I presume?”

“As if I would
wear any other’s feathers! You left them behind the last time
you left.” Cassandra’s expression softened. “I love
watching you transform into a crow. It makes me wish I had the power
to do so as well. Then we could fly together and see all the wonders
of the world.”

“I rather like
you in this form.” Lord Constantine kissed the back of her
gloved hand. “Have you found much to occupy you while I have
been gone?”

“There are
always new things to learn and see. Lenore,” she halted and
corrected, “I mean Lady Lenore is the best tutor a person could
have. I do not think a subject exists she is not knowledgeable in.”

Lord Constantine,
normally stringent on matters of etiquette and protocol, allowed her
slip of familiarity to pass without comment. “She is very
wise.”

“Yes, she is.”
Cassandra gestured to the window. “Where are we going?”

“I never told
you?”

“No.”

“Really?”
The vampire king stroked his chin. “I thought I did.”

Cassandra bumped her
bare shoulder against him. “No, you did not.”

Lord Constantine
shrugged. The exaggerated nonchalance of the movement matched his
silky tone. “Since we are so close I shall have to let it be a
surprise.”

Her mouth dropped
open before snapping shut. “No fair.”

“Now, darling,
do not pout.”

Cassandra turned
away with a sniff. “I do not pout. I contemplate things with an
extreme degree of intensity. That is all.” A sly smile nudged
her rosy lips. “My current contemplation involves my lord’s
promise to entertain me. I do believe the emphasis was on me.”

Lord Constantine
laughed and flicked the brim of her hat. “Naughty minx.”

The sedan rolled to
a smooth stop. “See? We are already here.”

Cassandra looked
down to ensure her strapless gown hadn’t been inadvertently
tugged out of place. She smoothed each arm; satisfied her black
gloves remained pulled above her elbows.

“Are you
ready, darling?”

She nodded.
Cassandra was so excited to see where Lord Constantine had brought
them. The door snapped opened to a cornucopia of light, sound, and
color.

“A carnival!
You remembered!”

“Of course I
remembered your request—especially when you asked me so
prettily.”

Cassandra hugged his
arm. “You were in such a hurry to leave that I thought you did
not pay me any heed.”