Deceived (27 page)
“In what way?” I questioned. “I’ve done everything you’ve asked without explanation. I put my entire life on hold to help you out, not that I had a choice.” I was
done playing the silent subject and done with playing the victim. Both councils needed me, which meant I had power.
“Yes, you’ve learned your powers, but I suspect that had something to do with the teacher. But had you told us you were bonded to Ian
Despereaux
in the first place, you wouldn’t have
had
to train. You’re nothing but a liability now. Ian probably knows our plans, and therefore, they won’t work. You’ve wasted weeks of training. And while we’re on the subject of your devoted commitment, did you not sneak off to see him?” Holly pointed a finger at Aiden.
“He’s not the enemy. The enemy is Ian and his followers, those who kill witches for their blood. As far as I know, Aiden isn’t in
that
category.”
“The key words being ‘as far as you know’. He’s a vampire, and he’s drank from you for the sole purpose of his brew addiction, did he not?”
“Yes, but—”
“Then he’s the
enemy
!” Holly s
houted.
“They’re all monsters who would just as soon drain you as look at you. Your ignorance is going to get you killed, Gwen.”
Perhaps she was right, my life
had become
more dangerous since I invited vampires into it, but if that meant I’d die beside Aiden, then I wouldn’t regret my decisions. I did what I thought was right, and whether or not Holly or anyone else agreed was moot. I couldn’t live my life dictated by others or around what people may think. I was dating a vampire, but more importantly, I was in love with a vampire. Holly’s prejudice against him wouldn’t sway me.
“
Enough
!” Aaron roared. “I swear you humans are nothing but petulant children who whine and complain. We came here to discuss peace. How are we supposed to do that when you don’t even have peace in your kingdom?”
Some
supernaturals
took offence to being called human, but witches were as close to them as any other. I didn’t mind being referred to as a human, my family was human.
It
made me feel like I was still connected to Rebekah, my sister, in some way—like we were the same.
“Since you can’t handle this situation, I will,” Aaron snapped at Holly.
“If you don’t mind me asking,” I said to Aaron, “How is capturing Ian
Despereaux
going to end the addiction to brew? The secret of our blood is out, and whether he’s alive or not, the vampires won’t just give up on draining witches.”
Aaron circled the room, his hands in his trouser pockets. It was strange
that
someone who looked so young h
ad
so much power. I couldn’t imagine being stuck in a
teenager’s
body for eternity. The only part of him that lent any sort of clue about his age
was
his eyes. They were more mature than his young face from the things he witnessed over the years. I still wasn’t sure how old he was.
“We have ten vampires held prisoner we believe are coconspirators. Ian can’t distribute the blood by himself. Our plan is to allow your council to kill them, and my people will see your strength and willingness to fight back. We have sent out a message that any vampire caught drinking witches’ blood will be sentenced to death. It may take a while for the message to sink in, but if there’s one thing a vampire values more than a good blood, it’s their life. Most have become a vampire for the pure reason of having eternal youth; they won’t want to risk losing that for a taste of brew.”
“What’s the catch?” Holly interrupted.
“What do you mean?”
“Well I know you aren’t volunteering to help us out of the kindness of your heart.”
Aaron tilted his head. A mischievous smile crawled onto his lips
. “Everything has a price, but the main reason is because I don’t want our two species at war for forever, and that’s how long it’d be. Do you think if you didn’t have our support, the vampires would cease their killings? We rule the vampires, and they know our threats are far more dangerous than yours.
If I had a guess, I’d say their price included blood. Vampires had lifetimes to accumulate money. Their greed rested in the red liquid that flowed through their victims’ veins. Even though blood banks were set up all across the country to accommodate the vampires thirst and keep the humans safe, they still enjoyed drinking right from the source. Aiden had a small supply of bagged blood at his home, but as far as I knew, he didn’t drink it. He would find willing donors and sate his hunger that way. The fact that the women he fed on felt desire and lust for him was something I tried to put out of my mind. The other option was for him to cause his donors pain, and that wouldn’t be okay with me. Knowing your boyfriend was out stroking other women’s libidos with his venom was just par for the course when dating a vampire.
“What I want to know,” I spoke up. “Is how is this news about the effects of witches blood just now being revealed? As of a month ago,
I
didn’t even know our blood could do this. How has the secret been kept all this time? And what changed?”
“That’s a question
your
NAWC
would have to answer
. I’ve
drunk
from witches in my past and never felt the effects,” Aaron answered. “If I ha
d to guess, I’d say you have a traitor
amongst yourselves.”
The
members of the NAWC all shifted, their eyes darting to one another,
which made me more curious as to what they were hiding. There was something they knew that they didn’t want their loyal subjects finding out.
“Well?” I questioned my council members. Was this what
Kye
and Dorian knew
and kept
from me. Was a deal offered to
Kye
for his silence? I still didn’t know how
Dorian fit into the scenario. He isn’t a witch or bound to serve them, so what deal did he have with Holly?
Holly stood, crossed her arms, and
walked
off to the side. “Our Goddess intertwined a spell into our blood so the secret wouldn’t be revealed to those who sought our blood,” she spoke low like she was remembering some ancient text she’d once read. “The spell bewitched any vampire who tasted our blood to forget the taste of it. For ce
nturies we have been taught to
not allow the vampires to feed from us as a cautionary measure should the spell not work. It was a way to preserve our species and our
magic
. The Goddess’ gift lay in our veins, a gift that was not meant to be shared with others.” Holly glanced up with a faraway look in her eyes. An emotion I couldn’t quite pin down colored her face—regret, remorse, grief? “I suspect whoever shared their blood with a vampire found a way around the spell. For what reason, I don’t know. The council has been searching for the culprit, but as far as we know, you’re the only one who’s involved with a vampire, Gwen.”
All eyes shifted towards me, each person watched with curiosity, hatred, or amusement. The amusement came from the vampires of course; my council didn’t find anything amusing about the accusation.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I said with disbelief. “Aiden didn’t drink from me until after the secret was already out. I didn’t even know about it so how could I be the one responsible?” I paused to think for a moment. “Besides, if I didn’t know then that means the others don’t know either. I suspect the council didn’t tell us because the fewer people who know, the better chance the secret has of being kept. If you guys want to point fingers, then allow me to point mine at one of you.”
“How dare you think we’d put our people in danger!” Holly snapped. “Plus you’re bonded to the vampire responsible. You can’t tell me you’re so naïve you didn’t know sharing blood with a vampire would create a bond?”
The tingle of my magic revving up stirred under my skin. I fisted my hands to hold it at bay. “I allowed Ian to drink from me to save Fiona’s life! I didn’t know she wasn’t really dead, and when Ian fed me his blood, I was unconscious!” I was so pissed I was about to storm out of the castle and head back to Flora, damn the consequences.
“I swear the two of you are like immature teenagers. All of this
bickering
back and forth with blame isn’t going to help anyone,” Aaron snarled, then looked at his sister. “And they wonder why their species is in danger.” They both laughed.
Everyone was silent for a moment as we all reined in our anger. Now was not the time point fingers, we needed to hash out the plans and put an end to all of it. Holly sat back down and whispered with Patrick and James. Aiden walked over to me and wrapped his arms around my body. Closing my eyes,
I inhaled his spicy clean scent
. Just having him beside me
helped tame my anger.
When I
opened my eyes, I caught Dorian’s watching me and Aiden.
“Don’t let them get to you, my Gwen,” Aiden whispered into my ear.
“Easier said than done,” I mumbled.
“Okay, so the plan is for you, Gwen, to contact Ian and try to set up a meeting. It’ll have to be somewhere that won’t make him suspicious,” Aaron started.
“I don’t know how to contact him. He penetrates my mind, but I haven’t tried to send him a message first,” I told them. “Plus, he can manipulate my dreams and physically harm me. Fiona and Ethan tried casting a spell to protect me, but it only lasted a couple days before he found a way around it. He’s very proficient in magic.” The last thing I needed was for Ian to catch onto our plan and try to kill me through my dreams.
“Fiona and Ethan knew about your bond with Ian?” Holly questioned, her tone angry and bewildered. “Am I the only one who didn’t know?” I didn’t answer her. I decided the question was more rhetorical than anything. Plus, I didn’t want to be referred to as an immature child again by Aaron should Holly and I get into another arguing match. I wanted to set up a plan as much as he did. The sooner the better, although I was the bait for the lunatic vampire we were trying to capture.
“The bond works both ways, Gwen. Just because you haven’t tried doesn’t mean you can’t. All you have to do is focus on Ian and think something. The thought will find him.”
Peachy. I hated
that
the thing that separated my thoughts from getting to him was concentration. Could he hear my random thoughts? Did he spend his time intruding my mind just to learn my inner feelings? Being linked to someone like him made my skin crawl. Every time I heard his name, I thought about Bridget, the girl he’d murdered who’d haunted me until I found out the truth. I also remembered Amy Harper, the first body the FPD found and how young she was when Ian or his goons killed her. The word
Ian
was a foul and dirty word in my mind that was associated with ugliness. I didn’t care what his motivations were or his plans for me; the only thing I cared about was killing him, ridding the world of a heartless monster. With his death lives would be saved and mine could go back to normal. All of a sudden playing the bait didn’t seem so bad. I would have my chance to run a stake through his heart and have a first row seat to his demise. The VC had their plans, and I had mine. I would go along with whatever they cooked up, and when Ian met me, I would be prepared to kill him whether the VC wanted me to or not. It was the only way I could be sure our bond was broken for good without having to gift my blood to the VC. The more I learned about the vampire council, the more I didn’t want their mouths on my body.
“What about Flora?” Aiden asked.
I tucked my secret plan into the back of my mind and focused on the conversation.
“Gwen could return to Flora and ask Ian to meet her. She can pretend her training with the NAWC is done, and the war ended before it started. Gwen can use the ruse that she wants to meet him about breaking their bond. Ian will never suspect the VC will be there waiting for him. The best way to capture a man like him is when he’s off guard.”
Just at the mention of returning to Flora was enough to make me smile.
“Should we be discussing this in front of Gwen?” Patrick questioned. “If she knows the plan, can’t Ian just pluck it from her mind?”
It was a good question. Now that I knew just how connected we were, I wasn’t sure of how much privacy I had—even in my own brain. I thought Ian could project thoughts at me and intrude in my dreams from the magic he learned, but Aaron made it sound like we shared a mind, and all either one of us had to door was open the door. Not very comforting. If they wanted me to leave, I would. I wanted their plan to work out more than anyone because if it didn’t, then mine wouldn’t either.
“As long as she doesn’t focus on the details all the time, we should be safe. A bond doesn’t necessarily mean the pair can read each other’s minds. But Ian can pick up on Gwen’s moods should she act nervous or suspicious around him.” Aaron spoke with an air of superiority
.
“You guys come up with a plan you can all agree on, I need some air.” Stepping out of the room, I made my way out of the castle. The
rain had slowed and was now just
a light drizzle. The coolness of the
breeze
and rain felt amazing against my heated skin. Taking a deep breath, I filled my lungs with clean air. The room was stifling and suffocating as the councils debated. Being outside was a lot more relaxing. I could feel my muscles loosen, and my magic recede as I calmed down.
I sat on the stone steps in front of the castle and thought about everything. I learned a lot about myself, and my abilities in a short period of time. Dorian was a new and interesting person who’d stepped into my life. I still had plans to find out more about him, but they’d have to wait. I thought about Fiona and how our friendship was veering down different roads. I thought about Aura, and how I’d never feel that safety in our connection again. I wondered where she was and if she was happy. I thought about Aiden and how we could be riding in a gondola right now if I would have just run away with him. Of course that decision would have just opened up new problems, none of which would have solved my current ones. And I thought about Ian. What was his deal? Is he just your average everyday bad guy or was there a method to his madness? I snorted.
Yeah, he’s a psychopath. They always have a well thought out plan.
My sarcasm didn’t ease my mind. There was something about Ian I wasn’t catching onto. He’d said
things that triggered my curiosity, things that had meaning I wasn’t seeing. I couldn’t remember his exact words, but he said something along the lines of “you’ll be more than she ever was”. What the hell did that mean, and who was
she
? He mentioned how he was concerned for my wellbeing, but was that because I was a commodity he didn’t want to lose, or was it because somewhere, through the ugly layers, he had feelings for me? If that was the case, which I severely doubted, why would he have feelings for me? We didn’t know each other, not really, and our meetings were less than cordial.
The soft click of the door shutting made me look over my shoulder. Aiden stepped
down the stairs
and sat beside me. His arm wrapped around my back, and I leaned my head on his shoulder. Sometimes a girl just needed a hug. Wrapping his other arm around my front, he clasped his hands together, and we sat in silence for a few moments.
“What do you know about Ian?” I kept my voice low.
“Just what you know, why?”
“I was hoping you might be able to enlighten me on who he is.”
“You know who he is. He’s a murderous prick who kills anyone who stands in his way.”
That was a given, but I couldn’t shake the feeling there was something else motivating his rampage. How had Ian deciphered the secret of our blood?
“What’s all this about, my Gwen?” Aiden placed his finger under my chin and tilted my head up.
“Something just doesn’t add up. I think he has a plan for me, something he’s tried before.” I paused. “I know that sounds bizarre and cryptic, but that’s what I’ve gathered from our conversations.”
Aiden’s body tensed against mine. “What has he said?”
I shook my head. “It’s probably nothing. Has the councils come to an agreement?” I didn’t want Aiden to worry over my inner thoughts. I still thought something was going on with Ian, but it also might have been my mind running wild. No point in dragging Aiden into my chaos.
“We can talk about it if you want,” Aiden said.
“No, it’s okay.”
“I think the council will send you back to Flora.”
That was a relief. My plan wouldn’t work if I stayed in Moon.
The door creaked again and Aiden and I to turned. Dorian stood on the top step, his gray eyes covered with sunglasses, and his face serious.
“May I speak with Gwen for a moment,” he asked Aiden. Aiden looked between me and Dorian and gave me a quick kiss before standing.
“Sure,” he said,
and then
looked down at me. “It shouldn’t be long before the councils let you know the plans.” Aiden and Dorian sized each other up as they passed one another.
It was just a matter of time before the ruler and dicks came out. Men!