Scorned (13 page)

Pierce showed up early the next morning, but
I was already showered and dressed. My body ached more than the day
before, and it was harder for me to move around, but I insisted on
our picnic.

Pierce spread out the blanket while my aunt
helped me outside. Pierce was grinning from ear to ear, those
beautiful eyes so full of life and pride that I had to giggle.

“What are you so happy about?” I asked. He
waved his arm at the blanket and I realized why it was so special.
The blanket was woven from a picture of us from when we first
started dating and said “Together Forever” across the top. Super
cheesy, but very cute and very romantic. I made my aunt take some
pictures of it before they settled me on top of it and she and
Pierce went back inside to get the food.

We ate ham and cheese sandwiches and watched
the clouds and cuddled until the sun started to go down. I made
sure we got inside before it reached full dark.

“We could have watched the sunset and
watched the stars come out,” Pierce pointed out. That would have
been nice, but he didn’t know there were angry vampires after
me.

“I’m feeling kind of sore,” I told him, and
it was the truth. “And tired. You want to just watch TV or
something?”

Pierce smiled his understanding and pulled
me into a hug. “Of course, StaciDoll.”

I didn’t know I’d fallen asleep until
something woke me much later. It was already dark and there was a
text from Pierce letting me know I’d missed his call to tell me
he'd made it home safe.

“How are you feeling, LeKrista?”

I turned my head toward Roman’s ancient
voice. He sat on the floor next to my bed, his eyes trained on
me.

No wonder I woke up.

“What do you want?” I asked, my voice
groggy.

Roman muttered something in Latin and stood.
Somehow, he seemed taller tonight. “I only came to see how you were
doing. That is all.”

“How long have you been here?” I asked as I
tried to push myself to a sitting position.

“About an hour. Maybe less.”

“Have I not passed inspection?”

“LeKrista, please. I am in no mood for your
smart mouth.”

I shook my head. “You have no idea.”

“I am sure.” Roman pretended to examine his
finger nails while I watched in the semi-darkness.

“Was there something else?” I asked.

“I thought I would ask if you wanted to come
with me tonight. I know you are not feeling well, I know you are
angry with me, but it wouldn’t have to be for long.” He paused for
a moment, but I knew he wasn’t finished. “I am truly sorry for not
telling you the truth, all of the truth, much sooner. I hope you
can forgive me.”

“I guess I can go with you for a half hour
or so,” I agreed, knowing I’d probably regret it. “As long as you
don’t try any vampire stuff. I don’t think my body can take any
more of it.”

“I should think not.”

“Also, I think you should answer some more
questions.”

“Agreed.”

Roman didn’t bother with any more words. He
simply scooped me up in his arms and lifted me off the bed. I let
my head fall to his shoulder, my arms wrap around his neck, and the
world blew around and through me.

It took a while to realize that I couldn’t
feel the wind blowing through me like I had before. We weren’t
flying that fast.

“Open your eyes, LeKrista,” Roman said
softly in my ear. I was vaguely aware that he was doing something
to charm me, trying to get me back into his good graces, and I knew
it would probably work.

I opened my eyes and looked around. My heart
jumped into my throat and I clutched at his clothes to keep from
plunging to my death. In theory, flying is an excellent idea, but
when you are suspended in the air hundreds of feet from the ground
with nothing to keep you from falling but the arms you’re wrapped
in, flying takes on a whole new meaning and ceases to be such a
good idea. I knew he wasn’t about to let me fall, but it didn’t
alleviate the panic.

“Don’t worry,” Roman tried to assure me. “I
won’t let you fall.”

“Thanks,” I croaked, “but after what’s
happened to me in the last week I’m not so sure something or
someone won’t come swooping by and snatch me from your arms.”

Roman’s chuckle rumbled in his chest. “Would
it make you feel better to know that, should something or someone
come along strong enough, fast enough, and smart enough to simply
pull you from my arms without my anticipating it, I would fight
them to the death?”

“You would do that for me?”

“I would.”

“Not for Adelina or Calliope?”

“I have done no less for them in the past,”
Roman answered with a twinge of bitterness, “and for you to assume
such is offensive.”

“I’ve only known you for a week, remember?”
I asked. “I don’t know what you’ve done for those women in the
past.”

Roman’s arms shifted around me and I tensed,
afraid I’d said something to make him want to drop me, or at least
scare me a little, but he simply shifted my weight and wrapped me
in a tighter embrace.

“What’s more,” I continued, “how do you
expect me to think anything good of you after everything?”

“And what’s everything, my sweet?”

“All the lies and what you let happen to
Adelina.”

“And what did I let happen?”

I growled, frustrated. “You almost let her
die! You thought that would be okay?” It never left my mind that we
were fighting in the air and it scared me.

“Have you any idea how long those women have
been alive, LeKrista?”

I shook my head. “No, but isn’t it your
fault that they’ve been around so long? Wouldn’t they have died
long ago if you hadn’t intervened?”

Roman didn’t answer right away, but when he
did, his voice had grown soft. “You are right, LeKrista. I’m an old
vampire,” he added after a moment. “When I was human, we were
taught to revere women. I would never let anything happen to any
one of them without their express consent. Please believe
that.”

I heard the sincerity in his voice, and I
knew it was true. Could even a vampire fake that kind of honesty?
Probably, but I wanted to believe the truth of his words. I wanted
to believe that, even though he’d been dealt a bad card he’d made
an effort to turn it around for good so, I let myself. I looked
down on the world again, and through my fear I was able to see the
beauty that Roman had laid out before me. The lights in the valley
twinkled and flickered in the cold night air. Car horns and barking
dogs and the occasional thump of music punctuated the night as
Roman and I floated above it.

“Are you getting cold?” Roman asked when I
shivered in a sudden breeze.

“Yes,” I answered.

“I will take you to my home where you can
warm up in front of the fire with some hot chocolate.”

I smiled.

Oh, how I wish you were my Pierce.

I hoped Roman wasn’t listening. I felt a
melancholy come over me. Here I was with another man when all I
wanted was to be with my love. I felt like such a traitor. I should
have been nominated for the “Worst Girlfriend of the Year”
award.

When I finally opened my eyes, we were
standing in front of a crackling fire in a thoroughly decorated
room that I hadn’t yet explored. It was warm enough that I could
remove my jacket and still wish I had on fewer clothes. I could
smell the chocolate, heavy and sweet in the small room.

“Italian chocolate,” Roman informed me as I
reached for a mug and took a seat on an expensive looking red
velvet sofa. "I've seen it in your mind before."

I shook my head and sipped. The chocolate
was rich and dark with just enough sugar added to make it perfect.
I loved it.

“I could drink this all day,” I told Roman
as I set my mug on a golden coaster.

“That can be arranged.”

I didn’t know what he meant by that, so I
let it go.

“Are you warm, yet?” Roman asked a little
while later. I nodded and set my mug down.

“How did you keep me from dying?” I
asked.

“Must we talk of this now? I am just glad
you’re alive.” And I knew how much he meant it, but he was avoiding
answering my questions. I was surprised at how well the house had
fared after the fight two nights ago. Roman chuckled.

“I’ve had everything repaired.”

“Wow,” I said. “That was fast.”

“Yes, I suppose so.”

A gentle rap came on the door and we both
turned to see Calliope enter the room. Dressed in a simple, but
lovely red gown, she curtsied and I smiled at her.

“Master, you have a phone call. It’s
important.” There was a twinge to the way she said important that
caught Roman’s ear.

“Very well. I’ll take it in here. Take
LeKrista upstairs and introduce her to Rachel, please. I think they
will make good friends.”

“I can go if it’s a problem,” I said, but
Roman waved it off and picked up the phone.

I followed Calliope from the room and up the
stairs to a door at the end and on the right. Calliope turned and
smiled at me as she opened the door and we walked in. This room was
identical to the one from before, but it wasn’t empty. Six queen
size beds that could have comfortably slept three people each were
arranged in a half-moon pattern. There were two girls per bed, each
dressed in satin pajama pants and tank tops. I assumed the colors
were of their choosing because they ranged from pink to black.

“Rachel,” Calliope called softly and a young
girl who couldn’t have been but eighteen stepped off the bed
farthest from us and walked across the floor. “This is LeKrista.
The Master wanted you two to meet.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Rachel,” I said.

“You too.”

Rachel was pretty. Long, dark brown hair,
fair skin, piercing blue-grey eyes. She wasn’t tall. As a matter of
fact, she was shorter than me. She wore black satin pants and
matching tank top with no decoration. She was thin with love
handles and I liked her instantly, but there was something missing
from her eyes. Something that Adelina and Calliope and the three
vampires had that Rachel didn’t.

Experience.

She was young, from my time and space, not
thousands of years old like Roman.

“Rachel,” I asked, “how old are you?”

“Seventeen,” the girl answered.

I shook my head. “Why are you here?”

“She’s an orphan,” Calliope answered for
her. “The Master found her and brought her here.”

“He provides for me,” Rachel added. “He
treats me like a human being. He gives me respect.”

My head became light and my chest clenched.
“One more year,” I tried to tell her. “One more year and you would
have been free.”

“This is better than anything I could have
ever provided for myself,” she defended.

I couldn’t tell if she thought she was right
or if she knew she was wrong, but she was going to stand by it no
matter what. “Not right away,” I continued to argue, even though I
knew it was hopeless, “but you could have provided for yourself
eventually.”

Rachel shook her head, and I thought she
looked sad. “This is good for me.”

I looked at Calliope and knew what she was
trying to tell me. Get away from this man. Get away from this
place. I didn’t want to end up like Rachel and Adelina and
Calliope, trapped, a slave to Roman for the rest of my life.

“What is this?” Roman’s voice boomed
unexpectedly from the doorway and I felt the entire atmosphere in
the room change. The girls all sat up straight on their beds, their
legs crossed and their hands in their laps. Some of them
straightened their mussed hair, trying to look presentable, though
they were all shockingly beautiful.

“You told me-"

"No!” Roman cut Calliope off with a sharp
slap. “I told you to-"

"Roman!” I tried to get his attention, but
he wasn’t hearing me.

”You told me to introduce her to Rachel,”
Calliope stopped him bravely. She pulled her split lip into her
mouth. “That is what I did.”

“Not like this!”

“Perhaps next time you should be a little
more specific in what you mean.” The serenity on Calliope’s face
said more than her words. She knew Roman cared for her and she
wasn’t afraid to correct him when he needed it. She offered him a
small, arrogant smile before turning back to Rachel. “Go ahead and
finish preparing for bed.” Then she turned to me. “LeKrista?”

I felt a rage build inside me that wasn’t my
own and I suddenly knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Calliope
had done this on purpose.

It could have been worse.

That thought wasn’t mine.

She could have seen the others.

There had to be a way to make the unwanted
thoughts go away.

She could have seen-

A sharp pain ran through me from the top of
my head, through the core of my body, and out through all four of
my limbs. I was incapable of stopping my body from falling to my
knees as the projected memories overrode my entire nervous system.
I was vaguely aware that I was screaming as I remembered thoughts
that weren’t mine.

Satin sheets. God I was getting tired of
satin sheets!

Vivian and Lucretious in bed. Roman’s bed.
They’d been making love. It wasn’t like with Lucretious and
Perdita. This was real love. He truly loved her, and she loved
him.

So, you killed her.

“You’re killing her.” It wasn’t my voice
that said it, but Adelina’s, soft so as not to alarm the other
girls. As if they couldn’t already see.

“No,” he answered in Latin. “I’ve learned
how far I can go without killing. What happened to Vivian was a
mistake.”

I gasped for breath. The pain was still
unbearable. I clutched at my head, placing the heels of my hands
over my ears, just in case. “Please stop.” The words came out as
nothing more than a soft whisper. I wasn’t even sure that they’d
heard.