The Blood Bride (Blood Secrets) (23 page)

She pulled the top off its hanger and started to pull it over her head. She slipped one hand through, pushing a crutch to the wall, relying on the one, and was just getting her head through when she lost balance. Hope shrieked as she started to topple, throwing herself onto the uninjured side, when warm hands grabbed her.

“You’re a menace, you know. Can’t even dress yourself without causing yourself another injury.” But the voice was heavy with laughter, and she relaxed.

Xavier to the rescue again.

* * * *

She limped into the room. Xavier had offered to help her once they had climbed the steps from the secured living area, but her stubborn will told her she needed to do this under her own steam. And she had, but was paying for it now. Oh boy, she was puffing by the time they reached the office, felt the trickle of sweat that snaked down her back once more, and knew it wasn’t the closeness of the atmosphere that caused it. The door clicked closed behind them.

A chaise longue had been carried in for her comfort in the old-fashioned room, and she gratefully headed towards it. Xavier was right beside her, and as she raised her leg, he was there with the pillow, thoughtfully propping it in place, then taking the armchair beside her. Locking his fingers with hers in a show of what? Solidarity? Right about now, she didn’t know or even care. He was here with her, and that was what really mattered.

She rested her head for an instant, closing her eyes and gathering her emotional resources for the ordeal ahead.

“It will be fine.” His words were sure and she took comfort from them, before sucking in a nervous breath as the knock on the door sounded. She spun her head around, and saw he was watching her.

“Ready?” His eyes were deep pools she just wanted to drown in. She pulled away, lightheaded from the broken connection.

“Yeah.” She breathed in the air trying to get some distance between them, but Xavier gripped her hand tighter. She sighed, understanding he was making a point, both to her and to the household.

“Come.” He spoke the word in his displeased tone, she noted. The weeks of togetherness had taught her many of the subtleties and nuances of his voice.

The door swung open. She could see her parents, neither appeared happy to be there given their stiff body language and cold faces. The disapproval in their manner sent chill waves across the room.

Hope grimaced as they saw her holding onto Xavier, but right now, he was a lifeline for her, as the arctic blast surrounded them like a heavy cloud, freezing her insides. She could clearly see the flat lines of their mouths edged with anger, and she silently sighed.

“Please be seated, Verity and James. Hope has been very despondent the last few days. Her concern over the…” She watched as he let his voice trail off, and his face turned hard. “…encounter you had with her, James.” Xavier stopped.

Hope could see a banked anger in her father’s eyes. “Mum? I haven’t heard from you. I tried emailing, but didn’t hear back. I even left messages on your answering machine. Why didn’t you try to contact me?” She held herself still, waiting for an answer.

“What? That’s a silly idea, Hope. You took off, immersed yourself in some…” Verity’s arms flew around in elegant wheels, “dangerous and reprehensible carry-on, and now it’s our fault?” Her mother’s voice rose with disdain and anger. Hope wanted to cringe away, but this was a discussion they had to have. “You cause all these issues, and then expect us to accept the blame? Hope Elizabeth, we never raised you to be self-indulgent.” Hope watched her mother’s flaring nostrils, wondering if she should be getting so upset with her illness. “Sending you to college was a mistake. Cressida insisted, but I always knew you would get ideas above your station.” Her mother’s voice was shrill, as her chest heaved. Something inside Hope broke under the barrage.

“I didn’t do anything. I just want—” But even as she moved to talk, her father rose menacingly. Xavier growled, but James kept coming. Before he could reach her, Xavier was there in front of her—a physical barrier, between herself and her parents. Hope realised then that was all there was to be said. They were together now, and either her parents would accept that fact or not. But their cool demeanour answered one of her questions.

“Stand aside, Xavier. This has nothing to do with you. It is a family issue.” The voice was hard. Cold. Forbidding.

“No, James, I won’t. Hope is now under my protection.”

Her mother gasped. Hope closed her eyes. There was no way they would accept that, the knowledge hurting her. “You will never raise a hand to her again.” She shivered from the chill in Xavier’s voice.

“Master Xavier, I don’t see how this has anything to do with—” But her mother’s words were also cut off, and Hope’s eyes snapped open in time to see his face, angry, now looking back to her mother.

“No, you don’t. Hope has done only as she was instructed. Nothing less and certainly nothing more than has ever been expected from her, but I cannot fathom your behaviour. Surely you can see she has been hurt enough by your coldness? Can’t you see just how miserable she has been? She just wants her parents there for her.”

Her father sneered. “What? So we can watch her display herself for you and any other, in the hopes of somehow debasing herself, in order to achieve a nest of her own? We warned Cressida this would be the outcome, but she wouldn’t listen to us.”

“And I was quite right too.” Cressida stood in the doorway, anger on her face, eyes glowing red. “I told you to tell her, James. But you didn’t.” She stalked towards them, her words colder than ice, and a vicious look on her face. “Why is that, I wonder? What made you keep such a secret from her?”

Her father stepped back, away from the quietly advancing vampire.

“If you question any more of my decisions or those of Xavier…and yes, even Hope now…” Cressida stopped and looked at James.

Hope saw that sink home, the paleness of his face, the quick flick of his eyes to her, and back to Cressida.

“Yes, Hope is now untouchable. You will pay for your disobedience. Verity…my surprise at you knows no bounds.” Cressida stared hard at Hope’s mother. “As a mother, how could you forsake your child? Your own flesh and blood? Your only daughter?”

She hadn’t found out what had caused the rift, the reason for the meeting. But with Cressida’s pronouncement of her status as an untouchable, she now had been named unofficial partner to Xavier, something sure to pour hot oil on an already smouldering fire.

She winced. Not the outcome she was looking for, not by a long shot. But she had to try, just one more time.

She knew objectively that any relationship under normal circumstances would be forbidden between herself and Xavier. Perhaps because of her status of blood siren she was in some kind of no man’s land, but no doubt her parents felt that the rules governing vampire and human relations should stand.

 
“Cressida? Can I speak to my parents alone for a minute? Xavier? Please?” He turned and scrutinised her, deeply, as if he was trying to read her very soul, but he must have seen the entreaty, as he slowly stepped back.

Xavier glared at James before nodding stiffly. One hand extended to point at James’ chest. “Touch her and I will rip you apart, bone by bone. Are we clear?” Then he strode off, anger radiating from each footstep. Hope wasn’t happy about the situation either, but the answers were important. She wasn’t sure how or why, but the undeniable truth was, they were. To her, even if they weren’t to anyone else.

The door shut quietly behind Xavier and Cressida. She knew there wasn’t long, and that he would be listening through the heavy wood, but she had to do this alone—for her own sake.

“You slut!” The cold words flew from her father’s mouth.

Her mother grabbed his hand as he made a move towards her. “Don’t, James. It isn’t worth that.” Verity shook.

Hope ached, taking this small action to indicate that there was at least some small spark of parental connection hidden deep within her mother. “Mother? What happened? I don’t understand. I went to college, and when I came back you didn’t want me. What did I do?” Her words trembled, and she knew the hurt in them was there, for everyone in the room to hear.

“Do? The college romps? The flimsy underwear in your drawers? You came back, and panted after the Master like a… Like a cat in heat! You disgraced us in front of our friends and peers.” The words hurt, sharply stabbing at her psyche. “You wanted nothing to do with your birthright, and then you sit there, as if someone treated you badly? Good Lord, you think you are something more than you truly are.” Her mother looked at her disbelievingly. “Then you order us to be here, to attend to your ridiculous accusations?”

Hope was stunned. College romps? She had attended two parties held by her carer’s daughter. Nothing romp-like about those. And the underwear? What did they think she had been? A pseudo call girl? They had been gifts, not of her choosing.

“I never—” Hope tried to defend herself.

“You prostituted yourself while away, and expect us to watch you do that here? I don’t think so. We heard about your wild parties and behaviour. From this day forth, you are no longer our daughter.” With that cold pronouncement, her parents stood.

She sat there, stunned and shattered by their words.

The door crashed open and Xavier barged in.

“Get out! Pack your things and leave the manor. I will arrange an alternative residence for you, but from this day you will never hold the position of
Yeux Secondes
in any nest, ever again!” His face was a mask of fury, his eyes glowed red and his body shook as he contained his anger.

Her father swept from the room, and her mother scuttled beside him.

Even in the presence of an angry Master vampire, her mother remained as perfectly presented as she had been when she walked in. Hope willed her mother to look back, to say something, anything to make the situation right. The door crashed shut behind them and her hopes were smashed.

Hope watched as Xavier strode angrily around the room, dragging his hand through his hair, which now stood spiking on top of his head, his face drawn with tension and anger.

Feeling like it was a bad movie, Hope could tried to ignore the ache inside. But she couldn’t stem the scalding, silent tears rolling down her cheeks, while she clutched shaking hands, tightly holding on to any form of control she had left. No matter how hard she wished she was imagining the situation, it was real.

A sob erupted, her chest heaving with the force of her emotions. Another sob ripped free and the torrent released. Xavier moved to her, cradling her in his arms, his quiet words and soft touches a balm, while she let the floodgates open, lost in a world of misery.

* * * *

He was furiously angry. As angry as he had been when he had first become a vampire, the heat inside him wanting to shred through the civilised veneer he’d spent hundreds of years perfecting.

James had crossed the line with his accusations about Hope, which had finally pushed him to have James and Verity removed from the house. The remaining problem, though, was that he no longer had a
Yeux Secondes
, and he needed one. He couldn’t possibly run the nest, continue overseeing the investments and protect Hope all at the same time. There was the added factor that he knew her father had been skimming income from the nest, and had been ready to take action before the situation evolved. The house was in a state of division with those loyal to James and Verity, and those loyal to the nest, adding to his problems.

David wasn’t ready, but really who else was there? And for that matter, he wasn’t sure he could even trust him at this point, his wife almost a carbon clone of Verity. What was her name? Alexandra? No. Alexa.

Something about her sat wrong, but he needed someone to take over from James, and David was the only real contender right now. He sighed, but even to himself it sounded harried.

Alexa would have to take orders from Hope, whether she wanted to or not. He wasn’t sure how that would work. She had seemed cool towards Hope, and he thought that maybe he should have Lisi act as some sort of go-between. Offer Hope a break from dealing with the emotional ties of her family for a while. He filed that thought away, and watched her as she tried to find some inner balance.

Hope was a mess right now. He felt the rage within him that her father’s and mother’s comments had raised threaten to drown him once more. How could they say those things? No one spoke to Hope like that! Not to the woman he loved.

Xavier stopped, inhaled, while he gripped at the bridge of his nose and his eyes closed. The revelation had just rocked his world. He tried to block it out, but it remained, settling in his chest, warming him through to the core. Cressida had stopped him coming in to intervene, until it had reached a point that he could no longer ignore. But with this new understanding of his emotions, he knew why he had reacted the way he had beforehand. But right now, he had other more weighty concerns than his own emotional ponderings.

God knew if she would be up to the discussion they were due to have about the dreams after this debacle. She was so stressed, she could almost shatter at the wrong comment. He could see it in the rigid way she held herself, the distance in her eyes. The way she skittered away each time he reached out to soothe her.

He swore viciously in his head, but refused to give in to his anger. She didn’t need to deal with any more drama right now.