The Last Guardian Rises (The Last Keeper's Daughter) (3 page)

Lily let out a long sigh. “If you think I have some psychic connection with Grigori you’re mistaken. My visions have not returned. I’ve felt nothing. Whatever it was, it is now gone.”

He would not be baited by her, not tonight. “Do you want to know about her?” The dark half of his nature jeered at his restraint. It wanted Lily now. It wanted her here on the floor in front of the fire. She is yours – have her and be done with this obsession, the darkness said to him.

“Yes. I’ve often wondered why you chose my family.” Lily’s voice was less than a whisper. “I always thought the first link would have been a man.”

The tense line of her shoulders eased a fraction as he moved the table out of the way and sat in the large leather chair in front of the fire. Lily mimicked his movements and curled into the accompanying chair to his left.

“I was in London when I first saw her.”

“Catherine?”

Krieger resisted his desire to reach out and lay his hand upon hers. “Yes. It was right before I came to these shores, in the last years of the sixteen hundreds. I was in the Southwark district of London. Back then it was packed with ale houses, stews, theatres, and all forms of pleasurable entertainments.”

“Stews?”

“Brothels.”

“Oh.”

“Southwark was a good place to blend in and quench my thirst.” Krieger caught Lily’s eyes move from his neck to his wrist. She sawed her lower lip between her teeth. He didn’t need the bond to know she was hungry for his blood. Would she ask? Should he offer? “Only the wealthy had the luxury of cleanliness then. Catherine was poor and filthier than most.” He imagined his thumb freeing her imprisoned lip from her teeth, slipping inside her mouth. He tore his eyes from her and stared into the flames. “I liked to sit in the public houses after feeding. I didn’t notice her at first. She wasn’t a woman I would normally look at twice. Her clothes were tattered, encrusted with dirt, and hung loose on her small frame. She was new and hadn’t yet learned not to smile.” He heard Lily move and turned back to her. “She had all her teeth,” he explained. “Her eyes were bright and clear. It was obvious she’d come in from the country. A pretty girl didn’t last long on the streets of Southwark.”

“She was a prostitute?”

He smirked, not too kindly. “Shocked?”

“No.” Mercifully her lip slipped from between her teeth. “Just not the story I expected.”

“They rarely are.” He watched as she kicked off her shoes – she was wearing blood red nail polish, which amused him – and tucked a leg underneath her. “Catherine was quick but the patrons quicker, and she couldn’t always avoid their hands. For hours I watched her carry ale back and forth between the tables. She never complained, smiled even at the nastiest of customers. Each night thereafter I would find myself sitting at one of her tables. There was a quiet acceptance I felt from her. It calmed the restlessness in me like she understood I needed to be there and not once did she ask why I never drank the ale I purchased. Over time her clear eyes dulled, and her gait slowed until she couldn’t avoid the grabbing hands. Her smile became fixed.”

“You cared for her.”

He ignored Lily’s comment and the surprise in her voice, perhaps she still thought he was incapable of feeling compassion. “The patrons thought me a nobleman and left me to my thoughts. One night a pickpocket decided I was an easy target. I played along and went with him out into the alleyway. I would get a quick meal and help rid the city of vermin. Unbeknownst to me Catherine had followed me outside, worried that I would be harmed.” He placed his hand on the arm of Lily’s chair. “Can you imagine? Barely fifteen years old, alone, losing her innocence under filthy, grunting men, and she comes to my defense.”

Lily’s hand moved a fraction closer to his. “What happened?”

“She saw what I am.”

“You tranced her then?”

“I did not.”

“Why?”

“I wanted her to run.” He didn’t add that if she had fled his nature would have taken over and he’d have fed from her. “Instead she stared down at the thief and then back up into my eyes. We stood there, watching one another for what seemed like hours, even to me, but was surely only seconds. When she spoke tears streamed down her face and her voice was whisper quiet.”

“Catherine said, ‘I don’t want to die here.’”

Krieger rose and distanced himself from Lily – her scent evoked images he need not think of now. Not knowing his inner conflict, Lily came to stand beside him. The bond intensified their emotions towards each other. He knew Lily was more relaxed, more open to him now that it was flowing between them again. 

“She was afraid of you.”

“No, not of me, but of the nightmare her life had become. Catherine wanted her last moments to be someplace beautiful and safe, like the village she grew up in before her parents’ death.”

“And were they?”

“Yes.” Krieger turned to face Lily. Slowly, so as not to spook her, he gently swept her hair back and rested his hand on her shoulder directly beneath his mark on her neck. “We came to this new world together. Without her I would have died on the voyage over. Her blood sustained me.”

“You loved her.”

In my way
, he wanted to say, but knew it would cause undo questions. “Yes,” he answered.

“She never wanted to become vampire?” Lily leaned her head towards his hand on her shoulder.

His thumb ran across her collar bone, the bone he’d healed. “No. I wanted that for her, but Catherine wanted her legacy to be her children.”

“Who became your Keepers.”

Lightning illuminated his study and was quickly followed by a clap of thunder. The storm clouds opened and angrily pelted the windows with rain.

“Why was Catherine in the city? I mean why did she leave her home in the country?”

“Smallpox.” He opened his hand, covering her upper chest, his thumb and forefinger circling her neck. Lily’s eyes fluttered and closed for a heartbeat. “It swept through her village and killed her family. Her father owned a small plot of land with a house. When he died it went to the next living male relative, her uncle.”

“Why not Catherine?” Her heart hammered against the heel of his palm. “Why her uncle? The uncle should have taken care of her.”

“Yes, he should have, but he had a jealous wife who didn’t like a young woman, even if she was a blood relative, just a room away.” Lily smelled of lilacs and honey and sunshine. “Back then females could not inherit property. Catherine had no choice but to leave.”

“Did you…” Lily lifted her chin.

He was captivated by her bejeweled eyes, one blue and one green, both with a hint of purple running through them. “Did I what?”

She leaned in close enough for him to feel her breath on his face. After so many months, to have her so near was excruciating for him. Lily’s hand shook for a moment then came to rest on his chest. “Did you give her your blood?”

“No.” She was too close and he reined in his emotions by focusing on the strong winds of the storm that assaulted the panes with rain and debris.

“You said children. Were they yours? Is that possible?” Lily asked the questions in one long stream.

This particular discussion had not been on his agenda for the night. “Anything’s possible,” Krieger said, hoping to detour her from this line of questioning.

“If you don’t want to answer then say so,” she snapped back at him.

“Catherine and I lived as husband and wife for many years until it became necessary that I die, or too much suspicion about my lack of aging would have caused us trouble.”

“So they weren’t your children?”

“That depends on how you look at it. Catherine married well after my supposed death. I left her an extremely wealthy widow. She had no trouble attracting a man of means and station who she bore two sons. The first one died before he reached the age of one.” The memory of it caused him pain even now, and he felt the need to explain why he hadn’t intervened. “I was exploring the western territories at the time. The second, little Johnny, thrived.”

The two of them floated on the tumultuous waters of their own seas of silence. Speaking of his time with Catherine had brought back memories he’d not thought of in centuries. A loud lightning strike connected with a tree on his property. He could hear the wood splinter and fall upon the forest floor.

Lily jumped. His arms instinctively wrapped around her.
How small she is, and yet, she holds my heart.
“It’s just a storm.”

“It sounded close.”

“Do you want children?” he asked. It had been something he’d wondered about.

“Yes, I think. Martha says that’s her greatest regret.” Lily leaned back a little to see his reaction. “That she never had a child of her own.”

And now he knew that either the impossible would become possible and he’d father a child with her, or he’d have to endure another man’s child growing inside her. He stroked her silken hair and tucked her head back against his chest. “How is Martha?”

“Happy.” Lily stiffened and pushed against him. “I haven’t seen her or Jo as much as I should.” He didn’t want to release her and loathed the loss of her touch as she moved away from him to pour another glass of wine. “If you could truly father children, would you want that?”

If, as he’d feared, her affection for him had waned, then she wouldn’t be so persistent with this line of questioning. Happiness and despair mingled together. “With you I would.”

“You only feel that because I’ve had your blood.”

“No.” He wanted to shake her, to make her understand. “We have spoken of this before, the blood we share only increases the emotions we already hold for each other. If you disliked me without the bond then it would make you loathe me with it.”

“Yes, yes, I know.” Her eyes nervously roamed around the room.

“Why do you resist me?”

“I don’t want to be a pawn like my mother.”

Her words had the ring of truth, but there was more, more she wasn’t sharing with him. “You blame me for what happened to her.”

“You should have known.”

Krieger didn’t argue. “The Keeper’s role was no longer necessary. I was not as attentive to your family, to Catherine’s line, as I should have been. As with many things, one does not know the exact moment of obsolescence. If I had known, the past would be very different. I should have cut my ties with your family long ago.”

“Then we would have never met.” Lily drained her glass and placed it on the table. “I realize it’s not rational. I just want someone alive to blame.”

“And now?”

“Martha and the Ancient have helped me through it.” Krieger cocked his eyebrow, and she added, “No, not together, but I talk with each of them.” She started to walk towards him and stopped herself, instead wrapping her arms protectively around her chest. “I need to tell Martha and Jo about you. Keeping this secret from them is eating away at me.”

She was afraid he’d deny her request. Actually, he was surprised she hadn’t broached it earlier. “They are your family.” He had them watched, protected. They were not a threat, or rather they would never be allowed to be a threat. It would make his life simpler if they joined the Other community.

She exhaled loudly, letting her arms drop, and for the first time tonight gave him a genuine smile. “Thank you.”

“Then you see a path for us to move forward.”

“Omitting important information is the same as lying to me. I have to know that you will tell me the truth of things.”

He wanted to reason with her, but that would be as pointless as quarrelling with an infant. Few individuals wanted to know the truth of things. Most avoided the truths they saw in their own mirror. “And will you–” Krieger dipped his head slightly and forced the words out, “Will you reciprocate and tell me the truth of things?”

Provocative with certainty Lily tossed her long white hair back behind her shoulders. “I will.”

He could hear the unsaid “but” and waited for her to finish.

“I won’t be ruled by this bond. I will love who I wish.” Lily stepped back from him.

His anger flared and bashed against his self-control like a beast provoked. “Haven’t I already freed you from that aspect of the bond?”
Do not lose your temper. Remember your agenda.
“No, let me finish. If I had not shared my blood, you would be dead. Is that what you wanted?”

“No,” she said, dropping her gaze to the floor.

“Then stop punishing me for saving your life.” He inhaled, a habit from when he was human, to calm his emotions. “Tell me if there is someone you wish to be with. You owe me that.”

Lily’s hand reflexively went to her neck where his mark glowed. “There isn’t anyone else.”

Liam and his vantors reported the details of her days. Who she saw. Where she went. He knew that her bed was not warmed by another, and yet, he still felt relief at her words. Had he finally cracked her thick shell of defiance? Was this a new beginning? “I need you by my side at the council meeting.”

“He will be there, won’t he?” Lily bit down hard on her lip.

“You will be as safe there as here. Lucien or I will always be by your side. I am not foolish enough to take you amongst members of the Royal Houses of Vampire, and this Grigori, without taking extreme care of your person.”

She sucked her lower lip in and he almost groaned with desire. “If I gave myself to another vampire what would you do?”

Krieger mentally recoiled. “I would endure.” Why had she said vampire and not another man? Was she speaking of Lucien? “Have you closed your heart to me?”

Her reaction was instant. She moved directly in front of him and pressed her palm against his chest. His arms engulfed her.

“Tell me all is not lost.” He lowered his head to that sweet juncture between her neck and shoulder.

“This scares me.”

Krieger kissed along her neck until he found her lips. Their flesh melded in the intensity of mutual desire. His tongue skirted her bottom lip, begging for entry. Tentative at first, she opened her lips shyly and their tongues danced until there was nothing but where they touched.

Lily’s fingers twined in his hair and pulled him down to her body. One-handed he started to lift her, to take her and lay her out before the flames of the fire.