He found himself staring at the breasts that spilled over the deep neckline of her gown. They were ripe and tempting. He licked his lips, remembering her taste on his tongue.
Raven put her drink aside and gestured to the dark room, illuminated as it was by the fire and a single candle that burned on the table next to her.
“I’m beginning to think you don’t like electricity.”
Slowly, the vampyre lifted his eyes to meet hers. “We are more comfortable in darkness.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Bright light troubles me,” he confessed, the words tripping from his tongue.
She had this way about her—this way of looking at him with those big eyes, propelling him to reveal his secrets.
“I didn’t know.” Raven’s eyebrows crinkled with concern. “You kept the lights on upstairs.”
“I wanted to see you.”
She smiled half-heartedly and gestured to his drink. “Vampyre blood doesn’t seem to affect you.”
“That isn’t true.” William relaxed in his chair. “Vampyres aren’t human, so blood doesn’t affect us in the same way. But ingesting blood from a powerful vampyre increases my strength.” And my libido, he added, but only to himself.
“Is that why you’re resistant to relics? Because you drink vampyre blood?”
William started, but swiftly tried to cover his reaction. “No.”
“You told me you don’t know why you’re different from the others—why you can walk in sunlight and on holy ground. But you know why you’re resistant to relics?”
William forced himself to adopt a neutral expression. “I have a hypothesis, but not a demonstrated proof.”
“I’m eager to hear it.” She made herself more comfortable in her chair.
His gaze drifted to her neck. “Not tonight. We have more important things to talk about.”
She shrugged and sipped her drink, hiding behind her glass. William was seized with the impression he’d been tested and failed.
“I’ve not shared my secrets with anyone.” He looked down at his hands, turning them over in the firelight.
“Is that why you tampered with my memory? Because I uncovered one of your secrets?”
“No.” William’s response was sharp.
He lifted his goblet. “The story about relics involves the night I was changed. It was a dark time. I’ve never spoken of it.
“As for the blood, yes, it makes me stronger. But I am an old one and so its effects are lesser than they would be if a youngling ingested it.” He drained his glass in two swallows before making eye contact with her and licking his lips.
Raven stared at his mouth, appearing both repulsed and mesmerized. “Why do I get the impression you’re trying to seduce me?”
“Because there’s nothing I want more than to take you now. I could beckon you to my lap and have you take your pleasure or we could couple on the floor, next to the fire.”
Raven hesitated, the words of her beautiful, talented lover more than an enticement. “I asked you to let me in. You said you would.”
“Some knowledge is dangerous.”
“Fine.” She sounded frustrated. “I’m not going to argue over every piece of information you refuse to share. Let’s talk about amnesia. The last time I had memory problems was when you gave me vampyre blood.”
“You had a head injury. It’s possible the memory loss was caused by that.”
“So vampyre blood doesn’t always cause memory loss?”
“It can cause memory loss, yes, but euphoria is its most common side effect.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “I don’t feel particularly euphoric at the moment. What happened last night?”
He turned his attention to the fire, as if its flames would give him the courage and wisdom he required. “Before I begin I need to know how you’re feeling.”
“I feel fine. Why do you keep asking me that?”
He scanned her face. “You don’t feel . . . upset?”
“I’m annoyed you keep evading my questions.”
He sighed. “Then let’s begin. Do you remember bargaining with me for Emerson’s life?”
Raven clutched at her heart and William’s nostrils were filled with the scent of her sudden panic. “You didn’t kill Professor Emerson, did you? Not after you promised you wouldn’t.”
William’s gray eyes pinned her to her chair. “I keep my promises, as I shall shortly explain. I paid a visit to him in Umbria. He and his family are alive, but Mrs. Emerson is in need of a doctor.”
Raven gave him a horrified look.
He shook his head. “You misunderstand. She has some kind of illness. I sensed it by smell and informed her husband. As I said, I keep my promises. You agreed to tell me about the ‘accident.’” At this, he glanced at her right leg. “I agreed to spare the Emersons. The day after our conversation, I sent Luka to America to make inquiries.”
“Inquiries about the Emersons?”
“No, about you.”
“You thought I made everything up?” She slid her leg out from under her, placing both feet on the floor.
“Not at all. In fact, I believed you told me only part of what happened.”
She grimaced. “I told you enough.”
“For reasons I’ll disclose in a moment, I ordered Luka to conduct a thorough investigation. He provided me with court records, witness statements, transcripts, and medical files.”
The color faded from Raven’s cheeks. “But they’re confidential.”
“Money can be a powerful motivator. When it failed, Luka used more creative means.”
Raven screwed her eyes shut and turned away from him in her chair.
His voice grew soft. “I saw the reports and the photographs. What I saw more than angered me, Cassita. It grieved me. More than I can adequately express. You sustained much more than just a fall down the stairs while protecting your sister. There were bruises on top of bruises and injuries to your arms.”
Unconsciously, Raven touched her left arm below the elbow. William followed her movement with watchful eyes.
“The file on your sister outstripped what you’d told me. I wanted to go to America to deal with the situation directly, but for various reasons, I had to remain here.
“I sent Luka to observe your sister and mother. As you said, your sister is successful and seems content with the man she’s chosen. I assume you know about your mother’s recent remarriage.”
“Cara told me.”
“If it had been up to me, I would have killed your mother. No reasonable adult could have been ignorant of what was going on in your household. She chose to ignore the signs and for that she should be punished. However, you asked me not to harm her. But your stepfather—”
Raven rose to her feet, interrupting him. “That’s enough.”
She turned her back on him, lifting the robe that had been tossed carelessly over the back of her chair. She pulled it on, covering as much cleavage as possible before knotting the belt tightly.
“I find it depressing that you’re only willing to share the barest of information about yourself, yet you feel compelled to send an investigator to Florida to find out everything about me and my dysfunctional family.”
William watched her movements with increasing worry. He could smell the spike of adrenaline in her blood and he felt his lungs, almost superfluous as they were, constrict. It was a terrible feeling—to know he was hurting the person he loved. And he hadn’t yet reminded her who was lying in a cell beneath the floorboards.
He had to tread more carefully.
“I take no pleasure in rehearsing these subjects with you,” he said gently. “Far from it. Try to imagine, if you would, what it would be like if our positions were reversed. How would you feel if you discovered I’d had your experiences as a child?”
“I’d probably feel the same as you. But I wouldn’t make you talk about it, because I’d know that makes it worse.” Raven’s shaking fingers went to
the portion of her robe that opened around her neck and she pulled the fabric together, covering the base of her throat.
“There is a point to this, I promise. Something upset you last night and, for whatever reason, your mind blocked it out. I’d rather end my tale here.” He hesitated. “But if you insist on hearing what happened, I shall tell you.”
“I’ve come this far.” She hobbled around the chair and picked up her glass, draining the contents.
“Would you like another?”
She set the glass down with a loud thump. “Is it that bad?”
When he didn’t respond, Raven seated herself heavily in the chair. “Tell me.”
William watched as she curled herself into a protective ball, pillowing her cheek against the back of the chair.
He passed a hand over his face. “I made a promise to you after our conversation. I promised I would give you justice. That’s why I sent Luka to America. He discovered that your stepfather and his lawyers had manipulated the system in connection with the incident involving you and your sister. That is why he escaped punishment.
“When Luka located him, he discovered the man had used aliases before and after he married your mother. In fact, his marriage to your mother was fraudulent because he was already married.”
“He was a sick fuck. That doesn’t surprise me.” Raven’s tone was steely.
“Luka’s investigation revealed a pattern. For most of his adult life, your stepfather would move from single mother to single mother, ingratiating himself into their lives for the purpose of gaining access to children.”
William paused, watching Raven’s reaction. She sat still, staring into the fire.
“Your stepfather has been living in California with a widow and her young sons. His marriage to her is invalid because he’s still married to his first and only legal wife.”
Now Raven looked at him. “The boys, is he—?”
“It seems his taste is for girls. But Luka discovered—” William stopped, for Raven’s face had taken on a greenish hue. He went to her, crouching by the chair. “Cassita, look at me.”
When she refused, he placed his hand on her knee. “It’s finished. Luka exposed your stepfather and the group he was associated with. Many children were rescued, including those boys. All the pedophiles were arrested.”
“There were many?” she whispered, her expression stricken.
William felt his lungs constrict further. He wished he could lie to her, deceive her, anything to protect her. It was quite possible she’d react the same way she’d reacted the previous evening, and all his honesty would be wasted.
He drew a deep breath, even though it was unnecessary.
“Yes. Because of you, the children were saved.”
William watched as her hand covered her stomach, the fingers slowly curving into a fist.
“It’s because of me they were hurt.”
“That’s false. You’re the reason I went looking for him. You’re the reason they were found.”
“I let him get away. If he’d been put in jail in Florida, he wouldn’t have hurt all those children.”
He stood, leaning over her. “Don’t take on sins that aren’t yours.”
“He’s been doing this for years. I should have stopped him.”
“Tell me what power you had as a twelve-year-old girl who was in the hospital with a broken leg. Your stepfather could have attacked your sister a second time, but you got her out of the house. You protected her.”
“He got to her anyway.” Raven picked at her robe, twining the fabric around her fingers.
“He’s been caught now. And he won’t escape.”
“But I could have done more. Later on, when I was old enough, I could have filed other complaints. I could have gone to the media.” She looked up at him. “Are you wealthy?”
William’s brow furrowed. “Yes. Why?”
“How wealthy?”
He relaxed his posture, placing his hands in his trouser pockets. “I have property and investments. I hold a fair bit of currency in Swiss banks.”
“Is it a lot?”
He paused. “Enough to destabilize Europe.”
At her sharp intake of breath, he hastened to explain. “I’ve been acquiring assets since the thirteenth century. Apart from the theft of my illustrations, no one has ever stolen from me. At least, not for long.”
“Then you can help them.” She sat forward. “You can protect the children—make sure they can go to school. Give them a chance to see beautiful things.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m asking.” Her expression grew pleading.
“I don’t intend to refuse,” he replied. “But why are you asking?”
“So they can see a light that shines in the darkness.”
William didn’t know what to make of her—this lovely young woman who wore her heart on the outside. This noble, fierce, generous lady who treated human suffering as if it were her responsibility to end it.
He touched her cheek. “You are the light that shines in my darkness.” Then he placed his hand on her head, the way a priest blesses an acolyte. “That’s why you studied art, isn’t it? So you could find the light?”
“When you’ve been surrounded by ugliness, you can’t help but want beauty. I did everything I could to make sure I’d be surrounded by it for the rest of my life. Father Kavanaugh helped me.”
William froze. He hated priests almost as much as he hated God, for more than one reason. He withdrew his hand.
“I will instruct Luka to make arrangements for the children, anonymously, of course.”
“Thank you.”
He bowed.
Raven pointedly changed the subject. “What does my history have to do with last night?”
“There was an incident. You were upset. You wouldn’t calm down and I didn’t know what to do.” He shifted his weight from foot to foot. “I used mind control.”
“You what?” Raven leapt to her feet, forgetting the instability in her leg. She swayed and would have fallen, but he caught her. She pushed against his arm, trying to regain her footing. “Why would you do that?”
“Listen to me.” He tugged on her arm, pulling her against his body. “You were crying hysterically. I had no idea what to do.”
“Hysterical?” She placed both hands on his chest and pushed. “Men always dismiss women as being hysterical. It’s their way of saying our feelings don’t matter.”
“I am not dismissing you.” His grip on her tightened. “After you stopped crying, you lay on the bed, staring at the wall. You didn’t move. You didn’t respond. The sight of your suffering undid me. I couldn’t stand by and do nothing. You, of all people, should understand.”
She pushed against him a second time. “That doesn’t justify screwing with my mind.”
“Doesn’t it? You risked rape and murder to end the beating of a homeless man. You spoke out to protect Aoibhe when those murderers cornered her.” His hands slid from Raven’s elbows to her waist. “You risked your life by standing between me and the hunters. Why? Because you love me.
“Don’t you see? I’d cast my arm in the fire to ease your suffering.”
Raven’s demeanor softened. “You can’t use mind control every time I’m upset.”
“It wasn’t just about your reaction.”
“Then what was it?”
William’s mouth slammed shut.
“What was it, William?” she persisted.
He made sure she was steady on her feet before releasing her. He turned his back and walked toward the fire, placing a hand on the mantel.
“Answer me, damn it!”
“I was afraid.” The moment the words escaped his lips, William wished he could steal them back.
“Afraid?” Raven repeated. “You’re a vampyre. You’re a prince. What could you possibly be afraid of?”
“Sard,” he swore, placing his other hand on the mantelpiece. He lowered his head, leaning heavily against his grip.
“William?”
“I was afraid I’d broken you.”
Chapter Eight
Raven measured the vampyre’s profile and the way the flickering firelight danced across his features. He was beautiful and terrible, a dark, avenging angel with something akin to distress radiating from his eyes.
“I broke Allegra. She climbed to the top of the bell tower and jumped.” His eyes pierced hers. “I was afraid that in my quest to give you justice, I’d broken you. So I did what I could to ease your suffering. I meant what I said upstairs, Cassita. Your fears are shared.”
Raven averted her eyes, fidgeting with the knot of her robe.
“How does it work?”
A pair of shiny black shoes entered her field of vision, stopping an inch away from her bare feet. A single finger lifted her chin.
“It’s similar to hypnosis, I think. Not all human beings are susceptible to it. You, for example, are strong-minded enough to be resistant.”
“Then why did it work last night?”
He released her. “Because you were overwrought.”
Raven huffed. “Okay, I grant you hypnotized me or whatever because I was upset. But I want you to promise me you won’t do it again.”
He nodded.
“I need the words, William.”
He clenched his fists. “I—promise.”
She tensed, as if steeling herself for the next revelation. “Now tell me exactly why I was crying.”
“It could start again.” His voice held a warning. “You had an extreme reaction. What happens if it worsens?”
Raven rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands. “I only remember bits and pieces of the week I spent here, after you rescued me. Even those pieces are hazy.”
“You were unconscious most of the time.”
“I decided I don’t want to relive those moments. But I need to know what happened last night.”
“Very well.” William nodded in the direction of her chair.
“Just spit it out.”
He took her warm fingers in his cold ones, cradling her hand in his. “I sent Luka after your stepfather because I intended to kill him. It was the least amount of justice you deserved and I wanted to give you that. When the time came, however, you and I were estranged. His execution wasn’t a decision I thought I could make.”