BOOK FOUR in THE GUARDIAN'S SERIES
Book One: A Guardian's Touch, Book Two: A Guardian's Love, Book Three: A Guardian's Passion
Disclaimer See Part 1
Feedback: Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated, so feel free to drop a line or two at steinwillard80@gmail.com .
PART 9
Chapter 15
The blue eyes surveyed the scene critically and a cold smile formed on her full lips. This was good news –very good news indeed. Sashaying closer, she gently tapped the tip of her boot on the blood-stained chest of the corpse. The thick smell of death which hung heavy in the air was arousing her. Death; the thrill of the kill had always been exhilarating for her. The terror of the victim, then the ensuing relief at her fake assurance that she wasn't going hurt them and then the final act. The arousing feeling of warm blood as it soaked into her parched organs, the slowing heartbeat of the victim and then the glassy eyes frozen in a death stare.
She inhaled sharply at the shaft of lust that shot through her body. It's been quite a while since she'd been this aroused. Sex and killing were her two most favorite sensations. It seemed that she was finally coming around. Her apprentice, her beautiful pet. She'd almost given up hope. She studied the corpse at her feet. Nice work.
“This one seemed to have been personal,” she muttered to herself. “It's evident in the brutal way she'd ripped through his throat. She wasn't feeding anymore when it came to him. She wanted more. The thrill.” She looked up and a dark shadow stepped closer.
“Should we get rid of the bodies, my Queen?”
Mary shook her blonde head and walked over to carefully study the two other bodies. “No. The Royals are in town; let them clean up their own mess.” She looked up from where she was studying the lifeless body of a young woman, her pale blue eyes were smoldering. “The bodies have been out here for a few minutes now, we need to get away before the hunters get here. Tell Geoff and the others to keep tracking her. I want to meet with her.”
The man nodded and together they dissolved.
Mary only took on form once she was back in the dungeon of her castle. Her blue eyes pierced the dank darkness of the prison and smiled at the smell of fear. What a glorious scent, she thought as she walked closer. With a wave of her hand the candles flickered on. Her eyes narrowed as they took in the grimy faces looking back at her from behind rusty bars. She kept her own blood cows and milked them regularly, but tonight she wanted more than blood. She needed a thrill...A kill. She grabbed the woman closest to her and peered into her eyes. Blonde and brown-eyed. She will do just fine.
“Get her cleaned up and bring her to my suite,” she rasped and two dark shadows immediately stepped forward. “Make her look pretty for me.” With a thin smile, her cold gaze swept over the other cowering humans. Their fear was turning her on and she quickly looked back at the girl. Yes, she will definitely do for tonight.
She disappeared in a cloud of mist and materialized in front of the big fireplace in her sleeping chamber. She stared into the fire dispassionately. Tristan was gone, but Clarissa was still here . All was not entirely lost. Her eyes glazed over as she remembered a conversation she once had with Tristan.
<“Why do you feel so threatened by her, darling?”
Tristan's handsome face screwed up in a mask of hatred as he fixed her with a cold stare.
“All you need to know is that I want her locked away until I say otherwise. You need not know more.”
Vexed by his attitude, she refused to leave it there and returned his stare with a cold one of her own.
“On the contrary, my dear Tristan, if I'm to be her babysitter for the next few centuries, I believe it's my right to know why she's kept in a dungeon in my castle.”
The moments ticked by as they stared at each other in silent anger.
“She's my sister.”
Shocked, she had looked passed Tristan to the young little thing, shackled to a wall, her rich blonde hair hiding her face. When she was ordered to collect a parcel at Cleaver Keep a while back she was mildly surprised to have found the girl locked up in one of the dungeons, near crazy with bloodlust. Her orders were clear. Get the parcel and take it with her to Germany until Tristan showed up. The moment she saw how pretty the girl was, jealousy had kicked in. Was she not enough for him anymore that he had to go around turning little virgins into bedmates?
Seething with jealous anger, she had waited for Tristan and pounced on him the minute he materialized in her reading room. He had looked exhausted, but had the smug looked of a well-satisfied man on his handsome face. He had been with someone. She could smell the woman on him. But she first needed to find out about the girl in the dungeon.
And she did, to her great shock. Tristan was immoral. She'd known that even before he was turned into a vampire. But to turn his own sister and keep her locked up was even beneath Tristan himself.
“Need I know why you are doing this? It can't be because you love her.” She had looked down at him where he had thrown himself in a chair, looking at the points of his shiny black boots. “You have no idea of what love is.”
Not in the least angered by her jab, Tristan had grinned.
“I know why I'm doing it and that should suffice, my dear.” He had come to his feet in a fluid movement and his dark eyes were gleaming as they settled on her cleavage. “It will still be a while before the others show up. Why don't we find something mutually rewarding to engage in until then?”
She had allowed him to seduce her, but the girl was never far from her mind. For hundreds of years afterwards she had found herself going down to the dungeon. Seeing her innocence peeled away layer by layer every time she killed to appease the beast inside of her. But still she refused to break. The genuine remorse she showed after every kill had even tugged at Mary herself. Her failure at creating a monster had weighed her down, but she still kept at it.
Clarissa Vermont represented everything Mary wasn't and could never be. Young, beautiful and humane. It had made her feel inadequate. It made her feel like she was a monster.>
Clarissa still made her feel that way, she thought wryly. Her obsession with the girl intensified over centuries and she was absolutely livid when Clarissa escaped. Tristan was beside himself with fury and had slaughtered almost all of the guards for their incompetence. A scuffle outside in the hallway made her turn just as the door opened.
The guards dragged the girl up to where she stood. Cleaned up, the girl was beautiful and Mary smiled; a cruel twisting of her lips. The girl was shaking with fear and amazingly, she felt herself becoming aroused. She placed a finger under the girl's chin and lifted her face up so she could look into her eyes.
“You will do just fine, my little Clarissa.”
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The bed suddenly seemed too big for the room. Or was it the room that seemed too small for the bed, Jessica thought as she entered her hotel room. She heard a soft click as Clarissa closed the door behind her and Jessica turned to face her.
The brown eyes were fixed on her with burning intensity and Jessica swallowed hard. Since leaving the ice cream parlor they had not spoken a word to each other. Instead, Clarissa had restlessly scanned the dark streets, her hand clutching hers tightly .
Now here they were with the big bed behind them . Was Clarissa going to try and seduce her now? Or was she waiting for her to take the initiative.
She was still arguing the facts out in her head, when she felt arms slipping around her waist from behind. She hadn't even noticed when Clarissa had moved to come up from behind her. The arms tightened around her and she sighed softly. Clarissa's touch was so achingly familiar to her that her body leaned back against the wiry frame of the other woman out of its own violation.
“We need to talk.” The husky voice murmured in her hair and Jessica nodded. The grip around her waist loosened and she was turned gently to look into the serious brown eyes. There was something in the brown depths. Anxiety … or was it fear? Whatever it was, it was so out of place when it came to this composed woman.
She lifted a hand and gently cupped the cool cheek.
“Tell me.”
The brown eyes narrowed slightly before Clarissa took a step back. She put even more distance between them, by walking to stand at the window.
“I'm not who you think I am, Jessica .”
Since they had sat together in the restaurant earlier in the evening, it had become abundantly clear that she didn't know her dinner date. She was different from the gentle and tender woman who had held her in her arms the previous night . Clarissa was holding something back. Something very, very big. She could sense it.
“ Who do you think I think you are? ”
Pensive brown eyes swung her way and Jessica saw the confusion in them.
“I don't know. Good question. Who do you think I am?”
“The woman I love.” The reply came fast and without any hesitation. “But I sense there is something you're not telling me.” She stepped closer to where Clarissa stood, but the brown eyes flashed in silent warning, stopping her in her tracks. “I also know that whatever it is that you are hiding might be the decider for us with regard to whether or not we will be able to make ‘us' work.”
The brown eyes stared in mute appreciation at her. With a deep sigh Clarissa turned back to gaze out of the window with unseeing eyes. It was now or never.
“I love you. You need to know that before I tell you anything else.” The blond head turned and the brown eyes rested on her with breathtaking intensity. “I am a…”
Her eyes narrowed suddenly. Damn! She vehemently cursed her lapse in concentration. She made a quick jump for Jessica and pressing on the sensitive nerves in her neck rendered her unconscious before sinking her fangs in the soft warm neck. Please forgive me for this, my love, she pleaded softly and only lifted her head again when the door was flung open. Two burly men stepped in followed by a thin blond man; his dark eyes were cold and lifeless as they flickered from her to the unconscious woman in her arms.
“We meet again.” He spoke in a low voice.
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Chapter 16
Clarissa made a show of straightening from where she was still slightly bent over Jessica, her lips stained with the sweet, intoxicating blood of the most important person in her life.
“Ah, my Keeper …” Feigning carelessness, she flung Jessica's unconscious body onto the bed and licked her lips, with obscene pleasure. “Had I known you would come for dinner, I would definitely have left you a few sips. But as you can see…” She waved distastefully towards the woman on the bed. “… she is useless now.” Taking out a snow white handkerchief from the inside pocket of her leather jacket, she dabbed at her lips and slowly folding the piece of cloth, studied the men coolly. “What brings you here?”
“You.”
Laughing softly, she turned her back on them as she peered through the window, every cell in her body ready for a physical confrontation. “What does she want with me?”
The thin man stepped deeper into the room but stopped when the blonde vampire turned around slowly. “She has a proposition for you.”
“A proposition, you say?”
“Yes. She very much would appreciate it if you would meet with her tonight.”
The two other vampires stepped closer too and Clarissa smiled. They were no match for her at all and she could overpower them without breaking a sweat. But this was what they had hoped would happen. Her becoming a mole – a part of Bloody Mary's army of killers. It was happening too fast. Maybe she shouldn't come across as being too eager to meet with her. The plan after all was to give an impression that she was looking into forming her own band of followers and in doing so make her cover more watertight. She needed the counsel of the others, before she makes a decision.
“No.”
“No?” Geoff's voice came out in a low breath. He'd suspected that she wouldn't come freely, which explained the presence of his companions. But the minute they'd burst through the door, he had sensed something different about her. She was no longer the naive, confused fledgling that he guarded down in Mary's cellar for the past four hundred years. The air crackled around her even now as he was studying her – a sign of her growing power. Maybe he should've brought a few more men with him. “We are both civilized, Clarissa. Don't make this difficult for the both of us.”
A cold smile formed on Clarissa's lips and she straightened slowly and it was with great satisfaction that she saw the guards stiffening. Good, they were scared. Ah, what a great power to have. Her eyes returned to Geoff.
“I would love to meet with Mary, but not tonight.” She cast a meaningful glance to Jessica and grinned. “I have unfinished business, if you know what I mean.”
Geoff's cold eyes flickered to the woman sprawled out on the bed and back to Clarissa. This time he saw lust in the brown eyes. Maybe Mary could wait one more night. Maybe after a night of rutting, Clarissa would be more cooperative. He looked back at the human again and nodded.
“I will tell her that you will meet with her tomorrow night then.” He turned to the door. “You of all people should know that Mary does not like being stood up.” Without any further words, the renegades filed out of the room. When she was sure she could not detect their presence in the hotel anymore, she jumped into action.
Within minutes the room was filled with Royals. Bending over Jessica, Clarissa gently touched the pale cheek. Straightening, she found four pairs of eyes staring at her. Shrugging, she almost self-consciously gestured to Jessica.
“I love her.” The silence that followed her words was deafening. Not that the Royals were overly talkative in general, but still she knew they were surprised. “Please keep her safe for me.”
Stepping forward, Jemima gently swung Jess into her arms and left the room, making sure to cast them in an invisibility spell.
Sighing softly, Clarissa walked over to the window.
“I will have to pay a visit to a few people before the night is over. She's supposed to fly back to the States the day after tomorrow. I will make sure she is not missed.”
When she turned from the window, the others were still looking at her. It was Tahlia who broke the silence.
“Mary fell for the carnage we staged tonight. She seems more than eager to bring you into the fold.” The black eyes narrowed slightly. “She's very unpredictable and therefore shouldn't be underestimated.”
“It will not be easy to dupe her again, Tahlia. She will put me through a series of tests to gauge my loyalty.” Cringing inwardly, she was bombarded by flashes of blood and helpless cries of the dying. Can she ever go back to a life like that? It's even more difficult to consider it now that Jessica was back in her life. She didn't want to taint the soul that now belonged to Jessica. She looked up at Tahlia and saw the knowing look in the dark eyes.
“Unfortunately, sometimes sacrifices have to be made. And if it comes to that, I promise we will not hold it against you.” Tahlia stepped closer. “However, we will try our best to see to it that you are not corrupted by her influence.”
Jonas walked up to her and with a heavy hand on her shoulder, stared deep into her eyes.
“We will not desert you.”
Feeling slightly better about what was lying ahead for her, she nodded. Now all she wanted to do was to see Jessica again, because she wasn't sure how long it would be before she got the chance, if ever. If Mary got wind of her feelings for Jessica, she would be in grave danger.
“She's with Inger and Gabriella,” Jonas offered softly.
Nodding curtly she waited for the Royals to exit the room before she quietly made her way to Howard's room. Standing over the sleeping young man she smiled faintly. He was good for Jessica and he meant a lot to her. She gently slipped into his dream and planted her thoughts. Her next stop was not going to be as easy, she thought wryly.
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The grey eyes snapped open and Jessica sharply twisted her head away to protect her nose from the sharp acidic waves. Where…what…how…? Her eyes swept the room. It was big and tastefully decorated. It reeked of money from the thick Persian carpets, antique pieces of furniture and a Rembrandt on the wall. Where was she?
“Jess…Jess, can you hear me?”
She sat up quickly, startling Gabriella who was sitting on the bed next to her. She focused a wild gaze on a slightly disheveled Gabriella. “Where am I, Gaby? What happened?”
The amber eyes were gentle as they studied her, but Gabriella's silence increased her level of anxiety further. She tried to swing her feet off bed, but Gabriella gently pushed her back.
“What do you remember, Jess?” Her tone was serious and Jessica closed her eyes briefly.
She saw her hotel room. Clarissa was standing at the window, facing her and then…then…a blur and it all went black. Jessica felt her heart clench painfully as more memories poured into her mind.
“Clarissa did something to me Gabriella.” The admission was followed by a sob. How could she have been so wrong? She was convinced that Clarissa loved her and wouldn't hurt her. She was wrong. She felt her heart breaking at the realization. “I…I trusted her, Gaby. I loved her…and she…” She felt herself being enveloped in Gabriella's arms. The familiarity of Gabriella's arms reminded her so much of the safe, loving arms of Clarissa and it made her sob even harder.
“Hush now, Jess. It's okay. I'm sure there's a good explanation for why she did what she did.”
“ No, Gaby, she's dangerous. ” Fearful grey eyes looked into worried amber eyes. “I've sensed something weird earlier when we were together, but…” She buried her face in her hands.
“But what, Jess?” Gabriella asked gently.
“But because…because I loved her I was willing to…try and ignore it,” came the muffled reply from behind her hands. “I am so stupid…so stupid.”
Gabriella gently pushed Jessica away from her so she could look into her face.
“Jess? Jess, look at me.”
Using her fingertips, Jessica quickly wiped the tears from her eyes, but still refused to make eye contact with Gabriella.
“Jess, Clarissa is in the other room.” Jessica stiffened at hearing that. “She's worried about you and wants to see you.” Gabriella gently brushed a lock of hair from the damp forehead. “Will you please talk to her? It's important for her to see you and talk to you.”
Jessica shook her head. “No, I don't want to see her.” She grabbed Gabriella by the shoulders. “Please don't let her near me,” she begged as fresh tears streaked down her cheeks. “Please.”
Gabriella looked at her with concern in her eyes.
“Don't you think you owe her a chance to explain Jess?” she asked gently. “I know Clarissa and I know that she must have a good excuse for whatever happened between the two of you.” She gently brushed the tears from Jessica's cheeks. “Come on Jess, just hear her out. Afterwards you can decide what you want to do.” She brushed her lips over Jessica's forehead and stared evenly into her eyes. “Whatever your decision, you can count on me. Ok?”
Jessica took a deep breath. Gabriella was a good judge of character and if she vouches for Clarissa, maybe she too should give Clarissa the benefit of the doubt. To be honest she doesn't have a clue as to what really happened. All she knew was that Clarissa did something to her and that she ended up here … wherever here is. She felt the intensity of the amber gaze on her and looked up.
“Ok.” She exhaled noisily. “I will see her, but…not alone.”
Gabriella nodded. “I will stay, if you are sure.”
“I'm sure.”
Gabriella came to her feet and walk over to the door. It was only then that Jessica realized that the therapist was dressed in her pajamas. She wondered what time it was. The door opened and closed softly and looking up, Jessica's gaze was caught and held by the intense dark gaze of Clarissa. The blonde just stood there looking at her with an anxious expression on her beautiful face. That alone confused her and Jessica slowly swung her feet off the bed.
“How are you feeling Jess?”
“I don't know .” she answered honestly. She really didn't know .
Gabriella quietly walked over to a nearby chair and took a seat. She gave Jessica a small encouraging smile before she looked away to give them a modicum of privacy.