and her heart was beating fast from fear.
Aubrey disappeared from where he stood and reappeared behind her. Katharine stumbled into him and let out a gasp.
Aubrey whispered into her ear and she relaxed. Then he reached up and gently pulled her head back, exposing her throat…
CHAPTER 16 NOW
I SNAP AWAKE, instantly alert.
There is someone in the house, in the room.
I rise from my bed. 'Why do you hide, Aubrey?' I ask the shadows. 'Do you finally fear me? Are you afraid that if you challenge me again you will lose?' I know this is not Aubrey's fear, but I am in the mood to taunt, just as I know he is.
There is one taunt that almost guarantees a vampire's response: accusing him of being afraid.
'I will never fear you, Risika,' Aubrey answers as his form coalesces from the shadows of the room.
'You should,' I respond. Vampiric powers strengthen with strong emotions—hate, rage, love—and Aubrey brings all those emotions to the surface of my mind.
Despite my hatred, if I fight him I will lose. This is a lesson I learned well years ago. Aubrey is older, stronger, and much crueler.
For now, though, he lounges against the wall, throwing his knife into the air and catching it. Throwing, catching. Up, down. The faint light glints on the silver blade, and I have a sudden picture in my mind of Aubrey missing the knife, and of it slicing across his wrist.
He has modernized his style since the 1700s: he wears black jeans tucked into black boots, a tight red shirt that shows off the muscles of his chest, and a metal-studded dog collar. The green viper has been replaced by the world serpent from Norse mythology, which played a part in the destruction of the world. On his upper arm is the Greek Echidna, mother of all monsters, and on his right wrist is the Norse monster Fenris, the giant wolf who swallowed the sun.
I wonder what Aubrey will do when he becomes bored with these designs. Maybe cut them off with an ordinary knife. His flesh would heal in a matter of seconds. Maybe I could volunteer to help…No one would mind if I 'accidentally' cut his heart out in the process.
'Why are you here, Aubrey?' I finally ask, not willing to wait for him to speak.
'I just came to offer my condolences for the death of your poor, fragile kitten.'
My body freezes with rage. Aubrey knows how to hurt me, and how to make me lose my temper. He has done so before.
I start to move toward him—to hit him, to make him hurt as much as I do.
'Careful, Risika,' he says. Just two words, but I stop. 'Remember what happened last time you challenged me.'
'I remember,' I growl. My voice is heavy with pain and rage. I do remember—I remember very well.
'You still wear the scar, Risika. I can see it even from here.'
'I have not forgotten, Aubrey,' I answer him. He wears the same face he had then: cold, aloof, slightly amused, slightly mocking. He knows what Tora meant to me, and I know that he has visited me to try to bait me into attacking him again.
I wonder what kind of life made Aubrey the way he is. A psychologist would love analyzing him. Aubrey knows exactly what to say and do to make those around him weep, laugh, beg, hate, love, fear, or anything else he wishes. I have seen brave men run in fear, humans wage wars, and vampire hunters turn on their own, all because of Aubrey.
He is far stronger than Ather, physically, mentally, and emotionally. As I have said, Ather's largest flaw is that she changes people who are strong—people who will be stronger than she is. She does this because, though others of our kind might challenge her alone, they assume that her fledglings would avenge the attack.
I may never understand why Ather decided that Rachel was a human who demanded her attention, but I do not hate my blood mother. She was the one who tore me from my human life, but she was also the one who forced me to look upon the darkness of humanity. Had it not been for her, I would have lived and died as prey and nothing else.
Though I would not lift a finger to defend my blood mother, I do not go out of my way to attack her.
Aubrey, on the other hand…Three hundred long years ago I knew that Aubrey was stronger than I, and indeed, I fought him and lost. I fear what will happen if we fight again. He eggs me on every time we meet, knowing well that I fear him. I hate him all the more because of that fear, and he knows this as well.
He is still waiting for my response to his taunt.
'Considering you killed Tora, your condolences aren't worth much,' I tell him.
He raises his eyebrows questioningly.
'Don't look like that. I could feel your aura there, and even now I can smell her blood on you.'
Aubrey just laughs.
'Get out of my house, Aubrey,' I growl. I have no wish to fight him. I only want him to be gone.
'You don't seem in the mood for company,' he comments. 'I'll stop by again later, Risika.'
I hear the implied threat but have no chance to reply before he disappears. He has accomplished what he came here to accomplish and has no reason to stay.
I remember my dream the night before, and my mind returns to it, my anger at Aubrey forcing me to remember the rest.
He did not kill Katherine. He only killed the remainder of what might have been my soul.
CHAPTER 17 1704
I REFUSED TO WATCH HIM kill her.
Ignoring the consequences, I jumped at Aubrey, tearing him away from Katherine. The woman stumbled, falling to the ground, still hypnotized. Aubrey spun around and grabbed my arm, throwing me to the ground too. I did not immediately try to stand. I did not want to fight him again, because I knew that if I lost, he would kill me.
'You never learn, do you?' he snapped. 'Stand up, Risika.'
I stood slowly, watching him warily, but he only pulled Katherine to her feet.
She had caught her hand in a raspberry bush when she fell, and I had to turn my head away from her, my already faltering self-control weakened further by the scent of blood.
Once again Aubrey pulled her head back, and this time my gaze caught on her throat, riveted by the blood that was flowing just beneath the surface. I hesitated an instant, during which Aubrey leaned forward. He showed no reluctance as his fangs pierced her throat.
'Let her go, Aubrey,' I somehow managed to growl, fighting the bloodlust that was trying to convince me to feed.
He looked up, and his black gaze met mine for a moment; he licked blood from his lips, and a wicked smile spread across his face. 'You really want me to?'
He pushed the woman into my arms, then disappeared.
I stumbled, shocked, but when I recovered I found myself holding the unconscious woman gently.
Her bleeding hand was resting on my arm, and I could feel her pulse beating against my skin. A thin line of blood ran down her throat, and before I even realized what I was doing, I had licked it away.
I felt every pulse of her heart as if it was my own, and each beat was like fire being forced through my veins. I turned my head away, trying to capture some measure of control, but that simple move brought on a spell
