Declan:
The charging vampire was older and stronger than Declan, but his fatal mistake was relying on brute strength. He waited until the vampire was on top of him, before dropping to one knee, spinning around and cutting through both his Achilles tendons, nearly severing his feet. The vampire roared and fell forward. Before he could heal, Declan drove his sword into the other man’s back, and twisted, hearing his opponent’s spine crack and break. He freed the blade, and brought it down, severing the vampire’s head.
Just in time, he turned to see another one coming right at him. Stepping back so he could brace himself for the attack, his foot caught on something and he fell backwards, dropping his sword in the process. He saw the flash of the blade and brought his arm up just before she could cut into his neck, the steel sinking into his flesh, cutting through tissue and muscle, finally lodging in the bone, nearly breaking the radius. Declan bellowed
Aster:Elizabeth and Ann came walking towards them. Like the others, they were clearly exhausted and covered in blood. “Any casualties?” Rowan asked.“Amos, Lee and Mckayla.”“I know Mckayla’s dead,” he said.“I’m sorry, my love,” Lydia said, and placed a hand on Rowan’s arm.Mckayla was one of Rowan’s wives, but Aster almost never saw them together. She assumed that he didn’t care much about her, but fifth wife or not, they still shared that ever-present bond, and she couldn’t help feeling a little sad for Rowan. “Who is Amos and Lee?” she asked.“My brother’s sons.”Intense guilt washed over her. They died protecting her, and the last thing she wanted was for any of them to die for her. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled.“You didn’t do this,” Declan said, taking her hand
Aster – Part Two: Aster could have stayed like that all night – pinned to the wall, the warm water running down their bodies, soothing her frayed nerves, while his thumbs caressed her hip bones, his firm body moving against hers as he slowly thrust inside her, his pace measured, deliberately taking her to the edge, and keeping her there. Yes, she could have happily done that all night, entangled in him until the sun rose and forced them apart, but there was another part of her, not so deep down, that wanted to take control. That wanted to take back some of the power he stole when he turned his back on her. Leaning forward, she nuzzled his neck, relishing in the soft moan that escaped his throat, then stared mesmerised at the goosebumps her fluttered kisses left behind. Feeling a little more emboldened, she strangled her fingers in his hair, and pulled his head back. He chuckled softly, but she ignored him. She explored his neck, lingering on
Declan:Aster lay on her side, her fist tucked under her chin, watching him. Declan asked her once if she wanted to talk about the week that had passed, but she didn’t – he was relieved, because what would he tell her? He spent a week feeling sorry for himself, finding increasingly more bizarre ways to blame her for Mary’s death, even after Rowan told him the truth … that just meant he had a new person to blame for a while.“You know what I miss?” she asked.“Hm?”“Food. You know…not so much the taste, but just the act of…chewing.”“You can eat. You won’t like it, but you can eat.”She laughed, and nestled into the crook of his arm. “Did you miss it? Right after you were transformed?”“Not really. Our diets were pretty simple. Maybe a little more elaborate if you were nobility; but it was still mostly just fi
Declan – part 2: Aster yawned loudly, quickly putting her hand in front of her mouth. “Do you want to sleep?” Declan glanced at the window, then the clock on his mantel. It was a good two hours until sunrise, but she still fell asleep much earlier than he did. She shook her head, while still hiding her yawn. “No. I get tired faster after a busy night, but I try to stay awake.” “Why? If you’re tired, sleep.” “Uh-uh. Rowan said I have to try to stay awake as long as I can…so I can build up my stamina. Tell your story; it will help me to stay awake.” “I woke up the next morning just completely drained. Obviously, as a human, I tired faster than I do now, but it never took me more than a good night’s sleep to recover…” Feeling something wet run down his skin, Declan touched the side of his neck and felt two bumps. His heart lurched. What if he had the dreaded plague? But the lumps were painless and when he l
Aster: Aster yawned loudly, pressing the back of her hand to her mouth. “Oh, I’m sorry,” she said and gave Declan a half-hearted smile. “Go on.” “That’s enough for one night. Time to sleep. Come on.” “No,” she protested. “I want to hear the rest of your story.” “I’ll tell you the rest tomorrow--” Declan crawled towards her on his hands and knees – “I’m tired too. It’s been an…eventful night.” He grabbed her ankles and pulled her down. Laughing, she fell flat on her back and snuggled into the soft bed. “Hm,” she sighed, and stretched. Declan lay next to her, pulled the covers over them then drew her into his arms, nuzzling her neck with his nose, trailing butterfly kisses over her shoulders. She shifted into him, feeling safe and warm in his arms, moulding her body to fit his perfectly. “I’m not scared,” she said – more to herself than him. She should have been, all logic told her that she had to be terrified, but she w
Aster – Part 2:She knew what to expect, so when Rowan took her hands and the tube sucked her in, she didn’t have such a strong reaction as the first time. They landed in her garden. It was morning, and the sun was just peeking its head out over the horizon. “We may have to pin this down a bit more,” Rowan said next to her. “But you can’t give me a month or time or anything like that, can you?”“No,” she said, and was struck by how much she hated being here. “I guess we need to go up to the house, and see what we can see. Maybe I can narrow it down.”They walked up the path to the mansion. Aster kept looking around her – trying to remember something, anything, from her childhood that was nightmarish. Apart from Brody’s death, an event she could barely remember, there was nothing. She was four when he died, and he was just a few months shy of his second birthday. Maybe
Declan: He was annoyed the minute they stepped over the study’s threshold. Edward paced around the room, ranting and raving like a lunatic. Rowan and Lydia stood in the corner, looking amused as they followed the human around with their eyes. Declan supposed he couldn’t blame the man, given that he was brought here against his will, but something about Montgomery just rubbed him the wrong way. “Shut up!” he roared. “Christ Almighty, do you think your hollering is gonna change a damn thing? You’re just making life a misery for yourself.” Aster looked at him, her eyes wide, but not because he admonished her father – she was afraid of what was to come. “Sit down,” he ordered. “Listen, boy--” There was no reason under the sun why he had to take this human’s crap anymore. Declan grabbed Montgomery by the front of his shirt lifted him clear in the air, swinging him over to the desk and roughly shoving him into the chair. “I am not your boy. I’m six
Declan – Part 2: “Charlotte just went crazy one day,” Edward said softly, “Brody was just a baby, but she didn’t want anything to do with him. The doctors tried one medication after the other, but nothing worked.” Declan closed his eyes and rubbed his hands over his face. “Oh man…of course it didn’t work, she wasn’t sick.” “She was. She tried to smother him twice before he was six months old. She kept saying Brody was born wrong.” “What did she mean by that?” “I don’t know! She wasn’t well.” “Go on.” “Then he came. He said he could fix her…I was so desperate. If I knew what he was...” Declan’s heart dropped in his stomach. “What was his name?” “Cyrus.” He closed his eyes. That was the last name he wanted to hear. “Oh, Edward, you poor clueless bastard. What did he do?” “I don’t know. He just talked to her every night. Some kind of hypnosis maybe.” “No, not hypnosis. Cyrus