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Chapter 64
Declan:
Declan stood in the doorway to his bedroom, looking at Cassidy. She was still asleep, lying on her stomach with her face to the door, blonde hair spread out in a tangled mess on the pillow. She was almost the exact opposite of Aster in appearance, with delicate elven features, bright hazel eyes that were vaguely reminiscent of a lycanthrope’s, and a soft, full body.
“Hey,” Matthew whispered behind him. “Let’s talk.”
Declan nodded, and turned to Cassidy’s guard – a young vampire. “I’ll be back.”
“I’ll be here,” the young man smiled and returned to his reading. All private electronic devices were banned in the mansion after they caught spies sending messages to Cyrus.
They were in the Tatra Mountains on his uncle’s estate, which until a few years ago operated as a resort. When it snowed, the main house, built on the banks of a glacial la
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His Vampire Bride Chapter 65
Aster: “Can you fly?” Eros asked. Aster nodded, and he let go of her. For a heart stopping moment, she dropped like a stone, then remembered what Joel had taught her, “Just imagine you’re floating in a big swimming pool,” he had said. She relaxed, and immediately shot right back up. Bopping in one spot was easy, going in a specific direction wasn’t. Eros showed her how to flip herself from vertical to horizontal without flopping around light a wingless bird, and taught her how to control the direction she wanted to go in by slightly alternating her body’s position. After about half an hour in the air, she had the general idea and easily followed him. He took her to the peak of the mountain, and caught her as went past, missing the landing spot, and heading straight for a gorge. “It takes a while to get your eye in,” he said, smiling. “Thank you,” she grinned sheepishly, and looked out over the valley below, in the direct
His Vampire Bride Chapter 66
Declan: He stood outside Aster’s bedroom door, listening to her cry. The quiet sobs tearing through his heart like a hacksaw. “Fuck,” he swore, uncertainly standing at the door – torn in two, like he knew he’d be. Upstairs, Cassidy would be coming out of her temporary daze, and in the tiny basement room, he could hear his one and only bride’s heart breaking. “What are you doing, Declan?” he whispered to himself, and turned to open the door, freezing with his hand on the knob. In his heart of hearts he knew where he had to go, but because he was a coward, and because she told him to stay away, even though he knew she didn’t mean it, he turned and left her there to cry alone. He made sure to lock the door behind him. From here on out only three people would have direct access to the basement – him, Eros and Leland. No one questioned the werewolf’s loyalty to Aster, simply because he had been her protector since she was four years old, a
His Vampire Bride Chapter 67
Declan – part two: Declan jerked awake. Inhaling sharply, he sat bold upright. It was the middle of the day, and while the curtains were drawn, and the shutters closed, it was still difficult to see through the red fog. The usual ‘daylight troubles’ as Eros liked to call it, plagued him – pounding head and aching body. He had no idea what woke him…the only time he ever woke during the day’s rest was if someone forcefully woke him, but apart from Cassidy sleeping next to him, there was no one else in the room. Frowning, he lay back down, staring at the ceiling. His eyes were just about to close again, when a feeling of fear and panic hit him right in the chest. “Christ--” he sat up --“Aster.” She was rarely afraid – the last time he felt this kind of fear from her was the night the Lincoln clan attacked them, and even then, she didn’t panic, because she instinctively knew that her family would come. Groaning, he put his hands over his face, an
His Vampire Bride Chapter 68
Aster: Aster woke just a few minutes after Declan; he sat on the edge of the bed, holding his head between his hands. “You okay?” she asked. He looked over his shoulder at her, his face and neck still covered in dried blood. “Hm,” he groaned. “I just need to feed again. I lost a lot of blood.” “What happened?” “You happened,” he said, and got up just as Leland opened the door and threw two blood bags on the bed. “I thought you’d need this,” he said, but before the two vampires could respond, he was gone. “Werewolves aren’t the most polite people,” Declan said, and took one of the bags. Staring at his broad shoulders and strong back, just aching to touch him, she picked up the other bag to keep her hands busy. Aster removed the stopper, and took a few sips of blood before talking again. “I don’t understand. You ignored me before, why would it happen now?” “I can ignore you all like, but I can’t ignore th
His Vampire Bride Chapter 69
Declan: Declan watched Cassidy sleep. She was up all day, turning the house upside down looking for him. After the way he had left, he didn’t blame her. She sometimes forgot that it was nearly impossible for him to die, and that which could kill her, couldn’t kill him. She thought he had crawled off to die somewhere alone, like a sick dog. The relief when she saw him alive was such that she cried for hours while he held her. He had never seen her so upset, and he suspected as the war went on he would see more of it – her sunny, joyful exterior was nothing but a thin veneer for the deep fear she must have felt every waking moment. Once, he reached out to feel how Aster was coping…she was extremely frustrated, which he expected – learning how to use her gifts wasn’t going to be easy. Then he blocked her out again. He honestly thought he’d be ecstatic when she woke up, and for a split second when she said his name again after seven years
His Vampire Bride Chapter 70
Aster: Declan already waited for her when she got out of the shower, sitting on the bed with his legs spread wide open, a sheathed sword next to him. On the nightstand were three plant pots and a paper envelope. ”What’s up?” she asked. She walked up to the bed, thought about it, and sat on the chair instead. Being close to him yet unable to touch him just contributed to her general misery, and she had had enough. “I come bearing gifts,” he said and grinned. Aster gave him a strained smile, and watched as he pulled a small red, velvet jewellery box from his pocket. “Rowan sent your father away on an errand of some kind. He left you this. It was your mother’s.” The room was small enough that all he had to do was lean over to hand it to her. With shaking hands, she opened the box and stared at her mother’s emerald engagement ring. As a little girl, she used to watch her mom slip the ring on her finger when she got ready to go out, and sh
His Vampire Bride Chapter 71
Declan: “What do you want to talk about?” he asked. She climbed knees first onto the bed, folding her legs under her, pushing unruly hair back from her face. “I don’t know…tell me about Rowan. How much did he know about what Cyrus had done to my family?” Declan had expected that she would ask the question sooner or later. He got up and retrieved a brush from the dresser. Sitting behind her, he put a leg on either side and started brushing her hair. “He was the one who found you, and convinced Cyrus that having an elemental on our side would be a good idea.” “How? Why?” “It’s simple really. You know why Rowan wanted an elemental…but he told Cyrus that an elemental could wipe out the human’s food supply, while at the same time maintaining it for the vampires, which would make the humans reliant on the vampires. The ones who control the food control the world after all. There’s nothing more dangerous than a starving human. Rowan
His Vampire Bride Chapter 72
Aster: Over the next two months, her nights blended together into a predictable pattern. Declan came by every evening with a blood bag, they’d sit and talk for a few hours, then he’d leave. She didn’t ask him for physical affection again, nor did he offer it. The only reason she did it that once was because her ancestor, Deborah, insisted that it would awaken her powers – and she was right. When Aster kissed Declan and the love she felt for him destroyed the ever-present anger, the plant bloomed…it took no effort at all, as long as she redirected her love to the seed. The vampires that tried to teach her didn’t fully understand – it wasn’t about commanding the seed to bloom, it was about loving it to life. Likewise, she could literally hate the plants to death. At some point, she lost track of when, Eros returned. He’d come by every so often and take her out – why Declan couldn’t do it, she never asked, nor did she particularly care. She enjo
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