Authors: Melissa Schroeder
“Go,” she said.
He leaned down to kiss her, but he did not close his eyes.
Instead he stared into her as he brushed his mouth over hers. The gentle kiss
had tears burning the back of her eyes. Then he rested his forehead on hers.
“We need a real honeymoon,” he said, his voice ragged.
“You cannot mean you want to…” she trailed off at his
knowing look. She cleared her throat. “I may not know much about your world,
but this seems slightly more important.”
He stood, a smile curving his lips. He helped her up off the
floor. “After this is over, I will take you away, and we will spend three weeks
in bed.”
She felt her face heat and he laughed. He waited for her to
right her clothes then opened the door. A footman stood there.
“Sir, Malik is in the dining room with your father, the
duke, and your
relation
.”
She bit her bottom lip, trying not to laugh. She knew Saint
was the only one who could probably bring out such open animosity from a
servant.
Nico turned and kissed her, in front of the servant. “I hope
not to be too long.”
“No worries, Nico. I understand it is urgent.”
He smiled, and she felt her heart jump. She watched him walk
down the hall and sighed. The first thing she had noticed about him was the way
he walked through a room. Several months ago, she had watched him stride
through the ballroom as if he didn’t care what people thought of him. And now
that she knew him better, she knew he really didn’t. He was so self-possessed,
so sure of himself.
“Lady Cordelia?” the footman said.
She realized she had been standing there staring after her
husband. “Yes?”
“Mrs. Blackburn would like to see you in her morning room on
the second floor.”
“The second floor?”
“Second room on the left, my lady.”
“Thank you, James.”
The footman looked surprised when she remembered his name.
She started up the staircase, thinking back to her husband. He really kept her
off balance. One moment he was the imposing businessman, and the next he was
enticing her into making love in the library. She loved the way he made her
laugh. It had been so long since she had genuinely laughed at anything. In less
than twenty-four hours, he had slipped beneath her reserve. Of course she was
falling in love with the man.
She stopped on the next to the last step as it hit her.
She was falling in love with a man she didn’t know, and
worse, he wasn’t even a man. He was a vampire.
“Cordelia?” her mother-in-law said. She saw her standing
just a few paces away from the stairs. Cordelia shook herself.
“Yes?”
“Are you all right?”
She nodded slowly.
“You don’t look well. Do you need to lie down?”
She shook her head. “No, I just need a little tea I think.”
She followed her mother-in-law down the hall and into her
parlor. As she did, her mind worked through the ramifications of being in love.
She could stop it, she was sure of it. She did not know him well enough to be
in love. Goodness, she didn’t even know enough of this new life to contemplate
being in love with a man who married her out of pity. They could say anything
they wanted, but that was the truth of it. Nico would have survived the
scandal. She would not.
“I’m a little worried about you. It isn’t easy acquiring any
family, but this…well, it isn’t what you expected.”
Cordelia sighed. “True. I wish I knew more about my birth
father.”
As she poured the tea, Adelaide looked at her. “You know
nothing of your father’s family?”
She shrugged. “Just that he was from Scotland.”
“That is something. We can start looking there,” she said,
handing Cordelia a cup.
“Start looking?”
“I think we need to find out where you came from. Believe
me, Nico has never been a man to lose his head. In fact, it was worse after
Demetrius died. So locked down, but you blow into town and he is suddenly found
in a compromising situation.”
She blushed again. “I am sorry for that.”
Her mother-in-law laughed. “Don’t be. I am happy to watch
it. His father and I were wondering if we would ever have grandbabies. With
you, I know now that I will. But, with that said, I can assure you that it is
important to find out who your father is.”
“Why?” she asked, afraid of the answer. What if they found
out her father was a horrible person?
“My dear, we should all know where we come from. And, your
sire must have been a very powerful Born. You had both Hurst and Nico trailing
after you. To be honest, I am amazed you have not been claimed before now.”
“I am positive there were not many Borns in my area. This is
my first real year in London. I had been here off and on for other things but
not an entire season.”
“Well, let’s get down to work. You said your father was from
Scotland? And you are eight and twenty? I think we need some help sorting out
who was in London at that time.”
Cordelia sat back and watched as her mother-in-law
formulated a plan of attack and noted that she and Adelaide were probably more
alike than either of them realized.
*
*
*
*
Nico tried to concentrate on the conversation but his mind
kept wandering. It was very unlike him, especially when the stakes were so
high. He could not get his mind on the subject when he could still taste
Cordelia on his tongue. He wanted to take her away. The cottage he owned in the
lake district would be perfect. They could spend their days and nights making
love, only stopping to eat and sleep. He could handle a month of days like
that. Or more.
“Nicodemus, you might want to pay attention,” Saint said.
He looked around the table and realized that his father,
Gray, Malik, and his cousin were all staring at him. He shook himself and
leaned forward.
“So, there was another killing?”
“A male human this time. I have a feeling one of the Mades
tried to turn him,” Malik said. “We know that does not work well.”
Of course it didn’t. A Made would never be strong enough to
turn a human. It always ended up with the human dying as they slowly bled to
death.
“Was it cleaned up?”
Gray nodded. “We got to it before the human authorities, but
the rumors are definitely swirling through the lower classes. Fear is growing.
At some point I am hoping the Alliance will step in.”
“Don’t hold your breath,” Nico said as he looked at Malik.
“You are sure it is another Made who did it?”
Malik nodded. “I doubt it was his idea. The Born who turned
him probably gave him instructions.”
“I just wish we had an idea who that is. It would be easier
if we did,” Nico said.
When everyone around the table lapsed into silence, he
looked at them. There was something else they were not telling him.
“What is it?”
His father, who had been uncommonly silent until then, stood
and walked to stand beside him. He reached into his pocket and handed over a
familiar necklace.
Nico looked at the ruby necklace and knew what the
inscription said. He glanced up at his father, who suddenly looked his age.
“What is this?” he asked, anger and irritation filling his
voice. It was the betrothal necklace his brother had given his wife. It had not
been seen since his death.
“It was left at the scene of the attack. We think it is a
sign.”
“I killed Neal.”
“Are you sure?” Saint asked. “You were half out of your mind
before we got to you. The fever raged through your body and you almost died.
Did you see him die?”
Nico closed his eyes, trying to block the memories of a
hundred years ago, but they came rushing back. The feel of pressing the stake
through Neal’s heart still haunted him. He had killed more than a few Mades in
his time, more to put them out of their misery and protect Carriers. But this
was different. This was a Born and one of his best friends. Killing him had not
been easy.
But Saint was correct. Neal had given him some kind of
concoction that had made Nico ill, and his memories were hazy at best.
“Bloody hell,” he whispered.
He opened his eyes and looked at his friends and family. “It
is either Neal Pearson seeking revenge or someone very close to him.”
“Either way, son, if we are right, you are the reason he is
here. I have a feeling he will stop at nothing to ruin you.”
And that meant his friends and family were in the
crosshairs.
“And more than that,” Malik said, “some of this will have to
be explained to your new bride.”
“What?” he asked, his rage turning into panic in a split
second. Even without asking he knew the answer, but he did not want to face it.
“Nico.” Malik waited until he looked at him. “There is one
thing we know about Neal and his form of revenge. He
always
goes after the women.”
Which meant that by marrying Cordelia, he made her a target
of an insane killer bent on making Nico pay for imaginary transgressions.
Neal would not stop until Cordelia was dead.
The next afternoon, they assembled in Nico’s library to map
out the attacks. Nico knew he was missing something. There was some little bit
of information that was just out of his reach mentally. He knew as soon as he
discovered it, this would make more sense. At the moment, though, it did not.
Neal had been his best friend for a while. They were the
same age and had some of the same interests. Or so he thought. Now he was not
sure of that. Everything Neal did in the end was colored by his actions before
his death.
Before Nico killed him.
"So, you think that this is Neal Pearson?" Gray
asked.
Nico shook himself out of his funk and looked at the map
they were working on, then up at Gray. "Yes, I do. Not many people know
about the necklace. It has been missing since my brother’s death."
"But you killed him, correct?" Gray asked.
He nodded. "I thought I did."
"There have been experiments." Saint stood and
began pacing the room.
Everyone looked at Saint.
"What?" Nico was shocked. Experimenting with life
and death?
Saint stopped at a window, looking out at the street.
"I have heard there are a few people that have reported experiments on
almost-dead Borns. I have not been able to find anything."
And that meant a lot. Saint was a giant of a man, but he had
a scientific mind and he was actually brilliant. From the tone of his voice, he
thought the story might be true. And if the cynic could be convinced...
"Raising Borns from the dead? That sounds
ridiculous," Gray said.
"Don't be so hasty in your judgment, Gray,” Malik said.
“Borns have done some horrendous things in the past collectively, but
individually, they have been even worse. Get another Born who is upset over
losing a loved one, then they will do anything."
Saint snorted and crossed his arms over his chest. "If
he is insane."
Malik smiled. "You should know you don't have to be
sane to be brilliant."
Saint snorted again, but said nothing in retaliation.
"There have been rumors of that for the last fifty years or so. More in
the last ten about reviving the dead."
"So someone could have revived him?” Gray asked.
"I cannot say that the Alliance is going to be happy about this."
"No, but I did not say it was successful. I highly
doubt they were, but I didn't want to rule anything out." Saint returned
to the map.
"Would there be anyone who would want the bastard
around?" his father asked.
Nico shrugged. "He was an orphan, but there was
Charlotte, his mate—if you can call her that. He had very few friends."
His father nodded. "I think it best if we make some
discreet inquiries to find out about her and her people. She was a Carrier?"
"I think she was. I knew little about her." Nico’s
memory of that time was faint, like his brain had tried to forget it all.
"That's odd," his father said.
"What?" Everything about Neal had been odd.
"Most Borns like to parade their mates around once they
have mated and bonded, but you are saying he did not?" His father looked
confused.
"It is hard to know exactly what he was thinking at the
time. The man never seemed to have a plan, but we all know that he did."
Nico couldn't keep the irritation out of his voice. As his friend, Nico should
have known. But, he had not. He’d never had an inkling of where the bastard had
been from. There were rumors after he died about his parents, their
murder...and that Neal had been responsible. But Nico had chalked it up to
gossip.
Gray turned his attention to the map. "Let's look at
the killings. I have marked off on the map that Malik made where the killings
have occurred here in London."
"These here, what are they?" his father asked,
pointing at the map.
"These are the first killings. They are women, no men
at this point," Gray said.
"And now, these are men?" His father pointed to a
different area of the map.
"We can't say for sure if they were attacked by a
Made." Gray ran his fingers through his hair. Talking about the killings
was obviously hard on him.
"They were." Malik said, certainty ringing in his
voice.
"You know?" Nico asked.
"I know this one, right outside the hell. We were there
when they found the man. The scent was unmistakable." The look on Malik’s
face was one of disgust.
He did not have to ask Malik what he meant. He had smelled
it, too. There was a distinct odor to a newly Made that often caused Nico to
become ill.
“Do you not see the pattern?” Hurst asked quietly. He had
not said a word since he arrived.