She was actually scared.
“
They erased my memory,” he whispered softly. “And until now…It isn’t fair for you—”
Rein placed her soft, pale finger on his lips and pulled herself into him. “Please calm down.” She stopped, and he returned her embrace tight again, struggling with his thoughts. “I love you,” she whispered. “Don’t ever doubt for a second that I would
ever
want to leave here.”
He lowered his head to his knees. “I—
damn
, I
didn’t mean to
…”
“
You couldn’t have prevented it,” she continued, trying to soothe his broken heart. Then, reaching out and pulling his face toward her, she looked deep into his wet, red eyes. “We both know the down sides of being a vampire.”
“
And that’s my fault, too, isn’t it?” he said. “Oh God…”
She watched him hide his eyes from her, feeling helpless, unable to think of anything more to say that might uplift him. It couldn’t be done.
They held each other, and this time he was quiet. She felt his fingers grasp her. Underneath the strong and encouraging spirit she tried to show him, she was terrified. Not of him; she was terrified when he wasn’t himself. She felt protected and impenetrable with him over her, now, embracing and holding her. He always protected her. Would fight for her. Die for her. She loved that part of him. But now she had to find a way to help him through a worsened depression—one he had just begun to break free of.
Chapter 68
Taverin felt so much calmer and cleaner after she washed and changed into a comfortable dress. She quickly brushed through her long, silky, black hair and twisted it into a braid.
Staring at herself in the mirror, she had to smile. She had no pain; no wounds from the fight. They’d healed her. And although at the time she had been hit and wounded more than she had ever been in her life, and experienced more pain than she ever had, she was glad to know that she was part of something so important. She actually felt stronger rather than weaker, mentally, having witnessed so much blood and gore—more than anyone should ever have to see.
But she thought on about how Rein felt.
What
Rein felt. Having gone from being entirely normal to being a
vampire
. Plus not being able to heal the stake wound in her chest, and being left with a
hole
. She was asleep in there now, with Traith.
Rein had just been brought back a few hours ago, after Traith had gotten frustrated that she wasn’t with him. Before he fought and actually won to retrieve her from the council, however, he talked with Taverin for a little bit. It was nice; he wasn’t as intimidating as he seemed.
He’d told her something interesting, as well.
“
You know the old saying, ‘we all have demons in our closets?’”
“
Yes,” she had replied to him.
“
Well, I work the same way, but instead of the demons being
in
my closet, they’re loose and in the house, and I’m constantly fighting them instead of being able to hide them away all the time.”
She laughed when thinking about it; she’d laughed when he told it to her. He did too. Rein was lucky to have him.
Then she thought on about her own love, William. She hadn’t talked to him in ages, it seemed. So much had been going on that it hadn’t been safe for her to leave recently, and he had no idea where she had gone, other than home. She felt horrible thinking about the last time she’d seen him: she had spent a long night talking and dancing with him at her best friend Catherine’s estate. They’d exchanged a first kiss. Smiles. Touching. And she had said she would see him soon, but had not been specific. As she left, she’d figured she would see him in a week or so, but that night had been at
least
a month ago. What would he think, having not heard from her after their first kiss? She would hate for him to think the wrong things. William was now twenty, and he could so easily meet another girl, one closer in age to him.
But Rein said he would wait…
Suddenly she heard loud voices.
Traith’s voice sounded from he and Rein’s bedroom across the hall.
She sat stiff and quiet, listening for a moment; she heard crying. Something had happened between them, but it was hard for her to tell what.
After a few long minutes, it became silent. Taverin hesitantly stood and walked toward her bedroom door. As quiet as she could, she turned the knob and poked her head out, and she accidentally gasped when she saw Traith and Rein holding each other on the stone floor in the hallway.
Rein looked up when she heard Taverin’s gasp.
Traith suddenly vanished, and Rein sat back, still crying, staring at the spot in which he had been sitting.
“
God,” she said, her words muffled as she held her head in her hands.
“
I’m sorry,” Taverin said like a mouse from her doorway. “Rein, what happened?”
“
He murdered his parents, Taverin.”
Taverin held her mouth as Rein cried.
“
Many, many years ago. Helena brainwashed him and then wiped his memory. I rekindled it. He’s devastated.”
“
Oh my Lord,” Taverin said. “Rein? Are you going to—Is Traith going to be all right? Where did he go?”
“
I don’t know,” Rein answered in a frightened whisper, pushing her straight, black hair out of her face. “I cannot do anything for him. He needs to escape into himself for a while; and by God, he’ll have to fight hard; no wound has ever cut him so deeply.”
The room was very dim; the only light came from the sconces that hung from the ceiling in each of the four corners of the area. Metallic generators and machines were all beeping and ticking loudly, eerily, and there were tall, cylinder-shaped tubes leading up to the ceiling with test subjects in them.
A special agent had been sent to locate and recover the body they were searching for. It had been considered “missing” for some time. But during that time, secret searches had been going on. After tedious searching, the body, or at least, the remains of it, was found. Not much but bone and dissolved meat was left of the wet corpse, but even that was more than enough needed to carry out the experiment. Now that same body, or rather the soul of the person who once owned that body, was drifting up and down in a large test tube with metal wires and patches attached to her head, torso, and lower body. She was stark naked and sickening to look at due to long saturation. In the tube next to her, there was another body: a woman; she was young and beautiful, but lifeless. She had been created from a number of different people. The soul of the mutilated body next to her was transferred into her, allowing her to have life. The newly created female convulsed in the tube and, suddenly, opened her eyes.
“
The process is complete, Helena.” A shaky voice came from a dark figure, not visible in the dimness. It was Ana.
“
Good. Good. Bring her out. Dispose of the old body.”
Ana nodded and punched a few buttons into the operational panel, draining the chemicals in the tube, forcing the woman to stand on her own two feet for the first time. Two pipes hissed as the testing tube rose. The woman staggered out, ripping off wires that had been transferring data into her mind. Two creatures placed a robe around her nude body, and the woman searched the darkness.
“
Where…where am I?” The girl’s voice was hoarse.
“
Good evening, dear.”
“
Who am I? Who are you?”
The winged mistress turned and smiled wickedly. “Your name was lost quite a while ago, but to refresh your memory, your name is Saria Kendrick.”
“
Saria
. What did you do?” The girl looked away for a moment, apparently recalling old memories.
Helena turned and laughed. Ana, from the back of the room, walked up to the girl and delivered her a message without her leader seeing.
“
Carden…” Saria began rambling. “Rein…strange memories…Carden? I loved him. What happened? How long have I been—?”
“
Ah, yes, about Carden,” the leader said as she faced them again.
“
What did he do to me? How long have I been asleep?”
“
He did nothing; an evil man murdered you. I merely brought you back to life, allowing you the chance of revenge on a murderer.”
“
Where is Carden? Still on the ship? How long—”
“
Carden is gone. And your dearest, most precious friend, Rein Pierson, was his murderer. She killed your beloved with the fangs that she now bares in her mouth.”
Saria stepped backward. Her eyes were full of tears. Her new hair was cut short and strangely colored due to the chemical process of the re-embodiment. She was taller, now, and well-developed, with odd eyes: one sapphire and one violet.
“
Rein Pierson brought me with her so we could get away from England. She k-killed him? But she would never…I can’t believe that. How long has it been? How long have I been asleep?” Saria began walking frantically toward the dark silhouette.
“
For
months
, my dear girl; months at the bottom of the ocean. But don’t you worry…I’ll allow you your vengeance.”
Ana slowly backed away from Helena and the girl, and ran off down a hallway. She was not seen by the Leader, but ran quickly; she was terrified.
Chapter 70
Taverin was sitting at her vanity table toying with her hair and thinking. She was becoming restless in the silence. Taking leave of her chamber, she made her way to the bower two flights below her.
It was used so little by Rein, and since it was the room laid aside for women’s use, Taverin liked it. She liked many of the rooms in the castle, really. Each was entirely different; there were baileys, courtyards, the library, the kitchen, the ballroom, training hall, gallery, armory, study, and so much more. The only place she really hated was the grotto, the part of Traith’s castle that was underground and looked like a cave. It was in between empty cellars once used for wines or food. It was, to her, a damp, dark, scary room, but it opened up into a beautiful conservatory with glass walls and a glass ceiling. Once you made it to that part, it was rather amazing.
Rein normally liked to be with her betrothed, who always preferred to sit in the master library, the master drawing room, the study, the grotto, the conservatory, or their master chambers. That was usually it for Traith, but after what had happened—his regaining his memory—he had hardly even spoken once to Rein.
Taverin took a deep breath as she opened the door to the bower. She had to get away from the tension between Rein and Traith. She loved that room; it had a piano, a shelf of books, an atlas, and materials to draw and paint with. She had never been a skilled artist, but she enjoyed dabbling occasionally. She opened the large door, closed it behind her, and sat down on the piano stool. She played a simple but cheerful song.
As she sat there, however, she thought about her situation.
She was now sixteen years old, and she loved a man; she loved William. But he was twenty. He enjoyed her company, but she felt that he thought her still a bit too young to love.
She was starting to wonder if she had really made the right decision in coming to live here in isolation. And because Traith was technically inaccessible to even Rein at the current moment, there was no way she was getting to Cherbourg anytime soon. Her eyes were welling up with tears when a knock on the door interrupted her thoughts.
“
May I come in, dear?”
She turned and wiped her eyes quickly as she answered the call. It was Rein, tall and refined as she entered from the shadowy hallway. She walked in and sat on a sofa near Taverin. She looked stressed, but her elegant, soothing manner still made Taverin feel better.
“
You’re crying,” Rein said quietly. “What’s wrong?”
“
Nothing is wrong. I just haven’t seen anyone from my old home in a while.”
Rein leaned back against the sofa. “You know, when I brought you here, I knew it wasn’t going to be easy for you to leave your entire social life behind. I know there’s really no one here for you to talk to.”
“
No, no. It’s not like that. I wanted to stay. Really.”
Rein raised an eyebrow.
“
Oh, I know I am not fooling you. I’m just so scared about everything. It’s hard when you or Traith are upset. Especially now, after…” Taverin burst into tears and hunched over the piano.
After a moment of sobbing, she looked up at Rein. Her perfect face looked so miserable, so distant.
“
Oh, Rein!” she gasped. “I really do love living here, and I love you! I honestly—”
“
Soon, Tav. As soon as this is through, you can go back over to France. I just want you safe.” Rein took a seat next to her on the piano stool and pulled her close. “If William loves you,” Rein murmured, “he will wait for you. He
will
wait for you.”
“
Rein, honestly? You…you are confident?”