Authors: Multiple
"Beth,"
Trinity said, grasping her hand from Father Christian and pulling her to his
side. "I would recommend you allow it, even though it will cause your
brother more physical torment for a while, but in the end it could save his
soul."
Beth leaned
against Trinity's strong frame with tears in her eyes. In her mind she kept
repeating,
he's alive, he's alive
. Guilt made her ache as she wondered
why Adam had come back to Fanton's mansion. Was Adam looking for her? Surely he
was. "I'm so sorry," she whispered, then with an anguished voice, she
said, "Yes, do as you must, Father."
Father Christian
nodded and moved toward the church doors. "I will keep you closely
apprised," he said. Just before entering, he said, "Trinity, you need
to speak to Baptiste or Church as soon as you are able."
Trinity nodded
and he turned and grasped her chin as Father Christian disappeared inside. He
lifted her gaze to his. "Tell me why you are taking this guilt on. I can
feel it pouring from you."
"It is my
entire fault!" she cried, beating a fist on his chest once. "I knew
what Fanton was. I had found out, but I was too ashamed to admit it. And I
never
told Adam."
Chapter Thirty One
Ashamed to
admit it?
Trinity wanted to howl at the moon as answers gnawed through his
body with denial. The demon Fanton
had fed
on Beth. She'd been ashamed
to admit it to him. They looked at each other … knowing the truth through their
intimate connection. He realized their bond of feelings was different from his
brothers’. He could sense the feelings struggling inside her. It was
bewilderment dawning on her and the agonized feelings of being raped. She
wondered if the evil bastard could have taken more than her blood. When she was
hypnotized beyond her capabilities, would she know?
"He
didn't," Trinity growled, lashing her against his body, holding her close.
"You've given your husband the treasure of your virginity," he
reminded her. Yet still she trembled in his embrace. There were so many things
to discuss, hard and terrible things, but he felt the urgency to bide
Christian's words. He needed to speak to Church and Baptiste. "I'm taking
you home," he murmured in Beth's silky hair.
Hours later,
Trinity looked in the mirror, adjusting his crisp cravat and tugging the cuffs
on his black evening jacket. After learning about Adam's tragic circumstances,
he brought Beth to Blacknall mansion. Upon arrival, they'd realized they were
going to be in the middle of a ball. The timing was bad; however, he convinced
Beth it would be advantageous to present her as Countess Montrose, rather
sooner than later, for society's wagging tongues.
Actually, Church
had pressed it on her, besides needing her last minute help with the event. At
the moment, he could feel her in the room connected to his and she felt like a
soft, solid caress in his mind. He'd left her to the opposite, more feminine
room to bathe, while he'd paid extravagant amounts of money to have an
appropriate dress delivered for her.
Her gasp of
surprise just a short time before had converged in his mind and in his
extraordinary hearing, connected so intimately to her. She was pleased.
"Your bride
will wear these." Church strode into the room on the wave of brisk
irritation. The event of the ball was trying his patience. Church had a square,
black box in his hand, which he flipped open as Trinity turned to look.
"Mother's
necklace," Trinity uttered, remembering the emeralds and diamonds as
clearly as if she were standing in front of him wearing them. He was shocked,
as he'd thought all of his mother's possessions were lost, destroyed, taken and
sold off by their stepfather.
"I've added
the earrings and bracelet to match over the years," Church's voice
grumbled.
It was a
magnificent set meant for royalty and it would awe the
ton
, which was
exactly why Church was doing it, Trinity realized. With jewels like these
offsetting Beth's beauty, her possession by the Lords of Blacknall would ring
throughout the ballroom. For him, Church, Baptiste, and Christian, it would
mean intimate acceptance into their family.
Trinity touched
the bold, glistening emerald at the center of the necklace, perhaps secretly
wishing he could feel his mother's presence. He was afraid of what Church might
have had to give up to even possess this relic from their mother. As he stroked
the cold jewel, his gaze raised to Church's, searching.
Church's gaze
remained locked … there would be no hint of the sacrifice. Yet, Church must
have sensed his train of thought because he rasped in a barely-audible hiss,
"It was worth it."
Trinity nodded.
They wouldn't speak of what price their vile Sire extracted. They would simply
appreciate the memories the necklace brought of happier times. "I remember
when you and I snuck out of the nursery to hide at the top of the stairs the
night they held a ball," Trinity muttered, dropping his fingertips from
the emerald.
Church looked
startled for a moment. "You remember that? You were so young."
Trinity arched
an eyebrow. "As were you."
Church smiled.
"She was radiant that night. We both swore she made the emerald sparkle as
father waltzed her across the dance floor."
They'd been
little boys wanting to look for soldiers attending the silly ball and perhaps
their swords, Trinity thought. But their mother and father had captivated their
ruckus attention.
Church thrust
the box forward. "So take it," he said gruffly.
Trinity tapped
the box closed, still in Church's hand, and laid his palm across it. "You
should save this for your woman."
Church jerked
his head once. It was a sharp denial that he would ever have a woman.
"Take it," he demanded, and then he left the box so Trinity had no
choice but to take it. Church stalked to the windows. The night fog had clouded
them, but still the torches in front of the mansion flickered on the
windowpanes.
"You've
seen Christian and her brother Adam?" Church turned his piercing, blue
eyes to him. Trinity nodded, as Church continued, "I don't know who could
have done this vile thing. And to a noble, no less."
Trinity
interrupted anything further Church might add. "I do."
Church's black
brows rose against the shock of white hair on his forehead. "You do?"
he demanded.
"I've a
suspicion it is the same one who has been mutilating the women."
"And you
know
who this is," Church challenged. He growled, "It would take a vampire
to kill Cull like that."
"Exactly,"
Trinity answered with his irises turning predatory yellow.
"Trinity,
is something wrong with Adam?" Beth exclaimed, hurrying into the room with
the crackle of petticoats. "You look so fierce."
He turned to
her, for a split second admiring the dress she wore before she was embraced
against him. "No, your brother fares just as we left him."
Church's
features instantly turned from predatory to fond as his gaze slid over Beth.
"You do this family's uncouth bachelors proud, my lady."
Trinity watched
his bride blush at the compliment and he could not agree more as pride filled
him. She was exquisite in the green and dappled-silver gown, with pearls shot
through the hem, collar, and sleeves. He especially appreciated the modest, but
full, cleavage she presented and he would envy the emeralds nesting atop the
creamy mounds.
"You must
call me Beth in private."
"My
pleasure, Beth," Church responded. "I will be forever in your debt
for shouldering some of the social expectations from this blasted ball."
She smiled
again, placing her hand on the black sleeve covering his forearm for a light
pat. "I wish we didn't have to care about such social nonsense. I have
spent half my life worrying over it."
Church covered
her hand for a moment. "It is better to confront them and keep up
appearances. They don't know we have more to hide than they do."
Beth nodded.
"You are correct and wise."
Church's hand
lifted from hers and hers fell away. "Your husband makes certain I am not
always right."
Trinity tilted
his head with a slight smirk. "Your head's already swelled enough,
brother," he teased a bit caustically.
Trinity heard
and felt the arrival of Baptiste behind them — what interested him was
Beth appeared to also. She truly was connected to his brothers through him.
Baptiste wasn't
dressed for a ball. He looked disturbed and the discontent thrummed in
Trinity's mind. Baptiste bowed slightly to Beth, and then he said, "There
was a vampire in the mansion, hidden behind the walls by the look of it."
Baptiste turned his gaze to Beth. "Your brother screamed the name Fanton,
so I thought …"
Beth gasped.
Trinity strengthened his arm around her as her horrified gaze met his. He
looked deep into her eyes and nodded. He watched her gulp and straighten.
"That is my stepbrother," she stated distinctly. "He
is
a
vampire."
Both Church and
Baptiste made amazed sounds, before Trinity advised, "Let her
finish."
Beth squeezed
him, and then said, "I didn't know he was a vampire. My brother, Adam,
didn't either. We've known he was evil forever, but this …" She shook her
head. "We never knew there were …" Her voice trailed off.
"Vampires,"
Trinity uttered, finishing her words.
"He was
massively torn about the throat, wounded badly. And he ran. But what I don't
understand is why Christian or I couldn't detect him," Baptiste muttered.
"Perhaps it was all the blood."
"Nay,"
Trinity said, glaring at his brothers. "It's
wolfsbane
."
"What is
this?" Church demanded.
Trinity
shrugged. "I've not had time to tell you. However, I came across a meeting
of Cull and Mongrel. I heard them speaking about an elixir that would leave
them undetected by their brethren."
"Of course
it's quite possible," Baptiste muttered.
"It
obviously works," Church stated, turning his flashing gaze on Beth.
"This Lord Fanton killed Cull and tried to kill your brother."
She nodded,
clutching Trinity's arm. "He was evil before. I know it," she
whispered the terrible knowledge.
Trinity watched
Church's gaze turn to him. "Evil before, was he?"
"It's why
he mauls them," Trinity uttered. "He was a killer before he was
turned into a vampire."
Beth whimpered
at the revelation, and he pulled her fully into his embrace as he turned them
away from his brothers. "These women who were killed, he-he, you think he
…"
He grasped her
chin and turned her anguished gaze up to him. He had to tell her the hardest
things he suspected. "Yes," he stated, and then he hesitated, but
forced the words out, "It had to be him in the woods chasing you."
She nearly
crumbled, but he held her upright. "How could I not know any of
this?" she exclaimed, "How could I be so blind?"
"You are
not," Church expelled behind them.
But Trinity said
it for him. "Vampires live to deceive, Beth. We are
masters
at
it."
Chapter Thirty Two
Beth left the
discussion of how to find and destroy Fanton to the brothers. It was too
heartbreaking, knowing she'd been as if an accomplice in all the horrors Fanton
had wrought. They could say vampires were master deceivers, but she should have
known.
Nonetheless, she
had to leave her guilt alone to fester on its own for a while. At least until
the ball was over. Her skirts swished on the floor as she walked the long hall
to the main staircase. She worried over how to present herself. She had secrets
that needed to be kept now, and she was a new wife. She thought about how other
new wives she'd known acted at their first balls after marriage, so carefree
and a bit triumphant they'd made their catch.
She couldn't be
carefree, not with her brother's life so destroyed and Fanton such a threat to
innocent, unsuspecting women. But she could be proud. Proud to love a man such
as her husband. She felt the touch in her mind right before she heard a unique
swishing sound, then suddenly, as if a blur, Baptiste arrived beside her.
"Oh
my," she gasped, startled even with the warning.
"Apologies,"
he said. "It might take a bit of getting used to." She smiled,
nodding, but noted the pensive look on his handsome features. "I came to
ask you if you could perhaps help a, um, acquaintance of mine."
Beth raised an
eyebrow as she stopped walking and turned to him. "If I can, my lord, of
course."
"Baptiste,"
he interjected, and then he said, "Her name is Irene, and she'd require a
dress for this ball."
An hour later,
Beth stepped down the main staircase, with emeralds at her throat and sparkling
on her earlobes and the large ring with the Blacknall crest on her finger. They
were nearly ready to open the main doors to start greeting arrivals. She was
very pleased with what she'd accomplished with the mysterious Irene. She
glanced sideways at Irene, stepping shyly beside her. The woman's rich fall of
deep red hair was caught upward in a fashionable twist as her gaze darted
nervously.
"Will he be
here?" she asked for the dozenth time.
Beth clasped
Irene's hand for reassurance. "Lord Baptiste will be here."
Beth smiled
inwardly; there was definitely something of the heart going on here. She
wondered if Trinity knew. Then she saw him across the grand entryway watching
her arrival with heat in his gaze that caused her to blush slightly. Trinity
nodded his head to her inner question and she felt startled. It was going to
take time to become used to the secret connection of the mind they had.
Mischievously,
she started imagining kissing him with great passion and his irises began to
glow in what she saw as she drew nearer was the beginning of yellow rings. The
image of her lying naked as he split her legs and kissed her mound flashed with
amazing heat into her mind.
Her hand flew to
her lips as she gasped then admonished, "Trinity."
He raised a
challenging eyebrow to her, not looking at all guilty as he stepped forward to
clasp her gloved hand. He was the only brother in attendance and he answered
before she could ask.
"I know
Church should be here, blast him." She watched Trinity bow to Irene.
"My lady, I am Lord Trinity Montrose, pleasure to greet you here."
Irene looked as if made of pure porcelain marble, and her gaze wouldn't meet
Trinity's. "This is my wife and we mean you
no
harm," he
stated severely. Beth glanced at him, wondering at his tone.
Irene seemed to
straighten beneath his admonishment and curtsy slightly, while trying to look
up at him. "I really shouldn't be here," she began to say, starting
to back away.
Beth reached
forward and grasped Irene's hand. "Come stand beside me. We are friends
now, yes?"
Irene nodded,
smiling at her. "I went to a ball once when I was sixteen," she
whispered.
"Was it
your coming out?" Beth asked, settling Irene beside her as she sent a
questioning glance to Trinity. Trinity's mind caressed her with thoughts that
later he would explain.
"No, not
mine. It was for my older sister."
"You have
family? Here in London," Beth asked.
"Oh no, my
lady," Irene exclaimed. "They are all gone now."
More
mysteries
, Beth thought, and she'd find answers with her husband later on.
She patted Irene's hand. "Well, this will be your second ball."
"I just
don't know who to say I am," Irene said.
Beth wondered
what she could possibly have said to that, but Baptiste arrived.
"If my new
sister-in-law doesn't mind, we will say you are her third cousin, Miss Irene
Ensworth, in from Yorkshire," Baptiste said, arriving on the other side of
Irene, and looking well put together in black evening attire. Irene dipped her
head, blushing. And before Beth could agree to Baptiste's plan, he turned to
Irene with a short bow. "My lady, you look lovely this evening. I am
honored to have you here by my side."
Beth turned back
to Trinity, raising an eyebrow as he curled an arm about her waist, drawing her
closer. She murmured in his ear, "Please just tell me Miss Irene isn't
kidnapped or the victim of any other nefarious happenings."
"Do you
believe your household of vampires would be nefarious toward a young
lady?" he murmured back against her ear, sending a shiver through her.
She tried not to
smile, but remain serious. "Put that way …" she paused, making him
wait for her prediction, and then she finished, "No, too noble by half, I
think."
His lips pressed
behind her ear. "I'm not completely noble where you are concerned."
For a moment, Beth wished the presence of the impending ball would disappear.
But then Church
arrived, with a booming voice saying, "Open the blasted doors and get this
started."
Trinity chuckled
against her as they all turned to watch two footmen pulling open the heavy
front doors.
The greetings
took well over an hour, and Beth was surprised to see how many notable lords
and ladies appeared. Trinity's whispered speculation in her ear was they were
too curious not to attend. She thought he might be right. They all looked at
them both with great interest, some of the grand dames seeming as though trying
to pry out if she were with child. Trinity deflected one and all from her with
austere glares. She'd never felt so comfortable or formidable in society
before. It was gratifying having the nobility that had shunned her now seek her
court.
That was until
Lady Ariel arrived. How could she forget that might happen? It was nearing the
end of the cavalcade of arrivals, so when she spied Lady Ariel it wasn't too
blatant that she picked up her skirts and left the greeting line. Trinity was
involved speaking to a Lord Brimwall of the Royal Society and a colleague of
Baptiste's. Therefore, her murmur that she was leaving didn't lift his gaze as
she passed him.
Would she run
before the enemy? Yes. But then she realized many of the lords and ladies
present for the festivities would have an eagle eye out for what would
transpire between her and her accuser, Lady Ariel.
"Darn,"
Beth cursed beneath her breath. She should have thought about this
inevitability, but really things were far too hectic for her to have considered
it. She wasn't certain how she felt about Lady Ariel now, except betrayed.
Trinity's mind brushed hers, questioning her unrest and she cooled his thoughts
with assurances of well-being.
She was out the
other side of the ballroom into the hall, as she muttered, "We must find
ways to block some of this." She wasn't certain she wished her husband to
share every turmoil she felt. Without looking where she was going, she bumped
into an immovable wall.
"Oh dear,
excuse me," she exclaimed with her gaze rising. Her impressions were
choppy, but she saw broad shoulders, raven black hair, a sharp nose, and violet
so deep it turned her gaze back.
"Quite all
right,
domina angelus
." Violet eyes like two drops of rich wine
turned down to her as firm hands steadied her. She wondered about the Latin
words the man spoke.
"I …"
she started to say, but her voice closed as the purple deepened.
"Why would
you call her lady angel in Latin, my lord? Are you from Rome, might I
inquire?" a soft voice from behind them sounded.
Beth shook her
head as the violet eyes turned from her and she felt as if fog were lifting
from her mind.
"Look at
me,
bella
. Do not interfere. You are mine now, yes. Look deeply."
Alarm tugged
Beth's mind for an instant as she saw a broad hand curl outward as though
enticing the other lady in the hallway. She saw the pretty, blonde-haired woman
with gold spectacles sway toward the hand as though mesmerized. Just as bits of
her senses were returning, those alluring, violet eyes turned back to her, and
she sighed into them.
"Yes, my
beauties, come closer."
Trinity's head
snapped upward. "Did you feel that?" he hissed.
Church leaned
closer. "No. I didn't feel anything."
Trinity turned
from the foyer looking into the ballroom. "I am more closely attuned to
her. I thought I felt a moment of …" He paused, walking toward the
ballroom. "Unrest or …" He shook his head. "I cannot name
it."
Church's hand
clasped his shoulder from behind. "Her false friend, Lady Ariel, came
through but didn't stop at the greeting line."
Trinity turned
back to look at Church. "I'd believe that would certainly upset my
wife." He turned back, walking forward, as he uttered, "Except now I
cannot feel her
at all
."
Church grabbed
his arm, holding him. "I agree it's alarming, however, we must use
discretion." The words were sharply-suppressed orders.
Trinity nodded
curtly, taking a deep breath. He couldn't use his superior speed to whisk
around the mansion. Baptiste and Irene pulled toward them, making a circle.
"We need to
find Lady Beth," he stated. "She's not within my hearing."
Baptiste nodded,
as Irene offered, "I saw her across the ballroom toward the far side. She
left my side and I noticed."
Trinity began to
move in that direction. "Still, we will check all places," Church
ordered behind him. "I will check upstairs. Baptiste can look out front
and Miss Irene may look through the ladies’ retiring rooms."
Trinity heard
the last only with his exceptional hearing because he was halfway across the
ballroom. People tried to corner him into conversation, but he merely nodded,
not caring if he appeared rude. His inner thoughts were trying to calm him, by
pointing out his and Beth's connection was very new. Perhaps this was a side
effect. Too many people dulled it, and the ballroom was much fuller than he'd
expected.
The curious
couldn't stand to be left out,
he thought. Nevertheless, his wife offered
his family great benefits. Now society would stop wondering at the bachelors.
For a while.
"My Lord
Montrose, I wanted to tell you how sorry I am that I was in anyway involved in
the misunderstanding concerning you and Lady Beth Winslow."
Trinity halted
his forward march at these remarkable words coming from a young society miss.
Then he placed her as Lady Ariel. "Countess
Montrose,
" he
corrected curtly. This was the twit whose gossip tried to ruin his wife.
He glared down
at the young woman. "I wouldn't call your interfering, patently wrong, and
malicious gossiping a misunderstanding," he uttered.
The lady turned
white at his accusations, as he added, "But I will thank you nonetheless,
because your misunderstanding has given me my countess. The one you called
friend."
He turned and
left the lady behind, going into the far hallway where his senses came alive.
"She was here," he whispered. He started forward to follow a scent he
would ever think of as heather on the moors mixed with starlight.
His brothers
quickly realized his assurance that he was on the right trail and they came
from each corner they'd been searching to meet him beside the mansion in an
alcove portion of the shrubbery. There was a fountain, a circular patio, a
bench, and three people under the latent light of torches in the distance.
Trinity stilled
when he realized one of the three was a vampire, and he grasped Church's and
Baptiste's arms, holding them back from rushing forward and approaching. A sick
feeling centered in his gut. The vampire obviously had his wife under his
spell. Fangs punched out of his gums with viciousness that wasn't displayed
through to his body. He held still, assessing, and his senses told him …
"That
vampire is older than any I've ever met," Church uttered beside him.
The women swayed
before the tall vampire who was dressed as though attending an evening ball.
The power that emanated off the vampire pounded against Trinity's chest,
verifying Church's assessment that this was an ancient.
"
Salvete
,
gentlemen. I come not for blood," the ancient vampire turned his gaze to
them. Trinity felt a snarl catch in his throat because the eyes of the vampire
were white.
"Latin,"
Baptiste whispered alongside him of the word the vampire used. It was a
harmless greeting, but the power and strength exuding from him was not harmless
at all.
"As old as
Rome," Church said with awe.
Trinity's gaze
widened. "Then you'd
not
hold my wife under your spell," he
snapped, slowly walking closer.
Church stayed a
step behind him, and asked for Trinity's ears only, "Who is the other
woman?"
Trinity barely
glanced at the young, blonde-haired woman with spectacles; he only knew she was
human and as mesmerized as his wife was.
"Your
mate," the vampire stated, and Trinity noted his fangs were not present
nor his claws. "I sense this now," he said, bowing and taking a step
back. "I would not have intruded had I realized."