Destined for an Early Grave

THIRTEEN

WHERE ARE MY CLOTHES?”

It was a furious demand that earned me a reproving frown. “Don’t snarl so, Catherine. I can only transport the organic.”

Maybe that was true, but it didn’t explain why he was also au naturel. I doubted it was an accident. His caressing me sure wasn’t accidental.

“Get your hands off me, Gregor, and go call off your men like you promised. Right now.”

I didn’t say it in the same angry tone. No, this was with a cold, flat insistence.

He stared at me in a way that made me think he was going to refuse. Then, with deliberate slowness, he uncurled himself from me.

“Don’t try to get up yet, you’ll need time to recover.”

I was in a bed. Oh, sure, like this wasn’t specifically orchestrated. “I’ll be fine as long as you stick to your word.”

He didn’t respond, just strode to the door and yanked it open. I had enough instinctive modesty to flop onto my stomach, but there was still no coordination to my limbs.

Someone was right outside the room, and Gregor stepped back to let that person in.

“Lucius, observe.”

Lucius, a tall blond who might have been Nordic, observed, all right. He caught an eyeful of me glaring daggers at both of them.

“I have my wife. She came of her own volition, so you can instruct Simon to pull back his forces.”

“I have yet to learn that I’m your wife, and I came because you blackmailed me,” I replied, giving him a look that said I didn’t appreciate his play on words.

“Be sure to detail her exact condition for Simon to report,” Gregor said, ignoring that. “And do be sure to include mine as well.”

God in heaven, Bones was going to flip out. I felt a stirring of unease. Maybe I should have thought this over more.

“Oui, monsieur.”

Lucius left without a backward glance, and Gregor shut the door. I didn’t care for that, since he was still on the inside.

“Is he going to call this Simon? How close are we to there?” I asked, able to grasp some of the blanket and roll myself into it.

“He’ll call.” A light gleamed in his eyes. “But we’re very far from Bavaria, Catherine.”

“Bavaria?” Jeez, no wonder it had seemed remote. “Where are we now? Or I suppose you won’t tell me.”

It was very awkward having a conversation with a naked stranger. Gregor didn’t make any attempt to cover himself, either. I wasn’t looking, but I wasn’t blind. He was built like a football player, with a whole lot of muscle and intermittent scars on his skin.

“I’ll tell you. I’m not like that scavenger who shuttled you back and forth while keeping you sightless and witless.”

That last sentence told it all. It had been me after all.

I gave Gregor a level look. “I might not be dreaming of you, but you’re still in my head poking around. You must have been doing a pretty thorough job to know details like that.”

Gregor sat on the edge of the bed, reaching out to stop me from rolling away. The lack of synchronization in my movements frightened me. I wanted to jump out of the bed, but all I could do was twitch.

“I know what you know,” he said, tracing his hand down my arm. “I cannot transport someone, or invade their mind, without their blood having been inside me. Even though it was many years ago, your blood is still a part of me, Catherine.”

Another tidbit no one had mentioned before. “If you know what I do, then you’re aware I love Bones,” I answered.

“You think you do.” His hand slid lower, to the bottom of the blanket and slowly up inside it.

Feeling his fingers climb up my calf didn’t arouse me. It pissed me off.

“What kind of piece of shit would fondle a woman who can’t move to stop him?”

His hand froze on my leg. I managed to flop back around and keep the blanket over me with a shaky grip. At least now I was facing him instead of craning my neck around.

“The only reason I agreed to withdraw my men in exchange for your compliance is because Bones has saved you from death several times,” Gregor ground out. “But now, he gets no more passes from me.”

“Is that what you call not murdering him, my mother, and my friends in a dirty ambush at dawn? A pass? How’d you find us, anyway? It wasn’t from me this time.

Gregor’s jaw clenched. “I found you because of Bones’s stupidity, and if he’d had me and my men in a similar circumstance, he’d have acted with the same ruthlessness.”

I opened my mouth to respond when there was an urgent knock.

“I said no interruptions,” Gregor barked, streaking to the door and flinging it open.

It was Lucius again. He almost hopped up and down in nervousness. “Master, you must come with me. I-I have…news.”

The way his eyes kept flicking to me had me swinging my rubbery legs out of bed and managing to stand.

“What happened? Did what’s-his-name not get the message?” I asked, fighting dizziness.

“You need me to come with you now?” Gregor repeated, gesturing to me. “This is the first I’ve spent with my wife in a dozen years. This can’t wait?”

“No, monsieur,” Lucius whispered, lowering his head.

“Is it Bones?” I demanded, staggering and falling when my legs wouldn’t hold. “If he’s dead, Gregor—”

“Is that swine still alive?” he interrupted. “Answer so she won’t become hysterical.”

“Ah, yes, he is.” The sweetest of words. “If you would please come this way—”

“My mother?” I cut him off, thinking what else might have gone tragically wrong.

“I have no knowledge of any fatalities among your friends,” Lucius said, almost wringing his hands.

“You’ve heard what you requested,” Gregor said, picking me up and depositing me back in bed. “If you don’t want to injure yourself, stay there. I won’t be long.”

With that, he swept out. There was the distinct sound of bolts sliding after he shut the door. Left with few other productive options, I lay there and practiced moving my limbs.

Gregor came back about an hour later, dressed in pants but no shirt. Some clothes were better than none. I sat up with the sheet to my chin and pillows propped behind me. When he met my gaze, something flickered across his hard features. His mouth softened, but he didn’t quite smile.

“You remind me of the girl you were. You’re not her anymore, but right now, you look like you are.”

It was incredibly strange. He was remembering someone I used to be, and I had no idea who that was. A sixteen-year-old Catherine who didn’t hate vampires and went to Paris with one? Never met her.

“No, I’m not her anymore,” I agreed. “Since there’s no turning back the clock, why don’t we part in a semifriendly manner now?”

He didn’t respond to that. “Your body’s also different. You’re an inch taller, and you’ve gained weight.”

“Everyone’s a critic,” I muttered.

That made him smile, creasing the scar on his eyebrow. “Twas no insult, ma femme. It plumps your breasts and softens your thighs.”

Way too much information and in the wrong, wrong direction. “Gregor,” I shifted, and a strained breath escaped me. The movement put pressure on my ribs.

In the next instant, he was looming over me. “You’re hurt. I thought it was just unease after the transport, but you’re in pain.”

“It’s nothing.” I brushed his hands away. “Got banged up sparring with a friend, I’m fine. Where are we? You never said.”

“Austria.” He sat without being invited, and I scooted back, not liking his proximity.

“And what’s this news Lucius doesn’t want me to know?” My brow arched as I asked, daring him to tell me.

His shoulder lifted in a half shrug. “No one you hold dear was captured or killed. My men ceased as instructed, and my promise is fulfilled.”

“Not all of your promise.” Sharply.

“Nor all of yours. It’s your turn.” From his pants pocket, he withdrew a small silver knife, intricately etched. “Drink from me. Learn what was stolen from you.”

Now that it was time for me to discover what had been ripped from my mind, I was uncertain. Was it possible I’d loved the vampire in front of me? I couldn’t imagine that, but Gregor seemed so sure. What if learning this piece of my past did change things between Bones and me? Could I risk that?

But on the other hand, I didn’t have a choice. If Gregor wanted to force me to drink his blood, in my condition, it would be easy. Besides, I refused to let doubt dictate my actions. I loved Bones. Nothing I remembered would change that, no matter what Gregor thought.

I didn’t look away as I accepted the knife. When I reached for his hand, however, Gregor stopped me.

“No. Take from my neck, as I once took from yours.”

I really didn’t want to be closer to him, but refusing would be irrational. At least Bones was wrong, I thought. He swore Gregor would make me bite him.

Without hesitation, I jabbed the dirk into Gregor’s throat and sealed my mouth over the wound, sucking. As I swallowed, I felt his arms go around me, but they didn’t fully register. Something exploded in my brain. I wasn’t falling this time; I was being propelled forward.

I waited downstairs by the front door as Cannelle, Gregor’s housekeeper, had instructed me. She’d muttered something in French I hadn’t completely understood, but it didn’t sound friendly. Oh, in front of Gregor, Cannelle was polite. But as soon as his back was turned, she was cold and cutting. I didn’t know why, but it made me sad. I was a long way from home, and I hadn’t seen another soul aside from the few people in this house. A friend would have been so nice.

Gregor’s entryway had the coldest design, I’d decided. High ceilings that didn’t offer a glimpse of the sky. Harshly done paintings of unsmiling figures glaring at all who dared to enter. A set of hatchets crisscrossed together over a coat of arms. Yeah, comfy. If you were Adolf Hitler.

Gregor walked through the door moments later. He looked very imposing, wearing a long dark coat and shirt over coal-colored pants. Even though he intimidated me, I couldn’t help but be dazzled by how gorgeous he was.

It still didn’t seem real that Gregor was a vampire. I’d barely come to terms with being a half-breed myself before I was whisked away by a strange vampire that—unbelievably—my mother seemed to trust. Since she didn’t trust anyone, Gregor had to be special.

“You’re beautiful in your gown,” he commented as he looked me over. “Very much a lovely young lady instead of a wandering farm child.”

I cringed, but I didn’t want him to see that he’d struck a nerve. “Thank Cannelle. She had everything laid out for me.”

“I shall thank her, later,” he answered with a glint. “Don’t you prefer this to stained jeans and twigs in your hair?”

I’d barely spoken at all in the past two days, being too awed by him and my new circumstances, but that stiffened my spine. “It’s been good enough for me my entire life,” I said. “If you’ve got such a problem with where I came from, maybe you should put me back on a plane.”

Come at me all you want, but don’t put down my family. They couldn’t help it that we weren’t wealthy. My grandparents worked harder than most people and they were up in years.

Gregor spread out his hands. “I meant no offense, chérie. I’m from a farm as well, in the south of France, but there were no cherries to be found there. You see? More that we have in common.”

I was somewhat mollified. “What else do we have in common?”

“Ah,” he smiled, his features changing from their hard planes. “Come. You’ll find out.”

Gregor and I walked through the Parisian streets. He took me to the lighted fountains in the square, retelling their history. It would have been a dream evening, if I hadn’t had so many unanswered questions he kept changing the subject about.

“Why am I here with you?” I ended up blurting in growing frustration over not knowing why I’d been shuttled out of Ohio in such a hurry. “I mean, my mother said I had to go with you because some bad vampire was after me, but nobody said who.”

We were almost at the Eiffel Tower. It was breathtaking, but all the scenery in the world couldn’t distract me from finding out what was going on with my future.

Gregor gestured to a nearby bench, and we sat on it. The temperature had been dropping since sundown, and he took off his coat and handed it to me.

The simple gesture touched me and made me feel shy again. It was the way a guy would act on a date, or so I imagined. Gregor sat very close to me as well. Self-consciously, I worried about my breath, or if there was anything in my teeth.

“What you are, Catherine,” he began, “is very rare. There are vampires in this world, as well as humans and ghouls, but there has only been one other known half-breed in all of history, and that was centuries ago. Because of your uniqueness, there are those who would exploit you. One man in particular would try to use you.”

“Who?” I gasped, feeling so alone at the knowledge that there was no one else like me. “And why?”

“His name is Bones.” Gregor almost spat the words. “He will force you to become a killer as he is. Turn you into a whore to lure his victims. Kill your family, so you will have no one but him to protect you. And you’ll need protection, Catherine. After the atrocities he’ll have you commit, you’ll be running from danger for the rest of your life.”

“No!”

It was a cry of denial at the fate he’d just predicted. Hearing I’d become a monster who would get my family murdered made me want to run, but Gregor put an arm around my shoulders, keeping me where I was.

“That’s why I came, ma chérie. He won’t find you here. Soon, I’ll bind you to me, then no one can take you. If you do what I say, you’ll never suffer such an existence.”

“My family? My mother? They’ll be safe?” I was shaking at the thought of their deaths.

“As long as you are with me, they’re safe.”

He sounded so confident. That’s why my mom sent me here, I thought dully. If I didn’t leave, they’d all be killed.

He brushed my cheek. “You must heed me, though, oui? Else I can’t protect you from this.”

“Okay.” I drew in a deep breath. “I’ll do what you say.”

“Good.” The green left his eyes, and his smile was relaxed. “It’s for the best. Now, come to me.”

He held open his arms, and I hesitated. He wanted a hug?

“Um,” I fidgeted. “What—”

“Already you question?” he interrupted, gaze narrowing.

“No, no.” At once I put my arms around him, my heart starting to beat faster. This wasn’t a position I was used to.

“Better.” It was almost a growl. Gregor tightened his grip until I blushed. “We’ll return home now. You must be weary.”

“Well,” I began, “A little—huh?”

He propelled us upward. My bleat of fright dissolved into a gasp of wonder as I looked down. Oh, wow. No wonder they called this the City of Lights.

Gregor glided us above the buildings, too high to be seen from below. It was indescribable to feel the wind whistling by me and the power radiating off him while looking at the stunning visual canvas. My heart wasn’t beating; it was thundering. If this is a dream, I thought, I don’t want to wake up.

All too soon, he landed at the gray building that was his house. I had to hold on for a second longer while I regained my footing, still overwhelmed with the experience. Flying. If that was a vampire perk, being a half-breed couldn’t be all bad.

“You enjoyed that,” he noted the obvious, smiling. “You see? All you must do is trust me.”

“I don’t know what to say.” It came out breathlessly. He’d let go of me, but he was still very close. “Thank you.”

His smiled deepened. That fluttering began in my stomach. No one had ever smiled at me like Gregor did.

“You’re welcome, Catherine.”