House of Ravens (5 page)

“
Well, if they still have
spies around, they’ll have seen me by now,” I say. “I’m willing to
bet things won’t stay quiet for long.”

“
That’s for damn sure,”
Anna agrees. She claps a hand on my shoulder and lifts her chin in
the direction of the House. “Let’s get you inside. No need having
you standing out here like a sitting duck.”

I chuckle as we walk back toward the house.
“I’m certainly not afraid of some Bitten,” I say.

“
After facing Cyrus, I’m
sure you aren’t.” Anna laughs with me.

“
But thank you for taking
care of me,” I reply, appreciatively.

“
Any time,
princess.”

AROUND ELEVEN-THIRTY, MY
VAMPIRE BODY has hit its limit. My brain is shot; my limbs feel
half numb. I’m still not recovered from my time of imprisonment
in
Roter Himmel
when they didn’t let me feed or give me anything to eat for
over a month. My body is still thin, my bones too
pronounced.

Katina made dinner for everyone in the
house, and I ate my weight.

Now, I climb out of the shower, pulling on a
short pair of cotton shorts and a thin tank top. The house is no
longer freezing, no longer threatening to kill us all with the
cold. My body greatly appreciates it.

It’s five minutes to twelve when I drag my
exhausted body up into the enormous bed. A mattress has never felt
so wonderful, blankets never so soft, and pillows never so
cloud-like. A blissful moan escapes my throat as I lie down.

My eyes instantly slide closed, and my body
releases all of the tension and uncertainty of the past two
months.

I don’t even open my eyes when I hear my
bedroom door swing open and then closed again. Something is set on
the floor and my bed bows as someone kneels on it for a moment.

“
I’m going to jump in the
shower for a second and I’ll be right back,” Ian softly whispers
against my skin, before pressing a kiss to my cheek.

“’
K,” I grunt.

His form retreats, and while I was afraid I
would immediately fall asleep, my brain is incredibly aware of
Ian’s location. Of his footsteps as they retreat into the bathroom.
Of the way he only closes the door part way. I hear him start the
shower, running the water hot. A soft sound floats to my ears when
he drops his clothes into the laundry basket in the corner of the
bathroom.

This is going to be how things are now. I’m
terrified to accept it. Things are looking almost normal between
Ian and I. But I have to hope. After everything I’ve been through
in the last two months—the last ten months—I have to have hope.

But it still doesn’t quite feel real.

Time has moved too quickly from the days
where we were at each other’s throats, yelling and screaming that
the other was wrong.

‘
Cause we were both
wrong.

I smile, absolutely grateful for every trial
we’ve gone through. ‘Cause it’s all brought us to here. Where we
needed to be.

I hear the water shut off in the bathroom. I
listen as Ian dries off and pulls on some clothes. He brushes his
teeth. And finally, pushes open the door to pad across the hardwood
floor to the bed.

It sags in Ian’s direction as he crawls his
way up to my side. He wraps a gentle arm around my waist. “You
awake?” he whispers, so quietly.

I nod and roll toward him. I’ve been a
vampire for three months now, but being able to see in the dark is
still disorienting. Still shocking.

We study each other, and I’m grateful for
quiet moments where we don’t have to ask each other about what’s
going on or what we have to face in a few hours. I’m just allowed
to stare into his hazel eyes, searching their depths. I can study
the hard planes of his face, memorize every little scar, like the
one on his right cheek, about a half an inch under his eye.

I can let this feeling grow inside of me,
making me absolutely sure about the words that I speak.

“
I love you.” They come out
strong. Sure. And it’s a relief of the beautiful pressure that’s
been building in my chest when they come out. “I’ve loved you for a
long time, Ian Ward. I never stopped. And that’s never going to
change.”

My confession was not uttered in some grand
moment of do or die realization. That realization was achieved long
ago, and I’ve just been too scared to admit it until recently.

But it’s always been there.

Ian reaches up, resting his hand against my
cheek. He brushes his thumb over my skin, studying my eyes. “You
made me make a promise once, not to fall in love with you, because
we had an expiration date. But we both knew I was lying when I
agreed to it. I love you, too, Alivia. And even this immortal life
I unexpectedly woke up to isn’t going to be enough.”

He raises my hand up to his mouth, pressing
his lips gently to my knuckles. His eyes slide closed, and the
expression on his face, it’s full of reverence. Of worship.

Slowly, with no hurry, he lets his lips go
from my knuckles, to my wrist. Down my arm, taking his time.
Appreciating my skin. Taking in low, deep breaths.

Sparks ignite in my lower belly as he
shifts, rolling above me, supporting himself on his knees and one
hand. He brings his lips to my neck, soft.

My hands will not be kept to themselves.
They slide up his arms, over the strong and lean muscles.
Appreciating his defined shoulders. Coming to either side of his
neck. Finally, his lips come to mine. Gentle, lingering for a
moment.

Breathing in this moment, and knowing that
it is real. That all of the mistakes and the anger are behind us.
Taking a moment to give gratitude to the past.

My heart skips more than once. Flutters.
Races. The passion races down my spine, sparking my blood as it
travels. Taking no prisoners as it destroys every ounce of control
I possess.

My hands knot in his hair and my back
arches, aching to meet his body, hard plane to soft skin.

Ian’s lips part and his teeth take
possession of my bottom lip. Rough, ragged breaths rip from his
chest as his free hand wraps around my back, hoisting my body up
off the bed and yanking me against his hard body. His hands are
hot, strong.

One of my legs wraps around his waist,
hooking me around him so he can never escape. He grinds his pelvis
into mine, hard and firm. A blissful moan escapes my mouth, only to
be caught by his.

“
I love you, Alivia,” Ian
breathes roughly in to me. His hand slides down to cup my rear,
pulling me all the harder into him. “I love you so much. Every,”
his lips slide down to my neck and I feel his fangs lengthen just
slightly, grazing against the tender, sensitive skin there, “damn
bit of you.”

I feel my eyes ignite and my own fangs
lengthen. I shift, using my strength to make Ian roll beneath me. I
pin him to the bed, my knees on either side of his hips. I take his
hands in mine, trapping them high above his head. Once more, I take
ownership of his lips, making them mine. Making sure he knows they
will never belong to another woman for as long as he lives.

Hours roll away. My lips swollen and tender.
Our bodies becoming familiar. But I smile to myself. Because
there’s still that small measure he holds back from me. That thing
he keeps. And I love that he does.

Because I know. Some day, when the time is
right, when he’s ready—when we’re ready—we’ll give that fullness to
each other.

But for right now, when we’ve survived so
much together, when we’ve overcome so many hardships and
impossibilities, this is more than I ever could have asked for.

Ian and Alivia.

Together.

WHEN I WAKE AT DAWN, Ian is still sleeping.
Careful not to disturb him, I slip out from beneath his arm, dress
silently, and head down the stairs.

“
Good morning, princess,”
Cameron greets me warmly as he licks something off of his fingers.
He’s constantly eating, yet he’s skinny as a reed.

“
Hey,” I say with a smile.
Maybe it’s things returning to normal. Maybe it’s the beautiful
night I’ve just had, but I’m in a fantastic mood. I wrap my arms
around his shoulders and pull him in for a tight hug. “Ah,” I sigh.
“It’s good to be home.”

Cameron chuckles and pats my back. “Things
weren’t the same without you here. When we going to have another
special movie night?”

I release him with a laugh. “I don’t know.
Maybe we’ll have to plan something out.”

“
Soon,” he says, raising
his eyebrows at me.

I just smile and head for the garage door.
“Hey, will you do me a favor?”

“
Anything,” he says as he
follows me. He darts into the kitchen on our way and snags a scone
off of the counter. He looks down at the counter, picks something
up, and hands it over to me.

It’s a post card, from Texas.

“
If Ian wakes up before I
get back, will you tell him I’ve run to town?” I grab the keys to
the Porsche that hang on the rack next to the door and tuck the
card into my pocket to look at later.

“
Yep,” he answers through a
mouthful of crumbs.

“
And…” I hesitate. This
isn’t going to be easy, especially for the first few weeks. “Could
you try, really hard, to help him…fit in? Maybe try to be his
friend?”

He chuckles at this and holds his arms out
wide. “Liv, it’s me. You think that’d ever be a problem?”

I laugh with him, because it’s true. There’s
something so easy and fun about Cameron. If you have the patience
for his, at times, immature ways, it’s hard to not get along with
him.

“
Thank you,” I say as I
open the door into the garage and look back with a smile. He waves
and turns back to the kitchen.

The garage door gives small popping sounds
as it rises. Light spills in from under the door and I’m quick to
pull on my sun goggles. They’re nice. They look just like a pair of
stylish sunglasses, but the backs of them fully encase my eyes, and
they’re so darkly shaded with special lenses that all the sunlight
is diluted enough to not cause me more than a tiny bit of
discomfort. I’ll probably have a headache by the time I get back
later, but at least I’m not wishing for death.

The day is beautiful and a light breeze
blows through the trees that dot the driveway down to the road. The
gates swing open as I pull up to them, my family’s crest splitting
down the middle to let me out. I turn right onto the road, drive a
little ways, and turn right again onto Main Street.

It’s early, barely six in the morning. There
are very few people out and about, but there are some. The lights
are on at Fred’s. Someone is filling their car at the gas station.
The lawn is being mowed at the elementary school.

I turn left and head down the street five
blocks.

While most of town has been sleepy and
quiet, the construction site is in full swing. The five units I had
started months ago look half finished. Siding is being nailed up on
one house. Trim is going up around the windows of another.

When I started these units, I did it as a
way to gain Silent Bend’s good will. I was at war with Jasmine, who
was doing her very best to turn everyone against me. So this was
one way to fight back.

It’s amazing how things have changed in just
a few months. When I first arrived here, Jasmine and her Broken
House were such a threat. I was so scared of them because I was
told to be so. She seemed so strong, so hard to beat.

And now, she’s dead.

She was nothing compared to the next threat
I’d face. Nothing in comparison to the weight of the moon that is
King Cyrus.