Scorned (12 page)

“Do you want me to send your aunt in?”

I thought about that for a moment and
nodded. “Yeah. Please.”

At least I was able to get my shirt on. The
new bruises would only send her into a panic and I didn’t feel like
lying anymore.

“You decent?” she asked and poked her head
in the door.

“Yeah.” I was glad she didn’t know Pierce
had just seen me naked. She helped me on with my pants and I was
thankful.

Lucretious confession from last night
brushed against my conscience and I felt panic begin to set in.

“Pierce!” It tore at my throat to call him,
but I needed him close so bad it hurt.

“What’s wrong?” my aunt asked, coming to the
rescue.

I shook my head. “I want Pierce.”

“Oh,” she said. “Excuse me.”

“What, babe?” Pierce asked as he walked into
the room. I reached out to him and he came to me. I pressed my ear
against his chest and listened to the thump of his heart. The panic
settled and I sighed.

Pierce had my pillows positioned the way
they’d been on my bed. I got comfortable on the sofa with Pierce
holding my feet and he fixed a movie for us to watch. I snuggled
into my pillows and ran my fingers up and down the arm Pierce had
resting across my legs, his hand tucked under my hip like he was
holding me on the sofa. Goose bumps popped up on his arm and I
smiled.

“What movie did you put in?” I asked.

“Your favorite.”

I frowned. “Phantom?”

Pierce shook his head and smiled. “Your
other favorite.”

There was only one “other favorite”.
“The
Princess Bride?”

Pierce only shrugged. “You’ll see.”

I was right. We sat and watched my “other
favorite movie” and I laughed at the funny parts. Pierce shook his
head at the utter stupidity of it, but he couldn’t help but laugh
as well.

The movie had about fifteen minutes left
when the doorbell rang. I groaned at the ill timing. Right in the
middle of the good part!

“I’ll get it,” Pierce offered and gently
moved my legs. I heard muffled talking before he came back. “It’s a
woman. Says she has a package for you.”

I nodded and swung my legs to the floor,
wincing against the pain. It was beautiful out and I wished we’d
chosen to spend the day outside. The cool air felt good against my
sore, fevered skin. The “woman” was Adelina. She stood off to the
side with a large white box in her arms. I smiled, and she smiled
back.

“Hey,” I said. “Glad to see you out and
about.”

“I could say the same about you.”

I think I blushed. “Yeah, I guess so.”

“We were afraid you wouldn’t make it. It
would have made the master...Roman. It would have upset him.”

“I bet.”

“He wanted me to bring this by. He said it
belongs to you.”

I raised a questioning eyebrow, but took the
long white box anyway.

“It is your dress and the,” she smiled,
“‘staking shoes’ I believe is what Roman calls them.”

I smiled because it was a little funny.

Her accent swirled around her words prettily
and I found I really did like her under normal circumstances. She
was dressed normally today - dark blue jeans and a beige sweater
and brown leather boots. She offered me the box.

“The tear has been mended. He said to tell
you that Perdita was impressed by your display. I am sorry I missed
it.”

“Yeah. From what I remember, it wasn’t
pretty and it almost got me killed.”

“This man who answered the door, he is your
boyfriend?”

I nodded. “Yes. Pierce.”

“I can see that he loves you very much. You
love him?”

I nodded. “Very much.”

Adelina nodded. “Good. Continue to love him
very much. It will save you from much that comes with a life
connected to Roman.”

I frowned.

“You are connected to him now, whether you
want it or not. He has fed from you?”

I shook my head and the strangest look came
over her. It filled her eyes and turned her face into a mask of
fear. “Be careful,” she warned.

I nodded.

“I must go.” She took something gold and
shimmery from her pocket and I recognized my cross necklace. “I
almost forgot this. You will need it.”

I took it from her and stuck it in my
pocket. It would go on after Pierce left.

“Let Roman know I’d like him to come by
tonight. We need to talk.”

Adelina nodded. It was more of a small bow
than a nod. “I will do as you’ve asked.”

“Don’t treat me like I’m giving you orders,
Adelina, please? I don’t want it to be that way between us.”

Her smile was sad, almost wistful. “It can
be no other way. It is good to hear you say this, though. You have
my respect.”

I smiled and shifted the box so I could
shake her hand. We weren’t friends, but I don’t think we were going
to be enemies either and that was good enough. I opened the door
and stepped backward into warmth.

Pierce was waiting just inside leaning
against the arched doorway. “You were out there a while.”

I put on a charmed smile. “She’s from
Romania. That’s so cool.”

Pierce smiled back, buying my performance,
or pretending to buy it. A twinge of guilt settled in my stomach on
top of all the other guilt I already felt. It gave me heartburn and
I was surprised I hadn’t had nightmares yet.

“What’s all that?”

“A dress and shoes I ordered.”

“She didn’t look like a delivery man.”

Okay. Maybe he wasn’t buying it. Or maybe
she didn’t look like a delivery man. Whatever. I lied some
more.

“The shop has its own delivery service.”

“Oh.”

I took the dress from the box and shook it a
few times so the fabric would come unfolded. Pierce looked on in
wonder and I knew he was picturing me in the red fabric.

“That's what's up.”

I quirked up a smile. “You should see me in
it,” and I knew by the way his eyes were dancing that he wanted
nothing more in that moment. “Wait till you see the shoes.” I
pulled the amazing diamond tipped shoes from the box and his eyes
lit up. He likes heels.

“Baby, how did you afford all this?”

I frowned. “I didn’t. I’m going to be paying
off all this stuff forever, but when I saw the dress I just had to
get it and I knew I would have to find shoes to match. Something
told me I was going to need this dress one day.”

My stomach tightened as I lied and I was
afraid I would be sick. “I have to pee.” Another lie, but just
maybe I could make this one true. “I’ll be right back and we can
finish the movie.”

“Okay.”

I handed the dress to Pierce and shuffled
off to the bathroom. I did relieve myself, and also managed not to
throw up, though it took some effort. I got a glass of water in the
kitchen then joined my love on the sofa to finish our movie. When
it was over, Pierce put in
So, I Married an Axe Murderer
,
one of his favorites.

After that we tackled
Lord of the
Rings
. Surprisingly, my aunt and uncle didn’t make an
appearance all day except to grab lunch and go back outside to work
in their garden. They came back in time to get cleaned up and my
aunt started dinner. It wasn’t until then that she saw the dress
splayed across a chair in the hall.

“What’s all this?” Aunt asked.

“It’s a dress I ordered,” I told her. “It
was perfect, and it fit like it was made for me,” that much was
true, “so I had to get it.”

“Mmm.” She didn’t say anything, she didn’t
ask any questions. Just that “mmm”. That was it. She went back to
her dinner preparations and left us to our movie. Sometimes she
showed an amazing amount of restraint. Others, which was truly most
of the time, she just couldn’t help but ask all of those annoying,
nitpicking questions that really weren’t all that important.

We stopped our movie an hour later to join
my family dinner. My uncle prayed. “Dear Heavenly Father, we thank
You for this day. We thank You for this food and pray that You
would bless it and nourish it to our bodies. We pray that You would
be with LeKrista. Take away any pain and discomfort and heal her
quickly, Lord. And in Your name, Amen.”

“Amen,” my aunt echoed.

We sat and ate as a family for the first
time in a long time. I could tell that my aunt was happy, even if
Pierce was there. She liked having everyone home for dinner.

Pierce was unusually romantic later that
evening. He stayed late so we could finish our last movie and
helped me into bed when it was over. My aunt and uncle retired
early for the evening, so they didn’t stop him when he tucked me
into bed and snuggled with me for a few minutes.

“Do you think you’re up to a picnic?” Pierce
asked with his face buried in my hair. “I’d rather we hung out here
until you can walk without crying.”

I smiled. “I was hoping you hadn’t seen
that. When is Petrice’s doctor’s appointment?”

“Tomorrow, but she found another ride so you
could get some rest.”

“A picnic sounds great.”

“You make lunch and I’ll bring the
blanket.”

“We have plenty of blankets here,” I told
him.

“I know, but I have a special blanket.”

I looked up and his amber eyes sparked with
mischief. “Okay. Bring your special blanket.”

“Alright. I’d better get going,
StaciDoll.”

I poked out my lip and pouted. “I don’t want
you to go.”

“I know, but can you imagine what would
happen if the sun found us?”

I grinned. “I don’t think it’s the sun you
have to worry about finding us.”

“Get some rest, babe. I’ll call in the
morning to wake you.”

“Okay.”

Pierce kissed my forehead, then my nose,
lips, and chin; a sign of affection he hadn’t shown in a long time.
I closed my eyes as he left and snuggled down into my covers. I
could still smell him and if I didn’t open my eyes I could pretend
he hadn’t left. I could imagine he was still right there cuddled
against me, his nose poking my side.

The air changed in the room. The temperature
dropped slightly, just barely enough to notice, and for a moment I
thought I smelled flowers.

“Good evening, LeKrista.”

Roman’s voice, beautiful though it was,
ruined the illusion that Pierce was with me.

“Good evening.” I didn’t open my eyes.

“You’re angry with me?”

“You could say that.”

“What have I done?”

I sighed heavily and opened my eyes, but
they protested. “Who is Vivian?”

Roman’s body went still as the dead. I
waited for emotion to fill his eyes, but it never did. Instead,
they went dark and dead like Perdita’s had and I felt in my head
that he was afraid.

“Oh?” was all he said after a moment and
only his lips moved.

“Lucretious told me some things.”

“He had no right to do that.”

“Didn’t he? I think I have a right to know,
don’t you? That your infatuation with me has...” I stopped,
embarrassed and pretended to swallow. My pride was hurt. I hated to
admit to myself that I wanted Roman’s attraction to me to be
exactly that, but now I knew the truth and it stung.

“Has what, LeKrista,” and there was an sneer
in his voice. He knew what I was thinking. It didn’t take a mind
reader to figure it out.

“I know what happened to Vivian,” I said. “I
know you killed her because she no longer loved you. She loved your
creation, Lucretious. I also know about the vampires wanting to
take over the world.”

Still no emotion. Roman tipped his head to
one side and he looked for all the world like something you would
see in a movie. Lifeless and dead, he looked like he should be
crawling up walls and across ceilings.

“Do you now?” His accent thickened.

“Yes. And I know that you want to use me to
get to the top. You want to rule, not just the world, but the
vampires who rule the world. What do you want, Roman? To be
God?”

Roman flinched. Finally, some emotion. I
rolled my eyes. If it was that easy... He took a couple steps
closer to me.

“LeKrista.” My name rolled off his tongue
like he was offering me the best chocolates from Italy. “Would you
allow me to explain?” His voice was softer now, crooning,
soothing.

“I’m not done. You said they wouldn’t kill
Adelina.”

“And they didn’t.”

“Yeah. Lucky for you I had a complete
meltdown. You were going to let her die,” I told him. “Those two
vampires fed from her like a Thanksgiving turkey and you just let
them. Why? To save me? Is your conquest of the earth that important
to you? You’re her master. You’re supposed to protect her, and you
just let it happen.”

“What would you have had me do?” He was
still trying to soothe me with his voice, but it wasn’t having the
effect he desired. “It was either her or you.”

“Yeah, and thanks to you she will probably
be the next one trying to kill me.”

Roman sighed and spread his hands in
surrender. “What do you want, LeKrista? How can I make it up to
you?”

“You said you would tell me everything.”

“Yes, and if last night had not happened, I
would have.”

“No, you wouldn’t. Don’t forget that I’m in
your head now. I know when you’re lying. You were going to tell me
that Lucretious killed Vivian and that you needed me to help you
defeat the bad vampires who want to take over the world.” Life
finally flooded Roman’s features and I felt shock on his end.

“You’re right, LeKrista. I’m sorry.”

“Oh, save it.”

Roman looked at me for a moment before he
walked to the door, but he turned before he left. “You know
everything,” he snapped. “You know how I regret lying to you. I’m
sorry.”

And he was gone, just like that. My room no
longer smelled of Pierce. Roman’s scent lingered in the air.

“Jerk,” I muttered under my breath before I
closed my eyes. His mental laughter followed me into sleep.