The Keep: The Watchers (12 page)

I had the weirdest urge, and as I brought it to my face to scrub my cheeks and eyes, I inhaled deeply, seeking some Ronan scent.
I smelled the brine of seawater, and sniffed again, trying to detect the other scent that lingered just on the edge of my senses.

The squawk of girls cut through the air—the other Initiates returning.

I abruptly wadded up the towel and tossed it back to him, hoping he couldn’t read my expression in the dark. “Thanks.” My voice came out way more earnestly than I’d intended.

“Annelise, it’s merely a towel.”

“No, I mean for earlier.” I realized that was what I’d been wanting to say the whole time. “Thanks for what you did on the beach.” That hadn’t just been him being a teacher—he’d been looking out for me. I may not have known why, but I knew. I’d seen it on his face.

I expected him to deny it, to blow me off in his usual way, but instead he shrugged it off. “It wasn’t entirely on your account. The leggy one had it coming.”

He gave me a quirky grin that made me trust him. Made me want to take a risk. I strained my ears, making sure the other Initiates were still far off. I had a minute. Maybe two. Before I could chicken out, I asked the one question on my mind. “What happened to Emma?”

His face shuttered instantly, but his voice was kind. “Emma is gone. Let her go.”

“She was alive.” I knew it now, knew it in my bones. “They took her to the keep. What happened to her there?”

“You have enough to concern you without thoughts of the vampires’ keep. It’s my understanding that Alcántara has given you this term’s assignment. Is that correct?”

“Yes, but—”

“Then
that
is what you must focus on.” His tone was stern,
relentless. “Alcántara’s assassination class is infamous. Many girls have lost their lives not taking it seriously.”

“But I—”

“Let…it…go.” He paused between words, drawing it out, trying to make me hear. “You must. Unless, perhaps, you want to find yourself in the same situation.” His words gave me a chill—and not for the reasons he would’ve thought. Did I want to find myself taken to the keep? He didn’t know just how close to the mark he was—I was desperate to see inside.

“Well…” I gave him a sheepish look. “Actually, I was kind of thinking I
might
want to. Break in, I mean.”

“To the vampires’ castle?”

At my nod, he laughed. He actually
laughed
.

“It’s not funny. I mean it, Ronan.”

The smile lingered on his face, but his eyes hardened. “If you think you can simply
break in
, you’re more foolish than I took you for.”

“I’ll figure out a way. What if I threw a fight? I could lose on purpose, and—”

“Don’t even think it. Don’t even say it.” He stepped closer, lowering his voice to a menacing whisper. “You go into that castle, you’ll never come out again.” Pain bled onto his features, until he looked genuinely distressed by the thought.

“Don’t tell me you care, Ronan.”

He blew out a shaky breath. “Good Christ, Annelise.”

I couldn’t help the smile that popped onto my face. Maybe I wasn’t as alone as I thought. Not nearly. “You do care, don’t you?”

His upper lip twitched—a smile he didn’t want to give me just then. “For one so smart, you’re quite clueless.”

It was a clear night, the moonlight vibrating on my skin, so I
sensed the veil of shadow the moment it fell over my shoulder. Carden, standing behind me. I’d been so focused on how close the girls were, I’d forgotten how likely it was that he’d appear. I was still getting used to our connection. He’d probably set out to find me the moment he sensed my distress on the beach.

“Clueless.” My vampire repeated Ronan’s last word, and he didn’t sound too pleased.
Great.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to see Carden, or that I kept secrets from him. On the contrary, I’ve confided so much more to him than I’ve ever told Ronan. I just wanted to chat with Ronan without Carden misunderstanding…like he was clearly doing now.

I couldn’t see his face, but if Ronan’s utterly blank expression was any indication, Carden was giving him his best death glare.

“Master McCloud,” Ronan said. “We were just finishing up class. To what do we owe this honor?”

Ronan would wonder what Carden was doing there, and sure enough, I heard his thought process in the shifting tone of his voice…at first surprise, then skepticism, and finally the sound of a suspicion confirmed. And of course it was—showing up like this was a pretty bold move on Carden’s part. If Ronan had had a hunch about our relationship before, Carden appearing like this would be enough to confirm it.

“Perhaps you can explain,” the vampire pressed, “about what, exactly, do you find our Annelise to be clueless?”

Oh hell.
There it was. Final confirmation, if any had been needed.

“Clueless?” I interjected quickly. I didn’t like the wrath I sensed in my vampire’s voice, and I was so not ready for any
I-know-you-know
sort of showdowns. I cared about both of them too much. “I’m not
clueless
,” I added, trying to break the tension
with humor. “I’ve always thought I was more, you know, like a scattered-professor type.”

Silence.

My mind raced for the conversational pleasantries that might break this level of tension, but I was pulling a blank. I decided on some version of the truth. “I was asking Ronan about the keep.”

Carden’s expression shuttered. “This again?”

I nodded sheepishly.
Caught.

“I told you to think not on such things.” My vampire paused briefly, an unreadable look crossing his face. “Nor should this Tracer allow you to entertain such questions.”

“I was in the process of telling her as much,” a steely-eyed Ronan said.

Great
. Now they were both on me. Meanwhile, I’d begun shivering again, both from the confrontation and the dropping temperature, and Carden fully registered my condition. He shot a quick glare Ronan’s way, then turned his full attention back to me. “You’re drenched,” he said, with an accusing edge in his voice. He adjusted himself beside me, sheltering me from the January wind. Feeling his body close was a relief.

Affection for him swelled in me, but I tried to hide it. He was being pretty blatant about his interest in me, and it was making me nervous. I gave his arm a discreet squeeze. “I’m fine.”

He ignored this to glare at Ronan some more. “She will become ill.”

Ronan bristled. Gathered himself. Then he dropped a bomb. “Acari Drew,” he said slowly, meaningfully, “is stronger than any of us realize.”

I gaped. What a statement. It shocked me into silence. I wasn’t the only one, either. We stood there, awkwardly, for what felt like
an eternity, and I imagined each of us was weighing all the various things those words could imply.

It was my stomach that saved the day. It grumbled, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Hunger, so ordinary and yet so undeniable. Cheerily, I announced, “Hey, dinnertime.” Chirpy didn’t come naturally to me, and I was sure I sounded like a complete moron, but it did the trick.

Reluctantly, Carden nodded. “I will escort you back.” He was in full knight-in-shining-armor mode, his grim expression suggesting we were heading to battle instead of just the dining hall.

I realized he never gave his reason for seeking me out. Wasn’t he worried the Tracer would figure out what was between us? Ronan was obviously beginning to put two and two together. Though Carden wasn’t stupid—maybe that was what he’d wanted.

As we made our way back, I considered the good news and the bad news. First, I wasn’t nearly as alone as I’d feared. I did, in fact, have friends on this island. All good.

But the bad news? Apparently, my allies were incapable of standing within ten feet of each other without looking like they wanted to draw blood.

I
didn’t get a warning. Just a tug on my hand, then
boom
. Carden swept me off the path, behind a rock. And then he kissed me. Hard.

His body pressed mine against the cool granite. I’d been shivering before—the night was freezing and flurries had begun to drift down from the night sky—but no more. He was as cool and solid as the rock at my back, and yet heat blazed through me. My body—my blood—hummed in perfect recognition. This was where I belonged. With Carden.

He pulled from me finally, and I drew in a shaky breath. I’d been nervous what he might say. Nervous he’d be mad to have found me with Ronan. Our conversation surely had looked like more than just a chat between student and teacher. It
had been
more than a simple chat. But this intense kiss? I hadn’t expected
this
.

“Carden…what was…wow…” I gasped a laugh, trying to get ahold of my senses. Was this his way of taking my mind off the keep? Because it was working. “What was that for?”

I couldn’t see him clearly, but I felt his eyes bore into me through the darkness. He swept the hair from my neck and leaned close, whispering, “To remind you.”

His words were a hot tickle in my ear, and I shivered with pleasure. If this was Carden being jealous, bring it on. “Remind me?”

“That you’re mine,” he growled.

Ronan was my friend. He gave my belly the occasional flutter. But that was where it stopped. In our time together, I’d known Ronan to steal my nerves. My will.

But Carden. He stole my breath.

I swallowed hard, gathering my senses. “Ronan is the last person you need to worry about.”

Recent concerns about my safety—about Yasuo—invaded my mind. Carden must’ve sensed it, because he asked, “And who should give me cause for concern?”

“Nobody.” I forced the thoughts from my mind. “I didn’t mean it like that.” Anxiety was a constant on the Isle of Night—I wouldn’t let it come between us. Instead, I considered the powerful creature in front of me. Just the thought that this ancient vampire might’ve been jealous…because of
me
…It exhilarated me. Made me feel bold.

I cupped his face in my hands and drew him down for a slow kiss…one that I led. “I don’t need any reminders,” I told him as I pulled away. How could I ever forget
this
?

“I appreciate a woman who knows her mind,” he said with a smile, then darted in for one last quick, hard kiss. “Perhaps I simply enjoy reminding you.” His words were confident, but I heard a hint of relief in his voice.

I’d never been much of a flirter, but seeing his smile gleam in
the darkness gave me the guts. Using my best coy voice, I told him, “Hey, feel free to jog my memory anytime.”

He laughed, grabbed my hand, and tugged me around the other side of the rock. Leading us
away
from the path.

I stopped short, looking back to where we’d been. “Wait. The dining hall is that way.”

“Ah, but you won’t be eating in the dining hall this evening.”

“I won’t?”

“You wanted to know where I stay,” he said.

As much as I longed to see where he spent his time, I truly was starving. My stomach grumbled again. “I’m afraid I need more than just…to drink. Do you think I could grab some food first? It’ll just take a minute. I can just snag a—”

“Och.” He
tsk-tsk
ed me. “Have faith, wee dove. I may no longer be human, but I haven’t forgotten how to be a man. I have prepared you food.”

He sounded so proud saying it, I felt bad doubting him. But seriously, what passed for a meal in his world? It’d been hundreds of years since he’d needed food to survive. Did he remember what tasted good? Plus there was the whole ancient Scottish thing. Delicacies in his day were probably things like blood pudding served in sheep’s entrails. “What kind of food?” I tried not to sound too wary, but I probably failed.

He grinned at me, like he’d read my mind. “A good kind,” he said firmly. “Trust me.” He took my hand in his.

I did, and it was. Good, I mean. Like, all kinds of good.

His refuge was a modest, one-room cottage. I’d have called it a shack, except there was nothing shacky about the heavy stone and mortar walls. It was nestled on the bank of a lake that was small enough to have demanded only a few breaths to swim
across to the other side. Though the general location was inland, it wasn’t so far from the coast that I didn’t get a visceral sense of the horizon, gray and empty in the distance.

“What is this place?” I ran a finger along the butcher-block table that punctuated the middle of the room. It was dinged up from generations of things like chopping turnips and deboning fish and yet it was spotlessly clean.

He came up behind me, resting his hands on my shoulders. “Such places are called bothies. Though I’ve staked my claim on this one, it would once have been open for any to use. Mostly hunters or fishermen. What do you think?”

I didn’t know what I’d expected, and though it wasn’t
this
, this didn’t surprise me. Everything about the place was solid—much like Carden. “I like it. It seems…right.”

My eyes went to the corner of the room and the sturdy wood platform that was the largest item of furniture in the place. It was covered in quilts and pillows—a bed.

His
bed.

Oh God. His
bed
.