Destructive Embrace

Robyn M. Pierce

Robyn M. Pierce

Copyright 2012 by
Robyn M. Pierce

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2012 by Robyn M.
Pierce

All rights reserved. No part of this
work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or by any
information storage or retrieval system, without prior written
permission of copyright holders.

This is a work of fiction. All
characters, places, and events are from the author’s imagination
and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to real
places, people, or events is coincidental. All trademarks, service
marks, registered trademarks, and registered service marks are the
property of their respective owners and are used herein for
identification purposes only.

To Kayla R.

You’re the best Alpha reader/best
friend I could ever ask for, and I can honestly say that without
you, this book never would have been finished.

Thanks girly, I love you.

I clutched the small book with both
hands as I stood outside Zeke’s dungeon doors. Each time I lifted
one fist to knock on one of the doors, I’d snatch it back toward my
body. Tired of the indecision, I decided to keep my hands busy with
the journal.

Reid’s journal. My dead Mate’s private
thoughts.

I had no right keeping this journal,
since I was the one who stabbed him in the heart with my silver
Kodachi. But why could I not bring myself to get Zeke’s attention
and hand it over to him?

“
Why
does
Zeke
need to have it?” I asked myself out loud. My voice startled
me – it was raspy from disuse and it was difficult to form the
words I wanted to use. “Reid had
other
brothers…”

As I spoke about Reid in
the past tense, tears flooded my eyes and I turned away from the
door to sprint off.
Because Zeke was there
with you when you plunged the blade into his heart…

I couldn’t be alone. But I knew that
the one person who knew what I was feeling – and was probably
feeling a thousand times worse – was the one person I couldn’t
face.

So I went to Dmitri’s
tower. I barged in without knocking, and was grateful to find that
Olivia was nowhere to be found.
Probably
off painting somewhere…

“
Elyssa?” Dmitri was
reclined in his bed, a book propped up on his lap. The confusion in
his voice was evident on his face.

The tanned vampire furrowed his brows
at me. There was more stubble along his jaw than I’d seen on him
since my arrival at the castle. In another situation, I might have
poked fun at him for it. However, nothing about my visit was fun
and games.

I wanted to comfort Dmitri about his
absent Mate, but found myself launching into his arms instead, my
arms locked around his neck in a death grip. Sobs overtook my body,
and I fought to breathe as Dmitri, clearly startled, hesitantly
squeezed his arms around my waist.

He moved one hand to the back of my
head, stroking my hair gently. The motion was soothing, but the
embrace felt too intimate, and the sobs renewed themselves, forcing
my shoulders to shake uncontrollably. It felt like I was betraying
Reid.

“
Shh,” he whispered,
pulling away to push my hair from my face. He met my eyes and took
slow, deep breaths, motioning that I should follow along. I matched
my breathing with his and lost track of time as I worked to calm
down.

“
Good girl,” Dmitri finally
whispered, brushing his thumbs just under my eyes to swipe the
tears away. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

I sniffled and took his hands in mine.
“He’s gone.” He eyed me without saying a word. Suddenly he snatched
his hands away and shoved me away from him.

“
What are you saying?” he
asked. He shook his head before I could even get the words
together. I brought my hands to my mouth and pursed my
lips.

I lowered my hands and inhaled. “Reid
is –” I was cut off as Dmitri’s hand flew out to slap me across the
face too quickly for my eyes to see; I only felt the stinging
afterward. More tears filled my eyes and I lifted my left hand to
set it against that side of my face.

“
That is definitely not
funny, Elyssa Smith!” Dmitri hissed, gripping my shoulders harshly.
He shook me violently for a few moments, until my face crumpled and
tears flowed freely once again.

I bit my lower lip,
shaking my head slowly. “
Why
would I joke about that, Dmitri?” I asked softly.
I was tempted to laugh; even my best friend at the castle thought I
was a liar.

At least Reid forgave you
for the dungeon fiasco before he died…

I shook Dmitri’s hands from my
shoulders and climbed off his bed. As I neared the door, I realized
that I was missing the journal, and spun around to find it. Dmitri
had it in his hands.

“
What is this?” he asked. I
gently took the book from him and shrugged one shoulder.

“
So no one knew that Reid
kept this,” I whispered. It was unbelievable. The journal dated
back to a few years ago, and I wondered how many others he had kept
over the years without anyone realizing.

I hugged the journal and left Dmitri’s
room without looking back. If he thought I was a liar then that was
his problem. If he refused to believe the truth about his brother
being dead, it wasn’t my fault.

Like I needed his anger. I was already
pissed and hurt at the situation, and he wanted to… I laughed and
tucked the journal securely under my arm.

“
I need to leave,” I
mumbled. “This place isn’t one I wanted to stay in, in the first
place.”

I began the trek back to my room to
pack, but froze. I couldn’t go to that room... The room connected
to his. Yet, if I wanted to leave, I had to collect my
things…

I crouched down on the floor and leaned
my forehead against the cold stone wall. The journal dropped to the
floor beside me, but I made no motion to pick it up. My dark hair
fell from behind my ears and I pushed it back out of my way. As the
long strands were parted by my fingers, splotches of red caught my
eyes. It became impossible to breathe as I realized that they were
blood splotches from when I set my head down next to Reid’s
body.

My stomach began to clench, and quickly
I scrambled into the nearest room and burst through the bathroom
door in time to get sick.

When my stomach stopped convulsing, I
rinsed my mouth with hot water and examined the extent of the
damage in the mirror. Blood was caked in my bangs and matted locks
of hair together on each side. I wondered how Dmitri hadn’t seen
it, or how he’d refrained from commenting on it.

Flashes of Reid’s betrayed expression
as he woke from his slumber clouded my vision, and I clenched my
eyes shut as a wave of pain made me double over.

I steadied myself after a few minutes
and nudged open the cabinet beneath the sink in search of shampoo
and soap. Nothing.

I steeled myself for being back in the
room connected to Reid’s and left the spare room I was in. I was
conflicted between rushing to get the blood out of my hair and
taking my time to be away from the room as long as possible, so I
walked at a human pace, the journal tucked at my side
again.

When I arrived at my room, I gripped
the doorknob in my shaky hand and twisted. I paused before opening
the door, inhaling deeply to give myself another moment to gather
more resolve.

The first thing I saw when I opened the
door was Dmitri. He sat on my bed, face shining with tears. The
scent of blood was overwhelming, and I realized that the door to
Reid’s room was open.

“
You couldn’t have moved
his body?” Dmitri rasped, bringing his hands to his face to swipe
at the tears.

“
You couldn’t tell me I had
blood in my hair?” I countered halfheartedly. A ghost of a smile
flickered across his face before the pain returned. I moved toward
him and wound my arms around his shoulders. He drew his arms around
my waist immediately, his frame shuddering as sobs overtook him. I
rubbed his back, fighting to not break down.

Several minutes later, he calmed down
and withdrew himself from the embrace, scrubbing his face with his
hands. I looked away; certainly he wouldn’t want me watching him as
he rid his face of tears.

I silently moved about my room,
gathering the clothes I’d come with so I could pack them away. As I
passed him to dump the clothes on the bed, Dmitri grabbed my arm
harshly. The things I held fell to the floor, and I jerked my gaze
up to meet his.

“
Where are you going?” he
demanded. I scowled.

“
Do you think I can remain
in this room?” I retorted. Did he think I was trying to leave the
castle? Sure, I planned to, but not so soon... I was thinking a
little more clearly already; I had to deal with Reid’s body. “Why
would I leave now?” I asked softly.

He sighed and released my arm. “Won’t
you at least stay even after things are handled?” he asked,
avoiding my eyes as well as my question. I was surprised that he
realized I didn’t want to stay for too long.

“
I have no place here,” I
murmured, sitting next to him. “I hurt him before… I don’t have a
right to stay here anymore.” Dmitri’s cold hand found mine and he
squeezed gently.

“
You’re welcome here, as
his Mate. As my friend, as well…” I turned to look at Dmitri, only
to find that he still wouldn’t look at me. When I took my hand
away, however, he snapped his gaze up to meet mine and I
smiled.

“
I’ll visit,” I promised.
“But I never wanted to stay on this island in the first place. I
just got sidetracked…”

Dmitri laughed once. “By love?” he
asked, shaking his head. “I’m not sure that it’s really worth as
much as everyone made it out to be.”

Now was the time to comfort him about
his Mate, but before I could get the words out, he stood and
vanished before my eyes. “There are supplies in the main supply
room, which is next to the dining hall. So you can take any
room.”

I wanted to thank him for the
information – as well as inform him that disembodied voices were
creepy – but I didn’t know if he was still there to hear it.
Instead, I shoved my clothes in my duffel bag.

When my eyes found the red dress that
Zeke gave me, I hesitated. Was I supposed to take the gift from the
brother of my Mate? The same man who’d professed his love for
me…

I doubted that his feelings were real,
but I wasn’t entirely sure.

In the end, I couldn’t leave it in a
room full of things given to me by my Mate. So I carefully packed
the dress in with the rest of my things and ran from the room,
slamming the door shut behind me.

What was there to do? What, exactly,
could I do without the aid of his family? “Nothing,” I said to
myself.

I didn’t know where to go,
either. Should I set up shop in a room in Reid’s section, or
venture off into another brother’s domain? It felt wrong to remain
in his area, since I was the one that drove the blade into his
heart. Yet staying near Zeke would be a definite betrayal. As for
Dmitri,
his
Mate
wouldn’t like it too much. And I certainly didn’t know Wyatt well
enough.

Zeke was the only real option I had,
and yet the worst one for me to choose… “I won’t be staying here
too much longer,” I reasoned with myself. “Plus, it’s Zeke who I
want to have this journal…”

Slowly, like taking my time would
change my decision, I made my way down to the main hall. At the top
of the main staircase, I paused, gripping the banister to steady
myself.

As I stood at the top of the staircase,
my eyes roamed over the front hall. I could remember my arrival
clearly, though the memory itself was a little foggy – viewing it
through human eyes was nothing compared to my new sight.

The human girl was ushered into the
castle through one of the doors. She wrung her black hair out as
she migrated over to the tapestry hanging on the wall; the
Lanistter family tree. Her intense focus as she tried to translate
the Latin phrase that served as the family’s motto.