Destructive Embrace (26 page)

“We thought there was a
huge chance it was yours, and that we would be able to take care of
something that had more of a tie to you than the material things
you’d left behind,” I said, smiling. “At least, that’s how I saw
it…”

Reid’s voice snapped me out of the
memory, and I looked at him with tears in my eyes. He quickly wiped
away any that fell, and spoke again.

“So I have a proposition, Ely,” he
began, taking one of my hands into his free one. I stared up at
him, smiling weakly.

“What would this proposition be?” I
asked, smiling wider.

"Why don't we start over?" he asked me.
"You came here under horrible conditions. But you're a vampire now.
You can do whatever you like... I've been thinking. If we leave
this place, maybe we can put it all behind us..."

I froze, my smile feeling mechanical
and creepy as it stuck to my face.

Leave them behind?

I knew that was always the goal in some
form or another, but to have it come upon me so soon, when I was
least expecting it?

“Of course,” Reid rushed on to add,
“we’ll wait until you’re able to move around freely again after
this incident.” He tenderly placed his hand against my stomach and
rubbed my belly slowly.

The smile slid from my face as tears
filled my eyes. “I’m sorry for everything that happened while you
were gone,” I whispered, leaning forward to tuck my face against
his shoulder.

I was ashamed of my behavior while my
Mate was gone, and there was nothing I could do to make up for
everything that I’d done to wrong him. He made soft shushing noises
and stroked my hair, rocking me in his arms slowly.

“It’s fine, Ely. We’re going to put
this all behind us now. That is, unless you don’t want to be with
me anymore?” His voice took an uncertain tone and I threw my arms
around him suddenly, catching us both off guard.

“No, I want you,” I whispered into his
shoulder, sniffling as I fought to keep the tears in.

“Then what is it?” he asked.

I paused. “I’ve grown to be a part of
this family… Are we going to keep in touch with them? They lost
you, and then they lost Wyatt as you were returned to them. Are
they going to be able to handle us leaving?” I asked quietly,
pulling away from him.

His expression was thoughtful and he
chuckled. “They’ll deal with it one way or another sweetheart,” he
promised. “But if it makes you feel better, we can wait until
things have settled back down around here.”

I was nodding before he’d even finished
his sentence, squeezing him tight with my arms while I drew my face
up to his and pressed my mouth to his in a wonderful kiss. He
chuckled against my mouth and pried me off him.

“If you continue down this road, then
we’ll have children running around here long before we are ready
for them, love,” he teased. I felt my face flush and shoved him off
the bed. I yelped when he took me down with him. “Did you think I
was going to leave you up there, all by your lonesome?” he asked
me, smiling roguishly. I stuck my tongue out at him and his smile
softened.

“I love you, Elyssa.” I met his eyes
and smiled a little, too.

“I love you as well, Reid.”

“Then what say we get re-Mated? I am
very sorry for how I handled the annulment, and I have to make this
up to you one way or another,” he said, dipping his head to kiss me
on my cheek.

I smiled. “You’re already on the right
path. But to answer your question, I would love to be your Mate
again, Reid Donovan Lanistter,” I told him sweetly, giving him an
Eskimo kiss.

“Good. I don’t know what I’d do if the
woman I am in love with did not want to be my Mate. I’m so very
glad you have made this choice, Elyssa Jane Smith.”

I’m glad, too,
I thought.

But somehow, my mind drifted back to
Zeke and Dmitri – the men who had taken me in as a part of their
family; would they truly be alright? – while I kissed my future
full on the mouth.

I sat in my study, listening to the
nearby candle crackle as the flame danced. Other than that, the
room was silent.

I wasn’t sure how I felt about
that.

With the loss of Elyssa’s baby, I
didn’t know what there was to look forward to, exactly. Not to
mention, it would be very lonely here at the castle…

Dmitri and Olivia would be running off
to live their lives together as a married couple. No doubt off to
run some kind of floral shop or an art gallery or
something.

With the things that happened during
Reid’s absence, there was no doubt in my mind that he would be
leaving the castle soon as well. Whether he brought Elyssa along
with him was up to them, but either way, I doubted that the
green-eyed beauty would be sticking around much longer.

“So what am I to do with my time…?” I
pondered, creating a steeple with my fingertips and leaning my chin
against it.

“Whatever you choose to spend your time
doing, I do hope you won’t be torturing young women
anymore.”

I snapped my gaze up to see my two
remaining brothers standing in the doorway. From the grin on
Dmitri’s face, I could tell that he was glad that we had come to a
truce in the dungeons. The dead look on Reid’s, on the other hand,
worried me about our future as siblings.

We had never truly been close. He and
Dmitri were always the best of friends, Wyatt was always locked
away in his tower, and I had my own idea of fun…

But I would regret that I’d possibly
made an enemy out of my brother for a long time coming.

“We thought we should say goodbye,”
Reid said. His tone was calm, almost peaceful, and I wondered what
he had planned since he wasn’t staying. “We are both moving out
soon, and we didn’t want to leave our last encounter as the
brothers Lanistter to be that God-awful meeting in the main hall
the night Elyssa was turned…”

I stared at him curiously. Before I
could ask what he wanted to accomplish, he spoke again. “So come,
brother. Let us venture to the kitchens so that we may toast over
some blood-wine.” Reid held his arm straight out.

I slowly got up from my seat and
ventured over to them with caution. Reid slung his extended arm
over my shoulder and the other over Dmitri’s.

As we walked down to the kitchens, I
kept glancing over to Dmitri, looking for any signs that this was a
trap from the two brothers I’d wronged over the years. He seemed
fine, but my eyes kept getting stuck on the scar over Reid’s
heart.

His shirt was halfway open as he tended
to wear it, leaving the left area of his chest open for me to
see.

Suddenly, I knew what I would be
filling my time with after everyone moved out.

We arrived at the kitchen and Dmitri
retrieved a bottle of blood-wine. He uncorked it at poured three
hearty glassfuls. After we all took our glasses, we held them up
toward each other.

“To life,” Reid said, smirking at the
two of us.

“To love,” Dmitri said.

I paused as their eyes landed on me.
Dmitri, forever scarred and hurting due to my own ignorance and
anger. Reid, the walking dead, brought back to life because I made
a rash decision; forever haunted by the scar where we plunged the
dagger into his chest.

A cure.

I would devote the rest of my life
toward finding a cure for silver-inflicted wounds.

The scars would never fade or diminish,
of course. They would be ugly reminders of horrible events until
the day our lives come to an end.

But I could find something that would
take away the pain of being around silver.

“To the future,” I said finally,
clinking my glass against the glasses belonging to my
brothers.

Look out for

Masquerade

Coming Halloween 2013

There are a number of
people who helped me push through and get
Destructive Embrace
finished.

Kayla Rohweder-Adamakis: Threatening my
life on an almost-daily basis for me to keep writing and editing
really helped. Some days, I was really scared that you would follow
through… O,o

Mom & Gram: You guys kept asking
away at the progress of my stories, along with the rest of our
crazy family. Thanks, because it gave me a reason to keep going so
I could make sure progress was made every time I would report back.
I love you guys.

Zachary Rohweder: Thanks
for
shaming
me
into working! Whenever you asked how was the book coming and I
would have a not-so-good answer, you weren’t mean about it. You
were rather nice and it made me feel guilty for not working harder.
Thanks. I love you.

Robyn M. Pierce lives in Las Vegas,
where the night is never-ending. There are no vampires in Las
Vegas, except the ones on the pages of books. She loves music, and
loves cuddling with her two cats, Joy and Hiroki, while lying down
to read a good novel.

Destructive Embrace
is Robyn’s second novel, directly following
Darkest Embrace
in her
series,
The Lanistter
Chronicles
. Look out for book 3,
Masquerade
, coming
Halloween 2013.

Check her out online at
http://www.RobynPierce.com