House of Ravens (18 page)

“
Forever a miracle,” he
offers in return.

A smile pulls at my lips. I cross the room,
taking his hand in mine. Together, we climb into the bed and Ian
tucks himself against my back.

I sleep. And so does he.

WARM BREATH RUSHING ACROSS MY shoulder pulls
me from sleep. I feel the tiny hairs there ripple. My skin tingles.
Soft lips brush back and forth over my shoulder blade. The scent of
sandalwood and pine brings a flood of wonderful memories.

My eyes slide open, and I raise a hand to
rub my eyes, only there’s a weight there that I’m unused to.

Suddenly, I’m wide-awake, holding my hand
out in front of me.

A stunning ring occupies my second to last
finger.

A beautiful oval cut diamond is surrounded
by a halo of smaller diamonds, set in a gold frame shaped kind of
like a flower with four tips and rounded corners around it. A
simple golden band wraps around my finger, balancing the stunning
centerpiece.

“
Do you like it?” Ian
whispers into my neck.

“
Ian,” I say breathlessly
as I keep staring at it. “It’s absolutely stunning!”

I turn, never fully taking my eyes off of
it, and press a kiss to his waiting lips. It’s entirely unique and
absolutely a perfect blend of classic and modern.

“
The diamond is from Lula’s
ring, the one Papa gave her,” Ian says as he takes my newly
accessorized hand in his. “He died before I was born, but the way
Lula talked about him, they loved each other a lot.
Fiercely.”

“
I’ve never heard you
mention him.” My eyes are still glued to the stunning ring, my
heart swelling with the light of a hundred suns.

“
His name was Billy,” he
says with a chuckle. “Lula told me he worked for over a year and a
half to save up the money for the diamond.” He bites his lower lip,
and grows more serious. “When I told Lula I’d asked you to marry
me, she was surprisingly calm. She said she knew how hard things
had been for us. That much work for a relationship deserved a
hard-earned ring. She gave it to me and wanted you to have
it.”

“
That’s amazing, Ian,” I
say. Because it is. Lula hates me. Hates vampires. And to give such
a precious heirloom to someone like me, I’m shocked.

Ian nods and looks up into my eyes. “Lillian
helped me with the design for the rest of the ring. I wanted
something that captured a bit of history. And the long future
before us. And…” he says, smiling. “There’s more to it, to come at
just the right times.”

The smile on my face must be ridiculous, but
I don’t care. I lean forward, pressing my lips gently to his. “It’s
absolutely perfect,” I whisper against them.

Ian rolls up, propping himself up on his
elbow, staring down at me. “I still can’t believe we’re here.”

“
We’re getting married,” I
whisper through my smile, shrugging my shoulders up to my ears.
“Can you believe it? Among everything that’s going on, we have a
wedding to plan.”

The smile on Ian’s face is incredible. I’ve
seen it so few times, but it’s stunning. Wide enough to see almost
all of his teeth. Small lines sprout from his eyes when he does.
His entire face lights up.

“
So when are we going to do
this, future bride?” he asks, bopping me on the nose
gently.

I laugh, sighing in happiness. “Soon, but
not until all this chaos has passed. I don’t want anything marring
the happiest day of my life, nothing looming over it. And,” I say,
a longing tug pulling at my chest. “If there’s any chance that
Henry is out there, I really, really want him to be there.”

“
He should get to walk you
down the aisle,” Ian says in agreement. “He didn’t get to be there
for most of your life, but he shouldn’t miss that.”

I nod, biting the inside of my cheek. “I
know it’s early, but, I think I want to keep my last name,
Ian.”

He looks down at me, all the considerations
rolling behind his eyes. But he nods. “You should,” he says. “You
have a long heritage to uphold. Your name is also your claim to
your birthright.”

I reach up, caressing his cheek. “Thank you
for understanding.”

He lowers himself down, pressing a kiss to
my lips.

“
I’ve already got about a
dozen dress ideas for you to look over.” Lillian’s voice floats up
through from the library.

The both of us laugh, Ian rolling off of me.
“I’m sure you do!” I call back to her. “We’re going to have to plan
a nice, long honeymoon, far away from all of these listening ears
in this House!”

General shouts of disgust and agreement echo
from all sides.

Listening ears, with little privacy, but I
wouldn’t have my family anywhere else.

“
WHO’S DAPHNE?” IAN ASKS
AS
I walk out of the closet, fully
dressed. He studies the postcards on the table by the door. There’s
four now, two new ones from Virginia and Georgia.

“
A friend I made from
town,” I say as I slide my phone into my back pocket and reach for
the door. I look back at Ian, waiting for him. There’s a thoughtful
expression on his face, as if he’s trying to figure out who I’m
talking about. He does know most everyone in town. “You probably
don’t know her, she moved into town recently.”

He nods, though I can tell he’s still trying
to puzzle it out.

Ian and I walk back downstairs to begin
planning for the night. The days are getting longer and longer,
leaving us less time to use in the dark. Even with sunshades, we
can only be out for so long before even the filtered sunlight
becomes too intense.

Lillian is looking at the computer we
confiscated from the trailer with Lexington, talking about the
different towns around Silent Bend.

“
I think I figured out
where another cell is,” he says, spinning the laptop around and
pointing to a place on a map. It’s about two miles south of the
Institute. “Could still be active—the email was old, from about
three months ago—but it’s worth checking out.”

A knock sounds on the front door. Ian and I
look at each other, but it’s Rath who moves across the marble floor
to open it, as we head to see who has visited.

“
This one of the turds you
were talkin’ about?”

It’s a redneck-looking guy who stands on the
front porch. He shoves forward a body, which flops into the
house—dead. A stake sticks out of her chest, blood saturating her
clothes, her dead eyes wide open and bloodshot.

I gape at the man I somewhat recognize from
the meeting with the townspeople. Ian crouches and checks the back
of her hand. “Yeah,” he says when he reveals the snake brand. “This
was one of them.”

“
Where’d you find her?” I
ask in wonder as I look back at the man.

“
Trying to pin my daughter
down in the backyard about an hour ago, fangs dripping all over the
place,” he says, the air hissing through his nose in anger. “The
freak was so distracted in bloodlust, it didn’t even notice me come
up behind it.”

“
You did good, Eric,” Ian
says, standing. Rath looks down disapprovingly at the body lying on
the floor of the Conrath Estate. “Has anyone else had run-ins with
any more Bitten?”

Eric shakes his head. “Not that I know of.
Everyone who went to that meeting of yours has been staying well in
touch. But no one’s seen anything. Yet.”

“
They shouldn’t let their
guard down,” I say. “We’ve taken out dozens of them so far, all
close to or in Silent Bend.”

“
Two of them attacked
Elle,” Ian says. “They’re getting more aggressive. Stay
alert.”

The man nods and a certain look comes over
his face. “I can’t say I’m okay with a few dozen bloodsucking,
red-eyed vamps living in my hometown, but thank you for…trying to
keep it a little safer. We appreciate your pro-activeness in this
situation.”

“
We’ll keep doing our
best,” I promise. The man is so contradictory in his appearance and
the way he speaks. I’m trying not to smile. “And thank you for your
help.”

Eric nods. “I suspect Sheriff McCoy’ll be
getting in touch soon.”

He nods his chin in a goodbye and sets off
back to his truck. Ian and I watch as he drives away.

“
It’s working,” I say
quietly as I watch it retreat.

“
I won’t lie,” Rath says.
“I’m a little shocked.”

“
Me, too,” Ian admits.
“Maybe we should have done this years ago. Would have saved this
town a lot of whispering and a lot of unneeded deaths due to not
knowing what really happens in this town.”

“
Let’s hope it continues to
work in our benefit,” I say.

Ian grabs the dead woman, slings her up over
his shoulder. He follows Rath to the back of the house, and I’m so
grateful that I’m not the one who has to take care of all these
bodies that are piling up.

“
Samuel, Smith, Leigh,” I
call out generally to the House. “You’re coming with Ian and I to
this possible location.” I walk down the hall, stopping in the
armory. I grab a crossbow, a full quiver, two knives that I strap
to my legs, a gun in a holster around my waist, and four stakes.
The three of them join me a minute later and begin stocking up on
the death and destruction.

Ten minutes later, the five of us head for
the garage. Ian drives his van, opening the garage and backing up,
just as a police car rolls up the drive and parks off to the side
of the garage.

We stop and Luke gets out of the cruiser. He
wears jeans and a black t-shirt. It’s so weird seeing him out of
uniform. I forget what a striking man he is.

No wonder Anna is so taken with him.

Ian rolls down the window as he comes
over.

“
Y’all are looking rather
deadly tonight,” he says as he leans in the window, taking in the
many, many weapons we each carry.

“
We might have a lead on a
new cell on the edge of town,” I explain. “We’re headed to check it
out right now.”

“
Got room for one more in
there?” he asks, looking back at the three sitting on the floor of
the van.

“
I don’t think this is
really a job for humans, sonny,” Smith says with that wicked smile
of his.

“
Good thing I’m a little
more handy and informed than most.” He raises his shirt just a
little, exposing a toned core, three stakes, and a
handgun.

“
Get in,” Ian nods his head
for the back of the van. Luke doesn’t hesitate. He climbs inside
and we head out.

It’s a fifteen-minute drive across town. On
to a winding road that rises over small hills, around a hundred
trees. Between swamps and fields.

When the small house with peeling white
paint comes into view, Ian parks the van behind some trees, and we
all climb out.

On silent feet, we dart toward the house,
fanning out to circle it.

The lights are off, and my enhanced hearing
doesn’t detect anyone inside. I can’t smell anyone, but the sharp
bite of copper and salt leaks from inside.

Ian and Smith creep up to the windows,
peering inside, checking each and every one of them. Finally, they
wave the rest of us forward, and Ian opens the front door.

The smell of blood intensifies, and I follow
in after him. Were I human, I probably would have lost my dinner
right then.

Five bodies lie on the floor. Three of them
have stakes through their chests or backs, one’s skull has been
smashed clean in, the other’s head rests about ten feet from its
body.

Blood is sprayed all across the walls. It
coats the ceiling. Handprints on the windows, tracks on the worn
wooden floor.

Smith curses, and Leigh lets out a little
high-pitched scream.

“
It’s fresh,” Ian says,
wiping a finger through the blood on one wall. It comes off on his
finger. “I’d guess they were killed within the last hour or
so.”

“
An hour?” I say, my brow
furrowing as I take in the scene that is becoming familiar. “But
this…this wasn’t any of us.”

“
You get any reports of
townspeople taking out a bunch of Bitten?” Samuel asks
Luke.

I forgot he was here. I turn to see the dark
haze in his eyes, the look of disgust. His eyes dart from body to
body. He takes two steps back from the head that lies at his feet.
“No.”

“
Ian,” I breathe as I study
the patterns. The sprays. The mass amounts of blood lost. “Does
this all look a little…familiar?”