The Forbidden: A Huntress Novel (The Huntress Series Book 1) (26 page)

I giggled. “I guess not.”

I lifted my head and kissed his chest feeling his frantic heartbeat pound against my lips. I gazed up at him and laid my hand over his heart.

He placed his hand over mine. “You can feel it?”

I nodded. “My heart.”

“Always.”

After bickering with him the whole day, it felt so good to be back in his arms. I couldn’t stand it when he ignored me and was angry with me and because he began to pull away from me, I felt a desperate longing to feel his love again.

We laid there with our bodies glued together, loving one another and feeling sated in the other’s arms.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

I laid on Lucas’s bed wrapped in a towel after showering. Rubbing my pruned fingers together, I reached for a silver photo frame on his night stand. I ran my fingers over the glass of a brunette woman with long, wavy hair and aquamarine eyes smiled at me. Lucas emerged from the bathroom in nothing but his boxer briefs drying his wet hair with a towel.

“Who’s this?”

He took the photo frame and sat beside me smiling down at the picture.

“It’s my mom. Well, my maker.”

“You as a human? I can’t imagine it.”  

“It’s been so long since I was turned that I forgot so many things about my human life. I know I had a mom, and dad, and brother, but the memories I shared with them are slipping away. It’s hard to remember what they were like as the years since my turn has gone flying by.”

“How old are you?”

“How old do I look?”

I shrugged. “Maybe early twenties.”

“I’m twenty-one.”

“How long?”

“Long enough.”

I grinned. “You’re not going to tell me, are you? What an old man you are.” I teased.

“Hey, watch it. There are no old men in this house.”

“What about your maker? You call her mom, so you must be close to her.”

The smile on his lips turned into a frown as he placed the frame back on his night stand. “I was close to her. Despite being turned and taken away from my family, I never hated her for it. Being an immortal feels natural for me, as if I belonged to this world all along.”

“You said was.”

“She’s gone. Can we talk about something else now?” He ran his hand through his wet hair as he stood.

“How come you don’t talk about your mom and Paul?”   

“You don’t ask about them.”

“I have asked about your family, when we went on our second date.”

“Oh, now you don’t have a problem calling our meetings, dates.”

I know what he is trying to do. He’s attempting to distract me to avoid the question by taking our conversation to a different topic. Not happening.

I narrowed my eyes. “Lucas.”

He exhaled and walked over to his dresser drawers. “I don’t like going down memory lane.”

I wanted to know everything about Lucas’s human life and the life he has now. I wanted to know about his mom, and Paul, and his real family. I’m realizing now that certain memories in his past are too painful for him to talk about. I didn’t want to be responsible for the sudden change in his good mood, so I decided to let it go.

“Fine, no more family talk.”

He put on his plaid pajama bottoms. “Good. Would you like to borrow some of Violet’s clothes or wear mine?”

“Yours.”

“I thought you would.”

Giving me a chaste kiss, he grabbed my towel and pulled it from my body. I sat up and let him put his black wife beater over my head.

I chuckled as I put my arms through the shirt. “You know I can get myself dressed, right?”

“I want to do it.”

He gripped my legs and tilted me backward as he dressed me in his navy blue sweat pants. His clothes were a little baggy on me, but I loved having them on.

He took a few steps back as he looked me up and down. “You look hot in my clothes.”

I slid my fingers under his waistband, feeling his happy trail brush against my skin.  “And you look hot with only this on, hotter with nothing on.”

Grabbing his pants, I began to slide them down his legs when I heard screaming and glass shattering from downstairs.

I gasped. “Eli!”

I swung Lucas’s bedroom door open and ran downstairs to get Eli under control. He must be frightened and tense after waking up in a foreign place with a stranger looking after him. More importantly, he knows he’s not the same Eli. He doesn’t know what is going on and now it’s my job to try and reason with him so he won’t do anything irrational. The last thing he needs is to make enemies with Lucas and Violet.

Eli was backed into a corner, panting and glaring at me with his hands fisted at his sides. He was tense and angry. For the first time in my life, I was afraid of my friend of ten years. The glass table was flipped over and broken, the couch was torn into pieces and Violet was lying unconscious underneath the recliner.

“Violet!” Lucas cried out as he grabbed the recliner and lifted it off of her body.

Underneath her eye was swollen and bruised. Lucas stood and turned around with a grim look on his face. His usual soft aquamarine eyes turned fiery and dark as he escaped to the darker side of himself. I have come to know this side of him well and when he lets the darkness come out and play, he is merciless. I couldn’t let them fight.

I gripped Lucas’s arm. “Don’t fight, he has his defenses up. He doesn’t understand what is happening.”

“Calm him down before I handle it,” He said through his teeth.

I cautiously walked toward Eli as my body shook in fear. “It’s okay, why don’t you sit down and let me explain what is going on.”

“What’s happening to me, my skin is ice cold.”

“It was the only way.”

“What are you talking about? Why am I here with these filthy creatures?”

“You are one of these filthy creatures now.”

His orange eyes widened as his mouth fell open. His eye color was the color of the reaper eyes which is odd because I would have thought the reaper in him would have died.

“How could you let them turn me? You betrayed me, you betrayed our kind!”

I closed my eyes as his words stung. I didn’t betray him. I was desperate to save him, but that doesn’t matter because he will always hate me for deciding his fate for him.

“I may have betrayed my kind, but I didn’t betray you. You were going to die.”

“Lies. It’s all lies and you will pay.” He said through his teeth.

As my body changed, Eli hissed and reached for my throat. Fingers dug into my arm as I was thrown backward on the floor, while Lucas and Eli battled it out.

With fangs bared and punches being thrown they were relentless and wouldn’t stop until the other was dead. Lucas had Eli by the hair with his neck bared ready to sink his teeth in him and rip his neck out.

“Stop!” I yelled.

Lucas and Eli gasped as they were forced apart and pinned against the wall.

“Behave, both of you!” Violet scolded as she put her hands on her hips and sighed.

Both of them struggled to move, but Violet’s power was too strong to resist.

“Let me go!” Eli yelled.

“Not until you play nice.”

“You witch, I will kill you!”

“Eli, stop it. No one here is against you. They helped save your life. You were going to die and they turned you because I asked them to.”

“You should have let me die, Athena. I am damned for eternity because of you.”

“Violet, let me go. I’m calm now.” Lucas said.

She narrowed her eyes and pointed her finger his way. “No fighting, or I will pin you to the wall all night.”

With a wave of her hand Lucas fell from the wall landing on his hands and knees.

“Eli, I am so sorry. Please, don’t hate me. I let them turn you because I didn’t want to lose you.”

I could beg and plea all I wanted, but I knew what I did was unforgivable in his eyes. I was losing my friend. The friend that I went through hell to save and I just couldn’t bear it.

I looked down as I tried my hardest to choke back my tears.

Lucas cupped my chin and placed a nice gentle kiss on my lips.

I gave a half-smile and wiped my eyes. “Kissing away my sorrows?”

“Trying to. He will come around. Give him time.”

“You’re with him!” Eli yelled.

He glared my way as he shook his head in disbelief. “You’re even wearing his clothes.” He scoffed in disgust.

“He’s not a bad person.” I said.

“I never thought you would turn out to be a vampire whore.”

I gasped as my eyes widened from shock. Every stab at me seemed to cut me deeper. I wasn’t used to Eli treating me this way. He’s always been so nice and understanding and now I hate that he is unleashing his wrath on me.

Lucas picked up an empty glass cup on the mantle and threw it at him. Eli winced and squeezed his eyes shot as the glass hit his head and shattered. His head fell forward as his blood dripped on the floor.

I gasped. “You killed him!”

Running over to him, I carefully lifted his head and applied pressure to his bleeding cut.

“He’s fine, I knocked him out.”   

I scowled at Lucas. “Come heal him!”

Lucas scoffed. “I will not. Serves him right for calling you a vampire whore.”    

“Please,” I begged.

He shook his head and folded his arms. “No way.”

I stomped my foot on the ground. “Lucas!”

He scowled. “No!”

“I will do it,” Violet said as she stepped over the broken glass and furniture.

Putting her hands on either side of his face she ran her tongue over the gash on his forehead.

“I think you should leave.” Lucas said.

I turned to face him. “Why?”

“He is upset with you and I think it would be better if Violet and I eased him into our way of living, without you here.”

“No, way. I need to be here, you are going to kill him if I’m not.”   

“Please, give us one night with him and I promise I won’t hurt him anymore. You can come see him tomorrow.”

Eli is angry and vengeful because he is convinced that I betrayed him and my presence is setting him off. Maybe I do need to leave. I don’t want to leave because I don’t trust Lucas around him. Since I am the issue here, maybe Lucas and Eli won’t fight because I’m not around.

I scowled. “Fine, I’ll come back tomorrow.”

“I still have some of the potion left to get you home.” Violet said.

Everything escalated in such a haste. This day has taken a turn for the worse. I knew Eli would be upset with me and I figured he would hate me, but the hatred and cutting remarks hurt me more than I thought it would. I thought that because I prepared myself for his reaction that I wouldn’t get hurt when he lashed out on me, but I was dead wrong.

“Now that he’s unconscious will you let him go?” I asked.

Violet sighed. “Sure, but if he becomes difficult to control while you are gone then he’s back on the wall.”

She waved her hand as I held onto him to prevent him from falling, but because my reaper wasn’t out, I struggled to hold his weight.

“Help!”

Lucas exhaled. “You should let him fall.” He placed Eli over his shoulder and carried him upstairs.

I followed Violet in the kitchen sitting down at the dinner table as she searched the cabinets for the potion.

“Here it is.” She handed me the potion as she stuck her finger in her mouth then carefully ran it over the nasty cut underneath her eye.

“Do you remember how it works?”

“Yeah, I’m supposed to drink the potion and focus on the location I desire.”

“Okay, drink up.”

“Wait, I didn’t say goodbye.” Lucas said as he closed the distance between us, put his hands on either side of my face and planted a chaste kiss on my lips.

“I love you.”

I smiled. “I love you, too.”

“Oh, keeping it P.G. in front of me now.”

“Yeah, well, we tend to get carried away.” Lucas said.

I looked down at the potion in disgust. “I can’t believe I have to drink this again.”

“Choke it down and hold your breath it won’t taste as bad.” Lucas said.

“That’s a lie.”

Holding my nose, I gulped the potion down as I repeated the words, my bedroom, in my head. I could hear the door swing open and slam as running footsteps came toward the kitchen. As a gush of wind hit my face taking my breath away, I heard Brody’s distressed voice yell Lucas’s name. Something was wrong, something happened at the manor, I can feel it.

As my eyes snapped open, I was no longer in Lucas’s house, but in my bedroom instead. I wanted to go back, I had to find out what was going on.

I turned and gasped as my heart leaped out of my chest and fear hit me in the pit of my stomach. My father was sitting on my bed glaring at me. I knew then that Lucas wasn’t a secret any longer and I was about to pay for my betrayal.