Winter's Touch (Immortal Touch Series) (13 page)

She was hurriedly rummaging through his dresser drawers when the familiar voice came from
directly behind, causing her to jump nearly out of her skin. He’d somehow entered the room without making a sound.

“Have you found what you were looking for?” The
icy displeasure in his tone sent shivers down her backbone as she recalled his earlier threat.
If you ever try to escape from me again...

“I
...ah, was...
ahem
...just...” She sounded like an idiot and she knew it. But what was there to say? She’d been caught red-handed and the piper would expect payment. Her hands trembled to think of what that payment might be.

“You were
what?
” There was no trace of tolerance in his crisp words. Those stormy eyes penetrated her, dark with clouds that threatened to unleash a hurricane. “What the bloody hell are you doing in my room?”

“I was looking for
...um...”

“I know what you were looking for
! How foolish do you think I am?”

The way he was looking at her was frightening. There was
none of the usual idle amusement there, no evidence of empathy whatsoever. He looked as if he wanted to tear her apart.

“Do you know what you are, Eva?” He circled her slowly, like a vulture
preparing to swoop downward. His voice was controlled, but still as hard and sharp as coffin nails.

“Julian, I
...”

“You’re an animal that needs to be trained. A
stubborn filly yet to be broken. And how does one handle a problem animal? Can you tell me that?”

She shook her head fearfully.

“There are a number of ways. But the most effective, I believe, is to beat it into submission. Because even a dumb animal understands pain.” Before she even had time to respond, he seized both her arms in an iron grip and the barely-restrained fury broke free. “You think you’ve had it bad? You’ve seen nothing, you overindulged little brat! You’re a prisoner, are you not? Then from now on you’ll be treated as such! I’ll lock you in the cellar and beat you on a regular basis if necessary. I’ll break both your legs if I must! But one way or another, you
will
learn to behave yourself!”

H
is strong arms shook her roughly, bruising the delicate flesh. “Do you think for one minute I give a damn whether you live or die? Your life means nothing to me!
Nothing!
I should have killed you years ago! And why I didn’t, I’ll never know!”

Frightened tears spilled from Eva’s green eyes to
streak her flushed cheeks. “I’m sorry...really I am...please, don’t...”

“I’ve had enough of your antics! You’ve been afforded every opportunity and yet you still continue to defy me. There is a limit to my patience and
you
, you have well exceeded it!
No more!
This is the last warning you will get! Do I make myself perfectly clear?”

“Y-yes
...”

“
Stop that infernal crying!
”

She
pressed her lips together in an effort to stifle a sob. He released her abruptly, backing away to stand with his arms folded across his chest. Apparently there was nothing else to be said. Eventually she dared to look up at his face.

He was staring at her
with an expression as unreadable as a blank page. Finally he quietly told her, “Search my room if it gives you some measure of comfort. Destroy it, turn it upside down if it pleases you.
But know this.
You will find nothing that can help you. Because there
is
nothing that can help you.
Nothing.
”

H
e left her there alone, and as he walked away she heard him curse her faintly underneath his breath.

“
Damn you.
”

As if she wasn’t already damned.

~*~*~

Why did she have such a compelling need to leave?

Was it not enough that he provided her with every amenity? What was so significant about her former life that she couldn’t let it go? Was a lifetime of drudgery preferable to the luxury he could offer?

It was infuriating, really.

And the adverse effect her blood was having on him was disconcerting, to say the least. He hadn’t taken into consideration the fact that she’d been contaminated with his own blood. In retrospect, feeding from her was probably an unwise decision. Already there was something odd taking place that couldn’t be calculated, and he wasn’t quite sure he liked it. Sometimes when he looked at her, he thought he could almost detect a whisper of something long forgotten...

But that was impossible. Those emotions were dead.

Love, passion, sympathy, sentimentality...all the attributes of the human psyche that were unnecessary in a predator...those had disintegrated forever into dust. He could not pity her. Had no reason to pity her.

She was food to him. Nothing more. He must remember that.

~*~*~

The vampire spent his days isolated after that, taking his meals either in the conservatory or his bedroom. F
or the most part Eva was alone. Any prospect of escape or rescue having been eradicated, it seemed a futile effort to hang on to the hope that she could be saved. There was nothing left to be done but wait. Whatever bleak future she might possess was out of her hands.

She stopped
resisting. Stopped caring. Lonesome for companionship, she spent a good portion of her days with Lainie. They had pleasant conversations and watched cheesy soap operas together, and the kindly woman patiently taught her how to knit and cross-stitch, and how to make authentic raspberry scones. Eva, in return, showed her how to make jewelry out of polymer clay. Not the most practical skill perhaps, but it helped to pass the time.

In the afternoons they took
short walks along the path in the woods. The brisk October days melted away uneventfully, one into the other, and November arrived without distinction.

It was on
the seventh day of the month that Lainie idly commented, “Today’s the anniversary o’ Mr. Winter’s death. Was on this day twenty-seven years ago that he passed away.”

“Julian?”

“Nae, child. It’s his paternal grandfather I was referrin’ to. Massive stroke, it was. I attended the service in London.” Her aging eyes took on a faraway look. “I hadn’t seen young Julian in quite some time. He stayed so busy wi’ work. But I could tell when I saw him at the funeral that somethin’ about him had changed. He wasn’t the same lad anymore.”

“
How so?”

“Well
now, it’s hard to put into words. I suppose to others his remoteness was due to the circumstances. It was a funeral, after all. But to me, it went far beyond that. I was closer to him than his own mother, and what I saw in that chapel wasn’t the sweet loun I raised. It was nothin’ but a hollow shell.”

“But didn’t you see him after the
...you know, incident? I mean, he was staying with you, wasn’t he?” She glanced at the cards in her hand, then dropped them on the table. “I fold.”

“Aye, but he packed up and left two days later. I thought
at the time it was because he’d finally made the decision to work at the law firm rather than return to school. He seemed distracted, but that was understandable. He’d been under a lot o’ stress. It wasn’t until some time later that I began to notice the difference in him.”

Eva propped her elbows on the table, resting her chin
on her clasped hands. “Why do you stay here, Lainie?”

“
Why, because Jules is like a son to me. Would ye abandon yer own child? It isn’t his fault, what’s happened to him. Try to understand that, lass, and not judge him so harshly. I keep hoping...” Her words trailed off. There was no need for her to speak them out loud. It was clear that she still held on to the belief that somehow his humanity could be restored. Poor, deluded woman.

“Did you
never have any children of your own?”

“I ne
’er did. Ne’er even married. I’ve always been rather a homely one.” She chuckled.

“Oh Lainie, you’re not homely.” Eva
took her wrinkled hand and gently squeezed it.

“Y
e’re a sweet lassie, ye are. Such a shame things are as they are.”

“Is there no hope for him? No cure?”

“None as I know of.”

“
Well...can I ask you something then?”

“Aye, o
’ course.”

“Why
do you suppose he keeps me here?”

The woman gave her a look of
sorrow. “Och, my poor child. That I cannae answer. Truth is, I don’t believe the boy knows why himself.”

~
*~*~

Eva was just drifting off to sleep that night when her bedroom door
flew open, startling her. In the darkness she could just make out Julian’s silhouette, tall and imposing, and her heart filled with dread even though she’d known the day was coming. Her account was past due.

Time
for him to collect.

He
sprang lithely onto the foot of the bed, crawling leisurely over her like a prowling animal. The obsidian eyes gleamed brightly with a ravenous look. Crouched directly over her, his face mere inches from hers, his lips curved slowly into a devious smile. He was so close she could smell his aftershave.

“What do you want?” She tried to sound
defiant but her voice cracked, exposing her cowardice.

“What do you suppose?”

“Don’t, Julian.” Her words might as well have been tossed into the air for all their weight.

“This is what you’re here for. Or have you forgotten?”
The raw malevolence in his voice showed there was to be no mercy from him. Tonight he meant to assert his dominance.

She didn’t even have time to
suck in a breath with which to scream before he snatched her head back and sank his fangs savagely into her jugular.

Struggling beneath his weight, she thrashed her head in an attempt to extricate herself from the searing pain, but he was
as immovable as concrete. The scream, when it came, was a useless waste of energy. Her cries would mean as much to him as the antelope’s did to the lion. Eventually the pain subsided and her body went limp.

He remained hungrily clamped to her neck for some time before finally pulling away, satiated and spent. A thin trickle of blood ran down her throat, warm and wet, but she hadn’t the strength to wipe it away. The rhythm of her heartbeat was all wrong
, pounding rapidly against her chest in a way that alarmed her. She’d lost too much blood.

He lay beside her, breathing heavily
. One arm came up to rest on his forehead and he stared at the ceiling silently.

She shivered, cold permeating her thin silk chemise. The covers had fallen to the floor and he
suddenly reached for them, pulling the white comforter up to tuck snugly around her. What he said next was so completely unexpected she wasn’t sure she’d heard him correctly.

“Forgive me.”

She lay motionless, unresponsive. Did she imagine the chagrin in his voice? Surely she was hallucinating. There was no way he would have said...

“Eva, I’m sorry.” He continued to gaze at the ceiling, never meeting her eyes. “I
t was not my intention to hurt you. Truly, it wasn’t.”

Unbelievable.
Utterly unbelievable. How many personalities could reside in one body? It was like dealing with Dr. Jekyll while waiting for the inevitable appearance of Hyde.

“Why do you want to
see me dead?” she asked hoarsely.

He reached over to stroke her cheek softly. “You won’t die
. I won’t allow it.”

“
Great. So you’ll keep me alive just to torture me?”

“I apologize for my uncouth behavior.
I...really, I don’t know what came over me. It is...sometimes it is so difficult to control...” He stopped short, then gave a dry laugh. “I never would have imagined I’d be apologizing to my prey for doing what it is I was designed to do. How does that make any sense?”

He
threw his long legs over the side of the bed and disappeared into the bathroom, returning with a warm washcloth that he held against her wound. “Here, keep this on your neck while I fetch you a drink.”

Eva
curled into a fetal position in an attempt to warm herself. Her fingers felt like icicles. The room gradually began to spin and a nauseating feeling overtook her, like the sensation of being in a rowboat that rocked back and forth on tempestuous waves.

“I feel sick,” she told Julian, who had just arrived with a
sports drink.

He put a
n arm underneath her back and urged her gently into an upright position. “I know. Can you swallow these for me?”

She took the two capsules from his hand and washed them down with the
orange-flavored drink without debate. Her hand was shaking so hard he had to hold the bottle for her.