Bloodspell (34 page)

"This is the employee's bathroom," she said in a flat, emotionless voice. Gabriel nodded smiling. It was an ugly smile, much the same as the one he'd worn earlier.

"I know, so it's not like we'll be disturbed," he said, stepping closer. "So was that good for you?"

"If you're talking about the grotesque thing with the kiss that you did, then no," she said, swallowing the bile stinging her throat. His eyes narrowed.

"Grotesque, was it? Does Devereux do it better then?" He stepped closer and Victoria braced herself for attack, not taking her eyes off him. "Shall we have a demonstration and compare?" Gabriel suggested with a hideous grin, stepping forward at the same time and grabbing her upper arms with brute force before she could move away.

"I wouldn't get any closer if I were you," said a silky voice at the door. Both Victoria and Gabriel automatically turned in the direction of the menacing voice.

"And what are you going to do about it, Devereux?" Gabriel said. Victoria's eyes were wide as she silently pleaded with Christian to not lose control.

Please Christian,
not here.
He's not worth it.
Please
...

Every inch of his frame was tense with barely restrained fury. She knew he could kill Gabriel without even breaking a sweat. Salvation came from an unexpected source as Tony's rounded bulk filled the doorway, shouldering past Christian and wielding a baseball bat nonchalantly.

"He's not going to do anything, but I am," he said coolly, tapping the bat in his left hand. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way." Gabriel's eyes narrowed and a muscle clenched in his jaw. Tony noticed and smiled. "You can make my day, kid. The cops are on their way. Your call."

Gabriel raised his hands in the air and grinned, the smile nowhere near his eyes.

"Sorry, it's just a little misunderstanding. I'll leave," he said.

Tony didn't look convinced but Victoria nodded to him to let Gabriel leave without a scene and Tony allowed Gabriel to walk by.

As Gabriel walked past Christian, Gabriel glared at him from head to toe. The threat in his body language was unmistakable. What Christian had on Gabriel in height, Gabriel made up for in sheer bulk, and the mutual dislike that flared between them was intense. Christian didn't bat an eyelash and Victoria remained frozen until Gabriel sauntered out into the bar. By the time they came out of the bathroom a few minutes later, Gabriel and his entourage had already left.

"What made you come?" she asked Christian.

"Just a feeling that you needed me," he said, and then silently,
did something happen last night
?

Gabriel saw us
...
kissing.
Her gaze fluttered from his lips to the floor.
He was
...
angry.

I sensed something after I left but I thought it was because of me.
When I felt it again just before,
I knew that something wasn't right.
So I came to find you.

"Tori, you okay?" Tony asked, interrupting their silent exchange. She nodded, managing a weak smile. She closed her eyes as a wave of dizziness overcame her and she sagged against Christian.

Tony met Christian's eyes above her head.

"Can you take her home?" he asked.

"No problem," Christian said.

Christian pulled up to her apartment, and neither of them made any move to get out, sitting silently in the car. She leaned toward him, her heart in her eyes.

"Thank you, Christian. I'm glad you came and ... I'm glad you're here now," she said softly. "I need to tell you something."

He turned to face her, his voice quiet but compassionate.

"Victoria, this doesn't change anything. What you did was the right thing. We can't be together. We shouldn't. That kiss was—"

"Don't even say it," she said. "Don't you understand now? I don't want anyone else! I've been lying to myself all along. Christian, how could I be with anyone else other than you?"

"You should be with someone like you, young—"

"Someone like Gabriel? We both saw where that got me."

"Victoria, this cannot be good for you no matter what you think you know. I am still a danger to you in every possible way. I can't be with you, and you shouldn't be with me. We are from different worlds, and what we were doing was not only reckless, it was wrong." His voice was dead, and if Victoria hadn't seen the agony in his eyes, she would have believed every hateful word that had left his lips. But she knew what he was doing—he was
pushing
her away.

"I already fear for my life just because of who
I
am, you think adding a little inconsequential vampire to the equation will change any of that?" She paused and her eyes went strangely blank as if something had occurred to her. "Or is it that you just don't want
me
?" she asked in a strangled voice.

"How could you possibly think that?" he said. "It's not you ..." He reached for her hands, and she pulled back, her face cold but her eyes bright with suppressed tears.

"That's it, isn't it? It's me. I'm just too young, too stupid, right?" she said. "I could never be as beautiful as that blond vampire woman, could I?"

In that instant, the obscure memory became clear, the one that had eluded her ever since she had first seen the blond woman—she had seen her when Christian had first let her go into his mind, into
his
memories. She was someone who had been close to him! More than close. Of course! The hot rush of understanding was like a blow to her stomach. They'd been
lovers.

Christian couldn't help it, he started laughing, a derisive, humorless sound that echoed horribly in the car. "What does Lena have to do with anything?" he said, his confusion genuine.

"Nothing," Victoria said, jealousy exploding into every part of her. "Except that she's just beautiful and perfect
and
a vampire ... everything I am not and everything you could possibly want, so perfect for you. What was I then? Some kind of toy?"

"Victoria ... please ."

Christian didn't know how to respond to her comment about Lena as it had come from left field and he had no idea what prompted it. He held his hands out toward her and Victoria leaned away, her eyes flashing black fire.

"You're upset and you're not thinking clearly," he said, as if he were speaking to a skittish horse. Her eyes narrowed.

"Don't patronize me, Christian. I've never been clearer about anything in my life. But you! You can't even fight for what you want, even when it's right in front of you. Go ahead. Push me away if that makes you feel better about your own choices. Make this about me. And run back to your perfect little vampire existence without some gauche
child
like me screwing it up."

"Tori, that's not it at all. I can't give you what you want. Every time we touch, we have to think about how long the moment is going to last. We both hold back because we have to. You don't deserve that. You deserve someone who can love you without reservation, without fear of hurting you, someone within the rules."

"What do you know about what I want?"

"You told me, remember?" His eyes were gentle. "In the limousine on New Years Eve?"

"You know what I meant! It's not
this
or whatever you've decided is
best
for me!"

"You said you wanted more. I can't give you that, Victoria."

"Did you give it to
her
?"

Victoria stared at him, her eyes narrowed to slits as torturous thoughts of the beautiful woman kissing Christian spun wildly through her brain. They had been lovers, something she and Christian might never be!

"Victoria," he said. "Lena is no one important." Her eyes flared and he knew instinctively that he had said the wrong thing. For a moment, Christian felt real uncertainty as he stared into her black, black eyes. He could smell the sweetness of the blood, the magic amplifying its heady fragrance a hundred fold, and he could sense its wildness simmering just beneath her hard-won but fragile control of it. "I didn't mean—"

"No one important?" she said. "Is that why she is in so many of your memories? Don't lie to me! What do you
want,
Christian? Do you know what it is you want?"

Fight for me,
please.
Fight for us.

I can't,
it's too dangerous.
You could die.

I won't.
We live by our own rules.
Say the words,
Christian.

The crossroads loomed. He felt it in her voice, she would let him go, if anything to save her battered pride, but there would be no going back. Pride would offer no second chances.

"What do you want?" she repeated.

Christian swallowed, his eyes tormented. He could never let her go.

"You. It's always been you."

The moment froze in time as her eyes grasped his, searching for truth in their depths, and Victoria let out the breath she'd unconsciously been holding. She didn't know who took the first step but it didn't matter as she slid into his arms, and then they were holding each other so tightly that neither of them could breathe. It felt like coming home.

They stood there for an eternity, neither of them noticing the lone figure standing in the darkest shadows across the street, silently watching, his face contorted with rage.

"ARE YOU SURE I look okay?" Victoria asked. Christian assured her that she did, and they walked down to the waiting limousine. "I can't believe I am going to meet a witch priestess!" she said. "I can't believe I am in Paris!"

The unexpected trip had arisen after an urgent call from Enhard the night before that the Council was being convened at Lucian's request. After the scene with Gabriel, Christian hadn't wanted to leave Victoria alone in Canville even if it meant risking exposure to Lucian. The last two times he'd left her alone, both times she'd almost been killed at the hands of his brother.

At least in Paris, he'd be able to protect her and with Enhard's unknowing help, he'd arranged a meeting for Victoria with the Witch Clans. Her presence in Paris would be under the guise of meeting others like herself, and under his protection because of the recent slew of vicious attacks. As a royal and Council advisor, his position was unassailable. It wasn't the most foolproof plan, but it was the best he could do on short notice.

When they had arrived, she had immediately fallen in love with Christian's apartment on Boulevard Saint-Germain, the evening bustle of the busy street making her as excited as a small child. The two-bedroom apartment was simple and tastefully furnished with old-world charm. It boasted a lovely balcony that overlooked the Seine and the glorious Eiffel Tower luminously draped in golden lights, holding court over her city. Paris was already living up to every expectation she'd ever had and she'd barely been there a day.

The limousine pulled to a stop at their destination in La Défense. They walked into the ominously beautiful obsidian tower and took the elevator to the very top floor. Victoria was awed by the opulence and the magnificent view.

The same beautiful receptionist greeted Christian who had met him before and she extended the same lush invitation as she had the last time. Victoria's eyes narrowed and Christian chuckled under his breath at her jealousy.

"Relax chérie, she's paid to do that."

"Well, she didn't come on to me, so obviously she's not doing her job properly," Victoria said. Christian laughed.

The receptionist ushered them into a small room set up for an informal meeting with deep armchairs around a small coffee table. There was a buffet table at the end of the room covered with an assortment of fruit, bread and cheeses.

Victoria tried to get comfortable as Christian stared at her from beneath a heavy-lidded gaze. He could appreciate why she was nervous, but despite it, she looked lovely, with her thick blue-black hair pulled back off her face and secured in a neat chignon. She had chosen to wear a plain white shirt with a ruffled collar and a black pencil skirt. The overall look was austere, but somehow made him want to kiss her thoroughly and demolish that tidy, proper hairstyle.

"Why are you glowering at me like that?"

"Because that little chignon of yours is driving me crazy," he said honestly, which forced a surprised laugh from her chest. "And Catholic school girls look the same in any era," he added with a grin.

Victoria laughed again. "Perv. I decided jeans weren't appropriate, so I borrowed this skirt from Charla. Considering she's four inches shorter than I am, I'm surprised it fit."

"Well, you look beautiful."

"Merci monsieur, so do you."

Victoria had been so overwhelmed earlier that she'd hardly noticed Christian's appearance. Clad in an immaculate dark navy suit, he looked like he'd just stepped out of the pages of a business magazine, some kind of young tycoon. She couldn't decide which look she liked better. He looked just as good in jeans and a T-shirt as he did wearing a jacket and tie. Her gaze flicked to his. His silver eyes were still smoldering unsettlingly.