From the Ashes (Force of Nature Book 1) (13 page)

He paused for a moment.

“I came for you,” he said simply. “And I do not need a closer look. I already know what I see. You are not ruined, Piper. These scars,” he said, gesturing to my stomach, “they are your story; a map of your existence. And though I loathe how you came to have them, I would not see them erased, because it would mean erasing a part of you that makes you who you are. A part of the one I want.” He stared at me with those intense pale eyes, and I soon found myself lost somewhere deep within them. “You are more than the sum total of your parts, Piper. You have a soul so amazing—so powerful—that it inspires everything around you, even nature itself, to celebrate your joys and suffer your pains alongside you, almost as though it were a part of you. Nothing is more beautiful than that to me. Nothing.” Again, tears escaped my eyes. “Your mind is such a beautiful puzzle, Piper. I want to spend eternity solving it. What I need to know now is: will you let me?” His grip on my arms softened, his hands sliding down to hold mine. “Come inside. Let me tell the king I have made my choice.”

The rain started to slow.

“But I barely know you,” I whispered, my kneejerk tendency to push people away rearing its ugly head.

“You know all you need to,” he said, his head hanging low, lips brushing mine. “So tell me, Piper. What do you say?”

“Yes.” I breathed the answer instinctively.

“Excellent,” he said softly. My eyes closed, awaiting his kiss. I'd dreamt of it so many times, my shameful, traitorous body craving that which it should not have. And then suddenly, there stood that desire, wanting me too. I leaned in closer in anticipation. “Not yet, Piper. Not yet.”

Instead of a kiss, I got his jacket wrapped around my soaking wet and almost-naked body while he ushered me toward the mansion. With my rage dissipated, the thought of facing everyone that I had just stripped in front of—shown my secret to—scared the shit out of me. My hesitation was plain.

“They will never have what you have, Piper—a pure soul. That is why they resent you. That is what will always set you apart from all of them.”

“And that's why you want me,” I whispered to myself.

He growled a low, rumbling sound.

“That, and so, so much more.”

My whole body tensed at his reply. I felt the tightening all the way to my very core, but it wasn't from fear. It was desire in its most raw form.

Once we re-entered the party, the entire place fell silent. It was eerie—like a horror movie. Robotic heads turned to face us, their expressions a mix of indifference and revulsion. Then my eyes found Jase and Dean. The confusion and concern in their eyes were plain.

As the crowd parted like the sea for Merc, the boys tried to make their way toward me, pushing their way through the masses. I turned to them, giving them my best “everything is okay” look, but I could see that they were unconvinced.

“Piper,” Jase called out as he worked his way toward me.

“I know what I'm doing, Jase,” I said quietly.
At least I think I do.

Merc then turned to his brother and gave a single nod. After a moment, Jase mimicked the gesture. Dean too. Merc and I made our way to the king, who stood stoically, his face a study in calm. Stopping only feet away from the vampire leader, I couldn't help but fidget with the edge of Merc's coat, pulling it closed more tightly. The king and I had a secret, one that made me uncomfortable standing before him. Our last conversation still didn't sit well, even if I did understand why we'd had it. It left me unsure of where I stood with him. I also knew that he would not be overly pleased by my antics that evening. In truth, he was well within his rights to punish me because of them. Severely. Whether or not he would exercise that right still remained to be seen. And yet Merc paraded me right in front of him, totally unafraid (or unaware) of the potential consequences.

He was going to declare me his own. He planned to claim me in front of all in attendance.

“Mercenary,” the king said in an even tone that belied his irritation. I could see the anger flash momentarily in his gaze. Merc only nodded in response, not addressing the king directly. “Am I to assume that this is your choice?” He nodded again. The king sighed heavily. “I would be lying if I said this pleased me. I'm not certain that Piper is the most...
adequate
candidate. I do not feel that this pairing is beneficial for our kind, especially given the political climate we are in. She brings nothing to this partnership. Nothing but chaos.” He then turned dark eyes to me, addressing me specifically. “Have I not been gracious to you, Piper? Have I not provided you with a safe haven? The protection of my most competent enforcers? Retribution for the wrongs done to you, even in the face of a failing treaty?”

“Yes,” I replied meekly. “You have.”

“Are you not thankful for all these things?”

“Of course I am, sire.”

“Then I am at a loss as to why you would endeavor to take even more from me. Why you would be so greedy—so ungrateful—as to demand the hand of one of my most valued soldiers. One who could help turn the tides should war come. One who cannot afford to be distracted by your particular shortcomings.” I cowered away from him slightly, the sting of his words cutting deep. “I could have left you on the streets to die as all the others did, and yet, for no benefit of my own, I saved you. And this is how you choose to repay me?” he asked rhetorically, his voice rising with every word. He was far angrier than I could have imagined. I understood that he had done much for me and that he thought I was trying to take something from him, but even with that, his growing rage seemed excessive. It made me wonder if the stress of the treaty had finally gotten to him, and I was a convenient outlet for that tension.

Which didn't bode well for me.

My eyes nervously looked up at Merc, who never broke contact with the king. “Answer me, you ingrate!” the king shouted, startling me so much that I jumped. Merc squeezed my hand tighter. “You will look at me when I speak to you, and you will answer my question. Is this how you choose to repay me?” the king continued, his anger no longer withheld. “By manipulating my most prized enforcer into choosing you over his own kind?”

“No,” I whimpered, knowing that the king's outburst was certain to be followed up by one of two things: my exile or my death. I needed to do something to prove I had no foreknowledge of Merc's plan.

And I needed to do it quickly.

But I could find no words that would absolve me from the guilt he saw in me. Nothing I could say to clear my name. Just as I felt my world close in around me, I felt Merc release my hand to step forward, eclipsing the king's view of me.

“This was my doing,” he said aloud, drawing a collective gasp from the others in the room. “Not hers. We will be an
excellent
pairing and will serve you well. You will see the advantage to having Piper as one of our own one day.” As he spoke, I could feel a shift in the air around us. The king's brow furrowed for a moment, then relaxed. His entire demeanor changed, from his head to his toes. He sidestepped Merc so that his eyes could once again fall upon mine. But this time, they were not full of malice. Instead, they brimmed with acceptance.

“Perhaps you are right, Mercenary. Your persistence in the matter speaks to your commitment to your decision. In light of this, I will grant you your request. Tonight you will be bonded to Piper. All here will bear witness to the ceremony.”

For the first time since we’d stood before the king, Merc dared to look down at me. An uncharacteristic and mischievous smile played across his face. Somehow he'd gotten exactly what he wanted that night, and he was clearly pleased. Though my heart still raced with fear from the threat of the king's wrath, I smiled back at Merc, knowing that, finally, the bond I felt between us would be officially consecrated, making us one.

Forever together.

Forever bound.

“Let us begin at once,” the king said, raising his arms in a grand gesture to the crowd. He continued speaking, but my attention drifted back to Merc, whose steel blue eyes remained fixed on me. There was something in them, an intensity, a longing, that I'd never seen before. Then, before everyone present, Merc shared the reasons for the look in his eyes. The passion that he felt for me was so plain in his words.

“I choose you, Piper, to be bonded to me for eternity,” he started, taking my hand in his to place over his heart. “The curse of the vampire is an emptiness so profound that I cannot begin to explain it to you. But you...you are a light in the darkness I face, both figuratively and literally. Your vibrance is a beacon that leads me from the black abyss that I have fallen into countless times. I see the sunset I can no longer face in your eyes. I smell its radiance in your hair. Feel its warmth in your skin. Make no mistake, Piper, you are a fire that could consume me, and I would gladly let it. Such sweet agony...” He released my hand to cup my face, brushing a tear I didn't know I'd shed from my cheek. “You've cast a spell on me, little one. Such power you possess, and yet you doubt it. I am your mirror now, Piper. The strength you see in me will now be reflected in you. You are every bit my equal. Every bit the being that you see me as. And you—you are my soul. You will forever fill that emptiness in me.”

I stood in awe, staring at the being before me, wondering what in my life had changed so drastically—erased a lifetime of bad luck and unfortunate circumstances—to allow me that moment. All he’d said, everything he felt, spoke to a part of me that I'd never known. Never felt before. Just as I'd awakened something in him, so had he awoken something in me.

Something I would never let go of.

“Piper,” the king called, distracting me from my realization. “Do you accept Mercenary as yours?”

“Yes,” I breathed, my heart racing wild.

“Do you know what happens now?” he asked, his tone not unkind. I shook my head. “There is an exchange of blood.” He looked at me, willing me to see the complication.

“Oh,” I said as my eyes widened with surprise. I hadn't known about that little snafu. Perhaps that was one of the reasons the other races didn't mix well with the vampires. Maybe they knew about that little caveat going in.

Merc, seeing my anxiety rise, smiled before unleashing his previously retracted fangs. He lifted his index finger to the tip of one and pricked it just enough to draw a single drop of blood, which he offered to me. I leaned forward, hesitating only for a moment before I took hold of his hand and placed the droplet on my tongue, drinking back the sweet liquid. My eyes rolled back in my head as I swallowed; the heat I felt from that small taste was all-consuming. I practically moaned as it traveled down my throat. Thankfully, I remembered that an entire ballroom full of guests was staring at me, and I managed to stifle that response. But when my eyes shot open, they were all for Merc.

And judging by what I saw in his, he approved.

It looked as though it took a great amount of control on his part to not leap forward and grab me, but he managed, if only barely. Instead, he looked to the king for confirmation, then, once given, he gently reached for my neck and drew me to him, tilting my chin up to him. Still, my heart raced.

“Do not fear me,” he whispered, his lips brushing mine. “Never fear me...”

Then he pushed my long black hair off of my neck, exposing the throbbing vein he sought. The source of my life. The life that spoke so deeply to him. With the sweetest of pains, he bit down into it and drank of me, filling himself with the radiance he saw in me. And with every draw, I saw flashes of his memories—memories of me outside the mansion, at the club, and during Kingston's attack. The first time he touched me. My charred body limp in his arms, the ride home from Central Park, my screams from the infirmary. The first time he spoke to me. My leaning form perched on the bridge's railing, the king's ballroom, my fight with Sylvia. The first time he claimed me. So many memories came at me like a freight train, assaulting my mind with the images of me that he held most dear.

When he pulled away from me, that connection broke, but remnants of it lingered. I
felt
him, and he undoubtedly felt me too.

“What has been freely given cannot be revoked,” the king boomed, addressing the crowd. He then turned his attention back to us. “You are forever bound.”

Forever bound...

I smiled at the thought.

But my excitement was tempered by trepidation. I'd never been in love before. Never known that it could override all logic and rationality. To have known someone for such a short time and already feel the way I secretly did about him made no sense to me at all, but even still, I knew it was right. The second he showed me how he truly felt—the second I experienced that for myself through his eyes—my heart sang. Its song eclipsed the voices in my head that tried to steer me the way of reason. I didn't want reason; I wanted love. Acceptance. Passion. Safety. And with Merc, I would find all four.

If only for a while.

8

Merc looked down at me with a steely reverence that made my blood rush through my veins. He'd already seen me nearly naked that night; I knew that in my mind. But the heat in his eyes was hard to comprehend. He truly didn't see my scars when he looked at me. He only saw what he wanted—me.