The Kingdom of the Nine; The Vampire Legacy IV (23 page)

“Cait, nothing's happened.” Creolas sighed,
and looked out.

“I know that you did things to get them to
take me away when Klamara came last time, and I heard what you said
to Julian in his study, that if he didn't take me away than you
would. I also heard what you said to all of them the night you
arrived, that you wanted me just like they did.” I stopped and
watched him slowly turn back to me. “So, it makes me wonder, how
exactly do you feel about me?”

“What does it matter? You have your son and
your husband, and you also have Julian. How many men do you think
you can handle?” He moved closer to me as I stood up, feeling the
sudden urge to leave the room, but it was too late. Creolas was
holding me within a split second. It wasn't a threatening posture,
not like he was going to attack, but a gentle hold. He had one hand
on my cheek and the other around my waist. “It doesn't matter how I
feel, Caitlyn, because it can't happen.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Are you looking to dominate every one of
us?” He asked and smiled softly.

“Only those who wish to be dominated.” I
laughed nervously. “So, what are you planning on doing now?”

“Don't worry.” He smiled, sweetly. “I'm not
going to hurt you.”

He whispered as he leaned down and kissed me
softly on the lips. It was such a gentle kiss; one that was full of
tenderness, something you wouldn't expect from a man like him. When
he broke away, I shocked myself by thinking how much I'd like for
him to do it again.

“I think it would be best if you left,
Cait.”

“I know.” I whispered, opening my eyes. I
looked into those red eyes and watched for just a moment as they
faded to a dark midnight blue, then back just as fast. He stepped
back, letting me go, and I glanced at him before I left the room,
closing the door behind me.

What had just gone on in there? I asked
myself, as I moved down the drafty hallway, holding one arm across
the other. Did I just start something I shouldn't have with
Creolas?

I watched the sun setting in the sky. My
stomach turned in circles, and the feelings of butterflies
fluttering around in there made it hard to concentrate on much
else.

I watched as a figure stepped up beside me,
then I saw Julian's reflection in the window.

“Before this happens, we need to talk.” He
said, softly, which made me look back at him. He stood there
watching the ice twirl in the glass that he held in his right hand,
then he looked up at me and sighed. “It's about that other
time.”

“The last time Klamara came?” I asked and
watched him nod.

“I can't tell you who stopped him; I didn't
see who it was. I was too concerned with the fact that he was going
to harm you, and how I was supposed to protect you to really pay
attention to someone sneaking around.” Julian sighed, and walked
over to sit on the wide window sill in front of me, and then he put
his drink down and looked up at my face. “After you were hit, I
remember coming over to you and holding you in my arms. I had
failed to protect you and I thought that you were dead because I
couldn't hear your heart over the sound of mine.

“Nick came down to the rings after the clouds
had cleared and he knelt by me. He was the one that told me you
were still alive, but barely. Neither of us could give you blood
because of what I told you earlier, about the igniting thing, so,
Michael gave you some of his, and you healed but Nick and I knew
that if you had knowledge of who and what you were, that Klamara
would come back for you, so, we decided that it would be in your
best interest to make you forget.”

“You did this to me?” I asked feeling oddly
detached at that moment. Julian nodded and continued.

“Nick and I, together, made you forget the
three years you had known us; right down to the very thing we
resented the most.”

“And, that was?” I stepped back, fearing the
worst.

“Your connection to Creolas.” He replied. I
looked at him; confused and angered that he was even saying
that.

“I don't have a connection to Creolas,
Julian, I have one with you.” I shook my head as he looked down at
his hands, but even as I said it aloud, I knew in my heart that he
was telling the truth. “What sort of “connection” are you referring
too?”

“He loved you, probably still does, which is
why he is so determined about taking you away from here. The last
time you were here the two of you created a bond that I couldn't
deal with, by that third summer, I couldn't stand to look at him.
He had locked you into him; the two of you were connected. I had
lost you.” Julian sighed then rubbed his forehead.

“Why can't I remember?” I whispered. “If
everything else has come back, why can't I remember any of it?”

“Because, Nick and I destroyed it.” He looked
straight ahead, avoiding my angry stare. “We thought that if you
forgot us, Klamara would leave you be, but if you still felt for
Creolas, then that would bring back the memories, so, we found that
part of your mind, and linked with it, pretty much destroying any
memories of what happened that last year and any good memories of
Creolas.”

“Is that why you were so upset to see us
together?” I asked and watched him nod. “I don't believe this! Does
Connie know?”

“She knows a little bit about it, but not
enough to figure it out the depths of your feelings for him. As far
as she knew, you were with me, and only me, the entire time.”
Julian stood up and stepped away from me, but I grabbed his
arm.

“You took my memories, you destroyed feelings
that I held for another person, and when I returned, you told me he
was evil and I believed you.” I let my grip go and stepped back
away from him. “I don't know what's worse, now or then. And the
fact that I still love you enough to be with you, to forgive you;
just pisses me off.” I sighed, catching my breath, composing
myself. “One last thing,” he looked back at me as I looked down at
the floor, “how did we, Creolas and I, suddenly get together if I
was supposed to be so in love with you?”

“You and I had a fight, one night that second
summer; actually, it was late September. You ran and he followed,
without any of us knowing. His intentions were to harm you again,
to make us take you away, but instead he protected you, kept you
safe, even when you were hurt.” I walked by him quickly, and then
stopped when I heard his voice. “Wait, where are you going?”

“I need to hear this from him.” I replied and
stepped out of the room, making my way back up to the bedroom I had
left earlier that day. I didn't bother to knock; instead I just
barged in and closed the door behind me. Creolas looked up from the
book he was holding, as he sat, stripped down to his boxers, in the
middle of the bed. He looked over my face as I looked over his
body.

“What is it?” He asked, concerned, then I
watched his facial features change into that hard look once again.
“What do you want?”

Without a word, I walked over to the bed,
climbed up and sat in his lap, facing him. The shock on his face
matched the fact that his body had stiffened. He had reached his
hands up to stop me, but froze when I leaned down and kissed him,
hard, on the lips. As if the shock had worn off, his hands suddenly
grasped my upper arms and he pulled me away, sitting up straight as
he did.

“What are you doing?” He whispered.

“You never told me how you felt about me.” I
replied, quietly as the tears that I had been holding in, ones of
anger and disappointment, began to flow. I watched the look in his
eyes change to one of pain. “Julian and Nick, they made me forget
you.”

“And, you think throwing yourself at me like
this is going to bring it back?” He asked, softly. I shook my head,
not sure of what to think at that moment. “What did he tell
you?”

“That you and I were together that last year,
and that he couldn't take it, so, he made me forget how I felt.” I
replied, quietly. Creolas closed his eyes and shook his head.

“I knew that son of a bitch did something to
you. I could see it in your eyes when I arrived that you didn't
have a clue as to who I was.” He leaned his head back on the pillow
and relaxed. “How can I describe it to you when you don't remember
any of it?”

“Tell me one thing, please.” I asked, and
watched him open his eyes. “Did you interfere with Klamara?”

“I had to.” He whispered then looked up at
me. “You were the only good thing that had happened to me since I
became this thing.”

“So, you were the figure I saw in my memory,
the one coming up from behind him?' He nodded and sat up again,
with me still straddling him. “Tell me how we got so close.”

“He didn't tell you?”

“No, he said something about a fight and how
you had followed me with the intentions of hurting me, so they
would take me away.” I slipped off his lap and sat on the bed,
facing him, but Creolas got up and made his way to the dresser.

“That was my plan, but other things
happened.” He replied, pulling a pair of jeans from the drawer and
slipping them on. He turned to look at me, to see if it had shocked
me at all, but it didn't. “You left, drove off into the city and
went to a club, one with loud music and dark corners, a vampire
club. I watched you drink, probably more than you had ever had
before, and then you left with some young vampire. He brought you
out to the alley and attacked you.

“I had been denying what I felt towards you
for weeks, but when I saw him start to take blood from you, I
became angry, and well, he's not around to try it again.” Creolas
sat on the bed, facing me, then reached out his hand and caressed
mine, gently as they lay on my lap. “It took a week for you to
recuperate, three days just for you to open your eyes. In that
time, I cared for you. Something that I thought I couldn't ever do
again.”

“Did you think that you were passed that
point?”

“No, I just never thought I'd have the
opportunity to do it again, but by the end of the week, I knew I
couldn't deny what I truly felt anymore.” He smiled and shook his
head as he looked up into my eyes. “I loved you, and you saw pass
the anger in me, enough to start caring for me. I hid you from my
brother and from Julian for over a month, and in that time, we had
fallen in love with each other.”

I watched him stand and walk back over to the
window, where he looked out, shirtless. I heard him sigh, which
made me get up and move towards him, but it was my hand on his bare
back that made him turn around.

“I don't expect you to feel anything for me,
Caitlyn.” He said, taking my hands in his, and turning to face me.
“In fact, I don't expect anything. I tried to forget how I felt
about you, but I still feel it, in here.” He put his hand flat
against my chest, over my heart. “If you still want to be with
Julian, I can deal with that, but I would like it if we were at
least friends.”

“We already are.” I whispered and watched him
slowly smile. “I've been slowly figuring you out for a while, ever
since that first night. I had a feeling there was more to you then
just this maliciousness.”

“So, what about you and Julian?”

“It's going to take a bit to figure that out,
but I know that after finding out all of this, I can't be with him
again.” I backed away from him, turned and headed for the door.

“You still have time to leave, Cait.” He told
me. “Klamara isn't coming until midnight.”

“I can't run, Creolas, no matter how bad the
urge is, because if I run now, I'll never stop.” I replied, opening
the door a bit. “Don't worry, I think this time things are going to
end quite differently.”

He nodded and kept those red eyes on me until
I closed the door and walked away.

Michael was standing in front of the double
doors that lead out to the back yard when I came down the stairs
close to midnight that night. I had gone to my room, after leaving
Creolas, hoping to sort some things out in my head. Needless to
say, I didn't get anything accomplished.

Michael turned to look at me as I approached
him, and he gave me a concerned look before going back to the
door.

“It looks so peaceful out.” He whispered.

I smiled as I walked up and stood beside him.
Out in the distance, just over the horizon, I could see the clouds
coming in, like a fire was burning out at sea.

“Not for very much longer.” I replied and
stepped back from the door. “I'm going to go find the boys before
he gets close enough to throw us off guard.”

“Caitlyn.” Michael said, making me turn back
to him. “Promise me something?”

“It depends on what it is.” I smiled and
watched him stick his hands in the pockets of his black pants.

“Promise me, if you can, that you won't let
Creolas become that angry man he used to be.” This shocked me that
Michael was so concerned with him. “I can see things in him that
the others can't, because I'm not part of their history together,
like the way he looks at you, and what he says when he's alone
about you.”

“You ease drop on him?” I laughed.

“Let's just say his room is along the path I
travel at night.” He smiled and shrugged.

“I promise to do my best.” I answered, and
then backed away from him.

I turned and headed down the hallway towards
the sitting room, but before I reached my destination, I spotted
the pair of red eyes that followed me in the reflection in the
window. This made me smile, because I knew exactly who it was and
he thought I didn't notice him. I slipped into a darkened room and
waited for those red eyes to step in.

When Creolas moved far enough into the room,
I closed the door behind him and clicked the small desk lamp on
beside me to light up the room. Creolas turned and looked at me, a
bit surprised that I had trapped him, but the smile I wore seemed
to put him at ease.