Twilight's Eternal Embrace (24 page)

A whisper of unease teased her senses as she realized her father knew she hadn
'
t spent the evening with Fergus.

Exhaustion tinged with sadness darkened the color of his eyes
, but also
she witnessed
something else. Resigned determination.
"
Fergus could not find you after you disappeared into the woods. He came back disappointed that another suitor
claimed
you before he did.
"

She took a sip of her tea before she spoke, giving her time to think of something that would appease her father. With a sigh, she decided on the truth.
"
I do not fancy Fergus for a husband.
"

"
Aye, I know.
"
Her father raised his cup to his lips.
"
Who is the lucky young man you spent the night with then?
"

She placed her cup down.
"
We did not sleep together if you are worried I would need a hasty wedding.
"

Her father
'
s brows lifted.
"
I did not ask if you
lay
down with the young man. I asked you who you were with.
"

It was too late to deny she
'
d been with anyone. She already claimed
not
to have slept with him.
"
Father…
"
Her words died on her lips. She couldn
'
t tell him the truth.

Her father closed his eyes and murmured a prayer to the gods. He leaned forward in his chair.
"
Please
,
tell me you were not with the Oiche Sith.
"

She pursed her lips together. She knew her father suspected, but to hear him say it
a
loud, made the reality all too clear for both of them.
"
Father, I can explain.
"

"
Explain? You cannot explain your involvement with him to me. I begged him to stay away from you.
"

"
You… What?
"
She did not know her father had spoken to Bram. When? How?

"
Ah, I see he did not tell you I found him tarrying in your bedroom. If it had been any other lad, I would have demanded he marr
y
you at once.
"

She should have realized. No wonder Bram had not waited for her return that night.
"
Because he is an Oiche Sith
,
it is not warranted?
"

Her father shook his head.
"
Your union is unnatural.
"

She narrowed her eyes, anger simmering within her, threatening to unleash its fury.
"
Unnatural?
You gave Fianait to a
n
Oiche Sith.
"

His hand slid over his face in frustration.
"
We had no choice. Do you believe I would give my delicate daughter over to a fiend willingly? The
elders
chose her. If I did not give her to them, they would have taken vengeance on our whole family. Your sister understood this and sacrificed her life to keep us safe.
"

Adryanna
'
s blood ran cold. It never occurred to her they would be slain if Fianait had refused the elders. She had not fully understood the sacrifice.

"
My dear Adryanna, the nightwalker does not care for you in the way you must believe. He could not. He puts your life in peril. Not just from his bite, but from the elders as well. A Lathe Sith and an Oiche Sith are forbidden to become involved—friends or otherwise. The rules are there to keep our clan safe. If they were broken, what would stop other nightwalkers from seeking out females at Coomkeen whenever they pleased? How would we stop them?
"

"
It is not as if we planned this.
"

"
Planned what exactly, Adryanna? What is going on between the two of you? You tell me you do not sleep with him. You still live so I know it to be true, but you come back with his marks.
"

Her hand flew to her neck.

"
Aye, I have noticed. He is careful with you
,
that I will grant him. His mark is not very noticeable, but how long do you think you can tease him?
"

"
I am not teasing him.
"

"
No? He drinks your blood, but you deny him your body.
"

She wanted to tell her father it was Bram who denied them, that he was the one to hold back.
"
He does not wish to hurt me.
"

"
He already has.
"
He pushed his seat back and stood.
"
If you continue this relationship, it will end badly. You must put a stop to it now. Tomorrow, I shall speak to Fergus. If he will still have you, you shall marry him.
"

"
No.
"
She shook her head. Tears burned her eyes, blurring her vision.
"
No father, do not do this.
"
She stood
as well
.
"
I cannot marry Fergus. I do not love him. I love—
"
Panic made her choke on the words. 

Her father
'
s eyes widened.
"
No.
"
His voice was a hoarse whisper, full of anxious concern.

"
I do, Father. I love him. I know what he is. I know I should not care for him, but my heart does. I love him,
"
she said again, tears sliding down her cheeks freely now.

Her father moved before her and pulled her into his
embrace
.
"
Adryanna, my dear daughter.
"
His hands smoothed her hair away from her face.
"
If you love him, you will end this now. Tonight. You are not the only one in danger. If the elders find out he has befriended you, he will be put to death.
"

She felt the blood drain from her face as she pulled away.
"
You would not—
"

"
No, but mark my words,
daughter,
they will find out. It is only a matter of time
before
you or he will make a mistake. It is inevitable that you will be caught. No such relationship will go unnoticed.
"

She shook her head, her heart sinking so low she could feel the pulse clear down to her toes.

"
Tomorrow, I will speak to Fergus and you will abide by my decision. It is final.
"
Her father walked away, refusing to look back.

When she heard her father close his bedroom door, she let the tears that choked her fall freely.

Since
her father deemed Fergus a good match
,
and Fergus agreed, there was naught she could do. Bram could not claim her and she would not want him to
,
if it meant his death. The pain knifed through her as she realized she would have to let Bram go.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Bram stood in the archway of Sheerin
'
s domain, expecting to see him behind his table at work with one of his experiments, but the room was empty. He was about to turn away and come back later, but the book his cousin scribbled in, peeked out from an open drawer. He glanced down the hall to see if his cousin was close by. Sheerin kept his door locked when he did not expect to be back soon, but the hall remained empty. He would have to hurry.

He entered the room fully, partially closing the door behind him. The scent of herbs assailed him, making his nostrils flare in protest. For the life of him, he couldn
'
t understand how his cousin could sit for hours in this room with the aromas of the earth
'
s plants and herbs for company. The smell alone would pry on his nerves. Not to mention the confines of the small room.

His steps took him to the drawer and his finger
s
curled around the bound book. He flipped through the pages until he saw the notes concerning Adryanna
'
s blood. Sheerin did not use her name, only symbols. There was nothing
Bram
didn
'
t already know. Sheerin had been forthcoming with his evidence. He opened the drawer further to slip the book back inside and noticed there were other journals there.

Sheerin wrote down his treatments, whether it was an ointment for the Lathe Sith or an illness he witnessed. He had a hunch he
'
d find notes about why the Oiche Sith women could no longer b
e
ar children. He wondered what else his cousin kept secreted away in this drawer. Curiosity proved too strong to ignore. His fingers gripped the bound journals and he laid them on the table.

Sheerin knew how to draw and had made sketches of some of the experiments with great detail. It would seem he experimented on plants and animals alike. He noted which of his concoctions worked on ailments and ones that did not. The Lathe Sith had no idea Sheerin used them to further his studies. Some of his patients lived
while
others did not. He picked up another book with more of the same. One experiment in particular caught his eyes. The words were familiar and he took time to read it through. As he read on, anger simmered inside him until he wanted to throttle his cousin for keeping this information from him.

"
What are you doing?
"
Sheerin entered the room with nary a sound, his eyes accusing as they flashed a reddish hue.

"
I would ask you the same thing.
"
Bram held up the book.
"
You have experimented on blood transfer before
,
and not just with the blood
l
ing you spoke of, but with another couple.
"

Sheerin shut the door behind him. Was
it
guilt that sagged his shoulder
s
or relief that he could finally confess his crimes? He turned to face Bram.
"
The blood
l
ing was not an experiment
, but
an unfortunate event I witnessed. Unfortunate, I say, but not without value to my studies of how our bodies work. As for the others,
"
Sheerin glanced at the journal before leveling his gaze on him once more,
"
did you truly believe your relationship with a Lathe Sith unique?
"

He blanched at his cousin
'
s frankness. He expected him to make excuses, to defend his actions. He had not expected him to be nonchalant about the matter. He shook the book at Sheerin.
"
Tell me I am wrong. Tell me the Lathe Sith did not suffer.
"

"
You know I cannot
,
so I will forgo spinning a fanciful tale for you. How do you think we will find the answers if someone does not experiment. If you took time to see, aye, some of my experiments were failures, but so many more have been successful.
"

"
And the experiment with Adryanna
'
s blood becoming compatible with our blood
– h
ow does this experiment end? Because I see no happy endings for the Lathe Sith in your journal.
"

Sheerin sighed a ragged breath.
"
I will not lie to you. There has been no successful mating between a Lathe Sith and an Oiche Sith…none that I am aware of anyway. The Lathe Sith become too weak before the transformation can be completed.
"

Bram furrowed his brow, his anger turning to confusion.
"
Transformation? What are you talking about?
"

"
Ah, you did not have time to read all I have written
,
I see.
"

Bram threw the book down on the table.
"
Explain it to me now
!"
A growl of caged fury escaped his lips, but he would not curve his temper for his cousin
'
s sake. He wanted answers and now.

"
When the plight struck us, I had a willing
couple
come to me—Nella and Teague. They were in love, not unlike you and Adryanna.
"