Page 9 of Embers in the Wind

I inhale deeply, all of a sudden almost feeling sick, and abhorrently embarrassed after all that talk of taking care of myself. Of course, that’s exactly what it was. An apparition, but yet. It seemed so real at the time and part of me just wants to go back in time and tell her I love her, at least one more time.

My chest aches, missing her already. “I guess it was lack of blood and a lot of wishful thinking.” I pad over the wooden floor and around the long kitchen counter into the full-fledged kitchen space, surveying the appliances that should be ancient but really don’t look that old. “Coffee?” I ask, opening a ceramic canister next to the coffeepot.

His eyes heat my skin from behind, and prickles race along the back of my spine. I know I have more than a few apologies to make, not only for my accusatory behavior, but for thinking so badly of him as well. I shouldn’t have tossed him in with the other males out there, but just because he did the right thing and saved me from myself does not make him a knight in shining armor. I’d do well to remember that he’s still a beast who wants to take me home.

I’ve been down this road before…

Lucas saved me from certain death. Transitioned me to a life of eternity, promised to keep me safe and protected from all that was evil and wrong in the world, especially the rogues. Lied rightto my face and I bought every single word of it, because I was in love.

Love. What a fucking joke. A wasted emotion that turns all sense of logical common sense into a rope that keeps you tied to another person, allowing them to suck the life out of you and drain you of all ability to see through the lies and deception.

Never again… Not in this lifetime.

The coffee starts to brew and yet I wait to turn around until its aroma is heavy in the air, needing the time to just breathe, inhale oxygenated air without sound or anyone gossiping about me or telling me what to do.

The heat of his eyes travels down my front as I turn toward him, causing my skin to warm right through the layers I’ve worn for days. “Let me find some cups, and then we can sit and talk. I owe you an apology and at least a decent breakfast for saving my life.”

His long legs slide over the bed, and he moves his dark wavy hair from his eyes. “You don’t owe me an explanation, but perhaps an assurance that it won’t happen again. Where is your emergency blood supply? There was barely enough for a light snack in your knap, yet you knew you would be moving through the Mystic Forest? Any number of things could have kept you from your destination, delayed you from its haven and left you vulnerable and in all honesty, dead.”

Well, I was going to apologize, but I’m not about to apologize to him if he’s going to act like a condescending prick. “For your information, I had plenty of supply, but it was taken by the ghouls who defend some arbitrary line I crossed inadvertently. I’m not some half-witted female like you seem to want to think. I can usually take quite good care of myself and have done it for a very long time. I was a warrior, and not only did I take care of myself but I fought off a lot of evildoers single-handedly and with my group. I know how to fight.”

The dark-eyed devil has the audacity to laugh as he closes the distance between us. “The unspoken message. Don’t fuck with me vampire or I’ll run you in? With your trusty blade of steel, no doubt?”

My chest tightens for a moment, suddenly realizing that I may have antagonized a beast with no weapon in sight. “Where’s my sword?”

He grins, and walks behind me, opening the cupboard to remove two cups, not waiting until the pot has fully finished before filling us up. “Here, drink this, and take a seat. You’re still recharging and may need some more blood shortly. What else did the ghouls take from you? We use many of them as guards, but then so do the rogues, and witches alike. They hire out to the highest bidder and have no shame at all.”

“Everything except the small knapsack on the floor,” I tell him, pointing to the bag next to the bed that was tossed on the floor, probably without a thought at all. “It had a few extra snacks, but all my real supply was in my backpack. Clothes, money, and blood. All gone with the blink of an eye.”

He looks as though he’s going to say something, but I cut any scathing comment the vampire has for me off. “Look, I had a sword, and all my vampire abilities, but sometimes you have to pick your battles. I needed to get through the ghouls in order to get here, and I didn’t want them as enemies.”

The arrogant lord still doesn’t look convinced at all.

“Look here, I had to weigh the risks of being able to best them all or become their friend. I don’t think I made any close friends, but they let me through after I gave them what they wanted without a fight. I considered that a win after all the gore I’ve heard about them over the years.”

His dark eyes track down the length of me, sending a shiver down my spine.

“I don’t care what you think. I was the one in danger. It was for me to decide.”

Corvinus takes a long slow drink of his coffee, savoring the taste as the dark-eyed devil continues to assess me, every second making me more and more aware of the rumpled clothing I’ve been wearing for three days straight.

My heart flutters, beating oddly erratic, hard to tell if it’s fear of the almighty lord and his penetrating gaze or the fact that I may need blood sooner than I want to admit. I walk past him to the refrigerator, the old short white rounded relic that is surprisingly clean and well-lit inside stocked with quarts and quarts of whole red blood.

I’m sure my mouth is still open in pure shock as I turn to him. “Did you do this?”

“As much as I could after giving you the lion’s share.”

My mind runs through every single thing I’ve said about him, filling me with deep remorse. “You need to eat. Sit, and I’ll find something suitable.”

“Never to fear, Embry. I come prepared,” he says, raising his hand at the start of my scowl, “as I’m sure you did before your backpack was so rudely taken by the ghouls.” He walks over to the chair where he’s tossed his cape and a black bag of sorts. He opens it pulling out multiple daggers and a longer sheathed sword before holding up a bag of dried meat and nuts.

I try hard to suppress my smile. “That looks scrumptious but save it for your trip back home, vampire. I’ll make you some eggs and bacon. Did you leave that in the refrigerator too?”

His eyebrows raise. “No, I did not. That and four quarts of blood were already in the refrigerator when I opened it to put mine in.” He smirks and places his coffee cup on the counter. “I simply added to the supply before lying down. I thought maybe I misjudged your ability to fend for yourself. I was going to tell youit was in there, but you so rudely cut me off before I had a chance to speak.”

I glare at the brute and point to the small table with chairs. “Out of the kitchen and out of my hair. I’ll make us some breakfast; we can have this discussion you’re so insistent to have and then you, Lord Corvinus, can be on your way back to tell Overmaster Descallia and Lucianna that you’ve seen me and I’m just fine.”

That smirk is going to end up getting that dark-eyed devil in the biggest trouble of his life. “Stop smirking. What is so funny?”

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