Page 28 of Obsessed in Blood
“Please,” Devon said. “I mean you no harm. Don’t go. I’ve been searching for you. I wanted to make sure you were all right.”
She stayed where she was and tilted her head in a way he was familiar with, as if she might be considering his statement, determining if his words rang true.
He lifted the rose. “The last time we were in a construct—one that you made—I gave you a rose similar to this.” He lifted it to his nose and took a long sniff, closing his eyes as he relived the memory.
When he opened them, she was a few steps closer.
“Who are you?”
The question squeezed his heart and sucked the air out of his lungs, but it confirmed one thing. She’d been mesmerized.
“Devon Trelane.”
She took a step back, a look of fear on her face.
He didn’t move. This next step was critical. He had to move slowly and build trust.
“You are Cressa Langtry. You’ve been a member of House Trelane for a few months. You were at the condo with Ginger until a car came to bring you to the manor to continue your training. Ten minutes from the manor, your car was rammed and set on fire. Jacques was severely injured, and you were taken.”
She shook her head. “You beat me.”
Shock and anger filled him at the lies Lorenzo was feeding her. He held up his hands in a pleading gesture but allowed some of the anger and fear to show.
“I’ve never laid a hand on you.” He couldn’t help but smile and soften his voice. “Except for when they caressed you.”
A blush crept over her cheeks, and she glanced away.
“Lorenzo must have told you he and I are enemies. I can’t make you remember the truth, but he’s been mesmerizing you. His touch while holding you in his gaze allows him to manipulate you. You won’t believe what I’m saying, but I ask that you remain diligent and be wise.”
He held out the rose. “Let me give you this as a reminder of this moment.”
He wasn’t sure she’d take it, but with the slowest of movements, she took three steps and then stretched out her hand. Her feet remained firmly planted as she leaned toward him, her fingertips barely grasping the stem.
Then she stepped back.
“Try to remember, Cressa. You’re greatly missed. The beast howls for you.”
He wasn’t sure he should have said those last words when a look of horror passed over her face as if she recalled the beast.
His eyes opened, and he was back in his bedroom. He wasn’t sure he could call the dream a success, but she had taken the rose. It was a good start.
I popped up,hand on my chest.What the hell just happened?
That wasn’t a normal dream. It was too real—except for the hazy vision. Like someone had dropped a veil over the lens, leaving a muted version of the original. Dreams should be more disjointed, shouldn’t they? A simple representation of one’s subconscious. But this dream had been an actual conversation, right down to the tactile feel and scent of the rose.
Devon Trelane. That was the vampire who’d beat me. Yet, he claimed I’d been in an accident. That I’d been taken. That Lorenzo was an enemy. For a brief second, I smelled burnt leather, and I grabbed my head and shook.
What was true? Had my own subconscious created the dream? That was more likely. The stress of being under Lorenzo’s care with nowhere else to go was more than enough to impact my dreams. Devon admitted he knew Ginger and that I’d been living in his House, which was what Lorenzo had told me. It would make sense my brain would use that information to conjure dreams. But that was where stories changed. Devon made it sound like we’d been lovers. Was that true, or had I made that up?
A flash of skin, ash-blond hair, and ice-blue eyes interrupted my thoughts. That could be anyone. And if that memory had been Devon, it wouldn’t be unusual for a domestic abuser to lie and pretend nothing happened. That it had all been in my head. Yet, I didn’t remember the beating. Lorenzo had provided those details.
It all came down to the bruises. They could be consistent with someone slammed against a car door or a beating. I reached for the bedside lamp.
“Ouch!”
Something pricked me. I jumped out of bed, turned on the light, and stared at my chest.
A small circle of blood stained the satin nightgown just below my breasts. I pulled down the neckline and found a tiny red pinprick. That was strange.
