Page 36 of A Heart Of Bitter Poison
Plus he was hot, and he treated me very well. He never did anything egregious such as, I dunno,getting me locked in a dungeon and tortured for a month. He loved me and I loved him. Or at least I thought I did. Maybe just not enough.
So, I kinda… ran away. On my wedding day.
Yeah… those winds of fear really caught my sail all right. Enough so that I made my way east through the Imperial Provinces, traveling further and further over the centuries until I eventually wound up in Japan where I fought alongside Tomoe Gozen. There was a lot I could distract myself with back then. There were a great many douchebags around, so it’s not like food was in short supply either. Hunting was good and war took my mind off of what a douchebag I had been to the man that wanted to marry me.
Speaking of douchebags, I want mykatanaback from That Asshat Reaper Motherfucker.
Anyway, I did eventually suck it up a little and apologize by letter, and we kept in touch infrequently after that. I know,I know, still not great. I was a coward. A couple times I even vaguely reconsidered going back. But I didn’t. I never saw Cassian again. And as far as he ever knew, the rumor was true. The last of the sirens had died at the stake three hundred years ago.
So yeah, the look of shock on his beautiful face right now is definitely warranted.
Cassian sets his wine glass onto a side table. Barely. His hand seems disconnected from his brain. He stands, rising from a long leather couch where he’s seated across from two witches. He moves slowly. So slowly. “Leucosia?..”
“Hello, Cassian.” My smoky voice registers as foreign to his memory of what I should sound like. I can see it in the crease that forms between his brows.
He glances at the older of the two witches, a stunning woman with long, silver-streaked chestnut hair that drapes in waves across her shoulders. She looks confident. In control. Powerful.
The woman stands and walks toward us, extending her hand to me. I notice the subtle shift of her body into the empty space that connects me to Cassian. But her smile is welcoming and untroubled.
“Benvenuta, Leucosia,” she says with a creamy Italian accent. Her voice is wonderfully decadent. “My name is Bianca, and this is my daughter, Gianna.”
“Gigi,” the younger witch corrects, leaning to the side so she can offer a warm grin that’s striking in its similarity to her mother’s.
I smile and extend my hand to Bianca. Her warm fingers curl around mine.
And before I even realize what’s happening, she whips a long steel pin from behind her back and stabs me in the heart.
…The heart.
…The fuckingheart….
“What thefuck,” I say, aghast. She draws the pin across her tongue, tasting my blood as Ediye grabs my arm and pulls me back. I hear the burst of hellfire across Cole’s blade. I look down at the trail of blood that leaks from my chest but I can feel the wound already knitting together from within. When I look back up to Bianca, her eyes have filmed over with swirling gray clouds.
But like… comeon. “That’s a shitty way to say hello.”
“Sorry,” Gigi chimes with a cringe. “It’s the way that she sees.”
“My sincere apologies,vampira. We cannot be too careful these days,” Bianca says, her eyes clearing into a rich brown as she turns away to grab a napkin from a side table. She hands it to me with a benevolent smile, then casts her gaze over my shoulder to the others behind me. “Please, lower your weapons. I intended no harm.”
A doubtful puff of air escapes from my nose. “Find what you were looking for?” I ask, wiping my chest.
Bianca’s smile broadens. “That and so much more. Please, join us for a drink.” She sweeps a graceful arm toward the seats, then looks in the direction of a small but well-stocked bar. “Franco, prendi del sangue per la vampira.”
Now that it seems clear that I pose no threat, Cassian closes the space between us and envelops me in a hug. It feels both familiar and different, welcoming yet reserved. His body is unchanged by time but his scent is more modern now. Cologne and deodorant have brought us a long way since Roman times.
When he draws away, his smiling eyes take in my face. Again, that crease flickers between his brows. “You look different somehow,” he says, his English heavily accented with a more ancient quality than Bianca’s.
“I’ve been through some stuff lately.”
Bianca’s laugh floats around us. “Stuff.”
I guess she tasted a bit more thanstuff. I meet her eyes but she only smiles.
“You look the same,” I say when I turn my eyes back to Cassian. And it’s true, he does. His chocolate-colored hair is a little longer than I remember, but his eyes still smile and his tanned skin still glows. Cassian’s gaze darts behind me and I pull away to let him go.
“Ediye, it’s a pleasure to see you again,” he says. The two exchange a warm greeting, kissing one another’s cheeks. We immortals tend to get around, and these two encountered each other centuries ago in Rome, before Ediye and I ever met. “Why am I not surprised you and Leucosia managed to find one another. Thick as thieves you are, I’m sure.”
“You’d be right,” Ediye replies with a smile. “Good to see you.”
