Page 76 of The Highwayman's Bite

“I was not his victim.” Red flags of anger streamed across her cheeks.

“You were, though.” Aldric couldn’t stop prodding her apparent wound. Her look of besotted heartbreak filled him with righteous indignation. “He took you from the carriage and held you against your will to extort money out of me.”

“He did it to save his family!” Vivian retorted. “And I know he didn’t feed from me without my knowledge because Rhys had honor, even if he is a rogue, as you call him.” Her eyes narrowed and she her lip curled in a grimace. “Did you ever feed from me?”

“Certainly not.” Aldric held up his hands, aghast at the notion. “You are my kin and were under my care.”

“I was under Rhys’s care as well. One does not wish to harm a hostage.” Her tone was victorious as she pressed her argument. “He went out for his meals, same as you. And I do not see why it matters. As you can see, I am unharmed from the ordeal.”

“Unharmed?” Aldric echoed, stunned at her lack of comprehension as to the gravity of the situation. “The whoreson has ruined your life and placed you in grave danger! He compromised you the moment he abducted you. I may have been able to salvage the situation and keep that sordid fact secret had he not shown you his fangs. In doing so, he’s ruined any hope of you finding a husband and living a normal life. And if I did not care for you as much as he’d wagered, he very well could have signed your death warrant. Humans cannot know of our kind and be permitted to live.”

Vivian’s rebellious countenance softened. “Are you going to Change me into a vampire then?”

He sighed and buried his face in his hands. Mentoring a youngling was among the last things he wanted to do for the next few decades. “I do not yet know what I am going to do. Blast it! What am I going to tell your father? You were supposed to return to London in the Spring, but now, you cannot.”

“Father never cared for me much.” Although her tone was sublime indifference, there was a flash of old hurt in her eyes. “Before I’d learned that you were in a rush to marry me off, I’d planned to ask you if I could remain with you at Thornton Manor and care for you in your dotage.”

“My dotage?” He snorted. “I may be there already.” The remainder of his words registered. “You didn’t wish to wed?”

“I did not.” Vivian crossed her arms over her chest and stared daggers of accusation in his direction. “Something easy to discover had anyone bothered asking me what I wished.”

A twinge of remorse pricked him, but Aldric shrugged it off. “Well, now you are spared the parson’s mousetrap,” he said with a sigh. At least the settlement he’d prepared for Vivian’s dowry also included a trust with a provision for it to belong to her, in case she remained a spinster. A settlement that would bring justice to her, though she wouldn’t know it. “And I suppose you may write to your father and express your wishes to remain in Blackpool. If he refuses, I’ll convince him to change his mind.”

Vivian’s mutinous countenance softened. “Do not look so dismal, Uncle. I am sure we will get on well enough.”

“You’re the one who looks dismal,” Aldric fired back. Madame Renarde’s concerns rang in his mind. “The rogue didn’t bed you, did he?”

“What would it matter if he had?” The crimson flood in her cheeks proclaimed the truth. “I was already compromised. You said so yourself.”

Aldric’s fists clenched at his sides as he rose from his desk and paced the study. “It matters because you’re a highborn lady and your virtue should be reserved for the bonds of matrimony. It matters because you’re my niece and I care very much if some blackguard takes advantage of you.”

“He did not take advantage,” Vivian said through gritted teeth. “I was willing. But I find this conversation to be unseemly and do not wish to speak of something so personal.”

“It’s not the conversation that is unseemly. It is this whole sordid affair.” Still, Aldric didn’t truly wish to know the intimate details. He had his answer. Vivian had indeed fallen for the rogue vampire, the rogue had reciprocated her feelings and as Madame Renarde had predicted, the two had succumbed to temptation. The only positive aspect of this disaster was that at least vampires were sterile, so Aldric did not have to worry about her carrying a bastard. “You are right. We will not discuss this further. The sooner you can forget about that blasted rogue vampire, the better.”

And Aldric would do his best to ensure that she did indeed forget. He gathered his power, fixed Vivian with his gaze, and commanded her to forget all about vampires. “Forget that you loved your captor. He was nothing but a lowly thief and now that you are home, you only wish you get on with living a normal life.”

Vivian blinked and rubbed her temples. Aldric held his breath and silently prayed that his mesmerism has worked just as effectively as it had with Madame Renarde.

“How dare you!” she hissed. “How dare you try to make me forget the only love I’ll ever know?”

“For your own safety.” Aldric returned to his desk and slumped in his chair, defeated. His last hope of eliminating Vivian’s involvement in his world had drifted away like gossamer in the wind. She’d spent too much time with the rogue vampire, had learned too many secrets, and had been intimate with him. Just as Aldric had feared, the memories were permanently etched in her mind and heart. “Didn’t your ‘love’ tell you that a human who learns about vampires must be killed or Changed?”

Vivian crossed her arms over her chest. “Yes,” she said quietly. “He even told me you’d try to make me forget. But I can’t forget. Not after all I’ve been through and what I’ve shared with him.” Tears pooled in the corners of her eyes. “Did you banish Madame Renarde’s memories?”

“Yes.” Aldric shifted in his seat, uncomfortable with Vivian’s display of emotion for a vampire who’d ruined her life. “She only remembers that you were abducted by a highwayman and that I paid the ransom and that we must be discreet lest another scandal breaks out. Please do not say anything to her that could make her remember any other details. Her life depends on it. A vampire can only Change one human every hundred years.”

“I won’t breathe a word,” Vivian promised. “May I go see her now?”

Aldric nodded. “She is in her room. I will have the servants draw you a bath while you visit with your companion.” Now that Aldric had the rogue’s scent, he wanted it washed away from his niece as soon as possible.

Vivian darted from the study, in a rush to see her friend. Aldric shook his head. Only a fortnight away, and she’d already forgotten how to speak and walk like a lady. He took a deep drink of wine before ringing for the housekeeper.

His previously peaceful life had been upended beyond comprehension. His niece had fallen in love with a rogue vampire who’d abducted her for ransom to prevent Aldric from evicting a widow who couldn’t manage the land she lived on. Aldric had spent the past several nights nursing a woman who’d been born a man. And now that he’d finally gotten Vivian back, his niece had been flat out hostile towards him.

What would he do with her? When he’d taken his niece under his wing, it was supposed to have been a brief idyllic reconnection with family and a satisfactory endeavor of finding her a prosperous match and ensuring his family line could continue.

Now he couldn’t return Vivian to her father, he certainly couldn’t marry her off to a mortal, he couldn’t even give her the land he’d settled on her, for as long as she knew his secrets, it was too dangerous for her to leave his home. He would most certainly have to Change her, and spend the next few years teaching her and helping her adjust to life as a vampire.

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