Bloodspell (The Cruentus Curse, #1)(65)

He understood her suffering more than she knew given the finite rules of his own hunger and the way it dominated every instinct. But he also understood her fear—the curse of Le Sang Noir was infinite power at unsustainable cost. Eventually, it would grow to control her if she gave in to it, as it had her ancestor, the duchess.

"You won't become her, Tori. You're nothing like her, and you're not powerless against the blood," he said after a long spell. "You know that. It doesn't own you. You control it, not the other way around. It's like my thirst—do you think it's easy for me when we're together when I can smell your blood calling to me every time we touch? Of course it's not, I have to fight to suppress it but I would never give in to it, I won't let myself," he said.

"I know. It's just ... exhausting."

He watched her, the emotions playing across her face as she considered telling him something else that was obviously bothering her.

"The witch on the mountain seemed to know who I was, and she mentioned that someone else was interested in me, specifically a 'he.' It's Lucian, isn't it?" she asked.

"Yes."

"What are we going to do?"

"Nothing, for now. He will already know that his attack failed. Leave him to me. I will deal with Lucian." His voice shook with suppressed fury.

"Christian, there's something else." She paused. "I need my amulet. I forgot it in Canville. I tried to summon it but couldn't. It's ... the key to controlling the blood. I can't find it anywhere." Her face was panicked. "If it has been taken, I don't know what—"

"I have it." Victoria's elated gaze snapped to his. "I put both in my safe at the house before I went to Paris, I know how much it means to you and I didn't want to leave it lying around. I'll get it for you."

"I'm so glad! Things got so rushed that I stupidly left it behind. You don't understand how close I came ..." Her voice choked as she recalled what had happened on the mountain when the blood magic had taken over without the amulet's protective power restraining it.

There was so much that she didn't yet understand about the blood, the magic, and the amulet. The journal only had so many answers. She'd need to look harder to find some of her own before the blood destroyed her.

Victoria stared out the window at the brightly colored lights flashing by from houses decorated in the spirit of the season. It was Christmas Eve. Wasn't this a time when things were supposed to be happy and joyous? Instead, everything felt like it was closing in, a giant net she couldn't escape. The knot tightened in her stomach. She closed her eyes.

"I'm scared."

Christian stared at her drawn face as leaned her head against the window. They both had every reason to be afraid. Lucian was more than close ... too close. Christian had barely made it in time to save her from the witch, with Lena lurking nearby in the woods. He didn't want to think about what would have happened if he'd been a few minutes late.

In Victoria's vulnerable state, Lena would have been merciless. The next time, neither of them would be so lucky. Now that Victoria had killed the witch, the key to Lucian's grand plan, no doubt he would be furious. And fury drove people to do irrational, unpredictable things. Christian knew more than anyone how ruthless Lucian could be.

One thing was certain. Lucian would stop at nothing now.





HOW COULD ONE little ticket ruin everything?

Gabriel and Angie's unexpected Christmas present had astounded Victoria; a ticket to a New Year's Eve masquerade ball at the Rainbow Room in Rockefeller Center. It was an exclusive event by invitation only, and Victoria had argued that it was far too extravagant, but Gabriel had told her that it was nothing, a combination get well after her snowboarding accident and Christmas present. He had also told her in no uncertain terms that the tickets, courtesy of their parents, were not returnable.

Victoria had mentioned the ticket to Christian two days ago, and she'd been completely blindsided by his response. The minute she had said that it was going to be a masquerade ball at the Rainbow Room in Rockefeller Center, it was like he had become possessed, telling her in no uncertain terms that he forbade it.

The minute his patronizing words had left his lips, the room had become fraught with tension. She'd stared at him as if he'd been speaking a foreign language.

"Is this about Gabriel? Honestly Christian, get over it. Gabriel likes me but he knows that we're just friends, and that's all we are ever going to be. I do have friends other than you, you know, and just because he's asked me to a party in New York doesn't mean you need to go all Tony Soprano on me."

"It's not about Gabriel," he insisted fiercely. "I don't want you to go there."

"Then what is it about, Christian? These are my friends. Who do you think you are anyway?" Victoria said hotly.

"Victoria, I do not want you to go to New York. And that's it."

"Then stop playing games and tell me why," she shot back.

"I do not need to explain my reasons to you. It should be enough that I've asked you not to go for your own safety."

She launched a glare in his direction. "You don't need to explain your reasons to me?" she repeated in a shrill staccato, advancing on him enough that he'd stepped backward. "Let me explain something to you, Christian. You are not in the nineteenth century any more. In this world, guys don't get to order girls about. I don't know where you think you are or who you think you are, but you cannot tell me what I can or can't do. I am going to New York. And that's it."