Broken (The Captive #5.5)(28)

When they turned ten, they were moved from their room and into the training compound with the rest of the aristocrat's children. There they had been taught how to fence, wield a sword, joust, the art of archery, the brutality of the staff, and hand-to-hand combat. Unlike humans, these skills would not be used in war. Though some vampires did go to war to partake in the spoils of blood and riches that war could sometimes offer them, the aristocratic children learned these skills to protect themselves against their own kind and to keep control of what was theirs.

There had been twelve children in the compound at the time, and as the youngest of the twelve, the two of them had taken repeated beatings over the first four years. Then, at fourteen, Atticus began to surpass the others in strength and endurance. The other boys had stopped picking on him and Merle when the tables had been turned on them. It was Atticus they were frightened of, but they all knew they would earn his wrath if they went after Merle.

"Are you in some sort of trouble?" Merle pressed.

Atticus released a snort of laughter. He didn't know how to answer that question. His life wasn't in jeopardy, he wasn't into any kind of gambling debt that his father might have to get him out of, but he was definitely in over his head.

"I'm not sure what I'm into," he admitted.

"Are we talking about new experiences with women here?" Merle asked with a suggestive waggle of his eyebrows. "And if so, please do share."

"No, it's not like that."

Merle's kidding demeanor vanished as he threw back his shoulders and set his jaw. "Are we to fight then?"

Atticus snorted and shook his head. "No."

Now Merle looked as confused as he had the day they'd discovered their old nursemaid and Atticus's father rolling around in the hay. They'd only been seven at the time but neither of them had walked out of that barn the same. "I'll do whatever I can to help you out."

"I know, and I thank you, but you can't help me out of this Merle. That's not going to be possible and I don't want out of it."

His cousin's blue eyes studied him closely. "What have you gotten yourself into?"

Atticus leaned against Drago's side and crossed his legs. "I have been meeting with one of the women we met in the woods that day, but not the blond."

"The black haired girl?"

"Genny," he confirmed.

"But… she's not your type." Merle's tone was full of disbelief as he tried to assimilate this information.

"True," Atticus admitted. He had always preferred a blond with a rounder figure, but then none of them had possessed Genny's smile, her laugh, or had made him feel the way that she did. They'd all been after his money, his bed, his power or all of the above. Genny asked him for nothing, she demanded nothing of him, she simply enjoyed being in his presence. He'd never encountered that from anyone before.

"Is this serious Atticus?"

He thought over that question for a minute. Over these past couple of weeks he'd gotten to know her better, he hated to be away from her, but he'd never stopped to think about what it was between them exactly. They hadn't even lain together yet, he didn't even know if they would, but he knew he didn't want this to end. "Yes."

Merle looked as if he'd just been stabbed in the stomach with a sword again as his mouth dropped open. "You mean to keep her as a mistress then?"

"I could never ask that of her, and I don't think she would agree to it."

"You can't marry her Atticus."

He bristled over the words. He didn't like being told what he could and could not do under normal circumstances; he despised his cousin telling him there was something that he couldn't do with Genny. "You're getting ahead of me on that Merle," he grated out from between his clenched teeth.

"Maybe I am, and I'm not looking to upset you, but your father will not approve of this."

"None of the aristocrats will approve of this."

"True."

"And I've never truly cared what any of them approved of before."

Some of the tension eased from Merle as he grinned at him. "Even more true. Well your secret is safe with me cousin."

"Thank you."

Grabbing hold of the saddle, he boosted himself onto Drago's back. Merle stepped forward and rested his hand on the horse's shoulder. "You may want to try and act at least a little normal again though; I'm not the only one that has noticed a change in you. The servants are talking and it's only a matter of time before that talk gets back to your father."

Atticus's jaw clenched, his gaze drifted to the manor half hidden in the fog creeping forth from the woods. He didn't know what his father would do if he were to learn about Genny and he wasn't willing to find out either. "I'll do what I can," he muttered. "I have to go now."

Merle nodded and stepped away. Atticus could feel his eyes following him as he galloped across the land toward the woods.





CHAPTER 10


Genny watched from the shadows as Atticus rode his horse into the clearing. She couldn't tear her gaze away from his magnificent form as he sat tall in the saddle with his shoulders thrust back proudly. He may never become king, but he most certainly looked like one and he would become the strongest of their kind one day. Even at his young age power radiated from him in a vibrant ray that lit him from the inside out.