Vengeance (The Captive #6)(3)
Hannah and Jack had originally planned to marry as soon as the tavern was rebuilt, but Braith had been called back to the palace before the build was complete and the ceremony could take place. When Hannah decided she didn’t want to have the wedding without Jack’s brother and sister present, William had made the decision to take some advice and training from Aria; no matter how much he hated to admit, he needed it.
Unexpectedly, even given the fact that Aria had no one to help her with her own transition, his twin had been a far better teacher than he’d believed she could be. He hated to have to rely on anyone, but he didn’t know how he would have made it through all of the changes without her. He took hold of her hand and gave it a squeeze. She infuriated him, annoyed him, and terrified him with her ability to be as reckless as he was, but she’d always stood by his side no matter what.
He’d been murdered. He had become one of the creatures he’d spent most of his life hating, and he’d been taking his frustration out on everyone around him. Especially his sister because he knew she would take it and love him anyway.
It would take him a while to fully adjust to his new life, but he often questioned if he would ever completely go back to the man he’d been before. He’d always been ruthless and determined, but the continued anger within him was something new. He welcomed it to help drive him through what had to be done with Kane, but he also didn’t know how to deal with it.
He kept telling himself it would get better; he would laugh and smile again with ease when he finally got his revenge and put Kane in the ground. Just the idea of it caused a smile to curve his mouth. He was going to thoroughly enjoy destroying the man, as soon as he found him. He refused to think there might be a chance he wouldn’t find Kane; he would find him if it was the last thing he ever did.
Max opened the backdoor of the tavern and stepped into the kitchen warmed by the wood burning stove and the fire burning beneath a pot of venison stew. The heat of the kitchen slid over him, warming his chilled skin. He clapped his hands together and blew on them as he stomped his feet on the mat. Ellen looked up from the pot of stew she stirred; her brown eyes widened on the deer wrapped around his shoulders. Her pale blonde hair dangled in a braid over her shoulder.
“Brought dinner,” William said and plopped the deer on the counter.
“So you did,” she replied as she wiped her hands on a dishtowel.
Lucas strolled in through the door leading out to the main part of the tavern; he froze when his russet colored eyes landed on the deer. His light brown hair had grown over the last few months; it hung down around his ears to the collar of his faded green shirt. “It’s usually easier if they’re gutted outside,” Lucas told him.
“I was never one for easy,” William replied.
“That’s not what I heard,” Max retorted.
“Ugh,” Aria groaned, she rolled her eyes before kicking him in the shin.
“Ow!” Max yelped. He hopped up and down as he grabbed hold of his shin. His sandy blond hair flopped around his face with his movements. The laughter around him drowned out his cries of pain. Max’s blue eyes narrowed on Aria. “You used vamp strength on me!”
“You deserved it,” Aria replied and threw back her hood. “And I kept myself restrained.”
Max glowered at her when he stopped hopping around the room. “No one should turn a redhead into a vampire,” he muttered. “Temperamental woman.”
Aria smiled sweetly at him in return, William shook his head as he ran a hand through his own dark auburn hair. “I’ll take it outside,” he offered.
He lifted the deer up again and turned toward the door. Large snowflakes had begun to lazily spiral down from the sky when he reemerged into the early February day. The flakes stuck to his lashes as he glanced up at the slate gray sky. It felt like little beads of ice falling against his hypersensitive skin, but it didn’t cause him to shiver. As a human he would have been covered in furs, now he only wore his flaxen shirt and pants beneath his thick wool coat. The fur-lined hood of the coat bounced against his back as he worked to hang the deer from the hooks in the shed outside.
The smell of its blood pricked his hunger, causing his fangs to lengthen. He’d gotten more adept at controlling his cravings, but he’d have to make a trip to the blood bank later. The blood drinking was still his least favorite part about being a vampire; he couldn’t quite get used to the cloying way it felt sliding down his throat. He disliked that he enjoyed the taste of it so much, that he craved the warmth of it, and now had to have it to survive.
He hadn’t become a monster; he now knew all vampires weren’t monsters. However, he couldn’t help but feel like one when he consumed blood, even if it wasn’t from a person, and he hadn’t harmed anyone in order to get it. It didn’t matter he’d never fed from a person before, and most likely never would, he couldn’t shake the feeling it was wrong to use a human in such a way.
Stomping the snow from his boots, he stepped back into the kitchen. Ellen glanced up and smiled at him. He nodded to her before making his way into the main room. Their friend Timber, whose massive frame dwarfed the chair he sat in, had joined Max, Daniel, Xavier and Aria at a table.
To this day, Timber was still the largest man he’d ever seen. His head nearly hit the ceiling when he stood in the tavern; his thighs were the size of most men’s chests. His brown hair fell past his shoulders and his brown eyes shone in the glow of the lanterns filling the room. His nose had been broken so many times over the years it had a perpetual turn to it and a bump in the middle.