Wicked Soul (Ancient Blood #1)(110)
“Liv,” he moaned in between passionate kisses. “My Liv. My soulmate.”
I pulled back at that word, eyes widening. “Warin, what… what happened? With Thea, I mean. Why did Aleric know about her when you didn’t?”
His gaze hardened even as he stroked my back soothingly. “Around the year 1200, he and I were traveling on the British Isles. Raiding remote villages. He told me… we came across her—across you—in one of these villages. And I recognized you. I took you with me. But we didn’t know what you were, so we sought out the nearest Ancient for guidance.”
“Zeth,” I whispered.
“Yes.” Warin’s eyes darkened for a moment. “Zeth. He knew what you were. And he and Aleric conspired to kill you.”
I gasped. “That prick! Why?”
“Aleric didn’t go into details for Zeth’s motivations, but when I woke with you this evening, I understood why. It’s the power… I have never felt stronger than this night, with you by my side. He must have known… and wanted to get rid of a potential rival before our bond solidified. As for Aleric…” Warin closed his eyes for a moment, and I felt sadness and fiery anger flare in our bond. “He thought you were twisting me… changing me. He was afraid he’d lose me because of you. But when you died, he realized his mistake. He felt my pain in our bond, and knew I wouldn’t live long with a shattered soul… so he sought out a witch. Zeth’s witch. She placed a curse on our bloodline, to make me forget. To ensure I, if you ever came back, wouldn’t know you for what you are.”
“I am going to kill him,” I growled, running my tongue over my teeth when they ached in response to my anger.
“There’s no need.” Warin touched his finger top my lips, parting them to rub the pad of his thumb over my canines. It instantly eased the ache. “In playing Zeth’s games, Aleric has created what he sought so desperately to avoid. He has lost me. He is alone now. And he will be alone forevermore.”
Despite my anger, a small pang of pity bloomed in my gut. I’d seen how much Aleric loved his brother—how he would do anything to protect him. Losing Warin was the worst punishment the volatile vampire could endure.
But Aleric’s pain wasn’t my problem. He’d apparently killed me, after all.
I pushed the thread of pity away and focused on my lover. My Sire. “And Zeth? How do we stay safe from him?”
Warin snorted. “My love… Zeth isn’t going to come near us. Feel your power.”
I frowned in confusion, but did what he asked. The moment I focused inward, the energy inside of me rose like a tidal wave, sparking against my senses.
“Holy crap!”
“The completed soulmate connection,” Warin said softly. “Two halves of a whole are far stronger together than apart. Zeth will not be able to harm us ever again.”
“Especially not if we take the fight to him,” I said, glee flooding my system as images of tearing into the haughty Ancient played before my mind’s eye. My canines ached again, deeper this time, until something released in my gums. A soft snick startled me, but the flood of relief was so intense it took me a moment to realize the sound had come from my own mouth. Carefully, I prodded at my newly elongated fangs with the tip of my tongue. “Well, I’ll be damned.”
Warin rumbled a laugh. “You should feed, Liv. Some blood should quell any urges to run off and start a war with an Ancient on your first night.”
I eyeballed the bag of blood. It didn’t look super appetizing. “How about you take me hunting?”
He grasped my face lightly between his hands and pressed a kiss to my forehead before he peered into my eyes. “I will teach you everything there is to know about this life, my love. We have eternity together—and I want to show you every last corner of the world. But I’m not taking my newborn Daughter anywhere before you finish that blood bag—and the citizens of Michigan will thank me for it.”
“Fine, fine,” I huffed, reaching for the blood bag. “Making me eat damn donor blood for my first meal. You’re lucky I love you so much.”
“Yes,” he said softly, kissing my nose. “Yes, I am.”
Epilogue
Aleric
* * *
“Back to London so soon?” Aleric arched an eyebrow at the Egyptian as he leaned against the limousine’s passenger door.
Zeth leveled him with a cold glare. “If you think this breaks our agreement, youngling, you are sorely mistaken.”
“Really?” Aleric offered the Elder his most surprised expression. “Because I could have sworn your hold over me just vanished into thin air. Warin knows now.”
“Yes. He does,” Zeth said, tone as infuriatingly superior as always. As if he hadn’t just lost—and lost so spectacularly he was running away with his tail tucked between his legs. Not something that happened often to the Ancient being. In the eight hundred cursed years Aleric had known him, it was a first, for sure.
“Yet you and I are still bound by our word… if your remember. He may have bonded with his soulmate,” Zeth spat out the word as if it tasted foul on his tongue, “but you are still in my debt. Don’t ever forget that, Aleric Waldlitch. You won’t like it if I have to remind you. I promise you that.”