Hi,
So I have good news and bad news for you. The bad news first: I'll be on holiday next week and so won't be able to update next Sunday. BUT, now to the good news: I just edited this chapter, and let me tell you this, it left me breathless.
I really enjoyed writing this one because in this chapter there's so much more than what you see on the surface (at least that's how it was for me). I hope you'll enjoy the read!!
:-)
Lara
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Chapter 53
"I need you functioning because I need to know why you turned rogue," Alexander said.
His presence seemed to stretch and widen, wrap itself around her like a suffocating blanket. She stilled, watching him closely, but remained silent.
"When you told me about the night Victor's mansion was attacked you did not tell me everything," he said. "Why?"
She averted her head, staring at the opulent assortment of blue cushions on the couch-like monstrosity in the middle of the room. One of her most precious bargaining chips was slipping away and she didn't know how to avoid it.
His hand settled on her shoulder. Alarmed, she started and looked up at his chin, trying to avoid his eyes at all costs. She forced blankness into her face and eyes, tried to hide her reaction.
She could feel his gaze on her. His eyes, searching. His presence, overwhelming. There wasn't enough room to breathe.
His fingers tightened. "Look at me."
She looked at him then, really looked at him. Let him see what was in her eyes. It didn't matter.
For a long moment the head vampire simply stared back.
"You do not remember." The words were soft, like a caress that raised goose bumps on her skin, and there was motion in the depth of his eyes. Was the head vampire suffering from an inner conflict?
She stared at him openly. Not looking would have been weakness. She had no fear and no other emotions that could drag her down down down.
"I want you to let me inside your head," Alexander said.
"No."
The word was out before she could stop herself. It sounded panicked, like the shriek of a hunted, cornered animal and she hated herself for it. She wasn't weak anymore and she never would be again.
"I want to get inside to find out what happened, nothing more," Alexander said.
She watched him, then made a connection she should have made earlier. "You think someone took my memory," she said slowly, assessing his gaze.
"If someone did, I can help you regain it," he said.
"The answer is still no," she said, averting her head. Her mind belonged to herself. She would never permit someone else to have that much control over her. "I did what you asked of me. So stop stalling and give me the magical artifact."
He let go of her shoulder, but didn't step back. He was still invading her personal space like he had a right to.
"There is still the little matter of the favor, Anna. You agreed to do one favor that will cost you nothing in terms of time or magic and will do no harm to you."
She forced a smile on her lips. This was Alexander, shrewd negotiator and cunning tactician and she was eager to hear what exactly he believed he had in store for her.
"Yes I did. Let's hear it. What is it? Will you make me promise to be your go fetch it girl for the near future? I am sorry to inform you that this would breach the terms and conditions we agreed on."
"What I want from you is more than that, Anna."
He watched her, eyes gliding over her face like cool raindrops that raised goose bumps on her skin.
"I want you to kiss me. Kiss me like you mean it."
She stiffened. A kiss.
"A kiss? Really?" Her voice was void of inflection. "You have got to be joking."
"I am not," he said, eyes and face bland.
Why would he hand over the artifact by adding this ridiculous condition? Alexander, the grandmaster of scheming did not do easy or simple. Why bring it on the table to begin with?
She stared at him, mind racing. Of course, he thought he would be able to gain some sort of information. Perhaps he believed he could even slip into her mind because she would be too distracted to notice. As if.
"Part of the agreement was no use of mind entering magic," she said.
The head vampire's face remained motionless. Blue eyes, cold and empty. He was looking at her with the clean-cut and neutral gaze of a scientist.
"I will not use any. You have my word on this."
"And you will hand over the artifact immediately after the kiss?"
He nodded.
She watched him, studied his face. The head vampire thought the kiss would affect her in a way. And he was wrong. The last time they kissed, it was in fact the other way around. She almost got into his head.
His head.
She felt the urge to smile. Why not use this opportunity and kill two birds with one stone? Get into the head vampire's mind and give him a taste of his own methods? She could do anything in that perfect place of equilibrium she entered ever since she turned rogue. And she would gain the artifact she came for this night, no matter what.
"Agreed. Get on wi-"
He slammed her into the wall, hands wrapped around her wrists, tight and secure above her head. She stilled, met his gaze head on. If there was nothing in his eyes before, it was everything and nothing now. Crystal blue swimming and shimmering, like a dark water cave sparkling with deep-sunk azure diamonds.
"Where are you?"
His eyes drove right into her. Not with the force of powers that tasted of death and the grave. It was the look in his eyes alone that tried to shift and push her out of her perfect place. But she wouldn't let go of her equilibrium. Nor would she let go of Spirit.
Let him try.
She lifted her chin. "Quit stalling. Get on with that kiss."
His hands tightened on her wrist. "Where is it?"
"Where is what?" She said flatly.
"When we first met, you strolled into my office with a rose-colored view on the Circle's justice system, while damning all vampires to hell," he said softly. "Even if you had to hate all vampires to death, you did move on from what happened in your past. You fought me at every turn and you enjoyed it without even knowing. I cannot see it anymore. This passion for life. That will to fight to survive. The courage to go against someone like me."
Something inside her twisted and reared up.
Someone like me.
She looked at him. "Are you trying to say you think I'm weak now?"
The azure blue in his eyes swirled and darkened. "Prove me wrong," he said.
He came closer and leaned into her, breathing along her neck. Slow, oh so slow. She stared straight ahead. She was power and nothing could touch her. Not even the head vampire of New York. She would mess with him and get into his head.
He hovered over her neck, that place right over her carotid artery, and breathed in and out. Slow, so slow. She trained her eyes on a spot she imagined in her mind, far away. She would do this, no matter the cost.
His head came up, lips almost brushing her skin all the way up to her lips.
She froze. The look in his eyes knifed into her like steely lightning. He was looking at her as if he could see everything underneath layers and layers of clothing, right down to flesh and bone. She wanted to look away, escape the whirling depths of blue. She'd never seen that kind of uproar and turmoil in his eyes, a stormy tangle of color and motion.
"Where are you, Anna?"
She didn't move, didn't speak. All she could do was stare back at him, caught in a mirror that showed a reflection of herself.
"No matter how much I tried to get into your head or take over through our bond, you never permitted it. The Anna I know would never give in to Spirit. So why did you?"
He said her name softly. Something about the way he said it sent her swaying, skittering off balance. Or maybe it wasn't his voice, maybe it was what he said. Suddenly her resolve faltered.
She twisted, tried to break his hold and push away from the wall. His hands tightened on her wrists and he moved closer, their fronts pressed together.
"No, we had a bargain. I told you what I want and I will not let you go until I have it."
"Why did you ask for it? You know I don't want to," she ground out.
He cocked his head. "Then show me how good you can act. Kiss me like you mean it."
He lowered his head, his mouth descending on hers with the seductiveness of a slow, sensual dance. Her heartbeat accelerated in a sudden rush, goose bumps gliding down her back like cold oil. His tongue dove in, slow, as if engaged in a tango he would dance to the end, no matter what.
She followed his motion, equally slow.
Sound receded with the hiss of a dying radio signal. Her vision blurred around the edges, folded in on itself like a set of dark wings beating. Shadows and light rose like mist, slow and dream-like. Colors realigned and settled until her vision showed her a labyrinth she was familiar with.
She was standing in front of a line of doors in a mansion that was unequivocally Alexander's. She'd been here before. In his head.
She turned, her long brown hair spilling over her shoulder. The corridor stretched away from her, doors lining it on both sides. There, behind her.
That door she had tried to get through the last time she was in the head vampire's head. That door that hid more than just a room â it was the gateway to a secret Alexander didn't want her to know. This time she would get through, no matter what. And she would learn his secret.
The maze of shadows flew past her as she approached the door, all but running towards it. She could see a small strip of light through the door crack. This time there were no imaginary doors materializing out of nowhere. There were no obstacles she couldn't conquer.
She slowed down, facing the door, then pushed it open.