The Devil's Fool E-Book

Raven Steele

• Herausgeber: Raven Steele
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Beschreibung

"I was afraid of the dark until I became it." 

As the daughter of a magical family, power bled through my veins.
The desire to control.
Manipulate.

But I wanted to be free of my family’s dark world.
Their crimes and murders.
I wanted to be  more.
Be different.

Boaz, a powerful vampire, saved me from my parent’s suffocating grip.
He promised me the world.
Seductive.
Bewitching.

I craved him.
His power.
His strength.

But the devil’s in the details.

And even he was once an angel. 

In this full-length, paranormal romance series, Steele introduces readers to a dark and sexy world full of vampires, and witches. If you like Laurell K. Hamilton and Anne Rice, you will LOVE this series!

Leseprobe

The Devil's Fool

A Paranormal Vampire Romance 1

Raven Steele

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Other books by Raven Steele:

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About the Author

“The Devil whispered in my ear, “You’re not strong enough to withstand the storm.”

Today I whispered in the Devil’s ear, “I am the storm.”

Chapter 1

I always knew my father was a monster, but watching him torture someone other than me made me all kinds of ill.

A girl dangled before him, her pale hands clinging to the rope around her neck while her naked toes struggled to touch the ground.

I leaned over, high on my perch in a Scots pine tree, and drew in the crisp night air. Normally the smell of our home’s dense woodlands, a rich earthiness laced with the aroma of an approaching storm, would’ve soothed my nerves, but nothing could calm the growing turmoil in my gut, or my racing pulse. The scene below wouldn’t allow it.

The towering full moon shined into the forest’s wide clearing, spotlighting four figures as if they were actors in a play. My father stood at the center, pacing near the young girl. I’d seen her once from the window of our home, but she had been just a child then. We resembled each other with our honey-blonde hair, though she was several years younger than me. Sixteen, maybe.

Her mother, Madelyn, kneeled to the right, hands clasped together and tears pouring from her eyes. She was wearing only her nightgown. I knew Madelyn well. She had been my nanny and tutor growing up, but I had thought of her as so much more. She had given me all the love and nurturing my own mother never had until she was let go when I turned eighteen. It had been a couple of years since I’d last seen her, but none of those warm feelings had left me.

I clutched the material of my shirt just above my heart. It killed me seeing Madelyn like this, begging for her daughter’s life. I wasn’t sure what had happened, but when I’d heard my parents curse her name earlier that night, I knew I had to follow them, especially when they slipped out of the house well after midnight. By the looks of Madelyn and her daughter, someone had taken them from their beds and dumped them in our woods at my parent’s command.

Madelyn turned toward my mother, wiping at her eyes. “Sable, please. I’m begging you. I love Eve and would never do anything to harm her or you.”

Hearing her profess her love for me after all this time made the pain in my chest grow. I had to do something to stop this but what? My parents were far more powerful than me.

“But you already have.” My mother didn’t look up from her spot on a blanket spread out along the grass. Her long black gown had gathered up and exposed her thin legs all the way to her thighs. Even the chill in the air didn’t seem to faze her. The only thing holding her attention was a jasmine plant resting in her lap, which she repeatedly plucked leaves from and tucked into a leather pouch.

“Please, stop.” The young girl coughed, and her hands tugged on the rope.

“You’re begging the wrong person,” my father said, his gaze focusing on Madelyn. “You have your mother to blame for this.”

The rope tightened, and the girl’s legs kicked harder. Strangling her wasn’t enough for him. He had her feet only a blade of grass away from the ground, as though her false hope was some sort of sick tease.

But that’s all this was, right? A tease? A threat to get Madelyn to comply to whatever my parents wanted. That’s what they did. Threatened and intimated. They wouldn’t actually kill her.

Even though I thought the words, I found myself slowly climbing back down the tree, my hands trembling. I wasn’t sure how I was going to stop this, but I had to try, no matter the consequences.

The girl tried to speak again, but the noose tightened further, silencing her. For a moment, it sounded as though she’d been trying to say, “Mama.”

“Please, Erik,” Madelyn pleaded, her voice louder and arms outstretched. “I’ll take back everything I said to social services and to the police about Eve.”

I froze several feet from the ground and looked over. Madelyn had been trying to save me?

“This isn’t the first time, Madelyn,” Erik said, “but it will be your last. We showed you mercy before because of all the years of service you gave us, but then you betray us again?”

Madelyn lowered her head. More tears spilled onto her cheeks, and her shoulders trembled. “I only wanted to help Eve. I thought she would be free by now, but you still have her trapped inside this house. It’s not right.”

“Eve is none of your concern,” my mother said to her. “You should’ve been more worried for your own daughter.”

Madelyn’s head jerked up. “I am. I’m so very sorry. Please just let her go. She’s done nothing wrong.”

Erik crossed the clearing and stopped in front of her. “You almost cost us our daughter. You need to know what that feels like.”

I reached the bottom of the tree, my legs shaking beneath me. If I held still, unmoving within these dark shadows, my parents would never know I was here. I might still escape their wrath, but if I did nothing, Madelyn’s daughter might die.

I clutched at my stomach and pinched my skin hard. I’d never stood up to my parents before, not in all my twenty years for fear of what they might do to me. I partly had Madelyn to thank for that. She gave me skills to endure their harsh training sessions, believing one day I’d be free.

“I understand now,” Madelyn said. “It was wrong for me to interfere. I’ll tell everyone I was wrong. That you and your wife are good parents.”

My father wasn’t listening. He had returned his attention to the girl, using the power of his gaze to tighten and release the rope around her slender neck. The noose itself was just as disturbing to look upon as the dangling girl. It hung from the air as if tied to an invisible tree limb.

“Please,” Madelyn begged again. “I’ll say whatever you want. I can make this right!”

“You damaged our reputation. Humans questioned us.” He finally turned to her. “Us! Beings far more superior than them, but we had to pretend to be at their mercy, as if we were nothing more than weak humans.”

This had me moving. If it was one thing my father hated, it was being thought of as weak.

“That’s a good point, Erik,” my mother said. “So what are we going to do about it?”

I was thirty yards away but moving quickly, trying to be as quiet as possible as I picked my way through fallen debris. I still wasn’t sure what I was going to do, but there wasn’t time to figure it out.

His head held high, my father tugged on the sleeves of his tuxedo, lengthening them around his wrists. “We need to make sure Madelyn never says another word again.”

“I won’t!” she cried. “I promise! I’ll move away. Take my daughter and go wherever you want us to.”

He laughed at his. “Oh, you’re definitely going where we want you to go. Starting right now.”

“Stop!” I burst into the clearing, gasping for air. Not because I was tired but because I was scared shitless.

Everyone slowly turned to me.

My mother’s eyebrows lifted. “Isn’t this a surprise. Snooping, Eve?”

Madelyn cried harder at the sight of me.

“Let her daughter go,” I said, looking back and forth at each of my parents.

“And what if we don’t?” The tone of my father’s voice was one of shock, like he really wanted to know what I’d do.

I lifted my hands and summoned magic to my mind, just like my parents had taught me since I was a child. The power responded, and it crackled between my fingers, making the air smell strangely like chlorine.

Magic was something that came easily to me, but I’d always held back its power, advice Madelyn had given me when she’d seen it first hand: “Never let them know what you’re truly capable of. Your gift is yours, and yours alone. Don’t let them control it.”

And so I’d held back, but I didn’t think I could do that now.

My mother laughed. The sound rattled my nerves.

“Isn’t this rich?” She paused, looking from my father and back to me. “Eve, dear, I’m truly impressed, thinking you can take us both on.”

My father also chuckled, like he was proud of me. Their reaction worried me.

“Oh, Eve,” Madelyn said. She was only one who looked sad and fearful. “You shouldn’t have come.”

“But I have to help you! Your daughter!”

“Let’s see what you’re made of,” my mother said, smiling wickedly. She rose up from her blanket like a ghost from its grave. There was no bending of the knees, no pushing off the ground. Her body just lifted until she was upright. The motion made Madelyn gasp in horror and me shiver.

Focus, I reminded myself. My whole body tingled with magic just waiting to be released, but it was dark in nature and fueled by my anger.

“Are you sure this is wise?” my father asked my mother. His eyes darted back and forth between us.

My mother squared her shoulders and stared me down. “I don’t see why not. We haven’t been training her for all these years for nothing. Let’s see what she can do when she’s really pissed off.”

“You want me to fight you?” My voice wavered.

“We want to see your full power.”

My gaze flickered to Madelyn, and she shook her head rapidly, quietly begging me not to use my magic, but what choice did I have?

“Let Madelyn and her daughter go, and I will show you everything.”

My parents looked at each other, and my mother nodded. The girl fell to the ground, gasping for air and clutching at her throat. Madelyn rushed to her and scooped her into her arms.

“Get out of here,” I whispered to them. “Quickly.”

Madelyn helped her daughter to her feet, and with her arm under the girl’s shoulders, limped across the grass.

“Show us,” my mother snapped. She lifted her hands and swirled them into the air. The air shifted in front of her as if she were somehow grabbing onto sections of it and rolling it together. Dirt and small sticks got sucked up into the vortex, and electricity zapped within the rotating gusts of wind.

I lifted my arms higher, preparing to fend off her attack. We’d fought in the past but not like this. Not with so much power. I could feel the strength behind it even though I was over two dozen feet away. I glanced at my father to see what he might do, but he was tracking Madalyn and her daughter across the clearing.

“I can’t let her go unpunished,” he said, his voice quiet.

My mother’s green eyes flickered his direction. “Leave it alone, Erik.”

By the ticking of his jaw, an expression I knew too well, he wouldn’t be able to.

I swung my body to face him, prepared to send a wall of electric energy his direction if he even blinked wrong, when my mother’s wind storm slammed into me. The bits of debris cut into my bare arms and face, and I dropped to the ground, covering my head.

Madelyn’s scream tore through the night. I looked up, thinking she was yelling for me, but she was staring down at her daughter’s lifeless body at her feet. My head snapped to my father.

He smirked, but when he glanced at my mother, the smile changed to a scowl. “What?”

“Was that necessary?”

Madelyn dropped to her knees at her daughter’s body, her eyes wide in horror. “What have you done?”

I covered my mouth and shook my head, tears stinging my eyes. I didn’t think he’d actually do it, kill someone. I knew my parents were cruel, manipulative and power hungry, but murder?

“I meant what I said,” he answered her. “There would be consequences. And if you say another word to anyone about us or our family, you will be next.”

I rose from the ground, fiery anger burning through my veins. Dark energy crackled around me, electrically charging the air. I breathed it in and expelled even more out. Black tendrils of magic worked its way through me, squeezing into my bones and between the spaces of my vital organs. Nothing was left untouched. Never had I felt such rage.

“Are you quite finished?” my mother asked him in an exasperated voice. “Your daughter was just about to show us what she could do.”

With tear-stained cheeks, Madelyn turned away from her daughter. “Don’t do it, Eve. This is what they want, to draw out your dark powers.”

“Shut up!” both my mother and father snapped at her.

Madelyn’s nostrils flared, and she came to her feet. “You evil, horrible people!”

She pursed her lips like she wanted to say more, but she saved her words for me. “Don’t give in. You’re not like them. You’re better, stronger.”

My mother groaned and rolled her eyes. “I really didn’t want to have to do this.”

She raised her hand to use magic against Madelyn, but I wasn’t about to make the same mistake twice and underestimate what my parents were capable of.

“You will not hurt her,” I yelled and moved to shoot her with everything I had.

Before I could, Madelyn said in a voice so quiet I barely heard it, “I won’t lose another daughter.”

She rushed my mother at full speed, her hands curled into claws. My mother snorted, then laughed, and with a simple flick of her wrist, Madelyn’s head snapped to the side at an awkward angle. The crack of her bone snapping shattered my nerves. I gasped and watched as Madelyn fell to the ground dead.

“Thank God!” my father drawled. “I thought she’d never shut up.”

“You killed her,” I breathed. I tried to inhale my next breath, but my lungs had seized.

“She was going to kill me,” my mother said simply.

I didn’t know I was moving until I dropped next to Madelyn. I reached up and closed her eyelids over wide, dead eyes. “I’m so sorry.”

Whatever fight I felt moments ago bled out of me. I was too stunned, too shocked. My body had gone numb. I couldn’t even feel my magic anymore.

“Get up, Eve,” my mother ordered. “We’re not finished.”

I ignored her and smoothed back Madelyn’s long dark hair, my chin quivering. Regret and longing burned so thoroughly into my chest, I cried out in anguish. I should’ve reached out to her sooner. Should’ve found a way to leave this place. I guess I always thought there’d be time to rekindle our friendship.

I clutched at my shirt, fisting the material between my fingers, and pulled away as if I might tear the pain from me. I’d never felt anything like it. The one person who I could say truly loved me in this world, and my parents had killed her.

“Your mother told you to get up, Eve,” my father said, his tone threatening. I could feel his towering presence behind me.

“No.”

He puffed air out his nostrils. “You said you would show us your full power, something you’ve clearly kept hidden from us.”

“You broke our deal. You will get nothing.” The words fell from my lips, no emotion behind them. Not even fear for what my parents might do to me.

There was a long pause. Had I glanced behind me, I probably would’ve seen my father and mother staring at each other with daggers in their eyes, each of them blaming the other for the sudden turn of events. But they had both pushed me too far. I didn’t know I had a breaking point until now.

“Maybe this isn’t the best time to show us,” my mother finally said but the words sounded sour leaving her mouth. “We’ll give you some time to grieve for your old nanny, even though she did tell the police lies about our family.”

“She spoke the truth. You’re horrible people who have been keeping me prisoner here my whole life.”

“We’ve been protecting you!” my father said.

Another lie. Hatred for my parents seared my heart. I slipped my hand into Madelyn’s. It was still warm. “I’m done. No more magic.”

If this is what my parents wanted most, then I wasn’t going to give it to them.

“What do you mean no more magic?” my mother asked slowly.

I squeezed Madelyn’s hand and swallowed the emotions threatening to overwhelm me. They could come later. I rose to my feet and turned around.

“My whole life you’ve had this obsession with trying to get me to use my abilities, and even though I did, it was never good enough.”

“Because you were holding back,” my father said. “We could feel it.”

“And you’ve just confirmed our suspicions,” my mother added.

I shifted my gaze to her. “Did I? Maybe I was only saying what you wanted to hear to save my friend’s life. Either way, you’ll never know.”

My father snorted. “Don’t be ridiculous. You know we can hurt you.”

I narrowed my eyes. “And you know I can withstand it.”

“So it’s a battle of the wills, is it?” my mother asked.

“One day, dear parents, I will be free of you, but until that day, you will never see me use a speck of magic. I would rather die than be like you.”

I spun on my heel and walked away from them, feeling the most free than I had in all my life.

Chapter 2

A splash of cold water hit me in the face. The shock of it forced me awake, and I gasped for air.

“You shouldn’t sleep in, Eve,” Jane said. She was my teacher and sometimes an unwilling maid. She held an empty glass in her hand. Strays of thick, red hair had fallen from the loose and messy bun on her head and past her round face. I don’t think she liked wearing her hair up, but my mother required it.

I wiped at my face and pulled the covers over my head, already wishing the day away. Tonight, Erik and Sable, I’d never call them father and mother again after what they did to Madelyn and her daughter several weeks ago, were hosting an early All Hallows Eve ball to try and raise more money for their political favorites. It was also my twenty-first birthday, but like my other birthdays, it would go unnoticed. Not like I felt like celebrating anyway.

“I’m serious.” Jane nudged my bed with her leg. “Get up now before I lose my job.”

“Why are you even here?”

It was Saturday, and Jane only showed up on weekdays to tutor me and make sure I got my studies done. I wished I attended a real college, but my parents said that would be for my future husband to decide if I could leave the house or not. They also reminded me that our current arrangement could change any time, if I’d just show them the magic I promised them in the forest.

“As if I had a choice,” she said. “Your parents wanted me here to help you get ready, so get up so I can get out of this hell hole.”

“Sorry,” I mumbled and sat up.

I wished I could leave this hell hole too, especially after discovering they were murderers, but I’d never get past the invisible, magical wall circling the property nine miles wide. I knew because I’d tried many times.

Jane moved to help me up, but I pushed her hand away. “I can do it myself.”

“Not according to your mother.” She jerked the covers from my lap. “Hurry. You don’t want to make her angry.”

I swung my legs over the edge of the bed, cringing when my bare feet touched the marbled floor. “Is she ever anything else?”

“Yes, terrifying.”

I was painfully aware how much she and everyone else who worked for my parents hated the employment, but either the pay was too good to pass up, or they were too afraid to quit. Jane had been working for us for almost three years. She’d taken Madelyn’s place but only as a teacher. Jane didn’t care for me, not like Madelyn had.

As a child, Madelyn used to sing to me at night, and she’d take me on picnics that would last for hours. Anything to give me a break from my parents. The thought of my old nanny brought another wave of guilt crashing down on me again. I should’ve done more.

Jane fumbled through my closet, her wide backside knocking several of my schoolbooks off a chair. She handed me a black slip. “Put this on. Your mother is coming.”

“Why so early?”

Jane’s pudgy fingers wiped sweat from her forehead. “She wants to make sure you look your best for tonight. Now hurry!”

She sucked in a deep breath and fled the room.

I bit at my lip and rubbed at my chest. Sable never cared how I looked unless we were going out. Something different was going to happen tonight, and with my parents, different was never good.

I removed my pajamas and pulled the slip down over my head. Goosebumps broke across my skin, but not because I was cold. Magic. I could already feel it swelling inside me, tingling my toes and fingers. It was always there, threatening to rage out of control, especially after what had happened. I took a few precious moments to silent it and send it back into the confines of my mind where my parents wouldn’t sense it. It’s all I had.

When I no longer felt it whispering inside me, I moved to my vanity and combed my hair. After the restless night I’d had, thanks to another nightmare, it would take time to untangle my long tresses.

Just as I set the brush down, Sable burst through the door, bringing with her a gust of icy air and two women I’d never seen before. Her face, framed by gold hair curlers, was the same color as her white satin robe, making me think of a blizzard. Instinctively, I pulled my arms against my chest.

“You slept in.” She said the words as if I’d committed a treasonous act.

I glanced at my alarm clock. A little after eight. I kept my voice calm. “Did you want me up sooner?”

“I want you to use your brain. Can you do that?”

“I’ll try.” I lifted my chin a little, trying to convey some air of defiance. I may be forced to stay in this house, but I didn’t have to like it.

Sable’s thin upper lip twitched; her left eye mimicked the movement. She might’ve been beautiful if it wasn’t for the hateful expression permanently plastered to her face.

She closed the distance between us. She smelled like jasmine and my father’s cigars. I’d learned early in life that those smells brought pain. Inwardly, I trembled, but I refused to look away from her.

“This is a rat’s nest,” she said, grabbing a fist full of my hair and snapping my head back. “If tonight wasn’t so important, I’d have it shaved.” She let go of my hair and inhaled deeply. “This is going to take a lot longer than I thought.”

The next two hours were a whirlwind of demands and insults. Hold still. Stand up straight. Don’t talk. I willed myself to get through it to avoid the least amount of suffering possible. The two women Sable had brought with her had been hired to help me look my best. I’m sure Sable had paid a high price to find the very best stylists around. The dress she chose for me was a backless, blood-red evening gown she’d purchased from some designer I’d never heard of. This was not like Sable at all. It was Erik who purchased all of my clothing for the times they wanted to parade me in public, which wasn’t often.

After I dressed, Sable instructed one of the girls to sweep my hair up into a tight French twist, leaving no strand out of place. The poor girl, who couldn’t help but check the time on her phone every few minutes, had to redo the style four times before Sable was satisfied.

“Can we do anything about her green eyes?” Sable asked the youngest girl. “I prefer blue.”

The girl frowned. “Do you want her to wear contact lenses?”

“You’re useless,” Sable snapped, but she continued to stare at my eyes as if conjuring a spell.

Sable looked me over one final time and left with a flick of her wrist and an unsatisfied grunt. The two women hurried after her.

The moment the door closed, I replaced the dress with jeans and a t-shirt and planned my escape to the forest. I had to get outside and take a break from the contention that poisoned every person in this house. I would never make it through the night otherwise. Plus, it didn’t make sense to remain dressed up all day, a torture in and of itself.

It wasn’t difficult to sneak away, my head down, and a small bag draped over my shoulder. It also helped that I hid my face by carrying a tall vase of flowers as if I were part of the event staff.

The moment I opened the back door, I bolted toward the edge of the nearby forest and didn’t stop until safely behind a thick oak tree. The sun in the sky warmed my flesh and whispered of a better future. Its light shined upon so many places. One day, I hoped to see them all.

I glanced back at the home. It was an ugly site. It wasn’t really a home but more of a gaudy mansion made of brick and stone. It was several stories above ground and several below, though only a select few knew of its depths. My room was in the east wing, opposite my parents.

What I wouldn’t give to live in a suburban area, surrounded by normal people, or even better? A college dorm. Have friends, mess around on social media, go to parties … I wasn’t allowed to do any of those things. They did give me a laptop on my eighteenth birthday for my online college courses, but, in addition to several parent control apps, they used magic to make sure I accessed only content they deemed worthy. They controlled every aspect of my life as they attempted to mold and shape me into the person they felt I should become.

But I was not something you could mold. Thanks to Madelyn’s private teachings, I had learned more about people and life than my parents would ever want me to know. She’d brought me books about good, kind people and how they had made a difference in the world. She also taught me to protect my magic and never let my parents near it. Even until the day she died.

Inhaling a hitched breath and wiping at my moist eyes, I sunk to the ground, mindful of my hair, and unzipped my bag. From within, I pulled out some bread and fruit and, the most important item, a book. I’d get lost in someone else’s world today. Be anywhere else than here.

I ran my fingers over the worn cover of one of the few books I’d managed to keep hidden. A book set in the future about a woman who sacrificed everything to tear down the oppressive society she’d been raised in. It always gave me hope.

The sun tracked across the sky, highlighting the red and orange leaves above me. The sounds of the hired orchestra practicing drifted outside. The hauntingly beautiful tune made the forest feel more magical, and I sunk further into the grass. The music was the only part of these events I liked.

Erik put on many of them throughout the year. Anyone of importance, human or fiend, received an invitation. These events were the only times the different species willingly crossed paths. Of course, many of the humans had no idea who or what was sitting beside them. Demons, vampires and other creatures were required to appear human-like. The whole occasion was a ruse to gain power over others. And Erik and Sable were the puppet masters, using their magical abilities to manipulate those who could further their political agenda in the human world and gain more clout in the supernatural one.

When the first few guests arrived, I groaned and gathered my belongings. I couldn’t delay getting ready any longer. My parents began letting me attend these events a few years ago. I thought I would enjoy them since I was rarely allowed to socialize with others, but I never did. Everyone wore masks, saying what they thought you wanted to hear. Because of who my parents were, people were especially careful around me. I yearned for a meaningful relationship, like what I’d had with Madelyn.

Pushing myself up, I straightened my shoulders and prepared for the worst. It would all be over soon.

Back inside my room, I slid into the red evening gown just as Jane opened the bedroom door, panting heavily. “Your parents need you.”

“I’ll be right there,” I said, but she had already closed the door.

I finished forcing my arm through a strap of the tight gown and sighed wearily. I didn’t recognize the reflection staring back at me in the mirror. Black eyeliner framed my eyes like the edge of storm clouds, and my darkened eyebrows and reddened lips only added to the illusion. The two stylists had commented on my beauty, but to me, I looked like my mother. Not something I wanted.

Quietly and carefully, I snuck downstairs and slipped into the ballroom that smelled of freshly baked pastries and wild roses. As usual, the spacious room was immaculate: diamond-laced curtains, golden satin linens, and crystal chandeliers the Queen of England would envy.

I kept to the edge of the room, weaving in and out of the guests, my head down. Make an appearance, that’s all I had to do. Maybe speak with a few of the guests. Just enough interaction to satisfy my parents.

I did just that, then endured the evening by staying outside on the veranda as much as possible. The cool night air felt good against my bare arms and was a welcome distraction from the boisterous noises echoing from the brightly lit party.

“There you are,” a voice said behind me.

I turned around. The black silhouette of my mother stood in the doorway of the ballroom.

“Get in here,” she ordered. “I want you to meet someone special.”

“Not tonight. Please.” It was a dumb thing to say. I knew it the second the words left my mouth.

“It wasn’t a request.”

Reluctantly, I stepped forward. Sable took hold of my arm and dragged me through the room and past all the guests. I tried to see where she was guiding me, but dancing couples blocked my view. When she nudged aside two women in the middle of a conversation, I finally saw whom I was to meet.

I yanked my arm free and froze. Though he looked human, I knew better. A murky blackness clung to him like thick tar.

This was no man.

This was a powerful vampire.

Chapter 3

Every fiber of my body screamed, run. There was an energy, dark and ancient, that filled the area around him. Despite my instincts, I found it difficult to look away. His commanding presence sucked me in as if an invisible cord were pulling me toward him. I resisted, and a sharp pain stabbed in my lower spine.

Sable whirled around, dug her nails into my wrist, and jerked me forward. “Don’t you dare insult him.”

Erik, who was shaking hands with the vampire, turned. His slicked-back blond hair looked as greasy as his tanned complexion. “Eve, darling, this is Boaz. Boaz, meet my only daughter, Eve.”

The light seemed to flee the room as Boaz’s eyes met mine. He was strangely captivating with long black hair, high cheekbones and a distinct jaw line. My heart fluttered, and I grew faint. If it weren't for Sable’s hand on my elbow, I would’ve staggered back. But it wasn’t his appearance that had weakened me. My mind tried to capture what it was, but his stare became too intense, forcing me to look away.

Erik said something under his breath and then chuckled.

“She may be, but I’ll have to find out for myself,” Boaz said.

Erik smirked, and Sable laughed obnoxiously. I was disgusted with all three of them.

“It was nice to meet you, sir.” It took all the strength I had, but I managed to yank my arm back and turned to hurry away. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sable begin to follow, but Boaz grabbed her wrist and held her in place.

I walked calmly, yet briskly, toward the stairs leading to the second floor. I nodded and smiled politely to several people who greeted me, but I refused to stop.

As I stepped upon the first stair, cold fingers touched my back. I gasped and whirled around. To my amazement, no one was there. I slowly continued upward but again felt the touch of a hand caress the skin of my naked back. The icy coolness of it stole my breath. I spun back around, peering into the crowd.

I scanned the many faces, some of which appeared human, but I wasn’t fooled. My eyes settled on the only one who stood out — Boaz. Not because he was different, but because he was their leader. They circled him like starving dogs anxious to devour whatever scrap of attention he might toss them. But Boaz paid little heed — his focus was entirely on me. His eyes bore into mine like those of a predatory animal. I could practically hear him snarling from across the room.

Frightened, I turned back to continue up the stairs, this time using the handrail for support. The invisible caresses continued until I was out of his view.

Safely hidden on the second floor, I leaned against a white pillar, my breaths coming in short gasps. My toes tingled, and a familiar, dark feeling crept up my body. Magic. Relax. I couldn’t let myself feel it, not here, not now.

Not far away, I spotted the doors leading to the second-floor balcony. It would be in plain view of the guests should they look up. I could make it.

I closed my eyes, inhaled a deep breath, and counted to three. Go! My eyes snapped open, and I bolted.

Fifteen steps left.

Ten steps.

Three.

I reached to push open the door, but froze when I heard my name. The beguiling voice of the devil himself. I turned around slowly.

“Yes?” I asked Boaz, desperately trying to sound curt.

“Will you give me the pleasure of dancing with you?” He extended his hand.

“I don’t feel well.”

“One dance, love.”

Before I could refuse, he took hold of my arm and guided me back downstairs onto the dance floor. When we reached the center of the room, he spun me to him and wrapped his arm around my waist, pressing me to his chest.

“Try to have fun,” he said. “This is a party, after all.”

I avoided his eyes, instead staring beyond to envious faces. The song ended and another began, a bitter harmony of plucked violins and sobbing French horns. It was a torturous melody, one that should be played for the dead, not the living. Boaz’s lip twitched into a subtle smile, as if he knew what I was thinking.

I did my best to act indifferent, but if I came across as cold, Boaz gave no indication. He held me close as if we were lovers, and even began to run his fingers over my bare back in small, circular strokes. It ignited a fire inside me I’d never felt before, and it spread to my lower abdomen and between my thighs.

But this feeling? It was laced with something else, something powerful and magical. I sucked in a breath, my breasts heaving against him. Every touch, every sway of his body, overwhelmed me, whether from revulsion or pleasure, I couldn’t be sure yet.

He pulled away and asked, “Why are you afraid?”

I swallowed around the thickness in my throat. “I’m not.”

“You’re a horrible liar. Look at me.”

I met his gaze. My body weakened, and he tightened his grip.

“Why are you frightened?” he asked again.

I bit the inside of my cheek. “There’s something about you. I don’t know—”

“What do you feel?”

“I feel as if I’m spinning and can’t keep my balance.”

“The power. Intoxicating, isn’t it?” Boaz danced flawlessly, every step obeying his silent command like the tides obey the moon. Other dancing couples retreated from his path as if he were royalty. I didn’t know his real age, but by the way he spoke and carried himself, I’d guess centuries. Maybe he had been royalty at one point in time.

Whatever was happening right now, it was intoxicating and filled my mind with confusion. I had to think of something else, something other than his middle finger which was slowly swirling lower and lower along my bare skin.

I cleared my throat. “Do you always get this much attention?”

He didn’t bother looking around. “They know to respect power when they see it.”

“Arrogant much?”

His dark eyes widened. “It’s not me, love. It’s us.”

“There is no us.”

Boaz paused, smiling knowingly. “Your parents are watching.”

I glanced behind him. Sure enough, Erik and Sable stared in our direction. Sable looked especially excited, her nose scrunched up, hands rubbing together as if anticipating a winning lottery number.

“Why do you think they look so eager?” Boaz asked. He spun me out and brought me back into his arms.

“Probably because you are their type, and they’d like nothing more than to see me with someone like you.”

“And what would you like, Eve?”

His question surprised me. No one had ever asked me what I wanted. “I want to be free to do as I please.”

The smile on his face spread.

“Is something funny?” I asked.

“How would you like to play a little joke on your parents? Teach them a lesson for spying?”

“Like what?”

“Slap me,” he ordered.

“What?”

“Slap me as hard as you can and walk away. Your parents will be furious, and you may pay for it later, but I promise their expressions will be well worth it. Plus you might actually enjoy it.”

I didn’t have to think twice. I stepped away and let my hand fly. It struck his face hard, stinging my palm.

I glanced over at my parents who looked as though I’d struck them rather than Boaz. Their eyebrows pulled tightly together, and their mouths turned down. Lines I never knew existed appeared in sync with bulging veins on their necks. It was a comical scene, for they were still trying to keep up the appearance of having a wonderful time. Their poor faces looked as if they were having twin seizures.

I grinned and walked away. That felt much better than I’d expected. I headed straight to the veranda and stepped into the night, strangely elated. It felt good to defy Erik and Sable again.

“Very good,” Boaz said.

I jumped. He was resting in a chair as if he’d been there all night. There was no trace of a handprint on his face. Next to him, a massive black wolf stared with one blue eye and one white.

“How did you—” I looked back toward the ballroom, my pulse racing. There was no way he could’ve beaten me here.

“Don’t be naïve, love. You know what I am.”

I did and yet, seeing his vampire powers in action, made me shiver with fear. It was easy to forget the monsters around me when they all wore human faces.

My gaze lowered to the strangely still wolf. Without a sound, he bared his sharp canine teeth. “And who’s this friendly beast?”

The wolf growled.

Boaz ran his fingers through its thick, bristly fur. “This is Hunwald.”

“Interesting name. How did you choose it?”

“I didn’t choose it. He did.”

“All right,” I said, not understanding. “How long have you had him?”

“He’s had me since I was a child,” he corrected again.

“What do you mean?”

Boaz leaned forward. The movement was too quick, too smooth, reminding me again how inhuman he really was. Instinctively, I stepped back.

“My mother was a vicious woman. The kind of woman who should never have had a child, but apparently Fate thought it amusing, and she bore me. Though in the end, I’m not sure who the joke was really on.” He smiled to himself. “My mother used to carry a big stick everywhere she went. She called it Thorne, and every time she said its name, she would laugh atrociously, as though it was the funniest thing she’d ever heard. Her saying Thorne only meant one thing. I was to receive a severe beating for failing to fulfill one of her absurd expectations. It was in the middle of one of these beatings that Hunwald found us in the woods. He tore my mother to shreds right in front of me.” He turned to Hunwald and ruffled the fur on his face between his hands. “Didn’t you? You good boy!”

“That’s terrible,” I said.

Boaz’s head snapped up. “Don’t tell me you haven’t ever wished your parents dead.”

I closed my mouth at this. I had wished them dead. Every day for the last several weeks. “I should go back—”

Boaz appeared in front of me, blocking the door. Air caught in my chest. He took hold of my wrist and, with his thumb, rubbed the flesh beneath my palm, exactly where my pulse beat.

“Stay for just a moment longer,” he said, his tone commanding.

My head spun. The circular motion of his thumb on the sensitive part of my wrist made me lightheaded as if I’d had too much to drink.

There it was again. My magic entwining into his.

“I want to wish you a happy birthday,” he purred.

It took me a moment to process his words. “How did you know?”

“How could I forget?”

I tried to communicate that I didn’t understand, but I couldn’t clear the growing fog from my mind. Not even when his hand lifted to my shoulder, and his fingers hooked the strap of my gown. He collapsed the space between us and breathed into my ear, “Your dress is extraordinary.”

His warm breath on my neck, and his fingers against my skin, lit every nerve ending on fire. The feeling only amplified when he drew my earlobe into his mouth and ran his tongue along the sensitive flesh. I found myself lifting my hands for the sole purpose of pulling him further into me but stopped at the last second. What the hell was I doing?

I broke free of his spell and stepped away, my arms falling limp at my sides. I looked down at my dress, realizing in that moment why Sable had chosen it. “This dress was meant for you.”

He laughed. “I hope not. I don’t think it would fit.”

“Sable,” I stuttered, hating that he flustered me. “She chose it because she knew you would like it.”

“Mmm. She does have impeccable taste.”

“You can have it if you like.”

“Right now?” He grinned. “I accept. Hand it over.”

Magic stirred within me again, responding to something inside him. It swelled, pushed and shoved its way to the surface. My anger towards him didn’t help.

“Let me make this perfectly clear.” I pointed my finger at his chest. “You will never have any part of me.”

“But, my love, I already have,” he said, licking his lips.

My gaze tracked the motion of his tongue, watching it slide back into his mouth. A chill erupted up my spine, and I shook my head. I had to get away from him and whatever he was doing to me.

“I have to go.”

I darted around him and returned to the ballroom, leaving him and the wolf to the darkness where they belonged.

Chapter 4

My heart racing, I pushed my way through the crowd of people, keeping my head down. My whole body hummed with dark energy. It wasn’t something I was used to, and it made my chest tighten and muscles contract. I sucked in air through my teeth, grimacing and rubbing at my sternum with my knuckles.

I glanced back to make sure Boaz wasn’t following me, when I slammed into something solid. Hands gripped my arms. At the contact, a warm sensation flooded my system from head to foot completely erasing whatever Boaz had done to me. But it didn’t just make all that dark energy go away. It replaced it with white light, and I immediately felt calm.

I gasped and looked up into blue and intense eyes of a handsome man. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to run into you.”

Still gripping me, he glanced behind me as if to see if I was being chased. Satisfied, his concerned gaze returned to mine. “Are you okay?”

I nodded numbly and searched his face. Nothing about him was familiar. “Who are you?”

“No one important.” He let me go and stepped back, taking his white light with him. He wasn’t dressed like the other guests and looked oddly out of place, and yet, still breathtaking. Black button up shirt. Dark pants. Long dark jacket.

“Everyone here is someone important,” I said. “At least, they think they are.”

His gaze swept the room as if he was looking for someone. “Everyone here are liars.”

His response startled me. Who was this guy? He clearly wasn’t human, but I couldn’t tell exactly what he was either. “I really must know. What is your name?”

His eyes returned to mine, then flickered away as if he didn’t like to look at me. “They are all monsters. You’ll become one too if you don’t leave this place and never return.”

His gaze stopped moving, and his eyes widened ever so slightly on something behind me. The sides of his jaw bulged.

I turned to see what had captured his attention, but when I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, I looked back at him but the man was gone. All in under a second. I’d only seen vampires move that quickly, but surely I would’ve sensed if he was one. But if not a vampire, then what?

I searched the crowd, even moving in and out of it, but he had disappeared for good. Why had he come? Erik and Sable couldn’t have invited him. He was far too different, too… I struggled to think of the word, good.

I thought of him as I returned to my bedroom for the remainder of the party. For some reason, thinking of him made me think of Madelyn, and my heart ached for my old friend and nanny.

My limbs felt heavy as I removed the red dress and hung it up on my bedpost to be taken away in the morning. I never wanted to see it again or see Boaz. The way he’d brought my powers to the surface so easily had been unsettling.

I had to be better at protecting it. Ever since my confession, Erik and Sable had tried many things to get me to show what I could do with my magic even though I told them I had lied.

I desperately needed them to believe I was merely an Adept witch, mildly competent with the ability to memorize spells and perform them with a good deal of accuracy. But they were convinced, unnaturally so, that I would be a Legend witch, capable of manipulating the world around me with a single thought. I wasn’t that nor did I want to be, but I did have enough power inside me that I knew my parents would want access to it to fulfill their evil designs.

Ever since I refused to use magic again, they’d upped their game in trying to force the issue. They’d threatened, bullied, bribed and even locked me in a dark box for a full day to get me to concede, but I wouldn’t. My love and loyalty toward Madelyn was far stronger than any desire to please my parents.

Several hours later, the party died down, until all I heard were the servants cleaning up after the guests. I didn’t get ready for bed. I had a feeling my night was not over yet.

It wasn’t long before Erik and Sable’s heavy footsteps slapped against the marbled floor, reminding me of a hammer and a pickax. I slowly stood from my bed, swaying slightly, and prepared for what was to come.

Erik pushed open my door. He was still dressed in a black tux that looked too tight for his solid frame. Behind a row of perfectly shaped teeth, his tongue clicked repeatedly.

Next to him, Sable sighed at his impatience, and said to me, “You didn’t leave Boaz with a good impression.”

“Didn’t I?”

“You were rude and ugly. Slapping him in public like that.” She scowled. “You’re an embarrassment to our kind.”

Erik nodded his head in agreement. “There are consequences for your actions, Eve.”

“What will it be tonight?” I asked. “Spiders? Solitary confinement?”

“Don’t mock us!” Sable glanced at my father. “Tell her what we have in store for her.”

“I’d rather it be a surprise, but I’m fairly certain we’ll be able to kill two birds with one stone.”

I drew my brows together. “What do you mean?”

“To stop your punishment, you’ll have to use powerful magic. It’s as simple as that.”

“That won’t happen.” I pulled on my slippers, knowing I would have to follow them soon.

A slow and deliberate smile split his face. “We’ll see.”

“Whatever you say, Erik.”

Sable moved to my red dress and inspected it. “Did you get anything on it?”

“No.”

She glanced back at me. “Are you sure? You’re not very graceful when you eat.”

“I didn’t eat.”

“Good.” Sable removed the dress and draped it over her arm.

“Let’s get this over with,” Erik snapped.

Sable’s long fingers caressed the satin material. “You go ahead. I’ll be there in a minute.”

Erik scowled but didn’t argue. “Don’t take long.”

He walked out of the room with me following in his shadow. I knew exactly where we were going as I’d been to this same place since I’d turned seven. I could’ve made the trip with my eyes closed.

Our footsteps echoed as we made our way down a narrow, circular stairway to the very bottom level, hidden far below the mansion. The only way to get there was through a secret door in Erik’s office. The smell of alcohol drifted behind him, turning my stomach inside out. I quickly covered my mouth to stop from gagging. The smell was always a precursor to pain.

Erik removed a key from within his pocket and pushed it into the keyhole of a thick metal door. The creaking and groaning of the hinges furthered my nausea. I remained where I was, my heart thundering. Normally, I was more mentally prepared for these sessions, but the night’s events with Boaz and the other strange man had left me unfocused and distracted.

“Get in here,” Erik barked from within the room. I heard him open a drawer.

Knees weak and shaking, I stepped into my father’s “training” room. The smell of jasmine accosted all my senses, forcing me to stumble back into a wall. The plants hung everywhere; some draped from the ceiling while others had been arranged in specific patterns in the corners of the room. I had a sudden urge to smash them all, but my body wouldn’t move.

Long white counters lined the walls. Inside their drawers held all kinds of magical devices and tools. On the surface of the counters, cages contained different animals, from spiders to rats. Erik kept them as pets and treated them all with great care, unless their dead bodies or blood were needed for spells. Magic always came first.

In the center of the room rested a single, immoveable metal chair with black straps bolted to its underside.

After Erik had carefully inspected each cage for proper food and water, he said, “In the chair.”

My nails dug into the wall behind me. “Please, Father—”

“Do it.”

By the time I reached the cold chair, my legs were shaking so badly that I had no choice but to collapse into it, sweat breaking on my brow. Stay calm.

Erik ran his fingers across the different animal cages on top of the counter. The sound grated on my already agitated nerves. “I don’t understand why you make this so difficult. This would all end if you’d only accept your birthright.”

I closed my eyes and focused on the lie I’d already professed a thousand times. “I’m sorry I’m such a disappointment, but I’m not like you. Magic barely exists inside of me.”

“I’ve heard that before,” he muttered to himself as he lifted a basket-like cage and peered in between the tight weave to something inside. “It is utterly impossible for a child born to the Segurs and Whitmores not to become a Legend. You are deliberately holding back.”

“Why would I do that?”

“Because you’re a shitty, ungrateful daughter.”

I flinched at his words. He was being especially cruel tonight, which meant he was stressed. “Why is it so important I be a Legend witch?”

He looked up at me beneath dark, thick eyebrows, his expression serious. “Creating you was our only job. We can’t fail or we die.”

Frigid goosebumps broke across my skin, and I swallowed. “What are you talking about?”

“Have I missed anything?” Sable’s voice asked behind me. She crossed the room to her usual place in the corner and sat on a stool surrounded by jasmine. She’d changed into a silky green, short-sleeved housecoat. Tucked beneath her arm was a watering can.

“We were just beginning,” Erik said, smoothing his hair back into place. He walked over to me and set the cage down before proceeding to fasten the straps around my chest and legs. In my ear, he whispered, “For your protection.”

I forced my breathing to slow and pushed my mind somewhere else. I couldn’t let them have it, my magic. Madelyn’s words echoed in my mind: It is yours to protect.

Sable poured water into the nearby plants and touched their leaves tenderly. “I trust this won’t take long? I have a meeting in the morning.”

Erik glared. “It will take as long as it needs to.”

She sighed as she plucked wilted leaves from a plant hanging above her.

Erik knelt in front of me and removed my slippers. “What I’m about to do may be extreme, but we are out of time. I hope you’ll do the right thing and use your abilities to save yourself.”

I tried not to let my mind wander with what new torture he may have devised. He lifted the cage and peered inside its tight slits again, the corner of his mouth rising. I repressed a shiver.

“You embarrassed us tonight, Eve,” he said as he opened the top of the cage. Whatever was inside bumped the walls, almost knocking it from Erik’s hands.

“What are you going to do?” I didn’t mean to whimper.

“You’ll see, but remember, you have the power to stop it.”

Water poured from Sable’s can.

I closed my eyes and prepared for the inevitable. I would not use magic. No matter what.

Erik took hold of my foot and guided it into the trap. Something bit me hard, and I yelped.

“This rat hasn’t eaten for days,” he explained. “I hope your foot has enough flesh on it—”

My screams drowned out the rest of his words. The hungry rat tore into my skin with teeth and claws. I tried to kick at it, but that only made it madder, and it clamped onto my pinky toe with sharp teeth.

Time to leave.

To escape the pain, I did what I always did: left reality and traveled to Eden, a secret haven I’d created when I was just a child. It was a refuge hidden deep within my subconscious that I used to protect myself from Erik and Sable’s constant abuse.

I’d first heard of Eden when I was only six from an elderly woman who’d marveled when I’d revealed my name.

I was standing outside a jewelry shop in Manhattan waiting for my father, when a woman with thick eyelashes and a gentle smile approached me. “What’s your name, little one?”

I’d been taught not to speak to others, but the woman’s eyes felt like a canopy, sheltering me from the world. In a small voice, I answered, “Eve.”

“What a beautiful name,” the old woman said, her gnarled hands gripping a cane. “You must be really special.”

“Why?”

“Because Eve was the mother of all living things. She was beautiful, kind, and full of love. It’s a great honor to be named after her.”

“Where is Eve?” I asked, hoping I could visit her.