Page 23 of Midnight Enchantment

“Did you love her?”

“No.”

“Did she love you?”

“No. It was a marriage of convenience, more or less, but we got on well together. She gave me a son and a daughter and then, like my mother, she died in childbirth and the infant with her. Life went on. I hired a housekeeper to look after the children and the house.”

He paused, a faraway look in his eyes. “It was late on a snowy night when the vampires came. They killed the housekeeper. One of them, a woman, found my children hiding under their beds and carried them away. I never saw them again. The other vampire, also a woman, came after me. I fought her off as best I could, but I was no match for her strength. When she bit me, I feared she was never going to stop. The world turned gray. I could feel her drinking my blood, feel the strength leaving my body. And then, as I began to sink into oblivion, she pried my mouth open. I cried out, afraid of what she was going to do next, but she did not kill me. Instead, she bit her own wrist and forced some of her blood into my mouth. It burned my tongue like hellfire, but I was too weak to spit it out. And then … then I did not want to.

“I don’t remember much of the rest of that night. There were men, I do not know how many. They killed the vampire and left me for dead. I know now they were vampire hunters, just as I know they would have killed me, too, if they had known what she had done.

“I woke in agony the next night, certain I was dying.” He laughed, a cold, bitter laugh. “Little did I know I was already dead. Hunger drove me out of the house. My horses were gone, stolen by the hunters, no doubt, so I walked to the village and attacked the first man I saw.” He shook his head with the memory. “I drank him dry, and in the process, the demon that had infected him was somehow transferred to me.” Again, that cold, bitter laugh. “As if becoming a vampire was not bad enough.”

He glanced at Lily, who was staring at him, transfixed. “Have you heard enough?”

She shook her head.

“The country was at war then and I became a soldier. No one questioned where I went during the day. I fought at night, sometimes behind the lines, attacking anything and anyone who got in my way. I was indestructible. I lost count of the men who fell to my sword. And of the men who fed my hunger.” A muscle throbbed in his jaw. “I was no fit companion for man or beast,” he said, his voice harsh. “And I am not sure that has changed. Good night, Liliana.”

“Raedan, wait … ”

But he was already gone.

He never should have told Liliana of his past, he thought as he stalked through the night. He had thought his hatred for himself, for what he had done in the past, buried and forgotten, but it rose now, thick and hot within him—the memory of the lives he had taken with no thought of anything but the need to kill, to feed on the hot, fresh blood of his victims. He had known, in some deep recess of his mind, that it was the demon driving him so relentlessly, but he had lacked the strength to fight it.

It shamed him to know that he had reveled in the shedding of blood, in the taste of it on his tongue, in the power it gave him. It had taken him centuries to learn to subdue the creature, to feed without killing. Centuries to learn to pretend he was human, to blend in with humanity, to make love to a woman without taking her life.

He had to leave Liliana now, before his affection turned to something stronger, deeper. Before leaving became impossible. Before he succumbed to the demon’s constant urging to sink his fangs into her sweet flesh and drink and drink until there was nothing left.

A whispered word broke the demon-spell he had woven around her to prevent her family from locating her whereabouts.

And then he fled the city.

Lily paced the floor, totally confused by Raedan’s behavior. Why had he left so abruptly, with no explanation? Was it something she’d said? But how could that be? She had listened, transfixed, as he told her of his past—a terrible past, to be sure, one she had trouble reconciling with the man she knew. True, she hadn’t known him that long. She knew he was a powerful being. But he had been nothing but kind to her. Gentle. Tender. Loving. He had done horrible things in the past, but then, he’d had horrible things done to him.

Hope flared within her when she heard a knock at the door. Hoping he had returned, she hurried to answer it. Only it wasn’t Raedan.

“Granny! What are you doing here?”

“Where is he?” Ava brushed past Lily, her gaze darting around the room.

“He’s not here,” Lily said as she closed the door. “How did you find me?”

“It wasn’t your spell keeping you hidden from us,” Ava said grimly. “It was his.”

“I don’t understand.”

“It was a demon spell. He cast it around you so we couldn’t find you. Your parents and Dominic are half out of their minds with worry. Are you all right, child?”

“Of course I am.”

“He hasn’t … he didn’t … ?”

Lily stared at her great-grandmother. “Didn’t what?” she asked. And then blushed from head to foot. “Of course not! He’s been a perfect gentleman the whole time. How could you even think such a thing?”

“Lily, use your head. The man is a vampire, possessed by a demon. I credited you with more sense than to get involved with such a creature! Get packed, I’m taking you home.”

“What if I don’t want to go?”

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