Page 33 of The Rising Dark
Finally, an eternity later, an ending that came way too soon, Lavinia’s fangs pulled back.There was a slight wetness—her tongue licking the last traces of blood from Michelle’s neck.Still, Lavinia held her in her arms, and Michelle snuggled close into the embrace.
Chapter Eighteen
It was difficult to tear herself away from Michelle, but their little oasis within reality was shattered by Quintia’s shouting for Lavinia from outside of Lavinia’s door.
“Coming!”Lavinia answered for Quintia’s sake.“Are you hungry?”she asked in a smaller voice, pulling back slightly so she could see Michelle.A deep red flush braced her cheeks, her eyes bright.
The taste of her blood was still on Lavinia’s tongue.Strength was trickling back into her veins, suffusing her with a feeling of well-being that had been lacking for a while.She really should have fed earlier.But then, it was hard to regret her actions when they had led to this moment.
“Not really,” Michelle answered.Then she wrinkled her nose.“Okay, maybe a little.It’s been a long night.”
She looked so damn adorable in that moment.Before she knew what she was doing, Lavinia leaned in and kissed her forehead, as fleeting a touch as from a butterfly’s wing.Michelle closed her eyes briefly, and the flush on her cheeks deepened.
“Just give me a moment,” Lavinia said, and tore herself from their embrace.It was an instant loss, and her body yearned for the feel of Michelle in her arms immediately.She walked into her walk-in closet, pulled a white T-shirt from a pile of identical white T-shirts.Slowly, rational thought was returning now that she’d created a bit of distance between her and Michelle.
The sharp scent of fresh blood still clung to them both, mingling with Michelle’s own smell, that now-familiar scent of floral notes with a hint of warm spice.Stepping into a pair of soft grey leggings, she couldn’t decide whether she’d just made a horrible mistake.There was no place for a human in Lavinia’s life.There was hardly any space for anyone else at all beyond the Sisterhood and her own family, let alone someone from a different species.But she couldn’t help but grin in the privacy of the twilight of her closet.If it had been a mistake, it had been an amazing one that she would refuse to regret.
“Come on,” she said, walking back into the brightness of the room, and led Michelle to the staircase at the end of the west wing corridor.As they walked, Michelle’s hand brushed Lavinia’s.Without looking at her, she slid her hand into Michelle’s, their fingers entangling.They didn’t let go until almost at the dining room door, a handful of voices filtering through the wood that had been returned to its rightful place.
The door opened to a familiar scene.Lucretia sat at the head of the table, arguing with Quintia over whether she should have a larger helping of the roast pork that lay on a silver dish between them.
“You don’t eat enough,” Quintia urged.
“None of your business,” Luce countered.
“You skipped breakfast this morning.”
“I didn’t know you were my keeper.”
“Take it.”Quintia threatened the sovereignty of Luce’s plate with a piece of pork dangling from a pair of tongs.Luce easily warded the incursion off with a clash of cutlery.
“No.”
While they argued, Vesta scrolled on her phone with one dainty finger while she loaded her plate with green beans, seemingly without looking.
“No phones at the table,” Messalina beside her said, frowning.
Vesta launched into a defence of her behaviour, quoting several different families who were at a tipping point in their struggle for power, rattling off a list of names that apparently meant as little to Messalina as they did to Lavinia.Octavia, however, nodded along with Vesta’s explanation.The clean gauze wrapped around her head contrasted starkly with her electric blue hair, now free from blood.Slipping between the cacophony of voices, Mrs.Frost put another steaming bowl of fragrant food onto the table before disappearing back into the kitchen.
Lucretia was the only one to look up at their entrance.“Sit down, you two.”Lavinia pulled out a chair for Michelle beside Messalina and sat down opposite her, next to Vesta.
“I don’t think we’ve met,” Messalina said, addressing Michelle.She extended her hand.“Messalina.I’ve heard so much about you.”
“Michelle.”They shook hands.
“I didn’t hear you come in,” Lavinia said, holding out her plate for Vesta to share some of the green beans.
“I just arrived.I came as soon as I could.I wish I had been here with you all.”Messalina’s eyes spoke of fatigue.She had pulled back her black hair into thick twists and still wore the flexible, lightweight armour suitable for missions where little fighting was expected.
“You’re stationed in Scotland.We can’t be everywhere at once,” Lavinia said.
Messalina sighed and held out the dish with roast pork so Michelle could serve herself.“Don’t I know it.”
“How’s Gus?”Finally, the fray at the head of the table subsided, a relative quiet returning to the room.Beside Lavinia, Vesta slipped her phone back into the pocket of her flowing dress.
“Gus is my consort.Augustus,” Messalina explained to Michelle.“He’s fine.Wanted to come, but with the little one… It’s not always easy.”
Lavinia nodded.Messalina was the only one in the Sisterhood who had a child.It was a challenging life, and adding a young child into the mix made everything even more complicated.Gus was a wonderful consort, understanding of the risks Messalina took, but even then, the competing demands took a heavy toll on her.
