Page 46 of When Bones Whisper
A strange swirling sensation sent tingles through her lower torso and thighs. With a shake of her head, she dismissed the memory.
“Yes, I’ve seen the way he looks at you and while I do not particularly care for you,” she confessed without stopping, making Charlotte wince. “I do not wish to see a fellow witch torn apart, nor see Nathaniel and Alexander’s only chance at mortality and happiness taken away, because he can’t control his impulses. You must not find yourself alone with him again. Ensure Alexander is with you when you must be in the same room as him. Nathaniel has a lot more restraint than other vampires, but alone, in proximity to you, I fear he will snap and tear you apart.” Her eyes hooded as she turned around, her back facing the lit fireplace. “Just, keep your distance, and I am certain he will keep his.”
A flush crept through her chest, blooming heat in the area over her heart. A surge of energy shot through her veins, as her lips slowly parted, and a lump formed in her throat. Suddenly, she felt like prey. Not that she hadn’t before, but it was worse now.
The bloodlust was likely the reason he lured her into the ballroom, and probably the reason he rushed out at the end to feed.
She recalled his fangs brushing her throat, his lips so close to her yesterday, and imagined him devouring every inch of her, and not in an unpleasant way.
“Don’t,” Katherine warned, and Charlotte jumped. “I recognize that look in your eyes. Don’t think about him that way.”
“I’m not,” Charlotte snapped, her cheeks heating at the thought.
Maybe her mind had gone there for a few moments. He’d helped her with her grief and dark thoughts, and there were times she saw his humanity and wanted nothing more than to nurture it. So yes, for a moment, she thought she’d felt something like the tiniest twinge of a feeling flutter in her stomach. Nonetheless, she would never even consider being intimate with a creature who kept a log of people he ate.
“Good, because evenifhe was attracted to you,” she said, with knowing eyes, “the desire to drink from you will always be stronger. Do not be pulled in by him. It will only leave you heartbroken.”
“Is that what happened to you?” she asked, sensing the change in her tone.
She laughed, the corners of her eyes creasing. “No, he’s a philanderer, a wolf without a heart. We have simply brushed in the past, but I knew what I was getting into. He has quite the stamina.”
“You mean—”
“He is diligent in his activities.”
Her teeth sank into her bottom lip, eyes squeezing shut for a second, and Charlotte wondered what memory she was reliving, and why she wanted to know more. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t done the act, although no one knew about the boy who used her for her body, romancing her into believing he loved her before leaving.
“It never meant anything more?” she asked. In the ballroom, she had felt his need for intimacy, that burning longing for wanting something more. Devotion was a key theme in most of the books he read. Charlotte cleared her throat and added, “Surely even a vampire can fall in love.”
Katherine adjusted the hairpin in her golden waves and sniffed. “He cannot love like you and me. I don’t believe that man has a romantic bone in his body. He is quite mechanical. Talented, with his body, but there is no feeling there. I do not mind it, especially when he fed me his blood after. The high is better than anything else.”
Her jaw slacked. “He feeds you his blood?”
“He has before, but not for some time. We have not been intimate since last year. Although I am hoping to have some blood at the ball. It is part of his plan, to spike the drinks.”
“Is that how you plan on drugging them?”
“Yes. Their blood is an aphrodisiac to mortals. It dilates our blood vessels, increases blood flow, and makes our hearts beat faster. It also amplifies something up here,” she said, placing an index finger to her temple, “that inhibits our senses and makes us more open to suggestion. It is far better than any alcohol or opium.” Katherine let out a long, shaky exhale. “Now, focus. Before we begin, we must siphon the dead,” she added when Charlotte bit her lip. “Every single spell in this grimoire requires sacrificial magic or—”
“Strong power, siphoned from the dead.”
“Yes.”
Charlotte placed her hand on the grimoire. “I’ve read them all a dozen times.”
Her eyes lit up. “I assumed you were unpracticed.”
“I am, but I’ve always been curious.”
“Good. Fortunately for us, Sallow Manor is haunted and steeped in a history of violent deaths. So, let us siphon one of those poor, lost souls.” Katherine extended her lace-gloved fingers to Charlotte. “Now, give me your hand.”
“Why?” she asked but took it anyway.
Katherine’s green eyes sparkled when she said, “So the dead won’t snatch you away once we enter their realm.”
Chapter Fourteen
She may have only been teasing, but Charlotte knew what horrors awaited them on the other side. So when Latin incantations spilled from Katherine’s lips, a shiver skittered down her spine.
