Page 45 of When Bones Whisper
Alexander leaned over Charlotte’s shoulder, candlestick in hand, and pushed open the heavy wooden door to the chapel. The musty scent mixed with dust, incense, and wax hit the back of her throat. Her eyes landed on Katherine, whose crimson dress was muted in the pale moonlight spilling through the arched, stained-glass panes. Fractured light cast on the stone floor around them, each window depicting angels in their winged forms. Raindrops spilled down their faces like tears from the storm brewing outside.
A Latin prayer left Katherine’s lips in rushed whispers, her focus not breaking when the two of them entered.
Alexander’s voice came out in a purr. “Praying, Darling?”
She made the cross sign with her fingers over her chest before looking at him and winking. “Not to whom you think.” She climbed to her feet, and brushed the dust from the flowing, sheer fabric of her skirt. “If we’re going to defeat the Avery family, we can use the aid of every deity. Especially the darkest ones.”
She joined them, and linked her arm with Alexander’s, while brushing his blond locks behind his ear. “You look a mess, dear.”
Charlotte’s brows furrowed. Were they together? She’d assumed Katherine was with Nathaniel.
Alexander let out a boyish laugh. “It’s been a long day.” He revealed his inked palms and tsked under his breath. “Nathaniel had me handwrite every invitation.”
Katherine shook her head. “I don’t know why you do everything he asks. That’s a servant's task.”
“I’m indebted to him.”
She rolled her expressive brown eyes and looked at Charlotte and said, “Did you enjoy your dance with Lord Sallow?”
Every honeyed word fell from her lips like venom.
“It was adequate,” she said carefully, watching Katherine’s every shift in expression.
“Now that are you done with your diversions, we should attend to business.”
“You mean magic?”
Katherine’s lips curved into a wicked grin. “Of course. You need to be able to defend yourself against the Avery witches. We cannot always count on men to keep us safe and it would be a horrible shame if they got to you first and you ended up dead.”
Chapter Thirteen
After waving off Alexander, Katherine sat in front of the fire in the library, her legs crossed. Her gloved fingers brushed the top of the stack of four grimoires. “Now that we are alone,” she said, opening one to the middle, running her hand over the old, discolored parchment. “Tell me, what happened when you danced with Nathaniel.”
“Is this an interrogation?” Charlotte asked, sitting on the other side of the stack of grimoires. “I thought we were practicing?”
“We are and it is not. I am merely curious. Did you kiss him?”
“No,” Charlotte replied all too quickly. “Nothinguntoward happened.”
Yes, he had pulled her so close that she could feel every hard muscle of his torso, and he had given her that rose, but that didn’t mean what Katherine thought it did.
“Good.”
“You like him?” she asked, the heat of the fire burning her rosy cheeks.
“That is not why I ask,” Katherine said, her brown eyes widening. “Alexander mentioned he fed on you.”
With a hard swallow, she lifted her fingers to graze her throat. “Does that mean something?”
With a flick of her fingers, she pushed back Charlotte’s hair to look at her blemish-free neck, and tsked. “Because, vampires do not feed on mortals and stop.” She dropped Charlotte’s strands, and the curls bounced around her chest. “Once they get a taste of a mortal’s blood, they go into a frenzy and feed not only on their blood, but their emotions and memories too.”
“Yes. I got to experience that firsthand.”
“It creates a bond, an all-consuming bloodlust to finish what they started. The curse ensures they feel their victims' deaths, that they experience what they do. That bond only breaks at the point of death.”
Goosebumps prickled on her chest and upper back, slowly spreading across her skin. “So, he wants to kill me?”
Her mouth quickly dried as she rocked back on her knees, pursing her lips tight. That was why he’d gotten so close to her throat earlier during the dance, why his lips danced around the top of her ear.
