Desecrated Beauty (Twisted Fairy Tales #1) (6 page)

“What the hell!” She gasped and backed away from him like he was a devil.

Nero admired her eyes and how wide they went, the way the flecks of green sparkled in her hazel eyes like light bouncing off an emerald. He didn’t seem bothered by her fear as he smiled, setting the vase back down in its original position.

“They could survive, I’m sure, but they would have to live under the council rules and here they are free to live as I choose.”

Quill wasn’t listening, she was backed against the window and her back twisted the curtains open. Nero hissed and moved toward her at the same speed as before. His arm curled around her waist and wrenched her away from the window before he yanked the curtains tightly closed. Her body was flush against his, every inch of hard surface electric against hers.

Lust attempted to cloud her mind but it was still reeling from his unnatural speed and the animalistic quality of his movements; there was something wrong with him.

“What are you?” Her voice was tight and choked as she pressed her hands against his chest, forcing him away from her. At least she tried, but he held fast. He didn’t even budge no matter how much she pushed. His arms seemed to tighten and it only furthered the fight or flight instinct in her.

“Do you want to know?” If he told her it could scare her more, push her away further. But then again, hiding his true nature was proving more difficult around her and he found little pleasure in the small thrills he got from terrifying her.

“It’s a little late for ignorance.” Her fingers curled against his chest, her nails biting against the material of his shirt and managing to scratch his chest. The sensation was enjoyable, his chest pressed harder against the nails for more. When Quill felt the shift, she realised what he was doing and jerked back, trying to peel as much of her body off of him as she could despite the tight vice of his arm.

“True, but I don’t think you can handle the truth.”

She scowled, not liking his doubt, “I can handle it.” She straightened up, steeling her posture because she wasn’t going to let him have the control he so desperately craved.

Part of the appeal of this woman in his arms was her stubbornness, her determination, her attitude toward the rest of the world. She was a fighter, he liked someone with hot blood.

“What’s your name?” If she was going to live here with him, he was going to call her by her real name. She refused to answer at first, staring up at him with indignation. But he arched an eyebrow, met her gaze and she felt herself melting in his eyes.

“Quill.”

“Your real name,” he said with bemusement, although approving of her sharp nickname - the perfect match for her personality and tongue.

“Izzy.”

“Another nickname. What’s your real name?”

“Isabelle.”

“Isabelle.” He purred her name, dragging the back of two fingers down the side of her cheek. She didn’t jerk away this time, but her muscles coiled tightly, ready to spring. His fingers carried on travelling, pushing up into her soft wavy strands before curling around the back of her head and holding her as her leaned in close.

His breath was cool each time it brushed against her skin, but she noticed this time he was forcing it like he was displaying to her he was breathing.

“What are you?” she said again, determined this time to not let him change the topic and distract her. He had a way of completely throwing her off, making her forget what she wanted to know. He was doing it on purpose which only made her more suspicious about what he was hiding.

“You’re sure you want to know the whole truth?” He released her and stepped back. The rush of warm air hit her and she realised his body temperature was unnaturally frigid. It seemed like a daunting question but Quill nodded anyways.

“Sit down then Isabelle, it’s a long story.”

“I’m fine here,” she said obstinately but Nero didn’t care as he moved back to her and at the speed of light she was sat on the couch with him looming over her, a toothy smile looking down at her.

But the thing she noticed most was that his lateral incisors were pointed.

“No!” She gasped, falling backwards on the couch. Her mind reeled as it struggled to understand what he was showing her. “No, that’s not real,” she said firmly, shaking her head and childishly closing her eyes.

“What isn’t real?”

“You’re not a…”

“A…” His bemused voice annoyed her and she opened her eyes again to give him exactly the piece of her mind she intended to. But those fangs were staring back at her, turning her as cold as his skin. So she shook her head, it didn’t help but she couldn’t say the word yet.

So he did, “a vampire?” Her eyes leapt up to his face, begging him to crack a smile and tell her in some way that he’s fucking with her. But he shook his head, reading her mind - perhaps literally?

“What do you know about the… What is it the Desecrated call it? Blood baths?”

“The military came in and took control after several radicals tried to bomb government buildings.” She spoke with an almost robotic tone.

“Not quite,” he said gently, moving to sit next to her but it only made her move down the rest of the couch to put a distance between them.

“It wasn’t radicals that caused the initial trouble. My kind arrived a few years before the blood baths. Not in huge numbers, but enough that the missing bodies started to pile up. There were more reports of serial killers when in fact it was nothing more than careless rogue vampires. It drew the attention of the council and one by one the council members came over. There was an opportunity to be found here. People were unhappy, society was falling apart; so the council gave them an offer they couldn’t refuse. But when given the chance for free range hunting the vampires flocked here in droves, and it became what you ended up calling the Blood Baths. We admittedly lost control and a lot of unnecessary violence occurred. Some humans tried to fight back but then others came up with a plan, the purity tests. This ensured that the innocents weren’t harmed by the vampires and received our protection while the others were fair game.”

“Fair game?!” Quill interrupted with disgust. “You’re talking about human lives that were wiped from existence for no reason. They’ve separated us and pinned us against one another based on our abilities. It’s sick, the whole system is sick. I was raised to believe my only worth came in how to kill someone and if I failed at that I would be “put out to pasture” so to speak. But what you’re saying is true, if I hadn’t gotten away I would’ve become someone’s meal!” Quill rose from her spot on the couch, turning to look down at Nero in horror.

“You are still, potentially, someone’s meal,” he said with quiet reserve.

“Yours?! Is that what I’m here for? Did I trade myself for my sister’s life so that you can have a blood donor here whenever you have a whim to feed?”

He rose quickly and moved toward her, setting his hands on her shoulders. There was a firm, reassuring touch to his grip as his eyes bore down into her. “No, you’re not just a meal for me. If I wanted to feed from you, there have been many opportunities when I have broken your resistance and compelled you. In those moments, I could’ve fed from you and I chose not to because that isn’t what I want from you. I admit, I have fed from Rose before. I didn’t know she was your sister, that makes this… complicated… I’m sure. But you have to understand the way the system was created and why it was created in that way.”

Quill jerked away from him, shaking her head in disgust. “No, I don’t want to hear your excuses. You’re a monster. And you’ll never-“ she poked him in the chest, accentuating her words, “never feed on me. I’ll stake you before you even get the chance.” Her entire body was shaking with adrenaline and nerves as she stormed to the door, wrenching it open and making a beeline for the front door she’d entered through.

But it was day time and none of the house guards would risk her opening the door and exposing any of them to the sunlight. Three burly, muscle-laden men stood in her way challenging her to try and fight them just so they could find some amusement for once in their job. She gasped in frustration before turning and running up the stairs of the manor, rushing through the hallways until she found a bedroom that was unoccupied and slammed the door shut like a child.

She was still shaking even after she closed the way between her and Nero. Not that he couldn’t have stopped her if he wanted to. Still, she stepped back from the door and pushed the dresser in front of it, hoping to block him out completely. When she determined she felt safe enough, she slumped to the ground in a heap.

Vampires… Vampires were real. How was that possible?

She couldn’t’ very well believe it let alone wrap her head around it. It couldn’t be real if vampires were real what else was real? She had seen the blood baths herself, there had been nothing supernatural about them. Just savage destruction, literal rivers of blood had streamed down the streets. Why would they have wasted so much?

She shook her head, covering her ears like it would block out the words he’d said, stop her memories and keep reality as she had known it intact. But beyond the darkness behind her eyelids she could see her father, his insistence that she had to be stronger, faster, better than anyone else. Was he trying to save her? Was he trying to ensure she was strong enough that she was useful to them and never a possible meal plan? But if that was true, why did he let Rose go? Why did he push her toward having a patron? She could’ve been broken the way Quill had been, she could’ve been made into the same well-oiled machine as her sister. It wasn’t fair. The lack of childhood she had possessed and the pain she’d endured at the hand of a man who had said he loved her and that what he did, he did to make her stronger.

She had the scars lining her back from his belt where it had broken the skin. She could still feel the trickle of blood running down her spine from the slight slits he’d created. Her heart was permanently broken because he had beaten her so badly her heart had been unable to cope with the stress of it. He had signed her death warrant. There was no love, no protection in that. She would’ve been better off with a patron like Rose if that were his intention - would she not have been?

But the idea of spending the rest of her life at the beck and call of someone who only wanted her for her life force… She couldn’t bear it. She wouldn’t.

A knock echoed through the room after a few moments and she turned her head sharply to look at it.

“Fuck off!”

“Now, that’s no way to speak to your host.”

“I don’t care. I’m not going to be your meal.”

“I told you, Isabelle, that’s not what I want from you.”

“Quill, my name is Quill.”

“I think Isabelle is more suiting for you than that silly nickname.” The dresser rattled a little as he tried to open it and she jumped to her feet watching in horror as he managed to move it by pushing the door open. She moved quickly around the room, feeling naked without her knife as she searched around for something to use instead. It was stupid, but she brandished the lamp without its shade like a sword as he entered the room.

Nero took one look at her and laughed, “Isabelle…” He tsked her like a child before moving closer, “I know you’re scared right now. This is why I wanted to tell you with time. I wanted to get you accustomed to the idea before giving you the whole truth. You put me in an awkward position…”

“I’m not scared, I’m freaking out okay! I don’t…” She didn’t know anything, she didn’t know what the point of her whole existence was anymore. The rebellion was a sham, they would never be able to take down a nest of vampires and there was no military conspiracy like most of them assumed. They were all just sitting ducks, waiting for the vampires to descend on their compound and tear their throats out. Her sister was no safer there than she had been here. In fact, with Nero’s protection she might’ve been safer. At least other vampires would’ve had to ask his permission for his subscriber if they wanted a taste. She assumed.

“Isabelle.” He said her name so sharply she turned to look at him in surprise, not realizing she had been babbling out loud. He had moved closer to her this time, reaching out and taking her waist between his hands as he drew her body close to his.

“Look at me.” She refused to, he said something earlier about compelling, she wasn’t going to fall for that again.

“Look at me,” he commanded, the tone of voice he used made her do it out of instinct. “You are safe. I understand that you believe differently, but you are safe. No one, not even myself, will touch you against your wishes. This is my home, but you are not to be hurt or frightened by anyone within it. They are here to ensure your comforts are met but otherwise they will not interact with you unless you pose a danger to my safety. Do you understand?”

His words helped to calm her thoughts as she nodded slowly, letting herself relax a little more.

“Now, you will sit down and you will let me tell you everything as I attempted to do downstairs. This time you will not interrupt and you will wait until I finish to interject.” He released her waist and let her move to the bed, slipping down on it dreamily. He should’ve felt a little guiltier using the full strength of his abilities on her, but she was only going to endanger herself if she carried on with her self-induced panic.

“When the Blood Baths began it had been decided this was the way to rectify some of the impurities in the human race. We systematically wiped out the weak and the spoilt - that is, the gangsters and criminals. Low-lifes who didn’t contribute to the society we intended to create. After that the tests were put in place. Because of the necessity to keep our secret there needed to be the agents, as you call them, who would be the militia force to ensure that everything ran smoothly. The patronage system was created to ensure that something like the Blood Baths never happened again. Each Vampire was forced to enroll his presence and then he was able to take on a subscriber to act as his own source of blood. Part of his job though was to provide a comfortable lifestyle for his human. We are the stronger race, Darwinism they call it. This is how it was supposed to be all along. For too long we have lived in the shadows, even now we stand on the cusp but with the humans who know of our existence we are far more free than we used to be.”

“Then why do you live on the outside of society?” He had told her not to interrupt, but the question was too burning to ignore.

“Because, I didn’t wish to enroll in the system. I am old. I am far older than most Vampires who are here and I have no interest in the politics that come from being known.”

“How is it possible that you’re that old and unknown?”

“I have lived my life very much under the radar.”

“Then why did you come to the one place that seems to be the least conspicuous of them all?”

“It is complicated.”

“Tell me.”

“I was intrigued, even interested in the idea that the council presented. I have never been interested in being a part of the council but the opportunity they have presented my kind... This is the first time they had put aside their self-serving habits and done something for the greater good of our kind. I fear that by enrolling ourselves may present a danger that they haven’t foreseen yet. The human race, by nature, is based very much on the idea of survival. They want to survive. It might not be now or it might not even be for a hundred years, but there may come a time when someone has an idea to fight back and from that idea they build their following. Then this following gets their hands on the enrolment of every vampire in North America and suddenly we are being hunted like the witches.”

“Witches.”

“Yes, witches. Of course witches are real.”

“Of course,” she said dryly, staring at him. “So you living on the fringes of society is a self-preservation technique?”

“Yes, and I have no interest in making my identity known to the council so that they might annoy me to join them. I have no wish to be in that sort of position. It is not true power.”

“No, nothing like the power of lordship.”

“I’m not a lord, but I took that title by earning it.”

“Earning it?”

“I might not be well known amongst my kind, but I have a reputation. Originally it stemmed from my father’s but I have created one more myself. I am a whisper in the back of my kind’s mind. My cruelty and viciousness are well known amongst the others, but only a few have actually seen it. That’s true power.”

“Because it makes people fear you without even being there to give them something to be afraid of.”

“Exactly.” She pursed her lips, thinking of her father as she spoke before looking back up at him again. “What’s the council?”

“It’s our governing body. They create the laws for our kind, they enforce them and they ensure that we are never discovered.”

“This council sucked at their job then didn’t they?”

“They were presented with an opportunity and for now it is working for them.”

“For now, you said it yourself, there is a growing chance that one day the humans will fight back unless you kill them all off by then.”

“Or enslave them.”

“Is that an option?”

“An option I would consider if necessary.”

“And what does that mean for me?” Nero stared at her for a moment before moving to the bed and sitting down at her feet.

“Nothing. It means nothing to you because my original claim will always stand.”

“So your rules mean nothing to me.”

“No, that’s not what I said. I made you a promise and I intend to keep that, but there are some rules I expect you to respect while you’re here.”

“Which are?”

“Some rooms you will not enter, no matter how curious you are.”

“Because they’re where you kill people?”

“Perhaps.” Nero smiled dangerously before shaking his head, “because I will respect your privacy so I expect you to respect mine.”

“Okay, what else?”

“You cannot go out during the day, obviously. You are not to engage in any sexual activities with anyone under my charge in this house…”

“You’re telling me who I can and can’t sleep with?”

“Yes. Because first and foremost you are mine.”