The immortals salvation.., p.1
The Immortal’s Salvation: Bloodwite Book Two, page 1
The Immortal’s Salvation
Bloodwite Book Two
Cecelia Mecca
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To The Society
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Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Epilogue
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Also by Cecelia Mecca
About the Author
The Guardian’s Favor
Prologue
Bowden Castle, Scotland, 1274
“The men are being readied.”
Lawrence walked up to his brother as their horses were brought from the stable. Sitting on the edge of the stone well in the center of the courtyard, Alec had a strange look on his face. Regret, perhaps, and resignation.
“We have no choice,” Alec said as the flurry of activity continued around them. Maids scurrying back and forth from the kitchen to the main keep. Men moving from the training yard to ready for the raid, dust kicking up behind their horses. Besides the warriors preparing for the task ahead, a couple of lads too young for the lists were chasing chickens around the courtyard, their tunics muddy. The sight made him smile, a reminder of simpler days with his brothers.
“Agreed.”
He knew the decision to lead another hot trod weighed heavily on his brother. The last time they’d gone across the border into England to chase after thieves, as was their right within six days of such a crime, they had lost two men in the fray. The cost had felt too steep to all of them, but Alec had particularly taken it to heart. Although his brother had never said so, Lawrence suspected he felt the weight of his duty. A difficult matter for a man not yet thirty to make life-and-death decisions, even more so because they all knew Alec was to be the next chief of Clan Karyn.
“Father stubbornly refuses to give his opinion on the matter,” Alec said.
“’Tis the way of things,” Lawrence said, tossing a pebble into the well.
His brother frowned, finally rising from the well, and joined him.
“Tensions increase at the border every day,” Alec said. “Soon, the treaty with England will be rendered all but meaningless.”
“A problem for the wardens.”
“And for us, as well. We can no longer sit by passively waiting for other people to make a decision.”
A groomsman approached with their horses, and both men took their reins.
“Many thanks, laddie,” Alec murmured, giving the boy a coin from his satchel. If there was a man more generous than his brother, Lawrence didn’t know of him.
As they waited for their father, the chief, and the remainder of the men, some of whom may never come back to this place, Lawrence let himself take in the castle, from the great keep to the south tower, where his siblings were probably still sleeping. Torr would awake angry, no doubt, but Alec was emphatic that he should be left behind. He didn’t like the thought of the three heirs to the chiefdom riding out together.
Bowden Castle rose high above the valley that surrounded it, giving them an ideal vantage point from which to spot rival clans or errant English reivers. The rolling green hills that surrounded them barely hinted at the violence brewing just beyond their borders. Despite its close proximity to the volatile English border, he would not trade his home for a castle five times its size.
“Torr will not be pleased to be left behind,” he remarked, looking back to Alec, who had spotted their father in the distance.
Following his lead, Lawrence mounted, preparing to ride out.
“He will not,” Alec agreed. “But to protect him, and the clan, I will gladly incur his wrath.”
Lawrence shook his head. “I could not do it. If I were chief—”
“As you might be someday.”
Alec looked at him so intently, even Lawrence’s horse seemed to feel the scrutiny. It danced beneath him as the two brothers squared off.
“You are next in line—”
“That’s enough—”
“And will take care to tame your sometimes-wild ways if the need should arise.”
“Alec—”
“Promise me.”
This was his least favorite of his brother’s moods. Alec’s introspection tended to unnerve him, as it did now.
“If you were ever to become chief—”
“This is unnecessary—”
“You will protect my wife and children, our family—”
“Of course,” he said, offended. “You have my word. That you should even ask such a thing—”
“I will hold you to that,” Alec said.
He smiled and shook his head. “From the grave?”
His jest made the tension leak out of the moment.
“Aye,” Alec said, riding toward the gatehouse. “Count on it.” Lawrence could hear the laughter in his voice. If the vow had made his brother feel better, he was glad to have given it. His father was chief. And Alec would be so after him.
Lawrence would thankfully never be the chief of Clan Karyn.
Chapter 1
Stone Haven, Pennsylvania
Weddings sucked.
Scratch that.
Attending a wedding solo sucked. Toni actually liked them otherwise, mostly because they were an excuse to dance. And in the itty-bitty town of Stone Haven, Pennsylvania, the only place to dance was the Jazz Hall, but good dance music was not regularly on their schedule. Although her kitchen made a perfect dance floor, it lacked a certain something in the ambiance department.
As she waited for the best man to finish his toast, which had turned into a rambling story about his drunken escapades with the groom, Toni spun her wine glass around and around by its stem. Finally, someone had the sense to take the microphone away from him, and the emcee announced the couple’s first dance. Toni snuck a glance across the table at Birdie and Uncle Jim, who were watching the bride make her way to the stage with a good deal more interest than she felt. Birdie’s smile was so genuine, Toni vowed to at least pretend to enjoy herself. The mother of the bride, an old friend of her aunt’s, cried as the couple began swaying to a top ten pop song.
A cute couple. And a fine venue for a wedding. The Lakehouse was a highly rated restaurant along the second-largest man-made lake in the state. Decked out in white fairy lights, inside and out, the restaurant looked especially charming that evening. How much must it have cost to rent the place for a night?
Likely more than she made at the shop in a year. But whose fault was it that, even working two jobs, she likely couldn’t afford a wedding here?
No one’s but hers.
“I’m grabbing a drink,” she whispered to her aunt. “Want anything?”
Birdie shook her head, still enthralled by the dance. Her uncle’s drink, a soda, sat full in front of him. Might as well make use of the designated driver. Toni stood, pulling down the black and gold lace dress that had ridden up her legs, and downed the last of her wine.
The indoor bar was closer, but she found herself walking toward the pop-up one on the deck. Toni pushed open the door and breathed in the fresh mountain air. She really should get away from town more often. While The Lakehouse was only twenty minutes away, it was nestled between the State Game Lands on one side and residences on the other, providing an ideal view. During the day. The same mountain range that graced the outskirts of Main Street back home rose high into the night sky, though only shadows were visible in the dark.
“Pinot Noir, please.”
While the bartender refilled her glass, Toni looked down to the docks below and watched the pontoons and speeders sway each time a wave made its way toward shore. Despite the hour, boats continued to roam the lake. During the summer months, Stone Haven and the surrounding areas were popular with tourists, something townspeople bemoaned but were secretly proud of.
“Thank you,” she said, taking her newly filled glass.
“You work at Ye Old Curiosities,” said a woman next to her.
Toni tried to place her.
Nothing.
Remembering people was not one of her finest qualities.
“I do,” she said, her tone polite. “I’m assuming you’ve been there before?”
“Once. It’s a cute shop.”
“Thanks,” she said, accepting the compliment on behalf of her aunt and uncle. Although she’d worked at the shop for years, she was only an employee. Birdie and Uncle Jim were the ones who’d made it their life’s work, selling everything from antiquities to n ovelties, the more eccentric the better.
“You can practically believe vampires are real when you go in there,” the woman added with a smile.
Toni couldn’t help but smile back. Part of her wanted to shock the woman by revealing the truth—vampires were real, and two of the originals had just moved to Stone Haven.
“Nice wedding,” she commented instead.
“Extremely,” the woman said as she waited for her companion to get his drink. “Do you know the bride or groom?”
Neither, actually.
“My aunt is good friends with the bride’s mom.”
Toni knew the mother well enough, but the daughter had been sent away to boarding school as a young girl. She’d only come home for holidays and summer vacations, so their paths hadn’t crossed often.
An odd thing, sending your kid away. Her parents had both been career-driven and ambitious, but they never would have considered such a thing. Shaking away the thought, she smiled at the quirky woman and stepped away.
Toni sipped her wine, not a bad Pinot Noir for a wedding, and watched as white dots bobbed and weaved in the distance, the water below nothing more than a mass of black from this distance. Mesmerizing. Even though she couldn’t see the water, just knowing it was there brought her a sense of peace as it always did.
In a former life, Toni must have been a mermaid. Or a pirate. Or something having to do with the water. Did everyone love it as much as she?
Her train of thought was broken by a prickling awareness. Someone was watching her.
She didn’t have a sixth sense like her best friend, Alessandra, did. She wasn’t one of the Cheld—a line of superhuman beings created to counterbalance vampires. She wasn’t the one who’d led the vampires to Stone Haven, and yet she could tell one of them was currently watching her.
Toni turned to look at him, her heart lurching as it did every damn time he was near.
What in blazes was Lawrence Derrickson doing at her wedding?
Well, not precisely her wedding, but she hadn’t seen him at the ceremony earlier or any time before now. She was pretty sure she would have noticed. When it came to Lawrence, she couldn’t help but notice. He was a six-foot-plus, sandy-haired, green-eyed vampire, for heaven’s sake. And sure, it turned out vampires weren’t the gothic, garlic- and daylight-phobic creatures popular culture set them out to be, but they were still practically demigods. They were immortal, and they drank blood, for God’s sake.
Pretending she hadn’t seen him wasn’t an option. There were no more than ten people out here on the deck, the bartender included, and Lawrence was staring straight at her. She couldn’t see his eyes from here, but Toni knew their piercing green color. He was Alessandra’s friend and trainer, an ever-present part of their circle. Avoiding him was difficult, but that hadn’t stopped her from trying. She’d gotten quite good at it in the past two months.
Breathe, Toni, breathe. He’s just a man.
Well, not quite a man, actually. He was so much more.
But it couldn’t matter. Even if Tyler wasn’t the best boyfriend in the world, he was hers. And at least she was committed to something in her life. Being with him felt safe, a word she’d never use to describe how she felt with Lawrence.
The thought of Tyler made it easier to ignore Lawrence and the sidelong glances he always gave her. It made it easier to pretend she didn’t wish there was some admiration or affection in his eyes. Truth was, Alessandra’s friend looked at her as if she’d just stolen a treat from his dog. No, not that. It was like he could see something in her she didn’t even know was there. Like a bit of icing on her nose. If she hadn’t been thinking about that three-tier wedding cake all night, she’d probably have been able to think of a more profound comparison.
As it was, cake seemed as good an excuse as any to dart inside. Avoiding Lawrence. And maybe herself a bit too.
* * *
“Hi, I’m Kat.”
Attractive. Same age he’d been before the change, just over thirty. No ring.
Alas, she lacked long red hair and amber eyes that shot arrows through his soul.
“Pleasure to meet you, Kat,” Lawrence said, watching Toni retreat back into the restaurant. His feet itched to follow her. Instead, he smiled at the pretty blonde guest and took his drink from the bartender.
“When I first moved to Pennsylvania,” he told Kat, “I couldn’t get away from this stuff.” He lifted his Yuengling, remembering. He’d asked for a lager, and the bartender had handed him one of these—a beer with a label he couldn’t even pronounce.
He’d lived in nearly every country around the world, had been alive for over seven hundred years, and still there was so much to discover. A beautiful side to the curse that had created so much ugliness. Despite that, he was more than ready to stay in one place for the foreseeable future. Lawrence was ready to settle down.
“So,” she said, her honeyed tone leaving no doubt as to her intentions. “Do you know the bride or groom?”
Actually, he had become close to the bride’s father, Stone Haven’s mayor, over a business deal, but telling her that would prolong a conversation that he was ready to end.
The floor-to-ceiling windows that gave guests a view of the dark lake behind him also gave him a clear view of Toni. She stood alone, her profile effortlessly elegant, her gold and black gown eye-catching. “Pardon me,” he said to the woman at the bar. “I just got here and want to greet the new couple.”
Lawrence itched to go to Toni, to take her shoulders in his hands, but she wouldn’t welcome it. He forced himself to make a wide berth around her. Trying to distract himself, he found the bride’s father at the table closest to the dance floor. Murmuring apologies for his late arrival, he made up for his tardiness by fawning over the couple as if he were a subject in their court, a role he’d played more than once before over several hundred years.
In England. In France. Though not in his homeland. He’d not seen Scotland for centuries, and though he still dreamed of his homeland, he knew he could never return.
Later, as he made his way to the inner bar, Lawrence’s eyes found Toni once again. He allowed himself to study her for a second—the strands of hair that had escaped her updo, the curve of her neck. What was she doing here? And where was Tyler?
As if you give a shit about that condescending asshole.
“There you are.”
Dammit.
“Caught you!”
Lawrence turned to face his admirer from the deck bar. The time for subtlety had passed.
“You did indeed,” he said. “But you should know, before we take this any farther, I haven’t eaten in nearly two weeks.”
“Oh.” She frowned in confusion. “Are you on some kind of a cleanse? There’s plenty of food here—”
He leaned down, her perfume as overpowering as her personality, and said, “I don’t mean food. Men like me, we need something very different to sustain us. But do not fear. It won’t hurt . . . too much.”
Poor Kat, properly appalled by his innuendo, could only stare. Good. One time he’d used this same trick to ill effect—the woman had smiled coquettishly and put her hand somewhere it didn’t belong.
His sister didn’t like it when he hinted at his true nature. Few knew of their existence, and the only unwritten code of their community demanded it stay that way. All well and good, but they were cursed for eternity. Surely they deserved a bit of fun.
“Hurt?” she muttered. “Uh, yeah. It was nice to meet you.”
She fled without offering a proper excuse for doing so. A pang of guilt nearly made him regret his methods, but the blonde woman immediately sidled up to another man at the bar. A slight grin lifted his lips. No damage done.
