"Damn you, Viper," she hissed. "Let me go."
"No." Pocketing the amulet Viper moved forward to regard her with open concern. "It's too dangerous for you to be running off."
She wrapped her arms about herself. "I'm not stupid. I have no intention of running off while there is still someone out there hunting me. I just want to be alone."
"Talk to me, pet," he urged. "Tell me what was in the letter." There was a long moment when Viper feared she would refuse to answer him. She had been alone for so long. Too long. She no longer knew how to trust others, "It's from my father,"
Chapter Sixteen
Shay had every intention of being furious with Viper. For all his promises not to treat her as a slave he had been swift enough to use the leash that held her to him.
He was no better than the witches, she had told herself.
She had wanted to be alone. She had wanted to battle through her maze of raw emotions before she was forced to face him. He had no right to yank her to his side against her will. And yet the moment she was standing before him she found her anger melting. In fact, she discovered herself longing to lean against that hard body, as if being in his arms would make everything better.
Dammit. The knowledge should be terrifying. Unfortunately she was simply too overwhelmed at the moment to conjure the proper horror. Instead she wrapped her own arms about herself and watched as the inevitable shock rippled over his pale face.
"Your... father?"
"Yes."
He seemed to carefully consider his response, as if he were dealing with a nut. And maybe he was.
"Surely that should please you?"
She swallowed past the thick lump lodged in her throat. "He had the curse placed upon me."
He reached up to cup her face, his cool touch ridiculously easing a portion of the pain clutching at her heart.
"You cannot be certain, Shay. This could be a trick."
"No. It's no trick. The letter says that he did it to protect me."
His fingers tightened to a near painful level. "What?"
"He knew that he was being stalked, although he didn't know who or what was chasing him. He says that the curse is intended to hide me from his enemies."
"Hide you?"
"The curse was like a barrier that kept me shielded from most demons."
He considered for a long moment. "Yes, I suppose it has managed to do that. There hasn't been even the whisper of a Shalott in over a century. Still, it was a rattier dangerous and desperate gamble. He left you at the mercy of Evor."
Shay pulled from his touch. Just having him so near was distraction enough.
"He never intended to leave me at the mercy of anyone" she said. More to convince herself than Viper. "Once the danger was passed the witch was pledged to break the curse and reveal the truth to me."
His beautiful features were unreadable. "But she was killed before she could do so?"
"Yes."
A beat passed. A beat where Shay had no idea what was going through his mind. A vampire was a master at hiding his emotions when he wanted to.
"He was only attempting to protect you, Shay," he at last said softly.
The stupid tears she had been stemming for the past hour burned hot in her eyes as she abruptly turned to hide her distress.
"I know that, it's just..."
With a speed she could never match, he had moved to stand directly before her.
"What?"
She blew out a heavy sigh, accepting there was no way to hide from him.
"All these years I've blamed my rotten fate on whatever horrible monster had put this curse on me. Now I discover it was my own father."
"He obviously did it with the best of intentions."
"That doesn't change the fact that I've spent over eighty years as a slave." Her teeth clenched as the memories threatened to rise up. Memories she kept locked away so they didn't drown her. "I've been beaten, chained, and sold like an animal."
"I know it's been difficult—"
"Difficult?" She gave a short, humorless laugh. "There hasn't been a moment when I haven't been at the mercy of some master. Not a moment when I didn't fear what the next hour might bring. Not a moment when I haven't struggled just to survive."
"Shay."
The pity on his face had her angrily swiping at the tears. "I'm sorry. I'm not usually a whiner."
His eyes darkened. "Don't be sorry." He lightly touched the dampness that lingered on her cheeks. "I only met the witches briefly, but I don't doubt they made your life a living hell."
"Hell is right," her voice held a bitter edge. "When Edra was displeased she would lock me in a cellar. More than once she left me down there for years. There was no light, no food except for the bugs and rats I could find crawling around me. There were times when I didn't think I would ever get out. I thought..." Her voice broke and she was forced to clear her throat before she could continue. "I thought I would be stuck in the dark for an eternity."
His expression was carefully neutral, as if he sensed that she would close down at the first hint of pity.
"That's why you insisted that those demons be loosened at the auction house?"
"Yes. Nothing deserves such torture." She forced herself to meet his gaze squarely. "But you know Edra wasn't the worst of it."
"What was?"
"The knowledge that I'll always be in the power of someone. That I can never be strong enough, or fast enough, or smart enough to escape, because there is no escape."
His features tightened, no doubt sensing that a part of her frustration reached out to include him. With that smooth elegance he turned to pace toward the bed before turning and regarding her from a distance.
"Actually, I know precisely how you feel"
"You?" She gave a disbelieving snort. "How could you possibly understand?"
He remained shrouded in the shadows, reminding her of the aloof vampire who had first arrived at the auction house to bid on her.
"I was not always a clan chief," he said, his tone low and oddly rough. "There were many years after I was first turned that I was at the mercy of whatever vampire wished to claim me."
Shay felt a stab of shock. It was impossible to imagine this arrogant, ruthless man at the mercy of anyone. Certainly not another vampire. He seemed... impervious. Invulnerable.
"You were a slave?"
"A slave and worse."
"What could be worse?"
"You do not truly want to know, pet."
She bit her tongue. He was right. However bad the witches had been there could always be worse. Much, much worse.
She gave a slow shake of her head. "I thought that clans protected their own?"
Viper gave a graceful shrug. "Times have thankfully changed and we have grown more civilized."
"Civilized? You think vampires are civilized?"
"Compared to the past. There was a time when the clans were merely wandering bands of warriors. To become a part of the clan a newly awakened vampire had to ... submit to their demands no matter how twisted or depraved they might be."
Shay frowned. "Then why would you wish to be a part of a clan?"
"To be alone was to die."
"They would have killed you?"
"The strong survived and the weak were merely prey."
"And you were prey?"
Her skin prickled as his power flared through the room. "Until I became strong enough to battle back."
"But you did become strong enough," she said softly.
There was a moment as he battled his own inner demons, and Shay abruptly understood the reason for the vast armory of weapons that Viper had hidden beneath his house. Whatever power he might now possess there would always be the knowledge that there were monsters lurking in the dark. He had surrounded himself with the sort of beautiful, lethal objects that were not only a collectors dream, but an unconscious sense of security.
With those gliding steps he was once again standing before her, his hand reaching out to trace the curve of her neck.
"I became strong, but like you the memories remain."
Shay didn't pull away from his cool touch. There was nothing to be read on his beautiful features, but she knew that he had endured horrors that would no doubt give anyone nightmares for centuries. Even more amazing he had managed to maintain a sense of honor and integrity that had kept him from becoming one of the animals that had tortured him. Still, she could not completely dismiss her petty envy. Not as long as she remained bound by her curse.
"You survived and now you are free."
His lips twisted at her words. "Never free, pet. There are... powers that even I must answer to."
Her brows lifted in surprise. "You're a clan chief. What powers could you possibly have to answer to?"
"They are forbidden to speak of,"
And that was that.
There was no mistaking his tone of voice. It warned her that she could, spend, the rest of eternity badgering him for an explanation and he would never yield. Which of course only made her all the more curious.