Free Limerence II by Claire C Riley Page A

special and private, and just for me. “Never,” I say almost playfully. He frowns and I add more seriously, “Never.” My hand squeezes his arm to show him my sincerity, and he looks down at where our skin meets, both feeling the connection between us, the heat travelling from one dead soul to another and joining us, making us both whole. Or at least, that’s how it should be.
    He swallows. “Come,” he says and leaves the room abruptly, my hand leaving his arm.
    I stand there in a daze, staring down at my fingertips in confusion until I hear him shout my name from far down the hallway.
    “Little Mia,” he sing-songs.
    I smile to myself and follow after him quickly.
    He takes me to a part of the coven that I have never been in before—yet another section that is unused thanks to our shrinking clan. I am at a loss as to how we are not growing in numbers; there are more than enough of us to create new vampires, yet our queen does not bother to do so. Only the odd one here and there are brought to us, though most seem to go mad long before their arrival. It makes me realise that I was perhaps lucky to live through my voyage from England to here.
    Evan unlocks a wooden door, opening it up wide and letting me enter first. I pass him, giving him a quick glance as I do, and then I am lost in this new room. The walls are lined with books; from floor to ceiling they are stacked neatly, orderly—some on shelves some in piles, their beautiful spines pristine. Even from here I can see that they are well used but well looked after. Yet if this is an unused part of the coven, how is it that they are so well kept?
    Evan strides over to the fireplace on the back wall and begins building a fire for us. I’m unsure why: we do not feel the cold like humans do, so it seems a pointless task, if I’m honest. As the flames take hold in the small fire pit, I see why he lit it, and I smile. He flicks the lights off, creating a soothing atmosphere in the room, a warm glow cast from the fire and making me instantly relax. The smell of the books, the crackle of the fire, it all helps me forget the pain of being a vampire and of fighting unseen forces.
    He walks back towards me, reciprocating my smile with one of his own, his scowling mask removed for once.
    “This is my secret place, where I come to . . .” He ponders his words before continuing. “Where I relax, and close off from the world. My time here is my own, the only time that is my own.”
    “You were a reader before?” I ask, though looking at the lovingly looked after books, I needn’t have voiced the question since the answer is blatant.
    “I was.” He nods, seeming genuinely happy. He takes my hand, his aura flexing with new colours as his excitement grows, and leads me over to the fireplace, to where two chairs sit facing one another. “I thought we could read for a little while. It could be good for you to learn something from one of these books.” He picks the first book off the shelf, a greying edition of The Hound of the Baskervilles. He frowns when he realises his error and that there will not be much to learn from such a book, and I realise that he just wanted to share his special place with me. Warmth grows in the pit of my stomach at that thought, and I can barely control the smile that wants to break out.
    No lesson shall be taught today. Except the lesson on who this man is and who he was previously. He looks embarrassed as he realises his error, and I stumble over my words to put him back at ease as I see his scowl returning and his jaw beginning to grind again.
    “I’ve never read that, I’ve always wanted to,” I say hurriedly, feeling almost nervous. “It will teach me patience. I’ve always been terribly impatient.”
    He looks up through his lashes with a lazy smile, his shoulders relaxing, almost like his mask is slipping away, and all of his pretences are gone. Here he is Evan. This is his domain, and I am his visitor. Here he is king and