Free Bete Noire by Christina Moore Page A

Yukihime did. “I am different.”
    He nodded, agreeing with that.
    “I have been able to suppress those needs but hold onto my mind.”
    “Okay, so what you’re telling me is that all vampires, they just, what, can’t help themselves?”
    “Yes.”
    “So it’s not your fault for wanting to fuck Lucien. Is that what you’re telling me?”
    “No,” she said firmly, attention snapping around to him again. “No. I am just helping you understand my kind a little more.” She stroked his hand with her thumb. “Trying to help you understand me.”
    Tristan rested his head back against the seat. “But you’re not like the rest of them.”
    “That is true.”
    “You’re kind, thoughtful, worrisome, honorable… you—you have morals. You’re nothing like any of the others I’ve met. You’re…” He looked into her eyes. “Human.”
    Her lips parted in surprise. “I, yes. I suppose so in a sense.”
    “Anyway. I don’t care if you’ve got this rampant lust for blood or sex. I just care about what your intentions with me are and if I’ve got to share you. Because, I’ll tell you right now, it’s all or nothing, the human way.”
    She nodded. “I agree.” She let out a heavy sigh and relaxed back in her seat. “I have never cared much for vampire society. Even as a newborn fledgling, I had moral issues with many of the things vampires did that were considered normal. I fought what I was for so long, despite what Malik tried to teach me. It is simply… second nature now. I have not been fighting to be something I am not. I have been fighting to remain what I was.”
    “And that’s what I lo—like about you.”
    Her expression slackened slightly in shock. She heard what he was about to say before correcting himself. She quickly took her hand back.
    “Ash?”
    She stood and walked across the way to the bar to make a drink. “Yes, Tristan?”
    “I just. I have to know. Did Lucien, that night… did he… hurt you?” He still couldn’t say the word aloud.
    So she said it for him. “Yes, he raped me. In blood and body.” She reached into the mini fridge and pulled out the bottle of “pythia juice” as Tristan had been calling it—the blood replacement drink that her pythia friend in Hong Kong made. “And not for the first time.”
    Tristan nodded, though she wasn’t looking his way. It was obvious they knew each other before that night, but he had no idea what sort relationship they had. He thought he knew. Guess he really didn’t know shit. A part of him was relieved. He felt guilty over that relief, understanding now that she didn’t want Lucien to have her, that he did take what he wanted. He felt guilty that he preferred the idea of Lucien taking more than believing she said yes.
    “After Malik killed Lucien’s Master, he took the fledgling in. I was not in Malik’s… consideration at that time so I was not told the reason for doing such a thing. All I can remember is the fear, the utter terror I felt when I was told Lucien was a descendant of fire. I had been told too many things about the Kaji no Ie to not be afraid. The first night Lucien was brought back to Malik’s home he was asked to prove his loyalty and worth. Lucien was locked in the cell of one of Malik’s many captives and given free reign. And while Lucien was unable to conjure fire, he proved himself most dangerous, earning a high position in Malik’s favor.”
    To her pythia juice she added a healthy portion of vodka. It helped kill the bitter taste of the mixture.
    “What did he do to the woman?” Tristan asked softly.
    Back still to him, she shook her head. “I wish not to put words to such filth. She lived, however scarred.”
    “And you want to kill him now for what he did to you?”
    Ash spun around, eyes wide. “I never said—”
    “Thought it was obvious.” He stood and went to her, but made sure to not touch her. She was spooked and he didn’t need the vampire in her to freak out on him. He’d had