Free Faery Kissed by Lacey Weatherford Page A

summers.”
    “ Three years? How many of
these Blood Wraiths are there?”
    “ Many. It appears there is
another side effect of the changing. The humans become immortal
after the exchange.”
    I laughed wryly. “So each child you have
creates another enemy for you. I can’t see how this is very wise
reasoning.”
    She remained silent.
    Horror lanced through me. “You kill them,
don’t you? No one brought into this place walks out alive, do
they?” I whispered.
    She stood, coming quickly toward me. I
stepped back in repulsion as she laid her hands on my shoulders.
“Yes, they do kill them, but don’t worry. I won’t let them do that
to you. I’ll help you escape and teach you how to survive. No one
will even be aware you escaped. I wasn’t lying when I said I love
you. I love you with everything inside of me. I wanted to be with
you so badly—wanted to be the one you held in your arms—wanted to
have you love me, too. This was the only way we could be
together.”
    She spoke rapidly—her words spilled out as
she attempted to express her feelings—but I couldn’t absorb them.
“How do you think I could possibly love you after this? You just
told me that you lured me here under deception, you’ve taken away
my humanity, you’ve turned me into a bloodthirsty creature, and you
want to steal my child. That doesn’t put you very high on the list
of people I admire right now, Eirian.”
    Her skin flushed as I spoke her name, and I
pushed her away in frustration, walking across the spacious suite
as her words began to sink in. I grew angrier with every step, and
when I turned I found she’d followed me, tears streaming from her
eyes. “Stay away from me,” I blurted out. “You can forget having
the child too, because I will not be lying with you ever
again.”
    A sob left her throat and she reached for
me, fisting her hands into the front of my shirt. “Have you ever
loved or wanted something so much you would do anything—risk
everything to have it?” she cried, desperately.
    I was breathing heavily when I nodded. “Yes,
I have. And her name is Ceridwen,” I spat.
    Eirian paled at my blow and wrenched away
from me as if I’d struck her.
    I took a step back, wanting to distance
myself from her. I felt sick, disgusted by what she’d done. “You
tricked me! I’ve lost everything because of you. I was willing to
give up my life to make an honest try with you.”
    Eirian sank to the floor in a puddle—weeping
into her hands, but I didn’t care how pathetic she looked. All I
could feel was my own anger.
    “ You want to know what I’ve
been doing today? Figuring out how I was going to move on, planning
to embrace my future with you, and how I would provide for you and
our children.”
    She sobbed harder, yet I still carried
on.
    “ Why? Because that’s who I
am, Eirian! I was raised to be an honorable person. You have no
honor that I can see. Not only have you destroyed my life, but
you’ve destroyed your own!” I accused.
    “ But I haven’t destroyed
your life!” she cried. “I’ve done everything I can to ensure your
safety. You will return to your love, your life, and family. I just
wanted you for a moment that was all my own.”
    I marched over, knelt, and grabbed her by
the shoulders shaking her. “Returned how? As a blood-drinking fiend
that stalks the night? I know what the creatures are that you speak
of—only we call them Vampires where I come from. I never believed
them to be real either. You’re sending me back to my loved ones so
I can slaughter them! Is that what you wanted?”
    “ No! Never! I told you I
would teach you how to survive. There are ways to keep those you
love safe. I love you—I would never want you to hurt those you
love.”
    “ Really? Then please
explain to me how I’m supposed to go back to Ceridwen, and tell her
I’ve been with another woman—that I’m a creature who will hunt her
in the night, and not hurt her. She’ll not want anything to do