Blood Bath, A Paranormal/Urban Fantasy (The Maurin Kincaide Series Book 4) Read Online Free
Author: Rachel Rawlings
worming his way into my heart. I wish I had seen the signs before it was too late. I let him in and now he was leaving. The emptiness I felt when I thought Oberon died was nothing compared to the darkness eating into my heart.
"Maurin , I'm sorry." He pulled me into his arms, burying his face in my neck. The chill of his cool breath on my skin matched the cold seeping into my bones, snuffing out the fire that usually roared inside whenever Aidan touched me. "I didn't mean to tell you this way. Will you please say something?"
There were no words. I broke free of the embrace, not allowing myself even a moment of comfort in his arms. How many times had my fears and weaknesses been chased away while he held me? Too many in too short a time. No, it was better this way. I wouldn't let him soothe me as he said his goodbyes. I stepped back, the mixture of sandalwood and spices - of Aidan - clinging to me. I wrapped my fingers around Conry's collar and faded into the between.
3
It didn't take long for him to show up outside my door. If I had somewhere, anywhere else to go I wouldn't have come back to my apartment. I barely managed to strip off my clothes and turn on the shower before the pounding started. I thought about letting him in, if only to spare the door any more abuse - until he called my name.
Anger laced with anguish as he demanded I open the door and talk to him. Instead I stepped in to the shower and let the hot water hide my tears.
I was still raw from seeing my so called family after a decade of my mutually agreed upon exile and subsequently ending that chapter of my life. It had only been a week since my sister's wedding. I didn't want to go but hadn't had the heart to disappoint Frankie. She was the only person in my adoptive family that I cared about or that seemed to care about me for that matter.
I left the house in Beacon Hill were I was raised as soon as I could. They never looked for me and I never looked back. Until the wedding invitation came in the mail. It was hard to say goodbye to Frankie at the reception - we both knew it was forever- but there was no place for her in my life now.
Now I had to do it again. Except this time there wasn't anything mutual about it. Vampires were typically over pr otective and territorial when it came to the people and places important to them. Aidan warned me of that on more than one occasion. I took it to mean he'd be around for a while. I guess I wasn't that important because now he was cutting me loose. Sure I knew the Council was the real reason he was saying goodbye but my heart blamed him for it anyway.
I scrubbed, lathered, rinsed and repeated , then stood in the shower until I drained the hot water heater and the cold forced me out. I wrapped my hair in a towel before drying off with another. The pounding stopped. I let out a sigh and then another. I was relieved and resentful all tangled into one. Relieved that he stopped trying to beat down my door and resentful for exactly the same reason.
Half of me wanted him to go the hell away, the other half wanted him to stand out there all night miserable and professing his devotion. I was about to throw on pajamas and crawl under the covers when the sound of another pe rson outside my door made me freeze.
"What are you doing here?" Aidan's voice was so cold I half expected frost to form on the door.
"I'm here for Maurin." Cash managed to insinuate a hell of a lot with those four little words.
Power seeped into my apartment from the hall. The walls and door concaved from their opposing energy. Life and death clashed like two weather fronts. One warm, one cold, creating the perfect storm in the confined hallway. Something, more likely someone, slammed against my door and I jumped. Conry didn't stir from his favorite spot on the couch. Seeing as how they posed no threat to me, he was content to let the two of them wage their little war outside my door.
An image of the two crashing into
"Maurin , I'm sorry." He pulled me into his arms, burying his face in my neck. The chill of his cool breath on my skin matched the cold seeping into my bones, snuffing out the fire that usually roared inside whenever Aidan touched me. "I didn't mean to tell you this way. Will you please say something?"
There were no words. I broke free of the embrace, not allowing myself even a moment of comfort in his arms. How many times had my fears and weaknesses been chased away while he held me? Too many in too short a time. No, it was better this way. I wouldn't let him soothe me as he said his goodbyes. I stepped back, the mixture of sandalwood and spices - of Aidan - clinging to me. I wrapped my fingers around Conry's collar and faded into the between.
3
It didn't take long for him to show up outside my door. If I had somewhere, anywhere else to go I wouldn't have come back to my apartment. I barely managed to strip off my clothes and turn on the shower before the pounding started. I thought about letting him in, if only to spare the door any more abuse - until he called my name.
Anger laced with anguish as he demanded I open the door and talk to him. Instead I stepped in to the shower and let the hot water hide my tears.
I was still raw from seeing my so called family after a decade of my mutually agreed upon exile and subsequently ending that chapter of my life. It had only been a week since my sister's wedding. I didn't want to go but hadn't had the heart to disappoint Frankie. She was the only person in my adoptive family that I cared about or that seemed to care about me for that matter.
I left the house in Beacon Hill were I was raised as soon as I could. They never looked for me and I never looked back. Until the wedding invitation came in the mail. It was hard to say goodbye to Frankie at the reception - we both knew it was forever- but there was no place for her in my life now.
Now I had to do it again. Except this time there wasn't anything mutual about it. Vampires were typically over pr otective and territorial when it came to the people and places important to them. Aidan warned me of that on more than one occasion. I took it to mean he'd be around for a while. I guess I wasn't that important because now he was cutting me loose. Sure I knew the Council was the real reason he was saying goodbye but my heart blamed him for it anyway.
I scrubbed, lathered, rinsed and repeated , then stood in the shower until I drained the hot water heater and the cold forced me out. I wrapped my hair in a towel before drying off with another. The pounding stopped. I let out a sigh and then another. I was relieved and resentful all tangled into one. Relieved that he stopped trying to beat down my door and resentful for exactly the same reason.
Half of me wanted him to go the hell away, the other half wanted him to stand out there all night miserable and professing his devotion. I was about to throw on pajamas and crawl under the covers when the sound of another pe rson outside my door made me freeze.
"What are you doing here?" Aidan's voice was so cold I half expected frost to form on the door.
"I'm here for Maurin." Cash managed to insinuate a hell of a lot with those four little words.
Power seeped into my apartment from the hall. The walls and door concaved from their opposing energy. Life and death clashed like two weather fronts. One warm, one cold, creating the perfect storm in the confined hallway. Something, more likely someone, slammed against my door and I jumped. Conry didn't stir from his favorite spot on the couch. Seeing as how they posed no threat to me, he was content to let the two of them wage their little war outside my door.
An image of the two crashing into
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