“I thought I’d lost you.” His normally neutral facade had cracked, revealing intense emotion.
“I thought I’d lost you.” Her voice was tremulous.
His kiss was fierce as he squeezed her body tightly. He placed the helmet on her head and mounted the bike, pulling her to sit behind him. Soon they were racing across the Arno and up the winding road that led to the Piazzale Michelangelo and beyond, to his villa.
Raven clutched his back like a drowning person, eyes screwed shut. This was not like the journey they’d gone on hours before. William drove like a madman, taking the curves at an inhuman rate of speed, the motorcycle screaming its acceleration.
Raven’s stomach lurched into her throat and she fought back the urge to vomit.
He pulled through the gates that protected his villa and shot down the driveway toward the freestanding garage. When he stopped, he had to pry Raven’s arms from around his waist.
“We’re safe,” he said, lifting her helmet.
“I wish I could believe that,” she managed, clutching her middle. Without ceremony, she leaned over the side of the bike and promptly emptied her stomach’s contents on the ground.
The library was dark despite the dim light that shone through the windows and the panes of glass that formed the high, domed ceiling. William had eschewed electric lights, as he was wont to do, opting instead to augment the starlight with a few candles.
“I forgot.” He crouched in front of Raven’s chair and wiped her mouth with his handkerchief.
“Forgot what?”
“I forgot to temper my speed. It’s my fault you were sick.” He tossed the handkerchief aside and pressed a glass of water into her hand.
Raven’s hand was shaking so badly, the water sloshed over the sides of the glass.
With a curse, William placed his hand over hers. “We’re safe here. I swept the city, looking for any sign of the Curia. I think your priest is the only one.”
“What if there are more?”
“My patrols will raise the alarm. We’re safe inside the villa. The relics will confuse the Curia and cause them to look elsewhere.”
“You aren’t thinking of leaving?”
William pressed his lips together. “I cannot leave my people.”
Raven took a few sips of water before pushing the cup aside. She curled into the chair, leaning against the armrest.
William cupped her face. He pressed his lips to each cheek, slowly, as if he were savoring the contact. “It’s been a long time since I felt fear.”
“You left me.” She gripped his arms at the wrists, holding his hands to her face. “Why?”
His gray eyes bored into hers. “If I’d stayed, it would have meant death.”
“For you or for him?”
William pulled away and stood, running his fingers through his hair. “He had a powerful relic in his possession. If I hadn’t fled, if I’d been drawn into battle with him, he would have realized my strength.” William clenched his jaw. “I would have had to kill him.”
Raven turned her face away.
“I have no compunction about killing him,” William continued quietly. “I’ve killed members of the Curia before. But to do so would be an act of war.”
He sighed. “Also, I am not eager to kill the man who rescued you and your sister. I hate the Curia. Their aim is to destroy us; my aim is to defend myself and my people. To remain this evening would have meant the death of one of us—your priest or your lover. I made the choice to leave, saving us both. I doubt your priest would have done the same.”
Raven looked over and found William watching her. He was standing some distance away, in front of his desk, his posture ramrod straight.
She cleared her throat. “Father Kavanaugh left for Rome. I tried to reason with him. I asked him not to bring the Curia here, but he said he doesn’t make those decisions. He also said the Curia knows you’re conservative in your rule, but they don’t want the existence of vampyres exposed to the world.”
“The Curia is always eager to preserve its power.” William spoke bitterly. “I must find the traitor. Quickly.”
He maintained his distance, his posture growing increasingly defensive, as if he were preparing for a blow. “What else did you tell him?”
Raven approached William slowly. She picked up one of his fists and cradled it in her hands. “I told him I love you. I told him you wouldn’t hurt me.”
William’s upper lip curled in derision. “Love is a myth to them. They understand power and control, but little else.”
“He was relieved I haven’t fed from you.”
“Of course,” William scoffed. “We can’t have his pristine Raven sullied by the monster’s blood.” He sighed. “But he’s right to be worried. Once you’ve ingested a certain amount of blood, you begin to change.” William paused, his eyes appearing to darken. “And there’s the bond that exists when blood is exchanged.”
“I have a difficult time believing we could be bonded more than we are already.”
He lifted her hand and pressed his lips to the back of it, as if that were an answer.
“At the moment, your soul is in peril because you’re fornicating with a vampyre. No doubt he believes I’m controlling you. But what he truly fears is that you’ll become a vampyre, because then he’d be obligated to kill you.”
Raven shivered once again. “I don’t think he’d do that.”
William’s hand moved to her shoulder. “Do not underestimate his loyalty to the Curia. They have one mission and one mission alone, and that is to destroy us. Any affection he has for you will be pushed aside if you oppose them.”
Raven lifted her chin. “I don’t believe it.”
“Try.” William crossed over to the large wall of windows on the far side of the library, turning his back on her.
“Funny how you’re so sure you know him and what he’ll do,” Raven called to William. “He’s so sure he knows you and what you’ll do. I’m caught in the middle, convinced you’re both wrong.”
A flexing of his shoulders was William’s only response.
“Father Kavanaugh is wrong about you. I can’t help but believe you’re equally wrong about him.”
“That’s a dangerous inference.” William spoke without turning around. “He gave you a powerful relic to ward me off.”
“Which I removed from my apartment.” She leaned the hip of her injured leg against his desk, needing the support. “He said you chose this life.”
“He knows nothing,” William spat out, turning around.
“He said he wants to free you.”
William strode toward her, his body almost a blur. “You’ve known him since you were a child. Did you know he was part of the Curia?”
Raven scowled at his accusatory tone. “Of course not! I didn’t even believe in vampyres before I met you. You know that.”
William continued to glare at her, his eyes blazing.
“He asked me to go to Rome with him. I refused. And even though you aren’t asking the question, I’ll answer by telling you that I didn’t reveal any of your secrets or any of your troubles in the principality.” She cursed. “I’m your lover, William, not your enemy.”
His posture relaxed somewhat and he lifted a hand to trace the arc of her cheek.