Chapter 11

Genevieve

Nero was nowhere to be seen over the next couple of days. I had no idea where he was sleeping, I only knew he wasn ' t sleeping in his room.

There was a servant who came and went, attending to my needs, but refused to engage in any form of conversation with me. I felt the same sort of vibe from the servant as I did from his brother so I could only gather he was also one of Nero ' s undead and told to keep his mouth shut, if he spoke English at all.

I was given a longer chain. The length of the chain gave me the freedom to move around most of the room and reach the bathroom so I didn ' t need to wait hoping someone would show up. The best part of the chain was the fact that I could reach the window. His window overlooked the cemetery. It was not the most scenic of views, but I found myself standing in the window, and with some concentration, I was able to channel energy from it. It was slight at first, but the harder I concentrated, and the more I practiced, the stronger the energy that I was able to channel. I just had no clue what to do so the vibrations within me would gradually fade back to nothingness. Now that I knew what I was, and what I was capable of, I wanted to explore it. I just didn ' t know how.

Finishing my shower, I went into his closet to raid it for another outfit of jogging pants and a t-shirt, grateful my boobs weren ' t all that large, so no bra wasn ' t a huge deal. I was just pulling on the jogging pants when a surge of energy shot through me so intense that I fell backward and into the row of suit jackets. A loud crack sounded as I fell into the wall and it caved in. The wall gave way and with a squeal, I fell into a small crawlspace. Falling into the dark space took me to the length of the chain on the cuff. It pulled taut, sending a shot of pain through my shoulder.

Stumbling to my feet, I pushed the broken pieces of wood aside. There was just enough light from the overhead closet light to illuminate two leather-bound books. Both had symbols that made no sense to me, but they were important. I knew it without even looking inside.

Placing the books to the side, I did my best to fix the damage I ' d created. It was a piss-poor job, but when I moved his suit jackets back where they should have been, it was barely noticeable. Besides, he never came in here anymore. The zombie-servant person who attended to me only gave me food and water, then left as quickly as he came.

Gathering the books to my chest, I took them to the bed and opened them up. The cover was a thick dark brown leather. The pages were yellowed with age, printed on a type of paper that felt like linen. They were beautiful. The inside of the first contained only symbols and glyphs that made no sense to me. I was about to give up in frustration, when it occurred that I may not need to speak the language to read it. Magic was about desire, the will for something to happen.

Pressing my hands to the page, I funneled the energy I ' d been gathering from the cemetery that morning into the book. The symbols began to twist and contort before my eyes into words. Instructions.

For the first time in days, a smile spread across my face so wide that it felt like it was going to slit my face in two. I could do this.

Hours passed and I drank in every bit of information the books possessed. Before I knew it, the sun was gone and the moon had risen high in the sky. It wasn ' t until I heard heavy footsteps coming down the hallway towards me that I closed the books and hid them under the bed, praying that the zombie-servant wouldn ' t notice them.

The door opened and as expected it was the zombie that appeared. This time, however, he surprised me by speaking. " Master wants you to join him in the dining room for dinner this evening. " He came to me and undid the cuff. This was the first time I ' d been within a foot of him. There was a stomach-churning, earthy aroma coming from him that gave me visions of him clawing his way out of a grave somewhere.

" Thank you. " I gave my wrist a rub and slid from the bed.

I followed the servant from the room, down the staircase, and to the dining room where Nero was sitting in wait. The meal was already served and waiting for me. A soft, romantic melody played in the background. Memories of the first night of my stay here came flooding back, the night that he ' d jailed me.

He was up to something. What was his angle?

He stood as I approached and attempted to take my hand. I batted the effort away and took a seat at my end of the table.

He cleared his throat and sat back down. " How have you been? George taking care of you? "

" Do you care? " I spat, looking down at the steak and assorted steamed veggies before me. It looked delicious.

" I guess I deserved that. I apologize, I haven ' t been a very attentive host. "

Lifting a brow, I looked over at him. He looked so self-satisfied. Why? " You plan to kill me and steal my power in a few days. Excuse me if I ' m not very open to casual chit-chat and fake pleasantries." Grabbing a fork, I stabbed a piece of broccoli and shoved it in my mouth.

I didn ' t want to look at him, but couldn ' t help myself, even without him using his magic on me I couldn ' t deny my attraction to him. But there was also something different about him. Or maybe it was me. I couldn ' t say for sure. There was an intense attraction towards him, but it wasn ' t just a sexual desire. The sexual attraction was there, stronger than ever, but there was something more. Then it occurred to me that it was the power within him that I craved.

I tilted my head to the side, my eyes narrowing. He hadn ' t begun to eat, he was simply staring at me with a smug grin on his handsome face. " What are you doing to me? "

" What do you mean? "

He knew what I meant. I could feel it.

" Don ' t lie to me, Nero. What have you done? "

Placing his elbows on the table, he steepled his fingers and leaned forward his dark eyes burning into mine. " You feel it don ' t you? It ' s eating at you just being in my presence. You want to absorb it. All of it. Don ' t you. "

I stood so quickly, that I sent the chair flying backward. " What have you done! " I screamed as panic settled in. The plate of food I ' d been eating from took flight as if thrown, barely missing his head and slamming against the brick fireplace to his left.

" I did nothing, baby. It was all you. You took in the scripture from my books, you naughty girl. " He wagged his finger at me, the delight in his eyes infuriating me. " You took in the magic and now it ' s hungry. I know that hunger. I battle it every single day. "

The anxiety within was threatening to become a full-blown panic attack.

He rounded the table to stand before me, placing a hand on my cheek settling the anxiety within. " I felt it when you found those books. I mean, it wasn ' t the plan. You really weren ' t supposed to see those books. The original plan was to absorb your magic, and with it your lifeforce. But this is better. So much better."

" I don ' t understand, " I whispered. " What does this mean? "

He leaned into me, his lips grazing along the side of my neck. " My first instinct was to stop you. But then it occurred to me, you were right. My brother was right. " He stepped back as a roar of laughter erupted from him.

" I have been lonely. I ' ll admit it now. Centuries alone. Wandering this earth aimlessly, collecting the remains of my ancestors, hunting witches. Accumulating power. But it wasn ' t enough. It ' s never enough. You ' ll see."

" I won ' t do what you do. " I shook my head as I backed away from him. " I won ' t. I ' ll kill myself first."

" No, you won ' t."

I looked at him in disbelief. " I will. I ' ll die before taking another person ' s life! "

" Just watch. " He walked past me and into the kitchen. He grabbed a knife from the block and brought it over to me. I took a step back, keeping a solid five feet between us. Turning his hand palm up, he winced as he slid the knife across his hand. As quickly as the knife pierced the flesh, it healed up as if it had never happened. " I ' ve never met anyone strong enough to handle the magic in those books – until you."

His hand shot out and grabbed my wrist, with one powerful jerk he pulled me toward him as he plunged the knife into my stomach.

I gasped as I felt the blade pierce the flesh and into my stomach. There was an overwhelming urge to vomit as I looked down the length of my body to see the knife buried into me – to the hilt. Blood saturated the t-shirt where the knife went in, but when he pulled the knife back out, I yanked up the hem of my shirt to see aside from a smear of blood, the wound was gone – as if it was never there.

" Welcome, my love, to immortality. " When I looked up and into his eyes, he winked. " We ' re going to have a hell of a time together. "