Declan:
Declan watched Cassidy sleep. She was up all day, turning the house upside down looking for him. After the way he had left, he didn’t blame her. She sometimes forgot that it was nearly impossible for him to die, and that which could kill her, couldn’t kill him. She thought he had crawled off to die somewhere alone, like a sick dog.
The relief when she saw him alive was such that she cried for hours while he held her. He had never seen her so upset, and he suspected as the war went on he would see more of it – her sunny, joyful exterior was nothing but a thin veneer for the deep fear she must have felt every waking moment.
Once, he reached out to feel how Aster was coping…she was extremely frustrated, which he expected – learning how to use her gifts wasn’t going to be easy. Then he blocked her out again.
He honestly thought he’d be ecstatic when she woke up, and for a split second when she said his name again after seven years
Aster: Declan already waited for her when she got out of the shower, sitting on the bed with his legs spread wide open, a sheathed sword next to him. On the nightstand were three plant pots and a paper envelope. ”What’s up?” she asked. She walked up to the bed, thought about it, and sat on the chair instead. Being close to him yet unable to touch him just contributed to her general misery, and she had had enough. “I come bearing gifts,” he said and grinned. Aster gave him a strained smile, and watched as he pulled a small red, velvet jewellery box from his pocket. “Rowan sent your father away on an errand of some kind. He left you this. It was your mother’s.” The room was small enough that all he had to do was lean over to hand it to her. With shaking hands, she opened the box and stared at her mother’s emerald engagement ring. As a little girl, she used to watch her mom slip the ring on her finger when she got ready to go out, and sh
Declan: “What do you want to talk about?” he asked. She climbed knees first onto the bed, folding her legs under her, pushing unruly hair back from her face. “I don’t know…tell me about Rowan. How much did he know about what Cyrus had done to my family?” Declan had expected that she would ask the question sooner or later. He got up and retrieved a brush from the dresser. Sitting behind her, he put a leg on either side and started brushing her hair. “He was the one who found you, and convinced Cyrus that having an elemental on our side would be a good idea.” “How? Why?” “It’s simple really. You know why Rowan wanted an elemental…but he told Cyrus that an elemental could wipe out the human’s food supply, while at the same time maintaining it for the vampires, which would make the humans reliant on the vampires. The ones who control the food control the world after all. There’s nothing more dangerous than a starving human. Rowan
Aster: Over the next two months, her nights blended together into a predictable pattern. Declan came by every evening with a blood bag, they’d sit and talk for a few hours, then he’d leave. She didn’t ask him for physical affection again, nor did he offer it. The only reason she did it that once was because her ancestor, Deborah, insisted that it would awaken her powers – and she was right. When Aster kissed Declan and the love she felt for him destroyed the ever-present anger, the plant bloomed…it took no effort at all, as long as she redirected her love to the seed. The vampires that tried to teach her didn’t fully understand – it wasn’t about commanding the seed to bloom, it was about loving it to life. Likewise, she could literally hate the plants to death. At some point, she lost track of when, Eros returned. He’d come by every so often and take her out – why Declan couldn’t do it, she never asked, nor did she particularly care. She enjo
Declan: Declan woke with a start, his heart hammering wildly in his chest. Next to him, Cassidy sat upright, clutching the sheet to her chest, her eye wide. Panicked, he grabbed his sword, and dressed only in his underwear ran from the room. “Stay here,” he told her on his way out, “lock the door.” A determined vampire would get in eventually, but like all the other doors in the house, this one was reinforced against supernatural attacks. He ran downstairs, vampires peeling from their rooms, joining him. The fight started outside, but the enemy easily broke through their daytime defences. The only way they could have been here this soon after sunset was if they had spent the day close by in the forest or mountains. Declan didn’t have time to think about it. Everyone knew what they were supposed to do in case of an attack, and he had one job – protect Aster. The vampire that stormed him was about half his age and clumsy. Swingi
Declan – Part two:Declan stared at her, his mouth open, for the moment unable to speak. He turned to Rowan who asked, “Did you know she could do that?” He heard the panic in his father’s voice.“No.”Aster turned to them, her face calm. “It’s because I’m a vampire. I’m stronger than a human elemental.”“It makes sense,” Rowan said.Hm-hm,” Declan said, wiping blood out of his eyes. “Samuel,” he called down the passage. His brother reappeared, the grief laid bare on his face. “How is Matthew?”Samuel looked around the passage, his mouth agape, apparently unaware of the Armand blood rain. “He’s barely alive. What happened?” he asked.“Aster vaporised Armand,” Declan said, and slowly the panic that gripped him right after she killed the ancient vampire started to evaporate, replaced b
Aster:She dressed in the same type of clothes she had worn for the last three weeks. Black leggings and a white t-shirt. “We really need to find you something different to wear,” he remarked as he tied a towel around his waist.“It’s fine,” she said, “it’s comfortable.”Aster looked him up and down, her eyes traveling over his perfect body. It had been so long since she really saw him – since she’d been touched – that she didn’t want to leave this little room ever again. Now that he was here, really here, it didn’t feel so claustrophobic anymore. They could stay here forever, alone in their little bubble. “What?” He asked, running his hands through his wet hair.She grinned. “Just looking at my hot husband.”He flexed his pectorals, making them jump. “Not bad for a fourteenth century monk, huh?”Aster laughed. S
Declan: In the back of the house were a bar and restaurant that was now going unused. Like the rest of the mansion, it was rustic yet tasteful, with heavy wooden furniture and hidden lights bathing the whole place in a warm glow. Declan stepped behind the bar and started lining up glasses while Matthew disappeared to fetch his brides. Aster sat to the side on a barstool, observing them, her back straight, hands neatly folded in her lap. He remembered the day she pulled her clothes from the closet and declared she didn’t want to look like an heiress anymore – but it wasn’t the clothes that gave her that appearance, it was in the way she carried herself. “Do you want a drink?” She shook her head. “I think it would be best if I stay sober, so I can keep a clear mind.” Declan lifted himself up and leaned over the bar so he could kiss her. “We really never had time to explore any of this, did we?” he asked, somewhat breathless after their
Declan:Cursing and moaning and groaning all the way, Declan got up. “Stay here,” he said, as he pulled the t-shirt over his head.“Think again.” She rolled off the bed, cocking her head at him, daring him to argue with her.“Aster I--”he stopped, changed course, --“you’re right. You can look after yourself just fine.”“Damn straight I can.”He grinned. “Let’s go.”“You don’t have a weapon,” she said, as she ran up the stairs behind him.“Don’t worry, I’ll find one.”They ran into the lobby to find their clan standing on the one side and a mixed group of unknown vampires and humans on the other.“What’s going on?” Declan asked the vampire closest to him.“I don’t know,” she said, “they just came stumbling in from outside.”