Her Wicked Secret {Sequel to His Mortal Bride}

♱ Chapter 7 ♱

Piper

Evander reached his hands up to my face. Automatically, my senses were sent into overdrive once again. The pulsing in his wrist was inches from my face. His blood smelled sweet - sweeter than any mortal. Being so near, I was overwhelmed by his scent. He smelled of pine and woodsy evergreen. Between his blood and his enchanting scent, I was trapped. When he finally touched my face, I flinched, ready to back away.

His fingertips sparked when they touched my porcelain skin. A shock ran all throughout me, lacing through my body and tingling as it passed. I shivered, feeling a murmur of heat from the radiating spark. My cold body flooded back to its normal temperature almost as quickly as the heat came on. I was staring wide eyed into Evander's illuminating gold pupils before the images started and I could no longer see the reality in front of me.

My eyes glazed over and I felt like I was seeing through another's perspective. I assumed it was Evander's perspective I was viewing. My vision was hazy around the edges as I bore witness to his explicit memories.

I could hear yelling and hissing as glimpses of russet brown hair and blood passed by my line of sight. A woman who looked just like Evander was laying on the ground. She was overpowered by the two Vampires who held her down and savagely drank from her.

"Evander - go!" She demanded him, pleading for him to escape.

I could feel the anguish Evander felt. It was all-consuming. It tore through me and made my skin burn like I was being branded. But it was prickling everywhere, threatening to set my whole body on fire.

An arrow flew and hit the back of the one Vampire. An animalistic growl came from him as he clawed at the arrow that I - Evander - had just pierced through his back and lodged in his heart. His skin began to crack, and as he screamed, his body started to crumble beside Evander's mother. The other Vampire disappeared.

I - Evander - fell beside her, holding her as she choked on her own blood. The anguish mixed with an unmatched sorrow of watching her die in Evander's arms. She was speaking, but her words were quiet to me. I couldn't make out what she was saying. It was like hearing underwater. I tried my hardest to hone in on what she was saying, but it was as if the words had been scratched from the memory.

She finally closed her eyes. As she did so, a glow flowed from her body and into the ground. It was a pale green, matching the green earthy tones of the forest floor. The luminesce flowers sprouted in its wake and everything around became light as her life seeped into the forest floor. The recognizable wards blew up like a fizzling bubble around the surrounding area.

The scene cut and image after image of bloodied necks and heads on stakes came into sight. Men, women, children, all of them slaughtered in what seemed like random attacks.

Suddenly, I was in a crowd of Witches and Warlocks. The focus shifted to a Warlock who walked through the crowd with a little girl in his arms. People cried silently as he parted the crowd and laid her down before a woman at what looked like an altar.

The little girl's blue lifeless eyes met mine and I ripped away from Evander's hold.

Finally, the images stopped when I snapped away from Evander's touch. I was in shock after reliving the sight of countless corpses that had obviously been slain by my kind. No one else could've inflicted those injuries.

He pulled back as well, realizing how shaken I was. A dull ache filled my gums as my fangs protruded more than normal. I swallowed down the temptations his pulse sang to me and felt the ache subside.

I hadn't even noticed that the whole time I was so close to his pulse that my instincts were tugging at me to drink. I never would. I had better control than that, but it didn't stop me from wanting to.

"I'm so sorry," I heaved out the first words - the only words - I knew to say. I met his gaze, returning a horrified look at what I had just witnessed. Evander nodded, looking down at me. He was still a foot from me, barely far enough for me to quell the ache in my gums.

"How do you do that? I could feel everything you were feeling," I asked in astonishment.

"In order to show you my memories, you had to relive them. That includes what I saw and felt," Evander explained, "Few of my kind can successfully do so." His tone was nonchalant and I could tell he wasn't trying to brag.

"Your mother was talking to you when she..." I trailed off, "Did you keep me from hearing what she said?"

Evander didn't reply. I took that as a yes.

I sank back against the wall. Too many things were running through my head. So many questions...

I felt an enormous amount of guilt. Even though I had nothing to do with the deaths, I still felt responsible. I might not be my brother, I might not be next in line, but the things that happened were because of my people. The death that spread through Evander's people, taking his own mother, all felt like my fault. All because I didn't know and it had been happening this whole time.

I wondered if Alec knew...

"This is still happening?" I asked, wanting to know but dreading the answer.

Evander didn't answer aloud, only nodded his head in response. I wondered if he was conflicted about talking on such issues with what he assumed was the source of the problem.

"I understand why you would hate us," I murmured. Part of me could still feel his burning rage and need for vengeance singeing my own cold veins. I understood it, and I couldn't blame him.

Evander looked at me in surprise.

"You're the only Vampire I have ever met outside of those whom I've witnessed slaughter my own people. Yet, I find it hard to think of you as one of them," Evander admitted. I felt a relief settle in my chest. For some reason, knowing he didn't put me in the same bunch as the murderers of his kind made me feel better.

"Until you aimed that bow at me and I saw the hatred in your eyes, I had no idea there was such a schism between our kinds," I told him. It was the truth. I was so shocked by what he had told me that I couldn't sleep the night before and rushed to get answers right away.

"It must be a well-hidden secret among your kind then. I can't imagine why someone of your stature would not know of it," He spoke, sipping his now chilled tea.

"I don't believe anyone I know is keeping it from me," I told him. I thought of my brother, next in line for the crown, keeping such a horrific secret from me. No, if he knew about this, he would have told me. He would have done something.

"Are you sure about that?" Evander asked. His tone wasn't harsh, just questioning. He was asking me what my subconscious was murmuring deep in the back of my mind.

I sighed.

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