Page 8 of Birthright

“It’s a good thing I’m not a threat, Manus…I have been with the lady for some time.” The tone in his voice held a great deal of authority, marking his displeasure over being able to be in my presence undetected.

“Yes, my lord, but the emotions I was sensing from Keena were not of a dangerous nature.” Manus kept his eyes cast down.

“True.” Tynan smiled at me. He did feel my infatuation with him. I blushed again and could see the smile on Manus’s bowed face.

Lord Tynan turned fully to me once more. “Until later, priestess.” He lifted my hand to his lips and pressed a very gentle kiss on my knuckles, his thumb gently rubbing across them. He winked and walked away.

And I stood there, smitten, holding my hand out in front of me. Never before had feelings so overwhelmed me. It felt as if I understood the man completely, knew him without knowing him, his character, his strengths, his weaknesses.

“Keena seems to have found someone she’s interested in, Hogan,” Manus said to the Gnome as he scuttled up behind him. Manus held his arm out for me to take.

Hogan giggled. “That would complicate things, wouldn’t it?”

I took Manus’s extended arm. “Shut up.”

“Yes, my lady.” Hogan grinned like a mischievous boy.

Manus had changed into his cat form for the night and was kneading the comforter at the end of the bed as I brushed my hair in front of the beautiful mirror Hogan conjured in my chambers. Lord Tynan’s bedchambers. The thought of him gave me a small shiver of excitement. I’d never responded to a man so strongly. I felt feminine from the intense desire, and I was still spellbound by my appearance.

“You are simply more you now, Keena,” Manus said as he circled around a time or two then plopped himself into a gray, furry lump. “You’ll grow accustomed to it.”

The truth was, I had already grown accustomed to it. He was right. It was just more me. “Manus?”

“Yes.” He lifted his head from his little paws and twitched his whiskers.

“Tell me about Vampires.”

“What is it you wish to know?”

I did my best to keep my voice indifferent as I ran the brush through my hair. I loved looking at the vibrant auburn. No more mousy hair—and I didn’t have to spend a fortune at a salon to get it. “You know what I want to know. Almost nothing I knew in my human life about any of the Kith races has been right. I assume it’s the same with the Vamps. What’s Dracula really like?”

His tail, wrapped around his body, did a little flutter beneath his nose. “Dracula was a monarch in the Middle Ages,” he scolded. “He wasn’t a Vamp at all. The locals just took advantage of the mythology to bring their lost monarch’s memory back to life.”

“Okay, not Drac, but what about real Vamps. Are they soulless fiends who feed on the innocent?”

He laughed, which, from a cat, sounded more like he was hacking up a furball. “No. They were originally created by the Slaugh. Kind of an accident, really.”

“The Slaugh? What do they have to do with Vampires?” The Slaugh had been a good part of my instruction since they had attacked me before. They were a creepy species that survived by feeding on lost souls and were well known among the Kith for having a nasty habit of stealing. Collectors of secrets, souls, and treasures, Bevin had told me. Politically, they wanted to regain the power they had enjoyed before the Kith went into hiding. They were foul creatures. Even if I didn’t have a reason for personal bias, they’d still give me the creeps.

Manus kept talking as he cleaned his furry paws. “Their king, King Bran, got greedy centuries ago and tried to take the souls of some Greek soldiers because he craved their bravery and strength. Even though the men had killed in battle, Bran was unable to keep their souls. A soldier may be a killer, but that alone never makes for an evil or tainted soul. Anyway, those souls escaped Bran and tried to return to their bodies or move on to the afterlife. But King Bran cursed the escaped souls, preventing them from entering the afterlife or from completely resurrecting their bodies. He cursed them to roam for ages as the undead. Lord Tynan was among the first.”

“So they have their souls.”

“Yes, but they do need to feed on human blood to exist. It was a side effect of the curse. Life force is needed to maintain their corporeal bodies. They don’t have to feed every night like in the movies. They’re gentle with humans to the point of being overprotective. The amount of blood needed to revive their flesh is minimal. They stand true with the council and the High Priestess. They are strong allies.”

“Oh.” I looked back to my reflection, remembering the depth of those dark blue eyes and the heat of his body so close to mine. I could feel his masculinity still lingering on my skin. My body felt tight with need.

“Keena.” Manus sounded very serious for a cat. “Keep in mind, la graine will love you and no other for their entire life span.”

I knew what he was saying. “A Vamp’s life is an eternity,” I whispered. If I were to let Lord Tynan become la graine, he would love me for a lifetime A lifetime that would long outlast my own. Long after I was dead and buried, he would love no one but me. Too long.

I crawled into the bed, my body still aching for him, dreaming of those deep, dark eyes and those lips that had run over my hands. Imagining what they would feel like as he kissed my stomach, my breasts, my thighs…

CHAPTER 4

Ispun away from Manus as he lunged at me. My elbow landed solidly in his ribs, pushing him to one side. Stumbling only slightly from the impact, he turned just as fast and was balanced on his feet, his sword sweeping fast toward me. I countered the move with a sweeping kick from my right leg and hit his wrist hard, knocking his sword across the room.

Ha! He was now without weapons. I had already stripped his other two blades from him.