The Vampire And His Lady (Silver Hills #2)

Chapter 7- 1862

October 4th 1862- England

Thornwood had gotten use to ignoring pleas and sobs. He killed most who dared to defy his word, anyway, so many never got the chance to get on their knees and beg for mercy.

The situation that rainy October was different though; Thornwood was just as discontent as the other participants. He still had the note clenched in his fist.

The Thorpes are on house arrest, it had said. You are to enforce the punishment.

Enforcing the punishment meant doing the most revolting thing he could conjure in his mind: living with the Thorpes.

The lady of the house tried screaming. The patriarch tried to pay him off. That brother, idiotic fool, had tried to duel him.

He preferred the sister's approach. Katherine had batted her eyelashes and pursed her lips, but she didn't seem too distressed about his presence. He could feel the power radiating from her, and it tugged at the very core of him.

The youngest daughter had sneered and pressed herself into the corner. Even when he left the room, to woefully unpack his belongings in the guest room, he could hear the scolding she received from everyone.

He was leaving to go out and find dinner, a large cloak shrugged over his broad shoulders to disguise his recognisable features, when he heard arguing in the corridors.

He stayed just out of sight, but by peering around the corner he could catch sight of the two sisters.

Katherine had Diana trapped against the wall. Her tone was sour and sharp, in stark contrast with her radiant beauty.

"Listen to me Di," she snapped in her lilting voice. "That mortal is playing you like a fiddle."

Diana sniffed imperiously, her copper hair glowing dimly in the light of the candle her sister kept floating besides them. The young witch, like himself, had a cape slung around her shoulders.

A clandestine lover, he thought. God, I wonder who the unfortunate soul is?

Diana pushed her sister away with surprising strength. Katherine blinked in shock before shaking her head and storming off. Only Thornwood could pick up her mutters of fool.

He saw Diana shudder before wrapping the cloak tighter around herself and moving forwards. He intercepted her before she could reach the stairs.

"Thorpe." He bared his fangs at her, hoping to strike some fear in the girl. She just looked at him with wide eyes.

"What are you doing?"

Thornwood mentally stumbled. "None of your business," he snarled.

"Oh..." she lowered her voice, as if scared of being caught. "Well then, what I'm doing is none of your business either."

"Going for a midnight walk?" He probed. "Only, you seem to be dressed awfully posh to just be wandering about the grounds."

Her pale cheeks flushed bright red. "Leave me be, beast!" She hissed, storming past him.

Or at least trying to.

Thornwood grasped hold of her arm, tugging her back to him. She gasped at his touch, seething with rage.

"Unhand me, you foul monster!" She flung her arms out in an attempt to hit him. Even those strikes that she landed had little effect on him. They were as inconsequential as mosquito bites.

Nevertheless, he let her go. She stumbled into the wall, her hands flaying her to catch her before she fell to the floor.

"I'm here to warden your family," he snarled, "so you better explain where you planned on going?"

Diana swallowed hard, her pointy chin wobbling in what was either rage or distress. "I didn't realise you were to be our jailer," she muttered.

Thornwood had no time for her games. He stepped forward and placed his hands either side of the witch, trapping her completely.

He saw her pupils dilate from fear, her eyes darting down to glance at the sharp canines protruding from his mouth.

"Who is this mortal your sister spoke of?" He interrogated. Diana physically flinched, her back pressed so hard against the wall it looked as if she were trying to pass through it.

She swallowed hard before answering. "There is no mortal."

Let her go, a part of Thornwood thought. She is just a child who thinks herself in love.

But Diana wasn't a child by any means; she was a young witch who needed to abide the rules.

"Witches should marry within their community," he reminded her with a low growl. "The council aren't fond of... interspecies relationships."

"I'm a witch, not an alien," she hissed in reply. "And there's no rules against it; you're all just too caught up in tradition."

He'd caught her out. "So there is a mortal."

The corridor fell deadly silent, and he felt a shift in the very air. Then, without warning, he felt a jolt of electricity running through his body. He leapt back, a deep growl ripping from the back of his throat like the beast Diana claimed he was.

By the time he gathered his wits about him, Diana was swiftly walking away. She paused by the stairwell, turning to glance at him briefly.

"Even if there were a thousand mortals," she told him, not unpleasantly, "it would still be none of your business."

There is some truth in that, Thornwood considered as he watched he flee. The last thing he saw of Diana Thorpe that night was her copper hair flying out behind her.

A/N- Some enemies to lovers for G.T.E