Burn for Me (Edanholme Book 1) Read online

  hungry monster. She was more shocked by what he had done to her, than the fact he was

  a living, breathing, vampire of legend. Flames of outrage and loathing dancing in her veins

  fuelled a hot temper. Power zipped over her skin, a force that had been locked down, been

  subdued so that Phillipe could have her for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

  He knew as soon as he saw the naked fire of on Emerald gaze, that she was aware of his

  manipulations. Cat shuddered at the intimacy she had shared with him, consciously and

  unconsciously.

  “Why Phillipe…?” The whisper had held pain at the abuse he had inflicted upon her body.

  Every moment of her past life had been dragged to the forefront of her mind in a welter

  of undeniable depravity and drugged submission. The heat in her body was nearly

  incandescent with outrage, an upwelling of elemental forces beyond her ken.

  “Because I could….” At the cold-blooded response, flames flickered down her arms over the

  length of red tinged hair. Glowing coldly blue, the fire reached out towards the vampire,

  barely held in check as Cat realised she was the one in control of the licking tongues flaring

  over her skin. She felt no heat as Phillipe backed up against a wall, fear and loss in deep

  black eyes. “You are of the Fae.”

  The explanation stuttered from his lips, fangs lowered he hissed as a flame reached out for

  him, an intimate little flicker seeking his skin. “I cannot resist the taste.”

  “I don’t know what I am Phillipe, but obviously you do. Tell me who I am or burn.” Cat had a

  huge lump of ice in her chest that used to be her heart. She was supposed to be the nice one,

  the sweet tempered darling who cried over the loss of life. Whether it was a spider or a human,

  it was all the same to her, a tragedy. Here she was, ready to ruthlessly incinerate her lover,

  and he knew without a shadow of doubt she meant it.

  “My master bid me control you, to keep your powers at bay, to turn you if possible. You are

  Istirina’s heir, next in line to the Sidhe throne of Withins Underhill, the Sovereign Court of the

  Isles.” The name Withins rang bells, loud and long. Dru was definitely part of all this, was he

  a vampire too? Her mind still ached from the dispersal of vampire thrall, drowning in a well

  of information overload.

  “Your Grandmother hates the Master. He planned to use you against her once you became

  one with the Dark Court.” Cats head had been crowded with too much knowledge of a world

  outside the sphere of humanity, she couldn’t correlate the difference between two sets of

  monsters.

  “Grandma isn’t a threat to anyone.” She spat at him, the air between them alive with waves

  of heat emanating from Cat’s body. Phillipe had whimpered an awful gagging sound.

  “Get out of my home, my life.” She had screamed as his fangs snapped down in protest.

  “You cannot take what is mine.” His face turned ashen as the air around him began to burn.

  “Do you honestly believe I give a shit?” This creature had used her without regard to her

  feelings, her needs. She was going to make him pay, somehow.

  “I leave you with your miserable life. You don’t deserve it, but if either you or your master

  cross my path again, I swear I will destroy you.” She looked coldly into eyes as black as a

  moonless night, a menacing whisper on sweetly curved lips.

  “Princessin, beget of Istia and Edan Fire. You truly are the daughter of magnificent parents.

  The Queen will kill you without thought or reason, simply because of who you are. Embodied

  in you is the single threat to her throne.” He had lifted a hand as if to touch her cheek.

  “I do love you in my own way. Survive Iscatya Edan-Fire, do not become a slave to another.”

  A swirling black mist sucked Phillipe silently from the room.

  Tearing from the house still dressed in uniform, Cat had grabbed her bag and car keys.

  Nothing was sane, nothing was as it should be, including her. She wasn’t really human.

  The instant her true name resounded in her head, the world she knew switched one eighty.

  Dru started this, when he growled out a title. Who the hell was he? Why had he suddenly

  appeared in her life?

  The woman she had become channelled ruthlessness without hesitation. Cold blooded

  callousness was foreign to her nature, or so she thought. Fear enveloped Cat in a shroud of

  smothering despair. Grandma Shayla had to be warned about the Master’s plans. Why he

  would hate a grey haired old lady was beyond Cat, but she was going to find out.

  Coming back to the present Cat was driving on auto pilot over country lanes that rattled the

  teeth in her head. She didn’t care, Grandma was her priority.

  It hadn’t occurred to her to phone ahead, technology didn’t like Shayla much. Grandma was

  very old-fashioned in some respects, like Cat living with a lover. Shayla would have gone

  ballistic at the thought of her precious Cat living in sin.

  She had kept Phillipe a secret, what secrets had Grandma kept?

  Bringing the car to a sliding halt on the gravel drive, she soaked up the sounds and smells of

  a warm summer evening, to leech some of the tension from her shoulders. The soft scent

  of the flower borders stuffed to bursting with exotically hued roses held her gaze. She had

  helped plant these borders as a child. To her, vivid blooms of deep purple, sky blue and

  luscious turquoise were commonplace, but maybe not normal.

  Bees droned softly, pausing and humming contentedly, collecting abundant pollen. A smile

  touched Cat’s lips. She was home even though she hadn’t lived with Grandma for years.

  The cottage garden, the aroma of freshly baked bread wafting in the air, were warm lovely

  memories of an innocent childhood with Grandma Shayla and Udg the family dog.

  Ok… Family wolf, he was big, hairy and cuddly. No-one…. Not the Queen of the Sidhe or

  Master of the undead, would be allowed to lay a finger on any member of her family.

  “Cat my pet what brings you to visit?” Love wove through the soft question, a generous,

  unconditional love. Shaking off childhood memories, Cat hugged the diminutive figure on

  the doorstep. All grey hair and laughing blue eyes, Grandma Shayla hugged her back.

  The question foremost in Cat’s mind sought release, tripped off her tongue, had to be

  answered, like now. “Grandma, who is Istirina…?”

  “Shite, shite and double shite… Do not speak that loathsome name aloud. That alone can

  draw her to you.” Shayla was gasping for breath, Irish accent more pronounced than ever.

  Cat’s mouth fell open. She had never heard any form of profanity from Shayla’s lips.

  “Grandma…!” The shock resounding in her voice made Shayla giggle, a youthful laugh

  from a care-worn face. Blue eyes suddenly widened in pure terror glancing over Cat’s

  shoulder. “Too late…”

  The shivers that assaulted Shayla’s body shook her granddaughter to her fingertips.

  Twisting round to face the driveway Cat gasped in fear and curiosity. Dru leant against the

  hood of the BMW, his face tense, eyes locked on the two women. Warm fur brushed her

  fingers, Udg the wolf wove between their legs, jaws wide in an angry snarl. Fangs flashed

  as he growled long and low.

  Drusal had watched the intimate little scene between the two females before revealing

  himself. He had expected Is
catya to run. What he hadn’t expected was whom she had run to.

  This female had too many powerful connections for him to take her easily.

  He smiled, laughing softly, the chase just got harder and a lot more interesting. It was time

  for him to have some fun. Easing from his perch on the female’s car, Drusal touched at his

  forehead with the fingers of his right hand, bowing low.

  “My Lady Shayla… An unexpected honour…” His eyes dropped to the snarling animal, he

  executed the same sign of deference, with exquisite grace. “My Lord Jarl…”

  The wolf just sniffed his distaste at the presumption of the greeting, pressing his body into

  Cat’s knees hard enough to make her take a step back. She nearly fell over in surprised awe

  as Grandma returned the greeting with similar graceful movements.

  “Drusal, Lord Vardon of the Green Hill, Dark Hound to the Sovereign Court. To what do we

  owe your presence here?” Her voice was crisp, with no sign of advancing age.

  A dark honeyed laugh left the curve of a firm mouth, not mirthful more ominous.

  Cat’s skin tingled. The hair on the back of her neck tugged painfully at the pony-tail. It was

  either fight or flight reflex, she wasn’t sure which. All she knew for certain was that this man,

  if he was a man, made her toes curl and her heart thud dangerously fast.

  “I have come to claim, my one true Mate.” He declared baldly, pearlescent grey eyes fixed

  on Cat’s rigid figure. She was the last female he would have chosen to mate with. All he had

  to do was take her once to consummate the bonding. She was the key to his release from

  servitude. Once he was free of the Queen’s attentions they could both go to hell for all he

  cared.

  “What…” Shayla’s shriek shook him from a reverie of a chance to be free of depravity, the

  hope of escape from the hell of Withins Underhill, that lay within his reach.

  “No Drusal, she is not getting hold of her.” Shayla laid her hand on her granddaughter’s

  stricken face, a soft caress of love and protection.

  The air in front of Cat shimmered. Where her Grandma and Udg had been, stood two of the

  most beautiful beings she had ever seen, her pet Policeman taking the place of the wolf.

  Dropping to the doorstep Cat sank her head in her hands, where was all this leading?

  Iscatya. A deeply mellow voice resounded in her head.

  You have no choice but to submit. The Queen has declared us mated, Come to me.

  More angry than frightened by his commands, she leapt to her feet, not to succumb to

  seductively, menacing enticement, but to wipe the sneer from a gorgeous face.

  Two sets of hands gripped both her arms, a loving restraint to halt a headlong flight.

  “No child.” Shayla shook her head, a waterfall of blonde curls swung over her shoulder.

  Blazing blue eyes held Cat still.

  “He can come no further the grounds are warded against intruders.”

  Sucking back a sob of rage, Cat faced the man who would be her mate.

  “Drusal? What kind of name is that?” She wilfully baited him. Strung out, on the edge of

  screaming to the world she wanted to get off, Cat fought back with insults.

  “Mine…” A harsh growl lifted the hairs on her arms.

  “Well Drusal of the Green Hill… You did not offer me a greeting. Which I find rather

  disrespectful in a man who professes to be my mate. But then I do not recognise you as a

  mate, so that absolves me from the tediousness of offering you my deference.” Turning her

  back on a brewing storm she marched into the house head held high.

  Drusal’s fingers curled into fists, his temper simmering just below boiling point. He could

  not breach the wards surrounding the cottage. He could not drag the uncouth female back

  to Withins Underhill by the hair as he so sorely wanted to. He would find her alone one day.

  Then a reluctant mate would beg to do his bidding.

  Oblivious to the dark thoughts raging through the monstrous male’s mind, Cat curled up in

  her favourite armchair closing her eyes just for a second, just until her head stopped spinning.

  In a matter of hours she had jumped from one reality to another, become a pawn in a battle

  of wills between the rulers of the Sidhe and Vampires. Not what she had expected after a

  long day soothing the anxious questions of her patients. Empathy was a bitch when tempers

  were high and your former lover turned out to be a prison guard.

  A gentle caress of fingers on her forehead woke Cat from an unsettled doze. Soft candlelight

  filtered through the cosy room, casting dancing shadows on the pastel painted walls.

  “Grandma….?” She murmured before her eyes were fully open. The willowy blonde with

  Shayla’s eyes, watched with trepidation as alarm registered on her Granddaughters face.

  “Who exactly are you?” The whisper was a torn sound of grief and despair, a child’s lost and

  lonely wail, a fragile sound of shattered illusions tied to a broken heart.

  “Jarl and I are your Father’s parents. We really are your Grandparents child.” Kneeling on

  the slate floor Shayla pressed her hands over Cat’s.

  “The Queen is Mother to your Mother.” Strong fingers absorbed the fine trembling that

  assuaged the brittle shell that held the Heir to the Sovereign throne.

  “I have to know what I am dealing with Shayla….” Numbed by all that had happened, Cat

  had to deal with it fast or submit to tyranny.

  “It is past time for you to hear the full truth…” A hint of shame edged Shayla’s voice.

  “I prayed that you would never grow into your heritage. That your life would be free from

  the poison that plagues the Court of Withins Underhill.” Shayla unburdened her heart,

  recounting a tale of desperate love and a child who had to live in obscurity to be safe.

  Istia and Edan Fire, her parents, had been forced to flee the Sidhe Court under sentence of

  death, after they had mated against the wishes of a despotic Queen. Cat was given to a

  loving Grandma to grow to maturity in the human world, hidden behind the shield of

  glamour. A cloak of human skin designed to allow the Sidhe to move freely, in a world that

  believed Faeries were myth, characters designed for children’s story books. The reality was

  that the Sidhe had devolved to become brutal, and uncaring of their own kind and more

  especially the human race. Her parents were hounded relentlessly. She would never be safe,

  on the run from Istirina’s spite. Nor could her parents move as swiftly as they needed to

  with a new born to consider.

  “Will I ever know them…?” Her day just got worse. Now her heart was breaking for the loss

  of her Mother and Father all over again. A worse pain than finding out her love for Phillipe

  was no more than a spell induced lusting for a stunningly handsome man.

  “Only the Fates can tell my pet…” Shayla kissed her forehead. “We can always hope.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  Cat ran bare foot over the sun-warmed grass surrounding a rambling mansion. This was her

  home now. A tangible slice of property she never thought to own outright. Gaining a foot

  hold on the ladder of further education, she attained independence at the age of eighteen,

  moving into a tiny apartment in town, one she shared with Alex until the day Phillipe enticed

  her to shack up with him. Not a romantic review of a disastrous decision, but bloody accurate.

  So here she stood, Lady of the man
or, with all the attendant headaches of maintenance.

  Tough… She was a big girl, it was time to knuckle down and make her own decisions again.

  The biggest being, to stay well away from a huge male with opalescent eyes who had invaded

  her dreams, in a recurring vision of tangled limbs and sweaty bodies, which included waking

  daydreams… Imagination on overload, it was hard not to compare the physiques of a man

  who had taken what he wanted of blood and body with no remorse, to a male who would

  enslave her, solely to appease his Liege Lady.

  Shayla… Grandma felt uncomfortable to her when faced with beauty so shining and pure it

  eclipsed the sun. Shayla had told a tale of hidden mating and desperate flight in the face of

  Istirina’s fury, at her daughter’s betrayal of the Royal line. Cat had been secreted away in the

  human world, protected, hidden from Fae. Her parents whether dead or alive, no-one knew,

  left a child behind with no connection to them except the four elements raging in her veins.

  Phillipe’s master had held Cat’s bloodline out like a red rag to a bull, flaunting the knowledge

  of Iscatya’s captivity to torment the Queen. Drusal had been sent out into the human world

  to track her down, using and abusing the many un-dead who stood in his way.

  He had revealed all the sordid details of vampire thrall, without a shred of guilt or remorse to

  her stunned grandparents. The Lord Vardon had left them with a dire warning.

  He would have his mate whatever the cost…

  Cat shivered at the single minded determination of the man, even though she obviously

  repulsed him. The look of disgust on his face, when he first saw what she offered to a

  noble scion of a royal court haunted her, even though she couldn’t give a damn. The right

  hand of Queen Grandmother didn’t like the thought of being mated to a female who lacked

  the attributes of a true female of the Sidhe.

  Jarl, her Pet Policeman and Grandfather had watched over her, a constant guardian, though