Revelations in Blood
Copyright © 2018 by Patricia D. Eddy
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Cover Design by Fiona Jayde Media
Editing by Jayne Frost
Proofreading by Darcy Jayne
Contents
Just for you
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Italian and French Translations
About the Author
Also by Patricia D. Eddy
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1
Evangeline’s laughter soothed Nic’s battered soul. For eighteen years, he’d lived a nightmare: trapped underground in a silver cage, chained and tortured so a madman—Henry Longo—could use his body to develop a serum to turn vampires mortal.
Until Evangeline had saved him. Their bonding had been the single most intense and sensual experience of his long life. The blood ritual would forever link them—their thoughts, their emotions, and their souls. He could sense her from across the room. Deep in his heart, their love burned eternal. As a human, Evangeline never should have been able to bond with him, a vampire, but Longo, her bastard of a father, had forced his daughter to incubate the serum, and his experimentation had turned her into something more.
And now…they were married. The simple ceremony, overlooking the sea at his—their—home in Sorrento had been a spur-of-the-moment affair, one he hadn’t known would mean as much to him as it did. The life bond was so much more than marriage, but declaring their love in front of the only two vampires in the world he considered friends had changed him. As had the simple white gold band he now wore.
Nic marveled at her beauty from across the formal dining room. Golden brown locks tumbled to her shoulders, shining in the recessed lighting, and her cheeks held twin spots of color. Love welled in the depths of her gaze when her warm brown eyes sought him out. A flowing white dress clung to her curves, and she sipped a delicate Prosecco while Vittoria whispered in her ear. A blood red ruby winked in her wedding ring.
“Nicola?” Carlo, the closest thing to a son Nic would ever have, touched his arm. “May I have a moment in private?”
“This cannot wait until tomorrow?” Nic refilled his glass, then Carlo’s. “We are celebrating. For a short time. You and Vittoria have…other engagements, si? I would like to be alone with my sposa.”
With a quick glance at Vittoria, Carlo lowered his voice. “We will leave you soon enough. But there is much I need to tell you before your interrogation, and I fear we will run out of time.”
Nic’s stomach clenched, and he met Carlo’s gaze. For close to three hundred years, he’d been part father, part brother, and part friend to Carlo. In return, Carlo had pledged his lifelong loyalty. Trained as a lawyer, Carlo oversaw Nic’s financial holdings, helped run Angliatti Limited and all of its subsidiaries, and most importantly, had flown across the world after only a single phone call to help him and Evangeline destroy Longo’s research.
After a long moment, Nic nodded. “D’accordo.”
Sliding his arm around Evangeline’s waist, he feathered a kiss to her neck, directly over one of the bonding marks, and she shivered. “Cara, I need a few minutes with Carlo. Business. I will not be long.”
Evangeline’s brow furrowed, and she pressed closer to him. As her hand settled over his heart, he felt their connection flare. His emotions flowed through her, and she understood him almost immediately. “Vittoria has plenty of stories about you,” she said with a shy smile. “Go. But…” Her eyelids fluttered, and she spoke directly to his mind. “Are you all right?”
“I will be…as soon as I get that dress off of you. I must speak with Carlo about how to handle my…resurrection…with the press, that is all.” He didn’t want to hide his fear and concern from her, but this was their wedding day. And Evangeline had been so strong through the past weeks. Freeing him from his silver cage, risking her own life to escape the catacombs with him, risking the control of the incantesimo to feed him when he lay dying, and leading them all back into the lion’s den—her father’s lab—so they could try to save a race she’d been taught all of her life to hate.
Her frown planted a seed of worry in his mind. Had she sensed his lie? But Carlo cleared his voice, and Nic forced himself to follow his most trusted friend upstairs to the richly paneled office next to the bedroom.
As Nic shut the door, Carlo muttered, “We do not have enough time for me to tell you all you need to know.” Pacing back and forth while Nic leaned against his desk, Carlo ran a hand through his salt and pepper hair. “The Conclave is fractured. Luigi and Antonio…they are at each other’s throats.”
“That is not new.” Nic took a sip of his Prosecco, trying to hold onto his patience. “Luigi and I agreed on many things before my capture. I cannot say the same of Antonio. He likely welcomed my absence.”
“Nicola, you must watch what you say to them. All of them.”
Nic narrowed his eyes. “Why? I have done nothing wrong.”
“The drives.”
“What of them?” They’d retrieved two hard drives from Longo’s lab. Both corrupted, but with enough data to confirm the existence of the serum and the Hand of God’s plans for the deadly drug. On the plane on the way back to Italy, Carlo scrubbed a few of the more detailed reports on Evangeline’s DNA, saving copies for Vittoria to analyze. Carlo had intended to decrypt the drives before handing them over to the Conclave. But when they’d arrived at the airport in Rome, four members of the Conclave’s private security force had met them and confiscated the drives.
“I did my best, capo.” Carlo stopped his restless movements and grabbed Nic’s arms. “You must believe me.”
Shock roughened Nic’s tone. “I do. Carlo, you have always been a loyal friend. Even more. You are family. But you are alarming me. Why do you think I will be angry with you?”
“I believe…Longo’s torture, his research, the serum…” Carlo squeezed his eyes shut for a heartbeat, and when he opened them, the deep purple depths carried both pain and awe. “You are stronger than any of us.”
“No, mio amico. That is not what I mean. There was a folder on one of the hard drives named Lazarus.”
“Is that supposed to mean something to me?” Nic wracked his brain, trying to remember if Longo had ever uttered that word, but came up with nothing, despite his perfect memory.
“In the Bible, Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.”
Nic shook his head. “I still do not understand. Longo was a zealot. Is it surprising that he named his folders for religious figures? Did he have Cain and Abel as well? Abraham?”
“No. I have not been able to decrypt most of the information in the Lazarus file,” Carlo said quietly, “but I accessed one single document before I left my office this evening. Only half of the sentences are even complete. But one fragment worries me.”
“And that is…?” He’d had just about enough of Carlo dancing around the heart of the matter. Nic wanted to get back to Evangeline.
Carlo withdrew his phone and showed Nic the glowing screen.
“The vampire’s cells regenerate…altered blood infusion…stops the aging process.”
Frowning, Nic met Carlo’s gaze. “Our cells regenerate faster and for longer than a human’s. There is no conclusive evidence that this—”
“Nicola, what if you cannot die? What if that boon also extends to your life mate? We know Evangeline does not age as most humans do. What if that bastard’s experiments turned her—and you—immortal?”
“Ridiculo.” Nic scoffed at the notion. “I was dying when Evangeline freed me. And when we breached the lab and Longo cut my throat—” he shuddered at the memory of the serum-coated knife slicing into his neck, at the sensation of his blood gushing from his carotid artery, “—I saw death coming for me. Another few seconds, and Evangeline would have been too late. I am not immortal.”
“You can be killed, si. We know this. But what if you do not age? What would the Conclave do with that information?”
Nic struggled for a response, fear churning in his gut. “They would want to know more. How to replicate the effects. They would want to study me.”
“And your Evangeline.” Carlo held Nic’s gaze. “They would study her as well. And they would not be the only ones who wanted to do so. If the humans learned of her…unique genetic makeup…you know how obsessed humans are with prolonging life.”
As his mind raced through dozens of scenarios, each one more frightening than the next, he grabbed Carlo by the lapels. “Evangeline must be protected. Always. I will not let anything happen to her. Help me. Leaving her…the very idea terrifies me. But with this new knowledge…I cannot willingly turn myself in.”
The younger vampire nodded. “I know. This is why I wished to speak to you. I can hire guards—for both of you. Pietro had contacts at all of the major intelligence agencies of the world. I made some calls and found two vampires I believe can protect you both. If you agree, I will have them meet you here tomorrow afternoon before I drive you to Rome.”
“Si. They are trustworthy?” If he had more time, he’d vet the guards himself, but with only twenty-four hours before the Conclave expected him to turn himself in, he had little choice. Carlo would not let harm come to Evangeline.
“I believe so. Pietro trusted the vampire who recommended them both, and I trusted Pietro with my life many times during your absence. Vittoria can stay with Evangeline, but she is not trained in evasion and combat. These former spies are.” Carlo extracted himself from Nic’s hold and smoothed his hands down his jacket. “So, we are in agreement, si? You will accept their protection?”
“Si. Anything to keep Evangeline safe. You will continue to work on decrypting the files in the Lazarus folder while I am gone?” Nic’s voice cracked, and he did his best to shove the overwhelming panic down deep inside before returning to Evangeline.
Carlo stilled, letting Nic see the seriousness in his deep amethyst eyes. “I will do everything in my power to protect you and your sposa, capo. On my life.”
The silver blade sliced through his thigh, and blood spurted with every panicked beat of his heart. Nic struggled against the restraints, but as he weakened, and his vision went dark, a strange peace overtook him.
Why should he fight any longer? He was ready to die. He had nothing to live for. No hope of escape. Only pain. And blood. And fear. He couldn’t go on any longer.
With a final sob, his body went slack, and he let go.
“Nic! Wake up. Nic, please.”
Another choked cry, and he jerked, desperate to free himself from the bite of the cuffs at his wrists and the chains around his torso. He had to stop Longo from forcing blood down his throat. “Let me die,” he moaned. As the pressure lifted, her yelp startled him enough to force his eyes open. “Vaffanculo!”
Cowering at the edge of the bed with tears in her eyes, Evangeline blinked up at him. He’d risen to his knees, the sheets mussed, his bare chest heaving. A gentle glow from the bedside lamp shone off his life mate’s chestnut locks.
“Evangeline.” He barely managed to force the word from his raw throat before he sank back down, hating that he’d put fear in her eyes.
“You…were thrashing…fighting with the sheets.”
With me.
Though she hadn’t uttered the last two words aloud, Nic heard her clearly, the bond between them strengthening every day.
“Did I hurt you?” Nic reached for her, but she shrank further against the headboard. “Cara, per favore. May I hold you?”
At her nod, he gathered her to his chest, and as she trembled against him, Nic pulled the blankets over her slim shoulders. “Did I hurt you?”
“N-no.” Freeing her lower lip from between her teeth, she blew out a breath. “No. Not…really.”
Nic buried his face in the soft silk of her hair, fighting to compose himself. The nightmare had felt so…real. Longo’s laughter, Nic’s weakness, the disorientation and pain from the serum. He’d been back in the lab, strapped to the metal table, bound, gagged, drugged, and ready to die. Not here, in his bed, with his Evangeline, safe.
“Talk to me,” she urged, and he shook his head. “Please.”
As he peered down at her naked back, he saw the bruise welling just under her shoulder blade. “Merda. I caused this.” As his fingers skimmed over the reddened flesh, she winced. “I…can sleep on the floor for the rest of the night.”
“No.” Tightening her arms around him, Evangeline clung to his neck. “Don’t leave me.”
“I will never leave you.” Nic drew back to cup her cheek. “We are bonded. I love you. Nothing in this world will ever change that. But…I am a danger to you, cara. My strength…” With a sigh, Nic rubbed the back of his neck. “There were many nights in your father’s lab I woke screaming. But I could hurt no one there. What did I do to you?”
“I touched your chest. Your arms. You…pushed me.” She dropped her gaze. “I won’t try to wake you like that again.”
His anger—aimed only at himself—burned until his hands shook and he had to ball them into fists. “I want to keep you safe.”
“I’m safe with you.” With a shuddering breath, Evangeline straightened her shoulders. “Lie down.”
He could refuse her nothing, so he slid under the luxurious sheets once more and waited for Evangeline to fit her body to his. When their legs intertwined and he wrapped his arm around her, he tried to relax. How could she be so brave? He’d just thrown her across the bed, for fuck’s sake. And she clung to him.
“Tell me,” she whispered.
They’d only been back in his home for twenty-four hours. And by the end of the day, he’d have to turn himself over to the Conclave for interrogation. Carlo’s words weighed heavily on him. He’d feel better when he met the new bodyguards protecting Evangeline. How could he take himself back to Longo’s lab with his fea
r for her safety forefront in his mind.
“There is nothing to tell, cara. You know what he did to me.”
“I used to have nightmares,” she said quietly. “Until I was maybe…thirteen, Henry would hit me if I talked back. He’d sometimes lock me in my room in the dark. For half a day or more. When I moved in with Cassie, I kept waking her up screaming.”
Nic’s anger hit him like a physical punch. If he could go back and kill Longo, he would. Both to exact revenge for what the stronzo had done to Evangeline and to spare her the pain of killing the man herself.
“Cassie made me tell her everything. And…it helped.” She cupped his cheek, and he leaned into her touch. “Try.”
“When he was angry or happy, I suffered more,” Nic said, his voice rough. “I remember every word. Every injury.” He took her hand and brought her fingers to a rough scar on his abdomen that ran from his navel to his oblique. “Silver always leaves a mark. This…he sliced me with a silver scalpel, and then poured molten silver into the wound.”
Evangeline explored the abraded skin with a soft, mournful sigh. “He was a monster.”
“Si. So often, including that day, I prayed for death. When you woke me, I thought you were…him. Forcing blood down my throat. Saving my life so I could suffer another day.”
“Nic. Oh God.”
“We are free now,” he reassured her. “I will never pray for death again. We will have many years together. Centuries, even, if Vittoria is right.”