Page 40 of The Midnight Order (The Thorngray Vampires Duet #1)

Jasper

Silver walks inside with Asher, hand in hand. Both look refreshed and happy. I don’t know where they’ve been, but seeing Asher looking a little less… tormented is nice.

“I’m going to go check on our fine doctor,” he tells her, kissing her on the cheek.

Watching her get closer to each of us has been a pleasure, but it’s also tricky. I’ve been trying my hardest to remain level-headed. Someone has to be.

Lowell is falling hard and fast, and that’s going to become a problem soon. His nature demands he kill when he feeds, and we need to be vigilant and monitor him if we have any hope of keeping Silver alive.

She could absolutely be the key to our freedom and end up dead by our hands before the curse is broken. I’m sure Valentina’s ghost would revel in that happening.

My eyes travel out the back French doors, wondering if her spirit is still out there, still wandering around and watching our agony.

“Asher showed me the grounds,” Silver says, and it snaps me back to reality.

“Mmm. Did he?”

She slides onto a stool and turns toward me. “He did. The chapel is beautiful. I’m sure it was something to behold in its day. You know, I could help you fix that fountain. I know we can’t have anyone from outside come in, but?—”

“No one touches the fountain. Stay away from it.” My voice is stern and lacks emotion as I feel heat ripple up the back of my neck.

Silver straightens, shifting uncomfortably on her stool. “I’m sorry. I just?—”

“No. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you. The fountain is off limits.”

“Got it.” Curiosity beams in her eyes, but she keeps a lid on inquiring further.

“So, last night…” I lead her.

She grins, a beautiful blush filling her cheeks. “Did everyone hear?”

“Everyone heard. Fuck, the entire town might’ve heard.”

“Don’t say that. I won’t ever be able to show my face again.”

I grin. “Was he… good to you? Gentle?”

She bites her lower lip, and my eyes home in on the way her teeth sink into it. I wish she’d give the bite a little more pressure so that I could smell her sweet blood permeate the room.

“I don’t think it’s in Lowell’s nature to be gentle.”

“It’s not. I only meant to inquire about your well-being this morning. If you need anything, let me know.”

“Alright. I will. You’re being very formal this morning.”

Her pointing it out made me sigh and walk closer. “I know. I don’t know how to be around you sometimes. You’re intimidating.”

“Me?!” she squeaks out.

“Yes, you. You might be the thing that frees us, Silver. A lot is riding on each interaction we have with you. I don’t think I’m the only one on edge.”

“I didn’t think about it like that. If anyone’s on edge, I thought it was me.”

“With good right.”

“I think I’m going to go through that box I found in my aunt’s attic some more.”

I note that she’s back to calling Soliel her aunt. I’m thankful, too. She might’ve been the only thing between her and a darker fate.

Even death.

“You don’t have to rush on our account. You take your time with it.” Even though I feel the exact opposite, I’d love for her to review all the papers and provide us with all the necessary information to create a game plan.

However, I don’t want to push her too much, so I remain tight-lipped about my true wishes.

“I appreciate that. I have a question that’s been burning a hole through me, and I didn’t know which of you to ask. I knew Lowell was likely not the best one to ask.”

“Ask away.” I lean over the end of the island, coming mere inches from her. She angles toward me, either by instinct or on purpose.

Either way, I bask in her scent and attention like a cat mewling in the sun.

“Did you know Soliel was a witch?”

I open my mouth to answer, but Lowell strides into the room, beating me to it. “No. We did not.”

Silver sits straighter, the rouge in her cheeks deepening as she eyes him. He passes behind me, heading for the fridge for a bottle of blood.

Silver’s heart rate blooms in her chest, and I grin at her knowingly.

She berates me with a look, and I clear my throat.

“You don’t have a sense for those things?”

“Things?” I ask her, quirking a brow.

“I don’t know,”—she wafts her hand in the air—“supernatural things.”

“We can only sense what people give away unknowingly, little lamb. Like your heart rate right now, how it’s pattering away in your chest like a hummingbird’s. You can’t control that. Soliel had the power to glamour, to keep things close to her chest that she didn’t want to be found out.”

“Does it make you angry you didn’t know?” she asks him, and anxiety spikes through me.

Lowell isn’t someone to prod, but she doesn’t seem nervous in the slightest.

“Yes. It also makes me angry that we didn’t know about you. How many years did she suspect you could be what we were after and didn’t say a word? How many years did she keep you from us?”

“So her being let in the wards, was it because of me?” Silver looks between us.

“I think so,” Corvin adds as he walks into the room with Asher on his heels.

Asher winks at Silver, and her blush deepens.

If she is our key, she’s well on her way to solidifying relationships with each of us, and my heart sings when I realize this.

Whether or not she realizes it, she’s becoming a part of this order.

“Did you ever live with Soliel in that house?” I ask her.

“She didn’t,” Lowell answers, his searing gaze locking on Silver. “I would’ve sensed her from miles away.”

“No. I never did.”

“When did she buy it? How old were you? What year was it?” Lowell doesn’t ease his gaze as he watches her search her memories.

“I don’t—I don’t know…”

“We need to unlock her memories.” Lowell smacks the island, causing Silver to jump.

“If it’s a magical glamour, I don’t see how we can,” I add.

“Our usual tricks might not be enough,” Corvin points out.

“We’d need a witch,” Asher realizes.

The room flutters with energy, but no one moves or speaks.

“Do you… Know a witch?” Silver asks.

All eyes snap to that fucking fountain in the yard, where the blood of the last witch we knew ran through it in pools.

“I do,” Lowell says gruffly.

“We can’t contact her. Not after what she did to you. Not after everything.”

“We could just speak to the ghost wandering the grounds.” Asher snorts, knowing full well Silver’s in the room and we haven’t told her about that yet.

Silver looks at me, curiosity dancing in her eyes, but I give her a curt shake of my head.

She tosses me a subtle nod of understanding.

“I am going to scour my results. Asher, you coming?” Corvin says, sensing the tension in the room thickening.

“Right behind you,” Asher answers, stopping to give Silver a prolonged kiss on her lips.

Corvin looks on, waiting at the threshold. I recognize his longing stare as he watches their interaction, but what’s lacking is shocking.

He’s not jealous of them. It seems he’s… happy.

Lowell straightens and heads for the open doors. “I’ll be back.”

“Where are you…” The slamming of the doors cuts off my words as Lowell makes a quick exit.

“I didn’t mean to cause any kind of upset.”

“You didn’t. It’s a lot to think about. It makes sense, though, you know? We finally find a potential key that we’re all falling head over heels for, and she has a curse of her own that she’s dealing with.”

“Asher suggested maybe we’re fated to save one another.”

“That’s a nice idea.”

“I told him as much.”

“You seem to be falling in with everyone in the manor well.”

She bites her infernal lip again. “I am. It’s kind of wild, like I’ve known you all my entire life. It feels… familiar.”

“Things that are meant to be feel that way, I think.”

“Mmm,” she agrees.

The room grows silent, but there’s a buzzing between us. “Jasper.”

Walking closer, my eyes home in on the leaping pulse in her throat and the way the chambers of her heart work overtime to keep up with the increased pace. “Hmm?”

“What did Asher mean about a ghost?”

Damn him to hell for being the way that he is.

I sigh, lifting her chin with two fingers. Her pupils are blown wide, and I can’t think past the smell of her growing arousal, but I also know she has the right to know what’s going on around here.

“I saw someone on the grounds. Someone we knew before.”

“A witch?”

I nod.

“The one who cursed you?”

I sigh. “Yes. It’s impossible, however. Corvin thinks it’s her ghost that’s lurking. After all, if we exist, why can’t a ghost?”

She turns away from me and looks through the windows at her back that butt up to the French doors. “Where did you see her?”

“Running through the woods on the side of the manor. Not only that, but I could also smell her.”

“Do you still love her?”

Emotion catches in my throat. It’s not what I expected her to ask me.

“No,” I reply, and I don’t know that I’d realized it before Silver put me on the spot. I’m honestly kind of thankful.

“She died in the fountain, didn’t she?”

“She did.”

“It’s why it’s in the state it’s in when the rest of the grounds are well kept.”

I nod again.

“I don’t blame any of you for wanting her dead.”

Silver’s eyes travel behind me, and her brows pinch together.

“What?” I turn, my eyes landing on the same thing that had caught her attention.

Lowell left the bottle of blood behind, untouched, the cap still on it.

“Has he not been feeding?” she asks.

“I don’t know.”

“That’s not good, is it?”

“No. It’s not. Not at all.”

“Will you tell me about him? About when he becomes the Slayer?”

“I don’t think that’s my story to tell, but what I can tell you is that you never want to meet him.”

“You saved him, didn’t you?”

“I did. And I’d do it again.”

She hops off her stool and moves closer, tugging my shirt front as she lifts on tiptoes. My lips close the distance, too eager to feel her kiss that ignites my soul.

My hands find the curves of her hips, squeezing as if it’ll keep me grounded. But when her lips part mine, her tongue seeking entrance, I lose control and press her back into the edge of the island.

We’ve been here before, and I can still taste her heady flavor on my tongue, but I’m too hungry today. I won’t have the same self-control I did that day.

I don’t think Silver realizes it, but none of us has been adequately fed. None of us wants anything but her.

And it scares me.

We’re like a ticking time bomb, and I don’t know what’ll set us off, but it feels like the other shoe is hanging over the manor, waiting for the right time to drop.

“I need a moment,” I hiss, pulling back. I know my face has changed, and the tang of venom makes my stomach churn with hunger.

With every ounce of willpower, I stride away from Silver, making my way into my study before slamming the door.

I shuck the top off a bottle of O Negative and chug, instantly revolted by the taste and how the cold, synthetic stuff hits my stomach.

I gag, wiping my mouth as I toss the bottle in the trash.

I hadn’t lied. Silver is quickly becoming the only thing any of us wants. And I know it’s about to hit a head.