have understood it at first, but this was exactly where I needed to be, and under his leadership I had changed for the better. I was stronger now. A woman anew.
Though I didn’t realize it, things weren’t as perfect as I thought they were. There was still one last test awaiting the both of us, and it was worse than anything we had faced so far.
Chapter 8
Rachel
I watched the sunset from the window of my cell, admiring the beautiful colors painted across the sky as the world retreated back into darkness. The forest around the castle moved and swayed like a silent ocean of life. It was raining lightly, nothing strong enough to bring a storm, just enough to make the trees glow with that brilliant green vibrance that came after a good watering.
The castle had elaborate gardens, which Vincent had been kind enough to show me whenever we had a spare moment. Walking through them with him in the rain had become one of my favorite things to do since getting to know the castle better. This part of the world truly was ours, our own private sanctuary where no one could touch us or get in the way.
When the sun had finally disappeared below the horizon I closed the shutters on the windows. Getting both the windows back in this room had felt like quite an achievement at the time. Gone were the black slabs of wood that had been nailed to the frames to permanently shut out light. Now the frames had been beautifully restored, and the windows had light-tight shutters that could be opened and closed to my choosing.
Or Vincent’s choosing, depending on how much I was being punished that day.
I turned to look at the room that I now called my home. I had managed to completely work my way through the catalog in the month that I had been here, and my cell was no longer a blank stone canvas. There was now furniture—all white and matching—a dresser, a wardrobe, a large four-poster bed. Sweeping rugs ran across the floor and a candelabra had been installed to bring more light.
Walking across the room I stopped at the wall and looked up at the iron ring still in the stonework. I smiled at it. It was a small reminder of where we had come from, and we still liked to break out the chain and play with it every once in a while.
It all depended on how naughty I’d been.
We’d both fallen into something of a routine since getting back to the castle and deepening our bond. The first couple days after lying together we basically didn’t leave one another’s side. Attachment really was a strong feeling that ran deep, but it did recede after a few days and we were able to start moving about more regularly again.
And after that moment I think we both slipped into new roles at the castle. Vincent was still the leader—he was the Don of the family of course—but I was also there at his side too, the woman behind the great man.
From that point another part of me started growing. There was Rachel, the girl that had originally come to the castle, Slave, the part that Vincent had forged in the shadows, and now… me.
She was the woman that walked beside him in the corridors. The eyes that saw the things he couldn’t, the reassuring hand on his shoulder, the voice that scared the ever-loving shit out of visiting vampires, ones that had heard rumors about our visit to Monroe’s country house.
Vincent was a busy man and had a lot of business to attend to, he was running a criminal empire of course. He wanted me at his side a lot more, and before long I was present at least half the time he was meeting with others.
During the nighttime we were at each other’s side, and when day came the vampires had to retreat back to the shadows for rest and safety. The creatures in this world might have been stronger and faster than me, but my ability to walk about in daylight gave me a strength they could never have. Coupled with the power of my voice I quickly earned the respect of those that knew my name. I wasn’t sure my power would ever actually be as strong as the woman in white. I knew that I would never use my power in that way, but the important thing was that my reputation preceded