Book Cover created in acrylic by the extremely talented @therealpaul
If you have not read the first book of the series, "Reborn", it is advisable you do so before reading "Renewal" or you will be lost. This link will provide you with a series summary as well as all sixty-eight chapters of Reborn
Chapter Eighteen
Anna’s first day at Jared’s estate near Inverness was one of the most painfully depressing of her life thus far. The only words he’d spoken to her was a list of rules that he’d issued in a tone that did not invite comment before installing her in a guestroom and leaving. When he’d returned he’d pushed open her door and tossed a pile of clothing and other essentials onto the floor by her bed then left again.
At nightfall she heard him come through the door and awhile later he entered her room naked. He stood by the bed, his devastatingly masculine body rigid and stared down at her for a moment, his icy gaze chilling her to the bone.
“Strip and get on your hands and knees,” he commanded in a tone as cold as his expression.
She winced inwardly as she complied and when he finished he pulled out and left the room without a word.
Afterwards she lay there trembling, silent tears slipping down her cheeks, her throat clogged with misery, her heart battered and aching. It was a long time before she found sleep.
For the next few days he repeated the same actions every morning and night, always taking her from behind, and whenever she made the mistake of looking at him his eyes were either devoid of emotion or filled with an unpleasant one. The only variation had been when he’d thrust his wrist in front of her mouth and told her to drink.
He was gone all day every day and she found it increasingly difficult to drag her body out of bed, even knowing he wasn’t around. She was lost and scared and miserable, and worst of all she couldn’t seem to think of how to change the situation. She only saw him when he came to her room to use her, and the way he looked at her…hurt in ways she couldn’t define.
She finally had no choice but to leave the room when she noticed she was beginning to emanate an unpleasant aroma from beneath her arms. As she entered the bathroom she stopped in front of the mirror and stared at her reflection. Being a vampire robbed her of the physical symptoms that should mark her depressed condition and she was almost resentful that her eyes didn’t appear bruised or her skin sallow. She looked like she always did other than the slight greasiness in her hair.
As she raised her arm to open the medicine cabinet she caught another whiff of body odor and smirked. “It would serve him right for me to stink,” she said aloud and a small smile appeared on her face.
“Of course he’ll probably fill up the tub with cold water and throw me in it if I become too offensive.” The smile slipped as she pictured the disgust that would surely be in his eyes. Sighing heavily, she knelt down next to the tub and turned on the water. When the basin was full she stepped in and sank down with a sigh.
A half an hour later she toweled off, dressed, and went to the kitchen where she forced herself to eat something. By the time she was finished she felt a little better and decided to venture outside.
She meandered her way through the wooded area on the Northern most edge of the property kicking snow with her boots and trying to devise a plan that would soften the fierce warrior who currently despised her.
When she reached the edge of the property she stood for a moment before turning back.
His land was bordered by two sets of wards that were like invisible walls that she could only detect from their static. The first of these on the outer perimeter was a warning wall. If someone came within twenty yards of it they would be filled with the desire to flee, it was better than any trespassing sign as it spoke clearly into the subconscious—Turn Back Now. The inner wall was a bit more aggressive. If someone should try and breech it they would be hit with volts of electricity that would take down a Grizzly bear.
For her, though she was unaffected by it physically, it was a prison wall. The first day when he’d run down his list of rules he had told her in no uncertain terms she was not to breech it. If she did there would be consequences, and though he hadn’t been specific she knew they would be dire. She feared him more than she’d ever feared anything, including the shadow men.
He mercifully hadn’t taken her MP3 player which had been in her purse and at the moment she was listening to morbid music while she tried to figure out how to change her situation. Or at the very least improve it.
She didn’t really blame him for anything. She’d gone over and over the sequence of events since the time they’d met and…she didn’t like herself much either. Considering he knew nothing about her other than the fact that she’d proved to be a habitual liar, she understood his cruelty. But understanding it didn’t make it any easier to bear.
She had begun composing a letter in her mind. After thorough reflection she thought it was her best chance, particularly if she stated that she was willing to vow the contents were true. She wondered why he hadn’t thought of eliciting a vow of that nature himself and decided he probably didn’t care to know anything about her or maybe there was some kind of clause preventing it. In a way she was glad, if she ever got the chance to prove herself she’d rather it wasn’t a forced thing so he wouldn’t consider it false somehow.
Since he was gone all day long and was not a people person she assumed he must be out in the wilderness hunting. She’d been afraid he would force her to drink from animals but apparently that would require more interaction then he wanted to have. She wondered what he would think if he did make her drink it and she puked her guts out afterwards. He would probably assume that her practice of drinking from humans was the cause.
She kicked at another snow drift and when her booted foot came down it landed on something hard and hollow. She bent down and swept snow away with her gloved hand and saw it was some kind of slatted board and then she brushed something hard and circular. She dug the snow and ice from it and saw it was a metal hoop of some kind…a door handle! It was a cellar!
Childish excitement flooded through her as she grabbed hold of the ring and yanked upwards. The door flew open and bounced on a hinge nearly coming back to whack her in the head. She put her hands up and caught it, gently pushing it back so it leaned. Old cracked cement steps led into the earth and she descended cautiously.
Generously created for me by @son-of-satire