Venice Vampyr - The Beginning

Shock coursed through Raphael. “What?”


“You heard right. He was chasing a group of us together with a couple of other Guardians, but we managed to separate him from his brethren. We cornered him in a dead end. There was no way out for him. Nico had the brilliant idea of handing out the ultimate punishment.”

Raphael held his breath, guessing what was coming.

“And what fitting punishment it was for a Guardian to become the very creature he hunts, don’t you think? Nico turned him. He struggled, he fought—a very brave man, if I may add. But to no avail. In the end, the deed was done. He’d made him one of us. We heard of his death a month later. I wonder whether he took his own life. He must have known he would drown.”

“It all makes sense now.” Raphael ran his hand through his hair.

“What makes sense?” Dante asked.

“Isabella noticed a change in him in the month before his death. And he never wore his Guardian ring again. But I don’t believe that he committed suicide. More like somebody close to him hastened along his end.”

“His wife?” Lorenzo asked.

Raphael gave his friend a scolding look. Isabella wouldn’t harm a fly. “No. Isabella would never hurt a soul.”

“You seem so sure, my brother. Didn’t I tell you not to trust your wife? Watch out or you might end up like her first husband.”

Raphael glared at his brother. “Isabella has nothing to do with this. I rather suspect that his cousin Massimo is involved in his demise. Have you had somebody follow him?”

Dante nodded. “He’s careful. No suspicious meetings with anybody so far. And we haven’t spotted the ring on anybody else. I suspect the Guardians only wear it in private or when they meet with each other.”

“We’ll just have to be patient.” Raphael glanced at the clock over the mantle. “I have to get back before she wakes.”

Dante tsked. “I think you should leave her. We don’t need her to get to Massimo. Now that we know his name and whereabouts, you shackling yourself to her isn’t necessary. She’ll only become a liability and put you in danger.”

Raphael snarled. “She’s mine. And she’ll remain mine.”





Chapter Seventeen




Knowing he had to feed again, Raphael peeled himself out of the arms of his sleeping wife and slid out of bed. Maybe he should have accepted her offer to take Giovanni’s bedchamber, but he couldn’t bring himself to sleep without her and only visit her to make love. He liked having her in his arms at night when she slept. It soothed him.

Trying to be as quiet as possible, he snatched his clothes from the chair and left the chamber, closing the door behind him without a sound. He felt like a thief as he got dressed in the corridor, but he knew if he didn’t leave now, he was liable to attack his wife.

Lorenzo’s offer to feed from his female victim the night before had had a certain appeal, but the thought of putting his hands on another woman had actually disgusted him. It was better to sink his fang into a man. It felt less like a betrayal. The fact that he was thinking in these terms scared him. He’d never been a one-woman man, but it was important to him to be faithful to Isabella. She deserved it. He wanted this marriage to work.

Raphael was quiet when he left the house and pulled the side door shut behind him. He looked up at the full moon, which flooded the narrow alleys with light. Too much light for his liking. He preferred it darker so it was easier for him to hide. But he didn’t have much choice. His hunger dictated his actions.

He’d fed the night after Isabella and he had stayed at his own house, and over the last three days, his hunger had been building. More than usual. The fact that he was making love to his passionate wife several times a day or night was one of the reasons for it. She was draining his energy, but he didn’t mind. He couldn’t stop himself from cornering her whenever the urge overcame him. Throwing her skirts up in the study had just been the beginning.

During the day, he fucked her fast and frantic, but at night, when they were cocooned in her chamber, he took his time and made sweet love to her, with words, caressing hands, and soft kisses. He couldn’t tell what Isabella liked more, the way he rutted on her in every conceivable place in her house, or when he worshipped her body at night.

Sometimes she glanced at him with the look of a frightened doe, but the moment he laid his hands on her, that look always vanished and was replaced by a sparkle in her eyes that he’d come to love.