Page 29 of The Vampire’s Temptation

At a different time, she would have been totally down for a history lesson, but today she needed some answers. Still, she decided to see where he was going with this.

“Years later,” he continued, “when another member of her kin was killed by that same family, she cursed everyone responsible to feel her own pain. Little did she realize that her husband’s family was as culpable for the attack as their enemies—her father-in-law could have ended the feud years earlier, when he’d had the chance, and did not. The curse had . . . unintended results for both families. It made them . . . different than they’d been. More powerful. After realizing what she’d done, Lady Isobel tried to reverse it. But she was a simple healer, not a witch accustomed to casting spells.”

“Do you believe in witches?” Alessandra asked in shock. Was that where he was going with this? Despite her skepticism, the idea of otherworldly beings . . . she’d been enthralled by fantasy her whole life for a reason. Was he saying—

Kenton looked up to a portrait of a woman on the wall, and Alessandra followed his gaze. It was Addy Hutton, she knew from the tour.

“No,” he said. “Not really. But then, a wife or a mother’s grief can conjure more power, more strength, than a thousand mounted knights riding into battle.”

He looked back at her, the color of his eyes so startling Alessandra feared for her ability to concentrate. She could stare into them all day.

“Her counter-curse, The Balance, or whatever you wish to call it, worked in a surprising way. From that moment on, each and every descendant of Lady Isobel’s line was granted special abilities . . . powers you might even call them.”

His words could not be true, and yet they were. She sensed it in her gut. In her being.

“These abilities lie dormant unless they are needed.”

Alessandra’s chest heaved as she tried to catch her breath. She hadn’t been winded running up those stairs, but now, sitting here with Kenton, listening to his tale . . .

“I can’t breathe.”

He moved closer to her.

“You are overwhelmed as you rouse.”

“Rouse? I don’t under—”

“That’s the word used to describe the exact state you’re in right now. The state you’ve been in since Monday.”

His pinched lips curled in a smile.

“Or since Lawrence and I came to town. We don’t know exactly when it happens or why.”

She had so many questions.

“How do you know all of this? And why is this happening to me?”

“Slow down.”

Kenton’s hand moved to the sleeve of his shirt.

“One question at a time.”

She took a deep breath.

“OK, let’s start with the fact that I should be running far away, and instead, I’m sitting here with you as if I don’t have a care in the world. Listening to, and maybe believing, this frankly ludicrous story about my ancestors passing down ancient powers through their DNA or whatever.”

If she made no sense, it was because this entire situation made no sense. And because she was distracted by the sight of Kenton’s forearms as he rolled his sleeves back. Just as she’d suspected. Strong and muscular. Dangerous. And decidedly sexy.

When she looked up, his expression had changed.

His pupils were dilated and his eyes were hooded. Then the moment was gone, and he no longer looked as if he would kiss her. Instead, he appeared hard. Determined.

“Every Cheld—”

“Excuse me?”

Now that both of his arms were thoroughly exposed, Kenton crossed them in front of him and sat back.