Voracious - Alice Henderson [41]
“Don’t be afraid,” he said, and as he talked she could see all his teeth had gone sharp. “Kiss me.” And then he brought his lips to hers again and kissed her still more passionately. Her mind reeled as she tried to take everything in, feeling both afraid and still drawn to him in the same moment.
He must have felt her reluctance, for he pulled back and said, “It’s still me. I won’t hurt you. It’s just that in moments of extreme … emotion … the change comes over me.”
“What change?” she demanded, panicked. His eyes glowed fiercely now, a look of hunger gleaming there. “Noah, I—”
“I’m not like him,” Noah said.
“Who, the creature? Your eyes … you look ravenous.”
He paused, thinking. “I am. But not like you think. It’s just that being near you, the way you smell, the way we talk so easily. You’ve faced this all unflinchingly. I’ve never met someone so brave. You amaze me.” He caressed the side of her face. “I am ravenous, yes, but it’s for you. I desire you. I haven’t been drawn this way in a very long time.”
“But, Noah …” Her voice trailed off. She felt a tremble deep within her. What had she gotten herself into?
He pulled away. “Do you feel … nothing?”
“Oh, no. I feel something. Believe me, I feel something. But I don’t understand.” She pushed him away. “You … that thing … What are you?” she asked finally.
He sighed, dropping his arms. In an instant his green eyes returned, the red fading. Claws gave way to normal fingers. She couldn’t believe it. They just transformed before her eyes, the gleaming sharpness changing to soft flesh and skin. She stared at him, feeling the urge to bolt out of there. Slowly he took her hand, and she cringed at first. But his touch was so gentle, his eyes so pleading, that she let him lead her back into the main room. He slumped down into one of the wooden chairs. Sighing, he put his head in his hands. She pulled up the other chair and waited. “I’m old,” he began. “Very old.”
He fell silent then, and she wondered if he was going to continue. “What?” she finally said. “You’ve reached the ancient age of twenty-four?”
“No. Older.” He looked intently into her eyes. “I was born in 1739. In London.”
Madeline stared. “What?”
“Yes. And when I was twenty-four, something terrible happened.”
He went quiet again for a long time, and she realized how hard it was for him to talk about this. His eyes cast downward, and his brow creased. She wondered if he’d ever even spoken these words before.
He swallowed hard. “I encountered him.”
“The creature?”
Noah nodded. The rims of his eyes turned red. “But before that, before my life was torn apart, something wonderful happened.” He fell silent again.
“What?”
“I fell in love.”
She waited.
Noah’s eyes grew distant. He looked beyond Madeline, toward the window. “Anna. I first saw her at the opera. She was gazing down at the performers, her eyes bright and excited. I learned later that was her first visit to the opera house. I was immediately enchanted. My family was very wealthy and knew almost every other family of means in Vienna. I begged them to throw a ball so that I could meet her, and they agreed. On the twenty-sixth of May, she walked into my house, that same look of youth and excitement glowing on her face. I stole her dance card and wrote my name down for most of the dances, then placed it back by her fan when she wasn’t watching. She laughed when she saw the card.” Noah cast his eyes down. “I still remember her laugh so vividly.
“I courted her for two years, and when I became successful as an investor, I was ready to propose. But I wasn’t the only one. She had a slew of suitors who regularly called on her. All this time she’d been learning the pianoforte, and came to play it amazingly well. She began playing at parties and gatherings, and many people took note of her exceptional talent. One such person was a newcomer to Vienna, a wealthy entrepreneur with some distant relative who was an acquaintance of her family.
“He took an intense interest in Anna, often visiting to hear her play. I thought his interest was