Drip Drop Teardrop, a Novella by Samantha Young Read Free Book Online

the mesmerising spell he seemed to be
under.
    “ Her name was
Anonna. She was beautiful and I was captivated by her. I thought I
loved her,” he grunted. Avery felt the bitterness swell out of him.
“Not long after we wed, a great plague hit Londinium as well as the
rest of Western Europe. It took hold of Anonna. When the Ankou came
for her I could see him, I could see him in my utter desperation to
stay with her. So he offered me a choice.”
    Without having to be
told, Avery knew what that choice had been. In a way he was
offering her the same thing. Brennus caught her own bitter smile
and he nodded gravely. “Yes, he offered me the choice to save her.
In return I would become one of the Ankou.”
    At that moment Avery
hated him. She hated him for having sacrificed himself for someone
he loved, because it drew them deeper into this strange connection.
She hated him for his honourable reason for becoming an Ankou. Why
couldn’t he have just been a soulless demon who craved immortality
and power? Instead he was a man capable of such immense love he had
literally sold his soul for Anonna.
    Deep down, she hated him
for that too.
    “ You must
love her very much,” Avery whispered, disgusted by the prickles of
jealously crawling across her chest.
    Brennus snorted. “It
wasn’t love. It was infatuation. I didn’t even know her that
well.”
    Avery frowned. “But you
were married.”
    He shrugged. “Times were
different then. A wife was property. I thought because we were kind
and considerate of one another, enjoyed one another inside and out
of the bedroom, that it meant something. But I didn’t really take
the time to get to know my wife. If I had looked closely enough I
would have seen the spoilt brat that she was and her poisonous,
never-ending need for attention.”
    “ Wait, I’m
confused. If you have such contempt for this woman, why on earth
did you give up your mortality for her?”
    She could tell he was
growing agitated by the subject but Avery had to know, she needed
to know if he still loved this woman. She wasn’t even going to
question why.
    “ When I
became Ankou I was given Londinium as my province. I kept watch
over my wife. I discovered she had been having an affair with my
father behind my back.”
    His father! Ugh! Avery
grimaced. “Your father?!”
    He caught her look and
smirked. "My father was only fifteen years older than me and I was
only nineteen when I married Anonna-”
    “ You were
nineteen when you died?” she gasped, disbelieving. Nineteen year
old guys tended to have that cute in-between boyhood and manhood
thing going on. Brennus was just all raw masculinity… no boyishness
anywhere in sight.
    He laughed lightly.
“Twenty. We looked older back then. Life was harder.”
    She nodded, still
unbelieving. “OK. Sorry… you were saying…”
    “ Well my
father was still in his prime and was considered very handsome. So
was I before I was scarred.”
    “ I’ll bet,”
she murmured, her eyes washing over Brennus, thinking what his
wicked smile did to her insides. It made her forget the
unforgettable mar.
    His dark eyes caught her
and they glistened in the light. A soft sensual smile played on his
lips. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
    She blushed but rolled
her eyes, waving him off. “OK, so your father was only thirty four
and a hottie… it’s still gross.”
    “ I agree,” he
growled. “But my father and I were competitive and he decided to
take it to a new level with Anonna. He wanted to prove he could
have and do anything I could have and do. Anonna didn’t care if she
was betraying me. When we married my face was unscarred. But, as I
said, I was arrogant and selfish back then. One day I was out at
market discussing transport of stone from a nearby quarry with a
client when a man I had ceased doing business with approached me.
He had been a wool merchant and we had done fine deals with one
another for years. I had turned my back on our business
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