Something Familiar (The Vandran Legacy Book 2)

by Anna-Louise Dann

  “Dominic, he’s done, we need to get back to Ireland.”

  Colt’s voice made Dominic drop his hands to glare at whoever had the gall to interrupt him. His head spun and grew fuzzy. Who is Dominic? Who did this imbecile think he was addressing?

  “Who are you and what is this place?” Dominic slurred at Colt who took a step back when he saw the change in Dominic’s features.

  “Nic, it’s Colt, you’re confused, that spell has done something to you.”

  No, no, no. He didn’t know this Dominic; he was Dominus and he had to find Annabelle. No one would stand in his way. The dizziness blinded him and his head throbbed as he took a step towards this Canis Lupus who dared to question him.

  “How d-d-dare you address me with another na—” Dominic slurred again before his big body fell the darkness, rendering him unconscious. Colt rushed forward, grabbing him before he hit the floor.

  “Fuck, this isn’t good guys.” Colt looked at Terrance, Simon and Joe who had been spectators so far.

  “We need to get him to Heather before he wakes up, I think whatever spell they used to block Phil’s memory was keeping something else locked away too… I believe Dominus has just resurfaced, guys… FUCK! I was worried something like this might happen. Someone get me some sedatives, he can’t be allowed to wake up, if he does Clara will be first on his priority list.” Colt pulled out his phone and dialled Jake’s number, praying they were all safe and Phil was bluffing about Patrick.

  They were all in deep trouble.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Jake

  Kate’s phone went straight to voicemail for about the hundredth time; he threw the mobile onto the bed in frustration. It was useless, that bitch was long gone, he was a prize fucking dickhead for not seeing her for what she really was.

  He paced the huge bedroom in Dominic’s mansion dragging his hands through his overgrown hair. What the fuck was he supposed to do?

  This was all his fault.

  If he was completely honest with himself Kate had been a rebound from the one woman he wanted desperately but knew he could never have without destroying her already fragile world.

  He had thrown himself into a relationship with Kate knowing that doing so would ensure Sarah would leave this fucking shithole of a place and make a better life for herself away from this fucked up existence they led. As much as it cut him up watching her leave, he had to let her go, she had to find herself again after the amount of loss she had suffered. Going through the death of a parent and having to witness everything Dominic’s psycho sister put them through was enough to drag anyone into darkness.

  Even though Sarah always tried to keep things positive, she couldn’t hide herself from him; he had seen the pain she had disguised behind her smile; her laughter had no longer made her eyes shine. He had known then that she deserved a new life, she deserved to find someone who wasn’t such a fuck up, someone who could make her world light up and make her giggle in that cute little way she did at inappropriate times. Damn, he missed hearing her infectious laugh, staring into her beautiful face, the face that even now was imprinted on his mind from the moment he woke to the time he fell asleep… Who was he kidding? She followed him into his dreams most nights as well.

  After she left he thought he’d never see her again and then she surprised everyone by returning for Colt and Clara’s wedding. She had taken his breath away with the smile that lit up the room, the laughter back in her eyes; the pink bridesmaid dress she wore which hugged her luscious body. She was even more beautiful than before she walked away from this life. As much as he knew she had tried, she couldn’t hide the hurt in her eyes when she had spotted him with Kate, but in Sarah style she had been polite and made conversation with them, that had been enough to tell him he had been a stupid prick letting her go; it had torn him up inside knowing he had put that pain in her eyes and not for the first time.

  He hadn’t meant to kiss her when he had followed her to the bathroom, he had just wanted to talk to her to maybe rekindle their friendship after the way he had treated her.

  They had always been so close before all the shit went down, he had missed her, he had to try and explain why he had turned so cold the last time they had seen each other.

  As soon as she looked at him with her big beautiful eyes that were filled with unshed tears and a burning need for him, everything else had fallen away in that moment. How had he never realised she wanted him just as much? He had to taste her. As soon as her body was flush against his and he took her lips in an earth-shattering kiss that made him want to relieve the tightness starting in his suit pants, he knew he was done for, it was one of the reasons he had kept their relationship platonic and had painfully avoided anything romantic developing; he knew one kiss would never satisfy the pent-up want he felt when he was in Sarah’s presence.

  He should have known Kate would be following him, he should have been all too aware of her watching and seething at her boyfriend locking lips with another woman. Of course, Sarah had regretted their encounter, she had told him as much. She had left early the next day without so much as a goodbye, disappearing out of his life again.

  He had faced Kate’s devastated sobs that night when he got back to their room after reluctantly searching everywhere for her. They had fought and she had begged him not to leave her; he had lied to her, promising it was a mistake. He was an arsehole, because he knew deep down given the chance he would kiss Sarah again in a heartbeat if she was here. The feel of her lips against his had branded him forever, one kiss had awoken the reality that Sarah had always been his, he was just too stupid to act on it before.

  Was it that night Kate betrayed them all? Or had she been playing him from the first moment they welcomed her into their home?

  The mobile rang on the bed, pulling him out of his self-loathing. He raced over and connected the call.

  “Jake, it’s Colt, is everything OK there?” Colt’s voice was frantic.

  “Yeah, everyone’s asleep, what’s up?”

  “That’s good, they haven’t made a move yet.” A move? “We’ve got a huge problem, we’ve been set up. Dominic is in a bad way; a spell he cast has done something to him and we’ve had to sedate him until I can get him to Heather. I didn’t want to call any of the girls yet because I didn’t want to worry them, I don’t know if I am making a bad decision though, you know how powerful those women are, they’ll probably kick my ass for calling you first, but we need to do this quietly as possible. Have you noticed anything suspicious going on with Patrick? We have been informed that he’s been double crossing Dominic all this time but we are not one hundred percent it is reliable. Phil told us Patrick was going to make a move tonight. Fuck, Jake, this can’t be happening while I am not there, Clara and Emmie are both pregnant – if anything happens to them or little Hope I don’t know if I could handle that.” Fuck… had he seen anything? This was really bad. He’d been so caught up in all the Kate shit he hadn’t been looking for anything dodgy. Patrick had seemed like his usual accommodating self though.

  “I haven’t noticed anything Colt, but to be honest with everything going on with Kate my head hasn’t been in the game,” he said guiltily, feeling pissed off all over again at this shitty situation.

  “Well, Jakey boy, time to get your head in the fucking game because a whole load of shit has just landed on your doorstep and I am not there to help. We have a private flight booked now, we’re just about to board so we should be back in about eleven hours; if Phil was being truthful, which I am highly sceptical of then Patrick could make a move at any time. Get the word to Heather, she’ll be able to help but please be careful, if Will turns up, it’s going to become a whole lot more fucked up for everyone.”

  The sound of someone shouting Colt’s name made the line go quiet for a second.

  “Shit, man, they’re calling, I’ve got to go. If anything kicks off do your best to stall things until we get back, I have every faith in you, Jake, be safe.”

&nb
sp; The line went dead. Jake stared at the device in his hand for a few seconds, letting Colt’s call sink in. He had never heard his uncle so panicked; he needed to get to Heather and quickly. Fuck, he didn’t know if he was ready for all this responsibility but Colt seemed to think he was, he just had to grow a pair, isn’t this what Colt had trained him for? He let himself out of the bedroom and silently made his way to Heather’s room thankful it was just across the landing from his. Taking a shaky breath and mentally readying himself for waking a sleeping Cailleach, he pulled the handle down, entering the darkened bedroom, dreading the next however many hours until his uncle got back.

  “This better be important,” Heather’s sleep-laced voice snarled out of the darkness. Shit.

  Emmie

  Who the hell was shaking her? She didn’t want to open her eyes, she felt like she had only just closed them, it was still night time for fuck’s sake. She groaned.

  “Amelia, wake up.” That sounded like Heather’s voice.

  She opened her eyes and peered groggily up at her mother who was kneeling with her face close to hers. “Ugh, what!” she grumbled.

  “We have a problem, my darling, but I need you to stay calm,” Heather whispered.

  Emmie pulled herself up and flicked on the bedside light. “What is it, is Hope OK?”

  “Hope’s fine Amelia, something has happened to Dominic, something about a spell. Colt phoned Jake about fifteen minutes ago; they are on their way back with him. Please darling, I need you to stay calm for this next part… breathe.”

  Heather must have sensed the change in her, she took a shaky breath and nodded for her to continue.

  “They’ve had information that Patrick has been double crossing Dominic for years and apparently something is going down tonight. Jake is with Clara now informing her, then he’s going to wake up Iris; we need to be very careful. I am not sure how many security cameras are in place around this building.”

  “T-they are all downstairs. Dominic said he – he… Oh God, Mum, what if he’s badly hurt and Patrick, all this time, Kate and now him, who else has Dominic overlooked?”

  Her voice was quiet but hysterical; the tears flowed down her pale cheeks. She pushed herself out of bed.

  “I am going downstairs, I need to get a drink of water from the kitchen. I know Patrick will still be up, let’s see how he reacts to me wandering around at this time of night.”

  “Amelia, you can’t my darling, one look at you and he’ll know there’s something wrong—”

  The bedroom door opened, making them both flinch. Clara crept in followed by Jake and Iris. Three sets of concerned eyes fell on her. Emmie stood, pulling on her house coat over her pyjamas.

  “I am going down to get a bottle of water from the kitchen. Patrick is unaware we know anything, right?”

  “As far as I know,” Jake said.

  “Well that’s settled then, I can’t just sit here while Dominic’s home is being threatened especially when I don’t even know if he’s hurt or not.”

  More tears threatened to spill but she held it together and swallowed them down; she couldn’t fall apart, not now, this was her home and if Will wanted a fight she was damn sure she was ready for one.

  Chapter Thirty

  Emmie

  Emmie padded down the stairs and across the big hallway to the kitchen; the mansion was unusually quiet, which set alarm bells ringing straight away. There should be someone here guarding the front door, hadn’t Dominic hired extra security? She was a few steps away from the kitchen when she heard a commotion coming from the other side of the building. Her beast became on full alert and she fought against the change inside her. She had to let her sister know what was happening, the familiar buzzing began as she formed the connection between her and Clara.

  “Clara, there’s something going on down here, there’s no staff around at all and I’ve just heard a lot of noise from the other side of the building. I want to go and check it out.”

  Clara answered straight away like she expected.

  “Don’t you dare, Emmie, it could be a trap, please just come back upstairs… we’ll make a plan.”

  She should listen to Clara, she knew she should, but her beast was clawing away, needing to be set free; it was as restless as she was, and if she was honest with herself she was looking forward to mauling a few arseholes. Her whole body pulled her towards the shouting, she was sick of running and hiding away, maybe it was time for her to accept what and who she was and embrace her father’s legacy. After all, she had inherited her spectral creature from the great Cillian Vandran, one of the most feared and powerful familiars ever to grace this world. It was time to show these bastards who they were messing with.

  She made her way across the huge foyer towards the entrance to the other part of the mansion where the offices and library were situated. Her body was tense and on high alert, her eyes darted everywhere, fully aware of the possible danger that lay on the other side of this door. She was about to enter the open doorway when she was dragged forcefully backwards; a huge hand covered her mouth to muffle her scream and she felt a sharp stabbing pain in her neck. She roared, and her skin began to tear as her beast was beginning its appearance. The world suddenly grew fuzzy as darkness dragged her under.

  Before she completely passed out, her assailant whispered three words that both devastated and scared her.

  “Dominus is back.”

  At that moment she knew she had just made a huge mistake.

  Dominus

  Lifting his heavy head, he slowly opened his eyes, trying to focus. He felt dreadful, his head pounded and whoever was talking needed to desist before he unleashed some much needed punishment.

  He had been placed on his side facing what appeared to be a large piece of material; his arms and legs had been bound tightly with rope. He lay on a giant cushion which smelled strongly of a scent he wasn’t familiar with, but the strong aroma wasn’t helping the throb at his temples. The constant growling and vibration of this contraption he was stuck in was enough to drive any man to commit murder.

  Where was this place?

  “How long until we reach the mansion?” A deep voice said from behind him, alerting him back to the fact that he wasn’t alone.

  “Not long now, about twenty minutes, no one is answering their phones though. I really don’t like this,” another deep voice said.

  Wasn’t that the Canis spectral he had spoken to earlier? He was sure he said his name was Colt.

  “Unbind me from these restraints, you insolent fools, are you unaware of who I am?” His voice was hoarse and cracked as he spoke. Whatever they had poisoned him with had weakened his magic, once his strength returned they would all be sorry.

  “Shit! He’s awake, Colt, what should we do?”

  “Just, keep him calm… Dominic, you need to fight the darkness. Dominus can’t win, Amelia needs you, she’s in danger.” Why did that female name affect him? No, they were not going to trick him.

  “Who is this Amelia you speak of? Once I am free from these ropes, you will all feel my wrath. How dare you keep me prisoner?” he bellowed, throwing himself around, trying to loosen the knots in the ropes. The friction made the skin on his wrist burn and sting; it was useless, they had been bound by magic, but he wouldn’t give up fighting for his freedom, even as he felt the skin on his wrist begin to tear open.

  “For fuck’s sake, Colt, he’s going to hurt himself.”

  “Give him whatever we have left of the sedative and do it quickly before he does himself an injury, Joe.” The man he knew as Colt shouted to the guy looming over him. Joe, he had called him. This Joe was now filling a small syringe with some liquid and descending on him ready to inject him.

  Rage built at the audacity of these idiots, and for the first time in his existence he felt vulnerable.

  “Joe, if you untie me I promise I will spare you, I can tell from the fear in your voice you know who you are dealing with. If you don’t do as I ask, I will slay y
ou last and let you watch as I tear all of your friends apart, starting with Colt,” he snarled. He saw the flash of his beast in Joe’s gaze and his features became distorted for a split second as he fought against the change. He had hit a nerve; this familiar was braver than he gave him credit for.

  “I’m sorry, Dominic, this is the only option we’ve got, Amelia and Hope need you.” Why did the name Hope, also affect his insides?

  “Terrance, help me hold him down.”

  A big burly-looking man with no hair appeared, grabbing his shoulders firmly pinning him long enough for Joe to inject the substance into the side of his neck. He felt the poison enter his bloodstream and warm his body, making his head swim again as the sedation took hold.

  “Argh, you will suffer, you will watch your family and your friends bleed to death before your eyes you imbecile. I wi- will make y-ou p…”

  His body grew limp as the sedative worked and he was dragged back into unconsciousness.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Emmie

  Why did it always feel like being hit by a ten-tonne truck every time she woke up from being drugged? God knows she had found herself in this predicament a lot, she thought as her eyes blinked open, groaning as her fuzzy vision adjusted to the broken light filtering in from the small boarded up window above her head. The events from earlier and her reckless behaviour hit her like a freight train and she groaned again, this time at her own stupidity; her lack of self-discipline and asking for help before she threw herself into situations was her downfall every time. This was another example of her own pig-headedness biting her on the ass. She prayed Hope, Clara and the others were safe, and her foolishness hadn’t put them in more danger.

  She closed her eyes and tried to channel her sister.

  Nothing.

  Whatever she had been given had blocked not only their connection but the connection to her beast. Shit.