And her mother had left out one very important detail. A boy child had also been born but taken away.
Adele tried to be understanding, but could not wrap her mind around the concept of giving away one child and keeping another. Why would she get rid of the son but keep the daughter?
Was the son the image of the man who raped her? Adele could clearly see Vincent’s face in her mind's eye. There were no similarities to the creature she’d observed attacking Dani or now Roman. But she didn’t see herself in that man either, despite the way her mind had turned on her and reminded her of a past, best forgotten life.
Adele tried to wrap her mind around the insanity of it all. For a hard core agnostic, contemplating she could have even had a past life was a huge leap. This was not Adele. And now, perhaps she knew why. Why would anyone want to believe they used to hunt and feed on human flesh? The thought turned her blood to ice.
Why would he bring her back, especially since Dhampirs were born hunters meant to destroy him? If Vincent was to be trusted, that is.
She flashed back to that moment she looked into his eyes and saw her mother giving birth to him. She knew he was. The red string between them had stretched for a quarter of a century, but had never broken. Now he had returned and their bond, developed in the womb, was stronger than ever.
She’d never had that much of an instant connection with anyone, except maybe Nicholas. But she couldn’t think about that now. Flights of romantic fancy would just have to wait. The moment of truth was at hand.
And she had no idea how to broach the subject with her mother.
Brenda threw her arms around Adele once she opened the door. “I told you that you should have gotten that cut looked at. When are you going to listen to your mother?”
Adele accepted the reproach with dutiful chagrin. “You were right. I was wrong. Next time I’ll go see a doctor even if it’s a paper cut.”
Brenda scowled at her daughter. “Stop being facetious.” Brenda pulled her into the house, and Adele could have sworn that she looked both ways before closing the door again.
Brenda sat her down on the sofa, plumping pillows and arranging a throw over her legs, which Brenda pulled up outstretched onto the sofa. “Ma, I’m fine,” Adele insisted.
Brenda dropped with a sigh onto the other edge of the sofa. “I’m sorry, Adele. I just really don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to you.”
Just as Adele was about to speak, Brenda shot back up again. “Would you like some hot cocoa?” she asked. “It’s terribly cold outside. The wind is just terrible.”
Before she could confirm or deny the request, Brenda was out of the room again, calling to her from the kitchen. “I heard about your friend, the Police Commissioner,” she said. “I hope he’s okay.”
“Me too,” Adele said under her breath.
Shortly Brenda returned with two steaming hot cups, one overflowing with marshmallows, just like Adele liked it.
After a few awkward moments Adele said, “They have a suspect finally.”
Brenda waved her hand away. “I don’t want to discuss that now. We’ve had enough unpleasantness for one day.”
Brenda smiled and patted Adele on the leg, then returned to her cocoa. Adele, however, was not deterred.
“Ma, I think it’s time we discussed some things.”
Brenda gulped down the cocoa, and placed the cup on a coaster on the table. “Like what, dear?” she asked, not meeting Adele in the eye.
“About the night I was conceived.”
Brenda hopped up. “All that needed to be discussed was discussed years ago,” Brenda dismissed as she rearranged some of the wooden sculptures she had lining several bookshelves.
“I don’t think so,” Adele insisted. “Because I still have questions.”
Brenda turned her back to Adele, holding onto the bookshelves for support. “What kind of questions?” she finally eked out.
Adele gulped and pressed forward. “I want to know about the man who fathered me. What you remember about him, like details about his face or his hair or his eyes…”
Brenda spun around to face Adele with a fury that shocked her daughter into silence. “There is nothing that you need to know about him, Adele. Nothing at all.”
“But, Ma, I need to know. My life is just one big question mark and I need to know about that half of who I am.”
Brenda was firm. “That night has nothing whatsoever with who you are.”
Adele slammed her cocoa on the table and struggled to her feet. “It has everything to do with it!”
Brenda came to her and placed her hands on Adele’s shoulders. “No, it doesn’t. It’s biology, Adele. Nothing more. It helps no one to relive that awful night. Not anyone.”
“It’ll help Vincent,” Adele said, her softly spoken words exploding like cannon fire in the quiet apartment. Brenda jumped back like she had been struck by lightning.
“Who?” Brenda gasped.
“My brother,” Adele said. “Your other child. The one the monster who fathered us scarred upon birth.”
Brenda stumbled backward. “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” she cried out. Adele knew automatically she was lying.
“Ma, I know the truth! You can’t hide it anymore. I have seen him. He’s in trouble. If I can get to the man who fathered us I can save him!”
Brenda shook her head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
Brenda raced from the room and locked herself in the bedroom. Adele chased after her and pounded on her door, but Brenda would not re-emerge. She simply sat in her locked room, sobbing so hard it broke Adele’s heart to hear it. “Ma,” Adele whispered, kissing her hand and placing it on the door. “I’m sorry.”
Adele collected her things and left.
She made the long, lonely trek to her apartment. She ignored the wind. She ignored the voices which grew louder. For just one moment she wanted to feel nothing. Not pain, not guilt, not fear. She wanted to be numb; for the first time in her life she wanted to be emotionless.
She let herself into her apartment and didn’t even bother with the light. She crawled onto the sofa and flicked on the television. A rival reporter was solemnly delivered the message about Vincent’s arrest and disappearance, his connection with the child killer and the fact that Denise Carter had been missing since turning in testimony against him.
That wasn’t entirely true, Adele thought bitterly. She went missing after Adele had confronted her. Just like Isabel before her. In fact, Vincent himself had gone missing just after she’d gone to visit him.
“He’s coming for you.” Vincent’s words echoed through her aching head. Who, exactly, “he” was remained a mystery, as did what he would ultimately want from her once he found her.
The next story was on Nicholas. Now that his business was underway, the focus of news investigations shifted from the protests surrounding his company. Instead reports detailed the jobs that were being created and how the economy was being impacted. Every now and then a random reporter would bring up the wolves, asking him for details on exactly how many of the animals were being found on his land. This particular clip showed Nicholas angered by the comment; he turned on the reporter with a hostility that seemed inappropriate for the situation. It was a side of Nicholas she had seen briefly before, when he had exploded at Thaddeus for disturbing their first passionate encounter.
Given that everyone her life touched up to that point had been touched by violence in some way – Dani, Roman, Vincent – this was a side to his nature that unsettled her. Despite their intense connection to one another, she had to admit that she really didn’t know the man much at all beyond a few significant encounters.
It was at least one mystery she could do something about solving.
She made it to the Grand Royale in record time. The bodyguards ushered her upstairs without hesitation. Nicholas had been eager to see her, they said.
Thaddeus opened the door and allowed her inside, sh
utting the door on the big burly types that guarded the door. She kept her distance as she sat in the sitting room of the penthouse suite, waiting for Nicholas. She barely even spared Thaddeus a glance. The way he leered at her made her skin crawl.
Nicholas buttoned his shirt as he entered the room. “Adele,” he said, holding his hands out to her. “How are you, my darling?”
She toppled happily into those velvet brown eyes that shone brightly just for her. Love and concern and worry were there, nothing ominous, nothing frightening.
It was like a spell. Whenever they were apart, she’d forget about how much she wanted and needed to be with him. But when they were together, there was no room for doubt. He was no longer a stranger. He was inexplicably but irrevocably part of her.
She stood and approached him, accepting his embrace readily. The warmth of his strong arms spread over her body like a soft blanket. Nothing made more sense than when they were together, it was only when they were apart she grew cynical and bitter and lonely.
In his arms, she was anything but. It was a balm to her soul. “I’m sorry to intrude, Nicholas.”
“Don’t be silly,” he said, hugging her close. “You couldn’t intrude if you tried. I’m very pleased to see you. I was worried when I went to the hospital and they said you had gone.” He pulled away. “How do you feel? Would you like to sit down?”
She nodded. She was tired. More tired than she’d ever been in her life.
“Have you been using the herbs?” he asked as he led her to the couch in the lush sitting area of the hotel suite. “You don’t look like you’ve had decent sleep in weeks.”
She just gave him a weak smile. “Par for the course,” she said as she leaned against his strong chest.
He stroked her long hair, smoothing the silky strands with his fingers. He sang softly to her a song she’d never heard, but seemed so familiar. “Your love gave my soul wings; I was reborn in your eyes.” She tipped her head up to look at him. “If our parting this day brings, so shall my soul die.”
He bent for a soft kiss that Thaddeus interrupted almost before it had begun. It wasn’t lost upon Adele this was becoming a frustrating habit for the creepy little servant.
“Excuse me, sir, but I must remind you of your former engagement.”
Her frustration was nothing compared to Nicholas. His body stiffened as he responded, “No, you mustn’t,” between clenched teeth. He glared at the other man as if he could snap him in two with his eyes alone. His behavior instantly unsettled Adele, who was particularly sensitive to the change in his mood after seeing the news footage from before.
“I’m sorry, Nicholas, I wasn’t aware you had plans.”
“Plans can be changed,” he insisted. “Please wait here. I’ll take care of it.” A pause. “Trust me.”
There was something earnest in his eyes, a message he was trying to convey but could not yet put into words. It seemed as though he was hovering between his two worlds as much as she was. All they could do was struggle to swim together before either undercurrent pulled them apart for good. “Of course,” she whispered.
He smiled as he touched her hair with his hand. He rose, grabbed Thaddeus by the arm and pulled him into another room. Their voices were muted by the door between them, but she could tell Thaddeus was getting a tongue lashing for his intrusion. Adele sighed and leaned back against the sofa, noticing something on the floor.
She got up for a closer look. On the pristine marble floor there was dirt on the ground. Not a lot, but more than what she would expect to find in a posh hotel like the Grand Royale.
She stepped closer to the hallway, the dirt crunching under her shoes. She glanced off in the direction that Nicholas had gone with Thaddeus. Her eyes traveled back to the dirt on the ground. It was such a small detail, but she learned as a successful reporter there were no such things. Something was amiss; she could feel it in her gut. “Listen to your instincts,” the echo of Vincent whispered in her ear.
She made her way along the short hallway, following the trail of gritty, dried dirt on the floor. It led right to a specific room in the large suite. Gingerly she pushed open the door. Every nerve ending stood on end. The room was cold and not even a shadow could be outlined in the pitch darkness of the room. There could be someone standing mere feet in front of her and she wouldn’t have been able to tell. What was even more disconcerting is that she got the very distinct impression that someone was standing in the depths of the room, watching her from a very secure hiding place. Her hand ran along the wall to find a light switch, first on one side and then another. Just as her fingers made contact, a hand grabbed her elbow and pulled her back away from the room. It was Nicholas, and he wasn’t happy.
He had asked her to trust him. She had responded by sneaking around his suite.
“What are you doing, Adele?”
She glanced up into his stern face. “I’m sorry I just…I was looking for you.”
It was weak excuse that he let pass. “Here I am,” he said. He reached over and shut the door. “I cleared my schedule. Let’s go out to eat.”
She nodded and allowed him to lead her from the room.
They didn’t talk about the incident once they arrived at the restaurant. They didn’t talk much about anything. He was upset and she was unsettled. Neither could deny that something had invaded their comfortable relationship, and Nicholas didn’t look happy about it.
“I must apologize,” he said quietly as she finished her meal. “I have upset you.”
She shook her head. “Don’t be silly. I’m the one who should apologize. I wasn’t trying to snoop around.”
The words tasted of a lie the minute they fell from her lips. “What were you looking for, Adele?” he wanted to know.
Her mouth opened and then closed again. What had she been looking for? She was in the middle of an emotional maelstrom, looking for anything to anchor her back to the reality she was used to, rather than the perplexing mystery of her present. But how could she ever say that to someone who didn’t live in her head? “I don’t know,” she finally said.
Those dark eyes met hers with an intensity that took her breath away. Long moments passed before he stood and held out a hand. “Come. There is something I must show you.”
With only the slightest of hesitations she stood and placed her hand in his.
She didn’t complain as the driver took them out a secluded dirt road right through the bowels of the dark forest, though it unsettled her to be in the one place that had been a consistent backdrop for her horrific dreams. She glanced at Nicholas in the darkened car, but he did not look at her. His face was set in a firm line.
She grew apprehensive as the shadows engulfed the car on either side. The smooth riding vehicle bounced along the unpaved road and the headlights barely cast any kind of light on the path ahead.
“Where are we going?”
“You’ll see,” was his clipped response, which did nothing to reassure her.
Her heart was in her throat as the car finally drew to a stop. She attempted to pull her hand free from Nicholas’s grip but he held fast. In fact, he gripped tighter.
“Nicholas.” It was more like a question.
“There’s so much I want to say to you,” he mumbled. “Meeting you breathed life into my long dead soul. Nothing I give you will possibly compare.”
It as a declaration of devotion she hadn’t been expecting. “Nicholas,” she began. “There is so much going on right now, I’m not exactly sure how many promises I can make or what I can truly give anyone. We barely know each other. We need time –”
“Time!” he thundered, and his booming voice reverberated off of the small space in the car. “Don’t you know I’ve waited a thousand lifetimes for you?” When he turned to her he had tears in his eyes. “I can’t wait anymore,” he said.
Her mouth opened but again no words came out.
“I never want you to doubt what I would do for you. So that’s what I’m going to show
you this, even before you’re ready. You ask for time but you should know by now there is no magical allotment of time. There is this moment. And nothing more.”
He opened the door and pulled her along with him as he got out. It was so black in the forest she could barely see and she stumbled as she tried to keep up with him. She tripped as she stepped up on a wooden platform. The breeze whispered around her and a cool wind emblazoned her skin with gooseflesh.
Nicholas bent and used a lighter to fire up a lantern. They stood in a room with no walls or ceiling, just a wood frame. It was so big she couldn’t even see all four corners.
“Where are we?” she asked.
“Home,” he whispered.
She glanced up at him. He swung out his free hand. “I’m building it for you.” He pulled her close. “A place where you can feel safe and you never have to be afraid ever again.”
The promise sounded so familiar and she had a distinct feeling of deja vu. Words failed her. “This will be our ballroom,” he said. “Like the one you described in your dream. I can give it all to you. You just have to trust me,” he added as he took her in his arms. She closed her eyes as he began to swing her around the dusty wood floor. In her ears were the echoes of an orchestra and a cotillion crowd cheering them on as they danced together. She could almost feel the silk against her body as he pulled her tighter. Faster and faster they moved until he stopped suddenly, a catch in his breathe as he turned away from her. His strong shoulders heaved with silent sobs. This, too, felt familiar. She went to him, her hand on his shoulder. She turned his head to face her, his features distorted with pain. “Do not fear me,” he begged in a hoarse, low voice.
Tears sprang into her eyes. What was happening? And why did it hurt so much? “Nicholas,” she whispered, but even his name on her lips seemed to pain him. She placed a soft, tentative kiss on his full lips. His fingers bit into the soft flesh of her hips as he pulled her tighter into a possessive embrace. His tongue drove between her lips, setting every single nerve ending on fire. His longing was palpable. It swallowed her like a hunger. He held her so close she feel his heart thump against her chest.
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