I think to myself. They are all in the same position, under the control of a dominating man. “Why do you call him master? I mean it seems a little medieval, don’t you think?”
Sofia’s discomfort is showing as she looks away. “It is out of respect.” She places her hands on the lounger and pushes up to stand. “Let me go see if our lunch is ready. Chef is making something special for us.” Without waiting for a reply, she hops up and heads toward the far end of the patio and enters the building. I watch Nick follow her inside.
Is there anyone else around? Taking in my surroundings, I see Tony sitting in the shade, watching me. How can I distract Tony? He is the only person out here. If I can make it back to the hallway, I may find my way out of the building. If I don’t do it now, I may never get another chance. Without further deliberation, I reach for my glass of water, letting it slip from my fingers.
Just as I planned, the glass shatters. I lean over to pick up the broken glass. “Ouch!” I prick my finger on a broken shard. Before I realize it, Tony is standing next to me.
“Kelly, let me pick that up.” Tony moves me to the side, away from the shattered pieces. Kneeling down, Tony picks up the bigger pieces and then places the smaller pieces on top.
“Thank you, Tony.” I step back and reach for the tiny table and crash it over Tony’s head. I turn and run as he falls to the ground.
I make it to the door that leads to the hallway, hoping it’s unlocked. Gripping the handle, I jerk the door open. Behind me, I hear Tony roar. “Damn it, Kelly! Get back here!”
I need to find a place to hide because Tony is right behind me. I try the first door to the right and find it unlocked. I enter the room and close the door behind me. Leaning my forehead against the wood, I hold my breath and listen for Tony in the hallway, but what I hear is a soft moan. I turn and press myself up against the door and make eye contact with emerald eyes.
Grant is sitting on a couch with a woman wrapped across his lap. His teeth sunk into her skin and he’s drinking. Grant is drinking this woman’s blood. He doesn’t break eye contact with me as he licks the wounds closed on her neck.
I need to get away, but I’m in shock and unable to move. I don’t understand what I’m seeing and want to retreat out the door.
“Stop.” Grant commands as he helps the woman off of his lap. “Come here, mo chroi.”
I can’t control my body from shaking. “Please.” I whisper, but not understanding what I’m asking for. My body ignores the fact it should walk out the door. I move closer to Grant.
“Thank you, Tamara. You may go.” He says to the brunette woman without breaking eye contact with me. Without a word, Tamara walks to the door and pulls it closed behind her.
I am standing inches away from Grant. “Where were you going, mo chroi?”
Tony throws the door open, blood dripping from his temple. “Boss…”
“Tony, I will deal with you later. Go clean yourself up and wait for me in the office.”
“Boss, I…”
“NOW.” Grant’s anger is bleeding through his forced calm demeanor.
“Yes, Master Grant.” Tony glares at me and backs out of the room.
“You have been busy, I see.”
I am frozen in place, unable to move. He leans into me and glides his fangs up my neck. “Are you afraid of me?”
“Y-yes.” I stutter.
“Good, mo chroi. You should be.”
“Do you realize now you are playing a dangerous game with me, mo chroi?” Grant presses his chest against my back, holding me to him.
“What… what are you?” Tears well up in my eyes.
Grant moves to face me. He places his hands on my shoulders and leans in again. “What do you think I am?” He growls.
I squeeze my eyes shut. This was not happening. Vampires do not exist! I am not being held hostage by a vampire. A vampire who kissed me. I’m shaking my head, trying to resist the truth. “What do you want from me?”
He runs the back of his fingers down my right cheek, down my throat and stops at the base of my neck.
“I want to ease you into this world, mo chroi. It can be a dangerous place and should be navigated with caution.” Grant takes a small step back, giving me a little room to breathe.
“Kelly, look at me.” His voice is soothing. I open my eyes and glance up at Grant. “Promise me you will not panic and run. We can sit down and talk, hmm?”
I search his face for something. I can feel it more than see it, he won’t harm me. My gut is turning inside out, but it never lets me down. I am safe, for now anyway. “Okay.”
“You have no idea who you are, do you Kelly?”
“I’m Kelly Kennedy.”
“There’s so much more, mo chroi.”
“Listen. I don’t know what’s going on.” I can’t help but look at Grant’s mouth, searching for the fangs he had flashed. “Is this some kind of sick game?” I force myself to move a step back from him.
“Sit down, Kelly.” He arches an eyebrow at me.
I move toward the single armchair near the window, but Grant stops me.
“No, mo chroi. Here.” He sits on the leather couch he and the brunette woman had been sitting and pats the cushion next to him. “Sit.”
There isn’t room for negotiation. I creep toward him but find the edge of the couch more comfortable and sit, rolling my feet underneath me, hoping to avoid any contact with the vampire.
“Let’s start from the beginning, hmm?” Grant sits back and crosses his leg over his knee.
“The beginning. Yes.”
“Do you remember the first time we met, mo chroi?” His voice softens.
“Yes. I remember running into you at the bus stop.”
“No, that isn’t the first time we met.” He looks away and rubs the stubble on his face. “Let me explain, mo chroi. Vampires can never glamour their mates. It’s how one recognizes their mate.”
“Glamour? Explain.” I lean in a bit, hoping to understand.
“Vampires can control a human's mind to some extent. We can erase memories, or plant false memories.”
“Are you saying you have done that to me?” Sitting back again, I draw my hand across my chest.
“No. But that’s just it. I can’t control your thoughts, Kelly. When we first met, you and your father walked in on Nick and me,” he pushes his hands through his thick blonde hair. “We were trying to extract information from someone who had been spying on our operations.”
“You were torturing them.” I said flatly.
He lifts his chin. “Yes, that’s the crux of it. It’s my responsibility to protect my coven, and I will do what needs to be done to keep me family safe.”
My face softens. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…”
“Yes, you did, mo chroi. But I understand your misplaced judgement. I will always protect what’s mine.” His eyebrow raises and with a tilt of his head, I now understand he believes I belong to him.
“I attempted to glamour both you and Joe to forget what you saw in my office. Your father’s memories faded, but you,” He waits for me to make eye contact with him. I knew what he was about to say, and he was speaking the truth. “Mo chroi, I wasn’t able to glamour you.”
“But I don’t remember that ever happening.” My lips became a thin line. “That makes little sense.”
“Mates cannot glamour one another, yeah?” His Irish accent is bleeding through his words. “But I didn’t glamour you. Nick did it.”
I open my mouth, but nothing comes out. I frown and shake my head. “Nick?”
“Yes, mo chroi. Nick has been your bodyguard ever since.”
Tears prick my eyes. I wasn’t sure how to react or what to say to Grant.
Grant watches as my face lose all expression. “Kelly? Please say something.”
“I want to go back to my room. Please.”
“No. I want to get everything in the open.” He reaches to take my hand, and I do not resist. “Let me explain.”
I continue to stare at Grant. The storm building from within is making it difficult for me to remain calm. Heat is flushing through my body. My heartbeat is thumping out of my chest.
“When did this happen?”
Grant rubs his chin and sighs. “A little over six months ago.”
“What? When?” My hands become clammy.
“Joe told us he was looking for a shortcut out of the building. Somehow you and he ended up in the employees' area. We had to plant a new memory in his mind and make him believe he worked for me.
“You need to understand,” he is pleading with me. “You were... you are my mate. The fates made us for each other. I had to protect you!”
“And I assume you think kidnapping me is for my protection?” The air between the two of us crackles, and the fine hair on my neck stands straight up.
“Yes, mo chroi! I was protecting ya from a fate worse than anything ya can imagine.” The angry brogue seeps through his lips. “Your father, the stupid bastard owed Finn Bailey fifty thousand dollars in gambling debts! When I found out that he would trade ya to Finn I had to do something’! So, I took matters into my own hands and I saved you from Finn.”
I stand, pushing away from the sofa, and begin pacing the small room.
“He woulda tortured ya mo chroi. He’s a killer. That much is true. And I can’t lose you because of your father’s stupidity.”
In three steps he is standing next to me. “This was not how I envisioned our beginning, mo chroi.” He kneels down in front of me, grasping my hands. He looks down at our interlocking fingers when he realizes I am in shock.
“Kelly. Breathe with me. In - out.” He pauses. “In - out. I can feel ya fightin’ the pulsing energy inside ya.”
As if on cue, the electrical outlets in the room spark.
“You can control it. Look at me, mo chroi.” He holds my face in his strong hand and pulls my focus back to him. “I want ya to let the energy seep out of ya. Think of it draining to the floor in a puddle.”
My eyes lock with Grant’s. I lick my lips and try to visualize the energy seeping out of me into a puddle under the sofa. My breathing becomes less strained.
“That’s it. You’re doin’ it. Keep breathin’ with me.”
I match the rise and fall of his chest. My mind is frazzled, but I keep focus on draining the pocket of energy that has built up within me. I take a deep breath in, but on my exhale the last snap of energy pushes out of me quicker than I had wanted.
Grant releases me as a crack of electricity burns his hands. “Shite!”
Glancing up at Grant through my eyelashes, I blush. “Sorry.”
He shakes out his hand and asks me, “are you all right?”
I nod as exhaustion is setting in. This is so much to absorb.
He sits back down next me, rubbing his palm against his leg.
“Tell me, something. How do you know if someone is lying to you or not?”
“I don’t know. How is this relevant?”
“Most likely you just feel it, right? Do you have a sixth sense that tells you? Or do you trust everyone you meet until they give you a reason not to? Which is it?”
“I, I don’t know.” I go to stand up but find myself trapped. Grant is now standing in front of me caging me body to the couch.
“How did you do that? You move… so fast.” I whisper.
He leans down. “I’m not playing games with you mo chroi. I want to tell you everything, but you need to answer the question first.” He nuzzles into the crook of my neck and inhales. “Answer me.”
My body stills and words pour out of my mouth. “Sometimes I just know. Sometimes, I get a feeling. It’s like ants crawling up and down my arms. It’s uncomfortable. I want to wipe it off of me, but I can’t. I don’t know how else to describe it.”
He pulls back and smiles. “Thank you.”
“For what?” My body is shaking.
“For trusting me with a part of you.” He sits back down and takes my hand. “I will never hurt you mo chroi. Trust that.” He kisses the inside of my palm. “Now tell me. Am I lying to you?”
A small test. My eyes flick across Grant’s face and see nothing. His blank expression gives me nothing to go on. I take my hand out of his and straighten my back, waiting for the ants to crawl up my arms. Nothing. Nothing happens.
“Well, mo chroi?”
“No. I don’t believe you are. Can I ask you something?”
“You may ask, but I may not answer you.”
“I think if you dodge my questions, I’ll believe there is more to be concerned about.”
“Maybe so. Why don’t you ask your question and we’ll see?”
“Is there more going on than I’m aware of?”
“Why do you think there is more to this?”
Kelly’s face tightens. “Are you going to answer all of my questions with questions to avoid answering me?”
Grant’s lips draw up in a lopsided grin. “No. My apologies. To answer your question, yes there is more going on than you are aware of.”
I blink twice. “I see.”
“You seem surprised, mo chroi.”
“I guess I am.”
“Why are you surprised?”
“Honestly, I don’t know why.” His thumb rubs up and down the top of my hand, and I like it. “You didn’t lie about it. I was expecting you to… I don’t know, try to cover up whatever is going on.”
He continues his ministrations in silence.
“I want my freedom back.” I take a deep breath and exhale. “Grant, will you ever let me go?”
He squeezes her hand and leans closer. “No. I will never let you go.”
“How can you say that?”
I watch as something changes in Grant. His demeanor becomes predatory.
“Mo chroi I need ya to listen to me.” His brogue accent thickening with each word. “I want ya to pay attention to what I’m sayin’.”
His quiet voice did not hide the fact that he is dangerously close to losing his temper.
“Do ya hear me, mo chroi?”
“Yes.” Nodding.
“You’re here with me so I can protect ya. You do not understand what’s out there.”
“Listen, I’ve been taking care of myself for a long time Grant. I don’t need someone to watch over me. I’ve got this. I don’t need your protection.”
With inhuman speed he wraps his arms around me and pulls me close to him. “No.”
“No? Just like that? Is there nothing I can do to convince you?”
Grant leans closer to me. His fangs elongate as he grazes the side of my neck. The sharpness of his incisors glides up and down my throat.
“Please… Please don’t.”
“Don’t wha’?”
I swallow. “Please don’t hurt me.”
Grant pulls back and catches my gaze. “I’m not goin’ to hurt ya, mo chroi. I love ya.” He squeezes me.
I cease trying to escape from his hold and stand waiting for what he just said to sink in. He loves me.
After what seems like hours, but most likely only minutes he releases the tension in his arms and guides me back to the couch. I step back to the couch and take a seat. Grant looks to the ceiling, taking a deep breath, he exhales. “As I was saying. Kelly you are my mate, and you are not aware of your… potential. I knew from the moment I saw you; you are more than anyone realizes.”
“Grant, you continue telling me I am more, but I don’t understand. More what?”
“More than human, mo chroi.”
Chapter 14
Grant
Kelly’s mouth opens and closes several times. “I’m sorry, what?” It comes out in a breath.
“Kelly. There is an energy about you only supes will recognize.”
“Supes?”
“My apologies, supernatural beings. Humans have a low energy frequency compared to something from the supernatural world. We emit a very high energy level only we can recognize.”
<
br /> I don’t have to brush inside her mind to know what she is feeling. She knows what I am telling her is true, and I watch recognition appear in Kelly’s eyes.
“You are more. And my guess is Finn Bailey also knows you are more. The question is, has he figured out what you are yet?”
I reach out and draw her into my side, resting my arm around her shoulder.
“Let me help you find out who you are. I know Joe was human. There is only one real option here, your mother is from the supernatural world.”
Two lines crease between her brows as she considers the possibilities when a thought occurs to her. “Grant, do you know where Joe is?”
“He won’t be coming for you if that’s what you are concerned about.”
She pulls away from me and stood. I track her as she paces the room.
“No, that’s not it. I know you won’t let him come near me.” Kelly stills and wraps her arms around her midsection. “I don’t want to see him again.”
She turns to face me. “What kind of father puts his own child in danger? He caused all of this.” Kelly threw her hands up and waves around the room.
“He won’t hurt you again, mo chroi. I promise you that.” The static energy is becoming thick in the air as I move and stand next her, hesitating to pull her into my arms again. “Don’t waste another thought on him. What we need to do now is find out who your mother is and where you came from.”
She nods. “You’re right. I need to know who I am.”
“Do you know her name?”
Kelly nods again. “Asrae. But I don’t know what her family’s name is. I never met my grandparents. I don’t know if I have any aunts or uncles, or anyone else I could be related to.” She pauses. “I had a picture of her. I look just like my mom, but I don’t remember her at all, she died before I turned two.”
I still with what she says. It can’t be possible. “Do you still have the picture of your mother, mo chroi?”
She plants her fists to her hips. “Not with me. I didn’t exactly have time to pack my belongings before I came here. There is a box of old pictures at the bottom of Joe’s closet. I found pictures of me as a baby with Joe and a woman.”
Paid in Full: Kelly Kennedy Series (Book One) Page 11
