Paid in Full: Kelly Kennedy Series (Book One)

by Jamie L Biggs

  “You mean, you will provoke me. See if you can scare me or something?” My face pales. “I don’t think I will like this.”

  The elevator descends past the lobby and into the basement. “Where are we going?”

  “You’ll see.” The doors open and Nick nudges me out of the car. The room is dark. I raise my hand in front of my face and can’t see it. “Can you turn on the lights?” I whisper.

  “Why? Can’t you see where you’re going?” Nick takes me by the arm and begins walking deeper into the dark room.

  “You know I can’t.” I stop, but he tries to pull me forward. “No. I’m not going anywhere, not until you turn the lights on.” I cross my arms around my chest to be defiant.

  Nick moves without me realizing it. He comes up behind me and holds his arm across my chest, holding me prisoner. “Now what do you do, Kitten? Hmm?”

  My body vibrates. Fear and anger course through my veins. I want Nick to let go of me and I am not sure how to make him let go. “Please, Nick. Let go.” I whisper.

  “Make me.” He chuckles as he edges me deeper into the room with his body.

  I dislike this side of Nick. I want him to be the friend I have grown to love, not an ass. “Nick, please. You’re scaring me.”

  “What happens if I don’t stop, Kitten? What are ya going to do? Fight me? Let me do whatever I want? What can you do to stop me?”

  My body heats, and we both feel it. The surrounding energy moves. “Let. Me. Go.”

  “No.” He picks me up and starts carrying me into the middle of the room.

  “NICK!” I feel it happen but can’t control it. My body glows, and the room illuminates. I can see training equipment, weights, punching bags. The light continues to explode out of me, and the energy pushes Nick across the room and into the wall behind me.

  I feel faint and fall to my knees to catch my breath and steady myself. The buzz of the fluorescent lights sound as each light in the room snaps on.

  I lowered my head to the blue mat and feel warm arms circle my middle. “Mo chroi, are you all right?”

  I cannot speak yet but shake my head.

  “Nick,” Grant yells. “Can you stand?”

  Nick sits against the wall trying to regain his ability to stand. He places his hands on the wall and walks himself hand over hand up the wall until he is standing.

  “Damn, that hurt!”

  “Don’t underestimate her. She is more deadly than we give her credit.” He rubs my back and pulls me into his lap. “Breathe, mo chroi.”

  I exhale a sigh and rub my hands over my face. “Is this why you brought me down here? To scare the shit out of me?”

  Nick is by my side now and offering his hand to me. I take his hand, and he pulls me out of Grant’s hold. The two men make eye contact. Grant frowns but allows Nick to pull me away.

  “We needed a starting point, Kitten. You are powerful.” He rubs the back of his neck. “Finding your triggers will help us figure out how to help you control it.”

  Grant is standing now and makes his way to me. “It’s obvious that your emotions play a part in this magic of yours.”

  “Magic?” My eyes widen. “I’m a freak of nature! There is something wrong with me.” I turn away from both Nick and Grant.

  “Mo chroi, you are not a freak of nature.” He takes a step closer. “Alex and I have a theory.”

  I turn back and faced Grant. “A theory?”

  “Come, let’s sit.” He offers me his hand. I hesitate for only a moment but don’t resist.

  “I’ll give you two some privacy.” Nick is already heading toward the doors.

  “Please, stay.” I let go of Grant’s hand and walk to Nick. “You’ve been a part of this from the beginning. Please stay.”

  Nick looks at Grant for some direction. Grant tilts his head toward the bleachers at the far end of the room.

  Nick and I follow Grant and sit down.

  “So, you and Alex were talking about me?” I pull one leg up underneath me and straighten my spine.

  “Alex brought it to my attention this morning on our conference call. We have had some discussion over who your mother was.”

  “My mom? What are you thinking?”

  Nick sits on the bleacher below me and asks, “what do you remember?”

  I close my eyes. “I was just two years old when she died. It’s more of a feeling I remember. Feeling her love. I still can feel it, but I can’t remember her voice, or what she looked like.” I open my eyes again and look at Nick and then meet Grant’s gaze.

  “What does this have to do with these power surges?”

  “As I said, Alex, and I spoke this morning. He wonders who your parents are. I told him about Joe.” He pushes a strand of hair behind my ear. “Joe was human, nothing supernatural about him.”

  I lean in a little. “He was? Are you saying he is no longer human?”

  Grant moves closer to me. “I’m sayin’ mo chroi, he is no longer anything.”

  I blink several times, trying to process what Grant had just said. “He’s… he’s gone? Like no longer living?”

  His green eyes tell me what I need to know. He reaches for me and touches my cheek. “I’m sorry mo chroi.”

  I swallow. “Did…” I clear my throat. “Did you…”

  “No, mo chroi. It wasn’t me.” He looks at Nick and then back at me. “No one under me had anything to do with it.”

  “But you know, don’t you?”

  Grant nods once, keeping his face expressionless.

  “I… I don’t know what I’m supposed to say.” I push the hair off of my face. “Let’s talk about something else.” I bounce my knee up and down without realizing it.

  “We can talk when you’re ready.” Grant shifts his hand from my face to my knee, adding pressure to bring my bouncing knee to a stop.

  Nick jumps in. “Kitten, did Joe ever tell you anything about your ma?”

  I try to think back on any small memory. “I had asked him a couple of times when I was little, and he said she left us. I asked him again… I guess I was a freshman in high school. I had to do an ancestry chart about my family tree for a homework assignment.”

  I turn back to look at Grant. “He told me she had died in a car crash and to never ask him about it again.” I shrug my shoulders. “So, I didn’t. I guess that was enough information for me. The biggest point was I would never get to know her.”

  “Did you want to find her, mo chroi?”

  “Well, I had dreams about her growing up. She told me she would find me soon.” I smile at the memory. “I would walk home from school thinking that she would pop in front of me at any minute. I think the older I got, reality set in and I knew I would never see her. Joe confirmed it and I stopped having the dreams.”

  I take in the room we were sitting in. It was the size of an NBA basketball court. Weights and exercise machines lined the mirrored walls.

  Grant pulls me back with his next question. “Did Joe ever say anything to you about… what your mother was?”

  I frown. “What does that mean? She was a woman. A HUMAN woman.”

  “Are you sure about that Kitten?”

  Grant watches the color in my face pale. Both he and Nick sit there while I digest what they are suggesting to me.

  “What are you saying? She wasn’t human?” I stand and face the two men. “What does that make me? Am I not human? Oh my god, I am a freak.”

  I turn and start making my way across the floor but come to a halt when Grant is standing in front of me. Nick stands behind me.

  Grant holds my arms to stop me from moving. “Mo chroi, you are not a freak. You may not be entirely human, but you are not a freak.” He pulls me close and wraps his arms around mine, hoping I would accept his embrace.

  My stiff body relaxes as I put my arms around Grant. “What am I?” I whisper into his chest.

  “I am not one hundred percent sure, mo chroi. But we will figure it out.” He turns his wrist up to read the ti
me.

  “I have to go. I will text you when I’m done and we can have dinner together, hmm?”

  I shrug out of his embrace. “I don’t have a phone, Grant.” She looks to Nick. “Can you text Nick and let him know? I’m sure he’ll be close by.” I raise an eyebrow.

  The two vampires look over my head, having a silent conversation. “Nick will take you to get a phone. I think it’s time you venture out.”

  Eyes wide, I gather my fists to my chest, trying to suppress my eagerness to get out of the hotel. “Really? I can go out?”

  Grant’s lips curve into a smile. “Yes. You can really go, mo chroi.” He places his hands on my shoulders. “Under one condition.”

  My smile fades. “What condition?”

  “You do everything Nick tells you to do. He is here to protect you. If I find out you did not follow his requests, you won’t be going out again.”

  I throw a glance over my shoulder at Nick and nod. “I can do that. When do we go?”

  “It’s lunchtime for you. Why don’t you eat first?”

  “Can we go to the mall or something? I’d love an order of chili cheese fries!” I bounce on the balls of my feet.

  “I’m okay with it boss, if you are.” Nick chimes in.

  Grant pulls me back into an embrace. “Fine. Go get your fries. I will see you this evening.”

  “Come on, Kitten. Let’s go.” Nick ushers me toward the double doors. Grant follows.

  “Mo chroi. If there is anything else that you would like while you are out, Nick will purchase whatever it is you need or want.”

  I never had a lot growing up with Joe. Having someone offer me the world is overwhelming. “I won’t need anything Grant. The fries and phone are all I can think of.”

  I step back and stand in front of Grant. I place my hands on his arms for balance and lean up to peck his cheek. “Thank you.” Blushing, I turn around and return to Nick’s side.

  Chapter 20

  Grant

  I am having second thoughts about letting Kelly outside of the hotel’s protective bubble but shake it off. Nick is with her and has been keeping her safe for months. This should be no different. But if she were to change her mind and break her word to me, no, I can’t think that way. She would never break her word to me. Well, to anyone for that matter.

  I open the door to my office and am surprised to see Alex sitting behind my desk. Drew stands against the wall opposite Alex.

  “Alex. I assumed we covered everything on the phone this morning. I wasn’t expecting you.”

  Alex’s blank face tells me right away, something is wrong. “I saw it best that we speak in person. Where is Kelly?”

  He could compel me to answer him if he chose to. I sigh. “She went shopping with Nick.”

  “Shopping? You let her leave your protection?”

  I move toward my desk and stand in front of Alex. “Again, she is with Nick.”

  Drew pushes himself from the wall. “Sire, I will leave you and Master Grant to your business. I will be just outside.” He waits for Alex.

  “Go.” Alex waves his hand at Drew. “And close the door behind you.”

  Drew bows and leaves the room.

  “You’re not here to discuss the council, are you Alex?” I sit in my guest chair and cross my legs.

  “No. I’m not.” He presses his lips together.

  “Then out with it. Tell me.” Growing impatient.

  “I’ve done some digging into Kelly’s past. Her family. As we suspected, she is fae.”

  “No surprise there. It was a foregone conclusion after she held me against the living room wall like a pinned insect. What aren’t you telling me?” Identifying Kelly as part fae should not be worthy of the king’s presence this morning. “What am I missing?”

  “I reached out to my Seelie Court contact and asked her how we could determine Kelly’s family line.”

  “And you figured this out? Out with it, Alex. Who does she belong to?”

  I watch Alex close his eyes as he pushes a breath out. “She belongs to Jareia.”

  My mouth opens and shuts. How is this possible? “Are you sure? We need to confirm this.”

  Alex leans back into my chair. “I know she is important to you. I wouldn’t be here otherwise. I would command you to deliver her to the Seelie Court. But this puts me in a precarious position.”

  “What position? We don’t tell him.” I am not handing her over. She’s mine.

  Alex stands. “You will do what I tell you to do. Don’t forget, I may be your sire, but I am also your king.” His eyes darken. “I will do what is best for the vampire population.”

  I’ve seen that look before, and it is one that expects compliance. But I won’t let this go. “We don’t have to tell him who she is.”

  Leaning down, Alex places his fists on the desk. “I’ve already spoken to him.”

  My anger vibrates out of me. But I need to keep it together. I can’t fight this battle alone. I need Alex.

  Alex watches me for a moment. “You are certain she is your mate?”

  “Yes. I am. She’s mine, Alex, and I won’t give her up.”

  “Then we have to approach this with care. King Jareia wants to meet her. He believes she may be his granddaughter. If this is true, she is the last Seelie Court Princess.”

  Before I can argue, my phone pings. I pull it out of my inside coat pocket and see that it is a text from Kelly.

  Are you behaving for Nick?

  As I wait for her response, I save the number in my contact list.

  “Is everything all right? Is the Princess safe?”

  I look up to see the concern on Alex’s face. “She is fine. Nick took her to purchase a phone, and she is giving me her new number.”

  I continue to text with her until she tells me I don’t have her heart. I hit the phone icon and hit send. The phone rings four times before she picks up.

  “Hello?” Kelly’s voice comes through the earpiece.

  I make eye contact with Alex, who is watching and listening as I speak to her.

  “I want all of you mo chroi, your heart, your soul, and your loyalty. I know you don’t understand it yet, but you will. Give it time.”

  I listen to her sigh. But I continue. “Mo chroi. You are mine and I’m keeping you. Do you understand? Hmm?”

  I turn myself away from Alex. “All you need to understand mo chroi is that you’re mine. Always.”

  I finish my conversation with her and click the phone off, placing it back into my pocket, and turning back to face Alex.

  “I won’t give her up.” I state.

  “We have to tell her what we know.”

  “I don’t see why.”

  “Grant.” Alex sits back into my leather chair. “You know damn well that Jareia will not let this go until he sees her.”

  “And then what? We just let him walk out with her. She should have a say in what happens, don’t you think?”

  “When will she be returning from this outing with Nick?”

  “They were finishing up and should be on their way home.” I place my elbows against my knees and lean forward. “Please don’t take her from me, Alex.”

  Alex was a hard man. He had been turned so long ago; he lost his humanity. I know this is becoming a political nightmare, but I need him on my side. “Please, Alex.”

  The king stands up and moves across the room, stopping in front of the wet bar. He didn’t bother with a glass; he reaches for the whiskey bottle and takes a swig.

  “You will be the death of me, progeny.” He takes another swallow. “I will talk to her when she gets back.”

  “I want to tell her.” I need to be the one.

  Alex slams the bottle down on the small counter. “You will do what I tell you, Grant. We cannot risk a war with the Fae.”

  I tighten my lips to hold in my thoughts.

  “You will be there when I speak to her, but you will be silent.” It was a command. My friend is gone, and my king stan
ds in front of me.

  “Do you understand me, Grant?”

  I nod to him. “Yes, Sire. I understand.”

  Chapter 21

  Kelly

  I lick the chili from my fingers. “OMG. This is outstanding!” Nick and I sit in the middle of the food court at the Fashion Show shopping center on the strip. Chili drips from the side of my mouth.

  “Here, take this.” Nick gives me a paper napkin and shakes his head. “How can someone be so messy?”

  “If you eat messy food, you get messy. It’s as easy as that.”

  “You look like the cat who ate the canary.” He chuckles.

  “What’s so funny?” I amuse him with my feeding frenzy.

  “The cat who ate the canary… Kitten, that’s funny!” He laughs.

  I grab the last fry and circle it around the bottom of the French fry paper container, sopping up the last of the chili cheese goop. Satisfied, I push the last one in my mouth. “That was the best chili cheese fries ever.”

  “What happened to your manners, Kitten? I take you out to a place with the common folk and you turn into a messy teenager.”

  “Nick. I am a teenager.” I force myself to be expressionless.

  “Yeah, Kitten. I know.” He pushes his chair across the linoleum floor with a screech and looks across the food court. Nick’s smile fades.

  “What?” I freeze. “What’s wrong?”

  Nick looks around the food court and eyed everyone in the area.

  “Nothing, Kitten.” Forcing a relaxed smile. “Let’s go to the Apple store and see what we can find.”

  I don’t believe him. My radar is telling me he is holding something back. “You’re not telling me something. What’s going on.”

  He wraps his arm around my shoulder and guides me out of the food court and out into the open shopping area. “Do me a favor. My Spidey senses are acting up. If I tell you to do something, you don’t hesitate. Got me?”

  “Are you worried something will happen?” I try to pull away from Nick to see his face.

  “No, I’m not. Nothing is gonna happen, Kitten. I just want you to be on alert, okay?”

  I examine his face, looking for a clue. Something to tell me what he is thinking.