by Kelly Oram
I couldn’t tell if Ethan believed I didn’t want Grace that way, but after a minute he laughed and asked, “Jackhole? What’s with you lately? You said crap this morning, and I’m pretty sure I heard you use the term butthead when you were talking about Caleb yesterday. Nobody’s said butthead since the nineties.”
I cringed. “Grace asked me to try and stop swearing.”
“And you’re doing it?” Ethan blinked twice and then burst into laughter.
“Bite me. I wouldn’t, except she’s afraid her father would be mad.” I was fighting to control my temper all of a sudden. Grace’s dad has that effect on me. “She’s probably right. He’d probably get angry and tell her she’s a disgrace to the country because she hangs out with hooligans. I really hate that stupid jerk-off.”
Ethan sighed. Grace’s father was never a pleasant topic of conversation for anyone. Especially not for Grace. I’m amazed Ethan hasn’t killed the guy by now, as much as he’s protective of Grace. No one hurts her more than her dad.
“He hit her once,” Ethan said, drifting down memory lane.
“He hit her?” I was a bit astonished. President St. Claire wasn’t father of the year by any stretch, but he wasn’t exactly Joe Trailer Park, either.
Ethan nodded. “Just once. I almost killed him. It was the day he hired me to be her bodyguard.” To my surprise, Ethan smiled at the memory. “Grace was…not exactly happy about him picking me. She hated me enough that she tried to stand up to him. It actually gave me a little hope for her, but then he smacked her and she backed right down. She gave in to him and me after that.”
We lapsed into silence for a few minutes, both watching Grace until she felt us staring and looked up. She smiled and held up a dress for our approval. Ethan gave her a thumbs up, but I shook my head. “The red one,” I called out. She blushed and turned away from us.
“I used to hate her for being such a pushover,” Ethan said. “But after seeing her and her dad together those first few weeks, I started to realize why she is the way she is. It’s not her fault she’s weak. He’s screwed her up since she was a kid. She’s getting better, though. She’s still really insecure, but she’s a lot tougher than I gave her credit for.”
“Toughest girl I know,” I agreed. “In her own way.”
Ethan nodded. “She’s lived through hell this year. All that stuff with Andrew and Preston? Even dealing with me. If anything good has come of it, it’s that she’s finally starting to grow a little bit of a backbone. She needs that with the way her life is.”
That was the truth. If anyone needed a backbone, it was Grace, if for nothing else than to deal with her jerk of a dad. But she was getting better, and as a result, things had been different for her lately.
“I think Prez Man is trying,” I said. “A little, at least. Ever since she told him off. He’s still selfish and completely clueless, but he spends more time with her now.”
“Which he spends subtly criticizing her.”
I shrugged. “As long as she’s happier, though, right?”
After a minute, Ethan conceded to my point. “You’re right. I think she is a little happier. She’s patched things up with Cynthia, and ever since Andrew died, her life hasn’t been in any imminent peril.” He let out a breath with a shaky laugh. “That is nice. I thought I was going to go crazy for a while, but this bond thing has settled down a lot now that she’s not in constant danger.”
“I’ll bet. And, hey, since she’s had plenty of time to recover from the trauma, you know what would help her feel even better? A date to the spring formal with the second best-looking guy in school.”
“I thought you said you didn’t want to ask her to the dance.” Ethan chuckled.
“I meant you, douche nozzel. I am so better looking than you, and you know it.”
“You wish.”
“Whatever. Just ask her out.”
“Give it a rest, Russ. There’s no point. Grace doesn’t like me.”
He said it so simply, as if it were an obvious fact. It used to be true, but I didn’t think that was the case anymore. Ethan cut me off before I could say so. “She’s forgiven me, but I’m still not her favorite person. She’s terrified to accept my oath because she doesn’t want to like me that way. What makes it worse is that I know she wants you. A big part of this warrior thing is that I feel the need for her to be happy. You would make her happy.”
He sighed in utter defeat, as if he’d already lost this battle. “Plus, she’s the only person that can break your bond with Dani.”
He was talking about a supernatural bond I have with Dani. It’s nothing as intense as his warrior’s bond to Grace, just that Dani and I have a special connection because we grew up together sharing supernatural energy. Now I have a physical connection to her that I can’t ever have with any other person. That’s why my aura’s messed up. Our bond is so strong that my aura can’t connect with anyone’s but hers and my father’s. Being away from her is the reason I’m so weak.
And worse, it’s permanent. I will always be physically linked to Dani. Her bond with me was broken through weeks of torture that almost killed her, so it’s a one-way connection now. That’s double suckage for me because once she was able to form connections with others, the council brainwashed her into loving their precious Seer. She left me for the uptight moron and gets to be happy, but since I’m not the freaking Chosen One, I wouldn’t survive breaking my bond like she did. I will literally never get over her. Fan-freaking-tastic, right?
The only hope I have is Grace. Since she’s the Ungifted One, she’s different, and when she touches me she temporarily dissolves my bond with Dani. I swear those moments of reprieve are the only reason I’m still sane.
“What if Grace is the only girl you could ever really be happy with besides Dani?” Ethan said, ever so optimistically. He grimaced and added, “Maybe you should just go for it.”
“Dude. Grace has been a constant in my life for five months now. She has to touch me all the time to keep me from dying faster. Don’t you think if I were going to get a crush on her I’d have done so by now? I’m telling you, I can’t love anyone but Dani. It’s, like, physically impossible or something. I’m frickin’ up the love creek without a paddle, man.”
Ethan shook his head, refusing to believe that I was so doomed. “We’re working on that. Grace’s plan will work. We’ll break your bond, and then you’ll be free of them both.”
“I hope so. Otherwise I’m a dead man, because I’d rather have my aura shrivel up and die than go back to Dani and spend the rest of my life pining over her while she shacks up with that buttmunch dweeb Gabe.”
“It’ll work,” Ethan repeated quietly.
I really, really hoped he was right.
We fell quiet as we watched the girls. They’d just come out of the dressing rooms to show each other their dresses. Clara looked skankalicious as usual, Cynthia had on a slinky black dress that was pretty hot, and Grace was wearing the red dress I’d told her I liked. I was right. It looked good. Ethan’s hard swallow told me he thought so, too.
The only thing that could possibly make the mall worse would be the sudden appearance of Cynthia’s twin brother—ginormous tool—Caleb Layton. He’s easily my least favorite person in all of Washington, D.C. Maybe anywhere. Today was just not my day. Caleb popped up out of nowhere, squeezed himself down on the bench between Ethan and me, and threw his arms over our shoulders. “Just who I was hoping to find. I have a proposition for you two boners.”
Ethan grabbed Caleb’s arm off his shoulder and twisted it into a painful position. He feels the same way about Caleb that I do. “Whatever it is, the answer’s no.”
“Come on, I’m desperate. This future alpha thing blows.”
Caleb is now the oldest Layton boy since his brother died. That means he’s next in line to be the alpha of his pack whenever his father gives up the position. It makes me feel sorry for the pack. Seriously. I fear for their future.
“I’ve neve
r mattered to the pack before, and now, suddenly, nobody leaves me alone. I can’t take it. I can’t stand to be around anyone in the pack anymore, so you two shmuck outcasts are my new best friends.”
“Bull crap,” I said.
Ethan snickered at my refrain from the use of the s word. “And you say I’m whipped.”
“I am not whipped,” I argued. “And you are definitely not our new best friend, Caleb. Get lost.”
“No way. I need to get out, and you guys are coming with me.”
“Excuse me?” Ethan said.
“Atlantic City,” Caleb offered. “Next weekend. The three of us could have some serious fun. We could party it up for a couple days and get all the chicks we want, and no offense, dudes, but you both need chicks.”
The idiot had a point.
“Russ, my man.” Caleb gave my shoulder an obnoxious squeeze that almost earned him a beating. “You’ve got spirit. I’m thinking we need to find you a werewolf. You need a girl who’s going to give you a fight and make you earn it.”
I laughed. I couldn’t help myself. Ethan gave me a disgusted look, but what could I do? It was funny. “Yeah? What about Ethan?”
“That’s easy. Ethan needs someone like Clara.”
I shuddered at the name, and my eyes automatically drifted toward the strawberry-haired witch. We met when we were twelve and have hated each other ever since. It sucked that she’d become a lot closer to Grace since the whole Andrew thing, because that meant we had to hang out a lot more now.
“A witch?” Ethan asked.
Caleb shook his head. “Easy,” he clarified. “No offense, but you mostly just need to get laid.”
I burst out laughing again, and was suddenly looking forward to next weekend. Ethan rained on my parade. “We can’t. I can’t go that far away and leave Grace all weekend.”
“So bring her,” Caleb suggested. “She and Cynthia could—”
“No!” Ethan and I shouted at the same time.
“I can’t take Grace to Atlantic City,” Ethan said, while I had a different reason for protesting the idea. “Cynthia would take over our guys’ weekend and turn it into some dumb chick thing.”
I gestured to the girls, who’d wandered into the bridal section of the dress store and were now dreamily planning their future weddings. All three of us watched them fawn over something with ruffles and shuddered.
“No weekend, and no Atlantic City,” Ethan said. “How about just the night? Friday night. Here in D.C. No girls allowed.”
“No Cynthia,” I corrected, earning a glare from Ethan. I guess he didn’t want me blabbing his crush on Grace to Caleb. Not that the whole world didn’t already know.
Caleb thought about saying no, but he was surprised we’d agreed to anything at all, and couldn’t hide his excitement. He nodded. “Yeah, it’s probably better if we start small. You bozos need to be eased into having social lives.” He rubbed his hands together, getting excited as he mentally blocked out our night. “Okay, I know the perfect club.”
Caleb rambled for a minute until Ethan cleared his throat. I looked up and immediately saw what his problem was. “Can you see them?” he asked me.
After a quick glance around, I nodded. “I count ten.”
“Twelve. Look over your shoulder. There’re two downstairs behind us at the bottom of the escalator.”
I glanced behind me and he quizzed me again. “Species?”
This was a little trickier than just seeing the auras, but I was starting to get the hang of it. It was more about feeling a person’s aura than looking at their physical appearance. I closed my eyes to concentrate a little better. “A witch, a warlock, four nephilim, five wolves, and…”
“A partridge in a pear tree?” Caleb offered.
I laughed again and shook my head. “There’s something different about the last one. I can’t tell.”
“A vampire,” a very familiar voice informed me.
I looked up into the friendly smile of Duncan Moore. Duncan is a legendary vampire. Ethan and Caleb both practically worship the guy, but I don’t trust him. I don’t hate him, but I don’t trust him. He works for the consulate—a.k.a. the supernatural government—as head of the guardians, which is essentially the supernatural military.
“It’s the anomaly that throws you off, but I’m impressed, Russ. Recognizing auras already? You must be working very hard. Who’s training you, if you don’t mind my asking?”
“Actually, I do mind.” I minded a lot more than him asking me questions. I very much minded the fact that he was here at all. “What do you want, Duncan?”
Ethan and Caleb both shot me disapproving looks, but it was hard for me to be nice to Duncan. Friendly and charming as he is, he’s the guy who first took Dani when it was discovered she was the Chosen One. He brought her to the consulate, where she was tortured and brainwashed until she became the new, evil Dani that is responsible for ripping my heart out of my chest with her freaky species-shifting hands.
Duncan’s smile faded. “It’s not about what I want.” His little band of soldiers gathered close behind him, making Ethan, Caleb, and me all go on high alert. Something was definitely wrong.
“I’m sorry,” Duncan said. Curse his stupid, genuine face, he really looked like he meant it. “Ethan Dunn, I hereby place you under arrest for the murders of the De La Cote vampire coven. I have orders to bring you to the consulate for immediate questioning.”
I was on my feet in a split second and immediately surrounded by wary guardians. “What the crap, Duncan! Are you freaking serious?”
“Duncan!” Ethan was calmer than me, but only a little. “It was Andrew. He kidnapped Grace. He tried to kill her.”
“What are you guys talking about?” Caleb asked. “Did you guys seriously go vamp hunting and not invite me?”
“Shut it, Caleb. Duncan, come on.”
What Duncan said was true. Ethan murdered an entire coven of vampires. With my help, of course. But only the two of us and Grace knew about it. We’d left Caleb and his pack in the dark about everything—considering Andrew killed their future alpha, and werewolves wouldn’t take that kind of news well.
“You know what he was,” Ethan said. “He was obsessed. Fixated. We told you about it. You said you’d talk to him.”
Duncan lifted a hand in a placating gesture. “I know, and I did speak with Andrew. My advice is to not fight this, Ethan. Come peacefully and the council will listen to your side of the story. I will defend the part of it I know, if you would like me to. I believe that you were within your right, and the council will take my testimony very seriously. But they aren’t happy right now. Councilor Sena was very close with Stefan De La Cote. Ex-lovers, I believe. She’s out for blood. I can only do so much to help you. If you give the council a reason to act severely, I promise you they will.”
Ethan gave up. It was easier for him to calm down than it was for me because he trusted Duncan. He also didn’t have any personal experience with the council. “All right,” he said. As he held out his hands for Duncan to cuff, he gave me the gravest look I’d ever seen. “Take care of her while I’m gone.”
“Heck no. You aren’t taking the fall for this alone.”
Ethan glared, willing me with his eyes to shut my mouth. It wasn’t going to happen. “I need you here, Russ. Stay with her. You’re the only one I trust.”
“Well, I don’t trust the council. I’m not letting you go alone.” I stepped in front of Duncan. “If you arrest him, then you have to arrest me, too. I was with him. I killed as many of them as he did.”
The look in Duncan’s eyes changed to one of worry. He glanced quickly at the other guardians and then whispered in low tones. “Russ, don’t. There’s no evidence against you. They don’t even know you’re in D.C. They believe Ethan acted alone. You should stay and look after Grace.”
Duncan knew a little about Grace. Not everything, but enough to know she was special and that the council would want her. But when he found out about
her, he promised to keep her secret because he felt guilty about what happened to Dani. So far, he’d been true to his word. The council didn’t know about Grace, and I planned to make sure it stayed that way. After I made sure they didn’t mess with Ethan. “No. If there’s no evidence, then you’ll just have to trust my confession. If he goes, I go. End of story.”
I held out my hands to be cuffed, and Duncan sighed. “Very well.”
“Damn it, Russ, you moron!”
“Love you, too,” I teased Ethan, then turned to Caleb. I hated to trust Caleb Layton with anything, but we were out of options. “Take the girls home. Do not tell them what this is about.”
“What is it about?” he growled. He didn’t like being in the dark any more than I would.
“Let it go,” Ethan said. “Trust us that you don’t want to know. Just take them home.”
“No. I want some answers if I’m going to play along with this.”
I wouldn’t have said anything, but Ethan’s known Caleb a lot longer than I have. “Andrew De La Cote killed Preston,” he whispered.
Caleb was so shocked by the news that he nearly lost it and almost shifted into his wolf form right there in the mall. Duncan was shocked, too. “Andrew De La Cote killed the future alpha of the D.C. pack?”
Ethan and I nodded. “Preston was with Grace when Andrew’s coven came for her. She saw what happened, but she’s never talked about it. Not even to us.”
“How could you not tell me about this?” Caleb hissed. “It was Preston.”
“We didn’t tell you, or the pack, because it would have started a war. One that every vampire and werewolf in the country would have killed each other over.”
“Grace was worried about Cynthia,” I added. Caleb was tight with his sister. If anything was going to keep him levelheaded about this, it was going to be her. “Don’t worry. We didn’t let him get away with it.”
