“Upon daylight, we sent an immortal elder out to track the captives. This happened for three mornings until the natives took the Susquehanna River. It took some time to discover what actually happened to the captives. They were separated by Lake Erie. The young man was traded into a small native village that he soon escaped. It seemed every time he left his life in the hands of his fate, doing exactly what the bible had taught him to do, his literal faith had returned him to danger.
“I imagine it was a staggering journey back to his empty home. He crossed what the American government considered enemy lines. Once retained by American soldiers, he was again a captive to a life he had no interest partaking in and was forced through extraneous examinations. It took him nine months before he was able to make his way home.
“Many years later, after the conclusion of the war, captives were returned to their homes. The meeting took place in Lancaster. The man who had escaped had remarried and moved to a nearby county. He returned for the meeting, in hopes of finding his kin. They were not there, but the man continued to petition the government in hopes of locating his estranged family. He never found his son.”
It was so much more than a story. This was an account of history told by a man who had lived it. A man who had lived those long years out, always wondering what happened to that young man who had lost his family. Emotion tightened Delilah’s chest.
“Still, the man held no ill will toward those who murdered and had taken his family hostage. He truly believed he was doing as he should, trusting in a faith that had—in my eyes—misled him. Several years later, a young native approached his home asking for food. He made him wait outside and—once he had fed the native—asked what his purpose was. In broken Dutch, the native spoke his name. It was his son.”
“He was alive?”
“Yes. He had followed his captors peacefully, believing it was his destiny. You see, Delilah, I have lived through many tragedies, but my faith has wavered, but always remained. I believe in my way of life. That family had guns for hunting, but refused to use them.”
“But his wife and two children died!”
He nodded sadly. “Yes, Delilah, they died, but three of them had lived. Who is to say what would have happened if one meek Amish family used the remainder of gunpowder on a tribe of natives and angry soldiers? We must trust what we believe, otherwise it is not faith.”
“But she died, Christian. He let her die. If some rogue maniac comes knocking on our door, you can step aside all you want. I’m shooting first and asking questions later.”
His mouth twitched. “I would never let another harm you, pintura. You have my word.”
“Then what’s the point of this story?”
“I want you to understand how strong the Amish faith is. These were real people who sacrificed their lives rather than go against the teachings of their God.”
She no longer wanted to sit through any more stories. Besides, they were more fucked up than Grimms.
“Uhhhh, Christian, I get it, you’re Amish. I can do the drab clothing and even churn out some butter if you show me how, but I think I’m a little too modern to trust in others that much. And—not to complain about yet another thing—but your church services are really, really long.”
He chuckled and took her hand. “I know, Delilah. And eawichkeit—eternity—is long. You will understand over time. What we have is so much more than any mortal could ever know. We are given proof, in dreams and callings, that we are exactly where He wants us to be.”
Delilah looked anywhere but in his eyes. The religious stuff freaked her out.
“Delilah, I understand your faith is not as strong as mine.”
She rocked nervously. “Correct are you, Yoda.”
He pursed his lips. “I only ask you to have faith in me for now. I vow to honor and protect you. I believed I was doing what was asked of me the night I claimed you as my mate. I know you do not see it that way, but I’ve been around a long time and there truly is no other way.”
“Gracie said you would have died if you didn’t claim me. Is that true?”
“Yes.”
“But doesn’t that make you a hypocrite? Shouldn’t you have surrendered like that man in the story?”
He was silent for a moment. “Do you honestly believe, had I offered you the choice of love, eternal life, family, shelter, and gifts beyond measure, that you would have said no?”
“Well, I guess we’ll never know, will we, Christian?” she answered snidely. She was getting irritated again.
He sighed. “You are thinking like a mortal. Try to think differently. Everyone in this world hopes to find someone to understand him or her. Happiness is nothing unless shared. You are given the gift of knowing exactly whom you are meant to be with. You fill the emptiness inside of me and I can do the same for you. We are intended, not by the choice of man, but by the careful selection of our maker. Even if you do not have a strong faith, you must be able to comprehend how absolutely unique and priceless that gift is.”
She shrugged. Yeah, that sounded pretty nice. But she was still mad at him. Sort of. Not really. Mostly when he brought up changing her without asking. Otherwise she’d started coming to terms with where her life was heading opposed to where she had intended it to go.
Delilah had dated, even kept a few guys around for a month or two, but she never had someone look at her the way Christian did. She’d never felt safe enough to be herself, as she did with Christian.
According to destiny, no matter what, he was meant for her, warts and all. It was an odd sort of security, one she wasn’t one hundred percent confident in. However, she really wanted to believe it was real.
“How come I never had dreams?”
“Are you sure? I had several.”
Her shoulder lifted. “I don’t know. I’ve always been terrible with remembering dreams. Maybe if God would have given me the memo I could have picked up a dream journal or something—been a little more prepared for all this, you know?”
“Always returning to sarcasm, pintura.”
“Hey, that’s how I roll. So what kind of dreams did you have? Were they dirty?”
His cheeks darkened as he stared into her eyes. “There were days I was restless, because I could do nothing more than recall the beauty who had enchanted me in my sleep.”
Her lips parted. “Wow,” she whispered. “I can’t believe I got gypped on these dreams.”
“We have plenty of time to bring them to life, pintura.”
She smiled, sensing the direction this conversation was going. “Oh, I think that depends, Mr. Schrock.”
“On?”
“On if you’d let an intruder shoot me.”
His eyes darkened. “Never.”
“Would you fight for me?”
“I did this afternoon.”
“You knocked a fat putts out of his chair. I mean really fight if it came down to it. Would you kill for me?” She awaited his excuse.
“Yes.”
Her gaze jerked to his and her smile faltered. “You…you would?”
“If I sensed your life was in jeopardy, I would not cease until I knew you were safe. I am Amish by choice, vampyre by nature. It is against what I am to let my mate die. You are mine, Delilah. I will surrender your life to no one.”
Well, didn’t that just make her feel all sorts of nice-nice. She had herself a vigilante who preached all sorts of peaceful crap until someone stepped on his itty-bitty immortal toes. That’s when the lethal fangs would come out and he’d go ape-shit on a bad guy’s ass. It was totally sexy.
“Okay, Mr. Schrock. Let’s go make some of those dreams come true.”
His eyes darkened and he grinned. “Go to the bedroom.”
Heat rushed through her belly and her thighs clenched. Delilah jumped up from the table and scampered out of the room like the biggest dork in the world. She shucked her dress and jumped onto the bed. “I’m ready!” she called.
Suddenly there was a knock at t
he front door. She frowned. Didn’t whoever was knocking know it was sexy time?
Quickly rolling off the bed, she grabbed her robe. As she returned to the living room Christian was standing in the door holding an enormous bouquet of flowers.
“Are they for me?”
The deliveryman looked up from his clipboard. “Ms. Starling?”
Flowers! “That’s me!” She nudged Christian out of the way.
“Sign here,” the deliveryman—nix that—delivery boy said.
She quickly scribbled her John Hancock on the slip and smiled. “Hold on, let me grab you a tip.”
“No tip, ma’am. The gentleman who placed the order has already taken care of it.”
“Oh, okay, well, thank you.”
He tipped his head and left. She turned to face Christian who was scowling behind a gorgeous Casablanca lily. All she could smell were flowers. The arrangement was beautiful. She hadn’t gotten flowers since she graduated high school. She was way overdue.
“Do you see a card?” she asked as she gently peeked between the fragrant stems. Lifting the heavy arrangement out of Christian’s arms she placed them on the table. “Stop frowning. You’re going to offend the lilies.”
“They’re flowers,” he grumbled, following her to the table.
“Flowers are very receptive to the emotions of the people around them. Didn’t you know that?”
“I gave you a farm and you didn’t get this excited. We have lilies there.”
“I know, but having flowers sent to you is different. Ooh! I wonder if I have a secret admirer.”
He growled.
“Oh, settle down, Frankenstein.”
“Frankenstein?” he mumbled with offense.
“I found it!” Delilah pulled out the crisp white envelope. “Mizz Starling,” she enunciated as she slid the card out. The note was hand written in thick, fancy script.
Here is wishing you all the luck in your new life. I tried to find a flower as pretty as you, but sadly, there can only be one Delilah.
‘Til next time,
~Cerberus Maddox the sixth
“Oh my God, it’s from Mr. Maddox.”
She faced Christian. It looked like smoke was literally about to come steaming from his ears.
“Uh, Christian?”
His jaw popped and she flinched.
“Christian?” She waved her hand in front of his face. He didn’t move. “Look, it doesn’t matter who sent the flowers. I can still enjoy them. I’m sure he was just being nice since I was clearly upset at having to shut down my shop.”
“How does he know where you live, Delilah?” he asked through clenched teeth.
Her body, which had been humming with excitement, deflated as something creepy slithered under her skin. “I don’t know.”
He reached for the card and sniffed it. She frowned as he went to her window and yanked open the curtain. He growled. She rushed to his side as a shiny black sports car pulled away.
Ew. Creepy!
She gasped. “Do you think that was him?”
“I know it was. Pack your things. We are leaving.”
“But…what about my stuff?”
“We will return for it later.”
“How did he know where I lived?”
“He is immortal, Delilah. He has an incredible sense of smell, the ability to hear over miles. He tried to get into my mind today at your store. I have no doubt he saw into yours. It would take only seconds for him to garner your address.”
“How do you guys do that?” she snapped. “It is so unfair that all I can do is fix boo-boos.”
“Pack a bag with what you need. We are leaving in a few minutes.”
She huffed. “You see! This is why I don’t know how to do anything cool. Every time someone does something neat and I ask you to show me how, it’s Pack a bag, Delilah. Get back in the carriage, Delilah. Take off your clothes, Delilah.”
He left the living room and returned with the bag they arrived with. “Are you complaining?”
“Well, yeah. Show me something neat.”
“I will later, Delilah.”
“I will later, Delilah.”
He turned and looked at her. His expression told her he thought she was being childish. Easy to say when you could do Jedi mind tricks. She stomped off to her room.
Chapter Twelve
They had been walking for hours and Delilah was regretting packing so much crap.
“Are we there yet?” she whined and Christian shot her a look that told her she was being annoying. “I’m sick of walking. We could have taken my car. I don’t see why we had to walk. You know, if I were still human, I’d be limping by now. This is extortion. You’re extorting my new found abilities, which by the way, you seem to keep forgetting to show me how to use.”
“Delilah, we must keep moving. Please try to make the best of it.”
She huffed and trotted on. Her body didn’t hurt. She was bored. “We could have sex in the woods again.”
“Delilah,” he warned and kept moving.
She sighed. They continued walking. There was a constant scurry of small pawed things in her wake that followed her like a blimp in the Macy’s parade. “So, what do you think this Snow White power thing I have is all about?”
“Pardon?” He lifted a low hung branch for her to duck under.
“The animals. They’re drawn to me. Why do you think that is?”
“Perhaps because they know you will not eat them.”
She thought about that. “That could be it. I am incredibly superior when it comes to my meat restraint. Do you think it draws other things too?”
“Such as?”
“Mr. Maddox.”
He growled. “You do not need any sort of gift to draw other males, Delilah. He sensed you were new and like him. You are beautiful. He wanted you for reasons other than your connection to the animal kingdom.”
She couldn’t help but push his buttons. “And how does that make you feel, Christian?”
He shot her a warning glance. “You know how it makes me feel.”
“Sooo, you think I should go out with him.”
“You are not amusing.”
“Oh, come on. I’m a little amusing.”
He mumbled something under his breath she didn’t catch.
“Mr. Maddox had a car. A nice car. He could have probably given us a ride back to the farm.”
“Delilah.”
“Christian.”
They walked in silence for a long while. Eventually they each silently agreed to pick up the pace, as night was settling in. When they moved faster, Delilah’s thoughts slowed. She focused on her footing and the next step rather than how bored she was. When it was pitch black and no sounds of civilization met her ears, they finally stopped for a rest.
“Perhaps we should feed,” Christian suggested as they sat on a wide flat rock eating the granola bars she’d packed.
“You can. I don’t do animals.”
“Do you have hunger?”
She tilted her head and thought about her state. She was sort of hungry, but nothing like the ache she’d dealt with when she waited too long to feed. “I could feed.”
He tilted his head and stared at her. “You are handling the feeding much better now.”
She shrugged. “I don’t mind it. I sort of…like it, I guess.”
His smile was slow. “But not from animals.”
“I told you, I won’t do the animal thing. Feeding from you I can deal with. You piss me off enough that I feel justified biting you from time to time.”
His brow lifted. “I piss you off?”
She nodded. “You didn’t have to throw away my flowers.”
“We have no idea when you will return. They would have died and made your home smell.”
She gave him a look of skepticism. “Yeah, I’m sure that’s why you tossed them, because you were worried about the scent of my apartment. I broke my lease. Who cares what the place smells like in a mo
nth. Just admit it. You’re jealous.”
“I have no issue admitting I do not want other males sending you gifts, especially immortal males. That male was quite audacious thinking he could do such a thing.”
She bit into her granola bar. “He didn’t know we were together.”
“He knew.”
“How?”
“I told you, Delilah, he looked into your mind.”
“Well, maybe if you taught me some tricks I could guard my thoughts a little better.”
She took his wrapper and stuffed it back into a pocket of the bag. Christian stood and drew in a deep breath. “What is it you would like to know how to do?”
“How’d you do the lock trick on my door?”
His gaze drifted for a moment. “I do not know how to teach you such things. I only know that I can do it. I simply focus on the object and demand it to move.”
She thought about Samantha Stevens from Bewitched and I Dream of Genie. “Yeah, Christian, that’s cool. I want to know how to do that stuff.”
He reached to the ground and picked up a rock, about the size of a cork. He placed it on the flat surface of the bolder she sat on. “Try to move the rock.”
She looked at the small rock. Speckled puddles of moonlight wobbled over the surface as the branches moved above. She cleared her throat and focused.
Move.
It didn’t budge.
Mooooooooooove.
Nothing.
Open sesame. Move? Go-rock-go! Rock get the steppin’! Mooooooooove!
Nothing happened. She turned to Christian. “Nothing’s happening.”
“You are being silly. Simply look at it and push with your mind.”
She stared at the rock and imagined a little version of herself pushing the stone with all her might. It didn’t even wobble. She huffed and turned back to Christian.
“Watch,” he said and looked at the little stone. It scooted about six inches to the right.
She scoffed. “How did you do that?”
He shrugged. “Exactly as I told you. I simply pushed with my mind.”
She scowled at him and then at the stupid rock. Taking a deep breath she groaned and tried to push the damn thing. It trembled and moved. She gasped and turned to Christian, excitedly, only to frown. “You did that!”
Call Her Mine Page 26
