Again Adrian made no attempt to fight back; he was prepared to accept his fate. So when his father brought the palm of his hand across his cheek as hard as he could, which caused Adrian’s head to snap sideways, he just let it happen.
Twice, three more times Fabian hit him before finally releasing him where he slid back down to the floor. Blood oozed out of his cheek, lip and he could taste it in his mouth too as he lay, his body aching but his mind empty, almost numb.
“Look what you’ve done to him.” Faith shrieked and dropped to his side on the floor.
“He needs to be punished Faith. Don’t foolishly involve yourself in this or I will punish you too.”
He pushed her aside and Adrian opened his mouth to protest but suddenly Fabian kicked him in the stomach which drew a groan from him. He braced himself when it looked like his father was going to attack him again, but suddenly there was some sort of disturbance and his father was covered from head to toe in ropes that bound his arms to his sides.
When he lifted his head higher to see what was happening, his mother was standing over Fabian, her eyes flashing with rage. “Leave our son alone you stupid bastard.” She spat at him through gritted teeth. “I cannot stand by and watch you hurt him any longer.”
“Let me go my beauty. You know I have to punish him for what he’s done. You don’t understand what I have planned for him.”
Sirene laughed but there was no humour in it. “You are not killing our son you fool. You and your stupid outdated rules; ok, Adrian made a mistake but you are not taking his life for that. The others have stuffed up and not received such harsh treatment from you.”
“Dammit Sirene, release me. You don’t understand. You have it all wrong, I have to make an example of him; can’t you see that?”
“No I don’t. This is our fault this has happened. Can’t you see that? We...did...this. We didn’t prepare our son; this is our fault.” She snapped at him, before dropping down to take Adrian in her arms. He wrapped his around her and let her comfort him, all the time struggling to keep unexpected tears at bay. It was so nice to be in her arms, to have her loving him, caring for him and protecting him. He’d had to be so strong alone, for so long and only now, did he fully realise how much he needed his mother’s love. He was tired, so very tired of the life he’d been living, of the secrets he’d been keeping, he was tired of it all. His father was so angry with him and maybe his mother was too, but not enough to want him dead that was obvious. Still, he had no idea what Fabian would do to him, once Sirene let him loose from the ropes that bound him.
Faith
I watched the exchange between Fabian and Sirene with great interest. Something had changed in the room. The mood was different and certainly Fabian was not happy about being restrained. I’d gaped in shock when I’d seen the ropes seemingly appear from thin air and wrap around the imposing vampire.
I had newfound respect for Sirene though. She kicked ass and she sure knew how to control Fabian despite her tiny build.
I badly wanted to go to Adrian but I was scared to do so after Fabian warning me off earlier, plus he was in his mother’s arms and when I saw his face, I thought for a moment that he was close to tears. Still when he lifted his head a fraction and his eyes met mine over her shoulder, he looked his usual composed self, other than the cuts and abrasions which were already starting to heal.
“Dammit woman, let…me…go.” Fabian spat angrily again and when I looked at him, his pale eyes were blazing with his fury. “I’m…not…going…to…hurt…our…son.” He punctuated each word with a grinding of his teeth.
“You punched him and kicked him Fabian. What part of that is not hurting our son?”
“Don’t you get it yet? I had to make a bit of an example of him. I never intended killing him my beauty. Please let me go.”
At Fabian’s words, my eyes shot to his, desperate for something in his expression to confirm what he was saying. I’d seen him beat and kick Adrian in my visions but not how it all ended. With one touch I could find out now.
“Wait, please.” I begged Sirene and walked towards Fabian who was glowering at me. “Let me see. Let me see if he’s telling the truth.” I said and placed a shaking hand on his arm, feeling the hard muscles flex under my touch despite the multiple strands of rope restraining him.
As soon as my skin came into contact with his, flashes of images began to fill my head, jumping around, giving me brief glimpses of what was to come.
Fabian and Sirene were holding Adrian in their arms and he was crying. There was no sound but I could see his whole body shook from the force of his gut wrenching sobs.
The image changed and I saw Fabian and Sirene with Katherine. They must have been meeting her for the first time. She was smiling as she looked up, her gaze not really directed to anyone since she was blind.
Just as I struggled to see more, the image changed again and I saw my sister Flame. She looked really angry, angrier than I’d ever seen her. Damien was trying to restrain her and I caught sight of Francesca in the back ground laughing. Whatever was happening, it was intense and so typical that Fran would be getting off on whatever was clearly going wrong. I just wish I could see what it was, but the images cleared and I released Fabian’s arm.
“He’s telling the truth Sirene.” I said, turning to her. “The things I’m seeing in the flashes of visions I get when I touch him clearly show Adrian is still alive.”
“You’re sure?” She asked me and I nodded. “Very well.” Sirene gave Fabian a stern look. “You’d better not be an ass, be a snappy bastard or sulk after this. I couldn’t risk you hurting our son. He’s our miracle, you know that. If you hadn’t been human for a short time so he could be conceived, then if we hadn’t saved him when he was accidently shot, we would not have him now. I’m sure he knows he’s done wrong but a little forgiveness wouldn’t hurt. I’m sure you have not been perfect your entire life Fabian. In fact I know that you haven’t. You have been a bastard numerous times and look what you tried to do to your son Dominick and Allegra? So stop with this, ‘he must pay’ crap.” She mimicked, her eyes flashing with her anger.
“Goddammit woman, listen to me. I am not killing our son.” He glared at the pint sized woman clinging to Adrian. “Release me.”
I watched Sirene gently extract herself from Adrian’s arms and climb gracefully to her feet. She walked over to Fabian and stared up at him. He glared at her but she smiled, her eyes lighting up and I wondered what on earth she could find amusing now.
“You know I kind of like you all tied up.” She grinned at him, raising a hand to cup his cheek. “You’re all helpless and vulnerable and you can’t fight back. I could enjoy this.”
Watching heat flare in Fabian’s eyes, and his lips curve up in a smile that was so intimate, so intense, so filled with desire for the tiny woman by his side, made me feel like I was intruding on their moment. It was also wildly hot and I turned away, my gaze falling on Adrian who was looking intently at me.
The look in his eyes was also intense and hot and immediately I was as horny as hell. My animal instincts as a vampire surged to the fore and I dropped down by Adrian’s side, throwing my arms around his neck, my lips crashing against his as I began to kiss him, with all the pent up frustration and desire that was surging through me.
“Release my son NOW!” Fabian’s brusque command ripped us apart as effectively as a bucket of ice cold water.
I scrambled backwards away from Adrian and clambered to my feet, eyeing the older vampire off warily. What the hell was wrong with him now?
“I wish to speak to my son.” He said and it was then that I noticed he was free of the ropes, so Sirene had released him. He walked over to Adrian and stood looking down at him. “Get up.” Was all he said and Adrian rose with a level of grace that always took my breath away.
“Do you want to know why I hit you and kicked you son?”
“I broke your rule and for that I deserve to be punished for what I did.”
<
br /> “No son, I punished you for one simple reason because you did what you did and told no one. Why did you not come to your mother or me and tell us?”
“I couldn’t. You’ve always maintained that killing someone or turning someone was punishable by death. I didn’t mean to do what I did to Lucas and then I panicked and turned him. It just got more and more complicated when I found out about his mother. All I could do was take care of them, which meant buying the house to keep them in. I did try to use witchcraft to fix my problems but I’m not like mother. I’m no good with spells. Then by chance I discovered that when I touch women I can feel their emotions. I realised that there’s a lot of women out there who are very unhappy in their marriages. After fucking a woman one night and giving her everything I could feel she wanted when I’d touched her, I discovered I could make money from it. It’s been very financially beneficial, and it gives me all the blood and sex I need. It got harder and harder as time passed to tell anyone. I got into a routine, a rhythm, a level of acceptance for what my life had become and was always going to be. It got easier to keep my secret, what happened, what I was hiding, until her.” He pointed at me. “Faith’s arrival and her ability to see right through me; her visions that revealed everything I’d worked so hard to keep hidden, only served to further complicate my life. Then she found Lucas and insisted he change her but it went wrong and I had to complete the change to save her. Now because of her, here we are.” He gave a rueful smile.
“Oh my son, I’m so sorry, so sorry that you suffered through all this alone.” Sirene rushed to take Adrian into her arms again. “This is our fault. We made you an adult, then a vampire. We never prepared you for life as a vampire; we never prepared you for life as an adult for that matter. We let you down as parents; we let you down as vampires. We left you alone and neglected you at a time you needed us the most and for that I’m so sorry. I’m sure your big buffoon of a father is sorry too when he’s not trying to throw his weight around and beat his chest to remind us that he lords over us.”
I snuck a quick look at Fabian’s face to see what his reaction was through all of this, and also to see how he reacted to being called a buffoon but surprisingly, he was unusually quiet; simply watching the exchange between mother and son.
My stomach tightened when tears filled Adrian’s beautiful pale eyes and began to roll down his cheeks. “For so long I have wished that you would have let me die that night.” He whispered and pain lanced through me at his words. I heard Fabian and Sirene’s gasps, the room filled with such raw emotion I knew I had to get away for a moment.
When I looked over at Lucas, his face was filled with great pain too and I beckoned to him to come with me, to let Adrian have time with his parents.
We’d only just stepped out of the room when Flame, Damien and Francesca came down the corridor. Flame’s expression filled with rage. “It’s true? You’re a vampire? You’re a fucking vampire? Adrian did this to you? I’ll fucking kill the lying little bastard.” She brushed past me before I could say anything.
As Flame burst into the room, Fabian and Sirene released Adrian to turn towards the disturbance. My sister didn’t acknowledge them at all though, she simply rushed towards Adrian. Before I could warn him, before anyone could do anything at all, she made some almost violent swing of her head and I watched helplessly as a large medieval sword mounted on the wall came hurtling towards Adrian.
“NO!” A terrified scream filled the room and I realised it was me. The sword was on track to pierce his neck, where it would more than likely behead him. I couldn’t see how there could be any favourable outcome from this. My beautiful vampire was going to die. “NO!” I screamed again, my voice filled with anguish, but before the long, highly polished blade of the sword could complete its destructive path, Sirene called out something. I wasn’t sure in all the chaos what it was but the sword’s deadly course was stopped. It didn’t even make contact with Adrian. It came to a halt mid-air before clattering to the floor.
As I stared, stunned, barely able to comprehend what had almost happened, the room erupted into a chorus of loud voices as Flame and Fabian came to verbal blows.
Chapter Fifteen
Adrian
Adrian stared at the long blade of the sword as it lay at his feet, glinting under the overhead lights. It had gone so close to ending his life, missing him by a fraction. It had been so close, he had felt it, heard the tiny sound it made, and felt the small breeze it stirred up after being halted on its deadly path to end his life, before it fell to the floor.
His eyes rose when he heard the raised voices in the room. He was still in shock, still reeling from the depth of rage in Flame. The evening had been stressful with all that had happened, and it had seemed almost like things could be ok, that he would be ok, until Faith’s sister got home.
He understood that she was upset that her little sister was a vampire now, but she was obviously more a shoot first then ask questions kind of woman. She hadn’t waited for him to explain himself; she hadn’t even waited to see if he was the one who had turned Faith. She’d simply made that assumption, and had attempted to take his life. If it wasn’t for his mother’s quick reflexes and being a witch, he’d more than likely be dead right now.
“What the fucking hell do you think you’re doing?” Flame screamed. “Let me at the bastard. Look what he’s done to my sister. She’s a vampire for fuck sakes. Not my fucking sister. She’s not supposed to be living this life dammit. Why? Why the fuck did he do this?”
“Perhaps before you foolishly storm into my home which I allow you to live in and attack my son, you should get your facts straight. You have assumed that he did this without asking any questions first. I can understand that you are not happy that Faith is vampire. I am not happy that she is one either, but don’t you dare attack my son like that again. If you wish to continue to live in my home you will do well to abide by my request; if you want to live and not have me take your life like this.” He snapped his fingers, the click of them loud in the otherwise quiet room. “You will stay the hell away from my son. Don’t make the mistake of assuming that now you are vampire and with Damien that you are safe, that you have any kind of authority here.” He lowered his voice even more, his tone ominously quiet. “I can assure you, you will pay the ultimate price as will my son. I don’t care that he loves you. I will kill you if you lay one finger upon Adrian again. I am in control here. I decide the punishments, I decide who lives or dies. You would do well to remember that.”
Before anyone could say any more or respond to Fabian’s softly spoken warnings, Francesca burst out laughing. “Wow, you’re a feisty one Red.” She gave Flame a look of reluctant admiration. “Damn you lot are all so fucking intense tonight. So what’d I miss?”
“Francesca, this would be a good time for you to try and practice the art of keeping your damn mouth shut.” Fabian growled.
“But I want to know what happened? Did Adrian do all this? He turned him?” She tipped her head towards Lucas. “How about her, did he do her?” She laughed at her words. “Well, we all know he did her, but it’s true is it, he turned her vampire?”
“Francesca…silence!” This time Fabian’s tone made it clear she would do well to listen to him, and with an obvious flash of irritation across her face, she fell silent.
Adrian watched her walk over to his son. She swung her hips, batting her eyelashes at him, and Adrian snapped his teeth hard together at Francesca’s blatant attempt to arouse Lucas and embarrass him in front of everyone. Lucas stared down at her and there was a light in his eyes as they moved over her face. He gave her a hint of a smile before turning his gaze from her.
Obviously she didn’t like his attempt to ignore her which wasn’t easy. Fran was a beautiful woman but also loud, opinionated and a rude sarcastic bitch most of the time. She raised a hand to clamp down on his chin before lifting herself on her toes to lock lips with him.
Adrian watched the exchange for a moment before swinging
his gaze back to his father. Faith was watching him, concern and something else in her beautiful blue eyes. They sucked him in and he stared at her, feeling his reluctant attraction for her pulling at him. She didn’t get it though. If she thought revealing his secret would make him give up his lifestyle for her, she was mistaken. He was no good for her. She deserved someone better than him, someone like his son.
“How the fuck can you tell me to let this go Fabian?” Flame’s voice interrupted Adrian’s thoughts and he turned to the fiery redhead. “Are you telling me he did not make my sister vampire?”
“It’s more complicated than that, and if you would stop raging at me long enough, I will tell you. Tread carefully Flame. I can respect your concern for your sister and your need to protect her, but this is my home, my rules and my son you tried to kill before.”
“Babe?” Damien stepped in, eyeing off Fabian warily as he grabbed Flame’s arm. When she spun around to him, her expression impatient, Adrian saw the subtle shake of his head he gave her. Flame hadn’t been part of their family long enough yet to know what Fabian could be like. Damien had, he’d experienced him at his worst. He’d been with him for decades after all, and knew what a sadistic bastard he’d been. Even Adrian had never really seen his father at his worst. He’d apparently been much gentler, more compassionate since he’d met Sirene, but when he’d been hitting him and kicking him earlier, he felt he’d seen more of the real Fabian than he ever wanted to see again.
“Father didn’t turn your sister, I did.” Lucas suddenly spoke up despite him being distracted by Francesca.
“YOU WHAT?” Flame screamed and lunged at him, fangs descended, her hands out in front of her, fingers curled like claws. She leapt onto him, bringing him down, knocking Fran out of the way. Her face was contorted with her rage as she clamped a hand around his neck, squeezing him hard.
“NO!” Adrian cried out, leaping towards Flame just as Sirene raised her hands, rapidly chanting what had to be some kind of spell. Flame’s body went rigid, cuts appearing all over her skin. Deep slashes which made her scream in pain and roll off Lucas, blood flowing from every gaping wound on her.
Passion For Hire (Passion #5) Page 18
