Passion For Hire (Passion #5)

by J. a Melville

  Of course Flame hadn’t been able to be controlled either with her telekinesis and Faith was another one who had an ability that was a control blocker for vampires.

  At the thought of her Adrian frowned. Where was Faith? He’d been back inside a while and he’d thought she’d have joined them again by now. Quietly excusing himself, he walked outside and down into the garden to look for her. He half expected to find her sulking on the park bench still, because he hadn’t fallen into her arms declaring his undying love, as he felt she constantly hoped he would. He didn’t love her; she was wasting her time waiting for him to tell her he did. Nadine’s face flashed into his mind, when she’d told him he did love Faith. She’d been so adamant about it, so shocked and after confessing her feelings to him too, she’d been so hurt when he had reacted by panicking.

  Nadine was wrong, he didn’t love Faith. He didn’t love anyone other than his parents. He didn’t want others to love him. He didn’t consider himself worthy of owning anyone’s heart.

  He dragged his thoughts back to the present and resumed his search for Faith, but he couldn’t see her anywhere. Despite having no real reason to be concerned at this point, he wondered where the hell she could be. She hadn’t come inside again, he was sure of that. He would have known if she had. Could she have left the property? He felt a stab of guilt for how he’d treated her earlier. Much as he fought it, she turned him on. That fact was proven when he’d immediately become hard when near her; a fact that both angered and disconcerted him.

  He’d had Nadine naked by his side, a woman who had always interested him sexually, and yet he’d been unable to get hard around her, whereas it had been almost instantaneous when he’d seen Faith. The sex had been explosive and intensely arousing with her as it always was. What was it about her that turned him on so much? Was it the fact he’d taken her virginity? Did he feel he owned her sexually somehow?

  He had no idea, and he also had no idea where the hell she was. She couldn’t have gone too far, she had no car. As he thought it, he buried a hand in his pocket where he usually kept his car keys and felt his stomach drop when he felt nothing. There were no keys.

  Frantically he patted himself down in case he’d put them somewhere different but only found the torn remains of Faith’s panties and still no keys. He swore under his breath and looked down, as if thinking they might magically appear at his feet.

  Faith couldn’t have taken them. He’d have noticed her in his pocket, but they could have fallen out when he’d fucked her. He walked over to where they’d been, trying to push the images from his mind of her up against the fence as he’d driven hard into her.

  He hunted around for a few minutes but saw no sign of the keys. Then it hit him, maybe Faith had found them? With a growing sense of unease he walked over to the gate that led to the roadside and stepped through, his eyes automatically going to where he’d parked the Trans Am. It was gone.

  “Dammit, dammit, fuck it, fuck her, damn her, I’m going to kill her.” He cursed. Why hadn’t he heard the car? It had a loud rumbling engine. He should have heard it, but then he realised, it was only loud if he put his foot down. If Faith had wanted to avoid detection all she’d have to do was accelerate gently, and it would have been relatively easy to leave without him or any of them hearing the distinctive engine.

  Damn her, how long had she been gone? Where the hell would she have gone? Home perhaps, would she have gone home?

  He pulled out his mobile phone and called Flame but she never answered and he was reluctant to leave a message for her in case she panicked. He wasn’t exactly topping her ‘Most Popular’ list so he didn’t want to have her concerned for her sister.

  There was no point calling Damien as he’d be wherever Flame was, so he tried Francesca and breathed a sigh of relief when she answered.

  “Where are you Fran?” He asked.

  “Oh Adrian, I’m wounded; no hello at least?”

  “Hello and where are you? Are you at home?”

  “Yes I am as a matter of fact brother dear, and I’m home alone. You know it’s never wise to leave me alone.”

  “Is Faith there? She was with us all at my house but she’s taken off in the Trans Am. Did she come home?”

  Francesca gave some loud exaggerated sigh down the line. “No your little ex virgin is not here. Why? Did you fuck her and tell her to go away again? You know the tortured soul routine is getting very old Adrian. Why can’t you just face it that everyone loves you? You are the loved son, and for some crazy reason Faith loves you, although there’s no accounting for taste.” She mocked.

  “I don’t have time for this now Fran. Just call me if she shows up there please.” He asked, remembering to tack on a quick goodbye before hanging up on her.

  He was out of options for now except for calling Faith herself. Would she answer when she saw it was him as the caller though? He’d hurt her again, he knew he had. He seemed to do that all the time to her lately.

  He pulled up her number and called her but it rang and rang before finally going to voice mail. Reluctantly he left a message, but he wasn’t so sure she’d call him back, given she was probably still upset with him, and might be now nervous about what he’d do to her for taking his car.

  With his frustration mounting, he raked a hand through his hair, dislodging the tie that held it up and impatiently he pulled it out, letting the blonde and black strands fall freely to his shoulders.

  What the hell did he do now? He had no idea where Faith was and if she didn’t show up again soon, it was going to be a long night. He wasn’t sure why but he was starting to feel uneasy. It wasn’t concern for his car, although he hoped it would be returned to him in one piece, it was concern for Faith. Like it or not, she was getting under his skin. With their blood exchange, the sex but more importantly, the connection because he’d sired her, all these things made their bond stronger. It was like an invisible thread that made them aware of one another when they were close, and if strong enough could also make them feel some of what the other was feeling.

  The trouble was no matter how hard Adrian tried, he felt nothing at all when he thought of Faith. He couldn’t get even a hint of a clue as to where she was or what was going on with her, what she was feeling, and for some reason that scared the crap out of him.

  Chapter Twenty Two

  Adrian

  Adrian stood staring up at the night sky which wasn’t really so much of a night sky now. It was starting to lighten with the first trace of daylight breaking. That meant the discussions had gone on for much longer than he’d expected between Katherine, Fabian and Lucas. It had been hours and yet it hadn’t seemed that long when they’d all been inside his home.

  Of course the fact that it wouldn’t be much longer until the sun was up and no one knew where Faith was, worried him. As if on cue he felt his phone vibrate and he pulled it from his pocket relieved to see there was a text message from the absent vampire herself. That was until he read what she’d sent him.

  ‘I’ve gone away. I will not be back. I don’t love you. I made a mistake.’

  Adrian stared at the message, a frown forming across his brow. She was gone? What the hell did she mean she was gone? She’d never given him any indication that she would simply take off and leave. Somehow it was her saying that she didn’t love him and that she’d made a mistake that seemed to bother him the most.

  ‘Where are you?’

  He quickly texted back and there was a pause for a while; so long he thought she might not answer him.

  ‘I’m gone, that’s all you need to know. Don’t worry darling, I will be ok.’

  He read her response which told him nothing. Once, twice more he read it over again and slowly it registered, something about her response was all wrong. She never called him darling, not one single time had she ever used that endearment on him. He only knew one woman who called him that, but he’d wiped her mind of having ever known him. She didn’t seem to recognise him at all afterwards and s
he had reacted strongly against him being there. ‘Yeah, maybe too strongly,’ that little voice inside said.

  No, no it couldn’t be anything to do with Nadine. He was over reacting and letting his imagination run away with him. She couldn’t have pretended to be mind controlled surely? If that was the case, she knew what he was, she’d always known. Maybe if he sent a text message and addressed it to Nadine she would reveal herself? If it wasn’t her, then he’d more than likely just have one pissed off baby hybrid vampire. He managed to piss off Faith quite a bit so that wouldn’t be any great surprise anyway.

  While he wondered what the hell he was going to do, he didn’t notice that the others had joined him until Sirene touched his arm. “What is wrong my son? You look worried.”

  “It’s Faith, she’s taken off somewhere in the Trans Am. I must have dropped my keys, she found them and now I don’t know where she is. I just have a bad feeling about it all and then I received this.” He held his phone out and everyone, including Lucas read the text messages.

  Fabian frowned. “Well, that is most unusual. I would not have expected your Faith to run away. She seemed quite determined to fight for her man, that being you son.”

  “That’s just it father, I don’t believe this is Faith. I recently stopped seeing one of my clients. She was more than a client, she was my friend. I went to see her after what happened with Flame the other night. Nadine gave me somewhere to sleep for a little while. We got talking and she confessed she had feelings for me, she wanted something more than just our ‘business’ arrangement. She became quite upset with me because of Faith and the fact that I was unable to give her what she wanted from me that evening.” Adrian raked a hand through his hair. “I had a problem…performing.” He finally, reluctantly said.

  “Oh my God my son, you would have dented this woman’s pride I’m sure.” Sirene said. “Do you suspect she’s done something to Faith? I can perform a spell if you wish so we can try and find out.”

  “How will you do that?”

  Sirene held out her hand. “Give me your phone Adrian. I’m hoping I can cast a spell on it that will make it reveal the identity of the person who sent you those texts.”

  He handed it to her and she cupped it in both hands, closing her eyes. “With this phone use the screen to reveal the name of the last person whose text it’s seen.” She grimaced slightly as she held the phone and Fabian’s lips curved up in a small smile. Adrian knew they both joked about her attempt, and often fail to chant spells that rhymed. For some reason she thought it was better to be poetic about it all, but he figured as long as the spell worked, did it matter if it rhymed?

  When his phone began to glow in his mother’s hands it wiped the smile off his face and brought him back to the potential seriousness of the situation. He watched the glow die down again and she glanced at the name on the phone, her expression unreadable. It was only when she then turned it for them all, to read the name that a sick feeling of dread settled in the pit of his stomach. It was just as he’d feared; the name on the screen was Nadine. The fact that she had Faith’s phone couldn’t be good. There were so many unanswered questions now. Where was Faith? Did Nadine have her? How did she get her? Had she followed her? Where were they now, and the fact that Nadine had texted on Faith’s phone, surely meant she’d hoped to throw him off the scent, by making him think she’d run away.

  Of course he wondered what Nadine was. He hadn’t been able to mind control her which meant she’d only pretended to be controlled. That’s why her reaction when he’d thought he was making her forget all about him, had seemed extreme. She’d been acting and she was a fucking terrible actor.

  He suddenly remembered that he’d told her they’d had sex so he could cover the fact he couldn’t get it up for her. He winced when he relived that moment in his head. What had Nadine thought of his behaviour? No wonder she’d seemed so hurt at his rejection of her, but although they’d had a lot of good times together, he didn’t want her. He had no interest in getting involved with her. She wanted forever and that thought scared the crap out of him.

  Adrian strongly suspected she’d been angry and bitter enough to go after Faith. She’d been so sure he loved Faith that it was quite possible she felt threatened by her, and would want her out of the picture. He didn’t love the woman he’d made a hybrid vampire though. Of course he cared for her but it wasn’t love, it couldn’t be love. It couldn’t, because he had no right to love someone as sweet and beautiful as her, and he sure as hell had no right to take her love, no right at all.

  “Is there any way you can work out where Faith is mother?” He asked. “I hope Nadine hasn’t done anything to her, but she has her phone. Nadine is such an elegant, classy woman; it’s hard to imagine she would do anything to harm anyone.”

  “Never underestimate what a person will do when it comes to love son. Your mother turned back time, to bring me back to her after I died.” Fabian said, his eyes warming with his love when he looked down at the tiny woman. “Can you do some sort of spell to locate Faith, my beauty?”

  “I can of course but it might not give us an exact location. It will be a bit like it was when we were trying to find Arissa that time. My main concern is, where Nadine is right now.”

  “Should I send her a message to Faith’s phone, let her know we know it’s her?”

  Sirene shook her head. “No, not yet my son; we don’t want to alert her that we are on to her, although it’s possible she may know that already. She obviously has some sort of ability that made it impossible for you to mind control her. She has obviously also been stalking you and Faith. We must tread carefully. My gut instinct tells me this woman is very dangerous.”

  “What do you need to perform a spell mother?”

  Sirene sighed. “It would have been nice to have something of hers. A location spell works better when I have an item from the person we are trying to find, but we aren’t home to get something.”

  Adrian suddenly felt slightly embarrassed as he dug around in the back pocket of his jeans. “I...umm…I have these.” He said somewhat sheepishly as he held up the destroyed panties he’d pulled off Faith earlier.

  Lucas looked slightly uncomfortable at the sight of the tiny panties being waved about. Fabian tried not to smile and Sirene merely quirked an eyebrow at him. It was blatantly obvious how he’d come to have Faith’s panties in his pocket.

  “So this is one time when impatience may very well pay off.” She told him, taking them from his fingers.

  “Come, we need to find somewhere more suitable for performing this spell. Let us all go out to the car.”

  Everyone hurried out to where Fabian’s car was parked and on the back seat, Sirene spread out the torn panties. Adrian stared at them, trying to keep the images of her naked and impaled on him as he’d fucked her, from filling his mind as he watched his mother.

  “Reveal the location of the one who owns these, draw the map on these panties.” Sirene shrugged her shoulders at the wording of her spell again, but then everyone stared when a glow started to come off the scrap of black lace lying on the car seat.

  It grew and grew until it began to form lines which turned into what looked like ripples. Ripples? What the hell were the ripples?

  “What on earth are those?” Lucas asked and Adrian looked at him in surprise. With all that was happening, he’d forgotten momentarily that his son was with them.

  “The lines are moving, like ripples. Ripples? Water, could it be water?” Fabian asked.

  “Dammit, why can’t it be more specific?” Adrian cursed.

  “I warned you it’s not that accurate. I don’t know how to do a spell that gives a more detailed description or even an address. We have to use process of elimination. It’s obviously water so what’s the nearest water to here? My guess would be the beach. I’ll try to narrow the search a little.”

  “We’re going to be searching in the daylight unfortunately. The sun is rising fast.” He cast his eyes to the sky, no
ting it was already considerably lighter than it had been not that long ago.

  They’d just all moved around the car ready to climb in when they heard a loud rumbling engine drawing nearer. Adrian would know that engine note anywhere. It was his Trans Am.

  “That’s your car my son. Maybe this means Faith is ok?” Sirene said, her eyes watchful as the car approached and pulled up a couple of doors down from where they were parked.

  Adrian made some non-committal sound in his throat. He would have liked to think it was his car thieving baby vampire returning from a joyride, but his instinct told him this was not the case. He kept his eyes trained on his car waiting to see who would emerge. When the door finally opened and an elegant looking dark haired woman climbed gracefully from the driver’s seat tension settled in his stomach. It was the woman he’d never expected to see again.

  Nadine walked towards them, a smile lighting up her face. It was only as she drew closer that Adrian saw that it didn’t reach her eyes. Those eyes would stay with him in his memory for some time. They were cold and hard, cruel and bitter. They were not the eyes of the woman he thought he’d known well after two years of spending time with her.

  “Well, well, darling my darling Adrian.” She smiled again, her eyes moving around the others who still stood by the car. “Ah, so the rest of your vampire clan; this is your father I presume? You have his eyes.” She studied Fabian for a moment before turning back to him.

  “Where is Faith Nadine and why are you driving my car? I hope you haven’t done anything silly.”