That’s power, she thought.
“My name is Sue.” Said a paramedic with a warm smile. She started taking Harper’s vitals. “I’m sorry about what happened. Good thing your boyfriend was there.”
“He’s not my boyfriend.” Harper said with a weak smile. “We’re not even friends. I barely know him.”
“So I guess it was a case of him being at the right place at the right time?” Sue said with a smile as she shined a light in Harper’s eyes.
Harper nodded. “I guess so.” But then doubt began to flood her mind. Why had Bryce seen her? Was he following her? She’d have to get the answer later.
Whatever Sue gave her began to make her feel drowsy. So drowsy that she nodded off despite her efforts to keep her eyes open.
But as she slipped away into unconsciousness, something felt wrong.
He wasn’t there. Bryce. She thought he’d be by her side. He saved her, after all.
But he wasn’t. Even with her eyes closed, she could tell.
She was all alone.
Everything got dark. Fuzzy. She heard Sue talking quietly to someone else.
A chill ran down her spine. She couldn’t see who it was, but she felt a presence. It didn’t feel evil, but it felt otherworldly. Supernatural. Something inhuman.
She opened her eyes. Standing above her was someone she’d never expect to see in a million years.
It was Roman Santos.
CHAPTER TWELVE
“Don’t worry, Harper.” Was all he said. An evil glint was in his eye.
Harper felt intimidated, scared. And now she suddenly wasn’t so sleepy.
She tried to sit up, but she was bound by straps around her wrists and ankles. She hadn’t noticed them before. It must’ve been the drugs.
“Relax. We’ll be there soon.” He said coldly. Despite her anger and confusion about what was going on, she felt transfixed by him. She couldn’t look away from his beautiful face. Those sculpted cheek bones. That perfect hair. Those gorgeous eyes.
“Where?” She managed to say. She tried not to sound too angry. And she wasn’t. Whatever he was doing, he had calmed her down. But still, deep down inside she knew something was wrong.
Terribly wrong.
“We’re going to go to my house. We’re going to have a little talk.”
A talk about what? She thought to herself. But she didn’t answer. Sue came back and injected her with more drugs. Harper collapsed back down onto the stretcher.
When she woke up, she was in a huge, cavernous room. It reminded her of a church, but sinister. She tried to sit up and this time she was untethered.
She massaged her wrists and noticed the track marks in her forearm. They had definitely drugged her up.
But where was she? And what was she doing here?
The coldness of the huge, church-like room made her feel uncomfortable. She wanted to be safe at home. Away from this. Whatever it was.
She stood up and walked to a large window that extended almost to the ceiling.
“I see you’re up.” Said a dark, brooding masculine voice. Harper turned around to see Roman standing there. She clasped her arms around herself, trying to stay warm. She noticed that she’d been given a red, extravagant gown to wear, like something you’d see on the runway in Paris or Milan.
She couldn’t believe that they’d changed her clothes without her even being aware. Or did she change them herself?
“You did.” Roman said with a smile as he folded his arms. Harper gasped, unsure how he had been able to read her thoughts. He dominated the room, even though it was so large. His intimidating masculinity coupled with his strange beauty was still something that Harper couldn’t get used to.
“What do you mean?” She asked. She took a step back. “And how did you get into my mind like that?”
“You had your choice of clothing. You liked that one and put it on. In a private dressing room.”
She bit her lip. Said nothing.
“You don’t remember?” He said with a cold smile.
She shook her head.
He took a step forward. She tried to take a step back but her back was now against the window.
“You’re safe, Harper.” He said softly. His voice was deep. Hypnotic.
“You’re Bryce’s cousin.” She said. “I see the similarity now.”
“Cousin and my nemesis.” He said with a laugh. “But with your help, I’ll be able to show him who’s boss.”
“What do you mean? He’s your nemesis? But he seems so…” Her voice trailed off. What did she mean to say? Normal? Kind?
The fact was that she barely knew Bryce. Any feelings she had about him were formed through purely superficial encounters. She knew nothing about his personal life. His likes or dislikes. What his favorite color was. If he had any pets.
“You’re right. You know nothing about him. That’s how he likes to keep things.”
“How do you keep doing that?” She said. She winced and shook her head. “How do you keep guessing what I’m thinking?”
“It’s not guessing, Harper.” He said with a dark laugh.
“So you’re psychic?” She asked. She wondered how she could block her mind. Make him not be able to read her thoughts.
“You can’t.” He said with a shrug as he walked over to her. Her fear evaporated as he put a hand under her chin and gently lifted it up until her eyes locked with his. “But don’t worry. I won’t hurt you.”
“How can I be so sure? Why am I even in this place? What do you want from me?”
“I’m going to ask you to do something. Something that will change your life. Make it better in every way. And in exchange, you’ll help me out, too.”
She narrowed her eyes at him, desperately trying to understand.
“What could I possibly help you with? You have no room to negotiate. I’m an attorney. I know you’re unlawfully detaining me. You need to let me go.”
“What I’m doing is protecting you, Harper.” He said coldly. He moved away and looked up above a fireplace at a larger than life portrait of a handsome man. Harper gasped in shock as she realized that the portrait was of Roman himself.
“What’s going on here. I need an explanation.” She said. She was starting to get scared again. She felt so alone. Her friends had no idea where she was. They probably thought she was safely at home.
“How does eternal life sound to you? Never aging? Being able to read minds like I can? Influence people’s feelings and emotions?”
“So that’s how you’re making me feel that way when I should be feeling the opposite.” Harper said quickly, referring to the fact that she’d suddenly feel “okay” when she should be scared out of her mind.
He smiled at her and nodded.
“I don’t want any of that. I don’t need any of that.” She said.
Roman leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. He stared into her eyes. “Harper, I have some bad news for you. It’s about your mother.”
“Leave her out of this.” Harper said defiantly. “She’s an innocent woman.”
“She’s very, very sick. She hasn’t told you yet, but she’s been diagnosed with cancer.”
“What?” Harper exclaimed. Her blood ran cold. Her mother was her rock. Her best friend. The thought of her being sick…of her suffering…she couldn't handle it. A tear slid down her cheek without her realizing it.
He nodded again. “But you can help her.”
“How?” She gasped. “And how can I even believe you, for God’s sake. You kidnapped me!”
“I’m going to tell you something you probably…never considered.” He looked thoughtfully at the floor, as though he was trying to think of how to best phrase whatever he was thinking of. “There are things in this world that are just below the surface. That some people know about, but most don’t.”
“What are you talking about?” She shrieked. “Just spit it out!”
“There are things in life that you think are fiction…fairytales�
�scary stories. But they’re real.”
“What’s real?”
“Bryce and I are from a long line of people who were blessed with abilities that some might consider supernatural. But to us, it’s normal.”
“That’s a load of bullshit!” Harper spat. She eyed the room, trying to devise a way to get the hell out of there.
“Lucky for us, we’re allowed to pass along our abilities to those we deem worthy.”
“And how would you do something like that?” She asked impudently. “Bite me like a vampire?”
He just smiled. “Yeah, something like that.”
“You’re a sick freak!” She said.
“I’m not. I know this is a lot to take in, but you need to calm down.” Her mind suddenly felt soothed. She no longer felt so alarmed.
“I know you’re doing that to me - making me feel that way! Stop it!” She screamed. Suddenly, the waves of anxiety and stress came back. But when the bad feelings returned, part of her wished to ask him to give her those good emotions again.
“Just tell me what you want.” She said.
“We’re from a royal Carpathian family, from Romania. Some of us only have a pinch of the Carpathian blood but it’s enough to give us our abilities.” He walked over to the window opposite of Harper and looked out thoughtfully. Harper noticed that it had been raining this entire time. Lightning suddenly filled the dark room, but then it was dark again, illuminated only from the fire that was burning in the huge fireplace.
“We look for those women we deem worthy to continue on the line.” He turned and looked at her abruptly. She shuddered, but felt excited at the same time.
“What do you mean…” She said, her voice trailing off.
“My cousin and I both realized that you were descended from a famous shifter in Africa. This was hundreds of years ago, before he came to the United States.”
“Came to the United States?” She said furiously. “Say what really happened - that he was sold into slavery and brought here against his will!”
“The records on him are quite complete. He came here to free the others. But unfortunately, he didn’t realize that his powers were muted when he was out of the African continent. His powers came from the African land. In North America, he was merely powerless while before he had been considered a demi-god.”
Harper tried to take in this bizarre information. She knew next to nothing about her roots going back that far.
“What do you mean by shifter?” She said, cocking her head.
“He took the form of other creatures at will.”
She laughed. “You mean like a werewolf? That’s absolutely ridiculous.”
Roman shrugged. “It’s the truth.”
“I don’t believe you.”
He sighed. He didn’t seem annoyed, but maybe slightly tired. “Most don’t. That’s why we keep to ourselves.”
“And what exactly does that have to do with my mother?”
He turned to look at her. A serious expression was on his face. “We have many experienced healers. If you just do as I say, I'll take her to them. You can make the disease go away.”
“How am I supposed to believe that?” She said asked. “This is too crazy for me.”
He shrugged. “It’s the way things are. Believe me or not, we have the power to heal her.”
“And let me guess – in exchange for that, you’d have to turn me into a vampire?”
He said nothing, but she knew that in his silence was her answer.
“I’m a Christian woman. I grew up going to a good Baptist Church. I listened to every sermon. I sang the worship music. Hell, I even played the organ sometimes. And even though Reverend White never talked about vampires, I’m going to take a wild guess and go out on a limb here and assume that they’re not really…of God.”
“There are different interpretations of our existence. Some say we’re hell spawn. Others say we’re God’s special creation.”
She winced at his words.
“I don’t know what to believe. I don’t know if this is some sort of crazy trick or what. All I know is that I want to get out of here.”
“If that’s what you want, then I won’t keep you here. Even though it’s for your own safety.”
“Let me guess…Bryce is a vampire too? A bad one, at that?”
“Let’s just say that we have different goals.”
“And what goals would that be?”
“He thinks that the vampires and humans should love peacefully together. But through the ages, that’s never happened. I know that it’s only a matter of time before they find out about us again and try to destroy us. That’s why I think we should gain the upper hand now. We should rule over humans, for their own good. We have the longer lifespan. We have the intelligence. We have the insights. They think so short-term. It’s all about their precious needs and desires. But they’re destroying the planet. And they don’t care because they’ll only be here on earth 80 years at most.”
“How can you say that?” She said. “I’m not like that!”
“I know. But you’re different.” He said with a soft look in his eyes. “You’re not like the rest of your kind. Bryce and I both see that in you.”
“So you think enslaving humans is the solution? Have them serve at the whim of a vampire overlord?”
He chuckled to himself. “When you put it like that, it doesn’t sound so good. But just think about - we’re all ruled by someone or something. The police. Congress. The President. Do they always have our best interests in mind?”
Harper stopped and thought about it. “Well, not exactly. Some of them do. Not all.”
“Wouldn’t it be better if vampires were there at the top, guiding things along peacefully? Making sure everyone lived in harmony?”
“Using your mind control? But that’s not right. People need to have their own thoughts. You can’t control people’s minds all the time….can you?”
He smiled at her. She couldn’t help but be intoxicated by his good looks.
“I know this is a lot to take in. Think about it and decide.”
She braced herself against the wall. Dizziness suddenly overtook her and everything went dark.
When her eyes opened, she was laid out horizontally. She felt safe. The surroundings were…familiar. She was laying on something soft.
She sat up and suddenly realized she knew where she was.
She was at home. In bed. She ran a hand through her hair, trying to make everything make sense in her mind.
But it didn’t. And when she stood up to look in the mirror, she was just wearing her normal sleepwear: boxer shorts and a big t-shirt from her alma matter.
Just then, she heard a knock at her door and a familiar voice.
“Harper? Harper, are you there?”
She ran to the door and opened it quickly.
It was her mom.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Harper was barely awake the next day at work. Her mind was on what had happened - or hadn’t happened - the night before, that she could barely concentrate on the business at hand - trying to manage the selling of the record label.
Her mom had come last night but they didn’t have time to talk about much. She was bone tired after the trip and demanded a cold beer, a sandwich, and a place to sleep.
Harper had tucked her mother in lovingly, looking at her still-youthful face nestled against the luxurious high-count cotton pillowcase.
Harper prayed that what she heard was just a dream. Not real. She couldn’t deal with the thought that her mother could possibly be sick.
Harper returned back to reality and realized that her boss was standing at the door trying to get her attention.
“You okay, future partner?” Her boss said with a mischievous glint in his eye.
“I’m fine.” She said. She tried to look confident and composed, but she knew she looked a hot mess.
“I heard you were out late.”
“Well, not really.” She stamme
red. “I was planning on working from home, remember? But then my mom came into town suddenly and I decided that it was just best if I came into the office to work.”
ROMANCE: His Ebony Blood Jewel - A Novel (BWWM, Paranormal, Vampire, Billionaire New Adult Romance) Page 7
