by Mandi Casey
Liam walked away as Kieran directed us through yet another room and into what looked like an office, complimented by a large mahogany desk in the corner facing the doorway. He motioned toward an overstuffed couch covered in soft black leather with black buttons quartering off the cushions.
“Kieran, someone came to see me yesterday, and she said some peculiar things. She said that it was in my best interest not to associate with the vampires, with you. If she finds out, her people will come after me. What do you know about her?”
Kieran thought for a moment, looking perplexed. “Unfortunately my coven has many enemies, and they may see you as an extension to my coven. Many are aware that my coven gives the Selected protection. There are those that don’t like that. You, being the Selected, come with your own set of enemies just because of your abilities. But no one specific comes to mind. Do you know who the woman was?”
“Yeah, her name’s Lisa. She’s part of the Midwestern Wolf Pack. Does that ring any bells?”
Even though Grandma said vampires are able to mask their feelings, I watched Kieran’s face for any trace of what he was thinking. Concern deepened his facial features. It was very confusing to me that vampires didn’t have any facial expressions unless they put an effort to show them. Vampires didn’t normally telegraph their feelings. When they did, it was a conscious effort for the benefit of the humans they were speaking with. The concern I saw didn’t mean he was worried about my safety. He may just want me to think that. What was the connection Lisa had to Kieran and his coven?
Kieran firmly grabbed my arm. What was it about werewolves and the vamps? When things got serious, they tended to grab my arm, like that would help the situation.
“Sydney, are you talking about the Lisa that is only half werewolf, the one that is part demon also?”
Ah ha, so he did know who she was.
“Yep, that’s the Lisa who came into my store, told me not to talk to you again, and that if I did she would make me regret it. She said she’d make my aunt pay for it, too.” I hesitated and met the vampire’s eyes. “Lisa went to my home, Kieran. I think she means business.”
He took a deep breath, another gesture for my benefit. I had to hand it to him, he was good.
“Lisa is a lightning demon, or at least part. Our coven and the lightning demon pod have never had any serious dealings with each other. In fact, we typically avoid one another when in the same vicinity. The lightning demons are able to inflict serious damage to a vampire. Their power allows them to strike a vampire with their lightning bolts and incinerate our blood, which is what gives us immortality. Lisa and her father are revered by their people. She is akin to a royal princess. Being half demon and half werewolf is thought of as special. The werewolves think the opposite. They don’t appreciate her other side. In their eyes, she is abnormal, tainted. The wolves keep her at bay. That is really all we know of her.”
Dang, I hoped that no one would like her because of her half-breed status. Hearing the lightning demons thought she was extraordinary for being half werewolf was a letdown, to say the least.
When Kieran saw my one eyebrow lift up, he laughed. “Sydney, there is no more information you need, so take the doubt in your eyes right out of your thoughts. My coven would never steer you down the wrong path. Someday, you may be able to trust me and believe in the bond that we have.”
My eyes narrowed.
“What do you mean, bond? And you didn’t tell me anything that was really useful about Lisa. Why does she want me to stay away from you?”
He hesitated, which piqued my curiosity. He had said something he didn’t mean to say.
“I meant the connection between us. We have a bond because you are the Selected, and I am your designated protector. As for Lisa, I sent my Knights out to find her. Hopefully by the end of the evening, we will have the matter taken care of, and we’ll know what she wants with you. Something is important to her, and we need to find out what that is.”
“I don’t want to have more problems from Lisa, but she hasn’t done anything to me to warrant her being harmed. Can you take it easy on her? She’d just make my life more complicated than it already is if she gets ticked off that I told you, and she will.”
Kieran patted me on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. She won’t be able to cause you any more trouble, once we find her. The Knights will let me know the moment she is in our custody and what they find out.” He stood. His head almost touched the ceiling. Kieran was a very tall vampire. I probably would have found him attractive if he and Grandma hadn’t had a romantic relationship. It didn’t help that she had given her blood to him. Well, her mistakes were made for me to learn by, and not repeat. Vampires didn’t need to walk in the sun any more than werewolves needed to be able to change into their fur coats whenever they felt like it. Maybe my purpose in being the Selected was to make sure neither of those things happened.
“Why don’t we enjoy the party for a while before you have to depart? It’s safer for you to stay here for a bit, while my people find Lisa.” Kieran patted me a little roughly on the back. “Don’t worry. Nothing will happen to you, or to Judith. Let’s go revel in all the glory that is to being a vampire.”
I doubted being a vampire was so glorious. I mean, they have to drink blood and run from the sun like scared little girls afraid of their own shadows. That didn’t sound too glorious a lifestyle to me.
He laughed. “You would be surprised, Sydney. There is more to a vampire than just being a vampire. My people consist of an array of different personalities, interests, and beliefs. Some even have human families still alive. You may find some of them to your liking. Give them a chance.”
A chill sped up my spine. Had he read my thoughts? He gave me a gentle push toward the door. I didn’t much care for his digging around in my brain, but I shoved that annoyance aside. Our private meeting over, it was time to do what he said and enjoy the party.
Liam waited outside of the room and smiled at my approach. Besides being a vampire, he was a pretty fun guy. Liam was always chipper and happy-go-lucky. He was really easy going and entertaining to hang out with.
Liam bowed, then he handed me another full glass of white wine. Together, we went to the room with all the vampires moving and grooving to the beat of the music. The wine went down easy, too easy. I thought to myself, what the heck? Liam threw his head back and howled, interestingly taking the stance of the werewolf on the book Kieran had given me. He chuckled, put his glass on the counter, and grabbed my hand.
We danced and laughed without much of a care. The music took over, and the wine helped loosen me up. After a while, I snuck a peek at my cell phone out to see what time it was. I was surprised that we had danced until nearly one o’clock in the morning.
All of a sudden, Liam stopped and pressed his cold lips against my ear. “Kieran says he needs me, so I’ll see you later?”
That was the last I saw of Liam at the party. It had been a long day, and it was past time to go home. Unfortunately, my luck ran out, and Aaron made an appearance before I was able to leave. He stood with his back against the wall in the main entrance hall. I wasn’t sure what he was waiting for, but when he saw me approach, it became clear. He was waiting for me.
Aaron pushed himself off the wall and escorted me out. He stood with his back ramrod straight, as if he had a giant pole inserted from the bottom up, making him appear inhumanly stiff. He waited until the men in black suits brought my car around.
“Miss Sydney, did you have an enjoyable evening tonight?”
“Uh, yeah. Thanks.”
What did he want? Did he expect me to thank him for being ordered to come to Kieran’s parties? His invitations weren’t exactly optional from what Aaron and Liam told me. It was more like, you attend my party voluntarily, or I’ll come and get your ass and make you come anyways. Oh, and here’s a really nice dress for you to wear because you can’t afford to buy the appropriate attire on the meager wages a store employee makes.
; Aaron stood with his sunglasses on, hiding his glowing red eyes behind the dark lenses. The frigid air of the wintry night didn’t seem to bother him a bit.
“I wanted to let you know my men are looking into finding Lisa. Either Liam or myself will be in contact with you as soon as we find out what her intentions are.”
I gazed up into his face. Aaron’s complexion was a more ghostly pale than Kieran’s. “Okay, thanks for the update. I’m sure you guys will find her and all this will be cleared up. Hopefully, it’s just some silly misunderstanding.”
“Miss Sydney, make no mistake. This Lisa probably wants the opportunity to harm you and your family without repercussions from the wolf pack or her father’s pod. You are now a part of a very hostile world. Don’t give anyone the benefit of your human trusting tendency, not the vampires, not werewolves, and certainly not any of the many demon castes that are sure to come and find you.”
“What about Kieran? Clearly he can be trusted out of anyone?”
“Out of anyone, you can probably trust him the most. Miss Sydney, there is no one truly trustworthy, not even your precious Judith.”
My car pulled up, and Aaron bowed to me, then walked away. That was some seriously seasoned food for thought. It was odd that one of Kieran’s most trusted Knights would tell me not to trust the leader of his own coven. Aaron must be aware that he wasn’t my favorite vampire. Blake told me vampires can smell human emotions like a werewolf can smell a steak from a mile away. If that were true, Aaron could feel my hostility and distrust toward him.
Why was he being Mr. Helpful? He was right in one thing—one of the vampires were truly trustworthy. For some reason Aaron, despite probably being the biggest jerky vampire ever, was trying to tell me something, without actually spelling it out. That made me nervous. What could Aaron possibly want me to know, or be aware of, that Kieran wouldn’t tell me himself?
The streetlights were green the entire way home. Since it was before bars closed, the police were lined up every few blocks to try and catch the drivers who drank too much. Luckily, the wine had only made me a little tipsy. All the dancing we did helped wear off the effects from the alcohol. Thankfully, I didn’t have to ask a vampire for a ride home.
Blake’s text-message tone sounded on my cell phone. He texted me to meet him for a late night snack.
I grinned. Blake was checking up on me, seeing how long the vampires kept me out. It warmed my heart that he cared and that he was a bit jealous he couldn’t be with me when I was surrounded by strong immortal men all night. Men who are genetically enhanced to attract females with their inhuman sensuality and extraordinary good looks.
From spending time with both of them, even though the vampires and werewolves didn’t like each other, I detected that there was a certain degree of respect for each other’s strengths and healing capabilities. From what I could tell, the only thing keeping them from overcoming the other were limitations placed upon them by the sun and the moon.
I flipped the phone open, scrolled to his name, and punched the key. Blake picked up on the first ring.
“Are you checking up on me, mister?” I asked, keeping my voice playful.
Blake laughed. The sound of his lighthearted voice warmed me to my toes.
“Who, me? What makes you think I would do such an appalling thing?”
I giggled. Okay, so maybe he was growing on me, by the minute, but who could blame me? Blake was the most ruggedly handsome man I’d ever seen. He didn’t have the perfectly angled jaw line, high cheek bones, and red glowing eyes like vampires do, but he could definitely hold his own in the ‘melt all my resolve to not be with him by just looking at me’ department. There wasn’t a vampire I’ve met that could do the same.
“I’m almost home, so I’ll meet you there?” I said impulsively, wanting to continue this conversation in person.
“Sounds good. I’m about forty-five minutes away, heading there now.”
Aunt Judith was spending the night at her friend’s house, so it was dark when I pulled into the driveway. After throwing out my Selected senses to check for rogues, I locked the door behind me and went upstairs to change. Giddy anticipation ignited my lust just thinking about Blake. Dealing with Blake’s mild case of jealousy was one thing. I didn’t want to shove it in his face by letting him see me in the spectacular dress Kieran had sent to me for the party.
When I lifted the straightening iron above my head, nausea set in.
A rogue was nearby.
I crouched on the cool tile of the bathroom floor and pressed my face to it. The coolness soothed my burning skin. My temperature was rising fast. Sweat dripped down my back, and my head began to pound, worsening with each beat of my heart.
The rogue was coming closer, and the pain and nausea worsened. My body started to ache everywhere. Crawling toward the open bathroom door on my hands and knees, the room began to spin. Where was my cell phone? I needed to call Blake.
Realizing my idiocy in all the excitement of seeing Blake and hanging out, I remembered that I flung my purse on the couch in my haste. My cell phone was in it. Blake would be caught unaware when he arrived.
Downstairs, the front door opened and closed. The only one who could have let themselves in without forcing the door open was Aunt Judith. I had to tell her to call Blake.
“Aunt Judith!”
I barely got the words out loud enough to reach downstairs. Stomach bile rose in my chest. I had to warn Aunt Judith.
Tears formed at the corners of my eyes. I didn’t want anything to happen to her.
I slowly crawled down the hallway toward the top of the staircase. I froze. Heavy footsteps sounded on the carpeted stairs. My body slumped down on the hallway carpet. I didn’t have the energy to move another inch. The skin on my cheek burned where it landed on the carpet. I stayed there on the floor, waiting for the consuming pain to subside. It didn’t. The pain intensified with every step on the stairs, bringing whoever was in the house closer.
My vision was at foot level. Whoever stood before me was wearing a really great pair of dark-green high heels half covered by bell-bottom jeans. My aunt didn’t wear high-heeled shoes, or bell-bottom jeans.
Tapping those high heels on the carpet merely an inch away from my nose, the owner of those shoes said, “Hello, Sydney. You didn’t really think your aunt’s silly wards would keep me out, did you?”
Lisa.
She put the tip of her right shoe over the carotid artery in my neck and pressed down as she said, anger and hatred in her voice, “I mean, really, you should have taken me seriously and not put your nose into my business with the vampires. Maybe you didn’t hear me say there would be repercussions? Your mistake!” She pressed hard with her shoe, twisting the skin on my neck.
I couldn’t speak. The pain in my head triggered an urge to vomit. Lisa’s shoe on my neck made it worse. I groaned, sending a trickle of drool down my cheek for my effort.
“I don’t even care that you and Blake are becoming an item.” She didn’t wait for me to respond or try to argue the point. “You don’t have to play stupid with me. It was in his eyes the day we met. But that’s neither here nor there. We have some issues we need to take care of. We should have taken you out when you moved to our town, before you could start meddling in our affairs. Trevor wouldn’t listen!”
More footsteps sounded on the stairs. Lisa gave no sign of being worried, which meant she hadn’t come alone.
“You finally decided to show up! What took you so long?” Lisa took her foot off my neck and stomped her high-heeled shoes on the carpet like a little girl throwing a tantrum. She’d been cool, calculating, and very sure of herself at my store. Now, she was angry, agitated, and overly dramatic.
Two sets of footsteps topped the stairs and stalked toward me.
“Pick her up, and let’s go. Her lover-boy is sure to show up, and we don’t need to deal with him.”
I groaned again. Blake. Where were they taking me? If Blake found them at the house,
it would be a battle zone. They’d probably jump him from behind. Lisa and her buddies didn’t seem like the type to fight fair.
My vision went dark as I felt rough hands on my body. I was being lifted up by one of Lisa’s men. Crushing pain pounded in my head, increasing with every step as they carried me down the stairs and out of the house. The second the freezing cold air hit the bare skin on my face and arms, my body finally gave into the pain, and I lost consciousness.
Chapter 21
I woke up with a catheter running into a vein in my arm. The tubing was connected to a bag of fluid being pumped in by a machine, set up next to the bed. The pain that caused me to pass out had subsided. The rogues must not be close.
Tipping my head to the side, I looked around at my new surroundings.
Bastards had me in a jail cell. Bars lined the front wall of the room. There was only a toilet and sink on the side wall. My purse sat on a metal chair outside a set of bars. Lisa must have grabbed it during my abduction.
I was continuing my inspection when I heard the scrape of the metal legs of a chair being dragged against the cement floor. Footsteps came closer. Relief flooded me when the pain didn’t get any worse when whoever neared. They weren’t a rogue vampire or werewolf.
A man loudly cleared his throat in an effort to get my attention. Slowly, my head rolled further to the right of the cell where he stood, smoking a cigarette.
“So, you’re finally awake. I’m Trevor, by the way,” he said as he began to pace slowly back and forth in front of the barred wall while inhaling a deep drag from the cigarette. He threw it down and stomped it out on the cement. “I have to tell you, Selected, I’m quite surprised you reacted so strongly to my boys. It gives me hope you’ll be able to accomplish what no other Selected before you has been able to.”
The man had an accent I couldn’t place. Maybe it was the dialect from Hell?
My throat felt scratchy and raw when I spoke. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Whatever it is you want from me, I’m pretty sure you have the wrong girl.”
