B006XVUCOY EBOK

by Dawn Gray

  "No, not that I can feel." I replied.

  "If this is a trick, Angel, we will not be on good terms." I sighed and looked at him a little annoyed.

  "Jason didn't follow me, okay." He nodded at me and looked around as he placed his hands on his hips. "Did you do it?" I asked him and watched him look at me, quite confused.

  "Do what?"

  "Did you, or did you not, just try to blow up my house?" I yelled at him. He shook his head.

  "Blow up your house? What are you nuts?" He questioned me, then noticed the bandage on my cheek, reached out slowly with his right hand and touched it softly. "Oh, Jesus, what did they do to you?"

  "No one did anything to me." I said and slapped his hand away. "Look, Isaac, someone just planted a bomb in my bedroom and I barely got away with my head still attached."

  "It wasn't me, or any of my guys." He said and took my hand as he looked around. "Come on, this is not the best place in the world for either of us now."

  He drove quite fast, his slick black Mustang seemed to fly on the dark roads, and brought me to a two-story house on the outskirts of the city. He looked at me as I scanned the area for others then looked at the house.

  "It's a safe house." He whispered to me. "No one knows that I own it." He waited for me to walk closer to him and we began to make the climb up the twenty or more steps to the house. He unlocked the door and held it opened to me. "There's nothing to worry about, Angel. You're safe here."

  Why did I have the feeling that I was going to regret believing him?

  9

  I stepped over the threshold and into Isaac's little home away from home. He walked in behind me as I checked out all the little rooms, turning on the lights as I went to make sure that there was no one hiding in the dark. He stopped and waited for me to finish my “self tour” of his little palace, and then he gestured to me with an open arm to come and sit in the living room.

  I walked over to the couch and sat down as he made a fire about ten feet from me.

  "No doubt Quinn blames me for this." He said and poked at the flames as he sat on the floor next to the fire. I looked at him and shook my head.

  "I don't think they know what to believe at this point." I told him and walked over to sit in front of him. "All they know is that I ran out of the house and now they can't find me."

  "Why did you want to see me tonight?" He questioned.

  "I wanted to know something." I smiled at him. He gave me a devilish smile and then looked at his fingers. "I also wanted to tell you something important."

  "What happened now, and why can people warn me before they blame me?" Isaac giggled and looked at me, his blue eyes hidden under black curls that came down from his forehead. I suddenly noticed the difference, reached out and touched it with my fingers. "Do you like it?"

  "Blonde suited you better, but I think you look okay like that." I laughed and pulled my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms around it. He reached out and touched my fingers, tracing them lightly with the tips of his.

  "I'm sorry about the other day." He said and looked up at me, catching my eyes. "Jacob told me to do it, he was watching from up in the balcony and I know if I hadn't he would have killed you."

  "Like you said, they healed over night." I replied and closed my eyes. When I looked at him, he was less than an inch away from me, but not towering over me. He had moved his body to sit directly beside me, facing me.

  "I'm sorry I touched you that way." He whispered and rested his chin on his knees as he hugged his legs close to himself. "Angel, we need to stop this charade. I can't continue to hurt you, even in the slightest."

  "Then come with me." I said and touched his arm.

  "Back to the house they think I just tried to blow up?" He questioned. "And, what about your boyfriend, he'll probably rip my heart out."

  "He won't hurt you."

  "What brought this on?"

  "They asked me about you, after I told Jason that you and I were friends when we were younger."

  "What did you tell them, what did they ask?"

  "What are your weaknesses?" I said and looked at the fire.

  "And you told them, what?"

  "That there was only one weakness that I could even think of." I closed my eyes.

  "You?" He asked. I nodded and heard his pants rustle as he got up. I looked up at him as he walked away, then came back and knelt on the floor in front of me. "Why on Earth would you tell them that?"

  "I wanted them to know that you weren't bad."

  "But, I am."

  "No, you're not. You're just following orders, and..." I stopped and looked at him. "I thought that it might help if I was honest."

  "Being honest never got you anywhere, Angel. In fact, it's almost got you killed, several times." I sighed and he took my hand. "Telling them puts you in even greater danger."

  "Why?"

  "Why?" He asked me back. "Think about it, if the Council finds out, especially after the death of one of their members, they won't take no for an answer and they'll take you to get to me, and of course, I'd have to come and get you, and that would lead to war between your family and mine."

  "Like that hasn't been going on for the last two hundred years." I said sarcastically.

  "What about Finn?" He asked suddenly.

  "What about him?"

  "Do you love him?"

  "What does that have to do with anything?"

  "Just answer the damn question, Angel." He sighed and rolled his eyes.

  "I care about him, but I don't think I'm in love with him, we just met." I smiled and looked at him. "Why? Are you jealous?"

  "What? I'm not..." he said and got really close to my face. Calmly, he looked at me, put one hand on my shoulder then moved it to the back of my neck. "I'm not jealous." He said sternly and then kissed me deeply on the lips. I pushed him away and laughed at him as I touched my lips and touched his. "I'm just asking."

  "Yeah, and I'm really a blonde." I said and stood up. "Got any food in this joint?"

  He watched me eat the salad that was in front of me and smiled when I looked up at him.

  "So, what's he like?" Isaac asked.

  "Who?" I questioned back as I took a bit of the green lettuce.

  "Grandfather...Quinn, what's he like?"

  "You, except more loud about it." I said and smiled up at him. "He's, I don't know, pushy. He thinks he knows everything, just like Uncle Julian, but really, they both have no clue. They don't remember how the real world works; they're so caught up in the vampire one."

  "So, what would you say if I went with you? To the house, I mean? Do you think they'll kill me?" He asked. I shook my head.

  "Quinn said that he couldn't make any promises, but that he would try to keep you safe." I replied and got up from the table. I felt Isaac's eyes on me as I placed the dish in the sink, and I turned and caught him staring at me as I leaned on the counter. "What's changed between us?"

  He smiled at me and rocked back in his chair. "What do you mean?"

  "You never use to look at me like that before." I told him. He shrugged and looked around.

  "You never use to look like this before." He smiled and sat up. "It doesn't mean anything, Angel. I just think that you look good, nothing’s changed."

  "If I stripped right here and now, could you honestly say that nothing has changed and you wouldn't come over here and start kissing me?" I asked him.

  "Are you going to strip?" He asked, jokingly, but stood up and walked over. He stopped and stood across from me and leaned on the table.

  "Are you going to kiss me?" I replied. He crossed his arms and walked closer to me, leaned down and got really close to my face. He stared me in the eyes and smiled. He looked down at my lips and then back at my eyes.

  "Would you like me to?" I closed my eyes and looked away from him.

  "I don't know what I want, anymore." I said and started to walk away from him. He followed me and caught me by the arm. He hugged me close to him and I could feel t
he heat under his shirt. I pushed against him, but he held me tighter.

  "I won't hurt you." He whispered as I stopped pushing and just wrapped my arms around him.

  "That's what everyone tells me, but no one's ever kept it." I whispered to him.

  "From now on, I won't hurt you anymore, in anyway." He said softly. "Tomorrow morning, I'll bring you back to the mansion and we can talk to Grand...Quinn, together."

  He followed me up the stairs as I headed for the bedroom that he had pointed out to me. I looked back at Isaac as I stood by the door and turned the handle. He stepped up beside me and placed a hand on my back.

  "Don't worry, Angel, you're safe here." He whispered to me, very close to my ear. "Call me, if you need anything. I'll be down stairs."

  My dreams were devilish, full of hatred and violence, but I could do nothing to stop them, unless I woke up, which I had a hard time doing. When I finally broke away from my dream, where I had been chained to a wall, I opened my eyes quickly and sat up in bed. There was a slight knock on the door and Isaac slowly walked in. I turned on the light next to my bed and brushed my hair away from my face, then rubbed my eyes to hide the tears that were coming down my cheeks.

  "How long have these been going on?" He asked, sitting close to me on the bed. I pulled my blanket close to me and looked away from him, then down at my hand.

  "For a few months now." I replied and shook my head. "I haven't really slept in a while and I think it's just starting to get to me." I reached out and took his hand, where he had placed it next to me. He watched as I raised his hand and mine and intertwined the fingers of both our hands together. "I'm afraid for you."

  "Don't be afraid for me, Angel." He whispered and smiled at me. "Nothing's going to happen to me."

  "Isaac, don't be cocky, you can't control your fate." I said and pulled him closer to me. He put his other hand on my waist and his head down on my shoulder. "What do you think Jacob's going to do?"

  "Hopefully, by the time he finds out, you and I will have already run off together." He smiled and picked his head up and looked at me. "What do you think Finn's going to do?"

  "Probably freak out, like he usually does." I laughed. I stopped and looked into his eyes. "I don't want to wait until tomorrow, Isaac. I can't go back to sleep."

  "Angel, you have to get some sleep." He said and got up, grabbed my ankles and pulled me down so that I was laying on the bed. I smiled at him as he climbed over on the bed beside me and climbed under the covers. "Tell you what, I'll sleep in here tonight and maybe that will help you with your nightmares."

  "Yeah, you just want to say that you got to sleep with me." I smiled at him and hid under the covers. Isaac stuck his head under and looked at me, smiling. I popped my head up and turned over on my side to look at him when he came out of the covers. "Goodnight, Isaac."

  "Yeah, well, that's your point of view." He said as I turned over once more and he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled close to me. I closed my eyes and began to dose off.

  I couldn't remember what it was about my dream that scared me so much, but I do remember waking up screaming once again. Isaac sat up next to me as I looked around the room and then laid back down. He towered over me, his eyes full of sleepiness and he leaned down close to my face. I looked at him, tenderly, then nodded and sighed when he kissed me quickly and went back to sleep. I didn't sleep for the rest of the night.

  The sun was shining in my window when I pulled my head out from under the covers. Isaac had left shortly before dawn and was just walking in the door when I came out of hiding. He smiled at me as he pulled the covers down and helped me off the bed. He brought me, like a child, into the bathroom where he had already set up a hot bubble bath, complete with candles and soft music.

  I wasn't sure what to make of this whole situation as I stared at the bathtub and then looked at Isaac.

  "Wow." I said and shrugged a little. "I feel like a queen, having people draw a bath from me and everything. I'm surprised you haven't attempted to remove my clothes for me."

  Isaac smiled and stepped close to me. "Would you like me to?"

  "No, but thank you, this is all really nice of you." I replied and he winked and walked over to the door.

  "You've got fifteen minutes before I come back up to check on you and then we can leave." He said and reached for the door. I thought for only a second before I turned and caught him before he left.

  "Isaac." I said, stopping him half in the doorway. He stepped back and looked at me from under his black curls. "Why are you doing this?"

  "Doing what?" He asked. I shook my head and gestured to the bath, then looked around.

  "Why does this seem too easy?" I asked him.

  "Explain, please."

  "I've asked you numerous times before to come away with me, to get away from Jacob. Why now and not then?" I questioned. "I don't want to come off as someone suspicious of your actions, but, you gave into this way to easily. Please, tell me now if there's something more to this than I'm seeing."

  "You're right." He said and looked away then back at me. "You are coming off as someone suspicious." He walked back and stepped up to me, standing only a few feet away, with his hands on his hips. "You, of all people, know how much you mean to me and how much I can't stand this life that my grandfather has brought me into. Why now is that you have people who can make things happen, protect me if Jacob comes after me. Sure, I'm putting my life in danger just going there, but hey, what the hell. I might as well take some sort of risk in this lifetime. God knows I didn't take many in my last."

  "I'm sorry." I whispered as he stepped back and turned to leave. He looked at me just before he stepped out the door, and then he was gone and I was alone in the bathroom. I looked at the door, walked over and closed it so that it was only opened an inch, and then I stripped down and slipped into the hot water. I had just relaxed when there was a knock at the door. Isaac looked in and then stepped through the doorway.

  "I didn't mean to snap." He said softly.

  "I didn't mean to accuse." I replied. He nodded and then walked out of the room again.

  I got out, dressed, and walked down to where he was waiting in the sitting room. He looked at me then walked over and took my hand, as the two of us walked out the door.

  We had been silent all the way back to the mansion and as we pulled into the driveway, I could hear his breath quicken. I reached over and took his hand as the two of us looked at each other.

  "Don't worry." I smiled and gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "I'll protect you."

  "That's what I'm worried about." He replied and the two of us got out of the car and walked in the front door.

  Jason came flying down the stairs and stopped when he saw Isaac standing in the doorway. He bared his fangs and almost leaped towards him. I stepped in the way, between Jason and Isaac and that alone stopped Jason's attack.

  "Move, Angel." He ordered. I shook my head. "Move or you will be moved."

  "Don't threaten her, you son of a bitch." Isaac said stepping forward, but I stuck out my arm to block him from moving any closer.

  "I should kill you now, bastard." Jason said in an angry voice.

  "Enough!" Quinn's voice hollered through the hallway. Jason turned to look at him, stepping aside so that he could see Isaac and I standing in the doorway. He walked up, putting himself between Jason and I and looked at Isaac. "What are you doing here?"

  "Th...this is Isaac, Quinn." I stuttered and looked at the two of them. "He's your grandson."

  "I know who he is." Quinn said sternly. "But, I asked what he was doing here."

  "I brought him here to help us." I replied and watched Quinn step closer. He looked me over from that distance and then looked up at Isaac. "Look, he didn't hurt me."

  "You can never be too sure." Quinn replied, stepped back and looked at Jason.

  "So, that's Quinn, huh?" Isaac whispered in my ear. "Funny, I always pictured him as being taller." He added as I elbowed him in the ribs.r />
  "Quinn, he can't stay here." Jason whispered and glanced at the two of us. I stepped back against Isaac and watched them. "It's too dangerous. You don't know where his honor lies."

  "My honor, as you so eloquently put it, lies with myself and Angel. I'm here because she asked me to come, nothing more." Isaac answered and looked at Jason as he stepped forward.

  "I wasn't talking to you, hunter." He snarled.

  "Yeah, but I was talking to you." Isaac replied.

  "Strong words coming from someone who hides behind a woman." Jason responded. Isaac tried to get by me, ready to have a war in the hallway, but Quinn raised his hand and stopped them both.

  "This is not the time, nor the place." He stated.

  "Jason, come." Cleo said and grabbed his arm. I watched as Isaac stared at her, like he couldn't believe his eyes. She noticed this and stopped, holding Jason's arm in her hand. "What is it, young one; that makes you look at me that way?"

  "A dream." He said and put a hand on my hip, gripping my shirt, like he was afraid of her. I felt him shiver slightly, and then gain his composure. "Of a past life, that's all."

  "I’d be interested to hear why you seem to be so afraid of me when all it was is a dream." She replied. I watched Quinn step back and follow Cleo into the large living room, where she made herself comfortable. I held Isaac's hand as we walked into the room, where I sat on a stool and Isaac stood beside me.

  "What's going on down here?" Julian asked as he walked quickly into the room and looked around. "What's all the noise..." he stopped and looked at Isaac, "about?" He stepped, closer and I watched him look over Isaac and then at me. "So, you're the strange presence I felt. Who are you?"

  "Isaac Cain." He announced. Julian nodded and walked up to him with his hand out. I thought that this was quite odd for Julian, but watched as the events unfolded before me. Isaac took his hand and gave it a shake, but Julian didn't let go. "So, you're my Uncle Julian."

  "I am." He replied still holding a grip. "You're the one they think is causing all the problems around here." He said and watched as Isaac nodded. "What are you doing here, boy?"