He met my words with a look of defiant guilt. "I don't want to leave you," he mumbled, sheepishly. "I'm not sure when I'll be back."
I crawled off his lap and reached for his arms, pretending to lug him off the floor. "You have to. But the sooner you go, the faster you'll be back. I have faith in you all. You will find Olivia and destroy Caleb and you and I will live happily ever after." I forced myself to push through the pain and worry. Grant needed to focus, for his family and for his own safety. "I would never want your concern for me to outweigh your family commitment."
“You are my family, Amelia.”
His hand grazed my arm, ghosting down until he settled his fingers over my wrist, over my pulse. His eyes held mine lovingly, but I saw his eyebrow twitch and his head shift slightly upward.
"What?" I whispered, now able to read Grant's movements.
He walked across the room, dragging me behind him. "It's Genevieve," he said, and opened the door, coming face to face with her.
“The Council?” he asked.
“They’re gone. On a flight back to Europe.”
“Good,” he said, the tension leaving his shoulders. “Do you need something?”
Without a glance in my direction, she spoke to Grant so fast I had a hard time understanding her. "I found the jeweler that designed the brooch. The letter H is for Halle, a designer in Louisiana, New Orleans, specifically," she said, thrusting some paperwork at Grant. "They're closed now but had quite a thriving business in the early 1900s, through the depression."
Grant's forehead creased. "Anything else?"
"Since they are closed and the piece was made so long ago, there’s obviously no direct information to gather, but I found a description in an antique jeweler's guide. Apparently this type of brooch with an initial was popular for debutantes. It was common to use the initial from a girl's surname."
"You mean girls in big white dresses and gloves?" I asked, envisioning movies I'd seen.
They both nodded and Grant said, "Thank you, Genevieve. Ryan just called and he needs our help." He turned towards me. "Do you think you could do some research on this while we're gone?"
"Of course," I replied, feeling the tightening in my stomach return at the thought of him leaving.
Grant packed up my laptop, and we traveled down to the main floor, where the others waited for us. Grant glanced towards the front door and scowled slightly, and I realized there were people on the porch.
"Who's out there?" I asked.
Grant clenched his jaw and shot Miles, who was walking towards the door, a look. "Adam and another man I haven’t met.”
"Amelia," Miles called and motioned me towards him. I walked across the room and he continued, "You know Adam. This is David. They are going to stay with you while we meet the others."
I nodded and took in the second Shifter. He was a bit younger than Adam, but had the same blue eyes and dark skin, like the rest of the people from Lost Cove. He gave me a genuine smile, lacking the smug smirk Adam wore so easily. "Nice to meet you, Amelia,” he said.
Adam strode into the room with the same confident stride as the last time I saw him. “David is going to patrol the cabin and grounds,” he announced. “We’ll have Shifters covering the perimeter, and I'll stay inside with you."
"I've got some work to take care of so whatever you want to do is fine," I said, feeling Grant's eyes boring into the side of my head. Adam shrugged and walked into the living room, plopping himself down on the couch, and picked up a magazine on the coffee table.
I felt him move forward a step, but I placed a hand on his chest, stopping him. “It’s fine,” I said, ignoring the rumbling growl in his chest.
To my surprise, Miles and Genevieve both came over and gave me a quick hug before leaving to meet the other Shifters outside, leaving me and Grant alone.
"Good luck," I called after them, wishing I could do something to help. More and more, I realized it sucked being a lowly human in a world of super-skilled, supernatural heavyweights.
Grant circled his arms around my waist and pulled me close. "Look, I'll be back as soon as I can. Keep your phone nearby and call me if you need anything. Please don't hesitate." He glanced over my shoulder towards Adam and leaned into my ear. In a tight whisper he said, "Down the main hall, third door on the left, under the stairs, is a door that goes to the training room. At the bottom of the stairs there is a hidden door to the right, behind the camping gear. If anything happens, you go directly there and wait for me. It’s a safe room. There are rations and supplies to hold you over until I can get back."
"Grant, I don't think—“ I started, and he pressed his fingers to my lips.
"Promise me," he demanded, looking at me with concerned eyes.
I nodded and kissed his fingertips. "I promise."
He rested his forehead on mine and hugged me tightly before kissing me softly on the lips, whispering, "I love you."
"I love you, too," I said in return, looping my fingers around his back.
He kissed me again under my ear, sucking gently on the pulse point, making my knees weak. I lifted my head to return the gesture, but he was gone.
~*~
"So, Amelia," Adam began from across the room, "I never did ask you, how you ended up with a blood sucking creature of the night, anyway?"
I was on the couch, legs crossed, letting the computer burn a hole in my thigh as I searched for southern debutantes from the beginning of the century, with a focus on the New Orleans area. I'd just found an archive by the Daughters of the Revolutionary War, a civic group that had been collecting photos and information and recording it on their website. Currently I was looking for any participants with the name Olivia and the letter 'A' as a last name.
I rolled my eyes at the man who had been attempting to lure me into conversation for over an hour. Nothing was off limits for Adam. Any good behavior he’d exhibited the last time we were together was gone.
He had already told me how the house reeked, offending his superior sense of smell, how the Palmers were evil, and how my relationship with Grant was a sin against nature. I'd ignored him for the most part, treating him as the four-year-old he was acting like, and continued with my work. Unfortunately, like an actual four-year-old, he wanted constant attention.
Without looking up, I said, "He's hot. And rich. And he's a little like Batman-what's not to like?"
"Ha. Ha. Amelia Chase. Even I can tell there's more to you than a gold digging skank, but tell me, why would you want that?" I could hear the hatred in his voice. I tried not to be offended. They were natural enemies, like a zebra to a lion, but still he needed to shut his mouth.
I kept my fingers on the keys, trying to control the rage boiling under my skin. I found a photo from 1927, our target year, and pulled it up, dragging the mouse to enlarge it. "I don't have to explain myself to you. Shut. Up. I'm trying to work over here."
Focusing back on the screen I heard him get up off the couch and shuffle toward the window. David had been quiet, shifting into a sleek, red fox the instant the Palmers left. Every ten minutes or so his fluffy tail made an appearance in the wide picture window.
Adam walked back over and his weight hit the couch, bouncing me and the computer off the cushion as he landed heavily. Suddenly, I missed the grace and quiet of the vampires.
"What are you doing anyway?" he asked, tilting the screen so he could see it, completely invading my personal space. My temper flared and I knocked his hand off, shifting the monitor back in my direction. Had his mother had taught him any manners at all?
"Dude, look at that dress. Some of these girls are smokin'," he declared and pulled the laptop off my legs. He placed it on his own tree-like appendages that took up the whole couch and half the floor. I half-listened as Adam mocked the girls and boys in the photograph, laughing at their hair and outfits. He began reading the information out loud in a phony, sophisticated voice. "'The Daughters of the Revolutionary War are honored to announce the following young women and
their escorts who will be debuting this season in New Orleans.'"
I grabbed the computer back, placing it on my lap but leaving it so he could continue to see it. I ran my finger over it, matching the names with the faces, looking for any 'A' names to add to my list.
"Lucia Atkinson," he announced as my finger touched over a petite blonde with curly, shoulder length hair. I shifted my finger to the next girl on the row. "Sarah Olivia Auclair." I paused and looked at the photo closer. It was grainy and faded, but I could make out a tall girl with long dark hair; she barely looked fifteen. My spine tingled.
"Adam, wait here," I said, and pushed the computer in his lap. I ran around the corner into the kitchen to the small room off the laundry room where Genevieve kept her office. I'd been in here earlier when she showed me the designs she was working on for the garden out back. There were family photos lining the walls over the desk. I snatched one off and ran back to the living room where Adam waited impatiently.
I held the frame out to him. "Does this girl look familiar?" I found my voice was too loud and my hand shook.
He took the photo in his massive hand and studied the photo. I watched as his eyes narrowed in concentration. "No."
I exhaled loudly. "Look again and compare her"—I pointed to Olivia's photograph, and then moved my finger to the computer screen—"to her."
His focus shifted from the frame to the computer on his lap. His eyes widened. "Holy crap, is that the same person?" he asked incredulously.
"I think so," I whispered, giddy over finding such an important clue.
"So the 'Olivia' your vampire is looking for is this girl, Sarah Olivia Auclair from New Orleans, Louisiana?"
"Yeah” I said. “I think it is."
"Is there some reason you guys didn't know this already?" he asked, nudging me lightly with his shoulder.
“We knew a bit of her history,” I replied vaguely. Grant had filled in the blanks post change, but much of the information pre-change was unclear. Caleb used these tokens to taunt Grant. How did he have the brooch in his possession? “Caleb had something of Olivia’s from before she’d turned into a vampire. Before she entered that hospital where Grant found her.”
“What are you saying?” he asked.
"It means Caleb knew Olivia when she was human and in Louisiana. He seems to take 'treasures' from his victims and keeps them as mementos, like Jenna's cross." I said, reasoning out the information we had.
Adam jumped in. "Does this mean Olivia was his victim before? Did he turn her into a vampire? What do they call that? Like a sire or something?”
"Maybe,” I said, excited and frustrated all at once. “It certainly may explain why Caleb is so obsessed with her—and Grant.” Realization dawned on me. “Caleb kept telling Grant, he’d taken something from him.”
“The girl?”
“Let’s see if I can find something,” I said, turning back to my computer.
Adam announced he was going to find David outside, I watched him shift easily into cat form. I happily let him go, eager for some space. I began entering in Olivia's name when I heard my email chime. I'd still been keeping up with Grant's schedule and mail so I hurriedly clicked over to see if it was important. Three messages had come in, two from managers at the office that included budget attachments. I saved these for Grant to review later and then pulled up the next one. My eye twitched as I read who it was from-GPalmer.
Grant.
Why would Grant send me an email now? Figuring he may have sent it from his phone, I opened it and was surprised to see it was a video of some kind. I hovered the cursor over the play button and clicked. The image was fuzzy, but I made out the vague sound of voices incoherently mumbling as the person holding the camera tried to focus it. Suddenly, the frame became clearer, and to my shock, the screen filled with Olivia’s body. She sat on the floor, glaring at the camera.
A deep voice rattled behind the scenes. "Say hello to your family, Sarah Olivia."
Olivia scowled from her spot on the ground. Her eyes were dark, having clearly not fed. Other than looking a little disheveled, her appearance was the same. "My family is looking for me right now, Caleb, they won't see this video."
Caleb turned the camera on himself and pouted, "Aww… Sarah Olivia isn't feeling like herself today. I guess I will have to explain what is going on instead."
He panned the camera over the room as he turned it back on Olivia, who remained aloof and disengaged, refusing to acknowledge him. As the lens traveled I desperately tried to figure out where they were holding her. The only thing I could make out was a pattern of squares on the wall behind her, and that the room seemed small and dark.
Turning the camera back on his haggard, ugly face, he began talking directly in the lens. His black eyes unnerving. "Since it’s taken so long, I figured I needed to speed up the game. Here is the situation, Grant. I found Sarah Olivia first, when she was frail and weak and riddled with dark visions. I loved her for what she was, not who she is now. I'd kept an eye on her as she withered away in the hospital, alone and afraid. And I had it all planned. I was going to change her and use her potential gift. Together, with my tracking abilities and her psychic ones, we could dominate the vampire world." He smiled at the thought, showing his crooked and jagged teeth.
"Each time she went to the hospital they broke her a little bit more, and each time her visions became clearer. As her mind failed her abilities bloomed. I waited for the perfect night, one where she was especially manic, filled with visions of a violet eyed stranger that would take her to her family and feed from her. She was sweet,” he said, licking his lips. “Like the nectar of the gods.”
“When she awoke I promised her that she could get redemption for the torment she’d suffered at the hands of her family. She would taste their blood and destroy the men and women who abused her at the hospital. It was the perfect place to quench her lust for blood. I easily arranged for her to be picked up—even assisting in subduing her for the police. The wheels were set into motion. She’d feast from the damned in that hospital.
His face changed, twisting into something gruesome and furious. “Instead of a massacre, someone interfered with my plan. Someone who likes to play God," he hissed, anger marring his face. "You stole Sarah Olivia from me and now you are living a life that goes against our very nature. You hunt your own kind. You’ve spent years protecting humans. They are food! Nothing more, yet now you have chosen one as your companion—your mate! You’re disgusting, filthy, and most of all, a murderer and a thief. Because of all this you now must suffer the consequences."
In the background there was a loud noise as Olivia must have moved. I watched in horror as Caleb's head lurched out of view and the camera dropped to the ground. The room filled with the sound of the two of them in a scuffle. "Shut the fuck up!" I heard Olivia scream, rage filling her normally quiet voice. "Leave my family out of this!"
I heard a loud bang as though someone or something hit the wall. "Restrain her!" Caleb shouted. There were more footsteps and the camera was picked up from the floor and focused again on his face. "This is your doing, Palmer," he muttered angrily. "Always remember that."
The computer on my lap trembled as my body shook in fear. Caleb panned once more around the room to Olivia, now being held by three men with soulless eyes.
"She was mine to begin with and was taken away. Then, and then…" he emphasized with fury. "For her to end up with the likes of you, a human loving, vampire killing, egotistical vigilante… it's too much. Someone has to pay, and it can be you, or Sarah Olivia, or your precious human pet." He spat the words with such hatred I could feel it in my bones. "I already know which one you'll choose. I'm ready to stop playing games." Caleb pushed the camera so far into Olivia's face she hissed in reaction, freeing a hand and swiping at the camera again. It fell to the floor with a clank and the image turned black.
I sat on the couch, my hands shaking furiously as I tried to move the cursor back to replay the video but was unable
to make my fingers comply. As I jabbed at the keys, a warm hand engulfed mine and pulled the computer away from me.
"What happened? What did you find?" Adam asked, concerned.
I began sobbing, overwhelmed by the images of Olivia at the mercy of that monster. “The… the…" I stuttered, choking on my tears. Adam surprisingly ran a hand over my back to calm me. He turned his attention to the computer and pressed the play button on the video. I covered my eyes and listened.
When it completed, Adam growled in his chest, low and menacing. "What a prick," he muttered. "Okay, what we're going to do is watch that video again and try to figure out where they are. Can you do that?"
I nodded and wiped the tears from my cheeks. I could do it. I had to for Olivia and Grant. They were my family now and I had to do what I could. I moved closer to Adam and told him to start the video. We watched it, pausing so could I take notes every time I noticed something.
"Do you see those small squares on the wall?" I asked Adam the third time through.
"Yeah, I noticed those too. I feel like I should know what they are,” he said.
"They have markings, something written on each one," I said, pointing to a small blemish on the top of each box.
"Are they plaques or panels?" he mused.
"I don't think so."
We continued the film, commenting on the lack of sunlight and the smallness of the room. The final time Caleb panned the space something caught my eye. "I think that's a door," I said and gestured to a solid, windowless block of metal.
Adam studied the image and considered the door. "Well, they would have to be keeping her someone secure and locked. But she's strong, very strong and could get out of almost any type of restraint. The fledglings can overpower her with their juiced-up strength, but in general they would have to keep her imprisoned somewhere."
"It doesn't look like a jail cell," I replied. He grunted in agreement.
Adam pushed his long body back into the cushions, and stretched his legs out. I noticed for the first time his feet were bare and his shirt had a large tear in it. What did he do when he went outside?
Creature of Habit (Book 3) Page 6
