by W. J. May
She knew she had to watch herself. Just because the bastards were asleep during the day didn’t mean that they didn’t have eyes and ears everywhere. They hadn’t survived this long by being daft.
“Let’s talk in my office.” He looked over his shoulder, moving in front of her to unlock the door.
The musty smell slapped her in the face, her hand reaching up and covering her nose. “I need to fumigate this office for you.”
“The cleaners do that.” He let her pass and shut the door. She yelped softly as he jerked her back by her wrist, her body coming flush against his. He reached up, one hand getting lost in her hair. “I should have let you come home with me last night. I haven’t stopped thinking about you. Crazy. I’ve been alone since I changed and one day by chance you end up here.”
She started to respond, but his lips pressed to hers, the soft push of his tongue asking for permission. She moaned softly, her arms wrapping around his neck as her fingers from one hand ran through the hair at the back of his neck. He turned her and walked her back, pushing her against the door of his office as he pressed himself against her. She moved back, pushing at him. “I need to tell you something, Liam.”
“It had better be something horrible,” he teased. He leaned in, pulling her face toward him.
She put her hand between them, the sexy look of lust on his features beautiful and intoxicating as he closed his eyes and leaned in, accidentally kissing her hand. He jerked back, confusion gathering his brow. “I found the guy you said was on the road the night of the accident.”
His blue eyes bright with lust, burned brighter. He didn’t move or say anything, apparently waiting for her to continue.
She moved back, turning to walk across the room before facing him. She crossed her arms over her chest, his eyes running along her. Maybe he had his mind set for one thing and discussing the accident and handsome new vampires in her life wasn’t it.
“What? Who? How did you find out who it was?”
She bit at her lip, knowing she needed to be careful not to re-break the cut on her lower she had made last night. It might make him hungry for blood or something. She also felt the need to be cautious with what she told him. Setting him off wasn’t going to do her, or her father, any favors.
“Stop deciding what parts to tell me. What happened, Kallie? All of it.” His voice shook the room, the deep timbre rolling over her and causing her breath to catch. He was far more powerful than she imagined.
“I met with some of my friends last night before meeting up with you. They had invited a few guys. One of them was a Red Blood.”
The expression on Liam’s face changed to something like indifference. He walked toward her and stopped before her. “How do you know he was a Red Blood?”
Really? “His eyes were burnt orange and he knew me, offered protection for me if I ever needed it.”
A vein ticked angrily in the side of Liam’s head, though she knew good and well that he didn’t have blood flow as someone alive and breathing would. Fury sat on him and she wasn’t sure if it was directed toward her or Caleb.
“Why didn’t you tell me this last night?” he demanded.
“I saw him again at the club with you last night. I thought you had seen him also.”
“I have no damn clue who ‘he’ is. Maybe because you didn’t tell me you’d had a run-in with one of them. They shouldn’t know about you, and you’re telling me this guy told you to call on him when you needed protection?”
“Yes.” She shrugged, not sure all of a sudden if she should continue.
“What does this dickhead have to do with you supposedly finding the guy who turned your dad at the scene of the crime?”
“I found the photo the cop on duty took after the accident. It was in the newspaper. The guy I met last night is the vamp you said made me swerve and lose control of the car.”
“You remember?”
She shook her head. “Not really. But he’s in the photo staring at the camera, his body perched on the top of a brick fence that sits across the road.”
“The white one?”
“Yes. I know it’s him. It’s as if he wanted someone to see him there at the accident.” She shuddered, her heart and mind having a difficult time reconciling the sexy protective male from the night before was someone who would want to see her father killed… only to watch him rise again. For what purpose?
“Do you know his name, Kallie?”
“I don’t remember. It was something common, like John or…” She turned and began to pace. Why didn’t she want to tell him about Caleb? Was there power in a name? Even if there was, Liam was the good guy. He was the one trying to help her, the one that made her blood boil and pushed her into having hope for love in the future. Why not just give him Caleb’s name? She wasn’t sure of Caleb’s part in the whole thing, but he to be involved, right? Why else would he be at the scene of the accident?
What if he had been there for the picture because he knew that she’d need help in the future and she would be looking? What better way to get her attention and whisper that he was there that night and would be there again if she needed him. Liam had admitted to being there that night too.
She groaned with inner frustration. Why in the world would both boys never say anything to her or her dad? Why stay all hidden and then suddenly, when she starts asking questions, they both suddenly show up?
More questions begged answers. What if Liam was the guy in the dark hoodie that had caused the accident? She looked over at him, the pensive look on his face not giving her any confidence.
“What are you thinking? I’m ticked, just so you know. You can’t go off and get yourself involved with these people. I told you they have no conscience.”
She folded her arms over her chest. He was not going to make her feel guilty. “And do I know that’s the truth pouring from your lips, when I met you a week ago? Why the hell were you there that night? You never bothered to tell me that! What is it? You just happened to be there, walking in the torrential downpour that evening?”
Liam’s face hardened. “You think I was involved in some nefarious plot to harm your dad? You wanna play cop. Great. What’s my motive?”
She rolled her eyes and walked toward the door, her hand on it as she glared at him. Regret filled her for even bringing it up. There was no way to win the fight they were headed toward. She would keep accusing him until he confessed to his involvement, or she’d bend beneath his will and spout all she knew, which didn’t feel like the right thing to do. “I’m going. My dad’s expecting me home. I’m not putting any more on him than what he’s dealing with already.”
“Kallie.” Liam moved at her faster than humanly possible. He pulled her into a tight hug, his finger brushing along her neck. “It wasn’t me.”
She stood stiff against his hold even though her insides were begging her to wrap her arms around him and press her lips against his.
“I didn’t do anything that night, but try and help you. I’m not lying. I’m right here now to help again. I’ve done nothing but prove myself a good person. I know you haven’t known me long, but I’ve been here every night for a long time putting the bad guys behind bars and taking out the Red Bloods. This world is new to you, but it’s not to me. I’m just asking that you trust me until you find a reason not to.”
Tears filled her eyes, one running over and dripping down her face. She hated her weakness and yet the world swirled precariously around her. She couldn’t figure out what the truth really was and it was so damn ignorant to trust strangers, but they all were new to her. She nodded and leaned into him, releasing the door and pressing her cheek to his chest.
He pressed his lips to the crown of her hair, his strong fingers rubbing circles on her back. She exhaled softly and just let everything go. She needed Liam to meet with her father tonight. It would be truth time – they would find out tonight. If her father reacted poorly to Liam it wouldn’t matter how much of a great guy he was – she would wa
lk, or send him walking.
A sudden thought nearly threw her. Caleb was the better choice if the reality of the Red Bloods and Blue Bloods was as drilled into the other’s mentality. He couldn’t be the one who had caused the accident. She didn’t believe it.
Right now it didn’t matter who she belonged with. Her father’s future depended on getting him somewhere safe for a while, training him to use his strength he had no idea lay dormant inside of him. If he couldn’t even get in the room with Liam, then nothing would improve and she would have effectively put her and her mother at risk for nothing.
“I don’t know who this guy is, Kallie, but you don’t need his protection,” Liam said as if reading her thoughts. “You have mine. You’re stealing my heart and as much as I hate the loss of control, I don’t want this John guy, or whatever his name is, moving in on what’s beginning between us.” He carefully pressed her chin and she lifted her head as he moved down and brushed his lips against hers. “Let’s go see your dad so we can work toward a solution – together.”
“Okay,” she whispered. He was willing to risk everything to help her and her dad. That had to mean something.
Liam held the door open for her.
As she walked through ahead of him and wiped under her eyes, she decided she needed to put Caleb on the back burner until they ran into each other again. She had a million questions for him and something told her that he’d be more than willing to answer each and every one of them. She would have to do that without Liam.
What if it was her? If she was a Red Blood? What if she had been the target instead of her dad? Another thought tugged at her heart. What if her dad had changed to help protect her? Would she and Liam stand a chance if she were a Red Blood? Or would a wall resurrect between them, the age-old struggle of dominance all the way till the blood in their veins killed off their chances?
“You’re thinking again. Quite dangerous.” Liam took her hand and pulled it to his lips, kissing it softly before nibbling on her knuckles, a soft growl leaving him and shaking her to the core of her being.
He was right – enough thinking. Now it was time to act.
Chapter 13
The moon sat high in the sky, the air around them still a bit too warm. She glanced over at Liam, his eyes lost to the vision of something before him. He had secrets – a life lived far beyond the few moments she had known him. She didn’t even know how long he had been a vampire. After tonight she would ask him. She wanted to know everything about him. After they passed this test she planned to spend an evening wrapped in his strong arms, getting to know him better. What if he hadn’t slept with anyone since he had turned? It would make him a virgin in a sense as well. It could be something special, something to covet as the days got harder. Their future so unpredictable and everyone she loved at stake in some way or another.
Liam set the car’s blinker on as he waited for oncoming traffic to pass. Kallie stared at the tree up ahead where everything had changed. Her eyes were always drawn to it. She let her gaze trail behind the tree where Caleb had made his debut in her life much to her surprise.
As Liam turned onto her road, he tugged on her hand. “I’ll drop you off in front of your house and bring my car to my house. You go get your father. I’ll meet you out back in the yard. Is your mother home?” Liam’s eyes scanned the property around them, his gaze electric and paranormal.
“No, I don’t think she is.”
“Good. If something goes wrong, I don’t want her hurt or scared. I’d prefer if you stay inside. Just send him out so he and I can talk for a minute.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
“Kallie. Please.”
“No. He’s not coming without me. Stop protecting me.”
“I suppose you’d rather your new stalker do that?” He closed his eyes and exhaled loudly, their fighting nothing more than nerves over the situation before them.
“We’ll meet you out back shortly.” She got out of the car and walked into the house, the sound of Liam’s apologies finding their way to her. She was too tired to respond, her lack of sleep and then all-nighter the night before took her energy away without permission. She needed to be alert and ready. Tiredness would have to wait. She could sleep when she was dead.
She stopped in front of the basement door, knocking softly. “Dad?”
“Tell your friend to go away.”
“I can’t.”
“Tell him I feel anxious tonight, my skin’s crawling at the need to fight or kill,” he called from downstairs.
“Dad, please. He’s going to help us.”
“There’s no helping me, Kalls. Tell him to leave.”
She hit her hands against the door a few times, her emotions getting the best of her. “No. You come out and do this. I know it’s my fault, but I’m trying to make it better. It’s only a matter of time before they come for me and mom.” She hated using that card, but she didn’t have a choice. She pounded the door with her fist a few more times, her show a bit dramatic, but she didn’t care in the slightest.
The door opened and her father stepped out. “You stay here. I’ll go talk to the boy.”
“I’m going with you.”
“I’m telling you I can already feel myself diving toward the edge of snapping, Kallie. Didn’t he say there were two kinds of vampires? Isn’t he the opposite of me?”
“Dad, you’re stronger than you think. There’s no way you’re going to snap. All you’ve been through, you can do this.”
“What if he snaps? Then what? You’re putting me in a situation where I could end up killing. This boy is someone to you, what if I kill him?”
“You won’t.” She trusted her dad more than anyone and believed with her heart Liam would keep himself under control too. He spent every night chasing down vicious Red Bloods and still kept it together. If he hadn’t, he wouldn’t be a decorated officer at the station, but a vicious killer behind bars. Surely they could hold back whatever existed between their kind long enough to create a solution for her and her mom.
Her dad sighed and moved toward the back door. He pushed it open, walking out on the porch as Kallie followed. She reached for the hero just beside her, her father, moving faster than she could have ever imagined.
He growled loudly, his words shocking her more than his actions. “You? You bastard! You were there that night! This is your fault!” Her father leapt over the large balcony, landing in front of Liam and plowing into him, her father lifting her handsome cop off his feet and slamming him into the ground. She couldn’t hear their conversation, but turned to run down the side stairs, yelling for her father to stop.
She looked to her left and she jolted down, losing her footing and falling about three stairs in. Her body tumbled over itself, her ankle twisting somewhere in the midst of the mess. She screamed in pain and fear, her fall softened at the bottom by strong arms.
She pulled herself up with help and looked into Caleb’s red eyes.
“I’ll help him, as I’ll always be here to help you.” He reached up and touched her face, the moment torn from them by the loud screaming of her father. Liam pinned the older man to the ground, his face contorted into something almost demonic.
Liam looked over at the same time Caleb rushed him, picking him up off her father. Liam swung wildly before Calebthrew him toward a large oak tree. Liam hit hard, the tree cracking as he slid down to the earth below him.
Kallie crawled toward her dad, fear echoing her mistakes and making terror all the more real. She knelt beside him, her dad’s face bloody, a tooth missing from the front of his mouth. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. Tell me you’re okay.”
“He’ll be fine,” Caleb commanded. “Go inside, Kallie. I have to extinguish the Blue Blood and I don’t want you to see it.”
She grabbed Caleb’s ankle. “Don’t hurt him. Something’s wrong. A misunderstanding.” She glanced toward the tree, the earth bare and Liam gone.
“He was there,” her dad croaked. �
�That night. I remember. I saw him. I’ll never forget his face. He’s the one that did this.” Her father moved toward her, his words painful to hear.
She swallowed the lump in her throat and looked at Caleb. Something didn’t seem right. She just didn’t know what it was yet. “You were there too. Why?”
He licked at his lip, blood dripping down his perfect chin. “To protect you.”
“Why?”
“Because you’d have died without me.”
“You didn’t change my father?”
Caleb shook his head.
Could it have been Liam? It didn’t make sense. “Why would you care if I lived or died that night?”
“I do.” His eyes burned nearly red. “More than you’ll ever know.”
What the hell did he mean by that?
THE END
The Night Watch
Coming September 2015
(or hopefully sooner!)
The Night Watch
Coming Summer 2015
More by W.J. May
Hidden Secrets Saga:
Download Seventh Mark part 1 For FREE
http://www.amazon.com/Seventh-Mark-Part-Hidden-Secrets-ebook/dp/B00H17FQCC
Seventh Mark part 2
http://www.amazon.com/Seventh-Mark-Part-Hidden-Secrets-ebook/dp/B00H129F0G
Marked by Destiny
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OC90BD6
Book Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-_vVYC1gvo
Book Blurb:
Like most teenagers, Rouge is trying to figure out who she is and what she wants to be. With little knowledge about her past, she has questions but has never tried to find the answers. Everything changes when she befriends a strangely intoxicating family. Siblings Grace and Michael, appear to have secrets which seem connected to Rouge. Her hunch is confirmed when a horrible incident occurs at an outdoor party. Rouge may be the only one who can find the answer.
