Scorned

by Tyffani Clark Kemp

  Miranda let out a frustrated growl. “How can you be so stupid!” she shouted. “You don’t have a cross, you let the vampires use your mind at their leisure. Why did you even ask for our help? I thought we told you not to go anywhere without us.”

  I stepped to her and got in her face. That dark place stirred inside me as if to say, “Yes. Get angry. I’ll feed on that.” I let my face contort into a snarl and my voice turned cold.

  “Where the hell where you?” I bit out in her face. I stepped back and frowned, less angry now because I was concerned, and asked, “Where is Gable?”

  “What do you mean, where’s Gable?”

  “Gable called Pierce and asked me to bring him some money to the food court. No one was in the waiting room so I got on the elevator and was ambushed when I hit the second floor. I never made it to Gable.”

  “We haven’t seen him.” Gavlin’s deep voice was immediately followed by the sound of metal against tile and I jumped and screamed. When I looked, he had a gigantic battle axe in his hands with which he’d used to cut off the head of the vampire whom I’d stabbed in the heart. The loose head rolled across the floor and stopped face up. It was a clean cut, no jagged edges, and I just stared at it because I didn’t know what else to do.

  “Are you alright?” Gavlin’s voice bit through my stupor and I looked up at him.

  “Huh?”

  “Are you alright?”

  I shook my head. “Where’s Gable?”

  “I told you we haven’t seen him.”

  “Did the vampires get him?” My voice had gone weak and childish like the other night. I was going into shock and part of it was from that space inside me that loved the way it felt for Roman to suck the energy from that vampire. Now, it lay empty and desperate to feel again, to feed again.

  “The vampire told me he wasn’t allowed to feed until I was dead,” I told them.

  “He could be here in the morgue,” Gavlin said to Miranda.

  “We’ll look,” Miranda said and stalked away.

  I wrapped my arms around myself and watched as Gavlin and Miranda methodically searched each death cubby. I shivered. The cool air of the morgue was now frigid. Now that the adrenaline and fear had worn off, I was cold. I began to lose hope that they’d find Gable as they neared the end.

  Gavlin pulled out a table and Gable came out with it. “Is this him?”

  I nodded. Gable’s dark face was pale and blood oozed from a wound on his head. “Should we call a nurse?” I asked.

  Miranda shook her head. “We need to get out of here before someone comes down. Gav can carry him up and around to the ER. Go get your boyfriend and let him know what’s happened. I’m sure he’s worried by now.”

  Miranda walked out, stomping through the doors that clanged shut behind her. I held the door for Gavlin so he didn’t have to toss Gable over his shoulder, and went up to the waiting room where Pierce and Tate were waiting.

  “LeKrista!” Tate rushed me and wrapped her arms around my neck. I just stood there like a stiff board, my arms at my sides. She pulled away, hurt etched across her features, but I wasn’t worried about her. I had eyes only for Pierce.

  Something inside me that opposed that deep, all-encompassing darkness yearned for Pierce. I wanted him. In that moment, I needed him because I knew he could calm the churning in my soul.

  “Staci?” When Pierce saw how I was looking at him, he stopped pacing and called my name, and that one word was enough to push the darkness back.

  “Hold me,” I whispered, and there was desperation in my voice, a fear of myself that I didn’t understand.

  Pierce came to me with no further prompting and wrapped his arms around my waist. The moment he touched me the darkness receded, back into that deepest, most hidden place inside me where it lived. I wrapped my arms around his neck and relaxed against him so heavily he had to support my weight.

  “LeKrista?” he asked as he stumbled against the unexpected weight.

  “Don’t let go,” I said.

  Pierce held me for a very long time, and we just stood there with Tate watching, and eventually Miranda and Gavlin joined her. At some point, Miranda made a noise in her throat to signify her impatience.

  “Gable’s in the emergency room,” I finally said against his shoulder.

  “What?”

  “The vampire’s got him. He’s not dead,” I said quickly, “and I don’t think he was bitten. He was hit on the head pretty hard, though.”

  “I’ll have to go see him,” Pierce said.

  I nodded. “I’ll take Miranda and go sit with Petrice.”

  “Alright.”

  When Pierce finally let me go, I was afraid that the dark places inside me would come bursting back to life, but they didn’t. They settled back into place and they didn’t move.

  Pierce went with Gavlin to the ER. Tate and I sat and I told her what happened in the morgue. Miranda just went to the balcony and looked over.

  I knew Roman was on his way about a second before I saw him. “LeKrista, are you alright?” he asked, his accent deep from the extra power he’d absorbed.

  I nodded, but I didn’t bother to stand or greet him. Such proximity to him and all that power made that dark place stir again like a beast had awoken turning in its sleep. I let Roman approach, slowly, because he knew I was scared. He took a seat next to me and Miranda and Tate kept a very close eye on him.

  “I am sorry, LeKrista, for what happened earlier. That has never happened to me.”

  “Did you know that you could do that?” I asked, and he gave me a very careful look.

  “I knew that it could be done, yes, but I’ve never done it myself. I am truly sorry that it had to happen the way it did. I felt...” He searched for the right word, as he looked deep into my eyes, not to use his mind tricks, but to really see into me as a person.

  “That’s enough,” Miranda said eventually, and he looked up at her.

  “Hm,” Roman said and looked back at me. I glanced at Miranda. She had her weight balanced evenly on both of her feet, her knees slightly bent. She was ready to fight.

  “I can see that my presence is not welcome here,” Roman said. “I came only to make sure you were alright. I did not think you would allow me in after...what happened.”

  I shook my head. “I’m fine.”

  “I see that you are. LeKrista,” his voice was careful when he spoke, as if he was about to say something that no one in the room would like.

  “What?” I pressed. “What is it?”

  “I was thinking, it might be a good idea for you to get away for a while, hide out somewhere that you’re protected. Perdita isn’t going to stop trying for your life, and by now she has to be more intent on it than ever before. I know I would be.”

  That final comment did nothing to make me feel better and I gave Roman a look that said as much. He shook his head in apology and tried again.

  “You have thwarted her attempts on your life three times in a week. She’s not going to stop trying. She’s only going to try harder. I know Perdita, and I know vampires of her kind. She is of my line. Please. My home in Colorado. It would be safer.”

  “No,” Miranda said without hesitation. “Absolutely not.”

  Roman looked at Miranda then. I think he was actually seeing her for the first time and there was a hint of animosity in his gaze.

  “And who is she?” He asked.

  “Miranda. One of my two new bodyguards.”

  “She is afraid of me.”

  “Good. That means she’s smart.”

  Roman looked at me as if I’d said something shocking, then caught sight of Tate. A grin spread across his face, but his fangs stayed neatly hidden. The anticipation of them was enough and he knew that. My chest fluttered and I let him know just how much I hated that.

  “Tate, my dear,” he said, rising to his feet.

  “This is your vampire?” Miranda was disgusted.

  “You smell lovely, as always.” He took a deep
breath against Tate’s neck and I could feel his amusement at pissing Miranda off.

  “Don’t mind her,” Tate said. “She’s in a foul mood today. A friend of ours passed this morning.”

  Roman’s face screwed up in a sympathetic frown and he looked positively delicious. “I’m so sorry to hear that.” To Miranda he said, “My deepest condolences” Miranda was polite enough to accept with a simple dip of her head.

  “When’s the funeral?” I asked. “Will there be one?”

  Miranda looked at me. “The funeral will be tomorrow evening.”

  “So you’ll have to leave, right?” I asked. “You and Gavlin and Tate will have to attend the funeral.”

  Miranda was shaking her head. “One of us will have to stay with you.” Her tone held bitterness toward me, as if it was somehow my fault her friend had died but there was something else, something more. While she resented me for whatever reason, she was hoping to use me as an excuse to not have to go to the funeral. No way was I about to let her put me in that position.

  I shook my head. “There’s no point in that. I can go with Roman to his Colorado house until you get back. That way none of you have to miss the funeral. I know I’d hate it if I was stuck body guarding during the funeral of someone important to me.” I said it while I looked her in the eye. I wanted her to know that I knew what she was thinking. She had the grace to look slightly embarrassed at being caught.

  Roman looked from me to her and back, then said, “You can bring Pierce if you like.” There was a sneer on his face that he barely passed as a smile, but it would never have passed for polite.

  “Of course, I’ll bring Pierce,” I said. “What am I? Stupid?”

  Or maybe you’re stupid.

  I’d honestly forgotten he was listening to my thoughts and I flinched visibly after I thought it.

  “My bad.”

  I felt his amusement. He thought it funny when I forgot he was listening.

  Miranda crossed her arms over her chest and frowned. She was pouting and it was so immature.

  She’s grieving, LeKrista. Maybe she just needs someone to take the pain out on.

  I hate being practical with myself.

  “I don’t like it,” Miranda said. “I really think this is a bad idea.”

  “Miranda, come on. He’s not going to hurt her,” Tate said, jumping in to try and save the moment. “He’s trying to help protect her.”

  “Isn’t he one of the ones we’re supposed to be protecting her from? She’s so stupid and immature. She’ll hop a ride with a vampire just because it sounds like fun, then come crying to us when she realizes it’s not what she thought. Why should we have to protect such idiocy when there are people out there dying who really need our help?”

  “Miranda, that’s enough!” Tate’s voice rose to that “pissed-off-mom-level.”

  It was funny to see Miranda react to Tate’s sudden change of personality. It was clear that she didn’t react like this often.

  “What is wrong with you? She’s done nothing to you to warrant this kind of behavior.”

  “You didn’t hear how she spoke to me downstairs.”

  “Can you blame her? If she stood up to you then I’ll cheer on her side, because I don’t like this attitude you have. Don’t you dare think for one second that you’re the only person in pain here. Gav and I just happen to be better at hiding it for a more opportune moment.”

  “Tate, you don’t-”

  “Shut up, Miranda. I don’t want to hear it. You’re so full of crap right now. You owe LeKrista an apology. Maybe you need to go on leave until you can get your emotions under control. I know you loved him, but this isn’t like you.”

  “Tate.”

  “No.” Tate said the word with such force and finality that no one would have argued. Not even Roman. “You’re wrong this time, Miranda. Roman, I’m sorry you had to see this side of her. It was lovely to see you, but LeKrista and I are going to go be with the new mother while Miranda has some time to sit and think about what was said here tonight.” Her charming sense of humor was back with a vengeance, like the moment of seriousness had cost her dearly and she had to make up for it by being funny.

  “Absolutely, my dear. I’m a bit hungry now, anyway.” Roman flashed his fangs when he grinned, and had I been single and subject to his will bending powers I might have swooned.

  “It was a pleasure to have met you, Miranda.” He didn’t offer to shake her hand. “LeKrista, I will leave tonight to prepare for your arrival. Adelina and Calliope will pick you up tomorrow afternoon and you and Pierce will fly to Colorado. Of course, I won’t be there to greet you right away, but I will have someone there to take you into town and show you where to find everything.”

  I smiled, suddenly excited about my trip to Colorado with the love of my life. “Thank you, Roman.”

  “No need to pack, my dear,” he said hurriedly. “I’ll have everything you need. Both of you. I promise.”

  I raised my eyebrows at that, but didn’t say anything. I waved as he left and Tate and I went down the hall to Petrice’s room. Miranda didn’t follow.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  I'd never imagined Roman would have a private jet, but he did and it was lavish with all the amenities of travel.

  Adelina gave us the grand tour. We climbed the steps into the belly of the plane and turned right in that little hallway. There were ivory sofas, one on either side with a coffee table set in front of each. A short wall separated the sofas from eight comfy looking chairs that faced each other, four on each side, again with small tables set between. A box at the front hid a TV that I was sure would have a very wide screen and I hoped for an in-flight movie.

  Adelina took us to the cockpit where we met the pilot and copilot, two very kind gentlemen who didn’t seem to have a clue what they worked for.

  In the back of the plane I found a full bathroom and a bedroom and I was ready to forget the movie and take a nap when I realized there was a TV in the bedroom as well. Trust those old vampires to think of everything.

  We waited for about half an hour before Calliope came in and I realized we’d lost her somewhere between the parking lot and the plane. She had burgers from the food court.

  Pierce didn’t even notice that we’d left the ground, which was hard to believe. He was halfway through the second of three burgers when he asked, “When are we leaving?”

  I blinked at him. “Are you kidding?”

  Pierce shook his head. “No, why?”

  “We’re already flying.”

  Pierce turned to look out the window. “Oh.” When he turned back he was laughing. I pursed my lips together to keep from laughing out loud, but it didn’t do Calliope any good. She giggled before she could catch herself.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, but couldn’t hide the laughter in her voice. Even Adelina was laughing. “That was too funny.”

  “She’s laughing at me,” Pierce said. “Is she really laughing at me?”

  I nodded. “Everyone is, babe.”

  I looked up and caught Adelina staring at me. She was still smiling, but she had a contemplative look in her eyes, like she was really seeing me for the first time. I smiled, to let her know it was okay. She didn’t have to like me. I understood.

  I excused myself sometime later to use the restroom. When I came out, Adelina was waiting for me, leaning against the wall.

  Awkward.

  It was the most relaxed I’d seen her. She looked tired.

  “Have you slept?” I asked. She shook her head, but plunged right ahead before I could say anything else.

  “I owe you an apology for the way I’ve acted toward you.”

  I frowned.

  “I have not given you a fair chance,” she continued. “I can see how much you care for Pierce, and I know you pose no threat to me, but Roman is very much infatuated with you.”

  “What?”

  “Please, let me finish. The Master wants you to be his new Vivian. I know now that yo
u don’t desire this, but you have to understand, he will not take no for an answer. It will be very difficult to persuade him otherwise.”

  “Adelina, you don’t owe me an apology. I understand how you feel, or...well I know how I would feel in your situation.”

  “I want you to know, if you need my help or Calli’s all you ever have to do is ask.”

  “Thank you,” was all I could say to her unexpected offer. She nodded, offered a small smile, and walked away.

  The rest of the flight fared rather predictably. We all fell asleep and were woken by the sound of the pilot on the intercom letting us know we would be touching down in Denver in about twenty minutes.

  There wasn’t a lot of prep to do, no bags to gather, no tables to return to their upright positions. Pierce grabbed the one bag we had with cell phone chargers and such.

  It was cold outside the plane. I pulled my coat tight around me and looked at Pierce. He didn’t seem to be bothered by it, but I knew he didn’t like the cold, wet, white stuff that fell from the sky and coated the ground.

  “Better get used to it,” Adelina said. Her smile was great. She and Calliope didn’t seem bothered by the cold either. “There’s going to be lots of snow between now and the time we leave.” Pierce didn’t like that at all. He grumbled about “this damn snow” all the way to the navy blue mini-van waiting for us on the tarmac. Adelina climbed into the driver’s seat, Calliope got shotgun, and Pierce and I snuggled in the backseat until the heater warmed up.

  “I never really pegged Roman for the minivan type,” I said as we pulled out of the airport and onto the highway. The smile Adelina gave me told the story before she did.

  “He’s not. I am.”

  “Did you ever want children?” I asked, before I thought about what I’d said. “I’m sorry,” I hurried to say. “That’s none of my business. I just thought you’d make a good soccer mom.”

  “Yeah, I was thinking the same thing,” Pierce said.

  “The Master, Roman has told me many times that, should I want to have children, all I have to do is ask and he will find a father for me.”

  “You ever think about taking him up on his offer?” I asked, though I knew what the answer would be.