by Kate Wendley
Completely opposite of Anthony.
Zach had a slim build similar to Anthony’s, but he had short black hair that was usually spiked in a trendy sort of way, intense green eyes with a handsome framing of dark lashes, and an endlessly curious and playful personality. He also never had trouble with women.
Anthony didn’t want to be irritated with his friend’s seemingly easy life, but the chaos Kaia created by stirring up his emotions quickly climbed to an unexpected fever pitch. He was sick of all the pressure he was constantly under and all the life and death decisions he always had to make. The thought of fighting Zach, one of two of the most powerful shifters in Atlanta, was starting to sound more than a little appealing. Fury, fists and blood…
Sebastian burst into the room and slammed the door shut behind him. “What the fuck’s going on?”
Anthony growled to himself and stopped glaring at Zach. He spared Sebastian a glance, then turned back to his computer and tried to finish the email he’d been typing.
There were a few moments of silence before Sebastian angrily snapped, “I said,.. what the fuck’s going on?”
Anthony kept typing as he tartly replied, “Nothing’s going on. I’m trying to work.”
“Then why the fuck are you so wound up? You’ve been pissed off ever since you came back tonight. More pissed off than usual. What the fuck happened tonight?”
Anthony went still at that. He froze as anger consumed him. Both he and Zach had been paying way too much attention to the link they had between them due to sharing so much blood over the years. Anthony always drank from them, but they also had Anthony’s blood when he chose to give it to them. It helped build their power, but also created something of a bond between them all, allowing them to feel each other’s moods and general sense of where they were at any given time. It was a link they usually did their best to ignore. Or at least he’d been ignoring it.
He didn’t like that they were both paying such close attention to it now. It felt like an invasion of his privacy, which he fiercely protected at all costs. He raged inside as he very slowly turned around and fully faced them.
He seriously considered lashing out at them through their connection. Sebastian stood between him and Zach with his arms crossed, looking very irritated… and worried.
Zach sat on the sofa, still tense, and still looking like he was on the verge of wanting to let his animal out to fight. He eyed Anthony like a cat watching prey. Every time Anthony moved, Zach’s head moved the same way, never taking his eyes off him.
And these were his best friends… whom he now realized he’d been pointedly ignoring lately.
He turned away from them while his anger dissipated. He took deep, even breaths until the urge to hurt someone died away. “I apologize for my mood. I met someone tonight. A woman. A lovely, intelligent, completely charming woman.” He closed his eyes for a moment, willing his emotions to calm. He’d forgotten how stressed he could feel when he let his human side guide his thoughts and actions.
Sebastian incredulously snapped, “You’re pissed off because you met someone?”
Anthony looked mostly through him as he flatly said, “I’m not good with women, and of the small number I’ve courted, dated, it never ended well once they found out I was vampire. I want to get to know this one but… I’m dismayed at the inevitable outcome.”
He took another deep breath and looked away from them. He ran his hand through his hair, then leaned over and rested his forearms on his knees. The long strands cascaded around his face, and he bowed his head even further down. He didn’t want to look at anyone right now.
The room was quiet for a few moments before Anthony heard the sounds of Sebastian moving. After another moment, Sebastian barked out, “Knock it off Zach. Chill the fuck out, dammit.”
Zach growled, most likely at Sebastian, and then he heard the sounds of them getting situated on the sofa.
Sebastian eventually grumbled out, “You’re assuming a lot about this woman.”
Anthony sighed again, then tiredly massaged his face. He abruptly stopped when he realized he could smell Kaia on his hands. He looked longingly at himself, remembering her touching him, and then him holding her hand for a time tonight. He reluctantly pushed those memories to the back of his mind and sat up to face his friends. “What do you mean?”
Sebastian didn’t say anything while he looked squarely at Anthony. His brown eyes weren’t gleaming like Zach’s green eyes were, but Sebastian was just as handsome as Zach, in his own way. He had a rough look with a rough attitude to match. He was a little stocky with compact muscles and golden hair that hung in slight waves just barely to the top of his shoulders, and an ever present light stubble of a beard. Anthony was the odd man out when it came to looks.
“He means you’re assuming she’s like all the other women you’ve dated. You’re putting her in a box and labeling her.”
Anthony didn’t care for Zach’s cocky attitude, though he might only be acting this way because his jaguar was still just barely below the surface and wanted to fight. Anthony had riled him up too much, but Zach was trying to calm himself down. Anthony could see that, and knew he shouldn’t provoke him, but he didn’t care about animal instincts tonight.
“It’s not a flippant generalization. I’m vampire and she’s human, and since vampires aren’t common knowledge to them it’s completely logical to assume she’ll react the same as other human women have.”
Zach shot back, “Then why don’t you date supernatural women?”
Anthony’s temper rose. “Because I don’t want to. They’ve only ever been after power. They’ve never tried to win my favor because they cared for me.”
Zach sneered, “Another assumption? That no supernatural woman could ever care for you?”
Anthony growled out more loudly, “I take care of these people. I know too much about them, remember too much about all of their families, all of their trials and tribulations. My photographic memory is a curse to me at times. There are no surprises and no illusions about their feelings or thoughts about me and the fact that I’m the most powerful person, by far, in the family. That will always make others careful around me, and sometimes deviously deceptive about it. How can I relax or trust a woman in those conditions? No, I will not try to have another relationship with a supernatural!”
There was a sudden gleam in Zach’s eyes and a flicker of a smile crossed his face. “I’ve never seen you get so worked up over some woman before.”
Anthony practically screamed, “She’s not just some woman! She is−” He growled in exasperation as Zach’s smile widened. “Do not play games with me tonight. I’m in no mood.”
“The hell if you aren’t! You’re actually talking to us again, and all because you met someone you obviously like. And now you’re trying to rationalize why it won’t work before you even give it a chance. I’ve never known you to throw in the towel so fast before. Maybe what you’re actually afraid of is that this time it could work out.”
Anthony lurched forward in his chair and angrily snapped, “Do not mock me, Zach.”
Zach leaned forward on the sofa. “I’m not mocking you, Anthony. I’m pointing out that you’ve been all worked up since you got home, so you must have hit it off pretty good with this girl. I’ve never known you to be so emotional and I think it’s good for you. I don’t think you should write her off so quickly just because you’re afraid of what might happen because it also might not happen.”
Anthony took some angry breaths through his nose and tried to calm down. He glared at Zach, and the jaguar looked completely comfortable with himself as he slowly leaned back into the sofa again.
Anthony flicked a glance at Sebastian then, who was carefully watching him. He scoffed and sat back in his chair, looking away from them both. They were probably right about all of this, but that realization did nothing to calm his temper.
“Is her scent on your hands?”
“What?”
Zach gave
him a knowing look. “You took a breath while you rubbed your face, then looked at your hands. Is her scent on you?”
He narrowed his eyes in irritation, but grudgingly replied, “Yes.” After a moment, he more quietly said, “I can still smell her.”
“Really?” Zach cocked his head in interest. “Either she has a strong scent, or you guys were touching each other for a while tonight.” He smiled mischievously. “Tell us about your date.”
Anthony frowned, but Zach kept smiling. He flicked a glance at Sebastian for help, but he was also starting to smile.
Anthony sighed in defeat. “Fine.” He fidgeted in his chair, then briskly recounted the main points of their encounter. “I went to the bookstore tonight and she ran into me. And then kept talking to me. And asking questions.”
“Questions?”
“She wanted to keep me talking.”
“Why?”
Because she liked the sound of his voice…
“I don’t know.”
Zach and Sebastian gave each other a side eyed smirk, but Zach was the only one peppering him with questions and commentary. “She wanted to get to know you maybe? That’s what people who like each other do.”
Anthony reluctantly smiled. “Yes, I suppose.” He picked his phone up from the desk beside him and found her contact info. She’d reached right out tonight and took his phone from him, without asking, as if she’d known him for a millennia. As if she was already comfortable with him.
“You got her number?”
“Yes.”
“Are you going to call her?”
“I already did.”
His friends chuckled.
“Are you going to see her again?”
“We’re meeting tomorrow night.”
They gave a good belly laugh and Zach chortled, “Go Anthony!”
He smiled despite the juvenile humor.
Relentless in his curiosity, Zach asked, “So how is it you have her smell on you?”
Anthony took a moment to ground himself. He could feel the slow creep of his vampire essence wanting to smother the emotions that were turning inside him at the thought of Kaia. He looked back down at her name in his phone to anchor himself because he liked thinking about her. “When she seemed tired, I walked her to her car. I offered her my arm and she took it.”
Zach narrowed his eyes smirked. “And…?”
Anthony took a deep, peaceful breath. “She touched me. She tucked my hair behind my ear and put her hand on me. I, of course, held her hand as well.” He put his hand to his chest, vividly remembering the body heat she gave off, but also her desire for him. “We were just close to each other for a time. That was all.”
Sebastian’s voice sounded rough from infrequent use when he said, “Did you kiss her?”
Anthony felt himself blush. “No. She’s human and I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to be so close to her tonight. Besides, it wouldn’t have been appropriate on our first meeting, though I don’t think she’d have resisted.”
They all chuckled at that.
Zach asked, “Where are you going on your date?”
“We’re meeting at the Botanical Garden at Piedmont Park. For the night light walk.”
“Nice!”
Sebastian piped up again. “So what’s she like? What kind of woman finally got your attention?” He still had a small smirk on his face, which was a lot of emotion for him. He was another person who was very much a loner.
Anthony couldn’t help his own smile now. Zach was right. He hadn’t been talking to them much lately, and it felt good to relax with his friends. “She’s beautiful−”
Zach playfully scoffed, “Of course she is!”
They all chuckled again. “She’s what you’d refer to as a natural beauty, Zach. Very little makeup, no fancy clothes, just jeans and a t-shirt… a casual, natural beauty.” He thought about her standing in front of him looking so apologetic after crashing into him. She didn’t scamper away after the apology, either, even though he was sure he he’d been scowling angrily at her. No, she stood her ground, waiting for him to say something. And when he’d barely said more than a few words, her excitement at the book he held had her invading his personal space as if she weren’t worried he’d… hurt her.
He could’ve. He could’ve let a little power seep out into the air and push her away, or give her a feeling of rotten uncomfortableness to be near him. He could’ve done much worse, too, if he’d wanted to make a scene. But he wasn’t Master of Atlanta because he made scenes in front of humans. He was Master because he controlled how supernaturals acted around humans.
Besides, she amused him. She was beautiful, spunky, and seemingly comfortable around him.
“She’s an accountant.”
They burst out laughing.
He smiled and continued, “And she likes to read science fiction.”
“Oh my God she’s perfect for you!”
The laughter continued, and he felt good joining in. It’d been too long since he’d had casual conversation with his friends.
Zach said with a healthy smirk, “Dude, your eyes are glowing.”
He looked away in embarrassment. Thoughts of Kaia were heavy on his mind, and now that he wasn’t out in public, he wasn’t concentrating on using his power to cover for any slip of emotion that might show up as glowing eyes or extended fangs. None of that mattered here at home.
His embarrassment, of course, only made his friends laugh harder. But he knew it was all in good fun so he turned back to them and wistfully said, “I’m very much looking forward to seeing her again. Very much.”
He spent the rest of the night thinking about her.
Chapter 4
Kaia stared blankly at her computer screen. She couldn’t get Anthony off her mind this morning, and wondered if she’d pushed things too far last night. Or why she’d pushed things so far. His interesting looks and intense, yet quiet personality had just rung her bell, and before she knew it, she was pawing him as if she’d never met someone new and sexy before.
“Agh!” She almost jumped out of her skin when she finally noticed Lauren standing in front of her desk.
“Oh honey! I’m sorry! I thought you heard me come in.”
Kaia laughed. “It’s my fault. I was lost in thought.” She liked Lauren and hoped to age as gracefully as she obviously was. The woman was at least twenty years older than her, not a spot of gray in her nearly black hair, and eyes a deep, emerald green that made her features seem exotic.
She sat down with a devious smile. “Thinking about something interesting? Anything you want to share?”
Kaia couldn’t keep the growing smile from her face. “I met a guy last night. I was just thinking about him.”
Lauren leaned closer and gave her a ‘tell me more’ look.
“I crashed into him at Peach’s Bookstore. Inside the store I mean. Anyway, he was nice about it, sort of, and then we got to talking. He’s kind of quiet but seems like a really nice guy so far.”
She patted Kaia on the arm, then gave her a little squeeze. “He better be. You’re a nice, smart, capable young woman. You deserve to be treated well.”
That made her smile slip. Lauren meant well, but for a coworker to say things like that made her feel weird. How would she know how she deserved to be treated? How would anyone know? No one was close enough to her to know those kinds of things.
She tried to banish those thoughts, though. She was too cynical sometimes. Just because her family weren’t good people didn’t mean everyone had an ulterior motive for being nice to her.
“Thanks. I hope it works out, too.”
Lauren gave her a mom smile and Kaia had to look away. Things like that always made her sad. She’d never had someone be a mom for her, at least not for very long, so when people randomly treated her like one of their own, it always made her emotions go wacky.
She distracted her wandering mind by focusing on work instead. “I see you got that file I sent you. What did you
think of the analysis I did?” They spent the next half hour going through questions the executives had about budgets and the most recent financial statements. Before Lauren left for lunch, though, she filled her in on random mom stuff. She always looked so happy when she talked about her son, and it made Kaia both happy and sad. She was happy for her that she had a good relationship with him and that they met up at least once a week for lunch, but it made her sad because having actual parents was something Kaia never had and never would have. She’d never know what it felt like to have someone care for her the way Lauren cared for her family.
She ate lunch by herself as she fought memories of her own past. Her parents died in a house fire when she was too young to remember them, so she’d had to go live with her aunt and uncle and their boys where life was a constant living hell. She never understood as a young child why her father and brothers didn’t seem to like her. She always thought it was because she was just a bad person. It wasn’t until her aunt was on her deathbed from cancer when Kaia was eight that she found out she wasn’t actually her mother, and her uncle wasn’t her father.
Her aunt had been the only one that actually even seemed to like Kaia, and after she died, things got way worse. Her uncle’s drinking got worse, his frequent fits of rage turned into slaps, then punches… and her cousins… she hated thinking about them. They got really good at manipulating uncle Roland so that everything that ever went wrong was somehow Kaia’s fault.
Nowadays, people thought she was a smart, capable woman, but every time she thought about the beatings she grew up with, and then her stupidity in forgiving her uncle every time he was nice to her again, she wanted to cry. Just one kind word from him always gave her such hope. It always wiped away all her misery because mean as he was, in her mind he was her father, even though she knew he actually wasn’t. He was the only one she’d ever known, though, and as a child, she just wanted him to love her. She wanted to know that she was someone who could be loved, so whenever he was nice to her, she latched onto it.
But it never lasted. There was always another time, another beating. Even sneaking out and leaving home that night after her high school graduation, she’d felt torn. After all, what if he missed her? What if he was sad that she’d gone? If she left, she’d never find out if he was actually sorry for all the times he’d hurt her. She’d never know if he wanted to make things right.
