Intended Series Collection: Books 1-6

by Abigail Grant

  He starts the car and heads down the dirt road before continuing his story. "Buckle up. You don't need any more injuries than you already have," he tells me, and I smile as I obey. "Anyways, I followed for a while, but I kept losing your trail. I think Thrane must’ve known I was nearby, so he was misleading me by going in all kinds of circles."

  Gavin reaches for my hand and laces our fingers together. My heart feels happy from the contact. "When I knew I wasn't going to be able to find you right then, I ran back to my house and gathered some things together, ready for a trip. I called Alexa and told her to bring Kassy to our Mom's and meet me there. We had a family meeting to figure out the best course of action, but it was taking too long and every second I could feel you getting further and further away from me."

  "What did you do?" I ask, feeling anxious about his story.

  He chuckles a little. "I jumped in my mom's car and left. I just followed the pull of our Intended connection and kept going until I hit the tree line and couldn't drive any further. I must've been driving for a couple of hours. He took you quite a ways west of Jacksonville. From there I went on foot and, well you know the rest."

  I lay back in my comfortable seat, settling in and feeling tired again. "I can't believe you found me, off of just a heart tug. I didn't even start to feel the pull until I was lying under a tree in the woods, ready to give up," I say, remembering my decision to just lay down and die.

  Gavin squeezes my hand. "I grew up in this world. I knew what to do to find you, so I did it. It was almost instinct to me. You didn't know that we could find each other that way so you weren't focused on it."

  I try to keep my eyes open for the drive, but my brain has a different idea.

  Gavin looks over at me and smiles. He reaches over and strokes my good cheek with his fingers. "Get some rest, my love. I'll wake you when we get close."

  I close my tired eyes, loving his gentle touch and drift off into a dreamless sleep.

  ***

  I can feel featherlight kisses being placed all over my sore face. I turn over and smile as I wrap my arms around Gavin's neck. I hear a soft chuckle come from beneath his deep chest.

  "Well, good morning, beautiful," he whispers to me, making my smile spread wider.

  I open my eyes and see that Gavin is leaning inside the door on my side of the car. The sky is pitch black behind him, proving that it is clearly not morning.

  "Good evening?" I whisper back, feeling a little disoriented from all of my recent sleeping habits.

  Gavin lifts me easily from my seat and cradles me in his arms. "It's actually almost one in the morning now. You slept the whole drive, sleepy head," he says, sounding amused.

  My eyes go wide as I study our surroundings. Gavin is carrying me up the front steps of his parent’s beautiful country-style home. It is so quiet, I'm sure everyone inside must be fast asleep.

  "Does everyone know that you found me?" I ask him, resting my head on his shoulder.

  "I called them while you were asleep after we left Thrane and then again on the drive. They have been waiting for us all day, so be prepared for many hugs." He kisses me lightly on my cheek before pushing the front door open.

  Before I can even adjust to the light inside the house I am being pulled from Gavin's arms into much smaller ones. Alexa wraps me in a tight embrace before pushing me to arms-length for inspection. "El! I am so sorry I wasn't there for you! I should have been by your side non-stop and been working harder with you." She hugs me again and I flinch when I apply too much pressure on my foot.

  Gavin pulls me under his arm so that I can lean comfortably against him. "Lex, be gentle. She's not in the best shape right now." He practically growls at his much tinier twin.

  Her eyes go wide, and she takes a large step back. "I'm sorry, El! I don't know my own strength sometimes."

  I hold a hand up to her, wanting to stop the apologies. "It's fine. I would always take a hug from you, no matter the situation." I reach out and squeeze her hand. "And, what's done is done. It's completely my fault for running off, so no more feeling guilty. Either of you."

  I look pointedly at Gavin as well, so he gets the hint. He rolls his eyes and guides me further into the front room. Camilla is sitting on the long couch with Kassy's fawn-colored head of hair sprawled across her lap.

  Kassy is snoring softly from her Cami pillow. I smile at the scene, feeling grateful that my best friend is so comfortable with these people. Gavin helps me sit next to his mom so I can receive her soft hug.

  "Thank you for taking care of Kassy while I was away." I whisper to her, trying not to wake my friend.

  Camilla shakes her head at me. "She was the one running around here wanting to take care of us. She can surely keep herself busy when she is stressed."

  I nod, knowing exactly what she is talking about. Kassy has always been a busy body, especially when she has a lot on her mind.

  Camilla touches my hurt cheek softly. "We need to get Gram in here to look you over, sweetie."

  Gavin releases me completely and stands up. "I'll go get her. You guys should probably wake Kassy. She'll want to know Aella is back safe." He smiles warmly at me before leaving the room.

  I reach down and brush Kassy's hair away from her face as I whisper to her. "Wake up, little bear. Your snoring is shaking the whole house," I tease.

  Kassy swipes my hand away and groans. "I don't snore, jerk," she growls at me as she turns over and blinks a few times against the soft light of the room.

  She watches me for a long moment as I lean over her before she suddenly bolts to her feet. "Oh my gosh, El!" She crawls around Camilla and pulls me into a surprisingly gentle hug. "You're really here."

  I can feel her body racking slightly from her soft cries. I can't help but shed a few tears of my own and just enjoy being with my best friend. A day ago, I was sure I'd never see her again and that we would both be taken by the same monster.

  "I'm here and I'm alive," I say against her unruly hair.

  She leans away from me, giving me a once over. "El, you look like crap," she says.

  I snort and wipe my tears away with the back of my hand. "I'm sure I do. I haven't showered in like four days and I've been trouncing all over the forest."

  Kassy's eyes are sad as she continues to peruse me. "You are all beat up too." She sniffles again at me. "That demon hurt you bad, didn't he?" she asks.

  I nod and try to hold back the next round of tears. "But he's gone now. We are both safe from him forever."

  She nods along with me. "Good, because I was about ready to go kick some demon butt, Buffy style." Her face is so serious that I can't help but giggle at her. She never fails to lighten the mood.

  "I would've liked to see that." I say and relax against the comfortable couch, finally feeling at home.

  Gavin returns with his grandma in tow. She is carrying bowls of brown mush like the stuff she put on me last time I was hurt, and my pain eases just from the knowledge of what that “Cole Cream” is capable of. Gavin sits next to me on the comfortable couch and takes my hand in his.

  "All right, dear. Why don't you point out some spots that you were hurt, and I'll start working on healing them?" Gram says from her seat on the coffee table in front of me.

  I nod and point to my sore cheek. "My face feels pretty bad. I'm sure it looks awful." I run my fingers along my swollen eyelid.

  “It actually has healed quite a bit since I found you,” Gavin says next to me.

  Gram dips her fingers in the goop and starts to apply the paste to my cheek and neck along the one side. "How did this happen, if you don't mind me asking?" she says as she works.

  "I guess Thrane wasn't one for back talk. He got upset when I called him pathetic," I say, not caring that everyone is listening. I'm done being shy and afraid. Thrane is gone and can't hurt me anymore. “There was an ego on that one.”

  A small smile forms on Gram's face. She looks almost amused by my words. "Well, he must not have known what he was getting
into with you, then." She chuckles lightly. "I'm sure you took him off guard. He was probably used to people cowering before him."

  I shrug. "It could have been much worse. If Gavin hadn't have found me when he did, who knows where I’d be."

  Gavin rubs a hand up and down my back, soothing me.

  "Honestly, sweetie. I think you would've made it back to us even if Gavin hadn't found you. You have surprised everyone here,” Camilla says from her spot next to me.

  I turn just enough to see her proud eyes, not wanting to move too much and mess up Gram's work.

  Gram finishes up applying her medicine to my neck and holds her messy hands up. "Where else, hun? Is that all?" she asks, looking me over.

  Before I can speak, Gavin bends forward and grabs my leg. He lifts it up so that my wrapped ankle is resting on his Grandmother's lap. "Her ankle is pretty busted up. I don't think your medicine is going to help the bone heal but I'm sure it will help with the pain."

  Gram gently unwraps the makeshift cast and studies my broken ankle. Her face is grim. "This is really awful, El. How in the world did you hurt it so badly?”

  I avoid eye contact with everyone and stare at my foot on her lap. "Well, Thrane didn't want me to try to escape when he had to leave for a while. He broke my ankle so that I'd stay put." I laugh humorlessly. "I guess that's another thing he shouldn’t have underestimated about me."

  Kassy places a hand on her heart like she's been shot, and new tears fill her eyes. "That is horrible, El."

  I just nod, not knowing what else to say. I watch as Gram applies a thick layer of the Cole Cream to my leg and swollen ankle. The pain subsides, and I release a long slow breath.

  "She climbed down the side of a two-story brick wall and ran for an entire night on this busted ankle," Gavin says next to me.

  I look up into his glowing eyes and nod. "Well, I told you, I knew you were out there somewhere, and I wasn’t giving up."

  Gavin shakes his head at me like he thinks I'm crazy and then leans in to place an agonizingly sweet kiss on my surprised lips. I kiss him back slowly, forgetting about the rest of the world for a moment, until I hear someone clear their throat.

  I pull away from Gavin and blush immediately when I see all of the amused eyes watching us. Kassy and Alexa look positively giddy, which brings a happy smile to my goop-covered face. Gavin chuckles next to me and rubs soothing circles along my back while I get the Gram treatment.

  With everything that has been going on in my life lately, I shouldn't feel peaceful, but at this moment, I do.

  ***

  "Aella Ganis. You are quite lovely to look at. That little ferret was correct with his description." Something about this voice is familiar but I can't place my finger on it. I want to open my eyes and see the man talking to me, but I can't.

  "Who are you?" I ask him.

  I hear a low chuckle as if it rumbles in the deepest well. The sound is seductive while also terrifying. "I am the one who has been looking for you. I never even knew you were alive until a few weeks ago. You are so much smaller than your parents."

  I struggle harder to open my eyes, needing to see the demon in front of me. "Why can't I open my eyes, and how do you know my parents?" I sound desperate even to myself.

  I hear footsteps coming closer and panic, feeling blind and unable to defend myself. A large hand rests briefly on my shoulder and my eyes slowly begin to open.

  "There, that should help you see."

  I look around and notice that I am in the Cole's guest room where I fell asleep hours ago. The sun is starting to peek through the curtains and Gavin is asleep next to me in the bed on top of the covers, per his mother’s request. He looks so peaceful. I try to touch him but my hand swipes right through him like he is some sort of mirage.

  I look at the area where the deep voice was coming from but only see a fuzzy shape of a man with no distinct features. "I still can't see you. Are you really here or am I dreaming?"

  The blurry shape sits in a chair in the corner of the room. "A small bit of both, I suppose. I am here in your dream. It is one of my talents as a high-level demon; a perk of the job if you will. You see, I come to you as a vision while you sleep but because you have not finished your transformation, it seems as though you cannot fully absorb the situation before you."

  The way he talks, I am assuming he must be incredibly old which chills me to the bone. Nobody has been able to stop him yet.

  I turn back to watch Gavin as I ponder what he is saying. "So, he can't hear us right now?" I ask.

  "He hasn’t the slightest idea that I came to visit you."

  I look back at the blob. "Why did you come here, anyways? Who are you to me?"

  He shifts in his seat as if leaning in to tell me some secret. "I suppose I must start by introducing myself. My name is Barron, and I am here to meet the one that got away. You see, not one being has escaped me before and you accomplished it at such a young age."

  "When did I escape you? I don't even know you."

  Barron stands and takes a step closer to me, making my palms sweat. "I guess it was a long time ago for you, so it is understandable that you have forgotten. I knew Selene had a daughter, but I was told that you did not survive your birth, or I would have introduced myself long ago."

  I feel cold as he mentions my mother's name. "How did you know my mother?" I ask him, desperation filling my voice again.

  "We go quite a way back. I actually knew your great, great-grandfather, Emory Ganis. He took away someone of great importance to me, so I made a promise to him." He sounds angry and I fear what he will say next.

  "What did you promise him?"

  "As I stood over his dying body, I vowed to let each of his children grow to have children of their own until they were fulfilled and comfortable as I once was before he entered my life. Then, I would find them and strike them down and send them to their graves, leaving their children to suffer the exact same fate, one after the other."

  I step away from him, fearing for my life now. "You… killed my parents?"

  He makes a move that I can only assume is a shrug. "I did. And I plan to allow you to join them as well," he states with too much calm.

  I shiver at his cold tone. "I thought you said you were going to let me have children first. Why would you kill me now?" I ask, wanting him to rethink my impending murder.

  He steps closer again, landing only a foot from me. His presence is radiating cold. "I thought Emory's bloodline was finished when I killed your parents. It was quite a relief not having to chase you people down every twenty or so years. Now, here you are, making me have to work again and it is exhausting. I am ready to retire this life, but I must finish what I started first."

  "So, you are going to kill me because you’re tired? That's not a very good reason," I say, hoping to sway him.

  "I am going to kill you because I am finishing my business. Prepare for the end, child. I will not be merciful."

  I try to protest again but the blurry Barron vanishes.

  My eyes fly open for real this time and I jump up in bed. Gavin stirs next to me and stretches his hand out to grab my wrist. I look down into his beautiful eyes, feeling heartbroken that I won't get to spend my life with him.

  Gavin pulls me to him so that he can inspect my face closer. "Why do you look so sad? Are you hurting again?" he asks me, sounding concerned.

  I shake my head. "I'm alright. I just had a bad dream," I say truthfully.

  He pulls me against his side, and I snuggle in. He rubs his warm fingers along my back. "You are safe, Aella. Thrane is gone, so you have nothing to worry about anymore."

  I nod against his chest, but his soft voice does little to soothe my fears because I know he is wrong. Something is after me, and this time, I may not be able to escape it.

  INTENDED

  Part 3 of the Intended Series

  By: Abigail Grant

  Chapter 1

  Barron

  I am aware of the dream playing out in
my subconscious. It happens quite often when my job is at this sort of standstill. My human life unravels before me. I can see my loving mother, and the monster who took her life at the time that I was but a child. Mother leans over my cradle as I coo to her and stretch my arms outward, begging for her to hold me. My father stands outside our cottage, drunken and watching the stars. I do not know what he hoped to see in the vast darkness, but he would often watch them for hours. Possibly, he prayed for redemption for all of the horrid things that he had done in his life.

  In this dream, I blink and see Mother again. She cowers in the corner of the small parlor of our modest home on the farm. Father stands over her and shouts many long-forgotten words. He paddles her left and right until she is riddled with bruises. My small human body cries out for his mother from the tattered fur rug across the floor. I never meant to disobey my father. On this day, I had climbed the gate that held his favorite horse. My carelessness caused the gate to give way and the horse to go free. Had I known Mother would be punished in my stead, I never would have been so remiss.

  Another blink and my eyes open to a different memory. Father screams at my freshly beaten face, mocking me for coming into manhood but not immediately making something of myself. I had been deeply dedicated to the care of my dying mother, to the point where I had neglected work for my father. He had no care for his own wife’s frail state, as long as he received his payments.

  Anger builds within my human body each passing day, and with every harsh word the beast throws at me. I had begun to fantasize about the day Father would succumb to death by my hand. I knew I could bring myself to make that choice, if only I hadn’t feared that Mother would look at me as a murderer. Even now, I can feel the fire in my lungs caused by the hate inside of me for the man whose words should raise me up instead of knocking me down.