by Kelly Oram
I sat back, stunned. Not because he’d vanished—I’d seen him do that last night. But for that last moment it was like he’d become the guy he was meant to be, the one who was trapped beneath all the pain and anger. He was amazing. He was charming, confident, playful, and so incredibly hot that that one smile had melted me into a giant puddle of goo where I sat.
I scooped up my phone off my nightstand and sighed into it when my best friend picked up. “Oh, Cynthia! I am in trouble with a capital L-O-V-E.”
Okay, I knew I didn’t have a chance with Russ. I knew that. Besides the fact that a guy like him was way, way, way out of my league, he was head over heels in love with someone else. I totally got that. But I still couldn’t help stressing out about my appearance that morning.
I gave Cynthia all of the details of Russ’s visit and even though she was a little untrusting, she agreed to meet with us later and then talked me through choosing the perfect outfit. Not that there was much that could make a gigantic, clunky cast look good, but still, I tried. And I know it was stupid, but I went all out with the curling iron—which is something I never do—because Russ seemed to really like Dani’s curls.
My good mood was crushed when I came hobbling into the kitchen at quarter to ten and was greeted by my father and Ethan. “Good morning, sleepyhead!” my dad said cheerfully. He did a double take and his face really lit up. “You look very pretty, honey.”
I blushed despite myself. Compliments from my father of any kind are very rare. Something big must have happened in the campaign. That’s the only time he’s ever in a mood this good. He kissed my cheek and helped me to a chair, then set a toasted bagel in front of me.
I eyed the bagel suspiciously and asked, “What?”
Bingo. There was guilt beneath his excitement.
“All right, fine. You’re right. I’m trying to butter you up. I need you to go to a dinner with me tonight.”
I groaned on cue. He knows how much I hate his stupid fund-raising dinners.
“This one’s important, sweetheart. The AHA is interested in giving me their official endorsement. I thought for sure they were going to go Republican this year, but…”
Dad shrugged, trying to look modest, while still beaming with pride.
I tried to muster up some enthusiasm even though I couldn’t care less. “That’s great, Dad.”
I don’t think I fooled him. He frowned, so I went for a distraction. I darted my eyes to Ethan and said, “What’s he doing here?”
Now my dad’s guilt was overpowering his excitement. “He’s taking you to a dress appointment at ten thirty,” Dad admitted with a cringe. “The thing tonight is black tie.”
“I wish you’d asked me first. I already have plans, Dad.”
Sadly, both he and Ethan looked really confused, as if the idea of me having any kind of life were impossible. I felt a hint of satisfaction when the bell at the front gate dinged. “See? Sorry.”
Dad buzzed the gate open without asking who was there. I headed for the front door and both Dad and Ethan followed me into the living room. “Well, just bring Cynthia to the dress shop before you go out,” Dad said. “It’s not going to kill her if you stop for twenty minutes first.”
“You’re right, it probably wouldn’t kill Cynthia,” I said. I reached the front door right as the doorbell rang. “However, it might kill him.”
I swung the front door open and rather enjoyed the look of shock on both my Dad and Ethan’s faces.
“Dad, this is Russ Devereaux. He’s new in town and has never been to D.C. before. I offered to give him a tour of our nation’s capitol. I mean, who better than the possible next first daughter, right?”
“Oh. Well.” My dad was completely tongue-tied. There was even a slight layer of pink in his cheeks as he struggled to compose himself. He wasn’t prepared for the protective father bit. He’d never had to do it before. After completely floundering for a minute, he puffed out his chest, cleared his throat, and held out his hand to Russ.
Russ turned on that magic charm of his and accepted the handshake, as if meeting my father were nothing at all. “It’s an honor to meet you, sir.”
“You as well, young man.”
Dad let go of Russ’s hand and looked back at me as though he was impressed. It was shocking. I can’t remember the last time my dad was impressed by anything I did. “You didn’t tell me you had a date.”
“Or me,” Ethan grumbled.
I’d forgotten Ethan was even here, and also that he and Russ had practically tried to kill each other the night before. Apparently his opinion of Russ hadn’t changed—unless it got worse. He was glaring daggers at both of us.
Ethan wanted to give me a mouthful about this. I was sure he would the second we left the house, but I didn’t care what he had to say. Just because he has some stupid bond didn’t mean he gets to control me. I couldn’t help losing my temper. “My social life is none of your business,” I snapped.
“Actually, it is, Grace,” my dad said with a sigh. “You have to schedule Ethan to be your escort whenever you leave the house, remember?”
My mouth dropped open in horror. “I thought that was when I was alone. Dad, I’m not taking Ethan along on all of my dates.”
I’d finally killed Dad’s good mood. He crossed his arms over his chest and switched into his grumpy dad voice. “Then you won’t be going on any. Ethan is your Randy now, Grace. He goes anywhere you go, regardless of who is with you.”
This arrangement sucked. Seriously, if it had been anybody but Ethan…
One look on my dad’s face told me I would not be changing his mind. “Well, tell him he has to keep his distance like your goons do. He’s my bodyguard, not my friend—and I don’t want him there.”
My dad’s eyes flashed with anger, but he managed to take a little of the edge out of his voice. “That’s a poor attitude, Grace. I’m very disappointed in you.”
I knew he felt that way—he felt that way most of the time—but it still hurt every time he said it. I hated that he got to me so much. I hated that I was so desperate for his approval. And I especially hated that in that moment my eyes filled with tears. I batted them away and stubbornly muttered, “What else is new?”
My dad saw the tears and sighed. The thing is, he’s hard on me and completely self-absorbed, but deep down I think he does love me. “Gracie, sweetheart,” he said, now full of pity. “I know this is—”
“Forget it, Dad. Spare me the lecture. I don’t want to hear it.” I didn’t want his pity. I’d rather he hated me. I wiped my eyes and turned to Russ, more embarrassed than I think I’d ever been in my life, and, believe me, that was saying something. “Maybe you should go. I have to go to a stupid dress shop for a fitting. I’m sorry. I wasn’t told that my day had been scheduled for me.”
Behind me my dad sighed. “Grace—”
“Or that we’d have company,” I hedged on.
“Grace you don’t have to cancel your—”
I glared at my dad so hard he actually shut up.
“No, your dad’s right,” Russ said. “You don’t have to cancel. I understand. If it means keeping you safe, I don’t mind having a tag along. And as for the dress shopping…” he made a grimace, but still shrugged. “It won’t take too long, right? Small price to pay for spending the day with you.”
I stood there, gaping at Russ, and he sent me a heart-stopping wink.
“There, you see?” My dad sounded smug. “A very mature, sensible young man you’ve got here, Grace.” He shook Russ’s hand again. “I appreciate your understanding, Russ. My Grace is a special girl. She just has a hard time seeing that.”
“Well, I can see it, sir, and I promise I’ll do everything I can to help her realize exactly how special she is.” He laughed when my dad’s eyes narrowed, and pulled his arms behind his back. “While keeping my hands to myself, of course.”
I would kill for even an eighth of Russ’s charm. He totally worked my dad over. Dad laughed, his good mo
od fully restored, and kissed my cheek as he shooed us out the door. “Have fun today and be back by four, Grace. Dinner’s at six, and you need to be presentable. The invitation specifically asked for us both this time. The AHA must be excited to meet you.”
When I frowned Dad rolled his eyes. “If we win the election, you’re going to have to get used to that. The invitations will start pouring in for you. Half of the time they won’t even include me. You’re going to be a very popular, very busy girl.”
Great. Just what I always wanted. Even more spotlight to humiliate myself and disappoint my dad in.
. . . . .
Ethan waited until the front door was shut and my dad was well out of earshot before he started in. Russ had opened the passenger door to his car for me and Ethan jumped in front of it so that I couldn’t climb in.
“Ethan.” I sighed. “Please move.”
“No. What’s he doing here?”
“Taking her to get a dress,” Russ said. All the politeness he’d shown my dad was gone, and I was grateful for it. I’m not very good at being mean, so I hoped Russ would stand up to Ethan for me.
“I don’t think so,” Ethan said. “Who are you?”
“You know who I am. You recognized my name last night just as much as everyone else did. Don’t think I don’t know what that means. Only other warlocks or people intimately involved with the council would know who I am by name.”
Ethan bristled, insulted by the insinuation, so Russ added with a smirk, “Or members of the resistance.”
“How dare you suggest—”
“Cut the bullshit, pretty boy.”
I chocked on a laugh and Ethan glared at me.
“Clara’s mom just about killed me the other day in the name of the resistance. I know they’re here in D.C., and I know you’re involved.”
Something changed in Ethan then. He was still as hostile as ever, but he gave up trying to deny his connection to the resistance. “And you’ve come for revenge? You think I’m going to let you anywhere near Clara’s mom?” Ethan snorted in disgust. “You think you’d even stand a chance against Simone?”
“I had you on the ground easy enough.”
Ethan burst out laughing. “You’d been drinking faerie wine and hadn’t really done anything dangerous. You weren’t a real threat. Nephilim are taught to use the least amount of force necessary. If I’d needed to, you’d have been dead and you know it.”
“Really? Should we go for round two, then?”
Ethan and Russ squared off and I sighed again, loudly enough to grab both of their attention. “Can you guys please wait to kill each other until after we get to the tailor? I’ll get in trouble if I’m late for my appointment.”
Russ still looked ready for a fight but Ethan backed down immediately, probably remembering how my dad reacted last time he was mad at me.
Ethan pointed to a silver Lexus coupe parked at the other end of the driveway. “My car’s right there. Get in it and I’ll gladly drive you to your appointment.”
“Fine. If you’d feel more comfortable driving, I’m okay with that.” To Russ I said, “Do you mind if he drives?”
“That’s not what I meant,” Ethan said. “You’re not going anywhere with him.”
“Excuse me?”
“I don’t trust him.”
“Well, then it’s a good thing you really don’t have a say in this decision,” Russ said. “You’re paid to stand in the background and look intimidating.”
“I’m paid to keep her safe,” Ethan argued. “You aren’t safe.” He’d stepped into Russ’s personal space again. They’d be duking it out on my driveway any second.
I pushed them apart, managing a glare for Ethan. “As soon as Russ tries to attack me, you are welcome to step in. Until then, leave us alone. I already have one jerk controlling my life. I don’t need two.”
Ethan was shaking with anger but was apparently all out of protests because he stepped out of my way and climbed into the back seat of Russ’s car.
As Russ helped me into the passenger seat, he sent me a questioning look that I assumed was asking if he should say anything about what he’d discovered at the school in front of Ethan. I was dying to know, and Ethan was going to figure out what we were up to sooner or later, so I sighed and said, “Did you find anything?”
“I have good news and bad,” Russ admitted with a nod of his head.
“What are you talking about?” Ethan demanded.
Russ ignored him and jogged around the car to the driver’s seat. Once he slipped behind the wheel he asked which news I wanted first. “Good,” I told him.
“We definitely know it’s a witch. There were traces of her magic all over that auditorium.”
“Grace!” Ethan shouted.
I turned in my seat and indulged my grumpy bodyguard before his head exploded. “Russ is going to try and help me figure out who tried to kill me. He went down to the school this morning to see what he could find.”
Ethan glared at Russ. “Why would you do that?”
Russ wasn’t the least bit bothered by Ethan’s anger and distrust. “She reminds me of someone,” he said with a wink my direction. His smile quickly faded, though, and I could see the heartache in his eyes.
I grabbed his hand and gave him my most sympathetic smile. “We’ll figure it out.”
Ethan’s jaw dropped as he watched Russ thread his fingers with mine and rest our joined hands on the center console. “Figure what out?” Ethan growled. “Who does Grace remind you of?”
Russ let go of my hand and pulled out his phone. He showed Ethan the same picture he showed me earlier. “Her,” was all he said.
Ethan gasped just as I had. Like me, he began flipping through the different pictures stored in Russ’s phone. His face grew paler with every image he saw. “How is this possible?”
“I don’t know,” Russ said, the fierce determination back in his voice. “But I wonder if the person trying to kill Grace does. Whoever it is most likely has answers that both Grace and I are looking for, so we’re working together and you’re going to deal with it, Angelface.”
Ethan glared again so hard I really did start to fear his head exploding, but he didn’t argue. Once he was calm enough he became all business. “So what did you find at the school? You said it was a witch. You’re sure?”
“Positive,” Russ said.
“You also said there was bad news,” I reminded him warily.
“The traces were strong, which means the spells cast were extremely powerful. We’re looking for a witch with strong blood, and she wasn’t messing around. There were traces going from a specific seat in the auditorium, trailing all the way up onto the stage where the light fell. My guess is she tried to spell you directly, but of course she couldn’t.”
“What do you mean ‘of course she couldn’t’?” Ethan asked.
“Magic seems to have no affect on me,” I replied. “Russ tried to put a spell on me and he couldn’t.”
“An invisibility spell,” Russ said quickly when Ethan filled with rage again. “We were going to go to the school together, but I couldn’t cloak her. The magic simply slipped off her.
“I think that’s what happened at the school, too. I think our witch tried to cast spells on Grace several times, using stronger spells each time, until finally she thought to spell something else and kill her indirectly.”
Ethan nodded slowly. “That makes sense. It goes along with what I felt that day.”
I sighed. “So there’s a really powerful witch out there determined to kill me. Well, I hate to say it, but she won’t need to if we don’t start driving. My dad will do it for her if I’m late for my appointment.”
“Why do you need an appointment to buy a dress?” Russ asked as he punched our destination into his GPS and pulled out of my driveway.
I was grateful for the change in subject. “I’m not buying a dress. I’m being fitted.”
Russ appeared to have no idea what I was talking about.
“I never get to shop for myself,” I explained. “My dad has a stylist who picks out everything I wear for public events. He’ll have sent over a dress to my tailor—which is where we’re going—and she’ll make sure it fits me exactly right.”
“Sounds like a pain. What’s the occasion?”
I groaned. “My dad’s dragging me to this stupid political dinner. They’re the worst. Tonight will be especially boring. The American Hospital Association decided to endorse my dad, so tonight there will be a bunch of snobbish, rich doctors patting each other on the back while my dad kisses up to them.”
“The American Hospital Association?” Ethan asked from his spot in the back seat at the same time Russ asked, “Isn’t it a little late for an endorsement? The election is this Thursday.”
I decided to answer Russ and ignore Ethan. “It’s late, but the last week of the campaign is the most important. If they’re meeting with my dad tonight, they probably already have an ad put together for him to approve. They’ll make it official at tonight’s dinner and push the commercials starting tomorrow. A week of prime time spots leading up to the election telling America that their hospitals agree with Senator St. Claire? This is huge for my dad.”
“Grace,” Ethan called again from the backseat. He’d scooted all the way forward so that I couldn’t ignore him again. “You can’t go tonight.”
I just laughed. “I wish.”
“Grace, do you know who the head of the American Hospital Association is?”
“Um, no. And I don’t really care, either.”
“Stefan De La Cote.”
My blood ran cold at the mere mention of the name. “As in Andrew?” I asked, even though I knew the answer.
“His father. But I’m sure Andrew is behind the association’s sudden interest in your dad.”
My eyes stung as if I might actually start crying. The thought of having to see Andrew again scared me more than anything ever had.
“What’s the matter?” Russ asked. “Who are these people?”
Ethan looked pissed to have to explain himself to Russ, but he still answered. “The coven of vampires that tried to turn her this week.”