Ungifted

by Kelly Oram

  I tried to make sense of my surroundings, but my head felt as if it were shrouded in mist. I sat up slowly, feeling slightly dizzy, but other than being hungry and a little weak I was basically fine.

  I was wearing a silky sleeping gown that flowed all the way to my toes and made me feel as if my ladies-in-waiting were going to arrive any minute to shove me into a corset. In fact, everything about my appearance and this room made me think I’d been transported back in time to the dark ages.

  It was the strangest dream I’d ever had. Then the sleep cleared from my mind and I remembered. This wasn’t the dark ages. It was Beauty and the Beast. I was locked away in a forgotten, cursed castle, and Andrew was the hideous beast holding me prisoner while he tried to win my heart. The difference was Beast was a monster on the outside, whereas Andrew was a monster on the inside.

  He had Preston killed. Slowly, painfully, grotesquely killed—and he’d forced me to watch as punishment for kissing Preston. Then he’d kidnapped me and taken me somewhere not even Ethan would ever be able to find me. I looked around the room again with a new set of eyes. I would probably never see anything else ever again.

  I was shocked and horrified, but the strange thing was that when the door opened I wasn’t overcome with terror. I was filled with anger. It appeared that hate would be the thing to help me survive this.

  I looked around for something to defend myself with, but the only thing I could find was a candlestick, and that would do exactly nothing against Andrew.

  When the door finally swung open, Clara came in carrying a tray with a steaming plate of food and a vase of freshly cut flowers. “Oh!” she said timidly when she saw me sitting up. “You’re finally awake. Master Andrew will be so pleased.”

  I’d been prepared to yell and scream, but her words confused me. “‘Master Andrew? Do you call him that because you’re bonded to him?”

  Clara laughed. “I call him that because he is my master—my coven leader.”

  “Coven leader? I thought Stefan was—”

  “Stefan poses as Andrew’s father when the human world demands it, but Andrew is the leader. As are you now, Grace.”

  “I—what?”

  “You are the mate of my coven leader. I, as well as the rest of the coven, am now your humble servant, Mistress Grace.”

  Beyond the impossibility of everything she was saying, I eyed her warily, listening for sarcasm in her voice. I didn’t find it.

  Clara set the tray of food down on a table and came to sit with me on my bed. Her smiled faded when I scooted away from her. I couldn’t believe it, but she was honestly disappointed by the rejection.

  “I know I wasn’t very nice to you when we first met, but I hope you’ll forgive me. Things are different now, and believe it or not, I really am glad you’ve come to stay with us. It’ll be nice to not be the only non-vampire in the coven. I’m your friend, Grace. Once you realize it, anyway. If you ever need anything, just ask.”

  “You could help me get out of here.”

  Clara grimaced. “I will do anything I can for you, unless it goes expressly against the Master’s wishes.”

  Of course. “Then there’s only one other thing you can do for me.”

  Clara’s face lit up again. “Anything,” she said hopefully.

  “Get out.”

  Clara was so startled that she gasped and flinched back.

  “Go away and leave me alone. I have no desire to see you, or Andrew, or any member of your coven ever again. You are not my friend, this is not my home, and Andrew is not my mate. He’s a monster! I hate him!”

  Clara sighed. “Grace, Andrew is an amazing man. He saved me after I thought my mother had died. He took care of me. He’s kind and generous and thoughtful. You have no idea how lucky you are.”

  That was such an inaccurate statement that I finally flew off the handle. “Lucky!” I screamed as tears poured down my angry face. “Your psycho, evil boss kidnapped me! Preston is dead! Andrew had him killed!”

  “Of course he did!” Clara snapped. She seemed startled that she’d lost her temper, and maybe even a little afraid that she’d yelled at me. She took a deep breath and tried again in a much calmer voice. “You have no idea how much Andrew loves you. Seeing you with Preston pushed the limits of his sanity. Preston was a good guy, Grace. He shouldn’t have had to die, but he wasn’t for you.”

  “Andrew’s not for me, either! I will never love him! I hate him! I hate all of you, and I want to go home!”

  I finally stopped yelling and let the despair sink in. Preston was dead. The memory of his last minutes flooded my mind like a horrible nightmare I couldn’t escape. I buried my face in my pillow and sobbed.

  Clara tried to console me, but her voice only made the nightmare worse. “Try to cheer up, Grace. You’re here now and you’re not going anywhere. You may as well come to terms with it. The sooner you accept your new life, the sooner you can be happy.”

  I said a word to Clara that I’d never said before in my life. Russ would have been proud.

  Clara sighed. “You will like it here eventually. I promise. Andrew is really a wonderful master, and he loves you so much. He’ll make you happy. You’ll see. I’ll go get him for you now.”

  “No!” I screamed. “I don’t want to see him!”

  “But he’s very anxious to see you. I’m sure he’ll be able to help you feel better.”

  “Right. I’m so sure.” I didn’t bother to argue the point any further. I just pulled the covers over my head and ignored her until I finally heard the door to my room open and close.

  A few minutes later, I heard it open again. I didn’t look up to see who was there. There were a few minutes of nothing, just me crying into my pillow, and then I felt the bed sag and heard Andrew’s long sigh. “Grace,” he said softly.

  His hand came down on my shoulder and I jumped away from him. I scrambled to grab the silver candlestick off the night table and held it like a bat. “Don’t touch me!”

  Andrew regarded me coolly and made no attempt to move closer. “I understand you’re upset.”

  “Upset?” I screamed. “You killed Preston!”

  Andrew didn’t look sorry. “You are mine, love,” he said simply. “I will kill anyone who touches you that way.”

  “I hate you!”

  Andrew sighed again. “I will give you time.”

  “I don’t need time! You’re a psycho! You can keep me locked up in here like a slave forever, but I will never be yours! I will never love you! Ever!”

  “Grace, you are not my prisoner. You’re my mate. This is your home now, and you are free to move about it as you like. Perhaps you’d enjoy a tour? I can introduce you to your new family. The coven is very excited to get to know you.” He smiled proudly. “They love you already.”

  The depth of his delusion never ceased to amaze me. Yelling at him was pointless. My anger had no effect on him. The only thing that had ever gotten to him was when I’d ignored him entirely and tried to hurt myself. If that’s what it took to show him he didn’t own me, then so be it.

  I shut down. I stopped looking at him. I stopped screaming. I even stopped crying. I simply put my makeshift weapon back on its table, lay back down, and rolled away from him, yanking the covers back over my head.

  Andrew promptly pulled them off again, but I refused to respond to him. He tried for hours to talk to me and get me to eat something. He rubbed my back, played with my hair, even kissed me a couple of times. It took everything I had in me not to react, but I enjoyed seeing him get flustered. The longer I ignored him, the more desperate he got until finally he gave up. He looked up at the tiny windows and yawned. “Midmorning already,” he said sadly. “I have things I must attend to, but I will be back soon.”

  The minute he was gone, I was finally able to concentrate. I tried to reach out to Ethan. I couldn’t feel him, but I’d never been able to do that.

  Ethan?

  His reply was immediate and was a mental shout so loud i
t echoed in my brain. But it was such a relief to hear him that I welcomed the headache. GRACE! Where have you been? I tried calling you for days!

  Days? I asked, startled. I just woke up. How long has it been?

  Six days.

  The thought that I’d been gone for nearly a week already made me panic. Ethan felt my sudden fear and freaked out. What’s wrong? Are you all right? What has he done to you? Grace, has he hurt you? Has he— He stumbled over his next thought, but couldn’t hide it from me. I saw what he was thinking and shuddered.

  No. He kissed me, but that’s it, I promised quickly. In a much smaller voice, I added, At least, so far. But I don’t think his patience with me will last long. Ethan, I’m scared.

  I know, Grace, but Russ and I are looking for you. If I concentrate, I can feel you. It’s like you’re calling to me. It’s how I knew to go overseas. But you’re still so far away. It’s very faint. I have to be concentrating really hard. Do you know where you are?

  No. It’s really cold and it looks like I’m probably in a… It sounded silly to say it, but… I think I’m in a castle. Andrew said it was midmorning right now, but I can’t really tell. The windows are tiny and up near the ceiling.

  It’s a start. Listen, I have to go, but keep in touch every now and then, okay? Don’t disappear on me again. If you figure out anything else helpful, let me know.

  Okay.

  And Grace?

  What?

  His voice got really small and he shyly said, Don’t give up on me. I’ll find you. I promise.

  . . . . .

  Days passed. Two, then three, and then four.

  The first day I’d spent entirely in bed, but on the second Andrew sent Clara in and she forced me into a hot bath, then a dress—of the princess variety, though thankfully, without the corset—and finally out of my room.

  Andrew took me on a tour of “our house”, as he called it—which was a castle, by the way—and he introduced me to the rest of the coven. Everyone doted on me and spoke to me as if everything were normal, even though I wouldn’t respond to any of them.

  Andrew carried me from room to room, explaining the history of the building. I listened for any clues that might tell me about where we were, but all I got was that we were really far north, and he and his coven had built the place for themselves as a refuge after the first Great War when the supernaturals went into hiding.

  The third day he tried showering me with gifts—beautiful clothing, expensive jewelry, books of all kinds, and even a set of expensive drawing pencils and a sketch pad he’d set up on a wooden easel after discovering the pictures on my cast. Nothing worked. I could be stubborn if I really wanted to be—I am my father’s daughter, after all—and I wasn’t about to give Andrew hope and have him think I was starting to like him. Ethan would be here soon.

  By the “evening” of my fourth day in Castle Creepy—which was technically morning since Andrew had me on a vampire’s schedule—I was really weak. I was dizzy and lightheaded from not eating or drinking. If Ethan didn’t find me soon, I knew I would break down and eat.

  Of course, part of me would rather waste away to nothing if Ethan couldn’t find me, but I knew I’d never be able to do that since the whole world was apparently dependent on my survival. But I was going to hold out as long as I could, because showing any sign of life at all would be enough encouragement for Andrew to convince himself our happily ever after was just around the corner.

  Andrew was unusually quiet that evening as he brought me into the small sitting room where he liked to spend most of our time together. It was a small room with a big fireplace that tended to be a lot warmer than the rest of the house but also had a very large window. It was always dark when we came in here, so I could never see much outside except stars.

  The entire coven would come in and out of the room, consoling Andrew and leaving him words of encouragement as he sat with a plate of untouched food in his hands. Eventually, he put it down and sent everyone away. I was secretly grateful for the peace.

  “Please, Grace,” Andrew whispered after a good fifteen minutes of silence. His voice shook with a fear I’d never heard in it before. “I have done everything I can think of. Would you really rather die than accept my love? Am I really so horrible?”

  Yes.

  Andrew fell off the couch and crawled on his knees to me. He grabbed both of my hands in his and buried his face in my lap. I was shocked to feel his body shake as he began to cry. “Please, Grace,” he whimpered. “I am a broken man, and I am begging. What more can I do?”

  It was awful. Andrew may have looked like a seventeen-year-old, but on the inside he was a mature man, and he was crying like a small child. Worse, there was something so ancient about his sorrow. He’d lived six hundred years, finally tasted true, eternal happiness, and was realizing he would never have it.

  I hated Andrew, and I’d wanted to make him sorry for what he’d done to Preston, but I had never meant to break him like this. I hated feeling sympathy for him, but I couldn’t help it. The problem was, aside from his fixation on me that made him slightly crazy, he was actually a very decent man.

  I’d seen so much of Andrew these past few days, learned so much about the person he was, and seeing him in pieces at the moment was almost enough to make me crack. It was almost enough to just give him what he wanted. Part of me even believed he deserved to be happy.

  He cared about his coven so much, and they adored him right back. He took very good care of all of them. Aside from the things he’d done in pursuit of me, he was a law-abiding citizen, both of human and supernatural laws. He was fond of humans and encouraged his coven to be the same. He encouraged them to help people and respect the beings that sustained their lives. It was the reason Stefan had dedicated his life to medical sciences.

  Had Andrew pursued me from the beginning like a normal person might have, I’d probably have happily fallen for him.

  GRACE!

  Ethan had been so quiet over the last few days, focusing on trying to find me, that his voice so clear and strong in my mind startled me. I jumped at the sound, and Andrew’s head snapped up. “Grace?” he asked. I couldn’t blame him for his surprise. It’s not like there’d been anything to warrant my startled reaction—that he could hear, anyway—and it was more life than he’d seen from me in days. The spark of hope in his eyes nearly broke my heart. I pitied him so much.

  Grace, what the hell is with you right now? Why the sudden sympathy? I don’t like feeling forgiveness and compassion coming from you, knowing where you are! Whatever he’s doing to convince you right now, you can’t listen! He stole you! He killed Preston!

  I knew that. I would always know that. Andrew specifically made it so that I would never forget Preston, and, ironically, that was now the one thing that would always keep me from ever forgiving Andrew.

  “Grace?” Andrew asked again while Ethan continued to shout in my mind.

  Grace, talk to me! What’s wrong? What’s going on?

  I couldn’t answer either of them. There was something about Ethan’s presence in my mind that didn’t quite make sense. It felt different than it had before. Our connection was stronger somehow—like we were a set of walkie-talkies that had been out of range for too long and had suddenly switched to a channel with a stronger signal. It was almost as though I could feel him the way he could feel me. He was exhausted and filled with determination, desperation, and fear—but also hope. Close was the thought I tasted in his muddled mind. Then, suddenly, I could feel it, too. Close.

  Without thinking, I turned to look out the large window behind me. The night sky was full of brilliant stars, but it was too dark to see what lay on the horizon.

  “Grace?” Andrew asked again. He followed my gaze, and choking on the hope in his voice, asked, “Would you like to see the stars? They’re very beautiful here.”

  I didn’t care about the stars, but I still rose to my feet.

  “Careful, love,” Andrew said, jumping to grab
hold of me. “You’re so very weak right now. Are you sure you won’t eat something first?”

  No food. Ethan was close. I could feel it. I needed to follow it. I needed to help him find me.

  I hobbled along the couch, determined to get to the window. Ethan was out there somewhere. When Andrew saw me trying to walk without my crutches, he slipped an arm around me and helped me across the room.

  “Grace, it’s wonderful that you want to be up, but you feel like you could break. Please, let’s take it slowly and get some nourishment in you first.”

  I’d had no food or drink in four days, and who knows how much Stefan had managed to get in me the six days I had been asleep before that. I got about three steps and then dark spots started clouding my vision.

  Close, I whispered to Ethan.

  What, Grace? I don’t understand. What’s close?

  Ethan, I thought. Ethan is close. And then I collapsed.

  It couldn’t have been more than a minute or two that I’d passed out. Only long enough for Andrew to lay me back down on the sofa near the fireplace and call for Stefan.

  Stefan was leaning over me, poking at me with doctor’s hands when I opened my eyes. “She’s just dehydrated and hungry,” he said as Andrew raked his trembling fingers through my hair over and over again. “I’ll start her on an IV for fluids, and if you can’t get her to take food, I can feed her through tubes like before. But if she doesn’t begin to function on her own, she won’t survive long. Humans are peculiar like that. They’re such fragile creatures. If they’re determined to die, they’ll find a way. I’m sorry, Andrew, but you must prepare yourself for that possibility.”

  “What about your research?” Andrew asked desperately. “The blood and tissue samples. Have you found nothing?”

  “The girl is positively human. There is nothing different in her physical makeup than any other human. There is no way to know why your blood has no effect on her, and therefore no way to make it work. I’m afraid she can’t be turned immortal. You know I hate to use the term, Master, but it’s simply impossible.”