by Cat Miller
“Who the hell are you? Let me up! Where I come from friends don’t blindside you,” Cayden growled.
Finally the scent of the vamp invaded his senses. It was just slightly off and Cayden recognized the difference immediately. He had become very familiar with the confusing aroma in the past. Cayden had been closer to Dani than any other person when she first arrived in his society. They had been a couple and had spent many hours snuggled up next to each other before she was fully turned against her will. Cayden froze. The vamp’s chuckle was a deep rumble his chest.
“You can sense the difference. I knew you would. You have the most experience with my kind. I was hoping your past would help us come to a mutual understanding. I am hoping you are unprejudiced enough to see me for who I am, instead of how I was born.”
The vamp loosened his hold and leapt away from Cayden before he could strike out. Cayden got to his feet and stared at his would-be ally. The man was huge even by warrior standards. He stood several inches over Cayden’s six foot four stature and outweighed him by at least fifty pounds of ripped muscle. Thick biceps protruded from a short-sleeved black shirt that seemed to strain against the pressure of containing the vast muscular plain of his chest. He had dark, shoulder length hair and eyes of undetermined color in the darkness. The vamp stood on guard and allowed Cayden to take in the sheer size and power he possessed.
“You are half human.” It was a statement, not a question.
“I’m actually only a quarter human. My grandmother was human, my grandfather a vamp. My father who was half human mated with a pure blood vamp that loved him no matter his race. So I am technically only a quarter human, but who’s counting? Your illustrious Council would still consider me a mongrel.”
“Shit.” Cayden’s head was spinning.
“I understand it’s a lot to absorb, son, but I need you to give me the benefit of the doubt here. There are things I want to share with you, but not here. Come with me and it will all become very clear.” The demi-vamp stood from his defensive position and extended a hand to Cayden.
“They call me Hawk.”
TEN
It had been two damn days. Griffin woke up confused and ready to fight in the Enclave infirmary after being unconscious for two damn days. The last thing he remembered was the crushing devastation of knowing he had failed his son. Those rogue bastards had come for JR and all Griffin could do was lay there uselessly while they carried him away.
Griffin woke to find his twins, Brandi and Samantha, at his bedside. They were surrounding him, one girl on each side holding his hands. Once his confusion cleared, the girls had assured him that JR would be fine but he was being observed due to an allergic reaction to the drug used by the Rogue’s minions. The story Brandi relayed to him was incredible. Once Brandi began to praise Tessa for her bravery and using her incredible psychic talent to save not only JR’s life but his life as well, Samantha got up and left the room. There didn’t seem to be anything Tessa or Soleil could do to erase the anger Samantha harbored against them. His mate, Sarah, only made the situation worse by fanning the flames of Sam’s resentment. Before Brandi could finish her story, Sarah stormed into the room dragging Greyson, the reluctant physician turned warrior, behind her. Sarah chased Brandi from the room. Doc Stevens had been taking care of Griffin, but Sarah was in a hurry to get Griffin home, so she commandeered Greyson.
The one good thing that had come from the situation was that Griffin had proof of Soleil’s claim that the Rogue had infiltrated the warrior class. The vamps that perpetrated this crime were guards from the gate house. That much he remembered overhearing before he fell unconscious. Griffin hadn’t yet decided what to do with that information. He felt as if he would be ostracized as Soleil had been if he outright made the accusation of defectors in the warriors ranks. He had to find another way to bring the traitors to light.
Greyson gave him a through physical and basic neurological exam before proclaiming him fit to be released and retreating to give Griffin privacy to shower and change into an Enclave sweat suit for the ride home. They had cut his clothes off of him. To Griffin’s surprise Greyson returned looking disturbed and uneasy.
“Griffin, about Tessa…?” he started to ask but Sarah cut him off.
“That’s not something he needs to worry about right now, Dr. Drake. I need to get him home.” Sarah literally pushed Greyson out the door.
That had been two days ago. Griffin had spent the last two days hunkered down in the remains of his office. The sofa was still in mostly one piece and that is where he had been sleeping. Only the maid who brought his meals and carried away the dirty dishes had disturbed his solitude. The phone had been destroyed and he still hadn’t located his cell phone.
He used the time to look back over his life and contemplate all the wrong turns along with the right ones. He regretted deeply the loss of the life he would have lived with Tessa but he couldn’t regret the births of the three children that came as a result of that loss. He loved all of his kids and wished there was way to bring them closer together. Soleil deserved to be a part of his family and the other kids needed to know their long lost sibling. Griffin believed in that moment that it would take an act of God to get Sarah to allow that to happen, so he prayed for one.
He also wondered how Tessa was doing. Again she had found a way to build her psychic walls and block him out. He could still feel her out there but the only real feeling he could decipher was a kind of sad resignation. He needed to find a way to contact her and give thanks for her selfless intervention the other night. Not just anybody would brave the danger she had to save the man who had ruined her life. But his Tessa wasn’t just anybody.
Finally, he dragged his tired bones up off the warm coffee colored leather sofa and began to sort through the debris. He’d need to rent a dumpster to haul out the mess he had made of his office. Griffin had just located his cell phone buried under the remains of his desk when the office door flew open. Soleil stomped in, black-eyed and furious, nearly running in his direction. Everything in the room from the large chunks of debris to the matchstick sized pieces of furniture began to levitate. Even her long dark hair rose as if caught in a strong wind, the snow white and red highlights dancing like flames. Chase ran in after her and wrapped his arms around her waist. Together they also lifted from the ground and continued to float in his direction.
Damn!
His baby girl was strong and pissed off. It made him proud to see the strength of her fury, but he wondered what he’d done to be on the receiving end. Hopefully, she wouldn’t allow others to ruin her life the way he had. Suddenly the sound of Sarah cursing and screaming for help from the hall reached his ears.
“Lovely, please calm down. This isn’t helping anyone. Hanging Sarah from the chandelier isn’t going to endear her to you.” Chase held tight to his mate. Sarah continued to scream.
“Screw that bitch! I hope she falls and breaks her jaw so we don’t have to listen to her lying mouth!” Soleil growled and turned her attention to Griffin. Chase gave him a sympathetic look. Griffin could only imagine what it would be like to have a mate with power like that angry with you. Chase’s expression said he completely understood.
“I don’t give a damn what that bitch says, Griffin!” she screamed. “How could you believe my mother would ever hurt you? How could you believe she would even think of injuring my brother? She saved your sorry excuse for a life and your son’s. He would have died before they got him off the property if it weren’t for my mother! How dare you let her sit in jail for days while they charged her with treason against a government that she isn’t a party to?” Soleil took a few calming breaths.
“Chase, release me please,” she asked her mate, but judging by the look on Chase’s face as he gently floated back to the ground, he hadn’t done it voluntarily. She had used her telepathic power to force his compliance. That isn’t something she ever did lightly because she considered it a violation of trust. Chase rushed to explain the situat
ion to Griffin before Soleil could do anything she would regret when she calmed down.
“They are transporting Tessa to the Council hall. You haven’t stepped forward to refute Sarah’s claim that Tessa drugged you and JR in an attempt to kill you both in revenge against Sarah because you chose her over Tessa and the Council for being prejudice against humans. Sarah claims it was a direct strike against the Council. Tessa is being given a trial but the two warriors that corroborated Sarah’s story are missing, so they can’t be cross examined. You aren’t speaking up and no one has been able to reach you for days. Sarah has turned away anyone that came to speak with you. We just got back into town from babysitting for my parents. Dad is on his way back now and I called Donavan, as much as it pained me, because he was a great deal of help with Lovely’s trial.”
Griffin was shocked into silence, his mind trying to work through the ramifications of his absence for the last four days. Tessa would be executed without his testimony. Sarah’s odd behavior at the Enclave and her willingness to let him brood without complaint for the last two days began to make perfect sense. Chase continued.
“Dad hadn’t heard a thing about a Council session being called. We weren’t even informed there was a problem here. We had to force our way into the house to speak to you.” He glanced at Soleil, indicating that she had done the forcing, “Your phone has been off. When we arrived, Sarah was leaving to go testify against Tessa. That’s why she’s hanging in the entryway.”
Griffin looked down at the cell phone in his hand. “I just found it. It’s dead.” He replied lamely, his head spinning with news of Sarah’s betrayal. Tessa saved their son. How could she do this? She had gone out of her way to keep him in the dark, figuring by the time he got his head out of his ass it would be over.
“The only evidence they have are the statements given by the missing warriors and Sarah’s side of the story. She will be executed, Father!” Soliel said father as if it were a curse. “You had better stop them or I will do the same to you.”
It was a promise from the heart of a girl who loved and believed in her mother.
“Lovely, please don’t say things you will regret. I’m sure Griffin had no idea this was happening.” Chase pulled her into his arms again and she began to sob on his shoulder.
Griffin felt sick. He had been hiding from the world while Tessa paid the price for protecting one of his children, once again. Sarah must have been very proud to have manipulated the situation to her advantage.
“I’m leaving now.” Griffin stepped around the embracing couple. “I swear to you that I was clueless of the happenings outside this office. I was told by Brandi that Tessa saved our lives. I had no reason to think anyone else believed otherwise. I will make this right, baby girl. I swear it.”
****
Tessa was cold, hungry, and ready to get the show on the road. She had been stuck in a cell with no visitors since she had been hauled off the Vaughn estate in shackles. The only person she had seen was a warrior that brought her food and a fresh pitcher of water twice a day. Using the facilities right out in the open had been a new and unwelcome experience for her, but at least she didn’t have any guards or other prisoners standing around to watch her shame. Every once in a while she would hear voices from somewhere down the corridor but they never came any closer. Tessa knew Reilly must be losing his mind. Unbidden, a smile spread across her face, poor Reilly. He had seen the rough way she had been handled by the warriors. He was likely imagining broken bones and black eyes.
The jeans and t-shirt she had been wearing when they tossed her into a cell at the Enclave hadn’t been much of a barrier between her skin and the cold metal of the slab they were calling a bunk. There weren’t any sheets or a mattress, just solid steel to rest on. Her new short-term home in a holding cell outside of the Council chambers was much the same, only colder.
Tessa had known when she decided to go all superhero that it wouldn’t end well for her and she had been correct. She was informed by the warrior that led her to the van for transport to the Council hall that she was being charged with treason against the vampire nation for the attempted murder of a Councilmen and his son.
“Wow.” That was all she had been able to say to the man’s ridiculous statement of her supposed crimes. Well, if they were calling it attempted murder, at least she knew both Griffin and JR were still living. She had done what she set out to do and that was to save their lives. Unfortunately for her, the punishment for both of the crimes she was being accused of was immediate execution and if that were the Council’s intention, Tessa really wished they would come on and get it over with. She was tired of her self-imposed life of lonely despair.
She had lived day to day, hiding her pain for the sake of her daughter. Some days had been harder than others but she got through and her daughter grew into a happy well-adjusted young woman. Now that Danielle was twenty-one years old and a married woman, Tessa had no purpose in life. She spent her days helping out at Reilly’s clinic and longing for the man that crushed her so many years ago. What kind of life is that really?
Her only hope for redemption was Griffin and she honestly had no idea if he had been awake to see who had drugged him or if he had been in bed and drugged in his sleep. If the latter were the case, there would be no one who could testify to her innocence. Tessa refused to probe her psychic link with Griffin to verify his state of mind or wellbeing. So there she sat, clueless as to what her future, or lack thereof, would bring.
A door down the hall swung open but she didn’t move from her position on the slab. Tessa remained curled in a ball, tucked in the corner to conserve her body heat. Two male voices rumbled from the room beyond.
“Cayden has been watching the house and grounds surreptitiously. The boy is really good at staying hidden but I’m beginning to worry. It isn’t like him to miss his daily report. It’s been more than two days since his last call.” Gage’s raspy growling voice.
“I will have a look around the grounds myself. If he’s out there and he sees me he will approach. If he isn’t aware that I’ve been home it’s likely that he’s simply still on guard.” Griffin responded.
Oh, God no.
She couldn’t deal with him. Not now. Just the sound of his voice made her hurt. She was tired and after days of very little sleep and the stress of worrying and waiting, her defenses were not at their strongest. The men came closer and Tessa tried to make herself smaller. Maybe they would just pass by her. She avoided any situation that would bring her into contact with Griffin. Just listening to him speak made her want to cry. All her heart and soul wanted was for him to hold her and she knew that if she asked him to he would, but for how long? Not long enough to make up for time lost. He would never leave his family and for that she couldn’t bring herself to blame him. She just wished he would stop trying to contact her. It made her nuts. She had to change her number because he would leave her messages and would she just delete them? No. She would play them over and over again, wistfully listening to the sound of him begging for her attention. He would plead with her to speak to him, let him visit her, give him a chance. A chance for what he never said.
“I have a meeting with a vamp that lives outside of our society. She is an officer on the local police force. She wanted to be a warrior but was denied because she is female.” Gage paused a moment. “I have to tell you, Griffin. I think it is long past time we reconsidered that antiquated law. I know many strong women I would be proud to lead.”
“That is something we can surely debate but you know the old school will protest. I’m having a hell of a time fighting arranged marriages. Most vampires like things the way they are. But let’s leave that for another day, my friend.” There was an uncomfortable silence before Gage continued.
“Anyway, the female officer, her name is Candice Hughes, has concerns that a recent rash of missing persons may be related to our missing vamps. She believes there is a pattern wherein first the humans start disappearing, then the vamps. S
he wants to consult with us as a liaison of sorts. It’s an interesting idea. We monitor human police radio traffic but if we had someone on the inside policing are own trouble makers would be easier. Normally, if one of our young gets out of hand, the police get a call and this female would know what to look for.”
They were just outside of her cell now but Tessa refused to turn and look at them.
“It’s certainly worth looking into. If you think it will be a beneficial partnership you will have my support,” Griffin replied.
Tessa thought it was kind of funny that she was waiting for the end of her life and they were calmly discussing the ins and outs of vampire politics. Assholes.
****
Griffin just wanted Gage to shut up and open the damn cell door. It had taken him several hours to convince the rest of the Council that he had been of sound mind and was well aware of who had attempted to take his son. Given his uncharacteristically unkempt appearance after spending a couple days hiding in his office, it had taken a little extra convincing. He requested a closed session which was highly irregular, but Griffin felt it was necessary to explain that the warriors that had been on duty at the gate house were the perpetrators. The Councildid not need public scrutiny on top of the threat of an attack from within. The Rogue had infiltrated their ranks, just as Soleil had tried to tell them. He had not been a target but when he stumbled onto the scene, the criminals decided to take advantage of their good luck and make some extra cash by offering up a Council member.
But, that was over now and Council as a whole, including himself, had decided to call Sarah to the carpet to explain her acts of perjury. The lies she told would have made them a party to executing an innocent person, no matter that she was human. He turned his attention to Tessa, who seemed so small, curled up on the bunk. Griffin had a strong sense of déjà vu. He had visited Soleil in a very similar situation. Until she turned around, the only physical difference between mother and daughter was the color of their hair. At present, the dark blond honey of Tessa’s hair called to his fingers, daring him to stroke it.