Reluctant Storm

by P. A. Warren

  “Mikail, my man, you were supposed to get live food, not bagged food.”

  “Shut up, Jason. You’re lucky I’m letting you have any right now.”

  Jason responds with by flipping Mikail off.

  Staring between the two of them, I can feel the anger wafting off Mikail. “You two don’t like each other much, do you?” Still stuck on the fact that Antony is dead, I have to ask the question that’s been burning in my mind since I found out. “So who takes his place?”

  “Our favorite girl, Claire. She’s next in line to rule the vampire kingdom.” Mikail gets up and starts pacing the area for some unknown reason. He seems agitated as if he wants to get away from us for a bit.

  Taken aback by this brand new information, I stare out at the forest line, biting my lip. Claire has to be kept safe, no matter what. Even more so than before.

  “So, I’m assuming daddy dearest didn’t tell you what the goal of kidnapping Claire was?” I stand up and put my hands in my pocket while walking toward the pacing Mikail.

  He raises his eyebrow. “Why would he tell me? He wanted me to do a job which he ended up doing himself.”

  Walking up behind me, I watch as Jason nonchalantly grabs a bag of blood. Feeling footsteps walk toward us, I glance up and see Claire staring at me. “Are you guys okay?”

  I watch as Mikail’s head snaps up, and he watches her with a hungry look in his eyes. He quickly covers it by plastering on a smile and nods to Claire. I lean over and grab her a bag of blood, opening it before handing it to her. She smiles gratefully, taking it from me. Studying her with shuttered eyes as she lifts it towards her lips is one of the most erotic things I’ve seen in a very long time. Mikail interrupts my musings when he walks up, nodding to Claire. “Nice to see you again, Claire. You’re very popular with the Dumont boys apparently.”

  I watch her narrow her eyes at him. “I only have eyes for one Dumont and that Dumont is currently sporting a new black eye.” Tilting my head, I watch as Mikail’s smile falters and his face turns dark as he looks between the two of us. Not going to lie, my once black heart thumps back to life.

  I grab Claire and pull her with me toward what will be our hideout for a short while. Waving back at the guys, I grab her in a hot searing kiss once we reach the porch. She pulls away and peers up at me. “Don’t start stuff you can’t finish.” Her eyes twinkle with laughter.

  “Oh, I can finish this just fine,” I mutter, grabbing her for another kiss. Just as I’m leaning down to taste her again, I hear the front door open. Freaking A, now who? Lifting my eyes from Claire, I find myself staring at almost a spitting image of Claire. I blink several times and she is still there.

  “Um, Claire, do you have a sister?” Looking at me, flabbergasted and shaking her head no. “Well you either have a sister you don’t know about, or a clone.”

  Chapter 25

  Mikail

  It feels as though I’m living a nightmare, yet I’m wide awake. Seeing the way Claire looks at Riley, like an infatuated puppy, was just the topping on the cake for me. A freaking lovesick fool, has she no idea how evil Riley is? I am her true bond mate, and yet here I am in the background having to play the not caring fool because of the deal I made with her grandmother, the Queen.

  Turning around, I watch as she cuddles up to Riley as he hands her some blood and tells me she only has eyes for him. I stare at them as they leave hand in hand and it hits me right in the gut. With a quick turn, I walk straight into Jason and listen as he makes some asshole comment about how Riley’s tapping that ass. I do the first thing that comes to mind and punch the fucker in his stomach.

  Not in the mood to deal with his shit, I head towards the center of the woods and let my magic loose. I let wave after wave pour through my fingers, magic I haven’t used in a while, and stop when I feel the heat of satisfaction through my stomach. This new level of emotion I’m dealing with is very new to me. The possessiveness I feel towards Claire astounds me as we aren’t even bonded yet. I wanted to break his fucking face when I saw Riley looking at Claire like he’s claimed her. She’s not his; she’s mine and has always been mine. If Riley and Claire truly bonded then the only way to deal with that bond is to kill Riley. Circling where I stand, I take in the damage I caused, enjoying the feeling it created, but knowing my high will come down shortly, and soon I will be back in the reality of this craptastic situation. Pulling out my phone, I check the signal, pleasantly surprised that there is one, and punch in the numbers dialing the Queen. I wait impatiently for her to answer.

  “Hello?”

  “What did you do?”

  “What do you mean, what did I do? And how dare you talk to me like that, I’m still your Queen.”

  I blow out a puff of air and answer, “Why have Riley and Claire bonded?”

  “They bonded?” she asks in a quiet voice.

  “Yes, Claire is mine and has been since the day I first saw her, only I can’t tell her because of you, how do you think that makes me feel?”

  “Look,” she says softly, “This is the way it’s supposed to go. The end result is not what you think. Keep playing your role, and I will do my job and make this right.” She hangs up, not giving me a chance to respond. Looking towards the house, I head in the opposite direction toward the small dive bar I found about five miles away. I need something or someone to take my mind off this fucked up situation.

  Chapter 26

  Griffin Dumont

  “What exactly do you mean; she’s not in her cell?” I ask, turning slowly from the windows I had been staring out of to look at the nervous guard.

  “She’s not there, Sir. I’ve looked everywhere and she’s nowhere to be found.”

  How did this happen? I have the highest security here. Once people are brought in they don’t leave. Slamming the knife into the desk, I look the guard up and down menacingly.

  “Girls just don’t disappear. How does a girl just disappear? How was this allowed to happen?” I yell, slamming my fists down on the desk, my knife clattering on its top. Grabbing it, I trace its edges, sliding my fingers down the knife’s sharp cold blade.

  “Bring me my son,” I order the spineless guard.

  The guard looks down at the floor. “I can’t do that, Sir. He’s gone missing as well.”

  “What do you mean missing?”

  Shakily the guard replies, “He’s nowhere to be found and was seen leaving with the prisoner.”

  With that, the knife forcibly flies out of my hand and lands straight into the guard’s heart. He looks down at the knife in surprise, gripping his chest as he falls forward with a gurgle. Walking towards him, I pull the knife out and stick my hand in the guard’s chest, pulling out his warm heart. I suck the blood out of the valves and walk out the door, setting the heart in the hand of another guard.

  “This is what happens when I find out over twenty-four hours later that my son and the girl are both missing,” I hiss at the shaking guard. “This girl, who can change the course of our world as we know it, is out there alive. I want her brought back to me alive. If you find Riley, kill him! Create a detail and bring her back to me. One person will be killed every hour until they are returned.”

  The guard stands there in shock with the warm heart as I walk away.

  Chapter 27

  Claire

  I would know if I had a sister, right? Shaking my head, no, no I wouldn’t, since my dad had nothing to do with me. The true irony is that my dad did have a kid with someone else. She looks almost exactly like me, and I still wasn’t good enough for him. Looking at her now, I feel something in me die a small death. I’m not even sure what to make of all this. I was never given the chance to be his daughter. It’s too much to consider right now. In the past week I’ve met Jason and Mikail, who’ve popped up in my life so randomly that I still don’t know who they truly are. I’ve been kidnapped, tortured, and managed to bond myself to Riley, escape, and now I have a sister. It’s a lot to take in right now.

  I
gnoring Riley and my ’sister’, I pick the first room and walk in, shutting the door. I move straight to the bathroom where I turn the faucet on. Starring at my haggard face in the mirror, I lean down, cupping the cool water and splashing it on it. I grab a towel and dry my face off and look in the mirror. It suddenly ripples, causing me to stop mid towel rub and stare.

  Inhaling quickly, I turn and see that the door is closed, and there is absolutely no one in the room. Turning back, I lean closer and stare in disbelief as the mirror focuses in on a bedroom. I squint, leaning in closer, as I watch myself walk into the white room, laughing with someone. Leaning in so close that my nose touches the mirror, I stare at the reflection and continue concentrating on the images. Watching open mouthed as the second person comes up behind me, putting their arms around my waist. I gasp as the reflection shows the person turning me around and kissing me on the lips. When they lift their head, I gasp, expecting to see myself and Riley, only it’s the last thing I expect to see. In the mirror staring back at me is Mikail and myself. There’s something about Mikail that tugs at the back of my mind, and if I was truly listening to my soul I would know what it was. Closing my eyes and then reopening them, the image has faded. I swipe at the mirror but nothing happens. I high-tail it out of the room, slamming the door in the process and running directly into Riley and my so-called sister.

  “Whoa, Claire! You okay?” he asks, grabbing me as I slam into him. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

  I stare up at him and wonder what the hell is going on. I decide against telling him the truth. Nodding shakily, I pull my hair into a pony tail and try to act nonchalant. I fail miserably as I drop the rubber band twice. Riley bends down to pick it up, handing it to me all the while looking at me questioningly.

  I look up at Riley and shake my head. “I’m sorry, it’s a lot to take in,” I softly say, playing off this sister thing and shoving the mirror thing to the side. “I was never told I had a sister, but I’ve never met her…or our dad before, so I guess anything’s possible.” Shrugging, I look over at the girl. It’s like looking in a mirror only she’s a bit shorter than me, and her hair is a different color. I can tell she doesn’t like me from the way she is glaring at me, with her arms crossed in front of her.

  She continues to stare me down. “You know my dad didn’t like you very much. You’re just the daughter of a whore. I am the true daughter of the King.” Her glare becomes haughty.

  Well, this is going well, I think sarcastically before she starts talking again.

  “You know he sold you out right? He’s the reason you were kidnapped. You were and are expendable, I am not. He even set Jason up.” Leaning towards me, she puts her fingernail on my shoulder and trails it down my arm. “You couldn’t even die like you were supposed to. You had to go and bond yourself to the enemy.”

  “How did you know about that? I haven’t told anyone,” I exclaim in shock.

  She glances over at Riley, smiling and practically purrs, “Don’t you worry about that. I have my ways.”

  Watching her practically throw herself at Riley, is the only thing that pushes me over the edge. Nothing she said about me dying or our ’dad’ bothered me, this does. I don’t think, I just react. Placing my hand to her chest, I shove her with as much force as I can and she goes flying across the living room, only stopping because she hit a wall.

  “Well. That was awkward. Remind me not to go to that family reunion,” Mikail says, walking into the room and breaking the tension.

  “Where have you been?” Riley looks over at Mikail sharply.

  “That would be none of your business,” he calmly replies.

  I shrug and walk over toward Riley and lean against him. I know my dad never loved me, but to be told that point blank was like being punched in the gut. Luckily, I have plenty of experience with parental hate, so I’m almost to the point where I’m immune to it. Throwing the girl against the wall did feel good.

  Anya dusts herself off and comes toward me, growling, “You. Got. My. Hair. Dirty!” she cries out as she runs toward me to attack me.

  Riley puts me behind him and grabs Anya. “Look, you termite, I’m doing this for your own good.”

  I watch her stare up at him in shock, “What’s for my own good?”

  “This,” he says as he snaps her neck. “She should be quiet for a few hours so we can figure some stuff out.”

  Riley drops her, and I stare down at her lying on the floor. I guess I should be shocked but I’m not. My eyes are wide open now. With everything that’s happened, nothing really shocks me anymore.

  “What I’d like to know is, why she hates me so much?” I ask, brushing my brown hair out of my face.

  “Don’t take it personally, Claire,” Mikail says, walking up and looking down at her body, leaning toward me. “She hates Jason too; she practically mauled him when we let her out of the trunk.”

  “The trunk, really?” I ask him, raising my eyebrows.

  “It’s a very long story.”

  “Don’t ever put me in a trunk. Ever.”

  I glance around the dark dilapidated house and peer over at Riley who’s deep in thought. He’s sitting at the kitchen table, and must have left me while I was talking to Mikail. I can’t help but let what happened in the bathroom come rushing back to me and stare over at Mikail who’s pensively looking out the window. I have to figure out what is going on with that. Staring at Mikail intently, my body shivers, and I suddenly have the urge to go over to Riley, for no reason. Like I have to go now and nothing will deter me from getting to him. I no longer feel as though my body is my own. Sauntering over to him, I lean down, putting my arms around his neck and inhale the scent that can only be described as delectably Riley. Feeling my fangs tingle, I stare at his neck before running my tongue over it. He leans his head back to look directly into my eyes and smiles at me.

  “Is it about that time?”

  I nod and bite my lip with my new fangs, tasting the metallicness of blood dripping from my lip. He looks at me with hooded eyes and pulls my head down, licking the droplets of blood from my lower lip. I blush and follow him as he grabs my hand, pushing open a door and pulling me into what appears to be a bedroom.

  My fangs throb so I rub my tongue over them, still getting used to the feeling of having them there. My breath picks up as I notice the way Riley’s watching me and how his shirt fits his chest to perfection. Feeling hot, I pull my shirt away from my chest in a fanning motion and pull my gaze away from him, staring at the pattern on the wall. Think about anything but sex; think about kittens and balloons…puppies holding balloons. Sighing, I run my hands through my hair. It’s not working, not at all.

  Oh my gosh, I think, slapping my forehead. This is exactly what Riley was talking about. Startled, I look over at him. I’m a sex fiend now. I want him, against the wall, on the bed, the floor, anywhere.

  I put a smile on my face and sexy walk towards him, in hopes of seducing him only to almost trip face first on the rug. Before falling, he catches me in his arms. His reflexes really are great.

  “I thought being a vampire meant I’d have really good balance?” I ask, rubbing his broad arm as he sets me upright.

  “Another myth, Claire, another myth.”

  I feel myself getting hotter by the minute, as he continues talking about stupid myths and how Twilight ruined vampires everywhere. Deciding once more to try and get his attention, I do the only thing I can think of and rip my shirt over my head, leaving me in my lacy white bra. I smile at him with what I hope is a come hither smile. He looks over his shoulder at me and stops talking. He raises his eyebrows at me and walks toward me. “I recall you saying that I’d have needs and that you would take care of them for me,” I remind him coyly.

  “So I did.”

  He walks over to me until his forehead is pressed against mine and continues to force me to walk backwards, finally pressing me into the wall with his hands above my head.

  “So you’re having issues ar
e you?” he smirks down on me.

  “Mmmhmmm.”

  “Really bad issues?”

  “Very bad issues,” I whisper softly.

  Tilting his head down as he brings his hand up and traces my neck, leaving his fingers right on the edge of my neck. His tongue follows his finger and he gently kisses my neck.

  “Riley, I’m dying here.”

  He laughs into my hair. “Too late, you’re already dead.”

  He lets me switch him around so I’m the one pressing him against the wall. I know he lets me, since he is so much stronger than I am. Tilting his neck, he awaits my bite, only I don’t bite him right away, I make him suffer as he made me suffer. I lick my lips and pull his head to mine and trace his lips with my tongue, trailing my tongue down his neck to the spot I want to bite. Letting my fangs down, I open my mouth wide, brushing my fangs against the sweetness of his skin, just as the door bangs behind us. I groan and pull back and feel all my emotions swiftly turning into anger at the person who interrupted us. Riley breaks away from me and pressing his mouth against mine, giving me a soft kiss and walks over to where my shirt landed. He hands it to me before throwing open the door, and I see Jason standing there with a triumphant grin on his face.

  “Riley, you wanted to have a meeting. It’s time.” Slamming the door shut on Jason, he pulls me into a heart stopping kiss, inciting small moans from me.

  “Um, you guys know I’m still here on the other side of the door, right?” Jason’s muffled voice comes through the door as we pull apart.

  “Come on,” I moan, pulling him with me as I open the door. “Let’s get this meeting you called over with.”