“Oh my God.”
Sebastian was watching her, his face grim. Serenity understood that with his hearing he heard everything James said.
“What about Amy?” she asked. “Is she all right? He didn’t hurt Noah, did he?” Her voice increased in pitch as she spoke, and she forced herself to calm down. She didn’t want to wake Elizabeth and upset her.
“Amy’s got a concussion,” James’s voice sounded thick with unshed tears. “They’re keeping her in hospital overnight. Noah’s fine, he’s asleep.”
“I’m so sorry. Can I do anything?”
“No, just get somewhere safe.”
“We are.”
James paused, “Is he with you?”
Serenity glanced at Sebastian and gripped the phone tighter. James wasn’t talking about Jackson.
“Yes,” she said. “He’s going to take us somewhere Jackson can’t find us. What about you? Are you going to go somewhere safe?”
“He hurt my family,” James growled. “I’m not just going to let him get away with it.”
“This isn’t a ‘him’!” she said, her panic running high. “This is an ‘it’. He’s not human any more—you can’t fight him. Please don’t try. If you try to go after him, he will kill you.”
“The entire LAPD is after Jackson. I intend on being there when they get him.”
She wanted to reach through the phone and shake him. His male bravado was taking over his common sense.
“Watch the security cameras footage,” she said. “Make sure people see what they are dealing with. They need to know these things exist now. They need to understand the world is not as clear cut as we’ve grown up to believe.”
James spoke, “They’ve watched the CCTV. They think he’s on PCP or something. If I start spouting about vampires and zombies—or whatever the hell Jackson is—they’ll lock me up in the loony bin.”
“Maybe that would be the best place for you,” she said, desperate now. “At least then you’d be safe.” She took a deep breath. “Listen to me, James. He went after Amy because he saw me with her. Jackson attacking her wasn’t a coincidence. He must have been at the airport, and we don’t know where he’s gone now.”
James fell silent again as he considered her words. “Do you think he’ll go to the hospital to finish what he started?” he asked.
“I don’t know. You need to hide—all of you. The three of you need to go somewhere Jackson would never think of looking for you.”
“If you’re telling me the police won’t be able to stop him, who will?”
Serenity glanced at Sebastian. He gave her a tiny, almost imperceptible nod.
“Elizabeth’s father.”
“I hope you’re right, Serenity. But in the meantime it simply isn’t within my power to stop the LAPD from going after him. I’ll make sure Amy and Noah go somewhere safe, but I still have a job to do.”
Her heart sank, knowing she would never convince him not to try to catch Jackson. Tears threatened once again and she put her hand against her eyes, as though she could physically hold back the tears. She couldn’t stand the thought of losing him, of Amy losing her husband, and Noah growing up without a father. It would all be her fault. She had brought this monster into all of their lives. She was like a poison infecting everyone around her; she didn’t deserve good people in her life.
Serenity caught sight of her sleeping daughter and forced herself to squash the destructive thought pattern. It was all too easy to fall back into the person she had once been, and she wouldn’t allow that to happen. She had Elizabeth in her life and she needed to be strong for her sake.
“You still there?” James’s voice startled her from her thoughts.
“Yeah, sorry.”
“Is there a number I can reach you on?”
Sebastian shook his head.
“Not yet, no. But I’ll get a disposable cell and call you with the number. In the meantime, I think you’re all best keeping well away from me.”
“Okay.” James wasn’t going to argue.
“Stay safe,” she said.
“You too.”
She hung up the phone, but the dread and desperation didn’t leave her. She swallowed back tears again. Amy and Noah must have been so frightened. Thinking of Jackson touching the little boy hurt her deep inside.
“Oh, God, this is all such a mess,” she cried.
Sebastian was beside her in an instant. With one arm he held Elizabeth, the other he wrapped around her, crushing their daughter between them. Serenity allowed herself to lean against him, her cheek pressed against his chest.
“He won’t hurt you,” Sebastian said. “I won’t allow it.”
Chapter Seventeen
Being back at Sebastian’s house was much like being back at the airport. Serenity hadn’t realized she’d avoided the places that would remind her of him.
The memories washed over her as though she’d stepped back in time. She remembered the staircase where Madeline told her about Sebastian’s real identity, the gravel she’d run across, trying to escape, the bed where Sebastian held her while she slept.
The house remained as impressive as before. Embedded deep in the hills, the property was both private and imposing. A ten-foot stone wall ran around the property and electric gates barred the way to visitors. A huge double wooden door marked the entrance to the house. Inside, the kitchen and living room were an open plan layout and a huge curved staircase wound through the centre, leading up to the first floor.
Without asking, Sebastian carried Elizabeth up the staircase to one of the bedrooms. Serenity followed closely, not wanting to lose sight of her child.
Smooth cream walls rose on each side of the large bedroom, huge thick drapes covered the tall windows. Behind the four-poster bed, a textured paper of white and silver ferns papered the wall.
With tenderness, Sebastian crossed the room and laid Elizabeth down on the bed. Elizabeth appeared so tiny in the giant bed, so vulnerable. Instinctively, she curled up on her side, her hand beneath her head.
Sebastian stood over her for a moment. His broad frame only helped dwarf his daughter. He hesitated, his hand held above her forehead, and then reached down and gently brushed a curl of hair off her face.
Watching him, Serenity thought her heart may break. To think she had convinced herself it was best for Elizabeth to never meet her father.
How would she ever begin to explain what he was to Elizabeth? She wondered if they might be able to figure out a way for Elizabeth to never find out. But Elizabeth would realize something was wrong if her father never ate and she only ever saw him at night. How could she live a normal childhood with Sebastian in her life?
The future was fraught with questions. She would not allow Elizabeth to be hurt by Sebastian’s identity, but she wanted Elizabeth to have Sebastian in her life. Bizarrely her mind went to other ‘unusual’ families—gay couples, broken homes—but this was hardly the same thing. Sebastian should not even exist.
Except he did exist and he wasn’t the only one. One day all the things people believed to be fiction would be proved to be reality, and then they would all be forced to rethink the definition of fantasy. Maybe the human race needed to adapt?
Sebastian turned to Serenity, his finger at his lips.
She smiled. Elizabeth was sound asleep and for the first time in the past forty-eight hours, peace settled around Serenity’s shoulders.
“What now?” she asked quietly as Sebastian ushered her out of the room.
“I think we have a lot to talk about.” His eyes flicked toward Elizabeth.
Together they walked back down the staircase. At the bottom of the stairs, two plush couches in dark brown leather faced each other. A glass coffee table sat between them, a cream wool rug lay beneath.
Serenity slid onto the soft leather and Sebastian sat facing her.
“She doesn’t look like me,” he said. “She’s you through and through.” He paused and then glanced up at her. “I’m glad ab
out that.”
“I can see you in her. She has your confidence.”
Sebastian smiled and shook his head. “I still can’t believe this has happened.”
“You can believe,” she said. “There’s nothing like having the proof sleeping in your bed.”
“She is beautiful, but is she..?” Though he couldn’t finish his sentence, Serenity knew what he was trying to say.
“Yes, she’s normal. She’s highly intelligent and has an unnerving way of knowing what other people are thinking, but otherwise she is as human as I am.”
“I didn’t know such a thing was possible,” he said, shaking his head in disbelief. “Before I left, I wish I had known.”
“There’s no way you could have. I didn’t find out myself until about four months after. I was so caught up in everything that happened; that I had missed my periods didn’t even occur to me. Only when my clothes started to get tighter did the penny drop.”
“My God, Serenity,” he said in awe. His green eyes flashed yellow for the briefest of moments.
“I was so scared,” she admitted, her head hung. “Scared she wouldn’t survive, or something would be wrong with her, but after I gave birth I realized she was perfect.”
“She is perfect,” he said.
A question burned on her lips, something stupid that wouldn’t achieve anything, but yet she couldn’t help herself. Like having a sore inside her mouth—however much investigating with her tongue hurt, she couldn’t quite bring herself to leave it well alone.
“If you’d have known about the pregnancy,” she asked. “Would you have stayed?”
Sebastian studied her face for a moment. It didn’t matter how he answered—yes or no—he would still be in the wrong.
“If I had of known about your situation,” he said, carefully. “I would have come back.”
“So you’d come back for Elizabeth, but not me?” Bitterness fired within her.
To be jealous of her daughter was so wrong. What type of woman would be jealous of her own flesh and blood?
“Elizabeth changes everything,” he said, leaning forward, his elbows rested upon his knees. “I didn’t stay with you because I believed you’d still be able to lead a happy life. I never thought my being in your past would affect your present. All I ever wanted was for you to have a normal life.”
She stared at him, her face impassive.
“What more do you want me to say?” he said. “I would have come back, because with Elizabeth, you’d never be completely free.”
Serenity closed her eyes and pressed the balls of her palms into her eye sockets.
“So you wanted to be involved in her life? But you didn’t want to be involved in mine?”
“It’s different, Serenity. Can’t you see that?”
She could, but she couldn’t bring herself to admit it. The pain sat in her chest like a tiny nugget of red-hot coal burning within her.
“I don’t need you any more, Sebastian,” she said. “Neither of us need you.”
He stared at her, the hurt rippling across his face like wind on a lake. Then his features hardened, his eyes narrowed, his full mouth compressed into a tight line. The sharp, dangerous look he had acquired during his time away returned. He was a creature who killed, and he wasn’t going to take any of her bullshit.
“You do need me, though,” he snarled, his teeth flashing. “If I dumped you back at your house, Jackson would kill you both.”
Serenity flinched, but she wouldn’t allow herself to be intimidated. She had spent years living under the wrath of bullying men and had no intention of going back.
She leapt to her feet, her hands on her hips. “Do it then!”
In a dramatic flourish, she spun away and stormed up the staircase. As she climbed each step she expected—and hoped for—the stirring of air signifying him coming to stop her, for the blur of movement as he appeared in front of her. But none came and he left her to storm up the stairs alone.
Behind her, the room felt as empty as crypt.
Only as she cracked open the bedroom door and saw Elizabeth still sleeping so peacefully, did her heartbreak. She wanted to change the past, she wanted for him to turn around and tell her leaving her was the worst mistake he ever made, but that wasn’t going to happen. He was single-minded and resolute, and he would never admit he’d been wrong, even if deep down he thought it. Sebastian might be a vampire, but he was still as stubborn and pig-headed as any man she had ever known.
She turned and stared at the door, giving him a few minutes, still hoping she would hear his gentle knock. When nothing happened she sighed and turned away. He wouldn’t dump them back at the house, but now she felt awkward being in his home.
Serenity stood above Elizabeth for a moment, watching her daughter sleep. Angrily she choked back the tears, furious at herself for letting Sebastian get to her so easily. She had so much more to worry about than him.
She wanted to curl up on the bed beside Elizabeth, wrap her arm around her daughter’s tiny waist and snuggle her face into her hair, but at least twenty-four hours had passed since she had last taken a shower, and she was hot and sticky and uncomfortable.
An en-suite bathroom adjoined the room.
Serenity headed toward the bathroom, peeling off her shirt as she walked. A free standing shower took up the corner, a huge curved screen of glass separating it from the rest of the room. A double-wash basin stood opposite, a large mirror covering the wall above. Small cream tiles covered both the floor and the walls. Like the rest of the house, the bathroom was decorated like a plush hotel.
Serenity wriggled out of her jeans and leaned into the cubicle, pulling the lever, turning the shower on. Water thundered into the tray.
Standing in her bra and panties, she stared at herself in the mirror. Dark bruises sat like shadows beneath her eyes. No color adorned her cheeks or lips; she appeared to be as much a vampire as Sebastian.
Scars marked her body, her reminder of her life with Jackson. The thin raised line across her ribs, where he’d cut her with a piece of glass after she smashed his whiskey tumbler. A circle where he’d burned her with a cigarette.
Though her deepest and most painful scars were internal, she hated the visible ones more. Jackson had branded her. The marks make sure that every time she looked at herself she would be reminded of him and the things he did to her.
Carrying a child had also left its mark; her breasts no longer as high or full, her hips a little bigger, her stomach more rounded. These changes had been caused by the thing she loved the most in the world and she would not change them for anything.
Hot steam rose from the shower, fogging the mirror, disguising her reflection.
Serenity sighed and turned away.
She slipped out of her underwear and stepped into the shower. The water was hot, almost on the side of scalding, but she did nothing to adjust the temperature. She deserved the pain.
Finally she gave into the tears. She turned her face up to the shower, allowing the water to stream down her face. Overwhelmed, her legs gave out beneath her and she cried, crouching down in the shower, the hot water pummeling her head, shoulders and back, flushing her skin red. She cried for the horror that Jackson had been, and the monster he had become. She cried for the terror she felt at the possibility of losing her daughter, and the turmoil she was in because of Sebastian being back in her life.
“Serenity?”
The deep voice startled her from her remorse. Serenity lifted her head to find Sebastian standing on the other side of the screen. Her embarrassment and self-consciousness made her forget her misery. In her crouched position, she used her arms to cover her modesty.
“What the hell are you doing?” she exclaimed.
He didn’t answer. Instead, he opened the screen door and stepped in fully clothed. He bent down to her and she put out an arm to ward him off, but he ignored the gesture and lifted her to her feet.
Water soaked through his clothes, matting his hair
to his forehead. He held her against him, but she fought, shoving him away, feeling humiliated and exposed.
“Get off me,” she said, pushing against his chest. “Leave me alone. I don’t need you anymore.”
He was so much stronger and she couldn’t budge him. He stared down at her, an intensity on his face, a fierceness in his green eyes. Knowing she couldn’t fight him physically, she stared back up, challenging.
Sebastian bent his head to hers. His lips pressed soft and cool against hers, drawing in the heat of her skin. At first she resisted, but his mouth moved, firm yet tender. Their tongues touched and immediately the pace of the kiss changed, hungry, devouring. She reached up, her arms wrapping around his neck, her fingers lacing into the soft wet hair. She no longer cared about her nudity, her breasts pressing against his still-clothed chest.
His hands pressed against her lower back, just above the curve of her buttocks, molding her against him.
Their breathing came, hard and fast. A fire raged up inside her; she was desperate for him. With urgency, she pulled at his soaking clothing. He quickly and expertly removed them, dropping them on the floor outside the shower.
Serenity marveled at him standing naked before her. Had he always been so beautiful? He was like a sculpture carved out of marble by the most talented hands. It was impossible for her to not reach out and touch the smooth skin, her hand tracing down the hard ridges of his abs.
Sebastian caught her hand and tugged her close, lowering his face for another kiss.
“Elizabeth...?” She spoke into his mouth. She didn’t want her daughter to come in and catch them.
“She’s asleep,” he whispered back. “I’ll hear her if she wakes.”
His fingers touched her cheek, tracing her jawbone, down to her throat. His cold touch was like an elixir to the scalding water. He worked his way down, the palms of his hands against her breasts, his fingers teasing her nipples to hard points. She clutched at him, her face buried in his neck, gasping. With tenderness, he reached down between her legs and gently pushed a finger inside her.
Serenity moaned and held him close, hiding her face against him. This was the first time anyone had touched her intimately for years and her reaction made her self-conscious.
The Serenity Series: Box Set: Books 1-3 Page 36