“Yes.” He did not pause. He, also, didn’t elaborate.
“I don’t like it,” Paige interjected. “The condo is secure from the rebellion. We are out in the open here.”
“Who said she needs to conceal herself from the rebellion?” Gregory asked.
Before Darcie could ask what he meant, the sound of heels clicking against wood floor caused a wave of panic to wash over her. The memory of Evetta’s attack still terrified her. Not only because it was filled with pain, but because it also marked her first introduction into the world of immortals. Ever since that day, her life had never been the same.
She squeezed her eyes shut and worked to regulate her breathing, telling herself to get a grip.
It’s just a pair of shoes. It’s just a pair of shoes.
“Rose.” Gregory’s voice pulled her out of the panic. She looked at the vampire and noticed his attention locked onto something over her shoulder. Rotating in her seat, she watched as a tall, curvy woman finished her approach. Her shoes continued to click as she moved, her hips swaying with the movement.
Being around immortals, Darcie had seen her fair share of attractive women. Bella and Eshe were both gorgeous, not to mention Julisanna’s otherworldly beauty. But not even one of the Original Nine were as attractive as the woman walking to their table. Her skin was pale, almost glowing white in the fluorescent light. The hair framing her face almost looked black, but upon closer inspection, it was easy to tell it was a dark scarlet. Her bright green eyes shimmered as she looked at Gregory. Her full lips curved into a breathtaking smile. The entire room, men and women alike, followed the woman’s movements with fascination.
“Gregory,” she returned his greeting, stopping by his chair. She leaned forward and pressed her red lips against both of his cheeks. “Long time no see.” Even her voice was enthralling.
“It has been too long,” he confirmed, letting his own features light up. “Thank you for being willing to meet here.”
“Of course,” she waved away his appreciation. “Anything for you.”
In an effort to not gawk like an idiot, Darcie had tried to distract herself by taking another drink of her water. Hearing the stranger’s last comment however, had her choking on the liquid.
She turned to the space between her and Paige and coughed. The other girl patted her shoulder, silently conveying her understanding. When Darcie looked up at the werebeast, Paige looked just as shocked with the newcomer.
“Rose. This is Paige, daughter of Lucas Green.” His eyes moved to the side. “And this is Darcie, daughter of Jennifer of the Nightsbane Clan.”
“Of course,” the woman, Rose, turned her smile to Darcie. “I would have recognized you without the introduction. You look very much like Jennifer.”
Not knowing what to say, she just nodded.
“Nice to meet you both,” Rose said, glancing between the two girls.
“Nice to meet you,” each of them murmured in return.
“Will you have a seat?” Gregory asked, gesturing to the empty chair between him and Darcie.
“Thank you.” Rose slid into the seat. Her gaze fell onto the table, and she smirked. “A salad, Gregory. Really?”
He chuckled. “I’m on a diet.”
The two laughed like he had just said the funniest thing they’d ever heard. Paige turned to Darcie and gave her a look that said, what in the world?
She shrugged back, not understanding what was happening either. The situation seemed more like a friendly reunion than an intelligence meeting.
“You were always so funny,” Rose commented, bestowing another smile on the vampire. “I’ve missed you.”
“I have missed you as well.”
“Alright. Do we need to leave or something?” Paige asked. Her tone wasn’t sassy; it was genuine. Darcie seconded the thought. She felt uncomfortable and unsure what she was supposed to do in the situation.
“Why would you need to leave?” Gregory asked.
“Because the intel is confidential?” Paige offered. “I don’t know. This is just weird.”
Darcie nodded, glad Paige was brave enough to be honest.
“No,” Rose turned her picture-perfect smile to the girls. “Forgive me. We were being rude. It’s just been so long since we’ve seen each other. I apologize.”
The words sounded sincere, and her expression appeared open and honest. Could someone so beautiful also be legitimately nice? Darcie didn’t know. “It’s fine,” she said, shifting in her chair. “We just don’t want to be in the way.” Her eyes slid over to Gregory.
“You are never in the way,” he replied immediately.
She appreciated the statement. “Okay.”
Rose observed their exchange with warm eyes. They landed on Darcie and lingered for a moment longer before she finally straightened. “Well then,” she clapped her hands together. “Let’s discuss the matter at hand. Shall we?”
Gregory held his palm out. “Please do.”
“My master has been invited to a meeting in DC. All of the undeclared covens have received an invitation. And if rumor is to be believed, so have many untied witches and warlocks.”
“What is the purpose of the meeting?” Gregory resumed his all-business persona.
Rose’s lips turned down. “I do not know. I only saw the invitation by chance. If Adir hadn’t signed it, I am sure I wouldn’t have even given it a second thought.”
“Wait,” Darcie interrupted. “Adir has invited your master to something? Who is your master?”
“A powerful vampire, dear,” Rose told her, reaching out to pat Darcie’s hand. She resisted the instinct to pull away from the gentle gesture. “For your own good, that is all you can know.”
“A vampire?” Paige piped up, swallowing thickly. “Does that mean you are a… vampire?” It seemed the timid werebeast returned. It was one thing to banter with Gregory. She had spent the day with him. But a vampire who was a stranger? That was where her sensibility drew the line. In the blink of an eye, Paige’s confident demeanor vanished.
“Yes,” Rose confirmed. “I am a vampire.”
How did I miss that?
Darcie took in Rose’s pale skin and jaw-dropping beauty. She should have guessed the woman was a vampire, even without the coloring she was used to seeing with vampires.
“You are Adir’s descendant?” Darcie asked even though she knew all vampires came from the immortal’s bloodline.
“Actually, no,” Rose surprised her by saying.
Seeing the teenagers confused faces, she added, “I was turned.”
“I’m so sorry.” She wanted to kick herself for prying.
“Think nothing of it. I have another immortal bloodline in me which makes me look more like the ancestral vampires.”
Gregory confirmed her story. “Yes, Eros’ blood definitely helps you blend in with the descendants. You never looked like an average human.”
“Eros?” Paige found her voice. “The flirty one?”
Even Darcie laughed at the description.
“The one and only,” Rose chuckled.
She’s one of Eros’ descendants. No wonder she’s so pretty.
It must have been awful to be turned into a vampire, but it appeared Rose was choosing to spend her immortal life working for the good of others. Briefly, Darcie wondered if the untraditional vampire had any other abilities to use – anything her heritage might have given her. But before she could ask, Gregory steered the conversation in reverse.
“Did you happen to see where the meeting will be taking place? Or if your master plans to attend?”
“Tomorrow night. In an abandoned embassy, off of Massachusetts Avenue. As for my master, I know he plans to attend.” The way she said master revealed her opinion of the man. Apparently, she wasn’t a fan.
He nodded. “Can you forward me the address.”
“Already have.” Rose glanced at his phone and winked. “It is encrypted, but I trust you can figure it out.”
“Thank you, Rose.” Gregory reached for the device, and his fingers started flying across the screen. “I owe you one.”
“Just don’t get caught,” she said, sliding off her chair to stand beside him. Leaning in, she placed a lingering kiss dangerously close to the corner of his lips. She pulled back with a glint in her eye. “I would miss you too much.”
Rose looked at the girls and waved. “It was nice to meet you both. I hope to see you again, someday.”
“Same here,” Darcie lifted her hand. Paige copied the gesture.
Without another word, Rose turned on her heel and glided out of the restaurant looking like a supermodel on the runway.
Paige whistled. “Wow. Greg. Didn’t think you had it in you.”
And just like that, the odd tension at the table dissipated. Darcie and Paige laughed, while Gregory shook his head in mock annoyance.
When she managed to catch her breath, Darcie chuckled as she asked, “So, what do we do now?”
Gregory took out his wallet and tossed a couple of bills on the table. Standing up, he said, “Now, we go on a mission.”
23
It turned out when Gregory said they would be going on a mission, he actually meant the “professionals” would go on a mission. At least, that’s what Darcie figured out when the task force sat down to discuss the situation the following evening.
Though, to be fair, it wasn’t Gregory who was insisting Darcie stay behind.
It was her mother.
“Absolutely not,” Jennifer responded when her daughter asked about joining the group. “It is out of the question.”
Grinding her teeth, Darcie averted her gaze and willed control over her emotions. After their early dinner, Gregory had driven the girls and the Jeep up the East Coast until they arrived at the outskirts of D.C. During the ride, all she could think about was how excited she was to finally have the chance to participate in the task force’s activities. Her mom shot down her hope not even two seconds after she voiced an interest in attending.
“Perhaps there is some way the girl can attend,” Lucas spoke up on her behalf. “I am interested in Paige getting field experience. We could arrange for her and Darcie to stay back in the van while the rest of us go inside.”
“Absolutely not,” Jennifer repeated. She didn’t even have the decency to fake considering the compromise. “Darcie stays here.”
When no one else dared to challenge the witch, Darcie knew she couldn’t take it anymore. She shoved away from the table and stomped out of the crowded study. She looked like a bratty child, but she didn’t care. Either she looked like a brat walking away, or she acted like a brat when she complained about her mother’s unfair restriction. Either way, she wouldn’t be viewed in a favorable light.
Crossing the immense Virginian home, she was momentarily lost as she tried to remember the way to the room she would be staying in. Gregory had led her to it immediately after arriving, smiling at her astonishment with how all of her belongings not only made it to the new location, but at how everything was already unpacked and put in its place.
Slamming the door shut in a petty fashion, Darcie threw herself onto the bed and rolled over to blankly stare at the ceiling. She was unsurprised when she heard a light tap against the door.
“What?” she asked. She didn’t have the energy or will to be cordial. She was too busy trying to keep herself from finding her mom and letting her know just what she thought about the controlling woman.
Unfortunately for her self-control, the person on the other side of the door was her mother. “Can I come in?”
Darcie tensed. “I want to be alone,” she bit out.
Jennifer entered anyway. “I only want a chance to explain myself.”
“Don’t bother.” She continued to stare at the ceiling. “I’m too young. Too inexperienced. I’d be a liability. I know what you’re going to say, and I’m not in the mood to hear it.”
She heard her mother sigh and close the door. Darcie shut her eyes and counted to ten. Her mom never spoke to her alone, but she finally decided to once her daughter legitimately wanted nothing less than for her to keep her distance.
Talk about bad timing.
“I don’t want to talk,” she gritted out, pinching the bridge of her nose to alleviate the tension in her skull. “Seriously. Please… just leave me alone.” Her control was dangerously close to slipping.
Fabric rustled just before the bed dipped beneath her.
Shooting upright, Darcie scooted away from the woman as she sat on the edge of the mattress. She pressed her back against the headboard, trying to lean as far away as possible.
To her mother’s credit, her expression did not register the reaction. “The meeting we are looking into could be very dangerous,” Jennifer stated. “The last thing we need is for something to happen where Adir or his allies discover you are not safely tucked away in Greece with the brothers.”
Darcie just stared. She didn’t dare open her mouth, afraid of what words might come out.
Her mother continued, “It is not worth the risk to your safety.”
“Lucas said I would be safe in the surveillance van. He would let Paige stay with me.” If the pack leader felt confident to suggest his own daughter could accompany Darcie, surely it was safe enough.
“Paige is not one of Adir’s targets,” her mother was unbending.
“I really don’t want to talk about it anymore,” she managed to say. She was moments away from losing her cool.
Her mom did not take the hint. “Try not to be upset. This is nothing against you. I only want to protect you. You must know that I am only doing this for your own good.”
And just like that, her thinly veiled contempt parted to reveal the turmoil within. Undeniable rage bubbled to the surface and rolled off of Darcie’s tongue. “I do not know anything about you or what your intentions are, but don’t pretend to do things on my behalf.”
Her breath grew short as she panted through the angry words, but now that she’d started, she was unable to stop. “You left me. In Maine. With Dad. With no clue of what the hell would happen to me. You left me in the dark because you didn’t want to be a part of our family anymore. So, forgive me if I don’t trust you or believe anything you say. You’re a stranger. You always were and always will be.” Finished with her rant, Darcie flung her body down and turned onto her side. She faced the wall, silently dismissing her mother.
As she laid there, her shoulders moved up and down while she worked to regulate her breathing. Her mother remained silent, and the air in the room grew heavier by the second. The tension was interrupted by another swift rap on the doorframe before the newcomer swiftly opened it.
“What’s going on in here?” Alexander’s confusion filled the room.
“Nothing,” her mother replied. Darcie felt the bed beneath her shift. “I was just leaving.” Jennifer’s quick steps took her out of the room. Despite her departure, the heavy atmosphere remained.
Alexander hesitated before she heard him step forward. “What happened?”
Darcie rolled around and watched him sit in the computer chair Eshe had arranged for her. She didn’t know why the immortal went through the trouble. It wasn’t like Darcie was able to continue with her college classes at the moment.
“Oh, you know,” she said sarcastically. “Just your typical abandoned-daughter, neglectful-mother bonding.”
His lips flattened. “Your mother is hardly neglectful.”
“No? Alright. How about controlling? Just your typical teenage daughter being told she can’t do something by a practical stranger.”
His sigh was heavy. “She is trying to keep you safe.”
“You know how I felt in Greece,” her eyes begged him to understand. “Thane kept me cooped up, and now she is doing the same. I thought leaving the mansion would be a break from all that. Instead, it’s just the same thing.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you letting her do it?” Darcie pu
shed up and sat against the headboard. “Aren’t you her friend?”
His gaze grew wary. “Yes, but I am not about to tell her what to do with her own child.”
“Why not?” Darcie tossed her hands in the air. “She listens to you. She trusts you.”
“Jennifer trusts me because I am one of the few people who has never tried to manipulate her for my benefit.” His words stuck their landing.
The impending retort died on her lips. “What do you mean?”
He shifted his weight back until the chair creaked in protest. “Your mother is the most powerful Nightsbane witch that clan has ever seen. No one knows why. Her parents were strong, but fundamentally ordinary.”
Darcie shook away the thoughts of her distant grandparents. She wasn’t even sure her vague memories of the couple were real. “So, what?” she asked. “She’s powerful. Isn’t that why she’s one of the top three members in the clan? What does that have to do with her trying to control every single move I make?”
Alexander ignored her last question. “Your mother is only a member of the Nightsbane clan for your benefit.”
She frowned, not sure what he was trying to say. At a loss, she finally admitted, “I don’t get it.”
“Your mother is only a member of that power-hungry clan for your sake.” Disdain covered every word.
“Well,” he tilted his head in thought, then added, “and for mine, I suppose.”
The confusion grew along with her frustration. “Are you going to tell me what, exactly, you mean? Or are you planning to continue being vague?”
Instead of getting upset, the vampire grinned. “I was hoping to prolong your suffering for a little bit longer.”
“Alex,” she whined. “This isn’t funny. If you have something to say, say it.”
He nodded and continued, “Your mother left the clan just after her eighteenth birthday. The previous elite members were running her ragged with extra training. Jennifer would have continued with their rigorous schedule, though, had it not been for what they ultimately wanted from her.” He looked at her expectantly.
Envisioned (Immortal Chronicles Book 3) Page 18