by Jessie Lynn
"Where the hell are you, and are you alright?" Was his greeting.
"What no hi honey, I missed you? At least you asked how I am as an afterthought."
"Well when you fail to return home and you don't bother to call. What do you expect from us?"
"Us?" Rafe asked a little confused.
"Yeah us asshole." He heard Ethan yell over the line. "You are in big trouble mister. Your grounded for a month when you get home for making Marcus worry about you like this young man."
"Would you shut the hell up you dip shit. I'm trying to have an intelligent conversation over here, and you’re not helping." Marcus yelled back at Ethan. At least he'd pulled the phone away from his ear before he did so as to not blow out Rafe's ears. Yep those were his boys, always playing, but always got his back Rafe thought shaking his head and grinning.
Marcus came back on the line. "What's going on man? And don't you fucking lie to me either."
"I'm at The Meat Locker..." before he could continue, Ethan must have grabbed the phone from Marcus.
"You’re at The Meat Locker and you couldn't even invite me? That's so freakin wrong on so many levels man. I thought we were friends, and you dis me like this? Tell me what's it like? Are the girls as hot as I hear they are? Ah....Hey I wasn't done, give that back."
"Ethan I swear I'm gonna knock your teeth out if you don't quit your bullshit." Marcus yelled at him again. "Why the hell are you there of all places?" Marcus asked Rafe.
"I went looking for Ed last night, and before you ask me why. That girl I drank from the other night at the club."
"Yeah I remember her."
"Well she's my mate, that's why I lost it like that, and as if that's not bad enough. I killed her, and thank the Fates Ed was there, cause he saved her. And he took both her and her friend." He heard all their collective "shits, and fucks" before Marcus came back.
"Okay, so did you find Ed? Do you have her there with you?"
"Fuck no she's not here with me!" Rafe exclaimed. "Have you lost your damn mind? This is the last place I would bring her if I'd found her. I came here to get Dom’s when I couldn't find Ed anywhere." Rafe realized what he'd said was wrong way too late. They'd get pissed he hadn't gone to them instead.
Marcus didn't give anyone time to bitch him out thankfully. "So Dom didn't know where he was either?"
"No, and they've found another problem for me, and this one scares the shit outta me." He told them about the vampire following him. They asked all the same questions Dom and Sloan had.
Marcus finally said. "There's obviously no way any of us can go looking now. We'll have to let the wolves do that for now. Rafe I know you trust Dom, and so do I, but I don't trust everyone in his pack. Or any of the others for that matter." He added as an afterthought.
"I agree, especially after someone gave a nymph access into my room this afternoon. That's actually what woke me up."
Rafe heard Marcus cuss again, and heard pieces of Ethan's griping about not being able to have a nymph wake him up, blah blah blah. Rafe tuned him out; they were all really good at that, they had to be.
"As soon as I can, I'm going to see if I can catch the scent to see if I can figure out who it is. It'll lead me back to Lair anyway, so I'll meet you there tonight. Until I get there, when the club opens keep an eye out for either Ed or my mate. I doubt you will, but see if you see anyone suspicious. We'll go from there when I get there."
They finished the call and Rafe went into the attached bathroom to take a shower. He still had the scent of the nymphs on him, and if on the off chance. No, when, when he found his mate tonight, he didn't want anything of them on him. He wouldn't wait; he'd take her straight to his bed where she'll be safe. He went ahead and took a nice long hot shower thinking of her the entire time. There wasn't anything else he could do till the sun set. He sure as hell wasn't getting anymore sleep today. Hell he wouldn't be getting any sleep till his beautiful was in his arms doing the same.
CHAPTER 15
It had been four days since Ava woke up hurting like hell and not knowing why. She didn't hurt quite as bad, but the pain in her chest wouldn't go away. It actually felt like it was getting worse. She still felt like she was missing something very important, but she couldn't for the life of her figure out what. Marie had bugged her every day about going to Lair until she finally gave in and agreed. Ava really didn't want to go still though. After waking up Monday morning like she had, she was actually afraid to go. She couldn't explain why, she just was.
She checked her rear view mirror again and noticed the same car had been following her for a while. She was on her way home from a very long day at work. She hadn't slept for shit every night having explicit dreams about a man, but she never saw his face, only heard his voice. He had a sexy deep voice that she always felt like it belonged to someone she knew, yet she could never see who it was. She actually used the term man loosely. Her dream always ended the same way. Him biting into her neck right before she climaxed. The dream woke her up reaching for her neck every time too.
She pulled down her street checking to see if the car followed her. It didn't, but that only made her feel marginally better. Last night and tonight she'd felt like she was being followed yet she couldn't prove it. She wasn't going to tell Marie about it, she would just tell Ava she was imaging it. Maybe she was. Maybe the lack of sleep and other things going on were stressing her out too much. She'd been very jittery since Monday. Ava pulled up to their building and hit the remote for the gate driving into her spot, she shut off her car and sat staring into space.
The demon had led her straight to Rafe's mate. The silly girls thought they would be safe behind that pathetic gate. The idiot demon had taken no precautions when checking on the girl. She had followed the mate the past two nights to learn her routine. She was quite a creature of habit and that made taking her a little too easy. No matter.
She had to ensure Rafe was present when she killed his precious mate. She was not ready to do so yet. Rafe would be present, but he needed to be restrained to ensure he could not save the girl. She would watch the girls for the night and come sun rise she would retreat inside to finalize plans. She could not fail at this; she would not fail at this. Tomorrow night she would carry out her justice.
Rafe practically tackled Ed when he was informed the demon was here at Lair. They had been searching for four long goddamned nights. Dominic's werewolves searched during the day when Rafe and his men couldn't. Rafe had barely slept the entire four days. The little sleep he had managed to get was filled of the same dreams of his beautiful. Always with her in his arms, always with him taking her from behind, and always she was so scared of him when he first touched her.
At first Rafe thought, they were his own needs to have her completely submit to him coming out in his dreams. Then he realized she was always scared of him and she never saw his face because he was always behind her. The dreams he was having were hers! She was at least dreaming of him. Problem was her dreams were not completely pleasant for her. Always right as she would start to cum for him, he would bite her, and he realized she always stopped immediately. She was waking up at that exact moment unsatisfied and thinking his bite was painful.
Dammit he had to find her. He had to ease her fear and her need. He didn't know how she still remembered him as much as she did; Ed had told him he erased all trace of Rafe from her memory. Obviously not. Rafe didn't care how or why she still remembered what she did of him. The point was she did and she needed him now more than ever. Something was wrong with her. He didn't know what exactly. All he knew was that it was taking him longer and longer to calm her and get her to enjoy, and crave his touch in her dreams. He swore he could hear her cry out in fear and pain every time she woke the instant he bit her.
Rafe couldn't take it anymore. He had already decided that if Ed wasn't found by the time the sun went down tonight, then Rafe was going to tear the damn city apart till he found his mate. He would not go one more day without her. Rafe practi
cally ran straight up to Ed. He grabbed the demon's shirt in both his fists and body checked him into the wall. Shoving his face right in Ed's he grated out.
"Where the hell is she? Tell me now before I start ripping you apart."
Ed almost lost his control of his human form when Rafe slammed him into the wall. Almost. He was still a friggin fire eater demon dammit. Fire eaters were one of the most powerful demons. Even if he weren’t such a bad ass because of that, he still wouldn't let Rafe make him look like a bitch by losing control of his form. That was the equivalent of pissing yourself in the demon world. So fucking hell no! Ed grabbed a hold of Rafe's wrists and twisted his arms till he almost broke the fuckers off. And still the vampire didn't let go. Well isn't this interesting.
"You have a problem there snookums?" Ed asked the snarling vampire that apparently had a death wish.
"Where is she Ed? I don't have time to play your fucking games. Dammit there's something wrong with her, and she's in danger. So tell me where the fuck she is."
Ed just smiled at Rafe. She's in danger riiiight. Not. So just cause he could and he wanted to see if steam could come out of a vampire's ears, he fucked with the guy.
"I have absolutely no idea as to whom you are referring. I don't even think you have the right demon." Ed started laughing cause he swore he really did see steam come out of Rafe's ears. Then the guy started pounding him into the wall like that would make him talk or something. Did he not remember he was attached to a demon at the moment? Dude we grew up being tortured. Seriously? If Rafe thought this was torture to make someone talk, then they really needed to have a lesson on how to actually torture. That's when he noticed the werewolves that came up behind the vampire.
"Kay, there's just a whole lot wrong with this picture. Dom, what the hell are you and Sloan doing in vampire territory?" He asked looking over Rafe's shoulder and noticing Rafe's boys were next to Dom's boys.
"Rafe is telling you the truth, I believe his mate is indeed in danger" Dom told him.
Well wasn't that just a slap in the kisser. Ed looked at Sloan and saw the same expression as Dom had. When he looked at Rafe's boys and saw the same thing, he got a little worried. What made him really wig the fuck out was that Michael was with them. FUCK!!! Ed flashed straight to Ava's condo.
Rafe fell into the wall. "NO! No! No!" He started punching the wall where Ed had been. He felt Dom grab one arm and Marcus grab the other. His fangs were fully extended and he knew his eyes were glowing brighter than ever. He started fighting them with everything he had. Rafe had to get to his mate now!
Dom looked at Marcus struggling as much as he was trying to hold Rafe. Sloan had come around to Rafe's front and with the help of Ethan, was trying to help restrain him. Rafe had finally lost it. They had all watched him steadily break more every night. They all knew he wasn't sleeping. When the sun was up and Rafe was trapped inside, he was on the phone with either Sloan or himself practically the entire day. Dom couldn't believe Ed just vanished once he knew something was wrong. Dom prayed with everything he had the demon went straight to the girl. He could see they were all doing the same thing. Praying.
CHAPTER 16
Ed stayed in between the worlds so he could keep his presence hidden in case there really was danger. He went through the entire condo, and only saw Marie. She was in the kitchen cooking and singing to the music she had blaring. Not good. Marie didn't look upset or afraid so hopefully that meant her friend was okay. Ed went outside to see if anything was off. Immediately he felt something there. He really started feeling it out and walking around the courtyard. He determined it was a vampire. Okaaay. What the hell was a vampire doing hanging out around this exact condo? Ed didn't recognize who it was. He was about to go see where the hell the vamp was chillin out at and why, when he saw Ava walk up to her condo.
Yeah she really didn't look too good now that he was paying attention. Ed had been checking on the girls every night to make sure they were okay. There was no way he was going to just let Rafe's mate fend for herself now that they knew she existed. But he hadn't noticed how bad she was until now. She looked way too tired right now. She obviously hadn't been sleeping. She looked like she had lost some weight too. So it didn't take Sherlock to figure out the girl wasn't eating good either. What the hell?
So first, question for five hundred please. How the hell did Rafe know something was wrong with her? Second question for a thousand. What was wrong with her? And did it have anything to do with the vamp playing peeping tom? Okay that was two questions, but that's why it was worth more dough when he answered correctly.
Before Ava went inside, she stopped and looked around like she knew something was watching her. Well in this case sweetness, you’re being watched by two somethings. Damn good thing at least one of those somethings has your back kiddo. She seemed to shake herself back to life and shaking her head, she went inside. Ed followed her in to see if she would talk to her friend and since he was playing peeping tom too, tell him as well.
Marie was in the kitchen when Ava walked in. Ava immediately locked all the locks and set the alarm. She set down her bags and followed the sounds and smells of Marie cooking. Marie was a damn good cook. In fact she was teaching Ava how to do it, cause she had no freakin clue how. Ava honestly never cared to learn until she met Marie. She now found she loved to cook. It relaxed her and gave her something positive to focus on. Now would be a good time to do a little cooking. Too bad, she couldn't even care about that right now.
"Hey there baby girl." Marie said looking up to see Ava walking into their spacious kitchen.
They both loved this kitchen. It was actually one of the selling points on this place. It had lots of windows that looked out into their own little patio. The patio had a huge stone wall enclosing it in just for them. They had planted flowers, put in a fountain, and turned it into a little oasis in the middle of the city. The kitchen had French doors that opened out to it. There was a large island where the stove was and a fair amount of prep area so two people could work on it. There was more counter space than they knew what to do with and a little breakfast nook right there close to the doors in a bay window. The whole space was open and bright.
Ava only halfheartedly responded to her with a little wave as she sat down on one of the stools at the bar. Marie was starting to get a little worried about her friend. Ava wasn't acting like herself. Come to think of it, she had steadily been getting worse since Monday. She knew Ava wasn't sleeping. Her friend never slept great anyway, but every night Marie heard Ava cry out then she would get up and Marie didn't think she would go back to sleep after that. Marie had thought it was just from her being uneasy about them not remembering what they did Sunday night. But she still wasn't getting better, she was actually getting worse.
"So I made jerk chicken with the shrimp salad you like. Hope you’re hungry. It's a nice night so I thought it would be nice to eat out on the patio." Marie said to Ava hoping to see some life in her friend.
Ava looked up at Marie and panicked at the mention of spending time outside. She got up, went, and poured herself a glass of wine.
"I really don't feel like being outside, in fact I'm pretty beat so I think I'm just going to go take a bath and unwind. I'm sure I'll be ready for some food after that." She started to head out of the kitchen when Marie stopped her.
"Ava sweetie what's going on? Are you okay, cause you’re starting to worry me."
Ava really didn't want to do this right now. Hell she didn't want to do this ever. She turned back to Marie and plastered a smile on her face.
"I'm fine. Like I said, I'm just tired; I've had a long day and just need to relax a little. That’s all."
Marie looked at her friend not believing the BS she'd just told her one bit. "Ava, I love you, but don't give me that shit. Okay? I know you're waking up at night, and I know you're not going back to sleep. And I sure as hell know you're barely eating, so talk to me baby girl. Please tell me what's going on." Marie pleaded with her best fri
end. Hell Ava was now more her sister than a damn friend. Ava gave a heavy sigh that afterward made her look even worse.
"I don't know what's wrong Marie, that's the problem." She almost cried. Ava went back to the bar and sat down.
"Okay so tell me what you do know." Marie said coming to sit down beside Ava.
"I don't even know where to start, and you'll just tell me I'm over reacting."
"I promise I won't tell you that. Start with why you aren't sleeping. You woke up Monday morning after a bad dream. Are you still having bad dreams?"
"It's the same dream over and over." At Marie's look, she knew Marie expected her to tell her what the dream was about, so she gave her the abridged version. "It's about this guy that I don't ever see, but I hear him talking to me and somehow I know his voice. But I have absolutely no idea how I know that voice. This is going to sound so stupid, but he bites me in the neck." Ava looked at Marie to see her reaction to that. She was surprised to see her still with a concerned look.
"Like as in bite like Dracula bite, or damn baby you look hot I wanna take a bite outta your ass bite?" Marie asked and made Ava laugh. That was a good sign.
Ava had to laugh at her friend. Marie even made the biting motion and shook her head a little. She even added the growling sound effects.
"Like Dracula bite."
"Hmm okay, that is a little creepy." Marie said nodding her head. "Any idea why you’re having that dream? You just said you don't know what he looks like, but you know his voice. You know his voice in real life, or just in your dream?"
"I feel like I've heard it somewhere in real life. As far as why I'm having the dream, no clue. I can't help but wonder if it has something to do with Sunday night. I know you think I'm over reacting about it, but it started Monday morning. That's what woke me up."
Ava continued on before Marie could say anything to that. She was talking about it, so she might as well spill it all now. "I woke up hurting like hell. My head feels better, but my chest still aches like I'm missing something there. Like something very important was taken away from me. Something that I love. Look I know how stupid it sounds, but I can't make it go away, and it keeps getting worse."