by Auburn Seal
Table of Contents
Title Page
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Other Titles
Kendawyn
Copyright
This book is dedicated to all those gentle souls who like happy endings. Without these special people, I would write nothing but carnage.
May you all find your happily ever afters.
Grace Carson sat down in her chair exhausted from a long day of teaching elementary school students. She let out a deep sigh as she dialed her sister’s cell phone number. Dinner couldn’t come soon enough. After three rings, Grace’s younger sister Gillian picked up the phone, gasping for air.
"Hello,” Gillian said breathlessly.
Grace was instantly on alert. Had Jake found her?
“Gillian? Why are you out of breath? Is everything all right?”
Grace heard Gillian pull in a couple of deep breaths.
"Yeah,” she said. “I'm fine. I was just exercising. Kickboxing, you know?”
Kickboxing, Grace thought, relieved. Not Jake. Whew. Every day that Jake hadn’t found Gillian was a good day. He’d called many times already and so far Grace had been able to convince him that Gillian had decided to go on a trip—to think and clear her head. As long as he kept buying that, they’d be fine. But Gillian was going to have to make a move eventually. She couldn’t hide from Jake forever.
“Grace? Are you there?”
“Yeah, I’m good. I'll leave the school in a few minutes. I thought I'd pick up some Chinese takeout. That sound okay?”
“Sure. I'll take the Kung Pao chicken. Extra spicy. And don't get drinks. I went to the store today. There’s plenty here to drink. No food. But drinks.”
Grace laughed. “Excellent. I hope you bought extra wine.”
Gillian giggled. “Of course. Your favorite winery’s Merlot.”
“Hey Gillian,” Grace spoke tentatively, “I think we need to talk tonight. Make some decisions about Jake. We shouldn’t have to live in a constant state of fear and anxiety.”
She heard her sister sigh on the other end of the phone. “I know, I know. You’re right. I think I’ve got a plan. We can talk about it over a glass of wine.”
“Okay, then. See you in a few.”
Grace ended the call and leaned back in her chair to rest her eyes. It had been a long day. No crisis with Jake meant she could go to bed early tonight. She loved her students, but no matter how fond she was of them, twenty-five second graders were exhausting. She looked over her desk at the many stacks of papers to grade and thought about taking them home, but decided to leave them. She could really use a night off from grading, and maybe this would be the best night to talk to Gillian about what to do regarding Jake. With her messenger bag on her arm, Grace closed up her classroom and headed to her car.
She called in their dinner order on the way, and then her thoughts wandered to how Gillian had gotten to this place in her life. Grace had never met the man that broke Gillian’s young heart and sent her rushing into Jake’s arms. Although Gillian had refused then to give details and had never relented on that point, something changed for her after that. Completely devastated by her first love, Gillian met Jake and quickly married him—ignoring all counsel from friends and family. But this was not the time for recrimination. Gillian had enough to deal with without Grace piling on the guilt for marrying so quickly.
By the time Grace got to the restaurant, the order was ready for pickup. General Tso’s chicken, Kung Pao, pork fried rice, and crab wontons. Her stomach growled and her nostrils were overwhelmed with the delicious scents coming from the bag on her passenger seat as she wound her way down the curvy, tree-lined streets in her neighborhood.
When the light turned red, she stopped the car and reached in the brown paper bag to pull out a wonton. It was hot, but she managed to inhale it before the light turned green. Maybe Gillian wouldn’t know one was missing. Grace giggled as she thought of Gillian pretending to be mad. They both did that. Snuck food and faked innocence. It was their thing.
Grace knew she was lucky to have a sister as close as Gillian was to her. They hadn’t always lived close geographically, separated by college or marriage or jobs, but their bond had never lessened over the miles. As sad as Grace was to see Gillian’s marriage falling apart, the truth was that Jake had issues. Serious, violent issues, and Gillian wasn’t safe with him. Not anymore. His violence had escalated quickly over the last few months that Gillian had lived with him. Their relationship had run its course and it was time for Gillian to get out—permanently.
When Grace opened her front door two weeks ago and saw Gillian’s black and blue face and bloodied knees, it was all Grace could do to not fly to Phoenix and kill Jake with her bare hands. But Gillian had needed time to figure out what she wanted to do. Grace couldn’t make the choice for her. Tonight, Grace would try to push Gillian for a decision. It would be healthier for her sister if she could cut the ties to her abusive husband and started moving on with her life.
Grace pulled into the driveway and was horrified to see her front door standing ajar. She was filled with a thick dread when her eyes moved to her front living room window and she saw that it had been crashed in, glass shards everywhere.
“No, no, no, no,” she said to herself as she jammed her car into park and jumped out of the car. She left the engine running and raced up the steps and into the living room.
“Gillian? Gillian! Where are you?”
Grace raced through the house, and her worst fears were confirmed over and over as she ran into every room. There was wreckage everywhere. An overturned lamp minus the lampshade lay on the carpet, but the bulb still burned causing the smell of burning carpet to linger in the air. Broken picture frames littered the floor. The couch was even flipped over. What the hell had happened here? Had Gillian tried to barricade herself behind it?
Everywhere she looked she saw destruction. A bloody handprint was smeared on the wall. Was that Gillian’s blood? Gillian had obviously fought back. And hard. But Jake would have overpowered her. She would not have gone with him willingly. Unless it meant her survival.
Grace resisted the urge to vomit as the thought sunk in that her sister was in mortal danger this very minute.
She forced the nausea away and raced out into her front yard. The sun was setting rapidly now and Grace knew she was racing the clock. Once it got dark, she’d lose any chance of tracking Gillian by herself. Faster than she could really think, she decided that as long as the sun was up, she’d look for her sister. As soon as it went down behind the mountain, Grace would call the police and get them involved.
There was no doubt in her mind that Jake was behind this.
Breathe, or you will hyperventilate, she chided herself. He won’t hurt her.
He won’t.
The blood on the wall was proof that her words were false, but still she repeated them—if only to convince herself that her sister was all right.
Grace raced outside, slamming the front door behind her but not taking the time to lock it. She hopped into her still-running car and slammed the car into reverse, quickly checking her rearview mirror before as she peeled out of her driveway.
Where would he have taken her?
; “Where? Where are you, Gillian? Come on. Think!”
She talked to herself, trying to think out loud, stay calm, and find her sister all at once. Where would he have taken her?
Only two blocks from Gillian’s house, she passed a wooded park. She paused in front of the park, pulled toward it by some unknown force.
Could she be in there? Then it occurred to her that maybe Gillian had escaped on foot and run from Jake. There was a trail from her gated backyard into the park and the two sisters went for walks there all the time. It would make sense that Gillian could have run out the front door, doubled back through the fence and run into the forest. If Jake had a car, he must have taken it because her driveway had been empty.
So there were two possibilities. Her dead body wasn’t in the house, so either she ran from him and got away or he managed to overpower her and then he’d taken her in his car. Grace had no idea what kind of car Jake drove. She wouldn’t be able to track Jake’s car if he’d taken her. Not without help from the police. But she could track her into the forest.
All of that passed through Grace’s mind in a split-second. Trusting her gut and hoping for the best, she pulled over to the curb not caring as the wasted Chinese food that rested on the passenger seat crashed onto the floorboard.
She pulled the keys from the ignition and shoved them into her pocket as she took off at a full run toward the entrance to the park. It was getting darker with each passing second and when she found herself under the canopy of trees it was even darker. Not much trace of the sun was left. But Grace didn’t have a thought in her mind of being frightened by the dark woods. These were her woods. She spent a lot of time here. These woods were her solace. She raced through the forest calling for Gillian.
“Gillian? Are you here?”
She stopped occasionally and listened for any sound. Her own breathing was so loud that she had to strain to hear anything beyond her own rising chest and thudding heartbeat. But even as she listened through the sound of her own breathing, there was nothing here but the normal sounds of the forested park.
The original adrenaline that coursed through Grace’s body at the first discovery of her destroyed house was beginning to wear off. It was replaced with fear and uncertainty. It was dark, and what little moon there was didn’t make it through the canopy of trees overhead. Gillian was gone. There were no other sounds, beyond her own breathing.
Sometime during her frantic search, she’d begun to cry but hadn’t realized it. Now that she was overwhelmed by fear, she could taste the salty tears.
Gillian was gone.
Jake had taken her. Grace was supposed to protect her. But she had failed. Every recent news story she’d seen about women killed by their husbands flashed through her mind and Grace was suddenly completely overwhelmed by the reality of the moment.
The enormity of this crushed her and she fell to her knees and sobbed into her hands.
“I’m so sorry, Gillian. I’m sorry. I’ll find you. I swear I will.”
The words were barely out of her mouth when the darkening forest around brightened suddenly. A brilliant blue light surrounded Grace, making it impossible to see anything else. And then as quickly as it appeared, the light was gone. When the world stopped spinning, Grace recognized nothing around her. She was no longer in the forest.
Philip stood impatiently as his valet finished buttoning his suit.
“Your Grace, is there anything else I can do for you?”
Philip glanced one last time in the full length mirror and shook his head. “No, Mr. Royce. That will be all.”
“Yes, sir.” Mr. Royce turned to the bureau. “Your Grace, which of these masks will you be taking to the ball?”
Philip sighed. This masquerade ball was perhaps the worst one of the year, yet he was sure to attend it. Everyone relaxed behind their masks and people acted like heathens, which was ludicrous as most of their costumes were not good enough to truly mask their identities.
He looked over the choices, mainly to humor his valet who worked very hard and took this sort of thing quite seriously. “That one,” Philip pointed, “with the sapphires and diamonds.”
“Very good, sir. I will have it taken to the carriage.”
Philip nodded and Mr. Royce left his dressing room.
He sighed again. He was accompanying his sister and brother to the event. Listening to Anna complain about the latest happenings among the rest of high society always amused him. She, like Philip, had little patience for the formal social customs and had no qualms about voicing her disdain. Nicholas, however, took their family’s duty very seriously. He was irritating in the way he held on to the old customs that required pure bloodlines. But Philip remained patient with him for their Mother’s sake.
Philip went to the foyer to confirm that Nicholas and Anna were ready. Mother was skipping the ball this year, which would cause a lot of talk. In his current mood, Philip might just add to the gossip.
He laughed quietly and muttered, “That would be a rather pleasant past time.”
Just then Anna swooped into the room. “What would be pleasant, brother?”
“Would it not be great fun to fuel the rumors concerning Mother’s absence?”
“Oh, you are a scoundrel Philip. Mother would not approve. And neither would Nicholas. Let us do it!” Her smile lit up her face and her green eyes sparkled in open rebellion.
“Do what? What have the two of you got planned this go around?”
Anna batted her eyelashes at her older brother. “Oh, nothing to be bothered about. Philip was just saying how he would dance with Eliza and Georgette. He promised Mother.”
Philip sighed and rolled his eyes but Nicholas nodded approvingly. “I do wish you would take your position and your requisite duties more seriously, Philip. Truly. You are the Duke of Silverhurst. You must begin to act like it and get yourself a wife. You need an heir. Silverhurst needs an heir.”
Nicholas’ eyes were green, like Anna’s, but they did not sparkle. Instead they were flat, giving Nicholas the appearance of always being bored. His dark hair had a few streaks of gray near his temple and Philip wondered absently since he was older than Nicholas just how much gray hair he must have himself.
Philip patted his brother on the back as they made their way to the carriage that the driver brought around. “Indeed, brother. There is plenty of time for a wife. When the right woman comes along, I shall see it done. Until then, I detest wasting my evenings dancing with women who, although beautiful, seek only to improve their position among the elite and land themselves a Duke.”
“Your position could be improved with a wife, brother.” Nicholas said disapprovingly, but with the slightest bit of jest in his voice.
Maybe Nicholas was lightening up a bit. Maybe they could have a little fun tonight. Philip helped Anna into the carriage and then turned the conversation in her direction.
“And you, dear sister. With whom has Mother conspired for you to dance with this evening?”
It was her turn to roll her eyes. “Oh please. Mother does not choose with whom I will spend my evening. The right man will come along for me and I, too, will eventually marry, but until then I will dance with the most beautiful boys at the ball and imagine them as my husband. When one of them is as fascinating in reality as he is in my dreams, then I shall settle down.” The firm set of her jaw in contrast to the sparkle in her eyes caused Philip to smile. She was toying with Nicholas, but was in fact very stubborn about choosing a future husband.
The carriage jostled its way over the cobblestone streets through Corland’s capitol city of Lyndone for the short trip to St. Claire’s. The streets were covered in a blanket of snow which added an eerie sort of quiet to the usually bustling streets of this part of the city. When they arrived, Philip helped Anna out of the carriage. All around them, couples were arriving in their masks and costumes. The mood in the air was romantic, spiced with a hint of danger. Everyone knew the vampires would be feeding in the open tonight. That wa
s, after all, why most of high society came out on this particular occasion.
“Do behave yourself, dear sister,” Nicholas lectured before he hurried off and disappeared among the other couples. She shot an irritated look at Nicholas’s back and spoke softly so that only Philip could hear.
“I wonder where he is off to with such urgency?”
Philip shrugged his shoulders. “There is no telling. Perhaps he will search for the neck that best needs his attention this evening.”
“Why, that does sound lovely. You know that is the main reason I go to this every season. Being able to drink from the vein on this night is thrilling. I just may find my husband this evening. But do not mention this to Nicholas! He will only impress upon me that it is beneath us to act on our baser instincts.”
“Do not let him bother you. Go and drink sister. Find yourself a husband.” She raised her eyebrows. He held up his hand in surrender. “Or not. Either way. I will not say a word.”
He winked at her and she scurried off to find her friends. Philip put the sapphire-rimmed mask on and hoped that nobody would disturb him tonight.
But a drink did sound delightful. His eyes scanned the crowd, scouting for the loveliest neck into which he could sink his teeth. He, like Anna, very much loved the open feasting that the Masquerade Ball became. Truthfully, though he complained, this was the one ball every season that he had never missed and never planned on missing. He both loved and hated this event. Bittersweet.
There was nothing as exquisite as the taste of fresh blood on his tongue, fresh from a beautiful woman’s neck.
He traveled about the room but saw nothing that captured his interest. The conventional woman with an extra low cut gown, designed to attract attention. Those brazen costumes were the equivalent of a woman beginning every conversation with a sultry desperation. Philip trudged through the hall desperate in his own right to find a woman that was not the typically boring girl with nothing in her head but air. He leaned against the wall, watching the couples dancing and the singles that mingled about, looking for someone to sink their teeth into. Some literally, like him and his sister, and some figuratively—socially.