Olivia blinked at me, her face blank. But her pulse raced, and I could smell her fear. Beads of perspiration dotted her forehead, and her legs were shaking slightly.
“You’re not going to be afraid,” I Controlled her. “It’s going to be ok.”
She nodded at me. Immediately, her heartbeat slowed to a normal pace.
I gently took her hand and led her to the window where Gabriel was. I slipped on the sunglasses he held out to me.
He was trying not to look at her.
“I’m sorry,” I told him as Olivia and I went out the window.
Gabriel followed behind us and closed the window. He kissed my forehead, picked Olivia up, and sprinted toward the woods. Thomas landed silently beside me, and we followed them to the car.
It had only taken three minutes to turn the poor girl’s life completely upside down.
***
I Controlled Olivia to sleep on the ride home.
None of us spoke. Inola’s eyes never left the road, and her grip on the steering wheel looked tight enough to snap the thing in half. Thomas chose to sleep, and I almost wished I had chosen to do the same. Gabriel stared out the window, his hands fists in his lap.
Olivia’s appearance unnerved him, but what bothered him the most was that this brought back all of his guilt from when he’d taken me. If he had the chance to go back in time, he would have approached things differently, but he and I both knew my fate with him was sealed in blood.
I would have been his no matter what.
My predator mode was fading. To appease my guilt, I tried to make Olivia as comfortable as possible even though she was unconscious. I wrapped her in the quilt I had packed for her and rested her head on a pillow against the window.
For most of the ride, I stared at the back of the driver’s seat and counted Gabriel’s heartbeats, each one thudding in perfect time with my own.
When Inola parked the car in the garage back at the coven house, I removed the quilt from Olivia’s body.
“Wake up,” I Controlled softly into her ear.
Her eyes fluttered open.
“Just follow me quietly. Don’t be afraid.”
She actually smiled at me as she nodded. My stomach heaved in response, and I knew much of the reaction stemmed from Gabriel. He loathed Control, and as connected as we were, it was like he was the one Controlling her instead of me.
I took her hand, and we went inside, stopping inside the parlor where half a dozen members of the coven were gathered.
Their bodies tensed when they saw Olivia, and surprise washed over many of their faces. Everyone knew what Lucy looked like; there were paintings of her all throughout the mansion.
“This human is claimed by me,” I said.
Christopher was in the room, and he studied Olivia before nodding. “I think I see exactly what you are up to, Kara. Have you informed Jasmina of this?” he asked.
“Not yet,” I replied. “I’m not breaking any rules. If Elias happens to come here to get her, then we will just have to dispose of him for his many crimes.”
Freesia, the vampire who had come to me in the library and given me the note about Emma, smiled widely. She and June had been best friends.
“Oh, Elias will not be able to resist this. I am assuming he has been keeping tabs on this human?” Freesia asked.
“We are counting on it,” Thomas answered.
Freesia’s fangs snapped out, but Olivia remained calm.
“Let him come. We will be ready for him,” Freesia said.
I nodded and led Olivia to my room.
“This is where you will stay,” I told her. “I will try to make you as comfortable as possible. Are you hungry?”
Olivia looked at me with glazed eyes. Gabriel watched from the doorway, his body stone.
“You may speak now,” I Controlled.
“Yes, I’m hungry.”
“Ok. I’ll have something brought up to you,” I said.
Gabriel disappeared from the doorway to go get the food.
Olivia looked around. “Are these your animals?”
“Yes.”
“May I pet them?”
I smiled. “Sure.”
Olivia helped me feed them after I introduced her to them. She had a purring Denny in her lap when Gabriel came back inside, a tray of Thomas’s homemade tomato soup and garlic bread in his hands.
“You don’t have to stay in here, but I don’t want to leave her alone,” I told him gently.
Gabriel kissed the top of my head before setting the tray down on the table.
“I will stay with you, heart. The more I look at her, the less like Lucy she looks. But . . .”
“She seems very kind like Lucy, doesn’t she?”
Sadness filled our eyes.
Olivia got up and sat down before her food, placing Denny in the chair opposite of her.
“You all are vampires, aren’t you?” Olivia asked, dipping her bread into the soup.
Gabriel sat down on the floor with me. He scratched Millie behind the ear. “Why would you think that?” he asked.
“Well, that woman had fangs. And all of you have glowing eyes. You can’t be human.”
“You are correct, Olivia. We are vampires,” Gabriel said.
“Hmm . . .” She took a bite of the bread. “So that’s what he is. I always knew he wasn’t human, but . . .”
I already knew before I asked. “Who are you talking about?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know his name. A long time ago when I was just a kid, a stranger with glowing, silver eyes healed me after I fell out of a tree. Once or twice I thought I saw him again, like he was watching over me or something. The next year on the same date of when he’d healed me, he left me a charm bracelet with a kite charm on my nightstand. Every year after that, on the same date, he always left me a charm.”
Gabriel and I looked at the bracelet on her arm. It dangled with various charms. As I looked at the charms, I knew I was getting a glimpse of her life.
Elias had watched her enough to know what she liked. From where I was sitting, I could see an anchor, a mermaid, a volleyball, a music note, a lighthouse, a sunflower, a lion, a book, and a sushi roll.
“This might sound stupid, but I always thought he was my guardian angel. No one ever believed me about him when I was a child, so I kept my mouth shut. Is there any chance you might know him?”
Anger cascaded inside of Gabriel and me.
“Yes,” I said. “We know him.”
“What is his name?”
“Elias,” Gabriel said. The name tasted like poison in our mouths.
“Is he here?”
“No,” Gabriel answered quickly.
“I always wanted to see him again. . . . Wait, you said someone needed to die in order for you to be safe again. Is it him that needs to die?” Olivia asked. She pushed her food away and stared at us with apprehension in her eyes.
She had the right to know everything. I had brought her into this, and it was wrong of me to have done so. I wasn’t about to leave her in the dark.
“Olivia, we will tell you everything,” I said. “And regardless of how you feel about Elias at the end of our story, I’m telling you now, he will die. There may be light in him, but it’s buried so deeply within him that it can no longer be reached.”
Olivia grabbed Denny and clutched him to her chest, as if bracing herself.
“We’ll start at the very beginning,” I said. “Gabriel had a sister named Lucy. . . .”
Olivia’s face was as white as snow after we finished telling her everything. She shook her head, obviously in complete disbelief.
“There’s nothing you’re leaving out?” she asked. “You’re not lying about anything, are you? Because a lot of the patients at the hospital I treat are involved in domestic violence disputes or have been in car accidents, and there are always two sides to every story.”
“All of it is true,” I said. “We have no reason to lie.”
Sh
e looked at Gabriel with narrowed eyes. “And your PTSD is better because you are connected to him?”
“Yes,” I replied.
“But he attacked you. He kidnapped you. . . .”
“I know it’s difficult to understand, but Gabriel is not the person he used to be. I wouldn’t be with him had I not felt how sorry he was or if I didn’t know how much he loves me.”
Olivia shifted in her seat. “Stockholm Syndrome,” she muttered under her breath.
I grinned. During the months when Gabriel and I had been separated, I’d spent many sleepless nights researching Stockholm Syndrome. The results had been varied and inconclusive, and I’d stopped the obsessive research after Thomas had pointed out that my animals only loved me because I fed them.
“I want to go home. I don’t want any part of this,” Olivia said.
I went and sat down beside her, taking her water cup. “I’m sorry to involve you, but it’s too late now.”
“It’s not,” she said, still so calm because of my Control. “Just send me home. Control me to forget this.”
I ignored her pleas, taking the knife on the tray Gabriel had brought. The knife was not silver.
“I’m going to Control you to not feel any pain,” I said. “Give me your arm. This is not going to hurt you.”
I sliced her wrist, not deeply, but enough for a fair amount of blood to emerge. I squeezed the blood into the water cup, the red liquid tainting its purity.
I downed the contents in two quick gulps, hating her blood. It was not Gabriel’s blood, and it felt wrong to drink it.
Olivia looked like she was about to go into shock as I poured more water into the cup from the small pitcher on the tray. My fangs shot of out of my gums, and I winced at the burst of pain that always accompanied their appearance. I bit into my wrist and allowed my blow to flow into the cup.
Gabriel moaned in his throat, quietly enough that Olivia couldn’t hear. My blood belonged to him, and I was about to give it to someone else. Neither one of us was happy about what I was about to do.
Olivia was not afraid, but she was angry. “I’m not drinking that,” she snapped, her eyes sparking.
I slid the cup to her, my gaze boring into her skull. “Yes, you will.”
Powerless under my Control, she emptied the cup. She looked bewildered when she was finished. “It didn’t taste like anything.”
“That’s because you don’t love me,” I said. “Vampire blood is tasteless to a human if the human does not love them.”
Her eyes widened when the cut on her wrist sealed, leaving behind only a thin, pale scar.
“Whoa! If only we had this stuff at the hospital. . . .” She stared at her wrist until tears pooled inside her eyes. “I don’t want to be a vampire.”
My own eyes burned in response. “I know. I really hope it won’t come to that.”
Chapter 14 The Only One
Everyone was on high alert. Everyone was armed and ready to kill.
Olivia’s presence had fired the coven up. The bait was too irresistible, and everyone knew it. The entire coven had watched and patrolled the forest for days.
It only took a week for Elias to notice Olivia’s disappearance. An hour after the sun set on the seventh day, he came.
Whistles echoed throughout the night, signaling Elias’s approach from the vampires who watched from the rooftop.
Gabriel and I left my room with Olivia’s hand in mine. We met Inola and Thomas in the hallway and headed to the foyer.
We went and stood in front of a window, shielding Olivia from sight as Elias emerged from the forest.
Relief filled me. Because of Elias’s appearance, I wouldn’t have to turn Olivia into a vampire. We had been drinking one another's blood from cups to prevent a blood connection from forming, and also because I'd wanted plenty of our blood to be in one another's systems just in case another member decided to ignore my claim.
Jasmina stood at the doorway, her body as still as stone. She had remained awake for this all week, and Gabriel had told me that this was the longest she had ever stayed awake since the death of Jaren.
Freesia glanced at her phone. “Those who patrol the forest see no signs of others. There is no ambush,” Freesia said.
“He is alone,” Jasmina said, surprise in her voice. One hand rested over her heart, and the other hand gripped a stake.
“This is a good thing,” I said. I had been afraid he would come with many others, placing all in danger.
“Gabriel and Kara, listen to me,” Jasmina said. “Go along with exactly everything I say and do.”
Gabriel’s confusion mingled with my own. “He is to die, My Lady, is he not?” Gabriel asked heatedly.
Jasmina’s violet gaze cut us before she walked outside.
Gabriel gritted his teeth, and I felt the sensation inside my own mouth. Olivia squeezed my hand tighter, completely unafraid due to my Control.
A dozen members of Violet Memory shadowed Jasmina as she neared Elias. Some flitted through the trees, and soon Elias was surrounded.
Elias seemed completely at ease. From where I stood, he didn’t even look like he was armed.
“Elias, I was beginning to think the girl meant nothing to you,” Jasmina said.
A spark of emotion entered Elias’s eyes, a look of desperation that mirrored how Gabriel had once looked.
Faint guilt wavered inside my belly, but it was quickly crushed by my anger. This was the monster who had blamed Gabriel for things beyond his control. This was the monster who had tortured me. This was the monster who had killed my dogs and who had caused the blood frenzy in Gabriel.
“I want no trouble,” Elias said. He unzipped his black jacket and spread his hands. “As you see, I came alone, and I am not armed. While I am trespassing and already deserve death by your laws, you know why I am here. Return Olivia to me, and you will never again see or hear from me. Kara and her loved ones will be safe, I promise.”
Gabriel made a move to step outside, but Inola spread her arm out in front of him. Thomas pulled at Gabriel’s sleeve, shaking his head.
Jasmina was quiet for a long time. “After everything you have done, you believe I should let you live?” she said. “Others will think I have gone too soft. You were the one who killed June.”
Elias said nothing.
Jasmina shook her head. “You killed one of our own. I cannot allow you to live. You know this.”
Immediately, Elias raised his arm, and the unmistakable glint of a stake gun shined in the moonlight. The dozen vampires closed in around Jasmina, their fangs bared.
I swallowed hard. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. Why was Jasmina hesitating?
“Kara, bring Olivia outside,” Jasmina ordered quietly.
I felt Gabriel’s hand tighten on his stake. He moved toward the door, but Thomas held him back.
“Don’t,” Thomas whispered into his ear. His voice was extremely quiet; I could only hear because I was connected to Gabriel. “You can’t kill him anyway. Just watch.”
“He is not going to live after everything he’s done,” Gabriel hissed.
“Hush, Gabriel,” Inola scolded furiously.
I remembered the way Jasmina had looked at us before going outside. I was truly appalled; I couldn’t believe she valued her life so much more than the rest of us. It seemed completely against her character.
“As soon as I have an opening, I will stake him,” I said to Gabriel inside our minds.
I felt Gabriel’s body tense. He didn’t want me anywhere near Elias, but he also didn’t want Elias to escape.
“He won’t see it coming,” I assured him. “He’s too surrounded by enemies. He knows you would never let me do something this dangerous, so he won’t expect it when I do attack him.”
I walked to Gabriel and kissed his cheek before going outside with Olivia. Gabriel followed behind me, shrugging off Thomas’s hand.
The desperation in Elias’s eyes turned to pure agony as I approached wi
th Olivia. We stopped behind the group of vampires, and Olivia smiled at him. I heard Elias’s breath hitch.
“Were you harmed?” Elias asked her.
Olivia shook her head. “Kara has been very kind to me . . . for a kidnapper.”
“I’m sorry. This was not supposed to happen,” Elias murmured, lowering the arm that had the stake gun strapped to it.
“That’s all right. I get to finally speak to you after all this time. . . . But Kara told me you’ll probably just Control my memories away anyway,” Olivia said sadly.
Elias seemed unsure, and he looked to Gabriel and me. “I just want a normal life for her. That’s it. I just want her to have a safe life.”
“That sounds familiar,” Gabriel said through clenched teeth.
Elias ignored him and looked at me. “We meet again, little hummingbird.”
I swallowed iced razors and made myself smile at him. “Actually, my heartbeat is very slow now thanks to you.”
“You mean thanks to your sire,” Elias countered. “I wasn’t the one who truly killed you, Kara. I told you Gabriel would betray you.”
“And a good thing he did,” I said. “You could say I’ve had a change of heart.”
“Congratulations,” Elias said sarcastically, bearing his fangs. “Now, I believe you have something of mine. I’ll kill at least a few of you before I go down if this breaks out into a fight. It might be you who dies, little hummingbird. Or it might be Gabriel. You can avoid all of that.”
Jasmina turned to me. “Give Olivia to Elias, Kara.”
Freesia stepped forward. “You cannot! Elias killed June! He must—”
“My order is not to be disobeyed,” Jasmina said firmly.
My hand was frozen around Olivia’s. Gabriel used our blood connection to gently loosen my grip.
“Don’t go near him,” Gabriel warned. “Wait for him to turn around.”
Olivia jerked her hand away from me and went to Elias. He opened his arms, and she ran into them.
I tightened my hand on the stake, waiting for my opening.
But then there was the smallest, sharpest intake of breath as Elias’s arms closed around Olivia.
Olivia stepped back, horror in her eyes.
Forever Stained Red (Violet Memory Book 2) Page 15