by T. Aleo
But when I get there, he isn’t there. No one is.
Looking back to JJ, I ask, “They’re coming?”
“I’m sure they are.”
But no one shows.
As I slam my fist into the punching bag, I look to JJ. “Where are they?”
I throw a kick in there as JJ watches me, shaking his head. “I guess your father needed them for something.”
Why does that piss me off so badly? “But he doesn’t need me. I’m just the stupid female who can die. And so, I’m worthless!”
“I don’t think that’s true—”
“It is,” I yell back at him as I smash my elbow into the bag. I swing my other arm around, and my forearm lands with a crash before I swing back the other way, hitting it with my leg. Looking back at JJ, I glare. “I’m tired of knowing nothing. They give me a little taste of being respected in this family and then yank it away. It’s not fair, and I’m freaking tired of it!” Jumping up, I kick my foot into the bag and then drop my elbow before swinging my other leg around and hitting it once more. “And why is Oceanus lying to me? I don’t lie to him, but he lies to me. I know it’s about Killian. Just tell me. I can handle it.” Whipping around, I set him with a look. “I’m old enough to deal, and I’m tired of being treated like a baby!”
Gasping for breath, I feel beaten. But JJ, he’s just standing there, cool as a cucumber. “Are you done being overdramatic?”
Letting out a yell of frustration, I whip around, kicking the bag so hard it comes off the chain, landing with a thump on the ground. Coming toe-to-toe with JJ, I find I’m struggling for breath. My heart is in my throat, and I’m over all of it. “I will find out what is going on, and I’ll show you all that I can handle anything that comes my way!”
JJ’s eyes are dark and offended as he holds my gaze. “Don’t you get that we are trying to protect you? You are acting like an angry toddler because you can’t know.”
“I don’t need to be protected. I just want the truth.”
“The truth, well… The truth, my love, is a little more than you can handle. Trust me, let this go. We have taken care of the problem. There is no threat.”
“The problem? A threat?” I ask, my brows rising. “Are you talking about the threat toward me? From the Kelleys? I thought that was taken care of.”
He wasn’t supposed to tell me that, or maybe he didn’t realize I am quicker than I look. Sighing, he shrugs. “We thought there wasn’t a threat either, but we learned differently.”
Unsure what he’s saying, I search his eyes. “And it has to do with Killian?”
But JJ shakes his head. “I’ve said more than I should. Just please, let it go.”
I almost can’t believe what he is implying. Or at least, what I’m assuming he’s implying. “Killian wasn’t after me, was he?”
JJ looks away, sighing heavily. Crap, was he? What in the world? How? “Since your brothers have not shown, why don’t you go ahead and take a nap? You have an appointment with your father today.”
Letting my head fall back, I groan.
Damn it.
His hand comes to the small of my back. “Come on, now.”
I allow him to guide me away, but my mind is still reeling. I can’t wrap my brain around it. Why would Killian, a vampire, be after me? Had the Kelleys bought the vampires out? How, though? My family supplies their food source. And then, why?
Clearing my throat, I shake my head. “I have to go see the boys.”
“Not today,” JJ says, and my brows shoot up.
“I always go and visit them on Friday. What, now I’m not allowed to go to the bastille?”
“Not today,” he says once more, and I glare, my heart pounding.
“Then, when?”
“I’m unsure.”
“Is Killian down there?”
Stopping, JJ takes ahold of my shoulders and gives me a shake, causing my eyes to widen. “I’ve told you enough times, let it go. This has nothing to do with you. That man has nothing to do with you. Let it go.”
Staring up at him, I feel my heart speed up in my chest, and my throat is tight as my lips press together. His eyes are pleading, but they also have a warning in them. I’m unsure what to do. Unsure what to think. It all just seems so unreal to me. Killian didn’t seem like he was out to get me. He was nice to me, he was funny, he flirted with me… Wait, was it all a trick?
Was it all a ploy?
To get me alone and kidnap me?
To kill me?
But most of all, why doesn’t that scare me?
Why is there still hope in my heart?
Hope that I’m wrong, that I’m assuming the worst, and that Killian will be there tonight when I get to the Clandestine.
While in my heart I pray and beg I’m wrong and I’m assuming the complete worst, when I get to the Clandestine, Killian isn’t there.
I don’t understand why I’m disappointed.
I think I knew I was right, that he was out to kill me. But I can’t seem to accept it. It all felt so real—our interactions, the way he looked at me, talked to me, and I think that’s what I’m disappointed about. That I was used. Being used is new to me. I’ve never felt like this. Ignored, overlooked, childish—those were feelings I was accustomed to. But used? Nope, I hadn’t felt that one.
And boy, does it sting.
Not even the thought that he was sent to kill me hurt. It was that he didn’t want me. That his words were lies, and that I was nothing but a kill to him. It’s just mind-boggling. Then, what’s really mind-boggling is the fact that a vampire was hired to kill me. That’s insane, but smart in a way. It would be easy for us to suspect a shifter; they come into our bar, and everyone goes on high alert. But a vampire comes in and out of here with no issue at all. Not anymore, though. Everyone in here is now out to get me. JJ may think there’s no threat, but we thought that before.
So now I’m back to watching my back.
I hate that.
But I hate that Killian did this to me more.
I also despise the fact I can’t stop thinking about him.
Man, how pathetic can I be?
“Do you think more are out to get me?” I ask JJ as I lean against the bar, my gaze moving across each person in the Clandestine. It’s slow right now, but come midnight, the freaks will be out and I’ll be slammed.
Since I’m the only one here.
Ignoring the ache in my heart, I blink my left eye and cringe in pain. It’s swollen and red again from another concoction my father put together and stabbed me with. I am so over these injections in my eyes. At least this time, I can actually see a bit better, so maybe my eye will be healed soon. I really don’t want to go through another surgery. I don’t want some other person’s eyes.
Clearing his throat, JJ leans toward me, his mouth against his hands as he whispers, “Keep your voice down, Rebekah. I’ve told you, I’m unable to talk about this.”
“So will the Kelleys be killed?”
He shakes his head, knowing I won’t stop until he gives me something to work with. “I don’t know. Things are up in the air right now.”
Resting my head on my hand, I look at his profile. “But do they know that we know they sent someone to kill me?”
“How do you know that’s what’s going on?”
I pin him with a dry look. “I’m not dumb. I can put two and two together.”
He laughs. “I think part of your two is a little off, my love.”
I purse my lips. “Whatever. I’ll get the truth out of someone else as soon as I see them. Since you’re a brick wall.”
When he flashes me a grin, I roll my eyes. I really need to find Oceanus, maybe even Jonas, but I haven’t seen them and that isn’t normal. I always see my family. Though, when I saw my father this afternoon, it was very quick, in-and-out. He didn’t even try another formula on me.
Which I’m highly thankful for.
Clearing my throat, I ask, “So why was Irvina here? That was weir
d.”
“We needed a spell,” he says, his eyes scoping the place out.
“A spell for what?”
He shakes his head. “Stuff.”
Rolling my eyes, I cut him a look. Damn it, he is frustrating. “What kind of stuff?”
“Stuff so we could find out stuff.”
When he looks at me, he laughs at my glare. “Why can’t you just tell me?”
“Because your father doesn’t want you to know.”
Of course not. I sigh. “Did you ask when I can go back to the bastille? I’m sure the boys miss me.”
He shrugs. “We are working that out.”
Eyeing him, I wonder what there is to work out. But then it dawns on me. “So Killian isn’t dead? He’s down there?”
Why does that please me? I should want him dead for wanting me dead. Shouldn’t I?
JJ only shakes his head, though, ignorant to my inner struggle, before nodding his head toward the bar. “You have someone to serve.”
Looking to where he is directing me, I see a tall, slender man standing by the bar, a stern look on his face. He has dark features, and his skin is white as a sheet. Without even asking, I reach for a bottle of blood and a glass before stopping in front of him.
“You look like an O kind of guy,” I say, pouring him a cup, and he grins.
“Ah, a girl after my heart. Yes, thank you,” he says as I set the glass in front of him. Sitting down, he holds my gaze, not touching the drink. “What’s your name?”
A little taken aback by his question since everyone knows my name, I smile. “Rebekah.”
“Ah, yes, I knew that,” he laughs, leaning on his elbows. “Been working here a while?”
“Long enough.”
“Oh, good.” He smiles up at me.
He doesn’t have fangs.
What the hell?
Nodding down to his glass, I say, “Better drink up before it cools off.”
“Ah, yes,” he says, reaching for the cup and bringing it to his lips. I watch, and I’m sure he isn’t drinking at all, especially when he lowers the glass and wipes his mouth instead of licking his lips, like any vampire would.
No blood left behind, of course.
When he looks back to me, his lip pulls up at the side as he clears his throat. “I’m not from around here. Passing through, but I’m looking for a cousin of mine. Maybe you can help?”
“Oh, where are you from?”
“Far away, off in France somewhere you’ve never heard of,” he says with a wave of his hand, but I don’t hear a hint of a French accent in his voice. More Irish than anything, and the more I think about it, the more I’m sure I’ve heard this voice before. “His name is Killian. I heard he worked here. Is he off tonight?”
My eyes narrow as I hold his gaze. “Killian, you say?”
“Yes, my dear, crazy cousin. Wanted to catch up, and I haven’t heard from him in a while.”
“Is that right?” I ask slowly, looking to JJ, but he isn’t watching. He’s talking to Samuel, totally unaware of what is going on. Looking back to my new friend, I lick my lips before nodding my head. “I don’t know him.”
His eyes change, almost as if he senses my lie, before he nods. “No reason to lie, Rebekah. I just want to see my brother.”
My eyes narrow to slits, and my whole body goes on alert. “I thought you said cousin?”
His lips press together and then he shrugs. “Brother, cousin, same thing.”
But it’s not.
I don’t know what comes over me, but before he realizes what I’m doing, I step up on the bar pipe and reach across the bar, taking him by his shirt and slamming his face down into the bar. Jumping up on the bar in one swift motion, I flip his body over and drop my knee into his neck. He kicks up, trying to get away, but I have him pinned. His eyes are wild as they look up at me. “What the hell!” he struggles to say, but I ignore him. JJ is screaming my name as my gaze burns into this stranger’s.
“Who are you?”
“You crazy bitch! Let me up,” he yells, struggling against me, but I’m not moving, not until I know who he is.
Well, at least that was my plan until JJ yanked me off him.
JJ wraps his arms around my arms, and I balk against him, trying to get away as Samuel comes to the guy’s side, appearing to help. But I see the way his hand holds the guy’s arm, and his eyes are assessing the situation.
“He isn’t a vampire!” I yell, but JJ shakes me.
“Rebekah, calm down.”
“No!” I push off him, but I’m not going anywhere; his grip is iron-clad. “Let me go!”
“No. Jesus,” he complains, picking me up and taking me to the back. He drops me once we’re back there, but I hop back up, ready to run out front. But he’s in my way. “What in the world has gotten into you?”
“He isn’t a vampire, JJ. He was asking for Killian. He’s out to get me!”
JJ rolls his eyes as Samuel comes through the door, his eyes wide. “Little fucker got away.”
JJ’s eyes widen. “What?”
“That wasn’t a vampire. He was strong, very strong, and I know vampire strength, but his was different. I don’t know what that was,” he says, breathless.
“Told you,” I shoot back at JJ as he shakes his head.
“What in the hell is going on?”
“I don’t know, but the boys have been notified about him, and I’m shutting the bar down—”
“No, you do that, everyone will know something is going on,” JJ cuts Samuel off as my heart jackhammers in my chest. “We have to act cool. With Rebekah throwing him on the bar, we already have to twist the story to address that, but no one can know we’re worried. Especially not the Kelleys. And since we’re unsure who is with whom, we need to play this smart.”
“We’re unsure? What, have loyalties been broken?” I ask as the door flies open and Oceanus and Jonas appear, Cyrus bringing up the rear.
“We don’t know yet,” Samuel says, but I hardly hear him as Oceanus’s voice booms through the room.
“Are you okay?” he asks, his eyes on me, and I nod.
“Fine, there was no problem. I took care of it,” I say proudly, my chest puffing up more than it probably should.
“What happened?” Oceanus asks, and JJ quickly tells him what happened.
“So, a shifter?” Jonas asks, his arms crossing over his chest.
“I guess,” JJ says, letting out a breath. “You couldn’t catch ’em?”
“They were long gone, and Hank didn’t see the license plate, so no help there.”
“But they got a make and model?”
“Town car,” Cyrus says, shaking his head. “Could be anyone.”
“True, but who?” Samuel asks, and everyone is stumped. “Would the Kelleys really try to come in here after their first soldier failed?”
“They don’t know he failed. They asked where he was,” I announce, and they all look back at me, surprised. “They are looking for him.”
Oceanus nods, turning to JJ. “We need to keep it that way. No one can know we have him, and if anyone asks, Samuel fired him, and we haven’t seen him.”
Everyone nods as Jonas clears his throat. “When is the meeting?”
“Monday.”
“Meeting for what?” I ask, and everyone looks back at me, almost like they forgot I was there. Which is very disgruntling, I must say.
“Nothing,” JJ says, and I give him an exasperated look.
“JJ, I just single-handedly took someone down, ready to kick ass until you stopped me, yet you still can’t tell me anything?”
Everyone looks at each other and then back to me. “Nope. Nothing.”
With that, JJ turns to leave, everyone following him, and leaving me in complete and utterly disbelief.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me!” I holler just as Oceanus stops in the doorway, his eyes on me. Pausing, I blink as he struggles with whatever he is about to say.
“We are meeting wit
h each leader to make sure loyalties are still intact. Father thinks Killian came on his own, not sent by the Kelleys. But now with this, that may be different. We just aren’t sure.”
I don’t understand. “So he doesn’t suspect the vampires are working with the Kelleys?”
Oceanus bites into his lip and then slowly shakes his head. “Killian isn’t a vampire.”
I can only blink, my heart stopping in my chest. “What?”
“He’s a shifter.”
My mouth drops open, and I can’t believe what I’m hearing.
He isn’t a vampire?
A shifter.
How? How did I not notice that?
But when I look up, my brother is gone, and all I’m left with are questions, a heart that is beating out of control, and an uneasiness that is drowning me.
Killian is a shifter.
Holy. Shit.
Pacing my room, my breath comes out in spurts, my heart is in my throat, and my eyes are wide, almost popping out of my head.
Maybe I heard Oceanus wrong.
But then, how do you hear “He’s a shifter” wrong?
It’s pretty much cut-and-dried.
Killian is a shifter.
A shifter.
And apparently, he was sent to kidnap me.
Well, shit.
It’s been almost three days, yet I’m doing the same thing I did the moment I found out: freaking out. But something deep inside of me just doesn’t think it’s true. He had plenty of moments where he could have gotten me alone. Taken me. But he never did. We became friends, and never once was I scared of him. I trusted him.
Sitting down on my bed slowly, I feel my eye begin to twitch as I hold my breath, my heart still erratic.
I liked him.
As more than a friend, and I’m really unsure how to handle this.
His betrayal is so overwhelming.
I know the truth. I know what he did…well, at least pieces of it. But the guy I know, my Killian, would never hurt me. He was always so protective of me. Making a fuss when I came to work with bruises from sparring with my brothers or when I tried to do something he considered “man’s work.” He was generous, he was sweet, he always had a quick smile on his face, yet I’m to believe he was going to be my captor? It just doesn’t make sense.