Fateful

by Cheri Schmidt

  Distracting her from that, Ethan snuggled her closer, shared a knowing look with Beon, that pretty much said “watch this” as he cupped her cheek into his hand and then matched his gaze with hers. One look into his eyes, however, and that spellbound feeling that only he gave her returned, reminding her of her thoughts before she’d reentered the drawing room. “Ethan?”

  “Yes,” he whispered with a return of mischief dancing in his blue gaze.

  “Why doesn’t Sophia do this to me?”

  “Do what?” he asked, like he already knew the answer but wanted to hear her say it.

  “Make me feel all hazy and dizzy?”

  “Remember when I said it’s only you?”

  Her brows drew down. She’d thought he meant he only affected her like this, as though she could pick up on this secret vampirism when others couldn’t. “Well, yeah.”

  “You shouldn’t be influenced like this now, but for some reason you can only detect it in me. I can only guess it has to do with the connection we have.” He turned to Beon, reluctantly taking his eyes from hers. “Beon, what do you think?”

  “Danielle, look into my eyes,” Beon instructed kindly. She did as he asked. “Do you feel dizzy now?”

  “Yes, but...” She pointed to Ethan.

  “All right, Ethan, let her go a minute. Stand up please, Danielle.” She stood and felt Ethan’s influence leave her then looked at Beon again.

  He raised his eyebrows as he made eye contact with her.

  “Sorry, nothing now.”

  “Hm,” Beon said, his hand lifting to his chin in a thoughtful pose. “And you say you recognize her soul?”

  A playful smile filled Danielle lips when Ethan hooked an arm around her waist and returned her to his lap, enjoying his greedy need to hold her. As his blue eyes locked with her brown again, he said, “Yes.”

  “Fascinating.”

  “This isn’t just a vampire thing?” she asked.

  “Certainly not,” said Beon.

  Ethan leaned his forehead against hers and traced his fingers around the contours of her cheeks and jaw. It seemed he was becoming just as muddled as her. “I suspect if we’d met as mortals we’d still recognize one another, but the curse magic would be gone.” Besides tickling her skin with his fingers he was now painting her face with soft kisses. Forgetting about Beon, Danielle was melting in his arms. She sighed and closed her eyes because if he kept this up she was likely to faint.

  Ethan laughed gently at her sigh. “You all right?”

  “Uh.” Her voice trembled and she couldn’t find any more words than that.

  Ethan snickered again. He was playing with his magical effect on her and it really wasn’t very fair.

  Beon spoke as if he didn’t notice or care about what Ethan was doing, “This really is rather odd. I haven’t seen anything like it. I must agree that it probably does have something to do with this ‘connection’ between the two of you.” Danielle tried to look at Beon as he spoke, but Ethan wouldn’t allow it. She managed to get her eyes in his direction without turning her head and was surprised to find that he was smiling, but a hint of wise concern could be seen in his eyes.

  Ethan continued to torture her in front of Beon, until she was finally saved by Sophia when she entered the room with tea service for one. The woman stopped dead in her stride and snapped, “Ethan!” Her finger flashed accusingly to the tray of hors d’oeuvres. “Why have these not been touched? Don’t you dare waste them! For propriety’s sake, stop tormenting the poor girl and feed her!”

  Smirking, Ethan grabbed a tiny rolled sandwich from the tray and started feeding it to Danielle carefully. “Sorry,” he mumbled to Sophia.

  Amazed to find that it was delicious, Danielle looked to Sophia and smiled her approval as she didn’t want to talk around a mouthful of food.

  Smiling at that, Sophia then proceeded to prepare a cup of tea for Danielle. “You prefer peach with cream and honey. Is that correct, my dear?” Her words were smooth and sweet like the honey she added to the tea.

  “Yes, ma’am. Thank you.” She glanced at Ethan, knowing he must have told Sophia how she liked it.

  Sophia handed her the dainty teacup, which Danielle tasted promptly, knowing from the expectant look on Sophia’s face that she was eager for her review. “Perfect,” Danielle said.

  With a face consumed with delight, Sophia turned to seat herself next to Beon, but not without flashing one more scolding glance in Ethan’s direction.

  As Ethan fed another appetizer to her, others began to enter the room. Ethan whispered the names of many of them into her ear, but not all of them, there were so many. That’s when this place seemed more like Order headquarters than a private home or even a bed and breakfast. Certainly cursed, they were all rather good-looking, but all in different ways. And not all of them had come to meet her, she realized as some of them went to gather a book from the shelf before leaving.

  Beon and Sophia’s daughter, Nadia, approached them first. Her emerald green eyes stood out in strong contrast to her black hair and fair skin. Danielle secretly envied the green eyes that were so much prettier than her boring brown. She found it difficult to believe Nadia could have ever been human because to her she looked more like a forest-elf, and wanted to check under her smooth ebony hair for pointed elf-ears.

  Nadia strolled gracefully to them. “Hi, Danielle, I’m so pleased to meet you.”

  “Thank you, Nadia.”

  Max, who was husky in build and very tall came next. He sported a longer haircut than Ethan, the brown curls drifted over his ears in a handsomely messy way. His eyes were also brown, she noticed when he looked her way. A keen awareness of everything around him flickered in his eyes. A whiskered face enhanced his sharp, dangerous look, and Danielle could easily picture him donned in chain-mail carrying a long sharp sword. No wonder Lucas ran when he saw this guy coming.

  The knight strode over, dropped to one knee in front of Danielle, snatched up her hand and planted a kiss on her knuckles.

  Ethan stiffened and she turned to look at him. Why did he look sort of irritated? With Max?

  “Greetings, Miss Darcey,” the knight said, drawing her attention back his way. He then stood and turned to sit on the chair next to Ethan. Flopping himself down he threw his large feet, heavily donned in massive black boots, up onto the table with a bang, jostling everything on it.

  “Maximilian! Mind the furniture!” Sophia ranted.

  “Yes, ma’am, sorry.” He removed his feet from the table, hanging his head with shame, but his lips were graced with a smirk. He looked at Danielle from the corner of his eye. “Very nice, Ethan…” His gaze shifted to hers as he addressed Danielle directly, “Never fear, my sweet, we’ll keep the wicked vampires at bay.” What a funny thing for a vampire to say! And then he offered a sexy wink. Unable to resist smiling in return, Danielle was surprised when Ethan’s grip tightened.

  Thinking the action was due to that possessiveness she’d seen earlier and that perhaps he was jealous of the knight, but then a blonde woman neared them and she realized she was the one distressing Ethan. Danielle had actually forgotten about Celeste and feared this had to be her.

  She was just as beautiful as the others outwardly, but something inside made her uglier. Platinum blond hair was cropped short and styled like Marilyn Monroe’s—she even had the curves. She wore a lot of makeup on her face, complete with false eyelashes, and her seductive eyes were an eerie pale shade of blue. Although her eyes were lovely, something sinister lurked within them. The limpid color was like shallow water, reflecting a shallow soul and she could easily see how Ethan sensed the darkness in her.

  Celeste reached out a graceful hand to stroke Danielle’s hair; petting her like she was a dog. “How sweet. Ethan brought home a pet. She’s so adorable!” Her tone was harsh and demeaning and not meant in a kind light. Danielle shuddered at her touch.

  “Back off, Celeste!” Ethan spat with enough venom to make any normal person cower. Celes
te wasn’t intimidated at all. She simply rolled her eyes and glided out of the room, tossing her blond ringlets with a snobbish flick of her wrist.

  Ethan promptly put his lips to Danielle’s ear, and whispered soothingly, “Don’t even spend another second thinking about her. She’s not worth it.”

  Several others introduced themselves. With the different inflections in their voices she realized some of them were from England, but mostly they appeared to be an odd mixture of many countries and eras.... Men and women continued to filter in and out of the room. Some eyed her with curiosity, while others seemed downright irritated she was there. Was Celeste really the only problem here? Or was it simply that they knew she wasn’t one of them? Or, even worse, were the ones that made her nervous the repentant killers Ethan had told her about before?

  Chapter 10

  Questions

  The room was silent for a few moments until Beon sliced into it with a question. “Danielle dear, would you like to be turned?”

  She stiffened, as did Ethan, and then realized this is what they’d been arguing about earlier. Her immortality.

  She glanced at Ethan and saw he was shaking his head, mouthing the word “no” to her. Danielle closed her eyes to release herself from his influence and took a deep breath before answering, “Thank you very much, Beon ... but, I don’t think that is something I want. I’m sorry.”

  “Darling, surely you must think it through more carefully. It’s not so bad—“

  “Beon,” Ethan said dangerously. “She said no.”

  “Yes. She said no, Ethan, or is it rather you who said no?”

  It was true, Ethan hadn’t exactly asked her opinion on this, but she also knew he understood her wishes. “He’s right, sir, I don’t want this.”

  When Beon’s jaw clenched she feared she could have offended him and watched his face for signs of anger. His brown-eyed gaze lifted to hers but she only saw concern residing there as he said, “Please don’t take this risk—”

  “I asked you to drop this earlier. I’m not turning her.”

  “Deveroux, you fool. Are you forgetting the risk Lucas poses to her ... as well as yourself? You cannot keep a mortal this close and expect to resist temptation indefinitely. You’ve gone for more than a century resisting mortal blood, now you put it all at risk! I thought you were more responsible. Bite her at sunset and solve the riddle later, it will be safer that way!”

  Danielle’s stomach churned at the mention of Lucas. Couldn’t they keep her safe from him? She also became aware of the brutal fact that she was sitting in a place full of vampires, and biting her had just become the topic of discussion. For her safety?

  This conversation had cleared the room, mostly. Max and Sophia had remained, but Nadia had left with others whom she hadn’t officially been introduced to yet.

  “Beon has a point about Lucas,” Max whispered.

  “Will you not help me continue to guard against him?”

  “Of course I will, I’m just saying...”

  “Ethan, please be reasonable,” Beon continued.

  Ethan defensively tucked Danielle’s arms under his, and held her closer. That possessiveness of his was showing again. Studying Ethan’s face, she wondered what he would do next. He never removed his eyes from hers, and she watched as distress wrestled with determination in his gaze. With his brows furrowed, and his jaw ridged, he said, “I simply couldn’t endure seeing her cursed like that.” His gaze grew violent as it shifted back to Beon. “I’ll keep her safe until I find the cure.”

  The cure? He was talking about the prophecy he’d mentioned earlier, but when she opened her mouth to ask about it, Ethan touched her lips with two gentle fingers. Understanding that he wanted to tell her about it, just not now, she resigned herself to remaining silent.

  “Ethan, we don’t understand what it means yet, or if it even means anything at all.”

  “I’ll figure it out,” he said through clenched teeth.

  “I don’t think there is any hope in the legend, Ethan.”

  “I beg to differ.”

  “Please think this through logically.”

  “I have, damn it!”

  Everyone fell silent then, but the tension was so thick it was stifling and Beon seemed to finally realize that arguing was a lost cause. “All right, Ethan, I can see you will not be moved in this matter … I’ll respect your wishes. If I come up with anything that will help, I’ll let you know.”

  Ethan breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you.” He clutched Danielle tighter, placed his chin on her shoulder, and began stroking her hair.

  Sophia let go of her tense pose to suggest, “Ethan, I think you should take Danielle to see the rest of the house.”

  Still she was calling this mansion a house? “That’s a great idea. Let’s go,” Ethan said. Danielle tried to stand, but Ethan swiftly scooped her up into his arms and headed for the door.

  “Don’t forget her finger foods!” Sophia reminded.

  “Yes, ma’am.” He swept down to grab the tray while still holding her and then exited the room in a rush.

  He climbed a flight of stairs, taking two steps at a time. At the top, he turned down a hallway lined with closed doors. His pace was brisk, and he started mumbling as he went, “A bedroom on the right ... another bedroom, there on the left ... and another, also left ... bedroom, bedroom, and my room.” Ethan stopped abruptly. “There are more bedrooms down that way.” He tipped his head to the left, motioning down another hallway. He then entered his room quickly and kicked the door shut. He released Danielle’s legs, but still held her around the waist, keeping her feet suspended in the air. She tried to touch the floor with her toes but couldn’t reach.

  That was the fastest tour anyone had ever given her of a place so large and she couldn’t resist teasing Ethan about it. “Wow! That was some tour, Ethan. I really liked the hallway a lot. That was one of the nicest halls I’ve ever—” Ethan silenced her jesting with one finger placed across her lips, but her sarcastic smirk remained. “And...” she mumbled under his finger, “I can walk by myself just fine I think.” She pointed her toes trying to reach the floor again; still she found nothing but air.

  She checked his face for annoyance with her teasing, only to find an enchanting smile resting there. He laughed out loud and then admitted, “I know you can walk on your own. I’m sorry, but for him to suggest—” He gently lowered her feet to the floor, still chuckling.

  “If this is like a bed and breakfast, how many vampires stay here?”

  “Many. Some more permanently, while others come and go.” Taking her hand, he drew her further into his room. “Come, let’s listen to music.”

  He guided her to a Victorian, Chesterfield settee near the fireplace, flanked by two red leather wingback chairs. He set the tray of sandwiches on the table in front of it, and strode over to his sound system.

  “I know exactly what music you’ve been listening to lately,” he said.

  She wondered how he knew until he said, “I could hear it from outside your bedroom window, you play this a lot.”

  “Oh.” Of course, from guarding her. “Is that all you’ve been doing since that night Lucas attacked me?”

  “Pretty much.”

  “I feel terrible, that must be so boring.”

  “Not really, I trade off with Beon, Max, Cedric and a few others.”

  “And they’re willing to do that for someone they don’t even know?”

  “Of course.”

  I don’t get it, she wanted to say, but decided to drop it for now.

  Slipping off her jacket, Danielle smiled as “Alibi” by 30 Seconds to Mars began. It was a nice distraction from the argument downstairs.

  She tossed the denim jacket onto the armrest of the brown leather settee, sat down, and then began exploring his room with her eyes. This wasn’t the dwelling of a typical young man. Uncle Nick would have been in his element here. Ethan’s true age was more apparent from the look of his bedroom, than h
is early-twenties face. The room was full of antiques, yet the decor was masculine and the fact that he’d traveled the world was manifested in the art, carvings and tapestries displayed around the room. It was also apparent that he liked stringed instruments; he had a collection of at least twenty different designs. Danielle didn’t recognize half of them as they were most likely no longer made or even played by modern musicians.

  The vintage furnishings didn’t stop him from having technology, of course. He had everything a young man would want in his room, a laptop, a sweet sound system, and a flat-screen television. There was a large sleigh bed in one corner carved from a dark wood, a nightstand on either side of it, and a substantial armoire across from the bed.

  Ethan joined Danielle on the settee and situated her so her head was resting on his lap. He ran his fingers through her hair as he spoke. “I’m sorry, Danielle. That’s not how I wanted your first visit here to go. I know Beon can be rather intense. He’s the only one who has the nerve to voice his opinion, maybe because he’s centuries older than most of us.”

  “I’ll admit that it was kind of scary when he told you to bite me. I was a little worried he might just do it for you … but I could also see that he just cares about you when he finally gave in.”

  “It is my decision or yours.”

  “I’m sorry to cause you so much trouble.” Danielle looked up at him with remorseful brown eyes.

  “No, don’t say that. None of that was your fault.”

  “I’m not convinced of that, if I hadn’t gotten myself into trouble in the first place, you wouldn’t have had to save me.”

  His brows pressed together as he spoke, “And I might never have met you.... I’m glad I had the chance to save you just for that. I’ll have to thank Lucas later.” He smiled wickedly at that idea.

  “Oh! Are you going to tell me what this prophecy is?” she suddenly remembered.

  Ethan chuckled. “Yes, of course. It goes like this, ‘The one who gives himself to humanity will find the cure to the curse.’ And that’s it, there’s nothing more.”