by Kate Wendley
He found Miller a short time before he’d be asleep for the day and completed the task of making him one of his vampires by taking a swallow of the man’s blood. He didn’t actually like doing that very much even though blood was what he subsisted on. He wanted blood when he thirsted for it, and from whom he chose, not because it was being forced on him. But he was Master so he made his fangs come in and bit into Miller to get enough of his life force in order to feel the link between himself and the man. Now, through his own magic that filled him from being a Master Vampire, he was truly Miller’s Master.
He spent the rest of the morning trying not to think about how easy it’d been to abuse Isadora and then nearly tear her heart out. He’d had very little emotion about it and he didn’t like that. She was a woman, no matter how awful she was, yet his conscience had no trouble hurting her. He hadn’t even hesitated… at least until he saw Echo, whose looks and constant easy acceptance of him strongly reminded him of Kaia.
He tried to ignore his uncomfortable thoughts of how he still wasn’t upset about hitting, and almost killing Isadora, and focused on Kaia instead. He replayed his memories of her insistent hands reaching out for him and pulling him in for a kiss. He wanted more.
Chapter 16
Kaia’s day flew by and she was in an awesome mood when she got home. She fought with herself forever about how soon she should call Anthony, though. Should she invite him over tonight, or would that seem too clingy? Maybe she should suggest later in the week? She ate some dinner and pondered it until she couldn’t take it anymore. She rinsed her dishes off as the smoky rainbow colors of dusk outside filtered through her living room patio doors.
**
Anthony always felt more relaxed on nights he fed from Zach because Zach didn’t fear his bite like Sebastian did. He could take his time and enjoy the rich, coppery taste of his friend’s blood, almost the only thing he ever tasted as a vampire. At least until Kaia. Her lips were sweet and her mouth was even sweeter…
His ringing phone startled and annoyed him, until he realized it was Kaia’s ringtone. He quickly swallowed the blood in his mouth, then licked the wound on Zach’s neck to make the bleeding stop. He awkwardly scrambled over him and grabbed at his cell on the nightstand, nearly dropping it. Somehow he managed to pick up the call without disconnecting it. “Hello?”
“Hi Anthony, it’s Kaia.”
“Good evening.” He situated himself on the edge of his always made bed as he calmed his anxious nerves.
“Did I catch you at a bad time?”
He took a breath and tiredly finger combed his long hair out of his face. “Uh, no…” His mind was a blank on what to say to her. “I just woke up. I’m still gathering my thoughts.”
She quietly proclaimed, “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to wake you!”
He smiled as he sat up more fully. “No need to apologize, my sweet. I was getting up just as you called. I worked late into the night and was just taking a nap.”
There was a brief pause before she said, “Would you like me to let you go? So you can get up? I was just calling to see when you’d want to get together again.”
“Tonight. I want to see you tonight. Would you still like to watch a movie at your place?”
She made a smiley, laughing sound that he adored. “Yeah, that’d be fun.”
“Wonderful. I’ll get up and get ready right now. I can be there in about an hour?”
She had pep in her voice as she replied, “Ok. I’ll see you then.”
They said their goodbyes and Anthony looked over his shoulder at Zach as he set his phone back down.
Zach smiled widely at him. “She has a nice voice.”
“Yes, yes she does.” A feeling of warmth washed through him at the thought of her.
“Just taking a nap?”
His good cheer instantly vanished. “I have to tell her. Ethan wants me to tell her.” He shook his head in defeat. “I know that bastard wants me to be the bad guy in all this, I’m sure of it, but he wants her to know. She’s been there too long, or at least around Ethan for too long. She’s a sensitive. She needs to know or she’s going to start going crazy. She’s already wondering what her feelings are all about. I mean, what she senses, not her emotions. You know what I mean.”
Zach was silent for a time, then finally said, “If she’s meant for you, she’ll figure out how to deal with it. If she’s not meant for you, you’ll know as soon as you tell her.”
Anthony nodded in solemn agreement.
**
Kaia felt bad for waking Anthony, though he did say he was already getting up, and he very quickly said he wanted to see her tonight. That made her feel warm all the way down to her toes. It wasn’t just in her head that things seemed so right between them, was it?
He was definitely a good guy, but Ethan was right. He was still a guy, so she was glad that Ethan lived right next door. And even if he wasn’t home, other people were usually around. She wasn’t super close friends with any of them, but they all hung around Ethan’s enough that she knew everyone by name. It felt like a fraternity in that way, which was nice.
She walked around her living room wondering if her place looked all right to have Anthony over. She could suddenly see a dozen things that needed cleaning, or straightening, or junk mail that needed sorting…
She straightened a few things, then went to check herself in her bathroom mirror. She decided to change her top, again, into something prettier. She was working herself up thinking about having him over here. What was going to happen tonight? What did she want to happen? Her nerves were getting to her and he’d probably be here in another fifteen minutes. She decided to go check her mail to distract herself.
She went downstairs to the mailboxes just inside the main entryway. As she opened her box she noticed some people approaching the front door out of her peripheral vision. She didn’t give them much notice since people came and went all the time. No one ever came here to see her, so she closed her mailbox and started back upstairs, but heard a knock on the door and turned around to see three people standing outside. Two women and a guy.
It took her a few seconds to realize they were the horrible people from the India Star restaurant last night. They all just stood there, mostly rolling their eyes at the same time that they disgustedly looked her wardrobe over. They motioned for her to open the locked door for them as if it was her job in life to open doors and it was their job in life to not have to bother with such petty things.
She gave them her back and climbed the stairs to her apartment wondering what in the hell they were doing here. They’d all seemed irritated and bored out of their minds, and a little too fancy to be scary, except there had been something wild and dangerous in all of their eyes that set her on edge. She locked her door and was a nervous wreck while she wondered what to do. Should she go see if Ethan was home? Or call Anthony? Maybe the police. But what would she say? That some people had looked at her funny?
She stilled when she heard voices. Had someone let them in? The voices died down for a short time, but soon there was a knock on her door. She slowly got up from the sofa and tiptoed over to her peephole. She thought she could make out Ethan, but also some people behind him. She couldn’t tell from here who they were, though. She stood there for a moment trying to decide what to do.
Ethan’s voice startled her. “Kaia, it’s Ethan. Some people want to apologize to you about last night.”
She snorted to herself, “Like hell they do.” More loudly she said, “If they don’t leave my front door in the next five minutes, I’m calling the police.” That feeling of them being dangerous hadn’t gone away, so there was no way she was going out there, even with Ethan here. It might still all be in her imagination, but it was a free world. She didn’t have to talk to them if she didn’t want to, and after growing up with nothing but violence in her life, her gut feelings about people were usually pretty spot on. So her door stayed closed.
She heard one of the women say
something in an exaggeratedly snotty tone. Kaia couldn’t make the words out, but she was sure she hadn’t said anything nice.
“Kaia, please. They’re just trying to apologize.” Ethan sounded exasperated and she almost felt guilty for being such a wuss.
Her intercom door buzzer went off and scared the living crap out of her. She quickly pushed the button and Anthony’s voice came on. “Good evening my sweet. It’s Anthony.”
She smiled, then turned and grabbed her cordless phone and went into her bedroom to call him on his cell.
He answered sounding confused. “Hello?”
“Hi. Sorry this is weird, but those awful people from the restaurant last night are outside my door right now with Ethan. They won’t leave me alone. What should I do?”
He snapped, “What? Buzz me in. I’m coming up. I’ll take care of this.”
“I don’t know why they’re here.”
“Don’t worry, my sweet. Just buzz me in. I apologize they’ve gotten you involved.”
As she walked towards her front door again, she worriedly asked, “But how did they know where I lived?”
She pushed the button that unlocked the front door as he said, “They don’t. They know where Ethan lives.” He hung up on her then, and she nervously sat back down in her living room when she finally heard Anthony’s muffled voice in the hallway.
**
Anthony furiously climbed the stairs to see everyone standing in front of Kaia’s door. He angrily spat out, “Katherine, Soma, Deven, why are you here?” He put a slight sound barrier around them all, not enough to block all sounds, but strong enough so Kaia wouldn’t be able to make out exactly what they were saying.
He could feel Ethan’s instant irritation, either at him being here or because he was using a power he didn’t think Ethan had. He kept his eyes on the three shifters as others in the building eavesdropped from their doorways.
Katherine sneered, “We’re here to apologize to Ethan about last night.”
He narrowed his eyes at her. “Then why are you harassing Kaia?”
Ethan made a disgusted sound but Anthony didn’t take his eyes off Katherine.
She sneered, “You mean the human? We’re trying to apologize to her, too.”
He used a little of his power to wrap around her. She made a chocking sound and her face started to turn red before he let her go. “Lie to me again and it will feel a lot worse. You’re not here to make nice with her. If you’ve made apologies to Ethan, then be off. I’ll deal with your punishments later.”
Soma scoffed. “Punishments? For what? We’ve made amends to Ethan already. What more is there?”
He glared at Soma, then turned to Ethan. “Have you accepted their apologies?”
He looked incredulous. “It’s not me they need to apologize to, and since Kaia won’t talk to them, then no, they have not made amends to my family.”
Soma scoffed again. “Your family? A filthy human can’t be part of your family.”
Ethan was in front of her with his hand ready to strike before Soma even had time to react. He didn’t actually hit her, but she cowered anyway.
He coldly snapped, “Speak in such terms about one of my family again and you’ll wish you’d never been born. Don’t push me woman. I’ve never spared either gender from extreme punishment when warranted.”
Soma blinked in shock, her sass suddenly gone.
After Ethan slowly stepped back towards his own door, Katherine put her hand on her hip and started speaking in her family’s native Hindi to Soma, looking back and forth at Anthony with a sneer on her face while she did.
Anthony wrapped his power tightly around her again. She gasped for air as he snapped out, “You will show respect and speak English in Ethan’s home.” He switched then and spoke to them in Hindi for a moment, extremely glad he’d decided to learn multiple foreign languages many years ago when other family members had tried this same kind of sass with him.
“How dare you insult Ethan’s family yet again tonight! You will all three be punished, not only for what you pulled last night, but for coming here and causing a scene in Ethan’s home. You’ve shamed and embarrassed Oni, your true family, you’ve angered me, your host in this city and benefactor in many things in your life, and I suspect you’re seriously angering Ethan with your foolishness tonight.”
He switched back to English then, everyone staring open jawed at him, including Ethan. “Stop this foolishness this instant unless your goal these last two nights has been to have a go at Sebastian. Believe me, he enjoys letting his wolf out.”
Deven gasped and dropped to one knee. He gushed, “My host, please forgive me. I only want to do well in life like my uncle Oni. How can I make amends?”
Anthony couldn’t quite tell from his aura if he was telling the truth or not, so he turned to Ethan, who was still giving Anthony quite the stunned look. He smoothly recovered as Anthony watched him. “Ethan?” He gestured to the three just as a cell phone started ringing. It was coming from one of the women.
Katherine pulled it out of her pocket, looked at it in earnest, then actually answered the call. She started talking to someone as if they weren’t all standing here listening to her. Anthony didn’t move, but he used his power to yank the phone out of her hands, then crushed it.
Katherine huffed like a bratty teenager. “Hey! That was my phone!”
Anthony took a deep, irritated breath. “Ethan? You’re within your rights if you choose to settle this matter with these three at the ranch. I won’t interfere.”
The women chattered in alarm, “What? You can’t do that! We’re your family! You have to protect us!”
Anthony used his power to force Katherine’s hand open, which she was none too pleased with, and put her mangled phone back in it before forcing her fingers closed around it. “We have customs and rules in the families. This is one of them. You’ve insulted Ethan and his family so he has the right to ask for amends. It’s his choice.”
Ethan flatly said, “Give me the boy, you deal with the women. I might accidentally kill them.”
Anthony nodded while Ethan shook his head in reference to Katherine and Soma. “Poor bastard Oni, having to deal with these wretches.”
Anthony scoffed at that, then glanced down at Deven, who was actually shaking.
Ethan was also eyeing the young shifter. “Get up Deven. Christopher will teach you to be a respectable businessman. You’ll be his unpaid apprentice for a time until I feel you’ve shaped up. Think you can handle that?”
Deven vigorously nodded, clearly caught off guard at this non physically painful punishment. “Yes sir!”
“Patrick, go take Deven and see if Christopher’s around.”
As they started to leave, Anthony turned back to the irritating women. “Be at the club at midnight. If you’re late or I have to come find you, your punishment will be doubled.”
Katherine whined, “But I don’t even know where the club is! I’ve never been there!”
Anthony narrowed his eyes. “Then I suggest you figure out where it’s at. Leave my sight. Now.”
Ethan’s lingering shifters began growling at the women, which finally made them both a little scared. Anthony watched them head down the stairs and felt them go outside before he turned back to Ethan. He let out a heavy sigh and shook his head.
“I apologize for them. I hear those two have always been a handful for Oni. Now I can see why.”
Ethan rolled his eyes. “They’re young and foolish. Sebastian will knock some sense into them.”
He nodded, then felt uncomfortable standing here in Ethan’s home, in front of Kaia’s door, as if asking for permission that he shouldn’t need. He let down his sound barrier as he and Ethan stared each other down.
Ethan inclined his head towards Kaia’s place and more tersely said, “Speaking of young,” then looked pointedly at Anthony and said, “and foolish…”
Anthony stilled as the mood between them turned tense. Ethan eventually rolled
his eyes and waved him off as he walked back into his own apartment, firmly shutting himself inside.
Anthony knocked on Kaia’s door, once again wondering if it was fair for him to draw her into his world. Once she found out about their kind, if things didn’t work out, the only way to un-know would be for him to wipe her memories. And that would be cruel not only to her to have her memories tampered with, but to himself as well. He didn’t want another person he’d gotten close to to forget they’d ever known him.
“Kaia, it’s Anthony.”
He heard the unmistakable click of multiple locks being turned, and finally the door opened. The instant he saw her he was devastated with the crushing need to have her in his arms. All worries about whether it was right or fair to tell her all about himself flew out the window because at this very moment he needed her. The constant cold creep of his vampire powers overshadowing anything that was once human about him was instantly squelched by her presence. Warmth radiated in the small space between them, and memories of her in his arms brought to mind soft touches and the undeniable fire between them.
Unfortunately for him, a solid wall of energy that made up her threshold blocked him from doing anything about it.
“Everyone’s gone now, my sweet.”
She worriedly frowned as she backed up and opened her door wider, gesturing for him to come inside. “What were they doing here?”
He couldn’t enter her home until she invited him in, but he reached out with his power to test just how strong the wall really was. It was a futile exercise. He was vampire and this was her home. It was the one impenetrable magical power humans actually had, and most of them didn’t even know it.
She gave him a confused look. “Do you want to come in?”
“Is that an invitation?”
She curiously smiled. “Of course. Come on in.”
His need for her only intensified as the barrier between them evaporated into nothingness.
Chapter 17
Stepping into Kaia’s apartment felt incredibly intimate. Her personal space was warm and inviting, decorated in rich jewel tones, comfortably worn furniture, and patio blinds open to a beautifully unobstructed view of stars and sky. The soft lighting and relaxed music quickly took the edge off his anxiousness. His eyes wandered over her and all her womanly curves as she shut and locked the front door.