by Garnet Hart
“And I thought I was the cowboy,” Lior taunted.
Bran stopped and posed, standing with his weight on one foot, hands on his pockets. He looked so cocky and proud wearing the outfit.
“I’m a cowboy, alright,” Bran replied. “Cowboys like me ride horses and bulls. While you, you’re a boy who fucks cows. There’s a difference, you know.”
If he weren’t tasked to watch over this asshole, he would have sealed this man’s mouth permanently a long time ago.
“And I do hope you’ve prepared your virgin ass for my horse’s dick. You’d enjoy that.”
“Huh! My ass will remain a virgin until the day I die.”
“Remember, you need me as your producer. I’ll make sure that one of the scenes on your movie will have a horse humping your back, with your pants down. And I’m no’ going to give you any lubricants. A twelve inch cock would no’ kill you anyway.”
“I’m the new Clint Eastwood and not a porn actor. That’s just way too low for my stature.”
Lior scoffed. “Why no’? It’s cheaper to produce. I have no’ heard of a porn movie that flopped.”
Even Lysander, who’d been idly listening to their senseless argument finally laughed. “That’s a good idea. Not a bad start to make you known to the public first before starting a big project.”
Bran grunted. “I’m better than any actors out there, even better than Clint Eastwood.”
“How can you be better if you’re being a copycat?” Lior asked.
“I’m not copying him. I’m improving his mediocre acting. I assure you, my debut movie will be the top grossing movie of all time and I will even win an Oscar award for it. My lucky bastard producer will be filthy rich. Thanks to me.”
“Tempting,” Lysander humored.
Lior rolled his eyes. This moron was dreaming. “If this movie of yours flops, you’re going to make dozens of porn movies to make up for the loss.”
“Huh! That’s never gonna happen. My debut movie will be a phenomenon. I will be the first actor to play a lead role and win all best actor awards on a debut movie. I will be a legend, and I will have five stars in the Walk of Fame.”
“Lord Lior.”
Everyone turned to Gustavo who just arrived with a wireless phone in hand. “I just got a call from a staff of Dunvegan Castle. He wishes to speak with you.”
Lior’s brows met at the center. The castle of Dunvegan had never had anything to do with him. “What for?”
“He mentions of a woman who made a spectacle at the castle and claims she is the rightful heir of the MacLeod.”
Lior froze, and then cursed. If that Elf was foolish enough to run away from the ranch to get to the castle in a hope that she could convince the people that she was the missing princess two centuries ago, then she was out of her mind.
Asra’s eyes followed Lior as he settled on the couch in front of her. They just arrived at his house from the police station where she was detained for a night. He had been oddly silent as he drove her home, but she knew he was simply concealing his fury.
For the next minute or two, he just stared at her, tapping his fingers over his knee.
This silence was irritating her. She’d rather hear him yell at her.
“Have you forgotten what we’ve agreed upon?” he finally asked, relieving her from the unnerving silence.
She looked away and didn’t say anything. They had agreed that if she tried to escape again, he’d lock her up in her room, but she didn’t care.
“I’m tempted to believe you’ve gone totally mad,” he continued. “Did you think anyone would have believed your claim?”
Tears threatened to flow out of her eyes as she recalled how the people in Dunvegan Castle reacted when she announced her identity. The people there just laughed at her.
Lior sighed as he probably noticed her emotional state. “I gave you freedom to roam around the ranch rather than have you locked up. You knew the danger that might come to you, but you stubbornly disobeyed the only condition that I have given you. What exactly were you thinking?”
She didn’t know. He was probably right. She had gone mad.
“Or has anyone hurt you again? Tell me who hurt you and I’ll send them back to slavery in Vanar right away.”
His words frightened her. She remembered how furious he was when he learned about the three women who assaulted her at the market. He had ordered that those women be sent back to Vanar, but after they had pleaded for forgiveness, he calmed down and warned them instead. It was true she still hated those women and until now they were still mean to her, but they had not hurt her again.
She blinked the tears in her eyes before looking back at him. “I wanted to see my father’s grave.”
Surprised, Lior was momentarily speechless. “Did you see it?”
She shook her head. “They wouldn’t let me.”
He sighed. “You should’ve just told me. I could’ve taken you there myself.”
There was one thing that she desperately wanted to know. “How did my father die?”
“Illness,” he replied softly. “He succumbed to depression when you disappeared.”
She quickly lowered her face to hide the moist in her eyes. “I shouldn’t have left him.”
“Even if you did no’, I could have kidnapped you, or probably killed you.”
His nonchalant words both angered and hurt her. “Has he searched for me?”
“He did. He had spent all his fortunes to pay for people to find you, and he promised an enormous reward to anyone who can point out your whereabouts. When all that failed, he was broken.”
She covered her mouth to stop herself from sobbing, but she could not. It was the first time she had ever cried in front of him. “He was a great dad, but I was a very stubborn daughter. I wish I stayed with him.”
He stood up. She thought he would leave her there, but instead, he sat beside her and pulled her close to him.
More tears slipped down her cheeks as she pressed her face on his chest. This was odd. She had never expected that this heartless beast would come hold her in her most vulnerable state.
“I hate you,” she said.
He stroked the length of her hair. “I know.”
The more that she wanted to punch his face and crack his skull open, but she just cried on his chest, needing the comfort that he was giving her. “You’re so heartless.”
“I had no choice, Asra,” he said, which took herby surprise, the gentleness of how he said her name. He seldom did that. “As a warrior of Asgard, I had to obey my lord’s command. I could’ve killed you that night while you were bathing in the river, but…”
She lifted her face to look at him. “Why didn’t you?”
He sighed.
“And why did you not kill me when I decided to elope with you. You had a lot of opportunity. But you chose to take me to the Dark Elves instead.”
He remained quiet.
Asra waited. He was avoiding her gaze. Was it because along the way, he had fallen in love with her?
“Tell me,” she demanded, but then, a faint sound distracted him.
“Go to your room and rest,” he told her instead and left her there.
Chapter 11
Lior stepped out on the front porch of his house. He spotted Lysander’s chopper coming down on the helipad.
This was a bad time to entertain some visitors. Lysander should have called him at least to let him know that they were coming.
As the chopper approached, he scanned the area where Lysander would usually descend to make sure it was clear, but to his surprise, the chopper shifted direction and headed toward the lake instead.
What the hell…?!
Afraid that the helicopter was about to crash into the water, he prepared to shift into his Lycan form, hoping that his strength would lessen the impact of the aircraft’s fall but it swerved away, hitting the rocky edge of the lake, the impact breaking the wheels.
He dashed after the helicopter until it
crashed into the shallow part of the lake and eventually stopped. He heard women screaming.
With his brute strength, he pried the door open and saw five people stuffed inside the chopper like a bunch of canned fish.
Lysander held his wife and another woman in his arms at the backseat, while Bran, who was in the pilot’s chair, covered Gustavo beside him.
“Bloody hell!” Lysander was the first to raise his head and furiously turned to Bran. “You told me you’re already good for a license! You almost had us all killed!”
“As though you’d die that easily,” Bran replied blithely. “It takes ten suns to fry you dead.”
“You are full of filth! You just wrecked my chopper! You owe me this one!”
“Relax, when I become a superstar, I’ll give you ten of this, with my famous name on it, and with a banner for my presidency.”
“Oh, shut the fuck up!”
Lior held back a big laugh. Ceres and her companion looked scared out of their wits. Bran was definitely a big pain in Lysander’s ass.
He helped them get out of the chopper.
“Pardon the spectacular entrance,” Lysander said wryly.
“’T’was worth it,” Lior replied with a smile. “Could be a scene for Bran’s movie.”
“Cowboys don’t ride planes,” Bran answered. “All I need is a horse and I’ve come to get one here.”
“I dunna sell my animals.”
“Who says I’m going to buy them?”
“What’d you come here for?” Lior asked as he helped Gustavo out. “I was just in Essex yesterday.”
“Everyone’s itching to see that woman who’s claiming to be the heir of Dunvegan, milord,” Gustavo replied.
Lior froze. This bunch of morons came all the way here just to stick their noses where they didn’t belong?
“Oh, dear,” a woman’s voice distracted him. “Are we still alive?”
That voice seemed familiar. When he turned to see, he found the senator’s daughter dizzily rubbing her forehead.
“Help this miss here,” Lysander said.
Reaching forward, Lior took Olivia in his arms and carried her from the chopper and out of the water. He put her down on the grass.
She smiled at him. “Thank you very much. You have quite a place here. I hope I’m welcome to visit.”
Strange but he had little or no interest in her now. “Of course. But there’s nothing here but grass and cows though.”
“But you have this wonderful lake. I don’t see anything like this at home.”
He glanced behind him to make sure the others were fine. When he saw Lysander carrying his wife, he knew they didn’t need him anymore.
“Why don’t you come inside the house and rest? I’m sure you’ve had a rough time with that chopper.”
“Oh, it was terrible. Bran was a total maniac.”
He laughed with her while she glided her hand over his arm. This woman was really a tease.
Asra came out of her room prepared. She had chosen to wear the best dress Ginny had given her. It was made of cheap fabric but it should serve its purpose.
Ginny had waken her up half an hour ago to tell her that Lior had some visitors from London and would like her to come join them for dinner. She could not believe it. Usually, Lior would order her to stay in her room everytime he had visitors. She wondered why he suddenly wanted his guess to see her now. But she ought to be happy.
Finally, she’d see some real people of her level, that was why she had brushed her hair and tied it into a knot to hide the uneven cut of Ginny’s claws.
She heard a loud voice as she descended the stairs. She entered the dining room and saw six people all settled around the long table. She was frozen as she glanced at each one of them, especially when she saw the woman at the right of the table’s head where Lior was seated.
She had long, dark, curly hair that glowed under the lights. Her lips were painted red. Her skin was darker which proclaimed her to be not of the white race. She looked like Nadia and her priestesses, an exotic Asian beauty. Her white dress was of the finest quality, adorned by a set of pearl necklace and bracelet.
She stepped back and hid behind the wall. As the Miss of Dunvegan, she had always been confident to dine with even the highest nobles of England. However, being near this Asian woman unnerved her.
She felt too little of herself. Compared to this woman, she looked worse than a servant. It would be too humiliating for her to sit right beside this beauty in her current situation.
Slowly, she peeked inside to see them again.
“Where’s that spoiled daughter of a senator?” a man, wearing an elegant pair of black suite asked. He sounded like the man she heard when she was descending the stairs. “Is she not hungry? Well, I am. If she’s not coming, then let’s eat.”
She had to admit, this one could have been a very handsome man if he weren’t too loud. He had shiny jet black hair and riveting, grey eyes.
“She’s sick,” the beautiful Asian answered. “She’d been vomiting during the flight.”
When her eyes rested on the man beside the Asian, she was shocked.
The earl of Rochford!
She had once been at Rochford Park in Essex when she was a little girl when her father took her with him to visit the earl. She had a good memory. That was Alexander Rochford right there. It was such a coincidence that Lior knew the earl, too. But…it had been a long time since she last saw Alexander and he still looked the same, as if he had not aged at all. Not a wrinkle appeared on his handsome face and his eyes were the same smoldering blue.
How strange.
“Hey, wench,” the loud mouth called. She turned and noticed that he was looking at her.
“Are you referring to me?” she asked and turned to her side if someone else was there.
“Who else?”
Insulted, she glared at him. “Do I look like a wench?”
“Oh, aren’t you? Then perhaps you’d prefer lassie.”
“I’m not a lass. I’m twenty-one and I have a name.”
“I don’t know and I don’t care. Go get me a glass of red wine, will ‘ya?”
“It’s in the fridge,” she answered, pointing to the kitchen. For the past few days, Ginny had been teaching her what those things were called, so she could name them now.
“I want the red wine from the barn, not some ordinary wine.”
Her eyebrows met at the center. He wanted those bottled cow blood in the barn? What for?
“Those are not wine. They’re cow’s blood.”
“Exactly.”
Her jaw dropped. “You’re going to drink…blood?”
The man raised a brow. “Oh, so your master has not told you?”
“She does no’ know,” Lior quickly replied. “She does no’ have to.”
“Then perhaps I could suck her blood out so she would know. I’m really thirsty right now.”
The man smiled at her and she saw…were her eyes playing tricks on her? Those were not fangs! Or were they?
“Yes, these are real.” The man’s tongue touched his fangs as though he’d heard her thoughts.
“Bran, dammit!”Lior barked at the man.
Asra stepped backward, her eyes wide in shock. She looked at them one by one, including the older man who never even touched his plate and was scribbling on a device in his palm.
There were creatures that drank blood— bats, mosquitoes and leeches, but her father had warned her of another kind of blood-drinkers, the most dangerous kind. Her father had made her aware of their real existence ever since she was little, to discourage her from going into the forest alone. But she had never seen one.
“Vampires,” she said, a part of her disbelieving, but her instinct told her otherwise. “You’re all Vampires?”
“Are you scared, lassie?” The loud mouth taunted her. “Why don’t you run to your papa? Run, before I catch you and suck you dry.”
Alarmed, she turned to Lior who was seated at the head
of the table.
“Bran, stop frightening her. You would no’ want to hear her scream,” Lior said to the man.
The man smirked. “Sorry, lassie. Don’t look at me like that because I’ve lost my taste for blondes a long time ago. Now go get me one of those if you don’t want me taking yours.”
After almost being attacked by savage wolves, she was less shocked by this revelation. Lycans and Vampires, they were appearing in her world as though it was an everyday occurrence. She was not scared of them. Well, she was but she’ll be damned if she’d let them know it. If they wanted her dead, she’d long have been dead. But she was still alive. Lior had kept her alive. For two hundred years, he’d said.
So, these creatures were the ones who drank all those bottles of blood in the barn! “Why don’t you go suck it out of the cows yourself?”
Bran’s eyes widened and then he grinned. “She’s feisty. Hey, I don’t suck cows. Your master does that.”
“I’ll throw you out of my house,” Lior warned.
“You call this a house? Holy Hel, your roof could drop on my head anytime. Why don’t you build a castle like the one I have in Powys? Do you bury your money somewhere that you can’t afford a decent house?”
“I like it this way, and I dunna care about your castle.”
“Bran, will you shut up?” the earl of Rochford said.
Bran ignored the earl. “Didn’t I tell ya’ to go get me some red wine?”
Asra scowled at the vampire. “I’m not your servant.”
“Well, you are now. Because if you don’t, I’ll suck it out of your neck.”
“Just you try. I’ll break your bloody fangs with a pitchfork and drive it to your heart,” she retorted boldly.
Bran's eyes widened, unable to speak for a brief moment. But instead of scolding her, he turned to Lior and pointed a finger at her. “Fire her. Right now. You don’t need a wench like that. She gives me the chills.”
“I’m not his servant either,” she defended.
Lior sighed. “Do as our guest said, Asra. Ginny’s at the barn.”
“I won’t go to that she-devil.”