I also know if they resurface again, this time I will talk to him, instead of trying to run away. I feel my eyes drift closed and my body become lethargic. Wrapped in the safety of Victor’s warm embrace, I drift off to sleep.
“Are you sure we should be doing this?” Vivian asks me in a hushed whisper, looking nervously around the street and back to the alley before us.
“Should be? Probably not. Have to? Sadly, yes. The last time Victor and I were in Whitechapel, this alley appeared, and we’d also read about it too,” I reply in just as quiet a voice, while glancing around to make sure no one was watching us. “Somewhere inside, the Shadow World holds answers that we need.”
“Yes, but what are the questions?” T.T. demands in an aggravated tone of voice. She never was one for riddles.
“No idea,” I admit, which gains me frustrated looks and loud exhales of exasperation from the others.
“Look.” Victor interrupts the grumbles that have started up. “We all know this situation isn’t ideal. And yes, I do know that is the understatement of the year,” he adds before anyone can even open their mouths. “What you have to remember, though, is this is new to all of us. So don’t go putting added pressure on Candi or ask for certainties you know she can’t give.”
I look at him and smile, my heart filling with happiness, simply because he defended me. Reaching toward him, I link my hand with his and give it a squeeze. He’s right. Come what may, we are in this together.
“All right, bitches, cut your whining. Let’s get this over with,” Jezebel instructs while carefully moving forward and closer to the alley entrance.
“Don’t forget, no matter what, stick together, and mind where you walk. You don’t want to be swallowed by a dark spirit,” I add, making everyone freeze. “Whoops, did I forget to mention that part?” I ask, feeling exceptionally guilty. After all, it is a rather important factor.
“Yes” is the unequivocal answer.
“A what?” mutters Cedrix, looking mightily confused and slightly worried.
“Stick with me. We’ll keep each other out of trouble,” Jezebel replies as she moves back toward him to take his hand.
As one we enter the alley and straight into the Shadow World.
Chapter 26
Bolting upright, I gasp in a breath while looking through sleep-encrusted eyes around me.
“You’re safe, sweetheart. You’re at my place in Paradise Falls,” Victor reassures me while rubbing circles on my back in gentle motions.
“I just dreamt we were all in Whitechapel.”
“Tell me what happened.”
“We were standing at the mouth of the alley. We were all there, except for Roísín and Janna. They were at your house in Whitechapel. We were discussing why we had to go through. You stood up for me.” Turning my head toward him, I lean closer and place a chaste kiss on his lips.
“No one wanted to go through, but we knew we had to find the answers that are there. As we don’t know the questions…”
“Ah, I see, the unknown questions can be seriously frustrating.”
“Exactly. Then I remembered to warn them about the dark spirits.” I notice Victor wince and guess he’s remembering our last encounter with one. Though he hadn’t seen it, he had heard its furious scream when we’d managed to escape from it. “Yes, as you can imagine that didn’t go well, though…”
“Though what?”
I smile at the puzzled expression on his face and with a slight laugh tell him about Jezebel and Cedrix.
“They’re opening up to each other. I noticed in New Orleans that they’d become closer and more at ease with one another” is his only reply. Well, that and the gleam in his eyes.
What is he thinking about in that busy brain of his? “Do you think we should—?”
“No.”
“But I haven’t even finished what I was going to say?” I huff, feeling slightly baffled at his apparent knowledge of what I’m thinking.
“No matchmaking. Look, they’ll get together at their own pace. Think of it this way; we’re still finding our footing, and we don’t have the whole jumping-bail-and-chasing-after-her situation.”
“You’re right.”
“I am?” Victor asks, sounding completely wary of my sudden agreement.
“Yes, you are. We just had a killer trying to kill us is all, so you’re right. What is a little hunting and running compared to that?”
“Very true,” Victor agrees, before calmly carrying on, “At least, though we knew about magick and didn’t find out about it by having the woman you’re following turn into a jaguar or anything and then her friends do magick in front of you and explain your parents were killed because they were a different species, and guess what, you’re not actually human.”
“Ugh, that is so not fair. You can’t throw that into it. Okay, I know it must have been a shock for Cedrix, but surely he’s over it by now?”
“It only happened a couple of weeks ago!”
“Okay, okay. Fine, you win. No matchmaking. So, Dante and Selene…”
“Oh my God, you actually can’t help yourself, can you?”
I stare in surprise as my sexy lover bursts out laughing, and for a second I wonder why. Shaking my head, I begin to laugh too. “I never was a matchmaker before,” I finally admit.
“You’re seeing soul mates come together, and you’re trying to hurry them up. Sweetheart, you have to let them go at their own pace, or…”
“Or what?”
“Or they might let fear of the unknown drive them away from their partner, unless said partner refuses to let them go.”
“Oh.”
“Sound familiar?”
“Just a little.” Putting my right hand up, I put my thumb and index finger close together to show the little gap between them. “We’re talking about us now, aren’t we?”
“Yes. Just a little bit.”
“Do you think that’s what happened to me? Fear getting in my way?”
“Yes. I’d always hoped to find my soul mate. To find the one person I could love and who would love me back, no matter what.” Taking my hands in his, he looks me straight in the eyes. “While I was ready, I don’t believe you’d even thought about a long-term relationship, never mind finding your soul mate. Had you?”
Shaking my head, I extract my left hand from his to stroke his face. “No, I hadn’t. Though I am so glad I found you,” I admit, before leaning into him and kissing him.
The ringing of Victor’s cell phone interrupts us, followed a split second later by the chiming of a text coming from mine.
Grabbing up my phone, I read the text message that came through. In shock, I reread it three or four times.
Candi, I’m back. We need to talk. Grandma Eve.
Chapter 27
I stare dumbfounded at my phone. As if by doing so, further information will come. Something along the lines of where the hell my grandmother disappeared to for starters. Or even why she did. Or, I don’t know, what the hell she was thinking by practicing dark magick.
Any extra little bit of information would have been helpful. I get zilch. Nada. Sweet F.A. I’m not impressed. In fact, I’m feeling pissed off right now as I glare at my silent phone.
I get dragged from my internal fury by Victor informing whoever he’s talking to on the phone that he’ll tell me now. Turning to him, I raise an eyebrow in inquiry. Then swallow at his tight expression. Whatever he’s about to tell me doesn’t look like good news.
I sit on the edge of the bed and lean my elbows on my knees and my chin in my cupped hands and wait for his conversation to finish. Please don’t let the news be too bad is all I can think. The words chase around my head repeatedly, becoming a mantra.
Finally, Victor says thanks and goodbye to the person on the phone. He hangs up and slowly turns to look at me. The look of uncertainty on his face is such an alien one I feel instantly floored. What on earth could be so bad to cause such an expression? Fear dances along my spine maki
ng me shiver.
“Just tell!” The words squeak out past my tight throat. Sitting straighter, I wrap my arms around my waist as if to protect myself from the unknown.
Victor slowly, almost carefully moves closer to me. Kneels in front of me, placing both his large warm hands on my knees, giving them a slight reassuring squeeze.
“Oh God, how bad is it?” I demand in surprise.
“It’s about your grandmother…”
“What? She’s back. I’ve literally just received a text from her, so…” My words trail off. I honestly can’t figure out what is going on. “Has something happened to her? No.” Shaking my head at my own query, I know that’s not right as Victor was already on the phone when my grandmother texted me. “Tell me what exactly was your phone call about.”
“It was Big Michael on the phone. The demon finally talked. Well, he’d tried to get ahold of me when we were abroad. I was meant to return his phone call…” Shaking his head as if to clear it and reorganize his thoughts, he then carries on, “Candi, your grandmother and her coven of dark witches were the ones who called the demon to this realm. When the demon impersonated your grandmother, it was to steal your magick. She was to lead you…”
“To George Seabast the Fourth’s house,” I mutter, remembering the demon trying to dash down an unknown path leading back to George’s house. Shaking my head in wonderment, I feel as if pieces of a jigsaw are beginning to slot into place.
“Yes. Which is why some of the lower members of The Protectors were there. Apparently, if the information gathered from the demon is correct, your grandmother and her coven were about to join them. They just needed to prove they were strong enough to do so first.”
“I’m sorry, what? No.” Shaking my head in denial, I honestly can’t wrap my brain around this newest turn of events. “No, no way in hell was my grandmother joining The Protectors! They killed her daughter. My mother.”
“I know.” He grasps my hands that have started flying in the air with my words, holds them tightly to his chest, calming me as I feel his warmth and the steady thump of his heartbeat. “Candi, I think she changed her mind, which is why she left without a word. Except that warning she sent you through a text. I don’t think she could go through with it after all.”
Unshed tears blur my vision. I take a deep shuddering breath and stare into the warm gaze of the man I love. “She was going to sacrifice me to gain extra power. I saw the darkness surrounding her that last day. Now I know why.”
Victor draws me to him, wrapping his arms around me. He rubs my back in soothing circles and kisses the top of my head. Tears trickle down my cheeks as sadness engulfs me. Followed swiftly by anger until I remember when Eve took me in after my mum died. How heartbroken she was.
She was devastated, just as I was. I left and joined the army to move on with my life. To begin a fresh chapter. Her life was here, no new start. Can I honestly blame her for going dark?
Pulling back from me just enough so we can make eye contact, Victor speaks to me in such a calm and soothing tone that I can’t help listen to him. His words instantly stop my brain’s ramblings.
“I know you’re hurting, and believe me I understand that you feel betrayed. The thing is though, I think you need closure. Talk to your grandmother, though not alone and definitely somewhere public. Best not to take a chance.”
“You’re right.”
“I am? I mean you agree?”
I can’t help the slight laugh that escapes me at his puzzled tone and expression. “Yes, you are, and I agree. I do need to know, and I most definitely need to be sensible in meeting her.” I feel my back straightening with every word I say. “She might have had a wake-up call and gone off to sort herself out, or for all I know, this could be another attempt at gaining more power.
“What hurts the most is that I honestly don’t know if I’m about to walk into a setup. Before this conversation, I would never have thought my grandmother was even capable of willingly hurting someone. Let alone me.” Wiping a hand across my face, I swipe away my spilled tears with a slight smile trembling on my lips, I lean forward and kiss the most beautiful vampire I have ever met.
“Come on, my beauty; let’s get showered and dressed, then go meet up with the others. We can then discuss a plan of action for your grandmother and Whitechapel too.” Rising to his feet, he gently pulls me to mine, before swooping me into his arms, carrying me off to get cleaned.
Chapter 28
Hugging my mug of coffee, I look around my sitting room where my friends are currently staring at me in shock.
“Are you serious?” Jasmine demands, with a slight quiver in her voice.
“Sadly, yes, I am,” I reply with a nod of my head to confirm my statement.
“Your grandmother, though? Oh, Candi, I am sorry,” Selene sympathizes. She’s sitting on the floor next to Dante, her hand linked firmly with his. I have a feeling if he had it his way, they would always be linked together.
“So what do you want to do?” quizzes Jezebel, from where she’s sitting on the floor between Cedrix’s legs. I feel surprised that she chose to sit there, I know space wise there aren’t a lot of places to sit with so many of us in the room, yet for her to choose to sit between his legs and lean against him…This is huge for her and maybe for Cedrix too.
“How do you want to handle it?” asks Janna, in the bluntest tone of voice I’ve ever heard her use. She’s sitting on the sofa with Vincent in front of her and their daughter Roísín on his lap. They all look exhausted, as if the stress they’ve been under for so long, now that it’s over, is finally catching up with them all.
“We’ve decided.” Since Victor is sitting on the floor between my legs, I place my hand on his shoulder, to indicate who “we” are. “It’d be wisest to meet somewhere public where all supernaturals can go. I think Hal’s Diner is the best bet.”
“Makes sense. It’s close enough, yet away from witches’ lands, and there’s plenty of room for all of us to go but not make it obvious we’re all together,” Kheda agrees.
“I think Janna, Vincent, and Roísín shouldn’t go,” Victor informs everyone, while staring at the three in question.
“What? Why?” Vincent demands sounding slightly hurt at being excluded.
“Because with everything you’ve all been through already and with the trip to London and the upcoming fight, I think you should all spend time together and gather your strength while you can,” Victor replies in such a practical no-nonsense tone of voice, it’s obvious his reasons are purely for their best interests and no other.
I watch understanding and relief flicker across Vincent’s face and wonder if he’d thought Victor didn’t trust him or blamed him for his mother’s actions, even though he’d reassured him that wasn’t the case. Though it’s not surprising that he has doubts. After all, centuries of blaming himself for his mother’s actions wouldn’t be easily put aside, even with reassurances.
“Okay, sounds like a plan of sorts. What we could do is go into the diner in groups. Say Cedrix, Jezebel, and Talia, you three could go in and find a booth toward the back.
“While Selene, Nancy, Vivian, and Dante, you can go in together and find a booth at the front. Leaving Kheda, Jasmine, and Felicity to find a booth near the middle, close enough to Victor and I, to hear without being too obvious.” Looking around at everyone, I see nods of agreements. “If everyone’s happy with that, I’ll make the call and phone my grandmother. Once I know she’s meeting me, we’ll head off in separate cars. Each table group per car to make it easier and five minutes’ gap between each group leaving too. Agreed?”
“Agreed,” everyone replies.
Fishing my phone out of my pocket, I dial my grandmother’s number. Once she’s answered the phone, I get straight to the point.
“Can you meet me in twenty minutes at Hal’s Diner to talk?” I ask her.
“A hello would have been nice, Candi,” she scolds me in such a perturbed tone I feel like laughing.
>
“Really? Well, a good-bye and an explanation would have been nice too, so we’re both disappointed, aren’t we?” Silence greets my answer, and after a few minutes, I check my phone to make sure she’s still on the line. Finally, she lets out a large sigh.
“I suppose I deserved that. Can’t you come over to mine so we can talk privately?”
“No. I need to get something to eat, and Victor will be with me, so Hal’s Diner or nowhere.”
“Victor? Who is Victor?” Confusion laces her voice, and it’s only then I remember she never did meet him.
“Victor is the man I’m in love with…”
“Really? Well, bring him…”
“He’s also a vampire, hence neutral ground.”
“I’m sorry, what?”
“Will you, or will you not meet me in Hal’s Diner?” I hear my gran inhale loudly before exhaling in a whoosh. Talk about letting me know she’s annoyed without saying anything.
“Fine. But do you really have to bring a vampire with you?” Disdain drips from her voice straight into my ear over the word vampire. As if the mere mention leaves a bad taste in her mouth.
“Yes, I do,” is my only reply. I honestly don’t know how I refrain from lashing out at her or changing my mind altogether about meeting her. All I can think of is the fact that she set a bloody demon after me, yet she’s being nasty about my dating a vampire. Concern isn’t even in the equation here.
Victor turns slightly so that he can look at me and rubs his right hand in soothing circles on my leg. Taking a deep breath, I look at him and give a nod and a trembling smile to let him know I’m okay now.
“I’ll see you there in twenty minutes,” is all I say before hanging up. A shudder passes through me, and I suddenly feel exhausted.
“Hey, it’ll be okay,” Victor informs me, turning around so that I’m now cradling his hips between my legs as he kneels between them and leans into me. “We’re in this together, no matter what. Okay?”
I look away for a split second trying to gather my thoughts, but he grasps my chin firmly between his fingers, forcing me to look at him. “Okay?” he repeats looking me intently in the eyes, searching my expression for my answer.
The Protectors Page 9