Hidden in the Night

by Fall, Carly

  “Aiden?” she whispered.

  “Yes, baby, I’m here.”

  “Please don’t leave me.”

  Fear coiled in his gut. This was what he wanted, he reminded himself. He kicked off his boots. He usually slept in the buff, but not tonight. Holly had been through too much. He knew her head wasn’t quite clear, and waking up next to a naked male might panic her. He also needed a shower. He hadn't showered after bringing her back, and he had dealt death twice. It wouldn't be right to bring that into Holly's bed.

  "I'll be back in just a few minutes, okay?"

  Her eyes opened, searing into him as if she were trying to decide if he was telling the truth or not.

  "I promise, Holly. I just need to change and grab a quick shower."

  She nodded, and closed her eyes again.

  Aiden ran into Thaddeus in the hallway.

  Thaddeus nodded. "How are you?"

  Aiden considered the question. He had almost lost the female he loved . . . again. His nerves were shot. The adrenaline rush that had kept him going for the past God knew how many hours was gone, and deep fatigue had moved in. But the pain he had lived with for so long was gone, and he felt a certain peace within. Overall, not bad.

  "I'm good, Thad. Overall, I'm good."

  Thaddeus nodded again, a slow grin crossing his face. "Will Holly be sticking around, my man?"

  Aiden smile back. "If I don't fuck it up, I think she will. I hope she will."

  Thaddeus nodded. "Well then, just don't fuck it up."

  "Easier said than done, brother, easier said than done."

  He pushed off the wall and made his way down to his bedroom. After a quick shower, he threw on some sweats and headed back to Holly's room. He quietly opened the door. She hadn't moved. He slid under the covers next to her. He gathered her in his arms and held her close. Her head found his shoulder, her arm wrapped around his stomach.

  “I love you,” he whispered, hating himself that he couldn't say it to her face. He mentally killed the lights. As he stared into the darkness, he felt a peace come into his heart, into his soul, and settle in as if it had moved in, staked its claim, and made sure that every other negative emotion knew they weren’t welcome any longer.

  He felt relief.

  He thought of Natalie. Mark had said that Natalie hurt, just as Aiden did, and that it had to stop. They had been so closely intertwined in their connection that his pain had traveled to hers in heaven. As the peace continued to move in, he hoped that she had finally gotten some relief as well. He missed Natalie. He knew that she would always hold a small piece of his soul, and that was okay. But this bossy little woman beside him with the unruly hair deserved as much of himself as he could give her, and he would do his best to be the male that she needed. He knew that peaceful feeling wasn't going anywhere as long as Holly was with him.

  Chapter 39

  Mark sat in the bar in The Fringe on the outer edge of Heaven. He had come back up after making sure that Aiden had followed the right path, which basically was the path to Holly. The dumb cocksucker had almost blown it, but Mark was certain they were going to be okay.

  He sat with his three boys knocking back vodka. While he shot the bull with them, he had a conversation with himself on whether he should return to Earth. Thaddeus certainly wasn’t any fun anymore—he had Emily and had given up his whiskey swilling womanizing ways. Okay, maybe not the whiskey so much, but he only had eyes for Emily. Aiden had never been a bucket of laughs. There were only so many games of Wii a guy could play with ten year olds. He had checked in briefly and decided that Hugo fit in nicely with the household. But really, where was Mark's position in Thaddeus's house? He was dead. An angel. He belonged in Heaven.

  Mark decided to stretch his legs and head outside with his glass. He inhaled the fresh heavenly air and felt the warm sun on his skin and decided to take a walk. The grass crunched under his boots and some guy rode by on his Harley, a cigar sticking out of his mouth. The temperature was perfect, as always. As he walked, he thought about Aiden.

  The male had a head made of bricks. It took Holly being kidnapped and almost brutally raped for the guy to pull his head out of his ass and realize he had feelings for her. Mark had been afraid he would have to intervene more than he already had and beat the living shit out the guy. Maybe knock some sense into him that way.

  He stopped. He felt the familiar eyes upon him. He turned to where The Fringe met the Inner Circle. There she stood, smiling at him, her white robe flowing around her, her black hair hanging down to her shoulders. She waved.

  He walked across the grassy meadow, heading toward her. The buildings of the Inner Circle stood behind her, all of them a silver color that sparkled in the sun like diamonds. Where the line of demarcation was, the nice grass of The Fringe turned into fluffy white clouds for those of the Inner Circle to walk upon. As he approached, she smiled. And it took his breath away.

  He had always thought her pretty, but when she smiled . . . man . . . she made the Inner Circle look like a junkyard.

  "Hi," she said. She was beaming from ear to ear. He had never seen her like this. Usually when they saw each other, she was almost doubled over in pain.

  "Hi, Natalie," Mark said. It was difficult not to smile back.

  "It's almost done. He's finding his peace, isn't he?"

  Mark nodded. Her smile faded slightly.

  "I'm happy for him, Mark." She toed the line between the Inner Circle and The Fringe.

  "Has he found someone else?" she asked quietly.

  "Yes."

  "What's she like?" Natalie asked softly, tilting her head to look at him.

  Holly. How did he describe Holly? "Her name is Holly. The best way to describe her would be a very small person with a very big heart who likes to order people around."

  Natalie smiled and nodded and looked at the ground. Her toes ran along the edge of the cloud she stood on as if she were debating to step on the grass.

  "I'm glad," Natalie said softly. "How old is she? How long will they have together?"

  "She's a vampire, Natalie," Mark said.

  Natalie's head jerked up in surprise. "But . . . I . . . I thought that no one was ever sure if there were female vampires in existence!"

  Mark shrugged his shoulders and took a sip of his vodka. He simply didn't have an answer for her. It was obviously apparent that Aiden had found one. Perhaps there were more, maybe not. Who knew? He wasn't the all seeing, all knowing prophet that Thaddeus and Aiden seemed to think he was. He knew the stuff that he needed to know, and that was it.

  Natalie took a deep breath. "It feels good to be free of the pain," she said quietly.

  Mark imagined it would. Aiden had been suffering a long time, and therefore Natalie had as well. There had been a deep connection between them that bypassed even death.

  "I want to meet her," Natalie said softly, toeing the edge of the cloud again.

  "Can't help you there, honey," Mark said. Those in the Inner Circle were not allowed to leave the heavenly realm. No one cared what the folks in The Fringe did as it was debatable on whether they should actually be there or not. They were free to come and go as they pleased.

  Natalie took a deep breath and looked at Mark again. "Thank you."

  Mark nodded, and watched her turn and walk away, her heavenly white robe swirling around her feet with each step. It saddened him that her life had been cut short on earth. He didn't know the full story on why it had happened, or who that Victor Marano guy was, but he had decided he would keep an eye on things in the Thaddeus household. He would, however, definitely spend most of his time up here from now on.

  Natalie had gone through the gates leading to the heart of the Inner Circle. She turned to him again, smiled and waved. He wouldn't be surprised if she found a way to go down to Earth for a little visit. No, that wouldn't surprise him at all. In fact, he kind of expected it from her.

  He waved and headed back to the bar to be with his boys.

  Chapter 4
0

  Holly awoke, her body aching, but not as bad as she had expected. She was relieved that nightmares hadn't plagued her during her sleep. She actually slept well. She could feel her body getting stronger and healing thanks to Aiden's strong blood.

  She had actually drank from a male of her race. The implications scared her and made her a little giddy. Aiden had said that she was his female. She opened her eyes and reached over to find him. The bed was empty.

  Disappointment moved in, and she curled up in a ball and pulled the covers up to her chin. Had he not come back, after he promised he would? Had he taken one of the most sacred traditions of their race and made a total farce out of it?

  She felt like crying, and closed her eyes and buried her head under the covers.

  Just as the tears began to streak down her face, she heard a soft click.

  "Holly?" A deep voice said quietly.

  She peeked out from under the covers to see Aiden standing in the middle of the room with a tray of food dressed in gray sweats and a blue t-shirt.

  His warm eyes met hers. A small smile crossed his face until it registered that she was crying. He set the tray down on the bureau, went to the bed, and sat down.

  "What is it, Holly?" he asked, his face a mask of worry. "Are you hurting somewhere? I think the doctor is still here. Do you want me to get him?"

  Holly sniffed and wiped her cheeks. "No. No. I'm doing better today."

  "Then why are you crying?"

  She hated the fact that she was feeling like such a needy female. She wanted to be with Aiden so badly, wanted him to take care of her, to love her. When he wasn't here when she woke, she had been certain he had bolted. Again. She felt so fragile and vulnerable, as if anything could be the one thing to break her. If Aiden bailed again, she didn't think she would be able to handle it like she had last time.

  She remembered when she had lived in Georgia a few years back and moved in with a human girl in her 20's. Her boyfriend had broken up with her, and Holly had watched her consume large amounts of wine, ice cream, and used a few boxes of Kleenex while she watched talk shows on TV. After a few days, the girl seemed to be feeling better. Holly thought that if Aiden hadn't returned, then she would go the same route. She had never had to before as her relationship experience was so limited, but it seemed like the thing to do.

  "I . . . I just am, Aiden."

  He looked over her face again, obviously not buying her line.

  "Holly, you don't cry just because. There's a reason. If you don't want to talk about now, fine. But know that I'm here, okay?"

  Holly felt the tears start back up again. She sat up slowly, clinging the sheet to her breasts. She buried her head in his chest, once again gripping the t-shirt that covered his huge body. His arms circled her, and she cried harder.

  "Holly, what can I do to help you?"

  "You're doing it, Aiden."

  After a couple minutes Holly finally stopped sobbing and looked up at Aiden. She could see in his face that he was still concerned, and she felt silly for her little outburst. She wasn't much of a crier. But then again, she had been through a lot, and her nerves were beyond frayed.

  Their eyes locked, and Holly felt the air leave the room, just as it always did when she was with Aiden. She could feel the heat radiating from his eyes and body.

  "Did you come back here last night?"

  "Yes."

  "Are you lying to me?

  "Have I lied to you yet?"

  Holly thought about that for a minute, and came up with a big fat no. Apparently she was not going to have to throw herself into the tub of ice cream and bottle of wine.

  "Kiss me," she whispered.

  A brief smile played on his lips, and then they met hers.

  The kiss was gentle. Holly had a gash in her lip, and Aiden kept the kiss light, yet it nearly knocked her to the floor. The room spun and heat licked through her body. Aiden pulled away and Holly saw the lust in his eyes.

  He cleared his throat. "I brought you food. You should try to eat."

  She nodded. She wanted so badly to be with Aiden, but she knew why he had stopped. She was battered and still sore. A session of sex would most likely re-bruise her and open cuts that needed to knit. She sat back and willed her body to hurry up and heal, for God's sake.

  Holly slowly ate the leftover turkey, mashed potatoes and salad. As she ate, she thought about Myla being dead, and the picture I.D.

  She cleared her plate, and Aiden took the tray to the bureau.

  "I want to see the picture, Aiden," she said quietly.

  "Why don't we wait until you're a bit stronger?"

  Holly shook her head. "No, Aiden. I want to do it now. I want to work on closure."

  Aiden sighed and pulled his phone out of his sweats. He flipped it open, hit a few buttons and the picture came up on the screen.

  Holly stared at the picture. Myla's pale face was framed by tangled brown hair. Her eyes were closed, and it looked like there was a coat or something pulled up to her neck. Holly shivered as she wondered what the coat was hiding.

  Holly nodded. "That's her." She waited for the tears, but none came. Her dear friend was gone, and there wasn't anything to do about it. Holly only wished that she knew what Myla had been up to the past hundred years, and she hoped she had been happy.

  The pain would be there for a while, Holly guessed, but the best way to honor Myla, or the Myla she remembered, was to live.

  "I want to get out of this room," she said, looking around. Sure, it was pretty, but she needed to get up and about, see some new walls for a while. "Maybe we can go to that big room at the front of the house? The one with the floor to ceiling windows?" she asked.

  Aiden smiled. "That's my favorite room in the house," he said.

  Chapter 41

  They made their way slowly down the hall; Holly dressed in a nightshirt and pink robe holding on to Aiden's arm. On their way down, they almost got bowled over by Brandon and Robert. The boys took one look at her and stopped in their tracks.

  Robert narrowed his eyes as he took her in. "Dad?" he asked, his eyes not leaving her face.

  "What?"

  "Did you kill whoever did this to her?"

  Aiden didn't answer at first. He hated that his boy knew he was a killer, but he reminded himself he was what he was, and he had been born for that sole purpose. He cleared his throat. "Um . . . yeah. I did."

  Robert nodded. "Good."

  Then he took a step forward and gently wrapped his arms around Holly's waist. It was a brief hug, but filled with affection.

  Robert stepped back. "We're going to our tree house again!" And they were off at a run for the elevator where Hugo waited for them.

  Holly and Aiden continued their way down the hall.

  When they reached the room, Aiden led her over to the couch. It was a perfect night. The moon cast its brilliant beams of light over the trees on the other side of the canyon, illuminating them and sending their shadows to the ground. He knew that if they watched long enough, they would see wildlife, and some of it impressive. In the time he had spent with his butt planted on the couch, had seen a pack of coyotes running through the canyon, and he had seen a bear. His favorite was the herds of deer that passed through.

  He went to the bar and poured himself some whiskey.

  "I'll have some of that, too," Holly said quietly.

  "No wine?"

  She shook her head and looked over at him. "I'm in a whiskey mood. Wine just wouldn't cut it tonight."

  He nodded. He so got that.

  After he brought the tumblers over to the couch, he gently put his arm around her. He felt like he should say something, but he wasn't sure what. She leaned her head into his shoulder and sighed.

  "What are we doing, Aiden?" she asked quietly.

  He could answer that question only for him. The answer was, in a word, struggling. Struggling with the fact that he cared about her so much, struggling with the fact that he didn't deserve her, yet he wa
nted her so badly. Not to mention that little problem that he couldn't tell her he loved her. He had tried, but the words wouldn't form on his lips.

  Shaking his head, he said, "You . . . you're something I never expected, Holly. Never. I . . . you . . . Holly, I don't even know where to start."

  She nodded, as if she understood what he was saying.

  Or wasn't saying.

  "I never expected you, either, Aiden," she said quietly. "But sometimes really good stuff comes in unexpected packages."

  He smiled. "I agree, Holly. I agree. And you, my little hellcat, are the best thing that has happened to me in a very long time."

  Her brow creased. "Hellcat?" she asked confused.

  He threw back his head and laughed. It felt so good to laugh and mean it, to have it come straight from his soul, to let it out and let it fly.

  When he recovered, he looked down at her. She was smiling and giggling. "Yes, love. You're my hellcat. I gave you that nickname at your house after I told you that things were different now in the Vampire Nation, and you stormed out of the room with your hands in fists after you told me you didn't believe me." He bent down and kissed her forehead, and both trained their eyes on the view.

  "I think I like that," she said quietly after a moment. "No one has ever called me a hellcat before."

  "And I . . . " why couldn't he just say it? "And I care about you, Holly the hellcat, more than I could've ever imagined."

  He felt himself flinch at the way his mouth didn't work the way he wanted. He wanted to tell her he loved her, but the words just wouldn't come. He knew he had let Natalie go. Holly brought him peace, and he hoped he passed that along up the airwaves to Heaven. But he felt he was at something like a state line, with one foot on one side, one foot on the other.

  He wanted to be in one state and dedicate himself fully to it, but his other boot still had a little glue left on it that prevented him from stepping over.

  He kissed her forehead again. "Please be with me, Holly," he whispered.

  "I will, Aiden. I will."