Havenfall Harbor: Book One

by Albany Walker

  “You’ll stay here.” Griffin lowers his chin a tiny bit, but it changes the planes of his face and he looks more…I don’t know, just more.

  “I’ll talk to Stone,” I tell him.

  Griffin lifts one eyebrow and flattens his lips at my response. Reading his expression isn’t hard.

  “So…the towel?” I lift the damp cloth, at a loss for what else to say. Griffin reaches for it and tosses it unceremoniously back into the bathroom where it lands in a heap on the floor.

  “Do you need anything from next door?” Griffin walks over to the bed and pulls back the covers, revealing dark sheets. He turns to meet my stare when he’s done.

  I swallow. Am I really going to sleep in his bed? “I’ll sleep on the couch. I can’t take your bed.”

  “Not happening.” He shakes his head slowly. “And you will.”

  “Can you even pretend that everyone doesn’t fall into line with everything you say?” I narrow my eyes on him, but I don’t have much fight. I’m much too spent for that.

  “Do you argue with everyone, or am I just special?”

  “Oh, you’re special all right.” My lips curl at the implied insult, but I don’t really mean it that way.

  Griffin ignores my pretend jab and jerks his arm to the side, pointing to the bed.

  “I’ll talk to the director tomorrow about another room.” I drag my toe against the carpet. The exhaustion I’m feeling fills my voice when I add, “Thank you, Griffin, I…I just, thank you.” I slowly walk over to the bed. Mindful I’m only wearing a shirt, I scoot into the sheets, dragging the covers all the way up to my chin after sinking into the plush pillows.

  When I look up, Griffin is staring down at me, but I don’t really think he’s seeing me. He has a glazed expression on his face.

  “Do you have an alarm?”

  Griffin sucks in a breath and blinks. “No one will come in here,” he promises.

  “I mean an alarm clock, I don’t have my phone. It was in my pocket.” It never even crossed my mind to think someone would come in here. I feel completely safe, which is crazy considering I’m lying in a vampire’s bed. One that I’m not even sure likes me.

  “Just go to sleep, Quinn.” Griffin sounds half amused and half frustrated. My eyes grow heavy as I wiggle into his bed even further.

  “Will you wake me when you leave?” I sound like a scared kid, but I don’t bother trying to hide it.

  Griffin brushes a piece of hair away from my forehead. “Sleep,” he demands without answering.

  “Promise to wake me if you leave,” I counter.

  He huffs and smooths the covers, tucking them closer to my body. “Fine. Now sleep.”

  “Okay.” I sigh and let my eyes fall closed. Images of the plane ride and the blood on my floor try to pierce my thoughts, but the darkness edging in wins out before any pictures can truly form. Sleep pulls me under as I feel a caress down the side of my face, I turn toward the touch, craving the comfort it’s offering.

  Stretching, I drag in a deep breath. I know before I open my eyes I’m not in my bed. Thoughts of yesterday play through my head. The plane, Jacob, the pack, and finally all the shit from last night.

  My mouth is dry, so I know I’ve been sleeping for a while, but I curl on my side, content to keep sleeping. Griffin’s bed must be a gift from the sandman, because it’s seriously amazing. His scent is still strong, so I bury my face deeper into his pillow. Ugh, why do sexy men have to smell so good?

  It’s quiet, so quiet the slow thrum of my heart echoes in my ear that’s resting on the pillow. I crack an eye open, peering into the darkness. The light from the bathroom is extinguished, leaving the room pitch-black.

  I lift my head, wondering if Griffin kept his promise. I should get up, at least to see what time it is, but my body would much rather stay in this bed. My mind, however, is awake and already analyzing everything that happened last night.

  I heave a sigh and give the pillow a punch, wishing I could ignore my responsibilities for just a little longer.

  “With all that flipping and flopping, I’m beginning to think you don’t like my bed.” I stop breathing at Griffin’s words. How the hell could I have not known he was in here?

  “The bed isn’t the issue.” My voice is thick with sleep. Griffin makes a grunting sound I can’t decipher, it’s too early for that. “What time is it?” I open my eyes slowly.

  “Two thirty.”

  I shoot straight up. “In the afternoon?” I question stupidly. I went to bed well after two, so I know the answer.

  “Did you know you talk in your sleep?” I can’t see Griffin, but his voice shifts closer to the bed.

  I pat down my hair. It got damp last night in the shower, so it’s probably a rat’s nest. “I do, did. I mean yes, I know.” This is strange. It feels like the morning after, but it’s not. The only thing that happened was Griffin showing me kindness. But I’m still half naked in his bed, and that feels like something.

  “Did I disturb you?” The room is chilly without the blanket fully covering me. I try to suppress the shiver that racks me.

  “No, not really. Cold?” he asks.

  My eyes narrow in the direction I suspect him to be. “How well can you see?”

  “Quite well, they didn’t call us creatures of the night for nothing.” I can hear the smile in his words. He’s teasing me.

  “Creepy might be a better word for it, if you were watching me sleep.” I bite my bottom lip. This feels good, friendly even.

  “I had to do something, you made me promise, after all.” Griffin’s voice grows softer, but closer.

  I lick my lips, wishing my mouth wasn’t so dry. “You stayed?” I can hear the vulnerability in my tone.

  Griffin hums his answer, and I feel the edge of the bed shift. “Do you remember that situation we talked about?” My head tips back as I feel him grow nearer.

  “Yes,” I reply, and it comes out more like a breathy sigh.

  “Well, I could fix it for you.”

  “What, my situation? I don’t even know what it is.” He’s close now, close enough I can feel the heat from his body.

  “You’ve never been bitten.” Griffin’s breath stirs my hair.

  “That’s the situation?” I whisper incredulously.

  “It’s very distracting, everything about you drives me to distraction.” Fingers trail over my cheek and I jump a little, startled by his touch.

  “I mean, that’s…Isn’t that kind of weird that you know that? Is there some sort of vampire virgin signal I’m broadcasting?” I pat down the blankets over my legs. My heart kicks up a bit.

  “It’s obvious to me, so I’m sure there are others.” Griffin continues to trail his finger down my jaw.

  “I, um, so you want to bite me or…?” I leave the question open-ended. I’m not really sure what’s happening right now. But I’m not really opposed to the idea. I shift my legs. “That will somehow help?”

  Griffin

  Holy hell. Hundreds of years of near perfect control and this one woman is about to break me. I knew insisting she stay here, in my bed, was a mistake, but I can’t even pretend to regret it. Quinn’s blue eyes are wide, searching, but I don’t sense an ounce of fear from her. Quite the opposite.

  Will biting her help? Fuck yes it will. It will let every vampire know she belongs to me. But I don’t think that was what she had in mind when she asked.

  She’s so damn trusting. I could have tasted her while she slept, and she would have never known. But I want her to want it at least half as bad as I do. Quinn’s breathing grows rougher. I can see the rise and fall of her chest, and my eyes are drawn to my shirt covering her body. There’s nothing else against her skin but me. My sheets, my shirt. A growl works its way up my throat.

  I still haven’t answered her. Venom pools in my mouth. The urge to sink my teeth into her is so fucking strong I’ve never felt anything like it. Not even with Eva.

  Thinking about her gives me pause. She’s
why I keep my distance from humans. I still can’t fight the guilt I feel about what happened between her and Iris. I swallow the ache that comes with my first love’s name. I made Havenfall into what it is today for her. All the years I’ve been doing this was never for my personal, altruistic motivations. I did it because that’s what she wanted, and I wanted to give her what she wanted.

  “Griffin?” Quinn’s voice, so different than the practiced allure of Eva’s, tugs me back to the present.

  “Allowing one to feed from you lets the others know you’re not available.” My tone is coarse, but not in the same way it was moments ago. “Why else do you think Noah and the others are so drawn to you?”

  Quinn sucks in a breath and holds it. I close my eyes, waiting for the exhale. Waiting for her fire to burn me. But after only a moment she breathes out softly. The harsh words I was hoping for never come.

  “I better get going. Thanks for…yeah, well, see ya.” Quinn throws her legs over the side of the bed and puts her hands out to keep herself from bumping into anything. She won’t even ask for help to get out of this tomb I call a bedroom.

  I open my mouth, an apology on my tongue, but I bite it instead. Her breath shudders after several long seconds of searching for the exit. Finally, I get up and stalk over to the door and fling it open.

  The light from outside makes her squint, and she uses her hand to block her face, but I still see the tear that’s trailing down her cheek. My back bows, it’s like a physical blow to my gut. She lets one sniffle escape before dashing out of my room.

  I watch her back, my shirt billowing out behind her as she rushes to the door. Her scent is still filling my nose as regret fills me.

  Chapter 15

  Quinn

  I push open the door to my room with my palm, but stand well outside the entry. My eyes are drawn to the floor where the mess was. My mind tries in vain to convince me that the last twelve hours was all a bad dream, brought on by stress. I feel the long cuffs of Griffin’s shirt slip over my hands and the illusion evaporates. Too bad his shirt is all I have on. If I had clothes, I wouldn’t even go back inside my room yet.

  The floor is spotless, even the carpet is stain free. I’m relieved I don’t need to clean it up, but I feel a wave of resentment toward Griffin that he did this, or had this done, I should say, and now I have to be thankful to the mercurial asshole.

  I take a steadying breath before walking into the room. My steps are slow, cautious, as I peer around. Everything feels different now. I knew someone was in here the first night, but it still didn’t feel like mine then. I had just moved in, this feels more like a violation of my space.

  My phone is on the kitchen counter with no evidence it was in my back pocket last night and landed in a puddle of blood.

  I want another shower just thinking about it, but not here. I make my way past the living area and head to my bedroom. I get stuck standing in the door for a moment. I don’t even know if anyone was in here, or what they did if they were?

  Pushing past my reluctance to enter, I shove myself through the door and pull open the closet. I grab the first pair of jeans my hand touches and an old college sweatshirt I stole from the last guy I dated. It’s way too big, but just the right amount of comfort I need right now.

  After changing in the bathroom, I snag my phone and keys off the counter then hustle out the door, not caring that my hair is a mess or bothering to lock the room. Who knows if it got fixed after Griffin broke it? Wouldn’t matter. Whoever keeps getting in here must have a fucking key anyway.

  I bounce down the stairs, wondering why I have to go down to the main floor just to go right back up to the third floor. I guess less doors means less points of entry for those not supposed to be here, but come on.

  With a single-minded focus, I head up to my office. I shouldn’t have slept so late. I’m going to need to make several calls to reschedule the kids I had planned to see today, but I have another call to make first.

  “Hello?”

  “I need to speak with Director Stone.” I don’t give the woman on the line a chance to deny me.

  “He’s not in today. Would you like to leave a message?” Her voice doesn’t hold the same contempt Millie’s does.

  I swallow a sigh, of course he’s not in today. “May I have his direct email or number?” I ask hopefully.

  “I’d be happy to relay a message for you.” She avoids my question. You’d think someone in Stone’s position would make himself a little more available.

  “If there’s no way I could speak to him directly…” I let the sentence hang for a moment. When she doesn’t respond, I say, “I suppose. This is Quinn Shaw, and I need to know who I can talk to about changing rooms.” Saying it out loud makes me feel slightly juvenile. “Until I can get a more secure lock,” I add hastily.

  “Oh, I see. I’ll give him the message as soon as he becomes available.”

  “Could you give him my number please? I’d really like to speak to him directly.” At least it seems like she’ll actually give the Director my message. I’m not sure Millie would even do that much.

  “Yes, the number you called from, Ms. Shaw?”

  “Yes please, he can call anytime. Thank you.” I place the phone back in the cradle and pinch my temples between my fingers.

  I thought the dead pig would be a single incident, especially since so much time has passed and nothing else happened.

  I mean, how ridiculous. What do they think they’re going to accomplish by pouring blood all over my floor? I feel more threatened that someone was in my room again after knowing I locked the door. That makes me feel unsafe.

  I hate that half the staff probably already knows. Griffin obviously can’t keep his mouth shut, he told Evan about the first incident, so it stands to reason he knows about this too. I need someone to talk to about this who isn’t Griffin, and I don’t want to take the drama to Alice, so the choice is easy.

  I put my phone back to my ear and hesitate. Should I really ask him for help? The first number is the hardest to dial, after that it becomes easier.

  “Hello?” Evan answers on the second ring.

  “Hey, it’s Quinn. Sorry to bother you, but do you have a few minutes to talk?”

  “I’m just finishing something. You in your room?”

  “No,” I scoff. “I’m in my office actually. I can come—” I don’t get to finish before there’s a hard rapping on my mostly closed door. “Sorry, just a…” My sentence trails off when Evan sticks his head in my office. I look at the phone still in my hand.

  “I was close by.” I watch as Evan places his phone back on his belt, he has a clip that allows it to hang off his hip like a walkie-talkie.

  “Talk about quick service.” I try to lighten my mood, but it comes out sounding rather suspicious.

  Evan’s eyes search my face. “I was heading next door.”

  “Sorry.” I shake my head and get to my feet, inviting Evan to take a seat in one of the chairs with a wave of my hand.

  Evan looks down at the chair and purses his lips. Right, if Griffin nearly breaks the chairs, Evan surely will. I come out from behind my desk and motion for the door. “Want to take a walk down to the cafeteria with me?”

  “Yeah, I can do that.” Evan beats me to the door, and even though it’s already open, he places his hand on the knob and waits for me to exit in front of him.

  Once we’re in the hall, we walk side by side to the stairs. “So, what’s going on?” Evan asks, sparing me a quick glance before he trains his gaze on the corridor around us.

  “I’m guessing Griffin already told you about last night?”

  “Yeah, he told me.” Evan’s voice is pitched low.

  I tuck my hair behind my ears. “Well, it’s obvious a locked door isn’t keeping anyone out.” A bit dramatic, yes. “Since you’re head of security, I was hoping you could help me figure out what’s going on, change rooms, get a better lock…” I lift my hands in the air, not even sure what I’m a
sking of him.

  I feel Evan’s hand on my right shoulder, his arm curling over my back for a second in a half embrace, before he releases me and continues walking like it never happened.

  The small bit of comfort is welcome. I don’t have many people I can talk to about this, I don’t want to drop the drama on Alice…and Griffin, ugh, I don’t even want to think about him right now. I thought we were becoming friends. How can he be so thoughtful one second and a complete ass the next?

  I slow my steps as we reach the stairs and turn to face Evan. “Is there something I’m not seeing here? Why would someone do that, or the pig for that matter? I mean, I know I’m still learning about supernaturals, but I don’t think this is me not understanding the gesture. Is it?”

  Evan looks over my head, his lips in a thin line. “No, Quinn, it’s just someone’s fucked up idea of trying to scare you. I just don’t know why.”

  I let out a heavy breath. At least I can feel better about feeling threatened. “Right, I mean the pig was already dead, and the blood was nasty, but knowing someone is able to get in and out of my room is the worst part. I just don’t get what the pig or the blood mean.” I start my descent down the stairs, Evan stays at my side.

  “That’s why we were thinking kids, but I’m not so sure now. The kids don’t even have access to the blood bank, none of them need it yet, they’re too young.” Evan keeps his voice low, but I find myself searching the area for anyone who might be listening. It’s stupid that I feel embarrassed that this is happening to me.

  “Well if not the kids, then who?”

  “We’ll figure it out, Quinn, but until then, Griffin said you were staying with him.”

  “What?” I scoff. “Yeah, that is not happening.” I almost leave it at that, but I glance over at Evan and see his brows drawn. “I think I already wore out my welcome,” I explain, as the cafeteria doors come into view. It’s late for lunch, and a little too early for dinner, so the place is nearly empty. Thankfully, they have stuff to eat available all day.