by Eve Newton
“Hey,” he says softly
“Hey,” I say. “I was concerned. It’s late.”
He looks at the clock. “Yeah, we only got to sleep late.” I nod knowingly and he snaps, “We were just talking.” Why he feels the need to defend his actions is beyond me. I hold my hands up in defense and he sighs. “Sorry. I am still trying to get used to this.”
“No need to apologize. I know what you are going through.”
“Can you take over for a bit? I need a break,” he says.
“Of course. I told you I would take care of you. And her.” I smile softly at him.
“Thank you, Lizzie.” He smiles gratefully back. He rises and kisses me. “I’m going to take a shower and then go to work. Well, ex-work, I guess it is now. I have things that need sorting before I can pack in completely.”
“Are you sure you want to? Pack in, I mean? You don’t have to just because I am.”
“No, I want to. I love my job, I love our company, but I love working with you. It won’t be the same if you aren’t there. Besides, I will still have my work cut out for me. Not only do I have yours and mine to deal with, seems now that I am available, everyone else has come to me with requests to handle their portfolios,” he says wryly. I laugh out loud before I put my hand over my mouth, not wanting to wake Jess.
I pull him into a tight embrace. “Because you are the best. Everyone knows that you have the golden touch.” As I say the words, an idea forms in my head. I pull back and stare at him. He looks back at me suspiciously and asks, “What? What are you thinking?”
“Golden touch,” I repeat. “Everything you touch comes up trumps,” I say excitedly.
“What are you saying?” he asks, confused.
I glance at Jess and pull him outside closing the door quietly. “Think about it, Dev. You never fail. When it comes to money, you never fail. Every investment, every card game, every spin of the Roulette wheel…It’s no fucking wonder we have more money than we know what to do with. You have a gift.” I slap him on the arm, but he looks at me blankly.
“I have no idea what you are saying right now.” He rubs his face with his hand and then through his hair causing it to stick up adorably.
“You have a gift. A real gift. Your knack for numbers is just a bonus.”
He frowns at me. “So, you are saying that I’m not as clever as I like to think I am?”
I laugh again at him, taking his face in my hands. “Oh no, my darling boy, you are every bit as clever as you think you are and more. You just have a bit of a power boost. Fuck me. I can’t believe I never saw it before.”
“So, I can make us even more money if I put my mind to it?” he asks with a cheeky wink.
“I have no doubt.”
He kisses me and says, “How you deduced this, I don’t know, and I don’t know if you are right, but now I have a mission to go and see if you are.” He kisses me again and goes into his bedroom, happy and relaxed, probably having forgotten all about Jess. I sigh as I haven’t, much as I would like to. I open the door again and she wakes up.
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED SIXTY-FOUR
“Devon?” she asks sitting up.
“No, just me,” I say and her face falls.
“I’m hungry,” she grouses.
“I know. Here.” I pass her a handy glass of blood and she downs it in one gulp.
“Thanks,” she says gratefully. “Uh, where did… where did Devon go?”
“Out,” I say, knowing it will upset her that I don’t give her more. Not for me to tell her his business. If he wants to fill her in when he gets back about what he has been up to, then fair enough. “Get showered and changed. Esther got you some things. You will be unable to go outside but I will make sure that you are comfortable.”
She looks like she is about to cry again as she remembers that she can’t go out in daylight.
“One day at a time,” I tell her. “And make the most of your nights. It will get easier when we get to Europe. The nights are long in winter.” I almost feel sorry for her…almost. I will probably never forgive her for what she did, but she is here now, and we have to move on. “Let Esther know if you need or want anything.” I point to the phone on the bedside table. “Dial 9.” Kind of like a hotel, I grimace as I realize this.
“I just want Devon,” she says sadly.
“It will get easier as time goes on.” I sit on the edge of the bed and decide to impart some wisdom onto the next generation. “You need to readjust your priorities now. The things that you wanted to do with your life before, may be not suitable for you now. And look for outside interests, don’t focus your attentions entirely on Devon.”
“What do you mean?” she sniffles into a tissue.
What do I mean? All sorts of things. “Anything, Jess. Anything you want. Look at Cole. He didn’t want to give up acting after I turned him. He loved the work and he didn’t need to, as it was something that he could carry on doing. Your limitation will prove an issue at first, but the punishment won’t last forever. What did you used to do?” I ask.
At this point, I am aware I know nothing about her. How old she is, what her last name is. Hell, we haven’t even been properly introduced.
“I’m a senior in high school,” she says.
I mentally shake my head at Devon. “So, you are eighteen?”
“Seventeen.”
“You can’t go back there. What about your parents? You know you can’t go home, and you can’t tell them,” I say sternly.
“I know, Devon has told me. It was just my mom and me. And whatever drunk, abusive guy she brought home. I’m not sad to never see her again.”
It explains a lot. No wonder she wanted this. “What were your plans? After school?”
She shrugs. “I was going to college. I want to be a lawyer.”
Impressive. “College is out for now, I’m afraid. But one day you can go back and achieve your goals. You have eternity now, Jess. The sky’s the limit. We just need to see it through one day at a time, at the moment. In the meantime…” I never get to finish what I was going to say because she suddenly goes feral and launches herself at me. Now this is more of what I was expecting. Up to a point Devon’s presence, even from a distance, keeps her calm. I’m guessing he has now left the house and she can no longer keep a lid on her feelings of hunger and rage, at me particularly for denying her fresh human blood and the sun. She claws at me, snarling in a haze of pure rage as I hold her back by her throat. She slashes at me with her claws, but she is weak and young and it hardly affects me.
“Jess,” I say to her calmly. She ignores me in favor of ripping at me instead. “Jess!” I snap. “Get yourself under control.”
All the noise she is making has attracted the attention of, well, everybody, and they all rush into the room to my aid. Not that I need it but it’s the thought that counts. Lincoln goes behind her and grabs her arms, forcing them behind her. His grip is strong on her wrists and she struggles against him uselessly.
“You okay?” he asks me.
“Just fine, sweetie. I think I can handle myself against a two-day-old newbie,” I say, rolling my eyes.
“I take it Devon has left the building?” CK says sardonically.
I nod. “So it would seem.”
He sighs as she is howling at Lincoln to let her go. My Alpha looks mildly amused as he keeps hold of her struggling form, no match for his superior strength.
“Work your mojo on her,” I complain to CK as I am in no mood for toddler tantrums.
“Mojo? What on Earth are you talking about, Aefre?” He looks at me perplexed.
“You know, that thing you do…” I gesture at him. “That thing… that calms.”
“Calms?” Now he looks a bit amused.
“It works on me,” I huff at him.
“Because you are my charge, my sweet, and a special one at that. I do not have the capabilities to sort this mess out.”
“Too bad,” I mumble. “Where the bloody Hell are Cade an
d Nico? They should have been back by now.”
As if by magick, they appear in the doorway, having rushed up the stairs following the not-so-dulcet sounds of Jess The Mess.
“Allow me,” Cade says and twirls his orb at her. She slumps in Lincoln’s arms, completely under control.
“About bloody time. What kept you? Is my car all right?” I ask in suspicion.
“Your car is fine,” Cade says, miffed that I didn’t trust them with it. “There was something we needed to take care of.”
We? “Humph. Well, next time be sure to call and let me know.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he salutes sarcastically.
I pull my face at him. “Get this under control,” I order him.
“Me? Isn’t it your job to deal with her?”
“Unfortunately, yes. But short of knocking her unconscious… I need your help, clearly,” I admit with a shrug. I don’t mind asking for help, sometimes. Although, judging by the shocked faces in front of me, I apparently don’t do it very often.
“CK, my love,” I say sweetly. His eyebrows skyrocket at my tone. “May we please use your room to house her until we leave again tomorrow night?”
Happy to be asked, but not so happy as to the question, he scowls at me. “Really? You are asking me to take this responsibility on?”
“No, not on, just under.” I smile my most charming smile at him and twirl my hair in a very teen-girl move, but then again, I am still just a teenager, albeit a thousand and seventeen-year-old one.
He isn’t stupid though and he knows my game. He will do as I ask but there will be a price to pay and I bet it won’t be cheap.
“Fine. You may use my room. How will you get her there? The wards won’t let you into my house with her spelled. You will have to unspell her and tackle her, or can you take both Lincoln and Cade with you two?”
Three passengers? I have never tried. I suppose now isn’t the time to find out, but it doesn’t matter anyway as there is another way. One that the boys will go ga-ga over.
“What room are you talking about?” Lincoln asks.
“Wait and see,” I say mysteriously and turn back to CK. “Not interested in learning by doing today but I do know a thing or two about living in castles, remember?”
He chuckles in delight. “You connected your house to mine.”
“Of course.”
“Connected?” Cole asks. “How so?”
“Follow me.” I take his hand and CK’s and say to Cade, “Just make sure you stick to the shadows, otherwise…”
“Yes, I am aware. Although…” he says slyly, “are you sure I am the best person to escort her into a potentially fatal situation?”
“Kill her and I kill you. Simple,” I state and it’s his turn to pull his face at me.
“Understood,” he says reluctantly.
“Don’t worry. I am sure that on our travels you will have the opportunity to ease your bloodlust,” I say sarcastically, and his face brightens until he realizes that I am not being altogether serious.
“Come now. We need to get her moved.” I lead us down the corridor, down the stairs and across the foyer to the kitchens, all the while sticking to the shadows myself as a reminder to Cade.
The kitchens in my house are quite dark anyway but I pull the blinds shut just in case. I lead the inquisitive bunch through the main kitchen to the smaller one at the back and head to the pantry. Opening the door, I step in and bend down. I pull open the trap door built there disguised as part of the floor boards. “Devon is going to be so pissed he missed this,” I mutter to myself.
“Missed what?” he asks, peering around everybody to see why we are all looking in the pantry.
“Dev? Thought you had shit to do.”
“Funniest thing. I got halfway down the road and felt the need to come back. Because of…” he points to Jess. “What happened?”
“She attacked Liv,” Lincoln says. “Unbridled fury and all that.”
“You keep her calm. Or at least calmer,” CK says to him. “You may not feel it, but she does.”
“Oh,” he says, a bit abashed. “Sorry, Lizzie. I guess trying to ignore this isn’t going to work, is it?”
I shake my head sadly. “No, sweetie. I will still take the burden for you, but you need to stick around.”
He nods grimly. “So, where are we going? Narnia?”
I snort. “Hardly. We are going to CK’s house via secret passageway.” I step back and hold my hands out in showroom style.
“Any particular reason for the cloak and dagger?”
“Oh. I suppose not now that you are here. Cade can probably let the spell go.”
“Does he have to?” he mutters to himself. “Why don’t we see this through, you know, while we are already here and everything.”
I smile and glance at Cole, who looks excited to be going on a secret mission. “Sure. Why not.”
“After you, then,” he says. I descend the steps to the tunnel below. I flick the switch and low-level lighting comes on intermittently down the dark tunnel. “Oh, bummer. I thought we would have fire torches and booby traps like in the old days,” Devon complains as we move forward.
CK snickers. “That would be more fun,” he says, getting properly involved with our little adventure.
Boys, honestly! I knew they would love this idea but seriously no matter how old they are, they just all still want to be Indiana Jones.
“How about a dodgy rope bridge hanging perilously over a roaring river?” I say, the sarcasm evident.
“Ooo, could you do that?” Cole asks. “I bet you could if you tried.”
“Yeah, yeah, and an Amazonian tribe shooting poisonous darts at us as we try to cross,” Devon adds.
I laugh at them and their enthusiasm. “Well, thanks for the vote of confidence that I can create such an elaborate scene just so you all can fill out some weird-arse adventure fantasy, but I really don’t think it is appropriate. I can, however, comply with your first request.” I click my fingers and, in my hand,, I hold a fire torch and pass it to Devon. I turn off the electric lighting and hand another torch to Cole, one to CK, and one to Lincoln, leaving out Cade as he needs both of his hands free to deal with Jess. “Happy?”
“Very!” comes the unanimous reply.
“Now this feels more like it,” Devon says. “Reminds me of Bavaria when we went to get that Fabergé egg back.”
“Oh, gods! Yes. What a fucking trip that was.”
“Ah, yes. During the war. I do believe Katherine and Devon, spies extraordinaire, were something else,” CK says dryly.
“We sure were,” Devon says fondly. “And even I have to say, Katherine was a knock-out.”
I turn to him. “Oh, really?”
“Who is Katherine?” Lincoln and Cade ask.
“Me.”
“Ah, another of your Shifts, I presume then,” Lincoln says, knowing that Devon has never had anything overly complimentary to say about my natural form.
“Indeed.”
“What did you look like?” Cole asks, still not that comfortable with me and my various Shifts.
“Hot,” CK and Devon say in unison.
I stop walking and turn around to face them. “Excuse me?” I say, somewhat affronted that CK has turned on my natural form now as well.
“I have eyes. How did Sebastian put it the other day? Oh, yes, I would have to be ‘blind and a eunuch not to stare’.”
Yes, I remember his declaration after I changed into Xerxei. I frown slightly. There is something that is niggling me about that. I shake it off and deal with the conversation at hand.
“I didn’t know you had a thing for tall, hazel-eyed, strawberry blondes,” I remark smartly.
“I don’t really. I just have a thing for you,” he says a small smile tugging at his mouth.
I give him a beam. “Moving on,” I say quickly.
“Wait,” Lincoln says. “I want to hear the story of the Fabergé egg.”
“It’s a good st
ory,” Devon says. “Tell them, Lizzie.”
I look at Cole who, looks interested too.
“Fine. Abridged version though as this tunnel isn’t that long.”
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED SIXTY-FIVE
Hohenschwangau, Bavaria, 1942 – Katherine
“C ome on, Devon, we don’t have much time,” I hissed at him.
“I’m coming,” he snapped back. “I don’t know why you have such a death wish. This tunnel could be filled with all sorts of booby traps.”
“I’m just trying to be quick and short of flames or an axe to the neck we will be fine,” I ducked quickly as I heard the whoosh coming at me and thanked the lord for Vampire reflexes.
“You were saying?” Devon said from behind me, where the booby-trapped axe had nearly taken my head off.
I cleared my throat. “Yes, well. Lucky for me, I am a Vampire and not a slow human,” I said somewhat abashed at having been nearly caught out. “Stop distracting me.” I blamed Devon and he chuckled at me.
He flashed the fiery torch in front of us and we proceeded with markedly more caution than before.
“Oh, wonderful,” he said as we came to a big hole in the ground. “How are we supposed to get over that? Jump?”
“There will be a way. Just look,” I ordered him. “Esther said we could use this tunnel to get from the village into the castle.”
“Are you sure you trust her?”
“Of course. She wouldn’t lead us astray. She wants out of this place and we are her ticket.”
“Here,” I said a few moments later after examining the walls and finding three small levers in place.
“What order?” Devon asked.
I shrugged. “Who knows? Does it make a difference?” I asked and just randomly pulled the three levers back.
Apparently due to the lack of anything happening, it made a difference. I sighed and tried again. The third try had a bridge appear from both sides, joining in the middle.
“I don’t trust it,” he said.