Unfamiliar (The Vandran Legacy Book 1)

by Anna-Louise Dann

  “Not really, Emmie, it was a rough night. We went back to the cave where I was held. It was a blood bath, Emmie. We managed to save some of the girls who were still alive, Dominic is going to be so pissed.” She had to tell her about what she had heard on the plane.

  “Clara, I don’t think Dominic means us harm. I overheard Juliet, apparently he wasn’t aware you were in the Cave. I need to get more information but it looks like Dominic might be getting double crossed by Juliet and someone called Miles. I heard something about Dominic not agreeing with what his dad had done to our family, can you speak to Heather about that?”

  “I’m sure Colt mentioned someone called Miles, I’ll ask him. Are you at his house now?”

  Knock, knock. “Amelia?” A deep voice sounded from the other side of the door.

  “Yes, I am, there’s someone at the door. I’ll try and contact you later, love you.” She broke connection and frantically crawled back up the bed. She hurt her ribs in the process. “Argh!” she cried. “Mother sucker,” she said, holding onto her side.

  The door opened slightly and she wasn’t prepared for the man who came into view.

  He was tall, blond, and unbelievably gorgeous. “I heard you up and wanted to come and introduce myself, but I can see you’re in pain. Have you hurt yourself?” he said, not moving from his spot at the door. The concern in his voice surprised her, he really wasn’t what she had been expecting.

  “It-it’s just my ribs,” she said, her voice strained. She was unable to hide how sore they were. “Can I see? I promise I won’t harm you,” he whispered, taking one step into the room, as if he was awaiting her permission.

  The big bad Dominic was a gentleman.

  “Eh... ok b-but, there’s nothing you can do for ribs other than take pain medication,” she said warily. “I don’t want to wake Hope, can you walk?” he asked quietly.

  She nodded. Why did his eyes soften when he said her daughter’s name? “Ok, follow me. I’ll have my medical examiner staying for a few days, he can check you over later,” he said. She wanted to tell him to go fuck himself but she bit her lip. She had to find out what his motives were.

  She got off the bed slowly and followed him. He walked slow enough so she could catch him up. He towered above her; he had to be well over six foot five, because he looked taller than Colt. She had to tilt her head to look at his face. His chiselled jawline was covered in a few days’ worth of blond stubble, he had dark blue eyes and high cheek bones, and he radiated authority. He was wearing black suit pants and his white shirt was open at the top. His tie had been removed, he didn’t look like he had even been to bed yet.

  “Is there something on my face?” he said, meeting her eyes with his. Her pale cheeks reddened and she looked away.

  “I er... no, I -I just wondered what you want with us? I-I mean you went to all this trouble to get us here so...” she said feeling flushed.

  He stopped and faced her. “Amelia, you being here now is my sister’s doing, not mine. I was coming to the funeral to speak to you, to see if you would allow me to help you. But my sister took it upon herself to fetch you. Hope being here is also due to my sister’s inability to follow my instructions. I apologise sincerely for any worry you have felt, she has been taken care of and hasn’t come to any harm.” The look on his face told her he was being honest, but she was pissed off and needed answers.

  “Your wonderful sister was having a n affair with my husband, and I haven’t seen or heard from him since Hope was taken. Do you know where he is? He was, after all, one of your minions,” she spat at him. Fuck him and his holier-thanthou bullshit. “And while we’re on the subject of your fucking sister—”

  “That’s enough!” he snarled at her, shutting her up. There’s the man she was expecting – angry and full of venom. She was sure she saw a red ring appear around his iris when he got mad. His eyes softened again straight away, she thought she saw his cheeks redden slightly like he had embarrassed himself shouting at her. “Please forgive me, I know you have a lot of unanswered questions. I need those questions answered myself. I have been out of town on business for a number of months and only got back last night, so I haven’t addressed my grievances as of yet, but trust me, I will be,” he said. His deep voice was soft again. “I really didn’t mean to snap at you, I am aware of how unethical my sister can be at times. I will speak to her.”

  Was he for real?

  Who even talks like this?

  “Ok, thank you,” she said, not wanting to aggravate this further. She followed him in silence the rest of the way.

  “Just in here.” He indicated to a door which he opened, waiting for her to go ahead of him. It was a medical area that had been decorated like a doctor’s office, all white of course. It looked very clean and clinical.

  “If you can sit on there and just lift your t -shirt so your ribcage is visible,” he said, pointing to the medical bed against the back wall.

  She pushed herself onto the bed and lifted her top as requested. She didn’t know why but she felt like she could trust him, she felt unusually comfortable with him. It was the strangest of feelings considering who this man was and what he was capable of.

  The intake of breath from him and the angry twitch of his jaw told her that her ribs were as bad as she first thought. He reached his hand out as if he was going to trace the bruising and then pulled back like he had thought better of it.

  “Are you hurt anywhere else, Amelia?” he asked. His face looked guilt-ridden. “Just here,” she whispered, moving her hair to expose the bruising at her temple. His eyes turned grey, like a storm was brewing inside them. She couldn’t take her eyes off him. She swallowed, feeling exposed suddenly.

  “Can I er... put my top down now?” she said, feeling her cheeks heat again as his eyes wandered back to her midriff.

  “Of course, Amelia. Who did this to you?” He looked like he was battling demons. She liked the way her name flowed off his tongue.

  “Juliet called him Phil,” she said. Dominic offered his hand to her and she took it, allowing him to help her down. The sensation of touching him sent a warmth into the pit of her stomach which pooled between her legs.

  What the hell was wrong with her? He kept hold of her hand and brushed his lips against her knuckles. This sent her insides into a frenzy.

  “I promise you, he will pay for harming you,” he said, letting go of her hand. She was certain her cheeks were bright red now; she swallowed as he held her gaze. “I am looking forward to getting to know you, Amelia,” he said and smiled at her. It was a proper smile, that lit up his whole face. He was gorgeous.

  Holy shit.

  “Me too,” she said. Her voice was husky.

  “What time is it?” she asked, trying to change the subject. “Six -thirty,” he replied, looking at his watch. “Hope will be up soon,” she said.

  “Of course, she will. I do apologise again, I suspect you have missed her an awful lot. I won’t keep you any longer, the doctor will come and introduce himself after breakfast. Take these for now, they should help ease the pain a little.” He pulled a sleeve of ibuprofen from a drawer in the medical cabinet, and handed them to her. “Here,” he said, grabbing a large bottle of water out of a fridge which was stocked with medicines.

  “Thank you,” she said, taking it from him. He held the door for her and she made her way back to the bedroom. He spoke again, startling her. She turned to face him.

  “If you or Hope need anything, please don’t be afraid to ask. Breakfast will be served at seven-thirty until ten-thirty, you can have whatever you like. I have heard Hope has taken a liking to Cook’s pancakes,” he said, laughter in his eyes. He lit up every time he mentioned her daughter’s name. This big scary man had a soft spot for Hope. She wasn’t surprised, Hope had that effect on most people she met.

  “Sounds about right, she takes after her mummy. Pancakes are the bestest,” she said, smiling at him. “Thank you for your hospitality, Dominic, you’re not what I expect
ed.”

  “You’re more than what I expected, Amelia, and please, call me Nic,” he said, and headed down the stairs, leaving her feeling rather confused about this whole situation.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Clara They had all sat round for the last few hours trying to come up with a plan. They were all too wired to sleep after the evening’s events. Terrance had left just after they got back; he had received the inevitable call from Miles ordering him to Perdition to deal with a ‘situation’. She had helped Iris set up the cabins for the girls, Iris had retired for the night and Danny hadn’t emerged from his cabin. She assumed he was already asleep when they got back, it was pretty late.

  After talking to most of the girls it became apparent that all of them were either orphans or had been adopted when they were younger just like she and Emmie. All of them didn’t have any parents left, and they had all gone through blood and urine tests like her. All of the women who had been locked in that awful place were snatched as part of an elimination process; the ones who looked more like Annabelle had suffered less than the others.

  One of the girls had told her there had been about forty women at one point, but they had been moved. She didn’t have any faith that they would still be alive, after what she had witnessed earlier, but she didn’t say anything, these women had been through enough.

  She had performed the transformation spell in the kitchen, turning back into herself. Jake had pretended to be surprised but she had an idea he was bluffing and had known all along who she was.

  Now Clara knew she could trust Terrance, she would introduce herself to him and the girls tomorrow, as herself. The fewer people who knew about her ability, the better. Annabelle would resurface when she needed her.

  Clara had headed upstairs when she heard Emmie’s voice in her head; she was still reeling from their conversation as she headed down the stairs.

  “Emmie’s with Dominic,” Clara said, walking into Iris’s kitchen.

  “Is she alright?” Colt asked, a look of concern on his face. “She said something weird, that I can’t shake off. She said Dominic didn’t mean us harm, he is being double crossed by Juliet and Miles and he didn’t agree with what his father had done to our family,” Clara stated, taking a seat next to Colt. He turned so he faced her and placed his hands on the top of her legs, rubbing softly. His warmth seeped into her skin and calmed her frantic thoughts, producing other inappropriate thoughts instead. He looked at her like his thoughts were just as inappropriate.

  “Marcus,” Heather said randomly, shocking them both. She looked pissed. “I fucking knew it.” “Knew what?” Clara snapped, feeling very anxious at what Heather was going to say next. “He’s the one who killed your father, I was ce rtain of it, but he had an alibi, and I couldn’t prove anything. We can’t be in two places at – shit.” She stood with both hands on the table and looked at Clara. She looked scared.

  “Heather, what is it? What’s wrong?” Clara asked, feeling very uneasy. “He has a humanoid familiar, it’s the only way he could be at two places at once... No, it’s not possible, they died out... Shit,” Heather said, sitting back down again. She looked like she was battling some demons.

  “What the fuck is a humanoid familiar?” Colt asked with a frown, the confusion evident in his voice. All eyes were now on Heather for answers. “It is not good, it’s extremely bad if I am right. I thought they had died out in the last century. They embody the form of their companion and depending how strong they are they can embody the shape of other familiars too. They are evil and twisted, some history journals say they were the cause of the damnation of our species. Their deceit led to the burning and torture of many of our kind. They believed because they could transform into us they were more powerful. If they have a humanoid working for them, we need to find out who it is and kill them,” she says with conviction.

  “So, does that mean that Emmie was right and Dominic has been double crossed? Have we been plotting against the wrong person?” Clara asks.

  “It’s a possibility, if he has formed a bond with them, not realising what he was bonding with. Humanoids are that devious and sly, he may have thought he was bonding with a normal familiar,” Heather said.

  “It’s got to be Miles,” Colt snarls. “I need to call Terrance and ask him to call here tomorrow, he’s going to need to know the situation. If we’re going in to the club, we need some kind of code for when we change so we always find each other,” Colt says to Jake.

  “Good plan... Whenever you’re up for storming that club, I’m game. I’m off to bed now, I’m knackered,” Jake said, yawning and stretching.

  “I think we should all try and get some shut -eye for a few hours. We’ll meet back here around fifteen hundred hours for food and to discuss what happens tonight,” Colt said, and Clara pushed her chair away, standing up.

  “Goodnight guys, see you in a few hours,” she said, yawning and heading upstairs to bed. Ten minutes later as she began to doze she felt Colt’s big arms surround her, pulling her body against his. She drifted into an exhausted slumber.

  *** Clara rolled over, searching for Colt. He wasn’t there and judging by how cold his side was he had been gone for a while. She opened her eyes and stretched. She needed a shower and coffee. The clock on the bedside table read one forty-five – she had slept for seven hours straight. She dragged herself to the bathroom and relived herself before stripping out of her pyjamas and climbing under the hot shower.

  Le tting the warm water wake her up, Clara’s thoughts wandered to her sister. She would have to try and contact Emmie again soon, to see if she had any more information on Dominic and his family. If Dominic didn’t know what had been happening underneath his own nose, things were going to get ugly for all involved. Her family had suffered enough in the name of his sadistic ancestors, it was going to end one way or another, someone needed to be held accountable.

  She turned off the tap and grabbed a warm towel, wrapping it around herself. Colt was sitting on her freshly made bed waiting for her; there was a steaming cup of coffee on her bedside table. This man was something else.

  “Did you make the bed?” she asked, smiling at him. “Well good afternoon, beautiful. I made your bed and brought you your morning elixir. Iris has left me in charge of making breakfast for everyone, while she goes out for some supplies. I was just coming to see if you were up,” he said, winking at her.

  “I’m a lucky girl, having the best boy friend in the world looking after me,” she said seductively, walking over and kissing him.

  He growled and deepened the kiss, dragging her towel off and pulling her onto his lap.

  She moaned in his mouth as his fingers found her sensitive folds and pumped in and out of her, bringing her so close to exploding. She pulled at the buttons on his blue jeans impatiently; she needed him fast and hard, and she needed him now.

  He helped, dragging his jeans down and freeing himself. He grabbed a condom out of the drawer next to them, opened it and rolled it on. She grabbed his hard shaft and guided him inside her, loving the sensation of being filled with him. She started riding him hard, the friction of their joined bodies already sending her towards her climax.

  “Clara, you feel amazing.” His breathing was ragged, she could tell he was holding on for her. “Colt,” she moaned as the first wave of her release found her, and she rode him harder, her sex throbbing around him.

  “Fuck, I love you,” he cried as he exploded insid e of her. He gripped her ass and slammed into her, riding out his own climax.

  She kissed all over his face, whispering how much she loved him too.

  “You really should call me your boyfriend more often,” he said, grinning at her. “I really should, shouldn’t I?” she said and giggled. She felt him twitch inside her. She gasped at the feeling.

  “Carry on giggling with my dick inside that tight little pussy of yours and we won’t leave this bed today,” he said. His eyes were almost black and full of lust.

  “
I think everyone will start eating each other soon, if you don’t go and feed them,” she said, lifting off him, grabbing the towel and wrapping it back around herself.

  “I’ll eat you anytime you like,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows at her. “Stop being a sex pest and go make food, I’ll throw some sweats on and come and help you,” she said, grabbing some underwear, a t-shirt, and a grey pair of jogging bottoms out of the drawers. She put them on quickly and fixed her hair into a messy bun on top of her head. She realised Colt was still sitting in the same position staring at her.

  “What? Stop eye fucking me and let’s go and make a start on feeding the troops, I just hope there’s enough food to go around.”

  “You’re sexy when you’re bossy,” he purred at her. “Come on, horn dog, we need to get this done, unless you want to piss your sister off.” She was playing dirty, she knew he was shit scared of upsetting Iris. It worked, he pushed himself off the bed.

  “Ok, ok, bossy. Bacon and sausage butties all round,” he huffed, but there was laughter in his eyes. He hurled her over his shoulder, producing a squeal out of her. He smacked her butt and carried her down to the kitchen.

  Thirty-two sandwiches later and they were done. Heather had retired back to her room, saying something about a phone call. Danny had gone with Iris for supplies. Clara had taken the sandwiches around all the cabins, introducing herself and handing out the food. Some of the girls recognised her and were intrigued by her, they thought she had been killed or moved somewhere else.

  Clara was just thankful the cabins were all stocked with snacks and drinks; she really didn’t fancy making thirtytwo hot drinks. She didn’t know how Iris handled this all by herself.

  “Your sister is Wonder Woman,” she said to Colt, handing him another dish to load into the dishwasher. “I know, she’s amazing. It must get tough for her sometimes but you would never guess. This is her life, it’s something she dreamed about even when we were kids,” Colt said, looking thoughtful.