by L M Preston
She sighed. “Is there a couch or something I can sleep on? Kayson and I, well, it’s complicated.”
Kayson stepped closer. “We’ll be fine. Get us to a room and help for Demi.” He narrowed his gaze at Megan. “We’re not finished with the conversation about Cara, your sister.”
Megan visibly swallowed and placed a hand on her neck. “Don’t speak the name of the dead in my house, please. It unsettles things.”
EmVee felt a small rumble in the floor under her feet. Then a sweet scent of honeysuckle filled the room.
“Now.” Megan clapped her hands. “To your rooms. You’ll be safe here. I will warn you the doors and windows lock when I am not home. Trust me, you don’t want to go outside until I can find a way to conceal who you are.”
EmVee lowered her eyebrows, snagging a piece of gum from her backpack and putting it in her mouth. It was going to be a long night.
EmVee put her bag on the queen-sized bed. At least this room didn’t have books scattered all over it like the other rooms in the house. It was cluttered though with furniture. The floor was deep brown hardwood. EmVee moved her foot over several loose splinters; there were patches of them in different places. It made EmVee wonder what the room was used for or who stayed in it that would have damaged the floor in such a manner. The room had windows everywhere, only they weren’t in symmetric placement. There were small ones tilted to the side and large ones that were various shapes and sizes. Upon closer inspection, EmVee realized they all had different views outside of them. Some showed winter, others spring, a mountain range or even a beach. EmVee surmised that maybe they had a hologram within them and weren’t really windows at all.
She didn’t have to take many steps to collapse into the high-backed chair next to the bed. Kayson would be coming soon, and she didn’t know quite how to deal with him and all the jumbled thoughts about Megan, her attackers, and the owner of the Soul Trainer’s charm. EmVee traced the charm she tucked back into the inner pocket on her bra. It was her and her family’s way out of The Void. She didn’t know what The Void was when they first got there. From what she gathered talking to Kayson, and even Megan, many who lived there didn’t quite know what it was or why it was created. It seemed to her to be a hell for misfit creatures. She’d escaped it, not really understanding the price of the freedom she’d held.
Maybe, if her father’s killer brought him to The Void, there was a chance he wasn’t really dead. If her father was a member of The Vigilant, the woman could’ve known that, and it was the revenge she wanted. One thing EmVee now understood was that her mom didn’t know about her father’s past or what he was involved in that brought them there. If she had, there was no way she would’ve let him bring them here. Her mom and dad had a relationship of back and forth. Her mother wasn’t a submissive type at all. EmVee knew something was wrong when she’d overheard her mother telling her father they should leave. Her mother must have discovered what her father had bargained for and no longer felt safe.
The door opened. EmVee drew her knees tighter to her body and leaned forward in the chair, resting her elbows on her thighs.
Kayson watched her, exhaustion evident on his tight features. “You can have the bed. I’ll take the…chair.”
EmVee looked around the room, counting five chairs of different shapes, colors, and styles but no couches or loveseats. It would be uncomfortable for him for sure. Part of her wanted to offer him the other side of the bed, but she stopped herself and sighed instead.
She shrugged. “Okay.”
“Megan’s going to be a while. She has to get in touch with Rachel and convince her that she’s telling her the truth about you being here and Demi needing help. Rachel never liked Megan and with good reason.”
“She didn’t trust Megan. Also, when Megan found Grady’s body in the woods the night, we saw you perform at the club, she tried to blame Rachel for it.”
“I’m not surprised. Tell me what happened.”
Kayson picked up one of the smaller chairs and brought it over to sit next to EmVee’s.
“They were arguing over something. Rachel threw Megan’s purse into the woods. Megan went to get it. She screamed when she saw the body in eaten and discarded pieces. We went into the woods after her.” EmVee sniffed. “It was…horrible. Grady didn’t deserve that. I don’t know why he and Silas were arguing, but when Silas followed him out of the club, he must have killed him. Then later that night—” EmVee wanted to vomit—“he took me to the office, offered me a drink of alcohol.”
“Did he kiss you?” Kayson’s deep voice sounded pained.
EmVee didn’t want to answer him. She took a deep breath and exhaled. “I only want Rachel to help me save Demi.”
Kayson observed her for a moment then moved to rest back within his chair as though he wanted to put distance between them. “She will. We can wait until Demi is settled and healed then do things our own way. Rocky’s place is still here; he owned it. There’s a Vigilant watching over it, I’m sure.”
EmVee was relieved Kayson didn’t push the issue about Silas. She relaxed in her chair and scooted back further. “I don’t know. I don’t know much about them or if my father’s dealings with them were healthy. There’s a reason Rocky left. It could be that if he was a Vigilant, someone knew it and wanted him dead because of it. Wasn’t he working at the club as a security manager?”
Kayson nodded, folding his hands as he leaned his elbows on his knees, and came closer to EmVee. “He was working to get clues as to who Dean, the club manager, was working for. Who was pulling the strings on the money behind the things going on under the hospital and other activities my father was tracking?”
“Did you know about them—before Sax mentioned that he worked with them? Why didn’t you tell me?”
Kayson leaned in closer to her, lifted a finger and tapped her knee with it.
EmVee’s heart raced at his familiarity.
“Yes. I knew Rocky and my father were members. That’s all I really know about The Vigilant, to be honest. My father helped them; he didn’t get indoctrinated like most of them who convert to it do. I know that my father told me they would protect me. I didn’t know what he meant. It was the day before he died. He knew someone was after him.”
“My father never admitted to being a member of anything. I realized the connection when Sax mentioned it.”
“Do you remember how you left here? Was it the way you came in?”
“Honestly, I don’t remember anything about the night we escaped except the explosion and thinking I saw you in my hospital room.”
“EmVee, you know I never come clean about how I felt about you. I know we have a lot between us with Silas and what he did to you. I feel guilty about not warning you sooner. Rachel told me that you were thinking about breaking things off with him.”
EmVee shrugged. “I was, but the night he attacked me, he was insistent on picking me up. I thought you and Rachel were double dating, and I didn’t want to mess things up for either of you.”
“That was me. I messed things up with us from the beginning. I only agreed to go out with her because I wanted to be near you. I know that was a stupid move. No guy wants to be in the friend zone, but I was willing to be there if that’s all you would give me.”
“And now? What do you want from me now?” EmVee’s hoarse whisper was broken like the beating of her rapid heart.
“I want the chance to love you, to fight for you, to protect you.” Kayson leaned in and captured EmVee’s neck in his hand, pulling her close. “To kiss you.” Then he touched her lips softly, hesitantly with his.
EmVee didn’t fight the urge to kiss him back. She moved and snaked her hands around his neck to bring him closer.
Kayson deepened the kiss, consuming her moans within each delve of his warmth into her soft lips. He broke the kiss. “I’m…are you willing to give me a chance? After all this?”
EmVee fell back into her chair. “I don’t know what I want. I don’t want to lead
you on or to hurt you. I’m not good at picking guys. Silas wasn’t the first creep I’ve dated. One actually tried to force himself on me. Sadly, he didn’t realize I could fight off guys twice his size, and I ended up breaking his nose and arm.”
“I’m sorry you had to deal with that, but we all aren’t bad.”
EmVee raised an eyebrow. “Think of it from my point of view. You and Silas were best friends. You knew he was capable of killing someone; he tried to kill you. Now you want me to forget about that?”
“No, I don’t want you to forget about that. I want the chance for you to look deeper. To know I regret all of my mistakes, and I’m trying to do better. I am trying to do the right thing. By you and others. I’ve got nothing left—no one. Give me a chance.”
EmVee popped the gum in her mouth. “I don’t think this will work.”
“Can I ask you something else?”
“I don’t know. It depends.” EmVee crossed her arms.
“When we were on the Vampire Province, did you do something to pass the test to compete?”
EmVee pursed her lips. “You mean, did I fake being a virgin?”
Kayson didn’t verbally respond, but his gaze said it all.
“No.”
“Oh. I’d assumed that.” Kayson coughed, covering his forehead with his hand. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have kissed you like I did the first time. It was…wasn’t right.”
EmVee smiled. “It was just right.” Then she kicked off her short boots, feeling warmth as he watched her. She stood, squeezing her shaking hands, then pulled back the covers on the bed and got in.
Kayson eyes glowed with concealed hunger.
The skin on her arms tingled as she considered the complex guy that made her heart weep with want.
“Goodnight, Kayson.” She sighed. “You’ve got your chance.”
After taking a quick shower that was thankfully in the room, EmVee observed a sleeping Kayson. He was on the bed now, having moved there when she gathered her things and took them to the bathroom. Kayson had taken off his long sleeve shirt but wore a T-shirt. He even left his shoes on. He’d probably been too tired to remove them after she’d gone to the bathroom. He’d slept on two chairs; one he sat in, and the other he’d propped his feet on all night, and she knew it was uncomfortable.
EmVee walked to the door; she didn’t get far before the bed creaked.
“Leaving already?” Kayson’s deep rich voice halted her.
“I want to check on Demi. Then snoop around. I want to see if Megan is hiding anything.” EmVee turned toward him, her eyes trailing down his chest and then back to his beautiful face.
Kayson smirked at her. “I’d like to go, if you give me ten minutes to shower.”
EmVee reached for the knob of the door, teasing it with her thumb. She was tempted to stay there while he showered, but she’d be too curious not to peek.
“I don’t know. I think I should give Sax a break.” She twisted the knob.
Kayson got off the bed and reached her in seconds. He placed his hand on hers, his arm on her shoulder. “Stay. Please.”
Her heart raced in her chest, and her stomach heated. Swallowing her negative response, she nodded.
“I’ll be quick. You can talk to me through the door. There’s some things you should know about Megan before we go through the house.” Kayson backed away and grabbed his bag from the floor. “I’ll crack the door.”
EmVee slowly turned and followed him. “Okay.”
Once Kayson got in the bathroom, he left the door ajar and started the shower. The tub didn’t have a curtain, so EmVee averted her gaze and leaned against the doorframe, with her back to the view of the tub.
“I’ve never known Megan to have guests at her house. Well, no one to tell about it.”
EmVee bent her leg, resting her foot on the doorframe; she closed her eyes and enveloped the scent that was Kayson. Different from anyone she’d ever smelled. It was sweet, dark, and tempting.
“Why do you think she let us in?”
“Because she is hiding us and wants something from us.”
“Well, that’s always been the way Megan works. She has some undercover news network of dark gossip she shares. Does she still?” EmVee swallowed when the shower shut off. Gosh, her mouth was watering. What was wrong with her? She swallowed.
“Yeah, that’s her cover. It’s the way she negotiates for favors, secrets or a raincheck.”
“Oh. Does it only work here? In the Void?”
“No, she shares news widely. Strange thing is only those who she wants to see it can find it.”
EmVee tapped her finger on her leg. It was getting warm in the room. Her skin tingled. Every inch Kayson moved played like a loud seductive call to her heart. She wanted to go in there with him, touch him, smell him, and kiss him.
“What’s wrong with me,” EmVee whispered. “God, he smells good.”
She cleared her throat and moved her hand to her stomach to pat away the butterflies there. It sounded like he was drying off.
EmVee heard a heaviness in his breathing that wasn’t there before.
Clearing her throat, EmVee forced a lightness into her voice. “I never trusted her. She always put me in the position where I didn’t have a choice.”
“She is convincing, and when I thought she was a suspect, I researched her. So did my father. Megan had an uncanny ability to always be near the murders or most of the incidents around. My father used her as an informant and still felt she was a suspect in some of the crimes. Every time, in the end, she’d have an alibi.”
EmVee remembered the murder of a guy named Grady. Megan was with her and Rachel that night even though neither she nor Rachel wanted her with them. Megan also was the first one to find the body. Maybe, she did have something to do with it as Rachel had accused.
“That she is. Do you think she is capable of murder by manipulation?”
“Megan’s complex and capable of anything. However, Silas would’ve done it sooner or later. Megan didn’t have to help him with that. His desire to be with a girl didn’t stop his compulsion to eat them if they were Soul Trainers.”
“Will that happen…to us?” EmVee’s heart seized. The thought that she could become a beast, a killer animal, had been in her fears ever since she’d started noticing the changes within her after Silas’ attack.
Water in the sink started. EmVee sensed a hesitation in Kayson’s response. “No. You were meant to be a Soul Trainer. That became obvious when he desired to eat you even though part of him was falling in love with you. Also, you proved that at the tournament. Only thing I wonder about is, did you have the charm on you before then or after?”
“What about you? How do you know it won’t change you?”
The water stopped. Kayson tapped the sink with his finger, releasing a deep sigh. “I wondered at it. I struggled with the nightmare of it. Then, when I went through my father’s things, I realized why were captured and trapped in The Void. My great, great grandfather was a Soul Thief. Whoever the Overlord is of this place hunted my father down and lured him here with a job. His great grandfather had died in a vampire horde war. At least, that’s what the journal he’d left behind said.”
“Why didn’t you leave with your mother?”
“She didn’t give me the option. It was too dangerous, I was told. Also, the Soul Thief bloodline was my fathers, not hers. She could leave, and no one would go after her, at least not because of me. Maybe to keep the location and information about The Void a secret. Besides, I was only ten years old at the time, so many things could’ve happened that I didn’t understand.”
“Oh.”
“We don’t know if she made it anyway. There is a chance she didn’t survive.”
Kayson was shuffling around. She heard the whisper of clothing rubbing against skin and considered that he was getting dressed.
“Megan…is she a witch?”
Kayson laughed. “In a sense, but no. Her father was a descendent of Ru
mpelstiltskin, but her mother was human. The thing is, he left the mother here, pregnant, and didn’t know he had a daughter. At least I don’t think he did. It’s unknown how long she’d actually been here or if he bespelled her mother to trap her and their children here forever.”
“I can’t decide what motivates her.” EmVee leaned, almost pushing the door further open.
Kayson appeared in front of her, catching the door as it widened. “It’s in her blood to create mischief, to stir trouble, to bargain for lives and favors. It’s what her father did to her mother and what he was. It’s sad that her mother died of a broken heart, refusing to come out of this house, her room, apparently until she starved to death. My father had gotten Megan’s call when she found her mother dead even though she’d tried to force feed her.”
EmVee blinked back tears at the sad tale of Megan’s life. It gave her some sympathy for the girl.
“Wow…and I thought I had problems.”
“Everyone here does.” Kayson touched her shoulder then closed his eyes while he inhaled. “You smell so intoxicating. It makes me want to kiss you…hold you to me.” He bent, enveloping her in a hug, then lightly, tentatively kissing her.
EmVee felt the same. With each taste from his lips, she thirsted as though she was sipping a sweet and decadent elixir that made her want to drink more and more.
His hands slid into her unruly red curls as he pressed his chest against hers. “I would love you with all I am if you let me.”
Breaking away, EmVee backed up, her eyes searching his. “I...” She put up a hand. “Too fast.” She couldn’t break the creeping fear that he sounded like Silas at that moment. The tingle of apprehension made her muscles tense.
Kayson studied her. “Something is wrong. What did I do? Tell me.”
“Nothing. You did nothing.” EmVee tried to go around him.
He blocked her. “I did. If you don’t tell me why I smell fear on you, how I scared you, I can’t make you believe I’d never hurt you.”
EmVee sighed. “The attack. The night I was with Silas, he seemed…almost obsessed with my scent. I got spooked. I haven’t even talked to a guy my age since I left here. Since that night. It took a long time for me to trust myself around men even though I could break every bone in their bodies. My mind continued to play tricks on me, making me feel a vulnerability I’d never felt before.”