Chapter 11 Rosemary
Rosemary
Running my tongue over my sharp new teeth, I watched from the edge of the bed as Daniel got dressed.
He’d dug a pair of black utility pants out of his duffel bag and paired them with an equally dark thermal shirt.
As he sat down to pull on a fresh pair of socks and his boots, I tried to find something to say.
I’d known before I asked that he wouldn’t let me leave.
The most ironic thing about the entire situation is that it wasn’t like he was forcing me to stay.
He knew that I could leave the property when he wasn’t there.
I wasn’t a hostage. But knowing the way that fear would tear him up inside if I left was enough to hold me where I was.
No matter how angry I was with the situation, I wasn’t stupid enough to believe that I could leave the safety of the property without repercussions, especially if I wasn’t careful.
“What do the tattoos mean?” I asked finally, eager to break the silence between us.
“I don’t think we have enough time for that conversation,” he replied with a small smile.
His brother Chance was waiting out in the living room, and they expected Uncle Dalton and Ian any time.
“Tell me about one of them, then,” I pushed.
“Which one?”
“The bird.”
He frowned at me in consternation. “It’s an eagle.”
“Well, excuse me,” I joked. “What’s the eagle mean?”
“My dad had nicknames for all of us when we were kids. He called me Arne because he said I saw everything.”
“Arne means eagle?”
He nodded.
“Did all of you have names like that? What did he call your brothers?”
“Ulf, Bjorn, and Happ.”
I watched as he laced up his boots and then rose to slide his belt through the loops.
“Who is who? You’re missing one.”
“Zeke didn’t have another nickname,” he said, glancing at me. “My mother named the rest of us, but Zeke was named after an old friend of my father’s.”
“Ah, gotcha.”
“He didn’t feel the need to improve upon a name he chose,” Daniel said with a huff of laughter. His head jerked up. “Dalton’s here.”
My stomach twisted.
“Walk me out?” Daniel asked softly.
I nodded and stood from the bed, taking the hand that he held out.
“I’ll make this as fast as I can,” he assured me, wrapping his other hand around the side of my throat. “Stay here with Gary. Even if it takes longer than we think, remember that if anything happens, someone will call you.”
“I know.”
“Remember it, baby, so you don’t freak out.”
“I won’t freak out,” I promised.
“I won’t be back in three hours. It’s going to take longer.”
“I know.”
“I don’t want to fucking do this.” He leaned closer, our noses brushing. “You know that, right? I want to carry you back to that bed and stay there for a week.”
I nodded.
“Soon, Rosie.”
“Be careful.” I tilted my head so our lips brushed.
“I will.”
I was afraid to hope as he led me out to the living room, where everyone was waiting. The Vampires were grim and determined as they greeted each other and me. Even Chance had lost his sardonic smile as he handed Daniel weapon after weapon that my mate stashed all over his body.
“You good?” I asked Ian, stepping in next to him.
“Yeah, I’m good,” he replied. “You good?”
“I’m fine.”
He shot me a look.
“Better than I was earlier,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Not looking forward to this next part, but you guys have the harder job.”
“I’m just hoping that he’ll have something to tell us,” Ian said quietly. “My dad’s pretty fucking pissed that this guy is involved. I guess they worked together for years.”
“Hopefully, he gives you enough information that we can take them all down,” I said, bumping my shoulder against his biceps. “I love the old man, but I’m getting tired of living with him.”
“I heard that,” my pop said, not even bothering to look at us as he helped Uncle Dalton with something I couldn’t see.
Ian had been on missions before, but never something like this.
From the conversation that flowed around me as they finished getting dressed, they planned on taking a helicopter to the coast and then traveling to the house on foot.
They weren’t sure how much security Edgar Adamson had, but they weren’t very concerned about neutralizing anyone who got in their way.
Neutralizing, not killing. The Vampires guarding the lieutenant general were part of Command. They wouldn’t kill any of them for doing their job unless there was no other choice.
Edgar Adamson, on the other hand, would meet swift justice if they confirmed that he’d been in league with the Vampires and humans responsible for the murders.
Daniel pulled me close and kissed me hard as they filed out of the house.
“Remember, I’m fine unless you hear otherwise.”
“I know,” I whispered back.
He stared at me for a moment. “I love you.”
I didn’t even have time to process what he’d said before he was out the door and jogging down the front steps. Seconds later, they were driving away in one of Strike’s black SUVs with Uncle Dalton at the wheel.
“Can I shut the door now?” my pop asked dryly. “Or you wanna keep staring at the taillights some more.”
I shook my head to clear it and then looked at him.
“Did you hear him?” I asked, not quite sure if I’d heard what I heard.
“He wasn’t bein’ quiet,” my dad replied, swinging the door shut. He locked both the deadbolt and the handle as he chuckled. “Your response left a little to be desired.”
“Shut up.”
“Like a deer in the headlights,” he continued as he wheeled himself toward the kitchen.
“I was not,” I argued, following him.
The muscles in my abdomen tightened painfully, and I held back a gasp.
I was fine. Daniel was fine. The symptoms were temporary. He would be back as soon as he could be.
“Well, neither of us is sleepin’ tonight, so how about a drink?”
“Whatcha got?” I asked, ignoring the sweat that had broken out on the back of my neck.
My entire body was sore from my little excursion earlier in the evening, and I dropped onto a kitchen chair with a groan.
“Shitty timing for them to fly to the coast,” Pop said as he set down two glasses and a bottle of whiskey on the table between us. “Glad I picked up a little something while I was out this week. How’re you holdin’ up?”
“Everything hurts,” I replied dryly. “But I can hack it.”
“He needed to know,” he told me as he poured the whiskey. “You’ve always been tough, kid, but hidin’ how bad you’re feelin’ is just plain masochistic.”
“I figured he knew that it was bad.”
“How the hell would he know that when you weren’t tellin’ him?” he asked dubiously.
“Because it’s common fucking knowledge?”
Pop blew a raspberry and shook his head. “You know that it affects everyone differently. There was no way to know how bad yours had gotten.”
“It’s not even that bad—”
Pop laughed. “Try pullin’ that shit with someone that’ll believe you.”
“You’re right,” I huffed. “It sucks. But I wasn’t going to try to guilt him for going home, you know? Like, if he was okay with me feeling like I’d been run over by a truck, then what the hell would spelling it out for him do?”
“So you didn’t want to tell him about it, but you wanted him to realize it anyway and make changes,” he replied drolly. “That’s some backward shit.”
“No,” I argued. I paused, struggling to explain it. “He knows that mating heat symptoms are painful, right? So if I whined to him about it, what difference would it make, really? Like, hey dude, I know you already know that this is painful, but I’m going to reiterate that fact for you.”
Pop watched me for a few quiet moments. “I don’t think that’s it.”
“You don’t?” I asked flatly.
“Nope.” He took a sip of his whiskey. “I think that you didn’t say anything because you didn’t want to inconvenience him.”
I scoffed.
“And you were afraid that even after you’d told him how bad it was, he would keep doin’ it anyway. Then where would you be?”
I saluted him with my glass and took a sip. The whiskey burned all the way down my throat.
“Feel like you should know this already,” he continued. “But it’s all right to be vulnerable once in a while. People might surprise you.”
“Are we going to share our feelings now?” I joked, leaning forward on my elbows, my cheeks squished between my fists. “Because I’ve been dying to tell you about the butterflies I get when Danny smiles.”
Pop chuckled and flipped me off. “Little shit.”
I smiled and leaned back in my chair, letting out a slow breath as my chest began to ache. “He knows how bad it is now.”
“And?”
“And he knows.” I took another sip of my drink. “He’s going to be more careful in the future, I think. And he won’t stay longer than three hours without calling.”
“That’s something at least.”
“I understand the caution,” I conceded. “We’ve been pretty insulated here so far, and I think if someone was going to find us here, they would’ve already.”
“Yep.”
“So for now I’ll stay here so he can do what he needs to do.”
“Simple as that, huh?”
“No, I’m going fucking crazy. He knows that I’m capable of helping.”
“But you also know that he won’t be on his game if he’s worried about you.”
“And there’s the rub,” I complained.
“Not an easy situation for either of you.”
“Let’s be real. It’s harder for me.”
Pop grinned.
“I mean, come on. I’m far more experienced than Ian, and they brought him with them tonight.”
“Glad you didn’t mention that when Ian was here.”
“I’m not stupid.” I rolled my eyes. If I’d said anything of the sort in my cousin’s hearing, it would’ve started a war.
My cousin hated that he was two years behind me and was adamant that he was just as capable as I was in all things.
The guy was competitive. He’d been struggling to keep up since he learned to walk.
“He might have less experience,” my pop reminded me quietly. “But he’s still a Vampire.”
“Well, I’m fucking immortal, and he isn’t,” I shot back.
I guess I wasn’t as immune as I thought to the comparison.
“Oh,” Pop replied. He took a deep breath and smoothed his scruffy beard down over his chin. “Already, huh?”