Chapter 28
A Dark Power
The gaping hole in Leah’s head.
Blood and brain oozing out.
I closed my eyes and drew in a few shuddering breaths, shoving the memories away, ready to be stronger than that if I’m to live in this world.
I tried to call Ethan, BJ, and Jodie, but none of them answered.
I needed a distraction, something to think about other than the children, witches, vampires, and death.
Anything. A bottle of vodka would be effective.
After all, drinking was what Georgie and Josh had done all afternoon.
In the end, because I didn’t want to deal with the inevitable hangover, I washed and blow-dried my hair, leaving the soft brown waves cascading over my shoulders, and put on makeup: smoky-gray eyeshadow, a soft rose blush and a nude lip gloss.
Then I went to the closet, which held so many beautiful clothes that Karson had bought for me.
When I’d protested at the excessive amount he’d spent, he’d dismissed it as if it was no big deal.
For a billionaire it probably was no big deal, but to me it was more clothing than I’d owned in my entire life.
I pulled on a pair of fitted stretchy black leather pants that Dahlia had gifted me—my warrior pants, she’d coined them.
Easy to move and fight in, and the tough fabric was important in a battle.
There was a plethora of blouses with soft, quality fabric, but I opted for a simple fitted black tank top.
I wanted to put on heels, but my ankle was still tender, so I slipped on a pair of black leather sneakers.
I didn’t know why I dressed up. The walls that surrounded me would barely notice. Karson might—if he was here.
He was.
Karson came out from the sitting room as I descended the stairs. He was wearing a pair of black slacks and a casual white top with three buttons open, revealing the sleek head of the raven on his chest. He ran his eyes over my attire and a small smile lifted the corners of his lips.
“Amelia. Is it safe to assume you have dressed to please me?” he crooned.
I raised my brows. “No need to guess who wins the biggest ego competition, is there.”
His smile grew. “I’ve never pretended to be humble.”
I smiled back. Of course I did; that’s the effect the vampire had on mere mortals like me.
“You look ravishing.” He kissed my cheek as I descended the last step, his hand slipping to the small of my back. “I love what you’re wearing,” he whispered into my ear. “But it would look far better on the floor.”
I laughed. “That’s so cheesy.” I poked him in the ribs, and he grunted, feigning pain, then chuckled. “I would have thought after six centuries you’d come up with something a little more original.”
“Alright.” The light danced in his hazel eyes, catching hints of gold that made them sparkle like dew on newly turning fall leaves. “How about … I love what you are wearing, but you’d look far better wearing me?”
Our laughter died as Josh rushed into the foyer, his hands wringing in front of him. “We have visitors.”
Karson asked, “Who?”
“I don’t know, a black car. The windows are so dark even I couldn’t see in.”
“How did they get in the gate?”
He grimaced. “I don’t know. It just opened for them. I’m guessing that means it’s witches.”
Karson’s jaw clenched. “Josh, take Amelia upstairs and stay with her.”
Josh looked at me hesitantly, as if seeking permission.
Monique and Michael appeared at our sides.
“Monique, sort her,” he snapped.
Before I could process the words, I was against a warm, soft chest, flying. Monique sat me down in the bedroom.
“Fucking seriously,” I hissed, straightening my top. “Did you really have to carry me? I have legs.”
“Stay here,” she snapped, throwing me a sharp look, and in a flash she was gone, the door shut behind her.
Horrid thoughts tumbled through my head. Would they stab him, or do some spell he couldn’t defeat? Was it Caron coming for me?
It was safer to stay in my room; he’d be ropable if I left.
He could handle it. He’d been handling it for centuries.
Still, there was no harm in hovering at the edge of the room just in case he needed me.
I had some skills after all! I twisted the handle and pulled the door open slowly.
Josh had made himself a human blockade. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and shook his head.
“Seriously,” I whispered.
“Just stay here,” he whispered back. The scent of wine drifted up my nostrils. How much had he drunk today?
I wrinkled my nose. “Don’t you want to know who’s here?”
He held his finger to his lips. “Shhh.” Then he turned and cocked his ear to the side, listening. I grasped the edge of the door and leaned forward, peering up at him expectantly.
He looked down at me, a grin curving the corners of his plump lips, his eyes shining, like we were two naughty kids. He stuck two fingers up. They made a V for vampire. I nodded, got it, but stuck mine up anyway in return. He rolled his eyes but looked like he was holding back laughter.
Then his smile turned into a grimace. “He’s going to kill me,” he muttered.
“What?”
“Well, don’t just hide up there,” a voice like gravel and ice answered before he could. “Show yourself, witch, or I may think you have something you want to hide.”
“Shit,” I muttered, my eyes wide as I looked at Josh.
Josh’s eyes were wider than saucepans. “They must have smelled you … Oh God, I’m going to die, he’s going to kill me,” Josh muttered. “Again.”
I would have laughed if I didn’t know how furious Karson was going to be.
“Stop being dramatic. You’re going to be fine,” I said under my breath. “What should we do?”
Josh pinched his nose and stared at the floor.
“Or I can come to you.” The voice sounded annoyed. “If you prefer.”
Josh twitched his head up and we stared at each other, neither of us breathing. I could close the door, seal us in, and whoever he was couldn’t get in. But that would make it look like I was scared, like I had something to hide.
“Monique said come down,” Josh squeaked.
Their energies, thick and churning, struck me as soon as I left the cover of the hall. There were four of them talking to Monique. Three men and one woman. No Karson.
A vampire’s ice-gray eyes hooked on mine.
He had shoulder-length black hair and his jaw was covered in neatly trimmed black stubble.
He wore a long black trench jacket, black lace-up boots, and a fitted black t-shirt.
A silver pendant glittered from a black leather band on his neck.
He oozed power. Thick, chilling power. Stronger than an ordinary vampire, different somehow.
Karson walked in from the ballroom and looked up, his eyes flaring with annoyance when he spotted me. Then he tore his attention back to the vampires. “Rodney.” His face changed in an instant, his smile filling with warmth. “I see you let yourself in—we do have an intercom, you know.”
Rodney brushed his comment off with a wave of his hand. “I need to use my abilities sometimes and I knew you wouldn’t mind.”
Abilities? Did he have powers? No, impossible. Even as the thought landed, another corrected it: in this world, anything was possible.
“What a pleasant surprise,” Karson said.
“Karson, old friend, how long has it been?” Rodney returned his smile in what appeared to be genuine affection. They hugged, slapping each other on the back.
“Far too long,” Karson answered.
“I do believe it was over eighty years ago when we stalked the canals of the French riviera feasting on the nectar of fine French maidens,” Rodney said, holding his arms and scanning him.
“Those were the days.” Karson chuckled. Until now, I liked the French.
The power of the vampires stifled the room like yesterday’s curry trumpeting from the ass of a seventy-year-old man. In a closet.
Mary crossed the foyer carrying a beige duster. None of them took notice of her as she moved into the sitting room. I chewed on my lip. The vampire had seen me now, so I could go back to my room. As I turned, Rodney stepped back from Karson, icy eyes on me freezing my limbs.
“Well, don’t just stand there, come down. We won’t bite,” he crooned in a way that suggested the opposite.
I couldn’t run like a coward, even though every cell in my body screamed to get away. Karson’s jaw clenched. My legs felt heavy as I walked along the hall and down the stairs. Aware of eyes watching my every move, I kept my chin high and my expression blank. Josh lagged behind.
“Who is this lovely piece of merchandise you have?”
Merchandise! I bristled.
“I’m no one’s property.” My ankle hurt on the stairs because of the speed I moved, but I gritted my teeth as I stepped down off the staircase.
A darkness flickered through the gray and then it was gone before Karson could see it.
I darted my eyes between the others. The woman was dark-skinned, her hair cropped short.
She too was dressed in all black, in leather pants not unlike mine and a fitted black tunic under a long jacket.
Her jaw and cheekbones carved the outline of her face.
A swirled black tattoo marked her neck. Vampires who dated humans in an era long gone used to mark their partners like a piece of property with a scar in the shape of a fang beneath the lobe of their ear, or on their neck.
Sometimes it was disguised in a tattoo. It was a signal to other vampires that they were taken and not to be touched.
It kept them safe. Was she marked before she was turned and the scar remained?
I couldn’t tell if that was what hers was.
She looked at me like I was a bug she wanted to place her heel on, press and twist.