4. Chapter 4
4
K elly came out of what felt like the deepest sleep she’d ever experienced as someone held her in his arms. He wasn’t moving, just standing with an arm under her knees and another behind her back. Her left arm was draped behind his neck, and her right hung freely. A soft ding sounded, and she heard elevator doors opening. Then the man started to walk. The soft hiss of the building’s glass doors sliding open was followed by the sound of someone opening a car door.
“Please place her in the back seat, Fabian, and ye may take the front,” Kade said.
“As you wish, Jarl.”
“Just Kade, please.”
“Yes…Kade,” Fabian answered. He buckled Kelly in, gently closed her door, and then got into the seat in front of her.
“To the Lux please, Asmund,” Kade said to the driver.
“Yes, sir,” Asmund replied simply.
Kelly rubbed her eyes, slowly pulling herself away from the dream-filled state her body so desperately wanted to go back to. “Where are you taking me?”
“Back to my hotel. After I get ye healed ye can get some rest, then we can talk, and ye can decide what ye’d like to do.”
Laying her head against the window, Kelly replayed the night’s events in her mind. It seemed so silly that they all led to her riding in this car back to a hotel with a ridiculously handsome vampire. Even worse, she wasn’t scared or worried at all about what would happen to her. Nope, her twisted mind had decided it was totally normal for a person to find themselves in a room full of magical people, for one of said magical people to declare himself her protector, and then to ride off into the sunrise with the protector, a vampire, and a guy with a really weird name. Jesus, she was going to need lots and lots of therapy.
Just as the therapy bills began to add up in Kelly’s mind, the car pulled up to a hotel that looked like it was exclusively for royalty. Fabian got out and came back to open her door. He held his hand out. “Are you capable of walking?” he asked in his sing-song voice.
“Yes, thank you, I think I can manage.” Kelly unbuckled her seatbelt and took his hand to steady herself as she got out.
Kade was by her side immediately, making her jump. “Seriously? I don’t need two of you hovering over me. I can walk!” She slapped at his hand as he reached for her.
He looked at her in complete confusion, then glanced at his hand as if it was growing an extra finger, then looked back at her. “I was just trying to help ye.”
“I appreciate your kindness, but I am tired and it has been the weirdest fucking night of my life. You can’t just move at the speed of light, offer me your hand, and expect me to fall into your arms. You are far from the comforting presence you seem to think you are.” Her words were strong, yet she felt anything but that. Kelly wanted desperately for him to hold her and make almost every part of this strange new world disappear.
The right side of his mouth curved up again in that half smile she was getting to know so well, and he held up his hands as if asking for a truce. He then held out one arm. “After ye, lass.”
Fabian silently took the lead, and Kelly followed with Kade close behind. Fabian’s blond braid was long, ending just above his lower back. Two long swords crisscrossed on his back, the hilts sitting just above his shoulders. She hadn’t noticed them before, but then again, she had not walked behind him until now. The weapons contrasted with his black dress slacks and midnight-blue button-up shirt, but he made it work. They passed by quite a few people as they made their way up to Kade’s room, but no one did a double take at the swords.
The elevator seemed to take forever to reach the floor, but Kelly was thankful to be riding in the mechanically controlled box instead of running up the stairs like a madwoman. When it reached its destination, the doors slid open to reveal a large foyer with a set of gold double doors in each of the three surrounding walls. As if gold doors weren’t fancy enough, the walls were solid white marble adorned with gold accents. Kelly cringed; this was way too uppity for her taste.
Fabian used a key card to gain entrance to the doors directly in front of them, then held the doors for her and Kade as they entered. He closed the doors, locked them, and made his way around the hotel room in what appeared to be a security check as Kelly stood in awe. She figured they were on the top floor of the hotel. The room spread out from one end of the floor to the other, with windows bordering it almost entirely. There was a large dining table prepared with twelve settings just in front of her, a full kitchen to the left, and to the right, a sitting area, complete with a black leather circular couch sunk into the floor, a fire pit in the middle of it, and a huge TV hanging from the corner.
“All clear, sir,” Fabian announced as he went to stand guard by the door.
“Thank ye, Fabian.” Kade turned his attention to her then. “Let us go sit down.” He gently placed his hand on the small of her back and led her down to the couch and gestured for her to sit. Grabbing a remote, he hit a button, and the TV came on in the corner.
“I’ve noticed ye like background noise. I hope ye don’t mind.”
Mind? She minded that he’d been watching her for months, but it was too late now to argue with him. “Sure, whatever,” she said, dismissively. “I’d really just like to get some rest if that’s okay. Is there a blanket around? I’m fine curling up right here.”
“Aye, I do mind. Ye’ll sleep in the bed.”
She opened her mouth to protest, and he cut her off, “I won’t bother ye or lay with ye. Ye’ll have yer privacy. The couch is no place for a lady. Let me heal ye, and ye can turn in from there. Fabian will also stand guard in the room should I have to leave. Ye will be safe, ye have my word.”
“Fine, but I don’t know how you plan to heal me. It’s just bruises. I’ll heal in time.”
There he went with the crooked smile again. He looked at her gently, and his hand reached out as if to touch her chin, then he stopped himself and brought it down to his knee instead. “Ye have much to learn about the Arcane world, and I will teach ye in time, but for now, it is enough to tell ye that most of us are immortal and our blood has healing properties. By taking just a few drops of my blood, yer aches and pains will be gone when you wake up from yer wee nap.”
Kelly couldn’t help but laugh at him. “Not that I don’t believe you, but there is no way in hell I am drinking any of your blood. Just…no. Eww.” A shiver overtook her body just thinking about it.
His face hardened just a bit. “I will not have ye suffering needlessly when ye can be good as new in a few hours.”
“You’re exhausting,” Kelly said, trying to maintain her even temper. “I am not suffering needlessly, nothing is broken, and I’ll sleep just fine. You should know from having me followed that a bed or a couch is quite a few notches above what I normally sleep on, so you can take comfort in that. If you want me to go lie in the bed, fine, but I refuse to drink your blood, Dracula.”
Kade let out the slightest chuckle. “I do not believe he would appreciate ye calling me by his name.”
That made her pause. “He’s real?” She realized she probably didn’t want to know right now. “You know what, never mind, please don’t answer that. Where is the bedroom?” Following her statement with the hardest stare she could muster.
“Will ye please just…”
Fabian cleared his throat loudly from the door. Kelly and Kade both turned to look at him, and he gave the slightest shake of his head. Kelly wondered if something was wrong with him for a moment, but he gave Kade the same stare she had probably given him a moment ago and slowly moved his head back and forth ever so slightly.
Kade took the hint. “Right then, I’ll show ye to the bedroom.”
He stood and offered his hand to help her up. Exhaustion overpowered her strong will, and she took it. Kade’s eyes wandered over her as she stood, and he held her hand a bit too long after she was upright. His expression was slightly pained as his eyes met hers and his other hand came up to gently touch her cheek and forehead, making her breath catch in her chest.
“I’m so very sorry I hurt ye,” he said ever so softly.
“You didn’t hurt me.”
“I ken yer aware it was my power that knocked ye flat on yer face and had ye rolling bottom over top.”
Oh yeah, that. The mental image of her less-than-graceful tumble had blood rushing to her cheeks, and she could feel them heating up as she blushed. Maybe that hit to the head was harder than she thought if the night’s events were getting fuzzy already.
“Okay, so you did hurt me. We can settle the score later, okay? I just want to sleep.”
His hands fell from her face, and he turned to lead her to the bedroom. She followed him across the extravagant suite until they got to the kitchen, where she stopped at the fridge in the hopes of finding a cold bottle of water. Luckily, it was fully stocked with large bottles of Fiji water. She grabbed one, not caring if the hotel would charge Kade $50 for it, and drank the whole thing in a matter of seconds. As she placed the bottle on the counter, she realized that Kade and Fabian were both staring at her in awe.
“What? I was thirsty,” she said as she shrugged.
Kade’s sideways smile was back. He didn’t say anything, though, as he turned and kept walking toward a door in the far corner of the suite. When he opened it, a black blur came darting out with a rather pissed-off meow, making Kelly jump back in surprise.
“You have a cat?!”
He looked at her as if she’d asked a stupid question, which she realized was true. Obviously he had a cat. Why else would there be one in the hotel room?
“Aye, that’s Clyde, don’y mind him. He shouldn’y bother ye.”
Kelly stared as the cat darted away. He was the weirdest-looking cat she’d ever seen, but he was cute in a way. He hardly had any hair and he moved in a strange acrobatic way as he ran and bounced around the room.
Pulling her attention away from the cat, Kelly turned back toward the room and followed Kade in.
“Make yerself at home. Neither Fabian nor I will disturb ye, but we won’t leave the hotel room either, so ye will be protected. May I get ye anything before ye turn in?”
“No, thank you.”
“Sleep well then.” With that, he left the room, pulling the door almost closed.
Kelly walked straight to the bed and collapsed onto it, falling asleep before her head even hit the pillow.
One would think waking in strange places wouldn’t seem scary after night upon night in your car, but Kelly woke feeling out of place. She didn’t belong in this extravagant room.
The events of the previous night came back to her as she wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth. Groaning, she tried to roll to her back, only to find that something was curled in the crook of her knees. She propped herself up on her elbow to find the strange cat snuggled up to her.
“Hey there, little guy.” Reaching out slowly, she ran her hand along his back. He had the softest fur she’d ever felt on any animal, and it was wavy. She giggled at the oddity of him, which woke him. He looked up at her with large green eyes, his giant ears overshadowing his somewhat tiny head. “You are the strangest, yet cutest little thing I have ever seen.”
He meowed at her, a long, drawn-out sound, as if he was sharing his sorrows.
Kelly couldn’t help but talk to him, as she’d always had a soft spot for animals. “Yes, I would tend to agree.”
She rolled onto her stomach, careful not to disturb the little one, and stretched her entire body. The action made her head hurt, reminding her yet again of the tumble she’d taken. You’re never going to live that one down, her inner voice chimed in. You’re clumsy, but that was a whole new level. You’re really outdoing yourself, Kel.
Suddenly realizing her bladder was about to burst, Kelly looked around for a bathroom. She didn’t have to look far, because there wasn’t even a door to it. What kind of strange hotel was this? The side wall of the bedroom was solid windows, and sinks were against the front and rear walls. A giant circular tub was right in the middle of the bathroom area with a perfect view of the city.
For a moment, Kelly wondered where the hell the toilet was, but then saw a door toward the front corner of the room. She jumped up and raced to it as fast as she could and gave thanks to the powers that be when a toilet revealed itself behind the door.
As she washed her hands in a sink that surely cost as much as her Excursion, the cat came up to the counter and stared at the running water. “Well, aren’t you a curious little thing,” she said, smiling at him.
“Aye, Clyde tends to be in the middle of everything.”
Kelly let out a yip and jumped. “Jesus Christ, man, have you ever heard of knocking?”
“Sorry, I, uh, I just heard the water running and figured ye were up.”
Turning back to the sink, she splashed cold water on her face. She blindly reached for the towel, only to end up touching a surprisingly cold hand that was holding a towel for her. After patting her face dry, she turned to Kade. “You’ve really got to stop racing to my side like that. It’s insanely creepy; you’re way too fast and quiet.”
“Right, I’ll add that to the list. Apologies,” Kade said, sounding amused.
“What, now you find me funny?”
“Nae, not at all. Just, it’s been some time since I’ve been around anyone who is not either an Arcane or familiar with us. My apologies if I scare ye, but if we’re being honest, ye throw me off mah game as well.”
She didn’t know what to say, and he just stood there, staring at her with the half grin on his face. He’d changed from the suit to a pair of sweatpants and a sleeveless shirt. Her eyes roamed his body, taking every inch of him in, and damn him, he had the nicest arms she’d ever seen, even nicer than Dom’s. She typically wasn’t one for redheads, but when you threw in the perfectly sculpted face, the well-groomed hair and beard, the darkest gray eyes she’d ever seen, and then the perfectly muscular arms…well, the color of his hair was suddenly insignificant. His suit had always hidden the fine details of his body, and until now, she hadn’t been able to really look at him in detail. He was truly the most handsome man she’d ever laid eyes on.
“Are ye all right, lass?”
And that Scottish accent. She was going to just melt where she stood.
“Lass…?”
“Um…uh…yeah, I…I’m good,” she stuttered.
You’re going to make a fool out of yourself yet, said her inner voice.
Kelly wanted to tell that voice exactly where it could go, but then he’d surely peg her as crazy. With quite a lot of willpower, she was able to shut it up and keep her comments to herself at bay.
“Would ye like something to eat before we talk?” Kade asked.
Her stomach growled, and she immediately slapped her hand to it as if that would hide the noise.
“That would be great, thanks.” Kelly tried to hide the embarrassment from her voice as she spoke.
“Come then, ye can choose what ye’d like from the room service menu.” He turned and walked out of the bedroom then, his cat following vocally behind.
Kelly followed too, anxious to find out more about everything she’d discovered over the past twelve or so hours.