I emerged from James’s bedroom, much to my dismay, and joined the others. We decided to walk over to James's parents’ house today with Nick and Caroline. James wasn’t sure how long it would take to find anything, but we were close enough where we could go back and forth to look as much as we needed to.
The four of us trudged out into the snow. The vampires didn't add any clothing to what they were wearing, but James bundled me up and I was thankful for it. It was freezing here. We walked about half a mile, I only know because Nick announced it, and we could see the outline of a house in front of us. It was dark and hard to see against the woods and snowy landscape.
As we approached the house, I was jostled when I plowed into James’s suddenly rigid form. Nick and Caroline flanked me immediately. Something was wrong.
James turned slightly, bringing his finger to his mouth to signal me to keep quiet. He nodded towards Nick, and I watched as Nick obeyed an unspoken command, disappearing from our sight. Caroline moved behind me as if guided by instinct, sandwiching me between both of them.
James kept me close and made his way cautiously towards the house. I didn’t understand what was wrong because I didn’t hear anything. Of course, I didn’t have super hearing like my vampire escorts.
We stepped onto the porch and James paused again. A frown came over his features and he burst through the door. The sound startled me, and I peeked around him to see what brought on the frown. The house was empty. Everything was still, and to my ears, nothing could be heard.
Then there was a banging. This time, I grabbed the back of James’s shirt as Caroline moved even closer to me. Both were in a defensive posture. A whirling blur flew by us and onto the couch, followed by a laugh.
“Lukas?” James asked sternly, but not in a concerned way at all.
I looked at the spot where the blur was and saw a tall male figure with dark brown hair that fell to his shoulders standing before me. He was plain looking yet his stance made him seem arrogant.
“I see you’re still the best. I didn’t think you’d know I was here.” The stranger walked up to James and clasped him on the shoulder. Nick emerged as well from what I thought was a blur only moments before.
“And you,” the stranger said turning towards Nick. “You still have the fiercest right hook I’ve ever taken.”
Nick smiled briefly and came back to stand with Caroline. As he did, the man turned from James and took my hand in his.
“And this beautiful creature must be our dear little Ariya.” He kissed my knuckles gently. His grip was light but the power that lay dormant in his hands could be felt.
I didn’t know how old this vampire was, but he wasn’t to be trifled with, that much was obvious. I lifted the corners of my lips slightly to acknowledge him only before turning my gaze to James.
The expression on James’s face was unreadable. “Ariya, this is Lukas. He’s my father’s friend.”
“Come now, James. ‘Father’s friend?’ I thought you’d say father-I-never-had or the-man-who-had-a-profound-impact-on-me.” Even though the response oozed sleezeball, James smiled at the remark. I could tell that Lukas meant to sound charming when he spoke. However, there was something in his voice that rubbed me the wrong way. Usually people who were overly charming and trying too hard weren’t to be trusted. Granted, I based that off the slime-balls that paraded through my life before James arrived on the scene. Glancing over at Caroline, I saw she too seemed unimpressed. This guy came off as a sales person, someone who thought he could win anyone over. I wouldn’t be surprised if he spent half of the eternity he was living in looking into a mirror.
“You only wish that were so.” James’s voice was light, but he’d said before he didn’t trust anyone. If this man was close to Marik, that made him even more suspicious in our eyes, given James’s issues with his father. With all of us clueless as to who had any information on Audrey, I knew James would be careful. “What are you doing here, Lukas?” he asked, confirming my thoughts.
“Just finishing up a tiny respite. Marik has been on the warpath trying to figure out what happened with Emma. I needed to get some air.” He flashed me a devilish grin, which was a lot less charming than he seemed to think it was. A cocky attitude didn’t attract me to a man.
“How much longer are you staying?”
“Just leaving, my friend.” Lukas pointed to a duffel bag by the door.
“I’m sorry we missed you.”
Lukas walked up and James shook his hand. It was very stiff and formal. “As am I. I am surprised to see you here, though. I didn’t think this would be choice number one for a vacation for you.” Lukas raised his eyebrows questioningly at James as he picked up his bag.
James didn’t miss a beat. “Ariya wanted to see where I grew up,” he said as if the subject wasn’t open for discussion.
With a nod, Lukas headed for the door. “Well, I’m off. Enjoy. Ariya,” he cooed turning towards me, “wonderful to finally meet you.” With that, he was gone.
“Charming,” I remarked sarcastically.
“Do you think he was telling the truth?” Nick’s voice sounded across the room.
“I’m not sure. But then again, you know I never think anyone is telling the truth.” James grinned and squeezed my hand, relaxing again now that it was just the four of us.
I finally took a look at the house we were standing in. There were glass windows everywhere, and it was much bigger than his grandfather's cabin. James’s grandfather’s house seemed to warm me the minute I walked in, but here, with everything being grey and dull colored, I had the opposite feeling. It didn't feel like a home.
"Nick and Caroline, you take the master bedroom down the hall.” James pointed and Nick nodded. “Ariya and I will check my father's office," he asserted in a commanding tone. He was back to the mission of why we were really here.
"Does your father come here often?" I questioned James already able to guess what his answer was going to be.
"Not for extended periods of time, at least, not that I’m aware of. I’m hoping he left things behind from when we first learned Audrey was taken. There might be something to point us in the right direction." He took my hand and began leading me down the hall.
We walked into the office and James flicked on the light switch. It was a large room with a completed furniture set made of dark colored oak that sat atop a deep green carpet. For it being Marik’s office, it was less refined than I would have imagined. There was a map of the US hanging on the wall, a bookcase, a clunky desk, and a swivel chair behind it, with a leather chair completing the package in front of the desk.
The desk housed a phone, a pad of paper, and a gold lamp that looked out of place compared to everything else. There was nothing else on it. The bookcase held a couple of binders covered in dust, and the rest of the shelves were empty save for some additional dust bunnies. How long had it been since his father had been here?
"What are we looking for?" I asked James.
He was already searching around the room. His eyes focused intently as he took everything in. "Just look for anything strange or out of place. If something catches your eye, tell me."
I nodded, not really having any more clarity on what to look for than before I asked. I ran my hands along the edges of things. I wasn't having luck finding much of anything at all, and it didn't appear that James was either. He was checking all the drawers in the desk, tapping on them, opening some with a key he found. I wasn't sure where he found it, but he did.
"Anything?" I asked.
James just shook his head, not bothering to look up from what he was doing at the desk.
“So, are you close to Lukas?” I raised my eyebrows, noticing that this question had earned James’s gaze.
“Ariya, I’m not close to anyone, not really. With the exception of Nick, and I guess now Caroline, I don’t let people in. I don’t trust them. Especially when it comes to you.”
“You’re close to me.”
He flashed me one of his panty-dropping grins. I loved these moments between us when he let down his guard. “Closer than I’ve ever been with anyone, yes.”
I couldn’t help the horse-like smile on my face and turned to try and get back to work. I stared around the office, not sure where to go next. It felt as if I’d touched everything in the room already, and there was nothing here out of place. Maybe Caroline and Nick were having more luck.
James moved to the floor meticulously running his hands over the carpet. He was good at this; he obviously had training in this sort of espionage. I inspected the map hanging on the wall, and though, I hate to admit it, I was more looking at different places on the map than paying attention to what I was supposed to be doing.
I looked at the two places I had been, now three, adding Colorado to the list. I want to travel, I thought. There was so much world out there to see, and for once, I felt like I could do it. If I turned, I would have all the time in the world to travel with my friends. I was surprised at the thought as it crept into my head. The idea of turning still scared me, and I didn’t think I was ready to make a decision either way. Still, I wondered where we would go. I ran my hand along the edge of the map absentmindedly, and suddenly, my finger snagged on the material.
I yelped as I noticed blood pooling on my now paper-cut finger. The edge of the map was torn in the process and fell significantly. I stuck my finger in my mouth and glared at the inanimate object that lashed out at me. A crack in the wall caught my eye for a moment, but I heard James behind me before I could look more.
"What did you do, Ariya?" he inquired, smiling while I held up my finger quickly before stuffing it back in my mouth.
"Paper cut," I pouted.
"You remember I am a vampire, right? You're not even worried," he added, shaking his head. He took my finger out of my mouth, and before blood collected again, he quickly kissed it. "You're lucky I have such great control." He rolled his eyes at me. "That blood does make me want to reconsider what I said earlier in the bedroom about waiting longer, though."
His wink drew a gasp from me. "Maybe I should tempt you a bit more," I held my finger up thinking to myself that I could play the seduction game, too.
His eyes looked like his laugh was going to reach them, which was a sight I loved to see, but he stopped short. His head tilted to the side and I turned to face the map, following his gaze. He noticed the crack in the wall that the torn map revealed. He touched the edge of the map briefly before yanking it down in one swift motion.
I looked in shock at the wall behind the map. Actually, I looked in shock at the safe right there in the middle of the space the map had hidden. He glanced over at me.
"Can you open it?" I asked excitedly. I felt like a spy. It was exhilarating.
He smirked before giving his response. "Ariya, please. This will be easy," he announced in an uncharacteristically cocky voice.
It was my turn to roll my eyes at him. He put his ear up to the safe, and I couldn’t help but comment. "You know, your dad is a vampire. You'd think he would know you could hear the clicks."
James shrugged. "Maybe he wasn't worried about vampires finding it. This is his private home, Ariya. Not many people would trespass here. They don’t even know it’s here to trespass on."
“Audrey knows,” I replied softly.
James seemed to ponder that, but only for a moment. “She isn’t…wasn’t a vampire,” he said finally, still holding his ear to the safe.
We didn’t know what she was now. The fact that she was still alive was troubling enough. I hadn’t even begun to think about what sort of creature she was.
After a couple seconds of watching James mess with the safe dial, it was open. We peeked in and saw one rolled up document and a file folder. James took both out and headed over to the desk, spreading everything out on top of the oak finish.
The rolled up document was a map with circled markings all over it in a variety of colors. Some were crossed out, some circled multiple times. There was one on Mineral Point and I frowned at it. It didn't make any sense to me, and James didn't look particularly in the know either.
His features darkened and I knew he wasn’t happy with what we’d discovered. He opened the file folder and paused for a moment. I walked behind him to see what he was looking at.
There was a blurry picture of a woman, and then another sharper, enhanced image next to it. You couldn't see the face because it was covered up with sunglasses and a scarf, but from James's reaction, that was someone in particular, and I’d bet he thought it was his mother.
"James is that your mother?" I asked.
"I can't tell for sure, but it looks like her," he said emotionlessly.
"Does this mean he knows?" I couldn’t hide the surprise in my voice.
“She looks too young in it. My mother was in her mid-forties when she was killed, or whatever happened.” James’s tone was darker now.
“Well, maybe it was taken before she died.”
James looked up at me, seeming to fight between his struggle to understand this new discovery and trying not to laugh.
“What?” I asked, not understanding why there was humor in his eyes at all right now.
“Ariya, I’m two hundred and fifty years old. There weren’t cameras around when Audrey was younger.” He smiled briefly and I flushed.
In my defense, I hadn’t ever had to remember someone being two hundred and fifty before. I shook my head smirking before throwing out my next idea. “Can vampires or werewolves make themselves look younger?”
James frowned, staring at the picture again. “No, they can’t. Besides, she was human when she died.”
“What does it mean then, this map and an old picture?”
“I’m not sure, yet.”
He was upset now. I would be too if my father thought my mother was alive and never said anything to me. Nick poked his head in and I knew he heard us. James looked at him and held the pictures out for him to see.
Reaching out, he walked over to the desk followed by Caroline. "It doesn't give us much information except that Emma might have been telling the truth," Nick said thoughtfully as he looked between the pictures and the map. “Mineral Point being circled doesn’t bode well.” He tapped the map, but James didn’t respond.
"Can't we tell him what we found? Ask him what he might know?" I asked, wondering why we couldn't just talk to James's father about this. Maybe he wasn’t hiding it. Maybe he was trying to put the pieces together himself.
"Ariya, if he knows and is hiding information..." James started, not needing to speak the next words as they were obvious. "He could be more involved than we think."
"James, be serious. Your father wouldn't—" Caroline said, but Nick looked over at her interrupting her rant with a shake of his head.
"We can't rule anything out, Caroline," he asserted. “I won’t risk being wrong about this.”
His eyes darted over to me and I felt Caroline’s follow. I probably looked worried, but really I just felt sadness for James. What if his father did know? What if there was no one left for him to trust? My heart broke for him.
Caroline put her arm around me. "Come on, let's go back to the cabin. We can have some fun tonight. We deserve it.” I nodded smiling and walked over to James and kissed his cheek.
"Ready?" I asked.
James looked up at me. "You two go back. Nick and I are going to look around some more." He looked at Nick, silently communicating the way I’d seen them do so often, and Nick in turn looked at Caroline and nodded. It all felt formal and too stiff, but Caroline just took my arm and walked me back towards the cozier and more inviting cabin.
"You think he'll be okay?" I asked her, worry coloring my voice.
"Ariya, if anyone can handle this, it's James. He's fine." She smiled warmly at me. "Let's start a fire and relax."
We got everything set up, and Caroline made me hot chocolate. She pulled out rum from what looked like a fully stocked bar in the kitchen and spiked it, making me laugh before she poured some rum for herself, too.
I stared at her. "Does alcohol affect you?"
She grinned slyly. "I can have a lot more than you because it only affects me a little bit. And I’d have to drink a lot even for that. It’s not the same as what it does to you, you lush." She snickered and the humor was contagious.
"So you always pretended to be sloshed when really I was drunk alone?" I gasped in mock horror, and together we burst out laughing again. It felt good to laugh with her.
"My bad," she said, pretending to slur her words and fake staggered towards the couch.
The boys didn't take long to come in, and I looked at James worriedly. He walked over and kissed the top of my head before coming around and sitting next to me on the couch.
"You okay?" I asked him.
His dazzling smile was response enough for me, and we all settled back in for the evening. He seemed to have gotten over the upset of the day’s findings and back to his relaxed self. I wondered if he was putting on a show for me, protecting me again in yet another way.
***
I woke up the next morning to James's voice calling my name. Gosh, it was the best sound in the world. I smiled into my pillow, and he chuckled at me.
"All right, now I know you're awake."
Instead of getting up, I tried to snuggle up into him, but he wasn't in the bed. My eyes flew open, and he smiled standing over me. "We’re heading back to the house to look around a bit more. Come on," he coaxed.
I stretched out and went to get out of the blankets, but yelped when the cold air from the house hit my skin. “James, it’s freezing!”
He whirled around to face me at my yelp, concerned, and then looked thoughtfully at the thermostat. “Sorry. I forgot you probably need it warmer.”
“I wish I was a vampire and didn’t feel cold,” I grumbled. I hated being cold.
James did not take my comment well. “You’re perfect the way you are. Warm up and I’ll meet you in the kitchen.”
That apparently wasn’t the right thing to say at all. Of course James didn’t want me thinking about being a vampire. I had a bloodline heir to produce. I rolled my eyes, building up my courage to hop out of bed to get dressed.
As I pulled my shirt on and lifted my hair out from the trap of the shirt collar, I felt a snag. Bringing my hands up, I grasped at the beautiful pearls that hadn’t left my neck since Christmas. They had been James’s gift to me. I smiled, maneuvering my hair off of the antique gold clasp. I really have to start taking them off before bed.
I would remember the story James told me about these pearls forever. As I finished dressing, I thought back to the precious moments shared between us in bed the morning after Christmas.
"They were a gift,” he had told me. “Your grandmother gave them to me. Would you like to hear about it?" He knew what my answer would be, and I had teared up at his thoughtfulness before even hearing the story.
"Believe it or not, your grandmother and I were friends," he had smiled, as if remembering fondly. "When her mother told her about her gift and the Protectors, she said she wanted to meet me. She had questions galore and I was more than happy to answer. I had enjoyed watching out for her. She was a lot like you, Ariya. She'd be very proud of you.
"She and your grandfather were high school sweethearts, and so she was young when she got pregnant with your mom. It was one of the more hormonal days of the pregnancy that she insisted I come to her at once. She burst out crying, telling me how she didn't know when my birthday was, and how terrible the thought of not knowing much about me was when I was doing such a good job looking out for her. ‘You risk your life for me and I know nothing about you,’ she said.
“I was taken aback because no one had ever asked me what my birthday was, much less given me a gift." His features darkened a moment, "Except my mother before she was...killed. Taken…or whatever it was she did." I had watched as he shook off the dark moment before returning to the story. "I told her when it was and tried laughing it off to help with her mood. I was able to distract her, make her laugh, and she was fine. I forgot about it completely until my birthday came around."
I held my hand up to stop him. "Which is?" I had asked.
He narrowed his eyes at me before continuing. "June 3rd. I don't really celebrate it though, like I told your grandmother. Anyway, she had a gift for me, and I was surprised when I opened it. It was this string of pearls. She said her father had given them to her mother the day she was born. She wanted me to have them to thank me for everything. She said that she wanted me to put them to good use and give them to someone special, someone worthy, when she came along. I can't really think of a better person."
The passion in his gaze when he had said those words consumed me. I felt like flames would burn me on the spot. I had started crying, unable to stop the emotions from hearing his story and from the strength of my own feelings for him.
He had brushed my tears away. "Shhh, Ariya. Don’t cry," he whispered before pulling me in close to him.
"Thank you," I said quietly.
"She was one of my only friends. I hadn't really opened myself up to being friends with anyone in the line before. My father had been friends with some of your family once or twice, but I hadn't. It seemed hard on him because the women in your family that were his friends didn’t turn, so eventually he had to watch them die. I thought it was inappropriate to let emotions get in the way of any part of the job. Your grandmother easily won me over, though. Besides her, I kept everything professional. Well, and now you," he grinned at me.
"Thank you for the pearls and the story."
"You're welcome," he had replied, kissing me slowly.
I shook the memory as I finished getting dressed. I could stay lost in moments that we’d shared like that forever. But for now, they were all waiting on me, the slowpoke human, to finish getting ready to go to James’s parents’ house.
As we walked over to the house, I felt James’s hand slide into mine. He glanced down at me from the corner of his eye, then winked. I pulled myself in closer to his side.
I knew I loved him. I should probably say the words out loud. I had yet to say ‘I love you,’ to anyone though. I wasn’t sure if I should let him say it first. Maybe saying that would scare him like my vampire comment did in the room this morning. I’ll keep it in just a little longer.
We walked into the house and split up. I was sure the vampires would have more success in finding little things than I would. I became easily distracted walking through the place, trying to imagine James as a kid living here.
“Find anything else?” I asked curiously after it felt like we’d spent a long time searching.
“No, I think it was lucky we found the picture at all in the first place. I don’t think there is anything else here,” Nick answered.
“We’ll probably head back to Mineral Point in a day or two,” James added.
“How about two? It’s nice here,” I said.
James beamed back at me. “All right, two. It’s a deal.” He wrapped his arm around me before kissing my forehead. “You guys head back. We’ll do a final check, and then we can be done with this place.”
I felt terrible that he wanted to leave so badly, but I nodded at him and walked over to Caroline, looping my arm through hers. We trudged back to our cabin, hopefully leaving his parents’ house for the last time this trip.
I barely turned the knob on the front door when Caroline froze. Her head jerked to the side. “Get inside the house.” She hesitated only a moment longer before turning and pushing me through the door. She stepped inside behind me and locked the door, then whipped out her cell phone. “Damn it,” she said under her breath as she shoved her phone into her back pocket.
“What’s wrong?” My heartbeat steadily started increasing. Caroline seemed concerned and James and Nick were still out there somewhere.
She didn’t answer me but turned towards the large windows in the family room. She looked around for a moment longer before shoving me toward a bedroom adjacent to James’s. “Get to that room, now. Lock the door and do not come out.”
“What? No, come with me. What’s going on?”
“Ariya, go. Please don’t argue. I’m fine, but I can’t worry about you if I’m going to handle this shit.”
“What do you mean handle this? I’m not leaving you.” I walked closer to her as I spoke.
“You will cause me to be distracted and that will put me in danger. Do you understand?” Her voice startled me, and I turned, heading for the room I hadn’t been in yet. I peeked back over at her as I got to the door. A noise at the front of the house made me jump.
“Now,” Caroline whispered urgently. She stood as if she was ready to pounce on something. “Not a word, Ariya, I mean it. And shut the door.”
Before I obeyed and shut the door, I heard a terrifying sound. It sounded like fingernails scraping down a chalkboard. Caroline’s body jerked from the front door over to the living room windows as a voice sounded from somewhere outside.
“Come out, come out wherever you are,” called the voice from outside. Frightened by the malice of the voice, I quickly shut the door I was hidden behind and locked it as instructed. Caroline is fine, she’s a vampire. Whatever that is, she can handle it. I tried convincing myself of her safety, but I was terrified. I could feel panic welling in my gut, creeping up into my chest and making my breathing erratic.
Outside the door, I heard glass shatter followed by a snarl. Oh please, please let Care be okay, I prayed silently.
The noises outside the door increased. I could hear banging, growling, and tearing. I didn’t want to know what the tearing was. I was caught between wanting to do something to help and not wanting to put Caroline in danger by trying to intervene. It sounded like a warzone outside the door. It couldn’t be good. Where were James and Nick?
“Don’t tell me we’re missing all the fun.” Nick’s voice came through loud and clear to my ears, even through the wooden walls of the cabin. I felt relief for a moment at the thought of the three of them teaming up against whoever or whatever came knocking down the cabin windows and doors. The growling and snarling seemed to increase, and I sunk into a corner of the windowless room I was trapped in. My body shook as the thoughts in my head progressively got worse as the noises seemed to be dying down.
Then there was silence. Silence was either very good, or very bad. I inched towards the door, trying not to make a noise. Standing up, I took in my surroundings, trying to see if there was a weapon of some kind I could use. Not seeing anything, I yanked a lamp from the bedside nightstand and held it in my hand.
I tried turning the lock quietly, knowing that even a tiny click would register in the vampires’ ears and possibly distract them. Before I could finish my stealthy escape, the door flew open and James grabbed me, cupping his hands around my face.
“Are you all right?” he asked, franticly.
“I’m fine.” My nerves were shot from the emotional overcharge coursing through my body, but besides that I was fine. “What happened? Is Caroline okay?”
“I’m here, Ariya. I’m fine.”
James grabbed the lamp from my hands, looking at me curiously.
“It was the only weapon I could find.” I shrugged. “I thought I could help.”
At that, James rolled his eyes. “At least you followed directions this time.” He leaned down and brushed his thumb across my jaw before lightly kissing me. After a moment more, he leaned his head into my forehead and gripped my neck. He looked as if he wanted to say something, but simply planted another kiss on my lips and turned back to the others.
I shook off the effect James had on my pathetically weak knees and fuzzy, lust driven head, and turned to see the damage. I gasped, bringing my hand up to cover my mouth. “Wolves?” I asked, even though it was obvious.
Clearly, they were wolves. There were four strewn over the living room. The glass was broken in and some of the wolves had been stabbed with the jagged shards. The vampires were talking amongst themselves as I continued to stare at the massacred mess in front of me.
“How could they have known we were here?” I asked.
“Lukas saw us,” Caroline said, reaffirming my thoughts about Lukas’s charm not working on everyone.
“We also had to check in though. Anyone could have known.” Nick prodded at her statement, which put him on the receiving end of a nasty glare from her. “Care, whoever it is, isn’t stupid. Lukas is not the only one who could be behind it just because he was here. It could still be any number of people.”
“What do you mean check in?” I butted into their conversation again.
James started picking up the wolves and heaving them outside below the window. “We have to let Marik know where we are at all times. It’s to ensure that there would be back up who could find you quickly and easily if anything happened to us.”
That didn’t sit well with me. They knew where I was at all times? No wonder there was a never-ending trail of trouble finding me. One mole and the bad guys could get clear access to me no matter where I was. The Protectors were supposed to be loyal beings, but clearly something was amiss.
“We’re leaving tomorrow. Mineral Point may be closer to them, but we know it, and we are used to the surroundings.” James walked over to me. “Go to sleep, Ariya. We’ll clean up and I’ll be in soon.” He smiled down at me before kissing my cheek.