Faerie Godmother: Mythic Series, Book 1 (14 page)

“I’m fine. But there is something...”

He looked up and caught her staring at his arms and chest as he closed and latched the large windows. Hope surged through him when his acute senses picked up the quickening of her heart beat and the slight rise in her body temperature.  Whether she wanted to admit it or not, she was attracted to him.

“Yes?”

She closed her eyes and shook her head, as if trying to dispel the image.  He could have told her such a thing was futile.  As mates, the desire would always be there.  With every minute they spent in each other’s presence, that desire would only grow stronger.  Even with his remarkable self-control, he was having difficulty postponing the inevitable. It was only his desire to ease her transition that allowed such moral fortitude.

“Can I call my friend Dani, just to let her know I’m all right? She’s probably worried.”

He hesitated. He wanted to please her, but feared talking with her friend might undo some of the progress he had made. Yes, he and Matthew shared an uneasy truce, but there was no love lost between them, and neither side was foolish enough to blindly trust the other.

“Please,” she said, touching his arm lightly with her fingertips. “I have done everything you have asked.”

He looked down and wondered how such a feather-light touch could infuse him with such warmth. Between that and the way she looked at him with those big, jewel-like eyes, he was swayed.

“All right,” he agreed. It was a reasonable request, and chances were Matthew had already figured out where she was by using that exceptionally large nose of his. The last thing he needed was Matthew and his wolf pack descending upon his mansion before he convinced Ana she belonged with him.

* * *

“D
ani? It’s Ana.”

“Ana! Oh my God! Where are you? Are you okay? You have us worried sick!”

Ana winced and pulled the phone away from her ear. Vlane was clearly listening from the far side of the room, but he wouldn’t have needed his preternaturally acute hearing to hear the shrieks of the she-wolf.

“I’m fine, Dani. I just wanted to let you know that. Don’t worry, okay?”

“Where are you? Matt,
back off
, I’m talking to her.”

Matt apparently didn’t listen, because it was his voice barking through the receiver next. “Ana? Thank God. Did Masterson take you? I swear to God, if that bloodsucker hurts you, I’ll rip his fucking throat out and piss in the hole.”

Ana glanced at Vlane. His back was to her, but she saw him stiffen. “Matt, I’m fine. Really.”

“Tell me where you are. I’ll come get you. That leech can’t hold you against your will—”

“No, Matt,” Ana said, gently but firmly. Matt might be an Alpha, and he might be very powerful, but it would be suicide for him to attempt to try to force his way into Vlane’s estate. Especially when she wasn’t making any attempt to escape, and wasn’t even sure she wanted to.

There was a long pause. “What do you mean ‘no’?”

“I mean no. I’m okay. Samson’s with me.” Hearing his name, the Newfie woofed softly.

“Ana, listen to me. You might think you’re safe, but you’re not. Masterson and his ilk like to play with their prey. It’s like some kind of sick game to them.”

Ana bit her lip. She believed Vlane when he vowed he would not hurt her. Did that make her a fool?

In that moment, Vlane turned around and she met his eyes. His face was as stoic as ever, but his eyes...dear God, what she saw in them was nothing she ever expected to see in a five-hundred-year-old master vampire: Despair. Longing. Resignation.

“I’m fine,” Ana insisted, infusing her voice with the new sense of confidence building within her. She was safe here. And she wanted to learn more about this unusual bond she and Vlane seemed to share. “And you should know I came of my own volition. I was not forced.”

“Bullshit!” Matt let loose a string of curses, making her wince again. “He’s there, isn’t he? He can hear everything you’re saying, can’t he?”

“Yes, he’s here, but that doesn’t change the truth,” Ana said, wondering where her courage was coming from. “I’ll call you tomorrow, okay? In the meantime, will you do something for me?”

“Christ, Ana,” Matt exhaled heavily, “you know I would do anything for you.”

She closed her eyes briefly, hearing the plea in his voice. She wanted to soothe his fears, but there was only so much she could do over the phone. “Watch over the Sanctuary until Sascha returns in a few days. If there are any emergencies, refer them down to Doc Carter in Bernsville.”

“Ana—”

“Don’t worry. I’m okay. Honest. Goodnight, Matt.”

Ana disconnected the call before he could say anything else and set the phone on the nightstand. As she climbed between the sheets, a wave of exhaustion rolled over her. It had been a long, stressful day, but she was no longer afraid Vlane would hurt her. Had he wanted to cause her harm, he could have done so a dozen times over by now.

Samson leapt up on the bed and curled at her feet. She half-expected Vlane to say something about that, but he didn’t. Instead, he walked over to the other side of the bed and lay down, fully dressed. They lay there like that in silence, side by side, her beneath the covers, him above, as the minutes ticked by.

“Why did you do that?” Vlane finally asked softly into the darkness. “Why did you defend me to the wolf when you know I compelled you? When I refuse to allow you to leave?”

Ana was kind of wondering that herself. It took several seconds for her to answer. “You might have compelled me to some extent, but no one can make me do something I don’t want to. At least, not without taking my blood. So, on some level, I guess I wanted to come with you.”

She let that sink in for a moment, realizing the truth of it even as she spoke. “I’d be lying if I said I haven’t been kind of curious about you, too. And you have been nothing but kind to me since I got here, treating me like some kind of special guest.”

“There is no one more special than you, Ana. Not to me.”

She found it impossible to agree with that, but she was, by nature, a non-confrontational person. And very, very tired. “Vlane?”

“Yes?”

“Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Ana,” he said softly, but she was already asleep.

* * *

V
lane watched over her as her body and mind succumbed to the need for rest. Her features relaxed, making her look even younger, smaller. He couldn’t remember the last time he had been in the presence of anything quite so fragile.

A quick mental prod ensured she was asleep. Unwilling to disturb her, he moved as close as he dared without actually touching her while the dog stared at him from the bottom of the bed. The warmth from her body seeped over into him and he soaked it in like a sponge.

They remained like that for a long time. Vlane was perfectly still, committing every facet of her features to memory. Then she turned in her slumber and snuggled up to him. Vlane had never felt such bliss. He closed his eyes, feeling a sense of peace wash over him.

“F
ucking vampires.” Matt was still muttering and cursing the next day. “He’s manipulating her. Making her believe she’s there by choice.”

“Maybe she is,” said Dani. Matt shot her a withering glare, but she ignored it. “Maybe she is where she wants to be. I mean, I know you think she’s fragile and helpless and all, but she’s not.”

Matt glared at her. Ana
was
fragile. She was small, even by human standards. He could snap her in two with barely a thought, as could any member of his pack. Even Dani had to be careful when she gave Ana one of her exuberant hugs. He told her as much.

“Okay, she won’t win any smack downs,” Dani conceded, pointedly ignoring Matt’s snarl. “But there aren’t many who would win a physical contest against a vamp as old as Vlane Masterson. She’s strong
inside
, Matt.”

He laughed at that, but his wolf was so close to the surface, it came out sounding more like a bark. “Yes, she has spirit, but she’s too soft. Christ, I’ve seen her stop her car in the middle of the road to move a frigging box turtle out of the way. And she’s already proven she has little to no self-preservation instinct. She picked up a goddamn injured wolf from the side of the highway. What does that tell you?”

It was Dani’s turn to glare. “Thank God she did. I wouldn’t be here otherwise.”

He sighed. “I know. I can’t even think about what might have happened if she didn’t.”

And just that quickly, a slew of vivid, graphic images slammed into him.  Memories he had somehow forgotten.  Matt gripped the counter to retain his balance.  It was as if a dam had suddenly given way and flooded his mind. “Son of a bitch.”

“What’s wrong?”

“That night...”

“What about that night?”

“Ana. She ... did things.”

“Yeah, she saved my life.”

“No. I mean, yes, she did, but not like you think.” At Dani’s blank stare, he continued, “You were too out of it. You didn’t see her that night. I did.”

That gave Dani pause. “What are you talking about?”

“She helped you, Dani, but you almost killed her.”

“What?” Dani suddenly felt ill. The color drained from her face and she leaned back against the sofa. “I would never hurt Ana.”

“You were out of your mind, Dani. You didn’t know what you were doing.”

“Tell me.”

Matt looked as though he’d rather do anything but. He closed his eyes against the images of that night. Of his baby sister lying on the table, broken and bloodied, barely clinging to life. Of the tiny human (or so he thought) female nearly looking as bad, working frantically over her. He could even hear Ana’s words in his head as she repeated them, over and over:
Want to live! Want to heal! Wish it!

It hadn’t made sense then, but it did now. Dani had tasted Ana’s blood; she must have in the many times she’d ripped into her flesh. “She let you bite her because she knew it was the only way to save you.”

The onslaught of images continued, each one more horrific than the last. How could he possibly have forgotten?

“Matt, what are you talking about? That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Dani, there’s something you need to know about Ana...”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Dani whispered after Matt explained it all to her.

Matt didn’t have a suitable answer. Even now, he felt Ana’s bloodied hand on his chest, over his heart, speaking to him in that soft voice, making him forget.

“She...asked me not to. She knew you would feel bad about it. I didn’t understand. I didn’t know about her blood then, what it could do. I thought she was just a crazy human with a death wish, but the next time I saw her, her injuries were just minor, so I thought I’d imagined it. Christ, Dani, you’re my baby sister, and you were in such bad shape. It was all so hazy...”

* * *

D
ani sank back into the sofa and closed her eyes, trying to shut out the gory images Matt’s explicit descriptions crafted. She could almost see it. Sascha screaming for help. Ana trying to break the grip of Dani’s jaws from her arm. Ana straddling over her in an attempt to keep her still enough to shoot her up with some tranquilizers. Ana pleading with her to want to pull through. And finally, the look of shock on Ana’s face when Dani whipped her head up in one final lunge and clamped it around Ana’s neck...

That she could do such things to Ana revolted and horrified her. Matt was right. Ana was tiny. She was fragile. By all logic, she never should have survived.

She never should have survived
...

“Matt,” Dani said slowly, her voice shaky as her own vivid memories returned in a rush. “I tore out her throat.”

Matt shook his head. “No. She was in bad shape, but not that bad.”

Dani knew better. She
remembered
. Suddenly, a flood of other memories resurfaced, too. Of Ana cradling her to her neck, telling her it would all be okay. Of sitting in Ana’s kitchen only a few days ago while Ana told her about her blood and what it could do.

“She messed with our memories,” Dani said, feeling the truth of it. Her big, golden brown eyes met Matt’s. “She didn’t want us to know.”

“Didn’t want us to know what?”

“
She’s immortal.
”

* * *

W
hen Ana’s rumbling stomach woke her, she was alone, but something told her she hadn’t been so for long. Though she had been sleeping solo her entire life, she now felt strangely bereft. Rolling over, the sheets were cool, but that wasn’t enough to suggest how long ago he’d left. Vlane’s skin was not as warm as a human’s, and definitely did not hold the heat of a Were. It wasn’t unpleasant, though.

The pillow next to hers held his scent. She buried her face in it and breathed in deeply; it reminded her of moonlight and the first cool nights of autumn.

With a stretch, she sat up, feeling more rested than she had in weeks. A rhythmic thumping drew her gaze to the floor, where Samson sat beside a large ceramic bowl of water and an empty food dish.

Her heart swelled.
Vlane had taken care of Samson while she slept in.

Ana swung her legs over the side of the bed and slid to the floor. After greeting Samson with a few words and a nice scratch, she padded into the massive bathroom to see to some necessities. When she was finished, she searched for something to wear. The scrubs she had arrived in were nowhere to be found and the sexy, white, silk lingerie left her feeling a little too exposed to go wandering about the mansion in search of something to eat.

The massive walk-in closet was a study in black: black slacks, black jeans, black shirts, black shoes. Why was she not surprised? The man was a study in black. She wondered if he really liked the color that much or if it was some kind of vampire thing, symbolic and fitting for so-called ‘creatures of the night’. Clearly, Vlane was able to move and function during the daylight hours. She would have to ask him about that at some point.

There was so much she didn’t know about immortals. About vampires. About Vlane. What she did know is that at some point over the last twenty-four hours, things had changed dramatically. Nearly all of her fear had vanished, and in its place was an underlying feeling of contentment. Of rightness. As if, after years and years of moving around, she was finally exactly where she belonged.