Chapter 21
I finished the tour of the rest of the house and was currently sitting—well, sprawling actually—on a sofa in the gathering room of the basement with a book spread out on my lap. I'd long lost interest in reading the western period novel about the Pony Express and was instead staring at Shelly.
Sitting next to me, her face wrinkled up in distaste as she perused though a book of her own, Alien Anatomy, that sported an illustration of a little green man with a big head standing next to a flying saucer on the cover.
"I would die before I would let any of these goo dripping tentacles touch me in any sort of manner, let alone a reproductive one," she said with a slight gag.
"Good thing Brad isn't an alien then." I laughed, and she slammed the book closed in disgust.
"Well, that's debatable," Vance added from his chair across the room where he was devouring a book on demonic cultures of the middle ages.
"Hey," Brad replied from the floor, reaching out in an attempt to slam his fist against one of Vance's boots. Vance moved too quickly, causing Brad's hand to hit the rug under his feet instead.
He chuckled and Brad groaned. "You're gonna have to try harder than that, buddy," Vance said with a grin.
Sitting up, Brad ran his hands through his sandy blond hair. "I can't take it anymore. I've got to get out of here and do something physical for a while. Is anyone interested in hiking around the area with me?"
"I'll go," I piped up, anxious to be anywhere but here at the moment. "Just let me go get my shoes on."
"Awesome." Brad smiled.
"I'll be back in a little while," I said to Vance, going over to his chair and kissing him on the cheek. "Enjoy your book."
"What stretch of the imagination has led you to believe I'd allow you to wander off alone with this depraved guy?" Vance asked, tipping his head at Brad.
Brad looked back, completely unscathed. "That's right. Look who the blood drinker is calling depraved," he ribbed. "But don't you worry, I'll take really good care of your girl."
"That's it!" Vance slammed his book shut in feigned disgust. "I'm coming with you!" Stomping across the room with purpose, he grabbed Shelly by the arm, yanking her flush against him. "You can be my date, pretty lady," he said, giving her a smoldering look. "We can't let these two have all the fun together."
Shelly blushed furiously, and I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing out loud as Brad grabbed me by the arm, thrusting me toward Vance, yanking Shelly away from him in the process.
"You've already seduced one girl here with your charms—you don't need to add mine to the list." Brad put his arm protectively around Shelly.
"Then quit playing a game you can't possibly hope to win," Vance countered with a smirk. "You keep your girl too starved for affection. She can't help but notice my charm."
Brad snorted. "You have no idea about what she is or isn't starved for."
Shelly blushed even harder.
"Oh, I think I do, my friend, and you're just as bad off as she is," Vance taunted.
"Enough!" I laughed, jumping in to intervene before Brad felt the need to prove himself right there in front of us. "Quit being such a merciless tease," I said to Vance.
"Just trying to keep things interesting, baby." He smiled, pulling me closer for a quick kiss. "Hurry up and get your shoes on so we can get out of here."
I popped upstairs and grabbed a pair shoes, quickly putting them on and met the others by the back door.
"We're going hiking," Vance informed the group sitting around the kitchen table together playing a game of cards to pass the time.
"Okay. Be careful, but have fun!" Grandma called, not even looking up.
"If you walk about a dozen yards past the wards, you'll find a trail that'll lead out to a waterfall. It's not a bad hike, around a couple of miles I'd say. It's a pretty little place if you want to go check it out," Earl suggested.
"Oh, that sounds wonderful," I replied, giving him a grateful smile.
Krista got up and came to Vance. "It looks like it might rain though. Do you want to take a jacket?" she asked in a motherly fashion, and he smiled tenderly at her.
"No thanks, Mom. I'll be okay." He touched her cheek lightly. "Go play your game and have a good time. Unless you'd rather come with us?"
"I'll stay here." She smiled. "Thanks for the invite though. I don't want to spoil the fun of you young people."
"That would never happen. And quit calling yourself old. You're perfect."
"Here, here!" my mom called out raising her glass of juice towards us. "She's the same age I am, and I'm definitely not old!"
Everyone laughed as we walked out the door.
"That's sweet your mom's still so protective of you, Vance," Shelly remarked.
"I think she missed all those years of mothering me since we've been apart." Vance said, walking toward the pump house. "It doesn't bother me. I missed her too. Marsha was very good to me, but no one can ever take the place of one's own mother."
"Where are you going?" I asked him.
"First rule of hiking, Portia, always carry plenty of water with you. I found a supply of canteens in here on a shelf when I was looking around earlier." He pulled the door open.
I shrugged at his comment. "I figured I would just pop us back here if we got thirsty."
"And what if it were a water emergency?" his voice echoed back to me.
"A water emergency? Like what?" I laughed, as he emerged from the shed carrying four canteens. "We are hiking to a waterfall after all. I would assume we'd have plenty."
"I just want to be prepared." Smiling, he handed me one before passing the others along to Brad and Shelly. We filled them quickly, and set out on our way.
Vance casually grabbed hold of my hand as we wound our way through the thick foliage together. The light in the forest was dim, due to the overcast weather, giving an almost otherworldly feel to the lush surroundings.
"I could live out here forever, I think," Shelly said, breaking the silence as she traveled next to Brad. "It's so peaceful and untouched."
Brad snorted. "You'd only last until you felt the urge to go shopping somewhere. Then that platinum credit card would call you back to civilization like a siren's song."
Shelly sighed. "That's true, I guess. But I could always come here to vacation and get away from it all. Build a nice cabin. Just something small, two or three stories with a spa and a great library for reading."
"Good luck with that." Brad laughed. "You realize this land is protected so it will stay this way."
"Fine, Brad." Shelly pouted. "I will come and vacation with Earl. Is that what you want to hear?"
"Or you could build your dream house and magic it with wards the same way, so no one would know it was here," Vance suggested.
"That's cheating, Vance," I chided. "Earl's house was built here when it was legal."
"I know. Just offering up a suggestion." He squeezed my hand. "Surely Shelly wouldn't be that detrimental to the environment."
Brad snorted again, and Shelly elbowed him in the ribs.
"Ouch!" he exclaimed, rubbing the spot.
"Keep your snorts to yourself," Shelly said brushing ahead of him.
Vance chuckled under his breath.
"What?" Brad asked, glaring at him suspiciously.
"I don't know what to think about a guy who can't control his woman," he answered barbarically.
I mimicked Shelly's motion, elbowing him in the ribs as well. "Don't be a pig," I said moving ahead of him towards Shelly. He laughed, letting me fall into step beside her, and I hooked my arm through hers.
"Looks like you aren't any better than I am," Brad grumbled behind us.
"Wanna bet?" Vance challenged. Reaching forward, he grabbed me, turning me to him. I opened my mouth to protest, but he smashed his lips to mine, sinking his tongue between my open lips, circling me in his arms and holding me close.
Sparks of fire exploded through me, and I wrapped my arms around him, kissing him back. I knew he was taunting Brad, but I couldn't make myself pull away, falling completely under his spell.
The forest around us melted away, and there was only him—the feel of him, the taste of him, and the sound of his heavy breathing mixing with mine. It was like someone threw a switch that polarized us, drawing us together like magnets that couldn't break apart.
His hands slid up, grasping the sides of my face, and he drew away slightly, staring down at me.
"I love you," he whispered.
"I love you too," I replied, looking back into his flaming eyes.
The air around us was completely silent as we stared at each other. Vance leaned down and kissed my lips lightly again.
"We're making a scene."
"No." He shook his head slightly and smiled. "The two of them slipped off through the trees together."
"How do you know?" I glanced around. "You didn't even look." Sure enough, Brad and Shelly were gone. "How'd you know they left?" I asked.
"I heard them. Brad grabbed Shelly as soon as I started kissing you, and they took off." He cocked his head to the side, listening. "They're up the path just a bit." A grin stole over his face. "And he's kissing her."
"You mean you can hear them?" I asked, straining my eyes and ears for any sign, but getting nothing.
"Yes." He continued to stare at me.
"Can you always hear like that?"
"No. It's something new I've discovered. I've always been attune to you and your thoughts. I never really noticed if I focused hard on someone else I could sometimes hear what they were doing. I think it must be one of those powers I assimilated from my father. One I didn't know anything about."
Suddenly I had a flashback of Damien holding me in his grip, leaning over me.
"I hear you two when you're together. You know that, don't you?" he'd said.
Chills washed over me as I realized how much he'd probably been spying on us.
"What is it?" Vance asked, noticing my pained expression.
I couldn't speak it, instead opening my mind and showing him the memory. His jaw clenched, flexing, and his eyes flared. Stalking off, he walked over to a nearby tree, putting a hand out and leaning against it. Every muscle in his body was clenched as anger coursed through him.
I didn't move, instead letting him deal with his emotions. It made me ill knowing Damien had actually intruded on our private moments together. I felt violated.
Pushing away from the tree, Vance moved back toward me. He grabbed my face and tilted it up toward him, gazing deeply into my eyes. "Listen to me, Portia," he said, his voice laced thickly with feeling. "He will never touch you again. Do you understand? I don't care what I have to do—he will never touch you. I hope he enjoyed the show, because that's all he'll ever have of you."
I nodded in reply before laying my head against his chest.
"I don't know how this power works for him, but it seems to come and go for me. I don't know if it's because I'm new to the power or if there's something that fluctuates within it. If it's the same for him, then perhaps he wasn't always able to hear."
"Maybe," I said, hoping he was right. "Unless he had the cave bugged or something. He could've been watching us the whole time, not to mention the times we were sleeping, or even unconscious from blood loss." A gripping panic overtook me as I spoke the words out loud, thinking back to times when neither of us had been aware of our surroundings. "Oh my gosh! He could've done anything while we were—."
Vance grabbed me roughly. "Don't even go there, Portia! Put it out of your mind."
I couldn't even speak as I battled with myself, pushing away the thoughts that were threatening to overtake me. Vance remained silent, but his mouth was pressed in a firm line, and I realized we both knew the possibilities of that were great.
The urge to lash out at something violently almost consumed me. "Enough," I said moving away from Vance as I felt the intense anger growing inside him too. "We're accomplishing nothing by pursuing this line of thought. Let's just focus on developing whatever new powers of yours we can discover, and anything else that'll give you an edge when we face him again."
Continuing on down the path, I tried to cool myself, but when I realized he wasn't following after me, I turned around to look for him.
He was standing in the same spot, fists balled beside him, jaw clenched. Eyes flaming, a slight breeze ruffled through his hair, and I could hear the thoughts running through his head. Bad thoughts—ones that were cultivating a garden of hateful vengeance inside him, and I knew he wouldn't be appeased until he saw his father completely annihilated.
He looked like a destroyer, a demon angel, bent on obliterating everything in his path and I felt more than a little terrified. I could feel the bloodlust that rippled through him, coursing through his veins, spurring the sheer desire to kill and to keep killing.
Suddenly I was very glad we were away from the others, because I wasn't sure I'd be able to contain this man before me. He was almost unrecognizable as the thoughts of merciless slaughter whipped through his head.
I'd deluded myself. I thought keeping him fed was all he'd need to stay in control. I'd forgotten to take into account his natural tendencies for destruction, and he was going to lose it right now in this very moment.
"Vance," I called, rushing toward him, and his gaze flickered toward me as his features changed, his demon mask sliding into place, reflecting the warring emotions inside him.
He turned away, moving in the direction we'd come, and I reached out, grasping him by the arm, desperate to save the lives of those in his path.
"No, Vance," I said fervently. "Bite me instead." Whipping my long hair away from my neck, I didn't fight when he yanked me to him, sinking his fangs into my throat. He drew hard against me, gulping down great swallows of blood, and I heard a gasp rent the air. Glancing toward the trees, I saw Brad and Shelly standing there.
"Quick," I spoke with a rasp, and Vance didn't hesitate in his feeding. "Get the others out of here."