RAFE'S LAIR (9 page)

                                 CHAPTER 15

      It had been four days since Ava woke up hurting like hell and not knowing why. She didn't hurt quite as bad, but the pain in her chest wouldn't go away. It actually felt like it was getting worse. She still felt like she was missing something very important, but she couldn't for the life of her figure out what. Marie had bugged her every day about going to Lair until she finally gave in and agreed. Ava really didn't want to go still though. After waking up Monday morning like she had, she was actually afraid to go. She couldn't explain why, she just was.

She checked her rear view mirror again and noticed the same car had been following her for a while. She was on her way home from a very long day at work. She hadn't slept for shit every night having ex
plicit dreams about a man, but she never saw his face, only heard his voice. He had a sexy deep voice that she always felt like it belonged to someone she knew, yet she could never see who it was. She actually used the term man loosely. Her dream always ended the same way. Him biting into her neck right before she climaxed. The dream woke her up reaching for her neck every time too.

She pulled down her street checking to see if the car followed her. It didn't, but that only made her feel marginally better.
Last night and tonight she'd felt like she was being followed yet she couldn't prove it. She wasn't going to tell Marie about it, she would just tell Ava she was imaging it. Maybe she was. Maybe the lack of sleep and other things going on were stressing her out too much. She'd been very jittery since Monday. Ava pulled up to their building and hit the remote for the gate driving into her spot, she shut off her car and sat staring into space.

The demon had led her straight to Rafe's mate. The silly girls tho
ught they would be safe behind that pathetic gate. The idiot demon had taken no precautions when checking on the girl. She had followed the mate the past two nights to learn her routine. She was quite a creature of habit and that made taking her a little too easy. No matter.

She had to ensure Rafe was present when she killed his precious mate. She was not ready to do so yet. Rafe would be present, but he needed to be restrained to ensure he could not save the girl. She would watch the girls for the night an
d come sun rise she would retreat inside to finalize plans. She could not fail at this; she would not fail at this. Tomorrow night she would carry out her justice.

Rafe practically tackled Ed when he was informed the demon was here at Lair. They had been s
earching for four long goddamned nights. Dominic's werewolves searched during the day when Rafe and his men couldn't. Rafe had barely slept the entire four days. The little sleep he had managed to get was filled of the same dreams of his beautiful. Always with her in his arms, always with him taking her from behind, and always she was so scared of him when he first touched her.

At first Rafe thought, they were his own needs to have her completely submit to him coming out in his dreams. Then he realized she
was always scared of him and she never saw his face because he was always behind her. The dreams he was having were hers! She was at least dreaming of him. Problem was her dreams were not completely pleasant for her. Always right as she would start to cum for him, he would bite her, and he realized she always stopped immediately. She was waking up at that exact moment unsatisfied and thinking his bite was painful.

Dammit he had to find her. He had to ease her fear and her need. He didn't know how she still
remembered him as much as she did; Ed had told him he erased all trace of Rafe from her memory. Obviously not. Rafe didn't care how or why she still remembered what she did of him. The point was she did and she needed him now more than ever. Something was wrong with her. He didn't know what exactly. All he knew was that it was taking him longer and longer to calm her and get her to enjoy, and crave his touch in her dreams. He swore he could hear her cry out in fear and pain every time she woke the instant he bit her.

Rafe couldn't take it anymore. He had already decided that if Ed wasn't found by the time the sun went down tonight, then Rafe was going to tear the damn city apart till he found his mate. He would not go one more day without her. Rafe practical
ly ran straight up to Ed. He grabbed the demon's shirt in both his fists and body checked him into the wall. Shoving his face right in Ed's he grated out.

    "Where the hell is she? Tell me now before I start ripping you apart."

Ed almost lost his control of his human form when Rafe slammed him into the wall. Almost. He was still a friggin fire eater demon dammit. Fire eaters were one of the most powerful demons. Even if he weren’t such a bad ass because of that, he still wouldn't let Rafe make him look like a bitch by losing control of his form. That was the equivalent of pissing yourself in the demon world. So fucking hell no! Ed grabbed a hold of Rafe's wrists and twisted his arms till he almost broke the fuckers off. And still the vampire didn't let go. Well isn't this interesting.

    "You have a problem there snookums?" Ed asked the snarling vampire that apparently had a death wish.

    "Where is she Ed? I don't have time to play your fucking games. Dammit there's something wrong with her, and she's in danger. So tell me where the fuck she is."

Ed just smiled at Rafe. She's in danger riiiight. Not. So just cause he could and he wanted to see if steam could come out of a vampire's ears, he fucked with the guy.

    "I have absolutely no idea as to whom you are referring. I don't even think you have the right demon." Ed started laughing cause he swore he really did see steam come out of Rafe's ears. Then the guy started pounding him into the wall like that would make him talk or something. Did he not remember he was attached to a demon at the moment? Dude we grew up being tortured. Seriously? If Rafe thought this was torture to make someone talk, then they really needed to have a lesson on how to actually torture. That's when he noticed the werewolves that came up behind the vampire.

    "Kay, there's just a whole lot wrong with this picture. Dom, what the hell are you and Sloan doing in vampire territory?" He asked looking over Rafe's shoulder and noticing Rafe's boys were next to Dom's boys.

    "Rafe is telling you the truth, I believe his mate is indeed in danger" Dom told him.

Well wasn't that just a slap in the kisser. Ed looked at Sloan and saw the same expression as Dom had. When he looked at Rafe's boys and saw the same thing, he got a little worried.
What made him really wig the fuck out was that Michael was with them. FUCK!!! Ed flashed straight to Ava's condo.

Rafe fell into the wall. "NO! No! No!" He started punching the wall where Ed had been. He felt Dom grab one arm and Marcus grab the other. Hi
s fangs were fully extended and he knew his eyes were glowing brighter than ever. He started fighting them with everything he had. Rafe had to get to his mate
now!

Dom looked at Marcus struggling as much as he was trying to hold Rafe. Sloan had come around
to Rafe's front and with the help of Ethan, was trying to help restrain him. Rafe had finally lost it. They had all watched him steadily break more every night. They all knew he wasn't sleeping. When the sun was up and Rafe was trapped inside, he was on the phone with either Sloan or himself practically the entire day. Dom couldn't believe Ed just vanished once he knew something was wrong. Dom prayed with everything he had the demon went straight to the girl. He could see they were all doing the same thing. Praying.

                                  CHAPTER 16

      Ed stayed in between the worlds so he could keep his presence hidden in case there really was danger. He went through the entire condo, and only saw Marie. She was in the kitchen cooking and singing to the music she had blaring. Not good. Marie didn't look upset or afraid so hopefully that meant her friend was okay. Ed went outside to see if anything was off. Immediately he felt something there. He really started feeling it out and walking around the courtyard. He determined it was a vampire. Okaaay. What the hell was a vampire doing hanging out around this exact condo? Ed didn't recognize who it was. He was about to go see where the hell the vamp was chillin out at and why, when he saw Ava walk up to her condo.

Yeah she really didn't look too good now that he was paying attention. Ed had been checking on the girls every night to make sure they were okay. There was no way he was going to just let Rafe's mate fend for herself now that th
ey knew she existed. But he hadn't noticed how bad she was until now. She looked way too tired right now. She obviously hadn't been sleeping. She looked like she had lost some weight too. So it didn't take Sherlock to figure out the girl wasn't eating good either. What the hell?

So first, question for five hundred please. How the hell did Rafe know something was wrong with her? Second question for a thousand. What
was
wrong with her? And did it have anything to do with the vamp playing peeping tom? Okay that was two questions, but that's why it was worth more dough when he answered correctly.

Before Ava went inside, she stopped and looked around like she knew something was watching her. Well in this case sweetness, you
’re being watched by two somethings. Damn good thing at least one of those somethings has your back kiddo. She seemed to shake herself back to life and shaking her head, she went inside. Ed followed her in to see if she would talk to her friend and since he was playing peeping tom too, tell him as well.

Marie was in the kitchen when Ava walked in. Ava immediately locked all the locks and set the alarm. She set down her bags and followed the sounds and smells of Marie cooking. Marie was a damn good cook. In fact she was teaching Ava how to do it,
cause she had no freakin clue how. Ava honestly never cared to learn until she met Marie. She now found she loved to cook. It relaxed her and gave her something positive to focus on. Now would be a good time to do a little cooking. Too bad, she couldn't even care about that right now.

    "Hey there baby girl." Marie said looking up to see Ava walking into their spacious kitchen.

They both loved this kitchen. It was actually one of the selling points on this place. It had lots of windows that looked out into their own little patio. The patio had a huge stone wall enclosing it in just for them. They had planted flowers, put in a fountain, and turned it into a little oasis in the middle of the city. The kitchen had French doors that opened out to it. There was a large island where the stove was and a fair amount of prep area so two people could work on it. There was more counter space than they knew what to do with and a little breakfast nook right there close to the doors in a bay window. The whole space was open and bright.

Ava only halfheartedly responded to her with a little wave as she sat down on one of the stools at the bar. Mar
ie was starting to get a little worried about her friend. Ava wasn't acting like herself. Come to think of it, she had steadily been getting worse since Monday. She knew Ava wasn't sleeping. Her friend never slept great anyway, but every night Marie heard Ava cry out then she would get up and Marie didn't think she would go back to sleep after that. Marie had thought it was just from her being uneasy about them not remembering what they did Sunday night. But she still wasn't getting better, she was actually getting worse.

    "So I made jerk chicken with the shrimp salad you like. Hope you
’re hungry. It's a nice night so I thought it would be nice to eat out on the patio." Marie said to Ava hoping to see some life in her friend.

Ava looked up at Marie and pa
nicked at the mention of spending time outside. She got up, went, and poured herself a glass of wine.

    "I really don't feel like being outside, in fact I'm pretty beat so I think I'm just going to go take a bath and unwind. I'm sure I'll be ready for so
me food after that." She started to head out of the kitchen when Marie stopped her.

    "Ava sweetie what's going on? Are you okay, cause
you’re starting to worry me."

Ava really didn't want to do this right now. Hell she didn't want to do this ever. She tur
ned back to Marie and plastered a smile on her face.

    "I'm fine. Like I said, I'm just tired; I've had a long day and just need to relax a little. That
’s all."

Marie looked at her friend not believing the BS she'd just told her one bit. "Ava, I love you
, but don't give me that shit. Okay? I know you're waking up at night, and I know you're not going back to sleep. And I sure as hell know you're barely eating, so talk to me baby girl. Please tell me what's going on." Marie pleaded with her best friend. Hell Ava was now more her sister than a damn friend. Ava gave a heavy sigh that afterward made her look even worse.

    "I don't know what's wrong Marie, that's the problem." She almost cried. Ava went back to the bar and sat down.

    "Okay so tell me what you do know." Marie said coming to sit down beside Ava.

    "I don't even know where to start, and you'll just tell me I'm over reacting."

    "I promise I won't tell you that. Start with why you aren't sleeping. You woke up Monday morning after a bad dream. Are you still having bad dreams?"

    "It's the same dream over and over." At Marie's look, she knew Marie expected her to tell her what the dream was about, so she gave her the abridged version. "It's about this guy that I don't ever see, but I hear hi
m talking to me and somehow I know his voice. But I have absolutely no idea how I know that voice. This is going to sound so stupid, but he bites me in the neck." Ava looked at Marie to see her reaction to that. She was surprised to see her still with a concerned look.

    "Like as in bite like Dracula bite, or damn baby you look hot I wanna take a bite outta your ass bite?" Marie asked and made Ava laugh. That was a good sign.

Ava had to laugh at her friend. Marie even made the biting motion and shook her head a little. She even added the growling sound effects.

    "Like Dracula bite."

    "Hmm okay, that is a little creepy." Marie said nodding her head. "Any idea why you’re having that dream? You just said you don't know what he looks like, but you know his voice. You know his voice in real life, or just in your dream?"

    "I feel like I've heard it somewhere in real life. As far as why I'm having the dream, no clue. I can't help but wonder if it has something to do with Sunday night. I know you think I'm
over reacting about it, but it started Monday morning. That's what woke me up."

Ava continued on before Marie could say anything to that. She was talking about it, so she might as well spill it all now. "I woke up hurting like hell. My head feels better,
but my chest still aches like I'm missing something there. Like something very important was taken away from me. Something that I love. Look I know how stupid it sounds, but I can't make it go away, and it keeps getting worse."

Ava was in tears by the time
she finished talking, and she found herself wrapped in Marie's arms. She let Marie hold her while she cried for a little. Ava needed to for some reason. She felt like her soul was grieving for whatever it was that was gone.

Ed couldn't believe what he was hearing. She remembered pieces of Rafe and without knowing everything, the pieces she did know were scaring her to death. She didn't understand that Rafe's drinking from her wasn't meant to be painful. It was going to be pu
re pleasure meant only for the two of them. When he drank from her while he was making love to her, it would be unlike anything either of them had ever felt before. She would come to crave his bite just as much as he would crave drinking from her. Rafe already knew how much drinking from a woman while he was taking her enhanced both their climaxes. What he didn't know was that was nothing compared to what it would feel like with his mate.

How the hell could she remember Rafe in the first place? Ed had person
ally stripped Rafe from her mind. He knew there was no way he'd fucked up at that. Shit he did it to humans all the time, so why was she different? Unless it had to do with them being mates, but Ed didn't know how there was any way that would affect his wipe. No matter the reason, this was not good. Ava was suffering badly. She wasn't supposed to suffer at all. Rafe was supposed to suffer like hell for what he did, not her.
Shit!
Ed was just about to leave when Ava started talking again.

    "I know this is
going to make me sound even crazier than I already do, but I swear I'm being followed. I have no proof, but I can't shake the feeling of being watched. And I swear the same car has followed me to our street the past two nights."

Double fucking shit!!!
Ed thought he was going to explode right fucking now. Time to go find out how in the holy hell Rafe knew there was something going on with his girl if he didn't know who she was. And if the danger he was referring to was the vamp that's obviously following her. He went back outside to see if the peeper, now dubbed stalker, was still there. If the vamp was, he couldn't leave till the sun started to rise. Sure enough, when he got outside stalker was still there, so he pulled out his phone to call Dom. He figured Rafe had been through enough, he sure looked like hell. Almost as bad as his mate. Man Ed was gonna feel bad about her hurting for a long time. Probably the rest of his ridiculously long ass life.

Dom and the others had finally managed to knock Rafe ou
t. It'd literally taken them giving him a tranquilizer to do it. They had managed to get him back to his apartment above Lair and had restrained him for when he came to using the real chains and restraints Rafe and Michael had. Which looked like it would be soon by the way he was starting to pull at his restraints. Well his happy drugs sure as hell didn't last long. Everybody was starting to get really worried. If the drugs weren't keeping him under, they weren't too sure the restraints would do much good either. They all agreed that if Ed made Rafe lose his mate, or if she got hurt cause of him, they'd all find a way to kill that fucking demon. His phone rang and he snatched it up. He looked at the ID on the screen and breathed for the first time in days it seemed.

    "You better tell me really good fucking news demon."

    "It's not great news, but I'm at the girl's place. She's alive and she's fine, but there's a vamp I don't know hanging around here. Did any of you do that?" Ed said.

Dom almost threw the
goddamn phone against the wall. Fuck! How had the vampire found her?

    "That's what Rafe was trying to tell you dammit!" He yelled back at the fire eater he was seriously growing to hate. "No we didn't have her follow Rafe's mate. We found out she was f
ollowing Rafe when he went looking for you to get you to tell him his mate's name at least."

    "Why has nobody told me any of this
dammit?" Ed yelled back at Dom.

    "We've been trying to find your sorry meddling ass for four fucking days! I've had the
packs all over the world looking for you."

    "That's bull shit and you fucking know it Dom. I talked to one of your pack members two days ago and he never told me anyone was looking for me. In fact, he told me he would tell you he'd talked to me. He also
told me that you knew about what Rafe did and you were one hundred percent behind me on it. That..."

    "Stop right there Ed. I was never informed you were found. I have been trying to call you, why have you not answered my calls?" Dom asked him. There w
as way more going on here than they originally thought. "Who of my pack did you talk to?" Dom would personally rip apart whoever it was that had betrayed Rafe and therefore Dominic himself.

    "I haven't answered any calls because I haven't received any a
sshole. And the guy was one I haven't seen before. His name was Fred, or Frank, hell I don't fuckin know. If I saw him, I'd know him." Now Ed was fucking pissed. What in the hell was going on here? "Look Dom, I'm staying here at Ava's until the vamp leaves, I won't leave her or Marie alone to fend for themselves just in case. I don't know what the fuck is going on, but I can't leave these girls undefended now. They know nothing so their sitting ducks man. Rafe can get pissed at me all he wants..."

    "No y
ou stay with them I agree. I will keep Rafe calm for now. But Ed I'm telling you now, he can't go much longer without her. He's paid for what he did more than you or I can know. Tell me you have a way to ease him back into her life." Dom told Ed.

    "Look
from what I've seen of Ava tonight, she can't take much more of this either. I'm going to figure out how to get her back to him. But Dom, somethings up so neither one of them are safe, even if their together."