What Lies Inside (A Blood Bound Novel, Book 1) (49 page)

Marcus took my bag and warily escorted us from the castle to a shiny, black Rolls Royce. A motorbike would have been a cooler getaway, but I wasn’t about to argue and slow us down. I just wanted to get moving, the sooner the better.

It was still daylight. The brilliant globe was high in the sky, casting warm radiance over the horizons rolling mountains. In vampire terms it was night, the light hours that all vampires apart from me avoided.

Marcus moved to the driver’s side window, speaking to the chauffeur under his breath. Kendrick, now wearing beige cargo pants and a polo shirt, jumped into the backseat and scooted into the tinted windows’ cover. For just a few seconds before his retreat, I experienced something for the very first time. Through the otherworldly bond we shared, I actually felt what it was like to have the sunlight kissing a vampire’s naked flesh. It was warmer than I had expected. A growing heat that sent crawling tingles up my arms and across my face. It was a little uncomfortable. Still, compared to the agony of being drained alive, it was tolerable. Like an almost welcome sensation that showed me what it was like to be ordinary, as ordinary as any vampire could be. Sweat began to bead along my brow and above my upper lip. It was another reminder that I was still alive.

A gripping hand caught my wrist and hauled me into the backseat.
You will never be ordinary.
Kendrick smiled, lacing his fingers through mine.
To me, you are and always will be, extraordinary.

“Ahem,” Marcus interrupted, poking his head through the open back door. He removed his pea coat and hurled it at me. “Use it as a pillow, if you want.”

A frozen wince was painted across his face. I wondered if the sun across the exposed flesh between his hairline and collared shirt caused the expression. But he didn’t flinch, rush his words, or try in any way to evade the light.

“My driver will deliver you both to Anchorage International. Your tickets home will be waiting.” On seeing my confused frown Marcus waved me off. “Don’t worry. I compelled him. He won’t remember whom he’s transporting. He won’t even remember leaving…”

“No, not that,” I cut him off. “Aren’t you coming?”

Marcus shook his head. His hair caught the sunlight and gleamed like spun white gold. “No. Caius doesn’t know I had anything to do with you surviving, or your escape.” A resigned smile tugged at his lips, revealing pearly white teeth. “Besides, my life is here. And you’ll both need someone to keep an eye on Caius. I can give you a heads up if he decides to come after you.”

“But—” I began to argue but stopped. Kendrick’s clasp on my hand had tightened.

“Marcus is right,” Kendrick said. But I questioned his motive, feeling a slither of jealousy for the connection I felt to Marcus.

A long, drawn-out sigh blew from my lips. Kendrick’s ulterior motives aside, I ached not to leave Marcus. I wanted to figure out and understand this connection we shared, but I couldn’t deny logic. This decision was best for all of us. My hand broke Kendrick’s hold and I threw my arms around Marcus’s neck. A ripple of possessiveness surged through me, Kendrick’s. I ignored the irritation and squeezed my arms around Marcus tighter. “Thank you, for everything.”

Before I was ready to let go, Marcus wriggled out of my grasp. He reached into the inside pocket of his discarded pea coat across the back seat. Then he hesitated. “Now, remember. Everything I did was to help you.” He pulled out a manila folder that had been folded in half and handed it over.

An amalgamation of events filtered to the surface of my mind. Without opening the front cover, I knew exactly what lay heavy in my hands. It was the same manila folder I had found in the library over a week ago. The inside pages held detailed events of my life.

“You compelled me to forget.” The words I spoke held no accusation, just the strain of confusion.

A tense smile thinned Marcus’s pale lips. “I know. But I hope it will help you discover who you are and the secrets of your past.”

With a frown Marcus straightened, swung the car door shut and tapped on the roof. Instantly the Rolls took off, tires skidding over the cobblestone lane. The castle’s great walls and reaching towers shrunk, disappearing into the distance. The weight, a pressing bolder against my chest, began to lift. I hated the thought of leaving Marcus behind. Still the guys had been right. It was safer for Marcus to stay. The double-edged sword was that we needed him be our eyes and ears, our warning of approaching threat.

I shrugged into Marcus’s pea coat and settled into the comfortable leather backseat of the Rolls Royce. Lush green and snow-topped rolling mountains passed by. A running stream snaked in and out of the mountainous terrain. Sometimes it disappeared completely. Then minutes later it would reappear, running almost adjacent to the beaten, gravel road. Humming the Three Days Grace song
‘Now or never’
, I knew our lives had changed. Our future and innocence would never be the same. I had been weak and unaware, an easy pick. Never again.

“So, are you going to open that?” Kendrick asked, disrupting my resolution. He was staring intensely at the manila folder that sat heavy in my hands.

The memory of its contents burned into my mind. Kendrick of course knew with my own recollection what I had originally discovered inside the cover. Most of the contents had been recapped events detailing my life. Then there was the photo of Caius cradling two infants. And lastly the recipe Marcus had used to poison me. Through our blood’s bond I could feel a stream of anticipation coiling through Kendrick’s chest. He was dying to lay his eyes on the information. To see if it could shed any light on why Caius believed my blood would make him immortal. To know how the affinity for spirit could reside within my body and soul.

But I couldn’t bear to open the cover, not yet. Resolution or not, it was all too much. After everything that had happened and after almost dying, it was a miracle that I wasn’t stark-raving mad. The fact that I was maintaining an exterior air of control was amazing. But that was the outside. Inside I felt raw to the bone, filled with self-doubt. A gripping pain stung my heart. It had been growing ever since my awakening. I had tried to ignore it, to push it aside, to only focus on our escape. But the thought of Ty had never fully left my mind. A choking sob constricted my throat.

Kendrick hauled me against his side, rubbing a broad hand up and down my arm. “We’ll worry about it later. There’s no rush.” He reached into his pocket and handed me his iPhone.

“What’s this for?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

Kendrick shrugged and turned his head. He peered blankly out the window at the thickening green and white rush of snow-veiled forestry. “So you can call him.”

Needing to hear Ty’s voice almost more than I needed to breath, I snatched the phone and dialed his number. With every passing ring my heart dropped. Then the ringing stopped and everything fell silent.

After the longest moment of heart-racing suspense, Ty’s hesitant voice finally answered, “Hello?”

“Ty, it’s me. It’s Amelia.”

A long exhale sounded, followed by a moment of nerve-racking silence. “What do you want?”

My pierced heart sank to the depths of my twisting stomach. In our last conversation I had declared that I didn’t want or love him anymore. I had metaphorically ripped out his beating heart with sharp-nailed fingers. He may have been concerned enough to call Dorian afterward, but his anger over what I had put him through was unmistakable. “I have so much to tell you.” My vision blurred. “And I need you to know…
I’m sorry
.”

Next to me Kendrick’s inner angst reared its ugly head. He could hear every heartfelt thought I wanted to blurt out, and feel every intense emotion I was experiencing. The desperate need to reaffirm my undying love for Ty was clear as day. And the total fear that stole my breath at possibly having lost him forever confirmed it all.

“You’re telling me this, why?” Ty’s voice was utterly emotionless.

Every part of me ached to put his mind at ease. But I knew I couldn’t. Not now. Not like this. And especially not with Kendrick right beside me, filling my head with his not-so-latent jealousy. I choked on my words. “We’re coming home.”

“I thought your home was there,” Ty goaded.

“No! That place will
never
be my home.” My free hand curled around my disheveled hair and tugged. Without chocolate I needed to do something to distract me from bursting into tears. “Ty, I made a mistake.”

“What does that mean?” Still his voice held no emotion.

“The dream… I didn’t mean what I said, none of it. I still…” The words,
I love you,
died on my tongue as I fought back a blubbering sob. I cleared my throat and blinked my vision clear. “I can’t explain now, but I will, as soon as we’re back.”

I hung up the phone and dropped my head into my hands. How did everything become such a mess? To my surprise, Kendrick didn’t bother to answer my unasked question. Instead he simply placed a broad hand over my back. This was hard for him, I realized. Of course it was. Kendrick wanted nothing more than to comfort me, but my tormented feelings for Ty crippled him. No matter what I did, said, or thought, I would hurt him. There was no way to hide my feelings for Ty from him. There was no way to downplay them to ease his suffering. Now and forever, he would know exactly what my heart held.

I slumped into the leather seat and opened the cover of the manila folder. For my sake and for his, I needed to contemplate something other than Ty.

Kendrick stiffened beside me, staring at the black and white photo above a bunch of papers. The photo was set in a room surrounded by stone walls and rustic, antique furnishings. A wall lantern burned behind Caius’s head. Kendrick sent me a mentally confirming nudge. The photo had been taken at the Armaya, inside my former uncle’s private quarters. “Marcus had this?”

“Yeah,” I said, voice hesitant. “Why?”

Kendrick plucked the photo from my lap and raised it to his eyes, studying. “That’s you in Caius’s left arm, isn’t it?” I nodded. “And in his right arm…”

Anxiety sent blood rushing to my extremities, leaving my head airy and light. “Oh my God, that’s Marcus?”

Feeling lightheaded, I swayed. Kendrick steadied my body before I could slump into unconsciousness. He propped me back against car seat, hearing the drowning suspicion fogging up my mind.

“You don’t really think that, do you?”

I bit my lip and nodded. “Why else would Caius have had that photo taken?” Ice crystallized beneath my skin. “It’s a memento, the beginning of this experiment. And Marcus is a part of it.” I remembered with fond-horror the electric connection I felt toward Marcus. This was the explanation I’d been looking for. “I don’t think I’m the only one with immortal blood. I think Caius poisoned Marcus too.”

“Oh my God!” Mom exclaimed as we entered the front door. She rushed to squash me in her arms. “You’re okay?” Her hands gripped my shoulders, holding me at arms-length. Her tear-reddened eyes studied me head to toe. “I can’t believe it. I was so worried. And Caius, he’s been beside himself.”

What the hell did that bastard tell her? I felt like screaming as Mom switched back and forth between hugging and studying me, as if looking for an injury.

At her words Kendrick’s expression had turned indignant. He shrugged with a deep sigh then looked sideways at Dorian.
He’s not doing so well.

Dorian’s face was a ghastly shade of gray. He stood leaning into the foyer’s glass-topped table. It was a sturdy piece of furniture, which was good. It appeared to be the only thing holding him upright.

After a quick call he’d eagerly volunteered to pick us up from the airport after dropping off his latest squeeze. On his arrival he’d been full of questions. But that didn’t last. As Kendrick and I unveiled Caius’s plan to take my life, he’d quickly turned to shell-shocked silence. He managed to utter at some point that he believed us, but hadn’t spoken a single word since. He hadn’t even waited to cool our car’s turbo down when we’d arrived home.

“Caius called only an hour ago,” Mom went on, oblivious to Dorian’s detached expression. “He’s had the entire community on high-alert, searching tirelessly since morning for you both. After the security breach, and when he couldn’t find either of you…” Her voice dropped to a choking whisper. “He feared the worst.”

Security breach? Caius had used the same excuse to lure me down to his office. Yet I knew through Kendrick’s trained thoughts, that there had never been an actual security breech. Well, none that had raised any alarm before we escaped. Back then Caius’s plan had been to shift the blame of my death onto my best friend. But when he couldn’t find us…

He created a cover up.
Kendrick sent his silent message through our bond.
It was the perfect diversion to clear him of ANY wrongdoing.

Caius’s arrogance lit a fury within me that spread to encapsulate every inch of my flesh. I had to grate my teeth to keep my mouth from shouting, that son of a bitch! Instead I curled my hands into fists behind my back while struggling to keep my rising voice level. “He said we could be dead?”

Mom’s chin trembled with the promise of fresh tears. “But you’re not. You’re both okay.” She fished with shaking hands into her pantsuit pocket and pulled out her mobile. Clearly she’d already been dressed for work prior to Caius’s panicked call. “I must call your uncle. Tell him you’re both okay.”

“Wait!” I shouted.

My eyes flicked to Kendrick who dipped his head in support. “Ms. Lamont, we have something important we need to tell you first.”

“I’m sorry, Kendrick, but whatever you have to say can wait.” Mom’s fingers were already keying that monster’s number. “Caius is wrecked with fear for you both. He has to know you’re safe.”

The phone had begun ringing. Before Mom could raise it to her ear, Dorian shot forward stilling her hand with his. She looked up, startled.

Dorian’s eyes trained on hers, trapping her wide-eyed gaze. “Mom, please. Give us a minute. You need to hear what we have to say.”

Mom’s expression fell slack for a brief moment. Excited hope swelled inside me. My brother, sneaky, shifty, but talented Dorian, was compelling her, another vampire.