Creature of Habit: Book Two (Creature of Habit #2) (14 page)

Chapter 28

Amelia

The punching bag swung in front of me, barely shaking as I landed my shot. When Olivia said training I had no idea it would include boxing. The idea of punching a vampire in the face seemed ridiculous.

“It’s about balance and speed. Having an awareness of your opponent’s body and rhythm,” she claimed, standing behind me.

I jabbed at the bag, my arms feeling like Jell-O.

“Good,” she said, nodding.

“Can we take a break?”  I pointed to my water bottle across the room. Sweat pooled in the small of my back.

“Ugh, sorry. I keep forgetting the water and exhaustion thing. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” I screwed the top off the bottle and took a big swig. “You’re just kicking my ass a little. But in a totally good way.”

I heard a tap and saw Elijah and Ryan standing in the doorway.

“Did you guys come to mock my lame skills?” I asked.

Elijah shook his head. “No way, I’m just impressed you’re doing something.”    

“Yeah,” Ryan agreed with his large arms crossed over his chest. “The way Grant talks about you, I was thinking maybe you were incapable of taking care of yourself.”

“What?” I looked between them all. “What does he say?”

“Just that you’re the most special of the special snowflakes that has ever existed.”

Yeah, that sounded about right.

In an attempt to change the subject I said, “So how often do you guys use this room? I thought all this stuff came natural to you.”

The room itself took up most of the basement of the house. Olivia had led me down the long stairs, turning down a short hallway at the bottom. She flicked on the lights and I was surprised to find a workout room that I suspected rivaled the most equipped superhero.

Besides the punching bags and mats on the floor, the most noticeable thing in the room was the long rows of weapons lining the walls.

“Sure, we can all fight,” Elijah said. “But even we have to hone and adapt our skills. For example, Ryan obviously has the upper hand between the two of us physically. I have to either increase my speed or use one of the weapons to beat him down.”

Ryan snorted. “As if.”

“Is that a challenge?” Elijah asked.

“I think so,” Olivia said, with a wicked grin. “Fifteen seconds to prepare.”

The two men moved quickly, faster than my eyes could register. I stepped next to Olivia and said, “Uh, exactly what’s going on here?”

“There’re going to spar.”

“This happens a lot?”

“More than you would think,” she said. “You may want to stand over there, out of the way.”

I did as she suggested. Ryan and Elijah met in the middle of the room. Both men had chosen weapons. Ryan held a long sword with a heavy looking hilt. Elijah chose something smaller, lighter maybe, but it still had a thick blade with a nasty looking jagged edge.

“They aren’t going to actually use those on one another are they?”

Olivia shrugged. “They’ll heal.”

Oh.

Olivia moved to the middle of the room and placed a hand on each vampire’s chest. With her lean body and muscular arms I could easily see her flipping the script on these two and kicking both of their asses. She reached between her breasts and pulled out a shiny silver whistle. What the heck? Did she carry that in there all the time?

“On my whistle,” she said, nodding at each of them.  “One…two…” Three sounded with a loud screech and sure enough, she used all her strength to push Elijah and Ryan off balance. The men tumbled backwards, scrambling at the last minute to gain solid footing.

Olivia raced off the mat and over to me giggling like a hyena. “They’re so dumb.”

Dumb wasn’t the word that came to mind. Instead I found the show exhilarating.

They moved with grace and incredible speed. Sparring was the exact right word, they jabbed and took punches, kicked and lunged. Elijah leapt over Ryan’s head, grabbing on to his neck at the last minute. Ryan fell to the ground hard, but twisted on impact, forcing Elijah’s blade to tear into the mat instead of his chest.

“Third mat this month,” Olivia said, shaking her head. “Genevieve is going to be pissed.”

The men rushed past us, blades clanking against one another. Ryan kicked Elijah square in the stomach and he flew back, past the punching bags and right into the wall. The heavy weapons fell to the floor in a loud rush.

“I’m not cleaning that up!” Olivia shouted.

Elijah glanced her way and took a second to blow her a kiss. Ryan used the opportunity to slice into his bicep. He reacted with a hiss and lunged forward, taking Ryan to the ground with him. I winced in sympathy.

“What are you doing?”

I looked over and saw Grant had entered the room.  He didn’t seem impressed.

“They’re sparring?” I said. “Olivia brought me down here to—“

“Watch them kick each other’s asses,” she interrupted and squeezed my hand. Oh, so that training thing was a secret. From Grant. That was sure to end well.

Annoyance flittered across his face.

I said, “We were finished with Dress Selection 2015 and Olivia thought I’d like to see the training room.”

“I’m sure she did.”

“Whatever, Grant, this has been going on long enough. Do you want to stop them or should I?” Olivia said, staring at the two vampires, now in some sort of dual headlock.

That offer brought a small glimmer of a smile on his lips.

“Yeah?” he asked.

“Go for it,” she said.

He took off his jacket and reached behind me for a long, ancient looking sword. Flipping the shaft in his hand, he stopped only to plant a fast kiss on my lips. With a burst of sudden glee, he dove into the fray.

Ryan saw him right before he landed and muttered, “Shit.”

Chapter 29

Grant

Wiping the blood off the blade, I kicked Ryan, who was lying flat on his back.

“Get up.”

“Shut up,” he retorted.

“Come on, Amelia,” Olivia said, pushing her toward the door. “I told you I’m not cleaning up after these guys.”

They disappeared up the stairs and I offered a hand to Ryan, helping him off the ground.

“You only won because we didn’t have any warning,” he said, blotting the healing bruise on his lip.

“Totally against the rules,” Elijah agreed.

“Since when have I been one to follow rules?” They both stopped moving and gave me incredulous looks. “Okay in fighting—when do I follow the rules when fighting?”

We cleaned up the mess, including tearing out the destroyed mat. Elijah lifted it over his shoulder while Ryan and I cleaned and hung up the weapons.

“So what happened with the Shifters?” Elijah asked.

I summarized the meeting—the bar and the discussion with Judson and Adam. When I got to the part about using Amelia as bait they exchanged a look.

"No,” I said to them both. I was unwilling to even entertain the subject.

“It's a solid plan, Grant. At least consider it as an option. We have nothing else,” Elijah said.

"Absolutely not," I said. The anger from before returned. This was my worst fear: the people in my life not appreciating Amelia’s vulnerability. Elijah and I stared at one another at an impasse of sorts. I stifled my rage and trained my ear for her heartbeat in the floors above; zeroing in on the rhythm soothed me.

“Elijah’s right, bro,” Ryan said, from the couch. “We’ve got to do something.”

With a glare in Ryan's direction, I walked out of the room. But I knew I was too late. Elijah's fighting-focused mind was at work, formulating plans on how to use Amelia as a lure for Caleb.

I climbed the stairs, four at a time, and stopped outside Olivia's room. Just hearing her voice—the sound of her heartbeat, caused my stomach to clench with longing. My fingers were on the knob when Olivia flung open the door.

"If you're done, send her out," I said, simply because I needed to see Amelia. I was tense and close to a full melt- down. I needed her. “Please.”

"I'll let her know you're here. And she can come out when she’s ready," she replied. I rolled my eyes and waved her off. I needed Amelia.

I leaned back against the wall prepared to wait, but maybe Amelia missed me as well. Moments later she came into the hall. The anger receded at the sight of her messy disheveled hair. Then I saw the light in her eyes and calmed further.

"What's wrong?" she asked, and I pulled her towards me. I slipped my finger up the hem of her shirt, seeking a pulse point on the small of her back. Grazing her skin with my fingers, I found one, fluttering hard and fast.

"I missed you," I admitted, although it was a half-truth. I did miss her but that was definitely not what was wrong. “How was your afternoon?”

“Good. I think we’ve narrowed down the dresses.”

“Was it that terrible? I know Olivia can be a bit much.”

“She’s something, alright. No one in this family of yours ever ceases to amaze me.”

I couldn't suppress the smile that spread across my face. "That bad?"

“You have no idea,” she replied, glancing over her shoulder.

"You know she can hear you, right?" I laughed.

Amelia's face turned red at the realization that there were no secrets in a vampire's house, and it was all I could do to not pick her up and hide her in the next room for my own pleasure. But sadly, there
were
no secrets in this house; so even if I attempted to tuck Amelia away, everyone would find us anyway.

I sighed at the idea of being alone with her, wishing we were back home. But my desires were dampened by the reminder of our situation from the other night. Pleasure, sexual at least, had proven to be dangerous. I had been close to losing control, and I was struggling with the balance between my lust and bloodlust. I looked at her now, blushing and beautiful, the conflict ever present.

"Do you want me to show you the rest of the house?" I asked, trying to change the subject to calm the flow of blood from Amelia's extremities and quell the desire coursing through my body.

She smiled in relief and nodded. "Please. It really is beautiful."

I walked down the hall, pointing out the different rooms. Ryan had a room up here, while Sebastian preferred the relative quiet of basement. Miles and Genevieve shared a suite with adjoining offices. "It’s really past time for them to move on." I noted this with regret. Miles had even mentioned this to me briefly in the forest, listing off the places they had considered moving once the situation with Caleb was over. It was part of their life. My life. But, suddenly the idea of displacement unnerved me.

Amelia stopped to study a painting on the wall. It was Italian, from Miles's days abroad. The colors had faded with time but the intent was still visible. "So every couple years everyone moves?”

“Yes, I documented most of these in my journals.”

Her brow creased. "Oh, I didn't make the connection. If you lived here last time, does that mean you had a room?"

"Upstairs. On the third floor, in the attic. It's empty now. They don't use it in case I choose to come back," I confessed. No one says this out loud, but I know their intentions.

"They love you very much," she said.

We were at the top of the stairs, on the wide landing where a huge chandelier made from deer antlers hung from the ceiling. "They do. And I love them. But I can't live here."

Amelia slid her arms around my waist and buried her face in my chest. "I'm glad you don't live here. They love you, but you don't fit here. Not anymore."

I rested my chin on her head. Her familiar odor was mixed with a tinge of perspiration. What exactly had she and Olivia been doing while I was gone? "Really? Why do you think that?"

I was definitely intrigued. I'd spent the last twenty years trying to convince these people and myself of that very idea.

Amelia pulled away a little so she could see my face. "You grew up, Grant. And left home. I know it's unconventional in your family, but it's what normal people do. It just took you longer than most. Like sixty years longer." She smirked at her own joke. "If you hadn't taken those steps, you and I never would’ve happened. You're not the same person you were before you left home, but that doesn't make it a bad thing. Think of my family. I see them occasionally and call them on the phone. We text and send emails, but we don’t all live in the same house.”

She nailed it. Every word. Every emotion I felt about the coven and why I needed to be on my own. Maybe there was more humanity in me than I realized. I stared at Amelia, whose tiny hands were clutching my hips. I had no idea how long Amelia Chase would be in my life. How long would she entertain the idea of being with a demon? How long could I protect her from the likes of Caleb or The Council? I had no answers other than I knew I needed to make the most of my time with her.

"Amelia, I'd really like to show you something." I pulled her down the stairs with me and took her through the room where Elijah and Ryan had ditched their computer work for their never-ending obsession with video games.