Creature of Habit (Creature of Habit #1) (15 page)

Elijah winked at me, which was…I don’t know what it was. Weird? Charming? Grant gave me a look that suggested I leave the room. What does that look like, exactly? Handsomely-terrifying?

“I, uh, have work to do,” I said, excusing myself from the room and racing back to my desk. God, that was terrible. I heard the trio go up the steps together and shut the door behind them, leaving me mixed-up and alone downstairs, wondering why Mr. Palmer lied to me about Elijah and what the heck did those people do upstairs all the time anyway?

Chapter 26

Grant

"Grant, if you and Elijah need some time alone I would happily give it to you," Olivia declared in an innocent voice.

I chose to ignore her and walked over to my desk chair while the two of them sat on the couch.

“It could have been worse. Ryan could have been here. Or Sebastian,” Elijah said.

"Does everyone know?" I asked, my fingers automatically moving to the bridge of my nose in irritation. Olivia described the scenario in detail: My entire family listening to her as she relayed the conversation Amelia and I had concerning my sexual preferences. Ryan responded typically. Utter amusement and doubled over in laughter. Sebastian actually said, "I knew it" out loud before walking out of the room. Miles kept a straight face, while Genevieve flipped through a magazine as if she couldn’t care less. Trust me, she couldn’t.

I sighed and slumped a little in my chair.

Olivia came over, sat in my lap and draped her arm over my shoulder. "It’s okay, Grant. It's not a big deal and you really had no choice. You had to protect yourself and the family from being exposed."

“You took one for the team. Of course, I'm not sure which team that is anymore. It does explain a lot of things though,” Elijah chimed in. He was a dead man. Or a dead vamp. Whichever.

Olivia must have seen it coming because she jumped off my lap and for the second time in so many visits, I lunged at Elijah. He anticipated it this time, dodging me easily, and I landed on the couch with a loud thump. I leapt up in a defensive position.  He narrowed his eyes, plotting his next move.

Olivia quickly dashed between us. "Stop it. You know it's funny and we know it's not true." She reached her hand out and pressed it to my lower chest. Her touch was firm—nothing like the warm, searing feeling of Amelia's fingertip.

I nodded and relaxed. I walked back to the couch and sat down and Olivia sat next to me this time, making sure I didn’t have plans to go after her husband again. Elijah moved to the computer, ignoring the two of us, probably trying to stay off my radar.

I looked at Olivia and asked in a desperate whisper, "What do you see?"

"With Amelia and Sasha?" she asked.

I gave her a tight nod.

“Right now everything is very murky. I get flashes of the Predator and several others but nothing specific. They haven’t decided on a course of action, but they are working on something. I do get the sense it involves Amelia.”

I leaned into the couch, slowly rubbing my palms up and down my legs. I hated the fact I hadn't stopped this group of rouge vampires earlier. I should have and I blamed myself for not seeing the larger pattern. It took every ounce of willpower to keep myself from going downstairs to pick her up and lock her away in this safe room until I'd eradicated the danger. I imagined doing exactly that, carrying her in my arms up the stairs. I’d inhale her delightful scent, and touch her soft, creamy skin. She’d be safe up here and in the meantime I would learn all her secrets and she would know all of mine.

I felt Eli watching me and glanced his way. He had an eyebrow raised in concern. “Grant, what is going on? Primal lust was one thing and hunger and desire are another, but this? She's human.”

"I know." Every moment I spent with her I wanted her more and more. I wasn't just feeling lust or protectiveness. I wanted more. Companionship?

“Dude, she’s human. Off limits. Do not touch. Do not engage. I let it go last time because if anyone was strong enough to fight the temptation it would be you. But if anything, you’ve gotten worse. You do realize you can’t pursue this, right?”

"I know," I repeated, growing agitated. This was exactly why I'd left home. Well, one of the reasons. Between the three of us there wasn't a shred of privacy. Your successes and failures were available for everyone to see and criticize. I couldn't handle it then and I definitely couldn't now.

“Grant, I'm serious. Don't fuck around with her. If something happened to her, the police, her family…they would all come to you first.”

Olivia shot Elijah a warning look, cutting him off mid-sentence.  In her quiet voice she said, "It's okay, Elijah. Grant isn't going to do anything wrong." It was too late though. His questions set me on edge. All it took was a tiny stumble and Amelia’s fate was clear.

“I’m just saying,” he added. “We all know how this will end if you pursue it.”

Amelia would be dead. He didn’t say it. It wasn’t necessary. It was the absolute truth. The only truth.

She turned and looked at me with concern. “I don’t agree. I have no idea how this will end, Grant.”

I pushed off the couch and left the room, closing the door behind me and entered my bedroom. I knew Elijah was right; the thoughts and emotions I’d been struggling with were outrageous. Dangerous. I had no right to think of Amelia in any way other than as my employee—a human who needed my protection.

I'd been okay with that. I was even dealing with the absurd notion (okay, maybe not that absurd) that she thought I was homosexual. I thought this social barrier between us as man and woman would separate us further, keep us apart, make things more uncomfortable, but I had been wrong. It had the opposite effect. This bit of information made her more comfortable in my presence. She spoke to me about music and art or literature. She forced me to sit down and plan out our schedules, which led to us making jokes and familiarizing ourselves with one another. This caused a bigger problem than I'd ever expected.

I liked her. Very much.

I liked her sense of humor, her desire to learn, her curiosity.

I was intrigued by her lack of fear, her complete and utter disregard for self-preservation. I liked that no matter how much noise I tried to make, I startled her every time I walked in a room because she was so engrossed in her activity she was completely unaware of me. I liked the fact she was unaware of me. That my physical appearance and typical lures didn't seem to work on her the same way it did on other humans. And I liked that place on the side of her neck, right below her earlobe, that tinted red the minute I walked in the room.

I'd been pacing around the room, but at this thought I crumbled on my knees in fury. I could no longer deny I wanted Amelia the way a man wants a woman and it infuriated me. I was furious at Elijah for being right and at myself for being so weak. Enraged at the forces at work that placed this woman in my path when I had no reasonable chance to be with her.

I'd resolved to live alone, without my family or others. To protect those who needed it without reward or acknowledgement. Why did this insightful, strong, beautiful woman have to walk in and knock down my carefully arranged fortress?

I heard a tap on the study door and Olivia swung it open. She sat on the floor next to me and I couldn’t bear to look at her. I was precariously close to betraying my family and that was something I couldn’t inflict on them.

“Grant, you know I think you can be a real asshole sometimes. Like a total asshole. That shit you pulled on Amelia when she started was ridiculous.” She lifted my chin and we looked at one another, family, forged together by damnation and the loneliness of eternal life.

“Is this your idea of a pep talk? Because it’s really terrible.”

She lightly slapped my cheek. “See? Asshole. You behave this way because you’re obsessed with some non-vampire moral code. A code that you created and doesn’t have a place in the real world. Amelia walked in that door and knocked you off your feet. That means something, at least to me it does.”

“I don’t know what to do,” I confessed. “She’s human.”

“And she has incredible free will.” Her bright and alert green eyes penetrated mine. "Grant, for once in your life do what you want to do, not what you think you should do. Everything will turn out okay." I buried my face in her lap and felt her fingers weave through the strands of my hair.

I wanted to believe her, but the consequences were too severe. It was one thing for me to live the life of the dammed. It was another to inflict it on Amelia.

Olivia and I were quiet for some time, talking in our private language for a while, letting my frustration pass. I allowed myself to be soothed since she really was the only one who could reach me that way.

"Grant, come here," Elijah called from the other room, and I stood up, lifting Olivia with me.

"I'm going to go downstairs while you two play superhero," Olivia said. Before I could argue, she added, “I'll be good, I promise.”

I found Elijah sitting behind the desk, focused on the computer screen. He pointed. "What do these latest entries mean?"

I walked around and read the information on the screen. It was the data I had asked Amelia to enter earlier that day.  "After Amelia's incident on Friday night, I went back through the old papers I have upstairs looking for any type of suspicious accidents I may have missed."

His brow furrowed in concentration. "And these names and dates correlate to those events."

"Yes. These abbreviations." I pointed to a series of letters next to each name. "They match to the type of crime committed. AR stands for armed robbery, MP, for missing person, A for assault and so on."

Elijah leaned back in the chair, his long legs stretched out under my large desk. He ran his fingers through his hair for a moment and I waited for him to explain. "You definitely think that more than the murders are connected to these vampires?"

"Yes, Sasha’s attempt on Amelia made that quite clear," I told him. “The missing person reports have gone up dramatically in the last three months. It fits.

"And you're convinced she was not going to kill Amelia that night but take her to the other vampire, the male?" he continued.

“Yes.”

“How many vampires do you think he’s added?”

“According to my numbers, at least seven or so. But there could be more experienced vampires like Sasha around, whom he collected from outside the area.”

“Do you really think he’s forming a gang?”

“Or an army. One of the two.”

I heard Olivia on the stairs and in a second she was in the study, alarm etched on her face.

Elijah and I both went to her immediately, and he wrapped his long arms around her torso, supporting her as she slipped into another vision.

"What is it, baby?" he asked. He kissed her temple.

Olivia replied, voice hazy. "The Predator, Caleb, is taunting another victim. This time a male."

"Is Sasha there?" I asked.

She shook her head and said, "No, I keep searching but I can't find her. Caleb is with another vampire, dark skinned, with long black hair and possibly one other, but not Sasha."

I considered this. "The long haired vampire was there last time. When I just missed him. He fed on the woman in the park while Caleb watched."

Olivia nodded and said, "Yes, this is what I see happening again."

I scowled. "Where does it happen? Can we get there in time?"

"I see rushing water and stacks, smoke stacks, some kind of factory or plant." She closed her eyes, trying to visualize it.

"Sounds like the paper mill. By the river." I ran to my closet and changed into boots for the long run ahead of me. We could still save this person. It was dark in her vision but it was still dusk outside. We had time.

"We're coming with you," Elijah said. He opened the long cabinet on the far side of the room, revealing my vast array of weapons. Olivia picked up a canvas bag and together they loaded in what we needed.

“Amelia,” I said to Olivia.

“She’ll be fine, she's safe. She’s meeting friends for dinner and then going straight home. I see no problems at all.”

Packed up and ready, we filed down the backstairs. Olivia and Elijah quietly slipped out the backdoor. Amelia sat at her desk, printing out her daily report. I took a moment to inhale her sweet aroma and let my eyes roam. I cleared my throat this time to give her notice. She flinched slightly before turning my way with a small smile playing on her soft, pink lips.

"Good night, Amelia,” I said warmly. The fact I was making small talk with Amelia moments before tracking down a vicious monster felt surreal.

"Have a good weekend, Mr. Palmer," she replied, cleaning off her desk. I loved to watch her movements.

"Thank you. Please be careful, and call me if you need anything."

She nodded slowly and I took that moment to go back into the kitchen toward the garage door. I knew that every second in her presence made it harder for me to leave her. The urge to stay with her was getting stronger and stronger each day.

I forced myself to go, for both our sakes. I had no right to her life and she wanted no part in mine.

Minutes later, I sat behind the wheel of my car, barely aware of Elijah programming the GPS or Olivia, eyes closed; searching for any information she may have missed. I promised myself this would be the last time I would let Caleb elude me. I assured myself that the city and Amelia would be safe under my watch.