Creature of Habit (Creature of Habit #1) (20 page)

Leaning close enough to me that I could smell her sweet perfume, she pleaded, "I need you to be his friend. No matter what happens, or what he tells you, or things you may see or hear, please be his friend."

She was so serious and so entirely desperate that I could do nothing but nod my head and agree. To what, I had no idea, but I had apparently just bound myself to Grant Palmer and he didn't even know it.

Chapter 33

Grant

The grass and rocks crunched under the wheels of my car as I drove up the winding mountainside toward my family home. Parking in the shade, I attempted to collect my thoughts before I saw the others.

I'd moved away from the coven almost a decade ago. I had been desperate, depressed and angry. Definitely lost.  It had been coming for some time and although I was able to hide it from most of the group, eventually a series of events forced me from the home and into the real world on my own. At first I traveled, visiting the places I had been many years earlier:  California, New York, Louisiana, various places in Europe and Asia. It was in these anonymous locations that I began my quiet vigilante work. But this only made me detach from people even further. I realized that after living with a coven for so long, I was actually used to companionship more than I would have thought.

So I approached Miles. I asked for his advice and blessing. To live near, but not with the family. He agreed wholeheartedly. He would support my decision and work things out with the Council, as long as it made me happy.

His kindness only made it harder, but I was determined.

The last move the family made was back to the house on Black Mountain and I moved to Asheville to create a new life.  I laid the ground rules quickly. No unannounced visits, no peeking into my future. They could call and I could visit or ask them to come to me if I wanted, but for a long time I didn't. I just needed time alone.

Ten years, countless false documents, and several career changes later, I had evolved into a noted CEO during the daytime with a side job helping those in need and keeping the monsters at bay at night. I never would have predicted that path. Olivia probably would have if I had let her, but for the first time in decades, I enjoyed the spontaneity of actually living life.

Exiting the car, I realized it was unrealistic to think things could continue with such ease. Until recently everything was smooth, in place and under control. That was, until Amelia Chase entered our lives and Caleb brought a reign of terror down upon on our coven. Things were getting complicated. Fast.

~*~

“What’s the status on Caleb and his companions?” Miles asked from the chair adjacent to mine. We sat in his office in front of a burning fire, the bald spot on the top of his head reflecting the yellow and orange light.

“Right now? Nothing different. I have Amelia’s apartment on twenty-four-hour surveillance. Ryan and Sebastian, mostly. The abductions have stopped and there have been no additional murders since the security guard at the paper mill.”

“Do you think he left the area?”

“No,” I said. “He’s still out there.”

“I’ve been thinking about your altercation with him. You said he mentioned that you have something he wants. Do you think that ‘thing’ is Amelia? The female, Sasha, has made two attempts to abduct her, correct?”

"No. Amelia, unfortunately, is icing on the cake." I waited for the next wave of questions, not prepared in any way to answer them. “The clue he gave me, of the beds and the dark room. It seemed old—like something from years ago. I can’t put my finger on it.”

“I’ve approached Judson in Lost Cove. I wanted him to be aware of Caleb and his actions. If he makes a move too close to their community there may be some additional blow back.”

“That sounds like a good idea.” Miles nodded. I could tell he wanted to ask something else so I prodded, “Something’s bothering you, care to share?”

“I'm sure you realize Olivia has told us about Amelia’s take on your personal life.”

I rolled my eyes. "I'm sure she did. I'm also sure it has caused a bit of amusement around here."

He gave me a guilty grin. "Maybe a little, but that has not been the main topic concerning your new employee.”

I raised my eyebrows at him waiting for him to explain further.

“We’re aware that you have become attached to the girl.”

“I’m fond of her,” I said carefully.

“That attachment could cause a problem.”

I swallowed back the desire to lash-out, defending my feelings for Amelia. I couldn’t. My actions were inexplicable.

“I need to know how you plan to proceed here, Grant. Exactly what are your intentions?”

Miles disliked intruding in my private life, but it was necessary. I would have demanded it as well, but it didn't keep the rage from boiling inside. I knew they would want to take her from me. To keep her from me. There was no way I would allow that to happen.

"She knows nothing. Not yet, but with the Caleb situation it has been difficult. I hate lying to her," I said, truthfully.

“If she finds out, there are only two options.”

“I know.”

Termination or transformation. I didn’t require clarification.

“Are you prepared to make that decision? It’s a heavy burden for the most emotionally stable of us. I have no problem admitting that I’m concerned about the aftermath for you if it comes to that.”

“I’m prepared for the consequences.” I hadn’t been, but this conversation strengthened my resolve. I would not walk away from Amelia—under any circumstances.

This time he raised his brow and asked again, "Your intentions, Grant. What are they?"

I paused and looked around the room. I saw the collections of books, the paintings on the wall, some hundreds of years old. I was able to see myself in here, the way I collected similar objects, trying to remember my place in this world. Something that proved I was here. Miles had the Council, which had provided a lifetime of work, several lifetimes, in fact. I had only just begun to make my mark.

I braced myself, knowing I could lie to the others and lie to myself, but never Miles. I looked at him, eye to undead eye, companions for nearly a hundred years, and said the only thing I could.

"I'm not sure how, but I intend to make her mine."

~*~

I walked down the wide stairway from the second floor down to the main level of the house in Black Mountain. The house was quiet although Miles was still upstairs. Ryan and Elijah were engaged in a video game in the living room. I took some time to wander the house, stopping eventually in the art studio. Genevieve’s easel faced a wall of windows that overlooked the valley below. A blood red, velvet chaise sat against the far wall.

The stainless steel counter in the corner held brushes and tools. Paints lined organized shelves. I ran a finger over the soft horsehair bristles and pushed back a familiar urge. No, this wasn’t me anymore. I shoved my hands in my pants pockets and glanced around the room, at the large windows and open rooms feeling exposed.

“You know she keeps a stash of canvases in the corner for you. All of your old work is still on the wall…” Ryan said, coming into the room behind me.

I didn't respond. I couldn't. I couldn't be what they wanted me to be.

A fantasy of Amelia flashed before my eyes. I could envision her on the couch, neck exposed, back arched. I’d paint her hair a mixture of silver and gold.

If I couldn't be what they wanted me to be, how could I be what she needed me to be?

“How are you doing it, dude? How do you resist?”

“We all hold back every day. We make choices not to consume people all the time.”

“Sometimes we make that choice. Other times, at best, we’re simply delaying gratification, don’t you think?”

Delayed gratification. Was that what I was doing with Amelia? Leave it to Ryan, the thickest one in the group, to hit the nail squarely on the head.

“Whatever you’re doing, you’re playing with fire, man. She’s human. There’s no way this will end well.”

I looked at Ryan now, hulking in size, simple in thought, living in a world of black and white. "You don’t know that. Even Olivia has said she’s not sure. The only reason she is alive now is because of me. And I promised her I would keep her safe. Which trust me, is close to a full-time job."

His eyes narrowed and a mischievous grin formed on his face. "So, Eli says she's pretty. That helps, huh, with the not killing?" I glared at him. Unfortunately that didn’t shut him up and he said, thoughtfully, "I guess this explains a lot, though.”

I quirked an eyebrow in question, leery of where this was going. “Explains what?”

"I mean, if you were waiting all these years for a human to fall for then the whole Genevieve situation finally makes much more sense."

My hands fisted at my side. Ryan was venturing into a deadly area as far as I was concerned.

And he knew it.

With a final smirk he said, with vampire speed, "Because if you were looking for a Damsel in Distress, like your new little girlfriend, no wonder that whole thing blew up. Genevieve is certainly no damsel, well I wouldn't know of course, but…wait? Is Amelia a virgin?"

“Ryan,” I said, patience wearing thin.

“I think to qualify as a Damsel in Distress you definitely have to be a virgin,” he continued, until he saw the look on my face. I lunged but in a flash, he was gone, the back door slamming before I reached it.

“What the hell?” Sebastian said, racing to the porch.

“Your brother is an asshole.”

“Tell me something I don’t know.”

“He’s also a dead man,” I said, catapulting over the railing. Ryan was already miles deep in the woods behind the house. That didn’t stop me. I crashed through the tree line, hot on his trail.

“Can I watch?” Sebastian asked, appearing next to me, arms pumping.

“If you can keep up.”

I flew through the woods, gaining on Ryan. It was only a matter of time before I caught him and he knew it. Ryan may be strong, but I was smarter. A lot smarter.

~*~

Hours later, I tried to ignore Elijah as he fiddled with the knobs and buttons on my car stereo. He hitched a ride back to the city with me so he could meet up with Olivia. I wished I was alone so I could process the afternoon but I wasn't so lucky; my passenger had questions and he really needed to stop molesting my dashboard.

Tired of waiting, I asked, "What do you want to know, Eli?"

"What did Miles say?"

"He reiterated that we’d have to be very careful with this Caleb situation."

"You haven't heard anything else from Caleb though, right?" he asked.

I shook my head. "No, things have been really quiet. I haven't heard of any murders or abductions. The police are still completely confused and are clearly trying to keep the information out of the press, because there has been little or nothing reported lately."

"But they haven't gone to Amelia's again?" he asked, and again I shook my head.

Elijah nodded in approval and asked me how patrolling was going. “It’s hard to be in two places at once. In the city and protecting Amelia.”

“So you’ve been staying with her?”

"She's been having nightmares and I felt the need to remain close." The look on his face told me he wasn't buying my excuse.

“How are you going to handle this? I mean, Grant, she thinks you're gay. And even if she doesn't, you're a vampire. A vampire. Undead. Lives forever. Drinks blood. Okay, we drink animal blood, but didn’t you say she’s a vegetarian?”

I snorted at the irony.

“She's pretty cool, but no one is
that
cool. Plus her finding out you’re a vamp is pretty much breaking every vampire rule we have.”

I snapped my head toward him. "What do you mean even if she doesn't think I’m gay?"

“Look, you're the one who let Olivia spend the day with her. Who knows what she said. But if you did decide to do something, which I’m not saying you should, you may want to get on it sooner than later. It’s not like you have forever to mess around with this anyway.”

I narrowed my eyes at the windshield, considering what Elijah said. He was right. Our time in North Carolina was coming to a close. It had nothing to do with Amelia, it was the reality of our lifestyle. I had one shot with this amazing woman and I think I had decided to take it. Unfortunately, I was used to living a year like it was one day, and I no longer had that freedom. If I was going to do this, I had to do it now. Which meant that little games like my sexual orientation had to stop. As much as I wanted Amelia to know the truth, that story was nothing more than a distraction from the larger issue at hand.

I meant what I had said to Miles. The words came out of my mouth before I even knew they had formed. I did intend to make her mine. The decision had been made with or without my consent. I no longer really had control over it. It didn't hurt that lately I'd wondered if she was having similar feelings to mine. I noticed that her questions and gestures had taken a more familiar tone. My experience in such matters was miniscule. I couldn’t be sure if she was comfortable with me because I was 'safe' or if she was just comfortable with me.

What I did know was that as long as she believed I was out of her reach, she stayed out of mine. Lately, her being out of my reach because of a lie wasn't enough anymore. It was getting harder and harder to stay away from her. And I hated lying. About everything, all the time.