Embrace The Dawning (The Covenant Series Book 1) (30 page)

“Adrian,” she said breathlessly between kisses.

“Yes,” he answered just as breathlessly.

“Elise…she’s…still here. Thorne…”

Adrian eased off their kiss and forced his roaming hands to find a steady place around her back as he held her close to him. He looked down at the expressive eyes of the creature he had fallen in love with.

“You’re intoxicating, Kayci Pierce. It’s dangerous for both of us.”

Kayci smiled and then bit her lip as her emotions stirred. “You really know how to make a woman feel wanted.”

Adrian leaned his head to the side of hers and brought his voice to a whisper. “You have no idea how much I want you.” His lips grazed her neck, causing the hair on her skin to raise.

Adrian caught the lustful gaze in her eyes as he tilted his head up to look at her. He smiled with satisfaction.

“I’ll let you two have your fun tonight, but tomorrow you’re mine.” He let Kayci out of his arms.

Her lip curled downward into a slight pout.

“Tomorrow seems so far away all the sudden.”

Adrian admired her pouty lips, then gave her a smile before disappearing into the darkness like a shadow.

Elise set down her cell phone as Kayci walked into her living room.

“I caught him just in time. He was going to bed when I called.”

Elise looked up at Kayci and then jumped.

“I will never get used to the eyes,” she complained.

“I get it. I saw them in my reflection when I rode the elevator to meet with the Covenant. It didn’t even look like me.”

“So smoochin’ Adrian made you bright eyed?” Elise asked teasingly.

Kayci laughed wryly. “Something like that.”

Kayci was about to ask Elise about her conversation with Greg, when she sensed the presence of another vampire outside. She hurried to the window, pushed the curtain aside, and scanned the area. She saw Thorne approaching the porch, and she relaxed.

“Thorne’s back,” Kayci announced before opening the door for him to enter.

Relief washed over Elise’s face.

Kayci greeted Thorne with a smile. “Glad to see you back.”

She didn’t bother asking him where he went. She didn’t want to treat him as though he were a child arriving home past curfew. She assumed he had gone out to feed anyway.

“Glad to be welcomed back.”

“You just missed Adrian,” Elise told him as he entered the living room.

“That’s a shame. Would have been a pleasure to chat.”

“I hope that isn’t a father instinct talking.”

Thorne’s blue eyes sparkled with unspoken amusement. “I believe it’s best that I don’t respond to that comment.”

Elise giggled. “He knows you already, Kayc.”

Kayci gave Elise a playful warning with the narrowing of her eyes.

Thorne motioned to the wineglasses on the coffee table and to Kayci’s spell book. “I’m not interrupting a special activity, am I?”

Kayci and Elise followed the direction of his eyes.

“We thought it would be best for Elise to stay away from me at least until Danika is caught. That way she isn’t at risk.”

“So we decided to have a fun girls’ night, and that led to Kayci making it rain,” Elise added. “It was pretty awesome.”

“I imagine it was.”

The three moved farther into the living room, and each found a comfortable seat on the couch and matching chair.

Kayci picked up her wineglass and took a sip before continuing their conversation.

“Thorne, may I ask where you’ve been hiding all this time? I ask, because Rosemary performed a reading for me and Elise. During Elise’s reading, she asked if you were alive. Rosemary had trouble retrieving insight and was unable to determine if you were alive or where you were. She said there was stronger magic blocking her from receiving insight.”

Thorne’s eyebrows pinched in. He seemed deep in thought.

“After your mother’s death, her masking spell vanquished. I knew with Katriana’s spell gone, I was much easier to locate. After ensuring your safety, I remained on the move until I found a shaman in a small village in Central Africa that could conceal me from any and all supernatural beings as well as from magic. That’s why Rosemary’s insight was hindered. The Shaman’s sorcery was old magic and more powerful,” Thorne explained.

“The shaman’s sorcery was effective only as long as I remained in the village. I was not permitted to feed on humans from the village. To remain compliant, I would sleep for several months in an abandoned crypt and only wake occasionally to feed on wild game. I thought of you often and wondered what you were like as a child, an adolescent, and finally as an adult. I at least had the blood bond to cling to,” Thorne stated with a sad tone.

“I always knew how you were feeling. I always knew you were safe, and that mattered the most. I could not permit myself to come out of hiding until I felt you were able to protect yourself. I couldn’t risk revealing your identity to the Covenant. In spite of my efforts to conceal your identity, you were still discovered by the Covenant. I am deeply sorry for that, Kayci. I regret that I could not be a part of your life as I wanted to be.”

Thorne sounded disheartened by his last comment. The combination of guilt for her years of anger toward him, her current empathy toward him, and her growing affection for him pressed down on her chest. By the look in his eyes she knew he understood every emotion she was experiencing. It made it easier on her that she didn’t have to try and turn those emotions into words. Instead, she set the wineglass down and stood up from the couch. He instinctively rose from the chair. She reached toward him and wrapped her arms around him in an affectionate embrace. The hug lasted for several moments before Kayci backed away from Thorne, teary eyed. Elise too had watery eyes.

“It’s wonderful that you’re here now,” Elise commented softly.

Kayci and Thorne took their former seats.

“Yes, it is.”

Thorne’s expression transitioned, and his brows furrowed.

“Kayci, may I ask how is it that you came to know Adrian?”

Kayci smirked at Thorne and his incessant interest in her relationship with Adrian.

“He saved my life. Remember how I told you I had been attacked by a fledgling vampire while running at night?” Thorne nodded. “The vampire had knocked me out, and when I came to, Adrian was fighting him. I assume he had been hunting the fledgling that night. He saved my life by stopping the vampire from killing me. He made sure to get me home safely. Getting home on my own would have been a struggle.”

“That’s why you didn’t call the police!”

Kayci looked at Elise and shook her head yes. “Makes sense now, doesn’t it?”

An expression of understanding swept over Elise’s face as she nodded her head. Kayci looked back at Thorne.

“I ran into Adrian the next night when Elise and I went out to a nightclub that seems to be a common vampire hangout. He was there that night trying to track down Danika. The next evening he stopped by to check on me, and from there we kept seeing each other. He never told the Covenant about me. However, Danika’s attempt to kill me let the cat out of the bag.”

“I see,” Thorne responded casually while clearly still in thought. “I suppose I owe Adrian my gratitude for saving my daughter’s life.”

Kayci and Elise both nodded in agreement.

“It would seem Adrian cares deeply for you, Kayci. His emotions were revealed when I pulled you out of the car. He also took a great risk by rescuing Elise and letting Danika escape. Your happiness was clearly more important to him. A choice that likely will not go unpunished.”

Kayci had come to the same conclusion of how important her well-being was to Adrian, which was one of several reasons she had fallen for him. She hadn’t thought about his choice to save Elise over capturing Danika. Her nerves bunched into a knot in her stomach.

“What do you mean by punished for his decision? What will the Covenant do to him?” she asked, her chest tightening. “Adrian said he was an asset to them. Don’t they need him?”

Thorne remained silent for a moment.

“He is no doubt an asset. Adrian’s gift is unusual and does not come along often. I don’t believe the Covenant will seek retribution if Adrian does capture Danika. However, his decision to save Elise rather than capture her will surely give her more time to execute any plans she has in order.”

Fear filled Kayci’s eyes. Dread rested heavily on her shoulders.

“Not to worry,” Thorne assured. “I’ll ensure Elise returns to her home safely. From there, I’ll visit Adrian and offer my assistance to him in any way that I can. I would hope that once he finds Danika, the Covenant will help in dispatching her entire coven.”

Elise rubbed along her arm, offering comfort.

Thorne diverted their attention by switching the subject.

“Elise, my dear,” Thorne continued once he had her attention. “How long have you been a friend to Kayci, and what is it that you do for a living?”

His diversion had worked. Elise brightened with a smile. Kayci leaned back on the couch, seeming more relaxed.

“We’ve been friends since second grade. We’ve been inseparable since third grade. We drove our teachers nuts because they couldn’t keep us apart and we were always up to something.”

Elise and Kayci grinned from the memories.

“I got a degree in journalism and write for the local newspaper. My dream is to write for a magazine and travel to where the stories are.”

“She’s a great writer,” Kayci told him.

“I believe it,” Thorne replied with his usual charming smile.

“And what is it that you do for a living, Kayci?”

“I’m a personal trainer. I have a bachelor’s degree in nutritional science and physical education. I get paid well to tell people how to eat and manage their workout programs,” she explained when his brows furrowed.

“I was pretty athletic in high school, ran track, played soccer, and worked out a lot. I’ve always had a lot of pent-up energy that needed expelled. Athletic activities have always kept it in check. Making a career out of physical activity was a perfect fit for me.”

“She received an athletic scholarship to college,” Elise boasted.

Kayci chuckled at Elise’s mom-like bragging.

Thorne smiled proudly. “That is impressive. It wasn’t long ago that women were deprived of such opportunities. Your aunt Eva quite enjoyed the second wave of feminism that spread in the 1960s,” Thorne shared with a humorous tone. “She and your mother would no doubt be proud of the accomplishments you ladies have done.”

“What was Katriana like?”

Kayci noticed the sparkle return to Thorne’s eyes when he thought of her mother. It warmed her heart, seeing him react like that.

“She was kind, intelligent,
feisty
,” Thorne stated with a chuckle. “She trusted no one, and she was powerful. So very powerful and strong.”

“Sounds just like you, Kayc.”

Kayci noticed the similarities in their personality as well. “I wish I could have known her.”

“She would have adored you.”

Kayci smiled at Thorne’s loving statement.

“Do I have any other relatives?” Kayci asked. “Did Katriana have siblings, parents, aunts or uncles?”

Thorne seemed deep in thought, as if remembering old information he hadn’t thought about in many years.

“She had three brothers: Aleksandr, Dmitri, and Grigori. She and her family were immigrants to this country. Unfortunately, due to poor living conditions and illness, she lost her father and two brothers at a young age. Her mother remarried and raised her and Aleksandr here in the United States. Aleksandr did not embrace the Craft and ended up leaving the family as soon as he reached adulthood.

“Your mother was heavily doted upon by your grandmother because Katriana so eagerly embraced her Craft and quickly gained skills beyond your grandmother’s own talents. Katriana had put forth great effort to study necromancy so that she and your grandmother could communicate with her father and brothers. I imagine that may have led to some of Aleksandr’s fear of the Craft.

“Even as an adult Katriana, did not seek out her brother Aleksandr. She resented his choice to leave the family and not be a part of their lives. I did locate him once, hoping that if I found him, your mother may want to rekindle their familial relationship. However, she did not fancy my idea. Now if my calculations are correct, your uncle would be around sixty-three years old.”

“Did he have children? Is my grandmother still alive?” Kayci asked eagerly.

“No, Aleksandr did not have children when I found him. However, that was three decades ago. Your grandmother had passed before I met Katriana. You may have extended family in Russia under the surname Gavrikov.”

“It’s wonderful to finally know some of my family history and background. My adopted parents didn’t know anything about where I came from and always felt bad that they didn’t have information to share with me. What about your side of the family?”

“It’s more difficult to explain the family tree on my side of the family. Eva and I of course are the only remaining members. We grew up during the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Our family—our parents, our brother, and two sisters—were merchants that ran a profitable trade business. Our father died of natural causes. Our mother and youngest sister passed away in an accidental fire that took place during a civil war. Eva and our middle sister, Eilina, escaped the fire. Our brother died in battle alongside me.