Fateful 2-Fractured (7 page)

A gasp from her stirred his hair. “Tell
me!”

“Nope, it’s a surprise.” Looking away, Ethan
hesitated before adding, “I do need to go away for a couple days to
prepare for it, though.”

Danielle’s lips twitched into a pout.
“You’re not going to Benjamin again, are you? Please tell me it’s
not that.” Because
that
hadn’t worked out so well.

He chuckled. “Relax. I’m not going to visit
any vampires this time, and I’ll have two bodyguards with me. I
have no worries that I’ll be safe. I just need you to be patient
and trust me.”

“You do remember that patience
isn’t
one of my stronger points,
don’t you?”

“I’m fully aware of that,” he said while
laughing. “Come here.” With fingers curling around her nape, he
pulled her closer, and left a trail of kisses all over her face and
lips. “You said you love me, but do you trust me?”

“I trust you. But ... I still worry about
your safety, even more so, now that you’re mortal like me.”

Frowning at that comment, he moved the
kisses to her neck, and she laughed uncontrollably as he found that
ticklish spot. “That’s payback for calling me weak.” When his mouth
moved away from the place that drew giggles from her, he said,
“Have faith in me.”

“But— When are you leaving? How long will
you be? Will you actually answer your phone this time? And will you
call me?”

Again he matched his eyes with hers, “I
leave tomorrow. I’ll only be gone for two days. And yes, I’ll
answer my phone, and yes, I’ll call several times a day.”

“But you said that last time,” she
complained, shifting so her legs crossed over his.

His fingers curled around her knee. “This
time will be different, and it’s just two days.”

“Is that two days and three nights, or two
days and one night or—” Ethan gently placed a hand over her mouth
to shut her up.

She tried to scowl at him with just her
eyes, but all that earned her was a bit of soft chuckling which she
could feel vibrating through his whole torso.

Mumbling under his hand she tried a
narrow-eyed look.

Smirking, Ethan sighed and lifted his
hand.

“Take me with you,” she said.

“Absolutely not! That would spoil the
surprise!”

She groaned. “But I’m not ready for
you to leave
tomorrow
.”

He raised an eyebrow and let his love for
her smolder in his blue gaze, showing her the Ethan from her
forgotten spirit-life. His thumb landed on her lower lip as he
encouraged her lips to part with gentle pressure. Aligning his
mouth with hers, he blew into her face like a vampire, like Alex
had. Closing her eyes, she drew it in. Obviously he knew exactly
what he was doing, the scoundrel. Would he ever play fair?

“Feeling better?” he asked.

The spellbound smile on her face was
replaced with her returning pout as she remembered that he still
meant to leave. “Not really. You’re still leaving.”

“Yes, but it
will
be worth it.”

That determination of his was written in
every line of his face, and she knew she couldn’t talk him out of
it. “All right.” She gathered his face between her hands, noting
the stubble scraping at her fingers. “You’d better kiss me. I need
something to hold me over.”

Triumphant mirth sparkled in his eyes and he
angled his mouth over hers. Those blond whiskers shadowing his face
rasped against her cheeks and chin.

They would have kept feasting on the
delectable caress if someone hadn’t knocked on the door—again
interrupting them whenever they moved this from quiet chatting to
kissing. These vampires had uncanny timing and she wondered if it
was planned or coincidence.

Ethan lifted his wrist and looked at his
watch. “It’s time to get you home.”

“No…” She grabbed his arm to see for
herself. It was eight-thirty. They’d allowed them to stay after
dark. “How did we not notice the sun had set?”

“My curtains are shut, and I guess we were
too involved in our conversation.”

“Right, I guess so.”

Chapter 4

Two Days

Danielle spent more time with Brianna than
she had recently, and her cousin complained about their emotional
distance as she’d grown closer to Ethan. Brianna and William were
close of course, but their relationship wasn’t as intense as hers
seemed with Ethan. Ethan had a stronger pull on her, and their
feelings clearly ran deeper, or maybe it was longer. She considered
the connection their souls had—that feeling of knowing each other
before they ever actually met. Somehow Danielle doubted Brianna had
that with Will.

Still, she really needed to stop obsessing
over Ethan and just deal normally with this time apart. At least
she didn’t feel like she had last time with that fearful
premonition plaguing her. It seemed like he would be safe this
time, and that helped.

After chasing an almond on her plate,
Danielle scooped up a bite of her salad and mentally committed to
keeping her mind off Ethan. She could be independent of him for
just a couple of days.... This is why she was eating lunch with
Brianna at Little Betty’s, one of her cousin’s favorite
restaurants.

“You’re really smitten with Ethan, aren’t
you?” Brianna asked.

Ah, so eagerly her thoughts wandered right
back to him, she thought as the forkful of lettuce paused halfway
to her mouth. The change in momentum caused the almond to fall back
to her plate. She lowered it down the rest of the way because it
just wasn’t the same unless she had a nice mix of lettuce, Asian
dressing, mandarin orange and almond. She fished for the nut again
as she replied to the unexpected change in topic, “Very.” She may
as well admit defeat now, only a day after he left on his
mysterious little trip and she couldn’t stop thinking about
him.

“Do you think you’ll get married?”

Her eyes widened and shot to her cousin’s.
“Oh, Um…” Of course she secretly wanted that, but they hadn’t
actually discussed it. “I don’t know. He hasn’t asked, and my
parents wouldn’t like that at all.” And the realization of that
truth felt like a rock settling in her stomach.

Brianna’s gaze shifted. It appeared as
though she was distracted from their conversation. “Who are those
men over there? They’ve been watching you,” she abruptly asked.

Danielle turned, knowing exactly what she
was going to see—her bodyguards. It was Seth and Cedric, incognito
as two business men. They were seated at a table eating a lunch
they didn’t really need, while they remained vigilant in manning
their post for Danielle’s safety.

Cedric winked when she looked at them, but
Seth elbowed him for it.

“Did he just wink at you?” Brianna exclaimed
with an appalled tone to her youthful British accent.

Danielle turned back to face her cousin, and
a moment of brilliance hit her. “I think he’s looking at you, not
me,” she replied, knowing it was a slightly devious thing to do.
But how else was she supposed to cover for the bodyguards who were
apparently not being elusive enough?

“Really?” Brianna blushed. “He’s hot … but,
uh … I have Will, I’d better just ignore him,” she said, displaying
integrity.

Danielle coughed to hide her snicker.

They were almost finished with their meal
when an unfamiliar man walked up to them. Facing her, he said,
“Miss Darcey, I beg your pardon, could I please speak with you in
private for just a moment?” From the look of him and from the
eloquence that oozed from his old-world cadence—Danielle knew at
once—he was a vampire.

She paused, and her lips parted with shock,
but Brianna cut in, “Danielle, who—?”

“Um.” She had to think quickly. “Uh, this is
one of my professors,” she said, uncertain of how she should really
handle this.

“Oh,” her expression brightened, “Do you
know my dad?”

The man rudely ignored Brianna and
maintained his focus on Danielle. “Miss Darcey, simply a short
moment, I assure you.” After repeating his request, the man grasped
her hand in a way that appeared to be gentle outwardly, but felt
painfully forceful to her. She attempted to resist but didn’t want
to distress Brianna with another kidnapping attempt, so she
refrained from causing the drama needed to embarrass this man
enough to escape him and stood. He didn’t loosen his crushing grip
on her fingers, and she was forced to clench her teeth, fighting
the need to grimace with the pain.

Fortunately for her, she knew she had two
vampires right behind her with the sole task of keeping her safe
from vampires like this one. Covertly she turned to lift her purse
from the back of her chair, knowing that as she took the strap
she’d be able to make eye contact with her guards.

They were watching the man, not her,
probably making certain he didn’t notice them. Seth quickly flashed
his eyes to her and nodded. They then behaved as if they didn’t
know her or what was happening. But Danielle had confidence they
would take care of her.

Attempting to sound calm she said, “I’ll be
back in a minute, Bri.” She went with the man as he led her to a
more secluded location outside of the restaurant, and away from
Brianna’s line of vision. He lessened the pressure of his hold, but
kept her hand firmly in his when they got to a spot that was
apparently satisfactory to him.

“Thank you. My dear, I will not waste
time with pleasantries and get right to the point. I have been a
vampire for
many
years. I’ve
lived a happy, but
terribly
long life. And I am weary. I am requesting that you give me
the cure to this curse.”

Danielle stared at him. She didn’t really
want to bite this man. He was a little frightening, and she sensed
that he had to be much older than Beon or even Seth. Biting Ethan
had been an intimate experience, and she couldn’t imagine doing it
to just any stranger. Not to mention, she understood how dangerous
it was for her. Her eyes widened with panic when she realized that
he was slowly towing her toward a black car parked next to the
sidewalk. He meant to kidnap her, and force her to cure him, though
she knew he’d probably kill her in the process.

“No, sir. It’s not that simple. Please let
go. I can’t go with you.”

“I’m afraid I can’t take no for an
answer.”

She began to struggle more, but this man
simply took hold of her arm as well as her hand, then halted
abruptly.

Confusion swamped her until she understood
that he’d hesitated in his abduction because her security detail
had arrived. Seth stood behind the man, his fists and stiff
shoulders hinted at the threat he most likely meant to convey. She
noticed from her peripheral that Cedric had moved in behind her,
and she felt his hands settle onto her shoulders. Danielle sighed
in relief.

“Release Danielle now,” Seth warned in a
harsh, commanding voice.

“Gentlemen, I only wish for Miss Darcey to
share the miracle of this cure with me. I mean her no harm.”

“Release her,” Seth demanded, and the man
finally let go. Danielle rubbed her reddened fingers.

“You do not want me for an enemy,” the man
countered. His once articulate voice was now seething with
menace.

“We are not saying that you cannot have the
cure, but we need you to go through Beon and not Danielle.” Seth’s
unfaltering voice was equally threatening.

“But he isn’t mortal; he cannot offer the
cure to me.”

“Danielle is in his personal care, you will
need to go through Beon. Please give us your name and we will have
him contact you at a later time.”

The man appeared to take measure of his
situation, realizing it seemed that he had no choice but to back
down.

“May name is Laszlo Martine, I will await
his call. I’m sorry to have disturbed you, Miss Darcey, please
accept my apologies.”

She smiled what felt like an awkward twist
of her mouth, attempting politeness, though she was sure he saw
through it.

He left and Cedric rubbed her shoulders
likely trying to console her. “Are you all right, Danielle?” That
kind tone in his voice helped as well.

“Yes, thank you, I’m extremely grateful you
were both here.”

“You’re very welcome, we’re happy to be of
service.”

“Cedric,” Seth said abruptly, “call Ethan
and Beon. They need to know.”

The younger vampire frowned. “I don’t think
so. Ethan isn’t going to take this well. Neither one of them will.
You make the calls.”

Seth glowered. “I’ve asked you to do
it.” She suspected that he came close to saying,
Do it because I said so, young man
,
but somehow resisted the urge.

“You’re the adult.”

Danielle couldn’t help but laugh at
that, and clapped a hand over her mouth, trying to hide it. Okay—so
maybe Seth was over eight or nine hundred years old, while Cedric
was
only
eighty-nine. That
still made him the same age as her grandfather. His words repeated
through her thoughts….
You’re the
adult
... and she snorted with laughter again. The
immortal bodyguards looked at her, but said nothing.

“Fine, I’ll do it.” Seth turned and stalked
off, whipped a cell phone from his pocket, pressed a button, and
then jerked it to his ear.

Cedric’s gaze lifted past her shoulder. “You
should get back to your cousin now; it appears she’s getting
restless.”

Danielle nodded in agreement and returned to
Brianna. However, later that day, she asked Beon if he would also
assign guards to her cousin when she noticed that Mr. Martine and
her security detail weren’t the only vampires trailing her. She was
gaining a following and it made her concerned for Brianna’s safety
as well as her own. Beon agreed and quickly set two men to watch
her cousin, who remained oblivious.