Passion For Hire (Passion #5) (15 page)

Just as I struggled to see more, the image changed again and I saw my sister Flame. She looked really angry, angrier than I’d ever seen her. Damien was trying to restrain her and I caught sight of Francesca in the back ground laughing. Whatever was happening, it was intense and so typical that Fran would be getting off on whatever was clearly going wrong. I just wish I could see what it was, but the images cleared and I released Fabian’s arm.

“He’s telling the truth Sirene.” I said, turning to her. “The things I’m seeing in the flashes of visions I get when I touch him clearly show Adrian is still alive.”

“You’re sure?” She asked me and I nodded. “Very well.” Sirene gave Fabian a stern look. “You’d better not be an ass, be a snappy bastard or sulk after this. I couldn’t risk you hurting our son. He’s our miracle, you know that. If you hadn’t been human for a short time so he could be conceived, then if we hadn’t saved him when he was accidently shot, we would not have him now. I’m sure he knows he’s done wrong but a little forgiveness wouldn’t hurt. I’m sure you have not been perfect your entire life Fabian. In fact I know that you haven’t. You have been a bastard numerous times and look what you tried to do to your son Dominick and Allegra? So stop with this, ‘he must pay’ crap.” She mimicked, her eyes flashing with her anger.

“Goddammit woman, listen to me. I am not killing our son.” He glared at the pint sized woman clinging to Adrian. “Release me.”

I watched Sirene gently extract herself from Adrian’s arms and climb gracefully to her feet. She walked over to Fabian and stared up at him. He glared at her but she smiled, her eyes lighting up and I wondered what on earth she could find amusing now.

“You know I kind of like you all tied up.” She grinned at him, raising a hand to cup his cheek. “You’re all helpless and vulnerable and you can’t fight back. I could enjoy this.”

Watching heat flare in Fabian’s eyes, and his lips curve up in a smile that was so intimate, so intense, so filled with desire for the tiny woman by his side, made me feel like I was intruding on their moment. It was also wildly hot and I turned away, my gaze falling on Adrian who was looking intently at me.

The look in his eyes was also intense and hot and immediately I was as horny as hell. My animal instincts as a vampire surged to the fore and I dropped down by Adrian’s side, throwing my arms around his neck, my lips crashing against his as I began to kiss him, with all the pent up frustration and desire that was surging through me.

“Release my son NOW!” Fabian’s brusque command ripped us apart as effectively as a bucket of ice cold water.

I scrambled backwards away from Adrian and clambered to my feet, eyeing the older vampire off warily. What the hell was wrong with him now?

“I wish to speak to my son.” He said and it was then that I noticed he was free of the ropes, so Sirene had released him. He walked over to Adrian and stood looking down at him. “Get up.” Was all he said and Adrian rose with a level of grace that always took my breath away.

“Do you want to know why I hit you and kicked you son?”

“I broke your rule and for that I deserve to be punished for what I did.”

“No son, I punished you for one simple reason because you did what you did and told no one. Why did you not come to your mother or me and tell us?”

“I couldn’t. You’ve always maintained that killing someone or turning someone was punishable by death. I didn’t mean to do what I did to Lucas and then I panicked and turned him. It just got more and more complicated when I found out about his mother. All I could do was take care of them, which meant buying the house to keep them in. I did try to use witchcraft to fix my problems but I’m not like mother. I’m no good with spells. Then by chance I discovered that when I touch women I can feel their emotions. I realised that there’s a lot of women out there who are very unhappy in their marriages. After fucking a woman one night and giving her everything I could feel she wanted when I’d touched her, I discovered I could make money from it. It’s been very financially beneficial, and it gives me all the blood and sex I need. It got harder and harder as time passed to tell anyone. I got into a routine, a rhythm, a level of acceptance for what my life had become and was always going to be. It got easier to keep my secret, what happened, what I was hiding, until her.” He pointed at me. “Faith’s arrival and her ability to see right through me; her visions that revealed everything I’d worked so hard to keep hidden, only served to further complicate my life. Then she found Lucas and insisted he change her but it went wrong and I had to complete the change to save her. Now because of her, here we are.” He gave a rueful smile.

“Oh my son, I’m so sorry, so sorry that you suffered through all this alone.” Sirene rushed to take Adrian into her arms again. “This is our fault. We made you an adult, then a vampire. We never prepared you for life as a vampire; we never prepared you for life as an adult for that matter. We let you down as parents; we let you down as vampires. We left you alone and neglected you at a time you needed us the most and for that I’m so sorry. I’m sure your big buffoon of a father is sorry too when he’s not trying to throw his weight around and beat his chest to remind us that he lords over us.”

I snuck a quick look at Fabian’s face to see what his reaction was through all of this, and also to see how he reacted to being called a buffoon but surprisingly, he was unusually quiet; simply watching the exchange between mother and son.

My stomach tightened when tears filled Adrian’s beautiful pale eyes and began to roll down his cheeks. “For so long I have wished that you would have let me die that night.” He whispered and pain lanced through me at his words. I heard Fabian and Sirene’s gasps, the room filled with such raw emotion I knew I had to get away for a moment.

When I looked over at Lucas, his face was filled with great pain too and I beckoned to him to come with me, to let Adrian have time with his parents.

We’d only just stepped out of the room when Flame, Damien and Francesca came down the corridor. Flame’s expression filled with rage. “It’s true? You’re a vampire? You’re a fucking vampire? Adrian did this to you? I’ll fucking kill the lying little bastard.” She brushed past me before I could say anything.

As Flame burst into the room, Fabian and Sirene released Adrian to turn towards the disturbance. My sister didn’t acknowledge them at all though, she simply rushed towards Adrian. Before I could warn him, before anyone could do anything at all, she made some almost violent swing of her head and I watched helplessly as a large medieval sword mounted on the wall came hurtling towards Adrian.

“NO!” A terrified scream filled the room and I realised it was me. The sword was on track to pierce his neck, where it would more than likely behead him. I couldn’t see how there could be any favourable outcome from this. My beautiful vampire was going to die. “NO!” I screamed again, my voice filled with anguish, but before the long, highly polished blade of the sword could complete its destructive path, Sirene called out something. I wasn’t sure in all the chaos what it was but the sword’s deadly course was stopped. It didn’t even make contact with Adrian. It came to a halt mid-air before clattering to the floor.

As I stared, stunned, barely able to comprehend what had almost happened, the room erupted into a chorus of loud voices as Flame and Fabian came to verbal blows.

Adrian stared at the long blade of the sword as it lay at his feet, glinting under the overhead lights. It had gone so close to ending his life, missing him by a fraction. It had been so close, he had felt it, heard the tiny sound it made, and felt the small breeze it stirred up after being halted on its deadly path to end his life, before it fell to the floor.

His eyes rose when he heard the raised voices in the room. He was still in shock, still reeling from the depth of rage in Flame. The evening had been stressful with all that had happened, and it had seemed almost like things could be ok, that he would be ok, until Faith’s sister got home.

He understood that she was upset that her little sister was a vampire now, but she was obviously more a shoot first then ask questions kind of woman. She hadn’t waited for him to explain himself; she hadn’t even waited to see if he was the one who had turned Faith. She’d simply made that assumption, and had attempted to take his life. If it wasn’t for his mother’s quick reflexes and being a witch, he’d more than likely be dead right now.

“What the fucking hell do you think you’re doing?” Flame screamed. “Let me at the bastard. Look what he’s done to my sister. She’s a vampire for fuck sakes. Not my fucking sister. She’s not supposed to be living this life dammit. Why? Why the fuck did he do this?”

“Perhaps before you foolishly storm into my home which I allow you to live in and attack my son, you should get your facts straight. You have assumed that he did this without asking any questions first. I can understand that you are not happy that Faith is vampire. I am not happy that she is one either, but don’t you dare attack my son like that again. If you wish to continue to live in my home you will do well to abide by my request; if you want to live and not have me take your life like this.” He snapped his fingers, the click of them loud in the otherwise quiet room. “You will stay the hell away from my son. Don’t make the mistake of assuming that now you are vampire and with Damien that you are safe, that you have any kind of authority here.” He lowered his voice even more, his tone ominously quiet. “I can assure you, you will pay the ultimate price as will my son. I don’t care that he loves you. I will kill you if you lay one finger upon Adrian again. I am in control here. I decide the punishments, I decide who lives or dies. You would do well to remember that.”

Before anyone could say any more or respond to Fabian’s softly spoken warnings, Francesca burst out laughing. “Wow, you’re a feisty one Red.” She gave Flame a look of reluctant admiration. “Damn you lot are all so fucking intense tonight. So what’d I miss?”

“Francesca, this would be a good time for you to try and practice the art of keeping your damn mouth shut.” Fabian growled.

“But I want to know what happened? Did Adrian do all this? He turned him?” She tipped her head towards Lucas. “How about her, did he do her?” She laughed at her words. “Well, we all know he did her, but it’s true is it, he turned her vampire?”

“Francesca…silence!” This time Fabian’s tone made it clear she would do well to listen to him, and with an obvious flash of irritation across her face, she fell silent.

Adrian watched her walk over to his son. She swung her hips, batting her eyelashes at him, and Adrian snapped his teeth hard together at Francesca’s blatant attempt to arouse Lucas and embarrass him in front of everyone. Lucas stared down at her and there was a light in his eyes as they moved over her face. He gave her a hint of a smile before turning his gaze from her.

Obviously she didn’t like his attempt to ignore her which wasn’t easy. Fran was a beautiful woman but also loud, opinionated and a rude sarcastic bitch most of the time. She raised a hand to clamp down on his chin before lifting herself on her toes to lock lips with him.

Adrian watched the exchange for a moment before swinging his gaze back to his father. Faith was watching him, concern and something else in her beautiful blue eyes. They sucked him in and he stared at her, feeling his reluctant attraction for her pulling at him. She didn’t get it though. If she thought revealing his secret would make him give up his lifestyle for her, she was mistaken. He was no good for her. She deserved someone better than him, someone like his son.

“How the fuck can you tell me to let this go Fabian?” Flame’s voice interrupted Adrian’s thoughts and he turned to the fiery redhead. “Are you telling me he did not make my sister vampire?”

“It’s more complicated than that, and if you would stop raging at me long enough, I will tell you. Tread carefully Flame. I can respect your concern for your sister and your need to protect her, but this is my home, my rules and my son you tried to kill before.”

“Babe?” Damien stepped in, eyeing off Fabian warily as he grabbed Flame’s arm. When she spun around to him, her expression impatient, Adrian saw the subtle shake of his head he gave her. Flame hadn’t been part of their family long enough yet to know what Fabian could be like. Damien had, he’d experienced him at his worst. He’d been with him for decades after all, and knew what a sadistic bastard he’d been. Even Adrian had never really seen his father at his worst. He’d apparently been much gentler, more compassionate since he’d met Sirene, but when he’d been hitting him and kicking him earlier, he felt he’d seen more of the real Fabian than he ever wanted to see again.

“Father didn’t turn your sister, I did.” Lucas suddenly spoke up despite him being distracted by Francesca.

“YOU WHAT?” Flame screamed and lunged at him, fangs descended, her hands out in front of her, fingers curled like claws. She leapt onto him, bringing him down, knocking Fran out of the way. Her face was contorted with her rage as she clamped a hand around his neck, squeezing him hard.

“NO!” Adrian cried out, leaping towards Flame just as Sirene raised her hands, rapidly chanting what had to be some kind of spell. Flame’s body went rigid, cuts appearing all over her skin. Deep slashes which made her scream in pain and roll off Lucas, blood flowing from every gaping wound on her.

Damien gave a guttural growl and leapt like a predatory animal at Sirene who swung her attention on him and with another burst of words from her lips, he fell to the floor bound in ropes much as Fabian had been earlier.

In the midst of all the chaos, confusion and carnage, Adrian’s eyes met Faiths who was standing frozen, tears flowing down her face, and as he watched her he felt his chest tighten at the pain on her face. She looked shattered, devastated, totally and completely broken. Her eyes lifted and she caught him looking at her, and when he met the full impact of the pain in her expression, he closed his momentarily. He needed to shield himself from the sheer impact of the overwhelming desolation he saw. He knew exactly what was wrong with her and he didn’t need to touch her to feel it. She blamed herself for everything that was happening.

Father had turned on son, son turning on his father’s woman, everyone turning on one another. Adrian felt the burn of fresh tears in the back of his eyes. Faith was not to blame for all this, he was. He caused this, from the moment he bit Lucas two years ago and almost killed him. From when he panicked and had turned him vampire, he had inadvertently set the wheels in motion for the scene unravelling before him now. He needed to get to Faith and reassure her that this was not her fault, it was his.

Faith

I wept, I wept for what was happening. I wept at seeing family turning on family and I wept because all this was my fault. I had insisted on revealing Adrian’s secret, and if I was honest I’d done it not just for the noble reason I had given, to free him, to relieve him of the burden of his guilt. I’d done it for selfish reasons too. I thought if he no longer had to live a double life, sneaking around behind his family’s back, that he would be free to be with me.

I met Adrian’s eyes across the room, across the fighting vampires before us, and I could see my pain mirrored in his.

I took a step towards him but he did too so I stopped and watched him, waiting to see what he would do next. He continued across the room, skirting wide to avoid what was happening and he didn’t stop until he stood in front of me.

His hands reached out and closed over my shoulders. I could see flashes of images immediately begin to fill my head but I didn’t want them now, I didn’t want the interruption to this moment with Adrian.

“This is not your fault sweetheart. You must stop blaming yourself. Don’t you see?” He paused, his eyes closing, pain etched across his beautiful features. “I started this, I am responsible. You were merely the catalyst that brought it to fruition. It was going to happen, sooner or later, this was destined. I think I always knew that I’d never be able to hide it forever.” He lifted his hands and gently swiped at my tears with the balls of his thumbs but fresh ones immediately replaced them.

When I raised my tearstained face to his, he was watching me, his expression intense and there was something in his eyes, a look as his gaze moved over me. Through the wash of my tears that blurred my vision I saw his focus shift to my lips and as if unable to help himself, despite what was taking place in the room, he lowered his head, his mouth claiming mine.

At first he did nothing more than move his lips over mine. He didn’t pressure me to open to him; he made no attempt to deepen the kiss. Even when I let my hands slide up his arms and over his shoulders before delving into his hair, still, he kept the kiss light. When I pressed my body against his, my tongue darting out to trail over his bottom lip, finally he groaned. When I began to move against him, grinding my hips into his, Adrian’s control snapped and he yanked me harder against him, his hands moving restlessly up and down my back. Rapidly the passion rose between us and everything was forgotten as the haze of sexual desire consumed us. It was only when an angry female voice pierced the air that we parted. Adrian pulled away from me and it gave me a moment’s satisfaction to see him obviously fighting to get himself back under control.

I turned to see what was going on, and Francesca stood eyes wild, as she looked at us then at what was going on in the room. When I looked around I felt a wave of disgust course through me. I’d let my passion for Adrian, my own selfish need momentarily distract me from the fighting amongst the vampires.

“Do you think you can save the sucking face bullshit until after our family are not about to fucking well kill each other?” She snapped sarcastically and I turned to where the vampires who had once been family, now fought like enemies because of me and my impulsive decision to reveal Adrian’s secret.

“STOP THIS.” I screamed as loudly as I could. The scene before me had calmed slightly since my sister’s attention was off Lucas and focused on Fabian. He was circling her, his lips pulled back like he was baring his teeth and I could see his fangs were down. All the bloody slashes Sirene had inflicted on her were healed over with the benefit of the vampire accelerated healing I noticed, as she kept her bright green gaze centred on Fabian.

The witch herself stood to one side, all her attention focused intently on them, and I knew she was keeping watch, ready to do something, jump in or cast a spell again, whatever would be necessary for her to defuse the situation.

“Stop it, I said STOP!” I cried again and jumped forward, clutching at my sister, trying to pull her back. She lashed out, a reflex response, striking me hard up the side of my head and I stumbled backwards, almost falling until strong arms closed around me and I saw Adrian had caught me.

Much as I could have stayed where I was savouring being in his arms, I pulled free of him and walked back to Flame, blood flowing from where her fingernails had cut my cheek. I grabbed at her again and this time when she lashed out, still too wound up to know it was me since her focus was on Fabian, I leapt at her.

As I hit her from behind, taking her by surprise, she tumbled to the floor, and I went down too, landing on top of her. Finally frustrated with her, with her inability to let anyone explain, to let me explain, I growled and sank my fangs into her neck, drawing her blood into my mouth.

She screamed and bucked up, throwing me off her and as we both rolled, so I ended up beneath her, finally she seemed to see me; really see me for the first time since she’d come home and all hell had broken loose.

“Faith; fuck what happened to you? Why are you bleeding? Who did this to you, I’ll fucking kill him.”

“You did and if you would damn well stop acting like some stupid idiot I would explain everything to you. There was no need for you to attack everyone. Adrian has done nothing wrong; he saved my life and Lucas only did as I asked him to do. No, I didn’t ask him, I badgered him and convinced him that it was the best thing for all of us if he did as I asked. Now can you calm down and stop attacking everyone while I explain what happened? You have no right to hurt anyone and why the hell are you attacking Fabian? He has provided us all with a home, a safe place to live; stop being such a hot headed fool and hurting those who care for you. Look at what you have done, look at the damage you have caused.” I waved my arm around so she would look and hopefully see what her shoot first then ask questions attitude had led to.

She sat up and looked at Damien who stood, still bound by the ropes Sirene’s spell had wrapped around him. “Why are you tied up? Who restrained him?”

“I did.” Sirene spoke up. “I will release him now it appears things are calming down.” She gave some quietly spoken command and the ropes disappeared. As soon as he was free, Damien dropped to Flame’s side and wrapped his arms around her, burying his face into her neck where he held her tightly.