Revelation of Blood (17 page)

“The helicopter?” I asked her retreating form
but did not get an answer.

The throne room door opened and my father
smiled brightly when he saw me. “Skye,” he said, pulling me into a
hug, “how did you sleep?”

“Surprisingly well,” I chuckled, returning
it.

Lucian took my hand and led me further into
the room. Atticus was sitting on his throne and his son Corvus was
standing by his side.

“So we meet again,” Corvus grinned like only
Corvus could; sexy, mysterious, and promising.

“So it would seem,” I nodded my head to him.
“We’ve really got to stop meeting up like this.”

Corvus threw his head back and laughed as
Atticus stood. “So have you had a chance to contemplate our offer?”
he asked with no preamble.

“I have, sir,” I nodded my head and took a
deep breath.

“And?” he prompted, drawing out the word.

“And I feel that a decision as big as the one
you want me to make needs more than a mere twelve hours of
consideration.”

“That is disappointing,” he said after a long
pause, his eyes studying me.

“That is honest, Mr. Frost,” I stood my
ground. “And since I’m being honest, I’ll also tell you that you
didn’t have a chance in hell of getting me to join you before I
talked to Lucian. Meeting my father has given me enough pause to
actually consider your offer. But this decision is one I cannot
make lightly. This decision will change my entire life and I have
forever to think about, after all. I make you no promises, Mr.
Frost, but I will seriously consider what you are offering me
here.”

Atticus took a deep breath and pursed his
lips, deep in thought. I watched as the weight of my words finally
sank in and he nodded his head. “Very well, Miss Morrison. I look
forward to hearing from you soon.” He snapped his fingers and
Corvus withdrew a business card from his pocket and brought it over
to me. “This is my number,” Atticus continued. “When you come to a
decision please let me know.”

“Yes, sir,” I said respectfully as I bowed my
head to him.

“Lucian, please see Miss Morrison to the
helicopter,” the leader said with a flick of his wrist and then
gave me one final farewell. “Until we meet again, child.”

I nodded my head and took my father’s arm as
he led me out of the room and down more twisting stone hallways. We
came to a bank of elevators and he escorted me inside one of the
cars.

“I’m really going to miss you,” he said sadly
as the elevator started its ascent.

“We’ll see each other again, Lucian,” I
smiled reassuringly up at him. “After all, we’re family.”

“Why do I feel like this is goodbye?”

“Because it’s a goodbye for now,” I explained
as I turned to him and rested one hand on his chest, over his
heart. “No matter what I decide, you’re my father and I want you to
be a part of my life. We’ve missed twenty three years together,
Dad. I’m not going to miss another one. We’ve got a lot of making
up to do for lost time.”

He pulled me into a hug and took a deep
breath when he let go. “What are you going to tell Archer Rhys?” he
asked, somewhat nervously.

“The truth, Dad,” I explained with a sad
smile. “I can’t lie to him. Besides, he can read minds. If he
really wants access to my thoughts, he can force his way into my
head. Where would that get me?”

Lucian chuckled and then an odd look crossed
his eyes. I didn’t know him well enough to decipher it. “Do you
really love him?” he asked softly, his eyes studying me
intently.

“I do,” I said without hesitation. “I really,
really do.”

When the elevator began to slow, my father
turned and handed me a folded piece of paper. “That has my contact
information. Keep in touch, okay?”

“Will do, Dad,” I smiled as I reached up and
hugged him one last time. “Kidnapping aside, I had a nice
time.”

“I apologize for that, sweetheart,” Lucian
said remorsefully. “We just needed a way to get you here.”

“Next time call, okay?” I chuckled.

The doors opened and I saw that we were now
on top of a skyscraper. The city view before me was breathtaking
with its shining lights and lit up buildings. “Where are we?” I
asked as Lucian escorted me to the helipad.

“New York City,” he smiled brightly.

We said our goodbyes and then the pilot
helped me into the back seat and tightly strapped me in. After
putting on the communication headphones, I waved goodbye to my
father as we took off.

The New York Skyline was absolutely beautiful
at night. From my window I got a great view of Times Square as we
flew over and silently wished I’d had the chance to actually visit
the city. Regardless, I couldn’t wait to get back to Boston and
into the arms of the man I loved.

**********

Two hours later, the helicopter landed on top
of a Boston skyscraper a few blocks away from Back Bay Tower. I
thanked the pilot and grabbed the duffle bag that held my ruined
evening gown as a Dark One I had never met before escorted me into
the building and then out to the street. He pointed me in the
direction of Archer’s penthouse and I wasted no time walking the
three blocks to get there.

When I entered the tower lobby, I breathed a
sigh of relief. I was really glad to be back. I quickly made my way
over to the elevators and when they opened, Fernando’s eyes grew
wide upon seeing me.

“
¡Dios mio!
” he exclaimed in his
thicker than usual Spanish accent, pulling me into the elevator
car. “Mr. Rhys and Mr. Jameson have been out of their minds with
the worry.” He quickly inserted his key and punched in the
penthouse access code. “Everyone has been looking for you. They
said you got lost or something?” Fernando turned to me with
questioning eyes and I just shrugged my shoulders. It wasn’t like I
could really tell him that I was kidnapped and recently
released.

The elevator slowed and Fernando moved to
escort me to the door, but I told him it was okay. As soon as the
doors closed and I heard the elevator descend again, I flashed down
the hall and opened the penthouse door.

Across the foyer, I could see Jameson sitting
on the couch with his head in his hands. It looked like he was
still wearing last night’s tux. His head snapped up at the sound of
the door and he stood up as soon as he saw me. He stared in silent,
utter shock for a few seconds before he flashed over to me and
roughly pulled me into his arms.

“Oh!” I gasped at the hard impact of our
bodies and dropped the duffle bag so I could return the hug.

Jameson started speaking rapidly in Gaelic as
he moved his hands to my cheeks and raised my face to his.

“English, Jameson, English,” I whispered,
seeing the mix of torture and relief in his watery eyes.

“Fuck,” he breathed out harshly before
shaking his head and switching languages. “Where have you been?
We’ve been scouring the city for you. You didn’t come back inside
and I went looking for you after twenty minutes, but couldn’t find
you anywhere. I came across your broken wine glass in the garden
and picked up the scent of an unfamiliar vampire on the bench …I
knew something bad had happened. What happened, Skye? Where were
you?!”

“Honey, calm down,” I whispered soothingly as
I reached up with one hand to smooth his hair back from his face.
“I’m okay. I’m perfectly fine. I’ll tell you everything that
happened, alright?”

Jameson’s eyes slowly calmed as my hand
brushed his hair. Both of us were silent for a long time as his
eyes drank me in. I was really worried about him. It looked like he
hadn’t slept or even eaten in a long time. Finally, with a sigh, he
closed the small distance between our faces and rested his forehead
against mine. “I was starting to think I’d never see you again,” he
whispered softly.

“Not even the devil himself could keep me
away from my family, Jameson,” I whispered as I pulled back to look
up at him.

“You’re really okay?” he questioned as he
searched my eyes. I nodded my head and he sighed again, looking a
lot more relieved. “I have to call Archer now,” he whispered as he
cupped my face once more and lowered his lips to mine. The kiss
surprised me but what surprised me even more was the innocence of
it. It was closed mouthed and sweet, not lasting longer than four
seconds.

“I’m really glad you’re home, little sister,”
he said before quickly kissing my forehead and taking a step back.
He dug into his pants pocket and brought out his cell phone.
Flipping it open, he pushed a button and put it to his ear.

“You vampires really need to get with the
times,” I shook my head and grimaced at the ancient technology in
his hand. “Is that thing even digital? Jesus, I am totally buying
you guys some new phones when we get back home.”

Jameson smiled as he spoke. “Archer, she’s
here and she’s cracking jokes so I think she’s okay.” There were
small pauses as he listened. “Two minutes ago…No, not
yet…right…will do.” He snapped the phone closed with a sigh and
cocked one eyebrow at me. “Archer will be here in ten minutes and
just for the record, I happen to like my phone.”

“How can you? It’s one step away from a soup
can and a string,” I smiled, teasing, as I folded my arms under my
chest. “I’m surprised that thing doesn’t have an antenna.”

Jameson laughed and ran his fingers through
his hair. “Fucking hell, I’ve missed you,” he sighed, still
smiling.

“I’ve missed you too,” I said before closing
the distance between us and wrapping my arms around his waist.
“Does this mean you don’t hate me anymore?”

He stared down into my eyes as his smile grew
smaller. “I never hated you, Skye. How could anyone ever hate you?”
he whispered as he lightly ran the back of his finger down my
cheek.

“I’m a gigantic pain in the ass,” I grinned.
“Trust me, it’s totally possible.”

His smile completely faded and he got serious
on me. “Are you going to tell me what happened? Where you
were?”

I took a deep breath and sighed, pulling back
from him. “It’s a long story. I’d like to wait for Archer to get
here so I only have to tell it once, okay? Let’s just say I had an
interesting time with the Dark Ones.”

“I fucking knew it!” Jameson growled angrily
as he placed his hands on top of his head and began to pace.
“Corvus was behind your disappearance, wasn’t he, that fucking
little weasel! I knew he was too stupid to leave well enough
alone.”

“Geez, calm down,” I said, grabbing him by
the sleeve of his shirt and dragging him to the kitchen. “I need a
drink and you need something to do to occupy your mind, so let’s
kill two birds with one stone, shall we? You pour and I’ll
explain.”

Jameson growled, still pissed because he
obviously didn’t like Corvus, as he got out two glasses and filled
them with whiskey.

I wonder why Jameson hates Corvus so
much
, I thought silently before I shook my head and hopped up
onto the counter. “I don’t think Corvus would even dare to breathe
without his father’s permission.”

“Corvus is extremely loyal to Atticus,”
Jameson nodded his head and handed me a glass. “They all are.”

“Yeah, I got that feeling,” I scoffed,
remembering how everyone called him ‘Master’. I downed the glass
and held it out for a refill.

Jameson looked at my hand and crossed his
arms over his chest. “You’re not explaining,” he frowned.

“And you’re not pouring, big brother,” I
smiled sweetly, batting my eyelashes while shaking the glass. He
gave me a smirk and grabbed the bottle so I started talking. I
figured I’d start at the very beginning, explaining why I needed
some fresh air, in hopes that Archer would arrive before I got to
the part where the Dark One stabbed me in the chest with the
syringe.

“Man,” Jameson cringed. “I heard people
talking to you but I wasn’t paying that much attention I guess. I
can’t believe he really told you about that.” We were discussing
the horrible and very detailed conversation that I’d had with the
Ugandan Day Walker regarding the war atrocities he’d seen when
Archer burst through the door.

“
Cion
,” he breathed as soon as he saw
me and I jumped down off the counter and flashed over to him,
throwing my arms around his neck. Archer lifted me off the ground
and buried his face in the hollow of my neck as he deeply breathed
me in. His arms tightened around me and I closed my eyes, enjoying
the reunion.

“I missed you, baby,” I whispered, running
one set of fingers through the hair at the back of his head while I
held him to me. The sharp scent of blood hit my nose and I couldn’t
believe I hadn’t noticed it sooner. I leaned back and looked down
at his outfit. He was still wearing the same tuxedo he had on last
night but it wasn’t in the pristine condition it was in the last
time I saw it. Now, it was covered in blood. Some of it was on the
front of his white dress shirt, but the majority was on the black
jacket.

“Are you hurt?” I asked, suddenly panicking,
as I wiggled in his arms to be put down. The second my toes touched
the floor, my hands were all over him searching for some tell-tale
marking.

“It’s not mine, baby,” Archer said gently as
he stopped my hands and brought them to his mouth to tenderly kiss
them.

“Well, whose is it then?” I asked, thoroughly
confused.

“Later,” he growled then grabbed my face in
both hands and brought my mouth to his, kissing me deeply. I melted
into him and sighed as our tongues met. I was so happy and relieved
to see him. I didn’t realize how much I’d missed him until this
very moment. Archer was my oxygen; my own deepest need and now that
I had him in my arms, I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to let him
go.

“Okay you two, break it up,” someone growled
and my eyes darted over to where Ruarc was standing. “I want
answers.”