Unbound (2 page)

“No.  I’m fine, but I had a terrible dream.  I’m afraid this time of joy is about to end for us.  We are about to be separated.”  She shivered and winced with the pain the moment caused her battered body.  Tessa was what humans called a psychic.  She dreamt of things yet to come and regularly had feelings about people or things that proved amazingly insightful.  She usually knew when he needed to leave to meet his parents before suspicions arose.  She knew little things like when the phone was about to ring and big things like when he was about to leave her for a time.  This prediction was the last thing Griffin wanted to hear.  He would not leave his family.  The thought nearly broke him.  He watched a single tear slide down Tessa’s too pale cheek.

Just then, the door flew open and Griffin jumped to his feet, turning so fast to shield their child, Tessa didn’t even see him move.  It was Mason, Griffin’s lifelong best friend.  He was the only person who knew about Tessa and their situation.  He had helped hide Tessa and had procured a mid-wife with knowledge of both human and vampire births to assist with the delivery.

“We have a problem.  Griff
in
, you need to come with me now or they will come looking for you,” Mason spoke so fast Tessa didn’t catch it all.

“Who will come looking for him?”  Tessa demanded.

“The
Council
,” Mason replied.  “I’m afraid they may know.”

“That’s not possible!  We’ve been very careful!”  Griffin argued.

“I’m afraid the mid-wife has broken her vow of silence.  It seems there’s more money to be made by talking to the right people.  We have to leave now, Griffin,” Mason growled.  “We will deal with her treachery later.”

With a stunned expression, Griffin handed the baby to Tessa after kissing her tiny forehead and gently brushing his hand over the white streaks in her hair.  Then he brushed his lips over Tessa’s and he promised, “I will be back as soon as I can.  I love you both more than my own life.”  He kissed her sweetly one more time and ran out the door, eyes glistening.

Mason looked intently at Tessa as he dropped the small duffle bag he had carried in with him onto the end of her bed.  He stepped forward and bent to kiss the sleeping babe on the head.

“I’m so very sorry about this Tessa.  I hope this will help.  It’s the very least I can do for you and my godchild.  Please open it quickly and leave as soon as possible.  There will be a car waiting for you outside.”  He left closing the door softly.

Tessa opened the bag and retrieved a letter placed on top of the stacks of cash and a gun.  Still in shock, she opened the letter and as she read it, began to cry.

Several months later…

Griffin was at his parent's home after returning with them from a Council meeting.  His father, Lloyd, a tall and attractive middle aged looking vampire with the same dark hair and steely blue eyes as Griffin, entered the room to see Griffin staring sadly out the window onto the perfectly manicured lawn, still somehow green even in the winter.  His mother would have it no other way.

“Griffin my boy, it’s really past time for you to stop bereaving the loss of your little f
ling,”
Lloyd scoffed.

Griffin interrupted.  “Father I don’t want to have this conversation with you again.  You’ve made your feelings abundantly clear.”

Lloyd shook his head in disgust and decided it was high time the boy faced reality.  “I have been avoiding telling you this in hopes you would move on willingly but it seems you will not until you know the truth.”  Lloyd paused.  “Your mother began to search
,
against my wishes
,
after we were made aware of your indiscretions and you returned without the child as we had requested.  She is very resourc
eful when she wants something,”
Lloyd huffed.

“I bet she is.  She learned from the best,” Griffin replied sarcastically.

In a flash, Ll
oyd crossed the room and dug his nails into
Griffin
’s
deep into shoulder
.
Griffin
went
to his knees with a yelp of pain.

“Listen to me boy!  I have had enough of your disrespect!  I am your father and a leader of our race!  You would be wise to remember that and act accordingly!”  Then he released Griffin and helped him to his feet.  “It is time for you to take your rightful position on the
Council
and you are not nearly ready.  My patience grows thin, Griffin.”

Griffin’s mother, Adele, entered the room through the French doors that led out to the garden and the hot house carrying a basket of fresh cut flowers.  Adele was a tall, statuesque woman with golden blond hair in a tidy twist at her neck and warm caramel brown eyes.  Her heels showed no signs of dirt in spite of her romp through the garden.  She always moved as if she were floating rather than walking.

Adele realized quickly she had happened upon a disagreement.  “What seems to be the problem here, darlings?”

She put down the flowers and removed her gardening gloves.  As she moved closer, she could see the holes and fresh blood on Griffin’s shirt.  The wounds were already healing.  Her eyes widened as she looked to her husband.  Griffin would not allow anyone but his father to attack him without retaliation, and she knew it.

“Adele, love, your timing is perfect.  I was just about to inform Griffin of the result of your search.”  He purred to her knowing she would be displeased with him for ruining her son’s tailored shirt.

“Everything is fine, Mother.  We were just doing a little male bonding.  Why don’t you come tell me about this big secret you and Father have been keeping?” he insisted.

“Well, darling,” she stuttered, the uncharacteristic stumbling sending a chill over Griffin.  “Give me a moment to go gather the information I’ve been collecting.”  She left the room quickly and Griffin looked at his father with questioning eyes.

“I think it’s best if we wait for your mother to return.  Otherwise I’m sure you won’t see the truth.”

Adele returned carrying a large brown envelope and wearing a solemn look on her perfect face.  She sat in the chair closest to Griffin and beckoned him to sit across from her.  He did and his father followed.  Lloyd stood beside Griffin with a comforting hand on the shoulder he had sunk his talons into just moments ago.  It was unsettling to Griffin.  His parents were not the comforting type.  This wasn’t a good sign.

Adele began, “The day we found out about your little secret and you did not retrieve the child as requested I began to search for her.  I couldn’t very well have the child raised by your human pet.”

“Mother, please!”  Griffin shouted.  He’d had enough of their prejudices.

“Hush son and listen to me!  This will be hard enoug
h without your interruptions,”
Adele barked.  She continued without pause.  “The girl called a cab to carry her to the human hospital.  When the driver was questioned he revealed that he was uncomfortable driving the girl, given she had no car seat for the child.  She pleaded with him saying she couldn’t get the child to nurse.  The driver noted the pale and generally weak condition of the girl and thought better of leaving her behind.  He helped the girl into the ER and left.”

Now Adele paused, measuring Griffin, she continued while handing him a stack of papers.  “I acquired documentation from a source at the human hospital.  Apparently, the girl was hemorrhaging.  The delivery had taken the ultimate toll on her body. She succumbed to the injuries she received during birth and died in the ER.”

Adele handed Griffin a death cer
tificate for Tessa Lynn Taylor.
Tears began to stream down his angry face and he did not attempt to wipe them away.  Adele began again.  “The child lived two more days be
fore she also lost her battle.
The cause of death is listed as failure to thr
ive.”  She then handed Griffin the
birth and death certificates
for Soleil Taylor. The documents both listed the
father
as
unknown.

“It’s really too bad we didn’t find the child sooner.  The idiots at the human hospital had no idea she needed blood to survive.  The girl’s parents died years ago and she had no other family besides an older stepsister.  By the time the authorities were able to locate the stepsister, the bodies had been cremated as per hospital policy in cases of unclaimed persons.  The sister collected the ashes and had them buried in her father’s family plot.”

Lloyd stepped up coolly patting Griffin on the back and said, “Well, now that you know the truth you can stop all this foolishness.”

Griffin’s body shook with sobs as his mother went to the window looking bored with it all and his father continued.  “We have done all we could to keep this mistake quiet so your name wouldn’t be damaged but people are starting to ask questions about your behavior.  It’s time for you to move on, son.  We have had a binding arranged for you since you were small.  Richard Ashburn wants to know if we are going to back out of our agreement.  His daughter Sarah has waited patiently for too long now.  Will you finally do your duty and stop shaming our family name?”

Griffin got up on wobbly legs, still sobbing
,
and quietly left the room clutching the papers to his chest as if they were all he had in the world.  He didn’t make a sound as he retreated to the bedroom of his childhood and collapsed onto the too small bed.  His feet hung way over the footboard.  He wept all night, trying to understand how he could not know his family was dead.  Why did he still feel a connection to Tessa?  The only conclusion he could come to was the fact their bond had not been as strong as he had expected.  The emotional bond could not have been stronger but her humanity had impeded the
blood bond.  When morning came
he emerged red eyed and defeated.  He found his parents in the kitchen trading sections of the newspaper.

“Mother, Father,
I am ready to do my duties as your son and carry on the Vaughn family name with pride.  I will disappoint you no longer.  Please tell Mr. Ashburn I’ll be coming to ask for Sarah’s hand today.”  Then Griffin left them in the kitchen not waiting for an answer and set about the business of moving on with his shattered life.

ONE~

This was the day Danielle had been dreading since she received her college acceptance letter last spring.  How was she supposed to leave him here?  How do you say goodbye to the person you have spent almost every day with for four years?  Lucas had been her boyfriend and one of her best friends since the first day of their freshman year at Perry Hall High.  Her mom had moved them into the area over the summer.  As if the first day of high school wasn’t scary enough she was starting in a new town.  The other kids would have friends from middle school to welcome them with familiar faces and long standing cliques to file themselves into but she would be a total outsider.  Dani could tell the freshmen from everyone else
because they were all wandered
around staring at maps of the school with anxious expressions similar to her own.  After finally locating her assigned locker, she had to push her way through a swarm of plastic looking girls with cell phones and too much hair product, to put her things away.  She could feel the stares burning through the back of her head.  She just ignored them and headed off to he
r first class. S
he could hear the snickers and comments about her hair
as she walked down the corridor.

At her old school
nobody even noticed it anymore. They were so used to it that it wasn’t mentioned.  Dani was going to have to start a
ll over.  On the way into class
several jocks shadowed her.  They too had noticed the white streaks in the front of her dark chocolate brown hair.  She took a seat at the front of the room.
She pulled
out her map and schedules to find the shortest route to her next class.

One of the jocks said, “This place is a zoo.  Did you see?  They’re enrolling zebras now too.”

That’s when an angel in blue jeans and a Hollister t-shirt came to her rescue.  He had entered the classroom just in time to hear the comment and the laughter that followed.  He scowled at the jock and said, “They’ve also have started letting jackasses on the football team.”  Another round of laughter erupted.

“Whatever, Lucas.  You’d be on your ass if you stepped out on the field,
” the
jock spat back at him.

Dani’s savior brushed her arm on the way to go sit with the offending jocks and said, “Ignore him.  His mommy forgot his meds this morning.”

Lucas was the hottest guy she’d ever laid eyes on.  He looked like he belonged in a teen magazine, smiling his perfect smile and breaking hearts.  He had flawless suntanned skin, shaggy, honey-blonde hair and steel blue eyes with gray flecks that made her stomach do strange little cart wheels.  Dani thankfully had several classes and lunch with him.  That first day in the cafeteria, she found an empty table in the corner to spread out her lunch.  She noticed those steel eyes across the room.  He sat at a table full of mostly older kids, jocks, cheerleaders, and other various plastic girls so he must be popular.  Odd, considering it was the first day of high school.  He must be one of those people that naturally draw others to them.  He caught her looking and she wanted to slide under the table.  Her face was so hot she knew she couldn’t hide her embarrassment as he began to get up and walk her way.  Dani stopped breathing.  He sat across from her and leaned over to take a few strands of white hair in his fingers and tuck them behind her ear.