Vamps in the City (12 page)

“No, he was gone before we arrived,” Grant admitted.

“Trevor’s hurt and we have to take him to the compound.”

“No Paige, it’s okay. I’ll be fine,” Trevor interrupted.

She moved her head to look down at him. “No. You’re coming with us.” She looked back up at Grant. “He needs our help.”

“She’s right, Trevor. You may not want to, but we can take care of your wounds and protect you while you heal,” Grant told his brother, agreeing with her.

Trevor snorted. “Like you protected her?”

Grant growled and stepped towards his brother.

“Stop it both of you,” Paige snapped tiredly.

“Go ahead to the car,” Sam said, moving to Trevor. “I’ll get Trevor loose.”

Grant remained quiet on the ride back to the compound. He sat with Paige in his lap in the back seat. Sam put Trevor in the passenger seat. No one spoke on the entire trip back into town.

* * * *

Once they’d reached the compound, Grant carried her inside and up to their room. She didn’t see where Sam took Trevor.

Grant remained quiet as he sat her on the bed. He paced away from her and she could see him taking deep breaths.

“I’m sorry, Grant,” she whispered.

He turned back around quickly and she saw his emotions swirling in his eyes. He was trying to stay in control, and she knew she needed to be careful.

“I was working out in the gym when Adam told me you’d called and wanted him to bring me to you.”

“I know. It’s not your fault, Paige.”

“I didn’t know something was wrong until we were almost out of the city.”

“My father had convinced him that he would leave Samantha alone if he took you to him. He traded you for her safety.”

That was a slap in the face. She never thought he would have a reason to betray them. “Oh.” She ran her hands over her legs and looked down at the dirt. “Where is he now?”

Grant just shook his head. “It’s taken care of. That’s all you need to know.”

She knew better than to push him right now. “I need a shower. I need to wash this…all this off of me.”

It proved how close Grant was to losing it that he just stared at her before nodding. “Okay.”

She stood and waited for him, but he just continued to stare. She collected clean clothes and headed for the closest bathroom. Grant remained behind in the room, which surprised her. When they were at the compound, he had always before now gone with her when she showered.

Closing the door behind her, she set the clothes on the counter.

Looking at her reflection she was shocked. Her hair was standing out in all directions. Her face was dirty and she had blood all over her face. No wonder Grant hadn’t wanted to join her.

She turned the water on hot and full force, gingerly pulled off her clothes and dumped them in the trash. She never wanted to see them again.

The hot water stung against her cuts but did wonders to relax her muscles. She’d slept off and on during her capture, which had turned out to be three days as the date on the digital clock in the hallway proved. But she was still tired. Exhausted.

 
She needed to check on Trevor, make sure Tasha was okay, and maybe see about Samantha but that might be tricky. She also needed to talk more to Grant.

But with the water beating down on her, she closed her eyes and gave herself over to the pounding sensations. The knock on the door startled her.

“Paige! You okay in there?” Sam called from outside the door.

She turned off the water. “Yeah. Give me just a minute.” The fact that Sam was checking on her instead of Grant didn’t give her much hope that Grant had been using the time to get himself under control.

She spent extra time brushing her hair and teeth before pulling on a pair of cotton lounge pants and a T-shirt. Opening the door she smiled up at Sam. “Where’s Grant?”

“He went to check on Trevor and then work out.”

Sam took her arm to lead her back down the hall to the room. It was a gesture she was getting used to, between him and Grant. Sam opened the bedroom door and she entered first.

“He doesn’t want you alone right now. He asked if I’d check on you and stay with you until he got back.”

Paige nodded and headed to the bed. “Is he okay?”

 
Sam stuck his hands in his pockets and rock back on his heels. “He will be, Paige. Just give him time.”

She nodded again.

“He was scared. He couldn’t find you and didn’t know if you had taken off or were taken.”

Pulling the covers down she sat up in bed and pulled them over her legs.

“I haven’t seen him like that in years, Paige,” Sam admitted softly.

Paige blinked back tears.

“And then finding you in Trevor’s arms didn’t help.”

“But I wasn’t…”

Sam shook his head. “I didn’t mean anything went on between the two of you. Grant’s been hurting about Trevor for a long time. There is a lot of history there. It shocked him more than anything else.”

“Trevor told me some of it,” she confessed.

“Words were said on both sides. They’ll have to forgive and forget, but a long time has passed. Just be patient with him,” Sam advised.

Paige would be more than patient. She would help her lover in any way she could. “Okay. I’m going to rest, Sam,” she told him flopping back in bed.

Sam seemed relieved. “Good idea.”

Paige grinned to herself. Sam might be very talkative but she knew who he was loyal to. If he’d promised Grant he’d watch over her, Paige knew that was exactly what he’d do. That comforted her enough to allow her to fall peacefully asleep, wrapped in the scent of the man she loved.

* * * *

It was hours before Grant returned to her side. Paige was too tired to do more than turn to him and let him wrap his arms around her.

When she was able to wake for good several hours later, she snuggled into his strong body. Still asleep, he wrapped his arms around her. Paige took advantage, closed her eyes, and clung to him.

His cell phone started ringing from the nightstand, but he didn’t move. Knowing how exhausted he had to be, Paige remained still, hoping he could sleep through the noise. After four rings the phone finally went silent. Paige breathed a sigh of relief.

Then almost immediately the ringing started again. This time Grant grunted and tightened his arms. “Can’t they leave us alone for one morning?” he grumbled.

Paige held in a smile. “Maybe we should think about getting our own place.”

She felt Grant tense before he slowly lifted his head and held her gaze. “You’d still move in with me…love me, after I got you captured again?” he asked his voice barely over a whisper.

Paige gently placed her hand on his cheek never breaking eye contact. “You didn’t get me captured…”

Grant opened his mouth to argue but she shook her head.

“Listen to me, it wasn’t your fault, it wasn’t mine. I should have seen how you would blame yourself, but you can’t. Please babe, understand me. I love you so much. If I had to go through that again I would.”

Grant swallowed hard.

“We have your brother on our side. We are that much closer to finding your sister. We’re going to win this battle with your father, and then make sure no one else ever has to go through any of this again,” she told him, praying he would believe her.

“I love you so much. I know I don’t deserve you, but God I love you,” he stated before taking her mouth in a soft but intense kiss.

He covered her body with his and situated himself between her legs. Paige wrapped her own legs around his waist and pushed up against his hardness. This was where she could show him her love. She could give him all of her and take him in as well.

They’d just managed to get her shirt over her head when his phone went off again.

They both groaned as he pulled away.

“As soon as we get rid of my father, we are moving,” he promised as he picked up the small black phone. “The number’s blocked,” he commented.

“Answer it,” she told him.

“Hello.”

The change happened so quickly had she not been watching him, she would have missed it. Gone was the sweet, horny man who had been minutes from making love with her. His face paled, teeth clenched and eyes hardened.

“Jess,” he gasped out.

Paige sat up quickly. Grant grabbed her hand, squeezing a little too hard.

“Jess, where are you? How’d you get this number?”

Paige couldn’t hear the answer so she tried to read Grant. Right in front of her, his face lost all expression and closed down.

“Are you with him?” was Grant’s next question. “Fine,” he snapped. “When and where?”

There was a pause before his body jerked and he was watching her just as closely as she did him.

“No. She stays out of this.”

Another pause.

“No.”

Then the call must have been disconnected. Grant stared at it for several seconds before he threw it against the wall. Low colourful words followed his action.

“Get dressed,” he ordered.

Paige grabbed her shirt but before she could pull it on, Grant was trying to dress her. She slapped his hands away. “I got it, get your own clothes.”

Possibilities swam through her head. Jess had finally called her brother after so many years. Instead of celebrating, he had tension pouring off of him.

“Grant?” she asked quietly.

“Give me just a minute, baby,” Grant pleaded. “Just let me absorb this.”

She could do that. She finished dressing, pulled her hair back from her face, and linked her fingers with his when he held out his hand.

Grant wasn’t shutting her out. But he was struggling with something.

Chapter Fifteen

Paige found herself in what Grant called a conference room. It was a large room with a round table in the middle and wide monitors mounted across one wall. She, Grant, Sam, Trevor, Marissa, Tasha and several other vampires sat around the table trying to come up with a plan.

Grant had just finished telling everyone about the short conversation with his sister.

Apparently she was with his father. And the only way Grant would get close to his sister was if he met them at their old family home at midnight. There was only one problem.

They wanted Paige with Grant.

And Grant wouldn’t even consider it.

“She’s not going,” Grant stated.

Paige sighed but remained silent. She’d be going. There was no question.

“How did he find her?” Trevor’s soft voice interrupted another debate between Grant and one of the vampire hunters, Phil.

All eyes turned to him.

Trevor lifted both hands as he spoke. “I’ve been tracking her for months. I knew she was headed this way, but I never got close.”

Grant shook his head. “I don’t know. But it was Jess who I talked to.”

Suddenly it dawned on Paige. “She went home,” she whispered.

She might have yelled it by the reaction. She had everyone’s complete attention.

“What? Why?” Grant asked. “Why would you think that?

Paige shrugged. “That’s what I did.”

Grant seemed to think about that.

“Makes sense,” Marissa commented from across the table.

“We need to move past this,” Sam commented from his spot. “We only have a few hours to plan out our moves.”

Grant scrubbed his hands roughly over his face. “Well, my father knows I’m not going to show up alone. So he’ll be prepared for my having back up.”

Sam grunted in agreement.

“So he’ll have just as many men there as I will. Probably more.” Grant added.

“So we go early,” Phil suggested.

Everyone nodded.

“If I may make a suggestion,” Marissa stated. Everyone in the room gave her their full attention. Even if she’d worded it as a question, it really wasn’t. “Grant, you should take Paige with you.”

Grant opened his mouth to argue no doubt but she held up a hand.

“With so many of our guards, plus you and Sam going, I can’t think of a safer place for her,” Marissa finished.

Grant glanced between her and Marissa several times. Paige tried to smile reassuringly to him, but she didn’t think it worked as he frowned.

“You may have a point,” he relented.

“Then let’s work this out,” Phil suggested, and the plan began to form.

Grant knew in the deepest part of his gut that no matter how prepared he and his team were, his father would have more than one trick up his sleeve.

There was no way his father expected him to show up and not fight. He still couldn’t figure out what his father wanted with Paige, but Grant had searched for his sister for so long, he was ready to end it once and for all.

Get his sister away safely and then disappear with Paige for a few months.

As the home of his childhood came into view he held his breath. This was it. Paige reached over and twined her fingers with his.

“It will be okay,” she said softly.

Grant squeezed her hand. “Promise me that if anything goes wrong, you’ll run. Get to safety,” he pleaded.

“Grant…”

“Promise me! I can’t stand the idea of you being hurt again,” he told her.

“I promise,” she whispered.

Grant held onto her hand as he pulled in front of the house. Everything was dark. That didn’t surprise him. No one had lived in the house since the night his mother had been killed.

“This is where you grew up?” Paige asked her voice low.

Grant nodded.

“It’s nice,” she told him.

Grant thought back on his childhood. His mother had been the glue that held the family together. She insisted that they sit down every night and eat dinner together. On Sunday mornings, they would go for rides into the canyons a couple of hours away. There, they would hike, picnic, and spend quality time together.

They were some of his best memories. That was before the horrible night she’d been taken from them.

His mother had run into town to the grocery store to pick up some bread. That was it, just bread. Two men had followed her into the parking lot.

Her body was later found in the alley behind the store. Beaten, raped, and strangled. That was the day normal had ceased to exist for them.