Skye Morrison Vampire 2 Sins of the Father (2 page)

“
Sometimes, it’s exchanged during
intercourse with your mate for bonding purposes, but it’s not done
often,” Aoife elaborated further.

“
Why are you only telling us about this
now, Archer?” Trey whispered, breaking his silence and
I
jumped at the unexpectedness of it.

“
Because, my dear Nathaniel, I can no
longer protect any of you from this. Believe me children, I didn’t
keep this from you to hurt you, quite the contrary. I didn’t want
to unnecessarily alarm you. I had no way of knowing that
this…creature would come here. I’m telling you now because this
monster, whoever it is, has entered our home. They came into our
house and murdered our brother.”

“
But Seamus, Aoife, and I were in Boston
when those in Sliocht Sheáin were murdered,” Lochlan said. “You
should have told us, Athair.”

“
I wish I had been able to, but I had been
given my own orders to remain silent,” Archer sighed. “Other
leaders didn’t want to incite panic amongst their own. We didn’t
know if the killings were random or if that monster was
specifically targeting some of us. All of the vampires that this
creature has killed so far are of our own species, those who walk
in the light. Our inside sources have informed us that there have
been no similar cases among the Dark Ones. We still haven’t found a
pattern in the killings and we don’t yet understand why some of our
kind was killed and others seemingly overlooked.”

“
What of An Dílis?” Hunter asked. “When
will they be here?”

“
They should be here in roughly nine
hours,” Archer replied. “They have been preparing for the journey
here for the last few days.”

“
I’ve never seen one before,” Trey leaned
over and whispered to me, passing me the bottle of scotch. He
seemed like he had some margin of control over himself again and I
was glad for it. I guess drinking helped dull some of the raw
emotions he was picking up from everyone.

“
Who are the An Dílis? What does that even
mean?” I asked Trey before taking a big swig from the bottle and
passing it off to Jameson on my left.

“
An Dílis means ‘The Faithful’. They are
kind of like our race’s equivalent to your military. They are big
and bad, and if they’re coming, shit has definitely hit the
fan.”

“
Oh dear…,” I whispered.

Archer stood up and walked to the center of
our haphazard gathering, slowly looking around at us as he spoke.
“I want each of you to pair up with someone and stay with that
person at all times. When we leave here tonight, we all leave
together as a group. Jameson will lead the way in his car and I
will bring up the rear in mine. I want you all to stay with me in
my house until this is over.”

“
Aye,” Jameson said.

“
Tonight, we will say goodbye to our
Greyson. Tomorrow, we prepare for what may come. Each of you will
select and carry a weapon from my armory. You will not be without
it at any time. Ever. Is that understood?”

“
Aye, Athair,” the vampires agreed in
unison.

Archer glanced around at everyone again and
sighed heavily. “I don’t think I could bear it if something
happened to any of you.”

Trey sniffed and broke down into tears again.
This time they were silent. I put my arm around him and held him.
Poor Trey was so sensitive…

“
Alright,” Archer said, turning to Quinn.
“Let’s get this done as quickly as possible. The sheets are
upstairs.” Quinn nodded and wasted no time in ascending Archer’s
private staircase. Archer then spoke to the rest of us. “Hunter and
Seamus are going to clean the second floor. The rest of you divide
up the first. I want us on the road within the hour, so use
haste.”

Everyone started splitting up and I turned to
Trey. “Are you going to be okay, honey?” I asked as I briefly
squeezed him in a side hug.

Trey took a deep breath, removed a dainty
lace-trimmed white handkerchief from his back pocket and dabbed at
his eyes. “I will be,” he said with a deep sigh. “It’s been a
taxing evening, hasn’t it?” I nodded my head and gave him a final
pat on the back before I stood up.

“
I’m sorry you had to go through that,” I
said softly. “I can’t imagine what it’s like to feel everyone’s
emotions all at once.”

Trey smiled sadly and shook his head. “I
wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.”

A light breeze ruffled my hair and I whipped
around to find Jameson standing behind me.

“Agh!” I screamed in surprise, dropping the
bottle of Grey Goose that I was holding and clutching my hands
tightly to my heart.

Jameson flashed his hand out and caught it
before it hit the ground. “Sorry, love, sorry,” he apologized
quickly, setting the bottle in the near-f box at my feet. “I
didn’t mean to frighten you.”

“Uh…, no, I’m sorry,” I said, taking a deep
breath and shaking my head. “I’m just a bit on edge still I guess.”
I turned around and resumed selecting liquor bottles to restock
both bars with.

“Archer’s looking for you,” Jameson said,
reaching over my shoulder and grabbing a bottle of Macallan 18.

I grabbed four more bottles and put them in
the box before turning around. “Yeah? What does he want?” I asked,
tossing my long auburn hair over my left shoulder and out of my
face.

“No clue,” Jameson answered, bending down and
picking up the full box at my feet. “He’s up in his office, though.
I’ll follow you out.”

I sighed, nodded my head, and left the room.
I had Jameson put the box of new liquor bottles behind the first
floor bar. I grabbed six bottles out and made my way up the wide
metal staircase to the second floor. My eyes immediately went to
the now empty table where we had found Greyson Mead’s dismembered
body only forty minutes ago. Images of his decapitated head flashed
in my mind and I fought a sudden, overwhelming wave of nausea. It
was the most horrific thing I had ever seen and I knew I would
vividly remember the gruesome sight until the day I died. I quickly
shook my head and struggled hard to rid myself of the dreadful
images. I swallowed the huge lump in my throat as I walked over to
the bar and deposited the bottles on the counter.

“Thanks,” Hunter mumbled distractedly as he
set down the rag he was using to clean the counter top with and
started putting away the bottles.

“Yep,” I mumbled back as I turned to the left
and opened the door to Archer’s private stairwell. I slowly trudged
up the narrow, spiral staircase. After being on my feet for the
last ten hours, my five inch spinal stilettos were absolutely
killing me. I reminded myself to go to the employee lounge when I
was done with Archer and get my comfortable black Converse Chucks
out of my locker. I didn’t want to wear these heels a minute longer
than I needed to.

I reached the top of the stairs and gave a
quick three knocks on the closed office door.

“Enter,” Archer responded.

I opened the door a few inches and peered in.
Archer was sitting behind his massive African Blackwood desk and
was talking on the phone. Aoife was perched on the edge of the desk
next to him, her long, shapely legs crossed at the knee. She
glanced back at me, gave my body a judgmental once-over with her
piercing crystal blue eyes, and turned her attention back to
Archer.

I rolled my eyes and walked into the room,
closing the door behind me. Archer motioned for me to have a seat
in one of the sleek black chairs sitting in front of his desk. I
silently complied, double crossing my legs, and waited patiently
for him to get off the phone.

“I don’t care how long it takes, Gunnar. Just
get it for me. Spare no expense.” Archer said into the phone
quickly before hanging up and turning his attention to me with a
sigh. “How’s it going down there? Is everyone almost finished?”

“Yes, sir,” I replied with a nod. “They’ve
been cleaning circles around me.”

Archer leaned back in his chair and looked up
at Aoife. “Can we have a few minutes alone, please,
Cion
?”

Aoife’s back became rigid straight and she
glanced at me before getting up. “As you wish.”

I made a point not to look at her as she
sauntered around the desk and to the door, her eyes watching me
every step of the way. I waited for the door to close before I
spoke. “Did you need something?” I asked.

Archer leaned forward in his chair and took
off his expensive charcoal gray sports coat. “I wanted to see how
you were handling all of this,” he said, throwing the coat onto the
couch and moving to take off his cufflinks. I watched him struggle
for a second before I intervened.

“Here, let me help you.” I said as I got up
from the chair and walked around his desk. He smiled tiredly,
sighed, and thanked me. I hopped up onto the desk, sat in the same
place Aoife had only moments ago occupied and pulled his hand onto
my lap. I slowly took off his left cufflink and sat it down on the
dark desk beside me. I looked into his ice blue eyes as I rolled
the shirtsleeve up his muscular forearm. “Honestly, Archer, I don’t
know how I am handling this.”

He stared intensely into my eyes and searched
them for clues. “Are you scared?” I nodded my head and gave him his
arm back. I picked up his right one and began the same process
again. “You know I’ll never let anything happen to you, don’t
you?”

I watched my hands work as I thought about
that for a few seconds. “I know,” I said finally, looking back up
into his beautiful eyes. Neither of us said anything for a long
moment. “I’m worried about you…about all of you,” I admitted
reluctantly, my fingers finishing their work.

Archer took one of my hands in his and leaned
closer. “We’re going to be just fine,” he said, tucking a stray
hair behind my left ear and then lifting my chin. “We’re a lot
stronger than we look, Skye.”

I had a sudden flash of Greyson’s mutilated
body and I swallowed hard, shaking my head. My eyes glistened with
unshed tears. “But Greyson…,”

Archer shushed me with a gentle finger to my
full lips. “Don’t,” he whispered, looking deeply into my eyes.
“Don’t think about that.” He cupped my cheek and tenderly ran his
thumb over my mouth, tracing my bottom lip.

“I’m sorry for how I acted earlier tonight,”
he apologized gently, his eyes remorseful.

“I know,” I whispered. I tilted my head into
his cool hand and closed my eyes. His touch was so comforting, his
strong arms safe. I felt my body slowly start to relax for the
first time tonight.

“I want you to stay with me tonight, Skye.”
My eyes flew open in alarm and I sat up straight. “Us,” Archer
amended quickly. “I meant I want you to stay with us…at my
house.”

I relaxed infinitesimally and shook my head.
“I’m sorry. I can’t. I’ve got to go home to Styvi Nix,” I
explained. He dropped his hand and leaned back a bit. “Besides,
I’ll be safe at my house, Archer. That monster isn’t going around
killing humans, right?”

Archer shook his head and sighed. “No, thank
God.”

I scooted forward on the desk so that my feet
touched the floor. I crossed my legs at the ankles and folded my
arms under my chest. “Is there anything else you need before I call
it a night?”

“Actually, there is. I’m going to be busy
with
An Dílis
tomorrow evening so I need you and Jameson to
run the club. I want Trey working the front door with Seamus and
scanning the emotions of everyone coming in. I don’t want anyone
with malicious intentions stepping foot into my club again.”

“That’s a really good idea,” I said, nodding
my head. “Will he be able to pick up if someone is trying to be
deceitful? I mean, what if someone is really good at hiding their
emotions?”

“Nathaniel is an extraordinarily sensitive
empath,” he said simply. Archer appeared confident in Trey’s
abilities and that was very reassuring.

“I’ll have to work the main bar if Trey is
going to be working the door. Our barback Ducky just got his
bartending license but I don’t think he’s ready to handle the level
of customer influx we have, not yet anyway. Besides, I’m pretty
sure I’m going to be relying heavily on him tomorrow night. I’m not
as fast as Trey.”

“That sounds good,” Archer said, smiling up
at me. It was a very brief, small smile, but it was genuine. All
too soon, his face fell again and you could see the night’s events
weighing heavily upon him.

“You should go home and get some rest,” I
said gently, sympathetically.

His brow furrowed and he looked away, sighing
and shaking his head. “I can’t. There’s so much still to do.”

“Are you going to cremate Greyson tonight?” I
asked uncertainly.

“Yes. It is tradition,” he explained. “We do
not rebury our dead.” He rubbed his left temple and sighed
again.

I uncrossed my arms and hesitantly reached up
with one hand to run my fingers through the tiny patch of gray hair
that dappled his left temple. I couldn’t help myself. I could see
that Greyson’s death had taken a serious toll on him and I wanted
to comfort him; to tell him that everything would be okay. I wanted
to wrap my arms around him and kiss the pain from each of his eyes.
No matter our problems, or how abundant they were, I couldn’t stand
to see him hurting. I never again wanted to see the look he had on
his face when he turned away from Greyson’s body.

Archer looked up and slowly studied me. For a
while, neither of us said anything as we stared into each other’s
eyes. “There’s so much I want to say to you right now,” he
whispered, breaking the comfortable silence; his voice filled with
raw honesty and immense sadness. Vulnerability was not something I
was used to seeing in Archer’s eyes. He was the opposite of
vulnerable in every way.

“I know,” I replied softly, pulling him
close. His strong arms slid easily around my narrow waist as he
relaxed into me. He gently laid his head on my chest and I cradled
it with one hand as I softly ran my fingers through his silky brown
hair with the other.