Unbound (23 page)

“Mr. Vaughn, I’d like to introduce you to Danielle Scott.” Griffin didn’t raise his eyes from the paper he was reading as he crossed the room until they were within a few feet of a handshake. Then he froze, his eyes locked on hers, and the breath that caught in his throat was audible. He was standing there with his hand half extended, staring at her. She smiled and took his hand.

“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Vaughn. I hope I can be of some service in your search for the missing people.” She was going to stay calm and pretend like she couldn’t see the obvious. She would be polite and play her part so she could get the hell out of there.

“It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Thank you for meeting me on such short notice,” he stuttered trying to pull his gaze from her eyes. She imagined he was seeing her mother’s eyes, and she hoped it hurt him to remember those unique icy gems.

“Please come have a seat so we can talk. I’ve heard some amazing claims about your abilities.” He pointed her toward a chair in front of his large desk.

“Cayden, you can go make yourself at home in the kitchen until we’re done here. I’m sure you’re hungry,” Griffin suggested.

Cayden rubbed his washboard abs, “I’m always ready to eat. See you later. I’d hate to be late for lunch.” And he left closing the door on the way out.

Griffin went to the other side of the desk and sat in his high-backed leather chair, and for several moments, he said nothing. He just looked at her until she interrupted the awkward silence. “What have you heard about me, sir?”

He seemed to shake himself back to attention. “I’ve heard you have multiple talents from telekinesis to telepathy. Is that true?” He sounded like it was an incredible claim.

“Is that unusual?” she countered.

“I’ve never met anyone with multiple extrasensory abilities. Have you? What about your family?” Griffin was curious about the girl’s family and he didn’t recognize her last name.

“I have no family left. My parents died when I was little. I was raised by a servant who died just after I turned eighteen. She was a bit of a recluse. She never talked about others like me, and I received only the most basic training because my guardian was human. I know nothing about your people, or of what is normal for them. I’d never even met another vampire until I started school at the university and went to the club with my friends.” That was quick thinking. Sticking as closely to the truth as possible would help her keep the lie straight. She hadn’t figured out her lie until asked about her family. She couldn’t have him asking questions about her mom.

“How are you paying for college?” he wanted to know.

“With the proceeds I received from the sale of my parents’ house. I also applied for financial aid, so that helped.” She needed to redirect the conversation away from her past. “That’s enough about me, Mr. Vaughn. I should tell you about my attack so you can get on with your search. Better yet, I’d like to try to show you, if you don’t mind. It’ll be much easier for you to understand. Please keep in mind that my abilities are new to me, so I have to hope they work on command.”

“It’s normal for extrasensory ability not to be apparent until you come of age. How old are you?” Griffin asked.

“I’m nineteen,” she replied, walking around to his side of the table. “I think I can do it without touching you, but it seems to be more clear and easier for me if I can touch you. Is that alright?” She was standing right beside him. He took a long, slow breath and held it before blowing it out through his nose.

“You smell like vanilla and something else, lavender maybe. It’s the most beautiful scent.” Shaking his head like he was trying to free himself from a memory he asked, “How do you intend to show me?”

“Like this.” Dani rested her hand on his and asked him to close his eyes. He jumped when she began to project her memory into him. She showed him everything from when she was thrown onto the floor, up to when the guy, walking away, promised to catch up with her later. Then she raised her hand and went back to her chair. He didn’t open his eyes for several moments. She figured he was reviewing the scene in his mind. “That was better than a description, wasn’t it? You would probably recognize that guy if you saw him on the street.”

“Let me see what else you can do, Ms. Scott.” He made an admirable effort to hide his astonishment.

“I can do what I just did to you, in reverse. Not like I can find what I want in your mind or anything, but I can see what you’re remembering. It comes back to me in pictures just like I showed you, but it’s more like a slide show with clips of audio.”

“Tell me what I d
id yesterday at noon,
” h
e challenged her.

She reached across the table for his hand, and stretched her mind trying to find what he was thinking about. Her eyes darkened as she said, “You were at the cemetery visiting the grave of your first wife and daughter.” She tilted her head as if reading something. “They’ve been gone a long time.”

Griffin was again unable to mask his shock. There was no way she could have randomly guessed that amount of detail. No one other than Mason had knowledge of his first bonding. Changing the subject he asked, “Do you have anything else to show me?”

Danielle imagined the cell phone on the table behind Mr. Vaughn to float over and hover in the air before him.

“I can do that, too,” he laughed. Then Danielle felt her chair rise off the floor and she lost her concentration, causing Griffin’s phone to clatter against his desk. She jumped up, “I’m so sorry, Mr. Vaughn. I told you, I’m new at this.” But he was laughing and seemed quite amused.

“There can’t possibly be anything else fo
r you to show me,
” he said, still laughing and shaking his head.

“
I can make people do what
I want them to do.”

“Yes, we can all control human minds. That’s normal.” He rolled his eyes.

“I can do it to vampires. Or at least I did once,” she added. One of his dark eyebrows rose, and he hit an intercom button to page Cayden back to his office.

“What do you want me to tell him to do?”

“Try to do what you did before,” he instructed.

“I made this girl that was running her mouth shut up. I actually froze her there until I left the apartment and I released her from the hall. She kept on yapping like it never happened.” She smiled.

“That’s good. I’ll get him
talking and you can stop him,” h
e suggested.

“Come in,” he called when Cayden knocked. “What did you have for lunch?”

Cayden started, “Your cook made me and JR this huge…”

That was all he got out before Dani said, “Stop” and he did. She said, “Turn” and with a blank stare he turned around. She said, “Sit” and Cayden plopped down cross-legged like a little kid. Griffin rose from his chair in disbelief. He strode around to Cayden and lifted his face. He called his name and gently slapped him to get his attention. It didn’t work.

“Release him, please,” Griffin
requested politely.

Cayden then continued as if he was never stopped, “Italian cold cut sub with chips and cream soda. Hey, how did I get on the floor?” He jumped up, embarrassed.

Ignoring Cayden, Griffin was still unable to process what he had just seen.

“Is there anything else you would like to share?”

Without moving her lips she spoke to him telepathically, “Is this normal? I have the most trouble with answering people’s thoughts and unintentionally letting them hear mine. It kind of comes and goes, but mostly I get pictures instead of words.”

Shaking his head in astonishment, he replied verbally, “It’s more common than your other abilities. To block your thoughts you should imagine building a wall around your mind, or maybe locking your thoughts behind a door. It will take practice, but it will help.”

Cayden looked back and forth between her and Griffin. “What am I missing here?”

Griffin continued to ignore him.
“I wish I had more information about your family. These things are usually hereditary.”

This was heading in a direction she wasn’t going to go, “Is there anything else I can do for you, Mr. Vaughn? I have an appointment this evening, and it takes me several hours to get there, so I need to get going.” Dani went for the door when it shut untouched in front of her. She turned and eyed Griffin.

“There’s a problem we need to discuss, Ms. Scott. You are a very talented young lady who has already been identified by whoever is kidnapping our youth. We have lost a talented boy; two girls were abused and returned, and we are now missing two others. It’s not safe for you to be roaming around alone. Particularly since your attacker promised to return for you.”

“I’m not a member of your youth, and will not be hiding in a corner from anyone. As I’m sure you’ve noticed, I was completely capable of defending myself,” she sneered.

Griffin came quickly toward her,
his hand out like he’d grab her.
“A young lady of your talents in the wrong hands…”

“Stop!” Danielle halted him with one word
and a frantic need to escape his attempt to control her.

Both Griffin and Cayden froze, and she left the room quickly hoping she would be able to hold them long enough for her to get off the property. She had no idea how far she could go before her ability gave way. On the way out she passed the boy, JR was what Cayden had called him. They smiled at each other and he followed her to the door, working a handheld videogame. He smiled and waved as she jumped in her car. Even in her hurry, she couldn’t help waving back at the boy’s sweet face and dark blue eyes peering at her from under long dark lashes. He was her brother. There was no questioning the resemblance, and she felt a connection to the boy. Dani shook herself. She had to get out of there. Her heart hammered when she pulled up to the security gate. She smiled at the guard that had admitted her and Cayden a while ago. He gave a flirty wink and opened the gate for her to exit. She was safely a few blocks away before she thought to release her hold on the men she’d frozen. She didn’t even know if it was still in effect from that distance. She extracted her cell from deep in her jacket to call her mom. Tessa was going to have some serious explaining to do.

ELEVEN~

Nathan followed her all night. He had to watch her every move. He hadn’t been home since his run in with the girl. She was able to identify him and the hunt had been on ever since. Living out of his van with no assistance from his Master was difficult, but he deserved the punishment. He would need to find a place to clean up and get some new clothes soon if he planned to follow her more closely. His Master was angry with him for letting her slip away and causing her harm the first time around. Now he would do everything right. The girl was under his surveillance until he found something useful to present to the Master.

“He’ll see how devoted I am when I get him what he needs to attain his goals,” Nathan told himself.

He had watched the little slut leave the club last night and go to the boy’s room. She didn’t leave until the early morning. It had been so quiet and deserted on the campus he had considered taking her then, but he decided to wait. He had to figure out how to disarm her before he tried again. The drug he used on the other vamps didn’t work the same way on her. He figured she would need a much larger dose than could be transferred by a feeding.  He would continue to follow her and see where she would lead him. With any luck, he would find a chink in her armor. Indeed the girl was well connected, as the Master said she was. The Wrath warrior’s son had come to retrieve her in late morning. Nathan couldn’t believe it when they arrived at the home of the Vaughn family. She could be quite a prize indeed, if she had connections to the
Council
. The Master hates the
Council
. After less than an hour, she left the gated estate and he followed her to the interstate. The bitch drove for over four hours without stopping. Good thing he had a full tank of gas or he would’ve lost her. They’d arrived in a town called Perry Hall and he dropped back to follow her through the winding town. If she saw him now, the gig would be up and she would call in reinforcements.

“No. I’m smarter than this little girl. She will not make a fool of me again,” Nathan cursed.

Finally, she stopped in fron
t of a perfectly manicured lawn
surrounding a little house on a quiet street. Nathan had to slump down and drive past her to av
oid drawing attention
. At the end of the block, he pulled over and watched in the side-view mirror. She hopped out of the vehicle and stomped up the front steps, slamming the front door behind her. He was fairly sure he hadn’t been detected. He got out and walked back down the street to investigate. Taking down the address and noting the name on the mailbox was Vaughn, he decided to return to the car. He quickly ran to the convenience store they’d passed on the way in and returned with provisions to last a couple of days if necessary. Getting into a better position he hunkered down as the sun set. A couple of hours later she left on foot but Nathan didn’t follow her out of fear she’d see him. How far could she go on foot anyway? She would be back for her car before leaving again. Just after the girl rounded the corner, a man and woman came out onto the porch. Actually, it was a vampire male and a human woman. He had enough experience with vamps to know one when he saw one. They spoke with stern faces until the male reached out and wrapped his arms around her. The woman seemed to sag in his arms and cry on his shirt. She pulled away from the vamp and straightened her clothes. She wiped her face and, after a few more words, the male got into a black BMW and drove away.