Unbound (47 page)

“She’s not dead, Cayden.” Chase then let out a huge sigh of relief from the doorway. Griffin leaned over the girl on the bed and examined her neck. It was clear she had been strangled and more than once. It struck him as he looked down at her dark hair all spread out with the white and traces of red fanned through it that she did indeed resemble his family and him in particular. It sent an adrenaline charged sense of protective fury shooting through his veins. His head spun and that’s when he heard it. That voice in the back of his mind that whispers sweetly to him at night. But this was no whisper of devotion and love. This was devastating loss and pain. It was a heart-wrenching cry of agony that clawed at his chest until he was forced to take the girl up into his arms and hold her against his chest. He sat on the bed rocking her and listened to the pained whimper in his mind.

“It’s okay. She will be fine. We will fix this, I promise.” he told the voice. Several warriors, Mason and Chase looked at him in confusion. He continued rocking the girl and holding her tight. Mason’s cell rang and he cursed under his breath on the way out the door. Danielle stirred in Griffin’s arms and he pushed the hair out of her face.

“Hey there, sunshine.” She opened her eyes and looked at him. Those ice blue eyes were breathtakingly pale and bright at the same time. She laid her head back down on his shoulder.

“You came for me. You heard me,” she rasped, the sound was like gravel in her damaged throat.

“Of course I did. I’ll always come when you call me. We are kindred spirits, sweet girl. I hear you clearly when you call me.” He comforted the trembling slip of a girl in his arms. Now everyone was looking at him. It was so quiet. Everyone wanted to hear her explanation.

“He wanted to take me to the hunter. His master, he called him. He had to take me alive so they could drain me later. We fought until I couldn’t fight anymore, then he tried to rape me. He wanted to teach me a lesson before he turned me over. I would rather die than be taken alive or raped. He said they’re everywhere and they watch every move I make. He’s a warrior, Griffin. I see him every day but he never talks to me.”

“I know, Danielle. Don’t talk anymore. Cayden is here to help you get some clothes on so we can get you out of here,” he soothed. Her eyes shot open and the name came soundlessly across her lips, but it was unmistakable and tears began to flow instantly as she tried to search the room with her eyes until she found him.

“Cayden!” She reached for him and Griffin stood to allow Cayden to sit and hold the girl in such need of his attention. Still wrapped in a blanket, Griffin transferred her to Cayden and he promptly nuzzled his face into her hair and murmured comforting pledges of love and apologies for failing her. Chase left the room like it was o
n fire. When the body of the ro
g
u
e warrior was removed, Griffin cleared the room to allow her privacy to get dressed and gather her things.

The Wrath had left, but Gage stayed behind to give the desk clerks and human police officers that had been called for a disturbance a thorough mind scrubbing. Chase was pacing the hall and casting glaring looks at the door that concealed Danielle and Cayden. Mason’s phone was ringing again and he ignored it. Griffin stood outside the door and pondered the strange sense of recognition he was feeling, not to mention the far away cry in his mind that had now faded.

“We ha
ve a huge problem here, Griffin,
” Mason said without looking at him. “People, warriors in particular and
Council
members whose family have been protected by this warrior, are not going to be happy when they hear of his death. You know the law, Griffin. We’ll have to take her to trial.”

“I can’t believe this shit,
” Chase murmured more to himself than to anyone else. He was stewing over the knowledge that Cayden had let her be injured again.

“I don’t even think she realizes she killed him, Mason. Did you see her? She was brutalized and bloody. How can we fault her for defending herself against abduction and rape? We can’t do that to a girl that has sacrificed herself repeatedly to protect our children,” Griffin cursed.

“If the rest of the
Council
calls for it we’ll have to comply. Murdering another vampire carries a death penalty and the other warriors are not going to stand for the death of one of their own without investigation, no matter what she says happened. I just think we should be prepared for all possibilities.” Mason was sick thinking about trying to explain all of this to Tessa.

* * *

The elevator door opened and Darren leapt out followed by Gage, who was explaining the situation. Darren held on tight to his barely leashed rage. He pushed the broken hotel room door open to find Cayden sitting on the bed with Dani on his lap, wrapped in his arms. It pissed him off even more. This little shit shouldn’t have the right to touch her. He can’t even keep her safe for a few hours. He wasn’t worthy of holding her shoes, much less her.

“You wanna tell me what the hell you were doing that you could have missed an assassin in the room? Some warrior you are!” Darren barked.

“If you must know we were in bed and Dani was graciously sharing her mind with me. We were a little distracted.” He tucked her face into his neck and hoped he hadn’t embarrassed her. He didn’t want to upset her by spilling their personal business in front of a room full of men.

From the hall, Chase moaned after hearing this information. Danielle gingerly got up from Cayden’s lap and grabbed her duffle bag. Darren put an arm around her waist and guided her to the wall, removing her bag from her shoulder and tossing it on the bed. He pulled a pair of handcuffs from his belt and said, “I hate to do this to you, but it’s necessary.”

Cayden jumped up to protest, but Dani halted his efforts. “It’s alright Cayden. I’ve been catching everyone’s thoughts, so I was kind of expecting this. I didn’t realize I killed that man. I don’t understand how I could have killed him but I did.” Tears ran down her face. She was a murderer. “I know I’m not above the law. I did nothing wrong so I’ll go quietly,” she sniffed.

“You don’t need to cuff her, Darren.” Griffin stepped forward.  Mason and Chase came to back him up.

“Yes, I do. There are warriors downstairs on the parking lot. The word of a dead warrior spreads quickly and they expect justice. If the public finds out that a warrior was killed with no recourse there will be lawlessness and open season on the warriors.” Darren glared at Cayden.

“I think if she gets special treatment because of her relationship with everyone here it will send the wrong message to the rest of the warriors regarding their importance to our society. We defend all in our race. If our leaders don’t defend us against the possibility of foul play, it will drag down morale and cause mixed emotions. It’s too bad she was left alone with no witness to her assault.” He cuffed Dani’s hands behind her back as loosely as possible. Her wrists were so small she could wiggle out of them with some effort and a few bruises. Every other man in the room looked on in shock. The ‘Angel of Wrath’ looked directly at each of them with those stunning ice-blue eyes that overflowed with tears as she passed them on the way out of the room.  Each one of them felt the sting of her grief for having taken a life and her fear of the consequences rolled off of her in palpable waves. She was so overwhelmed that she couldn’t stop herself from projecting her pain into their minds and each one of them wavered under the strength of her emotions.

Cayden was clutching her bag and hyperventilating. Mason was again imagining the conversation he would need to have with Tessa. Griffin wanted to pass out when she passed him and the voice in the back of his mind screamed at him to save this girl he couldn’t help feeling connected to.

* * *

Chase stepped in front of the doorway and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. He was surprised and a sweet pain shot through him when she laid her head on his chest and nuzzled her face against him, embracing him the only way she could with her hands bound behind her.

“I l
ove you, Danielle, my Lovely,
”
he told her telepathically, stroking her hair and back.

She blinked away more tears and sent back into his mind,
“And
I will always love you, Chase. I will still love you, even after you’
ve forgotten me in the throes of your bl
ood bond.
”
Danielle told him the truth of her feelings, minus the attitude she normally used to deflect her pain. Darren nudged her to get her moving and she was pushing against Chase to get past him.

“I’m sorry you witnessed all of this between Cayden and me, but you and I were over before we even got a chance to start. My heart ca
n’t handle missing you anymore.
I can’t continue longing for something I will never have. ”
The words were ringing in Chase’s head. She was guided past him and down to the elevator by Darren and Mason. Chase’s knees buckled.  Mason came back to help him up but he wouldn’t budge. He just sat and listened. Danielle continued on.
“I’m telling you this now because I’ve been scanning the minds of our group and those down stairs. Mason and Griffin can’t help me and the warriors downstairs are the dead warrior’s Wrath team. He was their leader and they want blood, my blood. None of them know me because he kept them away. He was very good at deception, Chase.”
The sound of his name on her mouth, or in her thoughts, made him warm, but he could also feel her fear.
“I
might die
for this crime.  I just want you to know that as long as my heart beats, I will love you.”

Stepping onto the elevator with Darren at her back, she mentally blocked Chase. He wanted to tell her so many things but she threw up an iron wall in her mind that he couldn’t get around. She didn’t want to hear his response to her declaration of love and couldn’t handle him trying to comfort her. She had killed a man and no matter how unintentional it had been, or how much he may have deserved it, she would not allow herself to be comforted.

* * *

Darren was still angry with Dani for her stunt from the morning but he couldn’t stay pissed at her while she stood there handcuffed, so fragile and bruised with tears streamin
g down her cheeks. He knew he’
d been an ass at the bonding and he also knew she wouldn’t like having a tracker on her car but he had to protect her to the best of his ability. After his performance last night, she probably thought he was being controlling. He didn’t blame her. He couldn’t believe he had taken her cell phone and looked at all her messages. What had gotten into him! Once they were on the elevator alone, he turned her around and lifted her into his arms.

“I’m so sorry about last night and the tracker. I was such an ass. I was just trying to keep you safe, I swear,” Darren pleaded.

Danielle had already decided to forgive him, just like everyone else because she didn’t want to die with anger in her heart. Judging by the thoughts of the waiting Wrath team on the parking lot, there was a good chance she would die one way or the other. They were gathering support and had already called for a
Council
hearing to accuse her of murder.

“I forgive you, Darren,” she said, her voice all gravely from the strangulation she had endured. “And I am sorry for the stunt with the tractor trailer. If not for that, I wouldn’t be in this position.”

“Can you quickly tell me what happened so I can start trying to put out fires? I’m a jerk, I know, but I’m also a very old and well-respected jerk. Not to mention feared in some cases. I can deflect some of the flack with some well-placed diplomacy.”

He needed the whole story. He also needed to put her down because holding her like that felt way too right, but he didn’t want to let her go.

“Showing you would be easier for me right now. Is that alright?”

Darren nodded uncomfortably. He didn’t like people messing around in his head, but if she was just sending and not receiving, he would allow it. The elevator door opened to the lobby and he carried her off and over to an out of the way grouping of chairs in the corner. People watched with interest as he sat the handcuffed beauty in the chair, “Do you need me to do anything?”

“Thoughts are easy but if I want to show pictures it’s easier and less choppy if we are touching. So, if you put your hands on my skin it will help me relay things more clearly,” she explained. Darren got to his knees in front of her and cupped her lovely face.

“The warriors outside are thinking I was having an affair with that guy and that this was a crime of passion. They are so confident in his ability to defend himself that they’re thinking I stabbed him in the back or did something underhanded to take him down. So I am going to show you the whole day. This is hard for me because you will also be able to feel my emotions and maybe even physical sensations.” She couldn’t meet his eyes.

“It will be
okay, Danielle. I have lived a very long time and I’m sure you aren’t going to show me anything that will surprise me. Just relax so I can get the whole picture. It’s the best way for me to defend you.” Without another word she started. He had been wrong about her ability to surprise him and she didn’t disappoint. She didn’t start in the morning. She started the night before at the bonding. She let him see himself through her eyes and he could feel the anxiety he made her feel. He saw himself snatching her phone, stalking behind her on the way to the dance floor, and the
rough almost bruising way he’d
held her when he finally got the dance he had paid for. He could smell his scent mingling with hers while they danced, and he saw his own shadowed eyes daring her to pull away from him. If this was his idea of how to win over a woman, he wasn’t nearly as wise as he gave himself credit for. She went through the rest as he wandered over the sights, smells, and sensations in his mind. Seeing Cayden pawing all over her made him angry, but when they finally reached the part that mattered Darren was sickened. The fight was brutal and she was nearly nude the whole time. Pride swelled in his chest at her use of the skills she’d been taught in training and relief washed over him in the end when he knew she had no intent to kill the warrior. She was rather trying to get him to kill her, because she wouldn’t be taken alive or raped. She hit the wall in a blast of energy and that was it. There was absolutely no intent.