Unbound (58 page)

“She told you.” It wasn’t a question, but a statement.

Cayden answered anyway, “Yes. How do you know?”

“I suppose she would have told you had she wanted you to know. If you value her at all you will keep your mouth shut.” Mason had her hand free and used the bloody blade to remove the fabric from her wrist.

“Mason,” Dani sobbed. That was all she could manage.

Once free, he scooped her up like a baby. Her beautiful hair was matted with blood down one side and it hung almost to Mason’s knees.

He looked angrily at Cayden, “Look what you gave away. How could she possibly not be enough for you? You are both fools and I hope she finds a better man to love her. Neither of you are worthy.” He carried her out of the room. In the hall, he passed Van, Gage, and Debbie.

“Holy shit! Is she hurt?” Van rushed forward.

“Back off, Stafford, t
his isn’t your business. Gage go help your boy, he’s in the room I just came from. Debbie, my sweet, help me with Danielle. She’ll need a woman’s touch.” Debbie followed him dutifully and shut the door behind them when they entered Dani’s guest room.

Chase was still on his knees by the bathroom door when something hit the carpet in front of him. He picked it up. It was a beautiful, blood-covered ring. Cayden had planned ahead and changed his mind at the last minute. He was
a kiss away from forever and
he
turned her down. Dragging himself from the floor, he approached Cayden who was locked in a thousand-yard stare. He held out the ring for him to take.

“What could possibly have been so bad that you would refuse to be her mate? I thought you loved her?” Chase asked quietly with honest curiosity.

“I was just thinking that very same thing.” Cayden continued to cry and the combined blood and tears soaking his chest would stain his heart forever.

* * *

“I don’t want to go. Please, don’t make me go.” Why must Debbie and Mason torture her? “I get into trouble every time I go out in public. Do you want to see that again? I thought you loved me?”

“Of course we love you. That is why we want you to have some fun and stop hiding from life. I can’t understand how hard this all must be for you
,
but life goes on and you are too precious not to live every second to the fullest,” Debbie replied. They looked at each other’s reflection in the mirror while Debbie used an iron to place huge ringlet curl
s in Dani’s hair. Mason was
forced to fill his wife in on all the
gory details of the secret he’
d kept from Griffin and her for all these years. She had been upset with him for a few days but now she just wanted to help Dani adjust to her new life. Debbie didn’t care t
hat she was human. She grew
to care for the girl she knew her son was in love with. Mason and Debbie only had one child and Debbie was happy to have a girl a
round the house lately. They
spent the last few days watching chick flicks, eating ice cream by the pint, and talking smack about men.

“Don’t forget you have a date for tonight and he will be devastated if you stand him up,” Debbie reminded her.

A slow grin crept over her face, “How could I forget? He’s probably the best man in the entire world. Of course I can’t stand him up.”

“Your hair is done, your make up is perfect and your gown has been steamed and is waiting in the closet. Now I have a gift for you.” Debbie handed Dani a small white box.

“Debbie! You shouldn’t have. This isn’t necessary.” She hated receiving gifts when she was in no position to give gifts. Christmas was going to suck.

“Don’t be silly. Your godfather and I can give you gifts whenever we like. Open it,” she demanded. Dani ripped into the satiny white gift-wrap and opened the box to reveal a pair of gold dangly earrings. There were three sunbursts hanging from delicate gold chains. In the center of each of the suns was a sparkly diamond. Debbie gave
Dani her necklace, which she’
d
cleaned up and polished. The new earrings were identical to the necklace except for the diamonds.

“This is too much. I can’t accept this.”

“You can and you will,” Mason said from the door, “Your date is here and he looks as nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs.”

She hugged them both before they left her to dress. On first sight of her date pacing the foyer, her heart melted. He was so handsome in his tux and tails. He even had a corsage for her. She practically skipped down the stairs to meet him.

“Are you sure you don’t have a prettier girl you could attend the gala with? I’m not sure I’m up to the standards of such a handsome young man,” she teased.

“There could never be a prettier girl than you, Dani.” He hugged her waist. Her little brother was adorable. “I’m going to hog you all night so the boys leave you alone. I will protect you.” He gazed up at her with the cutest look of stern determination she’d ever seen.

TWENTY-NINE~

“I said I’ll do it! Now back off! We have an agreement! I completed half of my task and the other half will be done on schedule. You better hold up your end or I will kill you where you stand!” The defiant shout filtered through the speakers of the limo.

The rogue laughed at the threat coming from a lovesick idiot. “You know, for such a strong man, you have become quite soft. I’m really not sure what it is about that girl that turns every vamp in town into putty for her little hands to mold at will.”

“I’m not being molded. I’m ta
king her as I am and making her
what I want her to be. She will love me and she will obey me. You just better make sure there’s still breath left in her when you give her back to me or I will expose you in an instant, damn the consequences I will pay!”

“I guess you can’t see how weak you have become in pursuit of the fledgling. The fact that you are willing to sacrifice your name and freedom to avenge a child you will have to force to love you with
a blood bond is very telling,” t
he rogue taunted.

“The fact that you have been chasing the very same girl and coming up empty for months is also very telling. You have thrown everything you’ve got at her and she slips through your fingers every time. You’re not above me and don’t you forget it. You need me to get what you want as much as I need you to get what I want. I will be your trap and you will be my alibi. Just don’t be late or we’ll miss our window.” The call disconnected.

Idiot. He would drink until he had his fill of her power. If she had any blood left, he could have it. A lovesick man wouldn’t stop him from reaching his goals.

* * *

This was the night Cayden had looked forward to for months. He was supposed to be at Dani’s side. They would have entered the gala hand in hand. He was e
ven wearing the damn tux she
picked to co
ordinate with her dress. She got
a kick out of making him wear purple bu
t it was only the vest so he
let her have her way and ordered the deep royal purple. He could have replaced the vest before tonight, but he actually hoped she would see it and know he still wore it for her.

He hadn’t seen her since Mason carried her out of the room, covered in blood and sobbing. Never had he known such pain or
been so humiliated. He willingly gave
her up
,
and for what? A few DNA strands that made her a
little different? She was a demi
-vamp and she was perfect, beautiful, powerful, and full of love. He still loved her. Those DNA strands wouldn’t change that, no matter how badly he wanted it to.

She
bared her
deepest secret to him and he’
d smacked her away. She had tried to tell him she was different, but he thought he loved her enough to overcome any differences. All she had to do was wait a few more minutes and none of it would have mattered to either of them. They could have kept her secret. Nobody could tell. He couldn’t tell the difference, until her blood flowed from her lips and the thick scent hit his nose. There was just the slightest hint of sweet human lifeblood mixed in with her powerful vamp essence. Maybe that was why her scent was so attractive. She had that sexy vamp pheromone tinged with a delicious human sweetness that made you so thirsty you burned to be nearer to the source.

Cayden was outside when her limo pulled up. He heard she had a date but he knew it wasn’t Chase. He was already inside and way too happy because Sam and Brandi were both staying home. How was he going to deal with seeing her on the arm of another man so soon aft
er she
vowed her life to him? She had looked him in the eye and handed over her very soul to be his mate. Now he would watch other men enjoy her company until she found a mate. He wasn’t sure what would be worse, watching her date a string of men, or knowing the soul she had promised
to
him belonged to someone else because of his stupid prejudices.

The driver opened the door and she climbed out in a gloriously sheer strapless royal purple gown. The bodice shimmered and drew your attention to her. Oh, man. When the light shone from behind her, you could just make out all of her luscious curves. She didn’t try to hide her hair tonight, either. She was showing off her unique streaks in big flowing curls. How was he going to learn to live without her when just looking at her ripped him apart?

* * *

Chase was p
acing the ballroom floor. He
worked really hard putting this gala together and it would be a special night, indeed. Very big things were in the works for tonight. Griffin had a special announcement planned and Chase had some important
news to share with Lovely. He’
d stayed away and given her space to deal with her sadness over Cayden. Of course, he was sure that was going to take longer than the few d
ays that had passed since he last saw
her. Staying away when he knew she was under his parent’s roof in the room next to, his childhood bedroom had been tough. Hell, the rooms even had an adjoining door! He wanted to comfort her and coddle her. He wanted to shower her with all the attention he should have given her f
rom the start but his father
counseled patience, so he waited until tonight to speak with her.

The place was already almost full and her seat was still empty. Chase had to make some last minute seat changes when his mother called to inform him that Dani had a date. There was s
pace at the table because he
overlooked moving Cayden away from her. It would have been miserable for her to sit with him all night. It didn’t make Chase happy that he would sit across from her and her mystery date all night, but hopefully after they spoke, it wouldn’t matter.

“Would you please sit down a minute? You’re wearing holes in your shoes with all the back and forth,” Griffin said lightheartedly. Griffin seemed nervous and yet more energized than Chase could ever remember seeing him. Mason said his mood was due to the coming announcement Griffin planned to make.

“I’ve never been so worked up in my life.” Chase took the seat next to Griffin.

“Love will do that to you. It brings the greatest joy and happiness, and the greatest pain simultaneously.” He clapped a hand on Chase’s shoulder.

Chase felt Griffin’s grip on his shoulder stiffen and he followed his gaze to the staircase where the guests were entering. At the top of the stairs was a vision with flowing dark hair accentuated by curls of white and red. Her date had his head held high. He knew he had the girl everyone else would want to dance with and seeing the two of them together was a little unnerving. They looked like they could be siblings.

It was no surprise that Cayden was following her at a safe distance. He was keeping an eye on everyone around her, still in warrior mode. Hopefully, between himself and Darren, who was also going to be casing the joint for trouble, they could get her through the night with no incidents. Descending the stairs in a graceful sweep of sheer fabric and natural fluidity, the room stopped to watch her and the crowd hushed a little. Most of these people hadn’t met her yet. She was an oddity and the core of a lot of rumors. She had power people didn’t understand and the death of a warrior at her hand didn’t help any. Ignorance breeds prejudice and this was an ignorant crowd. She and her date reached the table and he pulled out her chair for her. Before sitting, she bent to kiss his check and made the unflappable little guy blush bright red.

“Good evening, everyone.” She addressed the whole table and was met with smiles and happy greetings
from all but Sarah. She was
oddly reserved. Normally she would flit from table to ta
ble
gossiping with the rest of the Stepford wives.

Casual conversation went around the table until Chase could no longer stand the wait. He had to speak with her now. He rounded the table and asked JR if he would allow him to speak to his date for a few moments. Griffin and Mason shook their heads and there was an exchange of cash. It seemed as though a friendly wager had been placed on how long it would take him to lose composure and approach her. JR looked at Dani to see if she was okay with it before responding. She nodded agreement.