Darlings of Paranormal Romance (Anthology) (217 page)

Seething,
I snapped my head around the bathroom, looking for anything to help
me get free. I should’ve known it was useless.
You’re this pathetic? You have to keep a weak Drea immobile
while you kill her? If you’re gonna do it, do it.
I extended my arms, glaring directly at
him.
I’m not afraid.

He stepped toward me and slowly I
descended.

Body tensed, I readied myself for when
my feet hit the floor. Only, they never did. I hovered centimeters
off the ground. If that wasn’t frustrating, I didn’t know what
was.

“
Everything okay?” Aiden’s
voice came from outside the door.

Just
hangin’ out,
I wanted to shout back. What
happened to bustin’ in guns and glory, no questions asked? This
wasn’t the time for him to be chivalrous about space. Couldn’t he
hear the two heartbeats or that I wasn’t the only one breathing?
With all the noise out there, probably not. Most likely, he was
only listening for footsteps or a struggle. I
groaned.

The
Kember reached out, placing two long white fingers on my throat
.When he spoke,
my
voice came from his mouth. “Yes, I’ll be out in a
moment.”

Aiden didn’t respond. What was he
doing? Exchanging workout tips with the Guard members?

Standing mere inches away, the Kember
ran his other hand through my hair and stared at me in a longing
sort of way. Almost like he was memorizing my face and taking me
all in.

I held my
breath, wishing I could take a step back from this creepy
bastard.
W-why did you do it—kill
him?

The
Kember’s jaw clenched. His face paled as the ocher in his eyes
burned brighter.
Understand this: Delmari
did his job. After a while, he got in the way.

He didn’t do anything to
you.

He raised
an eyebrow. A sneer spread across his face as he stepped back and
folded his arms.
Yes, Delmari Aiken was a
great man. He took in a stranger’s newborn child out of the
goodness of his heart. He obeyed and lived his life by the oath he
swore.

I didn’t like the sarcastic tone he
used. I took a deep breath, an ache in my chest. Whoever this guy
was, he wanted to confuse me.

Oh, my
innocent little Taylee. I would’ve never kept you in the
dark.
In three long strides he reached the
sink and leaned against it.
Tell me, if
Delmari was such a good man, why didn’t he ever tell you who your
father was? Why didn’t he speak of your mother, or let you see a
picture of her? If he loved you—if he told you everything—like
you’re convinced he did, why didn’t he mention Aiden? Every word
out of his mouth was a lie—

Shut
up!
I balled my fists, my nails biting into
my palms.
You don’t know what the hell
you’re talking about.

I know
everything about you.
His eyes locked
intently with mine.
What you’re capable
of.
He shook his head as if in
wonder.
There are so many things I could
teach and give you.

Is that
why you want the girl? So she can join your stupid cult?
I tried to hide the trembling in my voice.
Will you tell her that, too, before you kill
her?

He
smiled, tightly, almost threateningly.
You
look like her, you know.

Who?
That girl?

Your
mother
. I didn’t miss the subject
change.
Only you act nothing like her. She
was kind and loving—

You
didn’t know her
, I
growled.

He pursed
his lips.
I guess you’ll never
know.
He stepped back toward me, and I
stiffened.

Placing both hands on my shoulders, he
closed his eyes. A small, chilling sneer formed on his
lips.

My bare skin stung from the warmth of
his palms. A pins and needles sensation shot through my body.
Coldness spread like fire to my arms, fingers then torso.
Instantly, he released me, eyes bright, but the numbing chill
continued to travel until it consumed me.

My eyes stung; my lips were
frozen.

Shouldn’t be long now
.

Who are
you?
My voice shook.

The door crashed open, and everything
happened at once. I flew into Aiden, who staggered back against the
wall. The fire extinguished, the man disappeared and the lights
flickered on.

I buried my face in Aiden’s collar,
trying to regain the wind that’d been knocked out of me. My arms
slung around his neck and my knuckles ached from the death grip
they held on his shirt.

Breathing hard, Aiden pulled me back,
but still kept my legs secured around his midsection. With two
long, careful fingers, he tilted my chin up and assessed me. “Are
you all right?”

I’d been paralyzed and practically
felt up by some murdering psycho. I shook my head and rested back
on his shoulder, my entire body shaking. “Golden.”

Aiden leaned his back against the
wall. His heart, in rhythm with mine, hammered against my
chest.

Inhaling deeply, the soothing scents
of laundry detergent and cologne wafting through my nose, I
attempted to slow my breathing. I closed my eyes and gradually
relaxed my clenching fingers. Everything was okay.

“
Was that him?” he
whispered. It felt like his mouth was in my hair.

“
You saw him?
H-he—”

“
Shh. Not here.” Guardedly,
Aiden rubbed my back. The other arm that’d been securing me to him
earlier had dropped and lightly pushed against my hip, signaling me
to get down. “We should…leave.”

Jerking
back, I realized not only that my legs were around his waist in the
women’s bathroom, but I was clinging to him. Even worse—no, totally
and completely disturbing—there was some kind of unhealthy,
messed up
part of me that
actually felt warm and safe and…Oh man!

I released him and jumped down faster
than humanly possible. My head swam, as I straightened my shirt and
pushed my hair from my face.

He cleared his throat and scratched
the stubble on his chin.

“
I, um…Skyler he likes—he
doesn’t…I forgot you weren’t…” I stopped before I made a bigger
fool of myself and left the bathroom, like a bat escaping
hell.

Or entering hell. I stopped abruptly
outside the door, sucking in a jagged breath. Staggering back, I
bumped into Aiden.

Two men: glowing blue eyes with black
energy veins surrounding them. Rygons.

Each had an arm slung around a girl.
Normal, human girls. Both Rygons, as though I yelled, “Hey over
here,” turned and met my gaze. In sync, they pulled their arms away
from their energy suppliers and straightened their stance against
the railing. They acted like they just set eyes on the most
beautiful girl they’d ever seen.

Or a walking energy bong.

Aiden pushed me forward, but I pressed
back against him, whispering, “Um, excuse me, Captain, there are
Rygons blocking our exit.”

“
They’ve been here all
night.” He spoke in my ear.

“
B-but—”

“
Trust me.” He pushed me
forward again. “Walk.”

I hesitated a moment but decided I’d
better find out now if he’d offer me to Rygons.

Both monsters eyed me up and down as I
walked past the black tents and toward the stairs they blocked. The
drunk girls looked pale and slightly sick. As they should. Rygon or
not, no amount of alcohol or drugs could make me loopy enough to
lay a hand on one of them.

The Rygons’ eerie eyes seemed to
brighten the closer I got.

Aiden stiffened beside me. Silently, I
hoped his fighting technique was as good as his tolerance. Hands
shaking, heart jumping, I took another step forward, partially
hiding behind him.

Aiden seemed to stand even taller, as
he confronted the bald Rygon blocking the stairs. “Move.” He didn’t
threaten to rip off the Rygon’s head, but the message came across
loud and clear in his tone.

The Rygon, black energy veins covering
his entire face, dipped his head down. A devious smile played
across his lips as he stepped to the left. “Yes, sir.”

The other Rygon, off to the side,
measured Aiden. His tattoo-like marks barely extended toward his
ears. He wasn’t near as strong as his crony, but the
two-against-one odds must’ve brought on his cocky grin.

Aiden reached back and pulled me in
front of him. I descended the stairs, legs shaking. I concentrated
on one step at a time, struggling to keep my eyes forward. Aiden
would know if they came after us…right?

Again, music blared, blocking out
everything else. The sea of people seemed oblivious to the threat
around them. I pitied them and envied them all at the same
time.

I walked as fast as I could through
the crowd, hoping Aiden still followed. Adrenaline pumped through
me with every breath. I fought my legs to keep them from sprinting
and knocking over everyone in my path. My gaze swept the dance
floor, like a paranoid freak, but I was too short to see over the
majority of people.

Finally, through a break in the crowd,
the club exit came into view.

Shoving through the doors, practically
gasping, someone called, “Watch it!”

Cold, salty air whipped around me.
Rounding the corner of the building, I leaned against it, my chest
rising and falling almost as fast as my heart rate. Passersby gave
me dirty looks and purposely stepped off the sidewalk, keeping
their distance.

“
If you can, we need to
keep going.” Aiden’s gaze flitted around the throng of people; his
body pivoted to block me from anyone who might pose a
threat.

I nodded, peering off in the distance
toward our truck. Pitch black. “Can you see in the
dark?”

“
Yes, but so can
Rygons.”

“
Comforting.” I pushed off
the bricks and crossed the street. “They’re following us, aren’t
they?”

“
I’m not sure.” His fingers
brushed mine as we walked.

My mind raced back to earlier,
remembering how warm his skin was. Those were some gentle, strong
hands.

I shook my head and swore under my
breath.

The crowd thinned as we reached the
last of the streaming lights. The farther we got, the more the
lights dimmed and the music faded. Damn Aiden for parking so
far.

Beside me, he tensed, peering into the
night ahead. The glint in his eyes made him look aware, maybe even
slightly dangerous. Rygons were a force not even the badasses
messed with unless they had to. He nodded his head toward the
shadows and quickened his pace to a jog. “Can you…?”

I sprinted. Hell, if we were going to
pick up the pace, we might as well run.

Chapter 14

Standing beside the motel-room window,
Aiden gingerly pulled at a corner of the seashell-decorated curtain
and peeked outside.

No Rygons followed us. Or so it
appeared. My body relaxed a bit, thinking the Guard members Aiden
saw at the club might’ve stopped them. Could’ve been Aiden, as
well. Maybe he intimidated them. I grabbed my bag off the desk and
headed toward the bathroom.

“
Taylee, wait…”

I bit the inside of my cheek, stopped
and reluctantly turned. Aiden didn’t forget about the restroom
incident like I hoped. His serious, deep eyes were evident of
that.

He stepped away from the window. With
two fingers, he motioned me toward him and settled in the blue
chair across from the bed.

I fiddled with the zipper on my bag.
“Look, I really…” Don’t want to talk about it. It’s not like I
found out anything. No, the Kember held me against my will and said
cryptic things. Nothing important. I sighed and dropped onto the
end of the mattress. Might as well get it over with.

He leaned forward; a chunk of dark
hair fell in his eyes. “I shouldn’t have let you go in there
alone…I’m sorry.”

I blinked in surprise. “You didn’t
know the creepster was in there.”

Aiden ran a hand through the wavy
strands on his head and pursed his lips.

There went my public bathroom
privileges. “It’s no big deal.” I spread my arms, trying to make
him feel better. “I’m still alive and kickin’.”

His eyes swept me, but it didn’t
lighten the gravity of his expression.

“
You said you saw him.” I
tried to divert his thoughts. “Do you know him?” Hope rose in my
chest. Members of the Guard were defined and recognized by their
mad skills. They knew everyone worth knowing.