Enraptured (33 page)

“The best and worst experience of your
life,” Ethan supplied.

“Exactly,” Ian replied. “I’d take it all
away from her if I could, but I wouldn’t change a thing.”

“You’ll never have to go through anything
like that again, either of you.”

“Yeah.”

“Things will be easier for you both now,”
Ethan said and squeezed his shoulder.

“What is that?” Aiden asked and gestured at
his hand.

Ian hadn’t realized he was still holding the
pad until Aiden gestured at it. He lifted it up so they could see
the drawing. “Paige’s father.”

Ethan folded his arms over his chest. “I can
tell.”

“How is Brian going to be able to help
locate him?”

“Brian seems to have a way of knowing
things,” David replied. “but how he could help with this, I have no
idea. I’m beginning to realize there’s a lot we don’t know.”

“You aren’t kidding,” Aiden muttered.

Ian stared at the picture of a man he’d only
encountered briefly, but already hated. “What if Brian’s making it
up?”

“There’s many things about Brian that annoy
me, and there’s been many times I’d like nothing more than to punch
him, but he doesn’t make things up,” Ethan replied. “If he says he
can help find this man, and Ronan believes him, then there is
something there we don’t know about.”

“Have you met Ronan before?” Ian inquired of
David. David had spent most of his life with his family, but he’d
encountered Stefan and Brian before any of them were born.

“No, I’ve heard of him and his
team.
They’re ruthless, but they serve a purpose.” David rubbed at the
blond stubble lining his chin and cheeks. He appeared older and
more tired than Ian had ever seen him, but David had always been
easier going in nature, more like himself, and fighting had never
been something he’d relished. “They prefer vampires not to know
about them, and if they do, they don’t know much. That’s the way
they like it.”

“Men In Black, vampire style,” Aiden said.
“Sounds kind of interesting.”

“Or like a good way to get killed,” Ethan
replied.

Aiden shrugged, but his leaf colored eyes
didn’t waver from Ethan’s unrelenting stare. “Do they really rule
the vampires?” Aiden inquired.

“After talking with him, I realize there
will never be a way to rule us all,” David replied. “There’s no way
of knowing when someone is changed, by whom, or when a vampire is
born. They do take care of purebreds that get out of control or
turned vampires who become completely rogue. Vampires who are
tracked because of their antics and draw attention to themselves
with their reckless behavior are the ones they hunt. They are the
most powerful group amongst us. Our family may be a close second to
them with all of the purebreds within it, but we don’t hunt others
and gain power from it like they do. How is Paige handling
everything?”

Ian couldn’t help but smile as his thoughts
turned to Paige and what had passed between them this morning. He
could still feel her feeding from him, moving over his body, as the
bond connecting them grew ever stronger. Reaching out, he allowed
his mind to brush reassuringly over hers. He felt her contentment
over their bond when his mind connected with hers.

“Ugh,” Aiden said and stuck his index finger
in his mouth. “I’m going to be spending a
lot
more time with
The Stooges.”

“She’s doing well,” Ian replied as if Aiden
hadn’t spoken. “She was a little confused and overwhelmed by sights
and sounds this morning; she still is, but she’s adapting.”

“It will take time. Emma still breaks things
and doesn’t like to be around loud noises. She may be able to help
Paige with the transition,” Ethan replied.

“That would be good; I have no idea what
she’s going through. The world has always looked, sounded, and
tasted the same to me.”

Ethan laughed and leaned against the
building. “Where do you think her father is?”

Ian stared around the small town, searching
for anything menacing that might be out there; he felt nothing out
of the ordinary. “I don’t know. Wherever he is, I plan to find him
and take care of him. Otherwise, she’ll never know peace, and I’m
going to make sure she has the stability and security she’s never
had before.”

Paige could barely keep her hands still, and she
definitely couldn’t keep her eyes still as they were drawn
everywhere at once. There were so many colors in the world; flecks
of shades she’d never seen before danced before her eyes like
fireflies through the woods. Everywhere she looked amazing new
things existed within things she’d seen just yesterday, but had
never truly
seen
, until now. She’d never thought that
becoming a vampire would open her world up in this fascinating and
overwhelming way.

Of course there were some things she’d
prefer not to see or smell so well, like the cook at the diner who
apparently had a really bad gas problem and didn’t care about
spreading it around to everyone in the restaurant. Before, the
scent of the food had covered it up. When she’d walked into the
diner before, in order to test herself around humans, she’d been
confronted with it first thing. But the bad always came with the
good, and there wasn’t anything she would change about what had
happened between them.

She could feel the edge of Ian’s conscious
brushing against hers, an ever-present, loving source that warmed
her soul. She leaned against him, unable to believe how happy
becoming the one thing she’d despised the most over the past four
years, had made her. No, there wasn’t one thing she would ever
change, and she let him know that through the intricate bond
joining them. If she’d ever had any doubts about the depth of his
love for her, or his ability to remain faithful to her, they had
all been officially buried.

Every heartbeat sounded a rhythmic pulse of
life within him. She could hear the blood coursing through the
veins of everyone within this room, but there was only one whose
blood she craved, only one whose heart beat in sync with hers.

She looked up at Ian standing by her side.
The cinnamon and copper scent of his blood was still seared into
her nostrils; the memory of its warmth filling her mouth caused her
heart rate to increase. Like a plant seeking the sun, she turned
into him and pressed closer against his side. She didn’t think
she’d ever get used to this new world, this new being she’d become,
or the man who was now her mate.

Paige’s gaze traveled to Brian when he
reappeared in the doorway. He’d walked in five minutes ago, taken
her pad, and walked out the door without a word. “Nice drawings,”
he told her and handed the pad out to her.

“Thank you.” Even the paper felt different
within her grasp. She’d always loved the smell and feel of paper
before. It had helped to get her through some of the most difficult
times of her childhood, but now it felt as if the paper was somehow
alive beneath her fingers. She couldn’t wait to sit down and see
what she could create with her enhanced vision and touch. It would
have to wait, there was something else to take care of first. “Did
it help you?”

Brian nodded. “I know where your father is,
if you’d still like to know.”

Yesterday a resounding yes would have leapt
out of her mouth. Today, she hesitated. She’d never thought she
would, but with Ian standing by her side, and a new life unfolding
before her, she found herself torn. Her father was her past; she
could walk away from him and start a brand new life, but then she’d
also be walking away from all of her father’s future victims.

He may have fled these mountains, but he
would always look for an opportunity to get at her. She’d never be
able to move on with him always in her shadow.

“I would,” she said, but with a lot less
enthusiasm than she would have yesterday. She looked up at Ian
again. “I need it to be over.”

He stared at her, his azure eyes troubled,
but he nodded before focusing on Brian. “Where is he?” Ian
inquired.

“Vegas.”

“
Las
Vegas?” Aiden blurted.

“No, Donkey Vegas,” Brian retorted. “How
many Vegas’s do you know?”

Aiden glowered at him and flipped him the
finger before folding his arms over his chest. Paige fought a
smile, not only did their exchange amuse her, but Brian’s words had
also brought to mind Donkey Kong. Now all she could picture was a
gorilla throwing barrels down a Vegas street.

“So it sounds like we’re going to Vegas
then,” Ian said.

“Vegas it is,” she agreed. She turned her
attention back to Brian. “I don’t know what you did to locate him,
but whatever it was, is it the same way my father keeps finding
me?”

“Not likely. There are few in this world who
can do what I can.”

Ian lifted an eyebrow when Brian finally
confirmed there was something different about him. “And what
exactly is that?” he asked.

Brian flashed a smile as he shook his head.
“That’s for me to know, not you.”

“Why didn’t you use it to find Tristan, when
we were in Bermuda?” Ethan inquired.

“It was an island and we already knew he was
there,” Brian drawled.

Ian shook his head, Ethan released a
frustrated grunt, but no one tried to learn more, not even Ronan.
“How does he keep finding me then?” Paige inquired.

“I know I lost him in those woods,” Ian
said.

“I have no doubt you did,” Ronan replied to
him before focusing on Paige. “He’s your father, there was already
a bond there, maybe not a strong one, but it exists. He has fed
from you more than once?” Ronan continued speaking when Paige’s
hand fluttered to her scars and she nodded. “He has your scent
then. Ian may have lost him in the woods, but he will have had an
easier time finding your scent again than someone who hadn’t had as
much interaction with you.”

“So he will find me again,” she said
flatly.

“It could be tomorrow, decades or centuries,
but he will most likely find you again if that is what he
wants.”

Paige shuddered beside him, her hand wrapped
around his arm. “We have to find him.”

“We do,” Ian confirmed.

***

She almost regretted agreeing to this when
they arrived in the city. The bright lights blazed against her
eyes, blinding her and making her head pound. It was night, but
apparently she now had to wear her sunglasses at night. People
would think either she had a massive hangover, was a complete
d-bag, or just really liked the eighties song her mom used to play
all the time. Either way, she was thankful for the thick, black
sunglasses covering her eyes that Ian had purchased for her. Ian’s
fingers brushed against hers on the seat, helping to soothe some of
the tension mounting in her.

Beside her, Aiden rolled down the window,
leaned out and inhaled deeply. His midnight hair blew back from his
face as he let out a whoop of pleasure. Ducking back in, he turned
to grin at her and Ian. A devilish light shone in his eyes as he
shook back his tussled hair. “It smells like sin.”

“And what does sin smell like?” Ian inquired
as he drove down the crowded streets.

“Oh,
you
know what sin smells like,”
Aiden replied with a waggle of his eyebrows.

Ian glowered at him, Paige’s smile slipped
away as jealousy burst forth in her. The force of it robbed her of
her breath, for a brief moment red marred her vision as she glared
back and forth between the brothers. Aiden’s eyes widened; he
leaned away from her and became intently focused on the passing
scenery once more. Ian plastered an innocent smile on his face and
draped his arm around her shoulders. He pulled her against his side
to kiss her temple.

“Ignore him, he doesn’t know what he’s
talking about,” he whispered in her ear. His mind opened up to her,
bathing her in love.

She knew how much he cared for her, but she
still struggled to shake off the jealousy clawing at her. Taking a
shuddery breath, she tried to relax against him, but her heightened
vampire emotions were making it extremely difficult, if not
impossible for her to do so. Her fangs tingled; Ian’s jaw looked
extremely tempting to punch right now.

The only thing holding her back was how
unreasonable the urge was. He’d done nothing wrong. She already
knew about his past, but where it had caused the green eyed monster
to only rear its head before, now it caused the whole damn monster
to burst out of her like the scene from
Alien
. She could
actually feel it eating at her belly.

Her teeth ground together; Ian pulled her
closer when she began to shake. She uncurled her fingers and dug
them into her thighs. “Easy,” he murmured.

Taking a deep breath, Paige forced herself
to focus on the comforting heat and scent of him in an attempt to
calm herself. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” she
whispered.

“You’re a new vampire, your emotions are
enhanced. It’s going to take you some time to get used to
them.”

“I know.” She couldn’t shake the rattling
her system had taken. “Maybe I shouldn’t be around so many
people.”

“You’ll do fine. We’ll keep you away from
crowds…”

“In Vegas?” she blurted.

“We can turn back,” he offered, torn between
if he wanted her to say yes or no. It wouldn’t end if they left
now; he knew that. As soon as she felt secure enough, she would
return to hunting for her father, and right now they had the upper
hand. He had no idea how many vamps her father was traveling with,
but he knew none of them were as powerful as the vampires with
them.

This had to be over so they could start
their life together, so she could finally know peace and security,
but he wasn’t going to put her into a situation that made her feel
uncomfortable or caused her to crack and attack someone. Neither of
them would forgive themselves if such a thing happened.