Family Secrets (Young Adult Edition) (Davenport Manor (Young Adult Edition)) (18 page)

She walked over to Chris who continued
to look up at her brightly as she neared him. Aidan had certainly
charmed a number on these two, they looked completely dazed and
oblivious to what was going on around them. She slinked down onto
the couch so she was situated next to him, politely greeted him,
and guided his head to tilt to the side. She pushed her fangs out
and bit into his jugular, gulping down the blood that his heart was
pushing into her mouth. Aidan sat down next to Nicole and in the
same movement he pushed her head to the side to begin feeding from
her. Neither human made a sound as Aidan and Emma fed on them,
their eyes remained glazed over and empty.

Emma had nearly forgotten how good
blood was coming directly from the vein. The only way she could
compare it to humans who didn’t understand was that it was like
having a filet mignon as opposed to a fast food hamburger. Both
will fill you up and satisfy you, but the filet mignon tastes so
much more succulent.

Before they could take too much blood
from their donors, they pulled away and pierced their fingertips
with one of their fangs. They rubbed a drop of their own blood on
the human’s puncture wounds to heal them quickly. Once Chris’ wound
healed, Emma lightly licked the little bit of remaining blood off
of his neck. Aidan had taught her to never be a sloppy drinker; to
savor each drop and not let it spill all over the place. He
explained that blood was the life source for both humans and
vampires, to carelessly allow it to overflow was wasteful for both
lives. The way he explained it to her when she was a new vampire
made sense: rarely did you see a human dive face first into their
dinner plates, allowing their food to smear on their face. It was
uncivilized and lacked manners. The same rules of etiquette applied
to vampires. He hated how Hollywood films depicted vampires with
blood running down their chins.

“Thank you, Chris and Nicole, that
will be all for now,” Aidan said, clearly giving them a cue to
leave the room.

Emma slouched back on the couch with a
satisfied smile and her eyes closed, relishing in the afterglow of
her superb meal.

One side of Aidan’s mouth curled up in
a sly smile, “You haven’t done that in a while, have
you?”

“Mmmm, nope. I forgot how good it is,”
Emma replied, keeping her eyes closed.

“How can you enjoy drinking out of a
glass a majority of the time? Why not feed from a human and just
charm them to forget?” He asked, clearly perplexed once again by
her lifestyle choices.

“I don’t like having to charm people,
you know that,” she responded as she opened her eyes to look at
him. “I don’t feel like it’s fair for me to wipe out someone’s
memory.”

“But, that’s why we have that ability,
my dear. It is so we can feed without having to kill them to keep
our secret. It’s a natural mechanism for us, don’t be ashamed of
it. Not to mention it is for your own safety.”

Once again, Aidan’s teachings made her
question her own decisions. Sometimes she wished he would have
fought a little harder to convince her not to stay with her family
and live among humans. It certainly would have spared her the pain
of losing them with each passing generation, especially the ones
she grew attached to. Daniel instantly popped into her
mind.

“Aidan, I was wondering…if Zachariah
and Daniel could come here and join us for the holidays? I have
never been apart from them this time of year,” she asked, unsure of
how he would respond.

He looked at her
quizzically, “Daniel…your
human
nephew?”

She nodded while looking at him with
innocent, pleading eyes.

A moment passed while he thought it
over, “Zachariah…of course. He is family to us. But, Daniel…why the
human?”

“I’m the only family he has, Aidan. He
has no cousins, aunts, uncles, or grandparents. His parents are
gone—you know that. I have been like a sister to him since he was
born; Zachariah and I are all he has now since his parents were
killed. I love him, Aidan. We have a bond like no
other.”

He put his hand to his face and rubbed
his cheeks down to his chin, while mulling over her words. “A bond
like no other, huh?” He hesitated a bit longer; Emma felt like a
little girl asking her father for permission to do something he
didn’t approve of. “Emma, I haven’t had a human in my house that
wasn’t a food source in…well, never. You came here to get away from
that human, Todd, right?”

“Right, but I didn’t realize he was
headed back to London for the holidays. I almost canceled my trip
to come here, however you know how strong the pull is for me to
you. Once I made up my mind to come, I couldn’t wait to see you.
But, Zachariah and Daniel were disappointed that I would be gone
for the holidays.”

“How about this,” he
started with a spark. “Why don’t
I
come to Chicago? I haven’t visited your home in a
few years. I would like to see your great nephew that you have a
bond with…just not here. I’m not accustomed to having humans here
as
guests
.”

Emma smiled brightly, knowing how
happy the boys would be to hear the news that she would be there
for the holidays. She herself was elated that not only would she be
with Daniel and Zachariah, but Aidan as well. She jumped onto
Aidan’s lap, straddling him while giving him a hard kiss on the
cheek. “I’d love for you to come for a visit! Thank
you!”

He placed his hands on her waist and
with dark eyes he responded, “You’re welcome, darlin’. Would you
mind if Mackenzie joined us? It has been ages since she has visited
your Manor.”

“Of course Mackenzie can come, it
would be lovely to have her there, too,” Emma replied. She had
always like Mackenzie and enjoyed spending time with her whenever
she came to visit Aidan in Scotland. She loved her quick wit and
camaraderie when she was with her. “Just a friendly F.Y.I.
though...Daniel isn’t food,” she said.

With a quick laugh that was just air
being exhaled from his nose, he replied, “I know. He won’t be
touched.” He sounded slightly perturbed. “I still don’t understand
why you would want to remain with humans.”

“You know, there is a part of me that
wishes that you would have fought me a little harder about that
when I first turned. I have lost count of how many times I have had
to say goodbye to those I love.”

“I tried to tell you, darlin’. But,
you were bound and determined to stay with your family. I actually
admired your demanding personality and it was then that I knew that
you were going to be amazing. I don’t think you would have been
able to change your mind no matter how much I fought
you.”

“You’re probably right,” she said as
she mindlessly played with his hair.

“I’m very proud of you, Emma. You’ve
exceeded all of my expectations and you’re doing a great
job.”

He had told her this time and again,
but it made her heart swell every time she heard it. She wanted
nothing more than to please her maker and to be reassured that the
decisions she made were right. He may not always agree with her,
but he had always supported and guided her the best that he
could.

With his hands still on her hips, he
pulled her up against his body. She moved her hands down to his
broad shoulders and ran them down the length of his upper arms. His
muscles flexed under her touch; he was the epitome of a man’s man.
He had been a Scottish warrior during his human years and his
large, strong body was built to fight. Even without the knowledge
of him being an ancient vampire, one would be hesitant to pick a
brawl with him.

She leaned in and aggressively kissed
him, feeling his stubble lightly scratch her face. He wrapped his
large arms around her, engulfing her petite frame.

“I’m going to give the boys a call and
let them know about Christmas,” she said as she climbed off of him
and reached for her cell phone.

“
Hey Zach! I wanted to let
you know that instead of you guys coming here, Aidan and Mackenzie
will be joining us in Chicago instead. I’ll let you know of our
travel plans. How are things going there?”

Zachariah replied, “Things are good
here, people are starting to head home for the holidays. That’s
great that Aidan and Mackenzie will be here, which rooms do you
want me to prepare for them?” Zachariah had always had a sweet spot
for Mackenzie and often hooked up with her when they saw each
other, which was usually every few decades.

Emma instructed him on which rooms to
prepare for their new guests and to let Daniel know just how
important Aidan and Mackenzie were to the vampire world. She was
sure he already knew, but since living with vampires was so normal
for him, she wanted him to be reminded that Aidan was no ordinary
vampire. He was her maker, one of the oldest vampires walking the
earth, and the King of Europe.

After spending a few days in Scotland
with Aidan and Mackenzie, the trio flew in to Chicago in the late
afternoon on Christmas Eve, but just barely. A blizzard was about
to hit the city and several flights were canceled for the evening
going in and out of O’Hare airport. Luckily, their flight was one
of the last few that wasn’t diverted to another city or canceled.
Emma was both excited and nervous about having Aidan and Mackenzie
come to visit. She knew they judged her for remaining with her
human family and the fact that she was so close with Daniel. But,
just the mere presence of Aidan for an extended period of time was
enough to make her a bit giddy.

Zachariah picked them up in the
Escalade knowing they would need the extra room and that they would
probably end up driving right into the storm as it made its way
into the area. Once they were on the highway and got the small talk
out of the way, he turned to Emma and said, “I should tell you now,
before you get home and are surprised…”

Emma looked at him with impatience as
he clenched his teeth.

“…
Todd is still there. His
flight out to London this evening was canceled and they wouldn’t be
able to get him there until two days after Christmas, so he
scrapped his trip home altogether.” He winced, pursing his lips
while waiting for her reaction.

“
You have
got
to be kidding me,”
she responded with disbelief. He shook his head.

“
Oh, this ought to be
fun,” Mackenzie chimed in with amusement. Emma had filled her in on
the entire story of Todd during her stay in Scotland. Emma buried
her face in her hands and dramatically shook her head back and
forth while Aidan chuckled from the backseat.

Once they arrived home, they came in
through the back door and made their way to the foyer where
Vivienne and Declan were waiting. Declan bowed and Vivienne
curtsied as Aidan approached them. There wasn’t a vampire in the
world that didn’t know his importance.

“
Daniel, where are you?”
Emma called out, her voice bouncing from the cathedral-high
ceiling.

Daniel slowly emerged from the parlor;
clearly Zachariah had stressed Aidan’s importance in the vampire
world. He examined their new guests with caution and gave them a
closed-lip smile that had fear hidden behind it.

“
Daniel, this is Aidan, my
maker and the King of Europe,” she said while touching Aidan’s
shoulder with one hand and motioning to him with the other. “And
this is one of his other offspring and second-in-command,
Mackenzie.” She turned to them and said, “This is my dearest
sixth-great nephew, Daniel.”

With a calm in his eyes and a warm
smile, Aidan reached out his hand to greet Daniel. “Good to finally
meet you, lad. Emma has had nothing but great things to say about
you,” he said as they shook hands.

“
Good to meet you both,
too,” he replied as he moved on to shake Mackenzie’s hand as well.
Aidan’s face looked oddly familiar to him, like a case of déjà vu.
His anxiety was getting the best of him and Aidan could hear it in
his palpitating heart.

“
Relax, Daniel. No harm
will come of you,” he said with a smooth voice. Daniel instantly
exhaled and gave him a relieved smile.

Emma and Zachariah looked at each
other with hidden shock when they realized that Aidan had just
charmed Daniel into relaxing.

“Daniel, would you mind warming up
some glasses of blood for our guests?” Emma said to get him out of
hearing range. After he turned down the hallway and they heard him
near the kitchen, she spun around to scold Aidan. “No charming
Daniel! The only time he has ever been charmed was when I told him
he could never spill our secret to those who didn’t know. I did
that with every child once they learned how to talk. Otherwise, I
never charm my family members.”

Aidan held his hands out in front of
him, “Whoa, love! I meant him no harm, I just don’t want him to be
afraid of us. I won’t maliciously charm him, you should know
that.”

She narrowed her eyes with threat, “No
charming Daniel. No feeding on Daniel. Got it, you two?” She
mockingly waved her index finger at them.

“He relaxed though, didn’t he?”
Mackenzie said with an encouraging smile.

Emma snickered and rolled her eyes.
“Come on, everyone, let’s go into the dining room. We’ll drink in
there.”