Fateful 2-Fractured (8 page)

Ethan called her soon after he was told
about the attempted kidnapping, but he was pleased with how it’d
been handled, and told Danielle that he would be home soon, though
he didn’t say exactly when.

Chapter 5

Fairytale

Danielle went to bed early
that night
. But just as she’d tucked herself in,
she heard a noise at her window, right before it began to open
slowly.

Her heart stopped.

What now?
she
thought, and then breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that it
was only Max. Her smile became a gape of confusion when she noticed
he was carrying a huge bouquet of roses. He’d only given her one
the other night, and that one flower had been an innocent shade of
pink. These were red—usually meaning love, or at least that’s what
she thought.

“Er.... Hi, Max. What’s going on?”

He ignored her question and went directly to
the iPod on her dresser. “Do you happen to have any instrumental or
romantic selections for this?” he asked while looking through the
play lists listed in the interface.

“What?” Now she was really perplexed.

“Oh, how about ‘Danielle’s bedtime mix’?”
His face brightened while he checked with her for confirmation.

She stared blankly back at him.

Max shrugged and had clearly decided his
selection was acceptable without a single word from her. He
connected the device into the iPod dock, but didn’t push play, and
then turned to face her again, smirking broadly. “That’s just in
case we make too much noise and need a cover.”

What noises are
we
going to be making?
she wondered. “Um, Max, seriously, are you trying to anger
Ethan? Because this should do it…”

He chortled softly, his huge shoulders
shaking with it. Teasing her was apparently fun for him. “Oh,
I
know
Ethan will not be
angry with me.” A dauntless grin pulled at his lips.

“How?”

“Well, my love, while you certainly
are worthy of such affection from me, these flowers are not from
me. These are from the lowly chap standing outside.” He waved an
open hand in the direction of the window, as though he was a game
show host noting the fine prizes available
.

Danielle’s eyes enlarged as she slipped from
her bed, strode eagerly to the window, and leaned out to see who
was in the garden.

He stood below her window, his guitar slung
casually over his shoulder by the strap as he smiled up at her.

“Ethan, you’re back!” She screamed and
started bouncing cheerfully. The sound didn’t travel very far,
because she’d screamed into Max’s oversized palm. It seemed Ethan
had warned him that she had a tendency to do that when she got
surprised, and they apparently didn’t want to draw the household to
her bedroom.

Max chuckled.

Danielle mumbled under his hand, and he
laughed harder, but kept the volume low. His hand remained over her
lips, muffling her.

“You can remove the gag now, Max,” Ethan
informed him, looking slightly annoyed.

“Oh, right.” The hand released her.

Danielle leaned further out the window. “Hi.
So you got back tonight then?”

He nodded. “I came here directly from the
airport, just to see you.” And then he bowed.

There’s that Jane Austen hero she was in
love with, and smiled. “Thank you. But why didn’t you come to the
front door? I can’t hug you from here,” she complained, the smile
slipping.

Ethan ignored her protest, lifted his
guitar and began playing. He brought to life an intricate melody as
he plucked and strummed his fingers over the strings. The serenade
he played was filled with complicated finger work and the tune was
romantic and sweet, like something from
The Princess Bride
. She couldn’t help but be
moved by it. Danielle rested her chin in her hand until he finished
with the charming number and then began another.

But while she loved listening to his
talented and touching performance, she really wanted to hug and
kiss him. She was frustrated that he’d returned from his trip, only
to remain just out of reach— She turned to face Max, who looked
slightly startled just before he dropped his eyes to the floor.
“Take me down to him. Please?”

His lips twisted into a rascally grin. “Yes,
my lady.”

Max swept her into his arms and bounded from
the high window. Her stomach upturned because it felt like the
quick descent of a rollercoaster. She hadn’t been prepared for
that. He released her as soon as he landed lithely on the ground,
but then had to catch her, before she stumbled to the grass. “Oh,
sorry, was that a bit much for you?” She could hear the laughter in
his husky tone.

“I’m okay…” It seemed he didn’t
believe her since he kept one hand on her elbow as she regained her
balance. Ethan, who’d stopped playing, swung his guitar behind his
back and tugged her into the circle of his arms. She snuggled into
his embrace and whispered, “Thank you for the roses and the
beautiful music, but it’s
you
I want, silly.”

Ethan smiled in reply and took possession of
her mouth with his. When she opened her eyes, and pulled away from
his kiss, she realized they were surrounded by his entourage and
hers, while she stood there in her pajamas—kind of embarrassing.
“Oh, uh,” she muttered as she felt her face heat up.

“Don’t mind them, Danielle, it’s not like
you’re standing here in your knickers.”

At least they weren’t meeting her gaze,
knowing their magic was at full intensity, and she focused on Ethan
again. He took her face into his hands and brushed the tip of his
nose across hers. “Danielle,” he whispered affectionately, “I’ve
planned our next day trip for tomorrow. I need you to be ready at
eleven.”

“Okay.”

“And wear your white dress. I desire to see
you in that again.”

“All right,” she said, breathless.

She drew her fingers through his hair,
noting how the moonlight bounced and danced from the lighter
strands. She was about to go for his lips again, when Max
interrupted. “Whoops!” he snapped, and then yanked her from Ethan,
rolled her into his chest, and sprang back up to her bedroom. The
sensation drained the blood from her head. She couldn’t recall any
amusement park rides that went up so quickly, or at least she’d
never been brave enough to try one.

The knight stuffed Danielle in bed, hit play
for the music, and then instantly disappeared from sight. She
collapsed into her pillows, waiting for her stomach to return to
its proper place from her toes.

Then her door opened. “Hey, Dannie—er, I’m
sorry, did I wake you?”

“No, I was awake,” she replied, trying to
not look guilty and dazed.

“Oh good, may I borrow a rubber? I can’t
find mine,” Brianna said.

“A-a what?” Danielle could feel the
horrified look on her face as she choked out the words.

Her cousin’s eyes rounded and then she
erupted into fervent giggles, doubling over with the intensity of
it. “Oh!” She laughed some more. “I totally forgot!” She then
started coughing she was laughing so hard and sat down on the edge
of Danielle’s bed before she collapsed from mirth. “I mean
an eraser
.” She pronounced each
syllable slowly.

“Oh,” was all Danielle could muster in
reply.

“I’m sorry, Cousin, we call them rubbers
because that’s what they’re made of. I haven’t a clue why you Yanks
call them erasers.” She paused to consider that for a moment.
“Okay, well I suppose that does make sense too. Anyway, could I
borrow one?”

“Eh, sure. There should be one in my
desk.”

Her cousin walked to the desk, shuffled
around for the eraser, took it, then went back to the door.
Danielle watched her cousin, wondering where the vampire was
hiding, and what he was thinking of this insane verbal
exchange.

“’
Night, Danielle.”

“Goodnight, Bri.”

She waited for Max to reveal his secret
place and nearly shrieked when he slid out from under her bed. He
was jerking with silent guffaws. He gave her a pat on the head and
then jumped out the window. She followed and watched as he landed
easily, and then disappeared around the front of the house.

Ethan was still there. “Danielle, I must go
home now. But I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Thanks for coming by.” She sighed as his
guards took their places on either side of him.

“Goodnight.”

“’
Night,” she replied.

He also vanished into the night with the
two-man security entourage he’d arrived with.

* * * * *

“Where are we going this time?” Danielle
asked as they got settled into his car the next day, but realized
that she’d failed at masking her impatience when he chuckled.

“We’re going back to the ruins, and it
should take about an hour to get there, and yes, I plan to carry
you again,” Ethan replied, anticipating her next set of
questions.

Laughing, she said, “You’re getting to know
me a little too well.”

“We’ve been through a lot, Danielle.”

“That much is true.” She reached for the
blue silk tie he wore. “This is nice, it matches your eyes.” Then
her gaze traveled over his charcoal pinstriped suit. He’d dressed
up special this time, and she wondered why, though she did have
some suspicions.

“Thanks, and, as always, you’re lovely in
this Edwardian-style dress. And I see you remembered the pearls I
gave you. I’m glad.” His hand traced the inset lace on the skirt,
and then swept upward to brush her hair aside, giving himself a
better view of the jewelry.

The drive went by quickly, lucky for Ethan,
since Danielle didn’t feel the need to keep asking him how much
longer. He parked the Jag on the shoulder of the road. Once out of
the car, he lifted her into his arms to begin the long walk through
the forest to the ruins.

As Ethan made his way through the underbrush
in a suit and polished black shoes, Danielle noticed that many more
vampires than their usual guard were in the woods as she and Ethan
passed through. It seemed they’d come out in droves.

“Why are there so many?” she asked
softly.

“They just want to make sure we’re safe.
We’re in a forest,” Ethan said.

His explanation didn’t make a whole lot of
sense, but Danielle was distracted by the sound of music drifting
through the trees as they neared the ruins. It sounded like a
strange mix of the fairy’s music and the vampire musicians from the
ball. As her previous suspicions resurfaced, she asked, “What do
you have planned?”

“You’ll see soon enough.” Ethan grinned as
he cleared the last of the trees and Danielle could finally see
what he’d done.

She gasped. The stone structures of his
childhood home were decorated with white rose garlands, and
situated in the center of everything was a table for two, covered
with a white tablecloth and sprinkled with white rose petals, then
in the center of that stood an empty white vase. The table was
flanked by a pair of wingback chairs. She’d never seen living room
seating used in an outdoor setting like that, but it was beautiful
and ultra romantic.

She tried to find the source of the music,
but could see no one else in the area.

“When did you do all of this?” Danielle
marveled.

“I didn’t, the others helped me.” Her gaze
moved back to the surrounding trees and she noticed shadows of
people moving within the shade of the trees.

“What’s this all for?” she asked, although
she had a hunch.

“It’s all for you, princess.” He tickled her
with a kiss on her neck as he advanced toward the table.

She squirmed and giggled just as she always
did when his lips touched that sensitive flesh. “Well, you’ve
topped the ball this time.”

Ethan bent down to set Danielle in one of
the chairs, she was then startled to see Beon standing there
holding the chair out for her. He hadn’t been there before and had
seemingly materialized from out of nowhere.

Beon was dressed in a black suit with a
black necktie, and a white tuxedo shirt, his dark hair was slicked
back, and he stood by the table like a stodgy butler. He even had a
white towel draped over his arm. And the sight of Beon like this
made Danielle want to laugh, but she pressed her lips together in
an attempt to keep it in.

“For you, Danielle.” The words came from
behind her, and she knew Nadia’s voice instantly. She turned to see
the folkloric immortal holding a single white rose out to her.

Danielle took it. “Thank you,” she said as
Nadia left, and then looked at Ethan curiously.

The smile he returned bewildered her. His
lips were twisted with a grin, but something she didn’t recognize
danced in his eyes.

“I’ll take that, dear.” Beon snatched the
rose from her and stuck it into the empty vase.

“For you, my lady.” Danielle shifted her
gaze again to find Cedric holding another white rose out to
her.

“Thanks.” She took the rose, only to have it
taken by Beon again.

Cedric chortled and ruffled Ethan’s
perfectly placed hair as he left.

Ethan scowled and combed through his
dark-blond locks with his fingers to fix it.

“Hello, my darling.” Sophia addressed her
next, with yet another rose, and her famous hors d’oeuvres arranged
on a tiered cake platter, which she set on the left side of the
table.

“Hello. Thank you, Sophia,” Danielle said as
she took the rose and just handed it to Beon this time. She was
catching on to the pattern here.

Danielle looked over her shoulder to see
Seth approaching next. Sometimes he still made her a little
nervous. Perhaps it was because even as he strode toward her with a
single rose in his hand, he did it with such an air of purpose and
importance that he appeared almost regal. “For you, my dear,” he
said holding the rose out to her.