Revelation of Blood (4 page)

“You don’t get to push me away from you,”
Archer growled as he roughly grabbed me and spun me back into his
arms. “I don’t care how pissed off you are right now, Skye, you
don’t get to push me away.”

“Oh, Archer,” I sniffed against his chest as
tears pricked my eyes. “I’m sorry. She’ll just never accept
me.”

Archer sighed and held me tightly to his
chest, cradling the back of my head with one strong hand. “She
loves you.”

“She loved the human Skye,” I whispered as I
wiped the tear that had fallen and slowly stepped out of his arms.
“Just like she loved my father.”

Steven Edward Mitchell
, I repeated his
name in my head and something gradually clicked.

“We… we have the same initials,” I whispered
as I hugged myself. What an odd thing for my mother to do if she
hated my father with such a passion. “She may have loathed my
father after he became a vampire, but she gave me a part of him.
What does that mean?” I was so confused.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Hagan and
Lochlan enter the room from the hallway.

“Lamb o’ tha Lord Jaysus,” Lochlan shook his
head with wide eyes. “Yer ma’s a fiery one! I see now where ya’ get
it.”

“You okay, Morrison?” Hagan asked carefully
as he came to a stop in front of me and crossed his corded arms
over his broad chest.

“Hell no,” I shook my head honestly. “I just
found out who my dad is and why he left us. I’ve wondered my entire
life who my father was and finding out that he’s just some piece of
shit Dark One is a little too much information to handle at the
moment.”

“Get the girl a drink,” Hagan growled to
Lochlan as he grabbed my elbow and dragged me toward the bar.

“Be easy with her, Hagan,” Archer warned
behind me. “She’s holding on by a thread.”

“I’m fine,” I mumbled as I took a seat on the
red swivel stool. Truth be told, I was anything but fine… but they
didn’t need to know that.

“Bollox,” Lochlan scoffed as he took down a
bottle of expensive scotch from the top shelf and poured me a
double shot. “You go’ dat look on yer face, love.”

“My mother hates me,” I whispered as I fought
off a wave of stinging tears. “She will never accept the person
I’ve become…never.”

“To hell with her,” Hagan growled as he took
a seat beside me. “Your mother refuses to see how special you are,
how truly unique you’ve become, and if she wants to deny you…well
fuck her.”

“Hagan,” I gasped at his choice of language.
I was the resident potty mouth in this family, not him. The
harshness of his words surprised me.

“It’s the truth, Morrison,” he leveled me
with his serious stare. “There is absolutely nothing wrong with
you.”

“I’m her only child,” I bit my bottom lip as
I stared at the scotch in front of me. “I said some really harsh
things to her that I shouldn’t have. Oh, God. She can’t disown me.
I have to go after her. I can’t lose her.”

I flashed from my seat in a panic but was
stopped a few feet from the front entrance by Hagan.

“You’ll just make it worse,” he bit out as he
struggled to hold me. “Archer, control your woman.”

“Dammit, Hagan! Let go of me!” I yelled as I
slapped at his hands.

“
Cion
, please,” Archer said gently,
wrapping his arms around my waist. “Just give her some time. Seeing
you as a vampire was a shock for her. She just needs a few days to
think things through. Your mother loves you and will come around.”
Archer started lightly kissing my neck and I began to lose my
fight. “Trust me, baby.”

“What if you’re wrong?” I whispered as Hagan
released me. I turned in Archer’s arms and buried my head in his
chest. “I can’t lose her, Archer. I can’t. It’ll kill me.”

“I’m not wrong,” he whispered back as he
softly kissed the top of my head. “You’ll see.”

I awoke the next morning alone in Archer’s
bed, having skipped out on work on account of my sour mood and my
need to pack for my trip to Boston. Archer had crawled into bed at
some point during the early morning hours and pulled my back to his
front, spooning me, as I pretended to be asleep. There was so much
on my mind, what with my upcoming Sacred Vow Ceremony and the fact
that my only family on this earth wanting nothing more to do with
me, that I didn’t feel like playing the doting, attentive
girlfriend that I normally was. He had kissed my neck, mumbled an
‘I love you’ and went straight to sleep.

Now I was alone as I stretched and sat up in
his large, four-poster bed, my mind a swirl of painful memories of
my mother telling me that I was no longer her daughter. I sighed as
I threw the covers back and trekked into Archer’s bathroom for my
morning shower.

You have to get a handle on yourself
,
I thought as I lathered up my long locks.
You can’t be depressed
your whole trip
. Truth be told, I was a bit nervous too. Not
only was I meeting some of the big wigs in Archer’s race for my
Sacred Vow Ceremony, but I was also going to see Jameson for the
first time in weeks. His band, The Manky Langer, was playing the
last stop of their tour and Archer and I had been planning on
surprising him at the show since before I was made vampire. If all
went as intended, Jameson was going to come home with us; something
I was both nervous and excited about. I missed him like crazy and
desperately wanted him back in my life. I was willing to do
anything to get him to forgive me and become friends again. The
likelihood of that happening looked pretty slim, based on the last
time I saw him and learned the extent of his broken heart, but I
was more than willing to try.

“Honey? You in there?” I heard Trey call out
as I rinsed the soapy suds off my body.

“Yeah,” I called back as I turned off the
water and grabbed a towel. “Just a second, hon.”

I quickly dried off, wrapped myself in my
black silk robe and put my wet hair up in a towel to dry before I
stepped back out into Archer’s room. “Morning, Trey. What’s
up?”

Trey smiled at me mysteriously as he held
something behind his back. I could tell from his emotions that he
was excited about what he had in his hands. “Since we can’t make
the trip with you to Boston for the Vow Ceremony, we all pitched in
and got you a little something.”

“Oh you did, did you?” I grinned as I stopped
in front of him. “That’s sweet, honey. What is it?”

Trey brought a small, rectangle present from
behind his back and held it out between us. It was beautifully
wrapped in gold and accented with black, curly ribbons.

I tentatively took the box and gently tore
the decoration from it. Inside the wrapping was a black, velvet
jewelry box; too big to be earrings or a ring. My eyes met his
briefly and I smiled excitedly before turning my attention back to
the present in my hands. As I opened the box, I gasped at what was
inside. Trey and the family had gotten me the most beautiful
necklace I had ever in my life laid my eyes on. It was all
diamonds, rubies, and platinum…and it was from Cartier.

“Oh my God,” I whispered as I brought one
shaking hand to my mouth. “Oh, Trey… It’s exquisite.”

“It’s from their
Caresse d'Orchidées
collection,” he said excitedly as he bounced up and down a on the
balls of his feet. “We didn’t know if you’d like the orchid design
but Aoife said it would look perfect with the dress Archer bought
you for the ceremony.”

He stared at me expectantly as I fingered the
diamond and ruby flowers. “Do you like it?”

Tears swam in my eyes as I looked up at him.
“Trey, I… I love it. It’s so completely perfect, but I can’t accept
it. It’s too grand,” I whispered as I glanced back down at the four
hundred plus jewels that adorned the shiny platinum I was positive
cost as much as a house.

“Pish posh,” Trey dismissed with a delicate
flick of his wrist. “You can accept it and you will. We got it for
a very special girl to wear on a very special occasion. We wanted
you to have something spectacular adorning that neck when you met
the Cardinal Bishop.”

I closed the box gently and held it to my
chest a few seconds before I grabbed Trey in a one armed hug.
“Thank you so much,” I whispered as he softly patted my back. “It’s
the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

“Don’t go making a big fuss now when you see
Quinn and Hagan,” Trey warned as he gently thumbed a tear from
under my eye. “You know they don’t like a big deal being made out
of anything. That was the stipulation when they forked over their
part of the money…but don’t tell them I let that slip.”

“Boys,” I sighed as I looked at the black
velvet box again. “Always so afraid of a little feminine
emotion.”

“No emotion is little with you, my darling,”
Trey smiled ruefully at me. “You are a whirlwind.”

“True that,” I conceded with a thoughtful
tilt of my head.

“Well, chop-chop, sugar!” Trey clapped his
hands together twice in rapid succession. “Get dressed now. You
don’t want to be late. Your plane is scheduled to leave at two and
it’s already noon.”

I smiled, quickly kissed his cheek and turned
to walk across the hall to my own bedroom. Trey landed a firm smack
on my ass as a reminder to hurry and I yelped and giggled as I
hightailed it out of Archer’s bedroom.

After blow drying my hair and putting on
makeup, I dressed comfortably for the trip in ripped jeans and a
tight black tank top. I grabbed my trusty messenger bag, my iPod,
and my new necklace and was ready to rock.

“Good morning, beautiful,” Archer purred as I
walked into the living room. He looked good in his designer
low-rise jeans and fitted white button down dress shirt. His eyes
followed me hungrily as I crossed the room towards him, making my
lower abdomen clench with need, reminding me that we hadn’t been
intimate for entirely too long. If I hadn’t had so much on my mind
the night before, I would have had my way with him like I wanted to
do this very minute.

“Good morning yourself, handsome,” I smiled
as I wrapped my arms around his neck and stood on tiptoes to kiss
him deeply. I pressed my chest flush with his and lost myself to
the kiss. His breakfast was still cold on his tongue, the
delectable taste of additive-free blood making me growl, as I
slowly sucked on it. Archer returned my growl with one of his own
and shoved his hands in my hair, deepening our kiss.

“Och. Ge’ a room already,” Lochlan called
from the kitchen table.

Archer laughed and whispered against my lips,
“Later, baby. For what I have planned for your body…well, let’s
just say you’re not going to want an audience.”

I tingled all the way down to my toes at his
promise and gave a final quick swipe of my tongue to his full
bottom lip. “I honestly can’t wait,” I breathed.

“Do I have time to get some breakfast before
the flight?” I asked Archer hopefully over my shoulder as I went
over to hug Lochlan’s neck.

“We’ll eat on the plane, baby. It’s already
set up.”

“Thank you for my beautiful necklace, Loch,”
I whispered as I hugged his neck from behind.

“Yer welcome, gorgeous,” he purred in his
thick Irish lilt as he turned to look at me, wagging his eyebrows.
“How’s abou’ a kiss goodboi?”

I chuckled and rolled my eyes, but agreed and
placed a big kiss on his left cheek.

“Oh, feek,” he sighed dramatically as he
placed his hand over his heart and wiggled back against my chest.
“I shall miss those grand ‘ol larries while yer away. Aoife’s tits
don’ hold a candle ta’ yers.”

Smacking his shoulder, I leaned back up on a
laugh. “Dirty old man.”

“Keep your mind off my woman’s tits,” Archer
said, giving him a stern look that quickly melted into a playful
smile.

“And just what exactly is wrong with my
breasts?” Aoife asked as she flashed into the room, her hands on
her hips and a haughty look on her lips.

Lochlan opened his mouth to answer but Archer
spoke up first. “You speak that thought and she’ll kick your ass,
dheartháir
,” he raised his eyebrows in warning as he fought
a grin.

Staving off the argument I saw coming, I
flashed over to Aoife and threw my arms around her. “The necklace
you picked out is the most amazing, perfect gift I’ve ever
gotten.”

She smiled brightly, hugged me back, and
forgot about her bone with Lochlan, at least for the time being. “I
knew it was meant for you the moment I saw it. I’m so happy you
like it, Skye. You’re going to look so beautiful for your
ceremony.”

“I wish you guys could be there,” I sighed,
pulling back.

“Me too, but someone has to hold down the
fort,” she grumbled as she flicked her long blond hair over her
shoulder and resumed glaring at Lochlan. “Leave it to these boys
and the only thing that’ll get done at the club is a few lonely
women.”

“Are ye’ callin’ me a slut, blondie?” Lochlan
gasped as he feigned offense.

“If the shoe fits, man whore,” she smiled
sweetly as she batted her long, fake eyelashes.

“I take offense to that,” Trey drawled as he
entered the room with Pádraig, Hunter, Quinn, and Hagan. “I’ve
never had relations with a woman, thank you very much.
Gah-ross!”

“Well, I take offense to that!” Aoife scoffed
in shock. “Women are far from gross. We’re soft, and sweet, and
smell good.”

“Aye,” Hunter winked as he threw his arm
around me and lowered his nose to my neck. “They smell real, real
good,” he rumbled lowly, sexily.

Archer growled and smacked the back of
Hunter’s head as I laughed and pushed him away from me, more for
Archer’s benefit than mine. What can I say? Hunter is hot and fun
to joke around with. There are worse things in the world than being
flirted with by the gorgeous southern god.

“I’m with Trey on this one,” Pádraig grinned,
wrapping his arm around his boyfriend’s slim shoulders. Trey sighed
and looked up at him with such adoration in his eyes; it was
awesome to see them so in love.