The Two Kings (Afterlife Saga) (17 page)

Draven then made his appearance and was shaking Frank
’
s hand in the hallway.

“Mr Draven, Sir,
...
please
don’t worry...
you
’
r
e
welcome
here
.
” Frank didn't sound right calling anyone sir but he was obviously intimidated by Draven
’
s reputation and Draven did send a lot of work his way. His men were hired for the downstairs security at the club.

“Please Frank call me Dominic and thank you for your hospitality, it was rude of us not to ask
if
I c
ould stay the night
.
” Oh come on, w
e weren't
bloody
teenagers!

“That's no
t a problem
. Kazzy doesn
't even need to ask
.
” He said
,
seeing me in the doo
r
way and he came over to me to give
me a bear hug
,
as it was Frank
’
s way of saying hello to me. He had always treated me like his little sister and I loved it. But Draven looked frozen at the sight. He was ridged until Frank put me down.

“Hey K
az,
you miss us?” He said laughing and ruffling my hair.

“Sure
,
just wish I knew you were coming back early!” I said through my teeth.

“Yeah I bet you do!” He said before grabbing all the bags in one
hand
and running up the stairs with them. Libby came into view and I noticed she had pulled her hair down from the hair band that was holding it up. I had to stifle a giggle.

“Lib's you remember Dra.
.
.
I mean Dominic
,
don't you?” Of course she did, Draven is the most
unforgettable man in existence.
She came forward and shoo
k his hand that he had extended
first.

“Of course, hello Dominic, how are you?” She said politely

“Very well thank you and I am sorry about you finding me in your ho
me in such an inappropriate manne
r
.
” Oh Libby would be loving this, he sounded like Mr Dar
cy! She was a sucker for Colin Firth
.

“It is fine
,
really, I guess I just never expected....well
,
you know.
You’re
the first boyfriend of Kaz's that I have
ever
met
.
” She was fishing for details now
,
I could tell. I turned to her and gave her a stern eye, which did nothing!

“Really, that surprises me
.
” He said while
giving me a look as if to say “W
e will be talking about this later
.
”

“Oh yeah
,
Kazzy
rarely dated
.
”

“Ok enough of that, there is no need to go into details here
,
” I snapped and they both laughed. Well it didn't take my sister long to turn to the dark side! When she first heard I was working at the club
,
she was the first one to tell me things weren't right about the Dravens. Of course she didn't know why, just rumours she had heard. She tried everything in her power to stop me from working there but now it seemed she was more than pleased about the outcome...well that made two of us!

“Can I get you anything to drink?” She asked putting on her posh voice the way my mother
always
did when she had company.

“No thank you
.
” He replied in his smooth velvet voice and I thought
my
sister
’
s legs would give way.

“Are you sure? Kaz
,
tea's brewing
.
” Of course she didn't need to ask me. I us
ually couldn't function properly
in the morning without a cup of tea and my sister knew this. Only from the looks of things
,
when she had first seen me this morning it must have looked l
ike I was functioning just fine.

“
Ta! S
o how come you’re
home early?” I asked while we moved into the kitchen and Draven held out my seat for me before taking his own. Libby looked l
ike she had just swallowed a bug
.

“Libs
!
” I said bring her back around. Oh yes
,
she was
definitely
seeing Draven as Darcy.

“Oh well
,
Frank got a call that there had been an accident with some of his Uncle
’
s old property, so he has to meet with the insurance guys early tomorrow morning”

“What happened? I didn't know his uncle had more property
.
” But from the way Draven stiffened in his chair
,
I was the only one in the room that didn't. It was only a very slight movement but I seemed to notice everything about him, no matter how small and insignificant.

“Oh yeah
,
he owned a cabin in the woods but lightening struck it would you believe
?
” My heart nearly stopped. Now I knew why Draven was stiff in his chair. She was turning to look at me because I still hadn't given a response, so I asked the only thing that came to mind.

“When did lightening hit it?” I asked and she continued pouring the tea
,
but Draven looked at me and shook his head, telling me not to ask questions but it was too late for that.

“Kaz.... come on did
you not see the storm on Wednesday
night? It was awesome!” Oh yeah I saw it alright, I was there seeing Draven create it! My head was swimming around in a pool of much needed answers.

“Oh yeah, I must have forgotten
,
” I said through my teeth at Draven but he just shrugged.

“So that was Frank's
uncle’s
place?”

“Yeah but Frank never really wanted it, it was almost a ruin. Frank
’
s uncle lived there the year before he died. It was strange that he moved out there and no one in the family understands why.” She placed the tea in front of me and I blew on the hot liquid. When Libby's back was turned Draven grabbed my mug quicker th
an my eyes could register, then
he blew on it and put it back in front of me in another blink of an eye. I put it to my lips and it was now the perfect temperature. Bless him. I mouthed the words
‘
thank you
’
but I think he was happier with the smile it brought to my face.

I went to open my mouth to ask something more but Draven placed his hand on my arm and gave me a little squeeze so I stopped myself. Libby called Frank to tell him his coffee was ready and she took one of the other empty seats and smiled at both of us.

“Well Kaz
,
it is nice to see you looking so....happy
,” s
he said
and then nodded to my bare arm
that Draven was still holding
. Oh n
o
,
I had completely
forgotten
to put gloves on. To tell the truth I had been getting used to the feeling without them thanks to Draven. I never thought it would be possible to forget my idea of a security blanket like my gloves but now I felt bad for Libby.

“Oh god Libs
...
I'm
so
sorry
.
” I got up suddenly and Draven looked shocked at my reaction. I held my arms behind my back and excused myself to get some gloves. Libby and Draven both had the
same facial expression....pity and I hated pity!

“Kaz
,
that's not what I meant!” She started to explain but I was out of the room like it was on fire. I didn't mind Draven seeing my scars but anyone else seeing them had me in knots. I was hit with an overwhelming guilt. I never wanted these reminders but mainly I never wanted anyone else to be reminded of what we all went through. Frank met me on the stairs and I still had my arms behind my back. He was about to say something but saw why I was in a hurry and moved out of my way withou
t the pity face. Good old Frank.

I was
soon
making my way back downstairs
, armed with my security blanket
when
I could hear them talki
ng about it, so I remained quiet
the rest of the way down.

“I gather she has told you what happened to her?” Lib's voice sounded like controlled anger and it was the first time in a long time I had heard anyone talking about it. When it first happened I would hear my family discussing it numerous times while they thought I was out of ear shot. My Dad would be the worst, getting angry at everything and my Mum's tears would be the only sound to soften his attitude. This upse
t me more than the actual event.

Draven must have nodded because I didn't hear his response.

“Well she must really trust you for her to have spoken about it. She doesn't talk to anyone about it....ever! I have to thank you, I have been worried about her for so long now, so to see her this happy...well let
’
s just say it has been a long time
.
” I had tears in my eyes and I couldn't help them. I loved my sister so much but I thought that I had put
on a good enough show
to make them all t
hink I was happy. Now I kne
w it had
all
been
for nothing.

“She is an extraordinary brave girl but also selfless. I believe these are the reasons for her silence. She thinks that she can deal with everything on her own but she needs to realise that she has people around her that love her and want to help her.” This was Draven
’
s account of my reasoning behind why I was the way I am. He was spot on about the last part.

“Well I am just happy that now she has you. I can tell you love her and have for some time now...am I right
?
” Libby was asking him and I wanted to go down and stop the conversation but with tears still streaming down my face
,
I couldn't move.

“
You are undoubtedly
right.
I love her very much an
d you have no need to worry any
more, I would never let anything like that happen to her again
.
”

“Then I wish she could have met you years ago
.
” She said and I could tell she was getting emotional about it. I heard her blow her nose. I felt a hole grow wider in my chest at the memories that I just wanted to be wiped clean. I hated that it still affected the people that I love
d
. I just want
ed to be the one that had
to deal with it, no one else!

I got up not caring about the noise and ran up the stairs with soaked che
eks. When I got into my room I
sat at the window seat and cried. I thought about the contrast of feelings this window seat had endured in the past twelve hours. I heard the door open and cringed as for the first time since being with Draven I just wanted to be
left
alone. I hated people feeling sorry for me and this was too much to handle. Draven had said I was brave, well this wasn't brave...this was pathetic! Crying like a frightened child.

I didn't look at the door but I knew it was Draven, I could feel him, like I was connected to his pulse.
When I felt him getting closer I turned away to hide my face and my sore watery eyes found the view outside my window but for once the sight didn’t make me smile.

“Keira look at me
.
” His voice was so soft it came out in almost a purr. When I didn't
,
he intervened by putting his hand under my chin and gently turned me to face him. I hated people seeing me cry, like showing them my weaknesses but with Draven it was different. I was torn between wanting him to comfort me and not wanting him to see me this way.

When I turned
,
he was knelt down by the seat but he was still taller than me. His hand wiped away my tears and he held my cheek in his palm. His eyes were deep like the midnight ocean and I bit my lip to try and s
top the tears that continued but
just in time he pulled me into him and rested my face into his shoulder for me to sob. It was like he felt my pain because without saying a word he made me feel what I needed the most....He made me feel safe.