Ungifted (9 page)

The corners of Ethan’s mouth twitched before he disappeared back into the kitchen. He was still in there when Cynthia showed up for
Supernatural
night. “It’s not my fault!” she said first thing when she let herself in.

Before I could ask what she meant, Caleb barged in the room right behind her. “How ya doin’, Gracie?” he asked with a smile that only the Layton brothers could pull off—one that makes you unsure if you should be excited or run and hide.

I was surprised when I hoped Preston would walk in the door next and disappointed when he didn’t.

“Why the big frown?” Caleb asked.

I wasn’t about to admit I wanted to see Preston, so I turned to Cynthia and asked, “You brought your brother?”

Cynthia looked at Caleb with a huge scowl. “I told you she wouldn’t want you here. Thursday nights are sacred Gracie/Cynthia time.” She quickly turned to me and said, “Sorry. He was insistent, but all you have to do is tell him to leave and he has to go home. Our dad said so.”

“You don’t want to do that, do you Gracie?” Caleb sat down next to me on the couch, draped his arm over my shoulder, and grinned widely at his sister. “We totally connected today.”

My anxiety spiked enough that goose bumps rose on my arms. Caleb, like all of his siblings, had piercing green eyes so intense they looked wild. Those eyes were staring at me now, daring me to reject them.

“Um…” I gulped nervously and looked to Cynthia for help.

She looked really pissed off, but all she said was, “It’s your call.”

I wanted to tell him to go home but for some reason I couldn’t. “I guess it doesn’t matter if he stays tonight. We already have unwanted company.”

Caleb grinned at his sister. “There, you see? She wants me to stay.”

“She called you ‘unwanted company,’” Cynthia argued, and then stopped. “Wait! Who else is here?”

I cringed. I was not looking forward to telling Cynthia about Ethan. She would be five hundred times more relentless with the matchmaking attempts now.

“New bodyguard?” she asked so excitedly she was practically bursting at the seams.

“I wish I shared your enthusiasm.”

“You have a security detail now?” Caleb asked at the same time Cynthia said, “Is he hot?”

I was spared having to answer because Ethan came back.

“Dunn is your new shadow?” Caleb asked with a huge frown.

I didn’t answer him because I was too startled by the smile Cynthia gave Ethan. It was the smile of a co-conspirator. Suddenly the day made perfect sense. “You didn’t, Cynthia! Tell me you didn’t!”

“Okay, I didn’t,” she deadpanned.

“That’s what you were doing at lunch! You brought him to see my father! This is your fault! You helped him get the job!”

“I just got him the in. He earned the job on his own.”

The sense of betrayal was so strong I felt like crying, even though the logical part of my brain told me I shouldn’t be too surprised. “How could you do it?” I asked, the quiver in my voice giving away exactly how hurt I was.

“Please don’t be mad,” Cynthia begged. She’d paled after realizing how much she’d hurt me. “I know you and Ethan aren’t on the best terms, but he’s really good at what he does. Someone tried to kill you. I just want you to be safe.”

“You don’t know that for sure.”

“Yes we do, Grace,” Caleb argued. “My dad looked into what happened. Nobody could find anything wrong with the light that almost crushed you. Nothing else was faulty in the entire place. The only explanation was that it was tampered with.”

A shiver ripped through me. Caleb pulled me into his lap in response. I gasped, turned red as a cherry, and tried to escape until Caleb laced his fingers in mine and told me to relax. Just like before, my body settled down as if of its own accord. “If that were the case,” I said quietly, giving up my struggle for freedom, “my dad would have people all over it. The FBI inspected every inch of that stage yesterday and didn’t find anything out of the ordinary.”

“They weren’t looking in the right places,” Ethan muttered.

His voice was full of so much fury that I glanced up at him, startled. “What is it?”

Ethan’s eyes narrowed in a way that made me blush. “I didn’t realize you two were so well acquainted.”

I didn’t understand that Ethan meant Caleb and me until Caleb squeezed me tighter and said, “Is that a problem?”

“Just surprising,” Ethan answered coolly.

“Very surprising,” I muttered forgetting that Ethan had the ears of a hawk.

Caleb chuckled, but Ethan looked more closely at my face and then his whole body went stiff. “Is he making you uncomfortable?”

“Um…” I didn’t know what to say. Caleb knew I was uncomfortable and didn’t appear to mind that in the least. He seemed determined to claim me as his, anyway. That basically terrified me. But then, I didn’t necessarily want Ethan going all commando on him if I said as much.

“Actually,” I said once I could work up the courage to say anything without my voice shaking, “I’m not feeling very well. I don’t think I’m really up for watching anything tonight.”

Yes, this was a total cop-out, I am aware. I didn’t really care, though.

“Grace, come on,” Cynthia said. “Don’t do that. I told you all you have to do is say the word and he has to go home.”

“Sorry, Cyn. I’m going to bed. You can stay and watch the show anyway. I don’t want you to miss it.”

I picked up the crutches Ethan had set on the floor at my feet. When Ethan followed me across the room as though he were going to help me up the stairs, I shrugged away from him. “I can do it.”

Ethan shook his head. “I’ve seen you in PE—and that’s without crutches.” He lifted me into his arms. “I don’t trust you with the stairs.”

Tears burned my eyes again as he carried me to my room. “Haven’t I already lost enough of my dignity today? Do you really need to tuck me into bed, too?”

Ethan rolled his eyes but then sighed. “Your dad was out of line,” he said, sitting down next to me on my bed as if settling in for a long conversation.

I held my breath for a minute. When I was sure I wasn’t going to cry I said, “Can you do me a favor, please?”

“Anything.”

“Don’t ever bring up my father. He’s not my favorite topic of conversation.”

Ethan looked completely frustrated with me again. I didn’t understand why, but I was done trying to figure him out. Finally, he nodded. “Okay.”

We sat in awkward silence for a minute and I wondered why he wasn’t leaving.

“I really need this job, Grace.”

I didn’t want to hear his excuses. I especially didn’t want an apology, which is what looked like was coming out of his mouth next, so I lay down on my bed and rolled myself away from him. “It’s okay. I get it. I already told you it’s fine.” When Ethan still didn’t go anywhere I added, “Would you mind shutting the door on your way out?”

Have you ever had that feeling
when you know you’re asleep and you can’t wake yourself up? I was doing that now. There was a cold breeze coming from somewhere that had stirred me from the unconscious state I’d been in, but hadn’t quite pulled me all the way to the land of the living.

I felt fingers on my cheek and realized I was dreaming. It made sense that I was dreaming about someone touching my face since in the last thirty-six hours or so I’d had three exceptionally cute guys each stroke my face so intimately they’d rattled me inside and out.

I wondered which of those three guys I was dreaming about right now, and hoped it would be a good dream and not a nightmare.

“We meet again, Grace St. Claire,” a voice whispered.

“Andrew?”

“Yes, love.” I could hear the smile in his voice. “You knew I would come for you, didn’t you? You felt the connection, too.”

He coaxed my lips slightly open and dripped a warm, sweet liquid into my mouth. When I was forced to swallow, I finally woke all the way up.

I opened my eyes, but my dream didn’t end. Andrew was really there, smiling down at me. He was holding his hand in a tight fist over my face, letting dark drops of blood drip into my mouth.

Andrew realized I’d woken up and immediately clamped his bloody hand over my mouth.

I screamed and screamed, but the sound was so muffled I doubted anyone would ever hear it.

I thrashed hard enough that Andrew had to climb on top of me and pin me with all of his weight. I’m so small it wasn’t that hard for him to have me completely trapped.

“Shh,” he cooed and wiped at the tears streaming down my face with his free hand. “You are resistant to my charms, but I promise you, once you turn you will not fear me.”

I could taste the blood still running from his hand. It didn’t taste the way I imagined blood tasting, but it made me sick to my stomach anyway. I welcomed the nausea. I wanted nothing more than to vomit.

I jerked my head from side to side, but I couldn’t get myself free from Andrew’s grip.

“Don’t be frightened, Grace. My blood is a gift. Six hundred years I have searched for someone to share my immortality with. The moment I met you, I knew the wait was worth it.”

I had to still be dreaming.

The things he was saying made me feel like I was in one of Cynthia’s books. I’d even told her Andrew reminded me of a vampire. I was just manifesting my fears with my crazy imagination.

Yeah, a nightmare. That’s all this was. I’d gone to bed angry and frustrated. I’d fallen into a restless sleep, and was now having the world’s most realistic nightmare.

Still, even if it was a nightmare I wanted to wake up.

Call for Ethan.

It was just a fleeting thought, but I swear it hadn’t been my thought. It was a voice in the back of my mind.

How could I call for Ethan when I couldn’t scream?

I tried anyway. I screamed again so hard my voice began to hurt.

“There is no use fighting me, love. It is too late now. You will be mine soon.”

I pinched my eyes shut and called out with my mind.
ETHAN!

Ethan! Ethan! Ethan!

A moment later there was a knock at my door and Ethan grumbled, “What is it, Grace? Would you stop screaming?”

Andrew whipped his head around and hissed at the door.

Ethan, help me!

Ethan swung the door open, and when he saw Andrew he said a word that was strictly forbidden at Atherton Prep Academy. His whole body went rigid as if he was getting ready to pounce, but he didn’t actually move.

“What have you told her?” he asked Andrew.

“Interesting company you keep, love,” Andrew said to me without taking his eyes off Ethan.

Ethan just stood there. Why wasn’t he doing anything? Andrew wasn’t that big and didn’t appear to be armed. If Ethan took down Randy, he could totally take Andrew. Why was he just standing there?

Was it because I hadn’t wanted Ethan’s help? I’d asked him to stop over and over, and now here I was desperate for him to come to my rescue. I’d been so mean to him. So ungrateful. He hated me enough now that he wasn’t going to help me.

I’m sorry, okay? I’m so sorry! I know I don’t deserve it, but please help me! Don’t let him hurt me!

Ethan’s eyes snapped to me, and his face went dead white. Seeing him look so completely shocked and afraid made me panic. I couldn’t just lie there and wait when I could still taste Andrew’s blood in my mouth. I fought again as hard as I could and ended up kicking the corner post of my bed with my cast. Searing pain surged up from my foot and brought on a new wave of tears.

“Grace, just stop for a minute before you make things worse!” Ethan barked. He looked at Andrew and said, “What is going on?”

I was so shocked I stopped moving.

How could Ethan be yelling at me right now? And for trying to fight off an attacker? Especially when Ethan didn’t seem to be planning an intervention. How could he be mad at me for this? It’s not like it was my fault.

Ethan’s anger confused me so much that I started bawling uncontrollably.

“My business is nothing that concerns you.” Andrew sounded way too calm for the situation. “The girl is human. It is my right to claim her.”