Chapter 4

Two Days

Danielle spent more time with Brianna than she had recently, and her cousin complained about their emotional distance as she’d grown closer to Ethan. Brianna and William were close of course, but their relationship wasn’t as intense as hers seemed with Ethan. Ethan had a stronger pull on her, and their feelings clearly ran deeper, or maybe it was longer. She considered the connection their souls had—that feeling of knowing each other before they ever actually met. Somehow Danielle doubted Brianna had that with Will.

Still, she really needed to stop obsessing over Ethan and just deal normally with this time apart. At least she didn’t feel like she had last time with that fearful premonition plaguing her. It seemed like he would be safe this time, and that helped.

After chasing an almond on her plate, Danielle scooped up a bite of her salad and mentally committed to keeping her mind off Ethan. She could be independent of him for just a couple of days.... This is why she was eating lunch with Brianna at Little Betty’s, one of her cousin’s favorite restaurants.

“You’re really smitten with Ethan, aren’t you?” Brianna asked.

Ah, so eagerly her thoughts wandered right back to him, she thought as the forkful of lettuce paused halfway to her mouth. The change in momentum caused the almond to fall back to her plate. She lowered it down the rest of the way because it just wasn’t the same unless she had a nice mix of lettuce, Asian dressing, mandarin orange and almond. She fished for the nut again as she replied to the unexpected change in topic, “Very.” She may as well admit defeat now, only a day after he left on his mysterious little trip and she couldn’t stop thinking about him.

“Do you think you’ll get married?”

Her eyes widened and shot to her cousin’s. “Oh, Um…” Of course she secretly wanted that, but they hadn’t actually discussed it. “I don’t know. He hasn’t asked, and my parents wouldn’t like that at all.” And the realization of that truth felt like a rock settling in her stomach.

Brianna’s gaze shifted. It appeared as though she was distracted from their conversation. “Who are those men over there? They’ve been watching you,” she abruptly asked.

Danielle turned, knowing exactly what she was going to see—her bodyguards. It was Seth and Cedric, incognito as two business men. They were seated at a table eating a lunch they didn’t really need, while they remained vigilant in manning their post for Danielle’s safety.

Cedric winked when she looked at them, but Seth elbowed him for it.

“Did he just wink at you?” Brianna exclaimed with an appalled tone to her youthful British accent.

Danielle turned back to face her cousin, and a moment of brilliance hit her. “I think he’s looking at you, not me,” she replied, knowing it was a slightly devious thing to do. But how else was she supposed to cover for the bodyguards who were apparently not being elusive enough?

“Really?” Brianna blushed. “He’s hot … but, uh … I have Will, I’d better just ignore him,” she said, displaying integrity.

Danielle coughed to hide her snicker.

They were almost finished with their meal when an unfamiliar man walked up to them. Facing her, he said, “Miss Darcey, I beg your pardon, could I please speak with you in private for just a moment?” From the look of him and from the eloquence that oozed from his old-world cadence—Danielle knew at once—he was a vampire.

She paused, and her lips parted with shock, but Brianna cut in, “Danielle, who—?”

“Um.” She had to think quickly. “Uh, this is one of my professors,” she said, uncertain of how she should really handle this.

“Oh,” her expression brightened, “Do you know my dad?”

The man rudely ignored Brianna and maintained his focus on Danielle. “Miss Darcey, simply a short moment, I assure you.” After repeating his request, the man grasped her hand in a way that appeared to be gentle outwardly, but felt painfully forceful to her. She attempted to resist but didn’t want to distress Brianna with another kidnapping attempt, so she refrained from causing the drama needed to embarrass this man enough to escape him and stood. He didn’t loosen his crushing grip on her fingers, and she was forced to clench her teeth, fighting the need to grimace with the pain.

Fortunately for her, she knew she had two vampires right behind her with the sole task of keeping her safe from vampires like this one. Covertly she turned to lift her purse from the back of her chair, knowing that as she took the strap she’d be able to make eye contact with her guards.

They were watching the man, not her, probably making certain he didn’t notice them. Seth quickly flashed his eyes to her and nodded. They then behaved as if they didn’t know her or what was happening. But Danielle had confidence they would take care of her.

Attempting to sound calm she said, “I’ll be back in a minute, Bri.” She went with the man as he led her to a more secluded location outside of the restaurant, and away from Brianna’s line of vision. He lessened the pressure of his hold, but kept her hand firmly in his when they got to a spot that was apparently satisfactory to him.

“Thank you. My dear, I will not waste time with pleasantries and get right to the point. I have been a vampire for many years. I’ve lived a happy, but terribly long life. And I am weary. I am requesting that you give me the cure to this curse.”

Danielle stared at him. She didn’t really want to bite this man. He was a little frightening, and she sensed that he had to be much older than Beon or even Seth. Biting Ethan had been an intimate experience, and she couldn’t imagine doing it to just any stranger. Not to mention, she understood how dangerous it was for her. Her eyes widened with panic when she realized that he was slowly towing her toward a black car parked next to the sidewalk. He meant to kidnap her, and force her to cure him, though she knew he’d probably kill her in the process.

“No, sir. It’s not that simple. Please let go. I can’t go with you.”

“I’m afraid I can’t take no for an answer.”

She began to struggle more, but this man simply took hold of her arm as well as her hand, then halted abruptly.

Confusion swamped her until she understood that he’d hesitated in his abduction because her security detail had arrived. Seth stood behind the man, his fists and stiff shoulders hinted at the threat he most likely meant to convey. She noticed from her peripheral that Cedric had moved in behind her, and she felt his hands settle onto her shoulders. Danielle sighed in relief.

“Release Danielle now,” Seth warned in a harsh, commanding voice.

“Gentlemen, I only wish for Miss Darcey to share the miracle of this cure with me. I mean her no harm.”

“Release her,” Seth demanded, and the man finally let go. Danielle rubbed her reddened fingers.

“You do not want me for an enemy,” the man countered. His once articulate voice was now seething with menace.

“We are not saying that you cannot have the cure, but we need you to go through Beon and not Danielle.” Seth’s unfaltering voice was equally threatening.

“But he isn’t mortal; he cannot offer the cure to me.”

“Danielle is in his personal care, you will need to go through Beon. Please give us your name and we will have him contact you at a later time.”

The man appeared to take measure of his situation, realizing it seemed that he had no choice but to back down.

“May name is Laszlo Martine, I will await his call. I’m sorry to have disturbed you, Miss Darcey, please accept my apologies.”

She smiled what felt like an awkward twist of her mouth, attempting politeness, though she was sure he saw through it.

He left and Cedric rubbed her shoulders likely trying to console her. “Are you all right, Danielle?” That kind tone in his voice helped as well.

“Yes, thank you, I’m extremely grateful you were both here.”

“You’re very welcome, we’re happy to be of service.”

“Cedric,” Seth said abruptly, “call Ethan and Beon. They need to know.”

The younger vampire frowned. “I don’t think so. Ethan isn’t going to take this well. Neither one of them will. You make the calls.”

Seth glowered. “I’ve asked you to do it.” She suspected that he came close to saying, Do it because I said so, young man, but somehow resisted the urge.

“You’re the adult.”

Danielle couldn’t help but laugh at that, and clapped a hand over her mouth, trying to hide it. Okay—so maybe Seth was over eight or nine hundred years old, while Cedric was only eighty-nine. That still made him the same age as her grandfather. His words repeated through her thoughts…. You’re the adult ... and she snorted with laughter again. The immortal bodyguards looked at her, but said nothing.

“Fine, I’ll do it.” Seth turned and stalked off, whipped a cell phone from his pocket, pressed a button, and then jerked it to his ear.

Cedric’s gaze lifted past her shoulder. “You should get back to your cousin now; it appears she’s getting restless.”

Danielle nodded in agreement and returned to Brianna. However, later that day, she asked Beon if he would also assign guards to her cousin when she noticed that Mr. Martine and her security detail weren’t the only vampires trailing her. She was gaining a following and it made her concerned for Brianna’s safety as well as her own. Beon agreed and quickly set two men to watch her cousin, who remained oblivious.

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.