Unforgiven (The Forbidden Bond 2) Read online

  No, no, no… this can’t be happening. Brandi had become a friend and had risked her mother’s wrath to attend Danielle’s bridal parties. She had risked her safety and exposed her pyrokinesis to save Danielle. Now she had been shot! Griffin would never forgive her for this. Brandi broke into her thoughts.

  “Dani, I’m going to drive as fast and far as I can. I need you to hold on if you can because if I kill you in a car wreck after saving your ass and getting shot, I’m gonna be so pissed off.”

  It surprised Danielle when her normally shy and quiet half-sister made a joke at such a stressful time. The coppery tang of Brandi’s blood permeated the limo. After several moments of bumping around, Brandi spoke again.

  “I’m driving toward home. I don’t know if you know what happened back there, but if you do I expect your vow of silence in exchange for saving your ass. I’m not ready for anyone to know yet.”

  Danielle would keep all the secrets Brandi had to protect her and she tried to tell her that but nothing came out. They drove on in anxious silence for some time while Danielle prayed the gunshot wounds Brandi received weren’t life threatening. Brandi finally pulled over. Danielle thought they’d made it to Griffin’s home, but when Brandi began to speak she realized they had stopped for a reason. Brandi could no longer drive. Her speech was slow and Brandi struggled to get out every word. Danielle’s heart screamed her pain when she realized Brandi was saying goodbye.

  “Tell Mom and Dad I loved them and I’m sorry. Tell Samantha her soul is a deeper and more beautiful place than she wants to admit and it’s time to grow up. Tell JR his big sister loves him more than chocolate chip cookies.”

  Dani’s eyes burned with tears. How could she tell their precious little brother that Brandi was gone from this world because she’d saved her life? He wouldn’t understand.

  “I’m so sorry we didn’t get a chance to know each other better, Dani.” Sincerity and regret rang in her voice.

  Dani was also very sorry to be running out of time with this brave younger sister of hers. Brandi was quiet for a bit before she continued.

  “Tell him… I forgive him. The guy didn’t want to do it. Did you hear him fighting with Darren? He warned me not to follow. He didn’t want to hurt anyone.”

  After that cryptic remark there was silence, but the faint sound of Brandi’s heartbeat was reassuring. She must have been talking about the man she’d heard arguing with Darren. She hadn’t been able to make out the words but it was clear there was a disagreement. Time seemed to pass slowly, but Dani knew the influence of the drug had skewed her senses. The steady cadence of Brandi’s heart began to stagger and pause too frequently. Frantic to help her, Dani began to try telepathically calling to her family and friends. She couldn’t hear any answering replies, and didn’t know if it was working, but she continued on giving all the information she could give concerning their condition and whereabouts.

  After what felt like an eternity of trying to reach someone, anyone, and listening to Brandi slip farther and farther out of reach, the sound of squealing brakes and a slamming car door set Dani’s heart pounding. The door nearest to Dani’s head was ripped open to admit her beautiful and frantic mother. Tessa was rambling and cursing all vampire kind as she checked Dani for injuries.

  “I should never have allowed you anywhere near these people! I should have run again when they found you! I won’t let them hurt you again!”

  Tessa was fretting over Dani and kissing her face. The only movement she had available was her eyes so she darted them repeatedly toward the front seat. Tessa had to get help for Brandi, now. When Tessa finally looked over the front seat to see the other girl slumped over she cursed a blue streak and scrambled out to grab her phone. Calling for help, she climbed into the front passenger door to assess the situation. Holding the cell between her ear and shoulder, she used her shawl to put pressure on the wound.

  “Griffin, we are about two blocks south of your driveway in a limo. Brandi is badly injured. I think it’s a bullet wound, maybe two. Danielle is semi-conscious. We need you now!” Tessa let the phone fall from her awkward grasp without hanging up to focus on Brandi. “Shit! I’m losing her!”

  Dani was crying again. The fear and anguish in her mother’s voice was tearing at her. With tears and make up running down her cheeks, Tessa put her head over the seat to look down on Dani.

  “Your Dad is on the way, baby.”

  Tessa dug around in the glove box before giving up to lean all the way over the seat and grab a decanter full of liquor from the bar. She climbed out of the limo, and the sound of breaking glass startled Dani. She slowly began to take inventory of her body’s ability to function. She had to get moving in order to help her mom with Brandi. The sudden sweet aroma of human blood flooded Dani’s senses and caused her fangs to drop painfully from her gums. Her mother was bleeding. She’d cut herself to give Brandi the blood that would save her life.

  ****

  Greyson’s unit had been called in, along with several others, earlier in the evening when the daughter of a Council member was kidnapped from her bonding by a crazed mate. Baffled as to how a mated vamp could be bonding again, he questioned the other guys. They’d looked at each other with grim expressions and promised to fill him in on the complicated back story later. Greyson had transferred just recently from California when he was promoted to the Wrath teams. Adjusting to the climate wasn’t his only obstacle. Back home things were much more relaxed and the stress of relocating to the center of his society, and the Enclave that housed the leaders of his class of warriors, was unnerving. The legendary Council worked closely with the Enclave. Guarding the Council members and their homes was part of the duty bestowed on his new Enclave, and given the small bits of recent history he’d heard so far, it was a very important duty. There was a traitor in their midst. Greyson knew, but in his short time on the Enclave he hadn’t yet been given the whole story.

  The Wrath was spread out and covering ground in the area surrounding the Country Club looking for a trail to follow when the call came to move toward Griffin Vaughn’s palatial home and search for a limo. Greyson’s crew of six Wrath guards had hit pay dirt two blocks away from the Vaughn estate. Mitch was driving, Greyson had shotgun, Linc, Ray, Garrett, and Troy filled the back of the van along with an arsenal of weapons for any situation. He was the first out before the wheels even stopped rolling. The scene that met him inside the limo was something straight out of a horror flick.

  Blood.

  So much blood it caused his fangs to drop and he knew for sure his eyes had turned from his usual emerald green to obsidian black. Behind the wheel was a female with the look of a pixie. Her head of dark hair, dotted with shiny pins that sparkled in the low light, lulled to the side as if it would topple off her shoulders. Only the pixie with the delicate features had fangs and a nasty exit wound in her upper left chest. Everything from her mouth down was drenched in blood. Only small patches of the light purple color her gown had been were visible. Blood dripped off the seat onto the floor of the car.

  The sweet smell of human blood had every vamp behind him pulling back to await instructions, except for Mitch, who moved to call in their location. The human in question was also in the front seat. She also wore a bloody gown, but it looked like most of the red saturating her was from crawling across the front seat. It was the pixie’s blood. The only obvious injury to the human was a gash across her right wrist. Grey knew then what had happened. The human had bled herself to save the vampire pixie. There was way more to this story than he had time to contemplate at the moment. Troy climbed into the rear of the limo.

  “I’ve got another one back here.” His voice carried through the open window that separated the chauffeur from the passenger.

  “It’s Danielle. Damn, I’ve missed this girl. She kicked my ass too many times in sparring matches. I’m man enough to tell you how very much I enjoyed the abuse. She doesn’t seem injured, but she’s down for the count. Shit. I think she was
drugged.”

  A litany of curses floated to him from outside of the vehicle. These guys obviously knew and cared for the girl in the rear of the limo. He peeked over the seat and got a jolt at the sight of her beautiful flowing dark hair streaked with white and red. Power. This girl must have some awesome power. She wore a white gown so that would make her the bride to be. The pixie wore purple. He didn’t know why it pleased him to know the pixie was not the one about to be bonded.

  Greyson tuned out the chattering of the other men as be began to assess the condition of his patients. Greyson Drake was a doctor turned warrior. That was a life he tried not to think about but the instinct to jump in and help the sick or injured still lived in his heart. There wasn’t much he could do for the human who had lost too much blood, but he needed to wrap the gash on her wrist to stop the bleeding. He thought the vampire pixie may survive with some blood and time to heal the gaping hole in her upper chest.

  “Get me the first aid kit from the truck. I’m gonna need some light and we will need to move these ladies quickly,” he barked.

  He knew he’d need to find the pixie some blood sooner than was possible, or she may not make it to the Enclave. She only lived now because of the human woman’s sacrifice. He turned to survey the area and zipped off to a nearby house using his preternatural speed. When the human occupant answered his insistent pounding on the door, Greyson was glad to find a portly man glowering at him. Larger people could deal better with a little extra blood loss. Greyson easily grabbed hold of the man’s mind. Within seconds he had carried his would-be donor back to the waiting pixie. He sank his teeth into the man’s wrist and held it to her stained mouth. Instinctively, she latched on, and sucked greedily at the life giving offering. The sight of her lips and tongue lapping at the blood while her throat worked to take it in transfixed Greyson. She licked and sucked and he imagined her full lips working at his neck while she rode him hard.

  Damn.

  ****

  Griffin paced the lawn of the Country Club in his tux and watched Mason try to contain his distraught son. Chase was to be bonded to Griffin’s daughter Soleil-Danielle earlier that evening. What her name was depended on whom you spoke to. Griffin drifted back and forth between the name she was given at birth, Soleil, and Danielle, the name her mother had given her in order to hide her from his family. Tessa believed they would have killed her for being less than a full blooded vamp. She had faked their deaths with the help of his best friend. It had only been slightly more than six months since he realized that they were both still alive and well. Chase called her either Soleil, or Lovely, which was an endearment he had maintained since they’d met, whether she liked it or not.

  The bonding hadn’t taken place. His little girl and Chase’s future mate had been snatched right out from under them. Chase was in a full blown rage, fangs flashing, onyx eyes full of pain, and he was attempting to join the search for Soleil. This was not the first time she had been cleverly extricated against her will. There was a Rogue out there on the hunt for talented young vamps. His goal was to drain them of their strengths. It’s much easier to take the power of a youth, before they come into full strength, than to arrest it from an adult. The Rogue had developed a drug, which if ingested during a feeding or injected would render the vampire unconscious and unable to fight. It was a huge concern for the entire vampire nation. The Rogue’s hunter came across Danielle purely by accident and they had been hunting her ever since. Danielle was indeed powerful and would only grow more so as she aged.

  Mason counseled patience to Chase. “If you run off, and we can’t reach you or they bring her back here, you will regret leaving. Sit tight. Let the Wrath do their job.”

  “You know damn well they aren’t looking for Soleil! They’re looking for Brandi! If they gave a shit about my Lovely we would have had security tonight, but we didn’t, did we? It’s been six months since the warriors have so much as looked her way by order of your damned Council!”

  That wasn’t entirely true. Cayden had been making regular rounds of Chase’s building and covertly watching after Danielle the whole time. He reported back to Griffin daily. Cayden and Chase had been lifelong best friends until Danielle came between them last year. Cayden didn’t want Dani, which is the name he preferred to call her, or Chase to know he was in the shadows. Cayden still ached for the loss of his friendship with Chase and the love Danielle had been willing to give him. But he had rejected a bond with her at the last minute when she admitted to being half-human. She didn’t want to trap him and he couldn’t accept the unknown. They didn’t know how long she would live, or how their children would turn out, or if it was even possible for them to have children. So, Cayden had lost a great love and his best friend.

  He’d been out there tonight patrolling the grounds in silent support of the bond Chase and Danielle were forging when he was struck down by a needle to the thigh. They’d found him unconscious. He was still completely unresponsive.

  Griffin’s phone rang in his breast pocket and the argument around him stopped. Mason and Chase both froze and waited for the other shoe to drop. The caller ID showed him it was Tessa calling, his human mate…ex-mate. This made his heart pump harder with joy and fear, simultaneously. In the six months since he’d given her his number and told her to call him for any reason at any time she had never used it. The fact that she did now could not be good news.

  “Tessa?” he answered.

  “Griffin, we are about two blocks south of your driveway in a limo. Brandi is badly injured. I think it’s a bullet wound or maybe two. Danielle is semi-conscious. We need you now!” She was frantic.

  “What? Wait, where are you? I thought you were with Debbie in the Country Club?” he asked, but her reply was muffled and distant. She had obviously dropped the phone, but left the connection open.

  “Shit… I’m losing her!” he heard Tessa curse. There was a shuffling noise.

  “Your Dad is on the way, baby.” She was talking to Danielle.

  Griffin looked up to find two matching pairs of ocean blue eyes burning a hole through him. The sound of shattering glass drew his attention back to the phone. “Tessa!” he shouted into the phone, but got no response.

  “We need a car. Tessa found the limo with both girls in it two blocks south of the gate at my house.”

  The double doors of the Country Club flew open and Samantha stepped out before anyone could move.

  “Mason, we need you in here. Now. Debbie has apparently been in labor for most of the day, but didn’t want to disrupt the ceremony. For the last two hours she’s been squeezing my mother’s hand and panting. So unless you want your baby delivered by Dr. Sarah Vaughn you better get moving.”

  Samantha said it so dryly it took a moment for the words to sink in. She shrugged her shoulders and went back inside, as if she didn’t care either way if he attended the birth or let Debbie tough it out on her own. The three men looked at each other in stunned disbelief of the current situation until reality rushed in and got them moving.

  “I’m going to get a car.” Chase rushed off to the parking lot.

  Griffin continued to listen to the eerie silence on the other end of the phone. Mason looked torn between standing beside his wife for the birth of their second child or going with his son and his best friend to find his godchild and Griffin’s other daughter.

  “Go to Debbie, Mason. She needs you now. Chase and I will bring the girls back, but I need you to have Doc Stevens come meet us.” Tessa’s words finally sinking in along with the continued silence. “Brandi has been shot.”

  Thirty minutes later, Griffin stood between the open door of the van that held his injured daughter and the blood soaked limo that held the love of his life. Tessa had cut herself to give Brandi the blood she knew the girl would die without. It was a sacrifice he could never repay. And Tessa was dying because of it. Doc Stevens was pulling her beautiful blood covered body from the limo. Sarah was in the van with Brandi and a Wrath warrior that used to
be a doctor.

  “Let’s go Griffin. We need to get her home. Now!” Sarah glared at him.

  He looked back to the limo. Doc Stevens was doing chest compression on Tessa. He was trying to restart her heart. All these years, all this time, he thought he couldn’t feel her anymore because she was dead. His bond to Sarah interfered and added to his belief that she lost her life after giving birth to their daughter. He had been wrong. There had always been profound warmth that had carried him through the darkest hours. There had been coolness, like spring rain, to bathe away the heat of his longing and sorrow. It was gone now. That buzz of awareness in the back of his mind that always said he wasn’t alone had ceased. He loved her so much. Griffin stood with Sarah screeching at his back and watched Doc turn over the compressions to a warrior in order to hook up an IV. They had fluids on site, but no blood until they reached the Enclave.

  His gaze moved to Chase in his monochromatic black suit. He sat in the grass about ten feet from Tessa holding Danielle in her monochromatic white gown. They were a sight. Like yin and yang, he had wrapped himself so tightly around her. Chase was spouting love words and giving her the vows of the blood bond there on the street. The warriors around them stood vigilant and tried to pretend they weren’t witnessing a future Councilmen losing his mind over a female. Chase was chastising her for being so lovely others couldn’t help but want her. He begged her to wake up and talk to him. He demanded that she stop breaking his heart and find a telepathic connection to him. He pleaded, cajoled, kissed, and stroked her sleeping form.