“So now you belong to me,” he says, with such fierce possessiveness that I feel like running straight of the club. He laughs then. “Well, that is what you will say should anyone else try to claim you.”
Delilah interrupts us then, coming and sitting close so that the other vampires don’t overhear. “What the hell are you doing here Tegan?” she asks, and it actually seems like she’s scared for me.
“I already said, I had to come see my dad,” I answer.
“That’s all fair and well, but if I have my facts straight I believe that your father does not live anywhere near the city, so I repeat, what are you doing here?”
“Can’t a girl decide to come and see some old friends if the mood takes her?” I ask, hoping to God that she’s not cottoning on to me having ulterior motives.
“No, not in your case,” she answers coolly.
“Leave her Delilah,” says Ethan, and his arms reflexively tighten around me. I lean back against him and he places a small kiss on the top of my head.
“No Ethan I won’t leave her, she has no idea how dangerous it is for her to be here right now with the way things are. There’s a bloody war going on for Christ’s sake.”
“Why Delilah, there was me thinking you weren’t fond of me,” I say to her with a smile.
She glances at me. “Don’t be ridiculous. I want you safe because I know what it would do to my brother if anything should happen to you. Do you know how badly you leaving affected him? He’s only just getting himself back together again after the stunt you pulled, and now you just waltz back into his life, ready to break his heart all over again. No, I’m not having it. You have to leave. Right. Now.”
Her words hit me like a hammer to the skull. Break his heart all over again? Guilt squeezes tightly on my chest, making it difficult to breathe for a minute.
Ethan stands, pulling me up with him. “Not another word from you Delilah,” he says, before leading me out of the room, down the stairs, through the club and out of the side entrance, all the while holding firmly onto my hand. The cold air hits me as I step outside, Ethan must notice because he covers me with his arms to warm me, at the same time backing me up against the wall of the building. We’re in the alley at the side of the club, and it’s absolutely empty. Suddenly I’m aware that we are all alone.
“You look amazing,” he breathes, eyes consuming me.
“Yeah, I decided to dress up for the occasion,” I reply shyly.
“No I don’t mean the clothes, I mean you, you look better, physically, emotionally - healed.”
“I suppose you could say that yes. Time away from Tribane did me some good I think.”
One of his hands rests on my hip, the other is trailing back and forth over my lower back, leaving not unpleasant goose pimples in its wake.
A small frown forms on his lips. “But you’re not back for good, are you?”
“No, only for two weeks.”
Now he smiles. “Perhaps I could persuade you to reconsider.” His hand on my hip drops, moves around to rest on my bottom, he squeezes gently, pushes in closer to me.
My brain is in danger of going on a brief holiday, there was something I needed to say to him, but when he’s touching me all I can think of is him, and how I want him to touch me some more. I scramble through my thoughts.
“Wait Ethan. Hang on,” I say breathlessly, his hooded gaze meets mine. “I said I was home to visit my dad, remember?”
“Yes,” he answers, not stopping his roving hands as they explore my behind. “What about him?”
“I went to our house in Chesterport last night, but he wasn’t there. A woman answered the door and told me he’d sold the house to her a year and a half ago. He left town and hasn’t been seen since. I want to know what happened to him Ethan.”
“I have no idea, why are you asking me this?”
I push away from him and pace back and forth. “Because my father is not the kind of man to just up and leave town without telling anyone where he’s going. It was vampires, I just know it. Someone knew about me and then went about setting their sights on my dad to try and find me.”
“Are you accusing me?” Ethan asks, with a dark expression.
I shake my head. “No, of course not. But that doesn’t mean you can’t find out what happened to him. You know all the vamps in this city, surely you can discover who it was that caused my dad to disappear.”
As I say the words my heart drops, because it’s at this moment that I realise how likely it is that he’s dead. Ethan grabs my elbow, pulling me back to him. “I will help you Tegan, if the cause of your father’s disappearance is anything to do with my kind I will discover it for you. I promise.”
I peer up at him, suddenly realising how much taller than me he is. How much bigger.