Page 11 of Revelations

Damn, my dagger! Where is it? What if it’s lost? Worse, what if they took it?

“We believe that such special love cannot be done justice by a mere human lifetime on this earth. Soulmates should be granted the privilege of being together truly throughout all lifetimes, until there are no more lifetimes to give. That is why when I discover special couples, I offer to take them into our family.”

Family? Was that what vampire clutches were called now?

Greylyn’s mouth dropped open in disbelief. The guy had actually convinced himself, and all the others, that their feelings for each other made them higher beings than the rest of mankind.

As he droned on for a little while longer, she grew more disgusted. Love was a fairytale. Claude’s personal cult was merely a perversion of the idea.

No, she was not about to play “Desperate Housewives” or “Fifty Shades” with fanged monsters for the rest of eternity and was just ready to tell him so when Kael’s knee knocked hers.

Flashing him a glare, which she hoped conveyed just how disgusted she was with this whole charade, her lips opened and shut with no words to spill out at his return stare. He had to know that she was on a razor’s thin edge, ready to pounce regardless of the danger. Kael should know better than to try to talk her down, so why were his eyes pleading with her for patience?

Patience was not really one of her virtues anyway, so she plunged in headfirst. “So, I get it. You’re all about LOVE!” She let the last word ooze out over several seconds. “Headline the next Woodstock. Start your own dating website. Audition for the next season of “The Bachelor,” but leave me—leave us—out of it.”

She stood abruptly but was shoved down by one of the goons behind her. With a resigned sigh she asked, “What does any of that have to do with us? We”—she pointed between Kael and herself—"obviously don’t fit your stringent requirements for this club, so just let us go.”

Chuckling, Claude walked over to her and lifted her chin with a slender finger, so she was looking directly into his eyes again. Those amethyst gems sparkled in such a way that she did feel a slight inner pull deeper into their depths.

“My dear, I can clearly see that divine quality in the two of you…for each other, even if you do not. But I suspect you are not as deeply in denial as you believe yourself to be.”

Denial? About Kael? About love?

Staring around the room at all the expectant pale faces trusting their leader to be right, she could not help it. Greylyn laughed. She laughed so much, she started to choke. The remnants of the chloroform still burned the back of her throat.

Wiping away a tear, she added, “Wow! Are you off your game this time, mister?”

But Kael was not laughing.

Claude sat back down with his legs crossed, his foot keeping time to an invisible beat as he waited for her laughter to die away. “Dear, rest assured. I see it. You may be blind, but it is as clear as the waters off the coast of St. John’s Island to me,” he drawled in his seductive Creole accent.

She turned to Kael who sat silent, his face devoid of amusement. That, more than Claude’s words, made her abdominal muscles knot painfully. She needed to object, if only for the comfort of hearing her own argument. A thin string of sanity insisted that she strike down the notion—she and Kael? Together?

But if it was so out of the realm of possibility, why did a little glimmer deep in her chest surge with an emotion she could not yet name?

No. Impossible. Greylyn could not allow the idea to take root and grow. It had to be yanked out like the soul-infiltrating weed it was.

Claude was smirking at her behind his crystal tumbler of blood. Turning back to fully face him, she unleashed what she considered to be the most common-sense remark that the delusional vampire had probably ever heard.

“You and your little friends apparently didn’t notice the man I was with at the club. Tall. Dark. Sinfully handsome. This man”—she sneered and tilted her head toward Kael—"is not even remotely close to being the love of my life. We don’t even like each other. I’m sorry to say, but you’re dead wrong on this.”

Wicked laughter erupted from the so-far silent Kael. He thundered, “Please! That lousy excuse of a man you were with doesn’t know the meaning of the wordlove. That lowlife has no business anywhere near you. Love of your life? Ha! I’ll shred the skin from his own body while he watches if he ever—ever—touches you again.”

His disdain for Jasper had never been hidden, and equally in reverse. But that was a bit uncalled for, considering the situation. Deep down she knew that there was a lot more to their rivalry than good guardian/bad guardian.

Kael’s outburst certainly pleased their host, as a sly grin took over Claude’s face and his eyes shifted between his two captives. “Miss MacLeod, may I call you Greylyn?”

Still stunned by Kael’s outburst, she nodded.

“It appears I am not as wrong as you would like to believe.” He uncrossed his legs and leaned over towards them, placing his hands on her knees.

No warmth permeated from his skin, just a chill similar to touching a package of frozen peas. A low growl escaped Kael, causing Claude’s mouth to curl in a know-it-all smile.

“Greylyn and Kael, my offer is simple. Give me twenty-four hours to prove to you that you both are gifted with a tremendous love—for each other.” His eyes turned specifically to her, gauging her reaction. “If, at that time, you choose to be together and would like to make it permanent, then you are welcomed to join our little family. With my help, happily ever after is not just a play on words. It is real.”

Okay, now for the hard sell. The ‘…and it will only cost you…’ pitch.

“And if we choose not to?” Greylyn looked Claude right in the eyes, daring him to reveal the truth.

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