In the Beginning... (30 page)

Bronwen smiled, before
speaking again. Josey read the words carefully. “Your family
and
Rajni
have
returned. They request you join them in the front
garden.”

Josey nodded. “Thank you.” She signed as she
spoke, habit more than anything. Bronwen bowed. “You’re
welcome.”

Josey followed the other woman up the steps
and into the lobby. The front gardens waited, and she could see the
sight of the six helicopters landing on the landing pads six
hundred feet away.

Her family was in those helicopters.

He
was in one of them. She wasn’t sure she wanted to see him,
right now. But she couldn’t hide inside the hotel—what right did
she have to do that? She waited on the steps until the helicopters
emptied and the passengers walked up the path toward the
hotel.

She didn’t recognize them at first. Then a
blonde head separated from the crowd.

Josey flew down the steps. Jade met her
halfway, followed closely by their father. Josey wrapped her arms
around both of them and just clung to them. Bronwen had been
right—her family really was on the helicopters. But what were they
doing here?

Her vampire man was there,
then, and Josey turned toward him.
Why are
they here?

Did you force them?

No. Although I think your sister has a crush
on Barlaam.

Then why are my father and sister and Rand
here? Why did you bring them?

Because the Lupoiux pack
that attacked you had surrounded them. We have offered them
shelter. We’re being
nice
now
,
apparently.
His hands were on her
shoulders and she was pulled from her father’s arms.
Come now. Let your father and sister
breathe!

Back off, vampire. I see you
got your sister and niece back. Are they ok?
Josey focused on the two women walking between Barlaam and
Emily’s
Rajni
.
Neither looked injured, but both were dispirited. What had Rand and
Rathan done to them?
They look so
tired.

They are. Your cousin and the demon made
them walk through the woods in forty degree weather for three
fucking days!

Demon? I’m confused.

There’s a lot you apparently don’t know.
Your cousin’s pal is a damned demon. An incubus to be exact.
Meaning, he—

Feeds on sex! No way! Rathan
is not one of those things!
Although, from
what Josey had read, incubi were
sex
demons. And she had always thought Rathan was the
sexiest man alive. But didn’t incubi feed from the women around
them? Had Rathan fed from her? From her cousins? And they not know?
Wow.

He better not have brushed against you! I
can still kill him!

Cormac meant it; Josey had
no difficulty seeing that.
Get over
yourself, vampire. I’ve been with men before!

His growl echoed in her head.

Josey’s dad had his arm wrapped around her
shoulders and she kept pace with him, though she was clearly aware
of Cormac’s presence.

She was glad her father was with the group.
She had a lot she needed to discuss with him. About these people,
about the things her grandfather had done.

Does my father know what you are? What
Rathan apparently is?

Cormac’s hand wrapped around
hers, startling her. She hadn’t expected him to touch her in front
of her father, for some reason. She should have known he would. He
was the kind of man who
had
to make his presence known.
Jocelyn…

She tensed. Whenever he used
that tone, it was something she wasn’t going to like.
What? What is it?

Have you ever noticed your father and cousin
being…different?

Josey slowed. Her father slowed with her.
Josey pulled her hand out of the vampire’s and signed to her father
that she was fine. That she and Cormac had things to talk about.
That he should go with Mallory while she spoke with Cormac and his
sister.

Her father was reluctant, but he took her at
her word. She didn’t catch the words he spoke to Cormac; she knew
he deliberately turned away where she wouldn’t see his lips
move.

What did he say? Tell
me.
She dug her fingers into Cormac’s hand
until he looked at her.

He warned me not to hurt
you.
That you looked unhappy.

Josey looked at her father where he stood
beside her little sister. He was so tall, strong. Looked far
younger than his years. She forced herself to speak. “I’m ok,
Daddy. I promise. Now go.”

Cormac’s brows rose in
surprise. He’d never heard her speak before. Her words were the
characteristic tones of a deaf person, but her voice sounded
perfect to him.
Why do you not speak more
often?

Because I can’t hear what I
say. At least with signing, I control how it comes across. Why? A
good majority of deaf people
can
talk, you know. I just prefer not to that
often.

Just curious. I far
prefer
this
type of
communication between us. It's more private. Intimate.

What were you saying about my father? About
him being different?

Cormac waited until her father and sister and
the rest of the newcomers had entered the hotel lobby and been
assigned rooms before he once again found her. She was back out on
the porch, staring at the helicopters with a strange expression on
her face.

He stepped up behind her and wrapped his arm
around her waist.

Jocelyn.
He pulled his
Rajni
with him toward one of the large rocking chairs
that had sat on the porch for decades. It would be a bit cold for
them outside, but it guaranteed them privacy. He sank into the
chair and tugged her down onto his lap.

Jocelyn.

Just spit it out. I’m tired of waiting.

Always so impatient,
his
Rajni
.

Your father, your
cousin—both are Lupoiux. I’m not sure how, you’ll have to ask them.
But there is no doubt they are not human. My best guess is they
were both bitten. When, I’m not sure. You never knew your father
was different, did you?
Cormac understood
it. How would he have felt, suddenly turning into an animal, and
knowing he had two young human children to protect? How old had
Jocelyn been when her father had first turned?

No. You’re lying. My father
is not one of them!
She stiffened in his
lap, tried to pull away. Cormac wouldn’t let her.

Why would I lie when you can
ask your father yourself next you see him?
I first suspected when he tried to rip out my throat because I
simply smelled like you. Then I had it confirmed by your cousin
when they were speaking of the number of people on the property. In
fact, your father and cousin share the position of alpha in an
oddly
un-
Lupoiux
way. I’ve never heard of a pack with two alphas. Even those that
are related.

My father does not have
a
pack.
He doesn’t.
He is not an animal!

Isn’t he?

No! He’s not one of…those things!

Her face was tight,
stubborn. He knew then she wouldn’t believe him until her father
uttered the words. She shivered against him and he realized it was
more than that. It wasn’t just her being resistant to him. It was
fear.
You can ask him. Later. At dinner;
your cousin is arranging a family dinner for you and the others.
You can discuss it with him, then. I don’t have to even be there if
you don’t want me to. Just you and your family, ok?

He waited until she
nodded.
I met your sister today. She is
like a younger vision of you.

We look alike, yes. Me, her,
Becca, Mickey, even Cass, though her hair is darker than Emily’s.
She’s in the same wing as Em. We look like our fathers. Who look
like
their
mother.
Some of my boy cousins, like Rand, look like
him.

Like who?

My grandfather. Rand looks like him the
most. Except for the reddish hair. I watched the videos. And read
the files. He really did that. All that stuff.

No wonder there was so much
turmoil in her thoughts.
I wish you had
waited.

Why? Would it change what he
had done? He
is
a
monster. A horrible, hideous monster.
Why
didn’t you all kill him fifty
years ago?

If we had been able to find
him, we would have done just that.
Cormac
was honest about it. The old bastard had eluded them for fifty
years, disappearing just when they thought they were close to him.
Taniss had ensured his family had some astonishingly sophisticated
security in place. It was only recently, with the advent of the
internet, that they had been able to find many of his properties
throughout the area. The man hid behind false names, corporate
identities, and sham companies. Aodhan—most comfortable with the
new technologies—had been responsible for tracking Taniss. And his
grandchildren. Had they found Taniss fifty years ago when he first
started hunting Dardaptoans they would have executed him swiftly.
If they had…
How old is your father? He
does not appear very old.

Forty-eight. I was born when he was still in
college. Why?

If they had found and
executed Leo Taniss fifty years ago,
his
Rajni
wouldn’t have been born. But how many Dardaptoan lives would
have been saved?

At least his brother-in-law. And Kindara’s
babe.

What right did he have to
happiness when so many of his people had been lost
because
her grandfather
had eluded capture for so long? What right did he have to
expect
his
people
to accept her so easily?
Just doing some
math. Had we killed your grandfather, you would not be here now.
Nor would your sister.

I’m sorry. I’m so sorry for what he did. I
am. But…

She pulled away from him for
a moment to look him directly in the eyes.
I can’t be sorry to be
alive!
To be sorry my dad and my sister exist.

No. You cannot. And neither
can I. What kind of a man does that make me?
He slipped his arms around her waist and tugged her close,
hoping against hope that she would not pull away from him like she
had every time before.

But she appeared to need the
contact just as much as he did. Her hair brushed against his chin
as she leaned her head on his shoulder. He could feel the sigh in
her mind before she echoed it with her lips.
I don’t want the rest of my cousins to see those
files.

I wish you would have waited until I was
here with you. Then you would not have had to watch them alone. I’m
sorry you had to see them at all.

I couldn’t. The answers are somewhere in
those files; I know they are. I’m going to find those answers.

No matter how long it
takes?
Cormac pushed the issue, and he knew
it.

Josey stared at the vampire
man for a long moment. The wind ruffled the hair on his head, had
tinged his cheeks with color. He looked like the mountains that
surrounded this hotel. Wild and rugged. Strong and unyielding. But
beautiful. He was a very beautiful man, in that wild, rugged
way.
I’ll stay. I work with you. With the
healers, whoever.

His eyes flamed with heat, and his hands
tightened on her. One was around her waist, fingers splayed on her
hip bone. The other was clenched around her knee. He held her
tight, and his warmth surrounded her. Protected her from the
cold.

Far cry from the man who’d tried to drown her
in her own tub.

What was she supposed to
think about that? He
had
been so willing to hurt her, to terrify her,
without giving a bit of thought to her. Now that he thought her his
mate, he was considerate and protective. Now that she mattered. Now
that he thought some
goddess
had had a hand in her being here. What was she
supposed to think about that?

His hand ran up her spine and down again.
Josey fought the urge to arch into the caress. Fought not to
encourage him.

What the hell was she
supposed to
do
right now? Just let go, let herself just hang on for the ride?
Do whatever he wanted and try to be happy? Go to her dad and beg
him to take her home? To try to forget
everything
that had happened in the
last weeks?

She would never be able to do that.

We need to get inside. My
father—he’ll want to talk to me. To make sure…I’m happy. Safe. That
I want to be here. I need to think of something to tell him.
She would not lie to her father. But she did not
want him to kill the vampire, either.

Just tell him that we are
learning of each other.
He tilted her chin
toward his with a gentle finger.
Tell him I
swear to keep you safe, while we figure out what we will be doing
together.