The Original Sin (Skye Morrison Vampire Series, #3) (7 page)

I looked back up at Archer and he took my hand, leading me to his bed.  “You don’t have to leave, Skye.  Sit,” he said as he walked back over to the door and quietly shut it.  I watched as he walked over to his dresser and retrieved a pair of black silk pajama pants.  He quickly stepped into them and returned to my side.  I watched as he carefully pulled back the covers and fluffed his extra pillow.

“Well, don’t just stand there, love,” he smiled sweetly.  “Get in.”

I obliged and crawled into the bed and over to the other side.  Archer climbed in next to me and reached over to cut off his lamp.  The room was plunged into darkness and my body stiffened with fear.  My heartbeat must have sped up, because Archer gently instructed me to take a deep breath.  I felt his hand reach out for mine and I grabbed onto it for dear life.  I felt tears spring to my eyes again and I looked over at Archer.

“Aw, babe,” he tsked as he reached over and pulled me to him.  “Don’t cry.  It’s going to be okay.  I’m here.”

I laid my head on his chest and snuggled into him.  He wrapped his arms around me and held me tight as he tenderly stroked my back.  His smell immediately permeated my senses, flooding me with comfort and desire, and I sighed in contentment.

After a few minutes of silence, Archer whispered to me.  “Better?”

“Much,” I mumbled sleepily as I nuzzled his chest hair. I sighed, squeezed him tightly, and drifted off into a blessedly dreamless slumber.

*****

I felt movement under me and my eyes flew open in alarm.  I was still firmly wrapped around Archer and I blinked a few times before tilting my head up to look at his face.

“Good morning,” he said kindly, his piercing ice blue eyes gazing down into mine.  He was devastatingly handsome first thing in the morning.  His five o’clock shadow was on proud display and his eyes were sweet as he tenderly searched my face.

Memories of last night came rushing back to me and I blushed furiously as I disentangled myself from him.  “Good morning,” I smiled reservedly.  “I…uh…I’m really sorry about last night.  I didn’t mean to disturb you.”

Archer sighed as he rolled over onto his side, facing me, and took my hand.  “You didn’t disturb me, Skye; your presence never disturbs me.  I want you to feel like you can come to me anytime that you need to.”

I sighed as he lifted my hand to his lips and placed a gentle kiss on the inside of my wrist.  “That was just so embarrassing,” I admitted reluctantly.  “I was a blubbering mess and to top it all off, I was completely naked.”

Archer chuckled.  “Well, you may have minded your nakedness, but I sure didn’t.”

I saw the playful gleam in his eyes and it did funny things to my lower abdomen.  “Hush,” I whispered, fighting off a smile.

Archer tugged on my arm and pulled me back into his.  He gently kissed my forehead as we laid in silence for a bit.  I listened to the slow song of his heart and closed my eyes, feeling truly content.

“What was your dream about?” he asked suddenly.

My eyes tore open at the memory and I shuddered involuntarily.  “Amun,” I whispered into his chest hair.

“What happened?” he asked gently as he drew comforting circles on my back with his fingers.

“I was dreaming about shoes,” I admitted shyly, “and I was getting ready to try them on when my dream suddenly changed.  I was standing in my house.”

“And?” Archer prompted softly.

“And, I went to make some tea.  But I heard something, so I turned around and there he was.  I tried to get away, but my doors were locked and, even though I unlocked the deadbolts, they still wouldn’t open.”

“Did the Amun in your dreams hurt you?”

“No,” I shook my head as I sat up.  “That’s the weird part.  He said he just wanted to talk.”

“Well he didn’t hurt you and it was just a dream so, why were you so scared?” Archer asked, sitting up next to me.

“I…It…was more than a dream,” I confessed reluctantly.  “At least it felt that way.  I-I can’t remember everything that happened, but what I can recall was really…weird.”  I took a deep breath and told him as much as I could about what I remembered.  I told him about trying to kill Amun and about waking up feeling conflicted about my emotions toward him.

“What do you mean you didn’t want him to go?” Archer asked worriedly, his brow furrowing in confusion.

“I don’t know…that’s just it.  All I remember is feeling anger and then stabbing him…and I remember his laugh.  Then when I woke up, I was glad to be out of the nightmare…but then I wasn’t.  I wanted him to come back to me.”

“Did he say anything to you in the dream…anything that didn’t seem right?” Archer asked, suddenly on edge.

“My tea was hot,” I thought aloud. 

“What?” Archer shook his head, not understanding.

“I felt the warmth of my tea slide down my throat and I remember being amazed that a dream could feel so real.  I asked Amun if it was indeed real and he said that HE was real…that he controlled what happened in my dreams.” 

Archer flashed to stand at the end of the bed and started pacing.  “Impossible,” he whispered before swearing and ranting in Irish Gaelic.

He stopped suddenly and stared at me with pale, wide eyes.  He didn’t say a word as he flashed out of the room.

Where the hell is he going?
  I fearfully clutched the covers to my chest and tried to calm the sudden doom that rested heavily upon it.  Something didn’t feel right, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.  I sat in Archer’s bed going over my dream in my head. 
What had I said to make Archer react that way?

A few minutes later, Trey appeared in the room with a bundle of clothes.  His eyes were wide and a bit weary.  “Good morning, honey,” he said gently as he put the clothes on the foot of the bed.  “Come on and get dressed.  We need to talk.”

I slowly got out of bed, fear and confusion coursing through me.  Trey had a weird look in his eyes and it made me nervous. 
Why is he looking at me like that?  What did I do?

I grabbed the clothes and was glad to see that they were mine.  Trey had brought me a pair of jeans, an old UT Longhorns shirt, and undergarments from my closet.  I turned to face away from him as I quickly slipped the panties on and then my clothes.

When I was finished, Trey cleared his throat and I turned back around.  “Come on, honey,” he said with a tight smile.  “Let’s get you some breakfast.”

My brow furrowed, but I dutifully followed him down the hall and as I walked out into the family room, both of my arms were grabbed tightly from behind.  I immediately went into fight mode and started kicking out with my legs and jerking my arms.

“Oh, please,” Trey called out worriedly.  “Be careful with her!”

“Stop fighting me, Morrison!” Hagan growled and I looked over to find that he was the one who had ahold of my right arm.  I quickly turned to my left and saw Emrick holding the other.

“W-What are you doing?” I panted, my heart beating wildly with fear.  “Get your hands off me.”

I looked around the room for help, but only Archer stood by the kitchen.

“Archer, please,” I begged.  “Tell them to let me go.  I haven’t done anything.  I-I don’t understand.”

Trey broke out in a sob and turned to Archer.  “I can’t do this if she’s scared.  I can’t do this to her, Archer.  She’s my friend and she’s completely terrified right now.”

Archer took a step forward and crossed his arms over his chest, his face impassive.  “We’re not going to hurt you, Skye.  We just need you to cooperate with us and this will all be over soon.”

“Cooperate?” I repeated, confused.  “Cooperate with what?  What did I do?  What do you want from me?”  Archer frowned, a look of sadness and reservation suddenly filling his eyes, and I looked over at Hagan, desperate for answers.

“Hagan, sir, please,” I began to cry.  “Tell me.  What have I done?”

Hagan swallowed thickly and looked remorsefully down at me.  “Just do what you’re told and this will all be over soon,” he repeated Archer’s words.

Archer instructed Emrick and Hagan to sit me down on the couch.  They complied and sat down on either side of me; their hands still firmly grasping my arms and wrists.  Archer came to stand in front of me and instructed Trey to stand behind me.

I looked up into Archer’s eyes and begged him with mine. 
What did I do?  What’s wrong?
  A flicker of sorrow and shame passed over his eyes before he schooled his features into his usual impassive appearance.

When he was in place, Trey gently smoothed my hair with his hands and apologized.  “I’m so sorry, honey,” he sniffed as his tears fell.  “Just try to relax.  This will all be over before you know it.”

What will be over?,
I though in panic.

He stilled his hand and I heard him take a deep breath.  “I’m ready,” he said and Archer kneeled down in front of me. 

Archer placed his hands on either side of my face and stared deeply into my eyes.  My vision started to swim in an all-too-familiar way and I knew Archer was attempting to penetrate my mind.  “Now,” I heard Archer whisper and I was suddenly blasted with rapid memories.

I saw the first time I met Archer at Afterburner’s Café.  I saw my interview at The Mausoleum.  I saw Jameson hovering above me as he carried me to Dan’s office after I passed out.  I saw our steamy moment on the hood of his car.  I saw myself dancing to Nine Inch Nail’s Closer with Archer.  I saw our first kiss.  I saw Greyson Mead’s mutilated body.  I saw Jesse’s severed head in my car.  I saw Dean and our lunch together at Jax’s.  I saw Amun out on the street.  I saw him slice my forearm open and I saw the basement he took me to.  I saw my torture and my rescue.  I saw Jameson in my bed and I saw us make love.

The memories slowed down and I began to see my first nightmare.  I saw myself chained in the basement and heard my terrified cries for help.  I began to whimper aloud as the next dream descended upon me.  I watched nightmare after nightmare of me chained and alone in the basement come and go.  Finally, I saw Amun and cried out at the same time that Trey did.  I saw Amun smile as he sat down in a high-backed wooden chair in front of me.  I watched as nothing happened; he just sat in the chair smiling up at me.  My dream morphed again and I was in the Christian Louboutin boutique about to try on shoes.  I saw the room melt away and I saw the red door.  I saw myself step into my apartment and I saw Amun lead me to my couch.  I saw him sit there and smile over at me, never saying a word and never moving.  I saw myself wake up and run into Archer’s room.  I saw myself hug him and I felt an overwhelming sense of love and comfort.  I saw us in bed together and my breath hitched at the memory.

Suddenly, I was released from Archer’s control and I was exhausted.  I leaned back into the couch and rested my head tiredly against the back of it.  I glanced down at Archer and saw that he was just as exhausted as I was.  He had fallen to the floor and was sitting there trying to catch his breath.  Our eyes met and I immediately closed mine in disgust.  I couldn’t stand to look at him right now.  I couldn’t believe he had forced his way into my mind after knowing how against it I was. 

I leaned my head all the way back and opened my eyes to see Trey looking down at me from above.  He still had his hands in my hair and he was crying. 

“Oh, honey,” he whispered, emotions flitting too fast across his face for me to follow.  Finally, he settled on sorrow.  “Why didn’t you tell us sooner?”

I swallowed thickly and closed my eyes again.  I was mad at him too and didn’t want to have to look at him.  “Tell you what, Trey?” I asked, annoyance lacing my words.

“Why didn’t you tell us you had been having these dreadful nightmares?”

“Because it’s none of your business,” I answered heatedly as I jerked my head away from his touch.

Trey gasped in surprise and whimpered.

“Don’t be mad at him,” Archer barked.  “Trey was just following my orders.”

I opened my eyes and stared daggers at him.  “Fuck your orders, Archer Rhys, and fuck you!  You had no right to do that to me,” I said coldly and looked around at Hagan and Emrick.  “None of you did!”

Archer flashed to a standing position and adjusted his silk sleep pants.  “Why did you lie to me about your dream?  You said that Amun told you that the dream was real.  I saw him in your dreams with my own eyes; he said nothing of the sort.  He just sat there smiling at you.”

I shook my head, my brow furrowed in confusion.  “I don’t know what’s going on, but that’s not what happened in my dreams.  In my dreams, he talked to me, dressed me once in some ridiculous Grecian gown, and gave me a dagger so I could kill him.”

“I don’t understand,” Archer looked down at me, his own brow displaying the confusion he felt.

“I don’t either,” I yelled, sick of the Spanish Inquisition.  “All I know is that what you made me remember was not how it happened; not where Amun is concerned.”

Archer paced back and forth in front of me, occasionally glancing my way, as he pulled on his bottom lip in deep thought.

Archer stopped and studied me for a moment before he got a faraway look in his eyes.  A few seconds later, I heard the sound of the front door open as Hunter flashed in to stand in front of us.

“Pádraig said you needed me,
Athair
?” he bowed his head respectfully to Archer.

“Aye,” Archer said as he put his hand on Hunter’s shoulder.  “I need to utilize your talents with Miss Morrison.”

“Talents?” I didn’t like the sound of that.  “What talents?  Don’t you fucking touch me, Hunter.  I mean it!  Don’t come anywhere near me.”

“Silence,” Archer sighed at me before looking back at Hunter.  “Are you up for it?”

“Sir?” Hunter asked uncertainly.  “Are you sure?”

“Yes.”  Archer nodded to Emrick and Emrick gently released my hand. 

Hunter kneeled down in front of me and held his hand out.  “May I have your hand?” he asked gently, a look of regret on his face.

“W-What are you going to do to me, Hunter?  Please, just tell me.”

“I won’t hurt you,” he said as Emrick picked my arm back up and placed my hand in Hunter’s.  “I’m sorry, Skye.  Please forgive me,” he whispered as he looked up into my eyes.  He looked so sad and I immediately began to worry. 
Forgive you?  Forgive you for what?

I glanced up at Archer in panic, but he wouldn’t meet my eyes.  His face remained stoic as he placed his hand on Hunter’s shoulder and took a deep breath.

“I’m ready,” Archer said as Hunter tenderly rubbed the inside of my wrist with his thumb.

I watched Hunters fangs descend as he brought my wrist toward his mouth.  I started screaming as I tried to get away from him, but I was being held firmly in place by Hagan and Emrick.

“Please don’t kill me!” I cried out right before he bit down and I was slammed with the most intense, burning pain I had ever experienced.  “Aggggh!” I screamed out as my body bucked off the couch, but Hunter never stopped feeding from me.  Suddenly, it felt like something had invaded and wrapped itself around my mind and was actively trying to rip in two.  I started seizing and convulsing violently as it tore itself through my psyche.   I bit down hard on my tongue and felt the warm, tangy sweet blood spill from my mouth.  I then felt something hard being shoved between my teeth as my head was held down against the back of the couch from behind.

I felt the alien force in my mind find what it was seeking and curl around it as it fed on it.  It absorbed a part of me into its being and I started seizing harder as my body desperately tried to fight it off.  I opened my mouth and screamed bloody murder around the object shoved in it before blissfully passing out.

*****

I heard yelling all around me as my body was lifted and then set down again.  I tried to open my eyes, but they felt too heavy.   I fought against the warm, heavy blackness and tried desperately to claw my way out of it.  I had a few choice words for Archer, and was eager to convey them, but the darkness wasn’t giving me up easily.

“This wasn’t supposed to happen,” Archer yelled.  “Talk to me, Hunter!  What the hell went wrong?”

“I-I don’t know, father,” Hunter said frantically.  “This has never happened before.  I don’t know what to do.”

“Is she dead?” I heard Trey sob from a few feet away.  “Please, God, don’t let her be dead.”

I felt cold fingers at my neck and I tried to lift my hands to shove them away from me, but they wouldn’t cooperate.

“There is a pulse,” Emrick said from my left. 

I felt the hard object being taken out of my mouth and I moaned aloud in sudden pain.  My mouth felt very tender for some reason.

“She’s alive!” Trey cried out as I felt myself being lifted again.

“Go get Jameson!” Archer yelled out to someone as I was set down on a cold, hard surface.  I was instantly blasted with ice cold water from above and I took a deep breath as the shock of it kicked in.

“You’re going to be okay, Skye,” Archer said; the tone of his voice conveying the opposite.  “You’re going to be fine.”

I coughed and sputtered as the water ceased and I was quickly lifted again.  Someone wrapped me in a blanket and laid me down on something soft.  My chest hurt for some reason and my head was killing me.

“What have you done?!” Jameson yelled from across the room.  I heard scuffling and tried again to open my eyes.

“Do not harm him!” Archer yelled out.  “Jameson, calm down.  She’s breathing and she has a pulse.  Just get your ass over here and heal her!”

I felt hands caress my face and I forced my eyes open.  They didn’t open much, but I was able to make out Jameson’s face hovering above my own. 

“Oh God, baby…what did they do to you?” he asked in a panic as his hands and eyes roamed my body.  His eyes came to rest on my mouth and his head jerked back at the sight.

I tried to speak, but moaned instead when the pain emanating from my mouth became too much.  I managed to lift my hand a few inches and I tried in vain to push him away from me.  I didn’t want any of them ever touching me again; Jameson included.

Jameson yelled something to someone in Irish Gaelic as he put one hand on my cheek and one hand on my chest.  I felt the telltale tingle of his healing power begin to sweep over my body and I frantically tried to fight him off.  I was incredibly weak and managed to only slowly swing at him a few times

“Baby, stop fighting me,” Jameson said as he tried to avoid my hands, but he never stopped trying to heal me.

A sudden powerful wave swept over my body and my chest felt a thousand times lighter as my mouth started to tingle.  Another wave hit my body and this one was warm.  It traveled down my body and rested heavily into my lower abdomen.  A powerful tingling started between my legs and as I took my next breath, I was flying high on a cloud of unwanted, forced pleasure. 

As I started to come down, I fully opened my eyes and silently began to cry.  I was so drained all of a sudden.  Thick heavy tears cascaded down my face rapidly, but I was too exhausted to make a sound.  Jameson and Archer were standing over me, a look of grave concern on their faces, but I just stared at them; I was completely unaffected by what I felt were their false emotions.  They didn’t care about me and it was painfully obvious to me all of the sudden.

I swallowed thickly as Archer spoke.  “How do you feel, Skye?” he asked carefully. 
What do you care?
I thought silently. 

I looked over at Jameson as he addressed me next.  “Are you okay, love?” 
Was I okay?
  I scoffed aloud at the ridiculousness of the question.  Fuck no, I wasn’t okay.  I almost died.  I started chuckling at the absurdity of his question which quickly turned into full on laughter.  Archer and Jameson looked at each other, obviously confused by my behavior and stared back down at me, completely at loss on how to handle it.