Ungifted (20 page)

Ethan looked up at me, startled. “Because that’s the kind of person you are,” he said. “You don’t like hurting people. You care more about others than you do about yourself, even.”

“So you think if you make me feel badly enough—make me feel sorry for you—you can guilt me into keeping your secret, even though you don’t deserve it?”

“That’s not what I’m doing.”

“Yeah right.”

Ethan started to argue again, but I shook my head and stopped him. “It doesn’t matter, Ethan. I won’t tell anyone else ever again. Congratulations, you’ve found my weakness. I’m nice and I care about people’s feelings—even yours. I know, I know. I’m pathetic.”

I walked into the store before he could say something else and was grateful that Russ didn’t say anything, either.

Ethan didn’t join us until
after my tailor had shooed me into a changing room. I heard him come in and tried my best to ignore him. It wasn’t hard when I saw what was waiting for me, hanging delicately from a satin hanger.

There were two dresses. One was a boring black dress, sleek and tasteful, which was exactly like what every other woman at this dinner would be wearing tonight. But the other was a gorgeous royal blue gown made of silk and chiffon. From the moment I saw it, I loved it.

I slipped it over my head and smiled when I looked in the mirror. The strapless gown accentuated my figure, giving me the appearance of having a few curves—a task I thought was impossible. It fell lightly from my hips all the way to the ground, elegantly hiding my awful cast. A pair of matching ballet flats had definitely been chosen specifically to accommodate my gimpy condition. The dress fit me like a glove. The color made my eyes pop and complimented my complexion. Either this dress was made for me, or I was made for it.

“Marcela, I know this dress couldn’t have been in Victor’s budget,” I called out to my tailor as I continued to stare at myself in awe. I’d been transformed into a young woman that even I had to admit looked stunning.

Marcela laughed. She knew what I was talking about without having to see which dress I was wearing. “I’m sure it wasn’t! Victor sent over that drab black thing. The other one arrived shortly after. It was sent as a gift for you. I nearly died when I saw it.”

“A gift? From who?”

“There’s a card,” Marcela huffed impatiently. “Now come out here and show me before I explode from anticipation!”

I laughed. I loved most of my dad’s staff, but Marcela was by far my favorite. She’d taken me under her wing from day one and spoiled me absolutely rotten.

I didn’t remember I had an audience until I stepped out of the dressing room and heard three different gasps. Marcela had her hands clasped over her mouth, her eyes sparkled with a layer of tears—but it was the expressions on Russ’s and Ethan’s faces that made me blush.

“Um.” I had to clear my throat and turned back to Marcela, unable to handle the admiration I was receiving. I’d never been looked at the way Ethan and Russ were staring at me right then. As flattering as it was, it was also a little unnerving. “Is it from my father? He’s never done something like this for me before.”

Marcela responded by cooing praises of beauty at me in her native language of Spanish. Once she’d wiped her eyes and kissed my cheek she brought me a crisp white envelope and a beautiful red rose.

My name was scrawled in elegant calligraphy across the front of the envelope. It was so neat that I tried to be as delicate as possible as I retrieved the card inside. Only a few short sentences were written in the same beautiful handwriting.

I hope it is worthy of such a stunning creature as yourself. Until tonight, my love.

“It’s from
him
!” I cried, the card and flower slipping from my fingers.

Ethan scooped up the paper and I hurried as fast as I could back into the dressing room. I wanted nothing more than to get his gift off of me. Having it against my skin was as bad as having his hands on me. It was as if he were touching me, taking possession of me without even being here.

Still, the dress was so beautiful that even though I hated the person who’d given it to me I couldn’t stand to see it mistreated and hung it carefully back on its hanger. It wasn’t the dress’s fault its owner was a monster.

I put the black dress on, not caring in the least that it made me look as white as a ghost with the figure of a twelve-year-old boy. “It needs to be taken in through the chest,” I told Marcela when I came back out of the dressing room. “Do you think you can have that done by four?”

Marcela frowned at me. “How can you even think of wearing that plain old thing instead of the blue?”

“I can’t accept it, Marcela. I want you to send it back.”

“But, Grace!”

“Please?” I pleaded desperately. “I’ll wear this one. Victor picked it. It’s fine.”

“Grace, you can’t go tonight,” Ethan interrupted. “You have to find a way out of it.”

“I can’t,” I whispered. Marcela ran to get me a tissue when tears filled my eyes. “I’ve tried a million times to get out of these things. There’s no way. Especially not with one that will mean as much to my dad as this one. You’ve seen what he’s like. He won’t let me out of it.”

Ethan ran a hand through his hair. It was a nervous gesture, and the fact that he was stressed only scared me that much more. “Then take me with you,” he said.

I never thought I’d want Ethan’s company, but this was one time I was actually upset that he wouldn’t be able to spend the evening with me. “Won’t happen. My dad will bring his usual team for a big public event like this. He’d never let someone so inexperienced come, even if he does like you.”

“Then bring me as your date.”

I scoffed automatically. “Yeah right.”

Ethan glared at me. “I’m not looking for a hookup, Grace. You need me there.”

“You could bring me,” Russ offered. “If you’re really that worried. Though I don’t know what this De La Cote guy would dare risk doing in such a public setting.”

“The De La Cotes are the most influential…” Ethan glanced at Marcela, who was coming back with a box of Kleenex and a glass of water for me.

“Marcela, could you give us a few minutes?” I asked, gratefully accepting the tissue and water.

Marcela looked worried but nodded. “I’ll box up your dress for you,” she said, pulling the blue gown from the changing room. “I’m sure you’ll change your mind before your dinner tonight.”

“They’re powerful,” Ethan told Russ as soon as Marcela was gone. “And they’re well-connected with the council. They get away with a lot more than they should.” He turned his attention back to me then, actually grabbing my hand. “Grace, they can’t be trusted. Please take me with you. You need me.”

Ethan wasn’t just stressed. He was scared. “Okay,” I said. “I’ll ask my dad if I can bring you.”

“I don’t like it, either,” Ethan said, but he looked relieved. “But until we figure out what Andrew wants…”

“You don’t think he’s behind the attack last week, do you?” Russ asked. “Vampires often work together with those who have the craft. Both witches and warlocks and even some of the fey can make extremely powerful magic by using immortal blood.”

I thought of Andrew again and my tears returned. Was he going to kill me tonight? “I don’t think so, Grace,” Ethan said, guessing my fears. “His intent was to turn you. He wanted you as his mate, not dead.”

“That doesn’t make me feel a whole lot better.”

The door to the front of the shop chimed, startling all of us and ending our conversation. I heard a man’s gruff voice ask a question. Marcela replied and suddenly Ethan went stiff. “Quick,” he hissed at me. “Get changed back into your clothes. We might have to leave in a hurry.”

My breath caught in my lungs and I obeyed Ethan without question. He and Russ were peeking out the front window before I was even back in the changing room.

“What is it?” Russ asked Ethan.

“Werewolf.”

“The guy who was just in here? You’re sure? You can see auras already?”

“Since the day I met Grace.”

“Because of your bond? Interesting. Looks like he’s gone. Maybe he just needed to get a suit tailored.”

“Did you see the pendant around his neck?” Russ must have shaken his head, because Ethan said, “It was the crest of the guardians.”

When Russ answered, his voice was steel. “Guardians? You’re sure?”

“Yes. And look. Five more. Three nephilim, another wolf, and a warlock.”

Russ said a very bad word.

“You guys, what’s a guardian?”

“Shut up, Grace!” Ethan ordered. “Are you dressed yet?”

“It’s not easy to get jeans on over a cast, all right? What’s going on?”

“Someone at the party last night must have said something about you to the wrong person. The guardians are like the supernatural military. They work for the council. We have to get you out of here unnoticed. Is there a back door to this place?”

“What do you want?” Russ asked suddenly.

I peeked out the curtain to see who had come in, but he was talking on his phone.

“I know you’re here; I can see your buddies. What the hell do you want?”

I went back to putting my shoe on and heard the shop door chime once again. “I just want to talk,” a voice said.

“Duncan Moore!” Ethan gasped.

“Hello, young nephilim,” the new voice said, then chuckled. “Making powerful friends very quickly, eh, Russ? Do I dare ask what you’re up to now?”

The voice sounded friendly, but I was too scared to look. Would this guardian really kill me just for knowing about the supernatural?

“Since when do you
ask
for anything?” Russ growled while Ethan stammered, “P-powerful?”

“Indeed. You have an amazing aura. I’d wager you’re one of your clan’s strongest warriors, even at your age.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Ethan sounded as if he worshiped whomever he was talking to. The reverence in his voice couldn’t be mistaken for fear. It sounded too much like adoration.

“You brought six guys with you this time?” Russ snapped suddenly. “Not that I’m not flattered, but I haven’t done anything wrong. And I don’t know where Dani is or the Seer, so either
try
to take me in or get the hell out of my face.”

“I’m not here to arrest you, Russ—though, technically, you’re a fugitive and it would be well within my right—”

“You had no right to arrest me in the first place!”

“Didn’t I? Assaulting the leader of the guardians? Kidnapping the Seer and the Chosen One?”

Someone gasped again. It was Ethan. “The Chosen One? She’s been found?”

I couldn’t help it anymore and peeked out of my hiding place. Ethan was now sitting in a chair, looking a strange combination of awed and bewildered.

Russ was standing with his hands raised defensively in front of him, facing the mysterious Duncan. Russ was just slightly taller than the stranger, and I had to open my curtain a tiny bit more in order to get a good look at him.

I was beginning to think that being completely gorgeous is a supernatural prerequisite. Duncan was older than all the other supernaturals I’d met—in his early twenties probably—but he was every bit as beautiful. He had sandy blond hair, sharp blue eyes, and a beautiful smile on his extremely pale face.

I stumbled backward. I couldn’t help it. I knew what he was. A vampire. Just like Andrew.

I barely made a sound, but it was enough. Duncan’s eyes darted to me and immediately Ethan and Russ were standing in front of the curtain, blocking me from the stranger.

“Come on out of there, sweetheart,” the stranger said. His voice sounded persuasive. It had a melted honey quality to it that reminded me of Andrew.

“Stay where you are, Grace!” Ethan ordered while Russ said, “She has nothing to do with this. You want to talk, fine. Let’s go outside and talk.”

“Well, well, well. You
are
up to something. Don’t play games with me, Russ,” Duncan said. I heard the smile in his voice and shivered.

The bell chimed again and I heard the sound of a number of different people enter the shop. “Stay away from her!” Russ shouted. “I swear, Duncan, if anyone so much as touches her, I’ll kill them.”