Page 47 of Taken By the Vampires
He stopped dead, before slowly sinking down onto his haunches. I held his gaze, very much the prey I knew I was, not able to tear my eyes away. I took in every movement, too smooth to ever be human. There was an otherworldly grace about him, like a mountain lion stalking prey, each motion economical and restrained. Why hadn’t I noticed that about him before? “Ella, this room is too cold for you. I’m going to put the blanket around you. Okay?”
He edged the blanket up as though to cover me. I flinched. I couldn’t help it. I’d done this to injured birds I’d caught before. Crept up on them, so slowly they didn’t notice, so preoccupied with their pain, until it was too late and then I’d throw a towel over them and I could do whatever I wanted to them after that.
“Here, I’ll slide it across the floor, okay?”
He bunched it up and pushed it across to me. The edge brushed my bare thigh. The material was warm. It was a temptation. My fingers were jammed tight, locked together over my knees and I worked to unhinge them.
Slowly I let my arm drop and brought the blanket over my shoulder, keeping my attention locked on them. There was no way I’d be able to bring it about my shoulders. My body seemed to have locked up, but it was a relief even half covering my body, both for the cold and my nakedness
But I still didn’t know what they wanted from me. Hell, they could take anything they desired and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it. “Let me go.”
Davon looked to the floor. Cassius looked even more destroyed and Xander cursed beneath his breath. “We can’t do that, Ella.”
“Why not?” I ignored the fresh wave of tremors that racked my body that didn’t have much to do with the cold.
Xander looked at me, locked his gaze with mine. His expression was fierce. Intense. Poignant. “Because you’re our mate. We will never let you go.”
My brain seized. “I’m your…what?”
“You’re our mate, Ella. Against all odds. It shouldn’t have been possible, given our circumstances, but you’re here. Finally here,’ Davon said.
“You must feel it. The connection between us. Especially after what we shared. If you concentrate, you’ll be able to feel it,’ Cassius said.
A deep ache settled in my chest. A throbbing, painful mix of regret, distress and guilt, But beneath all that was something more. Something warm, something pulsing with life and energy. Something that inexplicably drew me towards it. A delicate thread that called to me on a deep, deep level.
But how could I feel anything? It didn’t make sense.It didn’t make sense.
Nor did being Vampires, and having a Grimoire, and being stuck in a blizzard for days on end. It wasn’t natural. Nothing about this was natural.
“I don’t understand.”
“Will you let us take you back to your room? It’s warm there and I can tend to your ankle,” Cassius said.
While my breath still condensed, theirs did not. They only had light clothing on and didn’t seem to be affected with the cold. It was freezing in here. Probably little difference between inside and outside. “I’m not going anywhere until you tell me exactly what’s going on.”
Also, if I went back to the room, there’d be no getting away. Even if I had to run barefoot through the snow, I was going to get away.
But…back to what?The only thing worth going back to was Mom. And now I only planned to collect her on the way out. I’d leave with nothing, because that was now better than staying with the little we had.
I couldn’t stay there after this. Not at all.
“There’s nowhere to go, Ella. Believe me, we know. You’ll be more comfortable where it’s warm,” Xander said, and I had to wonder if he could read my mind.
He offered me a small smile, so at odds with the tension thrumming through my veins. “You have a very expressive face.”
That smile, that small offering, was enough to let me know they probably weren’t going to treat me like the bear. Not yet, anyway. I rearranged my features into hopefully something less like prey. “I’ll freeze first, if you don’t tell me what the fuck is going on.”
“I’m just going to take her now. This room isn’t fit for her.” Cassius went to move. I cringed and Xander out his arm, stopping him.
A muscle ticked at Xander’s jaw. “We will tell her now.”
“But, she’ll get sick. She’s still healing. You remember what that was like? She’s stillhuman,” Davon said.
“Then we will make this fast,” Xander said. “We will respect her wishes. And if she falls unconscious, then we will take her to her room and warm her after that.”
Cassius inhaled through his nose. “Then you can be the one to tell her.”
Xander inclined his head and took a moment to collect himself. He gave me a long look before spoke. “This story happened a long time ago, Ella, but you need to understand it to know who you are and how important you are to us. But when you know this, your life will never be the same again. Are you ready to know?”
