Deadly Creatures

Chapter 13

"It's been a week, and this bloody fool won't stop calling me. I've got to get my number changed," Nico exasperates while flopping down to my bed. Caius's number is still flashing across the vibrating phone he tosses to me, but I push it away. I can't talk to him. "He'll stop calling. Eventually Elli will need him again, and he'll forget all about me." Nico rests his head on my lap as I flip through the pages of a magazine, and I look down to arch my eyebrow at him. "Comfortable?" I ask sardonically. "I would be if you ate a little more. Damn, your hipbones really juts out." I laugh lightly, and then I roll my eyes. "I'm on my back. It happens. Why are you in my room instead of tracking down my mother?" "Crack the whip some other time. I've got to lie low here. I'm not very well liked in L.A. I'm letting the others run down the leads down there, while I crash here in the condo with you." I put my magazine down, now that I'm a little intrigued and curious. "What did you do to become not so well liked?" I muse. "Long story. I've been around a while." "Well, I'm about to change clothes, so I need you to not be around for a while," I tease while lifting my hips to knock his head from my lap. "Why change?" he asks while sitting up and stretching. "Because I have to go buy some more clothes. I'm sick of wearing the same stuff over and over, and I can't go out in my pajamas." I motion to the short pajama set I've worn so much that the hems are starting to show their tattered signs of early aging. "I happen to be fond of that little purple shirt I've seen you in a time or two," he says menacingly while bouncing his eyebrows up and down. I let out a laugh, and then I start shuffling through my bag. "Well, that purple shirt is spent. I'm sick of it, and I'll quite possibly trash it after I wear it one last time today." He smirks, and then he licks his lips before winking at me. "I should probably stick around. You might need some help." I let out a laugh, and then I start pushing him out the door. Though he's sexy, he's not Caius. I wish I could stop thinking about him. Once Nico is out, I stare at my new phone, wondering if I should at least let Caius know I'm okay. If I call him, I could at least listen to his voice… even after we hang up. I hate the fact he keeps leaving me to help Elli, but I miss him so much. "I'll probably regret this." I pick up the phone and dial his number quickly before I can talk myself out of it. It rings a few times, and then I sigh when I realize it's about to go to voicemail. "Hello?" he says unexpectedly, again puzzled by a new number. I sit there quietly, not sure what to say. "Hey?" I finally strain out. "I was just calling to see how you're doing." "Scarlet, s**t. Where the hell are you? I've been worried to damn death." He really does sound worried, tormented even. "Sorry. It's been a long, busy week. Caius, I think this goes without saying, but you know we're not together anymore. If you want to be with Elli-" "Damn it, Scarlet. Stop with the Elli s**t. I don't even f*****g like her as a friend. As a matter of fact, I quite possibly hate her at this particular moment. Please tell me where you are, and don't you dare say we're not together." I sigh out heavily, and then I glance out the window of the huge condominium to stare down at the small humans below, oblivious to the world of deadly beauties around them. "I just called to see how you are. I've been worried my mom's s**t was going to affect you since you've been with me." "Scarlet, please tell me what's going on. My detective friend can't even find out anything about her. It's like she's not real or something. Are you in trouble? Are you in witness protection or something?" he asks, worrying all the more. Oh how I wish it was something as mundane and human as that. "Sort of. Look, don't worry. As long as you're safe, I'll be okay. For the record, I'm not as fragile as you think I am. I'll be fine." Don't ask me where I heard that. "Scarlet, you are fragile. You're a twenty-year-old girl. Please let me come be with you. I can help." I wish that was true. "Sorry, but it needs to be this way, and we aren't together. It's for the best. Maybe Elli is psycho, but she's probably better for you than me." "f**k! I'm so sick of hearing about her. I want you. Do you hear me? You." The butterflies ruffle in my stomach, and I lie back on the bed while pulling on my shirt. "I want you, too, but things are just too complicated right now. I'd rather you just forget about me." "Please don't make me beg," he hoarsely whispers, making my tears form. I grip my hair and walk over to pull on my jeans, my heart sinking to the pits of my stomach as I stare woefully at the girl who has started to fall in love with a human she can never be with. "Caius, I'm sorry. Listen, if-" I scream when I see the scaly tail of … something, dangling from the top of my shirt, and I start flailing around wildly to rid myself of the mystery varmint invading my cleavage. I leap onto the bed as a lizard thuds to the ground, and then I see it wink at me. The f*****g lizard even laughs as it scurries out the door. Nico! "Scarlet!" Caius yells, as if he's been saying my name repeatedly, expecting an explanation for my panic. "Sorry. I'm fine." He breathes out a rattling breath, and I actually hear him collapse to a chair or something. "What the hell just happened?" "We've apparently got... pests," I grumble, scowling at the door which I know Nico is lurking behind. Pests of the shifter variety. I need to remind Nico how much it hurts to be brought down by a witch. "You damn near stopped my heart," he mumbles, his breaths still coming out in pained wisps. "Sorry. I need to go. I've got to get some new clothes before we head off to some new, random destination." "Scarlet, please tell me where to find you." I hesitate to say no when all I want to do is just crumble, beg him to find me. "I can't," I almost whisper. Silence creeps through the phone as we both sit waiting for the other to cave. I can't give in though. I can't watch my world break him. "I'd give anything to take that night back," he finally says, breaking the breathy suspense. "I'd tell Derek to f**k off and deal with s**t on his own for once. I'd stay in bed, holding you to me as you curled around my body. There's not an inch of your body I wouldn't have explored by now, and there's no way I would ever leave you alone for anything again." My tears finally start dripping, making me hate myself for falling for him. I knew better. As much as I want to be human, I'm not. Stringing him along was the worst mistake I could have made. "But you already did. Caius, I’m not going to lie. I know you went back for Elli. There's apparently something going on, and I-" "I swear it's not like that. Please let me come to you. I'll prove it." "Let me finish." I sigh while gripping my head. "I don't know what the deal is between the two of you, but I don't want in the middle of it. I care about you too much too soon as it is. You probably did me a favor by disappearing into the night. I need to go. Please stop calling Nico's phone, and don't start calling mine." He sits silently on the other end, and then I hear a harsh breath. "L.A.?" he asks, making my heart slap my throat. "What?" I release with a crackle, my mouth drying. "You're in L.A.? I can be there in a few hours. Don't leave. We'll discuss this in person, and I'll show you how much I care about you." "How do you know where I am?" I shiver as excitement and dread fills me at once. "I just traced your phone. Money affords someone more than a nice house. I'll be there soon." "Caius, don't. We're about to leave. Please stop this." "Then call me when you get to where you're going, and I'll follow you then." "No, I won't call, and I'm switching off my GPS. Just forget me." "That's impossible. I'm coming to you whether you like it or not. Now, you can stay there, or I can come find you at your next place. You'll call me again, Scarlet. You want to be with me just like I want to be with you. Admit it. This chemistry between us isn't something people find everyday. I know better than anyone that it's not." I swallow my heart back down, and then I shake my head. "It's not something someone finds everyday, but it's also not good for you." Or your life. "I'm sorry, Caius. I won't be here when you come." I hang up, quickly rushing into the room where Nico is packing. "Yeah, I heard. Loverboy is persistent, I'll give him that." I don't have time to be aggravated with the fact he was eavesdropping. Damn immortal hearing. "We were going to leave tonight anyway, weren't we?" "Yeah. No worries, pretty girl. Just grab your stuff, and we'll meet the others at the next rendezvous." He offers me a wink, and then I narrow my eyes. "I don't want to catch any more lizards down my shirt." He starts laughing, and then he moves over to where I am, letting his thumb trail over my lips as he stares down at me. "I would have gone for a snake, but I thought it'd be too much of a pun. Grab your stuff." He kisses my forehead, and I roll my eyes while heading back to my room. I peek out to see him walking out the door, heading to the elevator, and I capitalize on the fact he's out of earshot. I wave my hand over the phone, using my magic once again. "Are you really going after her again?" Elli bellows. "Of course I am. Stay the hell out of my way and out of my life!" Caius berates, sounding furious. There's silence for a minute, with the exception of drawers opening and shutting in the background. "You really do hate me, don't you?" she whimpers, and I hear him sigh hard. "Elli, I'm not the one for you. I've told you this countless times - even before Scarlet came into my life. I hope you get your s**t under control, really, I do, but it's not my responsibility, it's yours. Acting out every time I'm with the girl I want to be with only pisses me off. Excuse me, I have to holler at Chase." I hear his feet shuffling away, and I start to end my use of magic. "Caius still mad?" asks Angela, and I decide to be nosy and tune in instead of tuning out. "Very. What's so special about some blond girl? Does he miss being a normal guy that much?" Elli scoffs. Normal? I suppose being insanely wealthy has its drawbacks. It'd be hard to appreciate the small things and know when someone actually likes you for you. "Elli, he’s right though. You can't keep doing this to him. He's not responsible for you. You're responsible for you. You'll find someone who loves you the way he loves Scarlet." Loves? He doesn't love me. Slow down the wedding march, Angela. "He doesn't love her. He barely knows her," Elli snorts. b***h. "He does, or he wouldn't be in a frenzy to find her. Just leave him in peace. He'll never forgive you if he loses Scarlet, and then you won't even have his friendship." "If I wanted his friendship, I wouldn't have told him I love him." She loves him? s**t. "If he loved you, you wouldn't be sitting here scheming up ways to get him. You have to stop crossing that line. If you back off, he will eventually come around. Right now, you're on a slippery slope. Soon, you might not be able to stop from making a mistake that you'll have to live with after you've sobered up." Sobered up? Drugs? Booze? "I-" "I need my phone," Caius murmurs, interrupting whatever Elli was going to say. Crap. I want to hear more. "Be careful, and call us when you find her. I'd like to know she's alright," Angela murmurs genuinely. "I will, in the meantime, stay on standby. I might need some help finding the sons of bitches after her." "You know we'll help in any way we can. That's what family is for." "Just… if she says… when I-" "We'll accept her," Angela says comfortingly, and I get sick. When he what? What will I say? "I think it's stupid, and I won't accept her, no matter how long she stays," Elli spews. Stays? "It doesn't matter if you accept her or not. You're the only one here whose opinion I don't give a f**k about," he growls, and then I lose the connection. "No," I mumble, waving my hand over the phone, but nothing happens. s**t. He must have called someone else, or they called him. "Ready?" Nico calls from the living area, and I drop my head back momentarily while sighing in exasperation. "Yeah." Ready for my life to make sense. The rough winds scrape across the house thought to be abandoned deep in the woods. Crackling out its strength, the fireplace warms the room. I've gone from cold weather to hot weather so many times that I'm finally getting sick. "You okay?" Nico asks as he sits down beside my shivering body. "Yeah. I think I'm getting a cold." "Can't you do a healing spell or something?" I laugh in the middle of a sneeze while shaking my head. "Sure, if I want to end up crippled for all eternity. Healing spells have to be done by very well practiced witches. Not even Justin can pull off a healing spell. My mom is the only one I know to successfully do it without side effects." "Did not know that," he murmurs while wrapping his arm around my shoulders, and I eye him suspiciously when he feels too close. "I'm sick, not desperate." He smirks, and then he leans over to my neck, making my breath hitch. I feel his breath on me, warming my skin, and the warmth suddenly travels through the rest of my body, relieving me of my chills. "Wow," I murmur while wiping my nose with a tissue. "Any cure for the sniffles inside your breath?" "Let's find out," he says before pressing his lips to mine, and I sneeze while laughing as he draws back with a look of disgust. "I think you did that on purpose." I shrug, feigning innocence, and he rolls his eyes while leaning back and letting his head rest against the couch. My phone buzzes, and he rolls his eyes. "That boy never takes a hint, does he?" he grumbles under his breath. I glance down, realizing it really is Caius … again, and then I put the phone back down. "He'll forget me eventually," I strain out, trying not to show the truly devastated emotion teetering on the edge. "Can you give me a minute?" "I'm exhausted. Please don't make me move," he groans while stretching out. "You can listen in. I swear I won't judge or comment." He closes his eyes while breathing steadily, but I put the phone down instead of listening. Just hearing Caius's voice would probably make me cave and beg him to come risk his life just so I can have his arms around me. Selfish b***h. "Sorry to interrupt, but the warlock needs your help ciphering a code outside," one of the night stalkers murmurs. "Tell him I'll be there in a minute, Mark." Mark's eyes glow blue momentarily, as if he's taunting me, and then he smirks before walking out. “Remind me why you have vampires in your party," I grumble, a chill spreading throughout me. "Because they can subdue the dark users better than anyone. Not to mention, they're some of the strongest beings in existence. Why exactly are the two of you mortal enemies? I've never understood it." I sigh out as all the stories my mother told me when I was growing up suddenly rattle around in my mind. "They have the ability to hold us down, making our powers worthless. In the old days, they lived solely off our blood and essence. Draining a witch kills most blood-thirsters, but to a vampire, we're worth fifty humans." "How do you build up resentment over something that happened centuries ago when you're so young?" he chuckles out. My lips tighten, and then I pull my shirt down to reveal a spot along my collarbone. "What?" he says with a devious smirk. "Finally willing to let me show you what an animal I really can be?" Though his witty little pun is humorous, I'm not exactly feeling the urge to laugh. With a heavy sigh, I wave my hand over the spot to reveal the blemish I masked long ago. The red, savage scar reveals itself, and his eyes widen in disbelief. "Bloody hell. When did that happen?" he gushes while running his finger along the mark. I pull my hand back over it, making the skin pull smooth, and the scar vanishes once more. I let my collar pop back into place and turn to face him. "It happened when I was seventeen. One day I went for a walk, but a night stalker had been tracking me, waiting for me to slip up and step out of the protective circle I was living in at the time - my overprotective mother's circle around our farmhouse coven. "Obviously I didn't expect him, and he pinned me down, using his powers of subduing. My blood became his meal, and little by little, I felt my life slipping away. He fell between my legs, lifted my skirt, and all I could do was lie there, stunned by his hypnotism. I thought… For a minute, I worried he was going to do more than just feast on me, but he didn't get the chance. "After he dug his fangs in the second time, my mother showed up. He got away, but it's doubtful he lived, considering the wounds he sustained. I spent three days in a healing room, barely surviving the attack after he drained me almost dry within minutes. "So don't say it's something that happened centuries ago. Not everything has changed. You know as well as I do, vampires still love a good witch meal, they just clean up better than they used to." "I thought that attack was just the rumor your father started in order for your mother and you to live freely. And I thought you were like eight or nine when it happened." "No. I was ten the first time I was attacked, and that's when they told everyone Allison Duvall had died." I pause, motioning to the other side of my neck. "It didn't scar like the last one. That vampire's venom was weaker, meaning a smaller scar, and he met my father's wrath fairly quickly. He was a fool to even come into Damon's home." He lets out a heavy, harsh breath, and then his fingertips trail along my collarbone as he pulls my shirt back down. My breath hitches as his lips find the hidden scar, and he drags them across it on his way up to my neck. I start to push him away, but he pulls back on his own. "Just so you know, there's not a vampire here brave enough to touch you with me around. They know what I'd do to them, and most of them remember how very ruthless I once was. You're safe." I would smile if that didn't sound so morbid and a little… scary. Too bad a shifter is nowhere nearly as strong as a vampire. I would feel comforted if I knew he really could take on a vampire as old and seasoned as Mark. I lean into him, my eyes growing heavy, and then I shake my head. "I'm stronger now. You haven't even seen all I can do because I'm scared I'll end up like my father. I hold back because I have to; not because I can't do more. I almost dread my immortality." "Why?" he muses, his fingers strumming through my hair. "Because I'll be even stronger. That's the real reason I don't like using magic. I'm afraid I won't know when I've gone too far… just like him." He nods, his hand sliding down my back now, and it almost feels like he's trying to comfort me. In my wildest dreams, I never pictured a shifter comforting me. Sadly enough, he's the closest thing I have to a friend right now, and I really need a friend. "There are few things left in the world that scare me. I've seen hell try to rise above ground, but I lived through it. Your dad… honestly, he scares the s**t out of me." Well, the comfort is gone. "But it's not because he's powerful; it's because he has no reservations about using his power against anyone who crosses him. The council may have condemned him to the lost lands, but you know as well as I do he can leave at any time - and does. "He stays there most of the time though, never using his magic outside the fields, but only because he doesn't want to make things harder on your mother. He doesn't ever want her punished for anything he does, and they would use her against him." "Don't make it sound as though he truly cares. The reason he stays put is because the only time the light and dark agree is when it comes to keeping him away. He's powerful -deadly powerful - but he's not invincible. I've seen it. I've seen him hurt. I was young, but I remember what happened." His lips tighten, as if he wants to say more, but he decides against it. I still can't believe Damon told someone I'm his daughter. They're all supposed to think that young girl died. My phone buzzes to interrupt the awkward silence that has fallen, and I frown when I see Caius's name on the screen. It finally stops, and Nico kisses the top of my head while standing up. "Go ahead and spy. I'll go help the warlock." I force a smile, though I know it's a poor attempt, and he gives me a wink before disappearing out the door. With a wave of my hand, Caius's voice comes through, making me miss him more than I thought possible. "Still nothing," he says with frustration. "This is ridiculous," Derek spews. "How the hell did they leave L.A. without leaving a bit of a trail? Are you sure this was the condo?" "Positive. What about Angela? Do you think she could pick up anything?" Not unless she's a very gifted immortal. Caius and his friends have no chance of finding us. Hell, I don't even know exactly where we are. I'm sick of keeping up. "Doubtful. She's had that damn cold going around and it's f****d up her smell. We could ask Elli to help." I get sick. Just the mention of her name makes me snarl. "I'm not asking Elli for anything. I'll figure out something. Call around, see if you can find-" His voice cuts out, meaning someone just called him since he was mid-sentence. I can't believe he's still looking for me. The problem is, I wish he'd find me. If I tell him where I am, and he comes, I have to feel guilty for dragging him around and risking his life. If he finds me on his own, then I … s**t. I would still feel guilty. I have to keep him away.