Fate (The Edge of Forever) (3 page)

He chuckled, “You want to clue me in on how you know me?”

I shook my head again, “No. Not really.” I laughed. He tilted his head down, studying me. His piercing eyes showing no sign of relenting. “Fine!” I exclaimed throwing my hands up in defeat. “I work for Gates and Summers. The party planning agency that’s bidding on the new hotel you just built.”

He smiled brilliantly at me, raising a quizzical brow. “Are you working on that account?”

I nodded, “I’m assisting.” I looked up into his eyes. I wasn’t sure what he was thinking, but I could almost see the wheels turning. I sighed, “I didn’t want to say anything, because I didn’t want to influence your decision.”

Grayson steepled his fingers together tapping his forefingers against his lips while he pondered something over. “If you have dinner with me tomorrow, I promise to not let it influence my decision.”

He took a sip of wine, as I gaped at him. “That’s blackmail,” I exclaimed, humor lingering in my words. I couldn’t believe he really had just said that to me.

“Actually, I think the word you’re looking for is extortion, which really isn’t what this is.” He smiled then bit his bottom lip. “You wouldn’t be dating me to get something in return. Our dates would mean you didn’t receive special treatment.”

“Now you’re talking about
dates
? Plural.” I shook my head with disbelief. I wanted to date him. I found myself severely attracted to him but I wasn’t going to make it easy for him. I was also finding his negotiating skills top notch, which I guess attributed to his business holdings. You don’t become CEO of your own business without some major skills.

“Come on, Gabriella. Either you can agree to see me on your own accord, or I can give you my account and you’ll have to see me anyways. The former is so much more…
pleasurable
.” He lowered his voice suggestively. 

“You are insatiable,” I grinned from ear to ear. “You are also a man of business,” I spoke firmly, but with a hint of a smile, “and you wouldn’t just give your account to an agency that didn’t deserve it and risk losing money.”

He sighed deeply, “You’re right. I guess you’ll just have to date me without me manipulating you into it,” he grinned.

I looked up at him from under my lashes, seeing utter amusement spread across his features making him look boyish, younger than he seemed earlier. “I have to work tomorrow.” I lowered my voice to show my genuine disappointment.

“Sunday?” he asked. I shook my head. There would be no way to get away from my mother without her being suspicious. Especially on Sundays. “Monday then.” I exhaled a deep breath. He was relentless. “Come on, Gabriella. I’m a very patient man. We can keep this game up, but we will agree on a day.” 

“Do you always get what you want, Grayson?”

“Always,” he said in all seriousness.

“Monday,” I nodded in agreement.
 

After the details of our next date were arranged, we settled our bill, which Grayson refused to let me pay for, although I didn’t truly argue much. I liked to think of myself as a more liberal, modern woman, but I still liked it when a man was more traditionally romantic; hold doors, pulling out chairs, things of that nature.

Leaving the restaurant, Grayson walked to the curb, hailing a cab. He had offered to take me home, but I declined since I was heading to Shawn’s instead of home. I didn’t want it to raise any questions. Once the taxi pulled up, we stood there in the awkward goodnight moment. He gave me a wry smile, and then slowly leaned down. My heart began to pound in my chest anticipating his kiss. Wondering what his lips would feel like against mine. Wondering how he would taste. He leaned past my mouth pressing his lips lightly to my cheek. My breathing was faster. His scent was heavenly, enticing my fangs to descend. I smiled closed lipped at him as he pulled back. I was slightly disappointed that he hadn’t kissed me, and I think he knew it and did it on purpose. 

“Goodnight, Gaby.” Just before I got into the car, I reached in my clutch and pulled out his iPhone. He smiled taking it before handing me my own. “I almost hoped you’d forget. It’d give me an excuse to see you tomorrow.”
 

I giggled, “Monday?” He nodded in agreement then closed the door to the cab once I was settled inside. He watched me as the taxi pulled away and I watched him in return.
 

Once he was out of sight, I unlocked my phone just to make sure it was really mine this time. I scanned through my contacts. Everything seemed to be in order, when I noticed a new entry. While Grayson had my phone, it looked like he added his number to it. I smiled to myself, clutching it to my chest.
 

* * *

“It was wonderful,” I told Shawn. I had showed up at his apartment after my date had ended. I was changing outfits to one my mother wouldn’t have a heart attack over. It was the same one I had worn earlier when I left the nest. I also wanted to make sure that Shawn couldn’t smell Grayson on me, because if a werewolf couldn’t, then the vampires at the nest definitely wouldn’t. No one had a nose like a werewolf. It was one thing they outdid us on.

He chuckled, “I’m glad you enjoyed yourself Gaby, but
 dinner Monday?” 

I paused, standing there with jeans on under my dress. My eyebrows scrunched. “You’re the one that told me to go out with him!”
 

“That’s not what I meant,” he sighed running his fingers through his gorgeous silky black hair. “What are you going to say when you leave the confines of the nest? You can’t keep telling them that you’re constantly hanging with me. They won’t buy it.”
 

My face alighted with mischief. “I was hoping you’d be able to help me come up with something,” I said in my sweetest, innocent, up to no good voice.
 

“Gaby...” he groaned.
 

“Come on, Shawn, you know how they are. You just said yourself that I won’t be able to use you as an excuse. I need something a little more long term.”
 

His brown eyes bored into me. “Long term? You just met this guy, Gabs. You actually think he’ll stick around once he finds out your secret?” Telling Grayson my secret wasn’t something I had really been thinking about. How would that even go? I ripped my dress over my head. Grabbing my V-neck black tee out of my bag, I slipped it on. Once I was dressed and my date clothes securely in my bag, I spoke. “I don’t know, Shawn, but I like him. He’s the first human… well, person, for that matter, that I’ve come across that I actually like. Maybe once he gets to know me...” I shook my head, not sure how to finish it. Maybe Shawn was right. Maybe I was just being overly optimistic. Maybe it was crazy to think that I could have a relationship outside of the nest. If Grayson did accept me, what about the other vampires? Plus, he was so well known and that could make even a regular relationship difficult.
Relationship?
Was that really what I was wanting? There were so many obstacles I just didn’t know which way to go. 

Shawn pursed his lips, eyeballing me suspiciously. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you talk like that before.” I looked at him confused. “You like him. Like,
really
like him.” I smirked then nodded. “Alright,” he exhaled, “you’re my girl, Gaby. We’ll think of something.”

Chapter
2

Blood

It was almost two in the morning when I found myself back at the nest. We owned the entire apartment building; all twenty-six floors. From the outside, it looked like every other building surrounding it, but on the inside the windows were covered in cement and bricks to block the sunlight, all but the first three floors. They were partially visible from the street. We didn’t want it to look unusual from the outside looking in for someone to see the bricks on the other side of the glass.
 

“Gabriella!” I paused and inwardly groaned while trying to hold back the shudder I felt that threatened to overtake my system. That voice made my skin crawl far worse than any disgusting bug would. Faster than a bolt of lightning, Anton stood in front of me. I was so used to the faster movement of vampires that I didn’t even jolt with surprise. He was as white as a sheet, probably something to do with not seeing the sun in the last four hundred years. His black hair hung in waves to his shoulders. His eyes were almost matching in color. He was, at the minimum, a scary looking vampire and he had his gaze set on me which might make a weaker person flinch. Maybe as a human he might have been considered handsome, but the centuries of being undead had tainted him. Or maybe it was because he was evil.

“We missed you this evening, Gabriella,” his accent rolled off his tongue. I could never pinpoint it. I guess moving around for all these years, several different accents contributed to Anton’s speech. “I do hope everything is well with your furry friend, Shane.”

I rolled my eyes. “Shawn,” I corrected. I was certain Anton knew Shawn’s name. He just wanted to get me riled and it did, but I did my best to not let him know.
 

“Ah, yes. My apologies,” he made a slight bow then gestured down the hall. “Would you join me for a nightcap?”
 

No, no, no. I definitely did not want to join him. I wanted him to leave me alone. “I’m really tired,” I tried my best to sound convincing.
 

“Have you fed today?”
 

I couldn’t lie. He’d sense it, listening to my heartbeat. And unlike when I lied to my mother where my heartbeat was already racing, Anton would hear it jump. I sighed and shook my head. Without another word, he turned me around and we walked towards the dining room, at a regular human pace.

Once I was settled in, Anton summoned two glasses of blood. He yelled at the newbie vampire who was serving us, complaining he wasn’t fast enough. All new vampires had to pay the price for their immortality and this one was certainly paying. I was handed my glass first. It was in a large wine glass and warm to the touch. You’d figure vampires would want their blood at a perfect 98.6, but once it was in blood bags, they wanted it heated up a little higher to help dissolve the anticoagulant. It wasn’t the best tasting stuff, leaving a bitter edged aftertaste behind, but it was much better than the cow blood they tried to get us to drink a few years ago. The temperature also helped warm their bodies a little more so they weren’t quite so cold to the touch. I was drinking my glass of warm goodness as fast as I could without scalding my tongue, not that it would take long to heal. The blood tasted divine but that wasn’t why I was guzzling it down. Normally I liked to savor it, draw out the delectable moment, but I was ready to be away from Anton.

“Your mother tells me your werewolf friend was having some problems that you needed to assist him with. What kind of problems?”

I licked my lips, removing the delicious red residue. “I’m not sure how that is any of your business, but if you must know, it was guy problems.” 

His nose cringed, wrinkling in disgust. Anton was what one might call a bit of a homophobe. He had never met Shawn, but just the fact Shawn was interested in guys grossed Anton out, which I found amusing. It stopped him from asking too many questions that might add to his discomfort. I really wasn’t lying, there were guy problems I was just the one having them.
 

“You’ve seen my mother this evening?” I spoke before sipping more of my O positive. He studied me for a moment then nodded. “Is she still here?” I said once I downed the remainder of my glass. He nodded again. “I need to speak to her. Thank you for the blood.” I set my glass down. I expected him to stop me but was glad he didn’t. As I walked away, I could hear Anton yelling at the new vampire. I heard a loud smack, not wanting to get involved I scurried away. I felt awful for the new vampire, but he knew what it was he signing up for. A few years of servitude for several lifetimes of immortality didn’t seem like a steep price to most humans. Trying to get away from Anton as quickly as I could, had me running straight into a cold, human-shaped wall.
Why the hell did I keep running into people today?

I let my eyes take in the person in front of me. Her short blond hair was pulled away from her face and was clipped in a type of twist that wasn’t visible to me. Her lean, slender body barely hid under her low-cut, yellow blouse and extremely short, black skirt.

“Gabriella, such a pity you were not here this evening. You were missed terribly.” Her voice had a melodic resonance, which was part of her allure to humans. I could hear the lie in her words even though she kept her mask tightly bound on her face.

“Ava, I’m so sorry to be missed. I was just telling Anton that it could not be helped. You understand, of course. When friends need us, we must go,” I joked. I doubted she understood. Ava was a cold, heartless, vampire which made me certain she had no friends. She was what gave the rest of us a bad name. History would have called her a succubus. She used her charms to seduce humans then drained them dry, believing they deserved it simply for being inferior to us. If it wasn’t for the fact that Anton was her maker, she would have been killed for her indiscretions long ago. As it was, she showed no remorse for her crimes and did not even ask Anton for forgiveness.

“Of course. Such a pity though. I do hope your friend is well.” Her words came out tight and I knew I had hit a nerve. Ava hated the idea of me speaking to Anton. Well, anything that was me and Anton. If she only knew we were on the same side of the coin on that one. She wanted him and I wanted her to have him. I wanted anything that would push his unwanted infatuation on someone else. Even if it meant a wicked, devilish creature like Ava would get what she wanted to be happy.  “Is the master in there?” She pointed to the door to the kitchen. I nodded, ready to be done toying with Ava and be on my way. “Then I must excuse myself. I have some most
urgent
business to attend to with him and it needs his immediate attention,” she smiled wickedly wanting to make sure I caught her double innuendo.