Lydia's Secret (The Secret Series Book 1) (2 page)

Chapter Two

“Where am I?” Lydia squinted up at the stranger, trying to make out his features.

Shadows cut across his face in sharp relief. She could barely see his eyes in the darkness. “Who…?”

“My name is Roman. The police are on their way. Are you all right?”

“Oh, God, what time is it?” She tried to sit up, but dizziness assaulted her. “I need my purse.”

Roman gently pushed her shoulders back down. “Not so fast. You took quite a bump to the head.” His voice was an incredible rumble. “Your purse is a few feet away, and I’m not sure what time it is.”

“I have to get home.” She tried to sit up again, but his hold only tightened.

“You have to be looked at first. Your head was bleeding.”

“Bleeding?” A part of her realized her reaction time and coherent response were far slower than normal, but she couldn’t seem to shake off the fog. Flashes of memory lit through her mind.
Terror. The alley.
“There was a man…” Her throat choked on panic
.
Fangs
. “His teeth—”

“Shhhh.” He touched her face with light fingers. “You were attacked, but the guy ran off.” His voice took on a melodic tone. Calmness flowed into her, wrapped itself around the fear, and sealed it away. “You fell and hit your head.”

“I was attacked...”

He lightly massaged her temples. “You’re safe now.”

Tension eased further and she sighed. “You saved me?”

She thought his lips tightened for a brief instant before curving into another smile, but it was too dark to tell. “We’ll get you home after the ambulance arrives.”

Her backside hurt, and the ice-cold ground wasn’t helping. She turned her head on the rock-hard pillow when her bruised scalp began to protest. “What am I lying on?” The drone of sirens grew louder.

“My leg.”

His leg
?
What the hell is he made of? Brick?
“Help me up, please?”

“I can’t do that.” He brushed a few strands of hair from her face. “We have to make sure you’re okay first.”

Lights flashed nearby and his arm lifted in a wave. “Over here!”

The sound of footsteps could be heard a moment later. “We received a call about an attack.”

“She’s been hurt. She hit her head on the ice and was unconscious for a time,” Roman offered in a calm, deep voice.

The officer nodded and spoke to someone a short distance away. “Call this in.”

Another male passed on the information over a radio.

The deputy shined a light in Roman’s face. “I’m Officer Gates. And you are?”

“Roman Castillo.”

Roman. What an interesting name, Lydia thought, staring up at his shadowed profile.

The other officer spoke into his mic as he stalked toward them, his boots crunching the ice with every step. A bright light pierced her vision, and she moaned in pain.

Her savior blocked it for a moment. “Where’s the ambulance?”

“On their way.” The officer knelt beside her. “Ma’am. I’m going to have to ask you a few questions. Are you up for it?”

“Okay.”

“Great. Let’s start with your name.”

“Lydia. Lydia Hughes.”

“Ms. Hughes. Can you tell me what happened?”

“I was walking home from work and some guy grabbed me. He dragged me into the alley.”

“Can you describe him for me?”

“No. I didn’t get a good look at him. It was dark. He was tall, very strong…” She shuddered and peered up at the deputy. “He said something, but I can’t remember what it was.”

She closed her eyes for a moment. All the fear and panic returned in a fury and knotted inside her. “I have to get home to my daughter.”

Roman’s leg tensed under her head.

“We’ll get you home to your daughter very soon. You have to be seen by the medics first. Did he have a weapon?”

“I’m not sure.” She glanced up at Roman with a questioning look.

A muscle flexed along his jaw. “I didn’t see anything. But like she said, it was dark.”

“This man showed up and got me away from him.” She indicated Roman with a small wave of her hand. “They started fighting, and I fell.” Exhaling a shaky breath, she squinted against the lights. “Can I please sit up?”

“I’m sorry, ma’am, but I’m going to have to ask you not to move.” He gave her an apologetic look. “The medics are almost here.”

The deputy alternated between questioning her and radio communication until she wanted to scream. Her worry over Jacie grew by the minute.

“Roman Castillo, right?” The officer glanced at him before scribbling more information in his little book. “Can you tell me what happened?”

“Gates!” someone yelled from a few yards away. “The medics are here.” The sound of sirens approaching abruptly stopped.

Lydia’s stomach twisted. The closest ambulance service was her hospital, and she hoped it wasn’t anyone she recognized. She had no intension of going to the emergency room and didn’t want to be pressured by people she worked with. She was relieved when strangers exited the vehicle.

Time passed in a blur of repetitive information. Medic pokes and prods warred with the incessant throbbing inside her head. She suffered through the lights in her eyes and their questions until they mentioned taking her to the ER for observation.

“No.” She sat up so fast her vision blurred. Roman’s arm came around her in a protective manner, and she found herself relaxing against him.

One of the medics gently probed her head. “Ms. Hughes. You were unconscious for a time. I’m pretty sure you have a concussion.”

“I work at the hospital. You don’t have to tell me that.” She didn’t mention it was the lab she worked in. Frigid wind cut through, leaving her shivering to the bone.

“I’m not going to the emergency room.” She couldn’t afford the cost of the ambulance or the ER fees on top of her daughter’s meds and piling doctor bills. She pushed away the medic’s hands and rose. “I’m going home.”

“Okay, then, I’m going to need you to sign an AMA.” He took out a piece of paper from his bag, secured it to a clipboard, and passed it to her. “Since you work at the hospital, I’m sure you’re familiar with it.”

“Yes. It’s a refusal of service. It means against medical advice.” She took the pen he offered, signed the appropriate place, and handed it back.

“Do you have someone to keep an eye on you for a few hours?”

“I’ll take care of it.” Roman’s deep voice rumbled next to her ear.

An odd sensation flowed through her. Any thoughts she had of declining abruptly fled. “Thank you,” she muttered, resting her head against him.

The medic raised his hands in defeat. “There are things you need to know.”

“Tell me what she needs to do.”

* * * *

“
We’ll do what we can, Ms. Hughes. Please call this number if you remember anything else.” The police officer gave her a card, dropped his clipboard onto the backseat, and shut the door with more force than was necessary.

“Officer Gates.” Roman held out his hand.

The guy shook it without thought, giving Roman an impression of impatience. With the level of crime taking place in the city these days, it was certainly understandable.

“I have your card. I’ll let you know if I remember anything as well,” Roman muttered, releasing the deputy’s hand.

Gates gave an abrupt nod, his gaze softening as he looked at Lydia. “Stay safe and make sure you get that head checked out.”

“I will.”

He turned his attention back to Roman. “You’ll take her home? We can give her a ride if it’s an inconvenience for you.”

Roman forced a smile. “No inconvenience.”

“I don’t care who takes me home, but I need to hurry.” Lydia’s face was drawn and pale.

She has a daughter
. Roman kept his expression passive, but his mind spun with the implications. He wondered if Simon was aware of the child.

The radio crackled as another call came in. “That’s us.” Gates’s partner jogged to the driver’s side and climbed behind the wheel. Gates nodded to Roman, jerked the passenger door open, and disappeared inside. The patrol car sped away.

“Let’s get you out of here.” Roman hit Autostart on his key ring, and the purr of his SUV’s engine could be heard through the wind along with Lydia’s heartbeat. Every thrum and push of blood through her system was a siren’s song to his beast. His jaw ached, but he kept his fangs retracted. Barely.

It wasn’t going to be easy being enclosed in a vehicle with her scent torturing him. She smelled like Ione.
Better than Ione.
Memories came flooding back with a vengeance.

“Thank you for saving me.” She peered up at him with guileless blue eyes, and he was swept away by sensations he thought long dead.

What if she knew his kind was the reason she’d been attacked in the first place? He doubted thanking him would be at the top of her list.

A growl threatened to rise up. The last thing he needed was to lose his head over a pawn in Svetlana and Simon’s private war. Ione was gone and had been for centuries. “No problem.”

They reached the SUV and he unlocked the passenger side. “How far away do you live?”

“Are you sure you don’t mind?” Her hesitation wasn’t lost on him.

“I told the medic and the police officers that I would see you home safely.” He opened the door and stepped aside. Heat drifted out, and he could almost see her cheeks warming.

“Thank you. I just live a few blocks from here.”

“You have a daughter?” The question came out before he could stop it.

Her face lost some of its tension. “Yes.”

Roman held out his hand. She stared at it a moment before sliding her palm against his. Her fingers were small and freezing. A quick glance showed him she had short, well-kept nails. He imagined how they would feel digging into his back. What her lips would taste like. “Let’s get you home.”

Her mouth opened in surprise when he lifted her quickly onto the seat. He tried to ignore the way her soft body felt against his or the way his fingers seemed to burn from touching her despite the layers of clothing between them.
I’m so screwed.

He could see her pulse point slamming and wondered what it would feel like against his tongue. Her cheeks were flushed, and the scent of her body changed to something tantalizing.

Roman clenched his jaw. “Go ahead and put on your seat belt.”

Frigid air cut through his lungs but did nothing to cool his head. He shut the door, fled to the driver’s side, and got in without another word.

“Where to?”

“Just north of here, not too far.”

Fear weaved through her again. He could feel her fighting to stay calm. Her emotions were so easy to pick up; he could almost taste each individual one. It would be all too easy to control her mind, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it.
A gentle persuasion won’t hurt.

He inwardly sighed and put both hands on the steering wheel. “How’s your head?”

She reached up and touched the back of her scalp. “It throbs.”

“I’m sorry you were hurt.”

Her arm moved to the console between them, and Roman laid his hand over her wrist, flooding her with emotional calm. He felt the change almost instantly as her alarm settled into a comfortable haze of warmth.

“I won’t hurt you.” He turned to look at her, staring deep into her eyes. “I can’t hurt you.”

He interlocked her fingers with his and sent soothing thoughts to her until she relaxed against the leather seat.

It wasn’t that Lydia resembled Ione or even that her mannerisms were the same. Ione was impassive and quiet while Lydia’s mind was a riot of color and passion.

Blood never lies.
He had recognized Lydia’s the first time he’d scented it… A descendent of the Barbatus King, father of the cursed. If not for the king’s selfishness and greed, Lydia wouldn’t be in danger, and Ione would have lived a long, happy life safe in Roman’s arms.

Centuries of anger and resentment came flooding back in an instant. He wanted to kill Barbatus all over again. Roman prayed there was a hell and that Ione’s father, the king, was writhing in it still. The fact that he’d bargained with a witch and had all the female children in his bloodline cursed in an exchange for power was bad enough, but to watch his own daughter die and do nothing was beyond evil.

Roman shifted his gaze back to the road. She had no idea her blood carried a two-thousand-year-old curse or that Simon wanted her for that very reason. She would give him the power needed to defeat his maker, Svetlana.

A deep anger curled inside Roman’s gut. He would kill Simon before he’d allow him near Lydia again.

He unlocked their fingers to trace her wrist with his thumb. A small sip would soothe the ravenous beast clawing its way out. Just a drop of her blood would be enough. He put the SUV in reverse, using all of his control to ease out of the parking lot. His gums itched where his fangs began their descent. Damn Simon for triggering his hunger.