Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11

NICHOLAS

I wanted to avoid Holly’s question, and the best way to do that was to distract her with pleasure. But she needed to build up her strength first. And I sensed she wasn’t going to let the topic go. Fortunately, another option presented itself when there was a knock at the door.

I swung my legs out of bed, wrapped a blanket around my waist, and strode to the door. Mae Birnbaum stood there with a tray laden with breakfast food, a troubled expression on her face.

“I thought you might need something to eat. Holly mentioned that you would prefer to eat in your rooms this morning.”

I knotted the blanket and took the tray, laying it on the table just inside the door. I was about to close it, but Mae didn’t appear ready to leave yet. Remembering the manners that Holly was trying to instill in me, I pasted a smile on my face. “Thank you for bringing us something to eat. How is the storm?”

She looked startled. “Oh, there’s almost two feet on the ground already. It’s been coming down heavily since midnight. It’s not showing any sign of ending.”

Dread settled heavy in my stomach, but there was relief. If we couldn’t leave, no one else was going anywhere either. But the tension that radiated off the older woman concerned me. “Is everything okay?”

She glanced over her shoulder. “Harold wanted me to leave it alone, but I think you should know. Two men came by last night, while you both were at the Christmas Market. They said they were looking for their sister. She had been taken by her abusive boyfriend, and they wanted to help her. They showed a lot of attention to your car in the parking lot, and they described someone who looked at a lot like Holly.”

Holly came up behind me, resting a hand on my back. A chill settled over me, and I knew what I had to do. Anger churned in my stomach, and I struggled to control my temper, knowing I had to keep any signs of my other-ness from showing.

“We appreciate you sharing this with us, Mae. I don’t have any brothers, and I can assure you, Nick is anything but abusive,” Holly said, her tone strong and confident.

Mae relaxed in that moment, a smile curving her lips. “I know he’s not, dear. I was married before Harold, and he was not a nice man. I know an abusive man when I see one, and your man is not like that. But these men, they were bad news. We could tell straight away.”

“What did you tell them?” My tone was sharp, and I felt bad, but I needed to know if we had to move immediately.

Holly’s hand rubbed my back soothingly, and Mae jerked in surprise. “Oh, we told them that Harold drove the girl to the train station and helped her get a ticket south. He stayed until she got on the train. We’re not sure if they believed us, but they left. They hung around outside for a while, but my son came by, and they left. He’s an officer in the police department, so they didn’t linger for long.”

“Why did you help us?”

“Nick,” Holly said, a tone of reproach in her voice.

Mae narrowed her gaze at me. “Because I don’t think they were good men, and I think you are. Was I wrong?”

How could I answer that? There are many who considered vampires to be monsters, evil creatures who hunted humans. Others worshipped us. Who was right? I shrugged. “I think everyone has a little bit of both in them.”

She smiled. “Good answer. I think you’ll need a little bit of bad to protect Holly. But I don’t think you’re mean. I don’t think you would hurt someone unless you had to, and that’s the difference.”

Heavy footsteps came down the hall, and I stiffened, my fangs descending in preparation to fight. Harold came around the corner, his mouth turned down in disapproval. “So, you told them, didn’t you? I told you not to interfere.”

Mae straightened. “They deserved to know.”

“Well, that’s it then.” He faced me. “What will you do?”

“We’ll leave as soon as it’s safe.” Of course, safety meant sundown and when the storm had passed. Hopefully, those two events coincided.

Harold nodded. “The storm should be winding down by noon. It will take them some time to clear the roads. You might be able to get out tonight. But you can’t take your car.”

I cursed under my breath. “We’ll rent one.”

Harold shook his head. “You won’t find one anywhere in town. I already checked, assuming you would do that. And I’d bet those men would do the same.” He heaved another sigh. “You’ll take our truck. It was parked in the garage, out of sight, and they never went near that building. I doubt they know we have one. It should get you through any bad weather and throw them off your tracks.”

I couldn’t believe they would offer us their truck and put themselves on the line for us. “Why would you do this? These aren’t nice men.”

Mae smiled sadly. “I told you, I was married before. I barely escaped. Someone helped me once, ensured I was able to get away and not have any trouble. I had a second chance thanks to that Good Samaritan. It’s my turn to pay it forward.”

Holly leaned around me. “You shouldn’t get involved. They could hurt you.”

Harold gave a dark laugh. “Let them try. I have a shotgun, and I’m not afraid to use it. Besides, our son and grandson both work for the police department. They’re already on alert for these men. We’ll be just fine. You take care of yourselves.”

“We’ll make sure you get your truck back,” I assured them.

Harold looked at Holly who was talked with Mae quietly. “You just take care of her and keep her safe. That’s what matters.”

He moved past me to talk to Holly about his temperamental truck named Lola. I really didn’t want to ask why she was named that, because it sounded like a stripper’s name to me.

Mae lowered her voice and drew me aside. “I brought extra orange juice for Holly. She’ll need it to replenish her energy levels. There should be enough protein there, too. If you need anything else, let me know. I’ll prepare a basket for you to take on the road.”

Suspicion grew at her words, and I eyed her for a moment. “Thank you, Mae. How did you know we needed extra protein and orange juice?”

She gave a smirk. “Who do you think helped me escape my previous husband? He was the only one who saw what was going on, was the only one strong enough to stand up to the bully.” She rested a hand on my cheek. “Why do you think I knew to put black-out curtains on your windows? You’re safe here, Nicholas. We’ll keep you safe until it’s time to leave. Oh, and thanks for not feeding from Harold. I don’t think his heart could take it.”

Well, I’ll be damned. She always knew who I was.

She paused for a moment, as if considering her next words. “Are you taking her to your home, with other vampires?”

I nodded. It was the only way to keep her safe. Besides, the mating bond was forming, and I couldn’t imagine living without her.

Mae frowned. “I had hoped you wouldn’t say that. Vampires have come a long way since they revealed themselves, but many still don’t like humans. Is she safe with your family? Can you trust her with them?”

Mae’s words hit me like a stake through the heart. I was being na?ve if I thought I could protect Holly. I was a visitor in Grimm Mawr. My father and my cousin, Hugo, who ran the town, had made their feelings about outsider humans perfectly clear long ago. Blood servants were fine. They had ties to the clan, but outsiders were dangerous and to be avoided at all costs, eliminated if they could not be avoided. I had no standing in the clan, and Holly would not be protected, even as my mate. I had to go home. I was tired of being on the road and not being safe, but Holly could not come with me. Until I could find a safe haven for both of us, Holly and I could not be together.

Holly

I had driven pickups in my life. You couldn’t live in rural Pennsylvania on a farm without driving one at least once in your life. Heck, I’d learned how to drive on my grandfather’s fifteen-year-old Chevy. And I was no stranger to snowstorms either. The roads were messy, but at least there weren’t a lot of people driving, so it made it easier to see if anyone was following us.

Snow swirled around the tires as we drove. The roads might have been plowed, but flurries still fell gently and made pretty patterns on the pavement. Plow trucks passed us in either directions, keeping the roads clear and salted, but it appeared most people heeded the advice of the governor and stayed home. Hopefully, the hit men had found a deep hole to hide in for a while.

Nick hadn’t said much after the Birnbaums left us that morning. He watched me eat, forcing food on me until my stomach almost burst, while he picked at the food. He didn’t want to talk about next steps. He watched the weather reports with a distant expression throughout our breakfast, then bundled me into bed. I expected him to create space between us. The intimacy of the prior evening seemed broken. Yet he climbed in bed and gathered me close, falling into a deep sleep almost immediately. I thought sleep would be elusive, but encased in his arms, warm and cozy, I followed him quickly, only waking when he shook me much later.

I couldn’t drive fast with the road conditions, but we didn’t encounter much traffic, so that offset the speed issue. Soon, we crossed into New York State, and the traffic remained sparse. We had left the snow far behind, and true night had fallen, leaving us in darkness and silence. Nick was focused on his phone, texting someone periodically, but he dodged my questions about who it was. Dread filled me.

I flipped the radio to a Christmas music station, and Nick flipped it off immediately. I glared at him and turned it back on. He turned it off.

“I can’t stand the silence. Either we listen to music, or you start talking.”

“It’s safer to focus on your driving,” he countered.

“The roads are fine. And if we stay in silence much longer, I’m going to fall asleep, and we’ll drive right off the road. Not safer,” I argued.

He turned his dark eyes on me, looking so remote and cold that I shivered. “Fine. We’ll find a place to stop for something to eat.”

“That wasn’t my point.” Where had the sweet and sexy Nick from the previous night gone?

“I need to make a call, anyway.”

I shrugged. “You’re not driving. Make the call.” He gave me a flat look, and I turned back to the road, feeling deflated. “Oh. It’s about me.”

I had hoped that last night had changed his mind. That maybe he was going to bring me with him to his home, but clearly I had too much baggage for his family. I couldn’t really blame him. It was one thing to bring a friend home for the holidays. It was another to bring someone who had mafia hitmen following them. That would be kind of a downer for the festive season.

I cleared my throat. “There’s a sign for food and gas up ahead. Do you want to see what they have?”

“Fine.”

Wow, showing all kinds of enthusiasm there. “How far are we from your home?”

He looked up. “A few hours.”

“That’s all? I didn’t realize we were so close.”

Why hadn’t he told me how close we were to his home? If we hadn’t stopped at the Christmas Market or the village, we could have been home yesterday. Why didn’t he push harder?

He shrugged. “It wasn’t important. We had time. And you seemed to want to check out those places.”

“They could have caught us. And you could have been home sooner.”

I was trying to wrap my brain around why he did something he clearly hated—spending time at the holiday places—instead of pushing me to get on the road. Did he really do them just for me, even though I could have put us at risk?

“I told you that I had time before I had to be home. And I needed time to put your new identity together.” His phone dinged, and he glanced up. “Take the next exit. There will be a diner. Luiza’s. We’ll stop there.”

I wasn’t sure how I felt about our time together drawing to a close. I changed lanes and watched for anyone following us. “I thought I could maybe join you at your home.”

He studied me carefully. “I told you that was a terrible idea.”

“But I could stay somewhere nearby, and you could join me later. Maybe?”

He set his phone down on his lap with a sigh. “Holly, I should never have fed from you. I wish it could be different, but we’re not meant to be together. It’s too dangerous for you in Grimm Mawr.”

“You said you have humans there. You have to feed from someone. And you already fed from me and you’re not dead yet, so my blood works for you. So why can’t I be your blood person or something?”

I was probably being unreasonable, the very definition of a clingy girlfriend, but I wanted to understand why we couldn’t work. I had enough men ghost me in the past, and it didn’t usually matter. But for some reason, Nick mattered. Damned Stockholm Syndrome.

“It doesn’t work that way. Being a blood servant is an inherited position, handed down through generations.”

I stopped at the light at the end of the exit and faced him. “What aren’t you telling me?”

He let out an exhale. “My family hates humans. You would be in extreme danger if you came home with me.”

“More than I’m in now?”

He laughed, a raw, hoarse sound. “Definitely.”

Well, crap. That didn’t sound good. The light changed and I turned, headed for the brightly lit Luiza’s diner. Only a few cars were in the lot. It was close to midnight now. The snowstorm had hit here too, and there were piles of snow around the brightly lit parking lot.

I parked and started to get out, but Nick stopped me. “I’m sorry to hurt your feelings.”

Hurt my feelings? We were way beyond that. I blinked to clear the tears stinging my eyes. “I’m fine, Nick. But I need to use the ladies’ room, so, if you don’t mind?”

He dropped my arm. “Be careful, okay? I’m doing this for your own good. I’m keeping my promise, Holly. I never promised forever.”

“Yeah, I know.” Of course, back then, I thought that I had no other choices.

Now, I might choose the hitmen. That pain would be over quickly.