Chapter 45: 45: Past Terrors

BELLE

We pulled up to Liam’s father’s house in record time.

The drive was honestly a bit terrifying—Liam sped the entire time, nearly running over several people, and took back roads to avoid any busy streets where we might be spotted.

The house was surrounded by giant gates—the type you would expect to see at a celebrity’s home, put there for their privacy and safety.

There was a man in a uniform waiting for us at a station next to the entrance to the gate. He let us through the moment he saw Liam’s truck.

We drove up the long private driveway and up to one of the biggest houses I had ever seen.

In fact, it was so big that it didn’t even really look like a house at all—it was more like a mansion disguised as a sweet little beach house, painted in whites, blues, and creams, but also probably had at least twenty bedrooms.

Liam stopped his car in front of a massive garage. It was open, so I could see the six vehicles inside of it—a Tesla, Porsche, and Lamborghini all casually parked next to each other.

~This ~was where Liam had grown up? I knew his family had money, but this was more than just money; this was power and prestige.

I swallowed, suddenly feeling extremely underdressed.

Grayson had given me some of his clothes to wear back at the hotel—a black T-shirt and a pair of gray sweatpants that I had to roll up six times to be able to walk in—since I only had my waitress uniform from the other night.

I hadn’t minded how big everything was on me when he had given me the clothes, but now I felt tiny, like I was drowning in fabric.

“I wish I was wearing something else,” I muttered. “I don’t even have shoes on.”

“It doesn’t matter what you’re wearing because if anybody looks at you for longer than five seconds, I’ll rip their eyes out,” Grayson replied, his voice jagged.

Liam opened his door. “A real charmer you got there, Belle,” he said as he stepped out of the car.

Grayson bared his teeth at him.

I reached for the handle of the door next to us, but Grayson grabbed my hand, stopping me.

“Who else is in the house?” he asked Liam.

“What?” Liam replied.

“I smell three people inside. Who are they?”

Liam’s brows rose in shock. I was shocked too. He could smell them from all the way out here?

“My parents,” Liam responded. He looked at the house. “And my sister, probably, but I’m not sure.”

“Laila is here?” I hadn’t seen my friend since the night Adalee attacked me. A sense of relief filled me, knowing that I would get to see her before Grayson and I left.

All of a sudden, the door to the driver’s seat of the vehicle was slammed shut by Grayson. Then he quickly pressed the lock down to keep Liam out of the car.

“What the hell?” Liam asked, watching us from the other side of the window. He held up the key in his hand. “You know I have the key, right? I could get in if I wanted to.”

Grayson ignored him and instead unexpectedly turned me around in his lap so that I was straddling him, giving me his full attention.

He gently grabbed my chin and turned my head so I couldn’t look away from him.

“I need you to listen to me, okay?” he said, his tone serious. His thumb started to stroke the skin of my chin.

I nodded slowly. “Okay.”

“We’re about to meet one of the most notorious vampires of all time,” he started. “And he’s invited us to his home, in his territory.

“I don’t know what his intentions are, but I don’t trust him. And I don’t trust him around you—especially when I’m already on edge.

“If I could, I would lock you away and keep you all to myself for the rest of eternity.” His hands squeezed my hips roughly and then slowly traveled up and along my rib cage.

His jaw was clenched so hard that I was worried it was going to pop. I couldn’t help but shift against him, feeling my blood go hot, my breathing getting deeper.

“I need you to stay with me,” he continued. “My wolf is extremely close to the surface. If anything happens to you…”

He took a deep shuddering breath. “Just stay with me. I want you by my side at all times. Take more than one step away from me, and I can’t promise I won’t murder every single person in that house. Friend or not.”

The intensity coming off of him at that moment made my stomach tighten. “Okay. I’ll stay with you.”

He continued to stare at me.

“I promise.” I framed his face in my hands and put my forehead against his, leaving a short kiss on his full lips. “I won’t leave your side,” I whispered against his mouth.

He hauled me even closer to him. “No matter what?”

“No matter what.” I looked back at the house, suddenly feeling uneasy. “Are they…Will they have red eyes?”

Grayson nodded slowly. “The Blackwoods are descendants of the Mortars, so they can change the color of their eyes as they see fit. But, yes, their eyes are naturally red.”

He must have been able to sense how worried that made me feel because he quickly said, “But you have nothing to worry about because I’m not leaving your side either. No matter what.

“No one is going to come near you. I can promise you that.”

Grayson started to purr quietly, making my eyes snap up to meet his and my body relax into him.

I was worrying him. And, Lord knew, when Grayson was worried about me, things tended to get intense pretty quickly. And not in a good way.

“I’ll be fine,” I said, trying to soothe him, rubbing my hands on his arms. “I just don’t like the idea of being surrounded by all of those red eyes after all of the night terrors I had. But I’ll be fine. I’m not worried.”

Lie. I was terrified.

I studied Grayson’s eyes which were currently a dark red, both his wolf and vampire sides staring back at me. Liam’s eyes were also red. I tried taking in some deep breaths.

If I could get used to the two of them looking like demons straight out of hell, who was to say I couldn’t handle more, right?

“That’s what your night terrors were about?” Liam asked, suddenly swinging the car door open.

I gasped. “You could hear that?”

Liam scoffed as if I had just insulted him. “Of course I could hear it. I’m a vampire, remember?”

A low growl ripped through Grayson’s chest. He hugged me closer to him. “How does he know about your night terrors?”

His gaze snapped to Liam. “How the hell do you know about my mate’s night terrors?”

“It’s not what you think—” I started to say.

“I know about them because I could hear her screaming bloody murder every night when she was staying with me. You know, after you abandoned her and left her homeless with nowhere to go?” Liam explained.

Grayson’s body started vibrating with anger as his chest grew wider, stretching out his T-shirt. He looked down at me with livid eyes. “You ~lived~ with him?”

Well, shit.

I swallowed. I had very intentionally not brought up my time spent staying at Liam’s apartment, knowing it would just cause issues. “Well, yes, but it’s—”

“For how long?” Grayson bit out through gritted teeth.

“T-Two months,” I replied stiffly. “But I didn’t want to, I swear! And I got out of there as soon as I had enough money for my own apartment. I didn’t have anywhere else to go.

“And where would you have rather I slept, outside in the cold, or inside in Liam’s very nice, very safe apartment?”

“You were sleeping in the same house as a fucking vampire, Belle. That’s the furthest thing from safe.”

I threw my hands up defensively. “Well, it wasn’t like I knew that! And aren’t you technically a vampire now too? And I sleep in the same ~bed~ as you.”

Grayson abruptly grabbed my head, making me gasp. He tilted it to the side so he could examine my neck. “Did you bite her?” he demanded from Liam. “If you fed from her, I swear to God—”

I scoffed, pushing him away from me. “No, he didn’t bite me—”

“I’m not asking you.” Grayson shoved me behind him.

My mouth fell open in shock. Rude.

“Humans often don’t remember when vampires feed from them. In fact, they release a venom that makes you keep going back to them, addicted to their presence like a drug.” He glared at Liam.

“It’s what makes them so deadly.”

“I would never feed from her,” Liam fumed. “She’s my friend. I only ever wanted to help her. I took care of her—when no one else did.”

Grayson lunged forward with me still on his lap—probably meaning to strangle my friend—but I quickly wrapped my arms around his neck, stopping him.

“I’m okay,” I whispered into his neck. “I’m okay. He never touched me. He wouldn’t even think about touching me like that. I promise.” I leaned back to look at him, giving him a small smile.

“There’s only one person who has ever put his teeth in me without my permission, and that was you.”

I expected him to return my smile at my joke, but that wasn’t the case. Instead, his hand gripped my jaw—not hard, but definitely stiff and unyielding.

A small ring of red formed around his irises and then slowly bled over the black that signified his wolf until it was completely covered. His vampire was in charge.

“That is how it will stay,” he snarled. “Mine are the ~only~ teeth that will ever pierce your perfect skin.”

His hand skimmed down to my jaw until it was loosely wrapped around my neck, his thumb running over my pulse. He was so close to me—I could feel his breath fanning over my lips.

He stared down at me with so much intensity, so much longing that I found myself leaning into him. “Take another step, boy, and my teeth will be sinking into you next. Right over your throat.”

Grayson didn’t look at Liam as he spoke. I hadn’t even noticed Liam getting closer to us, taking slow, careful steps.

I knew he was only concerned for my safety, but I wanted to tell him that he needed to stop messing with Grayson when he was in such a state as he was now. He was going to get himself killed.

Thankfully though, I saw him pause his movements out of the corner of my eye.

Grayson grunted. “We will only be here for one night. The plane is already on its way.” I wasn’t sure if he was saying it for my benefit or for his own.

After checking our surroundings, he lifted me into his arms once again and stepped out of the car.