Bless The Beauty

chapter Seven




“I take it since you are driving in the opposite direction of the hospital, we’re not going there.”

Chase gave me a stern look from the backseat of Kellen’s car. “Mind telling me where we are going?”

I shifted in the front seat to look back at him, wondering just how I was going to put this. And furthermore, just what his reaction would be. I suspected he wasn’t going to be happy. “All right, take a deep breath and don’t throw a shit fit.”

Chase’s brows furrowed and his eyes narrowed. “All right.” His voice was hesitant and very guarded.

“Under vampire law…” I hesitated a moment, pondered what to say next or if I even wanted to continue at all. After a moment, I sucked back the hesitation and finished in a hurried breath, “I have to claim you as a consort for you to know about us.”

Chase’s suspicious expression shifted to one of blatant confusion. “A what?”

“A consort, it’s like a human…” I almost blurted out a word that he’d definitely not appreciate. I was only glad my mouth clamped shut before I made a terrible mistake.

“A pet,” Kellen finished for me shamelessly.

Chase’s expression returned to outrage so quickly, I was a surprise I managed to withhold my laughter. He crossed his arms over his chest in defiance. “You are not going to claim me as your pet, Hadley.”

I smiled and it was definitely forced. “It’s not really that bad.” What else could I say? I wouldn’t feed him bullshit or lie to him. What we were about to do was indeed under vampire law—acquire him for our uses. The term pet was exactly how vampires referred to it. I wasn’t about to tell him any different.

My words did nothing to ease Chase’s stern glance. “Hadley, if you think I am going to allow you to claim me as your pet, you’ve clearly lost it.”

I glanced over at Kellen who drove with a smile on his face. Jerk. Looks like I wasn’t about to get any help from him. My gaze returned to Chase. “It doesn’t mean anything to you, only to vampires.”

I hoped he’d see past this. “I don’t think of you that way.”

“Well that’s a f*cking good thing.” Chase guffawed.

Kellen laughed and his grin only grew as he glanced at Chase in the rear-view mirror. “What?

You don’t like the idea of being claimed by her?”

Chase snorted and glowered. “Not in the way it’s suggested, no.”

My hands clenched together as anxiousness set in. We were doing this, on our way to do this. I needed Chase to come to terms with it without scaring him. He was not agreeable in any way and this was part of the ceremony, the only way we would be able to stay together. He had to accept this. “It’s just what vampires do. It really doesn’t mean anything.”

“Then what is the point of it?” Chase demanded.

Kellen took a quick right and let out a long deep sigh that sounded very annoyed.

“So you don’t get your ass killed.”

I snapped my gaze toward him and my glare came quick. “Must you be so forward?”

He wasn’t helping. We had to take this slowly. There was so much to my world that Chase didn’t know, simply because I didn’t want him to. I had to ease him into this as gently as I could.

Kellen gave me a sideways glance with a smug grin on that handsome face. “I must.”

Then he focused his attention back on the road.

I snorted and looked back at Chase. Instantly, I felt mortified. He had so many emotions running across his face I couldn’t even decipher them, and I could only imagine how difficult hearing all this was.

You need to become my pet because if you don’t, you could die. Not really how I wanted to ask him to be my consort. Damn Kellen for making this much more difficult than it had to be.

“It’s just protection,” I told him as gently as I could. “It’s the way we do things. By letting us stake the claim on you, you could never be touched by another vampire.”

Chase’s brows rose up to his hairline. “Us?”

“You will belong to me too,” Kellen said with a smirk.

“The f*ck I will.” Chase pounded on the back of Kellen’s seat with his fist, but Kellen just laughed it off.

I sighed. Will he never shut up? “Enough, Kellen.” I focused on Chase. “It’s just added protection. Kellen is a shield.”

His raised brows rose even higher, an expression of complete blankness filled his face. “A what?”

I’d never seen him at such a loss for words, which told me how unsettled he was with all this. He couldn’t even truly comprehend what was going on here. Before I had a chance to come up with an answer, Kellen said, “A hunter. A killer. Any of those will do.”

“What exactly do you hunt?” Chase asked, with a note of scepticism to his tone.

“Vampires who have broken the laws,” I replied before Kellen could say something horrible. “It’s why he must claim you too. If you’re attached to me and he pisses someone off, they could come after you for revenge. If Kellen is attached to you, they won’t. It would be a personal threat against him.”

Chase thought a moment, then asked, “If he didn’t claim me and if someone attacked me, wouldn’t it be a personal attack against you, therefore piss Kellen off?”

I shook my head. “It doesn’t work like that. Vampires are bound by strict laws. We have to adhere to them. Kellen could never hurt anyone for doing anything to my consort.

If it was his too, that is quite different.”

Chase sighed, his expression still a mask of hesitation. “What is this claiming bit then?”

Oh good, he was coming around to the idea. Asking questions was a good thing, right? Maybe Kellen’s straightforwardness actually helped here. It got the facts right out on the table leaving Chase to just face it dead on. Truthfully, I wasn’t expecting him to settle into resignation so soon and was quite glad of the direction this was going.

“Nothing happens really. We just go before Mistress Ellery and state our decision.”

“A Mistress?” Chase laughed, a deep confused sound. “Now you’ve lost me completely.”

Kellen answered before Chase finished laughing. “She is the leader of the Pacific Northwest.”

Chase’s laughter ceased as his expression swept back to confusion. Oh boy, he was going to be spent after tonight—shifting moods so quickly had to be exhausting.

“We, as vampires, are ruled by a leader. They are known to us as Mistresses.”

Chase’s confusion only deepened so I added, “Each Mistress has been granted a region within the United States that they run as they please. It is their territory to protect, prosper—you know, that kind of stuff.”

Chase was silent a moment, blinked, then laughed. “You have got be f*cking kidding me!”

I shook my head, slow and serious. “No joke, really.” Regret filtered through me that I hadn’t told him any of this earlier. Then at least, he’d have more time to accept all this, instead of just being thrown into it all head first. But what was done was done. I couldn’t dwell on what ifs, or at least, tried not to.

Chase leaned forward, his gaze intent on mine. “Tell me, just how have these Mistresses risen to power?”

Before I had a chance to open my mouth, Kellen interjected. “Age mostly—they have more years behind them then you could fathom.”

After a long hushed moment, Chase snorted a sound somewhere between annoyance and bewilderment. “Wonderful. I am about to go and meet some crypt creeper.” Then he looked out his window and his snort came again resembling laughter. “Where exactly is this Mistress?”

I followed his gaze out the window to see we were approaching a small private airstrip. I glanced at Chase, his brows raised in question, I laughed softly with him.

“California and we are a bit short on time.”

Chase sent his examining gaze to land on Kellen. “You always have planes at your disposal?”

“Mmm…not exactly,” Kellen responded. He pulled up to the small jet that sat along the airstrip then turned off the car. As he opened his door, an older gentleman began to approach the car. I had to wonder what the man was doing here so late at night, but I assumed Kellen must have called him to meet us here. Who knew what he told him to get him out of bed. Not that I really cared, we just needed to get this done.

“Can I help you?” the man asked just as I stepped out of the car.

Kellen nodded firmly, his gaze focused on his. “We need to go to California. You will take us there now and quickly.”

The man nodded with a bright smile. “Of course, it’s clear skies, a perfect night for flying. We’ll push this jet to the limits to get you there quickly.” Then he strode off toward the garage.

I could kiss Kellen for knowing of this place. That was just an added bonus from his years spent as a shield. There wasn’t a city he hadn’t been to and he never went anywhere unprepared. If it was imperative that he move quickly, he needed to know where he could go to do so, and he gotten this one dead on. The shiny aerodynamic jet would provide just the speed we needed. Shaving off time was a necessity at this point.

Chase burst out laughing as he watched the pilot head back to the plane. He shook his head slowly. “That is f*cking incredible.”

I laughed with him, glad to note the sound of his laughter had returned to the playful tone I loved. “Being a vampire does have its perks.” I hooked my arm through his as we began to walk toward the jet and leaned my head against his arm. “By the way, I hope you know how happy you are making me for doing this.”

Chase kissed the top of my head. “I do what I have to, doll.”

I sank further against him. I knew he loved me, but we never talked about just how deep it ran.

Now, I discovered that his love was just as strong as mine. He wanted to keep me just as much and that knowledge elated me.

The pilot was waiting by the cabin door with his hand resting along the railing.

“Welcome aboard the Gulfstream G550, I hope you have a pleasant flight,” he said to me.

I raised my head from Chase’s shoulder and removed my arm from his. “Thank you.” I climbed up the steps and entered the plane.

Quickly, we settled into our seats. After the pilot finished up with the flight plan, we were in the air. The clouds whipped by as the plane shot through the night sky with impeccable speed.

An hour whipped by. As each minute passed, Chase became more uneasy. I reached for his hand, laced my fingers through his. He glanced at me with quiet, thoughtful eyes.

If only I could read his mind. “Where have you gone?”

Chase smiled softly. “I’m here.” He brushed his thumb across the back of my hand.

“Just trying to process.”

The whirlwind had reached its peak and had reached his limit. Now, was the time to have the talk. There was no putting it off, he needed to get things off his chest and I needed to listen. “A lot has happened, hasn’t it?”

Chase let out a loud sharp laugh. It wasn’t a happy sound, but more exasperated.

“Hadley, my world has just been torn out from under me.”

He was right, it had. I basically threw a bomb at him and forced him into a situation he never would have agreed to before. Not only did he have to share me with Kellen, but now, he was been whisked off to a society he didn’t know existed. I squeezed his hand tight. “Are you really okay with it all?”

Chase shrugged deeply. “Still processing.”

I glanced toward Kellen and gave a little nod toward the cockpit. I needed time alone with Chase.

Kellen winked, stood then said, “I’m hungry. I bet the pilot has something around here…or in him…I could eat.” He laughed and headed off down the aisle.

I glanced back at Chase to find his gaze steady on me. “What are you finding the hardest to deal with?”

Chase sighed as he leaned his head back against the beige leather headrest. “I suppose this sharing bit.” He shifted his head to the side, met my gaze again. “What will it mean?”

“It just means you will have to share my time.” I placed my other hand over top of his in hopes to give more comfort.

He laughed softly, but it wasn’t a laugh of amusement, it was more out of uncertainty. “What’s the plan then, are we going to work out a schedule?”

I shook my head and gulped at the same time. I hadn’t quite worked this out yet. And what I did want, I wasn’t sure Chase would agree to. “Kellen will be busy with his duty to the Mistress. He’ll be gone for long stretches.”

He worried his bottom lip with his teeth before he said, “All right, so, on those stretches you will be with me?”

I nodded without hesitation. That about summed it up. “That’s right.”

Chase pondered that for a moment, his bottom lip now looking red from the action with his teeth. “And when he’s back, you will be with him?”

It was an important question and he deserved an answer. But I wasn’t really sure how it was all going to play out. “I don’t really know.” I glanced to our joined hands and for the first time with Chase, I was completely truthful. “I was kinda hoping we could all be together.”

The silence grew heavy. When I couldn’t take anymore, I glanced back up to see Chase’s inquisitive expression. “Together?” he repeated, brow arched.

Trying to lighten the mood, I resorted to my usual playfulness that always eased him.

“Yeah, like a big happy family.”

His jaw clenched, the muscles flexed. This time my action didn’t work in the least.

“And who will you spend your nights with?”

So, the question had finally come up. The one that I knew he’d been eager to ask.

Truth was I had no answer to this one. Maybe a schedule would work with allotted time with each, but would either of them agree to that? I wasn’t sure.

I lifted my hand from his and reached up to touch his cheek. “We will work it out.

It’ll be all right, I promise.”

Chase gave a soft smile in return.

Suddenly, my thoughts had me worried. He hadn’t seen anything yet. He might still be processing what had taken place, but he was about to partake in something I didn’t know how he would respond to. I could only hope it wouldn’t tip his scale into a mental breakdown.

“We’re landing,” Kellen’s sudden voice broke through my concern.

I smiled a thank you to Kellen for giving Chase and I some privacy, as he sat down, he returned it. I glanced back at Chase, hoped the answers settled him and by the softened look of him, it did. For now, anyway. I raised my other hand to place on his cheek. “You ready to do this?”

Chase nodded, I pulled his face down toward mine, needed to reassure him. I wanted him to remember all the reasons he wanted me in his life so when the time came, he’d get through all this. I laid my lips against his and followed his movements as our tongues swept across each other’s passionately.

I didn’t stop reminding him until the plane touched down.