Chapter 11:
Lara Jade's Point of View
"Alex?" I asked, my voice wary and skeptical, "What are you doing here?"
No more than ten feet away stood the fair-skinned, dark-eyed boy that I could not stop thinking about. Only he was different. His hair was gelled back away from his eyes instead of flopping down in his face which only added to the intensity of his gaze at my… Wait, was he staring at my neck? Only when his depthless eyes met mine did he speak again.
"Typical," he chuckled, "No matter what changes I make to this form, I will always be seen first and foremost as my younger brother. You know how to strike someone in the core, my dear."
Brother? Veronica said Alex lived with an older brother, but the boy in front of me was just that… a boy, possibly even a twin from the looks of it. How could this guy be old enough to raise a sibling?
My thoughts were scattered as usual, but the second he moved closer, they zeroed in on him.
"Peculiar. You own the face of someone long ago yet your heart beats with blood fresh and true. Why is that?"
Yeah, my heart was beating pretty fast right about now with him standing so close. I could feel the coolness of his breath, smell something odd and metallic on his breath, like copper almost…
"Look, I don't know who you are, but…"
"How shameful of me, I forgot to introduce myself to such a beautifully intriguing creature. Elijah Nathaniel Fortesque, mademoiselle. I'd say "at your service," but well, I haven't been for hire for a very long time."
He took my hand before I had my wits about me but quickly dropped it as if he just touched acid.
"What the hell?!" he snarled as the veins under his eyes suddenly turning black, his canines extending into lengthy, deadly points.
I breathlessly shuffled backward until I fell on my rear in a pile of ashes from the fire pit.
The demon reached for me and I screamed, shielding my eyes from this thing in front of me.
"No!" a similar voice roared further down the beach as another voice, my father's grunted my name in fear and drowsiness.
Suddenly, Elijah vanished. And the person standing in his spot was Alexander.
"Are you–" he began before my dad stormed out of the tent in a swirling tempest of panic.
"Lara? Lara? What in blue blazes are you doing out here?!" Dad asked as he noticed me sitting in the firepit. Then his eyes found Alexander and Dad moved in between me and him. "Whoever you are, get the heck away from my daughter."
Alexander blurred and soundlessly appeared before my father within a blink. Dad flinched in surprise before raising his fist. Alex caught it with a look of annoyance on his face.
"Don't move," he said in a silky voice, "Good. Now, forget everything that happened tonight. You slept through the night and so did your daughter. Do not wake again until the sun rises."
Robotically, my father moved back into the tent.
"Dad? Daddy?!" I asked as I quickly stood up from the ashes and towards the tent, which unfortunately meant getting closer to Alexander. He caught my wrist in an iron grip which I repaid with a slap to the face that surprised me as much as it did him.
He looked deep into my eyes and whispered, "Don't do that again. Now, answer me honestly, who attacked you? What did he look like?"
"First, let go of me and tell me what you did to my father."
Surprise flashed across his face before it tightened back into a scowl. I started to squirm away which only made his grip on my arm tighter. When a squeak of pain escaped my lips, he released me.
"You don't smell of vervain, how are you resisting my compulsion?"
"What are you talking about? What is this, some kind of game? Why are you even here? Did you follow me?"
He glowered at me for a moment longer before blowing out a breath in frustration… a breath that smelled coppery as well.
"I will answer your questions if you answer mine… and you don't run away or start screaming."
I glanced between the tent where my father lay, fast asleep from the sound of his snoring, and Alexander, who stood no more than five inches from me. What were my odds of making it back into the tent and waking my dad before he caught me? Probably slim to none.
"You won't get very far," he whispered, confirming what I already knew.
"Fine," I answered shakily, "What do you want from me?"