Thorns of Fate: Serendipity Saga Book One

Chapter Seventeen

The next day was a practice in patience. Anton and Carson seemed to be working together now to lock me down. I wasn't certain as to if this was worse than their bickering or not. Carson's lorded his overwhelming chivalrousness into making me feel helpless. And Anton kept up his snarky teasing.

Part of me longed for a moment alone. I had still yet to have a moment to myself, to let out my feelings about Will and Henrick. I fought hard to stay strong in front of them. Carson because I couldn't bear to see his pity and Anton because I also couldn't handle his incessant tormenting.

I mostly stayed quiet. For most of the morning, I let mindless television drone in the background while debating what I wanted to do to Henrick. Carson buzzed around the suite, making me food and Anton lounged on the couch, half asleep.

"Can I check in on the club?" I asked, quietly after endless silence. Carson shot a look at me and even Anton cracked an eye open.

"Do you think that's a safe idea?" Carson asked at last, resuming his food prep. He chopped casually but cut fine slices of whatever her was dicing. He turned the knife, working back the other way deftly. The only thing better than watching him cook was watching the way his muscles turned under the effort.

I butted my lower lip out while I considered. I would have him and Anton. Plus a whole battalion of bouncers. And we'd be in public. It was unlikely that Henrick would make a move then. "I need to feel like I have some control over something," I offered and I saw the emotions play over Carson's face. "Plus, I think I need the experience around humans now that my bloodlust has started to settle."

I could watch the debate fumbling through his mind. "Fine," he groaned at last. "But we take some of Damien's guys to buff up security."

I nodded. "Deal."

We rolled up to the club dressed to the nines and looking for a place to blow off some steam. There was already a line outside the doors of the club. Music thundered out, shaking the street and casting strobing lights all across the sidewalk.

There were a line of cars following us to the club. They scattered, finding different places to park and sweeping the entire block. The man driving the sleek vehicle we rode in pulled the vehicle to a halt.

Carson climbed out of the car, dressed all in black. He held his hand to me and I placed a black high heeled foot onto the pavement, hoisting myself out. I wore that gorgeous black dress again, revealing parts of me I blushed to consider.

A car pulled behind ours and Kellic climbed out, followed by Anton. She looked marvelous. Her hair was piled into a bun atop her head, her eyes alight and her cheeks rosy. She wore a short gown with a sheer fabric covered slit from just above her right breast, down over her hip and coming out above her thigh. Kellic had always been insanely confident, but she had just seemed to come even more out of her shell since turning.

We met and made our way to the club together. Men in suits stepped before us, dividing the crowd. They nodded to the bouncers outside the door who opened the door, ushering us in. Two more suited men waited inside and took up our front while the other two fell behind.

I felt far more important than I was. As far as this crowd knew anyway.

I took careful breaths as we entered, separating the scent of humans from my awareness as Carson had told me to. My mind stayed clear and I felt like this was going to go better than we'd hoped.

Tyler met us at the door and had me in his arms before I could respond. Carson had my hand locked into his and felt my reassuring squeeze. He hesitated, watching us closely.

"Kyra!" Tyler exclaimed, pulling away from me and looking me over. "Damn, boss lady, you clean up nice," he gasped appreciatively.

I chuckled, feeling like my skin burnt beneath his gaze. Carson sized him up beside me and my skin crawled with tension. "Thanks," I sputtered, my hands covering my belly.