"Griffin is waiting for you in his study. We've received more bad news. Christopher Stafford is missing." Then the woman noticed Danielle, and she stopped in her tracks. She stared for a moment, until Kayden introduced them.
"Mrs. Vaughn this is Danielle … Umm. I'm sorry. I don't know her last name." Kayden seemed a little embarrassed.
Dani stepped up and extended her hand in greeting to the woman who had stolen her father.
"My name is Danielle Scott." She had chosen to use Jared's last name without a thought. He would get a kick out of that. "It's a pleasure to meet you." She smiled politely, but imagined bashing the woman's blond head into the lovely etched mirror on the wall between the staircases.
"I'm Sarah Vaughn. Kayden will take you to see my mate." She looked confused and stared intensely at Dani's hair.
As Dani and Kayden walked away, a boy about nine or ten years old came running up to Sarah. Dani was struck by his resemblance to her. The boy looked just like Dani, minus the streaks, and his eyes were a deep sapphire blue. Dani followed Kayden down the hall with her head reeling over the fact that she had a little brother, she wondered if she had any other siblings.
The door to the office was open, but Kayden still knocked before he entered.
"Come." A smooth and commanding voice rang from within. She was sure she'd be sick. That was her father's voice. She hesitated on the threshold, but Kayden snagged her arm and dragged her into a masculine room with dark wood furniture and an oversize sofa by the fireplace. At the other end of the room near the bar was one of those things for practicing your golf putt.
At first Kayden blocked her view, and she wished he would stay there, so she didn't have to look at the face of the man who had broken her mother's heart. Then Kayden stepped to the side and she saw him. He stood with his back to them, looking at some paperwork on a sideboard. He was tall with dark hair and broad shoulders. He wore an expensive-looking suit Dani was sure cost more than her whole wardrobe. When he finally turned to face them, she saw the streaks. Dear God. She was like his damn clone. He hadn't looked up at her, and that was good, because her jaw was on the floor with her stomach. She shut her mouth with a click when Kayden began to speak.
"Mr. Vaughn, I'd like to introduce you to Danielle Scott."
Griffin didn't raise his eyes from the paper he read as he crossed the room, until they were within a few feet of a handshake. Then he froze, his eyes locked on hers, and the breath that caught in his throat was audible. He stood there with his hand half extended, staring at her.
She smiled and took his hand. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Vaughn. I hope I can be of some service in your search for the missing people." She decided to stay calm and pretend that she couldn't see the obvious. She would be polite and play her part so she could get the hell out of there.
"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Thank you for meeting me on such short notice," he stuttered, trying to pull his gaze from her eyes. She imagined he saw her mother's eyes, and she hoped it hurt him to remember those unique, icy gems.
"Please come have a seat so we can talk. I've heard some amazing claims about your abilities." He pointed her toward a chair in front of his large desk.
"Kayden, you can go make yourself at home in the kitchen until we're done here. I'm sure you're hungry," Griffin suggested.
Kayden rubbed his washboard abs. "I'm always ready to eat. See you later. I'd hate to be late for lunch." He left, closing the door on the way out.
Griffin went to the other side of the desk and sat in his high-backed leather chair. For several moments, he said nothing. He just looked at her, until she interrupted the awkward silence. "What have you heard about me, sir?"
He seemed to shake himself back to attention. "I've heard you have multiple talents, from telekinesis to telepathy. Is that true?" He sounded like it was an incredible claim.
"Is that unusual?" she countered.
"I've never met anyone with multiple extrasensory abilities. Have you? What about your family? Are there other multitalented individuals in your house?"
"I have no family left. My parents died when I was little. I was raised by a servant, who died just after I turned eighteen. She was a bit of a recluse. She never talked about others like me, and I received only the most basic training, because my guardian was human. I know nothing about your people, or of what is normal for them. I'd never even met another vampire, until I started school at the university and went to the club with my friends." That was quick thinking. Sticking as closely to the truth as possible would help her keep the lie straight. She hadn't figured out her lie, until asked about her family. She couldn't have him asking questions about her mom.
"How are you paying for college?" he wanted to know.
"With the proceeds I received from the sale of my parents' house. I also applied for financial aid, so that helped." She needed to redirect the conversation away from her past. "That's enough about me, Mr. Vaughn. I should tell you about my attack, so you can get on with your search. Better yet, I'd like to try to show you, if you don't mind. It'll be much easier for you to understand. Please keep in mind that my abilities are new to me, so I have to hope they work on command."
"It's normal for extrasensory ability not to be apparent until you come of age. How old are you?" Griffin asked.
"I'm twenty-one," she replied, walking around to his side of the table. "I think I can do it without touching you, but it seems to be clearer and easier for me if I can touch you. Is that alright?" She stood right beside him.
He took a long, slow breath and held it, before blowing it out through his nose. "You smell like vanilla and something else, lavender, maybe. It's the most beautiful scent." Shaking his head as if trying to free himself from a memory, he asked, "How do you intend to show me?"
"Like this." Dani rested her hand on his and asked him to close his eyes. He jumped when she began to project her memory into him. She showed him everything from when she was thrown onto the floor, up to when the guy, walking away, promised to catch up with her later. Then she raised her hand and went back to her chair. He didn't open his eyes for several moments. She figured he was reviewing the scene in his mind. "That was better than a description, wasn't it? You would probably recognize that guy if you saw him on the street."
"Let me see what else you can do, Ms. Scott." He made an admirable effort to hide his astonishment.
"I can do what I just did to you, in reverse. Not like I can find what I want in your mind or anything, but I can see what you're remembering. It comes back to me in pictures just like I showed you, but it's more like a slide show with clips of audio."
"Tell me what I did yesterday at noon," he challenged her.
She reached across the table for his hand and stretched her mind, trying to find what he was thinking about. Her eyes darkened as she said, "You were at the cemetery visiting the graves of your first wife and daughter." She tilted her head as if reading something. "They've been gone a long time."
He was again unable to mask his shock. "Do you have anything else to show me?"
Danielle concentrated on the cell phone resting on the corner of the desk. It slowly rose a few inches and floated over to hover in front of Mr. Vaughn. "I can do that, too." He smiled.
Danielle felt her chair rise off the floor, and she lost her concentration, causing Griffin's phone to clatter against his desk. She jumped up. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Vaughn. I told you, I'm new at this."
But he laughed, quite amused. "There can't possibly be anything else for you to show me," he said, still laughing and shaking his head.
"I can make people do what I want them to do."
"Yes, we can all control human minds. That's normal." He rolled his eyes.
"I can do it to vampires. Or at least I did once," she added.
One of his dark eyebrows rose, and he hit an intercom button to page Kayden back to his office.
"What do you want me to tell him to do?"
"What did you do before?"
"I made this girl who was running her mouth shut up. I actually froze her there, until I left the apartment, and I released her from the hall. She kept on yapping like it never happened."
"That's good. I'll get him talking and you can stop him," he suggested. "Come in," he called when Kayden knocked. "What did you have for lunch?"
Kayden started, "Your cook made me and J. R. this huge-"
That was all he got out before Dani said, "Stop," and he did. She said, "Turn," and with a blank stare he turned around. She said, "Sit," and Kayden plopped down cross-legged like a little kid.