Unbound (Forbidden Bond Book 1)(72)

Dani found the sunburst necklace her mom had given her the day she left  for college hanging from the lamp switch, where she always put it before  crawling into bed. That day seemed like ages ago. She put the necklace  on and smiled at herself in the mirror. It no longer mattered if Griffin  saw the necklace.

Darren offered to take leave from work and go with her. He wanted to  protect her from the danger they both knew would be coming, but she  couldn't let him do that. That was her punishment, and she would deal  with it. He walked her to the car, where both Chase and Kayden waited  and looked quite perturbed.

"I'll call to check on you tomorrow. You can call me whenever you like."  Darren surprised her with a hug and a kiss placed on top of her head  before going back inside.

"I can't leave you alone for a second without some loser thinking he can  grab on you, can I?" Kayden asked jokingly, but the undercurrent of  jealousy was clear.

"He was just being kind. He believes I'll be dead before he sees me  again. Every time I leave the Enclave, they catch me. This time, I won't  be coming back. If I get into trouble, the cavalry won't be coming to  save me. It's all gloom and doom, right?" She laughed nervously.

"Where will you go?" Chase asked.

"I'm going to stay in my hometown for a bit, until I get some things  figured out. I can't go back to school and endanger my friends, and I  don't want to impose on anyone here or put them in danger, so I think  it's the best idea." She was still trying to convince herself of that  and feared bringing trouble to her mother's door.         

     



 

"You need to come home with me, angel," Kayden sweet-talked. "You have  your own room and two warriors to watch over you. Mom is already buzzing  around in anticipation of having you there." He took her bags and put  them in the trunk of her car.

"Your house is the first place they will look for me, Kayden. If  anything happened to Koren because of me, I would never forgive myself.  You and Gage can't be there all the time with your crazy schedules," she  reminded him.

Opening the driver's door, she watched Chase, who was leaning on her  hood and looking at the ground. His head was full of questions about the  conversation from earlier, but she couldn't deal with him.

"I just want to tell you both that I'm sorry for all the trouble I've  caused you and your families. I wish the two of you could find a way to  be friends again."

Chase turned to her then. "You sound like you're not coming back. You are coming back, aren't you?"

She looked at them both and gave a halfhearted smile. She didn't know  what to say, and she couldn't make any promises. A black sedan pulled up  behind her car, drawing all of their attention. Both Chase and Kayden  moved to stand in front of her, as if they thought the bad guys could  possibly have made it onto the Enclave. Griffin stepped out and  sauntered up to them, carrying a small shoulder bag.

"May I speak with you privately, Sol … Danielle?" He corrected himself  before he let loose what she affectionately referred to as her baby-vamp  name. Shrugging their shoulders, both the guys walked a good distance  away from her car to give them privacy.

She said nothing but went to stand before him.

He reached out and lifted the charm from around her neck to inspect it.  "I gave that to your mother the day we were bonded." He smiled  wistfully.

"She gave it to me recently." He turned it over to look at the  inscription. "I guess the center of your universe shifted to another  star," she mused.

He looked at her sharply and a tick started in his jaw. It was a low  blow, but her heart still ached for her mother, and he was the cause of  so many years of her suffering. On the back of her car he opened the bag  he'd been carrying and pulled out a gun.

"You have learned to shoot, correct?" He loaded the gun and checked the  safety. "Can I assume there are no children in your mother's house to  find a loaded weapon?" He glanced at her from the corner of his eye.

"I have a gun already, thank you. Gage gave me the one I practiced with."

He winced at her dead tone and put the gun back in the bag. She  shouldn't be that way. They'd become friends, but this day, the knot of  raw emotions couldn't be untangled. Since he now knew who she was, she  felt the need to share some of her frustration at his absence in her  life.

"There are some other things in there you might need. You can look  through it later." He put the bag over her shoulder. She opened the bag  to peek inside. There was the gun, a box of bullets, and, below that,  several stacks of hundred-dollar bills.

"What is this, Griffin? I don't need your sympathy or a handout. I'm  still the same girl I was yesterday, and you don't need to provide for  me now any more than you have my whole life." The bag fell to the  ground.

He grabbed her hand before she could get away. "Listen to me, Soleil. If  they find you, you will need to run. Trying to run with no money is  very difficult. If you use cash, you can't be tracked. It isn't a  handout. It's a backup plan for your safety. Please, take it," he urged.

"No, thanks. I'll deal with whatever comes." She extracted her hand from  his grip and walked to the driver-side door. "Maybe I'll see you  around."

"Tell me something?" he asked. She paused without turning around. "Is Scott really your last name?"

"No. It's Vaughn." She chuckled. "I picked Scott on a whim the day I met  you. It was the last name of the guy I was dating at the time, and I  needed a different name. Mom was terrified your people were going to  kill the half-breed abomination when they figured me out, so she told me  to pick an alias."

"And your mother?" he asked, embarrassed.

"We have the same name. She said, whether you abandoned her or not, she  was still bonded, and she would keep her husband's name." That hit him  hard. From her periphery vision, she saw him lean on her trunk and hang  his head. "Can I ask you something?" She struck while he was still weak.  "Are you going to publicly acknowledge me as your daughter?" Too afraid  of the answer, she still didn't turn around. His head came up, but he  looked away.         

     



 

"I don't know what to do yet. I need to speak to your mother."

"Mom has nothing to do with it. Either I'm your daughter, or we go on  like we have been, and you can forget you ever met me. You can't have it  both ways. It's up to you. I won't interfere with your family either  way." She dreamed of him being so overjoyed to have her back that he  took her into his life and his home to love and protect just like the  rest of his children. That wasn't going to be.

"You are my family, Soleil. Please be patient with me for a few days  while I get my head on straight. I got the shock of my life today, and  I'm just trying to remember how to put one foot in front of the other."

"No problem, Dad. Take all the time you need. You can have another  couple decades if you like." The hurt and agitation in her voice  betrayed her efforts at nonchalance. She slid in behind the wheel and  drove off before either of the guys saw her go. She couldn't say  good-bye to either of them.



She'd been home for almost a week with no trouble in sight, except for a  run-in with Lucas. His mom ran into her at the grocery store, and  before Dani could finish shopping and pay the cashier, Lucas was on her.  He wanted to talk about mistakes and misunderstandings. That seemed to  be the theme of her life of late. The contrast between the constant  drama of being in vamp society and the constant calm of being at home  was a shock to her system. Of course, there were still the daily phone  calls from the vamp world. Koren tried to convince her to stay with  them. Kayden's influence was obvious in those conversations. He called  several times a day, trying to get an address out of her so he could  visit. But the chance of him being followed was too great.

She hadn't heard a word from Chase or Griffin, but Mason called her mom  every day. Dani knew Mason was mad at her. She was sure Chase wanted  answers that Mason had sworn to keep secret. Mason didn't agree with her  reasoning, but he would keep his word. Tessa said it was hard for a  parent to see his or her child hurting, especially if something could be  done to stop the pain. Darren called too, but she wasn't answering. She  didn't trust that he wouldn't use his spy mojo to track her location.

The day of the gala quickly approached, and she was supposed to go, but  without security, it would be dangerous. She did have that lovely new  gown Debbie had sent her after the dress shop incident. It would be rude  not to go and make use of her gift, but that wasn't a good-enough  reason to risk the lives of everyone around her.

"Hello, Earth to Danielle? Are you there, Danielle?" Tessa asked from the other side of the breakfast table.