He stared into my eyes for several seconds before nodding his understanding. He didn’t like it, but he wasn’t going to stand in my way as long as it meant Matias would be in my life.
Xander walked up to me and threw his arm around my shoulders pulling me into his chest. He leaned down and kissed the top of my head.
“Come on. Let’s get you some breakfast, then we’ll grab our stuff and go,” he told me. Xan let his left arm fall to his side and turned so that we could walk toward the gym door. “You coming, vampire?” he threw over his shoulder as we walked into the hallway.
Those three words made my heart soar. I turned my head slightly, watching Matias’ stunned expression change to one of humor as he walked behind us toward the dining room.
Before we got there, we found Di and several of her minions in the foyer. The other vampires, not Di, were each lugging several large, bulky suitcases and setting them down on the porch outside the front door. Di had cleaned herself up and it looked like she was going somewhere.
She started to speak to me but then cut herself off when she saw the menace in Matias’ eyes and quickly looked away toward one of her minions. “Hurry up, Brian!” she snapped at one of her minions.
“We’d like you to stay,” a familiar voice said from the living room doorway. All three of us turned around to see Amos leaning against the doorframe, his hands stuffed in his jeans pockets. He was talking to us, which surprised me. “I understand your need for Di to be nowhere near you and so does she. Despite her stupidity, she does have some self-preservation.”
“If she’s going, what will happen to this place? I thought she ran it all.”
“Amos and I are switching places,” Di answered for my grandfather. “I’ve always wanted to live on the east coast anyway.”
Matias, who was standing between Di and me, hissed at her, showing his fangs. She softly whimpered and turned back toward her minions.
“Hurry up!” Her voice cracked at her command and she rushed out the front door, not waiting for her help. I watched as she scurried down the steps and into the backseat of a waiting car before the trunk was even full of suitcases.
I turned back toward Amos, shaking my head. “So you’re staying then.” It wasn’t a question.
He nodded. “If that’s okay with you. I want to make up for what I’ve done and get to know my granddaughter better. When Di asked me to come here, she told me her plan. But she didn’t tell me who you were exactly, not that I would have believed her. I thought my granddaughter died when Eric did. Even so, I never imagined she, you, would be the one from the prophecy. I’m sorry, Emelia. I’m sorry I played a part in what happened and that it had to happen at all.”
Xander and Matias who were standing on either side of me, began to growl protectively. Amos looked down at the ground in submission to their anger, like he expected it from them. There was so much I still needed to learn about supernatural behaviors because, even though I loved they were both angry on my behalf, I still felt like it was male posturing.
“Why should we stay?” I asked, trying to ignore the tension and failing. I could feel my magic trying to surface. I closed my fists and took a deep breath in and out. “Almost everyone here played some part in what happened to me, including my own grandfather.”
My mates began to growl even louder and I had to shut my eyes and turn away. My hands grew hot as magic rushed to them, waiting to be released. Xander, with his quick reflexes, scooped me up and began running. Within seconds, I felt the familiar breeze coming off the ocean and knew I was outside.
I opened my eyes and raised my hands toward a group of boulders, releasing the pent up energy before it consumed me completely. Large chunks of rock and debris shot into the air as my magic blasted a couple of holes into the boulders and rained down to the ground and crashing waves below.
My magic spent, I felt all of my strength leave me and I began to fall, but I was caught before hitting the ground. Lazily, I looked up and saw Matias’ crystal gray eyes, knowing he was the one to keep me from hitting the ground.
“Thank you,” I told him and saw Xander standing over his shoulder. “Thank you both.”
“That’s why we’re here, little one,” Matias answered for them both.
“You alright there, shooter?”
Camille was walking out the back door with a mocking smile on her face. I knew she was concerned, but she rarely showed any kind of weakness. The only time I ever saw her scared was when I was being turned into a vampire.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I told her as Matias helped me stand back up on my feet. “My powers are going crazy.” I touched my head and looked down at the ground, trying to make the dizziness go away.
Soleil nudged against me reassuringly as she lent me some of her strength. I was beginning to appreciate my inner dragon more and more every day. She was my constant companion and someone I could always count on, even when I was at my worst.
“Well, yeah,” Camille’s smirk got bigger. “You’re an abomination. Of course things are messed up inside of you.”
Matias’ eyes bled to red and he took a step toward her, believing her to be a threat. I put my hand against his chest, making him halt, but his posture
