Chapter Seven

The sound of ringing woke me from my sleep. I was up late with Liam watching the cameras that were recording my property. I didn't remember falling asleep or even making it to the room. Liam must have carried me up here and plugged my phone into the charger he loaned me. I grabbed the phone from where it rested on the nightstand beside the bed and saw that it was Jaxon. I hit the button to accept the call.

"Good morning, you sexy little witch."

"Isn't it like three in the evening there?"

"Ah yes, but it is about nine o'clock at home."

I rolled my eyes into the back of my head. He was entirely too chipper for my taste right now. "It's still too early for me for your antics. I had a long night. Someone tried to follow me from the airport yesterday."

The line went silent for a few seconds before he asked, "What happened?"

I first yawned and then answered, "I lost him and then Liam cut him off, so I could get away."

I heard a few faint swear words before he returned to the line. "Did this Liam guy catch the asshole?"

I shook my head subconsciously and said, "No. The guy managed to get away so I am staying here with Liam until we can catch him. Liam set up a whole surveillance system around my property and we stayed up all night watching the cameras."

"What good is this man if he can't catch one person?"

His tone irritated me, and Liam deserved more respect than that. "You listen here Jax. Not everyone is a fifteen-hundred-year-old bounty hunter with a background in special operations! He did the best he could, and he is already beating himself up enough over it so lay off!"

Jaxon apologized but I could tell that he was not sincere about it. I needed to find a way to get him and Liam to get along. I needed both in my life, so they would just have to suck it up.

"Anyway, has anything exciting happened there?"

His voice dropped to a whisper. "Actually, I'm sitting on a hill watching our little pixie to make sure she isn't ambushed while she is talking to some lady named Ava."

"Where's Chase?"

"Chase is on the hill opposite of me doing the same thing," he whispered again.

"Ok, Wendy is leaving. We will call you back when we get back to the hotel." We said a quick goodbye and I hit the button to end the call.

I stood up and stretched, feeling my muscles contract and then relax again. I opened the door and went straight downstairs. I already knew Liam wouldn't be in his room. He doesn't sleep, and chances are he would be in front of those cameras still. When I walked into the surveillance room, he was there waiting for me, grinning from ear to ear.

"Um, good morning to you too," I laughed.

He grabbed my hand and excitedly drug me down a long hallway off the left side of the surveillance room. We came to a big, solid wood door.

"Open it."

He was pointing to the door directly in front of us. Unsure of what I would find behind that door but positive that it had to be something good to make him this happy, I turned the metal knob and pushed the door open.

I walked in to a room decorated in the same wall colors as my living room except that this room was filled with numerous sewing machines, office equipment, a laptop, and swatches of fabrics of various designs and colors. This room was a seamstress' dream office. I didn't even have this much equipment in my own design room.

"Do you like it?"

He really did know what I needed to help me figure everything out.

"It's amazing Liam. It's better than my design room at home."

I turned to him and embraced him. "It's perfect."

He wrapped his arms around me in return. "I'm glad you like it. Now you have something to help you unwind from everything."

I couldn't help it. I just hugged him and wouldn't let him go. What he had done for me was so above and beyond what I could have ever expected. I couldn't even imagine how he had gotten all this equipment and fabric in just the time that I was sleeping.

"Thank you so much."

He kissed the top of my head and just said, "Thank you for not completely writing me off."

I sent Liam back to the surveillance room while I made my way to the kitchen. I grabbed the familiar dark glass bottle full of blood and two glasses and then joined him behind the monitors. My fangs still had not receded and neither of us could figure out why. Liam had a theory that it could be because of the feeling of danger. He said vampires' fangs are triggered by three things. Hunger, fear, and arousal. Since feeding didn't help and I was obviously not aroused, the only conclusion was that until we caught this guy and I felt completely safe then they wouldn't recede. It was beyond annoying looking in the mirror to two snakes like fangs, even though Liam said he likes the look on me.

"I can't go in public like this."

He patted my leg "It won't be long. I'm going to catch this piece of shit. I have to. To prove to your beloved vampire brother that I can take care of you."

A little bit of the blood I was drinking dribbled out of my nose as I tried to hold back a laugh, "You heard that." He nodded his head and looked at me with a smile on. A smile full of pride and determination.

"You really are a force to be reckoned with. Your opinion is the only one that matters to me and I am glad that you have faith in my ability to keep you safe. Thank you for defending me. I'm not too fond of his pet names for you but I can appreciate that he is so passionate about your safety. I think I may just like Jaxon Claiborne as long as he knows and accepts that you are my sexy little witch."

He said it with a heavy emphasis on the "my." My heart grew about ten sizes in that moment. There was hope for the two most important men in my life.

"Trust me, he knows."

I left Liam in the surveillance room again to put my newly borrowed design room to use. I walked over to the laptop on the desk and pulled up the browser, so I could check my webpage for new orders. I had a purchase invoice, so I clicked on it. It was from Liam. The order total came out to one thousand seven hundred eighty-six dollars and seventy-nine cents.

"Holy shit! You are aware that I am giving that money back to you as soon as I can get to the bank, right?"

I heard his voice sound in my head as smooth as butter. "It was worth every penny. I don't need the money. I have more than enough. You don't live for a hundred and thirty-five years without saving some money."

I yelled out to him loud enough for him to hear me, "That's so not the point."

Shaking my head in disbelief at his generosity I searched for my special orders. I had about sixty special orders waiting for me. I had never been this far behind before but then again, I have never, not worked for more than two days. I printed out all the orders and sizing information I needed and went straight to work measuring and cutting the fabric needed to complete each order. It was mid-evening before I knew it. A knock sounded on the door and I yelled out over the sewing machine.

"Come in, it is your house after all."

"It is your office after all."

"Touché."

He walked over to me and kissed the top of my head and looked around the room. "My God you work fast."

He was referring to the numerous outfits I had hanging up and labeled, ready for packaging. "I had never been this far behind on orders before."

He looked around the room once more and said, "I think it is time we get some real food in you."

He was right. I hadn't eaten any real food since yesterday's cereal. "Ok," I said as I got up to follow him out of the room.

He led me to the dining room that was set just off the kitchen. While I was working, he had cooked and set the table complete with candles and all of the romantic works. I accepted the seat that he pulled out for me and watched him take the seat across from me.

Each of our plates held a strip of filet mignon, creamed potatoes and freshly steamed green beans.

"It looks delicious. Did you cook all of this?"

"Yes, I wanted you to have a good meal. You have been sort of neglecting yourself, so I wanted to take care of you."

I thought about it and it made me realize that I hadn't been eating very well. It was hard keeping up with two diets, let alone one.

"I haven't intentionally been not eating. It's hard to remember that I have two diets that I have to maintain now."

"I'm happy to pick up some of the slack," he said. I smiled because underneath the rough and sexy exterior he really was sweet.

"Hopefully it won't take me too long to get acclimated to the change. I appreciate it all. It's delicious."

We finished our dinner in silence, sharing a glance and smile here and there. He was trying so hard to give me the space I needed but couldn't be away from me for too long either. I know what he's going through because it's been a problem for me too.

"How about I come join you after I clean up?" I asked him.

"I have a better idea, how about you join me after I clean up? You go finish the order you were working on, so I can have you to myself for a little bit before you to go bed."

I was ok with that. I gave him a brief hug before I went back to the design room. There wasn't much else for me to do except package the items I had finished and get the shipping labels on them, so they could be sent out tomorrow. Once I got the last box labeled and ready for shipment, I quickly cleaned up the scraps of fabric and thread and wiped down the workstation. I turned the power off on the computer and an obnoxiously loud bell sounded throughout the whole house. It was an alarm. My heart felt like it stopped beating. Where is Liam? I rushed to the door and slammed it open and ran straight into him. The impact knocked me backwards and on to my ass. Liam helped me up and ran with me over his shoulders, up the stairs and into his bedroom.

"Stay here and lock the door! Don't come out until I come to get you!"

He kissed me on the lips in a hurry and rushed out of the door. I locked it behind him as instructed and listened, silently hoping that it was a false alarm.

I heard a big crash, an inaudible yell from a voice I had never heard before, followed by another loud crash. My heart was pounding in my ears. I couldn't just stand here and do nothing while Liam was in danger fighting to protect my life. A loud noise reverberated off the walls and shook the floor beneath my feet and I could hear Liam groan in pain.

"No!"

"Stay there Saraid! Ahhh, son of a bitch!"

I was fighting with myself. Do I stay like he told me to or do I go down to help him? A mind-numbing scream drifted up the stairs causing my blood to run cold. I know who that scream belonged to and I was not going to let anyone take him from me.

I slammed open the door of Liam's room not caring if the intruders heard me. I wanted their attention on me. I was pissed, and my magic was boiling around me searching for the enemy. They were in the kitchen. I could see them in my mind through Liam's eyes. One had Liam pinned to the floor with a bronze handled ancient looking dagger, ready to plunge it into Liam's chest. The second leaned carelessly against the wall closest to the staircase.

I had to get there before that man put that blade in Liam's chest. I felt ferocious, like a wild animal with my fangs at full attention and my magic swimming in waves around me. I threw my body over the banister and landed in front of the reckless one slouching against the wall. I pointed my magic at him and then pointed behind me to the front door. I watched as my magic picked the man up and threw him in the direction of my finger. The door splintered and crashed outward as the man sailed through it. I rounded on the man holding the blade to Liam's chest.

"You want me? Come and get me bitch!"

The man looked at me with his beady little eyes and smiled his disgusting smile, full of half rotted teeth. He gripped the blade in his hand tighter and started to lower it to Liam's chest.

"Oh no you don't!"

I held my hand in his direction and imagined my power was a hand ripping through the man's cavity and watched it come to life before my eyes. I grabbed that pulsating organ and ripped it from his chest. I didn't have to call the power back into myself. It was like it had a mind of its own and could sense that its job was done. I stared down at the bloody mass that tried to kill Liam and I used my foot to roll him off Liam's legs.

"Bastard."

I looked at Liam now. "Where are you hurt?"

He had two stab wounds to his left arm, a nasty slice through his right side, and another stab wound to his right leg that if it had been an eighth of an inch further to the right would have severed his femoral artery. I could heal the bruises and his broken nose using my own magic but not his other wounds.

"Can you shift?"

A look of agony washed over his face as he tried.

"Shh-shh, I got it. I will see if I can do it."

This had to work. It had to. This is all because these people want me. I pictured Liam in Phoenix form, so I had a point of reference for the shift. I pushed my magic towards that picture in my mind willing it to transform me into its image.

This was not the same as my previous times shifting. This was painful. It hurt like hell. I could feel every bone and muscle, every joint and tendon expand and reshape themselves completely until I stood there as the black and orange phoenix I had wanted to be. Something was wrong. I was trying to induce the healing, but it wasn't working. The only way he was going to die is if his heart was injured but I couldn't really get a full assessment of his injuries when he couldn't move, and I was not willing to chance it.

I looked at Liam's now unconscious form and then down at my own bird like body. Back and forth. It wasn't until I glanced down at my talon shaped feet that I figured it out. On my leg, just above my talon was my red barbed wire tattoo except now it had a small cut severing it, so it was no longer a mark that had no end. I pushed my magic at that tiny little cut and watched as the skin slowly sewed itself back together. I looked over at Liam and his left hand was glowing.

"Yes, it's working!"

Pain rocked every inch of me. Blood seemed to be coming from everywhere as my body opened with wounds identical to his. I couldn't heal yet. I had to wait until I had every injury he had, to be sure I fully healed him. It felt like the process was taking forever and I couldn't stifle the screams anymore. I felt my bird legs give out as I screamed my pain. I saw Liam open his eyes and look at me. It was hurting him to hear me in pain and being helpless to do anything about it.

"I'm okay, Liam. I'm okay. Just hang on for me please."

When the last sharp pain cut through my back and into my chest piercing my heart, I knew I had to hurry. He was going to die if I didn't heal him now. I forced my magic out to hold my connection to Liam open and willed those flames to come forth from my center and wash over me. I could see the flames burning through the flesh and fall to ash around me, but I didn't feel it. I felt nothing. I looked down at my now human legs and realized I was healed.

I rushed across the kitchen to Liam who was now sitting up, half slumped against the refrigerator. There was a cough and a groan coming from outside in the driveway.

"I will be right back."

I scanned the driveway from where the front door once stood and it didn't take long for me to locate the man, I had thrown from the house earlier, whom was now trying to crawl toward his car. I ripped the chord from the lamp that once sat on the little marble top table in the foyer and made my way down the stairs towards my target. I allowed my pain and my anger to wash over me when I heard Liam reach the front entryway of the house. My human side is telling me that it was not my place to judge or sentence this man, but my heart and my knowledge of the situation told me that if I didn't kill this man right now he would come for us again and next time he might be successful in killing one of us.

No. There wasn't going to be a next time. I was going to make sure of it. I wrapped that lamp chord around his neck and drug him up the walkway to where Liam stood. Liam met me the rest of the way and took my face into his hands and kissed me deeply enough that I almost forgot that I was holding that chord.

"Thank you, Princess," was all he said as he grabbed the chord from my hand. He loosened the chord around the man's neck, so it sat loosely and looped only once.

"Who sent you after my wife?" Liam growled in his face.

I could argue that I wasn't technically his wife but magically I was, so it made no difference to me.

"Go to hell half breed."

Liam yanked so hard on both sides of the chord that the man's head toppled off and rolled a couple of feet away from where we stood. Liam said nothing else. He walked towards me with a purpose.

He slammed me against the stone pillar where I stood and kissed me with a hunger, it was like nothing I had never experienced before. He lifted me up and instructed me to wrap my legs around his waist. He carried me back into the foyer and pinned me against the wall, so I was held up by nothing other than his waist as he ripped my clothes off, as if they were as thin as paper. He feverishly planted kisses all over my body like my body alone was breathing life back into him. I needed him just as badly.

I had almost lost him, and I didn't realize how much the idea of that would affect me. As the last remnants of my clothes fell to the floor in rags around us, he made quick work releasing the button and zipper of his jeans and slid them down just far enough for him to push himself inside of me.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and dug my nails into the skin of his back as he pushed himself in and out of me with only one goal in mind. To lay claim to me permanently. I rocked my hips to match the quickness of his pace, needing him just as badly as he needed me. A warmth spread out from my core, enveloping us as we both cried out in unison.

We stayed there in that position until he turned us around to slide down the wall, so we ended up in a position where he was sitting on the floor and I sat straddling his legs. The tears over took me as the adrenaline wore off.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't stay upstairs. I heard you scream and then there was nothing." I started pounding my fists into his chest and screamed.

"Don't you ever do that again. Don't you ever sever that mark again you asshole! If I wouldn't have seen that you severed the mark, I wouldn't have been able to save you!" I continued the punching until I had no energy left and I just collapsed in his arms, "You made me love you and then you almost left me you asshole."

He let me rant and he let me cry, just rocking me back and forth in his arms.

"I didn't mean to hurt you. The only reason I cut the mark was because I knew it would heal and I didn't want you to feel the pain from the fight happening down here."

He recalled the events that led up to his near demise. "I was busy with the one guy, unaware of the second. The second guy came up behind me and slammed that blade into my back. He had gotten my heart. I would have died if not for you. You saved my life Princess."

I was still crying. Just a little less violently when I narrowed my eyes at him and said, "Do not call me that."

He wasn't scared of my mean look at all. In fact, he just laughed at me. He gently grabbed my face into his hands and looked me dead in the eyes and asked, "Can you say it again?"

I didn't have to ask what he meant; I already knew. I laughed through my tears and said, "I love you."

He drew me in for another long kiss, moving his arms around to my lower back to pull me in closer. "I love you too."