The Original Sin

Chapter Four





“Miss Morrison?” Emrick asked, concern filling his voice. “Is everything alright?”

I looked up at him and smiled tightly. “Just peachy, Emrick.”

He escorted me back inside and to the table. I sat down next to Jameson and his brow instantly furrowed with worry.

“What’s wrong, love?” he asked, concerned.

“Nothing, hon,” I said quickly and gave him my best fake smile. “I’m fine. Archer said to just bring Styvi Nix to his place.”

Emrick frowned at my lie but said nothing.

“What about Styvi?” Nikki asked, turning from her conversation with Killian.

“Oh sorry, honey. Archer has asked me to stay at his and Jameson’s place for a little while. He’s…uh…,” I struggled with my explanation for needing to live at Archer’s house for the time being. I was a terrible, terrible liar and was drawing a complete blank.

“Archer is working on expanding his investment horizons and needs Skye’s assistance with fielding his phone calls and scheduling appointments,” Jameson easily picked up for me.

Nikki frowned, clearly not buying his explanation. “He needs his Executive Assistant at 3am?”

Jameson smiled warmly. “He has overseas interests.”

“Are you okay with this?” Nikki asked, turning to me.

“Of course,” I smiled tightly. “It’s not ideal, but it’s work. At least I’ll get to spend more time with Jameson.”

Nikki smiled and wagged her eyebrows suggestively. “And how,” she joked.

“You’re so silly, Nik,” I laughed as I reached over and grabbed her hand. “Man, I’ve really missed you these last few weeks.”

“Oh cupcake, I’ve missed you too. It’s not the same when you’re not home. I miss having a beer and shooting the shit with you on the back patio. And, the worst part…I made a big batch of organic vegan oatmeal cookies the other day, but I had no one to sit down and pig out with, so I had to polish off most of them all by myself. I was positively gluttonous and it’s all your fault,” she whined with fake outrage.

I laughed and we stood up to hug each other. “Don’t stay away for so long next time,” Nikki whispered in my ear as she hugged my neck. “Tell Mr. Rich-and-gorgeous I’ll kick his ass if he takes you away from me for that long again.”

I laughed again at her nickname for Archer and squeezed her tightly. “It would be my pleasure.”

We disengaged and she sighed. “I’ve got to get back to work. It’ll be last call soon and you know how the rush is. Oh, by the way, I installed a doggy door in my house so just whistle and Styvi will meet you in the backyard.”

“Thanks so much for everything, girl. There’s no one else I’d trust with Styvi’s care for so long.”

“It’s nothing, cupcake. I enjoyed having her with me. I’ll really miss sleeping with her. She has the cutest little snore.” Nikki said then turned to go back to the bar but stopped short. “By the way, everyone at Krav Maga has been asking about you. Are you coming to class Sunday?”

I nodded my head and smiled. “I wouldn’t miss it. See you then, hon.”

I watched Nikki leave and sat back down in the booth next to Jameson.

“Archer may not let you go to your class,” Jameson warned.

“I’d like to see him try and stop me,” I scoffed as I stood up and swung my messenger bag over my shoulder. I was irrationally pissed at Archer at the moment and itching for a fight. I swallowed hard and reminded myself that it wasn’t Jameson I was mad at. I took a deep breath and smiled down at him. “Let’s go get Styvi Nix and go home. I could use some cuddle time with you.”

Jameson grinned and slid out of the booth. Killian went to pull the car around to the front as Emrick escorted us outside.

“Baby, are you okay?” Jameson asked worriedly as we waited on the Escalade to pull up. “Ever since you talked to Archer a few minutes ago, you’ve had this weird look on your face.”

I flushed hot with embarrassment and apologized. I never was very good at hiding my emotions. I silently thanked God that he wasn’t an Empath like Trey. There’d be no hiding my emotions EVER from him if he was. “I’m sorry Jameson. It’s nothing, really. I’m fine. I’m just a little tired. Training kicked my ass this morning.”

Jameson wrapped me in his arms and softly kissed my forehead. “You haven’t been sleeping well, either,” he mumbled against my skin.

I opened my mouth to argue with him but decided against it. It was true; I hadn’t been sleeping well. Nightmares had plagued me ever since my rescue. I was just embarrassed that Jameson had taken notice; I didn’t want him worrying about me. I decided right then and there that I had to sleep alone for the duration of my stay at Archer’s. I didn’t want to drag Jameson into my inner turmoil.

I looked up into Jameson’s eyes and smiled the best smile I could muster. I had just stood on my tiptoes to kiss him when suddenly someone yelled at me from a few yards to my left.

“Where the hell is my brother, Skye?!”

I turned to find Lola Finch, my ex-boyfriend Jesse Prescott’s half-sister and true raging bitch, stalking toward me. Her sky-high pumps clinked rapidly on the sidewalk as she made her way over to us.

Emrick growled lowly and moved to block her access. He put his hand out in front of him to stop her from stepping any closer.

“Get out of my way, you big fool!” she screeched unhappily as she tried elbowing her way past him.

Emrick held her back easily which only pissed her off more.

I snapped out of my shock and asked Emrick to let her pass. He looked back at me doubtfully, but relented and removed his hand from her arm.

Lola slung her purse back over her shoulder and adjusted her shirt with a huff. “Who the f*ck are you?” she asked him. Emrick just stared at her distastefully and said nothing. “Whatever,” she huffed as she shouldered past him. He growled lowly and turned to watch our interaction. His body language was screaming ‘high alert’ and I tried to calm him with my eyes.

“Emrick, this is Lola. She is an old acquaintance of mine,” I said unevenly. I was shocked and scared to see her. I didn’t know how I was going to answer her questions. “Lola, this is Emrick.”

Emrick narrowed his eyes further at her but said nothing.

“Whatever,” Lola scoffed as she threw her long bottle-blond hair over one shoulder. “I could give a f*ck less who he is. Where the hell is Jesse, Skye? No one has seen him for over three weeks and I know he was at your house the night he disappeared.”

I swallowed hard as a vision of Jesse’s severed head flashed through my mind. Tears immediately sprung to my eyes and my heart started beating uncontrollably.

Jameson rubbed his hand up and down my back, trying to calm me, as he took over the situation. “What night did your brother disappear?” he asked calmly.

Lola looked him up and down and I watched as her body slowly started to shift and take on a seductive, more relaxed stance. It was disgusting to watch, but I figured “slutty Lola” was easier to deal with than “mega-bitch-from-hell Lola”. I hated them both, incidentally.

“Friday, June 8th,” she purred through her duck lips. “He told me he was going to Skye’s place to try and win her back.”

Jameson released me and took a step toward Lola. Our bodyguard stiffened, but Jameson held up his hand to reassure him. “Well, Lola, I happened to be at Skye’s house that night and we never saw Jesse. Maybe he decided not to come by after all.”

Lola studied him for a few seconds and then lost her smile. I guess she decided that she wanted answers more than she wanted to sleep with him. “No. Jesse went over there; I’m sure of it. He’d been talking nonstop about Skye’s worthless ass for weeks. He was determined to make her forgive him. I tried talking him out of it. Everyone knows what a stuck up bitch Skye can be, but it was no use; he said he loved her. Can you believe that crock of shit?”

My jaw dropped at her audacity. How dare she call me a worthless, stuck up bitch! That was so far from the truth that it was actually laughable. I took a step forward, my fear of her finding out that her brother was dead being overridden by my anger and loathing towards her, but Jameson stopped me.

Lola glanced back and forth between Jameson and me before she scoffed again. “Boy, you don’t waste any time, do you Skye? Does Jesse know you’re f*cking him?”

“Lola, Jesse and I haven’t been together in over three months. He cheated on me and I broke up with him; not that it’s any of your damn business. Get off your f*cking high-horse. We all know who the real slut in this group is and it sure as hell isn’t Jameson or me.”

“You f*cking cunt,” Lola screeched as she raised her fist and came at me but Emrick was there in a flash; his hand covering her own, stopping her from hitting me. “I’m not a f*cking slut! I’ll beat your ass if you EVER call me that again! You know, you’re not the f*cking saint everyone thinks you are, Skye Morrison. I see the real you.”

“That’s right, Lola. I’m the girl with the broken halo.” I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair as the Escalade pulled up to Drop Kick’s and Killian got out. I looked around for the first time and noticed that a crowd had gathered to watch the show.

I took a deep breath and motioned for Emrick to let go of Lola’s hand.

“Behave,” he growled at her and she blanched at the harsh sound of his voice. He was incredibly intimidating and someone you definitely didn’t want to cross twice.

Lola adjusted her shirt and stared cold daggers at me; her nostrils flared as she seethed.

“Lola, I don’t want to fight with you,” I said quietly, painfully aware of the crowd. “I’m tired of always fighting with you. We’ve done nothing but fight since we met each other a year ago. I’m so over it.”

Lola took a deep breath and looked down at her hands. When she looked back up at me ten seconds later, there were tears in her eyes. “Where’s my brother Skye? I just want him to come home.” She swallowed thickly as the tears began to fall. “Something bad happened to him; I can just feel it. The police haven’t been any help. When they checked his apartment a few weeks ago, they found a note from him that said he was sick of this city and was moving to New York City. But, that can’t be true. Jesse would never just leave without telling me, mom or dad.”

I looked over at Jameson with wide eyes. The news that someone had left a false note in Jesse’s apartment shocked me. No one told me anything about it. I quickly got control over my features and looked back at Lola.

“Please, Skye,” she stumbled, obviously not used to using the word. “If you know anything, please…please tell me.”

Of course I know something, my conscience screamed. Your brother was brutally murdered by a vampire, decapitated, and his severed head left in the front seat of my car. Oh, and we never found his body but we did bury his head! I felt tears spring to my eyes again and I tried hard to swallow them down.

Lola’s eyes got wide and she pounced at my tears. “You know something, don’t you?” she asked desperately. “Please, Skye. Whatever it is, just tell me.”

The tears in my eyes became too much and started to fall. I sobbed once before Jameson put his arm around me and tried to lead me to the Escalade, but I shook his arm off and faced Lola again.

“Your brother is gone,” I swallowed thickly, my chin trembling as I fought my tears. “He came over that night and I told him that I never wanted to see him again. I told him that I couldn’t stand him and that I was dating someone else and it crushed him. He took a tire iron to my car and left and I haven’t seen him since.”

“I knew it, you f*cking bitch,” she seethed as she roughly wiped the tears from her cheeks. “You are nothing but a cold hearted, worthless skank, Skye Morrison. My brother was too good for you. You didn’t deserve his love.”

“You’re right, Lola. I didn’t,” I said quietly as I finally allowed Jameson to lead me to the car. Emrick folded in beside us in the back seat as Killian took the driver’s.

“What the hell, Skye?” Jameson growled when we were finally on the road. “Why did you tell her those things?”

I signed and turned to him, my eyes still filled with tears. “She wasn’t buying the fake story that you guys put in his apartment, Jameson,” I growled back. “What did you want me to do…tell her the truth? I did the best I could with the situation I was given. I didn’t expect to see her; I didn’t know how to handle that.”

“You should have just walked away,” he spat, raising his voice. “Now she’ll probably run to the police and let them know he was at your house that night. The last thing we need is the police sniffing around in vampire business.”

“Please don’t be angry with me,” I sighed, too tired to keep up the fight.

Jameson roughly ran his fingers through his hair. “Well, I am Skye. That was incredibly stupid of you. What are we going to tell Archer? He and An Dílis manufactured the story in the letter that they wanted told. You shouldn’t have talked to her.”

My chest started to ache more and more with each word that came out of Jameson’s mouth. He was really angry at me and I’d never heard him talk this way to me before…not even when I kissed his brother that night in The Mausoleum. After the confrontation with Lola, I positively couldn’t handle another one.

“Killian, take me to the club,” I said, climbing over the console and into the front seat. I needed to get as far away from Jameson as possible right now. I was angry at him, angry at myself, and hurt beyond words at the memory of Jesse’s death.

“What?” Jameson asked, shocked.

“Miss Morrison, I have strict instructions from Mr. Rhys to take you straight home,” Killian said apologetically.

“Drive me to the club or I’ll get out and walk there. Your call, Killian,” I said heatedly as I grabbed the door handle.

Killian glanced uncertainly at me but didn’t stop the car.

“Do it,” Emrick said from the backseat.

Killian gave in with a sigh and turned the car toward the club.

“This is ridiculous, Skye,” Jameson scoffed from the backseat.

“No, your treatment of me right now is ridiculous,” I said quietly. “I’m not talking about this any further.”

Jameson sighed. “You will once Archer finds out what you’ve done.”

“Lay off me!” I turned around in my seat and faced Jameson, my voice a barely contained yell. “I f*cked up, alright? I’m human; we make mistakes. I’ll tell Archer when I get to the club and I will deal with the consequences. Right now I don’t want to hear another word from you about it.” My heart constricted with rage and pain. Fighting with Jameson was unbearable. I couldn’t stand his disappointment in me and I definitely couldn’t stand how he was talking to me at the moment. The car ride to The Mausoleum couldn’t end quickly enough. I desperately needed out of that car. I wanted to get as far away from Jameson as I could before we both said something we would later regret.

Killian pulled up to the club a minute later and I turned to him. “If you don’t mind, Killian, will you please do me a favor? I need you to pick up my dog from my house. It’s on the way.” I dug around in my messenger bag and retrieved my house keys. “Jameson can give you directions and he has access to my home. I’d like a bag packed for her if you don’t mind. She’ll need food, toys and treats for her stay with me. I’m sorry to ask this of you, but I really don’t have another option right now.”

He nodded his head and accepted my proffered keys. “It’s okay. I don’t mind.”

I turned and thanked Emrick for dancing with me and exited the vehicle as fast as I could. I couldn’t bear to look at Jameson.

I ran to the back door and bumped smack into Brian, one of our dancers, as I entered. He was with a group of fellow dancers who were exiting the club for the night.

“Skye!” Courtney greeted as she hugged me. “We missed you tonight.”

I made quick small talk and excused myself as gently as I could. It was closing time and I was headed straight to the first floor bar for a stiff drink.

As I walked onto the main floor, Trey spotted me from his barstool and waved me over.

“What are you doing here?” Trey asked as he patted the seat next to him. “Have a seat honey.”

“Bad night,” I sighed as I sat down next to him, put my elbows on the bar and my head in my hands.

“Hey, darlin’,” Hunter greeted me in his deep southern accent. “You look like you could use a drink. What can I get you?”

“Something strong please, Hunter,” I mumbled. “Surprise me.”

Trey put his hand on my back and gently rubbed up and down its length. “Anger, disappointment, sorrow, guilt,” he sighed, reading my emotions. There was nothing anyone could hide from Trey, emotionally speaking. If you felt it, so did he.

“Like I said, honey…bad night,” I sighed again as I looked up at him. “I really f*cked up and I really need to talk to Archer. Is he in his office?”

Trey shook his head, his brow furrowed with sympathy. “He left earlier with those suits he was meeting with.”

“They weren’t all just suits,” I frowned, speaking barely above the tiniest whisper. I remembered my phone call to him and the girl giggling in the background. Feelings of jealousy and anger took flame in me once again and I swallowed hard as I blushed. Trey was definitely picking up on my emotions, because he sighed and hugged me.

“Oh, honey,” he soothed. “It’s just business.”

“I can’t talk about this anymore,” I said as Hunter set down a tall glass in front of me with purple liquid inside of it. I was feeling entirely emotionally drained at the moment and didn’t want to discuss anything too deep.

Aoife, Lochlan, Quinn, and Seamus, Archer’s vampire children, and my co-workers joined us then and sat down at the bar. Pádraig wasn’t far behind. I greeted them and asked how their night was. Hunter politely slid them each a small glass of amber liquid and I quietly sipped my drink as I watched them chit chat and laugh with each other.

The drink Hunter gave me tasted light and fruity, but obviously packed a serious punch. Soon, I was joining more in the conversations and even joked around a bit with the guys as my bad mood started to ebb away. Trey smiled at my change of emotions and ordered us all another round. About an hour later, the cleaning crew had finished for the night and we all decided to head back to Archer’s house.

I chose to ride home in the Porsche 911 with Pádraig and Trey. Since it was a two-seater, I sat on Trey’s lap as Pádraig drove us home. As always, per safety protocol, we drove together as a pack. Since only one guard was with us, Pádraig, our car brought up the rear.

The drive to the lake went quick. Trey and I were both feeling pretty inebriated and giddy, so we hooked up his iPod to the stereo and blasted Carly Rae Jepsen’s ‘Call Me Maybe’ on repeat. We sang at the top of our lungs and developed a whole dance routine with our hands as we crooned along. Even straight-laced Pádraig let loose and joined in on the chorus a few times. If it had been any other guardian singing along, I would have been completely flabbergasted, but Pádraig was a little different from everyone else. He had barely been 18 years old when he was turned and still knew how to have a good time. Plus, he seemed to let his guard down a little more when he was around Trey.

We pulled up to the house and Trey and I immediately jumped out of the car, leaving the door open and the music blaring, and began to dance in the driveway.

“And all the other boooooys try to chaaaaase me. But here’s my number, so call me maybe!” Trey and I sang along loudly as we skipped about; my hair whipping, our slender shoulders shimmying to the beat.

I heard a few laughs as everyone else exited their cars, and even a clap or two, but I wasn’t paying much attention. I was drunk and having a blast with one of my best friends. After the night I had, letting loose with Trey was just what the doctor ordered.

I heard barking coming from the front of the house and stopped dancing as I saw Styvi Nix run down the driveway toward me.

“Oh my gosh! Hi, Styvi baby!” I squealed in delight as I squatted down and allowed her to tackle me to the ground. She whimpered with excitement as she covered my face and neck with furious licks. I laughed with joy as I rolled on the ground with her and showed her all the attention she could handle. I had missed her terribly these last three weeks and was so glad to have her back.

“I’ve missed you so much, super star,” I cooed as I rubbed her head and scratched behind her ears. “Were you a good girl for your Aunt Nikki?” She yipped a few times and acknowledged my words to her. She couldn’t understand all of them, but I knew she got the general idea.

I heard laughter off to my left and tore my gaze away from Styvi Nix to see Jameson standing at the head of the driveway. He had his arms crossed over his chest and was chuckling at our display.

“I see someone missed you,” he grinned.

“Of course she missed me,” I replied, the smile sliding from my face. I was still mad at him.

“I was talking to the dog, love,” he laughed at his own joke.

I pursed my lips at the joke, got up off the concrete, scooped up Styvi in my arms, and headed toward the front door.

As I passed Jameson without so much as a glance in his direction, he spoke up. “Baby, come on. You can’t still be mad at me,” he said gently, his voice filled with regret. “I’m sorry.”

I didn’t say a word as I walked in the door, through the house and into my room. I shut the door firmly and sat down with my back against it. I wasn’t ready to make up with Jameson just yet. His harsh words still rang loud in my ears. I wasn’t just angry at him; I was angry at myself. Angry that I had to lie to an obviously grief-stricken Lola and angry that I went against what Archer and An Dílis planned out as Jesse’s excuse for coming up missing.

I sighed as I looked down at the gorgeous puppy sitting contentedly in my lap. “I’m glad you’re here, superstar. I’m going to need your cuddles tonight.” Sensing my mood, she craned her neck up and licked my chin. “Thanks, girl. You always know how to make me feel better.”

With my good mood gone, I decided to take a quick shower and get ready for bed. After blow-drying my hair and putting on lotion, I crawled into bed and snuggled down in the white silk bed sheets. They felt cool and silky against my naked skin and I sighed as I relaxed into them. Styvi Nix promptly jumped up onto the bed, nudged her way under the blanket, and firmly snuggled up against me. Her warmth soon radiated into me and I quickly fell asleep.