The Ornament

Chapter Six



regori wasted no time in seizing control of G Kaylee’s mind. He loved the fact that she was outspoken, but Oberon would not. The other man expected people to follow his orders blindly, which was to be expected considering the length of his time as leader of their people. They hadn’t survived this long as a separate species from the humans because he allowed dissention.

Moving closer, he held out his hand. “Take my hand, Kaylee and we shall visit one of my homes.

You would like that, wouldn’t you?” Surprised at the strength of her resistance, Gregori wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close.

“I will take her to the council house in LA,” he told Oberon as he watched the other man turn and walk toward the empty building.

“No one shall find her and no one shall hear of her involvement in what happened here or you will answer to me. See that you keep her under 37

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your control until you can convince her to become your mate.” Oberon’s expression changed.

Somehow, he looked both harder, yet filled with compassion.

Any type of empathy was unusual for the other man. That alone was enough to have Gregori’s full attention.

“You are a lucky man. Just see that you care for this precious gift the fates have given you and keep her safe,” Oberon said just before he leapt toward the sky, shifting his shape into that of a giant condor as he flew into the darkness.

It was a few minutes before Gregori thought to make his way to the hotel room and peer inside, careful to keep Kaylee from seeing. Blood covered the floor, the bed. Some even sprayed across the wall, resembling some macabre work of art.

Now knowing exactly which crew to call in, he pulled his cell phone from his pocket and pressed the speed dial number for the crew responsible for cleaning up such messes.

“Arty?” he asked though he knew who was on the other end.

Arty and his crew were a group of humans assigned by the government to handle such things.

Oberon would contact the member of their government responsible for spinning the tales required to keep humans from rioting in the streets when vampires found the need to execute 38

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slayers. Gregori’s people had been told from the start that slayers were their mess. They had better learn to deal with them. The only help the human government would give was covering up the disappearance of those involved.

“You know it is,” Arty replied from the other end. Gregori heard the snick of the human’s lighter and the sharp intake of breath as Arty inhaled smoke from the cigarette he’d just lit.


“What do you need, big guy?”

“I need a clean-up crew and I need one fast.” Gregori wasted no time in telling the other man where. “We had another incident and need your special services.”

Arty heaved a sigh.

Gregori could almost see the noxious smoke swirling about the other man’s head.

“Stay there until we get there. We may need your special services in case someone decides to enter that room before we take care of it.” There was a short pause before he continued, “Oh, and find the manager and plant the memory of a room remodel in his head, will you? We’ll have to repaint the place and change the carpet. We can’t have people trying to figure out how the place got the stuff without a work order, now can we?”

“That wouldn’t be my first choice.” Gregori ended the call and turned back to Kaylee who still stood tucked beneath his arm.

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“It may be years before I allow you out of my sight again, dear heart.” He placed a kiss on her forehead. Never again did he want to feel the terror he felt when he’d exited that gas station with a soft drink he’d purchased for Kaylee in his hand and found her car gone.

He’d thought the worse for a few moments when she didn’t project thoughts of fear and distress. Why would she not know immediately that she was in harm’s way?

He knew the answer when she finally realized the driver of the vehicle had changed. At any other time, he would have smiled to find out that she had been reading a vampire romance. It gave him hope.

However, when he finally made contact with her terror-filled mind, the only thought he had was to find her and keep her safe from those who would harm her. He looked down into her slack expression and sighed. She was going to be pissed when he finally released her mind.

Turning to her car, he strapped her into the passenger side and fused the seatbelt with a thought. She couldn’t run if she couldn’t escape the confines of her vehicle. Striding around the rear of the car, he shut the trunk as he passed, then slid into the driver’s seat to wait for Arty’s team to arrive.

In the meantime, he needed to talk to a 40

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cognizant Kaylee and let her get her angst for his highhandedness out of her system. With a sigh, he released her mind.

Anger followed her disorientation as she came to her senses and looked around. “That’s it. I can’t live like this.” She reached down to unlock her seatbelt. “Get out of my car. I’ll drive myself home.”

Kaylee frowned down at the latch of the belt, pushed the red release button and frowned. “Why won’t this thing unlock?” She continued to yank on the belt. “I can’t believe you had the nerve to just take over my mind like that.” She paused in her struggles to glare up at him. “I don’t like control freaks and controlling someone’s actions, their very thoughts, smacks of being just that.” Reaching out, she grasped the door handle and opened her door. She looked down, examining the apparatus in the glow of the dome lights and scowled. “What did you do to this?” She scowled up at him again. “I’m an adult, Gregori, and free to make my own choices. Release me or I’ll scream.”

“Go ahead and scream, little one. It will do you no good. I will merely control the minds of anyone who dares approach us.”

Tears filled her eyes and the sight of them almost broke his heart.

“Let me go. Can’t you see? We aren’t meant for 41

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each other. I can’t live like this where you take control of my mind because I say or do something you don’t like,” she sobbed. “I need to be free, not kept in some kind of gilded cage where I’ll be safe.

What kind of life is that, Gregori?” She wrapped her arms about herself and began to rock back and forth. “I want to go home. I need to go home.”

Kaylee continued to chant the words as she sat by his side, the seatbelt forgotten.

A knock on the window got his attention. It was Arty. Gregori fought the urge to check his watch.

It didn’t matter where in the world he was when he contacted Arty, the other man was never more than fifteen minutes away. Sometimes that bothered him but not today. Today, he wanted nothing more than to get this over with and get Kaylee to safety.

Gregori climbed from the car and as usual, towered over the human as he stood with his hands on his hips.

“Which room?” Arty asked as he peered toward the building. “I assume it’s the one with the door open, but you never know.”

“It is.” Gregori pointed. “Take care of it, will you? I have to take my woman to safety.”

“What woman?” Arty asked, sounding confused as he looked into the car. “I don’t see a woman.”

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Heart in his throat, Gregori spun around.

Kaylee was gone. The seatbelt, still locked in place told of her presence or at least told of her presence in his mind.

“No!”

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