Forever Touched (Touch of Vampire #5)

CHAPTER 19

19

ADALYN

Everett found me frozen at the bottom of the stairs.

Voices came from the room just around the corner. Several of them. Loud and carefree and . . . happy. I could hear laughter, teasing, and even giggling from little children. I didn’t know what I was expecting, but not this.

I was used to shouts and criticism and barked orders. Would the carefree mood change the moment I entered the room?

“What’s wrong?” Everett quietly asked, stopping on the stair beside me.

At his close proximity, some of my nerves faded, but I couldn’t help feeling like I was about to intrude on something special. Once again, it was painfully clear that I didn’t belong in this world.

“You didn’t tell me there would be this many people,” I replied, careful to keep my tone light.

He descended the final stair to fully face me. “I heard Kade arrive with the twins a few minutes ago. Why? Are you feeling shy?”

When his mouth curved into a teasing smirk, I gave him a flat look. Normally, I’d tease him right back, but I was feeling too much like a fish out of water at the moment.

Noticing how tense I was, his expression softened. “Just be yourself, Adalyn. You don’t have to pretend with them. They’ll accept you just as you are.”

He might as well have ordered me to dance naked in front of his whole family. Without a mask on, without a shield , he had no idea how hard it was for me to survive this world.

Seeing the doubt on my face, he reached out and threaded his fingers through mine. “Come on,” he said, giving my hand a little squeeze. “They won’t bite. I promise.”

I completely ignored his lame joke, too focused on his warm palm pressed against mine. He’d seemed to take my hand almost without thinking, like comforting me through touch was something he did all the time. Shocked at how good it felt to have my hand in his, I let him guide me past the foyer and into the room beyond without protest.

The massive living room was decorated in earth tones, with floor-to-ceiling windows that allowed the early morning light to filter in—minus harmful UV rays. The window treatment must be for Kade’s wife, since Loch had said she was a Feltore. Now that it wasn’t dark, I could see a peaceful blue lake surrounded by thick woods just outside. We were miles from everything, secluded in a little oasis.

Which meant that I was a sitting duck if the rest of the royal family decided they didn’t like me.

Everett didn’t give me a chance to change my mind, though. As soon as we turned the corner and saw a kitchen-full of people—correction, vampires —he said, “Everyone, this is Adalyn.”

The happy sounds immediately switched off. Even the two children sitting in highchairs stopped what they were doing to stare. It felt like I’d been thrust into a spotlight, the crowd eagerly waiting for me to start my performance. The need to hide, to slip on a mask and pretend I was someone else, trembled through me.

Everett suddenly drew me in front of him and slipped an arm around my waist. With his solid presence behind me and his arm acting as a shield, I felt protected. Safe . It gave me the confidence to stand up straight and say, “Hi, everyone. ”

No one spoke. It was like the sight of me and Everett together had short-circuited their brains. Even the chatty golden vampire, Kade, was staring at us with his mouth wide open.

Okay, this was all sorts of uncomfortable. Maybe I could convince Everett to let me take breakfast on the go.

Before I could speak, though, a feminine voice exclaimed, “Good goddess, you’re gorgeou s. Kade failed to mention that part.”

A short and curvy girl with blonde hair dyed pink at the ends suddenly beelined toward me, a huge grin on her pretty heart-shaped face. Everett’s arm tightened around me, but when she swooped in for a hug, he didn’t stop her.

“I’m so happy to finally meet you, Star—”

“Adalyn,” Everett interrupted. “Her name is Adalyn.”

“Adalyn? Oh, that’s such a pretty name!” the female sang, squeezing me tightly. When a few of my bruises protested, Everett growled quietly. She didn’t seem to hear it, though, pulling back to beam at me. “I’m Isla, Kade’s wife. He told me all about your visit to the castle yesterday, and I was so jealous to have missed out. I can’t believe Everett has a soulmate . We were starting to think he would never find someone. He sure didn’t waste any time claiming you, though. And deeply . But I can’t blame him. You smell absolutely divine, and your hair is like spun silver. It looks stunning on you, but I’m too pale to get away with that color. And don’t get me started on your skin. It has that ageless look Asian people are so lucky to inherit. Sorry I’m talking so much. I’m just so excited .”

I stopped listening halfway through, a word she’d said stuck on repeat in my mind.

Her expression abruptly fell. “Oh, no. Did I say something wrong?”

When she glanced up at Everett, I spun and forcefully shoved him in the chest. “You claimed me? Is that why you were so okay with me leaving? Because you knew your scent would deter other males from touching me? You have no idea what kind of damage you’ve just caused.”

Isla gasped, but I was too furious to care that I’d just made the worst possible first impression in history.

“ Answer me,” I snapped, shoving Everett again.

He stumbled back a step, but only because he’d let me push him. Knowing this made me even angrier, and I prepared to shove him again. Before I could, he caught both of my wrists.

I fought to break free, shouting, “Let go of me, you bastard. I hate you.”

The second the words were out, I realized my terrible mistake. Terrified that he’d retaliate, I stopped fighting and waited for the inevitable. I’d never spoken to a vampire like that before. If I had, I’d be long dead.

Casting my eyes to the floor, I braced for the punishment to come. He was more than capable of violence, and it wouldn’t take much effort for him to crush the delicate bones in my wrists to dust.

I waited and waited, but the pain never came.

Unable to bear the silence a moment longer, I blurted, “I’m sorry. I don’t hate you, okay? I was just surprised to hear that you’d claimed me.”

“Don’t be sorry,” he quietly replied. “You have every right to be angry with me. You can even hate me if you wish. But I won’t apologize for claiming you. I had to. I didn’t feel like I had any other choice.”

More angry words sprang to my tongue, but I shoved them back down. He could still punish me when we didn’t have an audience. Still, I wanted to scream at him for betraying me this way. He’d said that he didn’t think of me as a possession, and I’d believed him.

Had everything he’d said to me been a lie? Had it just been a way for him to control me?

My anger abruptly gave way to another emotion. Hurt. I was hurt . More hurt than I could ever remember feeling.

“Adalyn,” Everett softly implored. I could hear the remorse in his voice, but I wasn’t ready to acknowledge it. When I didn’t respond, he let go of my wrists with a sigh.

Needing to be anywhere but here, I dredged up the courage to say, “I should leave. Sorry about the scene, everyone.”

But before I could take a single step, I heard Loch say, “Not until you’ve had breakfast.”

Surprised, I turned to face him. He was standing behind the kitchen island with his arms crossed over his chest. I expected to receive a stern look for yelling at his brother, but he wasn’t even looking at me. His eyes were on Everett, and there was more than a little disapproval flashing in their dark depths.

“Yes, Adalyn. Please stay,” a new voice spoke, drawing my attention to the far side of the island. A beautiful brunette with a kind smile on her face stood there. Right away, I felt a little less out of place. This must be Kenna, Loch’s wife, the vampire witch hybrid who’d broken the century-long curse six years ago.

Like me, fate had thrust her into a dangerous world where she didn’t belong. Yet, here she was, happily mated to a vampire prince and the mother of twins. I glanced at her adorable children and wondered if they shared their mother’s special abilities.

Seeing where my attention had strayed, Kenna said, “This is Nico and Zoey. They have a tendency to forget about their Syphon abilities when they’re excited, so be mindful of their skin.”

Out of nowhere, Zoey launched some of her breakfast at her twin. Nico made a startled noise, then gleefully reached into his bowl of oatmeal, prepared to escalate the food fight.

Kade, who’d been surprisingly quiet until now, lunged off his stool toward them. “Quit it, you little goobers.” He tried to stop Nico from lobbing the oatmeal at his sister, but the goo ended up hitting him instead. The twins shrieked with laughter. As the big vampire got pelted a second time by Zoey, I couldn’t help but smile a little.

Just like that, the tension in the room vanished.

While Kenna helped Kade break up the fight, Loch looked on with amusement dancing in his eyes.

“They never listen to me,” Kade grumbled, setting Nico’s bowl of oatmeal a safe distance away.

“You just have to be more firm with them,” Kenna said and grabbed some paper towels to wipe up the mess. “And don’t give them sweets first thing in the morning.”

“I didn’t this time, I swear ,” he replied, pausing to give me an apologetic look. “We’re not usually this chaotic. The twins are just going through a throwing phase.”

“And a ‘test their pushover uncle’ phase,” Isla muttered under her breath.

“I heard that, shortcake,” Kade growled at his wife. When she tossed him an impish grin, he winked at her.

Overwhelmed by all the back and forth, I kept silent, until I caught a flash of silver from the corner of my eye. Following it, I gasped at the sight of a fox in the living room.

“Is that a . . . ?”

“Kenna’s familiar. Her name is Silver.”

I still didn’t acknowledge Everett, choosing to ignore my hurt by ignoring him. As the fox turned to face me, I was struck by her beauty. Pale blue eyes were set in a silver and white face. Her neck ruff and legs were pure white, but the rest of her fluffy body was silver, similar to my hair color. Her large, black-tipped ears swiveled forward as she in turn assessed me.

Knowing she was only part animal, I dipped my head respectfully before saying, “Hello, Silver. It’s nice to meet you.”

Good thing Pepper wasn’t here. Although the creature before me housed a celestial spirit, she still possessed animal instincts. Foxes loved to eat mice.

Silver dipped her head in return, and I smiled. She was friendly. Not all familiars were.

“She senses the angelic magic within you,” Kenna said, moving from the kitchen to join me. As she did, Silver hurried over and pressed herself against Kenna’s legs. “Do you possess a familiar of your own?”

A lie instinctively sprang to my lips, born from the necessity to protect my tiny familiar. But I didn’t feel the need to hide her for once. A fellow witch stood before me. Maybe not a full witch anymore, but she understood how important the bond between witch and familiar was. I could trust her.

I just didn’t know if I felt the same about the male standing behind me.

Still, I decided to lower my guard once more and admit, “Yes. Her name is Pepper. She’s a . . . she’s a mouse, actually.”

“A mouse? That’s adorable!” Kade exclaimed, joining our ever-growing circle. “Is she here? Can I hold her? Silver never lets me hold her.”

“That’s because you squeeze the daylights out of her,” Isla commented with an eye roll. When Kade came up from behind to wrap her in a tight bear hug, she squealed and playfully slapped his arm. “Like that , you big oaf. ”

In reply, he bent down to nuzzle her neck and squeeze her even more, which she didn’t seem to mind in the least.

When I fished for a reply but came up empty, Loch saved me by saying, “I think that’s enough questions for now. We should let Adalyn eat.”

“Yes. Adalyn, we made several different things, not knowing what you liked,” Kenna said, gesturing for me to follow her into the kitchen. Suddenly more comfortable with them than the male I’d come in here with, I obediently trailed after her. As she pointed to the impressive spread on the kitchen island, my focus went solely to the food.

There was so much of it. Pancakes, scrambled eggs, fruit, bacon, and toast with jelly. There was a carton of orange juice, and I could smell fresh coffee brewing. I hadn’t seen this much food in ages .

Barely able to contain my excitement, I waited impatiently for Kenna to finish speaking so I could dive in. The second she stopped, I was off like a shot, piling as much food as I could onto the plate she’d offered me. When someone handed me a fork, I plopped onto a stool and got to work.

Only when my plate was half-cleared did I finally realize how quiet it had become. With my mouth still full of food, I lifted my head to find the entire room staring at me.

Great. My social skills were apparently a bit rusty.

Noticing that Everett was now across the island from me, I made the mistake of glancing at his face. He looked . . . troubled. Feeling uncomfortable all over again, I quickly swallowed my food and said to no one in particular, “This is really good, thank you. It’s been awhile since I’ve had breakfast.” Alarm trickled through me, the emotion decidedly Everett’s. Cursing my slip, I hastily amended, “A breakfast this big , I mean. I usually eat pretty light the first half of the day. ”

And the second half.

Belatedly realizing that I was the only one eating, heat crept into my cheeks. Not much embarrassed me anymore, but I felt like a strange creature in a circus show at the moment. I swirled my fork in the air, trying to keep the unease from my voice as I asked, “Do you all only drink blood for breakfast?”

Way to be the odd man out.

When Kade barked a laugh, Isla quickly elbowed him in the side. “Shush! We’re making her uncomfortable. To answer your question, Kenna and the twins usually eat food once a day, but the rest of us don’t need it like they do. And definitely not like you. Wow, girl, you sure can wolf down food. How do you keep your figure? If I ate like that during my time as a human, it would go straight to my thighs and butt.”

“More to grab on to,” Kade purred, reaching behind her to do just that.

She yelped and batted his hand away. “ Behave . We have a guest.”

He looked over at me with a wink. “Adalyn isn’t a guest. She’s family now.”

I suddenly found it hard to breathe. Did he really mean that, or was I not supposed to take it seriously? Either way, I hadn’t been part of a family in years . The thought of being included in this one made my heart ache, but not in a bad way.

I snuck a glance at Everett again and found him closely watching me. Too closely. The bastard was trying to read my mind again.

Needing a distraction, I answered Isla’s earlier question. “I do a lot of dancing, which definitely helps keep me in shape.”

“Oh!” Her eyes lit up. “Kade told me you were a dancer. So what made you choose that profession?”

I inwardly grimaced, wondering what else he’d told his wife. Isla seemed genuinely interested, though, so I decided to answer her honestly.

“It’s sort of in my blood, actually. My mom was originally a prima ballerina from Japan. She and my dad met and fell in love while she was at an international ballet competition here in the states, so she decided to relocate here after they got married. She started to teach me how to dance when I was only two, but she died in a car crash a couple years later.”

Isla’s expression flooded with sympathy. “I’m so sorry. I lost my mom too. I bet she’d be so proud of you for following in her footsteps.”

I huffed a wry laugh. “Thanks, but I doubt she would approve of my type of dancing.”

Um, yeah, my social skills were definitely stunted. Who admitted that kind of stuff to perfect strangers? Now I’d just made everything awkward again.

“Your dancing is beautiful,” a voice smoothly cut through the awkwardness, and my eyes jumped back to Everett’s.

He was still watching me closely but not like before. His expression was soft now and open . So open that I knew he’d meant what he said. He truly thought my dancing was beautiful. Overwhelmed by how that made me feel, I dropped my gaze to my plate.

“Thank you,” I managed to whisper.

He really needed to stop coming to my rescue and saying stuff like that. Stuff that made me feel things. Confusing things. Things that flipped my world upside down and had me questioning everything.

Like how I could possibly return to my old life after this. Like how I could keep pretending that he wasn’t worming his way under my skin.

The insufferable bastard had claimed me without my permission, but I could no longer deny my feelings. I cared about him. Cared .

And that was bad. Really, really bad.

I might as well stick my knife into my own chest. Nothing good would come of these feelings. For either of us.