Midnight Magic, page 143
“Tell me what happened,” Tawne repeated and squeezed her hand.
Brandi recalled the events of the evening. The pain from Malik, it stung too much to open with that wound. She knew it would be best to start from the very beginning.
She told her about spending time with Bishop and Dash, and how wonderful their trips were. She filled her in on the spat she had with Malik in her office, the yelling, how she ran off.
Then, as she depicted the day of the massage, followed by sex, then the first feeding, she shrugged through the story. “Dash and Bishop had no issues sharing their blood with me. When they offered their veins, Malik left the room. He legit got dressed and walked out.”
Tawne nodded and remained silent.
“Then, during the event, I followed Malik out of the ballroom. I mean, he gave me this sort of, follow me if you dare, look. Maybe I mistook it, I don’t know. Anyway, he pulled me into his arms and pushed me against the wall. To be honest, I thought he was going to try to have sex with me then and there.”
“Shit,” Tawne whispered. “Did you?”
“Yes, well, no, not there. He took us to his office. And when I say took, I mean he picked me up in his arms and carried me as he ran. We… Tawne, I can’t put into words what he did to me, but it was fucking epic.”
Tawne smiled and pretended to fan herself. “Sounds hot.”
Brandi lifted her brow and smirked. “It was, but after he fed from me, I wanted to do the blood exchange with him. He not only turned me down, he all but said I’m nothing more than a blood bag. He has zero intentions of having anything else to do with me.”
“But Bishop and Dash feel differently?”
She nodded. “I’m falling in love with all three of them, but Malik is making it hard as fuck to love him. There’s something under his exterior that’s hurting him, and I wish he’d let me in. I want to help, but he’s hell bent on not letting me. After how we left things, I can’t go back.”
The words broke her heart, pained her in a way that was similar to the rejections she felt as a child. Her eyes burned and her chest tightened. She bent over and pressed her elbows to her knees, then held her face in her hands. She didn’t want to show weakness in her tears, but she couldn’t hold it back any longer.
Brandi’s body shook as the emotions spilled out of her. Her nose began to run and the tears ran down her cheeks, landing on her lap.
Tawne wrapped an arm around her and pulled her into her embrace. “Shh, you don’t have to go back. We’ll figure this out together, okay? You’ll never be alone again and I’m not letting you live on the streets. I was serious about staying here if it didn’t work out, all right?”
Brandi let herself cry. She was done holding things in. She was over having to play second fiddle to everything in life. That part of her was dead and buried with the intent to never bring it back to the surface, but right now, the earth was quaking with the threat of it surfacing, just to grasp her in its arms and pull her back under once more.
“So, what do you want to do?” Tawne asked.
Brandi sniffed and closed her eyes. She didn’t want to move or leave Tawne’s arms. “I want to break the contract.”
“Okay,” Tawne agreed and squeezed her once more. “I’ll make a call to Ethan, he’s our attorney for the Covenant. He’ll know what to do.”
She nodded and sniffed again. “I’m sorry to dump all this on you.”
“Are you kidding me? You’re my friend. We may have lost touch over the years, but Brandi, you’re still a human fucking being. You deserve happiness as much as anybody else.”
“Thank you,” Brandi cried out and the pain, the tears, started over again. The realization of not being with Dash and Bishop would be crushing in the days to come, but right now, in this moment, she needed shelter from the outside world. Tomorrow would have to wait.
CHAPTER 19
“Merda,” Dash growled. He fisted the note left by Brandi and started toward the door. When he’d headed to the kitchen to join Brandi for breakfast, as she was usually down here during this time of morning, he was surprised to not find her. Then again, after last night’s event, she may have slept in. He’d watched her leave his side last night to follow Malik out of the ballroom, and she wasn’t seen again.
He was happy to see the two of them spending alone time together, although when Malik returned to the party, he wondered why Brandi was not by his side. He assumed she’d turned in for the night and thought nothing of it.
Until now.
Standing in her bedroom, he could still smell her scent. He picked up her pillow, held it to his nose, and inhaled. Closing his eyes, he allowed her essence to invade his senses.
What the fuck did Malik do to her to cause her to leave in such haste?
“Master Dash?” James called from the door entrance.
Dash whipped around and dropped the pillow. “James. Where is she?”
“Sir, I don’t know. She was gone this morning when I made my rounds. Her door was open and I thought she was possibly outside.”
“She’s left us, James. She’s gone.”
“Wait, what?” Bishop said as he stepped into the room. “Brandi’s gone?”
Dash crossed the room and thrust the paper into his hands.
Bishop frowned and opened the wrinkled note.
“To Dash and Bishop,” he read aloud. “I’m sorry, I can’t remain under the same house as a monster who only sees me as a blood bag. Forgive me, Brandi.” He lowered his hand to his side and like Dash, wrinkled the paper in his grasp. “What the fuck did Malik do last night?” It wasn’t often Bishop lost his temper and Dash had witnessed it only a handful of times, but the man began to snarl through gritted teeth. “If he’s the reason, this monster, he’ll fucking pay.”
“Sirs,” James started and Bishop held up a single digit.
“Do not tell me to calm down, James.” He turned to the older man. “Just don’t.” He left the room and Dash quickly followed.
“Last I saw of her was when she followed Malik out of the ballroom last night,” Dash hissed.
“Same.”
The men took the stairs down and headed toward the study where Malik did the majority of his work. From Covenant to vampire politics, the trio were at the head of most directives. However, today would be different. Dash and Bishop would be the judge and Malik, depending on what he said and did, would pay the price for his treatment of their concubine.
What that punishment would be was unknown, but Dash knew this outcome, whatever it would be, could change everything they’d built.
Approaching the closed door, Dash didn’t bother knocking. He opened the door hard enough that it slammed into the wall. The pair rushed his desk and Malik looked up, clearly startled if the widening of his eyes was any indication.
“Brothers,” Malik started and set his pen down, folding his fingers on his desk. The shock wore off almost immediately, replaced with smugness Dash and Bishop had come accustomed to.
“What the fuck did you do?” Dash demanded. “What did you say to her?”
Bishop tossed the note onto Malik’s desk. “Read it.”
“Why?” Malik asked. “I know what it says.”
“Read the fucking note,” Bishop threatened.
Malik’s brows shot up. “All right.” He reached for it, and Bishop grabbed his wrist, yanking him forward. Malik’s chest hit the desk and he growled.
“Watch yourself, brother,” Malik warned.
“Fuck you,” Bishop scolded. “If this was caused by you, you’ll be responsible for what comes next.”
Malik pulled his arm away and stood from his seat. He turned his back to Dash and Bishop. A moment later, his arms dropped to his sides.
“What the fuck did you say to her?” Dash spat. “Tell us now.”
Malik lowered his head and took in a deep breath, then turned to face his brothers.
Dash seldom saw Malik in a vulnerable state, but right now, his brother appeared… torn.
Malik held his head up. “She asked me to do the blood exchange with her and I refused.”
“Why would you do that?” Bishop asked.
“I know exactly why,” Dash recounted. “He’s a fucking pussy who’s scared to let anybody in.”
Malik pointed to Dash and snarled. “You better watch your tone with me, brother.”
“Or what? You’ll force me out like you did Brandi?”
“Fuck you. No, I wouldn’t do that.” He paused for a moment and looked down at his hands. “She asked me how I could turn myself off, to give zero fucks about anything.”
“What the fuck did you say?” Dash questioned.
“I told her because I give zero fucks about anyone else, and she should try it sometime.”
“The fuck, you asshole,” Bishop yelled and started toward him.
Dash grabbed his arm and pulled him back. “We’re not done here,” he demanded.
The phone rang on Malik’s desk. Someone else in the home answered when the room fell silent. The three vampires stared at one another in the emptiness and Dash thought to let Bishop go, let him fuck up Malik, break him, scar him the way he’d just scarred them.
“Sirs,” James cleared his throat.
Dash glanced over at the man. He held a phone in his hand and Dash motioned for him to hand it over.
He took it and put the receiver to his ear.
“Dash.”
“Hey, Dash, it’s Chayton. We have Brandi here. She doesn’t know I’m making this call. I wanted to let you know she was safe. She’s pissed as hell, but she’s safe.”
“Thank you, Chayton. I’ll be in touch shortly, as soon as we figure out what to do with Malik.”
“Umm, okay,” Chayton responded and hung up without another word.
Dash tossed the phone onto Malik’s desk. “That was Chayton. Brandi’s with Tawne. You read her fucking note. She’s not just talking about taking a fucking break. She wants out of our contract, Malik.”
“She wants a fresh start without us,” Bishop added. “How the fuck could you do this?”
Malik pulled his office chair out and sat down. He rested his elbows on the desk and crossed his fingers. He rested his forehead against his hand and sighed.
“How do you plan on fixing this?” Dash asked. “You need to fucking fix this, now.” When Malik didn’t say anything, Dash started for the door. “You know what? If you can’t be a fucking man and stand up for what you truly want, I have no business staying here with you.”
“Right behind you, brother,” Bishop growled.
“Wait,” Malik yelled and stood, his chair flinging back. “Just wait a fucking minute.” He walked around his desk and sat on the edge of it. Crossing his arms over his chest, he sighed. “Look, I can’t love her. You know why I can’t. I thought it would be impossible for me to love anybody else, but fuck me, I fell in love with her and I can’t force myself not to. It’s driving me insane. The best thing I could do is keep my distance.”
“Stop being a fucking bitch,” Dash warned. “Make this right.”
Malik sighed.
“You need to tell her before it’s too late,” Bishop added. “If you truly love her as you say you do, go to her.”
“Now,” Dash emphasized with the raise of his voice.
“I… how?” Malik asked. “I already suffer every day from the loss of Lena,” he whispered. “I think of her every fucking day. I see so much of Lena in Brandi. She has her bravery, her confidence, everything. Looking at Brandi is like looking into my past.”
“You will suffer a different kind of loss if you have to live without Brandi, and if she were paired with someone else, you’d never get her back,” Dash told him.
Malik pushed off his desk and shook out his arms. “Give me the car keys. I’ll drive myself.”
Bishop left the room and a moment later, he jingled keys in his hand. He tossed them to Malik.
Catching them, he approached Dash and rested a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry.”
“You’re a foul shit, you know that?”
“Yes, and you can hate me the rest of your days, but for now, I need to go. Kick my ass later.”
“If I don’t kick it first,” Bishop warned.
Letting Dash go, Malik headed out of the room and disappeared down the corridor.
“You think he’ll beg for forgiveness?” Bishop asked.
“If he knows what’s good for him, he’ll grovel and kiss her feet,” Dash answered.
CHAPTER 20
Having cleaned up post breakdown, Brandi sat in the study, book in hand. Her eyes still hurt from crying, as did her heart. She’d read the same page from The Life and Times of William Shakespeare repeatedly but, if someone asked, she couldn’t say what she’d read. She saw the words, and read them, but nothing computed.
With a huff, she closed the book and set it in her lap. Tucking her legs under her body, she stared at the wall across from her to the portrait painted of Christofano, Evan, William, and Chayton, with Tawne in what looked like a queen’s throne in the middle of them.
Brandi wanted this so desperately with her vampires. She longed to be the center of their universe. Having never loved anyone as her own, and no one loving her, it was a new concept to accept when everything eventually turned to shit.
Was she a walking magnet for this?
Was she destined to never love or be loved?
Why was she born into this world without any kind of meaning?
Was it a cruel joke?
With a sigh, she stood and took the book back to shelf from which she drew it. Her fingers touched the spine of novels, some old and almost tattered, where others were brand new. The old books, the stories they could tell outside the pages, the stories of the people who once read them, and what they learned from the passages.
“Excuse me, Brandi?” Evan called from the door. “You have a visitor.”
“Really?” She started toward the door, hoping to see Dash and Bishop, but the man who came into the room spooked her. She stopped and froze in place. Fear climbed up her spine, but so did rage. She fisted her hands and gritted her teeth.
“Why are you here?” she demanded. “You come to give me the broken contract or maybe rub more salt in the wounds you made?”
Malik turned to Evan with a nod. “Thank you.”
“Don’t destroy my room,” he warned. “Leader or not.”
Malik nodded once more, then turned his attention to Brandi.
“I deserved that.”
“Oh, I have so much more to throw at you,” she bit out.
Malik started toward her and Brandi growled, “Don’t.”
“I know you don’t want to see me,” he started and motioned to the love seat she’d shared with Tawne earlier.
“That’s the truth, I don’t want to see you. No, I don’t want to sit.”
“Fair enough.” He sat and crossed his right ankle over his left knee. “As I started, I know you don’t want to see me, but please, give me a chance to explain. Then, if you still never want to hear from me again, I’ll respect that and break off the contract. You’ll be free to start over and make a better match.”
The words gutted her. He was putting the ball in her court to make the decision, but hadn’t he already done that? He had no intentions of treating her as an equal. She was nothing more than a blood bag to him.
What the hell could he say to make any of this better?
When he didn’t start, she motioned her arm out for him to begin.
He nodded. “But before we do, I would like for you to take a trip with me. Just us, no one else.”
“Why would I do that?”
“So I can tell you my story, my real story, of how I became who I am.”
A trip to Europe, a twelve hour flight next to someone who barely spoke a single word. It was maddening. She took the chance to hear him out and he wouldn’t start anything until they arrived. It caused her to fidget in her seat, crack her knuckles, and even gnaw on her nails… Until Malik took her hand and intertwined his hand with hers.
“Please, my intention is not to manipulate you. This is me, my life, I’m offering. I’m just asking for patience.”
They arrived by limo in front of a mansion near the land of Burano, boarding the town of Venice. She had never been to Italy, hell, never even visited Europe.
How did he make his way to New Orleans from here?
Parking in the garage of the home, the pair made their way inside. The home smelled fresh with a hint of salt from the surrounding waters. Brandi was surprised to feel how dry the air was here compared to New Orleans.
She gasped after stepping inside. The interior of the home was modern in apparel, but the walls… the ceilings… everything was open, welcoming, and the windows were frames to the outside world.
The statues and sculptures were strategically placed under and around commissioned portraits. The man was beyond the status to wealthy. Funny, as he never really ‘showed’ it. He lived in a mansion, but nothing about him screamed rich. He wasn’t the snob most haughty taughty bitches portrayed.
“Mister Ibrahim, it’s great to have you visiting home. What brings you, sir? And who’s your guest?”
A woman, maybe in her fifties, approached. She was plump, grayed, and had the most beautiful green eyes. Her accent was laced with Italian and she smiled at Brandi.
The woman seemed friendly enough.
“Hello, Giulia. I’m here for a short visit, and this is my concubine, Brandi Holmes. Brandi, this is my estate manager, Giulia.”
“Hi,” Brandi offered. “I’m not his concubine.”
