Heya my loves,

Sorry the new update is a little late but I had such a hard time deciding what to edit and what not. I'm still not sure. ;)

Hope you'll enjoy reading this chapter and really don't hesitate to give me feedback.

Vote and comment!

Love,

Robin

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Nathaniel didn't say a word to me as he signaled me to follow him, striding out of the room on his long legs. I had to run to catch up to him and as I did my muscles protested loudly... I was at least three times more tired than I was yesterday, but it was mostly physical exhaustion this time. My mind still felt clear.

Nathaniel stalked through the house as if a thunder cloud hung above him and he glared at Elliot when we met him in the hall. I shrugged apologetically at the witch before hurrying after my Mate.

As I stepped into our bedroom Nathaniel used his powers to slam the door shut. The sound echoed around the house loudly and I nearly jumped out of my skin.

'Stop that Nathaniel! You don't go around intimidating me! Can't you be happy that I finally did it?' I exclaimed feeling some of my earlier anger resurface as well.

He turned around to face me with those completely black eyes, his fists clenched at his sides. I think he let his gaze drift over my body for a short moment, taking in my disheveled state and sweaty appearance.

I was pretty sure my shoulders were slumped because my arms just felt so bloody heavy... Plus my hair around my face was in complete disarray.

Opposed to that, he looked ready to go to a fancy five star restaurant, dressed in elegant black slacks and a crisp white shirt. His hair for once not hanging across his forehead as if he'd just walked through the wind.

I was still standing at the door and he approached me like a predator stalks its prey. His gait slow and easy yet oozing danger and maleness.

I swallowed when he was almost right in front of me, my heart kicking into overdrive as my instincts told me to run hard and fast. He was doing the power thing again, the currents around him so strong that they were trying to push me to my knees even as they pressed me up against the door.

'Oh I'm glad you managed it Amelia, it makes me feel much better knowing that you can piss of a 56 ton weighing Dragon!' he growled, boxing me in against the door, his lower body pressing against me as he leaned his elbows against the door beside my head.

'What is it with you and making men lose control of themselves?' he said next, the question rhetorical because he continued: 'Do you have a death wish or something?'

Another growl erupted from him before he suddenly switched off the power show and turned around. Running his hands through his hair roughly as if he was utterly frustrated with me, he stalked away again and disappeared into the bathroom.

Shocked by what had just happened I stared after him. Did he really feel like I was a burden he had to protect all the time? Was that why he was so frustrated? Why did my body respond in fear of him now and not when Lysander in his dragon from nearly swiped me with his huge claw?

I slid down the door to pull my knees up against my chest, wrapping my arms around them. A heavy feeling on my chest and a constricting in my throat warned me that I was about to cry... What was wrong with me anyway? I just totally stabbed a stranger for no reason other than practice and that he 'pissed' me off!

The fact that he acted all high and mighty shouldn't be enough to make me react that way? Oh no! Was this my Demon blood acting out? Was it?

'A ghrá mo chroí,' Nathaniel's voice penetrated my hazy thoughts, 'Come here Ams.' He was kneeling in front of me and easily gathered me in his arms, tugging me against his chest as he lifted me off the floor.

'I'm not just mad at you Amelia, it's been a rough day,' Nathaniel whispered in my hair. He carried me to the bathroom and set me down on the counter next to the sink. Running water and then a wet cloth that he ran over my face gently.

'Come on a rún, what you did was very dangerous. I told you he was very young!' he was making an effort to sound gentle but his frustration still came through.

'I know... I didn't plan to do that, it just happened! He was being such an asshole, Nathaniel what if it's my Demon heritage? I don't want to be evil! Why did I stab him?' the questions spilled out of me rapidly and I finally looked back up at him.

He'd changed his clothes, wearing only loose ripped jeans and his hair was wet as if he'd splashed water in his face. He wore a solemn expression but his eyes were their usual stormy gray again.

'It's okay Ams, you're not evil by a long shot, I'm sure Lysander deserved it. I know he can be a pompous prick... He thinks he's got a lot to prove you know, bad family, bad childhood, it's made him like this but I swear it's just an act.'

'Oh...' I replied stupidly, sniffling a little.

'Why don't you go take a shower and freshen up and we'll talk this over during dinner? Just the two of us?' Nathaniel offered. He ran his hand through my hair and nodded, 'He sure made you work hard didn't he? Much harder than I did... I'll have to have words with him about that.'

I shook my head, 'You'll do no such thing, you're not gonna say a word okay? I'm pretty sure he'll sing a different tune now that I stabbed him. But eh... You might surreptitiously drop on him that Tlanextic is my grandfather. He was all high and mighty because he thinks I'm human.'

Nathaniel sighed but nodded, 'Fine, now go shower. I'll get Elliot to send food to the small dining room for us. I'm going to make some calls in the bedroom.' He was still mad, I could tell by the way his shoulders were tensed and the atmosphere around him was heavy with it.

The door shut with more force than necessary behind him on his way out.

I stepped into the shower and allowed the hot water to ease some of the aches in my muscles and wash away the evidence of the hard work out. I tried not to look at the stains of blood that washed from my hands.

My body felt incredibly sluggish when I stepped out of the shower and dried myself off. I had no fresh clothes here but I didn't think it mattered, if we'd be having a small dinner together it was okay if I just wore my PJ's. Not like Nathaniel would care right?

I was just about to step into the bedroom wrapped in my towel when I noticed the topaz fabric on the counter. Was that... Oh wow it was beautiful, a simple yet elegant dress the exact same shade as my eyes.

How did that get here? Did Nathaniel Teleport it in here? I assumed he wanted me to wear it so I slid into it carefully, slipping on the lacy black panties along with it. Typical of him to pick a pair like that...

Dressed I slipped on the matching pair of pumps and did some light make up, I couldn't go without now that he'd made me dress up like this. When I was done I stepped into the bedroom looking around me hesitantly but the room was deserted.

'Down stairs Ams,' Nathaniel said lightly in my mind.

When I descended the stairs I found him waiting for me at the bottom, wearing slacks again and a fresh dark blue shirt that matched his eyes. He looked absolutely beautiful even though he was still frowning, his features ascetic with hard lines and angles.

He held out a hand for me and I took it, his grip gentle as he led me through a corridor to another part of the house. There was a separate dining room all set for us with one plate set for me and a tall metal container on the other side.

Nathaniel pulled my chair out and then sat down across from me, focusing his eyes on me as I hungrily dug into the food. He screwed open the container and I caught a metallic whiff for a short moment. Blood no doubt.

'Sammuel donates me some of his blood occasionally but he doesn't feel much for the whole me sucking some part of him thing. Neither do I.'

He was silent for the rest of the dinner but just as I emptied my plate he nodded, 'Now tell me what happened that made you stab him a ghrá mo chroí.' It wasn't a request but an order and for once I didn't fight the compulsion to obey him.

I told him everything about my day right until the moment I stabbed Lysander, I hoped he better understood now why I did what I did. I didn't like it when he was mad with me... He was being extremely polite and even the tense atmosphere around him had disappeared but I knew it was still there.

When I was finished I nodded to him, 'Will you tell me about your day now?' I really didn't get why he was so pissed about the whole Lysander incident... He had said there was more to it, that he'd had a rough day.

Nathaniel turned his stormy eyes on me and nodded slowly, 'Very well Ams. I will tell you, I suppose now that I have you as my mate I should share things like this with you. Do not be shocked.'

His last words were an order spoken while he drummed is fingers on the table, an unconscious movement that told me he was worried I would be shocked anyhow. He suddenly stiffened and then a few short seconds later the door slammed open and Jaden stormed into the room.

His normally pitch black hair a mess and partially plastered to his forehead with blood. His shirt in tatters and part of the knee of his pants missing, underneath the tears more blood visible. It was obvious he'd been in a fight, a bad one.

'Nathaniel!' the panther exclaimed. 'There was an attack, we drove them off but they took one of our men.' He panted as if he'd run a marathon, bending over and resting his hands on his knees to catch his breath. 'You better come with me to check the perimeter.'

Nathaniel was already on his feet striding over to him, without a word he grabbed Jaden's head and healed him. 'That was one nasty head wound boy, show me the way.'

Jaden's scoffed, 'Who are you calling boy here... This way.' As he spoke he straightened up and his clothing melted away to make place for a fresh pair of jeans and a shirt, any bloodstains completely disappearing.

They started walking out of the room and I hurried after them, not about to allow them to leave without me. It was a good thing neither of them appeared to be able to Teleport or I would have been left behind, as it was they didn't seem to notice me hurrying after them.

As they left through the backdoor and started walking across the large garden behind the house Nathaniel finally noticed me. He turned his stormy eyes to full glare mode and said with a voice that demanded obedience: 'Hell no Amelia, you are staying inside the house!'

My answer was immediate and without thought: 'Hell no Nathaniel!'

He was on me in two steps, grabbing me tightly in his arms and depositing me on the other side of the door jamb. 'You are staying here. I will not have you run the risk of getting hurt. They might come back. You do NOT want to see this.'

'I want to be by your side! I might be able to help!' I told him. 'You'll have to lock me up to keep me from following.'

'Then I will,' was his very short answer. 'Jaden take her to my room and keep her there.'

The panther met my eyes and I could tell he disagreed but he still shrugged and reached over to grab onto my arm. 'Your wish is my command,' he muttered.

'Nathaniel! I'm not some princess you can lock inside to keep safe... How can you do this? I thought we were in this relationship together, as equals but apparently not! Fine go away I don't want to see you then,' I ripped my arm out of Jaden's grip and started stalking back into the house.

'Amelia! For fuck's sake!' Nathaniel was at my side in a flash. 'Fine you can come! But you promise me to stay close and if I think there's danger you will go with Jaden without a fight.'

I wanted to protest more because he couldn't just get away with behavior like that but I realized it wasn't the time or the place for it. We'd definitely discus this later, I knew he was a 1500 year old vampire with ALL of North America under his command. He was bound to be a little dominant and I could deal with that but not if he started threatening to lock me up just because there might be a little danger.

With a huff I allowed him to take my hand as we restarted our trek through the garden to a high metal fence on the edge of it. There I saw several dark figures emerging from the shadows at our approach.

There was two vampires and I think the third was a shape shifter but I really couldn't tell what kind. On the ground with them was another shape and in the dark I couldn't see what that was.

'My Lord!' one of the vampires immediately exclaimed, saluting formally when he spotted Nathaniel.

My mate didn't reply however but went to one knee beside the shape on the floor. 'He's dead my Lord,' the vampire mumbled.

Still Nathaniel reached out his hand and touched the shape which I could now tell was a body. Beside me light flared to life to illuminate it and the sight made my stomach roil in shock. There was blood everywhere and one limb had been torn off but it was so badly disfigured that I couldn't tell if it was an arm or a leg.

The smell alone compared with the sight made me turn around and stumble to my knees, my meal of before forcing it's way up. As I puked my guts out in the most ungracious way on the grass I heard a voice behind me snicker as if they found it amusing, the sound was cut off by an angry bark from Nathaniel.

A second later I felt cool hands on the back of my neck, holding my hair away from my face. 'There, there, I told you it was better if you stayed inside,' Nathaniel whispered in my ear, tugging me into the safety of his arms to hold me against his hard chest.

'That's one of Thornten's men for sure, I recognize him. Seems like Deidre was right after all...' Nathaniel said, meant for the rest of the group to hear. 'Who did they take?'

'Mattis.'

There was a silence after that one spoken name and I instinctively knew everyone thought the poor guy was dead too. Judging by the marks on the ground and the fence and the injuries each of the other bore there had been a hefty struggle.

'Get three more unit's to sweep the perimeter and keep the same number active at all times, I want no one to venture out alone. Do not engage unless you're sure you can take them out, we'll take no captives.' The way Nathaniel spoke made it clear he'd dealt with situations like this before and knew how to handle them.

Feeling like I had to make up for losing my dinner after insisting I come I straightened and pushed Nathaniel away from me. There had to be something I could do right? I wasn't a detective or anything but...

My eyes fell on the disfigured body again, it appeared to be male by the size of it and was lying face down. There were gashes running over it that looked like he'd been mauled by a huge animal and it was clear that was Jaden's handiwork.

I felt a slight tugging on my mind and then before I could stop myself I'd taken the few steps to reach the body and touched my hand to the head. The skull had been bashed in and as such most of the brains had been destroyed, a sure way to kill a Vampire.

I heard a collective gasp behind me from the others and Nathaniel exclaiming my name in warning.

As I touched the head a warmth spread through me and then I saw images flash before my eyes. They appeared to be memories but they were definitely not mine, it was so fast that I couldn't make out what they were.

After a short moment they slowed down until I could see one image clearly.

With long elegant white blond hair, straight as a ruler and held together with an old fashioned black ribbon Thornten as always looked like a Lord stepped out of the seventeenth century. That era had certainly suited the asshole.

He wore a tailor made suit that came right out of a fashion magazine and made him look like a CEO or something like that. He had the same aura anyway, cold and cunning.

I really didn't know why I still worked for the old shark... He was as vicious and mean as any Vampire his age. Pity he looked no older than thirty.

As I stepped up closer to him I bowed my head respectfully, oh how it grated to have to do that. It should be me on that throne of his, ruling this territory! Thornten wasn't all that powerful! If only I could get enough support among his followers I could overthrow him.

Then I could do anything I wanted, no one could tell me what to do and I could have all my desires fulfilled.

'Get me the girl, they took Deidre and hid her but it's no matter. I want that so called mate of Nathaniel. She's human it can't be hard. Get her! I want her to be mine.' Thornten's voice cut across the room like a whip.

I cringed involuntarily and then told myself again: soon, soon I wouldn't have to cringe from the likes of him. Soon they would be the ones groveling.

'Get the girl, you can count on me,' I told Thornten, coating my voice in sugar.

'Don't harm her unless its absolutely necessary, I want to take care of her personally. It'll be a lesson for Nathaniel to see his Mate degraded.' The disgusting man rubbed his hands together in anticipation at the thought alone and then nodded.

'Go!'

I almost ran from the room.

With a gasp I stumbled backwards, only to be caught in Nathaniel's arms. 'They were coming for me! Thornten want's me alive so he can... can...' I shivered as I remembered the depth of deprivation of the mind I just touched.

Remembered the associations he'd linked with Thornten's words. Torture, rape... It was all in a day's work for this guy even though he'd labeled Thornten as disgusting. It was only because he wasn't getting his own sick desires fulfilled.

I straightened my back and stood up, shrugging out of Nathaniel's grasp to stand on my own. 'He was a child molester!' I spat out, no longer feeling sick or queasy about the brutal death this man had suffered.

'You should have ripped off all his limbs before you smashed his head Jaden!'

A gasp and then the panther said: 'If I'd known that I would have, trust me. But the bastard was weak, he nearly died from the shock when I ripped off his arm... I didn't know you were such a violent person Amy. Stabbing Lysander, stabbing me, ripping this guy to pieces!'

Laughter all around and then Nathaniel tugged me back into his arms. 'She's not a violent person at all but as you can all see, she knows when violence unfortunately is needed.'

'So when were you going to tell me you can read memories from practically un-salvageable brains?' Jaden added.

I was being guided back towards the house with sure hands and firm steps. Obviously Nathaniel had decided there was nothing else we could do there.

'Eh... I didn't know I could Jay, I don't often get in contact with dead brains you know?' I shivered as I realized what I'd done. I felt disgusting after having touched the memories of that mind... Plus my legs really felt like they were about to give now. I was so tired.

'It's quite something Ams. It's why I touched the corpse in the first place, because I have some small talent in it but not even Missy could have gotten anything from that. Had the head just been severed it would have been a piece of cake but this...' A proud pat on my shoulder from my mate and then he suddenly swung me up in his arms.