Page 49 of Those That Are Lost (Hidden Vampires #2)

Claire leads us up the familiar staircase, Ty keeping one hand to my back as we reach the upper landing and are shown into a couple of the guest rooms. Antares and I won’t be needing them as we will have to leave in just a few short hours for the next stage of our plan, but we all head up anyway.

We leave Henry in the first one, Antares staying with him, as Claire leads us across the hall to the one Ty will be sleeping in.

It’s the room I always take when I stay in this house.

It hits me harder than I anticipated that I’m about to be separated from my mate.

Thinking of leaving him in this room, knowing I’m not going to be sleeping in the bed with him, has my body locking up, my ability to breathe becoming a little harder.

‘It won’t be for long.’ Ty comes to stand in front of me, wrapping his arms around my waist. I bring my hands to his chest and lean into him.

‘I’ll make it as quick as possible,’ I promise, as much to him as to myself.

‘If at any point, anything feels remotely wrong, you tell me, okay?’

‘Of course,’ I reassure him.

He kisses the top of my head before we pull apart. Claire is trying not to look at us by fiddling with the towels she’s left stacked on the bed. “Should I leave you alone?” she asks.

“No, I’d like to spend some time with you before I leave.” I tell her honestly.

“Coffee?” Claire offers. Despite our greeting, she seems a little wary, like she can’t quite believe that I’m standing in front of her. Then she catches herself, remembering what I am now. “Do you still drink coffee?”

I turn in Ty’s embrace, putting my back to his chest but unwilling to pull away. “Gods yes, I’d love a cup.”

“I’ll go get the beans brewing, come down when you're ready.” Claire steps around us and out the door. I listen to her footsteps descend the staircase as I lean back further into my mate.

‘You can back out. Antares will understand and can still go alone.’ Ty dips his head, kissing along my neck, sucking the skin slightly.

‘I can’t let him do that.’ I take a deep inhale and bring my hands to the arms around my waist, needing to cling him to me. ‘I’m still set on taking down Adicious myself. This is just the part I didn’t let myself think about. ’

‘I’ll be with you every single step, Red. We might be physically separated but nothing, and no one, can kick me out of your mind. I’ll be closer than being at your side, forever.’ He lifts his head to kiss the top of mine, and I notice how he inhales my scent; I’ve not hidden it yet.

‘I love you.’ I send down the bond.

‘I love you too. Now, go spend some time with Claire. I’m going to grab a shower and sort through some things with Henry.

’ Ty steps back and grabs one of the towels and his duffel before disappearing.

I fully understand what he’s doing. He’s sacrificing some of the little time we have left together so that I can be with my best friend.

I shoot him more of my love down the bond and head in the opposite direction.

If I didn’t know this house, the smell of freshly ground coffee would’ve led me to the kitchen.

I find Claire pouring the rich liquid into mugs as I join her.

She hands one to me and we take them over to the solid wood dining table on the far end.

It feels like days since I’ve been here, not well over a year.

“You’re really going to take on a pack of vampires?” Claire asks, taking a sip of her overly sweetened, very milky brew.

“Yes.” I heave a huge sigh, tiredness from the travel wearing on me. “Froan used to belong to Ty’s parents, we want it back.”

“Isn’t that dangerous?”

I take a sip before answering so I can make sure my features are not giving too much away. I don’t want her to worry. “Yes, but we have it planned out. We have back up plans and plan Bs and back up should we need it.”

“But Ty isn’t going with you?” She cocks her head at me, eyes telling me she isn’t convinced.

“No, he’s the back up. Him and Henry anyway.”

“Why not all go together? ”

“Let’s just say the pack won’t be receptive if they knew Ty is back in Froan City. We want to take them out with stealth. If they discovered Ty is here, it would start a fight before we’re ready.”

She nods slowly, but I can tell she is still wrapping her head around it all. To be fair, it's a hell of a lot to take in.

“I can’t believe you’re mated.” She takes a mouthful of her drink. “Scratch that, I can’t believe you’re a vampire—that they’re still real. I feel like you’re about to turn around and yell ‘gotcha’ any second.” She lets out a small laugh.

“I know, it’s insane.”

“So, you’re not demi-Fae at all? This is what you really were?”

“My power is definitely that of Fae bloodline. But my parents must’ve both been born to vampires.

Maybe one of my grandparents, or great-grandparents was a Fae that got turned.

I can’t be sure. As you know, the records our parents received from the orphanage are missing huge chunks of information.

” Claire’s parents and mine had grown up in the same kids’ home when they’d been left there by their parents.

Sadly, it was a frequent story of their generation.

Parents placed their children in care so they could go to the front and fight on the side of the vampires.

Many never came home. It was only as I turned that Ty realised vampires were also doing the same to their unturned kids.

Giving them a chance at survival, even if they never got their fangs or knew their heritage.

Maybe when we have restored peace and established our pack, I’ll get the chance to look into it more.

Whilst I was an even bigger miracle—being one generation removed—there must be people out there in their forties and fifties thinking they were entirely human when they weren’t.

And maybe even some my age if like my parents, two unturned vampires had somehow grown up and started their own family .

Claire spends a few more minutes peppering me with questions, which I’m happy to answer.

But as we’ve had a few video calls over the last week, the conversation quickly moves into other topics like her upcoming interview and other things I’ve missed out on whilst I’ve been away.

More coffee gets poured and after a while we are joined by the males from upstairs.

I can almost fool myself into thinking we are simply here to visit my friend and not that we are here to start the biggest fight of my life.

However, time doesn’t stop moving and the dimming sunlight through the windows forces us to refocus. I need to get ready to leave with Antares.

Ty joins me as I head upstairs to shower and get changed.

Claire rushes up behind us before we make it to the bedroom, pulling me further along the landing to her room.

“This might not be the time but I thought you might want to take a quick look,” she says as she pulls a few cardboard boxes from the corner of the room.

Tears prick my eyes as I open the first one and realise it's my stuff from my room at the university. Photos of my dad, and some of my notepads are all stacked neatly inside the first box.

I pull the picture out and feel a stab in my chest as I look at his smiling face.

I wish he could be here. I wish he could’ve known.

I have no idea how he would’ve reacted. Would he have chosen to turn as well?

Knowing that he’ll never get the choice, that he’ll never get to see the love I have found, stokes deep fire in my soul.

Adicious took that from him. My fangs throb with anger, ready to tear into the arteries of the male and end his life like he ended my fathers.

“Are you okay?” My mate jars me out of my thoughts.

“No, but I will be better once Adicious is dead.”

Ty comes closer to see what I’m looking at. “We can hang that somewhere prominent if you wish. Once we’ve renovated the ranch house.”

“I’d like that.” I sniff and stand from my crouch, leaving the photo in the box. I move to the next one and open it to find the dress I was wearing the night I met Ty.

“There’s more of your clothes in the attic. I only grabbed a few boxes, I wasn’t sure what you’d want to see right now,” Claire says. “I don’t know why I picked this one but that really is a killer dress.”

She’s right. I pull the garment out and the fabric sweeps out as the skirt unfolds.

An idea pops into my head as I look at the geometric panels and remember how confident I felt in this dress.

I’d been hiding myself away that night, a glamour disguising my emaciated body.

This dress had helped me forget for a night how stressed I’d been.

I fold it over my arm and thank Claire for showing me the boxes.

Time had been running out and now I really did need to get ready to leave.

Taking the dress, I return to Ty’s room to grab a towel. I will be glamouring my scent but I want to scrub my skin as well, to hide as much trace of my mate as possible.

Ty had followed me and now stands leaning against the doorway. Shadows swim lazily around his feet. His anxiety is rising this time at the thought of our impending separation.

“I want to kiss you one last time before you shower.” Ty’s words hit me right in the solar plexus. I go cold with the force of them.

“Oh. I forgot we can’t touch after I’ve washed or he’ll scent you on me. Although, my glamour would probably cover that.”

“I’m not taking the chance.”

“Then you’d better come kiss me.” I can’t stop the tears that fall.

Ty wipes one cheek, and then the other, with the soft pad of his thumb before cupping his hand around the base of my skull.

His fingers tangle in my hair, his palm caresses the side of my neck and jaw.

His other hand comes to my waist to pull me closer.

Tilting his head to look down into my watery gaze, his deep blue eyes shine deep, full of trepidation.

“You better take care of yourself and not take any risks. I want you back safe and whole because I love you far more than getting these lands back. I’d let them all burn and never return if it meant you were safe. Nothing, and I mean nothing, is worth risking your life over.”

“I promise I’ll keep myself safe.” We both know I’m about to walk into the home of a powerful narcissist who wishes to trap me by any means possible, but I don’t feel it's a risk. Not really. I’ve trained hard and have everything to fight for. Losing this isn’t an option.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Ty’s head dips so he can capture my lips in a kiss so soft it hides none of the emotion behind it.

It's not blind with passion or desperate in need.

It's purposeful and exposing. He deepens it enough that our tongues slide together in a languid joining of our bodies.

We are one. One soul in two bodies. Partners sharing one lifetime.

I feel every tiny movement of his lips and his tongue against my own.

I swear I feel the tiny indents of his fingerprints as he caresses the side of my face.

I don’t push for more because more doesn’t exist at this moment.

This kiss is everything. And it lingers a few seconds longer before it's broken.

Fresh tears escape my eyes and Ty plants one more soft barely-there kiss to my lips before kissing my forehead and inhaling against my skin.

My hands cling to his shirt, wanting this moment to never end.