Cherry Creek - Dani Matthews Page 0,60
needs to know, Khristos.”
“Know what?” I ask through clenched teeth as I try to focus on the conversation instead of the agonizing pain in my temples.
“Shh.”
I look up and focus hazily on him through squinty eyes. “Don't shush me. Why is this happening to me?” The more I concentrate on the conversation at hand, the more the pain seems to lesson. But now that I'm thinking about it, the headache goes back to lethal proportions. I wince and bite my lip hard as I fight back a whimper.
Khristos’s eyes lock on mine for a long moment before shifting back to Adelaide. “Do you have anything to make it pass faster?”
“No. She needs to feed,” she tells him quietly, and this causes him to curse under his breath.
“What's going on?”
My head lifts slightly, and I see that Roman’s entered the kitchen.
He stares at me still kneeling on the floor beside Khristos. His eyes widen as some sort of realization flickers across his handsome features. “Shit. It's time, isn't it? Should I call Nathan?”
“Not yet,” Khristos says curtly.
As I concentrate on them, the brutal headache releases its painful grip on my head and fades. That weak feeling comes back that I'd experienced last night. I try to shrug it off, because I want answers.
“How long do you think she has?” Khristos is asking Adelaide.
My eyes lift to her as I try to figure out this increasingly odd conversation.
She gives him a meaningful look. “You're putting her life at risk if you wait any longer.”
“What?” I ask with astonishment. I stare at Adelaide first, and then my eyes swing back to Khristos as I silently demand answers.
His navy eyes search my own, and something flickers within their depths. He seems to come to some sort of decision. “Why don't we go talk in my office,” he suggests.
“Are you finally going to tell me what's going on?”
“Yes,” he says simply. He rises gracefully to his feet and holds out a hand to me.
I ignore it, and it's a struggle, but I manage to stand upright. I feel like I've been run over by a truck or something, but I am determined to walk on my own.
Khristos looks like he wants to hover, but he holds himself back and motions to the kitchen doorway. “After you.”
I'm guessing he's leery to turn his back on me and wants to make sure I don't collapse. As long as I get the answers I want, I don't care. I refuse to even glance at Adelaide or Roman. I'm in a foul mood this morning, and I am not happy with anyone in this household.
I take my time walking to the office down the hall, and when I walk towards the chair across from the desk, Khristos immediately touches my shoulder and motions me to the couch. “Sit and relax. The couch is more comfortable.”
Where I sit isn't worth arguing over, so I walk to the couch and sink down into its comfy depths. Khristos sits near me, but he's careful to leave about two feet between us. Smart man. His mouth turns slightly downward as he sighs heavily. “I wanted you to adjust to Cherry Creek before I had to do this.”
“Do what?”
“Have you ever heard the word incubus?” he asks as he watches me closely.
I look at him uncertainly. “Incubus? Isn't that the name of a band?”
“You've never heard of the incubus demon?”
“Oh, that kind of incubus. Um. Well, yeah.” Out of all the possible scenario's I'd considered, I hadn't expected to be talking about demons of all things.
“What do you know about the incubi?” he persists as he observes me from where he sits. He looks as calm as can be, his body posture relaxed.
I'm lost, and I don’t know what to think. “What does this have to do with my headaches?”
“Everything,” he says bluntly.
“I'm not following.”
“Do you know what an incubus is?”
He seems serious, so I answer him. “It's a demon that feeds off sexual energy.”
He levels me with a look. “I'm not Caroline's brother. She slept with my brother, that's how I'm your uncle.”
“What?” I ask faintly.
“We knew you'd be less inclined to come with me if you knew that I was virtually a stranger to your mother.”
My lips part, and after a brief hesitation, I ask, “Where is he? My father?”
“Dead.”
I recoil back in my seat as crushing disappointment sweeps through me. I'd always known my dad was out there somewhere, even if he didn't know about me. It had been a comfort