“Brogan, what happened to you last night?” Kerry exclaimed. “You disappeared on us. Ethan and I looked for you, but we couldn’t find you anywhere. Then, we called Rachel and she said you were home and fine.”

She breathed a sigh of relief that Kerry didn’t call her house until Aiden had her home. “I’m fine, I promise. I wandered out of the bar, but an old friend was walking down the sidewalk, and he brought me home.”

“Old friend? Ethan and I know all of your friends.”

“You don’t know this guy. He’s, uh, he’s from back home. An old family friend.”

Kerry sucked in a breath on the other end and lowered her volume. “Is he cute?”

“He’s attractive,” Brogan replied, with a small smile. She shook her head. “Look, that’s not my point. If I have to leave for awhile, do you guys have someone to cover my shift at the bar?”

“I’m sure Abby wouldn’t mind getting some extra hours. Why, what’s going on?”

Brogan swallowed, not wanting to alert her friend. “Nothing. I just, might be going back to Ireland here soon, and --”

“Ireland?” Kerry shrieked out. Since she had met Brogan, the girl have never once talked about going back home. The memories she had left there were too painful for her to face. “How about you tell me what’s really going on?”

“I’m thinking of going back, Kerry, not going yet. Don’t say anything to anyone yet, okay? I haven’t told anyone else. And certainly don’t ask me why because I know that’s your next question.”

“Something is going on. I’m coming over, so don’t you dare go anywhere.”

“No, Kerry, wai--” But before Brogan could even finish her sentence, Kerry had disconnected the call. Brogan buried her face in her hands and groaned. She heard Aiden run up the stairs, and looked up when he made it to her door way.

“Are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” Brogan replied. “Kerry’s on her way over.”

Aiden nodded. “Okay. How are you going to explain the strange vampire hanging out with you?”

“I told her you were an old family friend from Ireland. I’ll just tell her that you came to visit my aunt.”

“I can disappear for awhile if I have to,” Aiden offered. “I’ll still be around, watching you. I don’t have to be here physically.”

Brogan bit her bottom lip. “You don’t have to go.”

“I will still be here, Brogan,” Aiden assured her. He felt the metallic waves again flow through his chest, but told himself she was hesitant about his departure because she was scared. “You just won’t see me, and Kerry won’t see me.”

The doorbell rang, and Brogan nodded for him to do what he had to do. She pushed past him to go open the door for Kerry, knowing he wouldn’t be there when she went back to her room. Kerry breezed into the house, fast food bags in hand. She spread everything out on the kitchen table while Brogan locked the door behind her.

“Oh good, you brought food,” Brogan smiled, biting into a cheeseburger. Kerry just sat and stared at her. “What?”

“What’s with the bruise on your face?” Kerry asked, skeptical even more of her friend’s story.

“My face … oh. I fell when Aiden brought me home last night. I’m fine though.” Brogan realized that her tears had stopped Aiden in mid-healing to the bruise on her cheek before. “How was the rest of the party?”

“It was fun. Ethan picked up another skank,” Kerry sighed, rolling her eyes.

“I wish you would just tell him you like him. Or ask him out,” Brogan prodded, munching on a French fry.

“I wish you would just tell me why you want to go to Ireland all of the sudden,” Kerry shot back. A crash at the back of the house caused her to spin around. “What was that?”

Aiden appeared quickly behind Kerry and gave Brogan an apologetic look before disappearing again. “What was what? I didn’t hear anything. And I don’t necessarily want to go back, I have to go back. I have some things I have to take care of there.”

“Does it have to do with your parents?” Kerry asked cautiously. Brogan had only talked to her about her parents once in their relationship, and that was to briefly tell Kerry why she had come to the States in the first place.

“Yeah, more or less,” Brogan replied. “I’ve never told you what really happened, have I?”

Kerry shook her head. “No, and you don’t have to tell me. I know it’s not easy.”

Brogan gave her friend a grateful smile. Maybe it was time to talk to someone about it. “I was six years old …”

Brogan had carpooled with her friend Leah that day. When Catherine, her mother, had dropped the girls off at school in the morning, she promised that they would make chocolate chip cookies before her father came home. Brogan had made sure she was on her best behavior all day at school so that no demerits would be sent home and her cookie-making fun wouldn’t be punished away. She and Leah chatted the entire way home, with Leah’s mother smiling kindly at the girls from the rearview mirror. They pulled into Brogan’s drive and Leah’s mother asked if Brogan wanted her to wait and make sure she got in all right.

“No, that’s all right. Mommy already told me she would be home, and her car is here.”

Brogan hurried up the walk, and Leah and her mother pulled away. The door was already partially open, but she was only six years old and it didn’t alert her to anything. She dropped her bag at the door and called for her mother. She got no answer, so she wandered down the hallway to find her. A smear of blood on the wall brought her around to what was going on in the house, and she ran to her parents’ bedroom.

“Mommy! Daddy!” Brogan pushed herself against the wall and cried. Her parents were slumped together on the floor, both bleeding severely. The pool of blood under them scared her even more; other than the usual scrapes or cuts any child comes into, she had never been around a lot of blood. She wanted to run to their side, she wanted her father to hold her, she wanted her mother to tell her it would all go away.

“I don’t really remember much between then and the funeral. From the way things happened, I know I must’ve finally called Aunt Rachel. She came over, and when she saw, she called the police. Then I came here,” Brogan finished. “I met Ethan, and later in middle school I met you. The day before my birthday, when I came home from shopping, my aunt showed me a letter my father wrote before he died. I haven’t thought about going back to Ireland once since we got to the States, but this … family business is something I have to take care of, and soon.”

Kerry swirled her milkshake around in the cup, then took a large gulp. “Why does it have to be you? I thought you said you still had relatives in Ireland?”

“I do, but it’s business about my parents, Kerry. How am I supposed to just let that fall on someone else’s shoulders?”

“Is that why … what did you say his name is?”

“Aiden.”

“Is that why Aiden is here?”

Brogan shrugged. “More or less. I suppose I’ll go back to Ireland with him, take care of this business, and then come back. Maybe start my life or something, go to college. I don’t know.”

“Well, like I said before, I’m sure that Abby would take the extra hours. Are you going to tell Ethan?”

“There’s not much to tell him. If I decide to go back, I’ll say something. Seriously though, Kerry, don’t you dare utter a word of this to anyone. Especially my aunt, got it?”

Kerry rolled her eyes. “Fine. Do I get to meet this Aiden guy?”

Brogan balked. She hadn’t ever thought of bringing Aiden around her friends. “I’ll see if he wants to come to the bar tonight.”

“Oh goody,” Kerry smiled. “Maybe for once our little Brogan will catch herself a man.”

“Shut your face,” Brogan said, even as she felt her cheeks heat. “Thanks for lunch by the way.”

“No problem. I was out and about anyway. I’m going to run home and get ready for work. Bring the new guy with you when you come out tonight,” Kerry instructed on her way out the door.

“I’ll see what I can do,” Brogan chuckled. She shut the door behind Kerry and locked it again. She turned and leaned back on the heavy wood, letting herself float to thought of being with Aiden. Just as the smile came over her face, a very unhappy Aiden appeared in front of her.

“You cannot go back to Ireland,” he informed her.

“Why not?” She knitted her brow at him, not at all happy with his controlling tone. Sure, she was grateful he showed up last night, but protecting her and ordering her around were two very different occupations.

Aiden sighed. “Brogan, if you go back to Ireland, you’re putting yourself right in front of Conleth. That’s fewer he’ll have to send after you. He’ll come at you before you’re ready.”

Brogan felt her face heat again, this time with anger. “Before I’m ready? Do you think I’m ready for this now, Aiden? I’m twenty-two years old and I just found out that my fate, thanks to some guy who died centuries ago, is to kill a vampire king. I’ve been in a few bar fights with some skanks who didn’t know how to keep their mouths shut, but other than that, violence hasn’t been a big part of my life. You’re worried about Conleth coming at me before I’m ready?” She was yelling by the end of her speech, and Aiden just stood, arms crossed in front of his chest, which infuriated her further. “If this truly is my fate and he’s going to come for me eventually, then I might as well speed things along so I can get on with my life.” She attempted to storm past him, but he had much more speed than she, and he grabbed her by her arm.

“I wasn’t trying to make this more difficult,” he told her quietly. “But I can tell you haven’t fully accepted what’s going on here. Until you’re ready in heart and mind, you will not defeat Conleth.”

Her shoulders slumped, and she found herself longing to be embraced against his strong chest. “Until Kerry, I’ve never talked about my parents’ death or what I saw. I wouldn’t even talk to Aunt Rachel about it. I just keep having these visions of what they probably went through. I want it to all be over, as soon as possible.”

“I told you, killing these vampires, killing Conleth, that’s not going to bring your parents back. Getting this revenge won’t make their death or what you saw go away. It’s always going to be there, and you have to accept that before you can go along any further.”

Brogan wiped a stray tear. “Yeah, okay. I’m sorry I got angry with you.”

“Forgiven,” Aiden smiled at her. “Together we’ll get through this, okay? When Conleth comes, you will be ready, and we’ll end this. “

xxx

Aiden stared out the window of the car. He had been sitting at the kitchen table, watching Rachel busy herself over the stove when Brogan came down the stairs, ready to go. She said a few hushed phrases to her aunt in Gaelic, but she needn’t have whispered; Aiden was overcome by her appearance. She had donned a white vest top, jeans, and her usual criss-crossed belts. She had straightened her hair out from the waves the braid had left in it, and even put on a little make up. It had been hundreds of years since someone had made him feel this way, and he wasn’t entirely sure how to handle it.

Brogan’s nerves tortured her the entire car drive to the bar. Aiden had agreed to join her that evening in the role of the old family friend she claimed him to be. Still, she worried that there were some embarrassing moments heading in her direction once they were there. If either Kerry or Ethan brought up anything about her interest in Aiden, she wouldn’t be able to hide the truth. She was highly attracted to him, but the circumstances of their situation confused her; would he ever cross that line with her if his job was merely to protect her? She parked on the street in front of the bar, and took a deep breath before stepping out of the car. Aiden waited for her on the sidewalk, and squeezed her hand before they entered the bar.

“I don’t want to sound like I’m telling you what to do or anything,” he began, getting a small smile from her. “But try not to drink too much tonight. I don’t know how long they’ll wait before sending someone else after you.”

“Fair enough,” Brogan answered. She let her hand linger in his for just a moment before getting to the door. Russ smiled at her as she approached, and opened the door for her and Aiden to pass through. “Here, we can sit at this table. Do you want something to drink?”

“I’m all right,” Aiden told her. “There’s Kerry.”

Brogan spotted her friend just as she was approaching their table. “Can I get you two anything to drink?”

“Kerry, this is Aiden. He’s an old friend of the family from Ireland. Aiden, this is my friend Kerry.” Aiden and Kerry exchanged pleasantries, and Brogan could already see the wheels turning in Kerry’s head. “Aiden doesn’t need anything to drink, but I’ll come with you to get mine.”

“All right, let me drop these drinks off then I’ll meet you at the bar,” Kerry agreed. Brogan sauntered behind the bar, saying hello to a few regulars along the way. Ethan was busy serving drinks, but he managed to get in a few words between orders.

“You look good tonight. Looking to impress somebody?” Ethan nodded his head in Aiden’s direction. He couldn’t help but notice how Aiden didn’t take his eyes off of Brogan; it was a look he’d seen many men give her before, but not one had watched her without an ounce of lust as Aiden did.

“I’ve worn this outfit before,” Brogan replied. She got herself a soda, and got a glass of water for Aiden, even though he’d said he was fine. She wasn’t sure exactly how he sustained himself, but figured a drink of water never hurt anyone.

“Not with someone who looked at you like he does.” Ethan saw a new group come in and motioned for one of the waitresses to attend to them. Brogan looked over at Aiden, finding herself a little frightened at the tone of his gaze. She bit her bottom lip, but couldn’t look away. This can’t be happening, she told herself. He’s a vampire, Brogan. Let it go.

“I think the glass is full,” Kerry said into Brogan’s ear, breaking the trance she was drawn into with Aiden. She snapped back to reality and realized the glass was overpouring with water.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she exclaimed. She grabbed a towel to try and help them clean up the puddle she’d made, but Ethan only chuckled, and Kerry waved her away.

A/N: This story is completely taking on a mind of it’s own. I’ve already started the next chapter though, and I think we’ll be picking up with more exciting events soon. Keep those reviews coming!