Unraveling Selena by Marisa Maichel (black female authors TXT) 📕

"Son of a bitch," Liam cursed. "I bet that's silver, isn't it, Santorino?"

"Leave," Mother ordered.

"Not until I find Selena!"

"I don't know where she is!" Mother cried, tearing up. "I've looked and looked, and I can't find her!"

"Where the hell is Dimitri?" Father muttered.

"Toby's out hunting," Uncle Soren said. "Spencer went with him. I don't know where Stephen ran off to. Or Dimitri, for that matter."

"We should fire Stephen," Father said. "He's pretty much worthless."

"True," Grandfather agreed.

Liam started to back away.

"Don't even think about it," I said, picking up the gun.

"Are you nuts? You don't know how to handle a gun! Give me that!" Louis snapped, taking the gun from me. He pointed it at Liam. "Don't move, or I'll shoot you in the fucking privates."

"He would do it," Uncle Soren affirmed.

"Get out," Louis commanded. Liam held up his hands and started toward the door. "Get moving faster. Faster!" He fired a shot, and within seconds Liam was down, clutching his leg and cursing. Louis kicked him in the stomach, causing him to double over.

"Selena," Liam whispered. "I swear I'll find you."

"OUT! DIMITRI, WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN! KICK THIS DOUCHE OUT!"

Dimitri quickly grabbed Liam by the shoulders and tossed him out into the yard. Then the senior guard bowed.

"My apologies, masters and mistresses," he said.

"Make sure he's gone," Father said. "Don't let him back in. And for Odin's sake, tell us where you've been."

"I have been out looking for Stephen, Lord Mordecai. He left his post two hours ago. I had believed that Toby and Spencer would not leave. I made a mistake. Again, my apologies."

"Stephen is so fired," I muttered.

"Agreed, Reese," Father said. He looked at Dimitri. "Bring Stephen to me the next time you see him. I will have to find another guard."

"Mommy?" Sarah whimpered. We all looked at her. My mother's irises were bright red as she looked at the scratch on Sarah's neck caused by Liam's knife.

"Baby," Mother whispered. "Mommy's sorry she didn't prevent you from getting hurt. She won't let you get hurt again." She picked up Sarah like a baby and held her. "I'm taking her home," she announced. "Where is her stuff?"

I got her things together and gave them to Mother. Then I helped her put Sarah in the car, where she told her to lie down in the backseat. She drove off with Sarah in the backseat still.

Inside, the rest of my family members were all shouting at each other. Father and Soren, Grandfather and Louis. Dimitri looked uncomfortable.

"SHUT UP!" I roared. They all stopped yelling at each other. "Louis, why did you say it was your fault that he got in?"

"He put a tracker on my cell phone," Louis said. "He found out my number from the cell phone provider's database and used spyware to track it. That's why I said I fucked up. I should have been more vigilant and careful."

"Louis, start building firewalls on all the phones and computers," I said. "Dimitri, find Stephen and tell him to get his ass back here. Father, start looking for more guards. We need more than four. I've been telling you this for years. Uncle Soren, find out where Liam is going. Try to find a piece of hair or clothing and I'll have Toby track him."

"You have all the qualities of a king," Grandfather said admiringly. "Well, boys, do what our youngest says."

We worked late into the night. Louis borrowed all the computers and built protections and saved all the hard drives and files on flash drives and labeled them accordingly. My father started posting a few new job ads and posted them on all the vampire networks. Grandfather and I spread our scents around the territory. Uncle Soren found a piece of Liam's coat and brought it back for Toby, who started tracking him immediately.

I was certain that Liam hadn’t gone far. He’d loved my sister too much. Sister. I had a sister, one I didn’t even know about. She was my mother’s first child. My sister.

I laid in Sarah’s bed, watching as she slept. She’d had a headache earlier, and I was checking on her. She sighed and turned over onto her side. I wrapped my legs around hers and held her. I kissed her hair, smelling her new environmentally-friendly shampoo, which she’d raved about to Mia Rayport. She had had an exciting day. She’d heard about Liam and put in her two cents. She said that he obviously was obsessed with Selena if he was following my father’s side of the family.

If I was sure of anything else, it was that he needed to leave. And that my mother needed to speak with him.

And now, as I watched my love enjoy her dreams, I was sure that I loved my family and hers.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN – FINDING

Louis was frantically typing away on one of his many laptops, and I was watching him in amazement. I had never seen anyone type so fast.

“What are you doing?” I asked him.

“Trying to find Liam. I’m sending out some e- mails to different coven leaders. I feel guilty, because it was through me that he found us and hurt Sarah.”

“We all fucked up, Louis.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Your father is trying to find some more guards. Grandfather is sending some over from Denmark.”

“Oh, fun.”

“Hey, it was your idea.”

“You’re right, it was my idea. But now there will be practically no privacy.”

“Like there was any in the first place?”

He was right. I only had myself to blame for the added security, and my father’s tendency to overreact. I was suspicious, I’ll admit. I hadn’t seen Other Reese or Torrance in weeks, and now there was Liam to contend with.

My father was in his room, trying to focus on the present. He didn’t use his gift very often anymore, because I’d asked him to give me more privacy, but now we needed it more than ever. There was nothing to do but wait for a lead or an action, and it was frustrating. I tried to keep busy. I wrote a couple of new songs, and I finished homework early. My newest project was discussing a story, fairytale, or urban legend from the country where my ancestors came from. Since my parents came from two different countries, I had two countries to possibly discuss.

We had already studied Beowulf and talked about Greek gods and goddesses. I decided to talk about vampirism in ancient Greece. Vampirism was very much a thing in ancient Greece, all over the world, really. I studied, copied, resourced, and typed up a rough draft before ten at night. By then, I was tired. I yawned loudly and ran my hand over my hair.

I watched a few fan-made movie crossovers, finished typing a response to the new guard listing, then got ready for bed. I was exhausted by then. But as soon as I crawled into bed, I felt wide awake. I sighed and got up. I decided to take a walk. It was already midnight.

I got dressed and waited until my father was sufficiently distracted before I started off.

“Where are you going?”

I paused at the voice and turned around. It was Louis.

“Taking a walk,” I said. He sighed.

“You of all people should know that it’s not safe to go outside right now at night. But I need to clear my head, so I’ll come with you.”

“How’s the security coming along?” I asked.

“We should have a full guard by the coming week. Peter and Dean haven’t been seen for a while now, so we assumed they moved out of the guest house.”

“I forgot about them,” I said. “Really? Not even to hunt?”

“Nada,” Louis replied. “And no one wants to check. I probably will or have one of the guys do it.”

“Have the guys do it,” I said. “That will be safer. And if they’re dead, well, less mess for us.”

“Oh, it will be a big mess,” Louis said. “By now, the whole vampire world knows what happened between you and Ambrose.”

“Nothing happened!” I cried.

“Keep your voice down! And we’ve made it clear that you wanted no part of it.”

I kept myself calm and thought about all that I’d been through in the past year. Working up the courage to date my soulmate, finding my soulfather and future stepfather, finding my mother, meeting new friends, finding out why Grandfather, Uncle Soren, and Louis really left Denmark, countless fights and rivalries, almost losing my Sarah more than once. My sweet Sarah was the reason for living. She was my life, the other half of my broken soul.

And the cats. Who knew that familiars were real? Before I met Shadowfang, I thought that familiars were just ordinary pets that were loved beyond comprehension. I was wrong. I did love Shadowfang, I’d finally admitted that he was mine, and he was my familiar. And the rest of the cats were also familiars, not just ordinary cats. I did like cats, but these felines were special. I looked over at Louis and realized he was wearing the family crest around his neck.

None of us wore the family crest unless it was a special occasion. Mine was also a necklace, Father had a ring, Uncle Soren had a bracelet, and Grandfather also had a ring, necklace, and bracelet. There had been moments where we’d needed to show solidarity but didn’t. As much as we loved each other, it was just a piece of jewelry to us. The real love showed in the way we treated and spoke to each other.

Father’s constant affection, Uncle Soren’s and Louis’ quiet love for each other, Grandfather staying alive just for us. I was proud of my family, especially the new additions. Mother’s strong maternal instincts and love, Sarah’s caring for everyone else, Sabine quietly integrating into the family. Even Alexander, who was inherently evil, was a beloved family member. He wouldn’t admit it, but he cared deeply for all of us, not just Mother and Cirino. And the baby. Our newest addition. He was especially loved by everyone, especially Mother and Sarah.

Louis and I were just reaching the lake when I saw a movement of black fur and yellow eyes. Louis narrowed his eyes and frowned into the trees.

“Wolves,” he hissed. “We shouldn’t have gone out tonight. Come on, Reese.”

We turned around, only to see Torrance behind us, glaring.

“I don’t particularly like wolves, either, but this one proved helpful,” he said. “Even if he doesn’t know it.” His red eyes grinned, flipping back his long black hair.

Louis cursed. He bared his teeth and growled. Torrance punched him hard in the stomach, knocking him over. He snatched me up and threw me over his shoulder. I could hear snarls and hisses and saw a wolf run toward my cousin.

I growled and kicked and hit Torrance, and he slapped my ass.

I don’t know how long we traveled before I fell asleep. It was daylight when I awoke, and I could smell sulfur and blood and rust. I turned my head and saw a huge building behind me. An old hotel, rundown and dying. Torrance kicked the doors open and walked through. He brought me to an old elevator that somehow still worked. Before long, we reached the top floor.

Torrance slapped my ass again before setting me down, deliberately poking me in the belly button.

“You have a nice ass,” he teased, grinning mischievously.

“Oh, and Other Reese doesn’t?” I snapped.

“Oh, he does. But it’s not as nice as yours,” he replied. “Round and firm, just the way I like my boys.”

“You’re sick.”

“Sometimes. But I prefer to think of my boys as a collection. I know you’ve fucked guys before, I can sense it. One boy in particular. He’s a lucky son of a bastard. You know, we don’t have women where we come from. Just men. Women have their own planet, kind of like the saying that men are from Mars and women are from Venus, except it’s two Earths. You don’t want to know how