14 Attempt

Bridget

Lucien has been unconscious for nearly a week, meaning that I’ve been here at this place for a little over a month now. He doesn’t respond to me at all, so I just sit here by his bed, then get up and stare out the window, accept food from Libby when she brings it, and update Carson occasionally when he asks what’s going on.

I don’t know what the heck to do with myself.

I pace the bedroom floor, trying to seek some answer. I then walk over to his bed and stare at his unconscious figure, his eyes shut and his lips parted slightly from trying to speak to me.

A part of the tree limb had speared his side, and vampires become weak whenever they’re stabbed with wood.

I don’t know what to do...and for some reason, it’s driving me fucking nuts.

The door opens and reveals Karmen, who looks me over before staring at Lucien.

“Has he done anything yet?” he asks me, and I shake my head, sitting numbly down on the chair.

“I don’t know what to do,” I say to him, and he nods.

“I guess you wouldn’t,” he says, then sits on another chair at the foot of Lucien’s bed. “But, from what I’m hearing from Sebastian and Alec, I’d like to talk to you. First, you should know that I’m Lucien’s younger brother.”

“Oh,” I say quietly. “I’m sorry about Lucas.”

Karmen sighs. “I’d like to know what happened there, as a start.”

“To be honest, and I wish you’d speak to Lucien when he becomes conscious...but it was never my intention to kill Lucas. I only wanted to kill Preston because I hated that bastard.”

Karmen chuckles. “Believe me, we all hated that bastard. So, how did Lucas die?”

“I was supposed to get the chunk of concrete through the heart,” I say, then look him straight in the eyes. “But Lucas got in the way. It was if he were...taking the bullet for me.”

“That’s Lucas for you,” Karmen says, then scratches his head. His silver eyes look all around Lucien’s room. “He was always the gentleman type and was never really a fan of Lucien’s kidnapping. The thing about Lucas is, he had the ability to see into the future, so he clearly saw something about you that would change Lucien or something for him to step in and take something to die in order to save you.”

I nod slowly. “But I don’t think either of you understand Lucien, and even I don’t, so what am I saying, but...even when I attempt at being myself...I’m normally a person that argues, I like to sass sometimes, but otherwise I’m a good person and Lucien just brings out something in me that isn’t pleasant...Karmen, I don’t even know what I’m saying...”

Karmen laughs.

“Sebastian says that he thinks there’s something going on between you and Lucien, but he’s not sure, so I’m just going to tell you some things I think you need to know.”

I nod again.

“I don’t really know much about Lucien’s past, because in actuality, I’m his half-brother, sorry for not emphasizing. His father is my father, if you want to know how. I had a pretty good life until one of his father’s enemies went after his sons. They killed my mother but I escaped and went under the housing of a vampire who eventually changed me. Lucien and I crossed paths much later in life, and he only told me little things, and I think some of the things are a bit personal, so I’m not going to tell you everything, but there is something you should know.”

“I’m all ears,” I say.

“Lucien has a hard time responding to rejection,” he says. “And right now, Alec says he’s never seen Lucien so adamant on making someone like him as he is, which is leading them to suspect that you’re something more than the human he just bought. Let me make this clear: Lucien never buys humans from anyone. Elizabeth, Rosanna, and Shelia were taken by individual vampires. I actually took Rosanna myself because I thought she was beautiful, and nobody in the human world wanted her anyways. Libby was taken by Sebastian, and Shelia just happened to become too investigative in her friend’s disappearance, so that’s why she’s here. All of the others that used to be here were sold because none of the men wanted them. But none, except for you, were ever personally bought with Lucien’s money.”

“What are you getting at?”

“You mean more to Lucien than you think you do,” Karmen says, leaning forward in his chair. “I might even suspect that it’s possible for you two to be mates, and Lucien is just keeping it a secret. That, I’m not sure of, because no vampire would try to kill his mate three times. But then again, Lucien would be one of those that would be the first...”

Karmen thinks for a moment. “You should attempt to bring him back to consciousness. All three of us, Sebastian, Alec and I, want to see if you have the kind of influence over Lucien that we think you do.”

“You think I’m capable of doing that?”

“You could at least try,” he says, and I stare at him for a few moments.

“Okay,” I finally agree, and Karmen gets up, pats my head, then leaves the room without another word.

I sit there and fold my arms, staring at Lucien.

There’s no way we’re mates. I mean, he treats me horribly, then nicely, tries to kill me, then almost gets killed saving my life. I just don’t understand, I guess. I want to understand, and it’s driving me nuts that I cannot.

I am a smart person and I know that I’m capable of figuring this out, but this is way beyond me.

I lean over and gently lay my warm hand over his cool one, staring at his handsome face.

As for right now, I’m not going to attempt to wake him up.

Why?

I look around the room, specifically at the dressers.

Nobody come around from this time to about four or five hours from now.

And what does that mean?

Time to investigate.