Chapter Twenty Six

(Reagan's POV)

'Honey, wake up,' a voice resonated in my head.

I groaned softly. Who in their right mind was crazy enough to wake me up telepathically?

'Sweetheart, it's me. Your dad. Rise and shine.'

Oh boy. My dad was just as bad as Cooper. The two of them would make a great 'lets annoy Reagan' team. I could feel it in my bones.

Slowly, I opened my eyes and was greeted by a gorgeous man who was still asleep.

Derek.

His six-foot-two body wrapped around my five-foot-seven frame was something I'd started to get used to. It felt natural to have his body pressed up against mine, his long, sculpted limbs curled around mine and muscular arms wrapped around my upper torso like a cocoon. I felt safe, secured and protected.

God, I sound so cheesy.

'Reagan?'

I rolled my eyes. Dad, I'm awake,' I replied then remembered about his injury. 'How's your wound?'

'It's okay now. It healed nicely. Don't worry.'

'Are you sure?' I asked, wanting to be sure that he was okay, though he was a Galerian.

'Yes, I'm alright,' he replied.

I blew out a soft sigh of relief. 'Good. What time is it?'

'It's 11:00 o'clock in the morning.'

My eyes bugged out. 'Whoa,' Damn. I was never one for sleeping in. Maybe I was that exhausted. 'Are Cooper and Ryder awake?' I asked but managed to do an eye roll. Of course Cooper was already awake. For a pureblood he sure was an early riser.

'Yes, honey. Now get ready. We need to figure out how to open that cylinder. We'll be at Derek's room in 15 minutes.'

Shoot! I needed to leave before my dad sees me in here. Derek was adamant about my decision in not sharing a room together. He was concerned about my nightmares, but he needed to understand that even though my dad hadn't been around in my life, he was entitled to go holy fricken bananas, especially when his daughter was snuggling up with a guy. A hot one might I add. But right now, this position we were in was a definite 'freak out' material.

'Okay,' I replied in confirmation.'See you in a few. Hugs and Smoochies.'

I could detect a hint of amusement in his reply. ' Hugs and Smoochies?'

I laughed, but tried to reign it in. I might go full on guffawing like a donkey and it's not one of my endearing qualities.'Yeah, daddy. It stands for X O, since it would be weird to say it in letters. Gotta go.'

'Alright. Daddy loves you.'

His words tugged at my heartstrings. I never heard my mom nor Michael say they loved me. Sure, they were affectionate before the abuse but verbally, I hadn't heard them say it to me. With a gulp, I replied. 'Love you too.'

Silence filled after that. I stared at the sleeping angel in front me and thought of how I should get out of his warmth filled cocoon embrace. I squirmed and wiggled and to my surprise, a low moan escaped from his lips and slowly, he fluttered his eyes open to reveal that hypnotic dark blue orbs that never failed to amaze me.

My man was now awake.

A groggy smile graced his lips. "Good morning, sunshine. Did you sleep well?" he asked as he tightened his embrace. I melted into it, enjoying the feel of his body pressed into mine.

"Yes, I did," I said smiling.

Would it be so wrong of me to have this? A moment where I could wake up next to him? I knew the word eternity was such a strong word to grasp but this man... this man was the one I couldn't live without.

I loved him.

And yet, the thought of becoming a Pureblood Galerian, a Vampirian to be exact, scared me. With the prophecy added to the mix had made our situation complicated, ruling out the chances of us having a normal relationship.

Sensing my apprehension, Derek reached out to stroke my cheek with his thumb. "Something the matter, my sweet? He asked, frowning. "You've been awfully quiet for a minute there."

I shook my head and smiled. Now was not the time to mull on foolish thoughts. I'd deal with that when the time comes. "Nothing, Dee. Dad said that we should get ready. He'll be here in 15 minutes."

He frowned. "How..." he trailed.

"Telepathy," I said while tapping my temple to emphasize a point.

"Oh," he said. "Well, I think we should get ready then," as he said this, he wasn't loosening his hold on me. He was smirking. Good grief, the cocky monster was back with a vengeance.

I rolled my eyes and tried to get out of his boa constricting embrace, not that I mind, but my dad was going to be here in a few minutes. "Dee, I gotta go back to my room. Dad's going to freak out when he sees me in here," I said as I squirmed and wiggled, making him laugh at my futile attempts to be free.

With quick experienced moves, he was now on top of me with both of my hands pinned on top of my head. Oh boy. What was he up to now?

"Dee, come on," I cried. This position was making me vulnerable and yet, turned on. Complicated, I know.

His smirk grew wider and it was scaring me to bits. "Dee..." I said in a defeated voice. He let go of my left hand and put a finger on my lips to silence me.

"Shh,." he said, eyeing me intently as his fingers left my lips and glided on my arms ever so lightly, making the hairs of my nape stand up. The motion of his glide was up and down, though it wasn't fully touching my skin, but the movement was sexy, sensual, and I could say he was a freaking tease. His hands were now gliding the side of my hips, to my waist then the curves of my breasts and then it went back up to my face and caressed my bottom lip with his thumb.

"You know what I'm thinking?" he asked, his voice hoarse. I noticed that he was a bit excited down there. I guess little Derek was begging to come out and play.

"W-w-what?" I stammered. Geez, woman! Get a grip.

He softly smiled and he dipped his head towards my face. His lips were a centimeters away and then softly brushed his lips on mine and I almost gasped. Take note of the word, almost.

He laughed through his nose and then bit my lower lip lightly. That gesture alone had me on a spiral. This was it. I'm doomed. "I think you should go back to your room and get ready," he mumbled into my lips.

I groaned.

He chuckled and rolled to the side so I could get off the bed, but not before he yanked me back and planted a soft kiss on my lips. "You look sexy in your bed hair," he mumbled.

As a reflex, my hands shot to my hair flattening it. Having bed hair was not sexy on my vocabulary. He rolled his eyes and grabbed my wrist to lower it to my sides. "No, you look beautiful, my beloved."

A blush threatened to blossom on my cheeks. Bryson had never told me that before when I woke up in the morning in his arms. This was new to me, being referred as beautiful, though I Iook like Little Orphan Annie at the moment. "Thanks," I muttered bashfully and got off the bed.

This side of Derek was too much for me to handle.

With a sigh, I walked to the door and grabbed the knob but stopped, remembering something. I glanced over my shoulder and smirked. "Hey Dee," I said.

His eyebrows quirked. "Yes, Reagan?" he asked.

My eyes shot to the bulge of his pants. "I think you need to take care of that bulging meat stick you got there," I said.

His eyes widened and grabbed a pillow to cover his prominent boner.

I giggled and left the room.

'That wasn't very nice, ma cherie,' Derek said in my mind as I walked along the empty hallway, smiling like a fool.

Take that cocky monster.

(Bryson's POV)

'Where the heck is Reagan?' I thought as I walked along the deserted hallway. It's been four days and still, she hadn't showed up to school. I tried calling her but again, it goes straight to voicemail. I wouldn't even dare go to that stinking Elder's house. Hell to the no, I wouldn't be caught dead.

God, this was really frustrating!

What's even more frustrating was Ciara. She hadn't stopped bothering the life out of me, and it was getting on my nerves. I kept on reiterating the same lines over and over and yet, the she devil couldn't take the hint. Maybe I should go into witness protection or something, so I could just get away from her.

I shook my head. Nah, that wouldn't work. She would eventually find me even to the ends of the earth.

Before I turned for the Science wing, I heard muffled snippets coming from the supply closet.

"No-she's-but-argh-NO!-are you crazy?!"

That voice sounded familiar.

I walked over to the closed supply closet and placed my ear on the door. I know, this was totally whacked that I'm acting like a big snoop.

"You better do something. I'm running out of patience."

I narrowed my eyes. Ciara. But who the hell was she talking to?!

"Listen here, you prick, you better do something about this, because I'm telling you, he's already irritated with me. Gotta go. Bye."

What the?! I heard shuffling and a click on the handle. I immediately positioned myself at the side of the door, leaning on the wall with my arms crossed over my chest.

The door opened and out came Ciara looking all flustered. Time to make my presence known.

"Hello Ciara," I said darkly.

She jumped a mile high and placed a hand on her chest. She turned to the side to face me. "Geez, Bryson!" she exclaimed. "Don't scare me like that."

I rolled my eyes. "Who were you talking to just now?"

Her expression said it all. A deer caught in headlights, a sign she was singled out red handed.

But alas! This was Ciara we were talking about and yes, she was definitely up to something. She regrouped herself and acted as if nothing fazed her.

"What do you mean?" she asked trying to sound innocent. "I wasn't talking to anyone."

What an awful liar. "Don't lie to me, Ciara."

She glared. "Were you spying on me?"

Gotcha. "So you admit you were talking to someone, then?" I asked, smirking. I knew Ciara was such an awful liar and in our two years time together was spent, well, on getting to know her inside out, but the problem was, I didn't know she was capable of such asylum material behavior.

"It's none of your business," she said irritably and walked off.

"Whatever you're planning, Ciara, I won't give in that easily," I called out to her retreating figure.

She stopped and glanced over her shoulder. The look she gave me was of pure evil, and I wondered why I fell in love with her in the first place. "We'll see about that."


(Derek's POV)

Silence filled the room as we all sat on the sofa provided on the hotel suite. Reagan sat to my right while Luke sat to my left. Cooper sat on the single arm chair that was adjacent to the sofa and Ryder stood behind Cooper's chair with his arms crossed over his chest. The fellow hadn't cracked a smile ever since he went inside the room.

He must have led a sad life.

The cylinder was laid on the coffee table and we were all eyeing on it, trying to figure out how to open that blasted thing.

We used brute force and among other things we could think of but still, the cylinder wouldn't open, much to our futile attempts. We even tried searching for a button or any mechanism that could open the object.

It was surprising that it didn't have a dent when we hurled it to the wall.

That must be one heck of a metal.

With a sigh, I looked over at my beloved apologetically. "Reagan, we tried everything. It won't open."

Luke cleared his throat to catch our attention. "How about we do this using our abilities? Would that make a difference?"

I mulled over that idea. That might work, but what kind of ability then? My elemental powers were out of the question, since it could literally redecorate the room.

"How about if I use telekinesis?" he offered.

I raised an eyebrow. "Will that work?" I asked.

He rolled his eyes. "Right now, what choice do we have," he said and grabbed the cylinder from the table. He positioned the object in front of him and leveled it to his chest while staring at it intently, willing for the lid to open. His eyebrows were creased as he concentrated with all his might, and then, his eyes turned into a bluish hue with a mix of gray. I felt the static in the air as he pushed his power to the limits, and after a few moments, he sighed. "It's not working."

"Let me try," I said, grabbing the object from his hand. I took a deep breath and imagine the object in my head, concentrating on the lid. The room had began to shake as I used my telekinesis ability to its full potential, willing for it to open.

'Come on. Come on,' I chanted in my head. I pushed further and then my eyes turn into a cobalt blue, a sign that my powers had reached its peak.

But unfortunately, nothing happened.

It was Reagan's turn to sigh. "Geez," she muttered. "What was Sephrina thinking when she forged that thing," she grabbed the object from my hand. "Let me try."

"But you're not a full Galerian yet," I said frowning.

She rolled her eyes and gave me a duh look. "I know, but it's worth a try."

With a shrug, I conceded. "Alright then."

I'd only hoped she knew what she was doing.