by Eve Langlais
Apparently, it worked. Titus never made an effort to stick around.
But Logan had.
She didn’t actually have to pee. It was simply an excuse to escape. Being close to Logan confused her. It made her weak because she wanted to ask for his help. Wanted to rely on him.
She just couldn’t. She didn’t want to involve him in her problems.
Rather than exit right away, she spent a moment at the sink, and couldn’t avoid the mirror. Hello, face I don’t recognize.
She stared into the violet-hued eyes and wondered at the stranger. The high cheekbones. The full lips. The dark hair with its platinum streak.
What did a vampire and werewolf see in her?
The women in the washroom left, the door opening on a wave of sound and then shutting, leaving her in a cocoon where only the bass of the music penetrated. Sound-proof walls. A nice touch.
She rinsed her hands and cupped them. They filled with water, and she lowered her face. The splash of liquid did much to cool her heated cheeks. She lifted her face and then gasped.
The mirror in front of her didn’t bear a reflection anymore. A mist covered it.
The strange fog formed a face, nothing with distinct features, just a mouth and the hint of a nose and eyes. Dark pits that stared.
“Who are you?” it asked, the words slow and stretched.
“Someone who needs to double her dose of crazy pills, apparently,” Adara muttered. So much for the stronger prescription she’d taken with dinner. A talking mirror was weird even for her.
“Who are you?” the face in the mirror persisted. “What have you done?”
“Me?” Adara frowned. “Nothing. I think.” But as soon as she left this bathroom, she was going home and getting some sleep. Perhaps it was time to look into more intensive therapy.
The swirling mist pulsed from the mirror, taking a more distinct shape. “You will come to me.”
A demand if Adara ever heard one.
She shook her head. “Like hell am I going anywhere with you.” They might have argued more, but the door to the bathroom opened and let in a flood of sounds. She turned to look and saw three women entering.
When Adara faced the mirror again, the smoke was gone.
As was her mind, apparently.
For some reason, she saw this as proof of what the doctor had been claiming all along. This isn’t real. Why would smoke choose to talk to her in the ladies’ washroom?
“That must be her. She’s got the skunk streak.”
Skunk streak? Adara didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but the remark caught her attention.
She turned to see two of the women who’d entered eyeballing her. And not in a friendly fashion.
“Can I help you?” Adara asked.
“You sure can.” The blonde, short even in her heels and wearing a tight blue dress, kicked off her shoes with a smile.
Adara began to sidle sideways towards the exit. A route blocked.
One of the trio leaned against the door. Holding Adara’s attention, she reached behind with one hand to lock it.
A knot formed in Adara’s stomach.
“Someone’s looking for you.” The smile on the woman’s face widened, then stretched some more, the jaw unhinging to show a second layer of teeth behind the flat edged set.
“Who sent you?”
“You’ll soon see since you’re coming with us. Get her!”
Chapter Six
Staring in the direction Adara had gone, Logan nonetheless knew when the leech reached him. Close enough to launch a low-voiced harangue. “What are you doing here?”
“What’s it look like I’m doing? Enjoying a beer.” Logan gestured to this empty bottle. Not that one was enough to make a dent. Werewolves metabolized alcohol quickly. To get drunk, they needed the really strong shit, the kind fermented in the backwoods and not legally sold on any shelves.
“You shouldn’t be here. The pack has their own establishment,” Titus pointed out.
“Yup.” Werewolf bars were a must. A place where the predator shifters could go, unwind, shoot a game of pool, throw some darts, indulge in some arm wrestling, take a woman in heat into the alley and bay at the moon.
He could feel Titus bristling behind him, the change in his scent indicating irritation.
Good.
“You followed Adara here,” the vampire stated.
“Didn’t you do the same?” Logan asked, finally sparing the vampire a glance. The man looked the same as usual, uptight and prickish.
“As a matter of fact, I didn’t.” And if possible, Titus managed to appear even more haughty. “Adara asked for her space, and I respect her enough to give it.”
“Says the guy who placed a camera in the church basement where she sleeps, and another at her work.” You couldn’t hide much from a werewolf with a keen sense of smell.
Titus didn’t bother to look chagrinned at being caught. Rather, he shrugged. “Just keeping a friendly eye on her.”
“Kind of like I’m doing, only I like to add the personal touch.” Because watching a video meant being too far away if something happened and she needed his help.
“Which is contrary to her wishes. You know she wants us both gone from her life.”
“She just needs time to adjust to what happened.” A reminder that her recent attack by a necromancer had left even more scars on someone who already bore too many.
What Logan still couldn’t grasp was why she’d freaked so hard when they saved her life using their blood. The words she’d shouted haunted him still. “Not enough! I am forsaken. You made me into a monster.”
Was that really how she saw Logan and Titus? Well, the vampire he could understand, blood-sucking leech. But Logan wasn’t some parasite. Sure, he could turn into a wolf, but he didn’t eat people or piss in the house.
Would she really have preferred dying to the possibility of becoming like him?
An unfounded worry. The full moon had come and gone, and the only thing Adara did that night was stay inside while Logan huddled out in the rain, ululating like a lovesick pup. The smell of wet wolf had clung to him for days after.
Logan drummed his fingers on the table. “Speaking of not wanting us around, why did you lie to her?”
“Lie? I don’t lie.”
“So you claim. You certainly know how to sidestep the truth, though. Why did you tell Adara you can break the tie holding us together?” He couldn’t speak for a vampire mark, but for Lycans, bonds of blood were permanent. ‘Til death do you part. It made for messy divorces that ended in funerals.
“I told the truth. There is a way to remove the link.”
“For real?”
Titus nodded.
Much as Logan wanted to call him a liar again, he believed the vampire. “Will it hurt her?”
Disdain curled Titus’s lip. “No. As if I would do anything to harm her.”
Again, Logan knew that Titus spoke the truth. He wouldn’t hurt Adara; however, he would meddle in things that were none of his business. “You want your mark dissolved, go ahead, but leave me and Adara alone.” She’d finally spoken to him tonight. They’d had a real conversation of more than a few words. He took it as a sign that things were about to change.
Titus chose to sit across from him. “She doesn’t want to be bound to either of us.”
“Because she’s angry.” Upset that they’d failed her. It won’t happen again, honey. Promise.
“Can you blame her for the anger? We didn’t give her a choice about the marks. To someone like Adara,”—the subtext being someone who’d been a victim—“the intimacy of such an act should only ever be with her permission.”
Logan hated it when the vampire sounded so logical. But he forgot one thing. “She might have died if we didn’t give her our blood.”
A roll of Titus’s shoulder acknowledged Logan’s words. “Perhaps. But either way, now it does not matter. She lives. She doesn’t want the mark, and there is a way to remove it.”
> However, would severing the tie really rid Adara of anything? The blood was still inside her. A part of her.
Logan didn’t mention this aloud. “When is it being done?”
“As soon as it can be arranged.”
“I want to be present for it.” Because he wouldn’t let her go through something obviously esoteric alone.
“We have to be present.”
“Then it’s a good thing I’m agreeing.”
An amused curve pulled Titus’s lips. “You never had a choice. I just received word, Madame Poulin will see us two nights hence.”
“Saturday night, eh?” Logan raised his bottle in a cheer. “To not having to see each other anymore.”
“Indeed. Once the bond is severed, we can both be on our way.”
“And does that way involve you staying away from Adara?” Logan asked.
A snort met his query. “You wish, dog. Once I’ve shown her I never meant to trap her, she’ll begin to trust me again. Perhaps even be willing to accept my help in investigating more of her past.”
Logan jabbed a finger in the leech’s direction. “I see what your plan is. Kick the dog out of the picture, then ingratiate yourself so you can have her all to yourself.”
“Are you not doing the same thing?” Titus gestured to Adara’s bottle of beer, sitting in a puddle of condensation.
“Somebody needed to keep an eye on her. Good thing I came along. How could you leave her alone in here?” Logan curled his lip as he glanced around, easily spotting the predators in the crowd.
“She entered with me, which means all know better than to approach her.”
“Still not a good place for her to hang out.”
This bar was a place that catered to those who needed to feed on humans. Those that entered did so willingly. The humans a roaming buffet for the vampires, succubi, and others that patronized the bar.
There were rules, though. The human had to be willing. Of age. And not already belonging to someone else.
Which meant that no one would touch Adara. No one would dare piss off Titus, the Cabal leader for vampires in this state. However, the unwritten rule didn’t mean Logan trusted everyone here to obey it. Not when Adara smelled so damned good.
Speaking of whom… She’d been gone a while. How long did it take to piss? Even a hand-washing wouldn’t have kept her away this long.
Tossing a bill onto the table, Logan rose and ignored Titus as he headed towards the washroom where Adara had disappeared. A steady stream of women had entered and left as he watched it from the table. But he’d stopped keeping track while dealing with the leech.
Now, a woman shoved at the portal only to frown as it remained closed.
Barred from the inside.
His steps quickened, and he wasn’t surprised to suddenly discover Titus by his side.
“Something’s wrong,” Titus muttered.
Logan searched along the tie that bound him to Adara, only to run into a wall. A barrier she’d begun to put up between them. How and when had she learned to do that?
“I can’t feel her,” he growled.
“Because someone is blocking her with magic,” Titus replied as they reached the washroom door.
Logan didn’t pretend to be nice, he shoved it. When it didn’t move, he lifted his booted foot and kicked it once.
The lock snapped, and the door jolted open, Titus shouldering his way through a moment before Logan could follow.
Inside, their gazes fell upon pure destruction. The long, granite countertop holding the sinks lay cracked and angled on the floor. Shattered pieces of mirror glinted on the wet tile. Stall doors hung drunkenly and dented.
Logan’s nose twitched at the scents, Adara’s being the clearest, followed by a heavy perfume. But under that…something else. Something that peeled back his lip, made his wolf pace, and roused something primal in him.
Hunt. Kill.
Whatever had attacked Adara ruffled his beast.
But it was Titus who said grimly, “Demons.”
“For real?” Logan asked. “I thought they had to be summoned to be in our world.” He’d done some research since finding out that Adara had issues with them. What he’d discovered didn’t reveal much, and the facts he’d collected were dire.
“Summoning is one method. But there are doors.”
“Doors to Hell?”
“They are closely guarded, lest the legions march into our world.”
“I am not reassured by the idea of border security between us and the inferno,” Logan remarked, his boots crunching over the broken glass on his way to the window. He moved more cautiously than his worry warranted, but he’d not become alpha by rushing ahead and sticking his vulnerable neck out of windows. That was a good way to lose his head.
“Your feelings don’t matter. The doors exist but are a closely guarded secret.”
Said with emphasis and a reminder to Logan to keep his muzzle shut. “I ain’t about to tell anyone there really is a highway to Hell. Although, I am gonna ask if there is one nearby. If demons nabbed Adara, then that means they’re taking her somewhere.” Otherwise, they’d have killed her and left her body behind.
Logan vaulted out the window but remained standing on the damp asphalt of the alley. His wolf whined inside his head, but there was no point in changing. No point in running. The exhaust fumes of a car were the last lingering sign of Adara’s kidnapping. He’d never catch them.
“Why so glum, puppy chow?” Stefan said with a sneer, turning the corner into the alley.
“Not now, asshole,” Logan growled, flexing his fingers.
“Adara’s been taken,” Titus explained, somehow having made it outside without ruffling his perfectly coiffed hair or ripping his nice suit.
“Has she?” Stefan still had a cocky smirk that would look better with Logan’s fist in it. “If you’re talking about the car that just came flying out of here, it didn’t make it far.”
“Explain,” Titus ordered.
“I just so happened to be out having a breath of fresh air and a smoke,”—which judging by the stench clinging to him had been more marijuana than tobacco—“when I saw your girlfriend getting shoved out the window by three rather ugly dames.”
“Stop looking so smug and get to the point,” Logan growled.
“How about I show you? After you, puppy chow.” Stefan sketched a mocking bow, but it was the leech who led the way, and Logan followed, keeping a leash on his wolf, who was ready to shed skin. Stefan wouldn’t be so cocky if he lost half his face.
Exiting onto the street, Logan noticed a car pulled over haphazardly, the brake lights lit, the interior dome on because the driver’s side door hung ajar.
He blinked at the sight of the policemen handcuffing three overdone women, their garish makeup smeared, their lips peeled back over yellow teeth, their demands shrill. “You can’t arrest us.”
The cops ignored them and began reciting their rights as they packed the women into the back of their police cruiser.
Logan turned an astonished face on Stefan. “How the hell…”
“Who do you think sold me the weed?” Stefan grinned. “I jogged back and told the cops the broads were soliciting in the alley, slipped them a few bucks and, voila, your girlfriend is safe.”
“Thank you for your quick thinking,” Titus said. “There will be a bonus on your next check.”
“What are the coppers going to do with them?” Logan asked.
The vampire replied. “More than likely attempt to book them on a few charges. Solicitation. Disorderly conduct. Driving without a license.” Titus shrugged as he moved smoothly towards the car, ignoring the doors to place his hand on the trunk.
“That’s all minor shit,” Logan noted. “They’ll be out by morning.”
“More than likely, but…” Titus slapped his hand down, and the trunk mechanism released, popping the lid open. “Adara will be safe.” Reaching in, he withdrew her unconscious form.
Logan sigh
ed. “Boy is she going to be pissed when she wakes up.”
Chapter Seven
As her eyes fluttered open, Adara winced. Her body ached as if bruised.
Because it was.
Abruptly, she recalled what had happened. The women who weren’t women attacking her. The three charging at once and landing several blows.
It should have been a quick battle.
Except…Adara had been learning recently in her dreams how to fight. There was a reason she allowed herself to relive the battle with demons, so she would hopefully remember how to fight the next time she needed it.
When those three demons came at her, she’d initially frozen in panic. But as the blows landed, she’d felt anger simmering in her.
Rage that they would attack her after all the demons had done. And then grim satisfaction. Now was her chance for some revenge.
She’d fought back. Her arms rising to block blows, fists shooting to strike. Her feet and legs moving more intricately than any dance.
In that moment, strength had filled her. She’d managed to grab hold of one demon and toss her, denting a bathroom stall. Another grabbed hold of Adara and spun her, forcing her to land hard on the countertop. She’d recovered just in time to avoid the charging blow of another demon.
The sharp crack as she snapped the granite had masked the approach of the demon behind her.
Blow after blow rained down on her, but it was the jab in her side, a needle filled with fluid, that had sent her into darkness.
Waking in a room of pure white-and-gold-trimmed luxury filled her with relief.
And annoyance.
She flopped back onto the bed and stared at the ceiling.
Saved.
Again.
When would she ever manage to protect herself?
She was beginning to tire of it. Growing weary of always having Titus—or Logan—come to her rescue.
A knock at the door had her barking, “Go away.”
Rather than obey, the door opened, and a tray preceded Logan.
He brought it over to the bed and then had the nerve to sit down on the mattress before setting the tray over her legs.
She glared at him. “You’re still following me.”