Diana looked so frustrated. Even in the crazy combination of shadow and light from the restaurant’s exterior lights Edward could see her chin angrily thrust out toward him as though she were about to throw a punch. He didn’t know what to do. This wasn’t how he had expected this night to go. Nothing had gone right with Diana since Skye had brought her to his office and the second heat of their relationship had started. Edward had been taking so many things for granted without even realizing it. He had just assumed that he had this all under control. It was becoming very apparent that he did not. Not at all.
“Edward, I don’t think I can do this.” The words came from Diana and not from his own lips, but he couldn’t argue. “I can’t—I just can’t wrap my mind around this whole situation.”
“I understand.” He didn’t. But what else was he supposed to say. “Everyone brings baggage to a relationship. It’s just part of the game. But if you can’t deal with my baggage then maybe it’s time to just accept it and walk away.”
Diana put her hands on her hips. She was standing there on the sidewalk looking as though she had something else to say. But no words came out, and for just a moment Edward was left feeling as though she were judging him and finding him lacking without his even understanding the criteria she was using. He could not change his nature. He could not be average Joe. It wasn’t in his DNA.
“Goodbye, Edward.” Diana turned and walked away without even casting one last look over her shoulder.
Just like that it was over and Edward wasn’t entirely certain what he thought about that. Perhaps Jason would say that it was for the best. But would Jason have said that if they’d been referring to Skye? Sometimes it was so much easier to see someone else’s life more clearly than you did yours. And that’s where Edward was right now.
Chapter Thirteen
Diana didn’t go home after she left the Lone Star Grill. She had one more stop to make. It was a pilgrimage that she often made when she was feeling low. The Dallas cemetery where the Appletons had been burying their dead for many, many long decades was located north of University Park. Diana parked her car in the lot and sat for a moment. The cemetery was technically closed. They did not allow people to wander in around the stones and along the lanes during the off hours, but Diana had already made the acquaintance of several maintenance workers over the last several years.
Exiting her compact car, Diana closed the driver’s door with a muffled snick. For some reason it felt as though it would be disrespectful to make noise in this hallowed place. Sometimes she felt odd when she heard people speaking or laughing too loudly. The cemetery was a place where a living person should be able to go and visit the dead in peace.
With that in mind, Diana struck off across the expansive green lawn. The fall colors were brilliant. Lights blazed in the chapel and around the mausoleum with its A-frame structure so reminiscent of an old historic church. Each lane was lit by soft white overhead lamp posts that looked as though they had been transported from another time. Enormous headstones and above-ground burying tombs cast long shadows on the ground.
It did not take Diana long to cross the grounds and find the place where the Appletons lay. Her grandparents and her greatgrandparents were here. She had memories of coming to this place and sitting on the tiny stone bench in order to visit the graves of her ancestors and lay flowers against their headstones. Now she was the only one left to do so.
A broad-shouldered shadow emerged from the rolling hills to Diana’s left. She sucked in a quick breath of surprise but let it out quickly when she realized that it was just one of the night caretakers.
“Well, hello there, Ms. Diana.” Terrence smiled at her. His teeth flashed brilliant white in his dark face. “For a minute there I was about to call the police to tell them we had vandals.”
“Not a vandal,” Diana sighed. “I know I’m not supposed to be here. I’ll just stay a minute. I’m really sorry to have scared you. I hope I didn’t interrupt your dinner or anything.”
“Nah.” Terrence shook his head. Then he turned and gestured to the far end of the 375-acre cemetery. “Let’s just say that I need to make the rounds anyway.”
“I think you need to go get your golf cart!” Diana told Terrence. She could not imagine trying to cover all of this territory on foot. “That or apparently you’re training for a marathon.”
“It’s nice at night.” Terrence threw his head back and looked up at the sky. “If you go the very center of the cemetery and look up at the sky you can almost see the stars.”
“Almost,” Diana murmured. “There are too many lights here in Dallas to see the stars.”
“That’s the truth!” Terrence tossed those words over his shoulder as he left Diana to her silent communion with the dead.
She didn’t find cemeteries creepy like other people did. Tomorrow night was Halloween. It wasn’t really a big deal to her. She’d read somewhere that certain people believed the veil between the living and the dead was thin on days like All Hallows Eve. Diana figured that society had come so far from their roots in whatever paganism had been trying to commune with the dead that there was almost no hope of any of the old legends and myths being true. Halloween was all about black cats, ghosts, goblins, and kids getting tons of candy and ruining their teeth.
“I don’t think I want to be with Edward King anymore, Dad.” The words sort of slipped out. Diana often spoke to her father. She wasn’t really sure why she bothered. The man hadn’t bothered to truly listen to her when he had been alive. He’d been too busy trying to keep her demanding mother happy. “Tisha Olivares-King hasn’t gotten any better over the years,” Diana told her father. “In fact, I think she’s worse. I think she’s clingier and crazier and even more determined than ever before to make sure that her sons do what she wants.”
Diana lapsed into silence. A gentle fall breeze wafted across her face. There was just a touch more bite to this air. It promised snow and frigid winter weather that would use humidity like a weapon of mass destruction. The thought of winter made Diana think more favorably upon a possible trip to Lyon, France, in order to help the Orvilles find a builder to construct their dream retirement home on the land left to Mrs. Orville by her relations.
What luck that was for them! Diana wondered what would happen to the sponging mother-in-law once her free ticket at the department store was gone. Would she just move on to someone else? How horrible that must be for her daughters! Alaina Ariosa was not a woman to be trifled with. She was absolutely insane when it came to money and social position.
Diana vaguely remembered Alaina’s daughters. It was Alaina who stuck out in Diana’s mind because Aliana had been one of Diana’s mother’s most stringent frenemies. The two women had hated each other but also hadn’t been able to stay away from each other.
Staring down at her mother’s headstone, Diana realized that there was one piece of this puzzle that she had kind of left out. If Ursula Appleton and Alaina Ariosa had been frenemies bent on socially destroying each other, then Alaina Ariosa and Tisha Olivares-King had been bosom buddies determined to outdo each other in shopping prowess, the amount of money spent, and sheer materialistic consumerism.
“Oh my God,” Diana whispered.
She shot to her feet. The urge to warn Edward was almost irresistible. She hadn’t used any names when she had been telling him about her clients. He would have no idea that Alaina was probably angling for her older daughter to marry a King brother! Edward had to warn his brothers or one of them was going to experience the horror of being pinched between two women who would do nothing but bring financial ruin to the King family!
Diana automatically crossed herself right in front of her family’s graves. She tried not to look at the empty plot right beside her parents that had been intended for Diana. She could not think about that right now. She had to stay calm and go back to her car so that she could send Edward a text. Surely that would be enough. That was her only responsibility. Wasn’t it? And really, she
didn’t even have to do that. She didn’t owe him anything.
An inky black shadow seemed to peel away from the side of a huge above-ground tomb. The tomb’s elaborate white granite surfaces had been carved with beautiful Celtic symbols to celebrate the family’s Irish roots. An angel perched above the doorway to help guide the souls to Heaven once they were released from their earthly prisons. Or at least that was how some of the mythology described it. Nowhere in any of that was a mention of a great black shape with glowing eyes.
Diana froze. This cemetery did not have dogs. It had a human security force only. But then this wasn’t a dog. Her heart began to race and her pulse was so fast that she could hardly catch her breath. She swallowed, but her mouth was dry. She licked her lips and found that they were paper dry as well.
The animal’s lips curled and she could see its white teeth gleaming in the reflected light of the old lamp posts. She half expected to see drool stringing toward the ground or even blood. At this point she would have believed anything. The creature was slowly advancing on Diana’s position as though it was enjoying the fact that she was going to have to flee like a rabbit.
“Orion King,” Diana said in as firm a voice as she could muster. “Don’t think I don’t know who and what you are.”
But her words didn’t seem to make a dent in the wolf’s intentions. The creature crouched low on its forepaws. Its tail was switching back and forth like that of an angry cat. Diana swallowed back the bile that threatened to overtake her. She could not afford to be scared. Not now. She was about to try and sprint to her car through the grass and over the paved lanes in low heels, dress slacks, and one of her favorite blouses. She was going to be lucky to avoid breaking both ankles.
Without another thought of the fear lancing through her veins, Diana pulled off her shoes and lobbed them at the wolf. She had no idea if her shoes hit their mark. It didn’t matter. She bolted because that was the only thing left to do. Diana ran as fast as she could, but she did not take the lane. There was no way that her human legs could outrun those of an oversized wolf. Not on a straightaway. So she ran instead toward the tomb where the wolf had been hiding. It was perhaps a dozen yards away.
The wolf sprinted forward obviously anticipating that his quarry would head for the parking lot. Diana didn’t. She sprinted for the tomb and ducked around it. Making an entire circuit, she waited until she heard the wolf’s claws scratching the pavement of the lane in order to turn and change trajectory.
Diana grabbed the corner of the tomb to stop her momentum. Her hands scraped against the rough surfaces. The granite abraded her palms. She didn’t care. The stinging sensation was a welcome reminder that she was still alive. And as soon as she heard that wolf snarling and snorting as he tore his way through the grass and zigzagged through the headstones, Diana was off and running again.
She darted between the largest headstones that she could find. Mother Mary icons loomed around her along with the visages of a dozen or more angels. A statue of Mother Teresa provided a welcome bit of ironic cover as Diana ran from the wolf. She could hear the creature behind her.
Her heart was beating so quickly the sound was roaring in her ears. She struggled to stay calm enough to keep track of where she was going. She’d left her cell phone in the car. In hindsight, that was stupid. One phone call probably would have stopped this wolf in his tracks.
The enormous chapel and the exquisite funeral home facility was like a beacon in the night about twenty yards ahead of Diana. The grounds were immaculate with flowers and a small man-made stream flowing in a circle around the structures. There were bridges and paths and lawns and statues. And into this maze of obstacles Diana dove with what she hoped was a purpose.
Diana’s brain kept her moving forward. She felt a fierce desire to win, to get to her car, to retrieve her phone, and, yes, to tattle on this arrogant prick of a wolf who was trying his best to run her down. Hazarding a look to her right, Diana spotted Orion leaping over the stream in his bid to close the distance between them. At the last second his back leg did not clear the rocky stream bed. The wolf’s back end splashed in the water and the animal snarled in such a way that Diana could have sworn she heard the human cursing.
Changing directions again, Diana burst out onto the wide walkway that went around the building. She could tell that the wolf was trying its level best to avoid the cameras that were positioned at intervals under the building’s eaves. The lights from inside cast brilliant stripes across the walkway. Diana’s eyes were dazzled by the sight as she ran down that walkway as though the devil himself were on her heels.
She could hear the wolf galloping just on the other side of the railing and she knew that she wasn’t going to make it back to her car unless she could distract him once again. At the end of the walkway she spotted a little gnome statue sitting atop a tiny structure of garden bricks. He had been placed there for luck. Now he was going to give Diana just the luck she needed.
Diana plucked the little gnome off his perch and kept running. She ignored the stairs and took a flying leap off the porch. Her feet hit the grassy verge between the parking lot and the building. She felt her knees fold beneath her. At the last second Diana hurled that little stone gnome as hard as she could right at the wolf.
The high-pitched yelp told her that she had managed at least to partially hit her mark. The thud of the stone gnome hitting the ground was coupled with the wolf’s angry snarls and growls. Diana did not have time to look behind her and see if she’d managed to poke Orion’s eye out. She needed to get moving.
Diana put both hands on the ground and shoved herself into a standing position. Like a runner at the blocks she propelled herself toward her car and tried to ignore the pain in her bare feet when the grass turned to pavement that scraped her toenails and left the soles of her feet feeling raw.
Car. Car. Car. It was the only thing on Diana’s mind. She had keys in her pocket, but it wasn’t locked anyway. She hit the driver’s door with a huge thud. Behind her she could hear nails on pavement as the wolf pursued her with the single mindedness of a predator.
Diana flung open her driver’s door and dove inside the vehicle. At the last second she barely managed to get the door closed right before a massive wolf body slammed against the car. The tiny vehicle rocked from side to side as though it might actually go over. Diana scrambled to find her phone in the center console. She fumbled with the display. It lit up in the dim interior of the car and illuminated her face.
The car was given another hard jolt. This time Diana shrieked as she felt two wheels come up off the ground. Holy shit, she was going to go over! She feverishly dialed Edward’s number. She needed help. She needed another beast to get rid of the one that was chasing her!
Suddenly the car stopped shaking. Diana peered out the foggy driver’s window and realized that Orion was just standing there on all four feet looking somewhat crazed and very much like a target for the nearest animal control officer.
She held up her phone. “I’m calling your brother!” she shouted through the closed window. The wolf had to have great hearing. Surely he could understand her. “You’d better get your ass out of here before the rest of your family has to show up in order to take you to the pound, you crazy beast!”
The wolf that Diana was almost ninety-nine percent sure was Orion snarled something obviously unintelligible at her. Then it turned and loped away toward the deep darkness surrounding the cemetery grounds and was gone.
Diana sucked in deep breaths. She was still holding her phone. The display told her it had connected.
“Diana? Diana! Say something!” Edward’s tinny voice came out of the speaker.
There was really only one thing to say. She put the phone on speaker and turned the key to start her car. “Your stupid brother Orion dented my car and tried to kill me. Put a leash on that crazy bastard or you can expect me to call the cops. Do you get me?”
There was a heavy sigh on the other end of the line. “Loud and clea
r.”
A click. And then nothing. But at least Diana was still alive and well—minus a pair of her favorite shoes of course. But perhaps that was better than any number of alternatives. It had been one crazy night.
Chapter Fourteen
Edward wasn’t sure how long he had been waiting for Orion to return to the King family house in University Park. It felt like an eternity. Tonight had been the regular run for the King Wolf Pack. It was something the wolves needed to do at least once a month if not weekly. Lately they had been sliding into the habit of pack members missing run dates for weeks on end or only making the monthly run because someone else reminded them. Zane and Jason were the ones who never seemed to miss a night. Both the youngest and the middle King brother had a stronger affinity for their wolf side than their brothers did. But right now the whole family was gathered at the house inside the city limits of Dallas even though they should have been out at the ranch running wild in the moonlight.
“Do you honestly think that phone call was real?” Zane growled at Edward. Zane had been pacing back and forth in the kitchen since they’d gotten here. He was irritable and restless. It was a strong sign that he would have rather taken care of this while wearing his own wolf fur. “Shouldn’t we just pile Orion into a vehicle and take him out to the ranch? What makes you think he’ll even come back here?”
Edward did not answer right away. He realized that his brothers were not necessarily going to be pleased with his answer. Even to his own mind it sounded just a tad far-fetched. “I think he’ll return here because he has to report back to the person who ordered him to scare Diana away.”
Devon frowned. Then he very slowly pointed to the upstairs of the house. “Are you trying to suggest that mother ordered this like some kind of hit?”
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