Forbidden Instinct

by Cassandra Chandler

  “A few,” she said. “And I’m getting better at interpreting them.”

  “Did you see Forester?” Jack asked.

  “Not in a vision.”

  She glanced down at Darren. He was staring at her now, furrows appearing between his brow. He wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his head in her lap.

  She sighed, not seeing any way around just coming out and telling Jack about what had happened. “Darren received a call from his partner at Ford Security.”

  “Scott Ford?” Jack really had researched Darren thoroughly.

  Miranda nodded out of habit, even though they were talking on the phone. “Yeah.”

  “Scott found out his mother was dealing with Forester and tried to confront them,” Miranda said.

  Jack let out a huff of air. “And?”

  “We didn’t get there in time,” she said. “Forester killed them both.”

  “He killed them?” Jack sounded surprised.

  “Yes.”

  “Miranda, this is important,” Jack said. “Elves are part of the High Court of the Sidhe—of fairies. They have rules in place for how they prey on humans. Rules they love to dance around with and try to find loopholes through, but that they do not break.” He emphasized each word at the end of his sentence. “One of the most important for us—the rule that keeps most of humanity blissfully ignorant and still breathing—is that fairies aren’t allowed to outright kill us unless it’s self-defense.”

  “Hooray for us,” she said.

  Jack went on as if he hadn’t heard her. “Fairies can work incredible magic. They can make pocket dimensions and alter reality. Imagine if one of them became bored and decided to unleash that on us.”

  Her stomach seemed to crinkle up. She remembered the vision of zombie-Scott.

  “Mrs. Ford made a deal with him,” Miranda said. “Forester followed the letter of it, and managed to kill them both in the process.”

  Jack let out a sigh. He actually sounded relieved. At least, until he spoke again.

  “How did Darren take it?” His voice was somber.

  “How do you think?” she snapped.

  Darren tightened his grip on her waist. With his werewolf senses, he could probably hear every word of the conversation.

  She wished she could drop the phone and kiss him. She’d do that as soon as possible. In the meantime, she kept stroking his hair, hoping it soothed him somewhat.

  “I’ve gotta tell you, I’m stunned,” Jack said. “Darren is… He’s not like any werewolf I’ve encountered. Even heard of. Which brings me to my bad news.”

  When he paused, she prompted, “Which is?”

  “None of my sources has a lead on the Knights of Antares. They’re all saying it’s a legend.”

  “Great.” There went her main string of hope.

  “But they have reasons to want to believe that,” Jack said. “Just like I keep wanting to believe—”

  “Wanting to believe what?”

  “I’m going to be honest with you, Miranda. Part of me wants to believe that Darren is going to become a mindless killer.”

  Darren let out another growl. He looked up at her, sparks kindling in the depths of his eyes.

  “How can you say that?” she said.

  Jack’s sigh was clear over the phone. “I’ve killed a lot of monsters in my day. I didn’t bother to get to know them. I couldn’t take the chance. Darren has me thinking. Questioning my prior choices. Wondering if I might have…made mistakes. I don’t like it.” After a brief pause, he said, “But I like him. I’m trying to keep an open mind.”

  “Thanks.” Her voice was dripping with sarcasm.

  “I’m telling you this for a reason,” Jack said. “You know me. You know I care about you. The others on my team don’t know you from Adam—and they won’t want to know Darren. They’ll just want to put him down. I keep pushing this, someone’s going to get too curious and try to figure out where my questions are coming from. They’ll come for you both.”

  Her heart sank, but she tried to keep her voice strong. “I told you, I’ll see them coming.”

  “I hope so.”

  So much for asking Jack to help them find a place for Darren during the full moon. Mr. Morrison was a much safer bet.

  “I’ll keep digging as much as I can,” Jack said. “But we may need to look elsewhere for support for Darren. The Knights aren’t an option.”

  She felt her shoulders sag as if a weight had been placed on them. Finding other werewolves who were fighting to keep their humanity—and winning—would help Darren so much.

  At least she knew they would find others eventually. Sooner would definitely be better than later, though.

  She sighed. “Thanks for trying.”

  “I have some more bad news,” Jack said.

  “Great.”

  He ignored her sarcastic comment. “That coin was used in a city-state in ancient Greece that was known to be ruled by a particularly volatile and powerful Fairy Lord—one of the High Court Sidhe. We don’t know much beyond that because apparently he got bored one day and destroyed the whole place. No survivors. The only record we have is from people who happened to visit the town and left before it all went down.”

  “I really don’t like where this is heading,” Miranda said.

  Jack plowed on. “Forester mentioned paying tribute.”

  Her heart started to pound. “You think that same being is here in Olympus?”

  “It would make sense. Either him or some other Sidhe Lord that knew the guy.”

  Orion and the Scorpion…

  So much of this kept coming back to Greek legends. She thought of her dad’s stories again, and the importance of names among the fey.

  “Our founding fathers really should have picked another name for this city,” she said.

  “Look, I’m coming around on the whole Darren thing. You have yourself a werewolf bodyguard. At the moment, I’m counting that as a blessing. You tell Darren… Tell him I have his back. For whatever that’s worth.”

  She looked back to Darren. He was still frowning, but who wouldn’t be after listening to this conversation? She smiled at him, knowing it probably looked a little forced, and ran her fingers through his hair again.

  “Knowing we’re not alone…” she said. “It’s worth more than you think.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Miranda kept playing with Darren’s hair after she ended the call. He had buried his head in her lap again, feeling her warmth, taking in her scent. It was more comforting than anything after listening to her conversation with Jack. Remembering Scott.

  Whenever Darren thought about what had happened in the park, he wanted to stand up and punch through the wall. Then tear the wall down and hurl the pieces through the window.

  But this was Miranda’s home. It was where they’d first made love. He didn’t want to destroy it. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, focusing on her.

  “Are you doing okay?” Her voice was as gentle as her touch.

  “I don’t know how to answer that.”

  “I’m sorry you had to hear me talk to Jack about Scott. I didn’t think you’d want me to leave.”

  He tightened his hold on her waist. “It would have bothered me more if you’d left the room.”

  “Do you need to talk about it?”

  “I need to not talk about it. Or even think about it. I can’t ignore that it happened forever—that he’s gone. But I need time. I need to let my subconscious work on it for a while before I really think about it. If I try to right now, I feel like I’ll lose it.”

  “Then don’t think about it.” She bent down and kissed his head.

  “You can’t imagine how much that helps.”

  “What, not thinking about it?”

  “You touching me. Kissing me.”

  “If that’s a line, it’s a great one.”

  “I don’t know how I would have made it through this without you. Thank you. For everything you�
�ve done for me.”

  “This isn’t a chore for me.” There was a bit of a bite to her tone. “Being with you…it’s what I’ve wanted for a long time. I know we’re dealing with awful stuff right now, and I feel kind of bad admitting this, but I’m happy. About us, at least. That we found our way to each other.”

  “I wish it had happened sooner. Starting a relationship in the middle of all this is kind of stressful.”

  “Maybe this is the way it had to be. Maybe our bond will grow even stronger because of all that’s going on.”

  “I can’t imagine feeling a stronger connection to you than this.” Then again, she hadn’t turned yet.

  He thought of what it would be like to hold her, make love to her, with no fear of getting carried away and hurting her with his new strength. A wild feeling surged through him as he imagined her at his side as a werewolf.

  He leaned up so he could kiss her. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him close as she lay back against the pillows.

  Her phone rang again.

  “Would you mind terribly if I smashed that?” he said.

  She laughed as she picked it up. Her heartbeat sped as she read the screen.

  “What’s wrong?” he said.

  “It’s Eden.”

  Miranda quickly answered the call, sitting back up as she did. “Eden?”

  There was a pause before Eden said, “Hi.”

  Darren could hear every word as if they were both standing in the room with him. It’d been the same with Jack’s call. He sat next to Miranda so he could offer his support, like she had supported him when talking to Jack earlier.

  “Are you okay?” Miranda reached for Darren’s arm, clasping his wrist gently.

  “I don’t know,” Eden said. “It’s a lot to ask, especially with the way I walked out before, but could we meet? I need to talk to you.”

  “Of course.” Miranda’s grip tightened. “Where are you?”

  Eden let out a little sigh. “We can meet in front of my office. Do you know where my storefront is?”

  Miranda nodded, the phone pressed tight to her ear. “Yes. We can be there in ten minutes.”

  Eden paused for a moment. “We?”

  “Um…” Miranda smiled at Darren. “Yeah. Darren will be coming along. I hope that’s okay.”

  Eden’s voice picked up. Darren could hear the grin in it.

  “Darren?” Eden repeated. “As in ‘hunky Darren that you’ve been drooling over for weeks’ Darren?”

  He lifted his eyebrows at Miranda and mouthed, drooling?

  “I’m pretty sure he can hear you,” she said.

  Eden paused for a moment. “Oops. Sorry.”

  Miranda shrugged. “It’s okay. He’s well aware of me drooling over him now.”

  “That brought…not the mental images I’d like to associate with you guys,” Eden said.

  Miranda laughed. “Well, you can see us with your own eyes shortly. We just need to get dressed.”

  “Not helping,” Eden said.

  “Sorry.” Miranda swung her legs over the side of the bed, pulling on Darren’s arm. “I don’t live far away. We’ll see you soon.”

  There was another pause. Darren could hear Eden’s breath hitching, as if she was crying. Miranda was still smiling blithely. She must not be able to hear it. He touched her shoulder to get her attention.

  As quietly as he could, he said, “Is she okay?”

  Miranda’s brow furrowed as she parroted his question to Eden. “Are you okay?”

  “I don’t know,” Eden said. “I just need to see you.”

  Miranda’s voice was filled with tension. “Okay. We’re on our way.”

  “Thanks,” Eden croaked out. “Bye.”

  “Bye.” Miranda looked down at her phone. The call had already been ended. She gazed up at Darren with eyes full of worry.

  “Something must have happened,” she said.

  He pulled her into a quick hug. “We’ll find out what’s going on faster if we hurry. Come on.”

  They were pulling up in front of Eden’s business office within eight minutes. The streets had been empty this time of night, and Darren’s car still had its speed, even if it had lost most of the front grill. A woman stood beneath a sign that read, Landscapes by Eden.

  Darren chuckled. “I like the name.”

  “She told me once she’s always loved plants and decided to put her name to good use,” Miranda said.

  They hopped out of the car and headed across the street. A woman Darren assumed was Eden turned as they approached. She had large blue eyes and curly black hair that hung past her shoulders.

  Her skin was beyond pale—it looked almost bloodless. There was a purple tinge around her mouth and nose.

  Her scent was even more distressing—a sharp cast to it that reminded Darren of the feeling he always had in hospitals. Beneath the sharpness, he caught a scent like rich potting soil mixed with blood.

  And…sex.

  He felt his cheeks heat. Miranda had mentioned that Eden was working on a “moon garden” for some rich client. That probably explained the soil smell. Maybe she’d cut herself and the guy had…comforted her?

  He shook his head, as if that would rattle the speculations out of his brain. His werewolf senses were definitely giving him TMI.

  Miranda had said Eden wouldn’t live till the end of the week. After seeing and…sensing her, Darren wondered if she’d make it through the next day. He understood Miranda’s urgency around the matter now. If they were going to save Eden by turning her, it needed to happen soon.

  “Hi.” Eden and Miranda spoke simultaneously as they embraced in a huge hug. Eden buried her face in Miranda’s shoulder.

  Darren didn’t know what to do. He felt like a third wheel. Miranda glanced over at him, her face pinched with worry.

  His heart started to pound. This was his potential pack—his future standing before him. If Eden was involved with someone, that might complicate matters.

  “What happened?” Miranda said.

  “I’m not even sure where to begin.” Eden pulled back from the hug, but kept holding onto Miranda’s arms. She looked unsteady.

  Darren took a step closer so he could catch her if she fell.

  “First off, I owe you an apology,” Eden said.

  Miranda shook her head. “There’s no need.”

  “Yes, there is. I’m so sorry about how I left the other day.”

  “I understand,” Miranda said. “It’s okay.”

  Eden smiled, but then tears started streaming down her cheeks. Miranda pulled her back into a hug.

  “Tell me,” Miranda said.

  “Shade lost his best friend yesterday. I told him about our fight, and he reminded me that none of us knows how much time we have and we can’t waste it fighting. He didn’t even know about…about my…” Eden gasped a huge breath, then said, “I’m so sorry.”

  “Oh, Eden.” Miranda leaned back and kissed Eden’s forehead.

  Darren’s heart lurched again. He wanted to protect them both. It was obvious how much they cared for each other in every gentle touch and gesture.

  He couldn’t help but think about how had always Scott kidded around with him. He’d had a habit of elbowing Darren in the ribs when he’d thought Darren was taking himself too seriously.

  Darren hadn’t been able to save Scott. But if Eden wanted Darren to try to turn her, he would. In that moment, his mind was made up.

  “It’s okay,” Miranda said. “Really, it’s okay. You’re only human.”

  Eden let out a snort. “It’s funny you should say that.” She looked over at Darren. “Can Miranda and I talk privately?”

  “Darren and I don’t have secrets.” Miranda smiled at him, gaze intense, letting him know she meant it.

  He believed her.

  He wanted to grab her and kiss her, but that would just be awkward. Luckily, she stepped over to him and put her arm around his waist. He held her close against his side.


  “You can trust him,” Miranda said.

  “But I need to talk about your…” Eden cocked her head to the side and shrugged. “You know.”

  Darren felt his eyebrows hitch up his forehead. “Um, maybe I should give you guys a minute.”

  “She means my powers.” Miranda cast a mocking scowl at him, then smiled. “Darren knows about what I can do.”

  “Wow. I guess if he’s on board with that, then this won’t be so weird.” Eden paused for a moment, then said, “No, this is still going to be weird.”

  “Out with it,” Miranda said.

  “Okay.” Eden took a deep breath, then let it out through pursed lips. “Have you ever had a vision that involved… How do I even say this? Non-humans. Like people who aren’t—”

  “You mean like werewolves?” Miranda asked.

  Miranda had perked up, but Darren felt his stomach drop at her words.

  Eden laughed. “No, not werewolves.” Her expression turned serious suddenly. “Wait, are werewolves real?”

  “Yes.” Miranda nodded. “Werewolves, vampires…zombies.” Miranda’s voice trailed off at the end and she squeezed Darren’s waist.

  “Vampires.” Eden closed her eyes and let out another breath. “Vampires are real.”

  She opened her eyes again. There were tears glittering in them, but she was smiling.

  “That’s what I needed to know,” Eden said. “Thank you.”

  “Hold on a minute.” Miranda cocked her head to the side. “You can’t get away with calling us out here and asking us if vampires are real and then not explain. Where is this coming from?”

  “I can’t tell you,” Eden said. “It’s not my secret to share.”

  Eden smelled like freshly turned earth, but there wasn’t a spot of dirt on her outfit. Wasn’t there something about vampires sleeping in coffins filled with dirt? If that was the case, they would carry the scent with them. That plus the smells of sex and blood…

  “Her boyfriend’s a vampire,” Darren said.

  Miranda and Eden both turned to him and gasped.

  “How did you know that?” Eden said.

  He shrugged, feeling his cheeks tingle again. A blushing werewolf. Great.