Wrath's Patience (Seven Deadly Sins Book 3)

by R. A. Pollard

  He watched her leave. Running from him was a bad idea, running meant chasing, and chasing meant catching. Her scent lingered in the air. She would be easy to follow. All he knew was he had to follow her. Already the buzzing was returning to his brain, and he didn’t want to lose this measure of clarity so quickly. He needed her to help him remember who he was and why he felt like this form was wrong.

  He stood and shook out his coat. Slowly, he began to trail the female and her young. Keeping to the shadows, he felt them reaching for him, hiding him from sight and sound, which was perfect. His quarry was on edge, and for good reason.

  She finally stopped running and looked back in his direction. He knew she did not see him, with the shadows gathered around him like a blanket. But that little girl, she looked right at him. Her ice blue eyes speared right into his soul, and he felt an ache there for the first time in months. He expected her to inform her mother he was following, but she just watched him in total silence. Then her mother was moving again, finally coming out into a large clearing where a two-story cabin nestled back against the forest. He lay down under a large bush to watch as the female gently put her daughter down and knelt before her.

  “Are you okay, Belle? Come on, honey, say something to me.” Layla was nearly insane with worry for Annabelle. She hadn’t said a word since that wolf/thing had come charging from the trees, intent on taking her child as prey. If she never saw that animal again it would be a blessing. His eyes sent chills over her skin.

  Her arm was starting to go numb from the power she had thrown at him. She needed Lexi to look at it, and soon. Layla brushed her daughter’s fuzzy hair back, turning her gaze to look where her child’s eyes were locked. She didn’t see anything but she could feel his eyes on her, which was crazy. She would have seen a beast that big if he had followed. Annabelle finally blinked and looked at her mother, nodding quickly.

  “I’m okay. He was a very big dog. I didn’t think he would be that big.” Her voice was so innocent that Layla had to sit back to look closely at her child.

  “What do you mean you didn’t think he would be that big?” Her heart pounded in her chest. Knowing her child had inherited some of her odd abilities was concern enough, but she also seemed to have abilities all her own.

  “The dog from my dream, I thought he would be smaller. He is a bit scary though—big teeth—but he has pretty eyes, doesn’t he, Mommy?”

  Pretty eyes? Layla felt like she was about to pass out. The damn beast had almost taken her daughter down in one attack and she was saying how pretty those insane eyes of his were? Brushing her own hair back, she sat on the damp earth and shook her head. She felt nausea rising in her stomach; today could have been a tragedy, she might have lost her child.

  “It’s okay, Mommy, he didn’t mean it.” Annabelle moved then, wrapping her little arms around her mother.

  “Child, you are going to give me a heart attack. How can you know? I didn’t even know, and I am Dr. Doolittle!” She hugged her child tight, breathing in her unique scent that always calmed her soul.

  “I just know. Grammy Annie told me so last night.” Her words were innocent but they made the hole in Layla’s heart burn. She missed her mother’s council, and it was almost painful that she had not seen this spirit of her mother like her daughter had.

  “I think Grammy might be wrong about this one. Come on, let’s get inside, it might snow tonight.” The chance of snow did the trick and Annabelle let out an excited scream and turned, running into the house like a banshee on a mission.

  The door was thrown open and her small hellion of a daughter ran up the stairs. Lexi managed to move out of the way as Annabelle barreled past her into the house. She held the door open, frowning at Layla as she knelt in the driveway.

  “What’s wrong? You felt scared earlier but it vanished so I figured you were okay.” Lexi headed over to her sister and offered her hand, helping her up.

  “Just… something in the forest. I am not sure what it is. I still feel his eyes on me, Lex, I swear it.” Layla looked around the clearing again as her sister scowled and did the same.

  “Well if that ‘something’ comes here I will unload a double barrel into its head. Come on, I cleaned up. What? I thought you wanted me to clean the kitchen?” Lexi pouted as her sister sighed and shook her head.

  “You always put the dishes away in the wrong place, and you never clear out the garbage, and let’s not even mention you have a phobia of the bits of food left in the bottom of the sink.”

  Lexi huffed and followed behind her sister. “Of course I do, it is icky and squidgy and just ewwww.” Layla watched her sister literally almost gag at the idea of having to remove old wet food from the plug hole. Lexi shivered and rubbed her arms quickly.

  Layla chuckled and shook her head. Her sister did come with a few quirks of her own, and she loved her for it. Letting Lexi move past her, she turned and looked back out, her eyes locking on the forest edge. He was out there, she knew it. Why he had not come out of hiding she didn’t know. But his eyes were on her. Why had he followed her home? She was sure whatever he was, his lapse in hunting judgment was over, and now he seemed to be intrigued by her. Her hand tightened on the door and she stepped into the cabin.

  “Stay away,” she whispered to the forest.

  “Stay away.”

  Her voice reached his ears, stroking down his back like the flutter of fingers. He couldn’t, goddamn him, he couldn’t turn and leave now. She had done something to him when she threw out her magic and shocked his body. Not only that, but he felt a drive to protect—not just her, but that small young of hers.

  He had been shocked when a second female had come out, almost identical to the one that smelled like vanilla. Only this female had slightly darker hair, was built differently, and walked with a pure stubborn confidence. To his eyes, those two women might be twins but they were vastly different from each other. His eyes were locked on only one female right now, her body silhouetted by the light within the cabin.

  In the back of his brain he could feel the buzzing of madness trying to regain its hold on him. The pain was a slow pulsing behind his eyes, but it was nothing he couldn’t deal with. He considered leaving but fear gripped him. If he left, he might forget she was here. The madness would consume him again, and he might hurt her or her child. That would be unacceptable. He needed her to help him. He needed her voice to drive away the rage.

  Lifting his large head, he slowly padded from the bushes and began to scan the clearing. It was large with a gravel driveway heading off into the woods. Off to one side sat a rundown barn where he could scent all kinds of animals, some of them not even of this mortal world. Slowly, he headed in that direction, a soft light emitting from within the barn.

  He pushed his nose through the door and sat down, taking in the scene of large pens and a few stables, most holding some kind of animal. It didn’t take long for them to notice him. Those that were natural prey shrank back, making sounds of warning as they felt a predator in their midst. He ignored them, focusing his flame eyes on the large white stallion that watched him with silver eyes, shimmering large white wings folded up on his back, a nasty looking wound on his hind leg.

  You do not belong, Dimoni. You are wrong. The stallion walked to the door and poked his head from his stall, flicking his huge wings out and folding them against his back.

  He felt the beast speaking with him. His brain tingled with the sensation. He followed that path of communication, reaching for words. He could almost remember words.

  I. Do. Not remember. He shook his head hard, the words forming slowly.

  You are cursed, I can smell it, as do all creatures of the world. You should leave. The pegasus stomped his foot against the stable floor, snorting loudly.

  I cannot. Need to stay, need her.

  The stallion reared in his stable and snorted again, sending all the animals in the barn into a frenzy.

  She is Seer, Speaker of Beasts. You will stay away, Dimoni! />
  The wolf shook his head.

  I cannot. Their conversation was cut short as he heard a door at the other end of the barn opening and the voice of the twin sister filling the room. The wolf darted into an empty stall, dropping low to the ground to hide in the shadows as the one who did not smell of vanilla entered.

  “What’s wrong with everyone? If you hurt yourselves again I’m not fixing it.” The not-vanilla one looked around the barn quickly. She walked to the stable that held the pegasus and stroked down his magnificent face slowly.

  “Easy now, what’s going on?” The winged beast snorted and scraped at the floor again but let the little human touch him. The wolf watched his ears flicking forward as a soft glow encompassed her hand as she stroked down the beast’s long nose. The stallion settled and the woman’s bright eyes began to scan the barn. She was a smart one. She knew something was up. He would have to watch out for this one, she might get in the way of his plan to be near the female he needed. No one would get in his way. He could not allow that to happen.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Layla frowned at her daughter. Annabelle had been at the window looking out over the yard all evening. She was never this quiet at night. She was always bubbling with anticipation for something, or brimming with questions that needed to be answered. But tonight, she sat quietly in the window nook and just watched the snow falling in fat fluffy flakes.

  “Belle, come away from the window now, the hot chocolate will be ready in a minute. I will let you have ten marshmallows tonight.” Layla hated trying to bribe her child, but cinnamon-laced hot chocolate with marshmallows usually did the trick.

  The little girl remained silent for a few moments, her legs curled under her, then she waved at the window and turned around to face her mother.

  “Okay, Mommy. Do you think he will be all right outside?” She padded on bare feet across the rug-covered floor, dropping down before the fire.

  “Do I think who will be all right?” Layla looked toward the window, a shiver rushing over her skin. She had felt like someone was watching her all day—there was no malice in it, but still, it unnerved her. The fact her daughter seemed to know more than she didn’t help matters.

  “The dog, he is talking now, he says you helped him remember words.” Layla looked sharply at her child then back to the window. So it was talking to her daughter. If any doubt remained in her mind that her child had inherited her gift of animal speech it was gone now.

  In the hopes of distracting her, Layla moved to the chest of drawers near the door, pulling out her daughter’s paper and crayons. She laid them down and knelt before her. Annabelle smiled up at her mother and eagerly took the art supplies.

  “Okay, Belle, draw me a picture of him. Maybe he would like that.” Hell, if it got her child’s mind off the murderous wolf hybrid thing in the yard she would let her kid paint the walls.

  Lexi walked over to them with a tray heaped with marshmallows and three cups of hot chocolate, one lukewarm, of course. She knelt and turned her eyes to her sister; it was clear she was just as concerned that Annabelle seemed to have become obsessed by the animal that nearly killed her just this morning. Grabbing her mug and a handful of the sugary treats, Lexi dropped them in her cup and moved beside her twin.

  “He was in the barn, but he didn’t hurt any of the animals. He did upset everyone though.” Lexi sipped her cocoa and rubbed Layla’s back.

  Layla shook her head and turned to regard her child again. Thank god she was happily drawing the “wolf” and didn’t seem to be tempted back to the window. What worried her most was she had never seen her daughter acting this way with any of the other animals before. She often spent time with them but did not spend long hours in silence, evidently having a conversation with one.

  “I’m not even sure what IT is. Some kind of hybrid, I think. I’ve seen most of the supernatural animals of the world, but this one is a first.” Moving to sit on the couch before the fire, she curled her feet up under her as her sister handed her a steaming mug of decadent sweetness.

  She lifted the cup to her lips and hissed as pain rushed down her arm. Lexi looked at her twin sharply, sighing deeply and shaking her head. She put her mug down and moved to sit beside her sister.

  “Why didn’t you tell me you were still hurting?” The scold in her voice was plain.

  “I had forgotten about it until now. It’s nothing, Lex, honestly, it just aches a little.” Her sister was a gifted healer. She could heal almost any injury or illness, but it came at a huge cost, one Layla was not willing to pay for a small ache in her arm.

  “I will be the judge of that. Arm, now.” Layla was resistant so Lexi just grabbed her sister’s arm and held the wrist tight. “Shut it and let me work.”

  Layla sighed and relented to her twin. When Lexi got the drive to heal it was nearly impossible to stop her. She did, however, try to do it in small increments so the backlash was not so bad for her own body.

  As she watched, Lexi’s head dropped to her chest, her hands still on her wrist. Layla could feel a warm tingling spreading from the skin-on-skin contact The soft warmth began to grow hotter, but it never became painful. She watched as her sister’s skin began a soft shimmering, almost like she was dusted with glitter powder. Then it vanished, and Lexi opened her eyes, pain etched on her face. She dropped her sister’s arm and shook out her own matching arm, wincing a little.

  “Geez, Layla, that was a lot of damage. It hurts. I know you don’t like me taking on the injury, but my body heals itself in no time.” Lexi continued to shake out the numb hand as Layla pulled Lexi into a hug and held her until her twin struggled to be released.

  “I hate it, I hate that you have to experience the pain when you heal me—hell, when you heal the animals it’s no different. I see how much it hurts you. You think I like that?”

  “Get over it, not like it has not been like this my whole life. You remember what mother said. If I decide to heal someone it is my choice and I must live with the repercussions. Besides, in twenty minutes my body will heal itself; one advantage to this ‘gift’ is any injury I take, my body heals a hundred times faster. So stop worrying, you will get wrinkles.”

  Layla gasped and put her fingers to her forehead, rubbing out the frown lines, and watched her sister break into a fit of laughter.

  “That was not very nice, you know!” Glaring at her sister, she grabbed her mug again and took a long sip, feeling no pain at all from her arm.

  “Yeah, I know, but you love me anyway.” The pair turned their eyes to the crackling fire.

  “Yeah, well I am the youngest, so you will get old before me.” Layla snorted.

  “By like five minutes, and besides, if I am old, you’re aging!” That earned her a pillow to the face and laughter that filled the room. For a moment, the beast lurking outside the door was forgotten.

  He could hear the laughter coming from inside the cabin, the welcoming light warming to his eyes. He emerged slowly from the shadows, the darkness long fallen, hiding his body from the light. As he neared the window he lifted his muzzle and breathed out hard against the glass. He could see them inside, the young one beside the fire, the moody sister, and the one that had saved him. The one that chased away the madness with her magic and her voice.

  He could smell her through the window, and he felt like he would never smell anything so wonderful again—sweet and alluring and unique. He listened, the words floating to his ears, her voice as liquid as the chocolate she lifted to her lips. He had an almost uncontrollable urge to feel her fingers in his fur. He wanted her to trust him, to know she had saved him and he would protect her for it.

  He shrank down quickly when she turned to look toward the window. His heart pounded in his chest. He didn’t want to be driven from her; if he had to remain hidden, so be it. She knew he was here, of course she did. There was something powerful about her, she had a subtle energy that hummed around her. He laid himself down on the cool wood, the snow melting on his fur and dripp
ing to the porch as he rested his head on his front paws and listened to the laughter. He felt a pang in his chest; something was missing. He could finally put a name to the empty feeling in his chest—family—he missed his family.

  Shaking his large head, he tried to clear the fog from his brain. He had a family? He felt like he did, like he had people important to him. He wanted to rage at his lack of memory. He was a blank slate of nothing but primal urges. But being here outside the window, he knew he once had what the female was experiencing. He wanted it back, but how could he find himself again? He couldn’t even remember what he had looked like before. Maybe it was just a form of his madness making him think he was more than this monster hunting in the darkness.

  “Mommy! I’m finished with the picture. Look!” The excited voice of the young female reached his ears and he lifted his head, looking into the window again. The small girl held a piece of paper before her mother and the woman was frowning at the drawing.

  “Belle, this is a picture of a man, not a dog. You were going to draw me a picture of him, right?”

  “But it is him, Mommy, it’s the real him.” The little girl turned the picture back around and looked down at it with a smile.

  The real him? Was it possible she had power like her mother? That she could see something inside him he had forgotten? Standing, he moved from the patio, his paws sinking into the rapidly gathering snow. He would need to reach out to them; maybe they could help him remember.

  The darkness swallowed him, the soft crunching of the snow under his paws loud to his ears. He needed to see how far away from her presence he could be before the madness overcame him again. The buzzing was already increasing in his brain, and he could still see the glow of the fire from the cabin. Pausing to shake the gathering snow from his fur he turned back around. This was going to be problematic. Fear bit at him—if he went too far he might not be able to pull himself back again.