Sleeping with the Beast: an Adult Paranormal Shifter Romance (The Conduit Series Book 2)

by Conner Kressley

  Dropping her finished drink on the table, Satina added, “At some point, you have to let Char be who she is, Abram!”

  Abram didn’t so much as acknowledge her.

  “Good luck, young lovers,” she added. “I assume you’ll keep me posted.”

  With that, Abram grabbed my hand, and we were gone.

  * * *

  Getting in and out of the hospital was almost a joke at this point. We weaved through the halls once again unnoticed. We navigated to an eerie silver door that stood out in the sea of white. The morgue. A lump rose in my throat.

  Other than Dalton’s body and the expired one that Satina wore around like a prom dress, the last dead body I had seen was my mother’s. She had died right in front of me, a shell of the vibrant loving woman who had been my everything. Even now, with all the time that had passed, I still couldn’t really process that loss. It was bigger than me, bigger than anything I had ever gone through before or since...and that said a lot.

  “Your heart is racing,” Abram said. “Not in the good kind of way.”

  I nodded slowly, careful not to look at him out of fear I might crumble right then and there.

  “Wait out here if you like,” Abram said to me softly. “Just stay by the window where I can see you.”

  “No,” I answered. “I need to see this. I need to see what we’re fighting for.”

  Opening the door didn’t do much to still my heart. It was cold and unbearably still in this place.

  Abram pulled open two large drawers. Long figures covered in sheets lay on each of the boards, each one the evidence of my own impending fate.

  Abram glanced at their toe tags. “These are them.”

  Moving over to the counter, he pulled out a needle, ripped off its seal, and took it to the first body.

  I tried not to look, but I couldn’t resist. I would be here in two days. Abram would likely be standing over me. Was it fair to do this to him, to rob him of the knowledge that these were very likely his last moments with me?

  “What the hell…” he murmured, and then moved on to the next body.

  As quickly as he had moved to that one, he went to the next.

  “Unbelievable,” he said.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “I think you may have been right.”

  “They have Supplicant blood?” I asked, pulling nervously at my fingers.

  “I assume they did at some point,” he answered, holding up a decidedly empty needle. “Though I can’t say for certain, as it appears all of their blood has mysteriously vanished.”

  Chapter 17

  Abram and I were pretty silent as we made our way back to the castle. Any other time, it would have been nice. We had an unspoken connection, the sort where you didn’t need to talk to be comfortable. And, given that we were actually going on a long walk on the beach, I couldn’t have painted a more romantic, even if cliché, picture.

  But this wasn’t romantic. It was terrifying. Taking away the idea that if we didn’t find an answer for every one of the thousand questions we had, I would be dead in two days, we now knew for sure that we were in the clutches of one of the most powerful Conduits either of us had ever encountered.

  He or she brought us here on purpose. They weren’t afraid of my untapped potential. They weren’t afraid of Abram’s very formidable skill set. They knew who we were, and they brought us into this fray anyway. And that scared the hell out of me.

  “How are you?” I finally asked, looking at the late afternoon sun and trying to clear away the darkest of my thoughts. “I never know what to expect here—if you might just turn in the middle of the day or something.”

  “I’ll be fine,” he answered, eyes resting on the gently cresting waves. “I’ll admit, the magic here is pulling at me, but I’ve been through worse. I was caught off guard last time, but I’m expecting it now, and I’m not about to lose control again. Not with everything that’s at stake.”

  And there it was. This was about me now, and that changed everything for Abram. Knowing that the Conduit brought me here specifically to drain me of my blood and, as such, my life, had already seeped into Abram’s thoughts. It was already making him anxious and fogging up his mind, which solidified what I already knew. If this was all it took, then telling him I had already seen Briar in my dreams was definitely off the table.

  I intertwined my fingers with his. I wasn’t gone yet and, if I could help it, I wouldn’t be going anywhere anytime soon. My life would not be ending in a day and a half. I needed him to know that.

  I needed to know that.

  “What do we do next?” I asked.

  He cleared his throat, his eyes moving from the water back to me. “We know a lot more than we did two days ago. We know why and how Briar is being used as the new Sleeping Beauty, and we know to what end. At least in part.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked, keeping pace with him.

  He frowned. “Well, we know that the Conduit is somehow pulling Supplicants to the island, and we know they’re somehow using Briar to murder them and harvest their blood. But what is the Conduit using that blood for?”

  “I figured all Conduits were greedy when it came to blood. Sort of like that creepy Lord of the Rings guy and his precious.”

  “Gollum,” Abram answered absentmindedly.

  “Oh, I finally stumbled onto a reference you’re aware of.” I chuckled. “I’d never be presumptuous enough to think you knew the movie. I’m guessing you’re familiar with the book.”

  “You could say that. I helped Mr. Tolkien with the editing,” he said as if it was no big deal.

  I smiled, peering over at him. “You enjoy being a mystery to me, don’t you?”

  “More than you know, Ms. Bellamy,” he said, dropping his tenor to that seductive note.

  Normally his tone would make me feel giddy and aroused, but given my impending death, it only made me uneasy.

  “Now,” he said, continuing on, “about our next move. As I mentioned, we don’t know what the Conduit’s ultimate goal is. This many Supplicants have never been in the same place at the same time before. So, whatever the Conduit is after, it must be quite the lofty endeavor.”

  “Sort of like the Mount Doom of evil plans.”

  “Don’t push it.” He smiled and squeezed my hand. “We also don’t know who the Conduit is that King Archibald very likely has something to do with. Is it the same one plaguing this island, or a random one that works for the company that wrote him that letter?”

  I groaned at the mention of the king’s name. He was the last person I wanted to think about right now.

  “I understand he isn’t your favorite person in the world, but the letter you found is more than enough incentive to believe he has something to do with this, at least tangentially.”

  “The letter made it sound like the Conduit’s working against him.”

  “But that doesn’t mean it’s the same one working against the Supplicants on this island. I’m certain it’s connected, though,” Abram said, “and the King knows it. I can sense it—he’s been acting strange lately.”

  “How can you tell?” I scoffed, remembering the bound woman and the way in which King Douchebag thought of women in general. If that was normal for him, what could possibly be strange?

  “He’s gotten lax about keeping an eye on us. Too lax. In fact, this morning he suggested we go see more of the island.”

  “So?” I asked, quirking my lips.

  “So, as far as he knows, we’re his familial enemies. And, if my sworn adversary was under my roof, very likely plotting against me, I would want to keep him as close as humanly possible.”

  “Maybe King Archibald isn’t as smart as you,” I suggested, melting against him as the ocean breeze fluttered through my hair. Why couldn’t life just be this? This feeling of complete belonging I had with Abram?

  “He’s been alive for five hundred years,” Abram said. “He’s as smart as anyone who walks the Earth. If he wanted us
out, it was because he was doing something he didn’t want us to see. So, before we left this morning, I snuck into his private chambers and checked his day planner. He has a meeting scheduled with someone referred to as Huntsman in the East dining room.”

  We came to a stop, and I realized we were standing in front of the castle. No, not in front of it. We were in the back, on the eastern side. How long had we been walking like this?

  I stared up at the castle. “I don’t like where this conversation is going, Abram.”

  “Then you’ll absolutely abhor the next part,” he said, straightening his posture so that his shoulders pressed squarely back. “We need to find out what that meeting is about. There will be guards surrounding that room, but we can listen from the outside.”

  “You want to scale the building and eavesdrop on them?” I asked, raising my eyebrows.

  “Not just me,” he answered. “Us.”

  “What good would I do? In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not exactly a gymnast,” I said, motioning to my full figure.

  “But you’re smaller than me, and that means you can fit on the ledge under the windowsill. Something I decidedly cannot do.”

  Of course I was smaller than Abram. Everyone was smaller than him.

  “Abram,” I started.

  “I’ll get you up there, and I won’t be more than five feet away at any time. There’s a fuller fold in the wall where I can sit. But unfortunately, it’s not close enough for me to hear anything going on inside, not with the enchantments on this place.”

  “So you want me to dangle midair while listening to a conversation that will most likely kill my appetite for the next century?” I asked.

  “Yes,” he said, matter of fact. “Are you ready? We don’t have much time.”

  After a second and a half of thinking, I extended my hand, motioning for him to pick me up.

  “The things I do for you,” I muttered.

  “Don’t think they go unnoticed,” he answered, scooping me up.

  As every time I had ever been in Abram’s arms, the rest of the world fell away. There was only me and his grip, strong and unyielding. I was safe here, with him. And I always would be. A sense of calm filled me, tinged with a carnal hunger that also accompanied any contact I had with him.

  “Hold on tight,” he breathed against my ear.

  And he was off.

  There were some abilities Abram might no longer have since the castle’s enchantment thwarted his beastly nature, but apparently some of his skills remained, perhaps his body having learned them from years of practice. Surely there was a time, back when he was human, that he wasn’t able to scale walls with all the ease and silence of a movie assassin?

  If catching my breath while in his presence would have been possible, I wouldn’t have time to do it. Mere instants passed, and I was perched on the ledge. Looking down, I saw that I was fifty feet in the air, with Abram resting a few feet under me on the fuller ledge.

  “Don’t look down,” he whispered.

  “Too late,” I mouthed back.

  Trying to settle my racing heart and jittery fingers, I edged closer to the window and peered over just far enough to see what was going on. Large drapes blocked most of the window, which I hoped put me at a slight advantage of peeking in without being easily spotted.

  The East dining room was smaller than the one we had eaten in since we got here, but it was no less fancy. Decorated in ancient art, the room was filled with trinkets to redecorate the castle, should King Archibald find himself in the mood.

  The king stood at one end of the table with a younger-looking man standing at the other. This man—Huntsman, I presumed—had shoulder-length brown hair that spilled across his broad shoulders. His face, sharp and striking, was without blemish or flaw. The words Calvin Klein sprang to mind while looking at him. And when he turned, and I saw the ax strapped across his back, the word ‘terrifying’ replaced them.

  “I told you this wouldn’t be easy,” the man said, an English accent toying with his words.

  “I never imagined it would be,” King Archibald shot back testily. “If it was easy, I would get one of my people to do it. No one pays you for ‘easy,’ Huntsman. That’s why you’re so expensive.”

  “I’m expensive because I produce results,” Huntsman answered, running a thumb over his bottom lip.

  “So where are mine?” Archibald demanded, jabbing his finger into the table. “I’m in a particularly sensitive place right now. These suicides—I can’t have it. It brings too much attention my way. If I’m going to get out of here, I need to convince the Company that I’m a valuable commodity, that it’s in their best interests to facilitate my needs. And if I can’t put a stop to a witch running amok in my backyard, I’m going to have a hard time proving that.”

  “You do realize,” Huntsman said, “that you are essentially paying me to stop the witch so that the Company will see fit to stop her. That doesn’t make much sense now, does it?”

  The king bristled, then slammed his fist on the table. “I’m going to ask you one more time, can you find her for me or not?”

  “Patience,” Huntsman said easily, amusement lighting up his eyes. “Rome wasn’t built in a day. You should know, right? I’m sure you were there.”

  “I was a lot of places before this blasted curse, Huntsman! And now look at me.” The king’s posture deflated. “Imprisoned to this castle. Again. No sooner did I break the curse than it came back. I didn’t so much as make it down the castle’s walkway before I was violently thrown back inside by a similar curse—and this time, one the Company doesn’t feel is their place to remove. Tell me, Huntsman, what could I have done to deserve this between my front door and the mail post?”

  Huntsman shrugged, though his expression said he could think of a few ways to answer that.

  “Nothing, that’s what!” the king said. “I know this curse inside and out. I have lived it for decades, and I’m telling you, there’s another Sleeping Beauty on this island.”

  “I don’t doubt it,” Huntsman said passively. “And I’ll find her.”

  “When?” the king asked, his voice nearly a growl. “If I could leave this damn castle, I would have found her myself by now. What’s taking so long? I’m starting to get the feeling you are giving me the runaround.”

  Huntsman’s thumb rubbed across his lip again. I chided myself inwardly for thinking his lips were nice. They weren’t as nice as Abram’s.

  “Let me ask you something,” Huntsman said, dropping his hand away from his face. “If you doubt me, why is it you hired me?” He made a dismissing motion with his hand. “Don’t answer that. Why, I think you already have, don’t you?” he asked, tilting his head to one side. “You’re stuck here, and I am not. I can do this job, and you cannot. You’re the idiot who got cursed in the first place, and I am not.”

  The king pounded his fist on the table. “Enough! I’ll remind you who you’re talking to.”

  “No need,” Huntsman said coolly. “Let me be clear. You, king or not, are afraid. This whole incident is unusual, and your people’s support is waning.”

  “Watch it,” King Archibald warned. “You came highly recommended as one of the few people able to do what I need done. But make no mistake—I won’t hesitate to act should I find your work lacking.”

  “You would be hard-pressed to replace me, and we both know that. We also know that when all is said and done, I don’t need your money. I’m doing you a favor. You are the one with everything to lose. If the people found out your greedy desire to escape a curse you brought on yourself was in any way tied to the drought and suicides, your life would be over.” Huntsman crossed his arms and stepped ever-so-slightly closer to the king. I trembled on Archibald’s behalf, as he didn’t seem to be adequately enough afraid of this rather intimidating man. I thought Huntsman was going to do something, but he just tilted his chin up. “So maybe it is I who need remind you who you’re talking to, Jacob. I’m your lifeline.”
/>   Something about the king’s expression faltered, but I couldn’t place my finger on his emotion. “I haven’t been Jacob in quite some time,” he said, “and I’ll thank you to remember that.”

  “So long as I get what’s coming to me at the end of this, you can be whoever you want.” Huntsman grinned. “Now what about the other two? The visiting prince and his concubine?”

  “Concubine?” I mouthed. I wasn’t sure what that word meant, but I was sure I wasn’t one.

  “For the time being, they distract people. We need that,” he said, moving toward Huntsman. “But we can’t have them running around telling the world what they’ve seen. Once the main objective is completed, dispose of them.” King Archibald slid a finger down Huntsman’s ax, which I was pretty sure glowed a little at the touch. “Unless they get in the way before, in which case, you’re to waste no time silencing them, permanently.”

  Chapter 18

  “What are you doing?” Abram asked.

  He had a newspaper in his hand and a bemused look on his face. I couldn’t blame him. I probably looked pretty foolish, sitting cross legged on the floor with my arms outstretched at either side.

  We’d managed to get back into the castle while King Archibald was still tied up with Huntsman. As far as we knew, neither of them had realized anyone was listening in on them, and we thought it best to quit while we were ahead. But that didn’t mean we were out of the woods. And it didn’t mean I could afford to sit on my fashionable laurels while some unknown Conduit moved us around like chess pieces. Especially now.

  “I’m meditating,” I answered after another slow exhale.

  “Yoga?” He pursed his lips. “I never thought of you as the New Age type.”

  “I’m not meditating for exercise or enlightenment,” I answered, my arms still outstretched. “This is purely business.”

  He moved closer, setting the paper on the bed and kneeling in front of me. “I’m going to ask you to explain what you mean by that. I’m absolutely sure I won’t like the answer, but God help me, I’m going to ask you anyway.”