by Elle Thorne
“Don’t believe me?” He raised his hand, placed a nail tip on his wrist, and drew it across, slowly.
The flesh parted, blood began to make tiny drops, then formed a straight line along the cut. Seconds later, it began to drip, making a trail to his pinky, then flowing to the ground. The sound of the drops hitting the dirt had a note of finality.
Then a second set of drops sounded, breaking the tempo of the first set. Rory looked at Valencia.
Her gaze was fixed on her hand where an identical wound dripped blood to the ground.
Plop. The vampire’s blood.
Plip. Her blood.
Plop. His.
Plip. Hers.
The sound felt like daggers piercing Rory. He realized what this meant. And more importantly he could see what it meant to Valencia as she stood, watching the vampire, her half-shifted face a mask of horror as the realization sunk deeper and deeper.
The vampire’s laugh echoed. He turned swiftly and vanished into the darkness. Rory made to run after him.
“Stop.” Theo’s voice boomed in the darkness. “You chase him, what if you become like…” He glanced at Valencia without finishing his sentence. “Sorry. It’s just that, I know you don’t want that for him.”
Rory looked back at Valencia and Theo. He saw the tear. He saw the raw pain on her face.
Chapter 18
Valencia couldn’t stop the single tear that made its way down her face.
She was bound to this undead creature forever.
Unless Leandra can fix this.
Rory was returning to them, abandoning his quest to hunt the vampire. “Let’s go see the witch.” He picked up the blanket, shook it off, then raised it up.
Valencia slipped beneath it.
* * *
The walk to the cabin from the site of the battlefield was short. It seemed fewer than ten minutes before they were walking up a ramp to a dilapidated cabin resting on stilts, raised above the swamp waters.
A barefooted, chemise-clad, dark-haired woman, braids drifting down her back, eyes luminescent silver in the darkness, skin the color of a caramel macchiato rose from a chair in the corner of the porch. She approached the ramp as the trio ascended.
She glanced at Rory. “The other brother.” She turned her glowing gaze toward blanket-hidden Valencia and cocked her head. “And the other Arceneaux sister.”
How the hell does she know it’s me beneath this blanket? What was Reese doing here?
“Leandra.” Theo’s voice had changed.
It had a timbre, emotion-laden.
“Lion shifter.” Her tone had softened, her eyes as well. Leandra stepped close to Theo, her body meeting his as though they were meant to be.
Valencia watched their synergy. How long has this been going on?
Leandra turned that silver stare her way. “Into the cabin with you.”
“You know?” Valencia followed Leandra inside, trailed by Rory while Theo brought up the rear.
“There’s not much that goes on in the bayou that Leandra Mathieu doesn’t know.” Theo closed the door, then leaned against it, as if guarding them.
Or keeping us captive, Valencia thought.
Leandra traveled from one window to the second one, closing blinds, then drawing dark curtains over them, leaving the cabin in complete darkness, save one tiny hurricane lamp with a flickering flame on a table with a threadbare covering.
Rory lifted the blanket, removing her cover.
“I’m Valencia Arceneaux,” Valencia told the witch, certain she already knew, wondering if there was anything she didn’t know.
“Alexa’s little sister.” The witch nodded. “Leandra Mathieu, as I’m sure you know by now.”
“Can you help her?” Rory wasted no time getting to the point, his hand snaking its way around Valencia’s waist.
“I have bloodlust. A vampire bloodshared with me. I’ve been hiding since it happened. I don’t come out of my apartment,” Valencia blurted out, regardless that the witch clearly knew so much already.
Theo looked at her, then at Rory. A question in his eyes. Valencia could only imagine what he was thinking.
He has to be wondering how we met if I don’t come out.
A blush rose to her cheeks at the thought of the things she and Rory did online. Very pleasurable things, but did the witch know? Could Theo tell from her embarrassment?
I’m a grown woman; what I do sexually is my own business.
Rory was looking at her oddly—probably wondering why I’m so embarrassed.
“So can you help her? Cure her?” Rory asked again.
“I’m familiar with her condition,” Leandra told him.
She turned toward Valencia, put her hand on Valencia’s wrist where her shifter healing had rendered the torn flesh from earlier into a pink scar fading closer to white with every passing moment.
“How did you know what it was called?” Leandra asked her.
“The vampire was bragging while I lay on the ground going through this change. Can you heal me; can you make it go away?”
“No.” Leandra shook her head, a sad look on her face. “The most I can do is help you control the bloodlust effect so you don’t have to hide. I can help you control the shifting. You’ll have to retrain yourself. I’m simply giving you the tools.”
“Is this what happens when vampires turn humans into their own kind? They become tied with the bloodshare? They die when the other one dies?”
Leandra’s brows dipped into a frown. “I wish. Wouldn’t that be simpler? They’d rid the earth of their own kind. But, unfortunately, no. That attribute is specific to shifters the vampires have bloodshared.”
A knock sounded at the door. Theo cocked his head, glancing at Leandra with a questioning look. “Expecting someone?”
“I never expect anyone. Every visitor is a surprise. Every cause I’m asked to assist with is a surprise.”
“Open it?” He stepped away from the door and put his hand on the knob.
Mindful of the moonlight, Valencia opened her mouth to protest.
“It’s not like it’s locked, but not yet.” Leandra motioned to Valencia and Rory. “Get the blanket, in the corner by the cot, you should be safe, but…” She gave a one-shoulder shrug, very Old World European, Valencia noted.
Rory grabbed the blanket and hustled Valencia to the corner. Not that she needed much hustling. She was in no mood to deal with the bloodlust again.
At all.
Leandra nodded to Theo, but before he could open the door it flew open.
Chapter 19
Rory held the blanket in such a way to ensure that Valencia wasn’t left out of whatever was going on but it was at the ready to provide the precious cover he knew she needed.
The door flew open, the knob cracking against the wall.
A woman walked in. Her skin was pale, the milkiest of creams, but not white, more like the softest ecru. Her eyes gleamed a radiant pastel yellow. Hanging down her back, past her hind side, her hair was as light a blond as could be imagined, but not ash blond, more of the color of corn husk.
It was as if the woman was made of sunlight, including sunlight within her, glowing from within those eerie eyes.
She was dressed in a long gown, tattered at the hemline, her feet bare. A large, shiny, metal medallion dangled from a necklace.
What’s with this barefoot witch thing?
“Leandra.” That’s all the yellow witch said.
“Adelise.” Leandra stepped between the yellow witch and her view of Valencia. “To what do I owe this honor?”
“Word travels,” Adelise said. “I’ve been sent. What do you think you are doing?”
“You don’t belong here, witch.” Theo stepped within touching distance of Adelise.
Adelise raised her hand, shoulder high, palm out. “Lion shifter.” A sneer appeared on her face. She flipped her wrist, twisted her hand.
Theo buckled, doubled over, a grunt the only sound that came from him.
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Valencia gasped.
Rory snarled a warning, worried that Valencia’s bloodlust would be awakened by the witch’s aggression toward Theo.
Leandra tossed both hands up high, as if beseeching the sky then dropped them, suddenly, as if pushing something down. “Do not bring your magic to my home.”
Adelise’s hand dropped.
Theo rose. His face was pale, in the depths of his eyes his lion glowed. His face began a transformation; he was morphing into his lion.
Leandra put her hand on his chest, looked deep into his eyes. “Theodoros.” Her hand moved in a deliberate circle. “No shifting right now, please.”
He nodded, the amber in his eyes receding.
“Who are they?” Adelise indicated Rory and the still blanketed Valencia.
“My guests.”
As Adelise turned back to address Leandra, a beam of moonlight struck her medallion necklace and reflected the light directly into the blanket.
Under the wool, a deep growl emitted. Rory felt the rumbling of Valencia’s half-shift seconds before she ripped the blanket from her head and flew toward Adelise.
Leandra extended both hands. Her silver eyes glowed. A powerful magic emanated from her, making her body shimmer.
Valencia froze, mid attack. She couldn’t move her body. She turned to look at Leandra.
“I can’t have one of the Black Glade Coven killed in my cabin. It won’t do.” She flipped her wrist toward the entrance.
The door slammed shut of its own accord.
Adelise stared at Valencia open-mouthed as Valencia reverted to the beautiful, curvy woman Rory loved.
“A hybrid? A shifter-vampire hybrid?” Her eyes widened with fear. “You know her kind must be destroyed. Does the Coven know she exists?”
Leandra shook her head, braids flying. “I don’t worry about what the Black Glade Coven knows. I don’t answer to them.”
“Right now. Don’t think your bloodline will protect you forever.” Adelise inched backward, closer to the door.
Rory pulled a still open-mouthed Valencia closer to him, deeper into the corner, he reached for the blanket, providing her cover, because in all likelihood, the door would be opened again soon.
“She’s one of the Arceneaux. She has vampire blood now. She’s doubly cursed.”
“That’s not a matter for you to concern yourself with, Adelise. Go back to the coven. Tell them you came here. But do not tell them what you’ve seen. I will hear about it if you do.”
Adelise stood straighter, her spine stiff. “I’m not the same young witch you defeated once, long ago, Leandra Mathieu. I am much better now.”
“As am I.” Leandra indicated the door with a slight head motion. “You’ve exhausted my hospitality.”
Adelise turned on her heel, giving them her back. With a swift yank she opened the door and slipped out, closing it behind her with fervor.
The tiny cabin shook from the effect.
Leandra turned to Valencia. “My apologies.”
“What was that about?” Valencia asked.
“Don’t worry yourself with it. Witch business is not for shifters to be concerned with.” Leandra rubbed her arms as though she was cold, though the weather was far from chilly in the temperate swamp.
“But—” Valencia began.
Theo gave Valencia and Rory a warning look. “Let’s stay out of her business as we’d want witches to stay out of ours.”
“So all witches will want me dead? And that won’t change after you do what you do?”
“No. All that will change is your ability to manage the shifting and the bloodlust.”
“Great.”
Just fucking great. Unless I run into vampires. Or witches. Or maybe if my own kind finds out about me. That’d be a witch hunt. Except they’d be hunting a hybrid.
She fought to keep the grimace from appearing on her face at the predicament she was in.
“Let’s get the show on the road,” Theo said. “I have plans in the morning.”
“I’ll need some of your blood,” Leandra explained, pulling a vial from the bookshelf near the door. “And when you are cut, your vampire will be cut as well.”
“He’s not my fucking vampire.”
Leandra pushed her braids back, securing them with a piece of ribbon. “No, he’s not but he’s your bloodshare brother.”
“Fuck that. Don’t use the word brother in the same sentence as that undead bastard. And I don’t give a shit if he’s cut. For all he knows I’m fighting. He won’t have a clue what we’re doing.”
“You underestimate him.”
“You know him? Can you defeat him?”
“Under the right circumstances. Under the wrong ones, he can defeat me.”
“Can I defeat him?”
“You would die trying, possibly. Or you could kill yourself, that would defeat him.”
“Fuck no.” Rory’s response was exhaled with a hiss. “That’s a deal breaker.”
Leandra held a knife out to Valencia. “You got this? Or do you need me to do it?”
“I can handle it.” Valencia took the knife and the vial. One swift run of the sharp blade against her flesh, and the vial was collecting blood.
“I don’t need much.”
“That’s a good thing, because it’s going to start healing. Though I could recut it if you need me to.”
“No, that’s enough.” Leandra handed her a white handkerchief from the shelf. “Staunch it with this until it closes over.” She strode to the door. “I’ll be back.”
Valencia placed the fabric over the cut. “Wait, where are you going?”
“I’ll need privacy for what I’m going to do next, and I won’t ask you to wait outside. The last thing we need is you being caught, leading to another incident.”
“I hate that you have to leave your own home.”
“I’m not leaving. I’m simply stepping outside to another little spot I have a few yards away. Theo and Rory will stay to take care of you.”
They’re not as powerful as I am. How can they possibly take care of me?
Valencia didn’t let the words come out. “Who will protect you?”
“This is my swamp. No one bothers me here. I’ll be back shortly.”
Valencia crossed her arms over her chest. “My brother wouldn’t like what is going on here.”
Leandra looked from Theo to Valencia. “Are you planning to tell him?”
“Not a chance.” A wickedly conspiratorial smile curved Valencia’s lips.
Chapter 20
Rory sat on the couch next to Valencia. She wasn’t giving any outside appearance of being nervous, but her pulse was racing. Rory’s wolf could feel it. He reached for her hand.
“It will be fine.”
Valencia glanced at him. Her pulse still raced, though her look was appreciative.
Rory realized how hollow that sounded. How could he guarantee that? He couldn’t. There was nothing he could do but be there for her and protect her.
Theo watched them, his large frame in a chair at the table. He tapped on the surface, his own apprehension evident.
“What’s Leandra’s story?” Valencia asked him.
“She’s private.”
“So you don’t know?” Valencia pressured him.
Theo looked away. “I didn’t say that.”
“My brother was here,” Rory added, hoping this would prompt Theo to discuss the matter.
Theo pushed the chair back, walked toward the door. “She’s returning.”
Leandra opened the door just enough to slip in then closed it behind her. She’d departed with the vial of blood, but returned emptyhanded. She looked from Rory to Valencia, then turned her silver gaze to Theo.
“It is done.”
Valencia stood. “I don’t feel any different. Can I go outside to test it?”
“No. There’s no immediate change. You need to stay here tonight. Your blood was thick. You’ve shifted too many times already this e
vening. Risking another shift could be adverse for your health. Here in my cabin, you’ll be safer than out in the woods.”
Rory thought of Adelise. It didn’t seem that any of them were very safe.
Leandra glanced at him. “I can protect you better here.” She turned back to Valencia. “By tonight you’ll have enough impulse control to keep the bloodlust at bay, as long as you are not pushed emotionally.
“You need some time to relearn harnessing your tigress so you’re not pushed into a hybrid-shift. After today, the moon won’t be your worst enemy. You’ll be your own worst enemy if you don’t keep control.”
“I’ll be there to help her,” Rory affirmed.
“I need to talk to you,” Leandra told Theo. “You two can stay here for the night. We’ll be back at dawn. It will be safe for you to leave then. By the next nightfall, things should be improving for you.”
“Is it safe for Valencia, for us, to be here alone?”
“I’d be more concerned for anyone who crosses her. A hybrid of her type is extremely dangerous. But we’ll be a few yards away in another cabin, keeping an eye on this one. You needn’t worry though. I’ve put protection on the cabin.”
Leandra and Theo left.
“I wonder what kind of protection.” Valencia looked at the closed door, she shook her head. “Theo and Leandra. A shifter and a witch. That’s uncommon. God, if my brother finds out.”
“He will eventually, you know,” Rory told her.
“Why do you say that?”
“It’s his territory. And whatever they have between them doesn’t seem temporary.”
“Shit. There will be hell to pay when Lézare finds out.”
“Worse than hell when he learns you’re a hybrid?”
Valencia gasped and did a double take. “I’m not telling him.”
“You can’t keep it from your family.”
“I have so far.”
Rory didn’t respond.
“What?” She paced the tiny cabin, a tigress in human form, impatient, agitated. “What are you thinking? What am I supposed to tell them?”
“What about us? You have to tell them about us.”