Chad chuckled. “You’re not the first one to tell me that.”
Debi put her hand on her hip and eyed him sternly. “I better be the last one too. And for your information, I was referring to the moon, smart-ass.”
He frowned. “Ouch,” he said in amusement, placing his hand over his heart. “That hurt.”
She lightly snickered and pointed toward the sky. “Look at that. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
When Chad turned to look, he heard something—or he thought he did. It was a rustling sound, like something moving in the tree where they’d found the clothes. As he lifted his chin and looked up, his eyes rounded in sheer terror. What he saw threatened his sanity.
Positioned at the top, Chad saw two glowing orbs staring back at him. The head of the thing was hideous—like Lon Chaney’s Wolf Man.
The creature smiled down at him, its white canines flashing against its thick, black fur.
Chad opened his mouth to warn Debi as the thing dropped from the tree and knocked him to the ground. In a savage frenzy, the creature slashed its claws mercilessly, ripping through flesh and bone.
Debi screamed, but they were lost in the sounds of the creature’s own thundering roars and Chad’s shrieks of pain.
Her body seemed frozen in place, watching helplessly as the unholy beast tore at Chad’s body and sank its teeth into his throat. At the sound of bones cracking came a dying gasp as Chad’s lips opened and closed.
For one brief moment, she wavered between hysteria and total collapse. Debi stared at Chad’s body through a numb haze of detachment. Then she stumbled back, her mind struggling with what her eyes were telling her. The images of her fiancé ripped apart and eaten were too unbearable, the sounds driving her mad. She covered her ears and cried out, “Chad!”
Her pitiful cries alerted the creature, fueling its rage. With fury in its eyes, it twisted away from Chad’s body and faced her. The hideous beast had the features of a man and a wolf. Its matted fur was soaked in blood. Chad’s blood.
He watched her eyes go wide as she swiftly clamped a hand over her mouth to muffle her screams.
Torn between fight or flight, she looked around, trying to decide what to do. If she was going to try to make a run for it, time was ticking. Tick-tock, tick-tock.
With a rush of adrenaline and a determination to escape, she quickly pulled herself together. As Debi spun around and took off at a dead run, the creature did not go after her. He stood in his tracks watching. He had the patience for a chase tonight. For his amusement, he gave her a head start. The thrill of the hunt surged through him—that for one minute of her worthless life, he’d let her think she might actually get away.
As Debi ran through the dense growth of trees and underbrush, using the full moon and the starlit sky to guide her, fear began to rise in her and take hold. Was that thing following behind me? she feverishly thought. If so, she prayed she could outrun it. Maybe she would be able to make it to the car.
At first, her pace was steady. After a half-hour’s run, her thighs and calves began to cramp as the ground became increasingly hilly. When she could run no further, she stopped to catch her breath and whirled around, preparing to meet her death. Surprisingly, nothing was pursuing her.
“Thank God,” she said, heaving a sigh of relief.
While she trudged along, jumping at every sound, the savage memory of Chad’s death came to mind. She saw his dead eyes, as though they were staring at something far beyond, and his disfigured face that was once handsome. She shuddered at the images in her head. They would forever haunt her. He was the love of her life, and now he was gone, taken by something unnatural... something derived of pure evil. No matter how much she tried, she could never forget the horror of his screams. The thought quickened her pace and kept her moving.
With heavy gasps, she struggled forward along the trail as fast as she could, not bothering to look back. It took another half hour of climbing before the hill began to level off. Every muscle was taut with fear and alertness. All around her, thick fog rose from the ground, clouding her visibility. Then finally, she caught sight of Chad’s Toyota Camry.
She looked longingly in its direction, to the safety of the car and whispered a prayer, “Oh God, please let me make it.”
Debi guessed it was only twenty feet away, but as she kept going, it looked no closer than when she first saw it. The silver Camry seemed to hang in the distance like a shiny mirage. Surely, it isn’t too far, she thought.
Suddenly, the sound of an unearthly howl froze her heart in her chest. It seemed to last forever, coming from behind. Debi tore through the darkness, shoving wildly to fend off the branches in her path. For a brief moment, her escape came to an unexpected halt when her blouse tangled around a thorny bush. In a desperate attempt to get free, she tugged at the trapped material and pulled it over her head. As Debi moved on without a shirt, a trail of goosebumps covered her exposed skin.
Abruptly came a second howl. It rose to the treetops and ended in a guttural snarl. When she turned to look, cold chills raced down her spine. Of all the terrors she felt, the most terrifying one, as she stared up into that hellish face, was how she would die. Would the creature end her life quickly, or make her suffer?
Then the thing leaped into the air. As it landed on the ground with a loud thud, Debi stopped dead in her tracks. The monstrous, black-haired beast stared at her with glowing eyes.
Oh God, I’m not going to make it, she painfully thought as she eyeballed the distance between her and the car.
Frantically, she turned to run away. Behind her, she could hear the creature’s savage pursuit, its heavy footsteps bounding after her, getting closer and closer.
She ran erratically, cutting sharp turns and weaving around trees, hoping to gain some distance. In her efforts to escape, she lost her footing on a broken branch and fell to the ground. Trembling with fear, she pushed herself up on her hands and knees. Forcing her eyes to look up, she came face to face with the wolfish fiend as it crouched before her. Its breath was warm against her skin and it smelled like rotting flesh.
Debi screamed and tried to fight as the creature slowly brought its claw-like hand to her throat, but she was defenseless against his strength. At first, she struggled, choking violently, but the creature’s grip was mighty, and she could not move her head. Her chest was tightening, her heart and lungs about to explode. The world around her spun away as though she was a lonely passenger on an endless carousel. She was spinning... spinning until the night descended with dizzying speed.
As she slipped into a state of unconsciousness, the creature released his firm hold and eased her limp body to the ground. “You will live yet another day,” his lips whispered next to her ear. “Your blood is a gift. A precious gift for my beloved.” Then he smiled. A cold, smug smile of satisfaction.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Hours after the stranger vanished from Jena’s room—who Jena now referred him as her beloved—he left her feeling as though he had branded her as his. Then the images of him taking her, dominating her, marking her... brought her to awareness. She belonged to him now.
Guilt crashed down on her. Dear God, what have I done? What will become of me? Have I lost the strength to resist the curse?
Suddenly, feelings of betrayal consumed her. She’d betrayed her fiancé Todd, and her dear friend Sophie. The memory of their lives darkened, and their brutal deaths brought to light. How could she? What was she? At this moment, Jena knew it was already too late. She could feel her thirst for blood growing by the minute. She felt the powerful aching in the back of her throat and the gnawing pain in the pit of her stomach.
Jena rolled over in bed and let out a moan. Her body felt like she’d been on a bender from hell. When she reached for her phone on the nightstand, she noticed it was nine o’clock in the morning. What? She had slept in, which was unusual for her. Normally, Jena was up before six, ready for her daily run. It took her almost half an hour just to motivate herse
lf enough to get out of bed.
On shaky legs, Jena moved toward the bathroom feeling completely drained of energy. She reached for a robe draped over the door and slipped her arms into the sleeves. Her hands shook as she secured it around her waist. Jena eyed the shower but decided against having one. Although the thought of warm water massaging her skin seemed like heaven, she was just too exhausted to make the effort.
Instead, Jena decided on a hot bath in the Jacuzzi tub that was big enough for at least four others. As she turned toward the king-size bath, she caught her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes rounded in shock, and her legs nearly gave out from beneath her.
She put her hands up to her face. No, she feverishly thought. This cannot be.
The reflection staring back at her was not her own. It was someone... something she did not recognize. She slowly inched forward and brought her face closer to the glass. It was Jena, of course, but she didn’t look like the person she used to be. This was a wolfish creature—a monster staring back at her.
Jena’s heart caught in her throat as she studied herself in the mirror. My God, she painfully thought. I look like the creature. Thick, matted fur covered every inch of her skin. Only seconds ago, she’d seemed normal, but now...
Although she recognized the blue eyes, her blue eyes, they were glowing like the irises of an animal in the night. Jena smoothed her tongue over the black-rimmed edge of the mouth of this thing she’d become and felt two, sharp-pointed teeth. Oh God!
Jena immediately covered her mouth. She gasped at the misshapen form of her hand. Dark hair covered it, and long, deadly claws were at the tips of her fingers.
When she looked up, pointed lupine ears were atop her head, half-hidden by thick, rooted hair.
“What am I?” she whispered, her voice sounding rough.
“Oh, you knew this would happen, didn’t you?” her inner voice said. “You invited him. You wanted this!”
A strong feeling in the pit of her gut told her she knew, and she had welcomed it. She had known it deep down in her very soul.
Jena began to laugh with utter madness, the sounds wicked and sinister, until she broke down into an overwhelming emotion of despair. As tears gathered in the corners of her eyes, she felt herself drifting into a state of confusion and uncertainty.
How can this be? she thought as she gripped her long, wolfish fingers around the porcelain sink, and watched the endless river of tears roll down her fur-covered cheeks. Surely, this is nothing but a bad dream.
Jena closed her eyes for a moment. Then realization escaped her suddenly. It was the blood... her blood.
Why hadn’t it crossed my mind before? He bit me, and then he... kissed me.
“Oh, dear God—” she gasped. He tricked me.
Am I to be this thing for the rest of my life? Jena prayed it wasn’t so. She felt sick to her stomach. She wanted to kill him, but something inside her made her feel drawn to him as though they had bonded somehow. Then it came to her. I’m going to be a bloodthirsty killer. For a second, Jena thought she was going to lose her mind, but then she realized there was nothing she could possibly do to stop this curse. There was no way out of this. The fact was, the life she once knew was over now.
At that moment, coming from the bedroom, she heard her phone ringing. Shit! Jena knew it was Angie calling going by the ringtone. Suddenly, panic shot through her. What in the hell was she going to do? She couldn’t possibly talk. Not in this state. The change in her voice would send Angie on alert. She wasn’t ready to explain to her best friend that she’d weakened.
As it went to her voice mail, Jena expelled her breath as if she’d been punched. She slowly shook her head. “I’ve got to change back,” Jena found herself saying. Although she had no idea how to make that happen.
* * *
Angie left a message on Jena’s voice mail and rolled over in bed, her hunger pangs gnawing at her like she hadn’t eaten for days. It made sense after all the extra physical exertion between her and Bull. Her body felt as though she had run a marathon, and it hurt in a good way. The two of them had stayed up most of the night making love, talking, and laughing as if they had known each other for years. They shared memories of their past, traded each other’s life stories, and made plans for the future together.
God, she wished she’d woken up lying next to him.
Bull had thought it best to leave before everyone in the Covenant woke this morning. He didn’t want to make the wrong impression, especially for Angie, which she completely understood and respected the hell out of his decision. Going by the way he kissed her goodbye this morning, he was head over heels for her. She had a feeling that when word got out, no one would be surprised, especially by the way they looked at each other yesterday morning during breakfast. They practically undressed each other with their eyes.
Angie stretched in bed. Feeling the satin sheets against her naked skin made her ache for him. After last night, she could not pretend she wasn’t already emotionally invested in Bull. She was half in love with him.
Now that it was already after nine o’clock in the morning, Angie decided to get out of bed and head for the kitchen. She was famished. First, she would make a pit stop by Jena’s room to check on her. Knowing her, Angie wouldn’t be surprised if she’d already been up for hours. Unlike her, Jena was a creature of habit. Ever since Angie had known her, she’d been early to bed and early to rise. Angie was the complete opposite. Funny, she’d never considered how different they were in some ways but nevertheless shared a lot in common in more ways than one. Perhaps it was the reason why they’d always managed to remain the best of friends. No matter what, words unspoken, she had Jena’s back, and Jena had hers. That was just the way it was between the two of them.
She cursed aloud, feeling the soreness radiating through her body as she maneuvered herself from the bed and to her feet. Hell, even her toes ached. Pushing it aside, she managed to get dressed. As she headed to Jena’s room, she was eager to relay the exciting news about her and Bull.
* * *
Jena flinched at the rapping noise that came from the balcony, as though someone was knocking on the sliding glass doors. Shit!
Then her attention suddenly shifted to the sounds of someone knocking at the bedroom door. Christ almighty! In a state of panic, she didn’t know what to do. Should she answer the door, or see who was at the balcony? Decisions, decisions.
Cautiously, she stuck her head outside the bathroom and looked to the door when she heard Angie’s voice, “Jena, are you in there?”
Her head swung back toward the balcony when the noise persisted, getting louder.
Shortly after, the door handle jiggled as if someone was trying to open it. “Jena, it’s me... Angie.”
Thankfully, she’d thought to lock the door last night. She didn’t want Angie to see her this way, and to know that she’d weakened to the curse.
On a split-second decision, Jena went to the balcony. Her first thought was the stranger, her beloved, had come back to visit her. If so, maybe he could help her. She prayed he would.
When she drew back a peephole section of the drapes, there was someone at the glass doors. Someone big, towering at least ten feet tall.
“What the—” she gasped, stepping away from the covered glass. She rubbed her eyes. It can’t be, she thought.
Jena wished she had answered the door instead, but to her disappointment, the knocking ceased. Angie had obviously given up.
The man standing on the balcony wasn’t the stranger. It was a man with giant black wings. His features were handsomely regal, and he had an intense look in his eyes.
“Jena?” His voice was deep but friendly. “I give you my word. I’m not going to harm you.”
This time, Jena didn’t flinch. At that moment, she decided to take a chance on the man-angel standing outside of the balcony. Besides, what did she have to lose? She was desperate. At this point, she was willing to accept help from a total stranger.
“Here
goes nothing,” she muttered. Letting out a deep breath, she went forward and pulled back the drapes. So far, she had witnessed many bizarre things. But an angel? This was way off the charts.
“I’m here to help you,” the black-winged angel said.
As he smiled, Jena was overcome with comfort and something else she couldn’t quite pinpoint. Was it trust? Then she freely opened the sliding glass door.
“My name is Cronus.” The angel stuck his hand out. “I’m first commander-in-chief of God’s battle angels.”
Not sure what to say, Jena nervously extended her hairy hand and shook his.
“Uh... P-please come in,” she said in a guttural voice.
He bowed. “Thank you.”
The giant angel... battle angel—shit, whatever he was—ducked his head and stepped inside.
“I-I’m not a monster,” she stammered with her words, trying to come up with a good explanation to her appearance. “I mean, there’s a reason why I look this way.”
Cronus grinned at her as if he knew what she was trying to say.
Before Jena could utter another word, he held up his large hand to silence her. “You don’t have to explain. I already know everything.”
She shrugged. “You do?”
He nodded. “Yes, Jena. I know about the creature stalking you.” His nostrils flared and he frowned, staring at her hard. Then his expression eased a little. “And I’m aware of the curse he’s placed upon you.”
Her shoulders sagged in relief. “Are you here to take it away?”
When he didn’t immediately reply, and by the look on his face, it told her without words the answer to her question. A sick feeling of disappointment hit her hard.
Finally, he said, “I’m sorry, Jena. I cannot reverse what is already done, but there is some light at the end of the tunnel.”
Jena furrowed her brow. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“With my help, and with your compliance...” He briefly paused, scanning the open sliding door with his sharp eyes, as if he were looking for someone. “...you will not kill innocent humans.”
THE IMMORTAL: A Novel of the Breedline series Page 22