by Renee George
An hour had passed, and Elise hadn't returned to the room. Olivia didn't protest this time when I decided to track down my twin. She had left on foot, but it was a week day, so no telling if she was inside a shop somewhere. The town had several memorabilia stores and small diners. And the river walk wasn't too far away either. I drove my truck along the more active areas hoping to glimpse her.
I was about to pull over and check inside each business until I saw Elise on the sidewalk outside a big, green trolley bus, designed to look like a streetcar. There were several people behind her and in front of her. She had a beatific smile on her face. It made her shine, and my heart swelled. My sister looked happy. I slowed down my approach, intent on pulling into the nearest parking place.
Elise laughed. She was talking to someone standing on the other side of the trolley, and she was flirting. My excitement nearly reached palpitation levels. Elise was flirting her little heart out! I didn't honk to get her attention because I didn't want to ruin the moment for her. But, damn, I wanted to see the man who was lighting her up. I drove around the block, parked in the only spot available two streets over, and got out of truck. By the time I made it back to Main Street, I could see folks piling onto the trolley. I picked up my pace. Elise had her foot on the steps, batting her eyelashes over her shoulder at the fella who'd caught her eye.
"Elise!" I shouted.
She didn't hear me over the noise of the trolley's engine. However, the man she was flirting with did. I felt gut-punched as Bobby Broderick looked straight at me, winked, and followed my sister inside. The last two people boarded, and the driver began to close the door.
"Sir," I pleaded. "Please hold the trolley."
The driver looked at me. "You almost missed the tour, young lady. Do you have your ticket?"
"I don't but I'll pay cash."
"You can get a ticket inside at the counter and get the next tour."
I lunged up the steps, but the man put his arm to block me. He was elderly and human, and I didn't want to hurt him. "Elise!"
"Eliza," my sister said from her seat. Bobby sat next to her. "What in the world are you doing?"
"I'm going to call the sheriff if you don't get off the tour bus," the driver said. "This is your last warning."
I couldn't very well shout out "Werewolf!" in a space filled with human tourists, which left me at a loss for words. "Elise May, get off this bus now."
She glared at me as the driver said into this phone, "This is Buck at the Trolley Company. I have a woman kicking up a ruckus here. Can you send a deputy?"
"I just want my sister," I said.
"Well, lady, you can get her when we get back in one hour."
"Fine. I'm going." I backed down the steps, wishing I had a bat to smash all his large windows in. He closed the door. Elise stared at me as the bus pulled out. I mouthed the word, "Dangerous." She looked at Bobby who was now wearing a full grin. He waved at me. Damn it, Elise. This was why I wanted to keep her out of my business. I hot-footed it back to my truck. I dropped the keys when I tried to unlock the doors and cussed up an unladylike blue streak. I might not have been able to get her off the bus or ride the tour with her, but I could damn sure follow her to the first stop. I hoped my warning was enough to put her on guard.
Luckily, I caught up the trolley when it stopped outside Mark Twain's boyhood home, complete with the infamous white picket fence. The house isn't self wasn't much to look at, a two-story box with a green door and some green trim on the upstairs windows.
Elise was sitting in the back with Bobby, her shoulders tense, and no longer smiling. Before I could get out of the truck, Leonard appeared again. "Your sister will not be harmed, Eliza." He took off his glasses, his eyes blazing with the fires of Hell. "As long as you get my deal done."
"I'm working on it." Panic gripped my throat, strangling me. "Leave Elise out of this."
"I'm not the one who brought her to town, dear Eliza. You are. Why are your sisters here?"
"Not to interfere. I promise."
"Not good enough. Tell me the reason." His power tore through me, until I was nothing more than his puppet. I'd seen Moloch bend Olivia to his will more than once. I never knew how dreadful it made her feel until now.
"Yes, Leonard," I said against my will. "I called Olivia because Grady told me that she had conned his father out of money by telling him she could break the bargain between you and the packs."
He leaned in close, his hot breath licking my neck. "And can she?" The uncertainty in his voice confused me.
"It wasn't Olivia. It was an imposter," I said robotically. "A woman by the name of Sandra Barstow. She was a minion of Moloch's who was freed when Olivia imprisoned him. She has assumed Liv's identity and is scamming people using The Madder's reputation as assurance."
Leonard sat back in the seat, but his power did not. "Is that why Conrad won't marry the Broderick girl? He thinks your family can free him?"
"No." Oh, no. Please no. I didn't want to betray Carol Ann or Grady. I worried what Leonard would do to Grady’s best friend if he found out Randy was the one who held Carol Ann’s heart.
"Then why haven't you sealed the deal?"
In order to hide Grady's reasons, I exchanged them for a different truth that burbled up in me like a foul witch's brew. "Because I'm attracted to him, and I want him for myself." My eyes widened as the words left my lips.
Leonard's power eased inside me. "Oh, Eliza. Poor dear. You can't have Grady or any other man. You are a minion. Minions can't have relationships. Not ones that last. But you will always have me." He stroked his fingers along my thigh. I fought back my revulsion. Pissing off Leonard when he could make me do his bidding at any second wasn't going to help the situation. "Grady was born for my purpose. I've waited a long time for this moment, and I will not have it ruined by you or your sisters."
"Twenty-nine years doesn't seem like a long time for a demon."
He rubbed his palm over my knee. "It's not, but a thousand years is. You have no idea what I've had to do to get everything in line for this one marital event. I need these two lycanthropes to mate," Leonard said. "And I need you to make it happen."
"And if I can't?"
He removed his hand from my knee and put his glasses back on. "You will broker this marriage for me, Eliza. And you will do it quickly. I gave your sister a second chance at life. It was my spark that made her flesh and bone. If you don't want me to take that spark away, you will do my bidding."
"You can't," I gasped "You can't kill a human. It's in the accords."
"Your sister died of yellow fever a long time ago." He brushed the front of his jacket. "My power is the only thing keeping her alive. Taking that away isn't the same as killing her."
He was right. He wouldn't be out and out murdering Elise. He would just be taking something that she should never have had in the first place. A second life. "I'll do it. I'll get the contract completed. Just please don't hurt Elise."
"As long as you do your job, she's as safe as a kitten in a box of puppies." He put his hand on my knee. I tried to move away, but he kept me in his grasp. "Get your hormones under control and get your job done, Eliza. I would hate to have to punish you." And he was gone again.
I rubbed my leg where he'd gripped me. I could still feel the spots where his fingertips had dug in. A pounding on the passenger window startled me and I looked up to see Elise standing outside the door.
"Unlock," she said. I did. She climbed inside, sitting right where Leonard had been moments earlier. "Now, tell me why you are so hellbent on me not having a nice afternoon with that charming young man?'
"For one, he's not young," I said. "For another, he's the Alpha of the Marion County Pack."
"Alpha?" Her brow furrowed. "As in werewolves. As in the job you were sent here to complete."
"Yep. He's the father of the bride. And I've already threatened to kill him twice."
She flipped down the visor mirror and adjusted her lipstick. Nonchalantly, she
said, "So, I probably should cancel the date I made with him tonight."
I couldn't stop Leonard's warning from replaying in my head. He could take Elise's life anytime he wanted, and I could do nothing to prevent it. Why did I ever think she was free and clear of all this demon business? My deal with Leonard kept Elise's immortal soul protected, but apparently not her mortal life. He had leverage over me. Real leverage, and I would do whatever it took to keep my sister safe.
I laughed so I wouldn't cry.
Chapter 10
I waited until we were back at the hotel to lay into my sister. Truth was, I'd been too shaken by Leonard's revelation to give her a proper what-for. "Why in the world would you run off with some strange man that you don’t know from Adam?"
Elise threw her purse into the corner of the room. "I don't recall the part of this deal where I had to let you know my every move. Besides, Bobby had been very charming. At first. Until you arrived, then he became creepy."
"That's my point. You have no idea who anybody is."
"So, should I just get myself to a nunnery today?"
"You know that's not what I'm saying. You should be home and going to classes and meeting nice, normal college boys."
"You keep saying normal like it's a real thing, Eliza Marie. I'm here to disabuse you of that notion. There is no such thing as a generic normal. Everyone has got stuff that makes their life unique to them. I might find myself a nice guy at school, or I might find a serial killer. You seem to forget that human beings can be just as horrible as any paranormal creature we've come up against. Just ask those fellas who'd burned our barn after Poppa died and tried to run us off our own farm. I'll take my chances in this world how and where I want. You can't hide me away, and if you keep trying, I will thrash you." She snapped her fingers at me. "And don't think that just because you've can't be killed that I can't still kick your butt."
I raised my hands in surrender. Elise was right about everything. I looked at Olivia, who was sitting at the desk, still researching. "You have something to add here?"
"Nope," she said without looking back at me. "I think Elise covered it."
I wanted to tell them about Leonard. About how he could take Elise's life at any moment, but it seemed it would only prove my sister's point about me being unable to keep her safe. No, this was a burden I could and would shoulder alone.
According to my phone it was eleven-forty. Grady said he was picking me up at eleven-forty-five. "I have to go out for a bit," I told my sisters. "I'm supposed to meet Grady Conrad to continue my mediation."
"Just don't mediate with his lips," Olivia said, waving over her shoulder. "Or his hips."
"Olivia!" I knew she was getting back at me for all the times I razzed her about her sex life when I was a ghost.
"A blind squirrel could see you're crazy about his nuts," she said.
Elise snorted then laughed. "It's so true!"
"I hate you both," I said.
Grady was pulling into the hotel parking lot by the time I got outside. My heart did a little skip as I watched him look in his rearview mirror and run his hand through his thick hair. He opened the door as I made my way over.
"You're early," I said.
"By a minute. You came down to wait for me?" He smiled.
"You can put your ego away. Me being down here is more about getting away from my sisters than an eagerness to see you." Mostly true, I thought. "Where are you taking me to lunch?"
"Who said I was taking to you to lunch?"
"Me and my stomach did." I hadn't eaten since the McDonald's the night before and minion work was hungry work.
Grady went around to the passenger side of his Escalade and opened the door for me. "You best get in then."
A small thrill ran through me as he helped me up into the seat. I beat that emotional reaction down with my logical hammer. He isn't for me, I reminded myself. I just wish I could get my body onboard. Grady rounded the front of the SUV and jumped in the driver's side.
"What are you in the mood for?" he asked.
Werewolf on the side, my inner voice said. "Anything is fine." I was suddenly less hungry. Even with my attraction, I would have done my job. But it wasn't that easy. Grady was a modern guy, even if he wasn't human, and modern folks didn't marry out of duty, they married for love. And he didn't love Carol Ann, and she loved his best friend. All this made my job a million times harder. "Why didn't you tell me yesterday about Carol Ann and Randy?"
"Because I don't trust you," he said bluntly.
"Why not?"
He gave me a look of pure incredulity. "Why would I? You work for a demon. The demon who is ruining my life."
"Leonard may have presented the bargain to your dad and Bobby, but they took it. They signed in blood, and they, as your representatives, used yours and Carol Ann's blood. It's monstrous and awful, but it doesn't make it any less binding. If you don't marry Carol Ann then you will both be killed by the packs and given a one way ticket straight to Hell."
His eyes narrowed on the road. "There's no way to break the deal?"
I shook my head. "No way that I know of." Because if there had been I would have used it to free myself. "I promise you, I'm not keeping the golden key from you. At least you and Carol Ann like each other. That's a start."
"I can't do it to Randy."
"What does he say?"
Grady shook his head. "He'd rather see us married than lose us both."
Something Leonard said struck me, "What is the difference between marrying and mating? Is mating just another word for sex?"
He shook his head. "No. Marrying and mating are the same for my kind. Once we take our vows, a ritual of blood is carried out that binds us together as partners for life. If Carol Ann and I do this, we will crave each other as a biological imperative, even without the love."
"Biological imperative?"
"It's the only way lycanthropes can have babies."
"What happens if one of the mated pair dies?" I was thinking about his mom and dad. His mom died when he was a small boy. "Does the binding keep the other from ever marrying again?"
"They can marry. My dad had two more wives after my mom, both human, but the mate binding between my mom and him was permanent. He could never have another child with anyone else."
So, was that it? Leonard wanted them to have a child? There had to be a better reason. I saw nothing in the contract that indicated that the offspring of the contracted marriage was involved. But Leonard wouldn't make a deal that didn't benefit him in some way, and I had a feeling this particular deal had nothing to do with stealing souls from Heaven.
"Your dad married humans after your mom died." When he'd told me about his dream, he'd said that his mother used to have visions. A psychic maybe? "Was your mom human, too? Is that even possible for a werewolf to mate with a human?"
"Mating with humans happen occasionally. I've always assumed my mom was a lycanthrope. My father never said different. But who knows."
Could she have been something else? Leonard had said he'd been working on this deal for a thousand years? Could Grady's mom be the one he'd been working on it with? No. Someone who'd lived a thousand years wouldn't just die.
"How long do lycanthropes live?"
"The average life span is about one-hundred and ninety, but I have two older than that in my pack."
"Broderick looks as young as you. Do you all stop aging at a certain point?"
"We stop getting older in appearance about thirty years old, and then we start aging again gradually at around one-hundred. It still takes another fifty to sixty years to look like a geriatric human."
"Can you all die of diseases?"
"Only one that I know of. It's a kind of flu that only affects our kind. It's highly contagious. It wiped out a pack over in Indiana two years ago."
"What can you do if someone gets sick?"
"We isolate them." He took one hand off the wheel and rubbed his arm.
"Is that how your mom died?"
>
He shook his head. "She killed herself."
A sense of loneliness and grief washed over me. Grady's face was stoic, but I could tell in his body language, that on some level, the abandoned child in him felt he hadn't measured up. If he had, his mom would never have left him.
"People make their own choices," I told him. I reached out and put my hand on his arm where he'd rubbed it moments earlier. "These choices rarely have anything to do with anyone else. Did your dad ever say why she did it?"
He frowned. "My dad wouldn't talk about it. After he lost the challenge to me, I asked some of the old timers. They said they only knew what dad told them. Mom's hallucinations made her nuts, and she couldn't take them anymore."
"Are you worried you might go crazy because of the dreams you have?"
He shook his head. "No. When they come true, I'm comforted by the fact that my mother wasn't mentally ill."
"And your dad? Why did you challenge him?"
Grady gripped the steering wheel tightly. "He threw away every cent of pack money. I had to challenge him. If I hadn't, the pack would have taken it as a sign of weakness and come for us both. It was a choice of challenging my father or fighting the pack who'd raised me after my mom died."
"I'm so sorry, Grady. That must have been a terrible decision for you."
He didn't answer, which was answer enough.
I hadn't been paying attention to the road as Grady and I talked until I noticed the familiar house. "You brought me to your house for lunch?"
"You said you were fine with anything, and I have left over taco fixings from dinner last night." He parked in his empty driveway.
"Where is everyone?"
"At home, at work. Out and about. They don't live here with me."
"Then what were they doing here yesterday?"
"They knew I was going to say no to the deal yesterday and were here just in case I needed to call them."
My eyes widened. "To fight?"
"Well, it wouldn't have been to knit sweaters." He got out and came around to my door and opened it for me. "Come inside. I'll call Carol Ann, and we'll all sit down for a long talk."