by Zoey Marcel
“The target is smitten and still safe from you know who. What is your response to this?”
“She needs an oil change.”
“Hm, an interesting theory. How do you propose we give it to her?”
“Could you please hold? Thank you,” Dawson said to a customer. “I’m on the phone, Cory.”
“Oops. Sorry, man.”
Chanel smiled when she saw a little girl of about eight approach her, looking sweet and innocent. There was something different about her, though. She spoke with a maturity in her young voice that made her seem way beyond her years.
“Excuse me, Miss Chanel. Where might I find the books on classic art and its history?”
“It’s actually on the other end. I’ll take you to it.”
Cory sprang to his feet from his sneaky, crouched position behind the books, clearing his throat, which probably made him seem inconspicuous in his own mind.
Chanel rolled her eyes. “I’ll be fine, Cory. It’s just a little girl.”
“Okay, but holler if you need anything. I’m gonna go take a quick leak.”
“Have fun.” She turned to the little girl whose quiet, calculating stare followed Cory as he walked away. “Follow me, sweetie.”
The girl smiled and followed her to the other end of the library.
“Here you are. Was there a particular book you were looking for?”
“I would be very interested in art books depicting the undead, especially vampires. Do you like vampires, Chanel?” Her innocent eyes evolved into a ruby-red that was anything but.
Chanel jumped in her skin when she saw the change in them. “Who are you?”
“Well, my body’s former owner was apparently named Penny. But I don’t suppose that’s what you’re asking, is it?” Penny’s little lips curved up into a sinister smile.
How could a little girl be so damned creepy?
“No vampires are allowed in town,” Chanel said quietly.
“I won’t be here long. I’m just here to give you a message from Lucius.”
She froze, feeling her skin prickle with suspicion. “How do you know Lucius?”
“He’s the one who sired me.”
The news left her feeling deeply unsettled. “Lucius made you?”
“Yes. He knew those shifters would be keeping an eye on you, but they would be looking for him. They wouldn’t be expecting a little girl.”
“Why didn’t he just speak to me through our link?”
Penny smiled. “He thought a creepy little girl might be a more lasting mindfuck. Excuse my language. I’m really much older than I look in this body.”
Chanel shivered. “What do you want?”
“Lucius said to tell you to meet him in the woods tomorrow at noon in the same spot you did last time. He said you’d know the place and to come alone.”
Chanel folded her arms, employing caution to aid with keeping the concern out of her eyes. “And if I refuse?”
Penny’s grin betrayed the evil entity possessing the empty shell of the once-living girl’s body. “He said you’d say that. He also said to tell you that for every day you defy him he will turn another child in Temptation into a vampire.”
Chanel refrained from shuddering when Penny’s eyes fell on her tummy before rising to look up at her again.
“Including the unborn.”
Her heart wrenched at the familiar threat. “The Taylors won’t let me be alone for a second right now, let alone any longer than that.”
Penny turned back to face her once more before walking off. “Make something up. He wants you alone.”
* * * *
The following day, Chanel told her men that she was filling in for another coworker’s shift that day. They were reluctant to let her go, but she assured them that several police officers were coming in to read stories to the kids, talk about safety, and introduce them to the police dogs. Her men seemed comforted by this and let her go.
They believed her, which was as much a relief as it was a letdown. No one knew where she’d be going or who she would be with. No one could save her from him.
She walked briskly to the place Lucius had dictated, her hands shaking badly when she saw him standing near a tree, waiting for her. He was dressed in black like he often was with a long black trench coat over his clothes.
Her cell phone rang and her heart skittered when she saw that it was Dawson calling her. “Hello?”
“Hey, sweet thing. Are you all right? I’m worried about you.”
“I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?” She swallowed when Lucius took several invasive steps toward her until he stood inappropriately close to her.
“You were just so quiet last night and you seemed sad this morning,” Dawson was saying. “Plus I had a bad feeling just now like you were in some kind of trouble. Are you sure nothing’s bothering you? I can leave work if you need me to come and be with you.”
Lucius wore one of his smug, licentious half smiles as he ran his hands all over her body.
Chanel glared at him and took a couple of steps backward. “I’m fine, Dawson. Now isn’t really a good time. I’m kind of in the middle of something.”
“I’m sorry. I’ll let you go,” said Dawson. “I miss you tons.”
“I miss you, too.”
“I love you.”
Her eyes closed. Lucius was standing right there and could likely hear him say that. Dawson’s life would be in grave danger if she were to return the confession. “I have to go. I’m sorry. I’ll see you later, okay?”
Dawson sounded sad as he sighed. “Okay. Good-bye.”
“Bye.” She closed the phone, smacking Lucius’s exploring hand away. “Get your hands off of me!”
Lucius gripped her chin like a vise once she put her phone in her pocket, singeing her with his scourging glare. “You are mine to touch, Chanel. Don’t ever forget that or I will make it a point to remind you. Now, take your clothes off.”
“No! I’m not fucking you.”
He slapped Chanel hard across her face and grabbed her chin again, stunning her. “You’ll fuck if I tell you to. But that’s not why I summoned you here. You need to be punished for your disloyalty to me.”
Chanel was still dazed as she stared at him in disbelief. He slapped her. He actually hit her. He’d done a great deal of other frightening things to her during their time together, but he’d never struck her face with his hand before.
“No one knows you’re here, so don’t even think about trying to run, or it won’t end well for your baby or the children of Temptation,” he told her as he relinquished his death grip on her chin.
“How will you punish me?” she asked numbly, glancing up at the ropes dangling from the large tree branch just ahead that he nodded toward.
“I want you bound and naked while I scourge you with the bullwhip.” Lucius picked it up from where it lay against the trunk of the massive tree.
Tremors of terror assailed her. “If you hurt my baby, I swear to God I will kill you.”
His dangerous eyes narrowed. “If you threaten your Master again, I’ll fuck you afterward and send footage of it to your cowboys.”
She cringed inside, becoming nauseated. “Please don’t.”
His smile was the epitome of wickedness. “You have nothing to fear, slave. By the time I’m finished disciplining you, you’ll be too weak to stand, let alone fuck. We’ll save the good stuff for next time.”
There wouldn’t be a next time. Somehow she must prevent it. Chanel looked up at him with beseeching eyes when he tipped the bullwhip near her lips, wanting her to kiss it.
His countenance softened and became tender, resembling the face of the man she’d once trusted with her life as well as her baby’s.
“You have my word I’ll only whip your backside.”
Chanel believed him and kissed the end of the bullwhip like Lucius wanted her to, praying that this would all be over soon.
* * * *
Chanel could barely stand as
she practically stumbled toward her best friend Sally Moore’s house. Chanel had intended to find a public restroom to clean her wounds up in, but Sally’s place was the closest right now and Chanel didn’t feel like she could go on another step. Walking hurt like a bitch and her back and ass felt like they were on fire. The lycan genes would probably heal her sooner than if she’d been a mere mortal required to heal from this, but regardless, the pain was still excruciating.
She knocked on the door, nearly falling over from trying to stand still. She could feel blood trickling down her back, sending hot, punishing flares of agony ablaze all over the skin it touched on its steady, torturous descent.
Sally opened the door with a cake decorating bag full of frosting and a metal tip on the end. “Hey, girl! What are you doing here?”
“I need to use your bathroom.” It barely registered to Chanel that she failed to return her friend’s greeting. All she knew was the desperate urge to find seclusion so she could peel her clothes off and see to her wounds.
“Yeah, sure, come right on in.” Sally closed the door behind her, appearing concerned all of a sudden. “Oh my god, are you all right? You’re shaking like hell. Have you been crying?”
Chanel was unaware whether or not Sally heard her sniffle. She felt hazy and weak as her vision became fuzzy and blurred. “Where’s your bathroom?”
“Down the hall, where it’s always been. Are you sure you’re all right?”
Before she could answer, Chanel collapsed to her knees and vomited on the floor. “Oh god, I’m so sorry, Sally.”
“Don’t be, you poor thing. Morning sickness happens. I’ll clean it up. You just get into the bathroom and take care of yourself.”
“Thank you.” Chanel staggered down the hall toward the wavy doorway. Why was everything swirling like a vortex? Maybe if she dowsed her face with some water she could ward off the fainting spell that seemed imminent.
Once inside the bathroom, she shut the door and threw up again, this time in the toilet, thankfully. Had she remembered to lock the door? After a minute, the urge to puke passed and she rinsed her mouth out and gargled the minty mouthwash residing on the counter near the sink.
She peeled her clothes off and gasped in shock over the horrific slashes and cuts Lucius had inflicted on her back and buttocks. No wonder she felt ill. She grabbed a washcloth from the linen closet and soaked it in cool water. Maybe Sally had some kind of ointment in there to soothe her injuries.
“You are mine,” Lucius had growled while whipping her. “Say it.”
“I’m yours.” The lie he’d demanded from her had felt like betrayal.
Was there any way to get to the hospital without alerting her men? The question was the last thing Chanel remembered before sinking to her knees on the soft bath rug just before everything faded to black.
* * * *
Brad left work early to go and talk to Jack Dillinger. Brad had promised Chanel they would find a way to end the curse Lucius had put her under, and he had a feeling Jack could help them with that.
The alpha of his pack, Jack was a dire wolf, and according to Brad’s understanding of dire wolves, they’d been around since the beginning of time and many were often bounty hunters from the underworld. If anyone knew anything about fate, shifters, and demons, it would be him.
Brad found Jack at the Dillinger-Montego ranch he called home. Jack was in one of the stalls in his barn brushing the coat of one of his horses, a stately bay that munched hay and oats.
“Brad, what brings you here?”
“I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”
Jack shook his head while he continued to brush the horse. “Not at all. What’s on your mind?”
“I need you to tell me how to end a curse.”
“What kind of curse?”
“A mating one.”
Jack’s eyes lifted and he seemed to look past the wall before his gaze returned to the steed he brushed. “You want me to tell you how to break the unbreakable bond between blood mates?”
“Yes.”
“Did you accidentally mate with someone?”
“No. Chanel was claimed by another shifter against her will. I’m not sure if he’s part vampire and part werewolf, or a just a bloodsucker that can turn into a wolf and a bat whenever he wants to. He’s able to go out into the sunlight, which leads me to believe he’s part shifter,” Brad explained.
“Accident or not, the mating bond is sacred and irrevocable. It can’t ever be broken and those who try only damn themselves.”
“Damn it, Jack, I don’t want to hear that. Chanel’s my soul mate and my brothers’. We can’t give her up to anyone else and we won’t. Dawson already claimed her after Lucius did anyway.”
“Then he’s fucked.”
“I’m not losing my brother or my mate. There’s got to be some way to end this. We were meant to be with her. She belongs to us, not him.”
Jack turned and looked at him seriously. “Are you sure about that? Would you be willing to gamble your life and risk your brothers’ lives as well based on faith that she’s the woman you were meant to be with? Before I tell you anything you need to be sure, because if you’re not, you’re all damned.”
Brad didn’t even have to think about it. “I’ve never been surer of anything in my life.”
“The mating bond is irreversible with one exception and only one. If the one who claimed her isn’t the mate fate intended for her, then if her true mate or mates claim her, the hold the former individual had on her will be shattered. If however, you’re wrong and she was never meant for you or your brothers, the bond they have will stand and the three of you will be in a shitload of trouble. That’s why you have to be absolutely sure, otherwise—”
“I’m sure, Jack. She’s the one. There was never any doubt in my mind.”
Jack still seemed uneasy. “I know you love Chanel, but you can love someone and be wrong for them. Are you absolutely positive that the fates want you to be together?”
“Damn it, yes. I know it down to my soul that this is meant to be. Are you telling me that all we have to do is claim her and she’ll be free?”
Jack nodded. “If you’re her true mates, then yes. But even if the hold Lucius has on her breaks, he will likely still come after you for taking her away from him.”
“We’re prepared to die defending her if we have to.”
“Oh, good. It may come to that.”
“Thanks for your help. I appreciate it.” Brad turned to leave, stopping when Jack said his name with concern in his voice.
“Be careful. Very few people in history have attempted to do what you intend to do. Most have died trying.”
“But some have succeeded?”
“A handful, yes.”
Brad smiled before leaving. “That’s all I needed to hear.”
The barn door opened and Mark Montego came in with his and Jack’s wife, Morrigan.
“We’re here, Jack! Time to get n—the barn clean.” Mark changed his tune, looking surprised and mildly embarrassed to see Brad there.
Morrigan blushed and pulled her coat around her more, though Brad thought he saw hot-pink lace peeking out before she did so.
Jack’s dark eyes sizzled with desire and amusement when he saw his mates walk in. “Yes, we’d better get the barn clean immediately.”
Brad refrained from chuckling as he tipped his Stetson to the lady and headed out. “Thanks for your help, Jack. Have fun cleaning the barn together.”
Mark looked embarrassed and Morrigan smiled in humor.
Jack grinned and winked at them. “Oh, we will.”
Brad left with peace in his heart. It felt good to know that there was hope for a future with Chanel again. Now the only difficult part would be convincing her that they needed to claim her as soon as possible.
He got a text from Cory and felt his spirit plunge into despair and worry so strong it made him sick.
Chanel’s in the hospital. It looks like she got the shi
t whipped out of her. She won’t tell who hurt her, but I know it was Lucius.
Chapter Fifteen:
Undead
When Chanel came to, she was in the hospital in a bed. She vaguely remembered opening her eyes in a car with Sally driving. Chanel had muttered something along the lines of being a terrible person and not wanting to lose her soul. Then again, she’d been pretty out of it, slipping in and out of consciousness. Perhaps she’d only dreamed it.
She saw that Dawson and Cory were there, looking worried sick over her. Sheriff Ben Easton was there, too, which surprised her. Her brother-in-law wasn’t wearing his uniform, simply regular clothes, which meant he probably had the day off.
“Ben, what are you doing here?” she asked groggily.
“Sally called me and said you’d been beaten half to death. I came as soon as I heard.”
“But you hate me.” After all the times she’d been mean to him and treated him like shit, she really couldn’t blame him.
“I don’t hate you,” Ben contradicted. “And even if I did, you’re still my sister-in-law.”
His response touched her. Maybe he was a better man than she’d given him credit for.
“Who did this to you?” he asked seriously.
“I don’t want to say.”
Dawson’s jaw dropped and he appeared scandalized that she would conceal the identity of her abuser.
Cory lost it. “Cut the crap, girly. I think it’s safe to say we all know who it was.”
Brad walked in and Ben gave him an icy glare of death.
“Brad, did you do this to her?” Ben looked like he would seriously beat the shit out of Brad if he had.
Brad looked equally intimidating as his eyes narrowed. “No, I didn’t whip the shit out of her. How dare you?”
Ben raised an eyebrow. “How did you know she was whipped?”
“Because Cory texted me to tell me about it! I’m not a woman hitter, Ben.”
“God, Ben, what the hell?” Cory shook his head. “Brad would never do anything like that. This was the work of Lucius, wasn’t it, Chanel?”
Chanel didn’t answer.