He ran to face it with Lothar, coming back into phase next to him. The new wolf was black, just a little shorter than Lothar. Silver hairs speckled his coat.
“Waylon,” he heard, and turned just his face to see Theron perched on the sagging roof above them. “Call off your pet. I’m not quite ready for him yet.
Theron jumped down, landing gracefully, Waylon following. The black and silver wolf tipped his head to acknowledge Waylon.
***
“Good to see you again, Father,” Theron said.
“Can’t say I feel the same,” Alessandro replied.
Near them, both wolves stared each other down. It seemed they were already well acquainted with each other.
“You didn’t have to get involved, Re’Hotep. It was the wolf I wanted,” Theron said.
“Monastery life was beginning to bore me anyway.”
Theron laughed. “Done mourning for your wench then?”
Alessandro hissed, Theron echoing him.
“It was your fault. If you’d only had the nerve to change her, it wouldn’t have had to happen like that,” Theron said.
He knew too much.
“You were easy to predict. I thought it was time to teach an old man a lesson. You turned me easily enough, but then, I was a man. You are overly-fond of the way women taste, are too easily attached too. Attachment is a weakness I don’t have, thanks to you.”
That wasn’t true. He was no different than the rest of them. Theron had Waylon as proof. What Alessandro had done when he’d cursed him, was to spare him of the burden of loving a woman that he’d later have to lose. He thought he’d been doing Theron a service at the time, but in actuality all he’d done was create for himself a son who could never understand his father.
“You told Tessa’s brothers where to find us,” Alessandro said.
“I did.”
It had been Theron all along. Her brothers had only been pawns. And this past century all Alessandro had done was hang his head over it. “Then you’ve made me regret again having made you. I should’ve destroyed you a long time ago.”
The sun would be up soon, and Alessandro didn’t want to delay. He sped past his son, brushing by him to the other side of the barn. Theron, smiling, ran, blurring into a shadow. Alessandro reached out, catching him by the shoulder. Theron came back into phase, hissing and baring his fangs.
Alessandro threw him, crashing through the barn wall. A beam in the ceiling cracked, gave way, then collided with another already bent and broken. The sky was glowing azure above them.
He heard snarling as the wolves attacked each other. They rolled, hitting the doorframe hard. The barn shuddered. Waylon and Theron both faced Alessandro. He pulled out a venom coated knife, Theron’s eyes mocking him. Good, his son had no idea what he was up to. He threw the knife at Waylon’s face but he dodged and it glanced harmlessly off his cheek.
Waylon picked the knife up, smelling it. “Werewolf venom?”
Theron straightened, looking at it, looking at Alessandro. “What did you think you could do with that?”
“Why don’t you come and see?”
Theron charged, barreling into him. One corner of the barn shook then sank with a crash of splitting wood. Dust filled the air. The stars were gone, the sky glowing as they grappled. Waylon rammed him, pushing him through a wall and outside. The barn was coming down on them even as Alessandro ducked back under the meager shelter it provided. Light screened through missing boards and holes in the roof.
Waylon, hands over his eyes, stumbled for the stone house and the relief of the darkness inside. The wolves were still snarling. Alessandro heard a yelp. The vampires were half-blind, the sun burning retinas. They kept just out from each other’s reach, neither fighting as hard as they would have in the dark.
Alessandro smelled Lothar close by, felt him brush past as he leaped over Alessandro’s head. He heard a hiss then a crash. Lothar was growling. Alessandro picked his way around debris. He’d be debilitated in a matter of minutes. He made out the shape of Theron on the ground, Lothar pinning him there, teeth bared.
What was he waiting for? Permission? And then, he realized that that was precisely what he was waiting for.
“Finish him,” Alessandro said.
Lothar lifted his head then struck hard. The bones in Theron’s neck and shoulder cracked. He bucked once before it was over. Alessandro felt his way to a dark recess in the barn and sank into it, head down, hiding from the light. It was over. There would be no minion after Kendra.
He heard Lothar dragging Theron’s body outside to bury him. A few minutes later Lothar returned, crawling now on all fours.
A whine questioned Alessandro.
“Can’t see,” he said. “The other wolf?”
“Incapacitated,” he heard Lothar’s voice a moment later.
“I saw Waylon go into the house. You can finish him there.”
“I will go now.”
Alessandro waited, hunched under a beam. A few minutes later Lothar came back.
“Is not there, but he could not have gone far. I will track him down.” He heard Lothar rustling around for something.
“What are you doing?”
“I need rope, to tie my uncle with.”
***
It was the first time Lothar had seen his uncle in over a month. Soon after being removed as High Councilor, Matheus had escaped the castle grounds and disappeared.
Lothar went to where he’d left the werewolf, unconscious and human now because of his injuries. His arm was broken and twisted at the wrong angle. He would heal that way if it wasn’t straightened and set soon. Lothar tied his ankles together. Matheus would be taken home, and then tried by the Council and released into the forest surrounding the castle, where the other werewolves would be given leave to hunt down and kill him. It was their way.
Lothar considered leaving his broken arm as it was, then changed his mind, figuring Matheus might want all four legs working in the near future.
He found a length of wood from the barn for a splint, then took a hold of his uncle’s arm, found the right angle, and jerked it back into place. It took three attempts, Matheus waking the final time to cry out.
He looked at Lothar bleary-eyed.
“Good morning,” he told him.
His eyes closed again as he lost consciousness. Just as well. Lothar wasn’t in the mood for conversation. He splinted the arm using the rope and wood, then tied Matheus’s good hand to his broken one in case he thought he might try to untie himself. He wouldn’t be shifting into a wolf any time soon. His magic needed to heal him first.
Lothar shapeshifted, then sniffed out the forest surrounding the farm. He couldn’t find Waylon’s trail out of there. He found the one that had first led them in, and then the conglomerate of scents around the house and barn. He checked the stone house again, finding nothing.
There weren’t many options for a vampire. The sun was out in full. Frustrated, Lothar did a final sweep before returning defeated. He’d really wanted to close this door to his past.
Darling believed in him, and he’d be damned if she ever found out what he’d done that night when he’d sent her into hiding so he could face Theron alone. She thought he’d done it to spare her life, and he had, but there’d been more.
She’d officially broken up with Henry—Waylon—the day before, had been upset, weak. Her mortal life was slipping from her. Lothar had kissed her. It had been all he could do not to sleep with her too, knowing full well she would have stayed with him—because boyfriend or not, she’d been drawn to him; her soul mate. He had believed all the while that it was the better part of valor that he hadn’t given in to temptation.
The next day he saw her with Henry after school. Henry was trying to get back together with her. Something had shifted within Lothar. His walls of control had come down, and he’d moved by instinct. He’d watched and waited for Henry to go into the woods to meet Theron, as he’d already been in the habit of doing, an
d had stopped him there.
Lothar had scented Darling coming while he was in the act. She always seemed to know where he was.
He’d had to hide Henry. Injured but alive.
Theron had come looking for Henry while Lothar was with Darling. The vampire had already fed off and had bonded with him. He loved the boy. Lothar hadn’t been willing to admit it about vampires at the time, but yes, they did love, were capable of eternal bonds.
Lothar sent Darling away to spare her. Theron had grappled with him, breaking his spine. The Master had threatened to hunt down Darling unless he told him where Henry was. Theron should’ve been able to smell Henry—his blood—but Lothar had dragged him into a cave. It’d been raining earlier, runoff raising the water levels. Water made it hard for werewolves and vampires both to track. He’d done it so Darling wouldn’t find the body. Lothar told Theron where Henry was, to save her, but also, selfishly, to save himself.
Because he couldn’t stand the thought of leaving her.
Her. One wolf. One single female that he wasn’t supposed to have.
What had happened fifteen years ago needed to be erased. Soon, all that would exist for him was Darling, and what had begun in her hometown the moment she’d first marked him as her Carrier.
He shifted back into human form, finding Alessandro where he’d left him. The vampire tilted his chin in his direction, face cast to the ground.
“I cannot find trail,” Lothar said.
Alessandro’s brows drew together. “He hasn’t been able to mask his scent yet. Why now?”
“Unless he could all along, and led us here on purpose.”
“That’s possible.”
“I need to eat.”
“I’ll be all right.” Alessandro’s teeth flashed. “And I will be right here, until nightfall.”
“I will not be long. I need to sleep too. I will stay here to protect you.”
That earned him another smile. “What’s the world coming to, when werewolves protect vampires.”
“Kendra means a lot to Darling. Take care of her, and you have my loyalty.”
Lothar made quick work of three rabbits then returned to the barn. He curled up, still a wolf, and slept off the day.
When he returned at sundown for his uncle, Matheus was gone.
Chapter Twenty-Three
They were all in Vesper and Nick’s chambers when Jacob came in. “They’re fine,” he said. “Theron has been eliminated and the packs are dealing with the last of his Slaves.”
Kendra couldn’t begin to describe her relief. They were alive. Alessandro was alive. What more could she need in life?
“The car wreck?” Danielle asked.
“No injuries.” He hesitated though, coming to sit with them.
“What is it?” Nick asked.
He glanced at Vesper. “Matheus is involved in this. He’s working with Theron’s son, Waylon.”
Kendra looked to Danielle, whose eyes had darkened a shade.
“That’s the uncle, right?” Kendra asked.
“Yes,” she said.
“He was injured but he got away,” Jacob told them. “Waylon’s missing and may have helped him.”
“How did he get involved with Waylon?”
Jacob shook his head. “We don’t know, but they’re both out there somewhere.”
He looked to Kendra. “We’re sending a plane to Paris for Lothar this afternoon. I assume you’d like to be on it.”
She grinned. “Yes, I would.”
An hour later she was back in Lothar and Danielle’s quarters, packing her things. Nick had offered to drive her down to the private airstrip. Danielle watched her zip up her bag.
“So, where do you guys go now?” Danielle said.
Kendra slung the bag over her shoulder. “I don’t know. We’ll probably stay in France for a bit. We’re still officially on our honeymoon.”
Her brow furrowed, but she managed to nod and almost smile anyway.
“We’ll be careful. I might take a job as a food critic. It’s traveling.”
“A job?”
She looked so surprised that Kendra felt offended. “Yeah, why not?”
“It’s just that you, well he’s...”
“Rich?”
“That’s part of it.”
“A vampire?”
“I didn’t mean...”
Yes, she did mean. Kendra walked by her and into the main chamber.
“Kendra, I’m sorry.”
She stopped, turning to face her. They’d become close friends back home while Danielle was recovering from a broken leg. Kendra had learned about werewolves and vampires then, as well as Danielle’s highly illegal love for Lothar. Emphasis on illegal.
And now, it had come to this.
“He doesn’t sleep in a coffin.”
“I know that.”
“And I’m not his Slave. I’m free to leave him. But I won’t.”
“I guess I just didn’t expect you to want to have a normal life after marrying him.”
“I’m still me.” And she was. She just wasn’t alone anymore. “I have to go. Nick is waiting.”
“Okay.” She hugged Kendra like she thought she’d never see her again. She might not. Not only because their lives were taking them in different directions, but because if Alessandro ever changed her, she would be the enemy.
“Goodbye,” Kendra said. “Take care of yourself,” she same lamely. “I want pictures of the babies when they come.”
“Yes, of course.”
Kendra left, the door closing with finality. Nick was just outside, waiting.
“Hey,” she said with a smile, hoping for all the best with him. In a few minutes she would be on a plane to Paris, where Alessandro would be waiting for her. There was no one after them now. She was a bride rejoining her groom, to finish their honeymoon.
“Hey.” Nick took her bag for her as they walked down the corridor toward a Victorian staircase with a carved wooden railing. The steps creaked with age.
He didn’t say anything until they got into the car. “My offer remains,” he said. “If you want out.”
“I’m not his prisoner.”
He took a breath as they pulled away. “One day, it will be too late.”
“And you’ll have to kill me?”
“I’d rather it not come to that, is what I’m saying.”
“He won’t change me. We agreed on that.” She winced though, because she knew that it was no longer as certain as it once was.
“Kendra, he’s a vampire. He’s designed for this, for what he’s doing to you. He can talk all he wants, but in the end he’s exactly what he was created to be.”
“Weren’t you designed for the same thing? And don’t give me that line about genetics. You and Vesper aren’t even compatible. You call Lothar Danielle’s watch dog. Well, aren’t you here as Vesper’s concubine?”
“Hey.”
She smiled. Score one, Kendra.
“I helped save you from the zombies, and I guarded you on your excuse of a wedding night.”
She ignored the jab. “And what do you do for a living now?”
He made a face. “Monster hunter.”
“Hmmm. When Vesper lets you hunt, right? But I seem to recall one more reason why you’re in Lithuania.”
He looked at her from the corner of his eye. “That’s low.”
“But true. Gerald needs a lab before he can deep freeze. You’re a walking sperm bank.”
“Thanks for the reminder.”
“You’re welcome, brother.”
He pulled onto the drive to the airstrip.
“Isn’t family fun,” she said.
“Don’t even go there right now.”
He parked the car and she got out. Nick met her with her bag and she took it from him, slinging it over her shoulder.
“Take care of that pack of yours,” she said.
“Yeah. Take care of yourself, or try to anyway.”
She wanted to
say more but had no idea what. It seemed they’d already said it all. Their momentary truce while they were waiting out the night was officially over. “See you around, I guess.”
“It’s just,” he said as she started to walk away, “I’m kind of used to looking out for you when he can’t.”
Kendra turned back. “Jason?”
He nodded.
“He can’t exactly look out for me at all now, unless he’s doing it from Heaven.”
“Exactly.”
“I’m going to be okay.” No, she didn’t know how this would turn out with Alessandro, but she did know he was a chance she had to take.
“Sure you are. If you need anything, you know how to find us.”
“I know.”
With that, she left him.
***
Kendra’s nerves kicked into gear the moment she saw city lights. Alessandro would have fed by now. Would she still sense him? Would he sense her? She was worried it wouldn’t be the same between them now.
As the plane landed, she tried to reach out for him empathically, but there was silence on the other end.
Panic pulsed in her chest. “Stop it, just stop it,” she whispered to herself. “Why do you always have to do this? Get a grip.”
Kendra took up her bag and fumbled her way off the plane. She was led into the tiny terminal by a woman who spoke English with a thick French accent.
“Have a pleasant stay,” she said as if she repeated those words every day, fifty times a day, then walked off to join another attendant behind a counter without waiting for a response.
Kendra tried again to sense Alessandro, but she got nothing. Where was he anyway? He was supposed to meet her here. She felt that same obnoxious fear blossoming out of her chest again.
Then the door opened and he came in, shaking snow out of his dark hair. He looked up and smiled brilliantly. Her heart caved in even as the fear vanished.
“I’m late, I know,” he said. “You won’t believe how much I had to tip the rental people to get a car after I wrecked the last one.” He made a face. “Last two cars.”
“Didn’t just mesmerize them?” she whispered, knowing only he would hear her.
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