by Sedona Venez
Well, now there is no going back.
I drove off in the SUV with Olivia tucked safely away in the passenger seat, and until we could part ways again, she’d just have to deal with the fact that I had been forever changed into an actual beast.
CHAPTER 9
Olivia
WHEN I WOKE, I was stretched out on a leather sofa in what appeared to be the passenger deck of a lavishly appointed aircraft, the drone of the engines mixing with the pounding of my headache to create a hellish cacophony of noise. I tried to sit up and then gasped in pain as my ribs protested, and I quickly fell back down onto the couch.
“Ah, you’re awake.” Eli got up from the recliner where he’d been reading a magazine and walked over, a glass of water in his hand. “Drink this,” he said, handing me the glass and two white pills. “It’ll help with the pain.”
I wanted to throw the pills in his face, but the pain was bad, and I needed those pills like a crack addict needed a fix, so instead, I allowed him to help me get them down. “Where are we?” I croaked. I gulped down some more water to try to ease my sore throat.
“I imagine we’re flying over Tennessee by now,” Eli said easily as he resumed his seat. “We’ll be landing in Alabama soon.”
“Alabama?” I echoed. “You’re taking me into the deep South?”
Eli chuckled. “Don’t sound so concerned. You might actually like it there.”
“I doubt it,” I said crossly. “I doubt that I’ll like anywhere you take me. I don’t want to be here. I need to be home. My first class is tomorrow—”
“You’re not going to your first class or going home anytime soon, Olivia,” Eli interrupted me, his voice clipped. He turned the page of his magazine. “And we’re not actually going to the deep South, so calm down. We’re going to take a train from there to our actual destination.”
“Which is where, exactly?”
“You’ll find out eventually.”
I let out an infuriated huff and then winced in pain. I made a conscious effort to relax my muscles. Broken ribs were not a picnic. I’d tended to Dad’s ribs on more than one occasion, and he had not been a happy camper.
I never thought I’d ever end up being the one with the broken ribs, though.
Life has been getting pretty dangerous for me these days.
“How many ribs did I break?” I asked tentatively, reaching beneath my shirt and running my fingers across the binding. It was tight and seemed to be wrapped extraordinarily well, though I didn’t know how he’d managed to find a doctor in such a short amount of time. “And who fixed me up?”
“Three, I think,” Eli said slowly, not looking at me. “And I fixed you up. So anytime you want to thank me, I’m all ears.”
“Thank you?” I blurted. “Thank you?” Fury grabbed ahold of me, whipping around inside me like a fierce gale, and if I’d been able to move, I would have launched myself across the cabin and Superman-punched him in the throat. “If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have been injured in the first damn place.”
“Don’t blame me for this shit,” Eli snapped, finally putting his magazine down so he could glare back at me. “I’m not the Mafia daddy who didn’t make sure his daughter was well protected enough before he decided to thumb his nose at the guys upstairs.”
Fury tightened his voice, a growl vibrating in each syllable, and it sent an uncharacteristic fear racing through my veins. I’d never been afraid of Eli in my life, but seeing him here now—looking as feral, on edge, and short on sleep as he seemed to be—I couldn’t help but be a little scared.
“Not to mention that, in saving your ass, I’ve also condemned myself by defying direct orders. So, a little damn gratitude would be fucking appreciated.”
I clenched my jaw at the reminder he was once again working for the mob. The realization that he’d chosen to come back to this life stung me on levels I didn’t want to admit. It meant if he were willing to go back to being a mobster after making a clean getaway, he would never truly leave it, and that meant we would never be together. I’d hoped, one day, during my travels around the world, we might run across each other again and rekindle our old spark. Then we would maybe even run away together, so we could both live free of the mob’s shadow. I might not have had a choice about my Mafia connections, but Eli had, and I couldn’t understand why he’d willingly come back.
What if he didn’t willingly come back? What if he was telling the truth? After all, if he truly belonged to the mob again, he wouldn’t have defied them just to save me . . . would he?
I didn’t know the answer to those questions, but damn if I wasn’t going to find out.
“If you really don’t have any . . . ulterior motives, then I am thankful for what you’ve done,” I said slowly. “But, so help me, if I find out you’re trying to screw me over, I’ll fucking kill you myself.”
Eli smiled faintly and picked up his magazine again. “That’s my girl.”
I opened my mouth to say something and then closed it. Eli didn’t seem like he wanted to talk to me anymore, and I could feel exhaustion creeping up on me, so I let my questions go for now. Instead, I lay on the couch, studying my rescuer.
He’d changed a bit in the years we were apart. When I’d last seen him, he’d been a fresh-faced youth, albeit one who committed more crimes than his innocent, freckled face seemed capable of hiding. Those freckles were gone now, replaced by tawny skin, and what little baby fat he’d carried was completely stripped from his body, leaving behind a raw, muscled physique and finely chiseled facial features.
His aquiline nose, once so straight and perfect, now had a bend in the middle, and I wondered how he’d broken it. His brown hair, which he used to wear long and in a ponytail, was cut short, and it curled no farther than his angular jawline. His blue eyes, once so quick to sparkle with mischief, were hard now, like the finest steel, ready to cut through anyone and anything in his path.
My vision started to blur as I became sleepier, and then suddenly, there was a flash of another image, a more monstrous version of Eli’s face with thick fur all along the edges of his jaw and bloody fangs sprouting from an impossibly wide maw. A shudder racked my body. Then the image was gone, and it was Eli’s regular face I saw again.
A vague memory rose up in my mind, one in which I was lying in a car that had been turned upside down, and the monster I’d just conjured in my mind crawled inside to save me.
Was that Eli?
That’s impossible.
Eli didn’t look anything like that. And monsters like that didn’t exist. They didn’t need to when we had perfectly good monsters running around in everyday life.
I am probably just hallucinating from the medication or something and need to get some sleep.
Yawning, I finally allowed my eyes to close, and I succumbed to the dark abyss of deep slumber.
CHAPTER 10
Eli
IT WAS ANOTHER HOUR or so before we finally landed at the private airport near Birmingham, and it was the longest hour of my life. I’d spent the entire time reading the same page in Sports Illustrated over and over while trying desperately not to stare at Olivia—or worse, actually go over and try to touch her like I’d been wanting to ever since I first laid eyes on her after coming home.
It had been hard enough keeping my distance while living across from her, but now that we were in the same space, only a scant few feet from each other, the temptation was nearly impossible to resist. But resist, I did.
Better to keep my distance for now—at least until we are someplace safe.
The landing was smooth and uneventful, which I supposed was to be expected from one of Hunter’s pilots.
Once the pilot gave us the okay to unbuckle, I finally did leave my seat and went over to Olivia. “Wake up,” I murmured, gently shaking her shoulder. “We’re here.”
Olivia blinked, her eyes still cloudy with sleep. “Where are we?” she mumbled, stretching her arms over her head and then wincing, likely at the p
ain caused by her shifting ribs.
Instantly, my hands were on her torso, lightly gliding over her injured abdomen to try to soothe her hurt. “Careful now,” I said, ignoring the way her eyes flared in surprise. I quickly transferred my hands beneath her shoulder blades and helped her sit up. “We’re in Gardendale, Alabama, and we have a train to catch in Birmingham that leaves in two hours, so let’s go.”
“A train?” Her voice sharpened as her mind seemed to catch up with what was going on. “A train going where?”
“North,” I said shortly, helping her down the steps.
Someone escorted us across the airfield to a small, nondescript sedan waiting for us, which Hunter had arranged to get us to the station in Birmingham.
“I’ll tell you more once we’re actually on the train.”
Olivia looked like she wanted to argue, but the driver had come around the side to open the back door for her, and she held her tongue. I waited until she was properly situated, and then I closed the door before the driver could usher me inside as well.
“I want to sit in the front,” I demanded.
The driver didn’t argue, and soon, we were on our way. Olivia was snoozing in the back seat, and I kept a vigilant eye out on the roads in case we were ambushed in any way. I wouldn’t put it past the Outfit to have a trap already waiting for us right here. They had all kinds of resources and could have found a way to track us here even though Hunter and I had been careful.
Things seemed to be going fine for the first ten minutes, and then the driver surprised me by turning off the highway two exits early.
“Hey,” I said, turning to the man. “Where are you—”
“I would stop talking now,” the driver said in a thick Italian accent as I stared down the barrel of a gun, “if you know what’s good for you. We’ll be arriving at our destination, and Miss Giordano will be safely returned home. For you, I cannot promise the same.”
“What—” Olivia came awake in the back seat and then inhaled sharply. “Oh my God, Eli—”
She didn’t get to finish the sentence because, in a lightning-fast move, I knocked the gun out of the man’s hand, shifted the car into neutral, and grabbed the steering wheel to pull us to the shoulder. At the same time, I yanked on the parking brake, bringing us to an abrupt halt and throwing Olivia against the back of the driver’s seat. She cried out in pain, but I had to ignore the cold grip of horror that seized me when the driver turned on me, reaching for a knife that was hidden in his jacket.
With a roar, I sprang at him, my canines already extending, and I bit down on the bastard’s jugular, hot blood spraying into my mouth. My inner beast delighted in the carnage, shaking the man’s limp neck in my jaw for a few moments before the human side of me, disgusted, finally forced my beast to release the dead body.
The sound of a woman screaming cut through the remainder of my bloodlust, and I turned in time to see Olivia wrench open the back door and burst onto the road. Cursing, I launched myself after her and caught her gently around the waist before she managed to get more than three yards.
“Liv, stop,” I said.
I yanked her around to face me, but that was a mistake as she only screamed louder when she saw my bloodstained face and mouth.
“It’s true!” she half sobbed, half screamed, trying to wrench out of my grip as her body shuddered with pain. “You are a monster. You—”
“No!” I barked between clenched teeth, clapping a hand over Olivia’s mouth.
When she continued to struggle, I snaked my other arm around her waist and crushed her against me, deliberately applying pressure against her broken ribs and causing her to pant in pain. I’d hated to do it, but it worked. The fight went right out of her.
“If you keep carrying on like that, someone’s going to come by, and they’re going to find the dead body sitting in that car. We don’t want that, do we?”
Wide-eyed, Olivia shook her head, her entire body trembling against mine.
With a sigh, I loosened my grip around her waist and removed my hand from her mouth. “I know this is scary and confusing, and I promise, I’ll explain it all when we get to our destination, but right now, we need to keep moving.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you,” Olivia said, the terror in her voice twisting my insides into knots. “I don’t know who the hell you are anymore, Eli.”
“I’m your fucking savior,” I roared, furious with her for making me feel ashamed, and furious with myself for allowing myself to feel that way. “And, if you don’t do what I say, we’re both going to wind up dead or worse.” I spun her around and gently nudged her toward the car. “Now, keep a lookout while I clean this mess up before we get caught out here and wind up in jail.”
CHAPTER 11
Olivia
WE MADE IT ON to the train with barely fifteen minutes to spare, and nearly every bone in my body ached with pain and exhaustion.
I had changed into a fresh pair of clothes that Eli had purchased for me for the trip. Then I’d watched as he hauled the body of the mobster behind some bushes off to the side of the road before wiping the blood from the upholstery. We’d gotten back into the car, and he’d driven to the train station, abandoning the car a few blocks away and forcing me to walk the rest of the way.
A distant part of my mind knew that both the body and car would be found by morning, and we would be in a world of trouble, but the rest of me was completely numb, in shock from what had happened.
I allowed Eli to steer me into our luxury bedroom suite that looked like an excellent hangout to set off on an upscale hijinks train adventure. It was nothing like the stuffy, tight train quarters depicted in the movies. The train’s bedroom suite was brightly lit, with huge windows and fold-down tables for laptop work. On either side of the suite, the lower-level sofas looked like they could slide out into a bed, and there was another drop-down bed directly above it. Four beds in all, complete with their own linens, pillows, reading lights, and a beautiful view.
Exactly how rich is Eli?
I plopped down on the plush sofa directly across from Eli and stared at him. My mind snapped back to the image of him leaning across the front cab of the car and sinking inch-long teeth into our driver.
He’s a monster. A damn monster.
“Do you want anything to eat or drink?” Eli asked gently, shaking me from my reverie. He was looking at me with concern, and I realized he’d taken one of my hands in his own. “You’re ice-cold. I could get you some hot chocolate.”
“No, thank you,” I mumbled, withdrawing my hand from his even though a part of me was reluctant to do so.
His hand was strong and warm, and while it was a little meatier and more callused than I remembered, it was still the same hand I’d enjoyed holding all those years ago when we were high school sweethearts.
Except the muscles and calluses aren’t the only things that have changed.
I’d seen the claws sprout from his fingernails when he underwent his . . . transformation back in the car. It had been beyond horrifying.
But he saved my damn life. He saved both of our lives. That mobster is proof that Eli’s right, that the Outfit really is after me.
The train blasted a shrill whistle and then slowly started to ease out of the station, signaling our departure. I sighed and forced myself to look up to meet Eli’s gaze.
“I want you to tell me what you are,” I said quietly but firmly. “The truth, please.” I needed to understand who was sitting across from me, what kind of creature currently had my life in his hands.
Eli let out a sigh of his own, raking a hand through his hair. I found my fingers itching to touch the curls to see if they were still silky-smooth or if time and circumstance had roughened the strands. Instead, I forced myself to place my hands in my lap and sit up straight against the upholstery of the couch even though it hurt.
“I was on a Special Ops mission in the Bolivian jungles when it happened,” he finally said, staring out the window at
the dark sky and twinkling city lights as we sped away from Birmingham. “In conjunction with the CIA, my squad and I were part of a platoon that had been deployed to search for a wanted man there.”
“Carlos Araya?”
“That’s right.” Briefly turning from the window, Eli blinked at me in surprise. “How did you know?”
I shrugged. “His capture and execution were big news at the time,” I said, picking at a stray thread on my pants leg. “I remember hearing about it on the news.”
Eli nodded. “Ah, right. Well, my squad and I were ambushed by a group of wolves one day. They were unlike any wolves I’d ever seen in my life, nearly twice the size of normal ones.” He laughed a little, though there was no humor in the sound. “Anyway, we shot and stabbed at them, but it didn’t seem to have too much of an effect, and they viciously mauled us. We should have died that day. But instead, the process changed us . . . made us become something different . . . something more like them. I blacked out, so I didn’t see what happened next. But later on, I woke up in a camp with another pack of wolves. They told us they’d driven the attacking wolves away and had taken us in. We’d been out cold for a week. We spent another two weeks with them, and they taught us what we were and how to control our animal.”
“And what exactly are you? What do you mean . . . you were changed?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
This larger-than-life story is something I never thought I’d hear from anybody in my wildest dreams, much less Eli.
“I’m a hybrid wolf-shifter,” he said, splaying his hands and staring down at his palms. “I’ve got two different souls inside me now. One’s my own, and the other one belongs to my inner beast. We’re distinct yet joined at the same time, a symbiotic relationship of sorts.”
I sucked in my breath—not wanting to interrupt Eli, but unable to hide my disbelief at what he was saying.
Eli looked up at me, his eyes steely blue once more. “When we got into that car accident earlier, my skull was cracked, and I had a few broken ribs, like yours. But they were already healing when I got out of the car, and the pain is totally gone now.”