Lucas pushed his hands through her hair, clenching his hold on her head and forcing her gaze to his, her attention to him. Anger could call the adrenaline, but not enough. And anger couldn’t be controlled. It left her open to thoughts that could betray her. He’d taught her better than that.
That last thought hovered in her head as he brought his lips roughly to hers, dominating her response. Now was not the time to be gentle and loving, thoughtful or tender. She would have to trust him and let the future reside in the future for now. Luckily, she’d had many years to develop her trust of him.
Images of his body crowded her mind. The force of his dominance when defeating opponents was an aphrodisiac in itself. The bronze of his skin when sunlight hit it. The sheen of moisture when the heat of him battled the heat in the air. Mary tangled her fingers in his hair and she pushed her tongue into his mouth.
First, she noticed his glands were not swollen. The virus wouldn’t be released yet. She relaxed infinitesimally and that’s when the passion truly hit, wiping out any other thought but his taste, his scent, his feel. She breathed him in, cradled him tight and together they built their arousal until it drenched the air around them with a dark and heady aroma.
Forcing herself back, Mary met Lucas’ gaze. “It’s okay. I know the risks. And this is going to hurt like hell.”
She shifted to her right, tilting her head to expose her neck and placing her mouth close to the bolt. “You have to bite me.”
Lucas widened his stance and angled his shoulders to block her and her exposed neck and shoulder. Calling the power of his wolf, his eyes burned the lightest of golden amber. His jaw shifted, firming as he prepared to bite savagely enough to be effective without truly hurting her.
Mary wrapped her lips around the bolt, ignoring the copper taste of his blood, and tightened her grip with her teeth. Lucas made no pained sounds, but he flinched. It could be explained with their passionate movements, though. Not giving her enough time to start thinking about her actions, Lucas struck.
Pain wiped out any other thought in her head. It felt…like a large man had sunk his sharp teeth in the spot between her shoulder and neck. She jerked back, sliding the bolt out an inch or two before her teeth lost their grip.
Holding his position and using his head to block her actions, Lucas licked at her wound. Her blood masked the sudden fresh scent of his.
Mary bit the bolt again, pulling harder when it caught on his bone.
He gasped and his rough tongue scraped the bite.
A third pull and the bolt slid from his skin. She released it before it left his coat, letting it dangle, held by the ridged head on the ripped edge of the hole. She looked up at Lucas as he raised his head. Her mouth was warm and wet, her lips dripping with his blood. His lips matched and when he kissed her, their blood mixed and became indistinguishable. This time, when her tongue slipped under his, the glands were swollen and more than blood flavored their kiss.
Mary pulled back abruptly, her ears buzzing, her head dizzy. Lucas leaned his forehead against hers, his eyes haunted. Apology, dread, concern. They would know by the morning if she’d spend the rest of her life with a furry spirit living within her skin.
For countless seconds, she stared into his eyes and he stared back. Then the pain hit like a fever roaring through her mind and making her joints, even her skin, ache. She couldn’t read him. Couldn’t even think. The virus, in whatever amount he’d given her, roared through her veins like wildfire. Releasing the virus wasn’t always a matter of choice, but in that moment it didn’t mean anything. Only the light-headed, flaming weakness did.
Right or wrong, the battle must rage. Her immunity vs. his virus. Mary tried to stay above the pain tried to focus on anything else, even his scabbing wound.
With his hand beneath her jaw, he jerked her gaze up to his lips as they descended again. She knew his thoughts as well as if he’d just spoken them. Whatever the consequences of making her a werewolf, it would be worse if she died.
Chapter Six
Mary pressed her lips together and turned her head, refusing more exposure to the virus.
His kiss glanced off her cheek. Reluctantly, he released her legs and stood back only enough for her to regain her feet. He still leaned forward to hold her up.
“Enough.” Sarah stepped forward and took hold of Mary. Lifting her, she strode to a sleeping bag placed where Mary had sat and laid her down, as gently as she had when Mary had been a child.
Over Sarah’s shoulder, Mary watched blankly as Lucas flexed his left wrist then reached over and yanked a bolt out of Travis.
She moaned pitifully at the spikes piercing her temples and by the time her mom had settled, dragging a damp cloth over Mary’s face, all three werewolves were bolt free and healing. Pleased with the results of her sacrifice, Mary let her eyes drift closed and counseled her mind to wander in an acceptable direction.
That’s when nightmarishly vivid images and scenes came to her. A pack of wolves changing at night, charging into battle. She’d grown up protected, but there were still things she’d seen. Sometimes they fought to protect, sometimes to destroy.
Like when a rogue vampire had escaped into the woods. The rogue had never returned. Neither had he gotten away. Lucas had jumped a high pile of boulders, changing as he’d moved. The wolves had howled and descended into the hunt, close on the heels of their leader.
They hunted her now, their snarls a warning – that her humanity was in danger – and a welcome to her new life with them. They snapped at her heals, threatening her with death if she fought. Burning heat and itching flames tormented her skin. Mary tossed and arched, her muscles aching. “They’re coming for me. So close. So very close.”
After so long being the lone human among the Crows, she would fully become one of them. Stronger, faster, equal to the vampires. She’d no longer have to guard her thoughts. Her brain would work in different patterns that they didn’t find so easy to understand. It wasn’t impossible for vamps to read a wolf, but hiding from a handful of vampires would be easier than hiding from all of them.
The sun sparkled when it hit Lucas’ eyes, whichever form he was in. So many mornings, especially as a child on an early schedule, she’d followed him outside. They’d watched the sun rise. Watched pups roll in the grass. She’d often rolled with them, though he’d kept careful watch of their teeth and claws and her tender skin.
If she had pups, she’d do the same. Chase them around the field, guide them through their changes. They grew up with their wolf fully integrated so the process was as natural as changing clothes. Lucas said the change was even less painful for them, because their bones were more supple, prepared to bend and flex. She hadn’t believed him at first, until she’d watched. “Remember the pup, Lucas? He didn’t hurt. It never hurt him, just like you promised.”
She felt grass beneath her, cushioning her body as she watched clouds drift across the sky. Beside her lay a man, her man. He warmed her, guarded her. And he wore Lucas’ face. “Do you love me, Lucas?”
Before her words faded, the sky turned black and the grass became snow, freezing and wet through her clothes, deep into her bones. Mary sat up, looking around. “Where are you? Why did you leave me? Lucas!”
Biting her lip, Mary tried not to whimper. She was wet and cold and in so much pain. Was there a worst time to be abandoned? The wind blew deadened leaves across the snow. Black branches stripped bare waved back and forth, both buried and exposed by the ice. Nothing bigger moved, but suddenly she knew she wasn’t alone.
Across the field, both men stood yards apart. To her left was Sebastian, his black hair framing his squared jaw and the grim line of his lips. His eyes pulsed supernaturally blue against the night sky. His hands were clenched, held firmly to his side. His shoulders were braced, though his leather trench coat whipped around his calves. He was icy danger and frozen darkness, lonely and waiting for her to bring life to his existence while he brought excitement and challenge to hers.
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br /> To her right stood Lucas. He was difficult to see at first, but solid and definitely there. His large frame made the trees look stunted and wispy. His hair was more vibrant than their deadened bark, his eyes more variegated than the leaves they’d shed. He was more nature than what surrounded him. His skin was the morning sun, bronze, warm and welcoming. He was the promise of life and growth and nature.
Lucas was Spring to Sebastian’s Winter. Did that make her Summer or Autumn? Werewolf, human or vampire? One with nature and universal or straddling the cusp of life and death, therefore endless?
They kissed completely different, though the position was the same. The passion was different, though both overwhelmed. One cold and invigorating, one hot and smoldering. Her mind cycled rapidly, one to the other and back again. Spring or Winter? Werewolf or vampire? Life or unlife?
Storm clouds rolled above her as she fell to the snowy grass, round and round until she screamed. “What am I?”
Chapter Seven
“She’s still out of it. No thoughts at all.” Sebastian’s voice traveled miles to her ears, the sound raw and grating. Worried.
“They won’t wait much longer. There are too many questions.” Councilwoman Svetlana pushed.
“There’s a choice?” Lucas growled, his low voice sounding closer. “The only option is to take our word as truth. She saved us with her actions. All of her actions.”
“Yes, she made such a sacrifice.” Svetlana sneered.
The only thing that could piss that power-hungry vamp-tramp off more than knowing Mary made-out with Lucas would be knowing Mary had a week of steamy sex with Sebastian.
Lucas made a choking sound.
Sebastian hurried Svetlana from the room, his boot steps firm as they moved closer to the door. “They will wait. We will all live quite long enough to receive the answers we need.”
The door closed soft as a whisper but with a firm click. Sebastian’s steps returned to the bed she lay on. Mary opened her eyes, expecting to see the affection she’d known when they were alone. Instead, he was distant. Emotionally withdrawn. Almost stern. "What the hell happened after Lucas bit me?"
Lucas took her hand in his. Sebastian stiffened and Lucas held her hand even tighter. What was going on with them?
Lucas brushed her fingers with his thumb. “After the bite, you were overcome by the wolf-fever. Sarah was distracted long enough for me to use the chain from the collar on her. We wanted to bring her to face Sebastian if we could. But by the time we killed the other three, she had escaped.”
Mary nodded briefly, but when her brain bobbed inside the ocean of her head, she stopped. Too few things in this world could truly hold her mother if she were bent on escape.
“We grabbed you and rushed you home but, in your delirium, many things became confusing.” Lucas stopped speaking, his voice trailing off uncomfortably.
Mary met Sebastian’s hard gaze. This was not her passionate lover of a few months ago or the adoring guardian of her youth. His was the flint-eyed expression of The Murder King, the judge, jury and executioner of their world. “What am I accused of?”
Sebastian’s jaw moved, but it took him a moment to snarl the word. “Disloyalty.”
Her brows drew tight. When? How? What had she done?
“I knew why you wouldn’t come home. I decided the less surprise about our relationship, the better. I let it be known and the council demanded a test. As you’d known they would, eventually."
Mary laid back and closed her eyes. Yes, she’d known a test would come at some point. Not this soon, though. And – wait. What had the test been? The rogue? Her mother? Mary turned her head and looked at the man at her side. Lucas.
Her mouth drew tight with her own anger. She’d learned her mother still walked the earth, Sebastian had killed her father before her eyes, a traitor still walked Sanctuary, and their biggest worries were that she’d allowed Lucas to kiss and bite her? She’d fought a life and death battle all day and they wanted to use the risk that had saved their lives to prove her unworthy of being with Sebastian.
How like vampires, to coldly evaluate that the morning danger was done and they were ready to move to the next order of business. The most immediate threat. Her fury became an instant whirlwind, but instead of yelling or fighting, she did the one thing she knew would piss them all off. She shut down her thoughts.
Rising from the bed, she shook off her dizziness and pulled on the clothes lying on the end-table by her bed, then sat and laced her half-boots. Neither man looked happy, but they said nothing. No apologies, no further explanations. She didn’t need them. There was a room full of nosy, mind-reading vampires waiting for her.
Finally dressed, she met Sebastian’s stony gaze with one of her own. “After you.”
He nodded and swept to the door, his presence intimidating her as it never had before.
Lucas fell in beside her, his jaw clenched, his eyes glowing ever so slightly, though he controlled every other movement with his iron will. Even his hands brushed his thighs calmly with his palms open and seeming relaxed. She’d seen him like this before, not ice – like Sebastian – but a cool breeze on the outside while hiding a tornado inside.
She’d have to be cautious so he didn’t absorb her own seething emotions. A werewolf driven to the limits of his control was dangerous. The question was, how much control did he have now after watching her battle with lycanthropy?
They left her chamber and walked somberly to the long, stone throne room. Large columns held the ceiling high above their heads. Sofas, chairs and benches from every era wove in and out of the columns, forming a long central aisle leading to Sebastian’s throne. Mary followed him, Lucas at her side. Travis and Ben fell in step behind them.
Vampires and wolves lined either side of the aisle, the crowd so deep she couldn’t even see the stained glass windows lining one wall. All of them wore severe expressions, some disapproving, some enraged. A few were struggling to hide their glee at her comeuppance for daring to date their king.
Sebastian swept up the stairs to the dais holding his throne and turned to face everyone. “This morning I sent Lucas, at the council’s request, to test Mary’s fidelity and loyalty. Unexpected events arose in which they were all captured by a rogue vampire. The wolves contend that Mary’s actions during their capture were orchestrated to free them."
Sebastian paused, his tone becoming one of extreme displeasure. "Now there are doubts and an accusation of disloyalty has been proffered. As we all know the severity of this, the risk it brings to our very existence, it must be dealt with immediately.”
Sebastian widened his stance and braced where he stood, his hands clasped behind his back. His eyes, when they rested on Mary, were focused but the distance between them had never seemed so impossible to cross. In a neutral tone, he asked her, “How do you answer this?”
“I did whatever I needed to do for our survival and return.” Mary struggled to choose her words, wanting to state only the truth but knowing even she was uncomfortable with all she’d been pushed to that day. Their path together, hers and Sebastian's, if he even still wanted her, would never be smooth, but now it was even more difficult in ways she’d never foreseen.
Councilman Roberts stepped forward, known for his impartiality when weighing the evidence before him. “That doesn’t exactly answer the charge, Mary. A person can do many things in the name of survival.”
She swallowed. “True. However, I committed no crimes. I kept our secrets. I did my human best not to expose anything that would bring harm to the Murder or our king.”
Councilman Roberts snorted. “No playing on being human, Mary. Your worst surpassed the best of humans before you hit puberty.”
Mary stifled the urge to grin. It was true.
Svetlana stepped forward to speak, something that never boded well for Mary.
Mary quickly chose a path on the stone wall behind Sebastian to trace with her gaze.
“Are we supposed to take their word
, with no proof? She did her best? She survived and saved three wolves in doing so? We heard her raving when she arrived!” Svetlana glared at her, pointing Mary's way with her brand of overblown dramatics. “She plays some game between the King and his Master Guardsman, and we’re supposed to shrug it off as cute human hijinks? I don’t think so.”
Mary grit her teeth at the too-plausible sounding accusation. “I am not playing games.”
“Of course you aren’t,” her face twisted with disgust. “How can any of us tell how honest they are? The wolf is unreadable and our king’s pet is mentally tracing that damn wall again.” Svetlana stared down her nose at Mary, her brows arched high.
A small, humorless smile begged to twitch Mary’s lips, but she reined in the impulse and continued to mentally trace the veins of gray in the black marble wall behind Sebastian’s throne. Only enough surface thought was given to outward events so she could speak. “I will not open my mind to every vampire in this room, no matter what pretense of an excuse she tosses out.”
In her periphery, she noted several scowls. Low murmurs rode the air from behind her, gaining momentum like a wave as they surged to the front of the room. Sebastian’s face was as impassive as it ever was in this room, yet she sensed a difference in his expression. Approval?
Svetlana turned a mutinous look Sebastian’s way. She refused to back down and, judging by the echoes of sound and expression around her, Mary’s stance wouldn’t be accepted for long. There had been too much jealousy and animosity over their King’s soft spot for his pet over the last decade. Obviously once it became known they were lovers, the discontent had grown. Especially Svetlana’s, since she so clearly wished she was his lover.
Svetlana’s head whipped around and she scowled at Mary.
The Murder King's Summons Page 4