by Diana Ballew
Instantly, the wolf inside sensed the physical power I had over the small creature and seized my moment of weakness.
I released her wrists and shoved her thigh, attempting to flip her onto her stomach. Erin resisted my forceful maneuver to no avail, and just as our eyes met, flames of terror rose within her emerald stare.
She cried out, “What are you doing?”
I moaned like a wounded beast and spilled my seed within her moist depths. Panting and breathless, my gaze snapped to the rising moon through the window, my ears tuned to the howling chorus of my small awaiting pack, who’d endured much and for so many years to ensure our survival.
Though terror radiated within her moist eyes, something paralleling pity resided, too.
She quickly sat up. With a firm hand, she gripped my tense jaw and forced my face to hers. With the visceral changes threatening to consume me, I could shift in a flash. I forced my gaze away from hers and faced the luminous moonlight slanting through the window.
“Look at me,” she whispered so softly it could have been the gentle song of a mourning dove. “’Tis only you I love. Come back to me. Come back to me, Derek.”
My heart stopped dead.
Erin’s hands fell limp to her sides. She scooted to the edge of the bed. I gripped her shoulders. “What did you say?”
She looked at me as though I’d gone mad.
“I … I didn’t say anything, or at least I don’t think I did.” She rubbed her temples. “I feel so strange. So very strange.” She scrunched her eyes tightly shut. “I’m remembering something. Something from long ago, I think, and fear looms each time I edge toward recollection.” She grabbed my hand. “Feel my heart.”
I placed my hand upon her chest. Her heart beat like that of a trapped hare awaiting slaughter, blood pounding, pounding, pounding.
“Visions like nightmares,” she said, lifting her gaze, “and only when I’m with you.”
My jaw tightened with pain, the first sign of the inevitable shift. I cleared my throat, watching the firelight claw the bedroom walls.
“I see a fire in a stone hearth,” she whispered. She cast her gaze toward the fireplace. “Much like the one in this very room. I’m drinking from a tankard. I see … ”
She flinched, and I felt her heart stop only to resume with a monstrous thud against my hand.
She gazed up at me, terror flooding her eyes. “I see you. I see you, Derek!”
In a flurry of naked flesh, she tossed my hand aside, rose from the bed, and snatched her clothing.
I rose. “Wait, please. Let me explain —”
“I cannot. I’m so frightened.”
She staggered. I reached for her and gripped her shoulders to steady her gait. “Perhaps you should sit —”
“No!” She swatted my hand and jerked away. “Ouch! What’s that — on your hand?”
I looked at my palms and saw nothing unusual. Then I turned my hands over. Several bristled hairs had already thrust forth across my knuckles.
She gasped.
I quickly reached out for her.
“Don’t touch me!” she shouted, slowly backing away.
Desperation fueled the beast. My jaw tightened until it throbbed. I groaned as the steady shift began its merciless course.
Her eyes widened with fear. “It’s you. In my visions, in my dreams. It’s always been you!”
I had risked everything, everything on this moment, and the thought of being with neither woman was like a metal spike thrust straight through my dark heart. I couldn’t let Erin go.
I would not let her go.
“Erin, my love.” I extended my hand toward her. “I must explain —”
In a flash, she reached in her dress pocket and withdrew a sheathed knife with a polished wooden handle. She yanked the covering from the shiny blade, her eyes fixed steadily upon mine. Trembling hands pointed the dagger toward me. “Stay away,” she shouted. “I mean it!”
I held up my hands. “What are you doing?” My breath caught in my throat at the sound of my deepening voice. The small swallows of cocktail had slowed the shift, but I knew it would soon wear off.
“I’ve carried this ever since the wolves attacked me. Don’t come near me, Derek.” She cocked her head and listened to the feral chorus outside. She bundled her clothes in her arms and slowly stepped backwards, toward the bedroom door. “Keep away!”
Candlelight flashed against the dagger blade. She opened the door, her eyes locked upon mine, then slammed it shut behind her. I heard her run along the hallway and close a door. The click of the metal lock echoed off the hardwood floors.
I grabbed my trousers and saw more blades of dark golden hair had sprung across my knuckles.
Christ!
I stepped into my trousers and opened the bedroom door. At the end of the long hallway, Erin opened the bathroom door standing in bare feet, wearing her dress and carrying her undergarments and shoes. She saw me, shrieked, and fled toward the front door.
My gut turned to knots of desperation. I bolted after her. A door opened in the hallway, and Hannah stepped out. I ran into her with a loud thud, nearly knocking the servant over.
Hannah wobbled, her eyes wide with fright. “Sweet Jesus, Master Derek,” she said, tugging at her crocheted nightcap.
Lord. The only mortal servant in the household. She’d never understand this twisted mess. I gripped her shoulders. “Stand aside, woman.”
Her chubby feet padded backwards. “Oh, yes, sir.”
Erin unlocked the front door and escaped outside. I sprinted after her, stopping at the entry, trying to get a lock on which direction she had headed. Light snow had begun to fall, and the whipping wind clawed my face with icy fingers.
Dammit! I snatched my boots sitting in the entry and thrust them over my bare feet.
My throat tightened, and my heart pounded so fiercely I feared it could flee from my chest. I retrieved my coat from the iron hook and ran down the front porch. My gaze darted to the right, the left. Wet snowflakes plopped on my face and eyelids, obscuring my view.
I heard her voice and turned.
There.
Up ahead stood Erin, talking to the driver as she stepped inside the open buggy. The driver cracked the whip with a mighty snap, and off they sped down the snow-dusted street. It only took a moment before my senses picked up the evil scent left in their fleeing wake.
Chapter Twenty-One
“But how did you know I was here?”
“For heaven’s sake, Erin. Where else would you be? You’ve been out of your mind carrying on with this man, without a rational thought in your head for some time now. I was on my way to fetch you before you compromised yourself further.”
As they sped down the icy streets, Erin swallowed hard and looked back. Best she could tell, Derek hadn’t followed her. A sudden, painful emptiness rivaling her fear swept over her.
The buggy made a turn northward. Erin frowned. “Aren’t you taking me straight home?”
Brown eyes narrowed to slits. “Don’t you think that would be the first place he’d look for you?”
“Yes, I suppose you’re right,” she murmured.
With a heavy sigh, Erin put on her socks and shoes and gazed at the falling snowflakes. She needed time to think before she could discuss what had unfolded with Derek.
Dear God in heaven.
And just what had happened? She had made love with Derek, given her body and heart to him, and she had felt his unwavering love in return.
But the penetrating visions and nightmares could no longer be ignored.
Somewhere in those horrible apparitions lurked Derek. Each time before, she had been able to push the frightening vision away.
Recalling the intensity of his blue eyes while they had made love, she shivered at the implication. Little doubt remained. The eyes that had gazed at her with such love and longing moments ago were identical to the wild blue eyes she had seen in her visions … and the night of the wolf attack.
/> The horses slowed to a trot as they neared the lyrical sound of lapping water. Flurries fell in splats across her forehead. Up until that moment, pure fear had kept her warm, but now she was icy cold to the touch. She rummaged under the seat and pulled out a wool blanket.
“This wind bites me to the core,” she said, draping the blanket over her head and clutching it tightly shut with both near-frozen hands.
They rode silently in the quiet cold of night. She gazed upward, watching the dark, snowy clouds spread out like an opaque fog, obscuring the silvery moon. A chorus of howls and wails echoed in the distance, sending a charge straight up her backbone.
The buggy slowed and finally stopped. Erin narrowed her gaze, trying to focus amid the darkness consuming the area. She could make out nothing other than the soft glow of water up ahead. Puzzled, she frowned. “But why are we stopping here? We’re in the middle of nowhere.”
“I want to pull the top up on the buggy.”
Erin rolled her eyes. “Yes, of course. That’s a good idea.”
The charcoal sky released the last white snowflakes with a gust of icy air, and a sliver of moonlight angled across the water, illuminating their surroundings.
They were near the water’s edge, next to the train tracks. The odors of moldering wood crates, rusted crab traps, and old fishing nets permeated the air. She glanced around. “Good heavens, why are we here?”
“Get out of the buggy.”
Erin’s teeth chattered. “No. I don’t want to. It’s cold, and this place is disgusting. Now let’s get out of here and go someplace warm. I need to think before heading home.”
“I said, get out of the buggy. Now.”
Erin frowned. “What’s gotten into you?”
The woman snorted and pulled something from her pocket. A flicker of moonlight illuminated the barrel of a pistol pointed squarely at Erin’s chest.
She stared at the servant. “What the … have you gone mad?”
“Get out now, or I’ll drag you out myself,” Maggie said.
Erin slowly reached inside her dress pocket, searching for the knife.
Maggie waved the pistol. “Put your hands up, Missy. Right where I can see them.”
Erin raised her empty hands. The blanket slipped from her shoulders, landing in a heavy woolen pool at her feet.
Seagulls squawked as they flew overhead, and small wooden boats anchored nearby bobbed against gentle waves. The wind carried earthy, salty scents of low tide, algae, and dead fish, making her stomach instantly curdle.
“Get down.” Maggie ordered.
Flashing the servant a menacing glare, Erin stepped down to the rocky ground below. “What’s going on here?”
“Put your hands up again where I can see them,” she said, waving the gun. “You’re as senseless as your mother was, aren’t you?”
Erin raised her hands, confusion and anger piercing her ribs with each breath. “My mother?”
How could Maggie say such a mean-spirited remark about a woman she claimed to have loved like a sister? She stared, unblinking, at the gun held within Maggie’s firm grasp. This wasn’t the servant she had known her entire life. Not the plump woman who had tended each and every fever, skinned knee, and bruise when she was just a small girl. Clearly, the woman had gone mad.
Haunting howls and feral yips ricocheted off the high cliffs, the eerie sounds carried by the icy wind. Erin’s fingertips tingled as a surge of blood blasted from her torso into her chilled limbs. She nodded slowly and spoke steadily. “Whatever you want, Maggie, it’s yours, but we have to get out of here.”
The servant laughed in a low throaty growl. “Whatever you want, it’s yours,” she mocked.
Erin scanned the desolate surroundings. “Why have you brought me here? Why the gun?”
Dark clouds slipped in front of the moon, and wild howls flooded the night, sending a cold current through her veins. Though frightened to the core, she summoned the courage to speak with authority. “I demand you explain yourself right now, Maggie.”
The wind kicked up, and the shadowy clouds moved aside, allowing light to reflect over the water, illuminating the area.
The servant’s eyes glowed. “That’s what your mother said. ‘Explain yourself, Maggie. You have some explaining to do, Maggie.’ The woman simply knew too much to keep around any longer.”
“What? What are you talking about? My mother died of consumption.”
“Oh, she had consumption all right. Lasted longer than anyone thought possible. Put on this Earth to protect you, I’m sure.” With each sentence, Maggie’s voice grew deeper. “Your mother was on to me. Challenged me. I merely put an end to her misery.”
Erin struggled for breath, recalling her mother’s death in detail. “The death certificate stated she died of consumption.”
“Yes, it does. It doesn’t mention that she died with a little help from me in the way of lethal poison —”
“Stop!” Erin turned, fighting the sobs rising in her throat. Right before her mother had died, the doctor had said, “If I didn’t know better, your mother would appear to be suffering from the effects of a poisonous toxin.” But he had immediately followed his comment with a shrug, saying, “But of course she’s been very ill for years. Your mother’s time has come.”
The sounds of the wild animals neared, claws clicking against the iron railroad tracks and wooden slats. Erin’s heart hammered. She inhaled deep breaths and exhaled slowly, trying to remain in control.
“Put away the gun, Maggie. This is ridiculous. We have to get out of here.” Over Maggie’s shoulder, she caught sight of two shadowy figures coming toward them. “Help! Help me!”
Maggie held the pistol steadily within her grip and laughed. “Your cry for help falls on deaf ears, I assure you.”
The couple walked leisurely toward them, clearly in no hurry to offer their assistance. Alongside a tall man, the woman’s unmistakable flowing red hair glowed under the soft moonlight as they neared.
Through blinding tears, Erin glared at Maggie. “You’re a horrible woman. I don’t understand any of this! Why, Maggie? Why would you kill my mother?”
The servant slowly shook her head. “It was written in the stars a long time ago, child.”
A paralyzing icy shiver rushed through her Erin’s body as the pair advanced toward them. “Madame Delacour,” she murmured.
“In the flesh,” Regine said, stepping before her, a seductive smile spread across her lips. The man beside her grinned wickedly, and his golden brown eyes smoldered as his gaze wandered the length of Erin’s quaking form. He looked like Derek, only different, sinister, eyes even wilder if that were possible.
Dizziness assaulted her. Maggie rushed forward and steadied her. “Stand straight, my dear. Don’t you know royalty when you see it?”
Regine raised her chin and stared at Maggie. “You’ve done well, Charmaine.”
Erin scrunched her nose and mouthed, “Charmaine?”
“Always at your service, my Queen.” Maggie bowed dramatically, “And to you, my Prince.” Maggie’s eyes bored into Erin’s. “Meet Prince Rudolpho. Soon to be King Rudolpho.”
Sobering her instantly, heated anger rushed to Erin’s cheeks as she stared at Regine Delacour. “Royalty? That’s absurd. You’re a madam — a prostitute!”
Rudolpho lurched forward and growled.
Erin gasped. “Stay away from me!”
Regine grabbed his arm. “Keep calm, Rudolpho. You’ll have your turn with Miss Richland in just a moment.” She cast her gaze toward Erin, appraising her from head to toe. “Feisty, isn’t she, son?”
Rudolpho’s eyes glowed like the dying embers of a smoldering fire. He licked his lips. “I prefer the meek, wayward lambs on Chestnut, but she’ll certainly do.”
With the subtlety of a lightning bolt, dawning comprehension smacked Erin between the eyes. It was Rudolpho who had murdered those poor fallen women down on Chestnut. Her face twisted with disgust as she surveyed the handsome, well-d
ressed man with the wild eyes described by Pearl.
Erin stepped forward and pointed a hard finger in his chest. “It was you!”
Rudolpho chuckled, clearly amused. “Moi?”
“Ever since the two of you arrived in Everett, the city has been turned upside down with … with —”
“With what?” Rudolpho tilted his head. “Maulings? Mayhem? Madness? The murders you so brilliantly wrote about in the newspaper?”
Erin lunged forward, teetering on the tips of her shoes. “How dare you mock me! You’re no prince — you’re pure evil!” Maggie yanked her back into place.
Rudolpho’s expression turned grave, his attention clearly diverted. He lifted his nose high in the air and sniffed the breeze. “They near.”
Regine rolled her eyes and put her hand on her hip. “Of course they near. That’s what we want.”
Regine’s gaze snapped to Erin. “You’re with child, Miss Richland. Are you aware of that?”
Erin turned from Regine’s heated stare.
Regine Delacour turned on her heel. “Fine. There’s no need for your confirmation. I’ve known you’ve been carrying Derek’s child for quite some time.”
Erin’s eyes narrowed to slits as she surveyed the red-head. “What business is it of yours if I am?”
Regine gritted her teeth, her eyes blazing with anger. “Oh, it’s very much my business.” She patted her son on the back so hard he pitched forward and coughed. “And very much Rudolpho’s business, as well. Between you and King Rudliff, I can’t determine which one to kill first. You’re both of equal threat now that you carry his child.”
Had this woman lost her mind? Had all three of them gone stark raving mad? King Rudliff? What the hell was Regine talking about? Apparently, she held a bigger torch for Derek than she had originally thought.
Erin snorted. “King? Are you insane?”
Maggie lowered the gun and sighed. “My Queen, she hasn’t a clue.”
Regine’s eyebrows rose high, and a flash of humor glinted in her eyes. “Is this so?” She slowly paced around Erin, hands clasped behind her back. “I suppose we’ll just have to enlighten her, won’t we, Charmaine?”