Must Love Lycans

by Michele Bardsley

  “Could you hand me that book?” I asked. “The one on schizophrenic disorders. You see it?”

  Reluctantly, she turned toward the bookshelf behind her and studied the embossed titles on the bindings. I slipped my key card off the desk and into my pocket.

  “None of these seem to be about schizophrenia,” she said.

  “Really?” I edged disappointment into my tone, and stood up. “Where on earth did I put it?” I joined her at the bookshelf and studied the tomes. “I know it was there. I remember looking for it when I started creating Damian’s treatment plan.”

  I was close enough to her that I felt her stiffen, and then seemed to force herself to relax. Her gaze slanted toward me. “You think he’s schizo?”

  “Mari,” I chided.

  “Right,” she said on a sigh, “slang is inappropriate when talking about the conditions of the patients.”

  “You know, I think you’re the only one who paid any attention in that meeting.” I smiled down at her. “I really need to check on Damian before we eat. I’m starving, too. Do they have chicken salad today?” I turned as if to go toward the door and made sure our shoulders connected. I rammed into her so hard that she staggered backward. The key card in her hand, which she’d obviously forgotten about, went flying. I hadn’t wanted the poor woman to fall down. I clutched at her arm, while she stared at me with wide eyes. Did I imagine the fear that flickered in those blue orbs? Well, that was a first. Startled by the idea of anyone being afraid of me, I let her go abruptly. “I’m such a klutz. Forgive me.”

  “No problem. Really.”

  I didn’t think she was aware that she’d taken a step back from me, apparently trying to create distance between us. Even though I was fascinated by her fearful actions, I pretended not to notice. “What happened to your key card?” I asked. “Oh! There it is.”

  I heard her mutter, “Shit.” But before she could compete with me in trying to get it, I scooped hers up with one hand and retrieved mine from my pocket. When I returned, I handed her mine. “I’m terribly sorry. I feel like such a dolt.”

  She snatched the card and shoved it into her front pocket. The cards were assigned to individuals by codes embedded in the magnetic strip that only Jarred and Sven understood. There was no other identifying information on them. Jarred explained to me that he didn’t want anyone careless enough to lose their card to have it returned to them by merit of a picture or a memorized number. Basically, it was his way to make sure everyone was very, very careful about what he gave to them. Anyone who lost their card was immediately fired. And here I was tricking Mari into giving me hers. At some point when Sven saw me via video feed slinking around the wrong places, he would revoke my access, so I needed someone else’s. I felt a smidgen of guilt, but I ruthlessly tamped it down. Mari had worked here since the day the clinic opened. If Jarred could forgive anyone a single transgression, it would be her.

  “I’ll have to skip the chicken salad today,” she said. She was striving for jovial, but missed the mark entirely.

  “Oh,” I said. “All right, then. Tomorrow?”

  Her smile was too bright. “Sure. Absolutely. Look forward to it, hon.” She hurried out the door and didn’t look back.

  I didn’t take the time to ponder her odd behavior. I couldn’t risk that she was trotting off to tell on me—for what, I wasn’t sure since she couldn’t know anything, but I wasn’t gonna risk it. Still, I had to act normal, so I straightened my desk, flipped off the computer, and locked the door, which was my habit when leaving my office.

  It was time to rescue Damian.

  And myself.

  Chapter 4

  Once again, I skipped the elevator in favor of the stairs. The induction cells were in the basement below the massive house. Even though the place was sparkling clean and the walls painted soothing shades of blue, it couldn’t quite the hide the dungeon feel of the place.

  I wanted to pause by the stairs and look around for patrolling guards, but that would be too obvious. The guy monitoring the cameras might think it strange enough to report. So I strode down the secured hallway to the induction rooms as if I were doing nothing out of the ordinary. Mari’s access code would get me in now and out later, but only if I hurried. I couldn’t count on my game of switcheroo to protect me for too long. If we got trapped inside the clinic during a full shutdown, no one would get out.

  I started walking faster, hoping that Damian was still in the same induction room as before. My pace faltered as I realized I hadn’t even bothered to check where he was located. He could’ve been placed in a suite by now, especially if he had regained his memory.

  Damn it.

  If he wasn’t down here, then I would have to return to my office and log in to the clinic’s server to see where they’d put him. I felt like such an idiot! I was in full-on self-chastisement when I rounded the final corner to the section where the hard-case inductees were kept.

  I smacked into something solid and reeled backward.

  “What the hell!” The words were uttered in a low, harsh tone. I gained my feet and looked up into the stony expression of a young man dressed in the black uniform worn by Sven’s security personnel. His eyes were as blue and icy as a glacier’s. He was tall and thickly muscled, but young—too young to be one of Sven’s usual recruits. However, he gripped a big, nasty gun and looked as though he might aim it at me.

  Behind him, I saw Damian. He was dressed in a gray jumper and on his wrists were a pair of shock bracelets. He grimly assessed me, looking as though he’d hoped to never see me again. I have to admit, that hurt just a little.

  “Patient transfer,” growled the man in front of me. “Please excuse us.”

  “Um. Yeah. To me. I can take him from here,” I said, smiling. “And you can take off those bracelets. I’m sure Damian will behave.” I looked at my new charge. “Won’t you?”

  Damian’s eyebrows nearly hit his hairline. He looked nonplussed, but he said nothing. I wondered if Jarred and Dr. Ruthers had tampered with him, too.

  “You remember me, don’t you?” I asked.

  His gaze went to the guard and he grimaced.

  “I’m Kelsey Morningstone,” I said softly, the irrational seed of hurt lodged in my chest bloomed into dismay. He’d almost seduced me; then he’d broken into my apartment to claim me, biting me so deeply my neck would surely scar, and he didn’t know me. “Damian, I’m your therapist.”

  The guard made a strange sound, and I glanced at him. His face was red, his eyes wide. He started to cough violently. So much so that he bent over to try to regain his breath. I felt solicitous for all of a second. Then I realized I was wasting a golden opportunity. I yanked the gun out of his hands and whacked him on the head with it. He fell against the wall and then slid to the floor, unconscious.

  “Oh, my God.” I stared at the man and then swung my gaze to Damian. “That was easy.”

  “What the hell are you doing?” he said, his tone furious. His eyes were as cold and shiny as emeralds.

  “I’m rescuing an ungrateful idiot,” I responded hotly.

  He gaped at me. Then I realized I’d lost my temper with a mentally ill man. With a patient. “Oh, dear. I do apologize. That was unconscionable.”

  He snorted. Then he yanked the gun out of my hands. That’s when I noticed the shock bracelets were not actually linked together, much less activated. “I’m not insane,” he said. “And you are not the only one trying to rescue me, Schätzchen.” He leaned down and tapped the guard’s face. “Adulfo!”

  “What’s going on?” I demanded. “How did he get in here? Why do you know his name?”

  Damian didn’t respond. I wasn’t completely idiotic. I mean, duh. I’d obviously interrupted a much better planned effort to get my patient out of the facility. I was flabbergasted by this idea, especially if . . . oh.

  “You got your memory back, didn’t you?”

  “Ja,” he said tersely.

  As I dealt with this new information
, I glanced at the man he was trying to shake into consciousness. How in the world had Damian managed to contact anyone? And how had this guy gotten inside?

  “Are you sure you can trust him?” I asked.

  “It is you who causes me worry,” he responded. “I trust my son.”

  “Your son?” My stomach sank as I considered what I had done. Wow. I really knew how crash a party. Then I realized he’d expressed doubt about my motives. Well, I couldn’t blame him. I didn’t trust me, either. I peered at the man I’d knocked down, and frowned. “You don’t look old enough to be his father, unless you were ten years old when he was born.”

  Damian glanced at me, amusement thawing the coldness of his gaze. “Perhaps we could discuss my virility at another time.”

  The one he’d called Adulfo groaned, and his eyes rolled around in his head for a couple of seconds until he regained his mind. His watery gaze met mine. He bared his teeth and growled.

  I reared back, startled by his response.

  “Nein.” Damian tugged the man to his feet and handed him the gun. “A little human female knocked you on your ass. You’ll have to live with the shame.”

  “At least she’s not my therapist.”

  “Mention that ever again,” said Damian in a dark tone, “and I’ll shoot you myself.”

  “Way to parent there, Skippy,” I blurted. Both men flicked surprised gazes at me. I put my hands up in a gesture of mock surrender. “Sorry. Please continue insulting each other. I’ll just wait for the alarms to go off.”

  “We’ve taken care of that,” said Adulfo brusquely.

  Damian’s expression blanked, his eyes returning to the same chilly green as before. I stifled a groan. What was wrong with me? It was like I’d forgotten everything about being a therapist. Maybe it had to do with my jangled nerves. Fighting the urge to run was making my feet tingle.

  “All we have to do is get to the lobby,” continued Adulfo. “Should we lock her in one of the cells?”

  Just like that, the tables had turned. Here was the point where I could be rescued or kidnapped or stuffed into an induction cell to await Jarred’s wrath. Still, I couldn’t form the words to plead my case, even with Damian’s indifferent gaze studying me. After begging for my life, and the life of one who died anyway, I’d lost the taste for it. Mercy was either in a man’s soul, or it wasn’t. No words of mine could sway a conscience that did not exist.

  His gaze dropped to my neck, which was covered by the high neck of my blouse. The evidence of his bite was still there, and always would be. That’s what he’d meant to do—mark me.

  And he remembered doing it.

  I kept my shields wrapped around me like a blanket. I didn’t want to seek out his emotions, but I could see the ghost of guilt that fluttered briefly in his eyes.

  “She comes with us,” said Damian.

  “What!” Adulfo eyed his father. “We didn’t plan for her. How the hell is she supposed to get out?”

  “Patrick will have to make two trips.”

  Adulfo’s blond brows slammed down and he sent me a look of such intense loathing, I took another step back. Damian sent his son a warning glance, and Adulfo looked away from me, a muscle ticking in his jaw.

  Damian took his place behind Adulfo, holding his wrists down to hide the fact that the bracelets weren’t linked together. “I am awaiting your rescue, Frau Morningstone,” he said in a mocking tone.

  Adulfo rolled his eyes, but stood at the ready.

  I harbored no illusions that I was still in charge. I had no idea how they planned to extract themselves from the lobby, but since I’d started off with only half a plan to begin with, I either rolled with theirs, or struck out on my own.

  I led them to the elevators and we crowded into the car together.

  “Be ready,” warned Adulfo, but I didn’t know if he was talking to me or to his father. In the next instant, the doors slid open, but before I could step out, someone stepped in and leaned against the elevator doors to keep them from shutting.

  My heart dropped to my toes as I met the icy gray gaze of Jarred Dante.

  “Get in, please,” said Mari’s voice from behind him. “I really don’t want to zap you.”

  I moved aside so Jarred could join us. Mari followed him, her finger digging into his back. I couldn’t believe the kind of gall she had! Threatening a man three times her size with a fake gun was ballsy. Then I realized she was in on the whole rescue-Damian operation. I glanced at her, and she winked at me.

  “Hello there, Kelsey,” she said cheerfully. “I’m glad you’re on board with us. I was worried.”

  I gaped at her.

  “Top floor,” she said. “We have to do a roof exit.” Her grin widened. “You believe in werewolves now, dearie?”

  “I . . . uh . . .” I gulped. “Do you think you’re a werewolf, Mari?”

  She laughed. “Don’t be silly. I’m a sidhe.”

  “She,” I repeated. “I kinda knew you were a girl.”

  “Sidhe,” she said more forcefully. “Otherwise known as a fairy or the fae.”

  “Oh.”

  “Why the roof?” grumbled Adulfo as he pushed the button labeled R. He shot me a dirty look as though it were my fault their original escape route had been thwarted.

  “He caught me resetting the security cameras,” said Mari.

  “Was zum Teufel!” exclaimed Adulfo. “He’s coming with us, too?”

  “No,” said Damian. “He is not.” The inoperable cuffs clanked to the floor and he moved around his son so that he could plant himself between me and my ex-boss.

  “I’ll come for her,” said Jarred. “You know you can’t hide her. Not from me.”

  I opened my mouth so I make sure he knew I’d chosen this path and I didn’t want to be found by him, thank you very much, but Damian’s arm snaked around my waist and squeezed. I took the hint to keep quiet, though I had no idea why he wanted Jarred to believe I wasn’t leaving of my own accord. Damian didn’t let go of me, instead bringing me fully into his embrace.

  Jarred noted Damian’s genteel capture and his eyes narrowed. “I didn’t think kidnapping was your style.”

  “And I didn’t think the great Dante would ever break his word,” said Damian tightly.

  “I assure you that my honor remains intact. Is yours?”

  Damian’s fingers dug into my hip, but it wasn’t so much a warning to me as him trying to get control of his emotions.

  Ding. The cheery little sound pierced the tense silence of the car, and then the doors slid smoothly open to reveal the rooftop. It was dusk, the purple sky slivered with clouds. I looked over the flat square space that must have once been meant for entertainment. A few decrepit chairs hinted that my supposition was correct. The snow had been cleared away, probably so Sven’s sentries could do their jobs.

  Damian slid his arm off my waist and grasped my hand. He was the first to step out, and tugged me out with him. The chill of the air crawled over me, burrowing deeply. I shivered. Mari followed. Adulfo took over guarding Jarred since he had an actual gun as opposed to Mari’s tiny blunt finger.

  “You’re throwing your lot in with them?” he asked her bitterly.

  “You would, too, if you weren’t so stubborn. We’re all of the same cloth, my boy.”

  “Are we?” he bit out. “I think not. You betrayed me.”

  “I am still your loyal friend, Jarred, but grief has hardened your heart. What did you plan on doing with Damian?”

  “He stole her.”

  “She chose him.” Mari shook her head, her pity evident. I couldn’t imagine why anyone would feel sorry for Jarred. “I’m doing this for you.” She patted his shoulder, which made him flinch. Then she scurried ahead of us, her eyes lifting to the darkening sky above.

  Jarred sent me a bleak look. “I will find you, Kelsey.”

  “Don’t bother,” I said.

  For a fraction of a second, he looked shocked. Then his features smoothed out, and he was the
same implacable, robot-faced Jarred. I realized I didn’t know the first thing about what was unfolding right now. Obviously, Damian and Jarred shared a history—and I felt the cut of betrayal deepen. Whatever Jarred’s purposes for me or for Damian, I couldn’t believe them benign.

  “If you knew the truth of it all, you wouldn’t be so charmed by him,” said Jarred.

  “But she would be charmed by you?” Damian turned and pulled me to his side. Then he pulled down the blouse’s collar. He brushed aside my hair, and let his fingers trace the bite mark. “It doesn’t matter what either of us wants now, does it?”

  “Bastard. You don’t even want her!” choked out Jarred. “Will she pay the same price for your selfishness that Anna did?”

  Damian went white. His whole body tensed and I realized he was seconds away from socking Jarred in the jaw. I held firmly to his arm. “That’s enough,” I said quietly. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I feel like a steak being fought over by two starving dogs.”

  “My apologies,” said Jarred swiftly.

  I ignored him. “He’s trying to anger you,” I said to Damian. Fury made his eyes glint like shards of green glass. “He’s distracting you from leaving, delaying us until Sven arrives.”

  “Come on!” yelled Mari.

  “Adulfo,” said Damian, “I believe Dante needs a nap.” His grip on my hand tightened, and then he spun on his heel and started to walk away, me in tow.

  “Damn it,” yelled Jarred. “Wait.”

  Damian stopped so abruptly, I stumbled. We both turned.

  “Dr. Ruthers gave her the serum.”

  “And you accuse me of trying to harm her?” Murder gleamed in Damian’s eyes, and this time, I didn’t think I’d be able to stop him from breaking Jarred’s neck. Then again, did I want to? Jarred had admitted to giving me some kind of drug. More surprising, however, was that Damian knew about whatever this serum was—though he seemed genuinely outraged I had been given it.

  “You bit her,” said Jarred, sounding like a little boy denied the cookie jar.