by Amy Cissell
“You know there are security cameras right here.” I gestured towards where they weren’t even a tiny bit hidden at the end of the ceiling.
“He was trying to convince me to let him close enough to me so he could poof me out of here,” Salem said.
Isaac and I both turned towards Finn. He looked defiant rather than apologetic.
“Are you serious, Finn? She and her Clan attacked us last night. One of her friends tried to drain me. They followed us across the country, and you were going to help her escape?”
“In his defense,” Salem said, since Finn wasn’t answering, “He did want information as payment for his daring rescue.”
“Information about why you were here?” I asked.
“No.”
“I couldn’t let you torture and kill her!” Finn said.
“I wasn’t going to torture and kill her! How could you think that about me?”
“I never thought you were the type to take prisoners, either.”
“There’s a huge difference between taking a prisoner in battle and torturing and killing.”
“You killed people last night,” he said. “And you killed that Fae a couple of weeks ago.”
“You killed people last night, too. And the vampires we both killed last night and the Fae I killed a couple of weeks ago were self-defense. Should I have lain on the ground waiting to be saved or killed? W.T.F., Finn?”
“You should’ve stayed out of it!” he yelled.
My temper was literally heating up. I was glad my control was better.
“This is getting us nowhere,” Isaac said. “Not to mention that infighting in front of our guest is inappropriate.”
I sighed and turned back to Salem.
“We’ve established that I’ve no intention of killing or torturing you for information. However, now that you’ve seen our temporary batcave, I can’t let you go until we’ve moved on.”
“I’d like to point out that I have no compunctions about torturing you,” Isaac said. “Cooperation would be a good idea.”
“Could you both leave for a few minutes?” I asked. “It’d be great if we could go three sentences without the word torture being used.”
Neither of them moved.
“Finn, leave. Now.” He glared at me and disappeared. “Isaac, please. Ten minutes.”
He straightened up and kissed the top of my head. “Ten minutes, and I’ll be watching.” He stomped up the stairs.
Salem was staring at me, looking completely nonplussed.
“What?”
“They obeyed you.”
“Yeah, I don’t use my bossy-pants powers often, but when I do, it’s effective.
“Now, I know you think I’m a bitch. The parking lot prisoner taking probably didn’t do much to cement our friendship, but in my defense, you were watching a bunch of people who’d shown up to kill me.”
“Actually, we were only trying to kill Finn. You and the wolf were to be taken alive.”
“Why so free with the information?”
She shrugged. “Isaac and Finn obey you, and you said you wouldn’t kill me. You can’t lie. It’s in my best interests to give you some of the truth.”
“I can do pretty crazy things with the truth. I said I wouldn’t torture or kill you, but I didn’t say I wouldn’t ask someone else to do it.” Salem looked uncertain, and I waved my hand. “I’m not going to do that, either. The only way that Isaac would go for the kill is if you tell me whatever he doesn’t want you to tell me.”
“I’m not going to,” she said.
“Good. I don’t want you to. I want to talk about why Isaac and I were to be kidnapped.”
“I can’t tell you why Isaac was on the list. That would be violating my promise.”
“Is there anything more you can tell me?”
“We were to render you unconscious and take you back to our master who, as Isaac already named, is Raj Allred.”
“Why?”
“He believes that if he has the well-spring of magic in his control, the gates won’t open, and the Fae won’t be able to send someone else. Your power was carefully funneled into you to give you the abilities you have and until you die, that power can’t be pulled out and sent into someone else.”
This was turning out to be enlightening.
“His plan is to keep me prisoner to prevent the gates from opening and to prevent a successor from taking my place?”
“Precisely.”
“Why don’t the vampires want the gates opened?”
“I’m sure I don’t know. I’m nothing but a Renfield.”
I tried a different tactic. “Why didn’t you let Finn help you escape?”
“I don’t want to owe him my life. I am as much in information-gathering mode as you are. By staying, even as a prisoner, I am learning much. I did not believe my life was in immediate danger as long as I adhered to the mongrel’s wishes, so I stay and await rescue or a chance to escape on my own.”
“You don’t want to give him the information he requested?” I guessed.
No response.
“Do you anticipate rescue soon?”
Salem smiled at me. I’d gotten about as much out of her as I was going to. It was close to noon, so it was unlikely that Raj was going to show up soon. Theoretically, he should be weakened by losing so much of his clan last night. I didn’t know how many vampires he had in his jurisdiction and was positive that Salem wouldn’t share that with me.
I didn’t think it likely he’d send humans after us; not after we’d dusted close to a dozen vamps last night.
“Thank you for your cooperation,” I said. “I’ll make sure you get a bathroom break and some food if you’re hungry.”
She nodded, and I went back upstairs.
“We should prepare for Raj’s arrival,” I said as I walked into the kitchen. Isaac poured me a cup of coffee and raised that damnably expressive eyebrow.
“Why?”
“She’s exceedingly confident that she’ll be rescued, so a master vamp must have a way to track his long-term meals. Obviously, he probably won’t show up until dark, but I think it’ll be tonight.”
“We’ll be ready,” Isaac said. “He won’t want her harmed, so if we have her in a position that any impetuous actions on his part could result in harm to her, we will have the upper hand and at least be able to have a conversation before we kill him.”
“Is now the time we talk about what you didn’t want Salem to tell me?”
“Not yet.”
Rebecca shook her head and walked out muttering, “Idiot.”
“I don’t necessarily agree that you’re an idiot, Isaac, but don’t you think we’re at the point where keeping the secret is more harmful than telling?”
He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “Walk with me?”
I grabbed his hand and led him outside. In the daylight, Rebecca’s house was even more magnificent. It backed up to a rather substantial mountain, and the scent of pine permeated the air. I took a deep breath and wondered if we were far enough from civilization to stretch my wings.
I stretched and ignored the ache between my shoulder blades. Isaac tugged me close and pressed his body against mine. He kissed me and then swept my legs out from under me. He guided me in a controlled tumble to the ground, and then he was on top of me.
“Isaac, we’re in the middle of the backyard. Anyone could see.”
“Weren’t you the one who didn’t want to wait for privacy yesterday?” he asked. “I’m giving you what you asked for.”
“Sex in front of strangers you’re never going to see again is one thing; sex in front of your ex-girlfriend is another.”
“We’re shifters, it wouldn’t be the first time she’s seen someone have sex. We’re pretty uninhibited.”
I tried to formulate another objection, but he kissed away my protests and started removing my clothes. I decided I didn’t care and tugged at his jean. “You have got to stop wearing these.”
“Jeans?�
�
“Clothes. Constant nudity would be better.”
Isaac reached down to assist me, and the minute his jeans were off, I tackled him to the ground and straddled him. I lowered myself onto him and started moving. I rode him faster and harder and just as I was about to orgasm, he lifted me off him. “What are you doing?” I demanded.
He rolled me over and pulled me onto my hands and knees and took me from behind. One hand on my hip held me ready, and a second reached around to stroke my clit, driving me into a frenzy. I came moments later, and he quickly followed me over the abyss. After a couple minutes hard breathing, we stood, and I used my panties to clean us up. Isaac grabbed them when I was done and shoved them into his jeans pocket.
“Nice distraction,” I said.
“Did it work?”
“In the moment.”
“If that’s all it takes, I could probably distract you for a few more hours.”
“Ha! No thank you, Casanova. Talk.”
Isaac found a grassy spot on the earth and pulled me down to sit next to him. I scooted back to put some distance between us to avoid further distraction attempts.
Isaac sat quietly for a long time and it was all I could do to not fidget. I was about to give up when he sighed and looked at me. “You’ve already surmised that your assumption that I’d been hibernating was false, correct?”
I nodded. “Your familiarity with Buffy and your classic car were hints in that direction.”
“I was not in hibernation the last century, although I did spend many of those years in a semi-hibernating state and most of the last century I was not a free wolf.”
I looked at him with what I hoped was an encouraging expression, but stayed silent.
“I told you about Michelle?”
I racked my brains but came up with nothing. “Maybe?”
“The vampire I was involved with at the turn of the last century.”
“Right…her.”
“I told you we broke up because she wanted more than I could give. When I refused her, I thought that was the end of it. We both stayed in Portland, and I did see her occasionally. Shortly after the Great War, I bumped into her. One thing led to another, and I ended up back in her bed. I’d always made it a practice to never spend the night, because waking up next to a corpse is creepy as hell, and that’s what the younger ones typically resemble during the day. I don’t know if I was exhausted or if she’d drugged me, but I fell asleep before dawn. When I woke, I was chained with silver and locked in a silver cage.
“She kept me there for a week without food. She came to see me on the night before the full moon and again expressed a desire to form a permanent blond. I refused, and she laughed. She said I’d change my mind soon. She left me alone, still chained with silver and still without food. When the moon rose the next night, I was unable to shift. I was nearly mad by the time the third day had passed, and she came to me again. She brought food and again tried to talk me into the bond.”
I raised my hand.
“Yes, Eleanor?”
“Why didn’t she force the bond on you while you were sleeping?”
“For it to work, both parties must be willing, active participants.”
“Oh. That’s good, I guess.”
Isaac continued, “For the next decade, this was the pattern. I was kept in silver chains and not allowed to shift. I was mad by the end of the first year, but still I refused. During the early part of the Great Depression, I finally acquiesced. I completed the blood bond with Michelle. It made little difference, though. She kept me as a pet. I was seldom allowed to shift, but when I was, she’d collar and leash me and parade me around her court. I eventually stopped fighting. My mind was fragmenting, and I could no longer sense the phases of the moon. I was constantly restrained with silver, but they moved the chains every few days to avoid permanent scarring.
“My rages were insane. I’ve no idea how many I killed during those first decades I was held by Michelle. She often left humans to guard me during the day, and they were not the brightest nor the strongest.
“Finally, I escaped towards the end of the fifties. I lived in Forest Park for a while, trying to regain my mind. The local Alpha found me and helped my control during the full moons. For a while, I thought I was going to get through it. I got a job, bought a car and a house, and except for the full moons, felt mostly in control.
“She found me, though. I should’ve known she would. When she hadn’t come for me after the first five years, I assumed she’d given up. But Michelle never gives up anything she’s claimed.
“I’d started seeing someone. A pretty little wolf that had recently joined our pack. She disappeared one evening on her way to my home. I knew immediately what had happened.”
Isaac stopped talking, and I scooted closer to him and put my arms around him. He was shaking. “Hey,” I said. “It wasn’t your fault. You’re not responsible for what crazy Michelle did to your girlfriend.”
“Emma. Her name was Emma.”
“You’re not responsible for what Michelle did to Emma. That is one hundred percent on Michelle. If you want to stop and continue later, we can.”
Isaac shook his head. “No, now that I’ve started, I need to finish.”
He was silent for so long, I thought he’d changed his mind. Finally, he moved out of the circle of my arms and began to speak again.
“I tried to track her. I searched day and night for the next two weeks, but she’d vanished without a trace. Every day, I got a delivery. It started out with locks of hair, but pretty soon, it was fingers. Then toes. The night before the full moon, I got a fingerless hand and a note. If I would be willing to exchange myself, they’d let her go.
“I went to the meeting place, sure that it was a trick, but they were there. Emma hated me. She believed I’d set this up with my vampire lover as a joke. When they set her free and before they chained me, she attacked. I tried not to fight back, to take what I had coming. She was a newer wolf and with all the drama and blood loss, she wasn’t strong. I could’ve survived her attack. But the moon rose, and I lost it. We both shifted, but she was even weaker in that state since she was missing a paw. She tried to hamstring me, but I tore out her throat before I even registered what I was doing.
“I shifted back to human, but it was too late. I’d killed her.”
I pulled him back into my arms and slid onto his lap, trying to press as much of myself against him as I could. His arms tightened around me, and he rested his forehead on the top of my head.
“I killed her, Eleanor. I lost control, and I killed her.”
I reached up and touched the side of his face, trying to get him to look at me. When he did, I nearly wept at the pain shining out of his eyes.
“You may have been the bullet, my love, but Michelle was the gun. She orchestrated it.”
“I know she did, but that doesn’t stop the fact that I can still taste her blood in my mouth.”
I kissed him.
“There’s more,” he said.
“Only if you want to.”
“I need to,” he said. “They put the silver chains back on and took me back to the cage. At some point in the late seventies or early eighties, there was a coup. Raj—Salem’s master—took over leadership of the clan. The cage stayed, although without Michelle to give orders, the torture ceased and I was no longer chained. I was regularly fed, had a television, and was finally able to shift during the full moons. He released me earlier this summer. He claimed he’d no idea I was still there. No one had told him. It’s true I never saw him, so I don’t know what to believe.
“My Alpha said that Raj offered me as a gesture of goodwill once he found he had a werewolf in his dungeon.”
“How old is Salem? She looks like she’s about seventeen.”
“She was there before Michelle was taken out, but not for long, I don’t think. She was probably born in the sixties.”
“Is everyone older than me? I used to think I was quite a
good age, but now, I feel ridiculously young.”
“You are a bit on the babyish side.”
I smiled and kissed him. “Why were you so afraid to tell me?”
“Eleanor, I killed someone because I lost control. My control is still shaky, and I could do it again. I was afraid that if you knew how damaged I was, you’d send me away. I wanted to prolong our time together before that happened.”
“One more question—why were you chosen to accompany me?” At his despairing look, I continued, “I am thrilled you were. But if you’re so damaged and need your Alpha to help control your wolf during the full moon, why wasn’t someone without PTSD sent?”
“Three reasons. The first is that I asked for the job. I should’ve used better judgment, but you got under my skin from the moment you threw your knives at me in the forest. The second is that even though I am damaged, I am extremely strong. I’ll be able to cow or control any other shifters we meet. The third reason is my Alpha wanted me out of his territory. I’m stronger than him, even if I’m less stable, and I believe he’s afraid I would eventually challenge him.”
“I’m glad you’re here.” I snuggled into him. “One more question?”
“Of course.”
“Do all the shifters know your history?”
“I wouldn’t think so, why?”
I tried to think of a way to phrase my question without sounding jealous. Before I could, Isaac got it. “Rebecca was a member of the Northwest Pack when Emma was taken. She knew about my time with Michelle, and Michelle sent the pack a picture of me standing over Emma’s body. She knew enough, and I told her the end when I met with her a couple of weeks ago. Are you angry I told her before you?”
I shook my head. “No, I was curious. If you’d told her the whole story before me, I might be hurt. But she’s less of a risk at this point, isn’t she?”
“What do you mean?
“She’s a wolf, so she understands how tenuous your control is, and you don’t fear her rejection.”
“She’s also strong and could hold her own against me long enough to summon help if I lost control.”
“I could probably hold my own against you, too, Isaac.”
“I know what I’d like you to hold against me.”