The Vampire's Accidental Wife (Nocturne Falls Book 8)

by Kristen Painter

  Sure, the woman was a wolf shifter, but this was one of the craziest things Desi had ever seen. Still, if it found Julian, she’d never say another word about it.

  But three hours and one gas station stop later, they were no closer. Desi sat in the car, her head on the steering wheel. She was going to melt down and lose it. She was panicked, stressed, angry, and scared. It wasn’t a combination she’d felt since she’d been on the island. She’d learned to deal with those things in turn, but this was different.

  She had no way of stopping this ticking clock. And it was so loud, she could hear it. She tried to push all those emotions down, but it was hard when Julian needed her. And she was failing.

  Birdie finished filling the tank and got back in the car. She glanced at Desi, then looked at her a little closer. “You’re freaking out, aren’t you?”

  Desi swallowed. “Yes.”

  “Hey, I know you’re worried, but we’re getting closer. I can feel it in my gut, and sometimes you just have to trust that. Plus, we still have the other half of town to drive through.”

  Desi turned her head. She knew all about trusting her gut. It just hadn’t spoken to her lately. “We were already out to the lake earlier.”

  “Yes, but we didn’t have the laudanum angle figured out then.”

  Desi turned the car on. “The sun will be up in less than an hour. I feel like we’re running out of time.”

  “It’s going to be all right, you’ll see.” Birdie’s words were soft and hopeful, like she was trying to convince herself of them too.

  Please be right, Desi thought.

  “Ready when you are.” Birdie tucked her purse next to her and started to lean out the window again.

  A truck rumbled past carrying a load of lumber. Desi watched it go. Something inside her clicked. The small, confident voice she’d been waiting to hear. “You know what you just said about trusting your gut?”

  “Yep.” Birdie was half out the window.

  “Well, mine just spoke to me. What’s that new development called? Pumpkin Place?”

  “Pumpkin Point.”

  “Has anyone searched out there?”

  Birdie slid out of the window and back into her seat. “I think so, but I can call Hank real quick.”

  “Please. Which way is that place?”

  Birdie pointed. “That way.”

  “Keep directing me while you talk.” Desi turned onto the street as Birdie called her nephew.

  “Will do.” Birdie put the phone to her ear. “Hank? Honey, has anyone been out to Pumpkin Point? They have? And?” She pursed her mouth. “You’re sure? Okay.” She sighed. “Don’t you worry about where I am. The desk is covered.”

  She hung up. “He said Pumpkin Point got a drive through and inspection less than an hour ago and there was nothing going on. No cars, no signs of life. They didn’t go through the houses, but they looked in windows, that sort of thing.”

  Desi shook her head. Her gut said keep going. “If this woman truly captured Julian, she’s crafty. A search like that would be easy enough to avoid.”

  “You really think so?”

  She nodded. “I do. I don’t know why I feel so strongly. It’s just a hunch. I might be completely wrong, but I don’t think I am and we have nothing else to go on.”

  “This is what your gut is telling you?”

  Desi listened to what her head and heart were saying. They were speaking in the same clear, strong voice that had told her to light the signal fire that fateful night on the island. “Yes.”

  “Then let’s do this.” Birdie pointed up ahead. “Make a left at this light.”

  “How close are we?”

  “Seven or eight minutes. It’s a straight stretch from here until you turn into the development.”

  Desi pushed her foot down on the pedal. “Hang on.”

  Birdie grinned and put her window up. “Now you’re driving like you mean it.”

  The miles slipped away and the Pumpkin Point sign came into view. Desi slowed and Birdie buzzed her window down.

  The air rushed in and she opened her mouth and leaned into it.

  Desi glanced over. Birdie’s eyes glowed gold. “What is it?”

  Birdie looked at her. “I smell laudanum.”

  Coming to was harder this time, but Julian no longer cared about the element of surprise. He was too weak to break free anyway. His head lolled to the side of the basement where the light of the camera was. He unstuck his tongue from the roof of his mouth so he could speak. “Still here?”

  She looked up. “Oh good, just in time for your big debut.” She laughed. “I think I’ll call this video Ashes to Ashes.”

  “You’re going to look like a fool.”

  “Hero is more like it.”

  He shrugged. The effort made his head spin. “You’ll see.”

  She walked over to him. “I know you have some kind of sun protection. I’ve seen you out during the day. It just makes you that much more of a threat, but I’m pretty sure I’ve eliminated that little issue.”

  He snorted.

  “Don’t think I enjoyed patting you down either.” She held up his silver chain with the amulet dangling off it. “But other than your wallet, keys, and watch, this was the only other thing I found that might be protecting you.”

  A chill ran though him. He tried very hard to keep himself from reacting, but the drug made it difficult. Suddenly, he could feel the sun’s approach on the other side of the laudanum’s numbing effects.

  She stuffed the chain into her pocket. “Of course, if that’s just some gaudy vampire jewelry, I have a backup plan.”

  “Oh?” He did his best to sound nonchalant.

  She smiled. “Crossbow bolt. An oldie but a goodie.”

  He looked behind her. A step ladder and a nasty-looking crossbow sat against the wall behind the camera. The chill froze him completely. He was going to die.

  She went back to the camera. “If it makes you feel any better, I think some people were looking for you earlier. They poked around a bit, even shined their flashlights through the windows, but when I heard the car, I covered you with one of those painting tarps and threw some wood scraps on top of you. Fortunately, they seemed to have bought you as part of the construction scenery because they didn’t poke around long. Thanks for not waking up then. That would have killed the illusion.”

  He stared at the floor joists above him. There was some comfort in knowing his disappearance hadn’t gone completely unnoticed. He felt bad for whoever had been out here, though. When it came to light that he’d been in the basement the whole time, those people would take some criticism. More victims of the hunter’s madness.

  “Any last words? I could do a little video on my phone if you want to confess your evil ways before you go poof.”

  He held his tongue. He had no desire to become kindling for her insane fire.

  “Really?” She came closer. “You don’t even want to say goodbye to your girlfriend? Or this guy?”

  He glanced at her. She was holding up a picture from his wallet. George. Precious darling baby George. Julian’s heart ached as his anger soared. He went back to staring at the ceiling. “Came with the wallet.”

  “I don’t think so. It’s a real picture. Maybe I should look for him after I’m done with you? Just to make sure vampires can’t reproduce. I mean, if I’m not too busy showing off Desdemona to the world. Oh, that will be highly entertaining.”

  Julian ground his teeth together in an effort to keep his mouth shut. He might kill the hunter after all. She would not touch George or Desi. He just had to get free first. He closed his eyes and implored his brain to work. But the constant flow of laudanum into his system made thinking a Herculean struggle. The one thread of an idea that formed had no real heft to it.

  He could probably wrench the sheet of plywood off the platform it was on. Helsing had moved it earlier when she’d leaned against it. If he could knock it to the floor, the fall might potentially snap his restr
aints and maybe, if he landed right, the effort might also tear the IV loose.

  Or he might just look like a dying fish, already pinned to the cutting board.

  Either way, it was worth a shot. He had nothing to lose. Except…everything.

  “That way.” Birdie pointed toward the house at the very end of the street. “Smells like it’s coming from there.”

  It was a gorgeous house with a three-car garage and a welcoming front porch, but there were no signs that it was in any way occupied. Desi wanted to trust Birdie’s nose. What else did they have to go on? And any chance was better than none, but there were seven houses on this street and very little breeze that might help point to one of them. She clenched the steering wheel a little tighter. “You’re positive it’s that one?”

  “I’d stake my werewolf reputation on it.”

  “Okay, we should park here and go on foot the rest of the way. We have to get the jump on this woman. We can’t risk her knowing we’re on to her and having her do something to Julian before we can get to him.”

  “Agreed.” Birdie pulled out her phone as Desi parked the car at the mouth of the street.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Texting Hank for backup. Don’t worry, I’ll tell them to come in silent.”

  “Good. I don’t want this woman getting away because she hears sirens, but I am not waiting for them.”

  Birdie sent the text, then tucked her phone into her back pocket. “No, no waiting. The sky is already lightening at the horizon. Let’s go. You’re a vampire and I’m a werewolf. And this woman is human. She can’t take us both down.”

  Desi nodded. “That’s right.”

  They got out, closing the doors quietly, then Desi pulled off her short boots and left them on the pavement. She glanced at Birdie. “Ready?”

  “Ready.”

  Desi broke into a barefoot jog toward the house. Birdie kept pace beside her down the street. They made it to the curb a few seconds later, slowing to a stop.

  Birdie lifted her face into the air and inhaled. She kept her voice low when she spoke. “Oh yes, this is definitely it. I smell laudanum, human, and vampire.”

  That was all the reassurance Desi needed. She pointed toward the right side of the house. “Let’s do a perimeter check first, see if there’s a back way in.”

  “Good thinking.”

  Desi led, staying close to the house so they couldn’t be seen out of the windows. At the rear corner, she stopped suddenly. “Light,” she whispered.

  And not a steady light, either. It was weak and flickered occasionally, casting wonky shadows over the backyard. It reminded her of a dim television.

  Birdie nodded as she looked around Desi to see for herself. “Cell phone?”

  “Maybe. Or a person walking in front of the light.” Desi peered farther around the corner to see where the light was coming from. There were windows on the ground, but at this angle it was impossible to see in. She glanced back at Birdie. “This house has a basement?”

  Birdie nodded. “They all do here.”

  Desi squatted down and crawled to the first window to peek in. A half second later, she jerked back, every nerve in her body pinging in alarm. Julian was still alive but in definite danger. She retreated as quickly and quietly as she was able.

  “What did you see?” Birdie whispered.

  “He’s in there.” The scene spilled out of Desi as she described what was seared into her brain. “Tied down to a big sheet of wood. There’s some kind of IV in him. She’s in there too. She’s got a camera set up and a cell phone in her hand. Maybe recording on that as well. Both of those are putting off some light. She’s getting ready to film the video.”

  “Then we need to get in there now.”

  “There’s a crossbow against one wall.”

  “We can handle that.”

  Desi nodded. “But we have to go around to the other side. She’ll see us from here too easily.”

  “Come on.” Birdie started hustling around the house. Desi followed, her anger at what was being done to Julian at war with her joy at finding him, but the emotion that rose above those was the screaming urgency to free him.

  They came around the side of the house and Birdie stopped short. “What’s our plan?”

  “We have to get into the house. But how do we do that without her hearing us?”

  “I’m not sure.” Birdie sighed and tipped her head back. “I wish we could draw her out. That would be easier.”

  “If you could get her outside, then I could slip in and free Julian without the risk of her interfering.”

  “Hmm. I might have an idea on how we could both get in there.” Birdie’s eyes took on the wolfy gold glow again.

  “I’m game. What are you thinking?”

  Birdie grinned, showing off her suddenly sharper canines. “No one can resist a poor stray doggie.”

  The sun’s itch had become worse than the laudanum’s dull prickliness. Time was running out. Julian had held off doing anything because he’d hoped against hope that some of his strength might return or that the search party might circle back. Neither of those things had happened.

  And in his delirium, he’d thought for a moment that he’d smelled Desi’s orange blossom perfume, but that was just another cruel trick of the drug.

  If he had any chance of getting free, he had to act now. He thought of Desi, and George, and the rest of his family. He wanted to see them all again so badly he could taste it.

  This had to work.

  He flexed his wrists, gathering his remaining energy for one last burst of—a dull scratching trickled down from the floor above.

  The hunter looked up, so she heard it too.

  Then a faint, canine whine followed with more scratching. It was a pitiful sound.

  Julian had no idea what was going on, but the hunter walked to the bottom of the steps and listened.

  More soft whining filtered through. Like a dog in pain.

  The hunter went back to the wall and grabbed the crossbow, balancing it on her shoulder. “Stay here,” she snorted. “Like you can leave. Hah! I amuse myself.”

  Then she trotted up the steps.

  Julian counted her footfalls until he heard her climb all twelve steps to the top floor. He knew there were twelve. He’s approved the blueprints.

  He heard the door opening. Then the hunter’s voice. “Hey there, pooch. Are you lost? What’s wrong with your paw? Is it hurt?”

  Gathering his remaining strength, Julian jerked his body sideways, throwing his center of gravity as far to the right as he could. The plywood skidded over the saw horses, teetered for a second, then crashed to the ground.

  The fall was enough to rip the IV from his hand and break the restraints on his left wrist and ankle, but the real boost came from the laudanum no longer being renewed in his system. He was wobbly and weak, but it was like a switch had been thrown. New strength rushed through him, fighting the drug’s dwindling effects.

  “What the hell?” The hunter came rushing back downstairs, crossbow leveled at Julian. “What do you think—”

  A large gray wolf smashed into the hunter from behind. The impact shoved her to the bottom of the steps just as a cinder block came flying through one of the transom windows, shattering it into pebbles of safety glass. It rained onto the basement floor as Desi jumped through the opening.

  “Desi?” She looked like a superhero goddess. Wonder Woman had nothing on his wife.

  She ran to his side. “Jules, are you okay? She drugged you, didn’t she?”

  “Yes. And took my amulet.” The sky was growing brighter through the windows.

  “I’ll get it back.” She kissed him soundly on the mouth, but a loud yelp turned their heads.

  The hunter had cracked the wolf across the head with her crossbow. They were face to face now at the bottom of the stairs, but the hunter was flat on her back. The wolf shook off the blow to snarl and snap some more, but the hunter planted her feet on the bottom s
tep and shoved herself out of the way in time to avoid being bitten. She raised the crossbow as she slid, aiming at the wolf.

  The hunter’s finger twitched on the trigger.

  “No!” Desi flung herself across the room and in front of the wolf.

  The bolt went through Desi’s right shoulder, knocking her back. She cried out as she hit the stairs, then went limp.

  Rage brought Julian all the strength he needed. He ripped free of the last two restraints and surged toward the hunter. She cringed but had no time to react further. He ripped the crossbow from her hands and snapped it in two.

  The wolf shifted back into a familiar face. Birdie went to Desi’s side, cradling her head. “She’s hurt bad.”

  Desi’s eyes blinked open. “I’ll be okay,” she whispered. Then she reached up toward Birdie. “You’re hurt too.”

  Birdie’s cheek had already begun to purple where the crossbow had caught her, and blood trickled from her hairline.

  Julian made for Desi, but the hunter started scrambling away.

  “No,” Desi said. “Deal with her first.”

  Julian turned.

  Sunlight streamed through the windows, illuminating the hunter, who’d reached the safety of the rays just seconds ago.

  She shook her head at him and yanked a stake from her boot. “Come at me, vampire.”

  He couldn’t. Not while she sheltered herself in the sun’s protective glow.

  “Jules.” Desi’s voice was weak. “Catch.”

  He turned in time to snatch the flash of silver coming at him. Her amulet. He stuffed it in his pocket and turned toward the hunter.

  Watching Julian go after the hunter helped take Desi’s mind off the pain of having a crossbow bolt sticking out of her shoulder. It throbbed like she’d grown a new, faulty heart there, but she was a vampire and she’d heal.

  The hunter, however, was human.

  With every step Julian came closer, the hunter took one back until she came to the edge of the sunbeam she seemed to think was keeping her safe.

  He stopped just at the edge of the shaft of light. Dust motes danced through it, making the stream of sun seem alive. Then, without losing eye contact with the hunter, he slowly and deliberately took one step forward.