Reborn (Princess of the Blood Book 1)

by Jane Ederlyn

  “Are you threatening me?”

  And it would have to be soon. “Yes.”

  After Odin left, Stormda glanced at the side door.

  “I was expecting you.”

  Deena crept into the room. “I heard,” she said coolly.

  “That vampire has been nothing but trouble for me since she arrived in Miami,” Stormda growled.

  “I want to be cooperative, I do, but your son offends me by sleeping with that corpse. I haven’t spoken to my father about this, but I can’t allow it to continue.”

  Stormda studied her. An affectionate smile brewed across his face.

  “Sit, my dear. There is no reason to be that upset. I’m sure this is just a dalliance.”

  “He won’t touch me,” she spit out.

  His eyes widened.

  “Is this marriage not important to you?”

  “Of course it is, dear.”

  “These unnatural liberties that you are allowing in your heir are forbidden. Something must be done.”

  He nodded. His fingers touched, creating a pyramid, a gesture he did when deep in thought. “Something tells me that you have an idea.”

  “Actually, I do.”

  Chapter XXXV

  Marie entered the kitchen. Her gaze locked on Abby, curled into a ball at the bay window, looking frazzled but undamaged.

  “Good evening.”

  Abby jumped off her perch and crossed the room to refill her cup. Her hands shook as she poured the coffee.

  Marie confiscated the carafe and returned it to the warmer. “Is there something you want to tell me?”

  “When you can’t candy coat it, forge ahead,” Abby mumbled.

  “Excusez-moi?”

  “There was a little incident today.”

  Marie cocked her head and listened, as frozen and silent outwardly as she was inwardly.

  “Two werewolves approached me, but nothing happened. Please don’t go all vamp and ballistic on me.”

  Marie’s fists clenched. “They threatened you.”

  “Egon chased them away.”

  “Are you all right?”

  “Yes, really.”

  Marie’s chest burned, as if she needed air, and her nails dug into her palms. “This is an act of disrespect.”

  “Is it because of Odin?”

  “Perhaps.” A hiccup of inflection seeped into Marie’s words before she could quell the emotion. “We are leaving.”

  “But we just got here.”

  “Do not argue with me. Pack whatever you need for now. The rest can be shipped later.”

  “What about John and Odin? Please not yet.”

  “I am so sorry, ma chérie, truly I am.” Marie anticipated leaving but not so soon. She turned and left the house, the door slamming shut behind her sounding to her like a thunderous exclamation point.

  Abby put her cup down. It clanged and splattered black coffee on the white marble. As she wiped up the spill, Odin and Egon strode through the door still stinging with Marie’s disappointment.

  “I hate supernaturals,” she muttered, but when she looked up at Odin, she couldn’t rein her desperation and her eyes watered.

  “Egon told me everything. Are you all right?”

  A tear trickled down her cheek and throat. She had been pumped, worrying about telling Marie and now all her energy drained out of her.

  Egon stepped closer. “Abby?”

  “She wants to leave.” She glanced between them. “Do something. Please.”

  “Where is she?” Odin asked.

  “Outside. Alone.” Abby said.

  Egon went to the window and surveyed the darkness. “The moon reflects on her skin.” He took a deep breath. “Vamps are generally hard to read, but she’s putting out some heavy-duty shit.”

  “I’ll talk to her,” Odin said.

  Marie didn’t respond when Odin said her name, but her silence didn’t deter him.

  “I spoke to my father. It was a terrible misunderstanding and it won’t happen again.”

  “I know it won’t because we’re not waiting around here to find out.”

  “Beautiful, you can’t leave.”

  She moved to walk past him, but he grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him. Her eyes burned and her fangs distended. “Do not. I have very little tolerance right now.” She covered her mouth until her fangs disappeared. “I’m sorry I’m taking this out on you.”

  “You can’t leave.”

  She looked into his eyes, not blinking or wavering from his stare.

  He finally broke the connection by glancing at the house. “Don’t I have any say in this? You can’t leave me.”

  “This isn’t about us. I hope you understand, but I must protect her.”

  “You’re overreacting.”

  “Overreacting? What if Egon hadn’t been there?”

  “Bee is stronger than you think.”

  “Yes, my blood has made her stronger than a human but not stronger than two adult werewolves.” Her hands clenched with the fury she was trying to keep checked. “It’s happening again,” her voiced cracked.

  Odin ran his hands over his face and hair in frustration. “All right, I’m coming with you.”

  She studied him. The masculine architecture of his face was beautiful, but so was the way ugliness slid off his shoulders, leaving him untouched. When she fell into the ocean of his eyes, she felt some of that invincibility. “Fine. But have your things ready by tomorrow.”

  “I can’t do that, babe. Just give me a couple of days. I have a few meetings and loose ends to tie up.”

  Marie shook her head and headed back to the house. He followed at her heels in a silence so loud he may as well have been howling at the top of his lungs. “We are leaving tomorrow. You may join us later if that is not convenient for you.”

  He opened the door for her and they entered the coolness of the air-conditioning kitchen. “I need a little time.”

  “Something doesn’t feel right, Odin. We could be taking a risk by staying.”

  “You sound like Lagmann. Everything is going to be okay.”

  She turned away from him and glared at Abby. “What are you still doing here? Did I not ask you to pack?”

  “Yes, I—”

  “Don’t dawdle expecting me to change my mind, Abigail. I’m not going to.”

  “Please don’t leave,” Egon asked.

  “Please,” Abby interjected, her emotion-pitched voice overlapping the werewolf’s.

  Marie paced.

  “I don’t want to go,” Abby pleaded.

  Marie regarded their eager faces and her heart plummeted, feeling more alone than she had in decades. “Very well, I can’t fight all of you.” She slid across the kitchen floor, not realizing she was walking until she stopped. She looked up at Odin with one last frayed and lingering hope she might see support in his eyes. It wasn’t there. Only relief brightened his eyes. “Three days, that is all, Abigail.”

  Abby opened her mouth to complain, but Marie’s hand came up. “Do not ask me for one second more. It is not up for discussion. You are not to go out alone, day or night. Is that understood?”

  Abby nodded.

  “Egon, you will protect her when I sleep.”

  “Yes, of course.”

  “Abigail, obey him.”

  Abby nodded. “I promise.”

  Marie looked at Egon again. “No harm comes to her.”

  “I will never fail her. I’ll protect her with my life. You know I will,” he said.

  Marie smiled at him. “Yes, I know you will, or it will cost you yours.”

  John walked in and everybody turned eyes on him. “Another family r
eunion, another secret meeting.”

  “John, you were listening for quite some time, so you know exactly what we were talking about,” Marie said.

  “I didn’t want to interrupt your conversation at such an inopportune moment.”

  “Thank goodness it was not a private one.”

  John put down a bag of P.F. Chang’s take-out on the counter. “Does Abby have any say in this? I can’t just get up and go. I have a practice. I can’t leave my patients or my business at your whim.”

  Abby gasped. “John! I will not put up with you speaking to Marie that way.”

  “Hire someone. Make arrangements when and if you wish, but Abigail and I are leaving at the end of the week.”

  “I want us to get married and have kids. I want to raise my family here. Say something, Abby. Stand up for yourself.”

  “I can’t, not on this.”

  “How are we to have a relationship if you can’t stand up to her? Is she always going to rule our lives?”

  Abby pushed her chair backward. Unsteady on her feet, Egon reached for her.

  “Don’t touch her,” John scowled.

  Egon’s chin lowered, his eyes losing all trace of blue, but John was oblivious to the threat.

  Abby touched Egon’s arm. “No.”

  He took a deep breath, full of her scent, and stepped back.

  “Leave them alone to work this out,” Odin commanded, in a low and polite tone that was unmistakably an order not to be ignored.

  “Thanks, Odin,” John said. “Now that we’re all talking so openly, I’m going to speak my mind.” He turned to Marie. “I think it’s you who should go away.”

  “John!” Abby exclaimed.

  Odin’s head snapped back, and he growled.

  Marie touched Odin’s chest, checking him.

  John flinched but continued. “It’s okay, baby. I know you’re torn, so I’m going to speak for you. Maybe she’s the one putting all of us in danger.”

  Odin’s growl deepened. “Stop.”

  The clarity of John’s words bore down on her, heavy and penetrating. Emotion burned in her, but it wasn’t rage, it was embarrassment. She took an unconscious breath.

  “You’re correct, John. I’m the one putting Abigail in danger. Do as you wish, but she and I are still leaving.” Marie glanced around. She would miss this room with its constant scent of sun and coffee. She squeezed her eyes closed. When she opened them again, she met John’s defiant gaze.

  “Never take such liberties against me in my home.” Satisfied that she’d said her piece, she walked out. “Three days,” she repeated, and the words echoed in the hallway like a timer.

  “It’ll be all right.” Odin rested against the doorframe, hands crossed above his head.

  Marie lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. “Perhaps.” She rolled onto her side, giving him her back.

  He kicked off his shoes and crawled into bed, bringing her in tightly against his body. “Don’t listen to John. He’s a fool. Which brings up a point. Abby deserves better.”

  “I agree, but her heart picked him.”

  “Has she? Or is she just worried about what we’ll do? I have something to tell you.”

  Marie turned in the circle of his arms and faced him. “You sound ominous. What is it?”

  “I trust Egon, but he has feelings for Abby.”

  “I know.”

  “I’m thinking about replacing him with Lagmann.”

  “No, I trust Egon to protect her with his life. And she trusts him.”

  “Finally, Bee trusts a werewolf.” Odin chuckled. “That brat.”

  “He will protect her,” she repeated, a smile touching her lips.

  “Yes, he will.”

  Marie buried her face into his chest and nuzzled her cheek against the soft hair. “As you will protect me, and I you.”

  He laughed, the sound moving her face with the rise and fall of his torso. “My Duchess of Creepy, I won’t let anything happen to you or your precious Abigail.” He dropped a light kiss on the top of her head. As usual, his stomach interrupted their tender moment by roaring.

  “How about another barbecue?” she asked.

  “I think that’s a great idea. What are you going to eat?”

  “John.” Marie managed in a straight face before they simultaneously blurted, “Ew.”

  The night enveloped Odin and Egon, and all sounds stilled as if the moon kicked every morsel of noise away.

  “Even if he wasn’t her choice, she is human. It’s too dangerous,” Odin said, breaking the silence.

  Egon watched John, who insisted on manning the grill.

  “He’s already overcooked the steaks.”

  Odin sighed. “Whose bright idea was it to leave him to it?”

  Egon glanced at Odin and then back at the house. “He insisted. I guess he’s trying to be the man of the house.”

  Odin chuckled. “Marie is the man of the house.”

  “I can control it. I would never hurt her,” Egon said.

  “Can you? Always? What about now? The moon is bringing your emotions to the surface and multiplying them. What if you slip?”

  Egon tore his gaze from the house and the lights that illuminated Abby, Marie, and John. He looked down at his feet. “I’m older than you were when it happened to you. I won’t hurt Abby like you hurt that human. I would never, could never.”

  “I was young and times were different.”

  “But there were others.”

  “Even if you could keep yourself in check, what kind of a relationship would it be with you always holding a part of yourself back?”

  “You’re being premature.”

  “Am I?”

  Egon’s face reddened.

  “It’s dangerous. I can’t let you take that risk with Bee.”

  “You sound like your father.”

  “I’m going to ignore that because I’ve been there and I understand.”

  “You made a mistake once, Odin.”

  “She isn’t for you, brother. The sooner you accept it, the sooner you’ll be at peace.”

  Odin sighed and looked up at the moon. Every cell of his body sizzled with the need to turn. His head pulsed and a current of static raised the hairs on his body.

  “Take the truck and go for a run.” Egon had to be suffering the same kinetic pull.

  “I’ll do it here.”

  “Egon—”

  “She’s worried about what Marie will do to him if they break up and she’s confusing that for more than what it is. She isn’t in love with him.”

  “Whether or not she’s is in love doesn’t change anything. Stop or I’ll pull you off her guard.”

  Egon looked at Odin, his eyes haunted. “Don’t,” was all he said before turning and shifting into a black werewolf with silver streaks and gold eyes.

  Inside, Abby lay in bed, staring at the ceiling and the shadows cast by her nightlight.

  She punched her pillow and flipped onto her stomach. It wasn’t like her to lose sleep, but Marie’s words cycled through her mind, over and over. Three days.

  She didn’t want to leave. They had just settled into life here and she liked Florida. If they left, when they left, would John choose to go with them? Would he leave his practice and transplant to New York or wherever they went next? Having a practice required structure and stability that she and Marie couldn’t provide. This wasn’t exactly fair to him, but she had thrown herself into a relationship. She hadn’t done it lightly, but she’d leapt nonetheless.

  And now it was too late. Now there were consequences. What was she going to do? John was wrong for her, but if she left him or he left her, she doubted Marie would let him live knowing his scientific mind wa
s having so much trouble wrapping around the existence of vampires. He didn’t even know about werewolves.

  Which got her thinking about Odin. Would Odin leave with them? What about Egon? And his other packmates? At some point that was another conversation they would have to have with John. She didn’t relish it. Maybe she could have Egon shift and be done with it.

  Abby rubbed her eyes, wanting the whirl of preoccupation to fall away into silence. She still had her reservations about werewolves, but it was obvious, even to her, that Marie was different since she met Odin. She was laughing again and living in the bowl of life instead of watching it from the fringes. The house was full of voices. She wondered if it had been like that when her mom and grandparents had been alive. She wondered if that was what it was like to have a big family.

  She glanced at the clock and then at John. He looked so peaceful and innocent. Could she let Marie kill him when none of this was his fault? He mumbled something inaudible, took in a breath, and released a gargling snore.

  Lightning flashed across the sky, briefly filling the room with bright light. Five seconds later, thunder boomed, followed by a howl, and another, in the distance. With a sigh, she got out of bed and padded to Marie’s room.

  Marie was brushing her hair when Abby entered. She laid her brush down and turned. “Still awake?”

  “I can’t sleep. Will you tell me a story?” Abby plopped onto the bed, turned onto her stomach, and put her chin in her hands expectantly.

  “Absolument. Which story would you like to hear again, ma petit trésor?”

  “Something about Mom.”

  “Hmm. Your mama had a zest for life that was contagious. Everyone loved her and was happy around her.”

  Abby closed her eyes in an attempt to conjure an image of her mother. She’d been doing it since was a child, with the same results. And Marie wondered what was worse, remembering everything or remembering nothing?