A man like him was probably taken. She had visions of a hundred concubines and ten wives, and none of them could keep him satisfied. Something new and unfamiliar sparked to vengeful life at the idea.
“No, Marijka. There is no one else.” His thumb stroked lazy circles over her beaded nipple. “Only you, krasavitsa.”
“Pretty lies, Stanislav. I don’t need or want them.” But part of her did. That newness that blossomed in her core, it wanted to hear she was beautiful again. Krasavitsa. She loved how he sounded. They were in dangerous territory now because she also wanted to hear that she was the only one. That she was forever.
That was ridiculous. Marijka didn’t do relationships and she certainly didn’t do forever. She was a Guild cop; she didn’t have forever to offer. She didn’t even know this guy. One night of hot sex—
His mouth crashed into hers, silencing her thoughts and feeding that little voice. Marijka clung to him, her knees weak, and her head swam with the onslaught of pleasure just from his kiss.
He broke away, eyes dark and hot. She didn’t know how she’d ever thought them frigid. Endless, yes, but she’d burn in their depths rather than drown. They bored into her and she found herself not only allowing his mind to invade hers, but also craving it.
“I do not lie, Marijka Zolinski. Look and see.”
She couldn’t. A black curtain hung between them, and he’d invited her to pull it back and prove he spoke the truth. Invited her to the most intimate of invasions with no hesitation.
Marijka was suddenly terrified there was something dark behind the curtain, something that wanted to devour her.
“Stop.” She turned her face away and his hand dropped to her waist.
“Why are you afraid? A Guild cop who has been through the Abyss, fought demons and devils to come out the other side. What have you to fear?”
“You.” Marijka didn’t look up at him, couldn’t—and she was torn between disgust at herself for her weakness and wanting to burrow into his arms. Intensely stupid, considering he was what she feared.
Only, he wouldn’t let her hide. With one strong finger he tilted her chin so she was forced to look him in the eye. “The offer is always open. You may look whenever you wish.” He studied her for a moment. “I will never hurt you. This, I vow.”
The weight of his words slammed against her. In their world, a vow wasn’t something taken lightly. It was binding. It was always. People didn’t make vows after one-night stands. Unless—Her eyes widened as she cut off the thought. Marijka wasn’t willing to finish it.
She broke away from the circle of his arms. “I have to go.”
His hands fell to his sides and he didn’t try to stop her, or grab for her. “Whether you wish to spend another night with me or not, you still have my protection in Ostrava.”
Marijka paused and looked at him again. In the warm light of morning, he was just a man. A large man, with a tongue like a satyr and the endurance of a god, but just a man. His flesh real, supple and solid beneath her hands. “I’m not good with this people thing.”
For one terrible moment, she thought he was going to tell her that it was good, because he wasn’t a person. He was some horrible beast from the pit of hell, but she already knew he couldn’t be a werewolf. He couldn’t. He was inside with her last night.
“Neither am I.” A half smile curved his mouth and this time, it was Luka who looked away from her. Almost as if he were embarrassed. “It’s been a long time since I’ve courted a woman. Things that are right among my people—” he shrugged “—are not among yours. I forget.”
“Long enough that you still use words like court? You are that old, then?”
“I will tell you about it sometime. If you wish.”
“Or you could simply be a master manipulator who saw that the intense approach wasn’t working so you switched to this awkward, harmless facade you thought I’d find more appetizing.”
“All predators are good manipulators.” He laughed. “But no, Marijka. After Ostrava, I will answer any question you ask of me.”
“Why Ostrava? Why not now? We’re both headed there for the same reasons.” She studied him, but his face was a mask—unreadable.
“I can’t.” The guarded expression melted into one of what seemed to be genuine regret.
“So after, any question? Regardless of the Aeternali?”
“Yes.”
“I still have to go.” She bit her lip. When he was like this, she wasn’t afraid. He made her feel safe. Though it was a conundrum because he was the one who made her afraid, too. Even afraid, Marijka had a job to do and nothing would stop her.
“As do I. My compartment on the train will be available to you. Last car.”
“What number?” Marijka asked before she could stop herself.
The half smile bloomed into a self-assured grin. “No number. The last car. It’s all mine.”
“Maybe I’ll see you there.” She grabbed her bag and headed out the door without looking back.
Magda met her at the foot of the stairs with a tray full of food, and a basket on her wrist. When she saw Marijka, she set the tray down and handed her the basket.
Color rushed to her cheeks when she realized Magda must have heard them last night. Yes, Luka was most definitely a good boy. She blushed harder. While she was comfortable with her body and its functions—one had to be growing up in a caravan—Marijka also had a healthy respect for propriety and her elders.
“I couldn’t accept—”
Magda smiled. “Vnucka, you must keep up your strength. Dark times are coming.” She grabbed Marijka’s hand and traced her finger down her fate line and her life line. “You have seen the broken line. It was broken once in the Abyss, and now it will break again. You will face the thing you fear most and you must defeat it.” Magda let go of her hand and shoved the basket at her again. “Not only for yourself, but for all who will come after you. For Luka.”
“We barely know each other.” She shrugged.
“And you, my girl, know better than to argue with your babicka.” For the briefest moment, Baba Zoranna looked out at her through Magda’s eyes and was gone. “For Luka,” she reiterated. “The thing that terrifies you most.”
It wasn’t a hard leap to make. Baba Zoranna had seen her future and came to warn her. The rogue werewolves would attack Luka and if Marijka didn’t overcome her fear, it wasn’t just Luka who would lose, it was all of them. The virus would become pandemic.
She didn’t understand this connection with him, or why it mattered so much.
Chapter Five
His mate was terrified of him, Luka thought.
It was obvious from the way she’d fled his company and from her history. From her experiences, she had every reason to be. Luka knew she wanted him, that wasn’t in question. There was no way to ease her into accepting what he was or that they were mated.
Luka scrubbed his hand over his face and leaned back against the wall. The smell of her still permeated the room...wrapped around him. He inhaled deeply, drawing the remnants of their time together inside and committing them to memory. He could lose himself in her, the feel of her skin, and the taste of her on his lips.
It seemed that if he’d open his mind to her, she’d look. She had so many questions and allowing her inside released him of any promise he’d made to the Aeternali. Not that they kept theirs, but he was a creature of his word. Luka waited for her to look, to see—not just the beast, but that they belonged together.
His devotion to her.
Wolves mated for life. The instant snap of puzzle pieces clicking into place was the same emotion humans called love.
He sensed the rogue pack had already moved on to the next village on the road to Ostrava. There was no more food for them in Aynkava.
A knock echoed through the heavy door and Magda entered carrying a tray. He must have been lost in thoughts of his Gypsy longer than he’d realized.
Magda shoved the tray filled with kolaches—tradi
tional Czech pastries—and sausage toward him. “What have you done, my Luka? She is Guild. She is Gypsy.” She sat down on the bed. “It is dangerous for you both.”
He remembered the words spoken in the heat of passion. Say you’re mine! And Goddess help them, because he’d said it and bound them together. She belonged to him and he belonged to her. All that was left to finish the claiming was his bite—and if she survived, they’d run beneath the dark sky together for all of eternity.
Magda seemed to know his thoughts. “She may not survive you.”
Luka didn’t doubt Magda’s words, she was a wise woman who’d seen more revolutions around the sun than he had. Only, he knew those words on his tongue to be a lie. He had to see Marijka, touch her—taste her.
“What can I do?” There had to be something that could be done. All of his strength, all of his power—there had to be a way to keep her safe.
“Nothing. A man who fights his fate only brings it about more quickly.”
“Maybe Zoranna would know how to keep her safe.”
“You would brave her wrath?” Magda arched a brow and cocked her head.
“There is nothing on either side of the Abyss I wouldn’t face to keep Marijka safe.”
“Then I will tell you, Zoranna doesn’t know.” Magda’s rounded form trimmed and narrowed, her face becoming tight and haggard. The steady, plump grandmotherly hand that guided him in his youth was thin and gnarled.
Luka found himself face-to-face with Zoranna Zolinksi—Eve of the Gypsies.
“It’s always been you?” he asked quietly.
“Always.” She gave him a kind smile that maybe wasn’t so different than Magda’s after all. “I have a confession to make, if you will hear it.”
“I will hear it, Grandmother Zoranna.” He waited for what she would say. Luka could admit, this struck him as a betrayal. It was hot, acidic and sharp. She’d lied to him for more years than a human brain could fathom.
She patted his hand. “You are still my Luka. Still a good boy. And I am still your Magda.” She sighed. “I can’t say I’m sorry for the lie because I would do it again. Sometimes, the sight is both a gift and a curse. I learned the hard way about fighting my fate with Marijka’s mother. I tried to keep her from her lover and if I’d only let them be together, we might not have ended up here.” Zoranna shoved a kolache at him. “Eat, boy.”
He ate, cramming the treat in his mouth.
“I knew from the moment I became the Eve that you would be important to my family. So I became Magda to watch you, to guide you. It’s very simple really.” She smiled. “And you’ve exceeded all of my expectations. You’re a good man, a powerful wolf. Everything I could want in a mate for Marijka.”
Her words sliced into him like a hundred throwing stars—as he considered them, it was like being pierced with a hundred more. The sadness on her face, what she said about Marijka not surviving him. That was simply unacceptable.
“You know there are rules about interfering and magic. I’ve broken most of them and I’ll be giving the devil his due soon enough. You’ll be faced with a choice, just as Marijka herself will be. The greater good is always the right answer. Do you understand?”
He nodded, squelching any thoughts of sending Marijka away. Zoranna said herself the harder a person fought their destiny, the sooner they brought it about.
Her skin began to flake away, her whole body a gnarled tree burning down to ash to be scattered in the wind. The last thing he heard her say was an oath of profanity that rivaled his own.
There had to be a way to save Marijka.
Or maybe, he didn’t need to save her at all. He’d known the wise woman long enough that every word had a subtext. Maybe she was saying Marijka had to save herself—which, of course, was utter bullshit. She had Luka, he was strong. He was fierce. It was his honor and his duty to fight her battles.
He dialed Bardot. “The woman won’t be a problem.”
“My sources say she’s headed to Ostrava. How is that not a problem?” Kenneth asked.
“She is. But she’s under my protection.”
“That didn’t save Kon.”
“Kon wasn’t Zoranna’s granddaughter.”
He swore. “You’re kidding?”
“If only. I’ll call you from Ostrava.” He hung up and gathered his belongings, stuffing a few more of the kolaches in his mouth as he went. Luka ate them as much to fill his belly as he did to remember them. To remember Magda.
Even if Zoranna were wrong about giving the devil his due, Magda was gone nonetheless. These were the last things her hands had prepared for him. She’d worked the dough herself, carefully and artfully wrapped the pastries around the fillings she knew he liked best. Magda was a childhood dream whose time had come and gone. He grieved for that loss, but for as betrayed as he felt, knowing he had Zoranna’s permission to claim Marijka was worth it.
They were already mated. All that was left was for Marijka to accept the bite of his beast.
The rapid fire report of an M-16 shattered the peace of the morning. Luka sprinted down the stairs and out into the street. There was no stench of the infected, no scent of blood—he couldn’t even smell the gunpowder. In fact, there was no scent of life in Aynkava at all. The Aeternali cleanup crew was gone.
He looked into the distance and saw the train waiting at the station. The train was unprotected.
Marijka was unprotected.
The beast exploded from his human form and he took off with a sprint, covering the kilometers between them in seconds. He assessed the environs quickly, the train, the people onboard. He smelled no infection, no fear...only human scents.
And her. His mate.
No one exited the train and the only one who boarded was Marijka. It appeared the conductor didn’t want to allow it—she had no ticket. There was no one left to work the ticket cage and no ticket vending machine. She flashed her badge and he stepped aside.
Having shed his clothes with his human skin in Aynkava, he had to slip aboard his car through the rear, outer door. Pressing his thumb to the print reader, the door opened.
An announcement came across the PA system. The train wouldn’t be stopping in the next village. Flu quarantine. They’d push straight through to Ostrava.
That’s where the cleanup crew had gone. The beasts were systematically destroying everything in their path. He had to figure out their ultimate goal. He’d thought they were mindless, but this was too organized—too precise.
There was a sharp tap on the door to his car. “Luka?”
Elation filled him when she stepped through the opening. It had only been moments and he was already starved for the sight of her.
“I wasn’t going to come, but I...” She stopped talking as her appraisal was drawn quickly down his body. “Oh.”
The sight of him made her wet. He could smell her need and his cock answered in kind, hard and ready to fill it.
“We shouldn’t.” Marijka pursed her lips tightly, but they were already plump and ready for his kiss. He saw her heartbeat thumping wildly like some terrified animal.
“What should we do?” he asked.
“I don’t know. Probably not anything I want to do.” She laughed, but it was a hollow sound.
He smelled her fear again, but the lust was stronger. Their bond was stronger. Every touch brought them closer, built the link between them.
“Are you going to tell me what you want to do, or must I drag it out of you?” Luka drawled. He wanted her to think about what exactly “dragging it out of her” would entail—a game of erotic penalties. Pushing her to the edge with his tongue, only to make her wait for culmination. Licking every inch of her body—the taste of melted sugar on his tongue.
“I have no idea what I’m doing here. What we’re doing here.”
Then he realized she didn’t need to want his body more than she already did. She needed to know she was safe and her feelings were reciprocated.
“I vowed I wouldn’t hurt
you,” he began.
“I know. I keep thinking about that and I can’t help but wonder why. The softer part of me says to go with it. To drink down these moments and everything they’re worth. But I’m a cop, too, and I refuse to be prey. Those instincts tell me that no one gives away anything for free. Especially not something as valuable as a vow. You want something. I’d rather just know what it is up front.”
“You.”
“See? That’s the problem. That’s the perfect answer. What are you hiding under that veneer, Luka?”
They couldn’t do this now. The train just pulled out of the station and there was no stopping until Ostrava.
“You have an open invitation to look. Or did you forget?” he reminded her gently.
“You’re as dangerous and addictive as any drug.” She dropped her bag and walked toward him, unbuttoning her blouse.
“Good to know it’s not one-sided, malenkaya.”
“You make me feel things, Luka. Things I’ve never felt before.” She closed her eyes, her hands stopped their work. “I can’t believe I said that. It’s so trite. It sounds like a line.”
“Not when it’s true. What is it that makes you think you’re the only one feeling?”
“Because you’re a male. An Alpha male.”
“We have feelings for each other.”
“Not for a one-night stand.”
“You are not a one-night stand. You are mine.” He drew her closer and finished the task of her buttons, baring her breasts to his view. “We had this discussion last night. Or don’t you remember demanding I pledge myself to you?”
Her hands wandered down over his hips, his glutes, his back. “That didn’t mean anything. That’s just something you say in the heat of passion.”
“Maybe for humans. But we are not human, are we? You’re a Gypsy princess who knows better than anyone that your word is your bond. And I’m—”
“Talking too much.” She kissed him hard, almost like she thought she could kiss the words into oblivion.
Luka didn’t understand how one woman could be so strong and so vulnerable all at once. It was just as well she didn’t let him finish. She knew what he was, he didn’t have to say it. Marijka had to be ready to know it, to accept it.
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