by Multiple
“Keep on feeding her lines, you son of a bitch,” Lynda said sharply. “We both know that you killed my daughter.”
“Here we fucking go,” Riley said with an eye roll.
“You’re damn right!” Lynda screeched, pacing back and forth. “I knew you were trouble from the minute I laid eyes on you.”
Riley’s face went hard. I remembered that face well…the one he wore when he talked about how his life wasn’t his own. When he talked about a father who called him a disappointment and a mother who lived by ‘It’s 5 PM somewhere’ twenty four hours a day.
I saw Arrissa take a step closer to the line but still maintain a healthy distance. Apparently she was familiar with the danger zone as well.
“Riley and I had our problems,” she said gently. “Every married couple does. But Riley didn’t kill me, Mama. It was just my time.”
Lynda’s perfectly put together face crumbled then as she sank to the floor. “I know I spent most of your life-”
“Filled with jealousy?” Riley growled at her.
Lynda ignored him, still on her knees in front of her daughter. “I know I wasn’t the best mother, but you have to know that I thought we had more time,” she sobbed. “Time for me to make it up to you, time for me to make it up to my grandbabies. This just can’t be it!”
As annoying as her mother was, her words spoke to me. In my line of work, I always heard that spouses felt guilt because they hoped for death. A car accident, a stroke, an alien invasion….anything earth shattering that would set them free. It was nice to finally see someone who had a regret that didn’t involve a prenuptial agreement or not getting married at all.
Arrissa’s face was serene as she flashed her mom a sad smile. “It’s okay, Mom. I know you loved me in your own way.” Her eyes went to Riley. “Any more questions?”
Riley shook his head.
“Good,” Arrissa said gently. “Now I’d like to speak with the necromancer. Alone.”
Chapter Nineteen
The One He Chose
I shuffled uncomfortably, shoving my hands in my pocket. It was just me and the ghost.
“Maybe you should say something to veil our conversation,” Arrissa said, crossing her arms. “If I know my mother, she has her ear glued to the door.”
I held my hand out and murmured a spell.
She closed her eyes, inhaling deeply. “As a were, I was no stranger to magic. The things my body could do beneath a full moon…” She shivered. “This’ll probably come as a shock, but that’s what I miss the most. Running wild and free. The hunt. The feel of flesh between my teeth. Not my husband. And most certainly not my mother.”
So that’s why she wanted them out. I was to play shrink. “I think you missed out on a chance to really give them a piece of your mind. I mean, you’re dead. What can they do to you now?”
She laughed, a lyrical thing that made her face brighten like the candles beside the circle. “Apparently, I have to play referee even in death. And I’m still chained to the will of a man who hates me.”
I looked at her in shock. “Hates?”
“Yes, Jade,” Arrissa said, her face going cold. “Hates.”
I swallowed as she uttered my name, feeling the bite of some of the own hate she had tucked away. Focused on me. “I don’t believe we’ve met. And I certainly don’t name drop with a ghost.”
“We haven’t met officially,” she agreed. “But I know you. Riley made certain of it.”
My throat went dry. “Riley talked about me?”
“Not at first,” she replied. “I mean, I knew he was dating someone when he imprinted on me. That he…loved someone else.” She tucked a blonde tendril behind her ear. “With our bond, he couldn’t keep it from me.”
I was shaky on were culture, but from what I’d read, werewolves mated through bloodlines. Unions are usually pre-designated, the strong with the strong and the weak with the weak, but it’s not sealed until a male were imprints on his mate. It happens on the were’s eighteenth birthday…the summer Riley disappeared.
“Riley made his choice,” I said evenly. “He chose you.”
Arrissa snorted, a sound that sounded foreign for someone so prim and proper. “Riley didn’t have a choice. His grandfather promised mine that our bloodlines would combine. It was his duty to imprint on me, not his choice.”
“He could’ve said no,” I said stubbornly.
“Silly witch,” Arrissa sighed. “His father would have banished him from the pack without hesitation. A lone wolf, no matter how strong, just doesn’t last in the wild.”
I gulped. “So he stayed. And imprinted on you and you guys lived happily ever after.”
“Hardly,” she snapped. “He performed his duties, he lay with me, and his family provided for me and mine. But there was no happily ever after for me. His heart belonged to you.”
I shook my head, trying to shake away images of him. His dopey smile. His strong, firm hands.
“Whenever I confronted him about you, he tried to shrug it off and tuck it away. You were just some girl that he cared about. So much so that he had a pack in New York check up on you every now and then. He played his role as well as he could. Until you came back to North Carolina.” She set her eyes on me, pain evident on her face. “When his father got sick a few months ago, he gave him a choice. If he didn’t want this life, to be the Alpha and lead the pack, he could walk away. With his father’s blessing.”
I pulled out a chair and sat down. I had no idea what any of this had to do with me. So Riley held a torch for me and made his pretty wife jealous. Why the private conversation? What did she have to gain?
“So once he got wind of his long lost love’s relocation, ” she continued, “he told me that he was leaving. He was starting all over.”
My heart fluttered in my chest. “W-With me?”
She nodded.
“I-I didn’t know.” I stammered. “I had no idea.”
“But that’s not the kicker,” she murmured. “You know what changed everything for me? Him finding out about you and that fanger. That his dream of riding off with you into the sunset was just that – a fantasy. His face-” She turned away, clearing her throat. “I knew then that even if he stayed, he was dead to me. I realized that the past several years of my life were a waste. Five years, Jade. Instead of finally letting you go and trying to build something fresh with me, he just pushed me further away.”
I winced as another wave of disdain washed over me. “Look, Arrissa-”
“That’s why I did it,” she said with a resigned look on her face. “I paid off the doctor and the coroner and got them to say my death was due to complications from my surgery. My whole marriage was built on a lie, what was one more?”
“Oh Arrissa,” I whispered. “You didn’t.”
“I drew a bath in my clawfoot tub, in the house I’d dreamed about since I was a child.” she said quietly. “I washed down the position I craved, becoming the omega of the pack, with a glass of wine and a bottle full of pills.”
So the truth reared its ugly head. All these years I’d been jealous of the beautiful girl in the picture –the happy, carefree American dream from the clipping who got her happily ever after with my guy. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that she had spent the last five years in love with a guy who didn’t reciprocate her feelings. I was sorry for her – for the obvious pain she must have felt, married to someone who loathed her existence.
I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. A year and a half ago, this knowledge would have changed everything. It would have changed me. But a lot of things can happen in a year and a half. Jack happened.
“I don’t know what you want me to do with this information.” I said hoarsely. “Me and Riley, it was a long time ago. I’m with someone now. Jack.”
She raised an eyebrow. “A vampire. I have more honor and decency in my pinky toe than he does in his whole body.”
I shot a brow back at her. “I hope we can agree
that your…prejudice as far as vampires go kind of handicaps you in this matter.”
She waved a pale hand at me. “Don’t be silly. I’m sure you’ve thought of it dozens of times. He’s evil. You can’t stay with him without turning evil yourself.”
“My love life is none of your business, Arrissa.”
“But Riley’s is,” she said with a sad smile. “What I did was-”
“Selfish?” I offered.
She rolled her bright eyes. “Perhaps. But that doesn’t mean something good can’t come out of it.”
“You’re trying to hook me up with your husband? The guy that treated you like shit because he wasn’t man enough to follow his heart instead of his pride?”
She smoothed the front of the thin shift she wore. “Ri isn’t a perfect man. But…he cared about me in his own way. He loves you, necromancer.”
“He’s the reason you committed suicide,” I said incredulously. “How could you want anything for him but pain, suffering, and misery?”
She looked at me then, with no contempt or disdain behind her eyes. “The only crime Riley Carpenter committed against me was not loving me back.”
“Arrissa-”
She held up her hand, silencing me. “I’ve said my piece. Now, can you send me back to the All? I was having the best latte ever with Sylvia Plath.”
Chapter Twenty
Just a Kiss
My mind was going in a million directions as I stood outside Riley’s compound. Just having him beside me sent waves of nostalgia coursing over my body. I could remember our wheelchair race at Pitt Memorial, followed by summarily being banned from said hospital. I could remember riding in his Blazer with the wind blowing through my body, not wanting the night to end.
But it was coming to a close. It was a little past 4 AM and I’d held up my end. Riley had been cleared of any foul play in Arrissa’s death, and I was headed home where The Watchers were probably waiting to cart me off to Trial.
“I could ask you what she said,” Riley said, turning to face me. “But I won’t.”
“Good,” I said, forcing myself to look toward the lot where one of the wolves marched to grab a car to take me home. “It’s none of your business.”
“Now I’m intrigued,” he said with a smirk.
“Let me know how that works out for you,” I said, taking another step away. I could feel white-hot heat rushing to my face. I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing that he still had that effect on me.
“I’m sorry again,” he offered. “About the whole kidnapping thing.”
“Well you wouldn’t be Ri if you weren’t running around inconveniencing people,” I said, shaking my head. I breathed a silent sigh of relief as the Lincoln Town Car pulled up beside us. “Trunk or back seat?”
“Very funny,” he chuckled. He turned to look at me, his ebony eyes making me want to melt into a puddle. “It was really good to see you, Jay.”
“Stop looking at me like that,” I hissed, shoving him.
“Like what?” he asked innocently.
“Like you want to kiss me,” I said, forcing my gaze downward to the gravel. “Like you’ve wanted to kiss me all these years.”
He tilted my chin up, his lips quivering. I knew it was coming – and I didn’t stop him. His mouth was warm and inviting, like coming home after a long vacation. His fingers were in my hair, drawing me closer as we kissed deeper, loud ferocious smacks that made me feel sixteen again. All the emotions I thought I’d buried so deep to dull the hurt came rushing back to the surface. What we had was a living, breathing thing and I forgot myself, letting out a moan as I ground my pelvis against him, feeling his erection pulse through his jeans.
The loud blare of the horn snapped us back to reality and I pulled away from him, my face hot with embarrassment.
“Jade-”
“Gotta go,” I said, sliding inside the car and pulling the door closed behind me. “Go!” I barked at the were behind the wheel. “Drive!” He put the car in motion and we moved forward, circling the driveway. I said a little prayer of thanks to the gods that the windows were tinted pitch black. If I had turned around and seen him staring at the limo with longing, I might’ve done something really dumb like roll out of a moving car.
What the hell was wrong with me? I had a boyfriend. A helluva good one even, despite his dietary requirements. Who was just as good a kisser, if not better. A boyfriend that had been bopped on the head by his maker so my ex-bf, whom I hadn’t seen in years, could pretty much blackmail me into necromancing for him. It was all overwhelming…and to top it off, the were driver was a fan of scream metal and now I couldn’t even hear myself think.
“Hey!” I screeched at the driver over the heavy metal blaring from the radio.
He just turned up the radio, shooting me a glance in the mirror that said, Shut up, necro.
“Where’s my purse?” I screeched over the racket. “I need to call my-”
“HOLY SHIT!” the were thundered, letting out an even more impressive string of obscenities.
I screamed as our car tilted forward like a pin on a needle, tires screeching. The were was fumbling with his seatbelt, his true nature rippling beneath his skin. Great. I was going to be stuck in a mangled car with a were who was clearly not my biggest fan.
But the car stopped with a thud, and after a series of expletives and snarls, the were shut off the engine.
The smoke from the burning rubber dissipated and I smiled when I saw a familiar face. Jack was standing in front of the car, smashing it back to the ground.
He marched over to the driver’s door and pulled the guy out by his throat. I watched in awe as the were struggled like a ragdoll even though he was twice Jack’s size.
I slid out the back door, not wanting any blood spilled on my account. “No, Jack! Just let him go!”
Jack snarled but loosened his grip.
The were looked back and forth between us. I could feel the waves of anger and hunger pouring off Jack.
“Look,” I told the were. “On a bad day, you could probably take him. But he’s pissed. And hungry. Maybe you should take one for the team.”
The were let out a manly growl but turned back to the car.
“No,” Jack said, stepping closer. “Walk.”
The were pulled off his shirt. His pride wouldn’t let him walk away. They were about to have a throwdown.
I reached out and yanked a piece of hair from the were’s head. He didn’t even notice as his nose was already elongating and becoming snout-like.
I gripped a section of my kinky hair and started to weave his hair into my own. “Calisio un voratio,” I chanted. “Calisio un voratio. Calisio un voratio.”
The were froze in place like a robot waiting for further command.
“You’re gonna turn around and keep walking until you get back to the compound.” I ordered. “Go.”
He nodded absentmindedly, then staggered in the direction we came from.
I stood in the middle of the road, chest heaving, staring at my vampire boyfriend. “H-Hi.”
His face broke into a beautiful grin. “Hi.”
I gasped as he scooped me up and slid me into the back of the car. As his fangs glistened as he stared at my chest, I realized that I’d misread him. It wasn’t a hunger for blood – it was a hunger for something else.
I circled my arms around his neck and brought him close. My lips quaked as my tongue slid out and traced the outline of his fangs. His body shuddered with desire with each lick.
I pulled back and brushed his face with my palm. “I was so worried. I didn’t want my last memory of you to be a stupid argument. I’m so sorry.”
“I know,” he said, ripping my dress down the front. “Me too.”
I sighed with pleasure as he took my nipple in his mouth, his cool hands kneading it as he suckled me. His fangs pierced the delicate tissue and I cried out in ecstasy.
I pulled off his dirty button down shirt and ran my fingers o
ver his strong, sure chest. I wanted to feel every curve, every ripple of him. My touch drove him wild and in an instant we were both naked, clinging to each other. As much as I wanted to feel his fangs against my neck, ripping the skin and guzzling my blood as I clasped his body to me, I needed to feel him inside me more. I needed him to fuck me.
I straddled him, steadying myself on the backseat cushion as I bucked my hips against him, impaling myself on his bulge in one solid thrust.
“Oh gods, Jade,” he murmured into my hair. “Oh yes.”
I threw my head back and let out a hungry groan as he moved inside me, hard and warm. The rest of the world melted away as we rocked together, consumed with desire. I locked my arms around his neck and began to move my hips in slow, methodical circles.
My fingers locked in his hair and I tugged as I began to hop up and down on him, crashing into him over and over. Giving him all of me. Taking all of him and holding steady to it. Holding fast to the pleasure.
I felt it in his groans as he twined his arms around my waist and held me still as he jackhammered in and out with abandon. Even in his frenzy, his passion, he was still whispering as he moved inside me.
“Only you, Jade. Only you…”
When he finished, he screamed my name and his cries pushed me over the peak, the sky exploding with light. I saw every star and when I reached toward it, his hand in mine, I could almost feel their warmth.
We stayed connected, the only sounds crickets chirping back and forth and the steady beat of my heart.
“Maybe we should get kidnapped more often,” I said lightheartedly. But he didn’t move a muscle.
“So what happened?” I asked, rearing back to look at his face. “Did Ana hurt you?”
He searched my eyes, his jaw a firm line. “You smell like were.”
My mouth hung open. “Beg your pardon?”
He traced my jaw tenderly with an index finger still wet with my desire. “Did you call out my name while he fucked you?”
I pulled myself off him, clutching my tattered dress to my naked body. “That’s some pillow talk, Jack. I didn’t sleep with any were.”