[excerpt]

by Editor

  A few crackling noises were followed by his fangs retracting. That one sound he could do without as it reverberated inside his head. It reminded him of a tooth extraction. “Serina? You’re awfully quiet. Are you all right?” Lucian cradled her head in his arm, and with the back of his fingers stroked her cheeks.

  “Oh indeed, m’lord.” Serina’s words slurred as if she had a mouth of marbles. “Could you make love to me, Lucian.”

  “No, not now!” That came from someone in the cabin next to them.

  Lucian laughed, both from embarrassment and frustration. Serina never noticed and kept talking.

  “This feeling within me is overwhelming. I’m not sure what you just did to me, but whew, don’t stop!” She tried to raise her hand and run her fingers through her hair, but her fingers got tangled in her mane. “I seem to be stuck.” She giggled as Lucian set her free.

  “Little one, this one time I can’t. I love you, but I’m not up for the occasion…”

  “Awe, too bad,” came from someone who Lucian would have bet the farm was Duncan.

  Lucian laughed even more knowing his entire life was being monitored. He played it just a bit, and raised his voice. “Let me rephrase that, Serina, I am definitely up for the occasion.” More grumbling seeped through the walls from the boys next door. In a serious tone, he lowered his voice. “My control is in serious jeopardy now. I could hurt you. And then there is the issue of all the extra ears.” Lucian inclined his head toward the wall behind him. “In a few days we’ll do this again when we can have some privacy, but for now let me just hold you until you fall asleep. Drink some water. I was a tad bit greedy, and you’ll most likely feel it when you try to walk. My apologies.”

  Languorous, Serina reached up and kissed Lucian, and with a gentle whisper in his ear, told him, “I’m holding you to your word.” It took more effort than she had realized and her head thumped backward into Lucian’s waiting arms.

  Lucian shook her once. “Little one, wake up. Come on. Please don’t tell me I hurt you.” Fear spiked when she didn’t stir. “Oh Christ, Serina—wake up!” He shook her again, tapped her cheeks, shook her once more and then panicked as he tried to figure out a way to get her to come around. He silently prayed he hadn’t done to her, what Jasper did to him—bleed him to death. His mind went back in time to a book he’d read when he was but a child, La Belle au Bois Dormant (Sleeping Beauty), by Charles Perrault.

  Kiss her Lucian, a small voice screamed. “It can’t possibly be that simple,” he whispered. “Can it?” Kiss her and save her. And so he did because he didn’t have any other tricks up his sleeve. When her lips met his in a passion-filled, hungry kiss, he burst into tears. He proclaimed, “I must really be Prince Charming.” He watched Serina eye him oddly, and he laughed more. “I am going to go get some food and more water for you. Do not attempt to leave the cabin, fair enough?”

  “Fair enough. Lucian, I can’t even lift my head. What just happened?”

  “You passed out on me again. I won’t be long.” About to walk out the sensation of being smothered in maggots squirmed up his spine. Someone had to have boarded the train with them at the last stop, and that new someone was not so friendly, nor alive. André how is everyone?

  Payton and Duncan finally fell asleep after you two quieted down. André snickered. Jonah has the appearance of a caged rat. He’s a barrel of laughs. Why?

  Have you spoken with him? Has he said anything?

  He started getting restless when you and your wife…

  I get the point. Do you think a walk would do him some good? Would you sit with Serina while we go?

  What’s going on, Luce?

  I think something’s on the train with us. Maybe Jonah feels it too.

  ****

  “Jonah?” André nudged him with his elbow.

  Jonah jumped as if he’d had a bucket of ice dumped down his back.

  “Sorry,” André added.

  “What?” Jonah faced André.

  “Lucian wants you to take a walk with him. You up for it? Stretch your legs a bit?”

  Jonah gave him his full attention. With his hands on his knees, he bent forward and asked, “Why? Is he going to throw me off the train?” Jonah actually tried to smile, but his face twitched instead. “André, I know you’ve no reason to trust me, or believe me, but you must listen to me now. Something dead just boarded this train. I can feel it all over me, like bugs crawling all over my body with little pinchers digging into me. Trust me, I know the feeling.” The attacks of the beetles on the mountain were going to stay with Jonah for a long while to come.

  “Thank you for painting such a clear, unforgettable picture, really.” Andre rubbed his legs and arms.

  “It’s not Jasper. I’d feel it if it were, and so would Serina and your brother, but it is dead, and it travels with a sentinel.”

  André’s interest piqued. “How do you know this?”

  “Animals can sense things humans can’t. With the mix of both bloods, I don’t miss much. André move, I’m not feeling so well.” Jonah doubled over.

  Upon entering the cabin, Lucian gave a wink to André when he saw Duncan sprawled across Payton crushing him into the window. Lucian commented, “There is a sight for sore eyes. Can Payton breathe?” Concern crept in when he noticed Jonah. “What’s going on?”

  Jonah answered, “I’m good. Just a stomach grumble. Lucian, we’ve got company on the train, but I guess you already know. Am I right?”

  Lucian nodded. “Yes. Do you want to walk with me?”

  “Let’s go.” On his feet, his stomach cramped like a woman’s in full-blown labor, and he bolted through the door. After a few tumultuous heaves, a soured puddle of vomit covered the floor and stunk up the hall. “Sorry.” Jonah apologized as he stepped over the mess and continued on his way.

  André stepped over the puddle and said, “Mind the muck. I’ll go keep your wife out of trouble, Luce, but hurry back. She’s more than a handful.”

  Lucian immediately thought, you would know, but said naught, piercing his tongue with his newfangled incisors. Now was not the time to bring up such matters. Then Lucian wondered, would there ever be a right time to bring up his brother almost getting full carnal knowledge of his wife, enthralled or not!

  Lucian and Jonah swayed with the train’s jerky movements down the aisle in single file. The setting sun cast dusky shadows on people. Some of the passengers slept, while others chatted quietly between themselves. A few children sprinted up and down the aisles without care that they might disturb someone else. Oblivious to the children’s antics, their parents were probably happy to be rid of them for a short respite. Lucian briefly thought about showing the little wildebeests his not-so-funny fangs and watch them run screaming back to their seats, but then decided it was best to behave. Sometimes he found being an adult absolutely no fun.

  Outside the baggage car Jonah whispered, “It is in here, Lucian. Do you see anyone you recognize or looks abnormal, anxious, or panting like a dog in the dead of summer?”

  “You sure you’re not describing me?” Lucian flashed Jonah a quick smile. That’s how Lucian dealt with stress, humor first, and then if that didn’t work, then he’d get serious, or as serious as he could muster.

  No deranged, psychotic serial killer jumped up to greet them or chuck them from the train. A few women actually flirted as they passed by, finding them remarkably attractive. Lucian enjoyed his new ability to read everyone’s mind. Before the attack, he was limited to his siblings and Serina’s mind. Now the world was his playground. So far, other than the whole-have-to-have-blood-or-die-diet, Lucian found his new lease on life interesting.

  Getting the uncomfortable feeling of eyes burning a hole in him, Lucian’s gaze was drawn to a man sitting next to the window in the last row of seats, watching him and Jonah with a menaced glare. The man was huge—Sumo wrestler huge.

  “I think we’re at the wrong end of the train for food and beverages,” Jonah said with a slight ti
lt to his head in the direction of the man at the window.

  “It appears so. Want some air? I believe the caboose is through that last door.”

  Once inside the pitch-black car, Lucian bumped into Jonah then grabbed the door and held it to allow light to filter in. At a first glance the room looked like one giant booby-trap. Open boxes overflowed with baubles and beads. Trinkets of every size, shape and color threatened to spill out. Rolled carpets leaned against the walls at impossible angles. One wrong touch and they’d tumble like giant dominos. Suitcases were stacked uneven one atop another against the walls and there even sat a crate carrying two pigs, which began squealing when they realized they had company. Then, Lucian saw their treasure, tucked neatly into the corner, a black tin casket, with more suitcases strewn across it and a two seated tandem bike, both wheels flat, parked up against the side. Lucian’s heart picked up its pace.

  “What if it’s just really a dead person, Jonah?” Lucian couldn’t peel his eyes off the casket. “Damn, I don’t want to sleep in one of them. Do you have your silver cross on?”

  Jonah threw Lucian an unhealthy glare. “I don’t do silver anymore, Lucian. Remember, the whole werewolf-silver scenario? How ’bout you? You got your cross on? Oh, I’m sorry, you can’t wear a cross anymore, can you?” Jonah actually laughed at his snide remark. Then, remorse settled in. What the hell is wrong with me? The man has taken me in, given me shelter and food even after all the events of the mountain. Against all odds, Lucian showed he was a true gentleman, and Jonah was being a giant ass.

  Lucian pulled his cross out from under his shirt and gave Jonah an empty smile.

  “That’s impossible, Lucian. How?” No vampire he’d ever met had ever been able to wear a cross.

  “Sorry, Jonah, you’ve had a few more years of practice at this way of life. Should we open the casket, or one of us stay here and keep an eye on it tonight?”

  Jonah’s voice came out thick with sarcasm then. “And do I get to guess who’s going to babysit the box? I’m not back here for the night, Lucian. Send me some relief in an hour or so. I’m not the big bad wolf you all think.”

  With that and remembering the tragic events on the mountain before he passed on, Lucian’s blood boiled. “I beg to differ. I know you saved Serina from Jasper and for that I’m grateful. I understand Jasper had you by the cockles, but you dealt with him in the first place. Correct me if I’m wrong, you made a deal with the devil, and now your payments are due.” Lucian’s temper continued to escalate. He backed Jonah into the suitcases. “And one more thing, wolf, as long as I’m breathing, stay the hell away from my wife. Don’t you ever think of taking advantage of her, ever again! Touch her and I’ll rip your throat out. It’ll make what Jasper did to me look like he was toothless.” Lucian waited for some reaction or response, but none came. “I’ll send Duncan back in an hour to relieve you.” Lucian squared his shoulders, turned and left. He didn’t know he could harbor such contempt or empathy for the man at the same time, but he knew he was right concerning his wife. Jonah would die a thousand deaths by his hands if he touched Serina.

  When Lucian reached the boys’ car, he woke Duncan and Payton and asked them to join him with Serina. Both Payton and Duncan exchanged a tired, aggravated glance.

  ****

  With only the sound of his heart slamming into his ribs to keep him company and darkness breathing down his neck, Jonah hugged his knees to his chest. If he’d shifted, he was certain his tail would be tucked between his legs from fear. What had happened between Lucian and him? For a fleeting moment he thought they’d all end up friends. You’re a nutter, Jonah. Everything Lucian said held truth and the truth hurt. So lost in his thoughts, he didn’t see the casket start to open with skeletal-like bony fingers prying their way out from under the lid.

  ****

  “Duncan, will you go back and relieve Jonah? He’s in the very last car. We’re keeping an eye on a box.”

  Duncan shifted a brow towards Lucian. “What kind of box, Luce? A small box?” Duncan spread his hands out about six inches apart. “Or a big box?” Again, Duncan spread his arms out a tad wider, apprehension covering his face. “What’s in the box, Luce? Or don’t I want to know?”

  “Don’t ask questions you really don’t want the answers to.” Lucian never broke a smile.

  “All right, I’m asking, against my better judgment. What do you believe is in the box? Should I be worried?”

  “Yes, old man. There is a casket on the train accompanied by some man that is very big, ridiculously big.” Lucian spread his arms out very wide and attempted to smile. “He’s in the second to last car, and I believe he is a sentinel. The casket is in the last car.” Lucian paced the tiny room talking to everyone and no one in particular, explaining what he and Jonah saw. Attempting to sit down he found no empty seat, so he grabbed Serina, swung her in the air and pulled her onto his lap. He wrapped his arms around her waist, and held her against him. With his face buried in the crook of her neck he whispered, “You feeling better, my wild rose?”

  Serina gave him an affirmative nod.

  Duncan commented, “You didn’t call us over to watch you two, did you?”

  Lucian ignored him and purposely continued to kiss Serina.

  Don’t start something with me you can’t finish now, dear husband.

  What’s between us, m’lady, will never be finished. Lucian closed his eyes just for a second, his head resting on Serina’s. She was his anchor. She was the one and only reason his heart beat. She gave them a second chance at love and a life together, and he was never going to let her down again. Peeking around his wife, he suggested, “Ands, maybe you could go with Duncan. Check on Jonah. We don’t need him growing fur on us now.”

  “And we don’t need you looking like a saber tooth tiger either, Luce.” André slapped his brother’s arm trying to lighten his mood.

  Lucian snapped his teeth at him. “You want to feel what my wife felt? I’d be more than happy to rip a—never mind.”

  “Some other night, Luce, when I’m totally pissed and have given up on all women, then, you tall, dark, drink of a man, maybe I’ll let you sink your tiny, little, teeth into me.” André laughed so hard he fell off the seat. “Come on Duncan, help me up and let’s go check on your new best friend.”

  Duncan walked out alone.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “Do you see Jonah?” André asked feeling his way around in the dark.

  “No time for puzzles, boys,” Jonah whispered. He may as well have been invisible because neither man could see him even though he could see them perfectly. “We’re not alone, and we’ve trouble.”

  André spun to find where the voice originated from, and he slammed into Duncan.

  “Jonah, where are you? Who’s here with us? Do either of you have a match?” Duncan asked.

  “No! Don’t light it.” Desperation filled Jonah’s voice. “I don’t want it to touch me again.”

  “Again?” André reached blindly and gripped an arm, hoping it was Jonah’s. “Jonah, what happened?”

  “It brushed up against me, and I felt a thousand snakes biting me. Then it hissed, just as a snake would, only meaner, I’m sure of it.”

  “Oh, Christ, no more nasty things,” André muttered.

  She watched them fumble, trip over bags and each other, a malicious curl to her lips. Her indefectible night vision kept her alive; it was where she lived. She sat perched on top of her polished black box waiting for the precise moment to strike. After a few awkward minutes and her inability to control her impulsiveness she spoke.

  “Hello, André. ’Tis been years since I’ve heard your angelic voice. I thought I might go mad from missing you, but what fate we have, you and I, to end up here together again on this train.”

  André could not breathe. Funny thing, he never really thought too much about air until there was none. Now, he missed it—miserably. He was certain fingers choked the very life from him, even though no one touched him.
He was positive his chest had just been ripped open and his heart torn out—still beating. This was the part of the stories he despised as a small child, where the monster came to get him, and twenty-four years later, that damned beast still plagued him.

  The voice could not be the person he knew it belonged to. She’d been long gone from this world. His mouth went bone dry. A week prior...hearing her voice, he would have welcomed her with open arms. Things had changed! After the past week’s unveilings he wanted the woman as far away from him as possible and yet now here she was, somewhere in the room with him, speaking to him as if it was yesterday.

  Duncan corralled André and Jonah and backtracked to the car door. About one foot away from freedom, the door opened in and a very large male shoved through the opening, hogging any trace of light that may have filtered in from his presence alone.

  “Good evening, my Princess. I see we have company. Splendid.”

  André mouthed, “Princess,” to a blackened room.

  The large man’s delicate voice sang like a soprano’s, soft, feminine. The body was anything but. He resembled a bull, castrated, and full of ire. With a light clap of his hands, he smiled, displaying an empty toothless grin.

  “I don’t know about you,” Jonah yelled, “but we need to get out of here. She’s got fangs, this one. Big healthy ones. And he’s flippin’ toothless.”

  “Silence, little mutt. André, how is it you travel with this sorry excuse of a werewolf, and Duncan? Let me guess, son, where there’s Duncan, his little lamb Lucian’s sure to follow. Didn’t we slaughter him? Am I right?”

  “Who are you, lady?” Jonah snapped. “Let me try again boys, we need to get out of here, now!”

  “André, why is it you do not speak to me, my love? Has it been so long that you’ve lost your manners? Introduce me to your mangy little pet. I might be wanting one of my own some day. I’d like very much to teach him a new trick or two—roll over...play dead.” Chyna St. James hissed through her teeth looking directly at Jonah. “I can smell your fear, mutt.”

  Jonah countered, “Trust me lady, I smell like bloomin’ roses compared to you.”