And just because their souls were aligned didn’t mean their chosen partner was necessarily a good fit for marriage. Several hideous divorces proved that truth. Men and women could be terribly in love but not able to make it work in the real world. Differences on important topics, like money, kids, and where to live had to be talked about before tying the knot. Passion, no matter how deep, wouldn’t hold a union together for long.
Okay, she could do those two things with Vincent. He was loyal and honest, she’d seen him exhibit both traits already. Throw in a Truth Spell, no problem. She knew what Vincent was; there’d be no surprises there. Blood Sharing ritual? Not a big deal. The fire will burn. What the heck did that mean? No one ever mentioned burning. Was burning good or bad?
Then the final step, prove herself to be…what? What could that crazy woman have been thinking? Hallmar said she’d been half mad, had her good and bad moments when they talked. Was his conversation with her just the wild ramblings of a woman struggling with insanity?
Gen debated calling her mother to ask what she thought, but knew Marian was probably frantically packing for her annual Screw the Holidays trip. Every year at Thanksgiving, Marian and her sister and several friends took a cruise, or a trip to Las Vegas or some other fun spot. None of the women had much family and had decided they would rather play than be home and depressed on the holiday. Genevieve had joined them one year, which was enough. Too much drinking, smoking, and eating crappy food. She’d rather be in her own little place, sipping cheap cabernet and sharing a turkey breast with Chocolate the cat.
Holidays were busy in the retail industry anyway, so when she had time off, she preferred to be at home watching movies, reading, and staying away from noise. The Down to Earth Diner made a delicious traditional holiday dinner the day before, so she just bought takeout, stuck it in the oven the next day, and shared it with Chocolate. Thanksgiving didn’t mean much.
Laundry was folded and Gen was too tired to tackle any more chores. Anyway, curiosity was driving her crazy, so she finally gave in and called her mother.
“I’m thinking about doing a Blood Sharing ritual with this guy. Have you done one before? Has anyone in our family?”
“Yes, I did it once. Horrible! I was so sick, for days afterward. I recall hearing someone else did too. Same results. Why would you want to put yourself through the misery? There’s no need.”
“Let’s say I did one. Have you ever heard of a fire burning with the ritual? What actually happens?”
“Fire burning? No, I’ve never heard that. It’s different with everyone. Usually, the woman experiences a kind of high, like you get from smoking pot.”
Something her mother had done a lot, Gen knew. “What if I told you I might have found a way to break the curse?”
“I’d say you’re crazy for trying. There is no way to break it.”
“There could be. Aunt Doris…” Gen stopped. Why get her mother’s hopes up? If she couldn’t figure out the last part of Belise’s instructions, nothing would change.
“Yes? What about Doris?”
“Nothing. You enjoy your trip. I’ll see you soon.”
So, the worst that would happen if she did a Blood Sharing ritual, she’d get sick. Not the best thing to happen right before a holiday but not the worst. She could lie low, suffer quietly. Was Vincent the right one? Her heart said yes. Only one way to find out. Grabbing her phone she tapped in Vincent’s number.
“Hello. Am I calling too late? Did I catch you at a good time?” She’d expected to hear from Vincent the day before and had been disappointed he didn’t call or text, until she realized her phone had died. The battery held less of a charge every day, really time to replace it. One more item to take money she didn’t have.
“No, it’s not too late. I just finished my workout, and I’m headed to the shower. I tried to call you yesterday, just got your machine.”
A picture of Vincent sweaty and half-naked played across her mind. She crossed her legs. “I let my phone battery run down and didn’t realize it until later. I got your text. I enjoyed our evening too.”
“I was a little, ah, eager with you, when we…you know. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. No problem. I like how you’re…eager.” Silence, the awkward kind when one person wants to say something but is not sure how the other person feels and doesn’t want to get too intimate on the phone. This crazy dance while getting to know each other. Should she say something more? Tell him how the sound of his voice right now made her nipples hard? No, he’d think she was too aggressive. Probably. Maybe he’d like it. They could have cybersex. But what if he didn’t enjoy her being so forward? She’d called him, he could be busy, not really going to take a shower. After last night though…Shit. Be safe, change the subject.
“Hallmar dropped off his notes. There’s information there about the curse, like he said, but his conversation with Belise is incomplete. I need to talk to him.”
“He’s out of the area for a while, headed to Nepal for a last-minute emergency, he said. I’ll give you his number, but I don’t know if he’ll get a message or text. He turns off his phone sometimes when he travels.”
Figured. “Thanks. Do what you can. Hey, I need your blood.”
“My blood?”
“Not much, just a little.”
“For?”
How much should she share? She’d already told Vincent about the curse; it wasn’t like this was new to him. Still, she hadn’t really said she’d be doing this for him, but he must have suspected her efforts were due to their time spent together.
“A Blood Sharing ritual, one a lot of witches perform. Kind of like a compatibility test.”
“With blood, huh? We can’t just take one of those relationship quizzes in a Cosmopolitan magazine?”
“You know about Cosmo quizzes? Aren’t you a progressive guy!”
“I check out the magazine when I’m in the grocery-store line. I like the covers. You need to tell me more about this ritual and about your family curse.”
“The ritual is no big deal. Like I said, lots of witches do it. It’s just a way to see if we’re well-matched. Which I know we are anyway.”
Not really a lie. That part was true. She and Vincent were well-matched, at least on a physical level and one beyond, no matter what the ritual showed. As for the specifics of the curse and the part about seeing him as he really was…he didn’t need to know all the details. One step at a time.
“Gen…” Vincent’s voice turned cautious. “We haven’t really talked about us. About the future. You and me. Breaking your family curse, if it doesn’t work, there could be serious consequences for you, right?”
“Yes, there could be, and I know we haven’t talked about us. This, what I want to do, is only the first step. I still need to do several more things before the curse can be broken. A Blood Sharing ritual will just let us know if we’re compatible.”
“And if it works, then what?”
“Then I have to figure out the rest of what Belise said to Hallmar. Which is why I need to talk to him.”
More awkward silence and now a definite wave of apprehension rolled from the other end of the line. Gen gripped her phone tighter. Maybe she should forget the whole thing. Apparently, Vincent didn’t find this idea appealing.
She let out a breath. No. She would not back down. If she didn’t do this now, another chance might not come along. Vincent cared for her, she knew. He might not be in love with her, and she wasn’t entirely clear how she felt about him, but she trusted her instincts. Her intuition told her, this man was special and their paths were meant to unite.
“Look, nothing will happen if you don’t want it to. I promise. We’ll stop whenever you want. I just think we’ve been put together for a reason. And Saturday night…we sure moved well together then, didn’t we?”
“Yeah, we did.”
A delicious current of warmth caressed her body at his words. His tone slipped down an octave, into that low, h
usky range he’d used to growl into her ear in bed. She shook her head to clear it. Had to concentrate on her mission. “Can I come out to see you tomorrow after work, around seven o’clock? Nothing heavy, I promise. I’d just like to see you again.”
“I want to see you too. Tell you what. I’ll cook us dinner.”
“Mmmm, nice! I haven’t had a home-cooked meal in a while. I’ll bring the wine. Oh wait, you don’t like wine.”
“Bring a bottle and I’ll have a taste. Just one. Then I’m switching to the real stuff.”
“Do you think, can we maybe turn our phones off again?”
A moment of silence. She’d pushed too far.
“I can’t promise, but I know it will be quieter tomorrow. I’ll text you my address. See you soon.”
A smile settled on her face and her pulse sped up. A romantic dinner, mostly quiet time, and if all went well, a successful Blood Sharing ritual. Perfect. What could go wrong?
Chapter 7
Tuesday.
Vincent grabbed his ringing phone off the nightstand. What time was it? Five o’clock in the morning, almost time to get up. Who the hell would be calling his private number this early?
“Don’t tell me you’re still sleeping.”
He instantly recognized the voice. David, his favorite cousin and fellow werewolf. One of the few people he would allow to wake him from a sound sleep and not tear his head off.
“Hell no. I’ve been up for hours. Are you back from screwing around on vacation?”
“Yeah, vacation. Such a fun assignment you sent me on, all right. You know how much I like those divorce cases.”
David did freelance private investigative work. Vincent used him from time to time when he got a call for a job his agency didn’t do. Though David wasn’t big on divorce work, this particular job was for a good client who tipped well, and it included an all-expense paid trip to Italy. His cousin loved to travel, particularly overseas, so it hadn’t taken much coercion to get him to take the assignment.
“Not so bad if you get to spend a month in Europe. Hey, my client expressed her generosity for your work, remember? She’s getting a whopping settlement thanks to you and passed the love on to us. So I guess you’re back in the States?”
“I am, and I’ll be by your way tomorrow. I’m traveling through the area, taking a break from work. Okay if I crash at your place for the night? You don’t have a hot woman staying with you?”
“No woman, hot or otherwise. You know you’re always welcome here.”
“You doing okay? Haven’t seen you since…the funeral.”
Vincent swung his legs out of bed, fully awake now, heart pounding. Too early to think about April.
“I’m good. When do you get in?”
“I’m not sure. I’ve got a couple of stops to make, just taking my time, nowhere to be.”
“Give me a call when you get here. I’ll make sure I’m around the house.”
Splashing water on his face, Vincent cursed David for waking him with bitter memories. April. A young woman who’d come into his life and left far too soon. He and another pack member had pulled her out of a bar one night, away from her stepfather who thought it was okay to hit a woman if she didn’t do what he wanted fast enough. She had nowhere to go, so the woman he was with that evening took her home. Sweet-talking April conned the pack member into staying another week, and during that time, she snuck into one of the Howler meetings. Instead of being horrified by what she saw, she begged them to let her join the group, promising to keep their secrets, stay out of the way, and help them out.
She’d only hung with the Howlers for eight months, enough time for everyone to get to know her and fall in love with her. Men and women both. The sixteen-year-old girl had the spirit of an angel and a laugh that could melt polar ice caps. She stayed with different pack members, rotating around. She cooked, cleaned houses, washed cars and dogs, ran errands, and did whatever else anyone asked. Dropping out of school would be best, she decided, since she’d fallen in with a bad crowd. Everyone made sure she spent her free time studying to get her GED and encouraging her to look at career options. Talk started of one woman officially adopting April, whose life finally got on track.
Until the night her stepfather found her.
She’d been staying with Vincent and talked him into letting her take his Jeep to the mall one evening. Pack members mostly stayed with her but had recently been allowing her more freedom, on his orders. She had common sense and knew to be careful. Common sense didn’t help her when her drunken stepfather confronted her in the parking lot. She tried to run, but he caught her and hit her one too many times. He lived in prison and would for a long time, but it didn’t bring April back.
Though everyone in the pack assured him he wasn’t to blame, Vincent knew, the fault lay with him. He shouldn’t have let his guard down, not with a human.
“We couldn’t protect her all the time. She had to live. What were we supposed to do? Follow her around the rest of her life?”
Vincent recalled breaking the arm of the pack member who’d opened his fucking mouth. Shaking off the memory of that evening, Vincent forced his mind to David. Though sometimes total opposites, they got along well enough. Sweet life he had, Vincent reflected as he shaved, his mind already racing with plans for the day. Taking his time, not having to be anywhere. Laid-back hadn’t happened in Vincent’s world for a while. It would be nice for a change to be free from responsibility and have only himself to worry about. No employees, no bunch of rowdy werewolves looking to him for guidance.
The Howlers weren’t a bad bunch. Now. They’d been a pitiful group when he’d first met them. Their leader had just died, and no one wanted to assume control. The regions were just coming into existence, and leaders were stepping up. One of them, Charles, agreed to be Vincent’s mentor. A year after they met, Charles suggested Vincent move to Bethany and take over the disjointed pack. He told Vincent he was a born leader. Vincent had protested, not feeling up to the job, but Charles insisted so Vincent went. His mentor helped him set up A to Z Security as well as gain control of the raggedy pack.
Charles had been right. Vincent fell into his new role with gusto, and his enthusiasm spread. Pack members respected him and responded well to his leadership style. As more and more werewolves joined, the group became even stronger. Vincent didn’t put up with any shit. No whining, no excessive violence, no drama. Members were expected to live their lives like normal human beings and interact with the world peacefully. Though they’d each been turned into a werewolf, usually against their will, this painful fact did not give them an excuse to misbehave. Not if they wanted to be in his pack.
And plenty of werewolves did. The perks of being a Howler included having fellow weres to talk to without fear of having to watch every word, having mentors, and a variety of excellent hunting grounds for full-moon nights. Setting up organized fights and encouraging members to study martial arts helped relieve stress, but probably the most important benefit, enough men and women belonged to the group, finding a sex partner was never a problem.
Thinking about sex brought Genevieve to mind. He wanted to see her, but damn. Her freaky request sent all kinds of warning bells ringing. Though she’d talked to him briefly about her family curse and seemed intent on breaking it, it hadn’t really dawned on him she meant to do so for him. Their night together…hotter than hell, for sure, and he had feelings for her, but damn. Not ready for a serious relationship. With a human woman. Who could go insane if she fell in love.
His hand paused halfway to the cabinet where the juice glasses were stored. No way could he take on that responsibility. It was enough to contemplate a full-time monogamous relationship with a non-were; how could he fathom being the one who possibly caused her to lose her mind? If what she said was true, insanity would be the outcome if she fell in love with him and her efforts to break the spell didn’t work.
He and Gen had to talk. Tonight. Serious talk. Right now, got to get moving
and make plans for the week. David probably wouldn’t stay more than a day. Normally, Vincent enjoyed his cousin’s company and would coerce him to visit longer, but now he itched to get on the road and hunt down Ethan Kern. He’d pulled up the man’s credit card account again last evening and saw Kern had purchased several items from a hardware store. Bolts, anchors, chains, window bars. Dude planned some home renovations.
It also meant he was still getting his operation set up, and Vincent knew he should wait a day or two longer to head out, but the urge to at least see the man who attacked his people made his skin itch. Though adept at keeping his shifting under control, even when pissed, this situation pushed his limits. Outsiders fucking with his pack would not be tolerated. Several A to Z matters had to be handled first, a few pack issues…He would leave on Thursday, then. Vincent looked at the calendar. Oh hell. Thursday was Thanksgiving. How had the holiday sneaked up on him?
Because holidays sucked donkey balls and he ignored them, that was how. Just another day on the calendar except some restaurants and stores closed.
Most of his pack members left town to visit with their families. The few who had family in the area invited Vincent to join them, but he always declined. Too invasive to intrude on their home lives, and anyway, holiday gatherings made him nervous. Kids running around, making noise, people asking questions. He didn’t want to talk about his job and couldn’t talk about the pack. It was a rule they followed; no one mentioned anything about werewolves whenever pack members ran into others in public, or even in private. It made life easy for everyone, not having to worry who knew their secret.
Holidays also made him homesick. When he’d moved to Bethany and assumed leadership of the Howlers, he’d made up his mind, the pack would come first. He told his parents he would visit when he could, and had been able to go back to his hometown in Texas once or twice a year. The visits were short. He couldn’t tell them much about his life, and they soon ran out of subjects to talk about. He made his sister and her family nervous, since she believed he killed people for a living. He insisted he only did home security, but she must have sensed his darker side. She was smart like that. She kept her children away from him, trying not to be obvious about it.
Sins of Long Ago Page 11