One of the jaguars lunged at us. We ran in the other direction, needing time to think. The other two ran over and blocked us, growling.
What did they expect? That I would fight both of them? If it were true that they wanted to keep me alive for a while, they wouldn’t kill me. But he seemed so giddy at the thought of making me suffer.
Play dead, my wolf whispered.
What?
Get bitten, and then we’ll fall to the ground, tongue hanging out.
Maybe.
If they hold the door open for any amount of time, we can make a run for it.
It sounded better than anything I could think of. Okay.
He took over and ran to a corner. One of the jaguars cornered us. He jumped, roaring.
I tried to run out of instinct, but my wolf held us still.
Bitter pain surged through our shoulder as the beast’s teeth sank into our flesh. Blood pooled into our fur.
Though it wasn’t enough to take us down, my wolf threw us down. He forced our eyelids shut and our tongue hung out, resting against the nasty floor. It tasted of dried blood, vomit, and feces.
The jaguars bumped and nudged us. My wolf did a great job of keeping us still. Our captors would likely think they’d killed us.
One let out a howl. Another growled. One jumped on the other, and the two of them rolled around, hissing at each other. The third continued pushing us around.
Finally all the commotion stopped. Bones crunched, and I assumed they had shifted back.
“I can’t believe you killed him,” the owner exclaimed.
Something hit a wall.
“Hey, I didn’t bite him that hard.”
“Oh, right.” Sarcasm dripped from our captor’s voice. “Our end of the deal is to hand the wolf over alive. It’s pretty hard to do that if he’s dead.”
Sounds of pulling on clothes echoed around us.
“Check for breathing.”
“I don’t have time for this. You better hope he’s still alive.”
“He is.”
“Like I said, you better hope so. I have to focus on the wedding.”
My ears perked. Surely, he couldn’t mean Victoria and his son. He just couldn’t.
Disappointment, fear, and anger ran through me. I couldn’t tell which belonged to me and which belonged to my wolf.
The three humans left the room. My wolf and I were too shocked by the mention of the wedding to even consider attempting to escape.
The door slammed shut. After a few minutes, I got up and paced, limping on our bad leg. It felt like the jaguar had torn the muscle. Luckily, we healed pretty quickly in this form. The ache eased with each step.
It couldn’t be Victoria’s wedding. She’d just met the jaguar at the beginning of the school year. That had been—what? A month? The last full moon had occurred right before school started.
My chest constricted. Guilt tore through me. This was my payback for having had a relationship some years earlier. That’s what this was. Even though Victoria had long been deceased, I should have never allowed myself to fall for another.
Wolves mated for life.
Technically, we never mated with Victoria, my wolf told me.
I growled and snapped. I’d given my heart to her.
You also spent almost all of your years since her death alone.
But I gave myself to another for a time. I wanted to go back in time and knock some sense into my younger, dumber self.
And you also knew the girl’s heart belonged to another. We all knew it wouldn’t last. Let it go.
I shook our head and picked up our pace. Even though Victoria had been dead at the time, I’d betrayed her. If I did manage to win her back, I’d have to tell her about my indiscretion.
Then you’ll be even, my wolf said. She’s seeing that jaguar kid now.
But she doesn’t remember being with me! I remembered her when I dated Alexis.
You couldn’t have known Victoria would return. Also, it’s not like you set out to date her. You were just trying to pull the girl out of a depression, right? Then one thing led to another…
Guilt continued stinging. But still. My heart belonged to Victoria.
Hey, I told you dating a vampire was a bad idea.
I hung our head in shame. I should have listened.
What if I’d lost Victoria forever?
Chapter 25
Victoria
When I woke, the sun shone brightly through the blinds. Carter slept next to me, on top of the covers, with one arm resting over me, holding the now-dry washcloth on my forehead.
My body no longer hurt.
Could my dreams of Toby be real? If they were, that meant I was a werewolf.
That was totally crazy.
But then again, so was having my essence sucked out by a… a… whatever Soleil was. I’d been avoiding her like the plague, so I’d had no chance to find out what exactly she was.
Carter’s arm twitched and he rolled onto his back, letting out a little snore. He shivered.
I pulled the comforter up from me, covered him, and crept out of bed without disturbing him. I tiptoed over to the window and lifted a blind. Water dripped from everything, the only remnant of the previous night’s storm. Otherwise, it looked like a sunny autumn day with so many trees showing off their beautiful array of colors.
Carter whispered something. I went over to him. He mumbled something about cats.
I grinned. He was a cute sleep-talker.
He’d probably stayed awake a long time keeping an eye on me, so I decided to let him sleep. I went into the hall, found a bathroom, and took a shower. Normally, I wouldn’t have been too excited about wearing the same clothes, but I didn’t mind. I’d survived that horrible pain and other than that, had had a wonderful date with Carter—and he’d been the perfect gentleman, not trying anything.
My heart warmed, thinking about him. He was such a great guy. I’d really lucked out meeting him.
I went back to the bedroom and dug some makeup out of my backpack—Carter must have brought it upstairs. He was seriously the most perfect guy ever.
Once I was happy with the way I looked, I pulled out my laptop and worked on my midterm psychology paper. I had five thousand of ten thousand words.
After a while, Carter rolled over and rubbed his eyes. “How are you feeling?” he asked, his voice raspy from sleep.
“Like new. Thanks so much for everything.” I set my computer aside and pressed my lips on his.
He backed up, covering his mouth. “I probably have morning breath.”
“Me, too. I have no toothbrush here.” I kissed him again.
Carter grabbed me and pulled me down next to him. “We’ll have to fix that, won’t we?”
I giggled. “Maybe.”
“How about we start with me giving you the day off?” His voice was husky and gave me the chills.
“Oh, that sounds heavenly.”
He smiled and ran his knuckles along my jawline.
I took his hand and kissed a fingertip. “Oh, wait. I can’t do that to Yurika.”
Carter frowned. “Why not? I’ll send one of the bouncers in to replace you if I have to.”
“As much as I’d like to see that, I can’t do that to her. There’s a big wedding party, and we have to get them all ready.”
He smacked his forehead. “My cousin’s wedding! I’m supposed to usher. Crap, I totally forgot about that.”
I checked the time. “We’d both better get going, in that case. I don’t have much time—I told Yurika I’d be there a little early.”
Carter scrambled out of the bed. “Let me just take a quick shower. Five minutes, I swear.”
“Okay.”
“Wanna join me?” He gave me pouty eyes.
“Sorry. I guess I’m just not that kind of girl.”
He leaned over and planted a kiss on my lips. “And that’s part of what I love about you. You’re old-fashioned, and you won’t bend on your standards.”
My eyes widened. Love?
“I’ll get you there on time, I swear. Five minutes.”
I nodded, unable to speak.
Carter ran out of the room and soon I heard a shower running. I packed up my bag and mentally prepared myself for a busy day. So far, the spa had never had too many clients at a time, but Yurika had warned me today would be crazy—and that it was extra important that we do everything perfectly.
I’d been doing well, getting better every day. I could do this. In fact, I would impress Yurika.
He ran into the room, his hair slicked back and water dripping down his face. “Like I said, under five minutes. Let’s go.”
I wiped some drops from under his eye and brushed my lips across his. “You’re simply amazing.”
Carter closed his eyes. “You’re going to have to stop, or neither of us will leave here.”
“Right.” I stepped back and grabbed my backpack.
“Let’s go. Do you want me to drop you off at the Jag or take you to your car?”
“I’d better take my car to work. You’re probably going to be busy with the wedding.”
“You could always join me.” He frowned and ran a finger across my mouth. “I’d love to show you off.” He cringed. “That sounded bad. I mean to introduce you to everyone.”
First love, and now he wanted me to meet his entire extended family? I adored him, but I wasn’t ready for all of that. “You’re the sweetest, but I have to work on Massaro’s paper tonight.”
Carter scowled. “That slave driver. Yeah, I should be working on that, too. Looks like another all-nighter for me.”
We grumbled about our professor until we reached his car.
“Your car’s at home, right?” he asked.
“Yeah. Sorry, I hope it’s not too far out of the way.”
“Nah. And if I show up late, Dad has it coming after the jerk he’s been lately.” His phone rang. “Speak of the devil.”
“When do I get to meet him?”
Carter flinched. “You want to meet the scum bag?”
“Um, not so much when you put it that way.”
“Trust me. I’m protecting you. Besides, he’s really busy and thinks he’s too important to meet my friends.”
“Oh, okay.” It seemed strange, but I pushed aside those feelings.
When we reached the Waldensian, he got out and held my door open for me. He stared into my eyes. “I’m going to miss you tonight.” He pulled me close and gave me a long, sweet kiss before climbing into his car and speeding away.
I went inside, my heart fluttering. People said hi as I passed, but I barely noticed. Now I understood what it meant to have my breath taken away.
In my room, I tossed my backpack onto my bed before digging through my closet for some fresh clothes.
Sasha came out of the bathroom and gasped and squealed. “Were you…?”
“What?” I pulled out some dressy slacks and a lavender silk top—my wardrobe had improved dramatically since working at the Jag.
She gave me a once-over. “Same clothes as yesterday. Gone all night. Your handsome prince?”
“Wait, it’s not what you’re thinking.”
“Girl, we have to talk!”
“Seriously, I got sick after the power outage and—”
“What power outage?”
“His place lost power during the storm.”
“You were at his place.” Her eyes widened.
“I. Got. Sick.” I took a deep breath. “Look, nothing happened.”
“Where’d you sleep?”
“In a guest room.”
Her expression drooped. “Oh. Hey, where’d he sleep?”
“He was busy taking care of me. I have to get to work. Seriously.” I took off my clothes for the second time that morning.
“Where’d he sleep?”
“Nothing. Happened.” I put on my new clothes and went into the bathroom to style my hair.
Sasha followed me in. “Well at least you’ve forgotten about the professor.”
I froze, holding the hot flat iron on my hair.
“You’re going to burn your hair!”
I put the iron down. “What do you mean?”
“You’ve been so mopey since your math instructor vanished. I can’t even think of his name.”
“It’s plastered all over town.”
“I know, but I haven’t paid attention in a while.”
Sighing, I picked up the flat iron and continued straightening my hair. “His name is Professor Foley, and I wasn’t moping over him.”
She gave me a knowing look. “Anyway, I’m more interested to hear about your night at Carter’s. Did you remember to get any pictures yet?”
“Just some selfies of the two of us.”
“Before you got sick, right?” She arched a brow.
“Precisely.” I put the iron down, fluffed out my hair, and fixed my mascara.
“Your lipstick is smudged.” Sasha threw me a playful smirk.
I fixed it. “He did kiss me,” I admitted. “But that was it.”
She sighed dramatically. “You’re either the most boring person alive or the most exciting, and totally holding out on me.”
I sprayed some perfume and spun around. “I gotta get to work.”
“Details. Later.”
“Okay. I’ll tell you all about us doing homework and making hot chocolate.”
“Boring. Well, if you want your secrets, I can’t blame you. But I’m going to use my wild, vivid imagination. Your choice.”
“Texting my boss now.”
Victoria: On my way. Hope I’m not late.
She was so formal with everything, I even had to properly spell out my texts.
Yurika: The wedding party is having lunch. You have an hour.
Victoria: Thanks!
Yurika: Carter said something came up, but please be on time.
Victoria: I will. I promise.
Sasha pouted. “Are you sure you don’t have time to spill just one juicy detail?”
“Sorry. I gotta go.” I grabbed my purse, hurried to my car, and then parked on the side of the road near campus. My mind was racing, and my conversation with Sasha hadn’t helped.
One of Toby’s missing fliers hung loosely on a pole. I climbed out and stared at the faded picture.
Someone bumped into me. “Sorry. You know what I heard?” He glanced toward the flier.
“What?”
“That his cult chopped him up and put the pieces into stew.”
“You’re disgusting.”
He shrugged and kept walking.
I clung to the paper and got back into my car. It wasn’t until I tried starting it that I realized I was shaking. I took a few deep breaths and finally drove to the Jag. I put on soft instrumental music. There was no way I could afford a repeat of the day I’d spilled nail polish on that lady’s dress.
By the time I pulled into the Jag’s lot, my mind had calmed down. I waved to the doorman as I entered ahead of the line.
Yurika shot me a grateful expression when I arrived. “A couple of the girls are already here. I’m going to start them with pedis. When the next ones get here, start them with facials.”
“Do we have any help?”
She nodded. “Lucy and Julia will be here after their break.”
“Oh, good.”
“Tell me about it. We’re going to need all the help we can get today.”
And I was going to need all the focus I could manage. My mind kept wandering to both Carter and Toby, and when I was at the spa, I always found myself hoping Carter would pop in and surprise me. He rarely did, though, because his father kept him busy when he wasn’t studying.
But it didn’t keep me from wishing.
Chapter 26
Victoria
I rubbed the last bit of cream on the bridesmaid’s face. “Just lay there and relax for a few minutes.”
“This feels so nice.”
“Good. Is the m
usic okay?”
“Perfect.”
Yurika ran in, her eyes frantic. “We’re running out of nail polish remover. I thought we were fully stocked.”
“Do you want me to get some more?”
“Yes,” she snapped.
“Where is it?”
“Ugh. You really don’t know?”
I shook my head. “It’s always been in the cabinet.”
She threw her hands in the air. “If I had time, I’d get it. It’s in the big utility closet in between the kitchen and Master Jag’s office suite. You know the one?”
“I think so.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“Yes, I’ll find it.”
Yurika ran out of the room.
I turned to the bridesmaid. “I’ll be back in a few minutes. The cream will be fine—it’s working to both cleanse and moisturize your skin. If you need anything, just ring this bell here.” I took her hand and guided her to the tray with the bell. “Julia’s in the next room. She’ll hurry over.”
“I’m too relaxed to move.”
“Sounds like it’s working.” I adjusted the warm blankets around her body and hurried out of the spa.
A line of people carrying what looked like a truckload of flowers walked by. There was no way I was going to get around them, and when Yurika was rushed, so was I.
I darted down a different hallway, hoping I was headed for the kitchen.
By the time I’d gone down a few turns, I realized I was lost. It was just a maze of dimmed halls, and I wasn’t sure which one had brought me where I was.
Conversation sounded down from my left. I thought I heard the word wolf. Something inside me perked up. I pressed myself against the wall and listened.
“…supposed to find out if he’s dead.”
I gasped. Someone was dead in the Jag?
“Did you hear that?”
I covered my mouth.
“No. Did you check him?”
“I haven’t.”
“Stupid. When the boss says jump, you do it.”
“I’ve never seen a dead body.”
“So? Check the dungeon.”
“Won’t you do it for me? I’ll owe you all my vacation days or something.”
Somebody sighed. “What’s his name?”
“Foley.”
“You mean that guy who’s plastered all over town?”
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