by S. Young
But if Thea wasn’t who Ashforth said she was …
“Fuck,” he bit out. Since when did he overanalyze shit? Indecisive arsehole, he huffed at himself. He called Ashforth, and the man picked up on the second ring.
“Is something wrong?”
“Aye, you could say that. Someone knew what car we were driving, Ashforth, so someone betrayed you.”
The man was silent for a moment. “I … see.”
“No, you dinnae see. They chased us off the motorway and caused a civilian accident. It was two female wolves. Thea killed them and I buried them in the woods. I’ll text you the coordinates and I’ll need you to clean that up.”
“Very well.”
“We’re also trapped in a town called Wilsdruff. There were witnesses and now the police are manning the exits out.”
“Witnesses? Who?”
Something made Conall hesitate. “I dinnae know who or how many,” he lied, “but it was quite a scene we caused.”
The usually stoic businessman let out a string of curses.
“Where are you now?” he finally snapped.
That rage simmering inside Conall began to build, and the wolf revealed itself in his voice when he replied, “I’d be very careful how you speak to me.”
Ashforth cleared his throat. “I apologize. It’s just a little bit of an inconvenience.”
“Can you get the police off our backs here or not?”
“Yes, but it may take a few hours. Do you have somewhere to hide?”
“We’re staying in a small hotel on the edge of the town but if the authorities come calling, the owner will identify me right away.”
“It’s a risk you’ll just have to take. I’ll call you when the coast is clear.”
Conall hung up and walked back the way he came, sticking to the shadows. He tapped into his connection with Thea without even thinking about it, and he took a second to realize that she wasn’t bloody where he left her.
Growling under his breath, Conall felt his wolf tremble for release.
She was trying to run from him.
Again.
The knot in Thea’s gut wouldn’t loosen. It just seemed to wind tighter as she hurried along the edges of town, hoping against hope she didn’t bump into Conall.
Rationally she knew that he could find her but the hope she was wrong about his ability to track her kept her moving. She couldn’t face him again. She couldn’t face the inevitable questions about her back.
And not because she didn’t want to tell him, warn him, just how evil Ashforth was, but because she thought he might not believe her if she did.
Why did he have to see her scars? Did they repulse him?
Oh, who gives a shit. She never had before.
Throwing the thought away, Thea realized she was wandering aimlessly. She had no idea where the bus station was or if there was one. She turned left down a street she was sure was only one or two over from the main square, thinking how glad she was to be without Conall—for many reasons, most important of which was that he was beyond conspicuous—when she felt the hair on her neck rise.
Too late.
A strong hand clamped down on her biceps and she looked up into Conall’s angry face just as he dragged her between the dark alley of two stores. “What the hell?” She ripped her arm from his and stumbled against the wall.
Damn his goddamn tracking weirdness!
The wolf glared at her.
He was a volcano of intimidation, but she refused to quake beneath him.
Thea threw up her hands. “Oh, come on. I just thought I’d test out your little nose trick; make sure there wasn’t any permanent damage to it from the car accident. But it looks like it’s still working.” She dared to slap his upper arm. “Congratulations.”
The muscle in his jaw flexed so hard, the scar on his cheek rippled. Okay, so that’s a little intimidating.
“Do you think this is a joke? There are police all over this town looking for us, Thea. They’ve blocked the exits. And you’re trying to fucking take off again!”
Narrowing her eyes, Thea stepped toward him. “Well, if there are police hunting us, maybe you should keep your voice down.”
He lifted his hands and clenched them, like he was dreaming of fisting them around her throat. “I have enough on my plate without you running off, especially when you know it’s fucking futile.”
“I went for a walk,” she lied.
Conall bent his head toward her, his nose almost touching hers, his eyes hard with knowledge. “You ran away so you wouldnae have to explain your back.”
Thea felt her anger and fear building and building, reminding her of all the times she’d lost control. She clenched her own fists, trying to even out her breaths.
“Thea.” Conall took hold of her shoulders, concern stealing the irritation from his expression. “Your eyes.”
Realizing they’d probably turned golden, Thea tried harder to control the energy that was rising inside of her.
“Why are you afraid?” Conall whispered.
She shook her head frantically. “I’m not afraid.” And telling her she was wasn’t helping.
“I can smell it, lass,” he said. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
“It’s not”—she shook her head again—“it’s not that …”
Conall’s grip on her shoulders turned bruising. “Police,” he bit out, before he shoved her up against the alley wall, pressing the full length of his body to hers.
The action pulled her from her mounting panic, distracting her. Thea listened and could hear the approaching footsteps and the sound of conversation over a police radio. Finding her control again, she mentally reached out to the shadows and felt Conall stiffen against her as she cloaked them.
She looked up at him, her heart stuttering at how close his face was.
What are you doing? His eyes asked.
Trust me.
The footsteps stopped at the alley and Conall looked over his shoulder, his body rigid, ready for a fight. Thea grabbed his waist, restraining him, and he looked down at her. She shook her head.
They heard the two officers exchange a few words before they spoke into the radio. And then they disappeared.
As soon as they were gone, Thea felt Conall relax and in doing so, she became aware of the fact that almost every inch of his hard body was touching hers and that she was gripping onto his waist. The heat and power of him was overwhelming and …
A tingling of heat between her legs increased in intensity by the second.
She flushed at the embarrassing realization she was getting turned on.
Conall let out a guttural sound of disbelief and Thea’s eyes flew upward. His nostrils flared, his lids heavy over his eyes as he stared down at her in realization too.
Oh shit, could he smell that she wanted him?
Horrified by the thought, Thea dropped her hands from his waist. “You can get off me now.”
After a moment’s hesitation, he pushed off from the wall and took a few steps back. “What was that?”
The blood in her cheeks turned hot. “Uh … what?”
If she wasn’t mistaken, the wolf looked like he was trying not to laugh.
If he laughed, she’d kill him.
“The shadows,” he said pointedly, an arrogant smirk quirking his lips.
Oh crap, he definitely smelled her.
That was disturbing.
Turning away from him so he couldn’t see how mortified she was, Thea shrugged. “It’s just something I can do.”
“It’s something vampires can do too.”
Thea whipped around to glare at him. “I’m not a vampire.”
“I know that. So what are you?”
“I honestly don’t have the answer to that.”
Conall took a step toward her, his expression unexpectedly tender. “Aye, you do. The answer is on your back.”
Her stomach tightened into that ugly knot. “How do we get out of here if the police are c
rawling all over the place?”
To her surprise, Conall allowed the subject change. “Ashforth is dealing with it. All we can do is hide out at the hotel until he calls to tell us we can leave.”
They peered out onto the street, saw the coast was clear, and made their way back to the hotel. “You don’t strike me as someone who particularly enjoys having to rely on anyone else.”
Conall sighed. “You mean Ashforth?”
Thea nodded.
“Aye, I dinnae. But there was no other way out of here.”
A sudden worry hit her. “What about the werewolves? Their bodies?”
Conall’s features hardened. “Ashforth’s dealing with that too.”
The Scot was so quiet after that, Thea almost began to hope that he wasn’t going to subject her to an interrogation. The reception desk was empty when they passed it again, and they snuck back into their room without being spotted by anyone. Conall locked the door and Thea immediately slumped on the bed.
She glared at the rucksack on the floor, realizing she’d been in such turmoil she’d left without her stuff. What an idiot.
“I’m hungry.” She blew out a weary breath. “How long do you think we’ll be here?”
When he didn’t answer, Thea looked up to see Conall standing in front of the door, legs spread, arms crossed over his wide chest, his expression implacable.
Oh no.
“Food can wait, Thea,” he said, his voice filled with an innate authority that pissed her off. “You will tell me who did that to your back and with what.”
Thea crossed her own arms over her chest. “I dinnae have to tell you anything, Wolf Boy,” she mocked.
His eyes turned to ice chips. “My sister is currently under the house arrest of Ashforth. Now,” he said, stepping toward her, “I need to know if I’ve put her in danger.”
The rebelliousness leaked out of her. Behind the hard ice in his eyes was bleak powerlessness. It was the same look on the little girl’s face when she realized her dad was trapped. And Thea was sure it was the same look on her own face as she stood outside the burning wreckage that had incinerated her parents.
Family was everything.
Even someone as fucked up as Thea knew that.
“Conall …” She shook her head, worried for him, for his sister. “You should never have made a deal with Ashforth.”
The muscle in his jaw flexed. “Did he do that to your back?”
She could still hear the lash hitting her flesh, could still feel the agonizing, burning pain of every slice into her back. She could smell the blood. Could feel it underfoot as she slipped in it. Could remember when darkness finally came.
And the moment she realized there was no relief of death for her.
It wasn’t the worst thing he’d ever done to her … it was just the only thing that truly physically hurt.
“Yes,” she choked out.
“How?”
The words stuck in her throat. As much as she longed to trust someone, and wished she could trust Conall, she just couldn’t. “I can’t tell you.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s my only weakness.”
Silence descended over the room. Finally, Conall let out an exasperated huff. “And you dinnae trust me enough to tell me.”
Thea cut him a look. “You’re taking me to Ashforth. A man who brutalized me. Why the hell would I trust you?”
Conall glowered as he lowered onto the bed next to her.
Tension thickened between them, time slowing down, passing in awful increments. Feeling heat on her face, she looked over to find Conall watching her. His intense study caused a fluttering in her belly she tried to squash.
“What?” She frowned.
“Tell me,” he said, his voice soft. “Tell me everything, Thea. Your side of the story.”
Thea chuckled, the sound bitter and hard. “And have you not believe me? No thanks.”
Conall’s expressed hardened. “Do you think I wouldnae rather pretend you’re the bad guy and he’s the good guy? I do that, I hand you over, I save my sister, and I can forget this whole bloody nightmare.”
Hurt she hated she felt suffused her. “Well, you do that, Wolf Boy. I’m not stopping you.”
“I’ve seen your back, so I’m no longer buying that. There’s no fucking way you will let me turn you over. I dinnae know what your plan was here, with me, but it wasnae to let yourself be handed over to a man who did that to you.” He leaned toward her. “Here’s what I do know. You saved my life because I jumped in front of those bullets in Wrocław. You didnae need to do that because we both know I didnae technically save your life.”
“You thought you were saving my life when you did it.”
“Exactly. So you still believed you owed me.” He cut her a dark look. “You broke my neck to get away from me … but you didnae kill me. And we both know you should have.”
Thea’s irritation mounted as she grew increasingly vulnerable. “Point?”
He ignored her snippiness. “You were trying not to kill those vampires in Prague and it nearly got you killed.”
“Not true … I was trying not to at first and then I killed one before you got there.”
“They would have all been dead if you’d made the decision to kill them from the get-go. Instead, they almost killed you.”
“But you saved me.”
“Did I?” Conall eyed her suspiciously. “Were you really in danger, Thea?”
She swallowed hard and looked away. “I thought there was a point to this?”
“Aye. You went back for that wee lass … why? Because she reminded you of you? When your parents died?”
Thea whipped her head around so fast, she felt a burn score up her neck. How did he know that? She glared at him. “Stop it.”
He shook his head, and she hated the pity in his eyes. “You risked us to save that family and then you pushed me out of the way of those bullets. Now I tried to convince myself that it was all a manipulation, to get me on your side—”
“It was,” she hurried to cut him off. “It was, Conall. I pretended I needed you as a bodyguard. We both know I don’t.”
He smirked wryly. “Too right. I’ve never felt so emasculated in my life as when you pushed me in that barn.”
She rolled her eyes. “You decapitated a vampire with your bare hand. Hand.”
“That is true.” He mused. “That makes me feel slightly better.”
Despite herself, she laughed.
His expression intensified. “Why do you not want me to be on your side?”
She shrugged. “Two reasons: What happened to me is so fantastical, no one would believe me, not even you. I’d have shared all the horrible crap for nothing. And second …” She looked deep in his eyes, seeing only his determination for his sister. “It won’t change the fact you need to turn me over to save your sister.”
Conall shook his head slowly. “I cannae tell you the future, or what will need to be done to save Callie. And I realize you dinnae owe me anything, but I’m also beginning to think Ashforth is the real enemy here. That was the point I was trying to make. I’ve had doubts about the man from the moment we met but all I cared about was saving Callie. Meeting you … I have good instincts, Thea, and I’ve been fighting them.” He rested his arms on his knees and dropped his chin in weariness. “I have to know what this man is capable of and I need to know who I’ll really be turning over to him to save my sister.”
Tears filled Thea’s eyes, and she looked quickly away so he wouldn’t see. “Why? What will it change?”
“It depends on what you tell me,” he said, his words soft. “But I’ll tell you this. I dinnae have it in me to hand over an innocent woman to her abuser to save my family. Callie wouldnae be able to live with that either.”
Hope was a dangerous thing. Thea had discovered that the hard way. She’d given up on feeling it for so long that the prickle of it in her chest frightened the shit out of her. Turning to him, she watched h
is expression soften at the sight of the tears shimmering in her eyes.
“If I tell you …” She pushed off the bed and glared down at him. “If I tell you and you betray me to Ashforth anyway, I’ll kill you, Conall. No hesitation this time.”
He nodded slowly. “Aye. I believe you, lass.”
14
New York, six years ago
* * *
Posters covered the white walls, images that reflected who Thea had been before this madness had descended. There were rock bands she knew Amanda detested but allowed her to listen to. Photos ripped out of magazines of Caleb Followill and Ryan Gosling. There was a poster of the movie UP, an animation that made her sob her heart out in the first ten minutes.
Photographs of her classmates from the ages of twelve to fifteen.
Thea often wondered what Ashforth had told the school and her friends about her. What he’d told her therapist. She’d finally gotten the courage to ask Devon, and he’d said his dad had told everyone she’d gone back to England to live with her mom’s family. And no one questioned it. No one ever questioned Ashforth.
That had made her laugh for about two seconds before the laughter turned into hysterical sobs.
No one who might care knew where she was.
No one was coming for her.
Although there was a wall of books and DVDs and an old-fashioned TV and DVD player in the corner, Thea rarely left the big luxurious bed. The entire room was lined with this stuff that burned the crap out of her when she touched it, and proximity to the amount in the room left her feeling weak, almost flu-like. Or at least what she assumed flu felt like.
Hearing the click of a lock, Thea turned her head on the pillow and watched as the heavy, armored door opened and Devon walked in. A werewolf guard followed Ashforth’s son and stood at attention by the now-closed door.
Whenever one of the Ashforths visited, a werewolf or vampire always attended for their protection.
Last month Ashforth had taken so much blood from Thea, she’d been so weak she couldn’t keep her eyes open. One guard, a human, had tried to take advantage of that. He climbed into her bed at night. She didn’t know where she found the strength to fight him off, but in her fear and rage, she’d punched a hole through his chest.