It seemed that Laurel also noted the difference, and when the female met his gaze it was full of confusion.
Bridget absently rubbed at the mark on her shoulder and Laurel’s eyes whipped to his.
“I’ll take a water if you have one. Merryn? Damien?”
“Yes, please. The same would be nice.”
“Ditto.”
Laurel hurried off and Alistair blinked, trying to get his head around what they were doing here. “So, you’re here to help with what happened?”
Bridget nodded. “So is Merryn.”
“I’m just here for moral support.” Damien held out his hand and Alistair shook it.
The red essence in his eyes gave a hint as to what he was. “Demon?”
“You’re good.” Damien grinned. “Yep. A lust demon, to be accurate.”
“Ah. That’ll be helpful.” Alistair led them into the Great Hall. “This is where Julia was found.”
“Okay. So, tell me in your own words what happened.” Bridget entered the room and began to inspect it. “Merryn, you too. I want you to watch for any impressions that come at you. No matter how small.”
“I want you to see this first.” Alistair pulled out his phone and pulled up his photo gallery. She needed to see what she was walking into.
“No. No talking. Give us a moment. Please.”
Alistair shut his mouth with a snap and his nostrils flared. This was not the reunion he’d been hoping for when he thought about what he would say when she came through the door.
“Lord, you could walk around in that thing.” Damien remarked, his eyes traveling over the massive fireplace.
“I wouldn’t advise it.” Flames leapt and danced within the confines of the great fiery maw.
“Where was her body?”
“Here.” Alistair held out the phone and she took it, her fingers brushing over his.
***
Bridget let her senses run out into the room. She could feel the essence of something here, and when she held the phone it was hot enough she almost dropped it.
“What’s wrong?” Laurel returned with five bottles of water, handing one to each person in the room.
Bridget swallowed. She used a corner of her tee shirt to hold the device and started flipping through picture after picture. Carnage from the room they were in and, finally, something she hadn’t seen. But the bones… oh goddess. Bridget let out a gasp as the phone burst into flames. She thrust it from her, crying out as the burning plastic singed her fingers.
Evil. Such a foul essence she had never felt before roared out of the shadows. It watched her observing it and it smiled, the dark vicious laughter rolling over her like tar.
“Alistair.” She reached for him, unthinking. He bound her here and was part of this place.
She thrust back against the black force with everything she had and it left her gasping with exertion.
“What did you do?” Alistair demanded. He grasped her hand, pulling her toward his body. “Are you all right?”
She felt his panic like a visceral punch to the gut. Bridget swallowed and tried to clear her head. This was her job and she had to stay focused.
The feather. Damn it. Every time she’d seen one it boded evil and, with the malignance at work here, she had to use all of her wits to keep herself centered.
Something shifted inside of her, a connection to Alistair, and she used that to bring herself under control. It shamed her but, at the same time, her blood sparked with excitement.
Never had she had a connection with another person like this and it was unlike anything she’d ever encountered before. She didn’t want the sex they’d had to influence whatever working she was going to have to do here but it was almost a physical pull the way she reacted to him.
Maybe she’d found her familiar after all. It was a flippant thought and a blush crept up the back of her neck just thinking it.
The bones had a malediction carved into them and whatever secrets the curse were going to take more than just her. She needed a necromancer and the bones themselves if she stood a chance to find out what was really happening here. Suddenly tired, she blinked and tried to focus on the other task in front of her.
The force of the spell stung and she released her grip on Alistair.
“Spell. Had to deflect it.” She panted.
“Did you kill the phone?” Laurel frowned.
“I didn’t do it.” She cradled her hand next to her jean covered leg and whispered a short counter curse. The tendrils on her arms shifted yet again and the pain stopped even as another vine burst forth on the delicate bone near her wrist.
He took her wrist and ran his thumb over it, flipping her hand over. “It’s smooth.”
“Of course it is.” Bridget flushed, and she withdrew her hand from his as she took in Merryn and Damien’s surprised faces.
“You two know each other.”
“Yes. We’ve met.”
“They need to see the room upstairs.”
Alistair nodded.
Bridget followed him up the stairs and into what he said was Julia’s chambers. The room still has the faint odor of decay, as if something had been left to rot.
She’d seen the pictures of the tables. The tray of bones and blood was missing. Bridget glanced at Merryn. “Do you sense anything?”
“No, I don’t. I need to touch the bones. Do you still have them?”
Alistair shook his head. “I buried them in the center of the labyrinth. No one goes there.”
“You have a labyrinth?”
“The Alpha thought it would add something to the property. The estate is huge. Laurel can show you a map. Most of the wolves avoid it, but Duncan would vanish inside of it for days at a time.”
“Do you think he might be there now?”
“I don’t know. We’ve tried searching the grounds and come up wanting.” Alistair cleared his throat. “There’s something you need to know. Fenris, the fae lord, also has dealings in the labyrinth. He says it contains the gate to the lands of Faerie. I don’t know if I believe him or not.”
“What are you suggesting? That we venture into this labyrinth, on tonight of all nights, when the veil is the thinnest?”
“If you have a better idea, I’d love to hear it.”
Bridget shook her head. “You two wait here with Laurel. We’ll be back in a few hours. I, at least, want to take a look at the grounds. See what kind of security you have up and set up some wards.”
“What about the white feather?” Laurel inquired. “You got this look on your face when you saw it. It was there in the room when we found her body.”
“You’re right. I’ve seen him before and every time it’s been a bad thing. If Julia summoned him, we have bigger problems than just an out of control werewolf.”
“What do you mean?” Laurel leaned against the wall, her face pensive.
Bridget glanced at Damien. “Do you want to explain, or shall I?”
“Why do I have to do it?”
“Demon?”
“That does not make me an expert on all things evil. Jeez, Merryn. Now I’m hurt.”
“Stop it.” The owl shifter hugged him and planted a kiss on his cheek. “You’re not evil. You’re just a horn dog.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” Merryn kissed him on the cheek again, beaming.
“Can we get back to the business at hand, please?” Bridget cleared her throat.
“Spoil sport.” Damien sighed. “Look, Nephilim are the sons of angels and men, and they pretty much have a giant chip on their shoulder. You can summon them like a demon, but when you do—you better live up to whatever bargain you’ve made or there will be literal hell to pay.”
“How did you get here?” Laurel asked.
“Long story,” Damien replied. “Look, you don’t want anything to do with these guys. They get something in their head and they are scary.”
“The white feather.” Merryn rubbed her hands along her a
rms. “Okay, so that makes sense. There wasn’t a sword or anything that could have beheaded her, so he must have taken it with him.”
“Exactly. My gut tells me there’s something more here than just a rogue werewolf. This is dark magic and we’re going to need more answers than we can get here tonight.”
“What kind of answers?” Alistair turned on his heel and strode in the direction of the front of the house. “The kind of answers that only the dead can provide. Where is Julia buried?”
Alistair stopped, his hand on the door. “Laurel?”
“I buried her in the family vault near the labyrinth. Why?”
“Tomorrow, I need to talk to someone. If I have your permission?” Bridget moved toward the door, her mind lost in all the implications. Why would a wolf need to summon a half demon and why would a Nephilim kill her for it? Too many questions and not enough answers.
“What do you need?”
“I need your permission to dig up your alpha female. I sometimes work with a necromancer named Caleb, and I think he can find the answers we’re looking for.”
“A necromancer?”
“Yes.” Bridget nodded, barely meeting his eyes.
“What about Merryn? She said she can see the bones and read them.”
“She’s not bones yet.” Merryn scrunched up her face with a look of disgust. “I really don’t want to see a dead body. Bones are one thing; gross corpses are another.”
“Okay. So, I’ll send Caleb a text and get him out here tomorrow.”
“Let me show you the fences and you can set some wards.”
“Great. Let’s go.” Bridget nodded. “I’ll see you two in a bit. Laurel, if there’s anything you need…”
“Don’t worry. I’m sure we’ll have plenty of things to check out.” Merryn wrapped her arms around Damien and they headed back toward the Great Room.
“After you.” Alistair held open the door and followed Bridget out into the night.
Chapter Eleven
Alistair led her deep into the woods. He tried to scent Duncan, but the wet ground was playing havoc with his senses and so was the witch behind him. From the moment she stepped into Briarwood he’d wanted nothing more than to bend her over the nearest table and claim her as his own. Again.
“Why are you staring at me like that?”
“Like what?”
Bridget licked her lips. “Like you’re the big bad wolf and I’m your new chew toy?”
“I like you.” If he kept it simple maybe he wouldn’t put his foot in his mouth too badly. He stopped and let her catch up, but almost tripped when she replied.
“I like you, too. What you probably don’t know is, two stupid teenagers were found with their throats torn out in the woods near here and that someone—a wolf—chased my employee to the front of my building and almost killed her.”
“The girl inside?”
“Yes.”
“Shit.”
“Yes. That’s a good word. Look, if you don’t find him, I will and I won’t be nice when I do.”
“You’re not afraid.”
“No. I’m not.”
“Most witches would be running, all alone in the dark forest with a werewolf.”
“I’m not most witches and you seem to be forgetting something.”
“What?”
“I’ve seen you naked.”
“There is that.”
The silver plated handcuffs were heavy in his back pocket, but he knew what she said was true. “I know what needs to be done. We need to find Duncan and we need to do it before someone else dies.”
“Do you think he killed Julia?”
“I don’t know. But I do know I don’t want to be in the middle of the labyrinth tonight. Not without Fenris.”
“Want has very little to do with anything.” Bridget lifted her chin and raised her face to the sky.
“See, that’s where you’re wrong.” Alistair took her in his arms and claimed her lips. Bridget pushed back against him, her eyes bright in the moonlight. She was stronger than before and fiercer. His fangs lengthened and his jeans were all of a sudden a little too tight.
“What are you doing?”
“Claiming my mate.”
“You’re insane.” Bridget stomped away, heading deeper into the woods.
“You can’t run from it, you know. Haven’t you felt a little different today?”
“What of it?” She slipped on a rock and hissed out an obscenity.
Alistair pursued, using all of his strength to head her off. “How do you feel? Stop walking and look at me.”
Her eyes grew big. “We don’t have time for this. We have to find Duncan and get back.”
“I think we’re going to make time. Like it, or not.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means that when I bit you, I claimed you as my own, and now your wolf is waking.”
***
Bridget wanted to hit him. Hard. Leave it to her to half fall for the first guy to wow the dress off her and have him be a nut.
“What? Is that like I licked the cheese so you can’t eat it?”
“Sort of. We bonded before that. You felt it.”
“I did, but it was those damned shoes. I’m going to kill Isabel.” Bridget closed her eyes and tried to calm down.
“Who’s Isabel?”
“My friend. The one who dragged me to the party.”
“Oh. I didn’t see you there with her.”
“That’s because she was off chasing a neck nibbling vampire.”
“Oh.” Alistair laughed, a grin sliding across his face.
“Don’t you dare laugh at me. I’m a curse worker. I’ll turn you into a toad. Or a donkey.”
Alistair snorted. “Wait? That was you? I heard that woman braying three rooms over. She deserved it, too.”
“Tell me about it.”
“Now are you going to listen to me? You’re about to shift. It’s a full moon and your body is going to roll with it, whether you’re ready or not.”
“I am not changing. Not tonight. Not ever.”
The smile in Alistair’s eyes was a sensual flame that flickered over her body. “Too late. The moon calls her own.”
“Don’t lecture me about the moon. I’m the oldest witch in Salem.” But as soon as the words passed through her lips she wanted to take them back. Her flesh felt hot and the markings scraped against her skin even as the new awareness inside of her opened its eyes for the first time and howled.
There was something inside her, both alien and familiar at the same time. It frightened her.
Panic sluiced through Bridget’s veins as she realized what he said was true. The she-wolf looking back at Bridget didn’t mean her harm. In fact, she felt stronger than she had ever felt, and more connected to the man standing next to her than she did when he was inside of her. He was hers and she was his, and she would never be alone again. The crushing weight of the world fell from her shoulders as she looked into his eyes to find his warmth and acceptance staring back at her.
Mate.
This is what she’d longed for with all three marriages to men who only wanted her for her body. This man wanted something more. Her body and her soul.
Her wolf knew it and, in some way, she did too. The human side, however, fought it with every rational bone in her body. She could be more. So much more, if only she had the courage to reach up with both hands and take what she needed.
This was what it felt like to change. In that moment, she knew the terror that Samuel Gray felt the first time he fell under Mr. Black’s compulsion. Where was her savior now that she was sinking deep into a sensual pool of wild magic from which there was no escape? She didn’t want to. Not really. What she wanted to do was understand.
“What’s happening to me?”
“You are becoming wolf. You’re my mate.”
“I thought we already established having a witch for a mate was a bad idea for you. Your Alpha certainly prove
d that one.” Bridget panted, heat swirling through her body.
“The wolf wants what it wants. Right now he wants you, and I think if you let yourself hear her, your wolf will tell you the same.” Alistair kissed her and her pulse leapt in excitement.
Mate. Now.
Her animal whined, rubbing against the prison of her human flesh. She wanted out and, as the moon cleared a bank of clouds, her transformation began.
Bridget gasped as a full body cramp took her over. She landed on her knees, breathing hard. Pain reverberated through her and every muscle screamed in protest.
“Goddess,” she hissed. “No.”
“Let it happen. Don’t fight it.” Alistair knelt down beside her, rubbing her back as the convulsions increased in frequency and magnitude. Fine gray hair sprouted from her flesh, the same color as the markings on her skin.
Her bones moved and she felt her jaw expand, her teeth sharpen. She threw her head back and howled as her nails became claws and her hands became the great paws of a wolf.
Bridget stood still, panting as her new form settled in on her. Suddenly afraid, she found a large black wolf standing where Alistair had been only moments before.
I won’t leave you.
Are you talking in my head?
Yes. He gave her a wolfy grin and nosed her forward. Unless you want to try grunts and barks.
So funny. Now what?
Just be. Alistair gazed out at the forest and waited for her to catch up.
This was not how she’d planned on spending her Samhain, but to catch a wolf, maybe she had to become one.
The forest came alive. Scents and sounds she’d never heard were clearly small animals hiding in the brush. She loped forward, testing out her new feet and cantered into the brush. Alistair followed, and then took off, leaving her to pick up his scent. The wind whistled through the trees and the chatter of insects and small animals played like a symphony in her ears.
The scent of rain and the earthy smell of decomposing leaves blended with the pulse of new life all around her. For the first time in centuries, Bridget looked at the world with wonder, eager to take a step forward into the unknown.
It was a new world and she was now part of it. Bridget threw back her head and let out a howl. The night was young, the moon was full and she was ready for whatever the shadows of Salem had in store for her. The rest could wait for tomorrow.
A Cursed All Hallows' Eve Page 150