Blood Pool

by B. Ella Donna

  At Bo’s unrelenting insistence, naturally.

  Solaris drove them to Raven’s home and made sure her friend was snuggled into bed before heading off to the grocery store to fill Raven’s empty refrigerator. She checked Raven’s temperature four times before she left for the store. By that time, the sun had darted behind afternoon clouds.

  The shades shut out the light in Raven’s bedroom. The only illumination in the house came from the hallway skylight and a few candles Solaris had lit. Raven’s canopy bed provided a safe cocoon as she laid under homemade quilts the colors of autumn. Outside, the October winds blew menacing clouds across the sky.

  Bo hadn’t left Raven’s side since he’d charged into the ER the day before.

  “Bo…”

  The tough, strapping shape shifter looked up. “Tobias. How long have you been standing there?”

  Tobias walked over to watch his daughter sleep. She looked as she had when she was four years old and still afraid of the dark. “Not long. I wanted you to know something.”

  “What is it?”

  “It’s about Raven. She is in more danger now than ever before.” The ancient vampire sounded desperate.

  “What do you mean?” Bo absentmindedly stroked Raven’s hair while she slept. He was just grateful to have her alive and home with him again. He wanted to start his life with Raven. No more delays, no more setbacks—this was to be their time. Bo would be unwavering in his effort to do whatever it would take to keep his mate safe.

  Tobias let out a long sigh before he answered. “You can be certain that Laroque will be back, and Raven is no longer protected by Lamai blood. In fact, if she is bitten in an attempt to change her back, she will die.”

  Bo stood and strode toward the doorway, motioning for Tobias to follow. Other than losing a few pounds, Bo felt fine. The only thing that was abnormal was the evident fear in his wolf’s soul.

  “She’ll need constant protection, and you know that’s not going to sit well with her. My daughter has a stubborn streak.” Tobias smiled slightly.

  “I’m not leaving her side, whether she likes it or not.” Bo sat on the living room couch, leaning his head on his broad hands. “I feel so responsible. She gave up who she is to save me.”

  Tobias shrugged his wide shoulders. “She loves you. You can’t be with her every minute of every day. You have a job to do, and so does she.” He tugged at his neatly trimmed beard nervously, as if he expected Laroque and his minions to swoop down upon them at any moment and steal Raven out from under their noses.

  Bo looked hard at Tobias, knowing he was right. “I can take time off until…”

  Tobias interrupted. “Time off isn’t going to solve anything, and you know it. The only way to ensure her safety is to stop Laroque permanently.”

  Though it was a truth both knew, up until that point, neither had wanted to voice it. Going after a powerful bokur such as Laroque would not be an easy task, especially knowing he had an arsenal of deadly viruses at his disposal.

  Resolutely, Bo replied, “Then that’s what I’ll do. I’ll get Laroque.”

  “How? You’ll need my help.”

  “No. Raven would never go for that.”

  Tobias patted the young man’s back. “Then we won’t tell her.”

  In the early morning light, Raven nuzzled closer to Bo, needing the heat of his body to keep the chill away. His arms enveloped her while he kissed her neck. Her soft flesh beckoned to him, no longer the pale white of a Lamai, but an olive complexion.

  Her skin alone was a constant reminder that he must be gentle with her. She lifted her face to his and kissed him with a hunger that mingled with fear—fear from almost having lost him, fear that she was a vulnerable, mortal being.

  The thrill of his touch on her flesh was like tiny flames, teasing her as his hands caressed every inch. There was no outward manifestation of the desire that screamed inside her—no ice-colored irises gazing back at him, no extended incisors ready to playfully bite his inner thigh. The sensations of her desire were all normal, for a human.

  All mortal.

  “I would die without you, my love…” he whispered. His hands continued their blazing dance across her skin. Her lips grazed his soft skin, igniting each touch with her unbridled passion while she yearned to feel him inside.

  “I want you,” she whispered.

  She waited for the familiar signals within her. The need for him was still there, the aching to feel his teeth tear at her skin and to take in her lustful blood.

  But it was mortal blood.

  A gentle heat began to radiate from every cell in her body. And as he entered her the heat became a raging inferno. She clung to him as he plunged deeper inside and she nipped at his neck. Only this time, there was no blood.

  “Mine,” he muttered.

  “All yours,” she answered.

  She could feel Bo getting lost in every part of her—her scent, her feel, the taste of her. His eyes began to take on the golden glow of his counterpart. Old habits between them were to die a slow and agonizing death.

  A mortal death.

  Raven was no match for Bo’s strength, and although she tried to keep her expressions of pain concealed, he soon would see the bruises his body was leaving on hers. She didn’t care, though. She begged him to merge with her, but the magick was gone.

  “Love me…” she whispered.

  “Always,” he moaned as his body rocked with a powerful orgasm. He rolled off of her. She knew he sensed she was not the same Raven as before and that he was trying to be extra careful.

  “No… I want more…I want it to be like it always was…” she begged.

  “But…”

  Raven gently guided Bo onto his back, taking him inside her. She straddled him, her hands holding his wrists above his head. She felt him grow harder. She wanted to possess him. Fear welled in her heart as she realized that in trying to save him, she may have ended up losing him.

  The only thing left that was savage about her was her passion for Bo. Slowly she sensed her aching for him increase in intensity while she moved with him, rising and falling over his prone body. He freed his hands from her grip and began caressing her waist, creeping up her back and around cupping her breasts.

  Raven could feel herself cresting to orgasm and she slowed the pace, ebbing and flowing, wanting the feeling to last forever. Her knees dug into his ribs as she ground her hips frantically, taking him deeper inside, riding the waves of pleasure.

  Bo’s hands clasped her buttocks as she felt him hurtle toward his own destiny with ecstasy. The world went away, and Raven felt the need to reach out to Bo with her soul. But things were different. A soft moan escaped her lips and grew louder as the full magnitude of her climax hit her. Bo’s body arched up to meet her as he, too, gave into the excruciating pleasure. He pulled her down to him, moaning with a longing that remained unfilled.

  Raven pulled open the curtains and let the sunlight into her den. “I feel fine, Ian. I want to go back to work,” she protested the following afternoon.

  “Raven, as your friend, and with the complete agreement of Dr. Cole…y-your…” He stuttered before he could get out his complete response.

  She was startled when she realized what he was trying to communicate. “My what? New human doctor?”

  Ian looked at Raven with an odd expression. It would be quite a while before she would be used to the new way of life she was embarking upon.

  It was not an enviable path.

  “I’m human now, so I assume I’ll have a doctor who—well—deals with human physiology.”

  Ian crossed his arms over his chest, his gaze narrowed. “Yes, you will, and we both—Dr. Cole and I—feel you need time to recover. This is something I’ve never dealt with. I don’t know what side effects you may experience, short-term or long-term.” Dr. Odin explained the reason for Raven’s sabbatical.

  Tobias, too, was adamant about her staying away from the hospital. Her father called in quite a few mo
re favors to have Raven watched twenty-four hours a day, and keeping her home was a crucial part of the plan.

  Ian plopped himself on a recliner. “I must say, though, you look great.” He changed the subject, but Raven saw right through the tactic.

  She continued her questioning, trying a different approach. “What’s going on with the epidemic? How many more people have been infected? Any humans come down with symptoms?”

  “You don’t need to concern yourself with that right now. Davis is taking care of the autopsies, along with Nat. We’ve got everything running smoothly.”

  Raven occasionally glanced outside at the approaching clouds. “When can I return to work? Davis is still a newbie, and I don’t want him to become overwhelmed. Can you get someone from the mainland to help out?”

  He smiled his finest “doctor knows best” smile. “Don’t worry. We’ll take it a day at a time. So far you seem to be coping with this abrupt change rather well, but I want to monitor you. Dr. Sanjay is helping out, too. We have everything under control.” Ian made his way to the front door. “I know it may be upsetting to realize the morgue can manage without you for a week or two, but it can.” He opened the heavy wooden door. Bo had been outside talking to one of Tobias’s guards. Raven saw they were all big, buff Lamai.

  Raven stood next to Ian. He took her hand in his thin, weathered one. “I’ve known you for a very long time, and I’ve known your father longer. You have a bright future. I see you doing great things for both the human and the magickal beings of the island. Please, just take the time now to recover. You’ve got your whole life ahead of you.”

  Raven smirked. “One that’s not as long as I’d once thought it would be,” she admitted dolefully.

  Ian’s face hardened. “We all make choices in our lives that we have to live with. Do have any regrets?”

  “None.”

  “Good. I’ll see you tomorrow, Raven. Take it easy for the time being,” Ian cautioned as he exited her home.

  Hmm, Raven thought, looks like a storm is brewing. They can’t keep me inside all day. Wearing a pair of velour lounge pants and one of Bo’s sweatshirts, she wrapped a Navaho print blanket around her shoulders and went outside through the rear sliding glass doors.

  Raven loved days such as this. The low clouds skittered across the sky in shades of angry bluish grey. Had the temperature been lower, they would experience their first snowfall of the season. Instead, it was unseasonably warm.

  The seas were churning like an old witch’s cauldron as Raven made her way closer to the rocky shore. A friend of Bo’s and fellow shifter, Seth, greeted her. His alter ego was a jaguar, fierce and quick on his feet—or paws, as the case may be.

  “I’m just taking a walk down to the water. Maybe I’ll sit on the rocks and meditate for a while,” Raven called out over the rising winds.

  Seth just nodded.

  Raven’s favorite formation of jetty was one that jutted into the sea with perfect steps leading to a large, flat stone. The wind carried Bo’s laughter from the front of the house to the back. A familiar ache settled within her, and she longed to be in his arms again.

  She thought about how Bo held back yesterday in bed. He must have been afraid of what their lovemaking might do to her. She was a human, and he could not totally lose himself in her anymore. Not as he had in the past. They had no boundaries in the past. It had been part of the way they made love—uninhibited. But that was then, and things were different. That saddened her.

  She stepped on the first stone. It also frightened her that he would somehow stop loving her as a result. She knew it was unreasonable to think that way, but the passion they’d shared was unlike anything either had ever experienced. And, in a way, she felt cheated. She walked farther out on the jetty, like she used to. She felt cheated. She was sure Bo would eventually feel it, too.

  These thoughts tormented her as she lifted her leg to step onto the last stone.

  Something grabbed at her leg.

  A small dinghy hid among the rocks. Hands latched onto her pants and pulled her down. She fell into the boat. A sweet-smelling cloth covered her mouth before she had a chance to scream.

  Shit! was Raven’s last thought before she entered pitch blackness.

  Chapter Thirteen

  A humming echoed in the back of Raven’s head as she fought to reach the light of consciousness. Where am I? Is Bo asleep next to me?

  The memory of walking out into the yard came back to her. She had wanted to go and sit by the rocks. Seth was outside with her.

  She tried to move her arms and legs, but something kept them from responding to her mental cues. Her eyes fluttered open, but darkness enveloped her once again.

  “What do you mean you don’t know where she is?” Bo growled as he searched the backyard and headed toward the rocks. “Seth, I told you not to take your eyes off her. She might have slipped and fallen into the ocean.” Bo worked the muscles in his jaw furiously. He threw off his shirt and dove into the turbulent Atlantic. The water was murky, but Bo’s altered state of awareness allowed his sight to hone in on the shapes under the water. None were human.

  The young man, Seth, couldn’t really remember much of what had happened in the minutes prior to Bo asking him where Raven was. This wasn’t the first experience he’d had of being unable to account for certain blocks of time. In fact, it was happening often recently.

  “Bo!” Seth called out to his heartsick friend before tossing off his shirt and following him into the water, washing away any remnants of the bokur’s powder.

  “What’s going on?” Kyle, in charge of guarding the north side of the property, called to his friends before they dove down below the water’s surface. The winds strengthened and the water churned.

  When Bo resurfaced, he told his friend to call 911. “Raven may have fallen into the water.”

  Kyle flipped his cell phone open and immediately dialed, requesting assistance for Detective Wasake.

  Seth resurfaced from the rolling seas. He wiped the salt water out of his eyes and turned to look all around him. There was no sign of Raven. “I’m sorry, Bo. She said she wanted to sit by the rocks and meditate. I turned away for a split second.”

  Bo pulled himself out of the water and onto the rocks. The wind caused goose flesh to spread across his body and whipped his hair behind him. He reached for Kyle’s cell phone. He punched in Solaris’s number at Blood Pool, striding anxiously up and down the backyard, waiting for her to pick up the phone.

  Bo rubbed the back of his neck, kneading out the knots of building tension. “Sol, Raven is missing,” he blurted. “I need you to come to the house and see what you pick up psychically about what might have happened to her, please.”

  Silence filled the other end. “What? Oh, no! I had an eerie feeling all morning, and could not get thoughts of Raven out of my mind.” Bo heard Sol take a sharp intake of breath. “Bo… I don’t need to come over. He’s got her. Laroque’s somehow gotten to her. I was just about to call you and see if she was all right. I’ve been worried about her. Shit! I knew I should have stopped by.”

  Bo knew enough not to ask if she was sure, even though the words were on the tip of his tongue. His whole body stiffened. His nightmare became reality. Fear gripped its stone cold fingers around his heart and squeezed mercilessly.

  This simply could not be happening.

  His voice had a cold edge to it. “Is there anything else I should know?”

  “I knew I shouldn’t have disregarded my inner prompts. All my thoughts revolved around Raven. It was as if I was walking through sludge. I was about to call you as soon as I realized I was under the influence of powerful magick.” Solaris’s voice was childlike on the other end. “Whoever conspired with Laroque has no memory of it. He was coerced into it.”

  “Terrific.” Bo clicked the phone shut.

  Tobias reined in his temper while trying to convince his friend to make certain changes in the itinerary of the island’s celebration.

>   “The Festival must take place, Tobias. Our success in the coming year depends on it,” Frank Dubois argued, seemingly unaffected by the recent happenings. Lately, Tobias noticed an air of detachment around the mayor. He seemed to be distracted, by what exactly, Tobias didn’t know.

  He slammed his fist onto the maple desk separating them “He is going to try and destroy our island and my daughter in the process, and he’ll use the Festival to do it.”

  Frank shook his head in denial. “No. We’ll find her. We have search and rescue looking for her. If she’s out there, we will find her.”

  Tobias exploded, his anger spilling over, and for one second he bared his fangs, threatening Frank. What had come over his friend? This was not the same man who claimed to love Raven as if she were his own flesh and blood.

  “Damn you, Frank—what is wrong with you? Solaris has already informed me that Raven is in the clutches of that lunatic. Raul and Seth are infected and in the ICU. I need to find out where Laroque is holding my daughter. Solaris is trying to find out, as is the rest of the community, but his magick is powerful. He has many charms and glamours to keep Raven’s whereabouts hidden.”

  Frank leaned back in his chair, seemingly phrasing in his head what to say. “This is a delicate situation, Tobias.” Apparently he chose blunt and to the point as the best way to handle Tobias. “I can’t cancel the celebration. You know that. It’s only a few days away, and the people of the island expect it. It’s bad enough that we’ve shortened it to one day. Folks are threatening to move off Mirabelle. There are others I must consider—people’s livelihoods are on the line. You know this is the time when everyone makes up for the country’s failing economy. I can’t have people threatening to move. I do love Raven, too, you know.”

  Tobias felt the burn in his eyes as they flashed to platinum, and hundreds of years of resentment flared. Resentment of what he’d become, simultaneously powerful and powerless. “Then show it,” he growled. He stormed out of Frank’s office, slamming the door behind him without having to lay a finger upon it.