Without a thought, Raven knew she was the little girl waiting to eat.
“I’ll be right there,” the young woman answered. Instead of mists filling the air, a cloud of dust whirled, and the pounding of hooves made the earth tremble. As the clouds settled, Raven could see a herd of buffalo racing through a valley. Brightly painted ponies galloped along the perimeter of the herd.
“Chief Running Bear, Storm Cloud has two down, and I’ve got one. Snake took two…”They spoke in a foreign tongue, yet Raven understood every word.
“Good. I have two back by the clearing, and I’ve got my eye on this big male…” With an explosive burst of energy, the man called Running Bear threw his spear into the hide of the massive buffalo, hitting him right in his neck. The beast kept running.
Raven heard words coming from the other man’s mind—evil thoughts.
“I could throw my spear right into the chief’s heart and no one would know it wasn’t an innocent mistake—one of the dangers of the hunt. Then, White Dove would be mine.”
Only Running Bear’s brother, Red Hawk, didn’t know another warrior looking in his direction was thinking similar sinister thoughts. The faces melted into their present incarnations, Running Bear became Tobias and Red Hawk morphed into Frank. The angry warrior turned into Laroque.
Over and over, the scenes played out in Raven’s dreams of the love affairs between Nicolette and Philippe, Frank and Tobias. All three men vied for her affection, and in each lifetime, her heart belonged to Tobias.
The car swerved over a bump in the road and jarred Raven back to consciousness. She opened her eyes, her mind still a jumble of sights and feelings from times long since past. Feelings that were still very much alive in her present.
It was clear this drama would continue to play out in subsequent lifetimes unless there was some kind of resolution.
Could she also be enslaved to her own saga lifetime after lifetime? Was there a similar connection between Bethany, Bo and herself? Did she really want to create more drama in her own life? Maybe it wasn’t such a smart idea to marry him after all. So much of what they had was gone.
She loved Bo and there was still excitement between them, but on a different level. She felt so utterly human, and that disappointed her. Raven could no longer offer him the passion-filled nights they once shared—that much was evident her first night back from the hospital. She was mortal now, and one bite from him could kill her, or seriously maim her at best.
What could she offer him now? A boring life, one in which he would far outlive her, and she would age while he remained ageless, virile and handsome. Bethany would remain young as well. Her beauty would eat away at Raven.
Bo would notice his wife was old and grey with wrinkled skin, but his ex-lover wouldn’t look a day over thirty. Her body would remain lithe, taut and muscular from all the running they would do in the pack.
They would glimmer back into human form, sweaty and lustful from the endorphins coursing through their blood. Her voluptuous body would arouse Bo, her scent would drive him wild, and Bethany would get what she wanted.
Together they could have a decent life and a family. The commonality they shared was something with which Raven could never compete. She would never know what it was like to be a wolf. To shimmer from one form into another must be elating. The feeling of running with the pack, the freedom, the sense of camaraderie… She envied the shifters.
The feeling of having a family was something Raven would sorely miss.
Bethany had a history with Bo. His parents—at least his mother—supported the pairing of the two. Bethany would give the clan many strong children to carry on its lineage.
He would eventually wind up with her anyway. Why put off what was bound to happen? It was inevitable. Bo would be Bethany’s mate, and Raven could expect nothing more. They would share the ability to love each other with complete abandon, without the risk to life or limb. It was the best thing for Bo, his freedom.
She decided she would set him free. All in the name of love.
And knowing Bethany as Raven did, she was certain she would take full advantage of every opportunity that came her way to seduce Bo, especially during their times with the pack.
In the end, Raven would surrender the one thing she sought to save: Bo. She would have to let him go for good. She would somehow learn to live with that. At least he would be alive and well. She couldn’t survive if something were to happen to him.
He would get over her. Bo would find a way.
Raven would move to another city and practice medicine…perhaps meet a mortal man and have mortal sex, which would produce mortal children, and then she would die a miserable, mortal death.
But Bo would be free.
Chapter Twenty
The rain had stopped long before the sun rose. Bo woke Jade up to coffee and blood, the breakfast of champions.
“The bridges are open. Let’s go,” he ordered.
She wiped the remnants of sleep from her eyes. “Did you eat anything?” she muttered.
Bo stood tall, hands on hips. “Yeah, I chewed on my fingernails half the night and then I had a burger from the joint on the corner while you slept.”
Jade looked quite proud of herself. “You needed to eat. Raven will be very upset with me if you aren’t one-hundred percent when we find her.”
“If we find her, you mean.” He felt engulfed in feelings of loss and hopelessness.
“Hey—what d’ya mean if? We’re going to find her! Let’s get in the car and get going.”
“Jade, you’re acting too perky. I can’t deal with perky.”
Bo was withdrawn and tired. His usual optimism was gone. Without their connection, it seemed impossible to find Raven. All he had to work with were his tracking skills and a newbie Lamai who was just getting her feet wet with all her recently acquired powers.
And then there was her incessant talking. How could a woman find so many things to babble about? Many times he wanted to scream at her to shut up.
“How come I can be outside in the daylight safely? I never could understand that myth,” Jade asked as they headed toward the car.
“Like you said, it’s a myth. Although I hear there is a sect of vampires that can’t tolerate much sunlight, and their young ones can’t handle any,” Bo said. He started the engine, hoping she wouldn’t keep talking.
“So what makes the Lamai so different?”
Damn. No such luck. He sighed deeply. “Time. They’ve been around the longest. Queen Rhia has been walking the earth since—it seems since the beginning of time itself.”
“And Tobias?”
“Not quite as long, but long enough. I’ve heard over three hundred years.”
Which brought a thought to Bo’s mind. Where is Tobias?
Tobias had to leave, but his woman was not making it easy. “I’ll be back. Don’t worry, Em.”
Tears rolled down Emmie’s face as she grabbed a tissue and blew her nose. Most fae women did not handle pregnancy well. Emerald loved the fact that she was finally with child—with Tobias’s child—but the emotional rollercoaster ride was horrid.
“I-I don’t want you to go…” she sobbed.
He tried to be patient. “Em, I have to find Raven.”
She pouted. “You’re always leaving me. Now that we’re going to be married and start a family, you still want to go?”
He hugged her reassuringly. “I don’t want to go, I have to go.”
Another onslaught of tears barraged him. How could he tell her he was having second thoughts about marriage? He couldn’t.
“You don’t have to go! Bo is looking for her. He’ll find her. Come on, can’t you stay at least another day? You’re gone for weeks, months at a time, and I don’t say a word to you. Now that things have changed, I need you here.”
Fae women also apparently got very frisky when pregnant.
Emerald took his hand and placed it on her belly.
“Our child is growing within me.
Please don’t go,” she pleaded as she kissed him. “Not tonight…”
In spite of his anxiety, Tobias found his body responding to Emerald’s brazen touch and fiery kisses.
After making love to his soon-to-be wife for half the night, Tobias became one with the mist and followed the trail that would hopefully lead him to his daughter.
“You’ve become quiet. Deep in thought?” Laroque asked.
“I suppose, and wondering about the future—my future,” Raven said as she stared out the car window. “And the past.”
“Really? I thought your main focus would be to escape from me and return to Mirabelle Cove and your life with Bo.” Laroque reached in his jacket pocket and took a handful of pills.
That statement cut like a knife. “Things change. You know that.”
She had piqued his curiosity once more. “You’re not planning on going back to Mirabelle? That is, once you escape from me.” He took a water bottle from the console and swallowed the pills.
“Actually, I’m thinking of relocating. Once I escape from you, that is,” she said stoically. “What are you taking?”
Laroque laughed. “Oh, Raven, you really had me going there for a moment. And those, my dear, are vitamins.”
Her expression didn’t change. “I’m serious. I can get work at just about any hospital. Maybe I will get involved with research. Who knows?” She shifted in the seat uncomfortably, wanting desperately to be anywhere but in this car with this man.
“Yes, you definitely could land work anywhere you want in a New York minute. I said it before—research would benefit from your expertise in the field. You’re a caring person and a genius.”
“Other than the genius part, I would agree with you. Besides, Bo is safe and his life is secured. I, on the other hand, well…I have an expiration date.” She sulked.
He stared at her hard and long before he spoke. “Clever girl, do you think I would consider letting you go simply because you’re mortal now?”
Raven didn’t bother to hide the tears that escaped her eyes. After all, he was the reason her life had taken such a drastic turn. Her emotions bubbled over.
She jerked her head around and caught his glare with one of her own. “I have no life in Mirabelle. I’ve changed, and there’s nothing there for me now. Bo is better off without me.” She wiped away the tears. “I don’t really care if you believe me or not, Laroque—or if you even let me live. My life as I knew it is over. Nothing matters anymore.”
This woman is serious, Laroque thought. He probed with his psychic senses and all signs pointed to her telling the truth. She intended to leave Mirabelle Cove.
He shrugged, dismissing her show of emotions, somehow disappointed by them. Laroque had to remind himself that she was human: utterly, completely, shamefully human.
He absently picked lint from his black slacks. “Do you expect me to talk you out of your plan? To go on about how I didn’t have the opportunity to be with the one I love? You don’t need me to tell you all that. You know it already. If you want to throw everything away, then maybe you deserve to die after all.”
Her sarcasm returned. “How touching, really. I’m moved beyond belief. Your capacity for understanding the human condition is astounding. Did you have to work at being an asshole, or is it just one of your countless natural talents?”
Laroque crossed his arms and tapped his cheek with his index finger. He decided to ignore her little outburst. “What about Bo? What if he doesn’t let you go?”
She choked back tears. “He has no choice. If this is what I want, he’ll let me go. He owes me and he knows it.”
“True, he does owe you his life. That was very brave of you, giving up being Lamai to save him. I don’t think I’d give up immortality.”
“Nothing else matters,” Raven whispered, her gaze returning to the landscape outside the car.
A tinge of excitement colored Laroque’s voice as he said, “What if you stayed with me? We could work together.”
Raven smiled slyly. “And do what—create killer viruses?”
“We could do amazing work. Look at what we did to Ebola! We could work with any virus—HIV, hepatitis…”
She scoffed at his proposal. “And do what with them? Besides, there are a few strains of Ebola. Luckily, you got your hands on the least dangerous one.”
“My point is we could do just about anything. Cure cancer, maybe?”
Laroque put his hand on hers. She seemed to have a hard time believing his altruistic attitude. There had to be another motive.
She laughed. “Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice…”
“Shame on me—I understand. But honestly, we could do research for the greater good. And yes, I do have my motives, but I’m not willing to confess them to you, at least, not at this point in time.”
The next sound in the Mercedes was of the engine shifting.
Laroque had thought about taking Tobias’s daughter from him and having her become his protégé and he her mentor. That would be a bonus, to let Tobias live with the knowledge that Laroque had more in common with Raven than with her own father—that would be sweet revenge.
“I know you love your father, but I also know you’re a realist. And the fact is that you and Tobias never did have a close relationship. Oh, Tobias loves you, in his way. Yet his love must have left you feeling empty, a side effect of his constant travels, perhaps?” Laroque knew this because it had been one of Nicolette’s constant complaints.
“Your mother would confide in me how she feared Tobias’s absences had affected you. Nicolette confessed to me how it culminated one night. I think she said you were three when you realized that he would return during the night to be with your mother. Only to be gone by morning.” His voice was full of compassion and understanding. “This had to contribute to your feelings of abandonment.” Feelings that Laroque wanted to exploit.
“I don’t need a psych evaluation from you and I’m not looking to punish my father. I’m simply searching for a way to leave my past behind me and move into the future—a future that won’t include Bo or the island of Mirabelle Cove.”
“There is that nasty rumor that Jade is no longer human. We could work to find something that can undo the Lamai changes.”
Raven turned her body and looked directly at Laroque. He was toying with her, manipulating her emotionally, and he was very good at it. He only hoped she didn’t see through him.
“If that rumor proves to be true, why not just go to Hekate and have her change Jade back?”
“Don’t play me for a fool. Hekate doesn’t do favors for anyone without a steep price tag, and I’m the last person she would help.” Anger welled within him. “Maybe I’ll just kill you and put us both out of your misery.”
The car came to a screeching halt.
“Go ahead—see if I care!” she yelled as Laroque exited the vehicle.
Tobias materialized next to the rental car. Bo thrummed his fingers on the steering wheel, and Jade dozed off in the backseat. Due to the combination of the weather and the closed bridges, there was an overabundance of traffic on the mainland.
The door opened, and Tobias got into the front passenger seat.
“How did your meeting go with Rhia?” Bo asked as casually as if Tobias had been sitting there all morning.
“As expected, she doesn’t know anything. Big secret—everything is a big secret. What about you?”
“The rain put a damper on Raven’s scent, but I think I’m headed in the right direction.”
Tobias rolled up the sleeves of his black silk shirt. “Damn vehicles. We could travel so much faster in the mists.”
“You want to take Jade? Feel free,” Bo offered with a sigh.
Adjusting his designer sunglasses, he asked, “She having a tough time with the transition?”
“No, none that I can see. She just likes to talk and talk, and she goes on about Raven and…I-I can’t take it. I miss her something fierce, and if anything has happened to h
er, I’ll die.”
“Don’t think like that. Raven’s a survivor. Besides, Jade can’t travel in the mists yet. She’s still got a lot to learn.”
Finally, the traffic began moving, and in thirty minutes they were standing in front of Laroque’s home in Key West.
“Most of the windows are still boarded. We must have just missed them,” Bo said as he walked the perimeter of the house. “She was here. I sense her.”
“I feel her, too,” Jade said.
Jade began to walk up to the front door, but abruptly about-faced and headed for the driveway. It appeared as if an invisible string pulled her along. She stood there and slowly turned, eyes closed and hands held out, palms open. Bo joined her. He began shaking his head.
“Yes, she was here. I can smell her scent. She’s not afraid, but she seems… hopeless,” Bo said.
“There’s also someone else—still here. In the shadows,” Jade said softly.
Bo whispered, “You’re right. You’re getting good at this.”
“In the foliage that surrounds the back of the house, another of my father’s employees is hiding. He sees us. He wants to be certain, though. He doesn’t expect to share the same fate as another of Laroque’s men.”
“How do you know all that?” Bo asked.
“I-I’m not sure. I just do.”
“Are you sure…”
“It’s not Raven, yeah, I’m sure. There’s another.” Jade headed to where she sensed the other Lamai hovering half in the ethers. Her eyes became the bright color of shallow tropical waters, her fangs extended.
With a hiss she lurched forward, trying to snatch onto the dissolving Lamai. She grabbed at air.
“Damn!” she cursed aloud.
Bo was right behind her. “What was it?”
“Lamai, but he disappeared as soon as I reached for him.”
Tobias finally spoke. “You can be sure he’s going to report we’re here. I’m worried about Raven. She’s distraught, depressed, feeling lost and…abandoned. I know her emotions as if they were my own.
“For the first time since Raven had been abducted, I feel her signature essence. I’m afraid I’m responsible for much of the way she was feeling. I’m frightened for her. She doesn’t care about what might happen to her. Her aura is full of resignation it’s heavy in the air. You two sense the same thing. I know it.”
Blood Pool Page 21