Finally, she understood. Shifting in the chair so she was sitting up, she leaned forward. “I’m not Hope, Shade. You aren’t in love with me. You barely know me.”
“I know you.” He crossed the room in two strides and bent to hover over her. “My wolf knows your scent, Torrey. You’re in my system. No matter who you are or aren’t, you are in my system. You were meant to be my mate.”
Torrey couldn’t breathe. The way he looked at her left no doubt he had no intention of letting her go, ever. Deep down, she responded to him. She wanted to be wanted like this. She wanted to be vital to someone, to Shade. Her breasts followed her lungs by tightening in response to his nearness. “This is about sex?” Her question came out on a breathy whisper.
“No,” he said. “This is about destiny. You were meant to be mine, Torrey. You were meant to be my wife and bear my children.”
She shook her head. This was too much. She wasn’t so sure she didn’t want the life he described, but she knew she couldn’t admit to wanting it, not yet.
Shade didn’t have the patience to wait anymore. Jerking her from the chair, he lifted her against him and kissed her hard. His fingers fisted in her still-damp hair, holding her in place. Delicious heat ran rampant through Torrey’s veins. He was in her system, too. She burrowed her fingers in his hair and kissed him back.
When he broke the kiss, Shade dropped her back into the chair. “Stay here, Torrey. Don’t leave the house. I will return in the morning, and I will have Riley with me.” He was gone before she could respond.
With absent fingers, she traced the places on her lips that throbbed from his show of possession. Outside, an engine roared to life, and the only vehicle for miles left the area. It looked like she was staying, at least until morning. She knew Shade would return without Riley. She knew it as sure as she knew anything.
He had to be tired. He would return in the morning and fall into bed. She would take his keys and leave. It would give her time to cut a deal with Soren.
Kneeling on the floor in front of the dresser, she continued rifling through her drawers for that sweatshirt. Eventually, she found it. Sliding into a fresh pair of underwear and jeans, she threw the OSU shirt on and dug in the closet for her hiking boots. It was thoughtful of Shade to pack everything that wasn’t nailed down.
At the last minute, she withdrew the black blanket from her backpack. If she was going to find Caiden, then it made sense to have something he’d given her. She wrapped it around her shoulders, surprised to find it fit like a cloak.
The tree called to her. The bright glow beckoned in the distance, giving her enough light on this final moonless night to see her way clear of branches and fallen logs. There was a slight clearing, as if other trees moved away from the majesty of this one white pine.
Caiden sat on the ground beneath the spreading boughs of the lowest branches. He glanced up with a smile on his face and patted the ground next to him. “I see you followed my advice and let the wolf teach you.”
“He had a book,” Torrey said. “The book told me much more than he did.”
“But he showed you how to put the words into practice. I knew he would.” Caiden’s smile was sad.
Torrey pulled the cloak tighter around her body and sat, cross-legged, on the ground next to him. Immediately, energy flowed into her. The blanket was definitely charmed.
Now that she was close to him and fully awake, Torrey was able to get a much better look at him. He was tall. His muscles were lean and long, and his eyes were intelligent. Everything about his face matched hers. He was handsome without being overly attractive. He could blend into a crowd, lose himself in the masses. Perhaps there was an evolutionary genius to their looks after all. Female birds were brown to blend in, protect them from predatory attack. Perhaps powerful witches were plain for the same reason. It truly didn’t matter to Torrey anymore.
“He won’t be able to bring Riley back. Soren will only trade her for me, and Shade won’t barter me.”
Caiden shook his head sadly. “He’s in love with you.”
She snorted at that. “He thinks I’m the reincarnation of someone he loved. Hope. Maybe you knew her?”
That soft smile was back. His nod was full of sadness. “I knew Hope.”
“Then you know I’m not her?” The anticipation she harbored, that she somehow was Hope and didn’t remember, faded. “It’s driving his actions. If he could accept that I’m just Torrey, then he could make the trade. He could deal with Soren.”
Caiden’s hand connected with hers. She jumped. Even though she knew she was awake, a large part of her consciousness refused to accept that Caiden might have a physical body. “There is no Torment without Hope. I’m sorry, my lady. Your name was no accident. Francis might have been a horrible father to you, but he named you according to my instructions. Hillary wouldn’t listen to me. She hated the name.”
There was more, she felt it in her bones. “Why?” She knew there was no need to elaborate. It was obvious why her mother hated the name.
“Because that is what you are. That is your power. Hope brought hope to those she met. You bring torment.” Caiden’s hand tightened on hers. “That’s a powerful thing, Torrey.”
She ripped her hand away from his. “That’s a terrible thing, Caiden, and you know it. I don’t want to bring pain and misery to anyone, especially people I love.”
“Riley isn’t happy right now, and neither are Shade and Soren. You did that.”
Torrey rose to her feet and stood on shaky legs. “No, you did this, Caiden. You made me. You chose to inflict me on the world. You want people to be miserable and in pain.”
Caiden rose with her. He towered over her by several inches. “No, Torrey. I was a vessel for creating you, it is true, but you are necessary. You aren’t Fury. Yes, those are Daughters of Circe, too. Hope, Bliss, and Desire are as well. You can’t have one without the other. They’re two halves of a whole.”
She stared at him, willing him and the whole conversation far, far away. This was too much. Not only did her long-lost father confirm her given name, he chose what she was, what she represented, what she controlled. Caiden disappeared, and the light from the tree dimmed. Torrey blinked, wondering if she had done that.
“Powerful stuff, witch. I see now why Soren wants you so much.”
Torrey pivoted to find Tiffany standing several feet away. In the dim glow of her white pine, Tiffany’s beauty hit ethereal proportions. Luminous blue eyes dominated a face featuring smooth skin and lush lips. A long mane of blond hair fell to her waist. Though she was clad in pants and a vest that appeared military in style, her fine figure wasn’t hidden.
Exactly what had Tiffany seen? Was her arrival the reason Caiden disappeared?
“Are you going to take me to him?” Torrey hoped the answer was in the affirmative. She really wanted a face-to-face with Soren. With her newly found powers, the dynamics of their relationship were definitely different.
Tiffany shook her head. “Soren is already powerful. I fear what will happen if he is able to take your powers from you. I want you gone, witch. I want you far, far from here. Or dead.”
The threat did curiously little to instill fear in Torrey. “But you’re not going to kill me. If Soren finds out, he’ll kill you. Or if Shade finds out, you’ll lose your chance with him.”
Her smile was the only thing crooked about her. Even that didn’t mar Tiffany’s perfection. “I lost my chance with Shade a century ago. That’s ancient history, especially to someone with a life span as short as yours.” She came closer. “I will deliver these two warnings. First, when you use your power, it lights up the senses of any wolf within ten miles. Second, if Soren commands me to kill you, I will do so without hesitation.”
Torrey threw caution to the wind. “I want my sister. As soon as I have Riley, I’ll leave, and I’ll never return.”
Tiffany’s ears perked up. Her head turned to one side, then the other, looking for all the world like the she-wolf she
was. “There is magic all around us, but you are not the source.”
It was Caiden. Torrey had no doubt on that front. “Forces out there don’t want me hurt, not yet.”
Wide blue eyes rounded on her. “If I find your human sister and give her to you, then you will go? I have your word on that, witch? I have your bond?”
“Yes.”
“What if Shade cannot let you go?” Tiffany’s head moved, fear making her seek out the source of the power Torrey could feel as well. “What if he wishes to take you for his mate? He is drawn to your kind. He always has been.”
When he finally figured out she wasn’t Hope, he would let her go. “I will deal with Shade. You free Riley, and we’ll both disappear from here.”
Tiffany nodded once. Extending her hand, she sealed the pact with a handshake. “We have an accord, witch. I must go.”
Torrey watched her new ally flee on fleet feet. Wolf visual senses were definitely an asset, as were their senses of hearing and smell. Too bad heavy magic spooked them so badly.
“That was effective,” she said.
“That was you,” Caiden said, appearing by her side. “You know she cannot see magic? She can only sense it. Your essence is inside this tree, Daughter. Wolves will avoid this area for as long as you live.”
She turned to him, gathering her courage. “You’re not my father, are you?”
“Not in the way you want,” he said. Sympathy softened his face and his words. “I have many Daughters, Torrey, but they command me. I am their servant. I assist when they need a rebirth, and when they need guidance. But no, I am no one’s father.”
His arms slipped around her, and he held her in the most paternal hug she’d ever received. “Have faith in yourself, Torment. You are only a force of evil if you wish it to be so.”
Chapter 12
Shade cursed the day Soren was born, even though it was his day as well. Why did he have to be paired with a brother whose compulsion made their lives a living hell?
He found his brother in the living room. Soren looked up when Shade entered. A wary smile twisted his mouth and clouded his turquoise eyes. “You could have left a note. It’s easier to read and far easier to clean up.”
“You could have told me you kidnapped a human to hold for a witch’s ransom.” Shade’s fist clenched, an aggressive indicator Soren didn’t miss.
“I know how much you love to love witches,” Soren said. His head cocked to one side, listening to something Shade couldn’t see.
But Shade didn’t need to see the demon to know it held Soren captive. “Fight it, Soren. Don’t do this. You hate yourself when you do this. Give Riley to me.”
“I haven’t hurt her,” he said. Frustration strangled his words. He had fought it. He was fighting it. He was losing the battle. “I don’t want to hurt her. I don’t want to hurt either of them.”
“Then give her to me. I’ve already hidden the witch where you can’t find her. Let me hide Riley as well.” He wanted to mention Torrey as little as possible. Soren might be distracted by his demons, but those little devils didn’t miss much. They’d make sure he made connections Shade hoped were missed.
Soren sniffed the air, and then he knelt to finish cleaning up the living room. “Hiding her at your house isn’t protection, Shade. And the least you could do is help put everything back. I know you don’t have a compulsion against cleaning or Mom would have coddled you that way, too.”
Apparently, the fact that Alethea had originally been hired to pick up after Shade didn’t qualify as coddling. “I’ll pass. What makes you think the witch is at my house?”
Soren’s grin was ironic. “I smell her all over you, and not just her power. You’ve had her in your bed. That’s a pretty impressive feat considering how much she hates wolves right about now.”
“Just tell me where she is, Soren. She’s innocent, and she’s human. She has no power, nothing for you to covet.” Shade made no move to help Soren. Shoving a pile of books off the sofa, he sat to watch his brother clean. It was a small penance.
“Have you seen her?” Soren asked. The question didn’t require an answer. “She has the face of an angel and the body of a Siren.”
“You’ve used that line before,” Shade said. “It wasn’t original then, either.”
Soren looked up sharply, his brows drawn together as he listened to his demons. “But I mean it this time. Do you think she’ll have me after I kill her sister?”
Shade shook his head. “I think the odds are against you. This is another reason to give her up, Soren.”
A vase flew across the room, shattering against the far wall. Shade stared after it, unimpressed.
“Do you think I want to do this, Shaden? I found her by accident. You said go to the human cities. You said to see how they were different. I found cell phones and computers that are portable, and I found a witch.” Soren fisted his hands in his hair, pulling at the shoulder-length blond strands as if it would quiet his tormentors. “Not just any witch, but a Daughter of Circe.”
Shade was across the room in one stride, his hand to his brother’s throat. “You knew what you found, and you said nothing to me. You gave me no chance to help you, to help her.”
Soren made no move to remove his brother’s hand. The misery in his light green eyes was undisguised. “I made sure she wasn’t Hope. I used that name first, when I tried to extract her power. It didn’t work.”
“Did you honestly think she would come back with the same name?” Shade dropped his brother. He didn’t have it in himself to kill Soren, not yet.
“No,” Soren said, straightening his shirt. “But I figured she’d know me.” His eyes widened with uncertainty. “She isn’t Hope, Shade. She can’t be Hope. I can’t do this to you twice. I can’t do this to her twice.”
Hope surged in Shade, but he kept it hidden. “Then give Riley to me. Fight your compulsion long enough to let me take her away from here. I promise, you’ll never find either of them again.”
Footsteps sounded in the hall. Shade’s head jerked in that direction. He hadn’t scented anyone else in the house. How was that possible?
“I cast a charm to cover her scent,” Soren explained as an auburn-haired beauty with the face of an angel stepped into the room. “I didn’t want to leave her in a cave somewhere. She might catch cold.”
“I’ve cleaned up the kitchen,” she said, stepping into Soren’s embrace and planting a kiss on his cheek. “What did you want for dinner?”
Shade stared at them both, incredulity straining at the lips he pressed tightly together. Why lock a captive away in a room when it was so much easier just to cast a charm on them to make them think being there was voluntary?
“Hi,” she said, throwing a welcoming smile in Shade’s direction. “You must be Shade. I’m Riley. I hope you’ll stay for dinner.”
Shade stared deeply into Riley’s brown eyes. They were so like Torrey’s. “Steak sounds great. Rare, if you don’t mind.”
Riley’s eyes glazed over, and she instantly obeyed Shade’s command.
When she was gone, Shade turned on Soren. “That’s low, even for you. Does she think she’s in love with you? That’s rape, you know.”
Soren’s nose wrinkled in disgust. “I haven’t slept with her. She thinks we’re dating, though, so I can’t put her off much longer. She’s creative when she wants to be persuasive. And don’t get all high and mighty on me. You just put a charm of your own on her. Riley hates steak. She’s a vegetarian.”
“Another way you’re not compatible,” Shade said. Scooping a handful of clutter from the floor, he set about helping Soren put the room to rights. He needed to get Riley alone in order to remove Soren’s charms. “Did you take away her memory? Does she remember her dying mother or her sister at all?”
Soren shook his head. “She thinks her parents are off on vacation, and Torrey is at home, working and generally making a mess of her life as usual.”
“What about you?” Shade asked. Wit
h the two of them working together, the room was coming along quickly. “Does she know you’re a wolf?”
“Nah,” he said. “She doesn’t know Torrey’s a witch. She thinks it’s some kind of free-spirit, I-love-the-Earth, religious kind of thing. Why scare her?”
As they moved to their father’s study, a room that used to be off-limits to them when they were little, Shade made his pronouncement. “That’s not right, Soren. How long do you plan to keep this up? Torrey is worried out of her skull.”
Soren replaced books on a shelf. “I have another ten days until the full moon. I think I can hold out until then. Having Riley here helps. She calms me.”
“You’re lying to her, and you’re planning to sacrifice her sister. She’s going to hate you when she finds out the truth.” Shade filled the desk drawers with the hundreds of pens scattered on the floor. How many pens did a person need? His father’s compulsion led him to be excessively neat. There was no explanation for the pens.
“She won’t find out from you,” Soren said. “That’s for sure.”
Shade recognized a threat when it was aimed his way.
Most of the house was cleaned by the time Riley called them both for dinner. Two large steaks, barely cooked, sat at either end of the long dining room table neither of the men had used since their mother was alive. Near the plates sat bowls of salad and little plates with baked potatoes on them.
Shade sat at one end and studied Riley, who seated herself in the middle of the brothers. Her plate featured a salad to go with her baked potato. He knew better than to judge her. Hope had been a vegetarian as well. He had been relieved to see Torrey scarf down a hamburger. Meat was a staple of a werewolf’s diet. It was how they were built.
She lit candles down the center of the table. In lieu of flowers, she had found evergreen branches to lend color and gaiety to the setting.
“This looks great,” Shade said. “Thanks, Riley.”
“It’s lovely, darling,” Soren said, reaching out to stroke the side of her face. She smiled and turned her cheek into the caress.
Zurlo, Michele - Torment [Daughters of Circe 1] (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 14