“We thwarted you, Soren. You can kill me again and again and again, and we will make sure you get nothing from me each time.”
The fever must have stolen her sanity. For a moment, she believed with her whole heart and soul that she was Hope, reincarnated.
The edges of her vision grayed, then faded altogether as she lost her battle with consciousness.
Chapter 16
Sunlight streamed through the window, beating like little hammers inside his skull. Before he even opened his eyes, Shade knew he was in his old room. Given the state of his head, he had no doubt enjoyed too much moonshine with Soren the night before. This was one hell of a hangover.
His bare feet thumped softly against the dark cherry flooring his mother insisted be installed throughout the house over a hundred years before. As the sheet fell away, he noted his naked state. Where were his clothes?
The frown hurt too much, so he settled for thinking grouchy thoughts as he lumbered into the bathroom. The jets sprayed warm water over his body. He found the water soothing, but the hiss of the water as it poured out of the showerhead hurt almost as bad as sunlight had.
A hair of the dog, that’s what he needed. With nothing more than a towel around his waist, he headed to Soren’s room. If that bastard had taken Shade’s clothes, he had no grounds on which to object to sharing his own.
Soren wasn’t in his room, but that didn’t surprise Shade. Because he was in charge of the entire village, Soren was often called upon to mediate disputes or perform ceremonies. Today was Saturday. Right?
Shade grabbed a pair of boxers from a stack of clean laundry on Soren’s dresser and slipped them on. He did the same with jeans and a flannel shirt. Digging for socks took a little longer. Soren didn’t have those lying in the open, so Shade was forced to surrender to his compulsion.
It served Soren right. Who took a man’s clothes when he was sleeping?
He would have thundered down the stairs, but sounds made his head pound. He crept to the kitchen, heading straight for the cupboard where Soren kept the good stuff. Regular alcohol didn’t have a real effect on a wolf. Moonshine, which hillbilly farmers adapted for their own ends, was the only thing that could make a werewolf drunk.
Smells assaulted him, halting him before he made it more than a step into the kitchen. Eggs. Bacon. Sausage. Human female.
A pretty one, with hair the color of sun-kissed straw. She turned to look at him, her smile originating in friendly round eyes the color of walnuts. She was beautiful. Shade felt a pull toward her, but not because he found her attractive. She was familiar.
“Hi,” he said.
She waved toward the table. “Sit. Soren said you would be up eventually. I heard the shower and decided to make breakfast for you.”
“I… Thank you.” He did as he was told. “Have we met?”
She laughed, an innocuous sound that invited him to laugh with her. “Soren said you might not remember much.” Lifting the skillet, she poured food onto a plate. “I’m Riley. I’m staying here with Soren for a little while.”
The aroma of freshly cooked sausage links was impossible to resist. Shade inhaled his food. He felt like he hadn’t eaten in a week. As he ate, his headache faded.
Riley watched, amusement twinkling in her eyes. “There’s some steak in the refrigerator. Leftovers from last night. I could heat some up for you.”
Shade nodded. “I have no idea why I’m so hungry.” He pressed a hand to his forehead. “What day is today?”
That laugh sounded again. “Thursday, you goof.” She set a plate in the microwave.
“Don’t let Alethea see you do that,” he warned.
Riley turned, her eyes wide, and her hand clamped over her mouth. She moved it to stage-whisper in his direction. “Don’t tell Soren I made breakfast for you. He said to stay away, to not let you see me. You’re not nearly the ogre he makes you out to be.”
The image in front of him blurred. A memory surfaced. “Riley Quinn.”
A smile brightened her face. “You do remember me.”
Color drained from his face. “Torrey hired me to find you.” Memories rushed at him, assaulting his senses. Her scent. Her taste. The fear behind her beautiful brown eyes as she struggled to help him up the stairs.
His memory was clear up until the point where he passed out in his own bed. How had he come to be at Soren’s house? Where was Torrey? Even if she knew how, she wouldn’t have contacted Soren. Soren was the one who poisoned him. Wolf bane.
“Why would she do that?” Riley’s head tilted to the side. She was honestly perplexed. “I told her I was going on vacation for a few weeks.”
Soren’s scent invaded the room. Shade stood. “This isn’t a vacation. Soren kidnapped you. He’s used a charm to make you think you want to be here.”
“You need to get out more, Shade,” Soren said. “You lack any sense of fun or adventure.” His broad-shouldered frame rested casually against the side of the refrigerator. He pushed a lock of blond hair away from his eye and winked at Riley. “Hey, babe. Miss me?”
Riley looked from Shade to Soren, a frown marring her brow. She must have picked up on the tension between the brothers. “What’s going on?”
Shade nailed Soren with a glare. “Where is Torrey? If you hurt her, I will kill you.”
Soren shrugged and shoved his hands into his pockets. “I didn’t need to hurt her. You took care of that all by yourself. If using all her energy to heal you didn’t kill her, the beating you gave her will do the trick. I doubt she’ll last the day.”
Pain, anguish like nothing he’d ever felt stabbed his heart. “I would never hurt her. I love her.”
Looking down, Soren kicked a heel at the toe of his other boot. “And yet, you did.” Soren’s eyes rose to meet Shade’s. Anguish was there, too. “She’s asking for you. I figure I ought to let you say good-bye. I’m going to do the ritual this afternoon, get what I can from her.”
“Bastard.” The word morphed into a low growl as Shade launched himself at Soren. The brothers grappled on the ground. Shade found it difficult to hit his target.
Soren had him pinned in minutes. It was the most pathetic fight they’d ever had. Even friendly brawls ended with wounds for everyone.
Soren’s green eyes penetrated Shade’s tormented ones. “You’re still weak from the wolf bane. She couldn’t heal you completely. It’s going to take some time until you’re back up to full strength.”
Riley beat on Soren’s shoulders. She echoed Shade’s words and worse. “You unbelievable bastard. You made me think I loved you. I almost slept with you!”
One look from Soren quelled the fight in Riley. She backed away, her face white with fear.
“Don’t go outside, Riley. It isn’t safe. Nobody will harm you in here, under my protection. Don’t make the mistake of disobeying me again.” His voice was calm. His warning was clear.
Shade dismissed Riley altogether. If something happened to Torrey, he didn’t care what happened to anyone else. “Where is Torrey?”
“Where do you think she is?” Soren snorted. There was a place that had been carved out of the mountainside centuries ago. In the past, they had used it as a dungeon. The limestone walls dampened a witch’s power.
The witch who had captured Shade all those years ago, when he was not yet fully grown, had been kept down there until he died from his wounds. It was a comfortable room, albeit cold.
Shade’s shoulders slumped in defeat. “Take me to her.”
Soren’s eyes perked up, and his head cocked to the side. Shade recognized the signs of his demon whispering commands. Soren stood, backing away from Shade. “No. Let him have this time with her.” His head shook from side to side. Finally, he pinned his teal-eyed gaze on Shade. “Your word that you will not try to stop me.”
It was as close to a plea he was going to hear from Soren. The demon felt threatened by Shade’s presence, as it frequently did. Shade’s word was normally his bond. He nodded, making a promi
se he had no intention of honoring. “I promise. Take me to her. Let me have this time with her.”
Over the years, Shade had found great benefit in parroting Soren’s words back to him. It seemed to mollify the demon. The habit stood him in good stead this time as well. With a curt nod, Soren indicated he would follow Shade.
Shade raced down the three flights of stairs. Wooden steps were replaced with those carved from solid limestone. The air was cold and dank. Fear seized him. What if Soren had been telling the truth about what Torrey had been through? He had been out of his mind. He had no idea what happened after he arrived home, his body riddled with wolf bane.
The room wasn’t locked. The door wasn’t closed. Shade burst through the low, crude opening. The sight of Torrey’s still form lying on the bed brought him up short.
In a hundred years, little in the room had changed. The rug covering the stone floor had rotted away, and the mattress on the ancient bed frame was new, but that was all.
Even the manacles were still there. They were locked around Torrey’s wrists, which were raised above her head. A black blanket covered her body, but he knew her ankles were chained as well.
Her eyes were closed, and she did not move.
He approached the bed. Fevered heat rolled from her body. A purple bruise marred her right cheek. Someone had hit her. He bit back nausea. “Torrey?”
Now her lashes fluttered. She opened her eyes, but those brown irises took longer to focus. A tremulous smile briefly lifted the corners of her mouth. “You’re alright.”
“You’re not looking too good.” He attempted a light tone and failed.
“I never expected to survive this.” Her gaze was suddenly intense. “Keep your promise, Shade. Take Riley out of here. Make sure she’s safe.”
“I’m not leaving without you.” The words came from behind Shade. Riley shoved him aside to fall on her knees next to the low bed. “You wouldn’t leave without me, Torrey. I won’t leave without you.” Tears glistened in Riley’s eyes.
Shade turned to Soren, lingering in the doorway. “Are the manacles necessary? She’s drained, Soren. She can barely stay awake. I don’t think she’s a flight risk.”
Soren shrugged. “You should see what’s under the blanket.”
Dread clutched Shade’s stomach. Part of him didn’t want to see the rest of the damage. He could smell fresh blood.
Riley didn’t hesitate. She ripped away the heavy blanket and gasped.
“You took a pretty good chunk out of her side,” Soren said. “I think the rest of the bruises are from whatever you threw her into.”
Wordlessly, Shade shook his head. He couldn’t have done this, not to Torrey. He’d rather die than hurt her.
“She tried to heal you. It’s a natural reaction to magic, given your history with witches.” Soren came closer to peer over Shade’s shoulder. “She had Tiffany, Flynn, Demetrius, and Marius holding you down so she could reverse the effects of the poison.”
Torrey shivered. Riley covered her back up.
Shade’s breath came in short pants. “You would have let me die.”
Soren’s nod was brief. “Maybe one day you’ll kill me and put us all out of our misery.” He headed for the door before Shade could answer. “The key is in here somewhere.”
“Bastard,” Shade mumbled under his breath. There was very little furniture in the room, but the walls were rough-hewn from porous limestone. Water had years to penetrate and widen the cracks. There were hundreds of crannies where it could have been shoved. His compulsion triggered, and he set to work.
Chapter 17
“What are you doing?”
Riley’s question was logical. She stared at him incredulously as he stuck his fingers into every single crack in the wall, even those into which he could clearly see.
“He can’t help it,” Torrey said. Her voice sounded much more weak and pathetic than it should have. “Soren can’t help it, either.”
Riley stared at her sister, turning those wide eyes on Torrey. “Don’t tell me you’re defending him? He kidnapped me, he tried to murder his brother, and he has every intention of sacrificing you tonight at some evil ritual. All he needs is an evil laugh and some lightning special effects, and you’ve got a classic villain.”
The compulsion was an unforeseeable side effect of a shape-shifter. When Circe made the first werewolf, it wasn’t something she thought out. It had been an act of desperation. She had been trying to protect her lover from something. The details weren’t clear, but that much Torrey knew.
She had no energy to explain it to Riley. “Move the bed,” she said. “I think the key is under one of the posts.”
Grunting and groaning, Riley put her shoulder into the task. The wooden frame was much heavier than it appeared. Each bump caused Torrey to grimace and groan. The gashes in her side burned. That burning had spread throughout her body. She knew she had a fever, and she knew the fever was a good thing.
This is what Circe wanted for her Daughters. The pain was a passing thing. She would barely remember it in the years and lifetimes to come. With the pain came knowledge and clarity. It wasn’t all there, but the blankness in her head was slowly shrinking. She knew without a doubt Shade had recognized her the moment he first saw her. She knew without a doubt she had been Hope.
Her time as Hope had been one in a series of lifetimes she spent searching for him. Sometimes she found him. Sometimes she did not. She was always a witch, and he was always a werewolf. Their bodies and names changed, but their souls remained the same, forever seeking one another.
By the time Shade finished searching every inch of every possible cranny in the walls, Riley had unlocked the manacles. His compulsion left as suddenly as it appeared. Turning to Torrey, he breathed a sigh of relief.
“It was under the post,” Riley supplied. “We have to get her out of here. She needs a doctor.”
Shade shook his head. “No doctor can cure her.”
“I’m not sick,” Torrey said. “I need the sun and the moon.” She struggled to sit. The gashes twisted, ripping open the little bit of skin that had healed. Her breathing was labored, laced with evidence of pain.
“Lie down,” Riley said, her brown eyes wide with fear and desperation. “You shouldn’t move. Shade can carry you out of here.”
Torrey bit the inside of her cheek to stop a moan from escaping. Silently, she exchanged words with Shade. He needed to follow her lead in this.
Understanding dawned, lighting his blue eyes the color of the summer sky. “I’ll take you up to my room,” he said. “I’ll move the bed under the window. You should have sunlight for most of the day.”
Riley moved aside to let Shade scoop Torrey up in his arms. Careful not to jar her too much, he tucked her blanket around her body and lifted her. Resting her head against his strong shoulder, she felt light and small and protected.
Shade took the stairs two at a time without jostling her in the least. Riley scurried behind him.
Soren met them where the three flights of stairs ended near the kitchen. “I can’t let you take her from here.”
“I’m not,” Shade said. “I’m taking her to my room. She deserves to be comfortable. It’s the least we can do for her.”
Torrey let her eyes relax into the most pathetic expression she could muster and cast a charm over the four demons that flanked him. She couldn’t see them before, when he tempted her in the hospital and when he kidnapped Riley, but they could no longer hide from her.
She knew Soren had never seen them, either. He moved as if he had no idea they were actual beings, not simply spirits who whispered in his ear. They were smaller than she expected a demon to be. Each one of them reached no more than four feet in height. They resembled childhood images of fairies.
It was funny how fairies had such a good reputation when they were really just diminutive demons.
Two of Soren’s demons were male. The other two were female. All four of them had cute, pixie faces with overl
y large eyes, small noses, button mouths, and rosy cheeks. Pointy ears stuck out from beneath long hair. The males kept their hair short. The females let theirs grow to spill nearly to their knees.
To reach Soren’s ears, they stood on one another’s shoulders or climbed on tables, chairs, and counters.
They stared at her, greed glittering in their saucer-like irises. The bloodthirsty savages couldn’t wait to see her cut open, bleeding power for them to grab. She wondered if Hope had seen them as clearly. There was no memory in her head that matched what she saw in front of her at that very moment.
Somehow, she doubted Hope saw anything. She knew the only reason she could see them now was because of the werewolf essence running through her veins, invading every cell of her body.
She wasn’t fighting the transformation. She knew this was what Circe wanted. It was why she created her Daughters in the first place. The power to shape-shift had originally belonged to Circe. Torrey would be the first Daughter to reclaim that ability.
She took in the four interlopers, eyeing them without seeming to see them. Her innocuous appearance and the charm she effortlessly cast fooled the demons. Soren was disposed to let Shade help in any way he could.
With a brief nod, Soren moved out of the way. He let Shade and Torrey pass, but he grabbed Riley’s arm. “Riley.” The single word was filled with regret and pain.
She jerked free. “Don’t touch me.” The malevolence of her stare reverberated with a physical presence. They all felt it. “I hate you, Soren. I hate what you’ve done, and I hate what you’re doing. You don’t have to do this.”
“Yes, I…”
The sharp echo of a slap rang in Torrey’s ears. Riley flounced past Shade, heading up the stairs that would take her to his room.
Shade hesitated. He had neither sorrow nor sympathy for his brother. “You murdered the woman who was my soul. You are going to murder her again tonight. You don’t deserve happiness, and you don’t deserve to have a family.”
Zurlo, Michele - Torment [Daughters of Circe 1] (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 17