Blood Secret

by L. J. Langdon

  I was desperate. How could I help him?

  I took a cautious step forward. When he didn’t react, I took another, then another. Like approaching a wild animal, I didn’t want any sudden movement to trigger an attack. Slowly, I reached up and placed my hand on his shoulder.

  He stiffened and drew in a breath as I allowed the darkness within me to connect with his Wrath.

  “Let me take it away,” I whispered.

  He gave the barest nod, more a slight jerk of his head than an actual nod. He’d given his permission and was willing to pay the price.

  I siphoned the Wrath away, eased it. But there would be no price for this relief. I wouldn’t allow it. It was my gift to him.

  He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose like he was trying to alleviate a migraine. The rise and fall of his chest slowed down. When he looked down at me, anger still simmered in the depths of his gaze, but I’d taken enough away to allow him to envelop himself in an unsettling calmness. Pain radiated from his soul, such a deep wound I had no idea how to help heal it. He needed to share it.

  “Talk to me Kristof, please.”

  He swallowed hard, his voice box moving up and down, and the action drew my attention to the strong column of his throat. He didn’t want to talk about his pain. I gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze of encouragement, reminding him I was there for him.

  “Blood Demons destroyed this pack”—he indicated the house—“and they almost destroyed mine too.”

  I looked around the devastated room. I couldn’t even begin to imagine the things Kristof had witnessed. He was fighting to contain his emotions, and if I said just one word, he might stop and never reveal the pain he tried to hide.

  “Nine months ago, our elders went out to fight an infestation of Blood Demons in the forest near our home. They were all experienced warriors, yet none of the elders returned. We felt their connection snap. I felt my parents die that night.”

  He took a deep breath and leaned into the touch of my hand on his shoulder.

  “We didn’t understand how it could happen. For centuries, our kind hasn’t understood why we keep losing so many battles. The Blood Demons are stronger somehow. Then last month, one of our pack members killed a Blood Demon and discovered a medallion amongst the ashes. Finally, we knew. There is a new type of Blood Demon, one with a medallion embedded in its chest.”

  He took my hand and turned it over, palm side up. He ran his finger over one of the sigils. “In the center of the medallion, was this same symbol.”

  He dropped my hand and stared off into the space before him. I didn’t know what images his mind replayed, but the spike of grief and rage that hit me told me it wasn’t good.

  “A few days later, they tore down the wards and broke into our home. One of the Blood Demons killed Ferdie and took the medallion back. I have to find it, Emma. I have to get that medallion back. It’s the key to restoring the balance of free will.”

  Silence had never been so deafening. I needed to offer him something.

  “I don’t have a medallion embedded in my chest, Kristof.” I started to unbutton my shirt, but he stopped me. He held onto my hand, and I drowned in his dark, unfathomable eyes. So many emotions swirled in his midnight blue gaze: pain, confusion, regret … I couldn’t capture them all.

  “If you say you don’t, then I believe you.”

  He leaned down to nuzzle at my neck, and the hot exhalation of breath against my ear sent warmth running through my veins. I wanted him to nestle in closer so I could comfort and hold him close. I heard him draw in my scent, then he shuddered and pulled himself away.

  “I don’t know what you are, Emma. But you’ve put a spell over me.”

  He trailed his fingers across my lips, down my chin to the center of my chest, and rested the tip of his index finger on the top button of my blouse. He traced the circular pearl where it sat between my breasts. My skin flushed. It was like he was tracing my nipple with his fingertip, not the damn button.

  “I couldn’t kill you. When you couldn’t enter the house without an invitation, I should have killed you. But I couldn’t.” He sighed. “I couldn’t kill you now even if you do have a medallion embedded in your chest.”

  “Still, you should probably check.” My voice sounded husky.

  One side of his mouth kicked up; the smile was bitter and sad.

  “Killing you would tear out a part of me I didn’t even know existed until now.”

  He dropped his hand and I missed the warmth it radiated against my chest.

  “What are we going to do, Emmalein?”

  Little Emma.

  I smiled at the nickname. Guess I was little, especially standing next to over six feet of muscled man. My fingers spread around his shoulder. I rubbed small circles, both to reassure and to feel the hardness. His woodsy scent enveloped me, drawing me into the sanctuary of his warmth.

  “We are going to work this out together,” I declared. “We both need answers, and the best way to find them is to help each other.”

  The words echoed around the room. Was I really going to let someone help me? It didn’t feel like giving up my chance of independence. It felt right. His mouth opened slightly. So close. So inviting. And when I touched him all the voices in my head faded away, leaving me in blissful silence.

  I had no idea what I was doing. I’d never kissed a man. I only knew that I needed to feel his touch, to be closer. I needed to take away his sadness and reassure myself that I wasn’t the only one feeling this connection. Standing on tiptoes, I closed my eyes and touched my lips to his. Warmth spread through me, and then it was gone as he pulled away.

  Bloody hell, maybe I’d done it wrong.

  I forced my lashes up to meet his gaze. His eyes had an unnatural glow.

  No, I didn’t do it wrong.

  The air around us snapped with tension. His gaze dropped to my mouth, and I didn’t have time to process his intention before his mouth descended on mine and the scorching heat of his lips consumed me.

  My hands moved of their own accord, each finding a place atop of his broad shoulders before drifting down to explore the lean, corded muscles of his back. His heat seared my palms through his T-shirt. So hot. So much warmer than a mere mortal. I craved more of his addictive warmth. He wasn’t close enough.

  I pressed against the hard-muscular length of his body. He growled in response and the vibration sent a shiver of longing through me. He paused his assault to give my bottom lip a gentle nip. Then he swiped his tongue to ease the sting and continued to press his lips against mine. Opening my mouth to the passion of his kiss, his tongue swept inside to caress the recesses of my mouth. I stroked my tongue against his, and in a mutual dance, we tasted each other.

  Oh my fucking God, he tasted divine.

  I didn’t know kisses could be like this.

  He pulled away, panting. His eyes were ablaze with arctic blue heat.

  Wolf eyes.

  The beast lay just below the surface of his skin, and I was not afraid to welcome the wild passion it brought with it.

  “Stop,” he panted. “I agree. We can definitely help each other.”

  And there were those deadly dimples again.

  Evil Wolfman.

  My forehead dropped to his chest and I groaned at his attempt at humor.

  “You’re filthy,” I muttered.

  “Hmm.” He chuckled. “I think we just proved we both have the potential to be a little dirty.”

  His arms came around to embrace me and pull me closer. The gentle hold was at odds with his lurid implications. And I’d never felt more treasured.

  “No.” I pressed against the hard wall of his chest and forced him back. “You’re literally filthy.”

  I indicated his chest. It was covered in ash. Blood Demon ash.

  “You aren’t so clean yourself.” He tipped his chin toward my designer blouse, which was now also covered in ash. And other stuff. I inspected a mark on my good wool pants. What was that?
Chewing gum?

  “How the bloody hell did that get there …?”

  “You fell in the street, remember?”

  Oh, yeah. Way to kill the mood with that reminder. I fought the image of the Blood Demon chasing me down the hallway and how I came to fall onto the street.

  I pulled Kristof’s jacket tighter around me and shivered despite being warm. He seemed to sense my discomfort because he stepped closer and rubbed my back.

  “How about I see if that fireplace works so we can organize getting cleaned up?”

  “Yeah, okay. That sounds good.”

  Chapter 9

  Kristof

  * * *

  The fireplace downstairs wasn’t an option. The damper refused to open, and all I achieved for my efforts trying to open it was a face full of soot and ash, which Emma politely didn’t comment on. However, I did see her mouth twitch.

  Emma walked in front of me, engulfed in my leather jacket. The garment ended at mid-thigh, so I had no way of watching the delicious backside I knew lay hidden there. But that didn’t stop me trying.

  Darn, the price of keeping her warm was higher than just freezing my ass off.

  Unfamiliar muscles ached on my face and I realized I was smiling. How long had it been? Not since Ferdie’s death, that’s for sure. But the kiss confirmed it—Emma was my fated mate.

  Never thought I’d find one of those.

  Clearly, my wolf was a bit smarter than I was. He’d recognized her straight away. I was too enraged to notice the yellow thread merge into the bond when Emma drew strength from our connection to break her Blood Demon hold. It’d taken our kiss, when the green thread joined the other strands connecting our souls, for the man to know without a doubt that we shared a fated soul bond.

  No wonder I hadn’t been able to kill her.

  Emma disappeared through a doorway, while I stood in the hall. I’d been so consumed by anger and the need for revenge that there had been little room for anything else. But then she’d touched me, and all the layers of rage and anger had siphoned away.

  Her gift gave me the space to see the truth of what I’d done.

  I’d shunned my own pack … My own brother.

  I’d felt lighter the moment Emma filtered away the Wrath that had plagued me since Ferdie’s death, but it was only after her kiss that I realized the importance of her gift of peace. And it was a gift, a gift so great, I don’t think she understood the enormity of it, or the implications it left.

  Why did the archangels decide to give me a fated mate who wielded Blood Demon magic? Was it because I’d been so blinded by rage and grief?

  I didn’t have to take her as my mate. Like all gifts in life, it was an opportunity, and whether I chose to explore it or not was up to both of us. It was like being given the ability to compose beautiful music; it was up to the individual to learn to read music and then practice until they’d mastered the gift. This soul bond was the same. It was a gift, an opportunity to have something beautiful and unique, but first, we both had to decide if we wanted it and we’d have to learn each other.

  And there was a lot to learn about Emma. Shit, she wasn’t fully human, and she didn’t even seem to know it.

  I still wasn’t sure what she was, but she’d used Blood Demon power on me like it was her own. The smell of sulfur when she’d taken away my rage wouldn’t allow me to think otherwise. I’d been so consumed with pain and anger as I’d fought my wolf for control. I shuddered to realize that I’d agreed to sell my soul in that moment, especially if it meant having the revenge and resolution Ferdie’s death had me craving so bad.

  She’d enthralled me. Something no Blood Demon should be able to do to a Soul Guardian. But then, instead of taking my soul, she’d used her power to help heal me.

  “Nothing. The room is a wreck.” She walked about into the hallway.

  I grimaced. “We’ll keep looking. There has to be something. From my understanding, the survivors left in wolf form, so they wouldn’t have been able to take much with them.”

  “Okay, but if ‘we’ are going to keep looking, you should probably do more than stand in the hallway checking out my ass.”

  Her smile was innocent, but her eyes held a sensuous flame. I loved that she was bold enough to call me out.

  “Busted. Sorry … not sorry.” I gave her my sweet boy smile, firing both dimples at her. I’d already figured out she had a thing for them.

  She forced a bored look on her face. It was an excellent effort on her part not to react to my charms, but I could smell her desire. Maybe she wanted to be chased. That was fine by me, and my wolf. We were good at hunting. We could be patient. Still, a little teasing wouldn’t hurt.

  “We should keep looking,” I agreed. “I’m freezing. New clothes and a bath sound better than just standing in a cold hallway trying to check out your ass. I don’t have a jacket to hide mine.”

  I rubbed my bare arms and stopped when I realized Emma was staring. She blushed when I caught her.

  “Can’t you magic up a new jacket?” Her eyes dropped to my chest and her blush deepened as she turned away. “Or a shirt that actually fits across your chest?” she mumbled.

  “Excuse me, I’m a Soul Guardian, not a tailor. The magic doesn’t work that way.”

  “Well, it should.”

  She opened the next door and we both entered yet another decaying room.

  “It’s amazing how quickly a house can fall apart once the weather gets in,” Emma observed.

  So far, most of the upper-level windows were smashed, leaving rooms that weren’t fit for human habitation. They’d do me fine in wolf form, but without a decent clean up and some repairs, they weren’t good enough for Emma.

  I made my way into an adjoining bathroom. The door on the opposite side hinted that this was a Jack and Jill bathroom. I took in the ceramic bathtub and unbroken tiles. It wasn’t too bad. Other than the debris that had blown in under the door from the bedroom, it was in good condition. When I opened the adjoining door, another bedroom appeared. It was dusty but free from weather damage. It also had a decent fireplace.

  “Finally,” Emma stated as she followed me into the room. “This is perfect, the bathroom and fireplace are right next to each other.”

  The room was furnished with a large queen-sized bed, two bedside tables, and a wardrobe. A large wooden chest sat at the end of the bed. I gasped. It was covered in ornate carvings of wolves and angelic symbols that danced amongst the branches of a carved wooden forest.

  “Wow, it’s beautiful.” Emma ran a delicate finger around the swirl of the timber.

  “Yeah, we don’t find Soul Guardian carvings like this much anymore. Not since the Spanish Inquisitions,” I murmured.

  Emma’s eyes filled with understanding and instead of prying me with questions about the Spanish Inquisition, she stepped closer and placed her hand on my lower back.

  “Maybe you could take it home with you when all this is over.”

  “Maybe.” I drew on the reassurance of our connection and lifted the lid of the chest. “Let’s see if it contains anything useful.”

  We both stared at the first item I withdrew.

  “Okay … I wasn’t expecting that,” I mused.

  “Well, you do need a jacket. And there is a lot to be said for the virtue of leather fringing.”

  “It has a lot of virtues.”

  The black jacket didn’t have one inch of bare leather. In fact, it had more tassels than a 1920s flapper dress.

  “Bet you wish that magic of yours could conjure up a jacket now.”

  Okay, so not my style, but it would do in a pinch. At least it was dust-free … I sniffed it. The lining was a little musty from sitting in an oak chest for fifty years, but it was clean.

  Emma withdrew a bright 1970s paisley patterned shirt.

  “Oh look, the oranges and reds will bring out the blue in your eyes, and there are matching bell bottoms.” She giggled, then covered a hand over her mouth like the sound was fo
reign to her.

  I was pleased to hear her laugh. It was the first time I’d seen genuine happiness in her eyes.

  “Glad you find this amusing, but I’m not the only one who needs clothes.”

  I withdrew another brightly colored shirt and held it up. She froze mid-bell bottom inspection and looked up at me in horror.

  “Oh, you should see the look on your face.” I threw my head back and laughed.

  “Let’s just see if that fireplace works so we can heat some water and get cleaned up.”

  Chapter 10

  Emma

  * * *

  The fireplace did work.

  Kristof opened the damper and, after a quick inspection for bird nests and such, lit a fire using the broken chairs he’d collected from downstairs. When the room didn’t fill with smoke, he declared it a win.

  Now we were trying to figure out how to organize a warm bath. Clean water flowed from the taps, clean because Kristof had sniffed it and declared it to be so, but the hot water system didn’t work and, as we’d only found one bucket, trying to heat water over the fire would take all day.

  Kristof sauntered to the window and gazed out at the overcast sky.

  “It’s going to snow,” he mused.

  “And you know this how?”

  He tapped his nose and grinned at me.

  Gone was the brooding man from last night and instead I suspected I was getting a glimpse of the playful man who’d existed before he’d endured so much loss. I was pleased I’d been able to help him gain some relief from his grief-fuelled anger.

  “Right, the nose that always knows.” I rolled my eyes.

  He drew the curtains across the windows, taking great care not to disturb the layer of dust that coated them. With the curtains closed, the fire created enough light that the lack of electricity wasn’t a problem.

  “The room is nice and warm. We could just have a cold shower and sit by the fire to warm up after,” Kristof suggested.

  Not a bad suggestion. The room was heating up, and with snow on the way, it was only going to get colder. I didn’t want to put on clean clothes, however musty, without washing first.