by Zoey Marcel
“Show me the pills he makes you take.”
She showed him the bottle of green pills.
His eyes widened in worry. “Amber, this is the maximum dosage from what I’ve heard. The shifter pill isn’t supposed to make you an emotionless robot. It’s only supposed to suppress mating heat and at this dosage, your sex drive, but not all your emotions.”
“Oh.”
“I want this tested and you to see if it’s really the shifter pill or something else.”
“Stan wouldn’t trick me,” she said in a monotone. “I have to obey him. I’m supposed to go to sleep when I get home. Good night, Dane.”
Dane took her by the arm. “No, Amber. I’m taking you to the doctor and these pills to a lab. I don’t want you taking them anymore.”
“Stan wants me to take the pills. I have to obey him.”
He gripped her arms, stilling her. “You said he gave you a second pill. Why?”
“I don’t know.”
Her robotic air vanished and was replaced with soft, sweet Amber. He saw a lost little girl in her eyes and she shook helplessly and started to cry.
“My girl, what’s wrong?” He engulfed her in his arms, rubbing her trembling back gently. “Did he hurt you?”
Stan was dead if he did.
“No,” she squeaked. “I’ve been acting so strange lately. It’s like I don’t have any mind of my own. I don’t want to make him mad, but I don’t want to take the pills anymore.”
Dane stiffened. “It’s not your fault, Amber. Let’s get you and these tested.”
When he opened the door, someone fell forward onto the floor. Amber jumped with a girlish shriek, and Dane put a hand on her belly and stepped in front of her, snarling at the intruder.
When the man looked up, Dane saw that it was Roy, the man who had grabbed Amber’s breasts at The Gothic Angel. He growled, wanting to pummel the young lecher.
“What are you doing here?”
“I came to see Amber.” Roy stood and dusted himself off. “I’ll just come back when you’re not here.”
“Like hell you will.” Dane seized Roy’s arm, looking down at the floor when he kicked something. It was a rosary. It must have fallen out of Roy’s pocket. “What the hell is that?”
Roy’s focus dropped to the beads. “It’s a rosary.”
He bent and picked the holy object up and then stuck it back in his pocket.
“See you.”
Dane slammed him against the wall. “You!”
“What the hell? Yeah, it’s me and you’re you. What the hell is wrong with you?”
“You’re the Preacher.”
Roy looked at him blankly. “Uh, okay. I’m not, but think whatever you want.”
“You want Amber’s virginity.”
Roy blinked at him and then his attention turned to Amber. “You’re a virgin? Hey, cool. If you ever want to—” Dane rammed him up against the wall again. “Ow! What the fuck, man? Can’t I give her props for saving her titties and kitty for someone special?”
“Not for you.” Dane’s hold on him tightened. “Amber, call the police.”
Roy gaped at him. “On what grounds?”
“You’re stalking Amber and you have a rosary.”
“Well, I’ve got news for you, pal. A lot of people have rosaries. I’m Catholic and I’m in penance right now so I’m carrying it around, saying the words, that kind of thing. I even came here to apologize to Amber for grabbing her titties like I did when I was drunk.”
Dane studied him closely. “Tell it to the cops.”
“You think I won’t, you psycho? Maybe you’re the Preacher.”
He growled at Roy, making him shriek like a little girl.
“Holy crap! Okay, you’re not the Preacher. Happy?”
Dane knew he wouldn’t be happy until they got to the bottom of this and saw Amber safe.
* * * *
Carson got out of his truck, enjoying the brisk October morning air. There was a slight fog in the valley that felt moist and invigorating in his lungs. As beautiful a fall morning as it was, his mind kept running a broken record over the recent events.
Roy had been questioned and then released on the grounds that there was no evidence of his guilt and he wasn’t a shape shifter like the Preacher supposedly was. Carson still wanted to keep an eye on him anyway to be sure the cops hadn’t made a mistake. If the Preacher was good at hiding, it was possible that he could find a way to disguise his shape-changing abilities.
He stopped in his tracks when he saw Stan Edwards walking toward him in the Tiger’s Eye parking lot.
“The restaurant’s not open yet.” Carson knew damned well the old guy wasn’t here for food.
“I’m aware of that,” Stan returned as he drew closer. “Amber hasn’t been returning my calls. Do you know anything about that?”
“Well, I could be wrong, but it might have something to do with the fact that her phone is in a dumpster or a landfill by now,” Carson quipped. “She has a new one now and a new number.”
Stan eyed him sharply. “If you think you can keep her from me it won’t work. She cares too much for me to risk my displeasure.”
“I think you’ll find she wants to be with us more than she wants the damned money.”
“Is that so?” Stan sounded skeptical. “Has she given you her chastity?”
Carson didn’t answer. Amber was still adamant that she needed to claim her inheritance, but at least she kept coming around him and Dane. She couldn’t stay away, and frankly, he wished she’d forget about the fucking money and just prove to him and his brother that they meant more to her than getting rich.
Stan’s air turned smug. “My Amber is a smart girl. She won’t turn her back on the money that’s entitled to her.”
Carson eyed him suspiciously. “Your Amber?”
“Yes, my Amber. I raised her since she was a teenager. She belongs to me.”
“Dane and I claimed her. She belongs to us now.”
“Yes, I’ve seen the negative effect the two of you have on her. Last night she behaved like a hussy trying to get Dane’s clothes off because of that vile mating heat he imposed on her. I can only imagine the liberties he took with that.”
Carson wanted to hit him for insulting both his brother and their mate. “You’d better rein in that tongue when you talk about my brother and my woman. Amber’s got class and Dane is honorable, which is more than I can say for me and for you.”
A slow, disturbing smile spread across Stan’s face. “No. We’re not like them, are we? We don’t beat around the bush. You don’t trust me, and I think you’re after Amber’s money and hell-bent on making a whore out of her.”
No man could call their Amber a whore, except maybe for him and Dane while in bed with her, but only if it turned her on.
“Neither Dane or I give a shit about her money.”
“Prove it and leave her.”
“You’d like that wouldn’t you, old man? How do I know you don’t keep turning down the men she likes because you want the money for yourself?”
Stan’s eyes narrowed. “The money doesn’t go to me if she gives up her virginity before marriage.”
Carson folded his arms. “Then where does it go?”
Stan looked annoyed as he seemed to wrestle with how to word it. “It goes to an organization.”
“What organization?”
“Chips.”
“Chips?”
“As in potato chips, tortilla chips, flavored, and so on.”
“What the fuck? Does Amber have to buy chips with all the money, or does the inheritance just go to Frito Lay or something?”
Stan rolled his eyes. “That’s hardly the issue at hand. By staying away from Amber you won’t only be doing what’s best for her, you would be protecting yourself and your brother from potential harm.”
Carson glared at him. “How’s that?”
“With Roy suspected as the Preacher and turned loose, one might wonder w
hy the thought hasn’t occurred to you that the Preacher, be he Roy or someone else, might make you and Dane his next targets since he is obviously after Amber for whatever reason.”
Carson sized the other man up. “You’re a passive-aggressive little prick, aren’t you?”
Stan’s smile was so subtle Carson almost questioned seeing it. “Stay away from Amber.”
The old man turned to leave, but Carson wasn’t having any of that. He lured Stan back with words. “I’ve got a theory.”
Stan turned to face him. “Entertain me.”
“Dane had those pills tested. It turns out they were shifter pills that someone altered to suppress not only sex drive but all emotions. The guy is a specialist who analyzes supernatural shit. It turns out the pill she was getting was altered to become what the man called the zombie pill. No emotions, perfect complacency to the will of the one who designed the pills. Apparently the zombie pill is an ancient formula. Only sorcerers, wizards, warlocks, and witches usually have them.”
“Well, there you have it, Carson. I’m an ancient witch doctor who wants to turn my ward into a zombie so her inheritance goes to Frito Lay. Make haste and turn me in before I make you a fly.”
Carson watched him closely. “The pills were stolen from the lab last night before they could be turned in as evidence.”
“What a pity. I was at home last night, but perhaps I was in two places at once. I did call your restaurant and spoke with Nathan to say that I left my coat behind, but maybe that was a hoax and I called from the lab while I was sneaking in undetected and stole the pills.”
Carson ignored the man’s sarcasm. “There’s more to my theory.”
“Astound me.”
“I think you gave Amber the pills to keep her in an even-keel state, but last night when she acted high and horny, I think it’s because you slipped her some kind of aphrodisiac and then when Dane got on the scene you made her take a second zombie pill to override the effects of the aphrodisiac and destroy the evidence that would incriminate you.”
“I never slipped her any sort of aphrodisiac. You can ask her yourself.”
“Then someone slipped it into her drink or food. I think you have somebody on the inside to do your dirty work. Either you slipped it into her food when she wasn’t looking or you had Roy do it.”
“Roy was released and is no longer a suspect.”
“He still is in my book.”
“I suppose you had Amber tested for traces of an aphrodisiac?” Stan guessed.
“We did, but they found none.”
“Then it was mating heat as I told you.”
Carson shook his head. “I don’t think so. The scent was different, darker like a drug.”
“And you think I slipped her this invisible aphrodisiac of which there is no trace, I suppose?”
“That’s exactly what I think. Then you made her take a second zombie pill to counteract the aphrodisiac and destroy the evidence of it in her body.”
Stan nodded. “A credible story. Sell it to the police…when you have something that constitutes actual evidence.”
“I think you want Amber for yourself. Either you’re after her money or you want to fuck her or both. That’s why you wanted to control how much she weighs.” Carson stared at the older man, not wanting to miss even the mildest of reactions. “I think bigger women do it for you, and you get off on controlling her and making her obey you like your submissive. I think you summoned the Preacher to help you or as a distraction to throw suspicion off yourself. I think you want Amber bad and are willing to do anything to get her, even kill her true mates…like when you tried to run Dane over last night before Amber stopped you.”
Stan stared back at him in silence for a moment, contemplative, but he didn’t act intimidated. “Well, there is just one problem with your theory.”
“What’s that?”
Stan turned on his heel slowly and met Carson with a transparent gaze and a sinister hush. “You’ll never be able to prove it.”
Chapter Thirteen:
In Their Eyes
Amber didn’t say much when she went to the McCanns’s house to visit Carson and Dane. Their home was swanky looking without being pretentious. Just enough to say they had done fairly well for themselves but weren’t filthy, stinking rich. The house was built in a neighborhood of other homes scattered into a hillside overlooking town. When she looked out the great big window in the living room that proudly displayed Temptation, she could make out what clothing people wore, but not so much their accessories.
The interior of the home was modern and masculine in tone, but she’d always liked that type of theme. Not that she would hesitate to clear her throat, then hum an innocent tune while casually setting a vase of lilacs on the coffee table or anything. Maybe put a token green palm in the corner. Hell, even a basic table plant.
Right now she had too much on her mind to appreciate the splendor of the house that she normally noticed.
“I love the view at dusk,” Dane said from where he stood by the window. “It’s almost that time.”
“It’s beautiful,” she agreed absently.
The random bitch’s unkind words from earlier kept tripping through her head, making Amber feel crappier by the second.
“What’s eating you, baby doll?” Carson asked.
“I’m fine.”
Dane turned his attention to her, becoming concerned. “What is it, little mate?”
Her heart clenched and she wanted to die. “I just came here to say good-bye.”
“What?” Dane’s head jerked toward her even more and his body turned to face her.
Carson stood there unfazed and swept her over with an almost arrogant gaze. “Where are you going?”
“You deserve better than me,” she said quietly, trying not to cry.
“Amber, there isn’t any better for us than you,” Dane said seriously as he came over to her and put a hand on her shoulder when he reached her. “What’s the matter? Where is this coming from?”
The mouth of a stranger.
Hell, she’d thought those same hurtful words dozens of times in her head, always knowing that this paradise of a relationship that the three of them had couldn’t last. They deserved better, and she could never gain the type of confidence she hoped to one day have if she stayed with them.
“I need my inheritance. It’s not fair to make you guys wait for months and then have to end up with me forever.” She burst into tears, cursing her lack of composure.
Carson eyed her sharply. “Why shouldn’t we be with you? You’re our mate.”
“He’s right, Amber. We love you.” Dane grappled for her hand and kissed it, causing more tears to stream from her eyes.
“That, and you’re a hottie,” Carson added with a wicked little half smile.
She cried harder. “I’m not and you know it. You’re just saying that for the money.”
“Excuse me?” Dane growled.
Carson glared at her. “You listen to me good, woman. We’re with you for the reasons we stated. Your fucking money doesn’t have a damned thing to do with it. I should take a switch to your ass for that kind of shit talk.”
“I’m sorry, but I’m not sexy or talented. What could you possibly see in me?” Her eyes squeezed shut. “I’ve been told I have a pretty face, but my body needs help.”
“Who says?” Dane demanded.
Amber shrugged and blotted her cheeks with the tissue he gave her. “I don’t know, just some woman I overheard talking to somebody else about how I must be rich or something because hot guys like you two don’t go for overweight girls like me.”
She bawled into the tissues and her hands.
“Was it that Bathsheba bitch?” Dane sounded pissed.
“No. It wasn’t her, just some random woman who must have seen us together before. She’s right, though.”
“She’s not right,” Dane argued.
“Whenever I’m in town with you guys I get so embarrassed becau
se you look so good. I want to crawl in a hole and hide.” She sobbed harder and moved into Dane when he put his arms around her.
“Stop talking shit,” Carson said in a stern tone. “You’re gorgeous. We can’t take our eyes and hands off you.”
“I understand, though.” She sniffled, trying to calm down when her breathing bordered hyperventilation and turned into a hacking fit. “A million dollars is a lot of money, and I at least can make you yummy meals. At least you’d have that, and there’s this diet—”
“Enough, Amber,” Dane chastised her.
“We already told you we don’t want your damned money. What more fucking proof do you need?” Carson’s jaw flexed with aggravation.
“We want you, girl. If we have to prove ourselves to you, then have us sign a prenup. Then you’ll know it’s you we want and not the money.”
“I’ve got a better idea,” Carson said aggressively. “You want proof of our love? Fine, we don’t want your damned money. You choose the money, you lose us. Simple as that.”
She gaped at him. “But it’s my money.”
“We’re your mates,” he lashed out. “We’ve been patient with you, but when you question our love and our motives for being with you, you’ve gone too far. You either choose us or the money, but you can’t have it both ways.”
“It’s not fair.”
“I understand you’re upset,” Dane said, “but the way you latched onto us right away could make us think you only want us to get to your inheritance.”
She stepped back in shock. “But I don’t. I want to be with you because—”
“We know,” Dane reassured her, “but we need you to trust us, too.”
Carson crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m not backing down. I meant what I said.”
She sank into despair. “Please don’t make me choose.”
“It shouldn’t even be a choice,” Carson snapped.
She winced, feeling guilty for wanting what she was entitled to.
“Carson, try to be sympathetic,” Dane scolded.
“I didn’t mean to insult you guys. Maybe you just say I’m sexy because you care about me. I suppose it’s possible to be in love with someone without being in lust with them.”