The Werevamp Diaries: Moon Beam Dream (The Lynlee Lincoln Series Book 5)

by Olivia Hardin

  “I need you now. She’s bad, and we have to do something. Get ready because I’m coming to get you.”

  “Oh, my God!” she cried out, sitting straight up in panic. “No, don’t. It’s a really bad time. Give me...”

  But it was no use. Prieto was there, appearing in a cloud of purple smoke right there in her kitchen. And while Sandy had managed to slip on his jeans, she was still sitting there dumbfounded without anything covering her body. Her boyfriend immediately stepped between her and the fallen angel, shielding her from his gaze.

  Prieto turned around and presented his back to them as soon as he realized his error. “I apologize. I wasn’t thinking.”

  “Yeah,” Rhia said as she scrambled to get her clothes on. “You clearly weren’t. You know most people knock, but then I guess angels think they have liberties and all.”

  “I didn’t see anything.”

  Sandy snorted in disbelief, and when she faced her boyfriend, she was surprised to see his face a splotchy red and the muscle at his temple flexing as he gritted his teeth. She’d never once seen him jealous before, but then he’d never been in a circumstance where she was naked in front of another man.

  “Are you dressed?” Prieto prompted.

  “Um, not yet, but you can talk while you wait. What’s her condition?”

  She watched from the corner of her eye as he braced his legs apart and held his hands together behind his back. “The meds you left her aren’t making a dent in the pain. She’s raging with fever and...”

  He paused his words just about the time she had slipped her shirt over her head. “Okay, you can turn around.”

  When he did she saw that his face was a little ashen, and there was a strangely hollow look to his expression. “And what?”

  “The hemorrhaging has started. I’ve only seen anything like it once in my life. And once was enough.”

  Rhiannon nodded, swallowing hard. “Okay, give me a minute to gather some extra supplies. Then we can go.”

  As she sailed off to the laundry area and her special storage room, she heard steps following close behind her. Her werewolf ears knew immediately that it was Sandy.

  “I’m coming with you.”

  She opened the cabinet and started selecting vials of medicines. “Hello? Who’s going to stay with Remy?”

  He snapped his mouth closed and frowned. Then his brows lifted and a little smile turned up his lips. “Lynlee can take him.”

  Rhiannon finished packing her satchel, then set is aside and approached her man, putting her hands on his cheeks and tugging his lips down to hers. “Babe, I love you. Prieto’s a pretty face, but he’s an asshole, and even if he weren’t I wouldn’t be interested. When I commit, I commit. Okay?”

  “Yes.” He nipped her lips then hugged her tight to him. “But Lynlee’s just as committed to Beck, and look what happened. He’s got strange powers, Rhiannon. And he just saw you naked.”

  She drew back with a perky grin. “No, he didn’t. He said he didn’t.”

  “He lied. He saw plenty.”

  She patted his cheek. “Angels don’t lie, sweetheart.”

  She sauntered back towards the kitchen only to stop short when the familiar sound of Sandy’s magic signaled in front of her as he formed from a pile of sand to block her path. As soon as he was solid, he grabbed her around the waist and hauled her in for a demanding and bruising kiss. It completely took her breath away.

  “Wow,” she murmured, panting.

  “I want you to know I don’t like this.” His lips slanted over hers again, his tongue sweeping deep as if to make a point. “And I love you, too.”

  She nodded, eyes wide.

  “Are you coming?” Prieto called out from the other room.

  “Yep. Coming.”

  Within a few minutes, they were back in the catacombs of the prison, standing in the exact alcove they always dropped into. “Why don’t we just pop right into her cell?”

  Prieto was clearly rattled because instead of his normal non-answer, he just shrugged. “Part of the protections. This is the only place the magic for transporting can work.”

  That was the answer she wanted. She let him get a few steps ahead, then she snatched her amulet from around her neck. Letting it fall from her fingers, she kicked it against the wall where it would be less likely to be seen. The necklace was a gift from Lynlee, cut from the same stone that allowed the witch to track and contact any of her clients.

  “So,” she began as she caught up to him. “When exactly?”

  He paused in his steps, but didn’t look at her. “When what?”

  “You said you’d seen something like this once.”

  “Yes, in España. Many years ago.”

  Rhiannon’s mouth dropped open as realization dawned on her. Prieto was an angel, which meant he was centuries old. “The black plague.”

  He continued walking, not saying anything else. She wondered at the reaction he seemed to be having to Red’s illness. Was it just that he was afraid she would die and he’d lose his prisoner? Or could there be something else going on?

  The moment he opened the cell door, she was assailed by the scent of blood. Under most circumstances that would have had her werevamp mouth salivating, but this was different. The smell was putrid, and it pervaded the entire room, spilling into the stone hallway like a thick pall.

  But as bad as that was, Red looked ten times worse. She was writhing in the bed, sheets and blankets knotted up around her limbs. Black splotches covered most of the skin that was visible, some of the sores oozing thick black liquid. Gasping, she struggled for breath, and the loud rattle was a clear sign that her lungs were filled with fluid. When she coughed, a trail of red spittle slipped from her lips down her chin.

  “Red.” Prieto rushed the bed, arms looking as if he might have embraced her. Still he stopped short, hands fisted at his sides in restraint. “Red, Rhiannon’s here.”

  Swallowing, Rhia mentally put on her doctor’s hat and immediately crouched down beside the bed. Using one hand to rummage in her bag, she held Red’s wrist in the other, checking her pulse. It was erratic and racing, but somehow still strong. It was a wonder because she could just about imagine the woman’s organs were all in freefall.

  “Hurts,” Red murmured, moaning in such a plaintive way that it physically hurt Rhiannon’s heart.

  “I know. Let’s try this.” She measured a dose of morphine, injecting it quickly. While she waited for the drug to take effect, she placed a thermometer under the woman’s tongue. But before the little machine could make a reading, Red lurched forward grabbing for the trash can beside the bed and vomiting the thermometer and a nasty mix of bile and blood.

  “Sorry,” she managed.

  “Don’t worry. I’ll get another.” Rhiannon eased her back onto the bed, pleased when her scrunched up face loosened a bit and her muscles relaxed. “A little better?”

  “A little.”

  She rubbed the woman’s oily red hair back from her face. “Good. Try to rest while you can.”

  Red’s eyes fluttered shut, and Rhiannon immediately stood and faced Prieto. “Did you get those things I ordered? The saline, the IV administration kit?”

  He nodded, eyes focused on the phoenix who was resting, but still panting and wheezing for air. “Yes, they were delivered yesterday. What can you do to help her?”

  Rhiannon studied him a moment, struck by the emotions she could see roiling in his eyes. “I need all of those supplies. And hot water, enough to give her a sponge bath. And take this with you.” She handed him the trash can. “Don’t bother cleaning it. Just get her another one. Or maybe two. Can you do all that?”

  Now he was staring at her, eyes narrowed as if confused.

  “Prieto,” she hissed. “Get a move on.”

  Chapter 14

  Prieto flinched, then gave her a sharp nod and exited the room. Rhiannon didn’t waste any time, retrieving the cell phone from her pocket and quick dialed, even as she searched fo
r some anti-nausea meds.

  “Hey,” she said in a low, breathless voice when Lynlee answered. “How are you feeling?”

  “Oh for goodness sakes... seriously, if one more person asks me that stupid question, I’m going to go postal. I’m fine. I’m as fine today as I was yesterday.”

  “Would you stop that?” Finding what she was searching for, she popped a little pill from the bottle and coaxed Red to open her mouth so she could place it under her tongue. “Are you up for some action?”

  There was shuffling on the phone, and she imagined Lynlee was jumping up out of bed. “Are you kidding? I would kill for some action.”

  “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. Although Beck’s probably going to kill me for involving you.”

  “Forget about Beck. What are we doing?”

  Rhia shifted her phone between her neck and shoulder while she started looking for some clothing for Red. The woman wasn’t naked, but with as sick as she was, she needed more than her thin prison garb. She found a thick sweater and a long coat, then worked to get Red’s limp arms into the holes of the sweater first and then the other.

  “Where... where are we going?” the woman asked, voice hoarse.

  “Holy crap!” Lynlee cried out. “Prison break. Yes!” Rhiannon could just about imagine her pulling her fist to her waist in triumph. “I knew it was a good idea. What do you need me to do?”

  “I dropped my amulet in the area Prieto said magic can get through. You’ll need to orb there. It’s a long winding way to get to this cell, but I’ll text you the directions. I sent Prieto to get some supplies, so hopefully that will give me time to get Red out of here so that we can meet up with you.”

  “On it. Be right there.”

  They hung up, and Rhia quickly tapped out a message with the turns Lynlee should make to find them before she pulled Red up and tucked some blankets around her.

  “I don’t think I can do this.” The phoenix started hacking again, and Rhiannon quickly grabbed a washcloth to hold over her mouth to catch the bloody mucous.

  “I’ll help you. I’m a werevamp, and I’m strong enough to practically carry you down the hall. But you’ve got to try to stay quiet. I’ve never seen a guard in here, just Prieto, so I’m not sure how much trouble this is going to be.”

  “There are poltergeists. If they catch us, they’ll sound the alarm. And then all hell will break loose. Literally.”

  The way she said it told Rhiannon this wouldn’t be her first attempt to get out of this place. After just a few steps towards the door, Red nearly collapsed. When she looked at the woman, she read regret in her sickly expression, but they didn’t have time for apologies. Instead Rhiannon reached down and hauled the frail red-head up and over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Red made a mewling sound of pain, but otherwise just wrapped her arms around Rhia’s waist and held on.

  Rhiannon hadn’t ever encountered a poltergeist. As she hurried along the granite halls, she saw a little flash of blue light flicker to her right. It looked almost like a flame burning beneath the stone. The strangest thing was, that it seemed to be following them.

  Suddenly a cacophony of sounds erupted all around them. Banging and moaning and thundering shook the walls, causing little pebbles of stone to begin raining down on them.

  “They’re here...” Red murmured, and whether she was intending to be funny or not, Rhiannon couldn’t help the anxious laugh that welled up in her. But with all of the noise she figured neither Red nor the poltergeists could hear her.

  “What the hell?” Someone cried out, and as they rounded a corner there was Lynlee, her hands on her ears and a pretty pissed-off expression on her face. “What did you do?”

  “I think I tripped the alarm. C’mon, let’s go.”

  They started running for the alcove. Even though Rhiannon was carrying an entire extra person, Lynlee still trailed behind. She worried she’d made a mistake bringing her friend in on this, but there was no time for second-guessing now, because the sound of pounding steps echoed from down the corridor.

  “Here,” she said, stopping and putting Red down on wobbly feet. “Lynlee, help her. I’ll distract them.”

  “Distract who?”

  They both stared down into the darkness where growling and barking were getting closer. “How the hell would I know who? Whoever that is.” She shoved the sickly woman into Lynlee’s arms and pushed them forward.

  Her instincts were kicking into gear, the wolf within her so intent on letting loose she didn’t even take the time to remove her clothes before starting the shift. Leaving a trail of shredded shirt and jeans behind her, she followed close behind Lynlee as her bones and muscle contorted her into a giant light brown wolf.

  She kept her ears cocked so that she could hone in on the creatures approaching, straining to differentiate between them and the continual racket of the poltergeists. Just as they made the last turn to get to the alcove, she pivoted and came face-to-face with two enormous hellhounds.

  “Holy crap,” Lynlee screeched from behind her. She couldn’t see her friend, but she hoped to hell the woman was kicking it into gear so they could get the hell out of there.

  The hellhounds were growling and panting, red and black smoke emitting from their nostrils as they pawed the ground in front of her. Rhiannon bowed up her back, attempting to make herself look larger. It was a pitiful trick considering the demonic dogs were at least twice her size.

  “We’re almost there, Rhiannon. Get your ass over here and don’t do anything stupid,” her friend called out to her from down the corridor.

  Too late, she said in her mind. The dogs paced in front of her, taking turns advancing and sniffing in her direction. She backed up slowly, raising the lip of her snout and snarling at them. One of them got a little too close, and she swiped with a clawed paw at him. She wasn’t sure, but she thought he might have smiled a little.

  And that was when she started to get pissed. Her blood pounded red hot in her veins, and instead of backing up, she bounded at the one closest to her, the one with the grin. She aimed her razor-sharp claws at his face and lashed him straight across the eye. The hound issued a puppy-like howl and rolled back, rubbing his bleeding face.

  Serves you right. You’re nothing but a big bully. They might be bigger, but she was faster. She dodged before the bully’s friend could take a chunk out of her thigh, but his mouth got close enough she could feel the burn of his breath on her. She leaped on agile paws, catapulting off the wall so that the massive hellhounds couldn’t even follow her with their eyes. The dogs bumped into each other as they tried to get to her, and she used their confused delay to run full-tilt towards Lynlee and Red, sliding into the alcove.

  The hounds recovered just as the three women were encompassed in glittering colors then disappeared.

  Chapter 15

  The second their bodies orbed into Lynlee’s grotto, Red issued a loud whimper and collapsed. Since Rhiannon was still in wolf form, there was no way for her to catch the woman before she hit the floor with what must have been a painful thud.

  “Wow, I thought I looked bad after my demon encounter. This chick is death warmed over.”

  And that wasn’t a joke. Sweat was pouring from Red’s brow, the rivulets tinged pink with blood. Her skin was so pale as to be transparent, her lips tight bluish lines. Even though she perspired, the woman was racked with the sort of chills that must have rattled her teeth.

  It took a few seconds for Rhiannon to morph back into her human form. Even if her clothes hadn’t been destroyed when she shifted, what remained of them were back in the prison catacombs. So there she stood naked as a jaybird, though she was so concerned for Red that she barely even noticed.

  That was until Prieto arrived, appearing within a big puff of purple smoke.

  “Geez, Louise! Not again!” she cried out, using her hands to try to cover the important parts.

  The fallen angel immediately turned around, raising a hand to cover his eyes. “I didn�
��t see anything this time either.”

  “You’re lying!”

  Lynlee gently pulled one of the blankets from under Red and wrapped it around Rhiannon’s body. “Angels don’t lie,” she whispered to her friend.

  As soon as her nakedness was covered, Rhiannon stepped in front of Red, her shoulders back and her body prepared to shift again if necessary to protect her patient. “You’re not taking her back, Prieto.”

  He turned around to face them, and when she saw the expression on his face she immediately knew that taking her back wasn’t on the table. His eyes glistened with concern, the movement at his temples clear evidence that he was gritting his teeth.

  Red moaned behind her, and when the agonized sound reverberated off the cavern walls, Prieto flinched as if he too felt the woman’s pain.

  Rhiannon turned and knelt beside her, wiping the wet from Red’s brow in a sign of comfort. “I’m sorry, I didn’t bring my bag and my meds with me. I thought... well, I thought when I got here you’d go ahead and pass on and there would be no more pain.”

  Red swallowed, tongue darting out to try to wet her parched lips so she could speak. “It’s okay. Thank you. There aren’t many people who would have done that.” She stopped to cough, though her energy was clearly in such short supply that she could barely even complete that action. Panting for breath, she reached out a hand and grasped Rhia’s arm, her skin cold and clammy. “I’ll repay you one day. I promise.”

  “Red?”

  It was Prieto, the sound of his voice almost foreign. For all his cold and caustic tone on most days, now he seemed almost broken. Clasping her blanket at her neck in one hand and her waist in the other, Rhiannon stood and stepped back.

  Immediately he dropped to his knees beside the phoenix, and after just a moment’s hesitation, he pulled her close so that her head was against his chest. Lynlee leaned in, clearly intent upon eavesdropping, but Rhia crooked her hand around her friend’s elbow and tugged her back.

  “You’re no fun,” Lynlee whispered with a frown.

  Rolling her eyes in disdain, Rhiannon held the covers around herself and waited, watching closely as the couple spoke words to one another. A tear slipped down Red’s cheek, and she wondered if it were the physical pain or some emotional pain. How had the hearts of the prisoner and his captive somehow become intertwined?