Craving-Torment (Book #2)

by Claudy Conn

  I used my witchy power sense of smell. I wrinkled my nose. I thought immediately, wet dogs in a kennel. “Elle…what is that?”

  “Keep on walking, honey, we don’t need to talk to any of those dogs,” Aunt Elle said, and looked stern as we passed.

  One of the guys let out a short low howl. The other said, “Oh, baby, why don’t you two come inside. We promise not to bite.”

  Aunt Elle pulled me along even faster and as I objected, she said, “Listen to me, baby girl, you remember that scent and stay away from it. No good can ever come of mixing with a werewolf…even a shifter wolf. Mind me, now.”

  I didn’t have time to argue as she pushed me into a building where we met a circle of friends and we all squeezed, laughing, into an elevator.

  I never gave it another thought, as in truth, I never again actually encountered a werewolf/Shifter in human or wolf form after that. The scent, however, I had stored, and now remembered, though this scent was slightly different.

  “Jeremy…” I started.

  “Yeah, I know. Trouble,” he said.

  “Jeremy…look there.” I felt a sense of anxiousness as something flashed through the trees in the woods along the road and I said, “Did you see?” And then there it was!

  A multi-shaded gray wolf racing easily through the wooded terrain, keeping up with us, his size and his speed absolutely incredible.

  “Yes…I know,” he answered somberly. “I picked up on the scent a moment ago as well.”

  “Werewolves,” I said.

  “Probably Shifters, as weres don’t usually take on wolf form during the daylight, but hold on, they can’t outrun this baby!” He flattened the gas pedal and we shot down the gravel road as Meatloaf bellowed out “Like a Bat Outta Hell!”, and I couldn’t help but grin.

  We took the bend in the road on what felt like two wheels, and came to a screeching, swerving stop. We didn’t have a choice. I know I couldn’t breathe as I stared out of the windshield.

  There, in the middle of the road, was a wolf larger than anything I have ever seen anywhere. It was larger than the largest of the reputed huge McKenzie wolves. It was almost as though I was looking at something conjured from a fantasy movie.

  The wolf was, I thought, as large as a horse.

  He was beautiful, with a gray coat of variegated shades of gray and black. He had Alpha black markings between his ears, and on his nose and chest.

  His eyes were bright yellow and he stared at us—hard, and he looked angry!

  His teeth were bared and his growl filled the atmosphere with the threat of ferocity.

  “This is so not good,” I said actually to myself, and then closed my open window.

  The stand-off continued silently for what seemed like forever, and then Big Wolfie’s voice was in my head and told me, I am Hawkeye Wellsly, Alpha leader of my pack. I don’t know what your stake in this is, or why immortals would take sides, especially with ancient and bloodthirsty vampires, and I don’t care. This is the only warning you get. If you choose to help the vampires, it will be at your own peril.

  “Wait!” I screamed out loud as soon as I had the window opened again. “Who said we took sides with the vampires?”

  “He spoke to both of us…in our heads at the same time, Bobbie. I have never known a Shifter capable of that.”

  You collaborate with the Dark Warlock, Beyland. He is a known associate of the ancient vampire, Ramon…who is set on war to get what he wants—power over the humans. Again, the wolf’s voice was in my head, and, I could see, in Jeremy’s head as well.

  Suddenly my Shama kicked in and I spoke to the wolf telepathically, perhaps to show strength. Don’t have a stake in your fight with the vamps, but if we did, threatening us like this—not so smart. I couldn’t believe my control. I had sent the message into Jeremy’s head as well.

  The huge wolf put up his head and howled. Ah hell, did I just pick a fight with a Shifter pack?

  Jeremy joined the telepathic conversation. Now, out of our way, doggie. I would hate to run into you and damage my new car.

  I grinned at Jeremy. We were being brave and totally foolish. The wolf blocking our way looked big enough to crash through our window, drag us out, and eat us in one gulp.

  He did, in fact, take a few steps towards us and when his yellow eyes met with mine, I could feel his irritation.

  He mind-spoke to both of us. This is your first and last warning.

  He turned ever so slightly and stared into the dark woods and I thought he was about to leave, but instead, he was at my open window, close, so very close, and this time I knew he spoke only to me.

  Listen to me, Red. It is going to get ugly. I would hate for a pretty little witch to get in the middle of something she has no business being involved in.

  “I’m…we…aren’t on the side of the vamps. That is a fact. And if it helps you to know, I am fairly certain that Dark Warlock isn’t either,” I told him. It occurred to me that we had no reason to quarrel with this big guy.

  He made a snorting sound, turned and headed for the woods.

  We heard his pack howl for him, and then everything went quiet and still.

  Jeremy turned to me and said, “Right then. What do you say we head home and get some food?”

  Jeremy, like I, was always hungry.

  “Yeah, food would be great because I have had enough of an adventure for a day.”

  Jeremy stepped on the gas and we shot down the road.

  ~ Eleven ~

  “I CANNAE TAKE THIS MUCH longer, lass…ye have to find a way to release me now that ye are in such danger!” Devin was beside himself as he paced at the barrier. “Ancient vampires, and out of all the wolf shifters ye had to come across, the Wellsly pack is the most powerful. Hawkeye has a reputation amongst Lycans and Shifters both. He holds the line and the wolves all respect him. If he threatened ye, he will back it up.”

  For some time now I had been trying to calm him down after Jeremy brought him up to date on what had occurred, and then promptly left because of an appointment he had to attend.

  Devin was in a state and would not be talked down.

  “Devin, there is nothing we can do about all of this. We are already in it up to our eyeballs. Allora will come here eventually, and we have to find a way of stopping her. In the meantime, I am working on finding the spell to free you, I swear I am,” I told him.

  “Nae, ye are doing everything but looking for the spell. What have ye done today to find the answer to m’problem? Eh, nae…lass. Ye go off to a Witching Wall—ye take on a Dark Warlock, and then a powerful Alpha Shifter. Ye have to stay put and figure out how to release me. I cannae stand here like a fool while ye are being attacked from all sides!”

  He was right, and I felt a twinge of shame. I had gotten sidetracked.

  I did need to free him, but I also had to find a way to keep Allora from entering MacLeod at will. As far as a Dark Warlock, well, that was about to be easily solved.

  I opened the portal to Trinity with a thought and stepped through, totally aware and just a bit proud that my skills were becoming fine-tuned.

  I scarcely had a moment to suck in air, or say a word, before Devin took me into his arms and held me, just held me like he would never let me go.

  His voice was tortured against the side of my head as he bent to fold me into his embrace. “Bobbie lass, ye have nae notion of what I suffer on this side. I have a mind to keep ye here, chained if I must…if only to…”

  “Don’t even think about doing something like that,” I cut in sharply, and pushed off him. I stepped away and wagged a finger. “You know me well enough to know how angry I would be and how I will escape, and when I do, I won’t come back…and I will no longer trust you.”

  “Nae, lass…dinnae say that to me.” His voice was hoarse and I knew he was anguished.

  “I won’t say it, as long as you don’t even think about trying to keep me against my will!”

  I was upset. He was a dominant male, I und
erstood that. I knew the alpha in him was in agony because he felt helpless to keep me safe, and so I gave him some leeway—not much. I eyed him grimly so he would understand how upsetting this was for me.

  His response was to pin me against the invisible barrier at my back. His lips took mine with desperation and I felt his vampire heart pulse against my heart, and my heart ached for him. I had to free him. This was tearing him apart.

  His kiss took me to the wishing well of dreams. My dream? Oh, but there it was, laid out in Technicolor. I wanted him for all time. Yes, he was a vampire. What did that matter to me? It didn’t any longer. Yes, I was a witch and supposedly, at least from all I had heard, witches and vamps don’t work well together—like oil and water. That was the rule, but I have always believed in exceptions to the rule.

  I somehow found the strength to push him off. It isn’t that he was forcing his kisses on me. He wasn’t, he doesn’t. That isn’t Devin’s style. He is all that is gentle and yet passionate in one fell swoop, but he would never force himself on me…or any woman.

  Damn, but looking into his blue eyes with their deep amber centers, I was drawn to him in so many ways. Yes, to his sexy self…yes, to his alpha male…yes, to his protective aura, but no, I would not lose myself in him.

  He immediately released me and waited, and I saw it all in that moment, saw how very much I loved him. For a moment, I couldn’t speak.

  “What is it, lass?”

  “Kissing me now…” I managed to say, “is not the answer to our problem.” I took hold of his big biceps and for a moment, my brain told me I was wrong and kissing him now was very much the answer. I had to force myself back on track.

  “‘Tis the answer to mine.” He grinned like a boy.

  I laughed, how could I not with him looking like that, but I wagged a finger. “Devin, Jeremy told you we met Beyland, and I have to give him something to stall him.”

  “Aye, I know…coom with me to the cottage and I’ll give ye what ye need,” he said.

  I eyed him suspiciously and said, “I am not staying.”

  “Nae, nae if ye wish otherwise, lass,” he said, and took my hand to his lips. “Coom then.”

  We passed through the jungle, the grassy fields, the woods, and arrived ten minutes later at the small clearing where his lovely cottage reposed. He hadn’t taken me there vampire speed, but had preferred to walk with me, holding my hand, talking as though everything was normal, as though we were normal…and it felt so good and right. Normal was something we would never have, but when we are together, we create our own projection of normal.

  He stopped on the front porch and dropped my hand. “Do ye prefer to wait out here, lass, and I’ll fetch ye the first pages of m’notes?”

  “No, I can come in, and if you have something to eat, you can feed me. I am starving,” I told him, and I was. I came straight to him without stopping to eat.

  He grinned. “Och aye, I have something to feed ye.” He picked me up and carried me into the cottage and deposited me on the chair near his small oak table, eyed me, and walked away.

  I stretched my neck and saw him at the fridge. Here, in Trinity, their point of evolution runs parallel to ours. They have all the modern conveniences.

  He returned with a tray of bread, cheese, and grapes, but suddenly I wasn’t hungry—not for food. All I wanted was to touch him, lick him, feel him from his head to his toes.

  I got up from the chair and thought my clothes off. Naked, I went into his arms, arms that surrounded and secured me.

  “Aye,” he said huskily. “Is that what yer hungry for, lass?” So saying, instead of kissing me, he put a grape halfway into my mouth and bent his head.

  His lips were on mine as his teeth bit into the grape.

  I almost swallowed my half whole, but he chewed his first, and then I thought away his clothes, and they lay in a heap at our feet.

  Magic engulfed us, but not of the sorcery kind.

  His hard-on was pressed against me, and I pumped against its full length before I bent to my knees and took hold. Damn, but all I wanted in this world was him!

  ~ Twelve ~

  Ramon, the Ancient

  ALLORA HAS BEEN TAUNTING ME with her secrets. She thinks I care. She thinks she is being mysterious. It amuses me to allow her to think so. We are alike—I have many secrets of my own.

  Eternity is a lifestyle one must relish and equip oneself to understand. She flits from day to day, and that is her coping mechanism with the boredom of being relatively safe from death. I have other ways to manage the ennui of living forever. Many other ways, and all of them quite satisfying.

  Allora told me recently that we, she and I, are meant to travel eternity together. In a way, she is correct. We have been lovers over the years, and I imagine that probably will continue. I see no reason for it not to. Our sexual appetites are the same and neither one of us requires sexual fidelity. In fact, one of the exciting aspects of our relationship over the years is the number of humans, both male and female, we have shared in our bed.

  However, I am not pleased when she turns to another vampire, and I have witnessed that she also dislikes when I do so.

  Allora is a many faceted female. She is a creature whose life before she became a vampire all those hundreds of years ago, was fraught with pain and disillusionment.

  She was used by her father who sold her night after night and barely fed her with the money he was given. In the end, she was turned by one of the clients her father sold her to.

  Newbies are stronger when first changed.

  She felt no loyalty to her sire, which I have wondered at and put down to the fact that I believe she went a bit insane when she first woke from death.

  She immediately killed the vampire who turned her and meant to keep her for his own. She sucked that vampire dry, then set him on fire before she went to her father and tortured him for days before she took his blood and left him in a heap of flesh, brains, and bones.

  She left London the night she killed her father and to my knowledge, never thought of him again. I found her in Paris, tearing humans to shreds as she fed.

  I took her hand and initiated her into the wonders of vampirism. I taught her how to use her skills, her powers, and her beauty. I taught her to be herself and we formed something of a bond.

  She confided in me immediately and though I am something of a sociopath, how could I not be, I felt a twinge of something for her. Thus, I did not try and seduce her. I taught her instead to cope with who she now was—no longer a victim but a survivor.

  Did she come to me after that because of gratitude? Perhaps, but she stayed and we have always returned to one another, hence, I believe it is more…for both of us.

  If humans had to analyze me, they would no doubt label me a coldhearted killer. I was and I suppose still am, but I am more circumspect. I have learned to curb my feeding habits. I don’t always kill my blood donors. There is no need, and I prefer to live without concern of being hunted.

  Allora touches me in ways that remind me of a time when I was human. I suppose I enjoy her for all that she has become—strong, and in her own way, loyal to me.

  She talks of our love-bond. I am not certain we have an actual ‘love’ bond, but we do have a bond. I told her recently that I will always want her, our past is proof of that. I reminded her of how we have always come together, no matter how many humans or even vampires we have bedded.

  Recently, Allora talks of more. It is that part of the female brain that forever wants more. I told her that I don’t think I can give her more than I already have, but she does and always will hold the number one place in my cold, dead heart.

  She is, at times, more trouble than she is worth, and yet I keep her close. Her obsession with some vampire—MacLeod in Scotland, has been getting in the way of my plans. I have had to lay down my law. I have some rules I will not allow to be broken.

  She specifically disobeyed me and interacted with my Dark Warlock, causing a rift between me
and Beyland that is irritating because of the timing. I forbade her to have anything to do with Beyland in the near future—not that I had to go to that extreme, as Beyland would kill her as soon as look at her now.

  The thing is…I need my sorcerer’s loyalty now more than ever. I have kept myself busy over the long years with my passion for experimentation. A new notion, something that has me obsessed and I know will require the darkest of magic, is all important to me now. Day-walking.

  I will need Beyland to achieve my goal.

  Allora is often careless. I warned her about Beyland. I told her when I realized she was going to ask a favor of him. I told her that if he granted a favor, he would ask her for the truth. He would want to know the ‘why’. Beyland always wants to know why.

  He is, in his own odd way, highly principled. He follows his own set of rules. If one lies to him, Beyland, depending on the scale of the lie, will react.

  I have seen him imprison a vampire in a hell of fire for the smallest of untruths.

  Allora used him with a lie.

  Beyland does not tolerate lies, especially from such as her. If I had not interceded on her behalf, there is no telling what he would have done with her. I am not even certain why he granted her a favor, as he seems to detest her. I suppose he did so to please me.

  He will not allow her to use him again…even for me. That complicates my working plan and I shall have to revise Allora’s part in it.

  I am on shaky ground with Beyland. Ah, yes, he is faithful to me…but no longer my friend. He doesn’t know that I know this, but I do.

  We were once great friends, but I betrayed him in the past. Perhaps one of my more foolish acts, but it was expedient for me to do so at the time. Only our Blood Oath kept me alive, for Beyland is one of the few who is capable of killing an ancient vampire like myself.

  He is an accomplished Dark Warlock, yes, and he could have ended my very precious life, perhaps not easily, but I would have forever had to look over my shoulder. That would not suit me. My lifestyle, my freedom, is precious to me. I have enjoyed my eight hundred years on this earth as a vampire. I enjoy killing humans, not only for their blood, but because I can. In the past, I rarely spared a human. I do now for expediency. I did, even in my worst time when I was first turned, spare a female.