After that, she’d spent a lot of time thinking about how she might use the amulet herself. It had to belong to a warrior, a Blood Hunter like Jared, most likely. So how would a warrior be able to help her? She didn’t have a murdering doctor after her. She didn’t have vampires wanting to suck the life out of her. Jared would have said something if any of them had had the same special blood as Erin. So how could a warrior from the spirit world help her find Stef?
Or better yet: How could she find him?
Agitated, she sat up on the side of the lounge chair so abruptly that she lost her balance for a moment. As she caught herself on the edge of the chair, the heavy chain slipped from the amulet’s loop and fell to the deck.
Picking it up, Annette slid the necklace back in place and studied the ends of the chain. There were no broken links and no visible clasp. A jeweler would have to cut open a link and weld it back together. She held the amulet up in front of her, studying it in the fading light as she pressed the two broken ends together.
Suddenly a bright light blinded her and a jolt of energy shot through her, electrifying her nerves. The moment her vision cleared, her pulse raced. She felt different in an indescribable way, and the chain had fused itself together; the broken ends were now connected by seamless links.
How? What had happened?
As she stared at it, the disk grew warmer than ever before. Surprised, she pressed the metal to her cheek, testing it. But the temperature intensified so quickly she had to jerk it away fast. Seconds later she needed to use the hem of her lab coat to protect her fingers from the increasing heat of the disk.
The atmosphere about her changed, becoming charged with a strange energy that cracked like a whip snapping in the air. She jumped up from the chair. Her breath caught in her throat, and sweat beaded her brow. She was no longer alone. The sensation rippled down her spine and pumped into her heart like injected adrenalin, making the hair on her arms and at her nape stand on end.
Jerking around, she saw a large shadow across the yard, ten feet below and twenty yards from where she stood. Partially covered in mists, the hulking shape stood along the darkened tree line of tall pines and twisting oaks.
A second’s glance showed her that the amulet was scorching the hem of her lab coat. Were the shadow and the amulet connected? Was it a Blood Hunter like Jared? She moved a few steps closer, trying to peer through the mists and shadows.
What she saw was too large to be a man. At least, she thought so. She moved toward the railing, her heart hammering with expectation, but the shadow slipped deeper into a low-lying patch of thick fog on the forest’s edge, mingling into the mists.
“Who is it? Can you speak to me? Can you help me?” she called into the eerie silence, gripping the railing and biting her lip to stem the raw excitement racing along her nerves. Her breath lay trapped and burning in her lungs. “Please, can I see you?”
The shadow emerged from the mist and moved toward her now. His pace was slow, almost predatory. She took a step back, wishing like hell that she could see better, but night had fallen during her reverie, darkening the evening to an inky black. The fireflies had abandoned her.
Lightning streaked sharply across the night sky, revealing a wolf-man whose ferocity stole her breath. Blacker-than-black hair covered Incredible Hulk–sized muscles that bunched with menace as he stepped her way. He growled, low and deep, flashing what had to be fangs.
Good God! She backed away from the creature, becoming sharply aware of a sudden hunger filling the tense void between them. The beast’s primal lure snared her like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming truck. The air pulsed with danger, but she couldn’t seem to move or look away. Heat radiated across the distance, almost scorching in its intensity.
Suddenly the creature charged toward her, moving faster than she thought anything could move. Whatever safe distance she thought she had up on her deck vanished in a second. She scrambled back, her scream locked in her throat as her pulse roared in her ears.
You’re dead, she thought.
Chapter Two
T HE BRIGHT BEAM of headlights arced into view, sweeping across the cabin and part of the yard as the car revved up the drive. Annette recognized the sound as Emerald’s Mini. The beast turned toward the car, standing in the shadowed night beyond the reach of the headlights. With the lightning gone, Annette could no longer see its features, but she still felt its primal menace and heat filling the air. She could hear its low growl of warning.
Oh, God. Emerald was closer to the beast and would be getting out of her car at any second, where she’d be even more vulnerable. Annette dropped the amulet and started waving her arm wildly, rushing toward the deck’s railing.
“Hey! I’m up here. Come up here,” she called to the beast as she dug with her other hand for her cell phone to warn Emerald. Instead of moving her way or Emerald’s, the wolflike beast backed slowly away. In a patch of moonlight, she saw it pause and look directly at her, as if making a point of remembering her, before it disappeared into the black of the night, moving toward the deeply forested area higher up the mountainside.
With it went the energy and power charging the air, making her feel as if the atmosphere around her had been sucked into outer space by a huge vacuum. She exhaled, almost doubling over from the force of her relief. As her eyes focused, she saw the amulet lying on the deck at her feet and tentatively reached for it, careful to check the degree of its heat before clasping it in her hand again. An edge of excitement coursed through her fear. Had a Blood Hunter come to her? Had she just seen a real werewolf?
Gaining her feet, she hurried back inside and through the cabin to meet Emerald at the front door. Her mind raced with questions. Was the beast she saw how Jared appeared as a werewolf? Part of the man whom Erin loved?
Annette gulped, trying to wrap her mind around that idea.
She knew darn well that something that big and primal hadn’t been frightened off by her or Emerald. It could have attacked and killed within minutes, but it hadn’t. So did that mean it wasn’t as dangerous as it looked? Had it understood her?
Opening the front door, she flipped on the porch light and saw Emerald and Erin emerging from the Mini. She expected both of them to be home, getting some much-needed rest, and she thought Erin especially would be with Jared tonight. Instead, neither of them looked happy.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, hurrying across the porch where they met up with her.
“We’re bleeding mad, is what we are!” Emerald answered. Irritation flashed in her green eyes and her hair had been finger-combed to spikes of worry—or anger, it would seem. “Sam and Jared are up to somethin’. Bleedin’ investigatin’ without us, I say.”
“Jared left without saying a word,” Erin said, adding more steam to the stew pot. “He left a note. Did it while I was asleep! He said he and Sam had to take care of something and he’d be back by morning. Can you believe it? If I’d done the same thing, he’d have torn the world apart by now.”
“And if you or I pulled a stunt like this, Sam, the gack, would have a cow,” Emerald added. “Men are clueless when it comes to wearing the shoe on the other foot.”
Irritation stabbed Annette as she marched back inside her cabin, turning on the lights. The amulet in her pocket and the beast in her yard took second seat to her being duped. “Damn. Do you really think they’re sneaking behind our backs and searching Sno-Med without us? Was all that talk this morning about waiting nothing but a smokescreen?”
“What else are we supposed to think?” Emerald asked. “Sam’s cell phone switches automatically to voice mail. He’s not answering his home phone.” Emerald pursed her lips. “And according to the dispatcher, he’s off duty and bleedin’ unreachable.”
“Sam is never unreachable,” Annette replied, frowning. “It does sound suspiciously as if they went without us, but there could be another reason.” Sometimes in the mountains cell reception sucked. “We have to do something, though. First, I need s
ome caffeine to think by.” She motioned for them to follow her to the kitchen, barely suppressing her wince at the powder blue curtains and soft pink rosebud wallpaper.
The previous owner had overindulged in country pastel decor, and Annette had yet to change anything to the bolder colors and more modern patterns that fit her comfort zone. Her whole life had been suspended since Stef disappeared, and she saw no reason to change it.
Annette smacked the coffeemaker on. “It’s my sister who is missing, and I’m the one who drew innocent children’s blood for those bastards. I should be there.” The heavenly aroma of her favorite Swiss almond mocha blend filled the air, grounding her for the first time all day. There was something about coffee that made any situation manageable. Bringing out three mugs and the sugar, she fished the cream from the fridge. “Sam’s conscience doesn’t allow for him to be out of touch. Twilight is his baby to care for, and he’s obsessive about his duty. Are you sure the dispatcher isn’t giving you the brush-off, Em? The woman has her eye on Sam, even if she is married.”
“You call and see if you can get more out of her.” Emerald poured a bit of straight cream into her cup and downed it with a cat-licking sigh.
Annette shuddered as she dragged her cell from her pocket. Her fingers brushed the warm amulet, and she paused, setting her gaze on Erin. How did she go about asking what Jared looked like as a werewolf?
Erin was looking at a sketchbook of Stef’s Annette had left open on the counter, one that Annette hadn’t even bothered to really look at until learning that Jared was a werewolf. That had been another way Annette had failed her sister. Stef’s dream had been to be an artist. She drew fantastical creatures and made up stories about them. Annette, who’d been twelve years older than Stef, had taken their parents’ side, insisting that Stef get a real education and a real job. Annette had pushed Stef toward something in the medical field, which landed Stef a job at Sno-Med, which was likely responsible for her disappearance.
Shaking off the thought, Annette bit her lip. Did Annette really need to ask Erin? Did she really have any doubt that the hairy Incredible Hulk–like wolf wasn’t a Blood Hunter? What she really wanted to know was, how dangerous were the beasts, and how did she talk to one?
She dialed the sheriff’s office. The dispatcher answered. “Hey, Myra,” Annette said. “This is Dr. Batista from the clinic. I have a situation and need to speak to the sheriff as soon as possible…. No. Deputy Ross can’t help me. This has to do with what Sam is doing tonight. Do you understand now? I can only speak to him alone.” Annette smiled as the answer came through and she disconnected the line.
Emerald and Erin glared at her.
Inwardly grinning, Annette leisurely poured everyone’s coffee and brought a cupful of the fragrant black liquid to her lips. She relished the hot bitter bite and the fire that tried to warm the cold inside she couldn’t ever seem to shake. At least, until she’d touched the amulet. She’d been warm then. What happened with the amulet seemed personal, as if it was meant just for her. And if she shared it with anyone, she was afraid the magic would go away.
“Unless you expect this to be your last bleedin’ breath, then you had better tell us now!”
“After the week I’ve had, I’m ready to pound something myself,” Erin added.
“Tell you what?” Annette asked innocently, toying with her friends.
“About Sam!”
“And Jared!”
“Annette! By the bloody Druids, where are they?” Emerald shouted.
“Oh!” Annette said. “Patience, ladies.” Smiling, she shoved a cup of coffee under Erin’s nose, then pushed one at Emerald. “Drink your coffee, ladies, and relax. Sam and Jared haven’t been anywhere and aren’t going anywhere. The gossip according to Myra is that Sam has locked a man in the station’s cell and then has shut everyone out of that section of the station with orders not to intervene no matter what they hear.”
Erin groaned. “Jared’s still afraid that he’s going to hurt someone.”
“Hurt someone as a werewolf?” Annette asked, snatching the opportunity. “Has he?”
If the beast she’d seen was like what Jared had become as a werewolf, then how had Erin learned to love and accept him? Yet when she saw Jared as a man and the love he had for Erin, how could she ever doubt that Erin would love him back?
“Yes and no. And yes,” Erin replied in answer to Annette’s question. “It’s hard to explain. The poison affected Jared’s werewolf side. Made him feel like a bloodthirsty beast out of control. He thought he was the greatest threat to me, but I didn’t believe him, and I still don’t.”
Annette shivered. She’d felt that in the beast tonight, the primal hunger, the predatory hunter. Base desires uncontrolled in such a strong creature would be worse than frightening.
“Because of the poison, right?” Annette asked. “If it weren’t for the poison, his werewolf side wouldn’t be dangerous to a regular person, right?”
“I’d trust Jared with my life, but it seems he doesn’t trust me,” Erin said. “Why didn’t he just tell me that Sam was going to lock him up tonight? That he was still worried?”
“Just might be a man thing, luv,” Emerald said.
Erin sniffed the coffee, then picked up the sugar spoon.
Emerald frowned at the coffee. “I’m not much on sludge, Nette.”
“Think of it as chocolate with a high-octane kick,” Annette said and pushed the cream Emerald’s way. “Pollute it if you must, but you can’t miss the experience.”
“What do you mean, a man thing?” Erin stirred in more sugar until Emerald snatched the spoon away, then grabbed the cream and nearly overfilled her cup.
“Would you have let him go?” Annette asked, wincing at the desecrated coffee.
“No.” Erin sighed as if her whole heart rested on that breath. “You don’t understand. I’ve seen what changing into a werewolf does to him. He almost lost his soul before. And he needed me then. What if it’s just as bad now? Why didn’t he take me with him? It’s just stupid.”
“Get used to it. He’s male, luv,” Emerald said. “Experience has taught me that women get a bit irrational and men get a bit stupid in situations. Lucky ducks for you, Jared’s a wee bit wiser.” Emerald reached over and clasped Erin’s hand. “Part of lovin’ is letting another walk the way they need to and not the way you want them to.”
“Words you’re going to need to keep in mind as your daughter gets older,” Annette said, then watched Emerald’s eyes pop wide. “Speaking of which, where is your angel now?”
“Megan’s at Bethy’s again.” Emerald sighed. “They’re still trying to beat the Dark Lord on Fairy’s Fantasy X.” Her smile didn’t quite reach the shadows in her green eyes.
“What are you not saying, Em?” Annette searched her friend’s face for an answer. “After the meeting this morning you couldn’t wait to pick Megan up from Bethy’s and bring her home.”
“I did.”
“And?”
“We did a reading, and I decided that Bethy’s is the safest place Meggie can be right now. Unfortunately, the Druids weren’t kind enough to reveal why.”
Erin set down her cup with a thump. “We escaped from Cinatas yesterday, and part of me keeps hoping that the reason he hasn’t come after us again is that he died in the Sno-Med fire even though his body wasn’t found. Still, I keep wondering why the other goons behind Cinatas haven’t shown up on our doorstep yet. Jared thinks it’s because Cinatas kept us secret from the rest, either because he was too ashamed to admit that I’d bested him, or because he didn’t want anyone else to know what his plans for Jared were. The lunatic wanted Jared to help him take control of the Vladarian Order from its current leader, Pathos.”
Emerald waved her hand, making her bracelets tinkle like fairy bells. “Might be that, but keep in mind, luv, you’re in the Twilight zone.”
As if on cue Emerald’s BlackBerry rang. “Hold on,” Emerald said as she read the message and typed a rep
ly. It didn’t take long, so whoever it was, their sexual glitch mustn’t have been too bad. Annette shook her head with a half smile. Only wonderfully wild, wacky Emerald could be an online sex therapist and get away with it. Just as she pulled off all of her other mystical predictions and made you want to believe her even if you couldn’t quite bite into the dish she was offering. Erin didn’t know whether to take Emerald’s Twilight zone comment seriously and hummed the TV Twilight Zone’s theme tune a moment before speaking in Rod Serling’s ominous tones: “You are protected by the…Twilight Zone.”
Emerald blinked a minute after she finished with her BlackBerry, looking confused. “No, luv. You’ve got it all wrong. Not that Twilight Zone, but Twilight’s real zone. It’s a bit difficult to explain, but there are a few places on earth that are…magical. It has to do with the magnetic and electric fields being scrambled, which creates a fog, if you will. The atmosphere makes it very easy for them to enter our world, but makes it a wee bit harder for them or anyone with powers to ‘see.’”
“By them, you mean—”
“Spirits from all dimensions. Heaven and hell and in between.”
Annette started to shake her head in denial, then stopped.
“That’s good to know,” Erin said, rolling her eyes. “We’re sitting in the middle of a demon highway crossing with nothing but fog for cover? We can only hope that Jared is right.”
“The crystals don’t lie, luvs. Bloody hell is on its way,” Emerald said, then drew a deep breath. “And Stef is still alive, no matter what Sam says.”
Annette met Emerald’s gaze head-on, wanting to have that same kind of belief burning inside of her. “Then where is she?” Annette whispered, slipping her hand into her pocket, absorbing the warmth of the amulet into her fingers.
“Doona know, but I have a feeling the answers are on their way.”
Annette nodded. Or she was on her way to them, she amended Emerald’s prediction. “Tomorrow I’m going to Sno-Med to search for answers, no matter what Sam and Jared say.”
The Lure of the Wolf Page 3