Even as he watched, she died like most that passed in the human form when they’d walked the earth too long. At least the more evil ones. He knew all didn’t go this way, but just as many did. Her skin shriveled, turned almost green, then grey, fading into paper over a skeleton. Before he blinked, the remains became dust.
Nybras smiled, sucked in his breath and blew hard, until all the dirt was scattered in the air, nothing but particles dancing in the wind.
Humming, he went into the house to get a few things he thought precious might like later, and if she didn’t….
Well, she really didn’t have a choice anymore did she?
* * * *
Lorenzo scanned the horizon. He and Marcos had followed the faint trace of evil on the land. Evil had a way of being traced and they did for a while. Several miles from the canyon. The dead animals and insects littering the ground, scavengering off of each other, were signs enough. The scorched and curled blades of yuccas. Then nothing. Not a damn thing. They followed the trail several miles further than Marcos had originally. Working across the land, they found more death and decay. Then, as if someone flipped a switch. nothing, damn it all. And he was looking, searching.
But then, he felt her, a shimmer, just a shimmer, relief, then fear. He saw their room, from her eyes, yet something was wrong.
Jerking out his cell phone, he dialed home. The phone rang and rang. “Hi, we can’t come to the phone right now, but if you’d leave your name and number we’ll try to get back with you.”
He cursed, hung up and called Charles. “Did anyone check the house out?”
“No, we just raised the alarm because we’re all bored. Yes, I closed the shop and checked it all myself. House is fine. Nothing in it to show she’s there, why?”
He searched for her again. Saw the walls, the dim light from the bathroom, felt her pain in a distant way.
She had a headache. Where the hell was she? The room, the bathroom lights on dim. A man…
Lorenzo concentrated harder, and saw himself walking towards her. But as faded as the image was, he didn’t know if it were a memory or if it was happening. And if it was happening now, or recently, then how? He was here. Not there. He’d damn well know if he were with the woman, and he wasn’t.
“Just images I’m getting of her at the house, or at least the room.”
“Glamour?” Charles asked.
“Could be. I don’t know. I don’t know anything anymore.” The one thing he did know was that he needed to hurry. It wasn’t an option. If he waited too long…
Marcos stood to the side watching him.
He hung up and waited.
Marcos shifted and came to stand next to him. From here the walls of the canyon bit into the ground. This might have been home once upon a time, but he hated this place. She was somewhere near here, he knew that. And he’d damn well find her.
“This isn’t good, Lorenzo,” Marcos’s voice was gruff, probably from all the damn cigarettes the idiot smoked. Not that that mattered to their kind. Normal things didn’t kill their kind. Unless a major artery was severed completely and blood was let out—and by another immortal, they rarely died. Of course to make the death certain, silver was always used. Hell, he’d had this life for so long, he’d lost count somewhere after the year one thousand.
“I know,” Lorenzo answered him.
“It’s not a were. I’d know a were. And this isn’t it. This is different. Evil. Plain and simple.”
He knew what Charles had told him, what he’d learned since then. “No, it’s not were. He’s a demon.”
“He? Any particular demon?” Marcos’s voice never reflected emotion.
He saw dust clouding in the distance behind a car. Who? Friend or foe?
Then he knew. Darrell and Miss Lilly along with Dena were coming.
Marcos cleared his throat. “Friends, I take it.”
Lorenzo saw no reason to confirm. Instead, he leaned back and waited until the SUV pulled to a stop beside them on the desolate dirt road.
The doors shut and Miss Lilly climbed out, Dena helping her. Beads and crystals around her neck chimed, even as her eclectic stick thumped the ground.
“I hate driving. Pain in the ass at my age, but we needed to get here,” she said stopping right in front of him.
He glanced at Darrell and Dena. “Thank you for coming.”
Miss Lilly waved a hand between them. “Forget them. We got to hurry. He’s trying to weaken her power and he will if he finds a way. For now, I’ve stalled him.”
Lorenzo slowly looked down at her, reigned in his temper and said, “You know where she is?”
Lilly nodded. “Old farm place.” She closed her eyes. “Other side of the canyon. You’re here on the north side. She’s back on the south.”
“How do you know?”
“I may be old, I may seem blind, but some things this old woman still knows, skippy. Now get in and drive.” With that, she climbed into his Jeep, Marcos helping her this time and climbing into the back.
For one moment, he stood, wondering if she really did know or if he was wasting valuable time. However, he’d known Lilly long enough to know she might seem flighty, might seem eccentric, but she cared and loved Reya and she’d never pull a stunt like this otherwise.
Nodding, he breathed deep, wished Reya safe and climbed into the Jeep. They were going to find her.
Chapter Nine
She awoke, disoriented and tired. The room was dim and she tried to remember. She remembered waking before, her head hurting, and hearing Lorenzo’s voice. Reya blinked and looked around. Lo wasn’t here.
Stretching, she decided she’d take a shower. Naked, she hurried to the bathroom. Maybe the shower would wash the fog out of her brain. Something niggled at the back of her mind that things were right.
Standing, waiting for the water to warm, she studied herself in the mirrors. Still the same, still long, her hair the same, her eyes looked different…almost sunken as if she’d been ill.
Everything was just as it should be.
When steam rose over the glass door, she climbed inside and breathed a sigh of relief. Probably just a bad dream and its lingering effects.
But then she felt it again…that whisper that things weren’t as they should be. She frowned and reached for her shampoo, the herbal fragrance the same as it always was. She made it herself and used more rosemary than citrus. Lathering it in, she leaned back and let the water beat down on her aching shoulder muscles.
The water hit the medicine bag around her neck. Darn it. She reached up, intent on taking it off, but instead she grasped it.
An image rose in her mind…
“Please, Nybras, no more.” She gasped, her vision still grayed.
He was still moving inside her, the smile on his face, “But, Precious, it’s so much fun.”
She tried to move her chained arms, even knowing it was useless. The manacles clanked as they always did.
“Please,” she begged.
Instead he moved, his hand tightening again around her neck, squeezing…squeezing…until she couldn’t breathe. Until she knew she would die. All she saw were his eyes, his aqua eyes staring down at her with some twisted version of love.
He released her, she gasped just as he closed his mouth over hers, taking her breath, robbing her of oxygen.
His power swallowed her, sucked her air from her lungs until again she couldn’t breathe.
He played with her for minutes, or hours she didn’t know. Tears leaked from her eyes. He kissed them, and when he straightened, she saw there was blood on his mouth. From her tears?
But then she couldn’t think as he started his game again.
“I want to feel you die around me. I love how you do that. It’s not fatal.” His chuckle danced between them. “At least not for you. You’re perfect, Precious. I love you.”
Again his mouth sealed over hers, sucking her very breath, her very soul and she had no more energy to fight him.
Shaking, Reya opened her eyes, her hand still fisted on the bag. Nybras?
Things around her shimmered… She closed her eyes, shook her head.
A sound startled her and she looked out the glass door, water trickling down this side of the glass. A person, dressed in jeans and boots, a white shirt walked towards her.
Lorenzo.
But still her heart slammed in her ribs.
No…
The warning slithered through her.
“Can I join you?” his voice asked.
She saw him drop his shirt, stood silent as he unbuttoned his jeans. A boot hit the floor, then another. Power rippled through the air and caressed down her body as gentle as the water.
Reya took a deep breath, tried to make sense, tried to push through to her instincts. He was walking towards the door.
For one instant, fear clawed through her, but then the door swung open and Lorenzo smiled at her.
“Hey. You’re looking better.”
“Yeah, what the hell happened? I feel like I was run over by a truck and woke up with fog instead of my brain.”
He smiled and leaned his head under the water. Droplets bounced off his dark hair. She let go of the bag and reached up, brushing her hand through his locks.
“I had the weirdest dream,” she muttered, wondering why the fear hadn’t left her yet.
The bag weighed, the mark hurt, her ring all but burned. She dropped her hand and looked at him, even as he lowered his head and smiled. Against her lips, he said, “Do you have any idea how much I’ve missed you?
His lips on hers were soft, not demanding.
But something…
He placed his mouth more firmly over hers, held her tightly, then drew a deep breath, pulling on the air from her lungs.
Her heartbeat slammed in her chest. No!
Aqua eyes… Sucking the air from her.
She couldn’t breathe.
Oh God.
Nybras!
She shoved against him and he only released her mouth, smiling down at her. The smile was on a face she loved.
Rage roared through her, the air shimmered around her. An illusion? A glamour? Her fury whipped out of her, and in that moment, she shattered the shields she hadn’t even realized were carefully constructed and bonded with Lorenzo.
No!
He chuckled, against her mouth, the air around them continued to shimmer, shift. He waved his hand and the glamour around them dropped, allowing her to see all that was beneath.
She ripped away from him. She felt the anger clawing up inside her. Her power lashed out at him and he stumbled back.
“No,” she hissed.
He smiled.
No, no, please no. She felt the tremors start deep within her. Oh please. Not Nybras. Lorenzo!
Blood roared in her ears. She couldn’t think, couldn’t…
Not Nybras!
Her breath panted. She glanced around the bathroom as the air continued to tremble and the glamour fell, not seamlessly. This was her power, rough, raw and shattering. Pieces of the glamour fell away only to reveal scattered truths beneath.
He raised a brow, and reached for her.
She glared at him.
“Bastard,” she muttered. She thought of the words that Lilly had taught her, an ancient chant of protection.
Nybras watched her.
Her mouth moved, but he didn’t hear the words. Instead, he felt them. Sharp edged whips lashing out at him.
He licked his lips, tasting her again, reminded again how her essence all but seeped into every fiber of his being. How nothing and no one had given him the same euphoric feelings that she had.
Her breath was rich, dark yet light, full of promise. And something else. Something that hadn’t been there before.
It teased, taunted, even as the elusive hint angered.
He’d known the moment she knew. She stiffened, tried to pull away.
He was surprised, but not angered by her spirit. This would be even better than it had been before. This time, robbing her, breaking her down, creating who he wanted from what she was, would surpass their last meetings.
Her eyes chilled him, going cold.
“I like this new you,” he said in a low voice, dropping his own glamour.
Her cheeks paled.
“Was it really so bad between us?” he asked, perplexed.
For a moment, she said nothing, then she straightened. “I’m not yours Nybras. Move. I want out of the shower.”
He held her stare, heard her whisper of fear, but her power and…strength almost drowned it out.
Almost.
Almost wasn’t completely. He saw the tremble of her hands, the chills on her damp skin.
He smiled, stepped back out of the shower, and grabbed a towel. This time the bathroom was as he wanted it. A replica of what had been in his fortress, with modern conveniences…like a shower…and other amenities.
Candles flickered on the marble vanity. The air swirled with spices and incense, heavy and fragrant.
Arousing.
He dried off, waited. Water hit the tiled floors of the shower as she slicked it off of her, rinsing her hair. Nybras watched her through the opaque door. The way her long lithe body arched, the way her arms rose, her fingers running through her hair. Next time he’d have her use his soap. He liked it when she smelled of him. He always had.
He held the towel and waited until she finally climbed out. She stood staring at him, anger banked but still in her eyes.
“Here, you’ll get cold.”
Her body glistened from droplets and rivulets of water. The damn medicine bag and ring still adorned her.
He watched as she dried off, the way her muscles rippled. A sigh escaped. “I’ve missed you so much, Precious.”
“Don’t call me that,” she said flatly, straightening and grabbing a robe.
“Would you rather I called you Kitty?”
She hissed at him.
He glamoured back into Lorenzo and said, “Or would you rather I call you Reya?”
Her eyes flashed at him and again he felt her wild power swipe at him. This time he stumbled back. “Do not do that. I can see you through the glamour now anyway, Nybras. It’s a waste of time. And don’t call me Reya.”
He laughed, straightened, and held his hand out to her. “How about, Ree?”
Instead of answering him, she held the bag with her left hand, chanted words in that tongue he’d often heard from her when he’d whittled her down to almost nothing. He wondered if she even realized she did that. It was in the language she’d used when she tried to vanquish him.
“I’ve rattled you, Precious.”
She finished her chant and he felt something come between them. He tried to take a step towards her, but couldn’t get closer than two feet.
He raised a brow. “What now? Think that will keep me away?”
Precious simply walked out of the bathroom and into the bedroom. She strode to the closet, pulled open the wide wooden doors, carved just as his had been over two hundred years ago. She shook her head. “Nybras. You can’t do this.” He watched as she pulled out a pants suit of dark ruby silk. “One thing I have to give you, you know clothes.”
She gave the garments as much attention as she might a pair of cotton shorts. He frowned. They were fine things, for a fine woman. He’d carefully chosen them. “You should be more careful.”
Her eyes flashed at him when she raised her head. “You have no control over me.”
Is that what she thought? He studied her, saw past her bravado, felt her fear as it caressed him. He smiled. No control over her?
He’d have to show her differently.
Nybras scratched the side of his mouth, smoothed his mustache and goatee. “You know, Precious. You’re really not in a position to state that are you? About who is in control of whom?”
She paused and looked at him. “What do you mean? I’m in control of me. You have no say over what I do anymore.”
He laughed and stepped forward, impressed when she straightened yet didn’t step back. Her hair was still wrapped in the towel.
“True,” he said, stepping closer. “But, it’s not just you anymore is it?”
Her eyes widened, then narrowed. She said nothing.
He stepped closer. Still she held her ground, even as he stood right in front of her. “Precious, Precious, Precious.” He shook his head. “When are you going to learn, darling, that you are solely and completely mine?”
Nybras reached up and cupped her face. She pulled back.
“I am solely and completely mine, Nybras.”
He let his hand move from her face, to caress her throat, felt her stiffen as his hand grazed over her chest, then her torso.
She stopped breathing when he held his hand over her lower abdomen. He tilted his head and studied her eyes. “Just you, Precious?” he whispered.
Anger and hatred flashed in her eyes.
He smiled. “It was one thing that you tried to kill me. Amusing actually and you came very close to succeeding. But you didn’t. So here we are.” He leaned in, kept his hand over her stomach, and whispered. “Here we are. One big happy family.” He brushed a light kiss across her pale cheek.
She didn’t move, didn’t blink.
Her fear shimmered between them. He decided to stroke it. “While you were sleeping, I thought of how to rid you of the babe.”
She jerked back from him. Nybras only stepped closer. “But that was the anger and jealousy. I realize that now.” He reached up and carefully unwrapped the towel.
Precious stepped back. “Leave me alone, Nybras. It’s not the same. I’ve changed and people will be looking for me.”
He dropped the towel and moved so that she was backed up against the wall. “You mean your cat friend?” He shook his head, tsking. “Really, Precious, what were you thinking? He’s hurt you before, do you think he won’t again?” Nybras stared into her eyes. “He betrayed you, Precious. Your cat doesn’t deserve you.”
For a moment, just a moment, he felt her waver, felt his power planting the doubts.
Then she blinked, shook her head and fisted her hand over the damn bag. “Lorenzo and I are mated, Nybras. There is nothing you can do now.” She smiled, stepped away and finished dressing. He leaned against the wall and sighed.
Shifter Fated Mates: Boxed Set Page 24