“Listen, Jules,” my brother said after downing the last of his beer, “I know you’re sick of me saying this already, but I think it’s time you called Mom.”
I sighed heavily. “I know. By the way, what—if anything—has she said to Dad?”
“She told him you left your job in England—which, coincidentally, was a hell of a cover story—and have been spending your time since catching up with friends you didn’t get to see for the last year,” he replied.
“I figured she’d tell him something like that. At least, it’s the only thing I could think of that she might say,” I said. “Dad’s still probably mad at me for not coming home once in a while, considering I’ve allegedly been back stateside for nearly a month.”
Mark flashed a wry grin. “Yeah, pretty much. Mom also mentioned the other day that your buddy Jake called looking for you. Said he had something he wanted to talk to you about, but wouldn’t tell her what it was—oh, and that she was respecting your privacy by not just giving him your new cell number.”
This made me groan. “Okay, okay, I feel guilty enough already.” With another, slightly exaggerated sigh, I patted Race on the knee and pushed to my feet. “Guess now is as good a time as any. I’ll be out back for a bit. You guys do some more catching up or whatever.”
Reaching into my pocket for my cell phone as I walked, I headed back through Saphrona’s kitchen and went out the back door. I waited until I was sitting down on the stoop before I opened the phone and, my hand suddenly shaking, I pressed the button to which I’d assigned my parents’ home number on speed dial.
My breathing stilled as I put the phone to my ear and listened to it ring twice, before it was picked up and I heard my father’s voice say “Singleton residence, this is Dan.”
Swallowing and blinking back an embarrassing prick of tears, I replied. “Hi, Daddy.”
Ten
“Well, well, well. I see what your priorities are, young lady—your brother, your friends, and then your old man.”
I laughed to stifle the threat of tears, thankful my father was joking with me. “I’m sorry, Dad. I’ve been meaning to call or come by…” An acceptable partial lie: I’d wanted to talk to him, but hadn’t had the courage since I couldn’t tell him everything.
“It’s alright baby girl,” he replied. “I was young once, believe it or not. So how are you? What have you been up to the last few weeks? Oh, your Mom told me about Mark’s truck being stolen—you know he got it back, right?”
I looked across the wide driveway at my brother’s red Dodge Ram. “Yeah, I know. I’m just glad he wasn’t mad at me,” I said, telling my father what I was sure he expected to hear, even though it was not even close to the truth. A pang of guilt stung me but I knew that it couldn’t be helped. Dad didn’t know about the supernatural—he’d been told the night I’d been tortured but then had been made to forget by Lochlan, as he’d not handled the truth very well.
“Honey, he could hardly be mad at you for his truck being stolen from a parking garage,” my father admonished. “And you haven’t answered my question: what have you been up to?”
“I’ve just been hanging out, really,” I said slowly, not really sure what to say to him at all. I’d wondered what to say to my dad about where I’d been probably a thousand times in the last few weeks, but nothing had really come to me that wasn’t a lie. I hated lying to Daddy, but what choice did I have?
Then I realized I could tell him something of the truth. “I’ve actually been in Cleveland the last couple weeks, just catching up with my friends—and you’ll never guess who I ran into there.”
My father chuckled. “From the tone of your voice, I’m guessing it’s a boy. Do I need to have a talk with this guy about his intentions towards my daughter?”
I could feel a blush in my cheeks when I thought of the things Race surely intended to do with me as soon as we were alone—things I had no problem letting him do. Clearing my throat, I replied, “No, Daddy, but we are seeing each other now. He actually came home with me—I’m at Mark’s by the way. It’s his old friend Race.”
“Really? You and little Race Covington, eh?” Dad said. “Must’ve been quite a shock running into him after all these years—he and his mom moved what, about twenty years ago?”
“Just about.”
“Well, he better be good to you or my Marine son and I are going have words with him.”
I laughed. “Mark already told him if he breaks my heart he’ll break his neck.”
Dad laughed as well. “Good for your brother. So listen, I’m real glad you called honey. I’ve missed you.”
My breath hitched a moment. “I’ve missed you, too.”
“You want to talk to your mom now? She just came in from the grocery store,” my dad asked me then.
“Um, yeah. Thanks, Dad—it was good talking to you,” I said.
“It was good talking to you too, sweetheart. See you soon, I hope.”
“Yeah, I’m sure you will,” I replied.
“I’d better. Here’s Mom,” Dad said, and then I could hear the phone being passed over, and then my mother’s slightly breathless voice came on the line.
“Oh, Juliette, I’m so happy you called!”
I felt myself starting to choke up again and had to fight it down before I could speak. I’d been really close with my mother like many only daughters were with their moms, and especially after I’d started phasing. While I’d wanted to share my secret with my brother and father, I’d also thought it really special that our shapeshifting was something my mother and I shared just between the two of us.
“I am too,” I said at last. “I’m really sorry to have worried you, Mom. I just needed some time to myself after what happened.”
“I think I understand, baby, I just wish you’d at least have called sooner. We’ve missed you around here.”
“Well, actually I’m home now—sort of. I mean, I’m in town. I was in Cleveland but I’m at Mark and Saphrona’s now. Might stay in the spare bedroom if they’ll let us, but if not I don’t know where we’ll be sleeping.”
“Ahem…we?” my mother asked me pointedly.
I chuckled. “Yeah. I, uh, have some news.”
“Besides the fact that you’re back home where you belong, apparently—though I must say I’m a little miffed you chose to go see your brother before the woman who gave you life,” Mom chided me lightly. I knew she wasn’t really upset with me for seeing Mark first, as she knew how close we were.
“So who’s with you, Juliette?” she asked me. “What happened in Cleveland? You didn’t…” Her voice lowered to a whisper. “Oh my goodness, did you imprint?”
Her tone suggested awe and shock—and who could blame her? Her voice dropping meant she’d been within earshot of my father, though now I could hear her moving through their house, presumably so that she could speak more freely without Dad overhearing something he shouldn’t.
I felt myself smiling. “Yeah, actually I did.”
“Congratulations, sweetie! I think…”
Now I laughed. “It’s okay Mom, you can say that. It’s a very good thing. I needed him, like the psychic said. I’ve talked to him about what happened. I had to, you see. Race needed to know the truth.”
“Race? Good heavens, do you mean Race Covington? I haven’t heard that boy’s name in so long!” She sighed. “So you told him everything, then? Has he been good to you?”
“He has. Despite everything he’s had to deal with, he’s been very considerate of me,” I told her. “And Mom, there’s something else. About Race, I mean.”
“What is it?”
“Well, like I said, I told him everything. I had to tell him about werekind because despite what he is, despite a long-standing association with vampires, he knew nothing about us.”
“Okay, Juliette, now you’ve lost me honey. What do you mean what he is? Is Race werekind as well? Oh, I wish I’d known, I could have helped Caroline deal with everything—it’s why the
y left so suddenly when he was still a boy, isn’t it? Right after he turned fourteen. I should have known. But if he is, how could you have bonded with him?”
“Mom, he bonded with me too. Race is more than werekind—he’s a chimaera.”
Silence met my statement for a long moment, and when my mother spoke again, it was almost reverently. “The Beast Master. My daughter’s soulmate is the Beast Master…”
“He’s not the Beast Master yet, Mom,” I said slowly. “We’ve…been together, but we haven’t gone that far. Certainly you can understand why I’m a bit reluctant.”
I could picture her nodding. “Oh, honey. Of course I understand. And far be it for me to put any more pressure on you than I’m sure you’re already feeling, but baby—if Race is a chimaera, and the two of you were destined to be together, then you have to do the ritual.”
“Mom!” I said, perhaps a bit more sharply than I’d otherwise have spoken to her. “I would have thought… You said you understood.”
She sighed. “Oh, Juliette… Baby, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that—it was a knee-jerk reaction. Old traditions are hard to forget, especially when they’ve been drilled into you relentlessly for years. I do apologize, sweetie.”
I took a deep breath to help will away my sudden flare of anger. “Mom, believe me when I say that Race and I are aware of what his being a chimaera means for our kind. Like I said, I told him everything. He thought he was alone in this world, the only shapeshifter in existence. Meeting me changed that for him, and he’s had a lot to learn in the last day. Imprinting in and of itself was quite a lot for him to absorb, though he did handle the truth that he has a soulmate rather well—didn’t even seem to care all that much that the choice had been made for him before he was even born.
“But Mom, the ritual? Being the Beast Master?” I went on. “Criminy, he’s just learned he’s not the only two-natured being there is—we can hardly expect him to become our leader after just one day. It wouldn’t be fair of any of us to force traditions and responsibilities on him that he’s not ready for just because he’s one of us. He didn’t know that. He didn’t grow up with the stories and the traditions like you did. Like I did.”
“Sweetheart, I know that. You’re absolutely right—it’s a decision that only Race can make for himself. For you. But if word gets out, honey, you know as well as I that there are others who will try and force it on him.”
“Yeah, I know. We’ve talked about it some since I told him about the ritual and what it means. But we haven’t decided anything yet. Like I said, we know how big a responsibility this is, but we want to make sure it’s the right decision for us,” I said at last.
“Okay, Juliette. I understand,” Mom said. “And of course you know I’ll support whatever decision the two of you make.”
“Thank you.”
My mother sighed then. “Listen, since you’re over at Saphrona and Mark’s, then you’ll be there tomorrow.”
I frowned. “For what?”
“Oh, it must have slipped her mind to mention it, what with the surprise of you coming home. She and Mark invited your father and I over for dinner so that your dad could officially meet her.”
“Wait, Mark and Saphrona have been together about a month or so now, and she hasn’t met Dad yet? You know…since that other time?”
“No. We wanted to wait a bit to make it seem more realistic. If that’s even possible,” she added with a light chuckle. “Realistic meaning the timeline of their relationship, of course. Your Dad knows Mark took a job working on Saphrona’s farm a month ago, but as far as their being a couple goes, that’s only happened in the last week or so.”
“Okay. Thanks for the heads-up on that. It’ll hopefully keep me from saying anything out of place.”
“Yeah. Hey, did Mark happen to mention that Jake’s been looking for you?”
“He did. I’ll give him a call here in a bit.”
“Okay, honey. Listen, I’m going to let you go for now. Dad and I are going to be having a late dinner tonight, and he’s just come in with that ‘Feed me, woman’ look in his eyes.”
I heard my father laugh at the same time I did. “Yeah, better go feed him before he gets surly on you.”
“I will. And thank you for calling honey. I’m so happy you’re home now,” Mom said.
“I am too. Bye, Mom.”
After hanging up with my mother, I dialed Jake Anderson. He, too, was relieved to hear my voice and learn that I’d come home. He expressed the same shock at hearing I’d imprinted, throwing his hat in with Dad and Mark and declaring that if Race wasn’t good to me he’d be in serious trouble. I laughed, thinking for perhaps the millionth time in my life how very much like a brother he was to me.
Of course, when I mentioned hearing that he had something he wanted to talk with me about, Jake clammed up. Said he didn’t want to get into it over the phone, that it was something he thought was best shared in person. I’d have suggested getting together for drinks or something, but it was getting late and I was exhausted from the traveling and talking and the emotional roller coaster ride I’d been on today. I just wanted to wrap my arms around Race and go to sleep.
After making love to him, of course.
As I was hanging up with Jake, Lochlan came out the back door. He let me know that he was leaving, and because it was just the two of us, as he opened to door to the Escalade, I asked him,
“Lochlan, are you alright?”
He smiled at me. But I could see that it was strained at the corners and he was trying to hide it. “My dear girl, whatever gave you the idea that I’m not perfectly fine?”
I raised my eyebrow at him. “Loch, you’ve been acting a bit…out of sorts, I’d say, ever since this morning when Race and I entered my hotel room.”
Lochlan shook his head. “My dear, I was facing down a giant black bear at the time.”
“Yeah, but ever since then your mood has been up and down the scale, and you’ve been snarkier than usual—especially to Race,” I pointed out.
He grinned. “Have I now? Perhaps I think you’re too good for the likes of him. After all, he was a vampire whipping boy for the last decade. He’s like to have developed any number of undesirable habits.”
“And maybe you’re just jealous I’m sleeping with him and not you.”
It was, I think, the first time I had ever spoken to him of his professed attraction to me. Admittedly, when he’d first declared it the morning after Saphrona’s barn had been set on fire, I’d been a little freaked out. It was hard enough for me trying not to like the charming Irish vampire, and hearing him admit he’d like to take me to bed was a bit of a shock. I had escaped the room in lieu of having to respond then, and had studiously avoided the subject during that first week after the Day of Hell, especially after his having seen me naked—twice.
“My fair Juliette,” Lochlan said calmly. “While it is entertaining that you think me jealous of that infant in there, I can assure you that such is most definitely not the case.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and stared pointedly. “Oh really? Then why do you keep insulting him?”
Lochlan sighed. “Vampires and shapeshifters, my dear,” he said simply, climbing into his car then.
I shook my head at him as he started the Escalade and then backed down the driveway. Race came out to stand beside me, placing an arm around my shoulders and a kiss on my temple, as the black SUV hit the street.
“How’s your parents?” he asked me.
“Happy I’m home, of course. And shocked to hear you’re back in our lives,” I replied. “I told Mom about what you are, of course. She said she wished she’d have known about you because she could have helped your mom cope, and that she would support whatever decision we make about the bonding ritual.”
Race gave my shoulders a light squeeze. “That’s good to know.”
He then dangled a key in my face. “What’s that?” I asked.
Grinning, he nodded his head to
ward the barn. I turned and looked up at the brand-new structure and it was only then that I realized that Saphrona must have had it designed to include living quarters.
“They said they included the apartment for you,” he told me.
I was touched that my brother and his girl had been thinking of me.
Gently turning me so that we were facing the barn, Race guided me toward it, whispering what he hoped we’d be soon be doing in my ear. Though I absently noted that the horses and Angus, Saphrona’s bull, hadn’t been brought in yet, the thought that we might be overheard when my brother and his mate did so was quickly overridden as my lover’s words sent heat rushing through my veins. It was only moments before I could feel moisture pooling between my legs, and when a picture of Race’s head between my thighs pleasuring me orally—as he’d done that morning—flashed across my mind’s eye, I grabbed his hand and pulled a laughing Race behind me, eager to get started.
Once we were inside the apartment above the barn, one slightly larger than the last one had been, both Race and I began peeling our clothes off as soon as the door had closed behind us, leaving a trail of discarded items on the way to the bedroom. By the time I felt the edge of the bed at the back of my legs we were both naked and ready for one another. Race captured one of my tight pink nipples in his mouth as I grasped his erection in my hand, stroking him as he suckled and nipped the sensitive nub. When he switched from one breast to the other my stroking increased pace, and I could feel him gently thrusting into my hand. Then he surprised me when he suddenly loosed a soft growl and pushed me back on the bed.
I giggled as I fell and reached for him, but as Race knelt on the bed he grabbed my hands and held them away from him, holding me down as he laid his weight atop me and bent his head to my breasts again. His grip on my wrists wasn’t painfully tight but I couldn’t easily pull my hands out, and he was heavy, his weight making it hard to breathe, and then suddenly I wasn’t in that apartment anymore about to make love to my perfect match…
…I was in a richly appointed bedroom in a multi-million-dollar mansion, silken ropes from the bed curtains tied painfully tight around my wrists as the cold, heavy vampire on top of me forced himself in and out of my body, the friend who’d already taken advantage of me laughing maniacally as he watched.
From the Shadows (A Shadow Chronicles Novel) Page 15