And then his face flushed and his ears turned pink.
She threw back her head and laughed. Mighty Jack Canagan, the Red Cliffs Alpha, the most fearsome werewolf warrior, was blushing! And she loved him for that even more.
A crooked smile hovered on Ahmed’s lips as he moved his eyes from Astrid to Jack and back.
“I’m done for today, but before I see myself out, I’ll just remind you, Astrid, that sex at the work place is not permitted.”
She kept her gaze on Jack. “Unless you are an Ellida. We can do whatever pleases us, remember?”
Jack laughed. “I think I’m leaving, too. Wait, Ahmed, I need a word with you.” He turned to Astrid, lowered his head and kissed her neck.
“And you, you’re going to pay for this when you come home, you naughty little witch,” he whispered and then stepped away, assessing her throat. His smiling, golden eyes narrowed, “Nice hickey, baby. Be sure to cover it before you see your next patient.”
“ARE YOU coming with us tomorrow? The ladies have a spa date so we’re evicted,” Jack said as he and Ahmed walked across the hall toward the exit.
“Sure. When?”
“Six o’clock. I’ll pick you up. And take Monday off, if possible. I need you and Astrid to come with me. It’s time for her to meet her step-brother.”
Thirty-Four
Astrid
DARIUS WAS in his ‘forever’ early thirties, but looked a good ten years older.
He was as tall as Jack, lean and athletic, yet rough where Jack was polished, sharp where Jack was smooth and raw where Jack was sophisticated. He had the slightly puffed eyes of a chronically sleep-deprived person and deep lines around his mouth. This added to his harsh masculinity as much as it made him look worn out and bitter. Thick, bushy black hair that didn’t seem to have had a recent encounter with a comb, sharp blue eyes, a strong jaw and two-day growth of stubble completed the impression of a mid-aged cynic.
Under that dark, rumpled and powerful exterior, I sensed the brewing energy of a man who wanted to be happy. His warm, wide smile revealed a set of straight white teeth, confirming my initial evaluation. In that smile a saw a glimpse of the real man behind the pain, anger and unhappiness. Boyish and dimpled, it instantly whipped off that extra decade from his face, softening his severe features and lightening up the sharp blue eyes with an unexpected sparkle.
All his roughness and grumpiness aside, or maybe thanks to them, Darius Withali was an eye-catching man.
The above described smile had been for Jack and Ahmed, though. I still had to earn mine.
Head slightly crooked, his emotions hard to read, Darius moved his slanted blue eyes over me, assessing me head to toe. He was searching for Rowena in me; I knew that. I also knew he was disappointed. Physically I didn’t resemble my mother much. Nevertheless, his voice was nothing but pleasant and respectful when he finally addressed me, bowing his head slightly.
“Ellida, it’s my honor,” he said in a low, naturally sensual rumble.
“I’m glad to meet you, Darius. Please, call me Astrid.”
SILVERBELL RANCH had been chosen for our meeting place. Except for Peyton, upstairs in the room she shared with Ingmar, there hadn’t been anybody in the house when we arrived. Ingmar, Dinah and Gerard were outside, on a watch, assuring the secrecy of our gathering.
I made us coffee and sat on an armchair off to one side, by the book shelves, while the three men took seats around the coffee table. That way I could watch Darius undisturbed and at the same time avoid his interrogating eyes.
“Seth’s delusional and unpredictable, but he’s not stupid,” Darius said. “He knows he’s been cornered, and he thinks only something big, like bringing an Ellida to Copper Ridge, will help him to stay in power. He’s become paranoid, especially since I came back. He doesn’t trust me, he doesn’t trust anyone. He’s more dangerous than ever.”
“Where does he think you are now?” Ahmed asked.
“He wants to build a ski resort, and my job’s to secure the investments, so right now I’m supposed to be talking to potential investors.” He turned to Jack. “I’ll need some money transferred to our account, in a day or two, just to cover myself. I’ll make sure Seth doesn’t spend it.”
“No problem, you’ll have it by tomorrow. A ski resort isn’t a bad idea at all. We’ll talk about that later. So you’re covered?”
Darius quickly glanced at me but then turned to Jack and Ahmed. “Mother made sure of that. Seth’s convinced I am exactly where he ordered me to go.”
My throat tightened. I wanted to ask Darius about my mother, but a dry cotton ball at the back of my throat robbed me of my voice.
“Is Rowena all right?” Ahmed asked.
“She is fine, although she’s had enough after all those years of terror, pain, destruction and loneliness.” Darius shook his head and continued bitterly, “Even I was able to escape, if only from time to time. Mother’s the only one who’s been keeping Seth’s madness under some control. All these years she and a few women around her have been Copper Ridge’s only solace and hope. She’s been helping people escape and comforting those who’d chosen to stay.”
“You left, too,” I said quietly. I didn’t want it to sound like an accusation. I didn’t have the right to blame Darius—I had crossed my mother off—but I sensed how deep their relationship was and I was jealous.
Darius’ fierce gaze lashed over me. “And how do you think I feel about it?” he said.
“Astrid, please,” Jack’s voice delivered an unnecessary warning. I’d already regretted my bitter and unfair comment.
Darius turned to Jack. “We’ll be ready soon. I just need a few more months.”
“My people haven’t completed their training yet. Livia’s still gathering her friends and I plan to bring in more wizards. I also need those few months. I don’t want civilian casualties. How many people does he have now? What’s changed since we spoke last time?”
“More vampires have come. I don’t know where he finds them.”
“How many?” I asked.
“Eighty, so far.”
Jack smirked. “He keeps bringing them in, but it’s still hardly enough for Liv’s warm-up exercise.”
“We’ve been expecting all sorts of trouble from them, given their number, but Seth keeps them isolated, and besides, they seem quite disciplined.”
“Does he know about the Blakes?” I interrupted again. “When Seth sent those four Tel-Urughs after Jack and me, they didn’t have a clue about them.”
“Could you please sit closer, Astrid? I feel like I’m watching a tennis match,” Darius grumbled, but a smile broke over his lips.
I pulled my armchair closer to the coffee table.
“He’s never mentioned them. Mother thinks that he actually doesn’t know they’ve been around all the time.”
Jack let out a deep sigh. “Let’s hope it stays that way. Tell me about his guard. Any changes there?”
“Ah, Seth’s ‘stormtroopers’. He always keeps about two hundred of them. They are outsiders and shady characters from all around. They are loyal to Seth because he pays them well. He gave them the best houses, cars, position and money. They know if he goes, there will be no mercy for them.”
“What about the regular police?” Ahmed said.
“That’s another story. They’re from Copper Ridge, all of them, decent folk, sick and tired of Seth and his people. The Chief of Police, Tariq Arslan, is my close friend. He’ll have his men ready. They’re our main force. ”
“How many do you have?”
“Sixty.”
Astrid looked at him. “Sixty against two hundred and eight, so far?”
“Against almost the entire population of Copper Ridge, from age fifteen up, Ellida.”
“Astrid, please,” Jack warned her softly.
“Who else are we going to find there? Any wizards?” Ahmed asked.
Darius shook his head. “No. No wizards, save Heather Kincaid, who pops up at Co
pper Ridge every once in a while. We understand she doesn’t have significant wizard powers, does she?”
“As far as we know, very little,” Jack confirmed. “Keep an eye on her there, and we’ll do it here.”
“We’ll keep in touch, Jack.” Darius said. “I need to go back.”
“We should finish this business with Seth before Christmas, Darius,” Jack said. “We’ll be ready by the beginning of December. When can we meet again?”
“If I’m not able to come, I’ll send one of my people. Whoever comes will have this with him.” He reached into his pocket and took out a gold ring with a big rectangular sapphire on a raised crown. “This is my mother’s ring. Only if she gives the ring to a true messenger, will the stone look blue. Otherwise, it’s green. It’s an emerald ring.”
I smiled, holding back tears. I recognized the ring from old photographs. It was Ella’s ring that she’d passed to my mother when she married my father.
Darius stood up and ran his hand through his hair. “Jack, I don’t know how much time I have. I hope you can help me while I can still help you. Trust me, you don’t want to deal with two mad men. And I had yours and James’ word that you’d take care of it, when it happened. If it happened.”
I felt like somebody had punched the air out of my lungs. Darius still thought he’d go mad like his father and had made Jack promise to kill him before he did any harm!
I sucked in air so sharply that all three of them turned to me.
“Astrid, you okay?” Jack said, but his voice carried another message: Don’t you dare tell him!
Everything inside me screamed. How could you not tell him he’s sane and healthy?! How could you see his suffering, both of you?!
I wanted to take Darius’ hands between mine and tell him what I knew: that his father, Raymond Arenvald, was a marine engineer who had come to America from the Mediterranean island of Malta. That he, Darius, had got his father’s jet-black hair and dimpled smile, and his mother’s piercing blue eyes. And a sane mind from both of them.
“You are also your mother’s son, Darius,” Ahmed said gently. “She was a healthy woman. It’s more than possible you didn’t inherit that particular trait from Seth.”
Darius smirked. “Do you have any guarantees, Doctor?”
“Well…”
“I had I don’t know how many CT scans and MRIs so far, but I’m not sure this kind of madness can leave its digital imprint on a piece of plastic. We are different than humans, so our insanity must be different, too. I was thinking, when this is over, maybe one of you could examine me. Your friend Livia would be able see inside my head, wouldn’t she?”
The deep, raw desperation in his voice broke my heart. I walked to him, in spite of the lightning bolts Jack’s eyes flashed at me. I cupped his head between my palms and forced him to look into my eyes.
“Listen to me, Darius. I can’t see the future, but sometimes I can feel it.” He winced, trying to break the eye contact, but I just increased the pressure and kept his head firmly between my hands. “And I feel light and happiness. I feel you laugh, and I feel your smile. I feel love in and around you. I do not feel Seth in you. Do you understand me?”
I let him look into the depths of my eyes and feel the truth I couldn’t tell him. He was lost in my eyes for a long moment.
“So you think I might have escaped it after all?” He spoke so softly that I had to read the words from his lips.
“I do.”
He nodded, and then, in a rare moment of that special intimacy possible only between two complete strangers, he whispered, “When you are constantly waiting to go mad, it’s a lonely life, you know. I’ve been afraid to feel, to love. I look at Seth, and I see myself in a few years.”
I caught Jack’s warning look, but I turned my back to him, ignoring it.
“Oh, Darius, I’m so sorry for your suffering,” I whispered through a heavy sob. Your unnecessary, senseless suffering.
Darius glanced in Jack’s direction as if assessing if he could hear us, and continued with his unexpected confession. “A few years ago I fell in love with a girl here. I didn’t dare tell her. She’s never known. Here, in the middle of this madness, love wasn’t possible. I went back to Scotland. There I could have pretended, if only temporarily, I was somebody else, not the son of a madman. I had a girlfriend. She wanted to come here with me, but that was impossible. She is a gentle human girl, who plays violin and loves visiting art galleries and theatres. She’s English, from London, but she came to live with me on a rig in the middle of the North Sea.”
“What’s her name?”
“Lydia. She made me feel normal.”
“I’ll be all right,” I repeated firmly. “I wish I could give you real proof, but I can’t. You must trust me with your heart, Darius.”
I felt his pain, and his doubt. He wanted to trust me unconditionally, but his rational mind still needed it in black and white.
Yet, the dark, cold fog that had enveloped his soul was less thick.
“I’m sorry about Lydia,” I said, feeling that she wouldn’t be part of his life. He would love somebody else.
Darius drew me to his chest and kissed the crown of my head. I heard Jack’s short, angry growl. Not because of the hug Darius and I’d shared, no. He was angry because I’d ignored his unspoken orders.
Oblivious to Jack’s rapidly darkening mood, Darius said, “Jack, would you two leave us for a minute?”
Jack threw me an angry we’ll-talk-about-that-later look. In return, I turned my head and pressed my cheek on Darius chest, ignoring Jack completely.
Darius took my hand and walked me to the sofa. “I have something for you.” He reached into his wallet and took out a small photo.
My mother’s.
I took the square piece of paper between my fingers but, instead of looking at it, I closed my eyes.
“It’s okay. Take your time.”
My eyes met with a perfect oval face, arched brows, almond-shaped grey eyes, straight nose, full lips, round feminine chin and a mane of wavy dark hair. It was the stern face of someone who’d experienced and witnessed lots of suffering.
I sobbed heavily, the pain choking me from inside. Darius sat beside me, holding me tight as grief erupted from my core, shaking my body with violent, ragged spasms.
Eons later, I felt his fingers closing around my palm with the little picture in it, his other hand stroking my hair, and then his deep, thick voice finally penetrated my mind. “Keep it. And you must believe you’ll see her soon.”
“Don’t let anything happen to her, please, Darius.”
He tilted my chin up and found my eyes. “She’s my mother. I’ll protect her with my life, Astrid.”
“Thank you, Darius.”
“Jack’s gonna be mad at you.”
“Not more than I’m mad at him. Don’t worry. We are bond-mates. We love each other very much, despite occasional disagreements.”
“Why are you so angry at him?”
“I have my reasons. It’ll be okay.”
“Shall we ask them to come back?”
I shook my head. “Nah. Let Jack be mad a little bit longer.”
At that moment, the door opened and Ahmed peeked in. “Astrid, sweetie, are you okay? Darius can’t stay much longer, I’m afraid.”
“Oh, God, I’m sorry. Darius, before you go, let me take care of our scent on you.”
“Don’t worry about that, love. I’ll do that. I’m taking him back,” Ingmar said, materializing seemingly out of nowhere, followed by Jack.
“We need to go, Astrid,” Jack said in a controlled, almost gentle voice. He was still mad at me for ignoring his orders, but he didn’t want Darius to see it.
I didn’t want another lesson in werewolf hierarchy, so I decided to give Jack a different reason to be angry, hoping to divert his attention from my little rebellion.
I locked my arms around Darius’s neck and gave him a juicy smack on his lips “You know, under different circum
stance, I wouldn’t mind getting to know you better.” I smiled sweetly and turned my head to glance at Jack.
Darius winked. “Well, technically, you’re still single.”
With utmost delight, I saw Jack’s face turn fire-engine red.
“Take care, Darius,” I said softly. “I hope to see you soon.” I took his hand between mine and whispered fiercely, “Keep in mind what I told you, please. Promise?”
“I promise. You know what, Astrid? You don’t look like your mother at all, but you share the same compassion. That’s Rowena in you.”
I smiled, watching him climb into Ingmar’s pick-up. He smiled and waved.
Then I turned to Jack, ready to meet his wrath.
Thirty-Five
Jack
FIRST I thought I would explode seeing Astrid kissing and hugging a man she’d just met an hour ago, but then I realised her plan. She would play on my jealousy and possessiveness hoping to get away with more serious stuff, like ignoring my warnings and orders.
I knew she expected an angry rant as soon as she saw the rear spoiler of Ingmar’s truck, but I kept quiet. I didn’t want to pick a fight in front of Ahmed, so we drove back in a tense silence.
“We need to talk, Astrid,” I said calmly when we came home, forcing myself to notch down my anger. She stood across from me, hands braced on her hips, dangerously quiet. Her dominant posture told me she’d realized it wasn’t going to be about her unconvincing display of impromptu emotion for Darius Withali. She was getting ready for a fight.
“Let’s talk, then,” she hissed through clenched teeth.
“For God’s sake, Astrid, why did you tell him?”
“How can you let him believe he could go mad like Seth?! That’s unspeakably cruel! He’s your ally, Jack! The man who’ll take your father’s killer down!”
My resolve to stay composed went down the drain. “I’m not doing it because I like it!” I shouted. “Right now this is keeping him alive! The man has a temper! If he knew the truth, he’d try to kill Seth with his bare hands right away. If Seth knew the truth, Darius’s life, and your mother’s and who knows how many others’ wouldn’t be worth a dime! Have you thought about that?!”
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