Damned and Desirable (Eternally Yours Book 2)

by Tara West

  Then there was Katherine. Though we’d been wed less than a year, our marriage had been tumultuous from the start. Her parents had told me she was wild, but like a fool, I refused to heed their warning. After all, she had the hair of an angel and her sister’s smile and vivid green eyes. The Murphy eyes. I’d thought I could tame her. I’d thought I could mold her into someone she wasn’t: Mar.

  What a fool I had been. Mar was dead, and there would never be another woman like her.

  I turned at a heavy rapping outside my room. Rolling off the cot, I opened my door to see my boss looking up at me.

  “Mr. Ball. What is it?”

  He held his hat in his hand, the creases framing his eyes bunched tight like crinkles in an old map. “I heard you were staying here. I’ve just come to see if you’re alive.”

  I ran a hand through my hair, the haze from sleep still thick in my head. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

  He pushed his way inside and motioned to my cot. “I think you’d better have a seat, son.”

  My legs felt like lead weights as I trudged back to my cot. An uneasy feeling settled in my gut when I sat down. The wind whistled outside, and we both jumped as one of the shutters splintered before ripping off the window.

  He flashed an apologetic smile as he clenched his hat in front of him with whitened knuckles. “I’m sorry; I need to make this quick. I must go secure my home, but I’m assuming you’ve not heard about Ritter’s?”

  All the moisture in my mouth dried up as if I’d swallowed a wad of cotton. I clenched the sides of the bed, centering my gaze on Mr. Ball’s weary eyes. “No.”

  He gestured above us, as I heard the screeching sound of slate tiles ripping off the roof. “The storm blew the top off the Galveston News building, and the whole thing collapsed on top of the saloon.”

  I jumped to my feet. “What?”

  “Several men were killed, crushed by the printing presses above. Aedan, I’m sorry. There’s a body at the morgue.” He turned his gaze to me, a well of sorrow reflected within his pale eyes. “The mortician said he looked like one of the O’Connor brothers.”

  And just when I’d thought my life couldn’t sink any lower, it felt as if the floor had opened up beneath me, swallowing me whole as I fell into a pit of depression and despair. How could I go on living without my brother?

  Ash

  I huddled in a far corner, trying my best not to cry as Sasquatch Demon poked and prodded through the bars of my cell with a stick. He kept asking how I tasted, despite the fact that Shadow reassured him he hadn’t had a bite.

  Shadow had brought me to a dank, dark room that looked like a dungeon from medieval times. It was lit by torches lining the walls and a stone fire pit in the center of the algae-covered floor. I was locked inside a cell with cave-like walls and an iron gate, watching Shadow and his demon friends from behind the temporary safety of my bars. Rusty chains with cuffs hung on the wall beside me.

  Luckily, I was restrained with ropes instead. Although I wondered why he’d tied them around my shoulders. Probably to prevent me from raising my arms and channeling my wind. Sweat poured down my back as I leaned against the wall which seemed to radiate heat. My ass and bare feet were burning, too, because even the floor was hot.

  What the hell had Shadow done with my shoes? Sure, they were ugly, and they still had a bit of Jack’s poop stuck between the treads, but they were mine. I secretly hoped Shadow had gotten poo on his hands when he stole them off my feet. I wondered what poo shoes went for in the demon black market.

  Another big fat bead of sweat dripped down my ribcage, adding to the pool of moisture in my belly button.

  Someone please turn down the furnace!

  The sweat caused an agonizing sting between my shoulder blades. I wondered if Shadow had hit me there when he’d attacked me. It felt like my spine had been cracked open by a whip.

  I have to get out of here before infection set in. Scratch that. I just have to get out of here. Period.

  I tried to wiggle out of the bonds around my wrists, but it was no use. Too bad, because I could feel energy itching my palms, which meant my powers worked in Hell, too. They would definitely come in handy as soon as I figured a way out. Except how was I supposed to escape? I doubted anyone knew Shadow had kidnapped me, and if they did know, how were they supposed to save me? When I’d first joined the ghosting squad, Aedan had made it clear he couldn’t come to Hell and rescue me if I got caught.

  I choked on a sob when I realized he may have been right. Even if I found a way out of this sweat hole, I doubted I’d survive long enough to claw my way out. I was stuck, a gift for Shadow’s master.

  A face full of razor sharp teeth pressed into the bars. It was attached to a head that was sitting in the palm of a headless body, presumably the head’s owner. “I know her. She’s that Grim’s woman.” The body pointed at me. “Dragon will be hotter than Hades when he knows you got her.”

  I gasped when I recognized Piranha Demon from my last ghosting assignment. Aedan had chopped off its head, and then it rolled into a gaping maw, a portal to hell, followed by the rest of its body.

  “Be gone, vermin!” Shadow sneered at the demon, and with a backhanded swipe, knocked the head out of his hand.

  The demon’s screech echoed off the walls as it chased its head down the dark cavern. Sasquatch Demon didn’t seem fazed by his friend’s dilemma; he continued to stare into my cage, a long trail of drool hanging off his lip and running down his matted fur.

  “Where is Master?” Shadow asked Sasquatch Demon.

  The furry creature thumbed to somewhere beyond his shoulder. “He’s down at Kate’s.”

  Shadow’s mouth tightened into a thin line, like a rubber band stretched too far and ready to snap. “When will he be back?”

  Sasquatch Demon let out a low whistle. “Ain’t no tellin’ when Kate sinks her fangs into him.”

  Shadow sat down on a warped wooden stool and crossed an ankle over his knee, steepling his fingers together like he was lost in thought as the flames from the fire lit his features in an eerie glow. “I need you to summon him.”

  Sasquatch Demon shook his head. “No can do. I’m under strict orders to never disturb Master when he’s with his whore. Last guy who did still hasn’t found his head, and that was darn near ten years ago.”

  The demon turned from Shadow, his red eyes once again focusing on me. “She sure looks purty.” He rubbed his furry hands together. “Tasty, too.”

  Shadow arched a brow. “You take a bite or lay a finger on this girl, and you will lose more than your head. Understood?” He said this coolly, as if he was reminding his teenager to have the car home by midnight, but the look he shot the demon was threatening enough to make the hairs on my nape stand on end.

  “Yessir.” The demon eagerly nodded.

  “Good.” Shadow uncrossed his legs and stood. His face darkened, emphasizing the glowing red of his eyes. I sucked in a gasp as darkness stretched across the room, shrouding every inch in gloom and causing a cold numbness to settle in my heart.

  His ominous gaze danced as he spoke. “I shall go to Kate’s and summon Master myself. You will guard my prisoner. If anything happens to her in my absence, I will pound your worthless fur into the thirteenth dimension.

  Galveston, Texas

  September 8, 1900

  Aedan

  I pushed my way through the frigid current, nearly losing my footing at every step as debris threatened to sweep me under. I’d already been struck across the back by a fence post, the nails tearing through my coat and flesh. The laceration burned but not as badly as the searing pain in my heart. I’d just come from the morgue where I’d identified Callum’s body.

  Now there would be no chance for reconciliation, no chance for healing broken hearts, no chance to tell my brother I’d forgiven his betrayal.

  I pushed against the current, holding onto posts and rails, making my way across a row of buildings that looked ready to capitulate into the flood
. Rain pelted my face like stinging needles as the roar from the wind nearly drowned out my racing thoughts. The water rose to my waist as I made my way toward my home on Seventh Street, a home which I feared had already washed away. This storm had claimed the life of my brother. I needed to save my wife, Jezebel though she was, for she was the only family I had left in the world.

  Navigating Eighth Street posed more of a problem, as the water had reached chest deep. Many buildings were crumbling, and their banisters were unsteady. Wading through the trash and waves proved nearly impossible, until I reached my neighbor’s brick home with a sturdy foundation. After climbing across the porch, I was amazed when I turned the corner to see my house still standing, a solitary beacon beneath the gloom of the dark sky.

  The other homes nearby had been washed away. Mine rocked against the current, looking like a lone ship tossed about at sea by the gale. I wondered if Katherine was inside, or if she’d sought refuge on higher ground, perhaps with one of her gentlemen callers. Maybe my rescue attempt was all for naught, and I’d drown trying to save a woman who no longer waited for me. But I’d already come this far, and I couldn’t leave now. I’d sworn a vow to Marie, after all, and a vow to God, though Katherine had broken hers many times over.

  I waded out into the current, and then was swept away, sucking in gulps of salty water, struggling to keep my head above the torrent. I struck a post, and held on with all my might. Though fatigue worked against me, I somehow found the strength to climb over the banister to the first floor, which was already half submerged. I leaned against the side of the house, stopping only for a moment to regain my strength. The pain in my back intensified, and I worried I would bleed out before I could get my wife to safety.

  After expelling a deep breath, I kicked in the window and swam into my house. Katherine’s tea cups and fineries bobbed in the current before smashing against the walls. I swam to the stairs and dragged myself upward, weighted down by sodden boots and clothes, the pain in my back worsening with each step as I climbed into the blackness.

  I found her sobbing face-down across our bed, the strength of her cries drowned out by the ominous howls outside. A candle flickered across the room, casting long shadows across walls that shook as the wind intensified. I felt a mixture of relief and apprehension at seeing her alive. I only hoped in her darkest hour she had begged for repentance and sworn to change her wicked ways.

  “Katherine!” I screamed above the din, clenching my fists as pain shot across my spine. “We must leave!”

  She looked up from our bed and screamed. “Oh, Aedan, you’ve come back for me!” Flinging herself into my arms, she cried against my chest.

  I pushed her back, gripping her shoulders. “We have to get out, now!”

  She shook her head, lips trembling as she spoke. “I’m scared. I can’t swim.”

  Without hesitation, I ripped her heavy skirt from her waist and told her to tie up her long hair and remove her boots. I knew the weight of her clothes could mean the difference between life and death. Surprisingly, she followed my orders without argument.

  Just then the house tipped, leaning so far to the left, the bed slid across the floor, slamming into the opposite wall. I fell as Katherine tumbled into my arms. The house had been ripped from its foundation. We had seconds before the structure crumbled.

  Katherine screamed, digging her nails into my arm, but I shook her away as I would fend off a rabid cat. “Calm yourself!”

  The house veered the other direction so that the floor was almost level. I shut our bedroom door and then kicked at the hinges. Once, twice, and it fell just before the roof spilled into the ocean.

  I wedged Katherine on the door, pressing my weight on top of her. “Hold on,” I screamed into her ear, “and don’t let go.”

  “I don’t want to die, Aedan,” she sobbed. “I haven’t even begun to live.”

  My chest tightened, and my heart sank, feeling as if it, too, were drowning. She cared only for herself and her pleasures, no remorse for the lives her folly had destroyed.

  “Then pray for mercy, Katherine,” I said in a hoarse whisper, though I knew she couldn’t hear me. The walls cracked wide, and we were thrown into the tempest.

  I sat up in bed with a start. I must have drifted off, fatigued after a long day. I smoothed a hand down my face and groaned as I recalled the nightmare that had caused me to wake. I hadn’t dreamt of Katherine in ages. Why now? Why was I thinking of my cursed wife and her sister when they’d been out of my mind for decades?

  At least I tried to keep them out of my mind. Maybe they were in my forethoughts. Maybe. But of one thing I was certain, they were both out of my heart, although I doubted Ash would believe it.

  I looked at the clock. It was half past nine. Ash usually crawled into bed with me around ten. She wouldn’t share my bed this night, maybe not any other night again. All because I’d called her Mar and then was stupid enough to lie about it.

  I could tell by that look in her eyes, like a wounded animal who’d been kicked one too many times, she was contemplating ending our relationship. And how could I blame her? My foolish lie had probably not been my best moment, and I felt like a sack of dirt for my behavior. Why hadn’t I come clean? Why hadn’t I told her about Mar from the start? That she was a woman I’d once loved, whose scorn had driven me away.

  But the real question I kept asking myself was why I’d called Ash by my former fiancé’s name. I hadn’t spoken to Mar in over twenty years, not since her last visit ended in harsh words and scarred hearts. Her bitterness toward me vacillated between hurt at me marrying her sister to anger for not saving Katherine from eternal damnation. As if it had been my fault my spoiled, selfish wife was also unfaithful.

  I’d tried my best that night to save Katherine. After the floods had come, sweeping our possessions into the torrent, I’d rescued her from our crumbling house and helped her into a sturdy oak. How was I supposed to know every island snake had found sanctuary in that same tree? I had been swept up by debris just after I’d pushed Katherine onto a solid branch.

  My last dying thought as the current pushed me under wasn’t for my new bride or my lost love. It had been for my brother. I was crushed that I’d never had the chance to tell my twin all had been forgiven. For though I knew what Callum had done was wrong, I did not have it in me to hate him forever.

  Maybe if I had forgiven Callum, God would have, too.

  A knock at the door pulled me from my melancholy. Perhaps Ash had come to talk. If so, I would beg her forgiveness and convince her I loved no other. Even though I had yet to profess my love to her, I knew it was time. Back in my day, love came before marriage and certainly before sex. Today things were all turned-around. Well, it was time I turned things back. Ash had to know how much she meant to me. I couldn’t risk losing her.

  My shoulders stiffened when I opened the door revealing Boner, the unkempt friend of Ash’s from the Delta Squad with shaggy reddish hair and clothes that looked like they’d been slept in. The only welcome sight was Ash’s canine, Jack, who whimpered by Boner’s side. He was obviously full on cookies and anxious to get back to Ash.

  “S-sorry to disturb you, Mr. Grim, sir.” The man shuffled from foot to foot, his cheeks reddening as he stumbled over each word. “But have you seen Ash?”

  “She should be in her room,” I said and then proceeded to shut the door.

  Jack’s ear-splitting howl made me pause.

  I peered through a crack in the door at Boner, the bulging whites of his eyes set in panic mode. “She’s not there, sir.”

  I leaned down, stroking Jack on the neck. “What’s wrong, buddy?”

  He pranced backward, trying to jerk out of the leash as Boner pulled against him.

  “Mr. Grim.” Boner’s voice cracked, and he coughed into his fist. “I don’t know if Ash told you about our psychic Basil, but she had a vision.”

  A chill whispered across my spine as I slowly stood, glaring at Boner and waiting for him to
finish.

  Boner averted his gaze, his cheeks coloring even more. “It was pretty far out there, and I hope it’s not true, but she saw Ash in Hell with Shadow.”

  Shards of ice solidified in my veins as I gaped at him. “What?” I asked, but already my mind was racing for a plan, because I’d known this would happen. I’d known it, and fool that I was, I hadn’t done enough to prevent it.

  He scratched the back of his neck and half-heartedly shrugged. “We had the day off, but Shadow put our house on lockdown a few hours ago, and then Basil had that vision.”

  The sound of uneven heavy boots thudded down the hall, matching the pace of the pounding in my chest. It was the soldier, Sarge, the one who had eyes for Ash. After I’d gone into Ash’s room and saw them pulling apart, I realized she may have eyes for him, too.

  Needless to say, I didn’t like him.

  The soldier’s neck and spine were rigid, his eyes hard as granite. He sized me up, and I matched his stare with one of my own. Now was not the time for a dog fight, but the pup had to be put in his place.

  He broke contact first, as I knew he would. “She’s not in the common room, and the other Alphas haven’t seen her or Shadow in hours.”

  Jack strained against his leash, whimpering as he tried to twist out of his collar.

  I raced back into my room and grabbed my emergency satchel, the bag I’d packed for if and when Ash ever found herself in trouble.

  “Take him off the leash,” I said to Boner.

  We followed Jack upstairs to the third floor, where the senior Alphas kept their suites. I had no idea how, but Jack knew what had happened to Ash. I could sense it in the churning in my gut.

  We came to a heavy oak door at the end of a long hall. My heart hammered and then heaved like a powerful locomotive coming to a standstill.

  I’d studied the Alpha House blueprints and had gone on a detailed tour of the house the first day I moved in. Knowing where to find my team’s leader had been my top priority, though I’d always envisioned myself coming to his door for a different reason. How could I have been so blind?