by J. C. Diem
There were some benefits to being a shifter that I hadn’t really thought of. The ability to destroy our enemies without remorse was one of them. Looking down at the crumpled body of the cop, I nudged him with my toe. “Well, he’s dead. What now?” We couldn’t just leave him there. He’d be found quickly and his death could be traced back to us. Luckily, we’d parked out of range of the CCTV cameras out of habit. The murder hadn’t been caught on tape.
“We’ll be driving past a swamp on the way back to the base,” Reece reminded me.
I smiled at the irony. “Sounds like a plan.” Mallory had intended to rape me, kill me and dump me in the marsh. It was fitting that he’d take my place instead.
Reece picked up the body and I opened the back door of the SUV. I helped him to wrap the cop in the blanket that had covered our weapons. When he was snuggled inside, we climbed in and drove away from the city.
A narrow dirt road led us to a series of even narrower tracks. We drove until the road petered out and parked. Reece didn’t need my help to dispose of the body, but I trudged through the boggy ground behind him anyway. Reaching the edge of the swamp, together, we heaved the cop far into the water. Almost immediately, several alligators speared through the murky water towards the blanket wrapped bundle.
“I guess we won’t have to worry about our DNA being found,” I said as the first reptile reached Mallory.
“Probably not,” he agreed.
We drove the rest of the way to the base in silence.
I hadn’t eaten much that day and I was starving now that I had my strength back. I headed straight for the kitchen while Reece filled the others in on our activities. He didn’t mention Mallory’s assault or our side trip to the swamp. He also didn’t mention our brief interlude at the hotel.
“What did the priestess have to say?” Mark asked.
Reece’s tone was casual when he replied. “The zombies have all been destroyed and the threat no longer remains.”
Mark flicked a pointed glance at me. “Did she have any other information?”
Reece knew what he was hinting at. “She said that Lexi would be fine once she leaves New Orleans. Being around the zombies was draining her, but the priestess couldn’t explain why.”
Our boss didn’t quite buy that excuse, but he let the subject drop. I was looking and feeling much better and he was willing to let it slide for now. “We’ll head back to Denver in the morning,” he decided. “We’ve done all we can here and there’s no point sticking around any longer.”
I was relieved to hear that. Frankly, I hoped I’d never have to see New Orleans again. I had no idea what was going on with me, but I sensed that the priestess was right and that I’d be okay once we left town.
Everyone dispersed after the short meeting. Reece and Flynn disappeared into their bedrooms and Mark retreated to the coms room. Kala took a seat on the couch to watch TV and I joined her when I was finished eating my peanut butter sandwich.
“You look a lot better,” she observed.
“I still don’t know what was wrong with me,” I replied. My hand went to my right shoulder and rubbed it. Realizing what I was doing, I pretended to scratch an itch. I might not know exactly what was wrong, but I knew it had something to do with the fresh bite mark. The story that my dad had told me was a lie. It hadn’t been a dog that had bitten me at all, but something far different. A flash of long, dark hair and pale skin came and went. It was hidden behind the strange mental fog that didn’t show any signs of dissipating.
“What did you and Garrett really get up to while you were in New Orleans?” she asked. My face went red and her eyes went wide. “You two totally did it!” she crowed, but kept her voice down.
“It’s not like we wanted to!” I hissed back.
“Of course you wanted to,” she scoffed then frowned at my miserable expression. “You did want to, didn’t you?”
“I did, but Garrett only did it to save my life. Again.” The last word came out sounding bitter.
Scooting over so she could put her arm over my shoulder, she hugged me to her side. “Why don’t you start at the beginning and tell Aunty Kala all about it?”
Sniggering at her attempt to sound old and wise, I didn’t intend to spill the beans, but I found myself telling her about the fight for my soul and having to strengthen the bond.
She was quiet for a long moment before speaking. “I don’t know what is going on with you either, but I think it will be far safer if we leave this place.”
I wished we could leave immediately, but Mark had already made the arrangements for the jet to pick us up in the morning. We were stuck here for one more night and the thought filled me with dread.
“There is some good news,” I said to distract myself. “I’m not pregnant.”
Kala’s brows rose in surprise. “How do you know?”
“While we were…together, Garrett and I remembered everything that happened after we shifted. We didn’t, er, mate,” I said awkwardly.
“You remember being werewolves?” she asked in astonishment. I nodded and she scooted back so she could see my face. “What is it like? Are we mindless animals?”
“I think we usually are, but because of our bond, we retained our ability to think and reason like humans. We hunted, but only because we were hungry, not just for the thrill of the chase.”
Jealousy came and went and she sagged back against the couch. “You two are so lucky,” she said enviously. “I can’t remember anything when I shift. I’d give anything to be able to control myself and not turn into a savage beast.”
I smiled, but it was cynical. Reece had given up everything when he’d accidentally bitten me and had turned me into a shifter. He was now mentally bonded to me, which meant he might be able to sleep around, but he’d never be able to find his true mate now. I would always be inside his head and he would always be inside mine. We were locked together in a prison that we’d never be free from.
₪₪₪
Chapter Thirty-Four
I lay awake for a long time when I went to bed. Eventually, my eyes closed and I drifted off. Minutes or hours later, I heard someone calling my name. When I opened my eyes, I was standing outside. The full moon wasn’t even close yet and I looked around in confusion. Had I been sleepwalking again?
A dark, shadowy figure was standing beneath the trees. She was about my height and wore a black dress that fell all the way to her ankles. Her feet were bare. Her hair was long and black and her skin was incredibly pale. Her eyes were shadowed, but I felt them burning into me.
“Alexis,” she said and my skin prickled. I’d heard her voice before.
“Who are you?”
She laughed and it sounded like shards of broken glass being crunched beneath booted feet. “You know who I am.”
I shook my head in denial and she glided closer. Dressed in a thin singlet and sleeping shorts, I felt undressed and exposed as the woman circled me. There was something very wrong with her, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. If my mind hadn’t been so foggy, I might have been able to figure it out.
“How are you able to resist me?” she asked with a hint of petulance. “It took forever for you to respond to my call this time.” Her accent was foreign and might have been European.
I didn’t remember anyone calling me, but she must have because I’d left my bed in the middle of the night. I turned to see the building far in the distance.
“Turn around,” she ordered in a hard voice.
I complied reluctantly. “What do you want?” I asked.
The question surprised her. She stopped circling me and began to giggle. It was the sound you’d expect to hear from a teenage girl who’d been locked inside an asylum for her entire life. Her crazed, hysterical laughter went on and on until I covered my ears. “Stop it!” I screamed and the sound cut off. The short silence that followed was almost eerie.
“What do you think I want?” she asked. Her voice had changed and it sounded more like
a hungry gurgle now.
Catching a glimpse of long, white fangs protruding from her mouth, I shuddered and tried to run.
“Stop!” she commanded and my feet became rooted to the ground. “You are mine, Lexi Levine. You always have and always will belong to me.” Her tone spoke of monstrous need. A cold finger trailed from the base of my neck down my spine. It was real this time and I shuddered. “Don’t you remember me, sweetheart?”
“No. I don’t know who you are.” She turned me around and the shadows that had been hiding her face disappeared. For a moment, I thought I was looking into a mirror.
Shock broke the spell that she’d cast to befuddle my wits. I remembered every encounter that I’d had with this evil creature. I remembered her fangs tearing through my skin and my blood being siphoned away twice. No, make that three times. The first time that she’d fed from me, I’d been just a baby. That memory had been locked away until I’d dreamed about it a short time ago. I now knew who she was. The sense of betrayal stunned me and I swayed beneath the force of it.
“Do you remember me now, my darling daughter?” she asked again. Her tone was saccharine sweet. Her affection was a lie, she was only pretending to care about me. The undead weren’t capable of love.
“I remember you,” I said hoarsely. Her face was so similar to mine that it was startling. She hadn’t aged a day in the past eighteen years. She was even more beautiful than in the photo of her that I kept in my locket. A single flaw marred her beauty. A faded, circular scar sat precisely in the center of her otherwise smooth and unlined forehead. To humans, it would have been almost undetectable.
“It’s time for you to join me, Alexis,” she said. The numbness began to creep over me again as she wormed her way into my mind. My bond with Reece immediately began to weaken. “We can finally be a family again.”
Alarm thrummed through the bond as Reece woke and sensed that something was wrong. He sent strength to me through the link. It woke me from the spell again before I could succumb to it completely. With a cry of disgust, I shoved the creature away before her fangs could pierce my flesh again. Hissing with rage, all pretense of affection gone, she swiped her hand at my face. I ducked away before she could claw my eyes out.
Voices sounded in the distance then someone called my name. It sounded like Mark, but I couldn’t be sure. The creature hesitated then turned to flee. She moved so fast that I could barely track her.
Shaking in reaction, I fell to my knees and hugged myself tightly. I felt sickened as I finally understood the truth that had been hidden from me for my entire life. It hadn’t been a dog that had mauled me. My mother might have been murdered when I was a baby, but a human hadn’t been responsible for her death. She’d been turned into a soulless monster.
“Oh my God,” I whispered brokenly in heartbreak. “My mother is a vampire!”
New Orleans was her hunting grounds and she’d known who I was the instant that I’d arrived. When my mother had risen from death, she’d returned to the house that she’d shared with my father and had tried to drain me dry. Now that I’d stepped within her clutches after eighteen long years, she was determined to finish the job and to take my life.
The betrayal of my mother trying to kill me was painful enough, but I was almost as wounded by the fact that my father had lied to me. Even after I’d become a supernatural being, he still hadn’t told me the truth.
I remembered his wariness when I’d picked him up from the airport and it made even more sense to me now. His wife was a blood sucker and his daughter turned into a wolf at every full moon. Of our small family of three, he was the only human left.
I’d felt a rift form between us from the moment that I’d informed him that I was a shifter. The gap had widened now that I was aware of his untruths. It had just become a chasm that I wasn’t sure could ever be repaired.
Titles by J.C. Diem:
(Mortis Series)
Death Beckons
Death Embraces
Death Deceives
Death Devours
Death Betrays
Death Banishes
Death Returns
Death Conquers
Death Reigns
(Shifter Squad Series)
Seven Psychics
Zombie King
If you would like to be advised of any new releases, please visit my website: www.jcdiem.com and sign up to receive my newsletter.
Coming in March 2015
Dark Coven – Shifter Squad: Book Three
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four