“He probably is following you.” She took a glass from a cabinet. “He’s confused. I think he knows he’s dead now, but I’m not sure he comprehends much else.”
“That’s sad. Can’t you help him?”
She stiffened. “I’m trying. You mentioned you like rum, didn’t you?” Grabbing a bottle from a shelf, she didn’t wait for his response. “We’re releasing a new line of white rum this year. Do you want an advance tasting?”
He grinned. “Hell yeah, I do.”
Her lips curved into an almost-smile as she poured a sample into the glass and swirled it. “Give it a taste. If you like it, I’ll mix a drink for you.”
Taking the glass, he sniffed the liquid. For a white liquor, it had a rich, earthy aroma, almost like a spiced rum. He took a sip, and the smooth liquid glided down his throat like warm honey. “That’s amazing. What’s in it?”
“That’s a secret.” She retrieved the glass and mixed more rum with Coke and ice. Then, she grabbed a flavored sparkling water from the fridge and motioned to the table.
He sank into a chair and clutched his glass. “You don’t like the rum?”
“I don’t drink alcohol.”
He laughed, expecting her to at least crack a grin, but she didn’t. “You own a rum distillery, and you don’t drink alcohol?”
“Alcohol lowers inhibitions and can make you vulnerable. I prefer to keep my wits about me.”
“You’re quite the contradiction, aren’t you?”
“You have no idea.”
He sipped his drink, looking at her over the rim of the glass, and she returned his gaze. She had a presence about her, commanding, confident, in charge, but the undercurrent of her magic…of her connection to death…flowed through the energy around her as if she held a key to the gateway of the underworld and could send souls through it at her will. No wonder she intimidated people.
“I remember seeing you in the cemetery when we were kids.”
She arched an eyebrow. “You frequented the cemetery?”
“My dad is the caretaker. He took me with him on the weekends when he did the landscape and repaired the tombs. You would come with your mom and leave offerings at the entry. I figured you were visiting a relative, but you were honoring your Baron, weren’t you? It’s appropriate to leave offerings for him at cemetery gates.”
“Someone’s done his research.”
“I was curious.” He chuckled. “My dad always grumbled after you left because he’d have to clean it up. He didn’t mind so much when you left the bottles of rum, though.”
A genuine smile curved her lips, brightening her eyes, and she laughed. “I bet not.” As she relaxed, her magical aura strengthened, buzzing with energy.
Her smile drew him in. Hell, everything about her called to him. To his wolf. This was more than a human-level attraction, and he wanted to get to know her. To know Odette and not the Baroness everyone was afraid of.
She sucked in a breath as if she’d realized her guard had slipped, her eyes widening briefly. The smile faded as she sipped her sparkling water and stared off into the distance.
Leaning forward, he rested an arm on the table. “You don’t have to do that with me.”
“Do what?”
“Hold back. You can be yourself. I’m not afraid of you.”
She leaned toward the table, resting her fingertips on the edge. “Maybe you should be. I am a child of death.”
He chuckled. “I grew up with death; it doesn’t scare me. Neither does your guardian Spirit. I don’t know what powers you have, but if you can send me to my grave with your magic, you’d have done it by now if you wanted to.”
“Hmm…” She slid her hand forward until her forearm rested on the table.
Placing his hand on hers, he traced his thumb across her soft skin. Her magic seeped into him, sending a jolt straight to his heart. She lowered her gaze to where they touched and drew in a shuddering breath.
“We have rules about dating clients, but after this job is done, would you mind if I asked you out to dinner?”
She lifted her gaze to his eyes, parting her lips to answer. Her jaw trembled for a moment before she clamped her mouth shut and slid her hand from his grasp. “That’s not a good idea. It would never work for us.”
“Yeah. I guess you’re right.” He tossed back the rest of his drink and crossed his arms. The first time both he and his wolf had ever felt an inkling of attraction to someone, and she rejected him cold. Who was he kidding? This spark was turning into a full-blown fire. But the bartender was right. A werewolf construction worker had nothing to offer a woman like Odette. Hell, he wasn’t even a full werewolf. She deserved someone whole. He gestured to the room. “You can afford to buy a mansion like this, while all I can hope to do is repair it for you.”
“No, James. It’s not that at all. It’s…” She let out a hard breath, and her brow scrunched, confliction tightening her eyes. “If we got together, it wouldn’t end well. It never does.” Rising, she took his glass and dumped the ice into the sink.
Damn it. He wasn’t proud of his reputation with women, but Odette was different… She’d commanded his wolf’s attention, and she needed to know he could be different too. He strode around the counter. “Who says it has to end?”
“James…” She shook her head and faced him. In her bare feet, she stood four inches shorter than him, and he had to fight the urge to reach for her. The way she looked at him. How her body drifted toward him as he inched a little closer. She felt something for him.
“I’ll admit I don’t have the best track record when it comes to dating, but a man can change when he finds the right woman.” He clamped his mouth shut. Those words had come straight from his wolf. It would have been nice if they’d registered in his brain before they’d spilled from his lips, but every one of them had been truth.
Her eyes searched his, and she swallowed. “What makes you think I’m the right woman? Or is that what you say to all the girls?” One corner of her mouth tugged into a grin, making his heart race.
The truth seemed to be working so far. Why not go all in? “I’ve never said that to anyone. Honestly, I’ve never been this interested in someone. You’re different.”
“I’m very different, but you’ve known that since second grade.”
“You make me feel different.” Should he tell her about the dreams? About how his wolf was slowly letting go of the stranger he’d never met because of Odette? He wanted to know more than her body; he wanted to know her mind and her soul.
No. That was too much and way too soon. He was still trying to come to terms with what his wolf was telling him himself.
When he didn’t elaborate further, Odette sighed and stepped away from him. “There’s a lot you don’t know about me. You and I…as tempting as it is, I wouldn’t survive the ending. Let’s keep it in the friend-zone, okay?”
“Yeah. Okay, I understand. I should get home; I have to work in the morning.” He had a couple of weeks to help her change her mind. He grabbed his tool belt from the counter when a pair of glowing red orbs flashed across the window. What the hell? “Do you have pets?”
“No.” She followed his gaze. “What did you see?”
He strode to the window and peered out the glass, but he couldn’t see a damn thing in the dark backyard. “Eyes.”
“It could have been an opossum. I seem to attract those.” She rested a hand on his shoulder as she looked out the window, her touch sending a flush of warmth through his veins.
An intense urge to protect her grew in his core, and his wolf demanded that he investigate. “The silhouette was too big for an opossum, and the eyes looked red.”
She dropped her arm to her side and whispered, “Demon.”
“Stay inside. I’ll go out the back and check it out.”
Following him to the door, she touched his elbow. “Be careful.”
He chuckled. “Werewolves were made to hunt demons. I’ll be fine.”
The p
orch steps creaked as he descended, and he skirted around a ladder, narrowly missing a stack of paint cans. Adrenaline spiked in his veins, though he wasn’t sure if the thrill was for the hunt or for protecting the woman standing in the doorway.
He waved an arm at her and whispered, “Go inside,” but she didn’t budge. She crossed her arms and leaned against the jamb as if fear didn’t exist in her vocabulary.
Though a privacy fence surrounded the yard, he stayed in human form as he scanned the bushes for the fiend. A grunt sounded to his right, and he jerked his head to the side in time to see the squat, black figure barreling toward him. It latched onto his shoulder, sinking its razor-like teeth into his arm.
“Goddammit!” James spun, trying to throw the little shit to the ground, but it hung on with a death grip.
“James!” Odette ran toward him.
“Go back inside. I’m fine.” If the damn thing would let go for a second, he could shift and vanquish the bastard. He didn’t want to end up with a tooth embedded in his bone if he shifted with it attached to his shoulder.
“You’re not fine.” Odette grabbed a paintbrush from the ladder and jabbed the wooden handle into the demon’s back. With a squeal, the fiend let go and lunged at Odette. She stumbled, tripping over a loose brick and falling to her back.
“I don’t think so.” James shifted, clamping his jaws on the fiend’s leg before it could attack. He yanked it away from her, releasing his hold to bite into its neck. As the demon fell limp in his maw, James dropped it and swiped a claw across its chest, piercing its heart. The minion eroded into a pile of ash.
Odette stood, dusting off her backside, as James returned to human form. She peered at the ash and then looked at him, tilting her head as she studied him. “I’ve never seen a werewolf shift before. I didn’t know you could change form so quickly. Or that your clothes stayed intact.”
“The magic absorbs them when I shift. Let’s get you inside.” With his hand on the small of her back, he guided her through the door. A demon tried to attack her in her own backyard, and she was more concerned about how he shifted. Was the woman afraid of anything? With death as her guardian, he supposed she wasn’t.
He locked the door and led her to the kitchen. Turning around, he found her smiling at him. “I’m one of the faster shifters. It’s why I hunt demons. I was made for it. You, though…unless you can control creatures from hell like you can control ghosts?”
Her smile faded as she lowered her gaze. “I don’t control ghosts, and I have no power over demons.”
“You could have been hurt.”
“So could you. You’re bleeding.” She flashed a challenging stare.
He huffed and wiped the wound on his shirt. He didn’t need yet another person questioning his strength, especially not her. “I’m going back out to see if there are any more. Please stay inside this time.”
“Okay. I will.”
Exiting through the back door, James searched the entire property, front yard and back, but he didn’t find a sign of any more demons. Like the first one they’d encountered a few days ago, it seemed to be alone. He hung around the yard a bit longer, giving his arm time to heal, before heading up the porch steps.
When he came back in, Odette stood in front of her altar, her eyes closed, and she whispered something too quietly for him to understand. A prayer, maybe? The thought that she could have summoned the thing flashed through his mind, but he dismissed it immediately. Noah had planted that thought, and James didn’t buy it for a second.
He stood beside her, and she opened her eyes. “No more, I guess?”
“He was alone, like the other one.”
“Other one?”
“We found a demon outside Rusty’s a few days ago. This is the second one the pack has come across. Have you encountered anything like it before?”
She shook her head. “What kind of demon is it?”
“It’s an imp. Minion to something much bigger and nastier, but I don’t know what. With the sightings so sporadic, my guess is whatever is summoning them hasn’t fully manifested itself yet. I’ll have to check in with the alpha and see if he’s found anything.”
“There have been two so far, and you’ve been the one to find them both?”
“Yeah.”
Odette nodded, and the first hint of fear finally sparked in her eyes. “I’ll talk to my Mambo too. She might be able to ask the Spirits what’s going on.” Glancing at her watch, she frowned. “I’ll call her in the morning. It’s getting late. You better go talk to your alpha.”
He hesitated. That was his cue to leave, but if any more demons showed up here… “I don’t want to leave you unprotected. I can stay the night. I’ll sleep on the floor.”
She arched an eyebrow. “Are you doubting my powers?”
“No. I don’t know what kind of power you have, but you said you can’t control demons.”
“No evil can get inside this house. Natasha helped me cleanse it, and we put a charm on it. I’m safe. I promise not to go outside until morning.”
“Are you sure? I don’t mind staying.”
“I appreciate your chivalry, but I can take care of myself. Go home, James.”
“All right. I’ll be here first thing in the morning.” Pulling a business card from his wallet, he handed it to her. “My cell number is on there. Call me if you need anything.”
“Thank you.” She opened the front door and stood to the side, a silent command for him to leave.
He shuffled down the walk to his truck and grumbled as he climbed inside. She may have been safe, but he’d have a wolf watching her house until morning to be safer.
Chapter Eight
Odette lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, trying to cool the inferno the werewolf had lit in her soul. Her plan to stay away from James, thus ignoring the growing emotions and avoiding the inevitable had failed, like she knew it would. The short time she’d spent with him this evening had sealed her fate. He was her soulmate. Of that she was sure. How she would escape the horrific death awaiting her, she had no clue.
Squeezing her eyes shut, she focused on the image of his handsome features. Dark hair, sky-blue eyes, and from what she could tell with his clothes on, a sexy, muscular body. Oh, to get his clothes off…
Sitting with him, talking to him, looking at him had been a tedious exercise in restraint when all she’d wanted to do was wrap her arms around him and kiss him. But Odette was the queen of restraint. She’d been holding back since she was twelve years old. Losing control was not an option.
Something about James made her want to let her guard down though. It had slipped a little this evening, and her power had intensified briefly. He’d felt it too. The curious look in his eyes as he’d leaned toward her told her he sensed her power, but he could never know what she was capable of. What she’d done before she learned control.
She’d made an offering to Baron Samedi before climbing into bed, all but begging him to visit her in her dreams and give her guidance. If this was the life when she and her soulmate would break the cycle, like Natasha suggested, she’d need all the help she could get.
Focusing on her feet, Odette relaxed each muscle in her body, working her way up to the top of her head as liquid warmth flowed through her limbs. Relaxing even more, she imagined herself floating in a starless night sky until she drifted into a deep sleep.
But Baron Samedi didn’t visit her.
As her sleep sank into a dream state, she found James waiting for her in her bed. Dream James wore a light-blue shirt that matched his eyes and dark jeans that hung low on his hips. He rose as she entered the room, and she went to him willingly, allowing him to take her in his arms, giving in to the temptation she’d resisted in life.
He undressed her, and though his calloused hands were rough against her skin, the sensation of his touch was like nothing she’d felt before.
She rolled to her side and hugged a pillow, the ecstasy he gave her in her dream bringing her halfway to con
sciousness, to a state of awareness that she was in a dream, but she willed herself to stay in the world her subconscious mind had created a little longer.
The dream was so life-like she could have stayed there forever, letting go of her inhibitions, surrendering control like she could never do when awake. In her mind, she lay on her back, looking up into his loving eyes.
As she gazed at him, her vision blurred. His face transformed into another familiar man. Nicolas. Alive and breathing in her dream, he smiled as the pressure of his body on hers held her immobile.
Her stomach fluttered, but the shock of finding another man in her bed didn’t send her reeling. Dreams were weird like that. Willing herself to consciousness, she pushed the image from her mind and focused her senses on her surroundings. The feel of the soft cotton sheets against her skin. The soft breeze caressing her cheeks from the ceiling fan whirring above. The presence of a man…
She pried her lids open to find the ghost of Nicolas hovering on the bed as if he lay next to her. Warmth radiated from his form, though he had no body to produce it. She expected to recoil from his close proximity—the dead seemed to draw the life from her whenever they manifested—but Nicolas’s presence had an almost comforting effect. She turned toward him. “What are you doing?”
Nicolas smiled and twirled a lock of her hair around his finger. “I’ve missed you, my sweet Serafine.”
“What the…” The woman who murdered him? Sitting up, she clutched the blankets to her chest. “Will you please get out of my bed? This is my private space.”
His brow furrowed, confusion clouding his eyes as he faded from the room. Why the hell would he call the murderer his sweet Serafine? He couldn’t know his mistress was the one who killed him. Odette’s assumption had been right. He didn’t know the truth about his death, and that was why he was stuck there.
Her stomach sank. She would have to tell him. Explain exactly what happened to him so he could let go. Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, she grabbed her phone from the nightstand and stared at the blank screen. First, she’d have to convince the ghost she wasn’t Serafine. Who knew how he’d react to the news of his murder? And if he thought Odette had killed him, he might lash out. Then she’d have to command him to cross over. She shivered.
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