Collateral Damage

by Susan Harris

  “Murderer!”

  “Humans matter, too!”

  “Kill the creature!”

  “Are our children next?”

  Even Ever’s temper frayed as she listened to the shouts and jeers. How could they judge someone simply for what they were? The witch trials were well and truly over, but when would the supernatural community be treated as equal?

  “Never,” Derek whispered. “We’ll never be equal because we’ll never be human. People fear what they don’t understand, and to understand is to become like us. There will always be a divide, always us against them.”

  “I understand,” Ever said.

  Derek’s lips curled into a delicious smile. “But you’re a special kinda snowflake, aren’t you?”

  “There’s an insult in there somewhere, Derek Doyle.”

  “But I love you regardless,” he added.

  Ever huffed, trying to hide her smile as she cuddled into his warmth.

  Erika’s phone chimed, and she hit a button on the steering wheel. “Go.”

  “Agent Sands. Agent Doyle’s home is surrounded with no clear entry point. Team B has ensured that Ms. Chace’s home is clear for your arrival.”

  “Thanks.”

  Erika hung up, her eyes meeting Ever’s in the mirror. “Gonna have to head back to yours, Ever. Not safe to bring Derek to his home right now. You know wolves and their territory.”

  “Don’t speak like I’m not here,” Derek snarled.

  “Anyways,” Erika continued, “you okay to head back to yours, or do you want to hit up a hotel?”

  Ever shook her head as Derek continued to stare out the window and into the night. “Just go to mine. My mother has the grounds warded so someone who’s uninvited can’t cross the threshold.”

  “Sweet. Added protection.”

  Derek huffed, and the voice began to goad her again.

  You don’t need a barrier spell to protect yourself, Ever. You are a queen. Say the words and you’ll remember.

  They drove the remainder of the journey in silence, apart from the hum of the radio. Ever’s skin tingled with the rage that bubbled under Derek’s flesh. She tried to expel it, simply look out at the navy sky with shimmers of stars and think of the beauty surrounding her, but it felt as if his anger were hers, and she wanted to punch something.

  Erika finally rounded a corner and drove up the path leading to Ever’s home. Pride swelled through her as she spotted her rustic, two-storey bungalow. It had been the first thing she had bought without her parents’ input or money. Samhain had moaned and groaned, telling Ever that it was so far away from the witch’s circle—Witch Central, as it was known—but Ever had chosen it for that reason.

  Secluded by numerous trees and hidden high above the city, the inside was as spectacular as the outside, and all of Ever’s input floor to ceiling. It was her dream home, and she would hate to sell or leave it when she eventually moved in with Derek. Right now, though, that conversation could wait for another day.

  Derek was out of the Jeep before Erika had killed the engine, muttering about checking the perimeter. Ever sighed as she watched him skulk around the side of her house and disappear into the night.

  “Probably off to mark his territory,” Erika teased.

  Ever laughed. “You are terrible.”

  “I try.” Erika skipped toward the house.

  Her second grinned at her as she wiped the blood from her blade across the dead man’s shirt. Her smile, to Ever, seemed a bit too wide, a tad too cheerful considering the amount of blood that soaked the walls.

  “Another one bites the dust.”

  “You are terrible,” Ever said with a shake of her head.

  “I do try,” Erika replied as she smeared the blood on her face yet again while trying to clean it.

  “Ever!” Erika called. “You coming?”

  Shaking away the images in her mind, she followed Erika inside, leaving the door slightly ajar for Derek. Ever traipsed into the kitchen to the sound of her cupboards banging and coffee being shovelled into mugs. Erika then perched on the edge of the counter and dangled her legs freely.

  “I’m gonna make my coffee and head upstairs to my room. I so do not want to watch you and that Backstreet Boys reject make googly eyes at each all night.”

  Ever felt a blush tinge her cheeks, and Erika giggled.

  “Damn, girl, you are so easy to wind up. You were never this… I mean, oh look—here’s Boyband now.”

  Ever leaned forward, lowering her voice. “If you keep calling him Boyband, it will stick. And for heaven’s sake, do not tell Ricky.”

  Sliding down from the counter as the kettle boiled, Erika replied, “Is that a challenge?” Her eyes twinkled in devilment.

  “No, it’s not!” Ever hissed. “I think you have a death wish.”

  “Ha, I’m pretty hard to kill.”

  Derek stepped into the kitchen, and his presence instantly changed the atmosphere in the room. Erika scowled, fixed her coffee, then sauntered out the door.

  “Later, Ever. Boyband.”

  Ever took the time to fix her own coffee before she braved a peek at Derek. He stood rigid in the doorway, his eyes unfocused.

  “Coffee?” she asked in a quiet voice.

  No answer.

  Sucking in a breath, Ever tried again. “I asked if you wanted a coffee.”

  “No, thank you,” he barked out.

  She wondered what had gotten him so stiff and broody. She hated when he retreated into himself, and it was a stark reminder that despite being mated to him, she knew very little about Derek Doyle and his past.

  It’s your own past you should be wondering about, not his.

  She flinched for a second, then realized the thought had been her own, not some maddening voice in her head. Quickly taking a sip of her coffee, she continued on, returning the milk to the fridge. Leaning back against the cold surface, she looked at Derek again, who hadn’t moved from the door.

  “You want something to eat? I’m sure I still have stuff around here that Erika hasn’t eaten.”

  Skipping over her joke, Derek replied, “No thanks. I’m just gonna go to bed.”

  He turned to leave as she called out, “You can stay in my room if you want. It’s just at the top of—”

  “I know where it is,” he said, cutting her off.

  Derek’s attitude hurt more than she wanted to admit. Could this be the real man behind the allure? Could she have made such a huge mistake? Tears pricked her eyes, threatening to spill over, but she knew if she started to cry, she might not stop.

  Go to him. Make sure he knows it is he who serves you and not the other way around. He is your champion, chosen by you, and he would be nothing without you.

  Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Please…

  Her own words overpowered the ones in her head. She was being stupid. Derek was stressed, used to handling things his own way. He didn’t have to do that anymore. He had her now, and the sooner he snapped out of his broodiness, the better.

  After finishing her coffee, Ever rinsed out her cup and then headed for her room. The sudden thought of Derek in her room unnerved her. He would be so close but still at a distance. He still managed to keep a little space between them.

  Her bedroom door was slightly open, and moonlight was seeping through the windows. She leaned in the doorway and watched the moon’s light caress Derek’s face as he sat at the end of her bed. His eyes were closed, and he appeared totally at ease.

  “It calls to me even now, half-hidden behind clouds.”

  A mere whisper in the quiet, his words tightened her chest.

  “I don’t have much time to just sit and enjoy it. I’m either working a case or a wolf.”

  Ever shifted her stance but remained where she was. “I used to stare out through the bars of my cage,” he continued, “through the small window in the basement at the moon and wonder why I was cursed. Why her call turned me into a monster I never wanted to be.”

  B
lunt statements, not questions.

  “You’re not a monster, Derek. No matter what you may think.”

  “I’ve done terrible things, Ever,” he replied. “Things that would haunt your dreams if I told you. I’ve done what was done to that poor girl, and I enjoyed it. Felt power over those who were no match for the evil in me.”

  “Derek…” she began, but he continued to speak as if she had not uttered a word.

  “—And now my evil deeds have come back to haunt me. There’s blood on my hands, Ever, and I will never be able to remove the stains from them.”

  Taking in a breath, Ever slowly glided over to where Derek sat. “I understand what you’re saying, Derek, but the man I know, the man sitting in front of me, is not a monster. You use your strength to help people. How does that make you evil?”

  He pushed away from the bed and began pacing in front of the window, his hand rubbing up and down the back of his neck.

  “You don’t understand, Ever. How could you? You’ve never taken a life before. It attaches to your soul, it twists and twists until you no longer have any light inside you. I’m so afraid of tainting you with this darkness in me.”

  “Oh Derek,” she sighed. “Let me help you.”

  “You can’t fucking help me, Ever. Whoever framed me wants to see me suffer. He will use you to get to me. Or Ricky, or Chloe, or someone else I care about. I don’t want you to be collateral damage in my fucked-up life.” His fists clenched and unclenched over and over.

  She went over to him, but he stepped away. Ever tried not to think of it as a rejection, but her emotions got the better of her. “Oh boohoo—Derek has a sob story and he’s been rained on by the world. Get over yourself, Derek. I’ve tried nice. I’ve tried supportive. But it seems like none of that’s worked. Go nut up and stop feeling sorry for yourself. You have people who care about you, and you are ruining it with this self-loathing bullshit.

  “Here you are, worried about someone from your past coming and hurting me,” her voice rose with anger, “but this is you putting distance between us. My God, Derek… if we fumble at the first bloody hurdle, what kinda future do we have together at all?”

  She was breathing heavily, not having meant to say so much, yet his anger had become hers, and she needed to release it. His head snapped in her direction, his eyes a burnt amber that shook her knees.

  “Don’t threaten me with leaving. Wolves mate for life.”

  She shoved his chest hard, totally surprised when his feet shifted a margin. “I never said I was leaving, you dumb idiot! I’m telling you to get over yourself.”

  She spun on her heel with a growl of her own, ready to storm from her room—her room for God’s sake—when a warm hand clasped the back of her neck, and she froze.

  “Don’t walk away from me, Ever.” There was a dangerous tone in his voice, a predator’s warning.

  Ever whirled ‘round out of his grasp—how, she wasn’t really sure—and shoved him again with more force than before. “Don’t you dare touch me like that and try and threaten me, Derek Doyle. Go fuck yourself.”

  Ever hardly swore, the words sounding so vulgar as she yelled them. They stared at each other, a new glint in Derek’s eye as he lunged for her, his mouth crushing against hers.

  Fire lit up her veins as they came together in an angry clash of mouths, teeth and tongues furiously meeting. It wasn’t graceful; it wasn’t romantic. It was the kiss of a man who was afraid he was going to lose the one good thing in his life if he couldn’t make her stay.

  Derek hoisted her into his arms, her legs wrapping around his waist on instinct. He backed her up against the wall, and she tried to temper the images in her mind, the taunts of past trysts with another Derek. Ever slid her arms around his neck and rolled her hips, feeling a low rumble vibrating in Derek’s chest. He yanked his lips away, resting his head against hers, his breath mingled with hers.

  “Ever,” he began, but he was silenced by a sharp nip on his bottom lip. He growled again. “So that’s how you want to play? Okay.”

  He leaned in and inhaled. “Sunshine and sand,” he muttered before he pressed his lips to the nape of her neck and began to trail down to the collar of her shirt. She gasped as he ripped the shirt off and the air hit her bare skin. Goose bumps rose on her flesh, although Ever was uncertain if it was from Derek’s touch or the cool air.

  His warm hands grazed the underneath of her breasts, and she rolled her hips again. She needed more, wanted it now. Derek’s lips began to trace their way down her neck again until he pressed his lips to the top of her right breast. She closed her eyes and let her head fall back against the wall.

  A sharp nip snapped her head up, and she locked her own blue eyes with amber ones.

  “Two can play that game.”

  She kissed him this time, taking the time to savour the heat of his lips against hers, the feel of his tongue as it played with hers. Slipping one hand free, she trailed it down his chest to pull on the string of his sweatpants. Her fingers grazed the planes of his stomach as she reached inside his waistband. His body jerked, pressing her hand against his erection.

  “I wouldn’t go in there if I were you,” Erika’s voice yelled out in warning as the door to the bedroom was flung open and Ever’s mother breezed in.

  “By Hecate! Ever Chace, stop that right now and come outside where I can have a word with you. Alone. And please, put on some clothes.”

  Samhain left the room much in the same way as she had entered it—like a hurricane. Erika tossed Ever a T-shirt as Derek lowered her to her feet and turned away from them. He put his palms on the pane of the window and huffed out a breath. Ever slipped on the tee and went to say something to Derek.

  “Now, Ever. I do not have all night.”

  Sheepishly, she dragged Erika from her room.

  “Now I understand why Ricky’s afraid of Samhain. Seriously.”

  Ever heard Samhain sigh impatiently before she shooed Erika away and went to face her mother.

  Erika had no idea just how scary Samhain could be.

  “I don’t like this.”

  Donnie’s voice was a rough growl in her earpiece as Caitlyn steered her car along the dual carriageway. He had uttered the same words repeatedly since she had suggested she go to Chester’s annual gala by herself. Not that it didn’t unnerve her to step into the viper’s den unescorted, but needs must and all that. After quite a bit of arguing, the only way Caitlyn had gotten her way was by allowing Ricky and Donnie to wait outside Chester’s lush estate in a surveillance van.

  “We are all aware of your feelings about this, Donald. But if you could halt with the caveman act, I would be forever in your debt.”

  Another growl rumbled in her ear. He hated it when she called him Donald. Perhaps the distance between them allowed her to be brave and tease him. Especially when he couldn’t see her face. Pressing down on the accelerator, she zipped past the van containing the two boys and edged up the driveway to Chester’s extravagant home.

  “Christ, Caitlyn! Where you been hiding that car?” Ricky said, and Caitlyn imagined him practically drooling over the sleek Bugatti she was driving.

  “I’ve been hiding it from you, Ricky, for one simple reason—my Porsche.”

  The warlock groaned. “I’m never going to be allowed to forget about that, am I?”

  “You wrote off a 125,000-euro car trying to do handbrake turns.”

  “I said I was sorry.”

  Caitlyn sighed. “Yes, you did. But if you cannot drive a Porsche, then under no circumstances are you driving Benny.”

  “You named your car?”

  “Of course.”

  The boys burst into hysterical laughter, and Caitlyn allowed a smile to tug at her lips. Although they were parked outside the courtyard, Donnie’s vampire vision would allow him to see every inch of the courtyard as she stepped out of the vehicle. Inside, they would only be able to hear anything that streamed through her earpiece. If she were in danger, it would merely
take a breath and Donnie would rush in.

  Bringing the car to a halt, Caitlyn drew in a breath and opened the car door. Legs first, she slid from the car. When her ruby-red heels touched the tarmac, she straightened to her full height, a shiver running over her at the gasp in her ear from Donnie.

  “Damn, Caitlyn! What are you wearing?”

  “It’s called a dress, Donald. Don’t you like it?”

  Grinning, she ran her hands over the silky fabric. She had chosen the crimson dress specifically for the reactions it would get her. Spaghetti straps led down to a low-cut bodice, and the hem of the dress skimmed her thighs. She had long legs, even longer with the heels, and she had picked this dress in particular for one very specific reason—it showed them off to perfection. Her hair was pinned back off the nape of her neck, and a small blade was hidden in it. Not one for much makeup, Caitlyn had simply brushed some dark eye shadow across her lids and decorated her lips with the same colour crimson as her dress.

  “It looks like you fucking painted it on. You’ll have every single mutt in there salivating over you.”

  “Not just the mutts, Donnie… Damn, look at those legs.”

  Caitlyn heard the smack to the back of Ricky’s head, as well as the pained yelp. She closed the door to the car and slipped the keys into her purse, sashaying her way toward the door attendants who waited to greet her and see if she were on the list. If she were being honest with herself, the thrill of teasing Donnie delighted her. Her resolve where he was concerned was fading fast, and though she knew she shouldn’t encourage him, having him at a safe distance while she teased him made it seem acceptable.

  She strolled up the steps to the house and gave her name. Surprise flashed in the attendant’s eyes, but he nodded and she went inside.

  “Cait, promise you won’t do anything reckless? If Chester baits you, leave his head where it should be. The honour of removing it belongs to me.”

  “I am always careful and almost never reckless,” Caitlyn murmured.

  “And try and sneak some of the dessert when you leave. I’m bloody starving here,” chuckled Ricky.