MERLOT AND DIVORCE AND DEADLY REMORSE

by Jodi Vaughn

  “Why?” I was already holding out my arms. He shoved them into my hold, and I cradled them close. They both grunted and let out whines.

  “I need to bury the mother and her other baby. She deserves that much,” he said softly.

  My heart ached for him and for the coyote. He could be such an ass sometimes. But right now, I was seeing a tender side of him that I didn’t realize existed inside such a large beast of a man…er, vampire.

  I cradled the pups to my chest and looked down. Their eyes were closed, and their fur was almost black, unlike the mother’s brown coat.

  The scent of blood hung in the air, and I was disgusted at myself by how it made me crave.

  “It’s okay. You guys are going to be okay. Khalan will take care of you.” I rocked the two little ones in my arms and watched Khalan. He carefully picked up the body of the mother coyote and carried her into the thick of the woods. He had no shovel, and I wondered how he was going to bury the body.

  A few minutes later, he reappeared. His hands were covered in blood and dirt, and I looked up into his gaze.

  “How did you bury her so fast?”

  “With my hands.” He walked over to me and took off his large overcoat.

  “Must have been a shallow grave.”

  “I buried her down five feet. Didn’t want the other animals to find the body and desecrate her grave.”

  I blinked. “You dug a five-foot hole with your bare hands?”

  “Yes.” He laid his coat on the ground and reached up and took one of the coyote pups out of my arms then laid it in the middle of the fabric. He then took the other one out of my hands and put it with its sibling.

  I watched as he bundled up the two coyotes and picked them up in his arms. His muscles flexed under his black button-up shirt. In the dim light, I could see his dark eyes and the sadness behind them.

  He cuddled the newborns to his chest.

  “Will they be okay?” I stepped closer and pulled back the coat to see their faces.

  “Maybe.”

  “Is this why you brought me out here? To help deliver the babies?”

  He looked down at me, and his expression hardened. “I brought you out here to show you how to use your senses. I knew the coyote mother was close to giving birth. I wanted you to get used to your amplified hearing. I didn’t realize that she’d been shot until we found her.”

  “Do you think a farmer shot her?” I knew that coyotes were known for attacking livestock in Mississippi.

  “No.” He shook his head hard. “She stayed away from farms. She was tame, and I made sure to bring her food every other night. Being pregnant, she wouldn’t put her babies in danger.” Khalan held the pups closer.

  It made my heart melt to see such a lethal vampire being so protective and gentle with the helpless pups.

  “Hunters did this. Just for sport.” He narrowed his eyes at me, and I could see the hatred pouring out of him like lava.

  “That’s horrible.”

  “Humans are horrible.” He settled the pups more firmly against his chest. “They are going to need to nurse soon, or they won’t make it.” He started back towards the car.

  Chapter 10

  Once we reached the car, we both got in. “Where do you want me to go?” I started the engine.

  “Go back to the road and make a left turn.”

  “But that won’t take us back the way we came.”

  “We aren’t going that way. We are going to find another mother for these pups,” he said.

  There wasn’t enough room for me to turn around, so I had to back all the way down the small road. Thank God for my backup camera, or we would have probably ended up in the ditch.

  Once on the main road, we continued driving in silence.

  “Stop,” he commanded.

  I slammed on the brakes and looked around. “We’re in the middle of nowhere. Why did you ask me to stop?”

  He inhaled deeply.

  That’s when the smell of fire hit me. A campfire.

  I rolled down my window and inhaled deeply. “It’s coming from down that road.”

  “Pull over and turn off the engine.” He had already opened his door and was coming around to the driver’s side.

  I opened my door to get out, but Khalan shoved the pups into my arms and made me sit. “Stay here. No matter what you hear, stay put. Do you understand me?” His dark eyes narrowed, daring me to disobey.

  “I understand.” I shut the door and cradled the mewling pups to my chest. A shiver ran up my spine.

  Khalan turned and ran down the road.

  The coyote pups made little squealing sounds. “It’s okay, little guys. You’re safe now.” I held them close. Khalan’s coat would need washing after this, and I doubted the vampire owned a washing machine.

  I remembered when I first met him how badly he had smelled and how scraggly he’d looked with his long, unkempt hair and bushy, black beard.

  But lately, he didn’t smell as bad. He still smelled of sweat and pine needles, but it was better than cat pee.

  I lifted his coat to my nose. It smelled musty and old but not really stinky.

  I heard a scream and a gunshot. My whole body went cold. I jerked my head in the direction I’d seen Khalan disappear and held my breath.

  My heart thudded hard in my chest, and the scent of fire and new grass mingled in my nose. I tried to listen, to see if I could hear Khalan’s voice or his footsteps headed back to the car. But the only sound I heard was my own heartbeat in my chest.

  Another shot rang out, and then an animalistic growl echoed through the night.

  Silence filled the darkness.

  I reached over and hit the window button. The glass rolled up. I made sure the doors were still locked.

  I caught dark movement out of the corner of my eye and turned.

  Khalan emerged from the inky black night, walking towards me with purpose.

  His face was stoic, but I read another emotion in his eyes. A mixture of hatred and satisfaction.

  He walked around the car, and I quickly unlocked the door.

  “Everything okay?” I asked as he gently took the pups into his arms.

  “Yes.”

  I frowned. “I thought I heard some shots fired.”

  “Yes.”

  “And something like a growl.”

  “Still correct.”

  “Did they shoot you?” I asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Listen, if we are going to have any kind of vampire-progeny relationship, then you’re going to have to give me more than one-word answers.” I crossed my arms and stared at him.

  He glared right back.

  I didn’t move. I wasn’t going anywhere until my Maker started talking.

  “They were the hunters who killed the mother. When I walked into their campsite, I saw four other coyotes they had killed, hanging up by their tails in a tree.”

  “Did they say why they did it?”

  “They said they were having a contest. Whoever killed the most coyotes won a case of beer.”

  My blood ran cold. “They killed her over a stupid contest? Over beer?” Anger surged through me and, suddenly, I couldn’t see straight. “What did you do?”

  “I made them pay for their crimes.” Khalan looked straight ahead without any emotion in his voice.

  “Wait. Did you kill them?” I was conflicted. I wanted them to pay, but I wasn’t sure that taking another life was how I wanted reparation to be made.

  “Drive.”

  I shook my head. “Where? Are we going back home? I can’t exactly take two coyote pups back to my house.”

  He slowly turned and looked at me. “Why not?”

  “Because they are wild animals. They may be sweet and cuddly now, but when they grow up, they’ll likely tear my throat out while I’m asleep.”

  “You’re a vampire. They wouldn’t kill you.”

  I glared. “What about my children? They’re human. I can’t have that kind of da
nger in my house.”

  Khalan didn’t press the issue but turned his attention back to the pups.

  “Keep on this road for about a mile. I have an idea of where to take the pups so they’ll be safe and well cared for.”

  I started the engine and put the vehicle in gear. I continued down the road until I made it about a mile. Khalan nodded when I slowed my speed to a stop.

  I killed the engine once more and then sighed. “Want me to sit in the car again?”

  “No. You’re coming with me this time.”

  I was surprised but didn’t say anything. I just hoped Khalan didn’t force me to witness anything brutal.

  I slid out of the car and joined Khalan at the front of the vehicle.

  He said nothing but walked into the woods with his arms protectively cradling the newborn coyotes.

  I blinked and let my eyes adjust.

  I heard a howl, and then another joined in.

  “Is that coyotes?”

  “No. Wolves.”

  “In Mississippi?”

  He didn’t stop walking, but looked over at me and grinned. “There’re a lot more wolves in Mississippi than anyone knows.”

  His words held a deeper meaning, but I didn’t know what. It made the hairs on the back of my neck stand at attention.

  I saw a dark figure with two yellow eyes come out from behind a large tree.

  I blinked. It was a large, gray wolf. The largest one I’d ever seen.

  “It’s huge,” I murmured and stepped closer to Khalan.

  “These are not your ordinary wolves.” Khalan kept his gaze on the wolf and stepped forward.

  “Hunters killed the mother of these two coyote pups,” he said to the wolf.

  “Can he understand you?” I whispered loudly. Before Khalan could answer my question, three more large, gray wolves stepped out and flanked the first canine.

  They all narrowed their yellow eyes and growled.

  “I’m guessing that’s a yes.” I pressed myself closer to Khalan. He didn’t seem to notice.

  “There are no other coyotes to take care of the young. I need your Pack to take them.”

  The first wolf stepped up to Khalan. I could feel myself tremble. I pressed my lips together so I wouldn’t scream. I was a vampire, after all. I shouldn’t be scared of anything, right?

  The wolf once again snarled, and Khalan nodded his head.

  “The hunters are taken care of. They won’t be hunting for sport anymore,” Khalan said.

  The wolf’s yellow gaze slid over to me, and his eyes narrowed. In that moment, everything seemed to move in slow motion, and I realized how bad the wolves smelled.

  They smelled worse than Khalan on even his worst day.

  I held my breath as Khalan knelt before the wolf. They were both large beasts and were now at eye level with each other. Khalan carefully laid the pups on the ground. They wiggled and whined.

  The wolf looked over his shoulder and nodded at the other members of the Pack. They came forward, and each one took a baby coyote into its mouth by the scruff and then walked back.

  Khalan nodded and stood. “I know it’s asking a lot to take in pups that are not of your Pack. We will do what we can to help you raise them into strong members of your Pack.”

  The large wolf growled, showing his teeth. Khalan nodded and then turned and walked away.

  I scrambled around to match his footsteps. “Are you sure we should be turning our backs on them?” I kept looking over my shoulder to make sure they were not following us.

  “Looking back is a sign of weakness,” he said.

  “Looking back means I don’t want any surprises. They are the size of a large pony.” I grabbed his arm to steady myself when my heel caught on a branch.

  He growled at me. “You should have worn boots.”

  “You should have told me I’d be traipsing through the woods to converse with some wolves,” I shot back.

  He didn’t say anything as we made our way back to my car. We both got into my Volvo, and I started the engine. “How did you know about the pregnant coyote?”

  “I found the mother a few weeks ago, and she was hungry. Her mate had been killed, and she was alone. I started bringing her food every night, then I just kept an eye on her. I brought you out here tonight to see the babies delivered. To test how well you could hear as a vampire. To hear something as small and distant as a heartbeat.”

  “And then we discovered she’d been shot,” I finished. I felt awful. Deep down inside awful. “I’m sorry, Khalan.”

  The interior of the Volvo was uncomfortably silent. I cleared my throat and put my hand on his arm. “You did everything you could for her.”

  He turned his head towards me and stared into my eyes. Something flashed in his gaze before he looked down at my hand on his arm.

  I took the hint and withdrew my hand.

  “Do we need to go anywhere else tonight?”

  “No.” He looked at me. “Do you remember the way home?”

  “I do.”

  “You need to check up on the babies soon,”

  “Me?”

  “Yes, you. Make sure they don’t need anything. Bring them a gift.” He exited the car and shut the door behind him. I rolled down my window, but before I could say anything, he had disappeared into the night.

  Chapter 11

  The next morning, before the crack of dawn, I heated up some blood in the microwave and drank a large cup before the kids woke. I was going to drive to the attorney’s in Memphis and see about a walk-in appointment. I was afraid that if I called, they would just give me some kind of bullshit excuse and schedule an appointment for two weeks out. I didn’t need an appointment in two weeks, I needed an attorney now.

  The cow’s blood had managed to satiate my bloodlust and gave me a boost of energy. It was nowhere near as good as human blood, but it would do. I wasn’t hurting anyone, and the cow was still alive, so I figured it was a win-win for everyone.

  I would have to function all day without any sleep, though. I’d never done that before, but the blood had me feeling good. I decided to warm up another large tumbler for the drive.

  Once I dropped the kids off, I made it to Memphis in record time. The sun was unusually bright this morning, and I was glad that I’d brought along a nice travel tumbler of blood.

  I found the law firm easily enough, but finding a parking space in the parking garage took me an extra ten minutes.

  I downed the rest of the blood and checked my reflection in the mirror. Thank God I could still see myself; otherwise, I would have missed the drop of blood that clung to my bottom lip. I touched up my makeup with a swipe of cherry red lipstick and grabbed my purse.

  I had butterflies in my stomach when I entered the firm. A very pretty blond secretary looked up from typing something in the computer when I walked in.

  “May I help you?”

  “I hope so.” I swallowed and plastered a smile on my face. “I’m afraid I don’t have an appointment, but I really need to talk to someone.”

  The young woman gave me an understanding nod and clicked something on the computer. I craned my neck slightly to see that it was the appointment calendar.

  She looked up. “I’m afraid that Ms. Cobbledick is booked full.

  “Sarah, I need you to move my appointments around. I have a divorce hearing this afternoon. You mistakenly booked clients for that time,” a feminine voice boomed down the hall. The female the voice belonged to stepped up to the reception desk and barely gave me a look. She was tall and athletically thin with a no-nonsense, short but attractive hairstyle. She had an air about her that I suspected made men uncomfortable while in her presence and fantasizing about what one night alone with her would be like. She had startling dark blue eyes set in a porcelain face, and her high cheekbones made her look like a warrior princess.

  My gaze drifted past her black pantsuit, which I recognized as Armani, to her black Ferragamo heels.

  I smiled when she l
ooked up from looking over Sarah’s shoulder at the computer.

  “Sorry about that, Cherry.” Sarah frowned. “I didn’t realize the court date had been moved.”

  “That’s because the husband is ready to meet all my client’s demands and then some. He will be paying double alimony, full child support, and funding the wife’s retirement account. And that’s what a cheater gets when I get ahold of them.” Cherry crossed her arms over her chest, and a look of satisfaction settled on her face.

  “That’s incredible.” The words just came out. I didn’t know the woman, but I knew one thing for sure: I wanted her as my attorney.

  “Do you have an appointment?” She narrowed her gaze and looked back at the screen.

  “No. I’m afraid I don’t. My friend gave me your number and said I needed to talk about…” I couldn’t form the word that stuck to the roof of my mouth.

  “Divorce?” She cocked her head.

  “Yes. That.”

  “Honey, you need to get used to saying the word if you’re in this office.” Her gaze slid to my hand, and my wedding and engagement rings. “Let me guess, you need an attorney because your soon-to-be ex-husband already got the attorney you wanted. You don’t look familiar, and even though Memphis is a big town, it’s still small enough that if you lived here, I would recognize your face since you are either a businessman’s wife or a doctor’s wife.”

  “Doctor’s wife,” I added.

  “And you don’t have an appointment, but you came in here anyway. On a hunch that I could take you on.”

  “You’re right. I don’t have an appointment.” I didn’t bother telling her that I originally didn’t want to hire her just because of her name.

  “Let me guess. The husband cheated, and you found out about it. You think you want a divorce, but you’re not sure. He’s lured you into thinking you two can work it out and says he loves you. But in your heart of hearts, you know the truth.”

  “What truth is that?” My blood ran cold.

  “That once a cheater, always a cheater.” She shrugged.

  I swallowed hard. The attorney’s words were difficult to digest and made me feel weak, even though I’d said them myself not too long ago.