* * * *
Shel heard DeLong’s voice and wondered whom the Werewolf was talking to. Even with his heightened hearing Shel couldn’t make out the words. Shel forced himself to sit up. His shoulder had healed it was his heart that never would
Footsteps sounded from the salon. Shel frowned. The tread was too light to be DeLong. Maybe it’s DeLong’s wife? Movement outside the cabin’s window made Shel turn his head. DeLong was walking down the dock, Shel would recognize those ugly hairy legs anywhere. He turned back toward the passage to the salon and Shel’s heart skipped several beats.
Lucy stood in the cabin doorway. Shel couldn’t breathe. He stood motionless as Lucy walked toward him. Lucy lifted her hand to his cheek. Squeezing his eyes shut Shel pressed into the touch, her hand cool against his face. As if Lucy’s touch brought him back to life Shel gasped, covering her hand with his own. Shel pulled Lucy into his arms and buried his face in her hair. Lucy’s arms went around him.
“I thought I’d lost you,” Shel said softly.
“Never.” Lucy tightened her hold, looking up at him. “I love you.”
Shel looked into her eyes. They shone with tears. “You are my life, Lucy. You know that, don’t you?” Lucy nodded, laying her head against his chest again. Shel touched his lips to her hair. “I love you, too.”
They stood there in silence a long time.
* * * *
The sound of footsteps on deck made Shel lift his head, wary. Madeline stepped into the salon. A chill of foreboding swept over Shel. Shivering, he stepped in front of Lucy. “You aren’t welcome here, Madeline.” Shel couldn’t stop his shaking. Madeline’s eyes widened almost imperceptibly. She saw. Madeline thought he trembled in fear. Lucy rested her hand on Shel’s back. Her warmth spread through him.
“Oh, cherie, do not look so surprised. Did you think you were safe? You cannot keep me away. You are mine. You can deny me nothing.” Madeline smiled.
Shel shook his head. A short bark of disbelieving laughter escaped him. “This isn’t New Orleans.”
Madeline’s eyes narrowed. Her hand moved in a languid gesture. “Give me the book and I will let your little plaything live. Or do not and I will kill her. Choose.”
Shel felt hollow. “You need to get a new line Madeline. That one is getting old.”
“So be it.” Madeline snapped her fingers.
Pain ripped through him. Shel dropped to his knees with a gasp. He heard Lucy call out. The sounds of Lucy being pulled away broke through the fog of pain. No. Shel clenched his teeth and fought the pain. Not this time. Shel pulled himself to his feet and followed Madeline.
When Shel got to the deck he froze. Madeline stood a few feet away, near the wheel console. Madeline held Lucy, pinning her arms. A memory of Kitty docilely waiting for Madeline to bite flashed through his mind. Everything went dark. Shel’s predatory hunter’s vision focused on his prey.
In slow motion Madeline turned toward him. Somewhere in Shel’s consciousness he was aware Lucy was fighting for her life calling for him to help her. Shel couldn’t hear Lucy over the slow pounding of his pulse in his ears. Madeline’s malicious smile faltered. Shel moved toward her. Madeline backed away, dragging Lucy with her.
Shel felt time slow to a crawl. He drew close to the console and remembered the drawer where the stake he’d given Lucy lay. It was in his hand in seconds. Madeline seemed to realize the balance of power had shifted. She shoved Lucy toward him. Shel caught the woman he loved and gently pushed her aside.
Madeline bared her teeth with a hiss and leapt at him. The impact carried them both to the deck. She sank her claw-like red nails into Shel’s still tender shoulder, her teeth snapping at his throat. Shel raised his arm, deflecting Madeline’s attack. Her teeth sank into his shoulder. Bone cracked and white-hot pain shot down every nerve. Shel brought the stake up between them and thrust with all the fury in him, the sharp wood sliding into Madeline’s heart.
Shel scrambled to his feet as Madeline shrieked and clawed wildly at her own chest. Lucy threw herself into his arms. They backed away from the quickly crumbling thing on the deck. A gust of wind scattered all that was left of Madeline, dispersing it into the water. Shel buried his face in Lucy’s hair, breathing in her warm sweet scent. He allowed Lucy to lead him into the salon.
Chapter Thirteen: Magic Bus
Lucy snatched the keys from Shel. “You’re in no shape to drive, I’ll do it.”
“I’ll be fine,” Shel protested. Lucy shook her head. Men never changed, even when they were Vampires. She pressed the button to unlock the car and left Shel to get in the passenger side.
“I still don’t understand all this.” Lucy settled into her seat and started the car.
Lucy pulled out into traffic. Shel leaned his head back with a heavy sigh. “Sergei and his men. They hunt and kill anyone paranormal. They’re called Helsings after the character in Bram Stoker’s Dracula.”
“But why did they want me?” Lucy glanced in the rear view mirror.
“They want the book, the power it represents.” Shel shifted uncomfortably. He was avoiding something. She wanted to know what it was.
“Tell me.” Lucy didn’t ask, she demanded.
“Did you know Isabel came to this continent as a convict?” Shel’s voice was soft. Lucy shot him a startled glance. Shel smiled sadly. “No, of course you didn’t. Isabel was transported for what they called unnatural congress then.”
“Go on.” Lucy kept her tone neutral. Shel had known her ancestor. She was willing to listen to him.
“When I met Isabel, she had already been in the Americas for many years. She would never say exactly how many but the rumor was well over a hundred.”
Lucy gave an unladylike snort of disbelief. “More than a hundred years? Are you telling me she was a Vampire, too?”
Shel gave Lucy a faint, sad smile. “Isabel was a Werewolf.”
The word rang in Lucy’s head. She felt numb. Lucy hit a pothole. The impact jolted her out of her shock.
Shel winced. “Isabel was a dangerous woman. Seductive. Especially to young men who fancied themselves libertines. She had a special kind of power over anyone different. Anyone paranormal. It was part of what made her attractive.”
“Is she still…I mean…” Lucy clenched the steering wheel tighter. She had to know if there was even a tiny chance Shel might leave someday.
“Alive? No. She…died. A little over two centuries years ago. Not long after she put her power into the book.”
“What happened?”
Shel looked away, staring at the blur of the passing scenery. “Isabel…I killed her. She was my first victim.”
Lucy went cold. “You killed her…”
“She made a mistake. She fell in love. The man was not supernatural. He insisted she renounce her power but Isabel didn’t want to let it go completely. So she created the book when her son was born and it made her vulnerable. At the end she couldn’t defend herself.”
Lucy listened to the story of Isabel’s betrayal of Sheldon and her ultimate death. Lucy nodded, a sense of horror making her uneasy. She thought about it and found she couldn’t quite connect with what Shel was telling her. Isabel had always been more of an abstraction and less of a real person to Lucy. She was not at all sure she wanted any more details but Lucy had to ask. “Madeline has the book, why do they want me?”
“She had the book. About thirty years ago one of Isabel’s descendants managed to steal it back. He was killed in the process.”
“So now no one can use this book.” Lucy didn’t like where this seemed to be headed. She refused to connect the facts together.
“There is one,” Shel said softly.
“Who?” She didn’t like where this was going.
“You.” His words were flat. The toneless sound sent a chill through her.
“Me?” He nodded once. What if I don’t want to? Lucy swallowed her rising panic. She let the silence in the car grow heavy. “But I’m not…I’ve never�
�”
“Turned into a wolf? I’d be surprised if you had. Only the males turn.” Shel laid his hand on her shoulder in a comforting gesture. It didn’t help.
Lucy shook her head, banishing the thought of everything except the book. “If I had the book, I would have control over Vampires and…”
“The Werewolves, yes. This is why they’ve kept the book hidden. And why Madeline wanted it back. She was a cruel and capricious tyrant. Madeline treated the Werewolves badly. When it came back into their hands they hid it. They’ve watched Isabel’s descendants ever since then to be sure none of them found the book. I don’t know how they missed you.”
Lucy began to understand why her mother had always been so strict. “We never had much to do with the family. After my father died Mama kept me away from them…” She shivered.
“Lucy…” He sounded pained.
Lucy pressed her lips together. There was more. She heard it in his voice. “There’s more, isn’t there. Something you’re not telling me.”
Shel nodded. “When she eased the curse Isabel told me only true love would break it.”
Cold washed over Lucy. She glanced at Shel. He started straight ahead, a wooden expression on his face.
“You’re still a Vampire. You think the curse is tied up with the book somehow. You think I could control you with this book.” Lucy felt ill.
“Yes. If you wished.”
Lucy took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “We have to get the book and destroy it.”
“When you get the book they won’t be happy about it. They’ll try to get it back.”
“I’m not Isabel. Or Madeline, either. I didn’t ask for this.” She shivered again. Shel was the only good thing in this whole mess. Lucy wanted nothing more than to stay on the boat with Shel and make love for the rest of her life. Suddenly, Lucy knew what she had to do. She told him. Shel began to smile.
* * * *
Shel saw the bus station ahead. He knew Lucy meant well but the need to warn her again refused to go away. It took all his willpower to speak. “There is always a cost to these things. The price for the book might be too steep.”
“I have to try,” Lucy said, just as he knew she would.
* * * *
The station was new, modern yet shabby from use. Lucy laced her fingers through Shel’s. Together they walked toward the lockers, searching for the one the key fit. Lucy found the nondescript square door and opened it. Inside lay an old battered book about the size of a thin paperback. She picked it up and looked at Sheldon for a moment before slipping it into her purse. Without a word, they left the station to do what was necessary.
Lucy passed the car in front of them and picked up speed. “We’re being followed.”
Shel shook his head tiredly. “Damn. I was afraid of this. Try and lose them.”
Lucy nodded and threaded her way through traffic. She took the first exit and doubled back. Shel directed her down a few side streets until they came back to the freeway.
“If we go back to the boat they’ll catch us. Keep driving. We can rent a boat when we get to the Key.” Shel smiled. “You can do what you need to when we get to the Island.”
Chapter Fourteen: My Immortal
The small brown leather bound folio looked too ordinary to have caused so much trouble. Lucy opened it and turned a few pages. Madeline had written in this book, decrees and laws for the society of Vampires and Werewolves, sentences of death for some, good fortune for others. The woman had wielded and abused her power over others for many years. So much suffering and death. She wanted none of it. Lucy was not Isabel. It was time they all learned that.
Slowly she began to tear the page from the binding. The words seemed to writhe on the page she held. Lucy’s scalp prickled. A sudden gust of wind flipped the half-removed page she held from her fingers. Lucy jerked her fingers away as the book closed with a vicious snap. She frowned at it for a moment then opened it again. Grasping the torn page, Lucy took a deep breath and yanked. The page came out of the book with a sound like a scream. Lucy tossed it into the fire.
A strong breeze had sprung up, the sky darkening with storm clouds as several more pages followed.
Shel gasped harshly. Lucy turned toward the man she loved. On his hands and knees in the sand, he retched. Lucy went to kneel beside him, dropping the book.
He waved her away. “No, don’t stop, destroy it.”
Lucy nodded. She picked up the book and stood. It resisted when she tried to open it. Digging her fingernails under the flap of the cover, Lucy pried it up. Thunder cracked as she began to feed more pages into the fire.
The flames burned steady despite the growing wind. With each page, their color began to shift from orange to green. Lucy tossed another page into the flames. Lightning flashed, striking the sand all around them, the thunder drowning out the sound of the waves. Shel staggered to his feet at the edge of the firelight.
* * * *
Shel’s body moved under the control of the book. He stood and faced Lucy. He fought to keep his arms from reaching for her. The sound of Isabel’s shrieks on the wind rang in Shel’s ears. Lucy stood before him unmoving. The wind whipped her hair into writhing tendrils that seemed to merge with the lightning. “Run,” Shel gasped out, clenching his trembling hands into fists.
“Sheldon…” Lucy’s voice mingled with Isabel’s. Suddenly he was back in Isabel’s boudoir where it all began and Shel knew he would kill Lucy just as he had killed Isabel. He would not be able to stop it. Shel’s eyes stung with unshed tears. Despair made Shel’s heart tighten. He couldn’t go through this again.
Shel closed his eyes tight against the sight of Lucy’s thin red dress plastered against her body by the wind. Memories hammered at Shel. Lust and need raged in him. Slowly Shel’s fingers unclenched, uncurling one at a time, as his arms rose again. Shel groaned, squeezing his eyes shut tighter. “The stake.” He forced the words past his clenched teeth. “Get it.”
“Shel…”
“Dammit, Lucy! You’ve got to.” Shel forced his arms around himself and tried to turn away. “Don’t let me kill you. Don’t make me live with that.”
* * * *
“Please, Lucy. If you love me, kill me. Now.” Shel took a jerky step forward, like a puppet pulled by a violent puppet master.
As Shel moved closer Lucy edged away, keeping the fire between them. She grasped several pages and ripped. Shel winced, his teeth bared in a grimace of pain. Somehow, the book was using Shel, forcing him to attack her. His eyes glowed, reflecting the firelight. Lucy shivered. Fear turned her blood icy, urging her to drop the book and run.
Lucy started to back up a step then stopped. This was the man she loved. She would not run. Lucy stepped around the fire toward him. “You said you love me. I believe that. You won’t hurt me.” She pulled the last pages from the book and let them fall into the flames.
Shel made a soft mewling sound of distress. “No, please, I can’t control myself much longer.”
Slowly Lucy reached up with one hand and untied the strap of her dress. Switching the book to her other hand Lucy gave the other strap a tug. The dress fell to the sand. She stepped free of the material and held out her arms.
An anguished moan escaped Shel as his control broke. He growled, lunging at Lucy, fangs glistening. Lucy caught Shel, wrapped one arm around him, holding him tight to her. She tilted her head, allowing Shel access to the side of her neck. His teeth grazed her skin sending goosebumps over her body.
The gale shrieked and howled around them. Lucy didn’t want the power the book held. All she wanted was Sheldon Jefferson and the love he had for her. Desire filled Lucy. At the prick of Shel’s fangs she dropped what remained of the book into the fire and drew Shel down to the sand with her. The old leather blackened, and then caught in a shower of green sparks.
Shel moved over her, desperation in his touch. His mouth on her neck burned, branding her as his. The thunder and shrieking wind faded, replaced by the sound of
rain. Lucy gave herself to Shel, holding nothing back, allowing him to love her. Something between them pulled and tightened, binding them together even as the curse lifted. Shel drew back, wonder on his face.
Lucy looked up into Shel’s dark eyes, glistening with pent up emotion. He stopped moving. Shel’s lips were parted, his chest heaving with his harsh gasps as he gazed back at her. Above him, the clouds were breaking up, the warm golden light filtering through.
She thought for a second Shel might say something, an instruction or maybe an endearment. He didn’t. Tilting his head to one side, Shel lowered himself again, covering her mouth with his as he twined his tongue with hers in a plundering kiss.
Shel lifted his head beginning to move once more. He held Lucy as if she were a fragile and precious gift. Shel licked his lips then dropped his head to her shoulder, nuzzling the place he’d bitten her. Shel’s hot breath gusting against Lucy’s skin made her shiver. Lucy reached up, threading the fingers of one hand through Shel’s thick black-brown hair. The other arm she wrapped around his waist. Shel’s breath hitched, speeding up, as he drove into her harder, rain sluicing over them to soak into the sand under her.
It seemed as if he wanted to climb inside her, to push through her until they were one person. Lucy raised her knees, allowing him to drive deeper. Shel stretched her, filled her, surrounded her with his body and the musk of his subtly changed scent. His breath quickened, gaining a shuddery, desperate quality and Lucy knew Shel was about to come apart in his release.
Lucy moved her hands, sliding them down his wet back. Shel’s movements became erratic. She held him, her touch gentle and soft as she soothed and comforted. He thrust his hips one last time and didn’t stop. Shel tightened his hold with a sob as he pressed his face into her hair to muffle the groan he couldn’t keep inside.
Shel shuddered through the aftershocks cradled in her arms. His breathing calmed at last. Once more, Shel lifted himself up on his elbows to look down at her. Lucy gave him a faint smile, tucking a strand of wet hair behind his ear. This was where she was supposed to be, with him, in his arms.
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