“I have been busy of late,” he finally replied. He moved forward to kiss the hand she offered him. “You are stunning as always.”
“You have been away too long, bounty hunter. We should renew our… acquaintance soon.” Marilyn’s voice held a hard edge that belied the soft smile on her face.
Hannah cleared her throat, impatience clear in the way she rested a hand on her hip.
“This is Hannah Weybourne.” Edwin shook his head and moved back to Hannah’s side. He threw a confused glance at the witch. Damn the woman! The beginning effects of her seduction spell gripped him and he struggled to fight its invisible thread. “I have brought her to you as requested. We would like for you to tell us where Duncan is hiding.” You do not need such a spell, witch. I have bedded you before without such tactics.
Perhaps, but this woman’s hold on you is stronger. Marilyn turned her gaze on Hannah, no doubt she planned to probe Hannah’s mind. She evidently didn’t find much information to manipulate since she rejected Hannah to turn the full force of her attention on him. “She does not know how to use the power that is within her. She is useless to your quest, Edwin. You must find another.”
“Give her time. She is nervous, but she will learn.” Irritation surged through him at her abrupt dismissal.
Her whiskey-colored gaze searched Hannah’s face, her eyes cold. “Leave us, girl. Edwin and I have much to discuss and none of it concerns you.” Wicked possibilities mingled with her grin. “In fact, why don’t you wait outside? If you’re lucky, the things that go bump in the night won’t hurt you.” She lifted a penciled eyebrow. “Much.”
“Listen, lady, I don’t know what sort of racket you’re running but it wasn’t my idea to come. And it certainly wasn’t my idea to have a goblin destroy my apartment or be dragged across the state by your boy toy, so cut me some slack.” Hannah sucked in a quick breath. Stunned silence filled the space as Edwin gaped in some astonishment. “Since I’m here, you might as well tell us what we need to know so we—and I mean Edwin and I—can be on our way. The sooner you start talking, the sooner I can get back to my own reality.”
He laid a hand on her shoulder in warning. When she glanced up to meet his gaze, he shook his head.
Damn! I was getting ready to unleash a can of whoop ass on her!
He blinked in surprise when she lifted an eyebrow, anger in her stance and expression. He would definitely need to teach her how to rein in her thoughts. It would be dangerous to delay instruction.
“She certainly doesn’t lack spirit or enthusiasm.” Marilyn smiled and it was as if the sun had suddenly come up early. “I revise my opinion of her. It seems you have chosen well, Edwin, despite her lack of training. With a bit of guidance she will be ready.” Her eyes glowed softly as she regarded Hannah with a doubtful air. “Time will tell if she’ll do more harm than good.”
He heard Hannah’s sharp intake of breath and knew she would speak again. To prevent that occurrence, he stamped lightly on her foot. “Please excuse Hannah. Her enthusiasm sometimes eclipses her common sense.” He cleared his throat. “I need to find Duncan to neutralize him before he can kill again. You know, perhaps better than I, the urgency of my mission.”
Marilyn transferred her gaze to Edwin, her smile predatory. “He is not causing the ripple in our world. Duncan is merely a prisoner like so many others of our kind.” She made a helpless gesture with her lily-white hands that only served to draw attention to the curves barely hidden by her gown.
“Truly, you are wise beyond your years.” He let his gaze drift to the witch’s bosom. How many more breaths would it take before the wispy fabric fell completely from her chest? Why these mind tricks, Marilyn? Why do you not just ask me to service you? It had been many months since he’d engaged in a sexual encounter with a woman, let alone the witch.
I have no choice. The human’s influence on you is quite strong, even though you don’t realize it. She moistened her lips with a gentle flick of her tongue. “As the days go by, more and more creatures of our world disappear. Andre Valkaret is the one you seek. The evil within him grows more powerful at every sunset. For reasons that are unknown, Andre gathers magical beings to hold them prisoner. He hunts the human as well, which means he hunts you.” She batted her long eyelashes. “I also hunt you, bounty hunter.” Her voice was low and seductive. “It has been a long time since you have stayed the night with me.”
“Do you plan to rectify that situation?” The unseen strings of her spell pulled taut around him, and he was powerless to resist. The energy he used to keep mental guards up around Hannah had drained him. “If so, perhaps you should give us the information we seek.”
She shrugged an elegant shoulder, which caused the gown to ripple and cling suggestively to her womanly figure. “His last activity was from the Chicago area. I won’t know for certain until the next full moon.”
Lust stirred his groin. Marilyn’s skill in the bedroom arts was legendary throughout the region, and he had firsthand knowledge. He couldn’t wait until she dispatched the human… With an effort, Edwin swallowed and tried to pluck a memory from the murky red cloud of passion in his mind.
“That’s disgusting.” Hannah gave him a shove that was hard enough to break his mesmerized state. As he blinked in bewilderment, she took control of the conversation. “We can’t wait until the next full moon. How do we find the information?”
With a pout, Marilyn moved to recline on a chaise lounge that had materialized before her, being sure to display wonderfully long legs for Edwin’s enjoyment. “Diana of the Dunes can direct your path. I can only secure the secrets of the wood, but she holds the secrets of the water.”
“Are you serious?”
Edwin moved forward to stroke Marilyn’s silky soft hair. He could not remember what the human babbled about.
“Perhaps you should turn around for the duration of this conversation, bounty hunter.”
An elbow in his ribs from Hannah briefly jolted him out of the heavy effect of the spell. “Very well.” He turned his back on the witch to contemplate the darkened window.
Stupid man.
This time, Edwin’s laughter escaped his throat. Hannah was a handful. Instead of the perpetual dread that accompanied his mission, he sensed a change within. He stared hard at the window, his ears strained as he listened to the conversation that continued without him.
Bounty hunter, your weak human woman is becoming a trial to me. Marilyn’s anger reverberated through the room.
Hannah snorted. “Look, Marilyn or whatever your real name is, Diana of the Dunes is a ghost story, nothing more. She’s supposed to haunt the Lakeshore but there is really no creditable evidence she exists.”
In spite of the admonition to stay put, Edwin turned back around to witness the interaction between the women. Dark and light. Good and evil.
“Sometimes what you think is impossible is in actuality the truth. You must learn to look beyond the acceptable and see what truly is.” Golden bracelets tinkled on her wrist as she lifted a hand to twist a lock of hair in her fingers. “Do not leave the forest until you find the fairy Narcissa. She will give you the Mirror of Truth to help you see the world as it should be seen. I would advise you to use it, Hannah Weybourne, if you wish to survive.”
He slid a glance to Hannah. Disappointment shadowed her features. He wished to comfort her but knew he could not until she accepted her status as an Enhancer. His body stiffened when Marilyn crooked an index finger at him and the invisible strands of the spell drew him forward.
How much more can I take before succumbing to the madness around me? Hannah’s confusion flowed through him. “Fine, how do we find this fairy?”
Lust for the forest witch overcame him and swept everything from his mind. “We cannot.”
“Edwin!” Hannah hissed. She waved her hands in front of his face. “Edwin, look at me.”
He kept his gaze glued to Marilyn, unconcerned that a look of sly victory slid over her face. “I will stay
here for a while.”
Marilyn cackled. “Use this to Summon the fairy.” She held a simple silver whistle between her thumb and forefinger. “She inhabits the forest and flits about at will. She is very difficult to locate and it might take a few days for you to find her. I sincerely hope you can find her in time.”
Hannah snatched the whistle from the witch then tucked it away in a pocket of her jeans. “And after that?”
The witch glided over to where Edwin stood and trailed a finger down his jaw. “You will visit Diana of the Dunes for your next destination.” She smiled and drew Edwin to her side. “I’ll keep the bounty hunter with me as collateral. When you return the whistle to me, I’ll return Edwin to you.”
Bemused, he smiled at the witch. “Yes, I will stay with you.” The air around him shimmered as Marilyn slid a possessive hand through his arm. Fire consumed him when she blew into his ear. Why was he supposed to be wary of her?
“If you don’t return because of some terrible calamity, Edwin can live out his days in endless pleasure with me, as so many men before him have gladly done.”
Hannah narrowed her eyes. You’re nothing but a Madame of the Forest. “I don’t think so, lady. This may be your world, but I’m just visiting.” She stormed across the floor and yanked Edwin out of her grasp. Marilyn’s hands morphed into shriveled claws with yellowed nails. “Edwin is coming with me. He still owes me about five explanations on various topics and I intend to hear them.”
“As you wish.” In another moment, her hands changed back to their former white glory. She threw a wistful glance at Edwin. “Another time perhaps.”
I’d love to use the Mirror of Truth on you, you old bag. You’re probably a thousand-year-old shriveled harpy with strands of brittle yellow hair and boobs that sag to your ankles. “In your dreams, babe.”
Away from the cloying influence of the seduction spell, Edwin stifled his laughter. Hannah really needed to be aware of her rampant thoughts. Marilyn had probably heard that last comment. He did not protest when she dragged him out of the parlor, down the long corridor and through the door of the cottage. “Enough. I am myself again.”
“Snap out of it, Edwin! That woman is a first class bitch all the way!” She shook him so hard he was afraid his neck would snap.
“May I ask what you are trying to accomplish by man-handling me?” His lips curled with confused amusement. He gently pried her hands from his shoulders. “And the proper word to describe Marilyn would be Witch.”
“You’ve got that right. From the way you were acting, I’d say she put one heck of a seduction spell on you. I wanted to puke, I was so disgusted.” She grinned. “I thought you knew better than that.”
“Jealous, spatzi?” Something akin to happiness stabbed through his stomach as he led the way from the witch’s property.
“Hardly. What have I to be jealous about? If you want to become that old bag’s sex kitten it’s entirely your own business.” She bit her bottom lip. “Did you really do the nasty with her?”
“That is a story for another day.” Edwin laughed, and for the first time in his life, he was glad to have a companion on a quest. “I am a sex kitten? That is not a compliment, is it?”
“Depends on how you look at it.”
“What, if I may ask, is a can of whoop ass?”
Hannah shook her head and grinned. “You wouldn’t believe me if I explained it to you.”
Chapter Five
“For Pete’s sake, Edwin, I’ve got to rest! We’ve wandered around the forest for hours now.” Hannah swatted at a fly that landed on her arm then wiped her damp forehead with the sleeve of her blazer. “I’ve blown this stupid whistle and we still haven’t found the fairy.” She dropped down on a large boulder and fingered her agate pendant. Hot and sweaty, she sucked in lungfuls of air. “I think it’s just a stupid dog whistle since it doesn’t make any sound.” She scanned the dark tree line with a measure of uneasiness.
“No one asked you to run a race.” Edwin’s chuckle melted into the night.
She slipped the silver whistle onto the chain with the pendant. “I thought you wanted to find this wayward vamp of yours? Or what about tracking this Andre person?” An hour before dawn and already the air in the forest was oppressive. She stripped off the blazer, folded it up, and stuffed it into her bag.
“I will accomplish both of those goals, in good time, but there is no cause to run helter-skelter about the planet without a plan.” He ran a hand through his hair, mussing the classically clean lines. “You are tired and in need of refreshment. Now, we need to find a place to stay. Morning is upon us.”
She frowned. “I don’t have the strength to traipse back to the car. It must be at least fifteen miles from here.”
“I do not intend to go back to your car. We will stay here for a few hours to rest before we continue.” He pulled Hannah to her feet. “Do not give up now. We have only begun our journey. There is much more to do.”
She groaned and plodded behind him like a docile bovine. “That’s exactly what I’m afraid of.”
*****
Fog rolled in thick and heavy, a stifling blanket. Fear clogged her throat as she ran, away from fear, or toward fear, she couldn’t tell. It pressed around her, everywhere, all consuming, down into her mind. She couldn’t find him. She lost him somewhere in the fog. Panic set in. He was everything that was good and decent, and he carried a piece of her soul. Vines brushed her face. She bit back a scream, determined to push on through the night. She had to make it to her destination before the evil that pursued her could find her…
“Wake up, spatzi. You are having a nightmare.”
Hannah blinked against the assault of the sunlight on her eyelids. “I can’t get away.” She gasped and turned her face from the hot rays of the sun. “It’s chasing me. It’s all around me.”
“It is only a dream. Wake up.”
Edwin’s voice soothed her troubled spirit like balm onto a wound. “The dreams are coming more frequently now.” She opened her eyes to meet his gaze, his irises a deep indigo blue. Something her grandmother said came back to her.
When you meet a vampire, you will know him or her because their eye color changes drastically according to their mood.
It was true. Edwin’s eyes fascinated her. “I’m afraid.” For a moment, she let herself relax on the hard-packed ground on top of pine branches. Before she’d dropped into an exhausted sleep earlier in the morning, Edwin had found a small shelter of a rock overhang, shaded by saplings and one huge oak tree. “Why am I tormented by these dreams? What will happen to me?”
“Andre searches for you. He cannot track you yet, but he tries to ferret you out with the dreams. As long as we stay together, you will be safe. It is the advent of our separation that concerns me.”
Her stomach quaked at his frown. “Is there a chance we’ll be split up? I don’t think I can do this thing alone.” Anxiety slithered through her stomach like a hungry snake.
“You are my responsibility. I will not let harm befall you.”
She moved her head into a more comfortable position on her bag and gazed at her companion. “Can I ask you a personal question?”
The dimple in his left cheek reappeared with a slight smile. His temporary good humor turned Hannah’s insides into jelly. “You may ask me anything. It is natural you would be curious.”
She focused her gaze on a black beetle climbing the rock over her head. “Tell me about your family. Where are you originally from?” What if the beetle falls on me? She shuddered at the thought. Edwin reached over and removed the offending insect, to set it free in the brush nearby. “How did they get caught up in this paranormal mess?”
“My great grandfather was from a small village on the Romanian Hungarian border. I suppose being from that region, it came as no surprise when his family found out about his rather unique secret.” Edwin’s eyes took on a faraway look. “All of the first-born men in my family have been battling some form of the curse for t
wo centuries. From the stories I have heard, he managed to keep it hidden until he was seventeen. His parents had contracted him into an arranged marriage and rather remarkably, the girl he married did not mind being the object of his occasional feedings and other nocturnal habits.”
She made a move to interrupt, but Edwin quelled her with a cold look.
“Eventually they had a boy child, my grandfather, and the village was on pins and needles until the child hit puberty. No signs of the malady presented itself and the village breathed easy. My granddad married a young beauty from Austria and they moved to a small hamlet in Germany where no one knew my family. The two were very happy together and had four children. Three girls and one boy – my dad. While in college, and after confirming he was curse free, Dad moved to Munich to finish out his degree. He met a shy girl from Paris, working in a cafe. After college, they got married and moved to the United States where she became a doctor and Dad became, well…”
“A vampire hunter,” she finished for him, unable to hold her silence any longer.
His sexy grin sent thrills down her spine. “He was a banker, complete with the somber black suits and stoic expressions. It was only on the weekends that he took a bounty.” He lifted a dark eyebrow. “And that was only during the holidays for extra money. He was directionally challenged so tracking was not easy for him.”
“Now I know where you get your dark and mysterious good looks, not to mention your lack of humor. You’ve got quite an impressive mix of genes.” She smiled as the tips of his ears turned pink at the compliment.
“Thank you. All the men in my family are handsome. It is one of the things that make us dangerous.” His grin was genuine and reached his eyes.
Courted by the Vampire Page 5
