by Dannika Dark
“Forgive our intrusion,” Viktor began. “Do you know a man named Bartholomew?”
“I do.”
“He advised us to stay with you for the night. You are Joe Folger?”
“People call me Crazy Joe, and I’d have to be crazy to take in a bunch of strangers. What’s the reason?”
“I cannot give a reason since it is under investigation, but the detective said you would be generously compensated for your hospitality.”
Joe arched his fuzzy grey eyebrows. “Did he now? Well, that’s a horse of a different color.”
Blue’s hawk swooped in and landed on Viktor’s shoulder.
Joe gave her a scrutinizing gaze. “How many of you are there?”
“Only four.”
Joe set his shotgun against the wall inside and swung the door wide. “Leave your shoes and weapons on the porch. And no animals in the house. Tell your bird he can sleep outside.”
“Do you have something my friend can wear?”
“Fine, fine,” Joe said, turning away and disappearing.
Christian and I shared a quick glance before taking off our shoes. I didn’t feel like removing all my weapons, so I threw the two coats I was wearing over the shoe pile and went inside.
“Cozy place,” I said, looking at the fire crackling to my left.
The small table next to the door had an empty plate on it, so I guessed we must have interrupted him just after his dinner. To the right was a bed, and in the back a small kitchenette.
I circled around a loveseat in front of the fireplace and sat down on the hearth, the heat warming my back.
Pure bliss.
Christian stayed by the table and kept an eye on Joe, who disappeared from my line of sight to go through his things. He tossed clothes at Christian, who handed them to Blue through the open door.
“I suppose you people want food,” Joe grumbled, scratching his wiry beard. His round belly proved he wasn’t doing too shabby living in the middle of nowhere.
“A hot drink will be more than enough,” Viktor said.
Blue walked in, one hand gripping the faded trousers. Joe’s oversized shirt swallowed her up, and her long hair was still tucked in the back.
“Well, well,” Joe said with measured interest. “What do we have here?”
“My name is Viktor Kazan. This is Blue, Christian, and Raven,” he said, gesturing in our direction.
Joe was probably three times Blue’s age, but that didn’t stop him from painting on a boyish smile and moving in closer to get a better look. “Pleased to make your acquaintance.”
Blue nodded.
“I’ll get right on that coffee,” he said with a renewed pep in his step.
I glanced around at the cabin. “Where’s the bathroom?”
Joe laughed and put the kettle on the woodburning stove. “The outhouse is behind the cabin a ways. If you gotta go, be sure to use the stick in there. Spiders aren’t a problem in winter, but you never know what creepy crawly will climb in there at night to get warm.”
Christian gave me a sardonic smile.
Joe was likable, albeit eccentric, as evidenced by the mounted bat head over his bed. When I peeled off my socks to look at my feet, I was surprised to find they hadn’t turned black as I had imagined. My skin prickled and burned with the sudden introduction of heat, but maybe drinking some of Temple’s blood had protected me during my second jump in the water.
Not that I’d ever want to drink Vampire blood again.
Christian said Vampire blood was unlike any other. His certainly was, but Temple’s was foul. Maybe Temple’s blood was too thick and heady with emotions, but knowing that not all Vamps would taste as delicious as Christian came as a relief.
The kettle whistle startled me out of my stupor. Viktor and Blue took a seat at the table while Joe passed out speckled blue cups and filled them with coffee from his pot. Christian wanted no part of it. He leaned his back against the door and shook his head when Joe offered him some.
Joe pivoted around and came over to fill my cup. “I only buy instant. I don’t have electricity to run one of them fancy coffee machines.”
“Thanks.” After a few quick slurps, I set it down beside me on the hearth. It was bitter and tasted like he’d made it yesterday and just reheated it.
“We don’t get many falcons out here,” Joe said, one arm crossed over his middle, with the cup in the other hand.
Blue wearily drank her coffee, eyes drooping and a yawn hovering on her lips.
“If you don’t mind, my friend will need rest soon,” Viktor said.
“She can sleep in my bed.”
Blue’s eyes flashed up to Viktor in protest.
“Nyet. That won’t be necessary. We would prefer to sleep by the fire where it’s warm.”
“Is she yours?”
I concealed a smile while rubbing my feet and ankles.
“You are also a Shifter?” Viktor asked. He probably already knew, but it steered the conversation away from Blue.
“Born and bred.” Joe cackled. “That’s why I like it out here. Ain’t much competition when it comes to land. I’ve been around a long time, and most Shifters migrated to warmer climates. Easier to hunt, not as much wood chopping, they don’t have to deal with snow. I don’t mind the cold. But sometimes it gets a little lonely up here, if you know what I mean.”
Viktor stood up and helped Blue to her feet. “Come lie down.” When she reached the loveseat, she collapsed, her eyes already closed. Viktor unfolded a red-and-brown blanket that was draped over the back of the sofa and tucked it around her. When he finished, he touched her cheek. “Sleep, my dear.”
Joe twisted his mouth to the side and moseyed back to the stove. “I ain’t got pillows for everyone. This isn’t a hotel.”
He walked a few paces and snatched one from his bed. Viktor watched him like a hawk as he circled the couch and tucked it beneath Blue’s head. Joe lingered for a moment, and when he lifted a lock of her hair to his nose and smelled it, Viktor seized his arm.
“We appreciate your hospitality, but we need sleep before we leave at first light.”
Joe straightened up, eyes still on Blue. “I forgot how good a woman smells.” Then his gaze swung over to me.
Christian stepped forward. “I’ll thank you to keep your hands off the women.”
“Pardon me?” Joe said in clipped words, gaze snapping around. “I don’t like your tone. You think I’m the kind of fella who rapes women? Vamps like you make me sick. And don’t get too snuggly in here, because you’re sleeping outside.”
“Not necessary,” Viktor said. “He’ll stay out of your way.”
Joe pointed at the bat head on the wall, eyes still on Christian. “I don’t like anything with fangs. That one tried to take a bite out of me last winter. You want a spot in its place? My old cabin’s forty paces that way,” he said, pointing toward the fireplace. “You can hole up in there unless you’d rather stand in the snow. But that thought creeps me the hell out, so do me a favor and keep out of sight.”
Christian looked like he’d been through this song and dance before, so he tipped an invisible hat on his head and left the cabin.
Joe didn’t come across as a bad guy—just a recluse who’d spent too many years living on his own. In any case, it didn’t seem right to cuddle up by a warm fire while Christian got the boot. Especially when we both knew that Joe’s rule also applied to me.
Dammit.
I stood up and headed out. Viktor didn’t try to stop me, but Joe said something as I slammed the door.
“You don’t have to do this,” Christian said, watching me put on my boots. “The cold doesn’t bother me, and he doesn’t know what you are.”
I grabbed my jacket and put it on. “Where you go, I go.”
His dark brow arched, and he headed in the direction Joe had pointed. The trail wasn’t as shoveled as the others, but it was fine.
“Do you think he’s serious about spiders?” I asked. “They
can’t live where it’s below freezing, can they?”
“I suppose that’s why they want to warm up against your arse.”
“Shit,” I murmured, picking up a stick. “I might as well get this over with. Why don’t you get a fire going while I make a quick detour?”
“What’s the stick for?”
“Bears,” I said facetiously.
Christian chuckled warmly, still hiking through the snow. “Good thing you’re armed. Though I’d be more concerned about the unsanitary conditions of his lavatory. Better gather up some frozen leaves while you’re at it.”
“I bet you’re just loving this.” I kicked snow at him and steered away toward the cabin. “I want that fire hot!”
His laughter faded, and I relied on my better-than-average vision to walk the path.
I glanced upward at the dark sky, remembering the magnificent colors of the northern lights. The trees now obscured them, or maybe it had all been a lovely dream. I’d never seen anything so beautiful in all my life—not even the meteor showers I’d watched from the top of my father’s trailer. As I kept walking, I wondered if I’d be better off just peeing by a tree. But that civilized voice inside my head decided that I needed to separate myself from the animals.
I knew I was getting close when I could smell the outhouse. It was a violation against nature, and I pinched my nose as the wooden structure came into view. When I opened the door and stared into the darkness, my lungs begged me to stop. A flashlight hung inside the door right next to one of those car deodorizers shaped like a pine tree.
“Hell no.”
I grabbed the flashlight and slammed the door. How long had it been since he relocated? Wasn’t there a cap on usage? I flipped on the light and located an acceptable bush behind the outhouse to do my business.
“So much for dignity.”
I unzipped my pants, and the cold air on my ass made me hurry. Moments like these were the only times I envied men.
Just as I finished, a twig snapped in the woods.
“Christian, don’t you dare come back here.” I quickly zipped up and kicked snow over my puddle.
When I climbed back up to the path, my light beamed on two grey wolves. They were flanking Diesel, and his standing there took me by complete surprise. I thought after dropping off the girl they would have flown back to New Brunswick.
The wolves bared their teeth and snarled.
Diesel stroked his thick beard. Why would a grizzly run with wolves? “Think you can mess with a man’s livelihood and walk away scot-free? I didn’t like Temple, but he paid my bills.”
I kicked snow away from my feet like a horse pawing the ground. “All that time, I thought you were a nice guy.”
He laughed haughtily. “I was. But now you’re gonna see another side.”
I reached in my coat for a dagger and bared my fangs.
No fear.
No mercy.
The bigger wolf lunged, and I slashed his throat with the blade. He collapsed in the snow, shifting immediately to human form. Before he could heal. I blasted him with energy and then turned on the second wolf. His jaws savagely went for my neck, and when the sharp points of his canines touched my flesh, I sank my own fangs deep into his back. He thrashed and scuttled away, allowing me to get on my feet again.
Without missing a beat, I drove my dagger into the first man’s heart, killing him instantly. “Lights out.”
Crimson red stained the snow, spreading out from a fresh kill. The second wolf barked ferociously, but I could sense his fear now that he knew I was a Vampire.
I grinned at Diesel’s bemused expression. “What’s the matter?”
He shook his head in disbelief. “You’re a Mage… and a Vampire?”
I flung my coat off, another dagger in hand. When the second wolf no longer posed a threat, I faced Diesel. “Come get me. In human form, if you’re man enough.”
The last thing I needed was to have a showdown with a grizzly, so I went for a weakness that all men shared: ego.
His eyes narrowed before he moved on me in a flash.
I pivoted around and wrenched out of his grasp before driving my dagger into his back. Diesel bellowed so loudly that snow shook off an overhead branch. The speed of his recoil caused me to lose my grip on the blade.
Left with no weapons, I charged my hands with so much energy that blue light dripped from my fingertips. The fallen flashlight illuminated the blood in the snow, casting long shadows as we circled each other.
Diesel came at me and ducked, knocking my arm away before hitting me in the head. I went down in the snow, and the second wolf exploded into action. I rolled him over, blasting him with enough energy to kill a moose.
Diesel hooked his hands beneath my arms and hauled me back up. The next thing I knew, his thick bicep was around my neck, squeezing the life out of me. I kicked his legs and clawed at his face. If I could just find his eyes, I’d pop those suckers right out of their sockets.
Feeling dizzy, I twisted my neck to the side and dropped to my knees, slipping out of his grasp. Before he could grab my hair, I blasted him right in the groin.
The big bad grizzly fell down as if Thor himself had struck him with his mighty hammer.
In the balls.
I staggered over to Diesel and sat on his chest.
“Mercy,” he gasped.
I leaned forward, my hands on his chest. “Did you just ask for mercy? What about all those women who begged for it when you delivered them to Temple? What about their mercy? What about that woman locked in your trunk for hours with a stake in her chest while you ate chili and guzzled down beer? You don’t get mercy.”
My fangs throbbed, aching for blood, and my Vampire instincts took control like a beast within. I stripped his coat open and delivered a powerful energy blast so he couldn’t buck me off or fight.
As he lay there defenseless, I descended on him like a monster. My fangs ripped through his jugular, and I drank the life right out of him. It didn’t taste as dark as some of the men I’d taken down in the past. Diesel wasn’t a saint, but he also wasn’t a sinner. He straddled the line between.
When someone gripped my shoulders, I swiftly turned and nearly lunged at Christian.
“He’s already expired. Never drink from a dead man.” Christian surveyed the bloody scene. “I didn’t hear anything until he shouted. Why didn’t you yell for help?”
“I didn’t need help.”
The cold look I gave him told the story. Temple going away in cuffs wasn’t enough for me—not this time. Not after Fletcher. I thirsted for justice, and I drank my fill.
Christian collected my coat and weapons. “Let me have a look at you.”
I stood up and took my coat while he swept my hair back and frowned at a lump on my head.
“Jaysus. You’re covered in blood.”
The way he said it surprised me. He sounded aroused, and his breath hitched when I licked my lips. Christian bent down and lifted my legs off the ground. The next thing I knew, he was carrying me back to the cabin.
I’d had every right to defend myself against those men, but had I gone too far? Reality hit that Viktor was going to have to report the incident, and more men would come out to question us. Men who already didn’t like our presence.
I just wanted to go home.
After a while, we neared a small cabin that looked more like a shed. Smoke billowed out of a chimney pipe, and there were no windows. If this was Crazy Joe’s old cabin, his new one was definitely an upgrade.
Christian had left the door halfway open, and once inside, he kicked it closed with the heel of his boot. No bed, no chairs, but at least we had a fireplace and a table.
Christian set me down and hefted a large brown blanket from the corner. After he shook it out, he laid it in front of the hearth.
I chuckled softly. “Bearskin rug. How appropriate.”
“If you’d fought that wanker in his animal form, we might have had something extra to cover up with.�
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“I don’t think I could have taken down a grizzly.”
Christian lifted my chin with the crook of his finger. “But I do.”
He left the cabin briefly before returning with a bucket of snow. “I’d gone outside to fetch a pail of water when I heard your hairy friend screaming. You see what happened to Jack and Jill?” Christian kicked the door closed and set the pail inside the fireplace next to the burning log. “Strip out of your clothes.”
Without argument, I bent over and pulled off my boots. Next went my black jeans, which were plastered to my legs. I should have listened to Blue and worn her fleece-lined cargo pants. My upper thighs were bright red, as if my blood was straining to get to the warm surface.
I dropped my bloodstained sweater onto the floor. “Well, that’s not coming out in the wash.”
When I was down to my underwear, Christian sat on a short stool and washed the blood from my hands. He took his time, wringing out the small towel before soaking it with more water and cleaning the other hand. He wasn’t just removing evidence. He was taking care of me.
Each time I struggled to remember something he’d mentioned about us, a headache came on. What was so important about that necklace that he gave me for the masquerade ball? Why would Houdini have accepted such a worthless trinket in exchange for keeping my memories?
“Christian, can I ask you something?”
“Aye.” He wiped the blood from my neck and jaw, his eyes making a slow ascent to meet mine.
“Did I love you?”
He froze, caught in my gaze like a moth in a spider’s web. Christian lowered his head and looked at the blood on his hands. “I’m too evil to be loved.”
Chapter 32
Too evil to be loved? Did Christian honestly believe his evils were worse than mine as he sat there, washing the blood of three men off my face? And even if they were, wasn’t the whole point of Keystone to start over? Maybe I was better off not knowing.
I captured his wrist and looked at the onyx ring on his middle finger. “Did I give you this?”
