Twice Cursed

by Marianne Morea

  He turned his gaze back to the water, and Lily watched his frown relax into a practiced expression of noninterest. She took in the curve of his strong jaw, his high cheekbones and the shape of his nose, even the tiny beauty mark above his lip. His profile was perfect.

  “My best friend had a beauty mark like yours, almost in the same exact place,” she said, trying to disarm the conversation before it even started. “I used to tease her, call her Cynthia…you know, for Cindy Crawford.”

  He hmmphed, slouching further into his coat. “Some friend.”

  Lily slid her knee onto the bench, shifting her body even more to face his. “Hey, equating a friend’s looks with that of a supermodel doesn’t exactly make it an insult. Terry had that sultry Spanish look going for her, and I personally know plenty of women who’d gladly have surgery to look like that.”

  “So?”

  “So nothing. Little things sometimes remind me of her, that’s all,” she said with a shrug. What she didn’t tell him was that right now, he reminded her so much of Terry it hurt. Coincidence.

  For a long moment Lily looked at him, squelching the urge to turn his chin so she could see his eyes. Despite the scowl, he looked good. Really good, and he smelled incredible.

  Unsettled, she shifted around to sit straight, forcing herself to look at the ground. Ryan was virtually a stranger, but an undeniable connection had managed to tingle its way into her lower belly. Whether it was the moon or their collective Were blood, or some strange combination of both, she didn’t like it. Sean had warned her about lunar-driven desires and the provocative lure the full moon inflicts, but as usual she dismissed it.

  Her pulse quickened, and she sucked in a deep breath, but the richness of his scent in the air only made her mouth water. Holy crap! She repeated the words like a mantra, reminding herself that nothing and no one controlled her—not Sean, not the moon, nothing—only now she wasn’t so sure. If this was what Sean meant, then instinct sucked the big one. Instinct? Really? You’d rip Sean a new one without batting an eye for even thinking about using that excuse, and here you are being a scent slut. Get a grip.

  “Damn,” she cursed, crossing her legs tightly against the itch between her legs. She pictured Sean’s face, his smile and his eyes, and a sudden coolness flooded her veins, soothing taut nerve endings as it discharged unwanted tension.

  Lily held her breath. If Ryan’s innate Were senses noticed the unusual spike in pheromones, he gave no clue, and she exhaled the last of her unease, clamping an iron fist around her lunar libido.

  Annoyed at herself, she glanced at the sky to gauge the time. Darkness fell too quickly this time of year to be out in the open with a deranged vampire roaming free. Sean had gone back to the apartment to plan their next move, and she needed to be there, with or without Ryan. Back to business, she took another breath, thankful it tasted of nothing but snow.

  Ryan hadn’t moved. He slouched back against the curved wooden slats, but however relaxed he wanted to seem, his underlying physical response screamed otherwise.

  “Do you remember in the morgue, when I said one day I’d tell you how I learned about all this, about all the weird shit around us?”

  He stared straight ahead, his gaze locked on the water. “I don’t want to know, and I really don’t care.”

  Lily followed his gaze. She didn’t say a word, just watched the gulls circle the dirty water, biding her time. Patience wasn’t exactly her strong suit, and after her lunar-induced sex tangent, she wasn’t going to force the issue. Not yet, anyway. “Your body language tells me otherwise,” she prompted.

  “Really? Is that your professional opinion, or are you doing a tap dance all over my head?”

  Lily stiffened at the accusation.

  He slid his glance sideways, his eyes sharp. “Hey, don’t give me the hairy eyeball, sweetheart, those are your words not mine.”

  Sweetheart? If he wanted a mind tap she could certainly accommodate him with one he’d never forget. She shot him a warning look but otherwise bit her tongue. Ryan was just being a prick—unless he had sensed her earlier attraction and was deliberately baiting her. A bad feeling crawled across her chest.

  Sucking in a quick breath, she ignored his glare and tried not to sound too indignant. “I don’t do that unless I’m forced to,” she said, putting stress on the last two words. “Look, you said if I had something to say, I should just say it, so here it goes. My best friend—the one with the beauty mark—she was killed a few months ago. She was murdered.”

  Pokerfaced, Ryan didn’t flinch. However, Lily was astute enough a profiler to register his slight shock, and she knew her matter-of-fact statement was the last thing he’d expected her to say.

  “How? Where?” His voice was clipped and professional, despite the unease in his eyes.

  Once a cop always a cop, she thought, ignoring the ping of guilt pricking at her heart for using Terry’s death to get him to listen. She uttered a silent prayer for forgiveness, keeping her face impassive as she drew his attention further. “The police report said animal attack. We were up in Maine taking EMF readings on a case.”

  Ryan’s brow furrowed. “EMF readings? What kind of case are you talking about?”

  “Paranormal investigation.”

  He didn’t comment, but his expression had him mentally jotting down notes, processing the information the way he would after canvasing a witness. “You said animal attack. Now I suppose you’re going to tell me it wasn’t an animal that killed your friend, but some kind of shape shifter, right?”

  Lily’s chest squeezed, but she was careful to keep the emotion out of her voice. “No. It was a werewolf. A rabid one, which I subsequently hunted and almost died trying to kill. My friends you met this afternoon, they’re from the same pack. In fact, Sean is the alpha.” She purposefully left out the fact that he was also her mate. Not the place, and after her body’s pheromone mutiny, definitely not the time.

  “Okay. Next you’ll be telling me the attack was on a full moon, like something out of An American Werewolf in London,” he shot back tightly.

  The wind kicked up even more, and Lily pulled her coat closer around her body. “No, but it could have been. Unfortunately, the situation turned out to be more hospital drama than Hollywood horror. There’s a virus at the root of what’s causing the Weres to degenerate. The wolf that killed Terry also infected me, but, for some reason, I’m immune. In fact, my antibodies are what their doctors are using to develop a vaccine.”

  “Their doctors? Their vaccine? Didn’t the police investigate the nonsense you’re trying to get me to buy?”

  Lily stiffened, struggling against the flare of temper sending heat into her cheeks. She pulled her hand out of her pocket and banged her fist down on the green-painted wood between them. “If you would stop being such a pigheaded asshole for one minute, you could use that trained mind of yours to connect the dots. Not everything is by the book, nor does everything fit neatly into definitions of plausibility. Sometimes things happen outside the box, without explanation. You know this, and if you were truly honest with yourself and me, you’d admit it.”

  She paused, dragging in a cold breath. “You called this morning for a reason. What was it that made you pick up the phone? And don’t say it was to give me my walking papers.”

  He wouldn’t look at her, but the weight of her gaze was not letting him off the hook. Ryan pushed his feet out, shoving his hands deeper into his pockets. “I don’t know why I called.”

  “That’s a cop-out, and you’re not that kind of a cop.”

  His head jerked around, and from the set of his mouth, Lily knew she’d hit a nerve. It was a cheap shot, but time was running out and she’d never get another chance if she backed off now. “Your instincts aren’t wrong, Ryan. They’ve been telling you what you are for years. Don’t you think it’s about time you listened?”

  Ryan pulled his hands from his pockets and slid forward gripping the edge of the bench. His posture was so tense, h
e looked as though he’d shatter in the wind.

  “I know this is a lot to take in, and I’m not helping by shoving it down your throat, but we need to work together on this case, or things are going to get much worse. That, and I care about what happens to you.”

  In one swift motion he slid in close, and without warning palmed the back of Lily’s head, crushing his lips to hers.

  Lily’s eyes flew open, and her heart rate jumped in unfamiliar alarm. Think, Lily…think. She needed to act rationally. If Ryan was anyone else, he’d be clutching at the hole in his crotch where she shot him.

  There was no doubt he had caught the scent of her unintended arousal. Weres and their fucking instincts…Her palms were moist with sweat against his chest as her thoughts raced. She needed to get him off of her, but not piss him off, or insult him to the point where he stormed off.

  He leaned in and inhaled the scent from her hair, snaking his other arm around her waist. Lily’s body screamed in confusion, nerve endings warring between instinct and Sean’s claim. The four puncture marks on the back of her shoulder throbbed in warning against the errant feelings coursing through her body, and she squeezed her eyes shut ignoring the heat and electricity slashing her lower belly.

  Gritting her teeth, she slid her fingers up and through his hair, feeling his lips slant in an eager smile against hers until she jammed her thumb into the soft tissue behind his ear.

  Ryan jerked back, his hand scrubbing at the spot like he’d been hit with a cattle prod. “Jesus, Lily. What’s with the Vulcan death grip?”

  “Because, it’s the only way I knew I could get you to stop and listen to me.”

  His gaze flew to hers, accusing and angry. “You want this too, I can feel it.”

  Face burning, she shoved the reality of his words away and dragged a hand across her mouth, drawing a deep breath in through her nose. “You think so? Is this why you called me this morning? To see if I was willing to play house?”

  He didn’t answer, just huffed and puffed, scowling as he rubbed at the spot behind his ear.

  “For Christ sake, stop being such a big baby, pressure points are self-defense 101. Half your problem, detective, is you only hear what you want to. I said listen to your instincts, not act on them—and for the record, cats don’t huff and puff. Weres leave that to the big bad wolves. You think you know what I feel…what you feel? Chances are, you do, but did you ever stop to think why?”

  Ryan shifted away from her, his scowl back in place and deepening by the moment. Fingers still massaging the tender spot behind his ear, he mumbled something under his breath before looking across his bent arm at her, his eyes uncertain. “I’m sorry, Lily. I have no idea where that came from.”

  Lily frowned. Despite everything, he was still ignoring what was right in front of his face. “I don’t understand you, Ryan. You’re a detective. Your whole world is digging up answers to hard questions. You can’t tell me trying to kiss me is the only unexplained, instinct driven thing that’s happened to you. I’d bet my lungs you’ve had plenty of practice with things you can’t explain or rationalize away. Things that raised an eyebrow or two from people around you—or have you gotten so used to it that you don’t even notice anymore?”

  He looked out at the water again and sighed softly. “I don’t know,” he answered, as if to himself.

  She reached across the bench and placed a tentative hand on his. “Yes, you do.”

  At the simple touch, his defensive posture relaxed a notch. His back was still up, but his slow exhale told her unequivocally he’d let go enough to at least listen to what she had to say and really hear her. She leaned forward, craning her neck to tilt her head in his direction. “For someone who carries the weight of the world and a loaded gun to prove they’ve got it all figured out, that exhale sounded a lot like cease-fire.”

  She wanted him to smirk or pass a snide comment, but he just stared out at the water. “And for what it’s worth, you may not be a big bad wolf, but that kiss would have blown the house down for any other girl.

  From the side, he lifted one shoulder and let it drop, and his mouth lost its hard slant, but he still didn’t turn look at her. “Girls don’t usually taser me like that when I kiss them.”

  “I’ll bet. It’s a Were thing, you know. Just one of the many perks. Something to do with animal magnetism and the proximity of the moon.”

  He exhaled again, but this time in one quick stream, his expression a tangle of confused unease when finally looked at her. “Well, that explains a lot of what I’ve been feeling lately.” He hesitated, his voice barely above a hush, but his eyes searched hers, making it clear exactly who was at the heart of his internal wrestling match.

  Lily paused, glancing down at her hand still resting on his, and tactfully pulled it back into her lap. Were relations, lunar influenced or not, was not a topic she wanted to discuss right now. They had a vampire to kill and a council to placate.

  “I know you’ve wondered about your abilities, but didn’t you ever question why you can do what you do? I know I did. I hated being psychic, and I tried to hide it for the longest time. I didn’t want to be labeled a freak,” she said, carefully deflecting the topic. Sean could explain the ins and outs of Were mating when he gave Ryan his ‘welcome to the club’ speech.

  Ryan exhaled, sliding back to sit up straight. “I know exactly what you mean.” He leaned his head back to look at the eggplant colored sky. “Sucks sometimes.”

  Grateful he took the hint and dropped the, “why am I so obsessed with you?” question, Lily just nodded in agreement. “Sucks is right.”

  “I grew up in an orphanage with almost no information about my mother except that she died when I was born. I was labeled unadoptable, because of some rare blood disorder the doctors couldn’t identify. It never limited what I could or couldn’t do, but it was in my file, and no one wants to adopt a baby with medical issues.” A practiced mask fell into place on Ryan’s face, letting her know the rest of the topic was clearly off limits.

  “Hmmm,” she muttered noncommittally. “Terry, the friend I mentioned, she was adopted as an infant, but then again she didn’t have any medical issues.”

  He pushed his foot out, scrapping his heel on the pavement. “She was one of the lucky ones.”

  “I suppose, but then again what’s lucky? She was killed by a werewolf.”

  A wet cloud of breath fogged out in front of him at her words, like he still didn’t want to think about it, but was unable to ignore the reality any longer. “I guess I know now what it was that made my blood different; made me different.”

  She tugged on his sleeve, and he turned to look at her. “For a detective, you certainly have a lot of unasked questions. My question to you is, are you ready for the answers?”

  “Do I have a choice?”

  Draping her arm across the back of the bench, she tilted her head in his direction, a grin spreading across her lips. “Nope, and I’m glad you finally realize that. Now I won’t have to drag you in at gunpoint.”

  Ryan hoisted himself up from the bench and shivered. “I’ve probably got frostbite from sitting here so long, and it’s entirely your fault. Tell me, can I snap my fingers and turn into a Saint Bernard, complete with keg collar?”

  Chuckling, she shook her head. “Sorry…but for the record, Weres don’t get frostbite.” Still grinning at the image the idea conjured, she pushed herself to standing. “And besides, you’re probably going to need something stronger than rescue brandy after you hear what Sean has to tell you.”

  “That bad, huh?”

  “No. Just a lot to take in at once.”

  It was dark, the sun had set, allowing the ambient light from office buildings and streetlights to filter across the river, highlighting the water in hues of iridescent black. Park lamps popped on, casting yellow spheres in rows along the pavement, illuminating the ramp that led to the overpass crossing from the promenade over the FDR Drive.

  Lily linked her arm with Ry
an’s, her need to make sure he didn’t bolt overriding her better judgment at prolonged contact. “So, are you ever going to tell me why you called this morning, or do I just assume it was a case of animal magnetism?”

  Now it was his turn to chuckle. “Oh man, I can hear the puns now. Actually, I went back to the crime scene. I saw what you saw, smelled what you smelled. It was then I realized you were right about what happened…about everything.”

  She stopped, pulling him to a standstill. “Then why the hell did you put me through all this today? Why the theatrics and the prick attitude, if you were already willing to accept what I had to tell you?”

  He shrugged. “Because it wasn’t me. Accepting that supernatural beings exist, and tracking one as a possible perpetrator is one thing. Finding out I’m an unwitting member of the club is quite another. I didn’t want to admit I was part of it. I’m still not sure I want to know.”

  They started walking again, and headed away from the water and wind. Lily chewed on her bottom lip. “I get it, believe me. Cooperation isn’t exactly my strong suit, either.”

  He lowered his chin, fixing her with a ‘no shit, Sherlock’ stare.

  “Don’t be such a jerk, all I’m saying is no harm, no foul. Still, if it’s true and you are part cougar, just remember what they say about curiosity and cats. Cop or not, there are forces out on the street right now that you’re unqualified to fight, and there’s no such thing as nine lives.”

  He shoved his hands into his coat pocket. “No such thing, huh?” he repeated, his gaze taking on the feel of a thousand mile stare. “Too bad those words are no longer part of my vocabulary.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  ***

  Lily put the key in the lock and opened the door, the tangy scent of pizza greeting her in the hall along with Jack. Coat in hand, he gave her a quick once over.