Weaken the Knees (The Immortal World Book 6)

by Shannon A. Hiner

  Her voice echoed off the walls. So loud. But welcome, all the same. Relief filled her that the silence had been broken. As it descended once more, she knew she couldn’t bear it again. “When were you born?”

  Will smiled slowly, but thankfully didn’t comment on the fact that the question was now hours old. “1792. April.”

  He wasn’t much younger than her. It held with what she knew of him. His mannerisms and speech reminded her of her time. One more reason she’d always pushed him away.

  “Why do you always—” she left off, about to say “follow me” or “obsess about me” or something like that, and finding that they sounded so petty and childish she couldn’t utter the words. “I mean, why won’t you—” leave me alone. Again she had to stop herself. She glanced up to find he was smiling knowingly. “Why?”

  “You remind me of home. At least, that was the reason at first.” It was so close to what she’d thought about him, but of the exact opposite sentiment, she had to do a double take. Will continued, “Then I just came to like you for you.”

  She scoffed. “Right.”

  “You don’t think you’re likable?”

  Well she certainly tried her damnedest not to be.

  “Maybe you’re right,” he said, turning to look at her a little more closely. “Not that you couldn’t be, if you ever stopped trying to push everyone and everything as far away as possible.”

  Rene’s jaw clenched. She had to avoid those chestnut eyes somehow, but there was nowhere to go to escape him. God, he really had trapped her here with him. Warning bells were sounding in her head. They were too close and she hadn’t said anything horrific to him in hours. Her internal clock assured her it was far past time.

  “Not everyone and everything,” she said, voice far cooler than she actually felt.

  He tilted his head, causing a stray lock of brown hair to loosen from its assigned position and flop against his forehead. Her hand twitched. To slap him. Definitely to slap him.

  Right?

  “Just you.”

  He should have paled and backed away, or at the very least looked offended . . . or disappointed. Instead, the easy grin that spread over his face sent tendrils of unease down her throat to curl about in her stomach. “Why do you think that is?”

  “Pardon?”

  “Why do you think it’s just me?”

  “Because I hate you.” She said it too quickly. Like a rehearsed response, it rang false. “I—I can’t stand you.” Dammit, did she just stutter?

  Will tsked and tilted his head yet again. “Too bad.” He affected a falsely demeaned face before shrugging. “Doesn’t change anything, though.”

  “Well it should,” she growled. “You shouldn’t—”

  “Love you?”

  Rene froze. Froze solid and stiff and miserable. He had not just said those words. Words that couldn’t be taken back as they filled the space between them with knowing. No longer suspecting. No more dreading. Just knowing. “No,” she whispered in agony. “You shouldn’t.”

  “As I said: too bad.”

  “I don’t want you to.” Why did her voice sound so small? What was wrong with her? God, she hated this.

  He sighed.

  She tried again, “How can I convince you to give up on this?”

  “I don’t think it’s a conscious decision.”

  “I could knock you out?”

  Will laughed. “I was leaning more subconscious, not unconscious.”

  Swallowing back the misery threatening to engulf her, Rene shrugged. “Might be worth a try—”

  Leaning over, Will closed the inches between them and pressed his mouth to hers. His lips were soft and firm as they lingered on hers, noses brushing. He started to pull away. Rene gasped, a delayed reaction, but she couldn’t stop herself from following him, leaning into the kiss. Leaning into him. She breathed in leather and mahogany, gunpowder and roasting chestnuts. She breathed in Will. And the scent of him, the feel of him, the taste of him, started to fill the broken, empty places inside. It was wonderful. It was agony.

  He made a sound deep in his throat and she knew exactly what he meant. His hands came up on either side of her face. Cupping under her chin, his long fingers reached up to stroke her temples. She didn’t know when she’d risen to her knees, completely invading his space as she fisted one hand in his shirt and dragged the other through his hair. Holding him exactly where she wanted him. Glorious. Terrible.

  Similar to the craving for blood, she felt hungry in a way she couldn’t explain or reason with. She wanted his body and soul and everything in between.

  An obnoxious beeping noise suddenly filled the air around them.

  “What in the name of Tinkerbell’s twat is that noise?” she growled against his mouth.

  “Watch,” he muttered, scraping his teeth across her bottom lip. “Sun’s down.”

  A moment passed before the meaning of his words filtered through the haze. A long moment where she savored the heat and craving of him before horror dawned, cold and clear and looming.

  Rene stood up so fast she almost lost her balance and fell back down. Her stiletto heel caught on Will’s pant leg and came dangerously close to unmanning him.

  “Hey!” He flinched. “Easy!”

  “Sun’s down? Sun’s down,” she was muttering. God, thank God she couldn’t blush anymore. Holy shitting cows, what was she doing? She had to get out of there.

  Will was starting to stand up. One look at his face sent Rene backing up into a rack. He was going to say something. He was going to talk. He was going to try to convince her.

  “’K, um, see you . . . never again. Bye.” Like the coward she was, she shimmered straight out of the refrigerator and directly home.

  Chapter 14

  “Shit, shit, shit.” Rene slammed into her apartment, knocking a vase to the ground and not even flinching as it shattered and the pieces went flying in every direction. She welcomed the crash, the noise echoed the clanging, breaking, shattering inside of her. What had she done? What had she done? “Oh my God.”

  She tore a hand through her hair and walked blindly through the apartment, slamming her shoulder into the wall as she turned too soon to enter the bathroom. Rene avoided looking in the mirror as she turned on the sink to its coldest setting and splashed the icy water over her face and neck. “What the fuck, Rene?” she asked herself, leaning her elbows against the countertop and pressing clenched fists to her forehead.

  Two hundred years of avoiding any romantic connections. Twenty years of avoiding one very specifically. Blown in a matter of ten minutes of insanity. Ten minutes of glorious, terrible, indulgent insanity. She bit her lip and felt him there. Swallowed and tasted him. Closed her eyes and could smell him on her. God, he smelled good.

  “AGHHH.” She slammed her fists down on the counter. The granite cracked. “Shit!”

  Something banged the floor from below. A disembodied voice came from the apartment below. “Quiet down, up there!”

  “Go to hell!” she called back. Not her most creative insult. Shame to waste such a golden opportunity to call that bastard out.

  Grabbing one of the hand towels, she dried her face. As she set it down something caught her eye. Taped to the mirror in front of her was a piece of paper. She recognized the paper. It was off her own pad that lay on a table in the living room. On the paper was a single red paw print. The paint had dripped down the paper, hitting the granite countertop and making a small pool. Reaching out slowly, Rene dipped her finger into the paint and brought it to her nose. Metallic, salty, and sweet.

  She turned a one-eighty and made her way out into the main room. The living room was ransacked. Not in the way one leaves a room when looking for something. No, this wasn’t a search party. It was thrashed. The couch had been torn open, stuffing flung everywhere. Her music collection was lying in pieces. Broken records, tapes, and CDs littered every surface. Through it all was that one paw print, marking a red path back toward her bedroom. />
  Following it, Rene found her bedroom in similar condition. Her phone started ringing and she jumped. With shaking fingers she retrieved it from her pocket and saw Serena’s name flashing on the screen. It took a couple of tries to answer it, her finger kept missing the button.

  “Rene, where are you?” Serena didn’t even wait for her to say hello, which was probably for the best, because Rene wasn’t sure how her voice was going to come out. “Will was here looking for you, he told me what happened last night.”

  He told her? Oh God. She didn’t know what was worse. A werewolf having been in her home or Serena knowing she made out with William Rynquist.

  “Hey? Are you listening to me? I need you to come in to the office. Wade wants to see you and your team is here waiting for instructions. Rene?”

  “I—I’ll be there s—soon.”

  “Rene, are you okay?”

  Rene hung up. Turning from the carnage of her bed, her eyes caught on her MP3 player, smashed in on top of the dresser. The cord for the earbuds cut in multiple places and the ear pieces themselves just as smashed as the player. Her teeth ground together as she left the room and returned to the bathroom. Ripping the paper from the mirror, she returned to the main room and stopped just before shimmering out of the apartment.

  “Oy!” she shouted down at the floor. “Rhinoceros's douche hose, pucker up and kiss my undead, ice-cold ass!” Grabbing hold of one of the bookcases, she leaned it forward and let it topple to the floor with a thunderous crash.

  ∞∞∞

  Idiot. Will pressed his thumb and forefinger against his eyes and tried to focus on the words flying around the room, but couldn’t get out of his own head. Idiot. Why had he done that? Well, he knew why he did it. But why now? When everything was a mess and he wasn’t even sure what side Rene was on—why did he choose now to tell her how he felt?

  Not that she hadn’t known. He’d seen it in her eyes before he kissed her, seen the dread and helplessness she felt in response. Not repulsion, as he’d feared, but something else entirely.

  It was his only excuse, really. Rene wasn’t repulsed by his feelings. She didn’t really hate him as she’d claimed. It was clear as day. And in his relief and desperation to have more from her—more than the constant battle of wills and antagonism—he’d kissed her. And what a kiss it had been.

  He relived it for the hundredth time in his memory. Twenty years of wanting had been in that kiss. And not just from him. Revelation of revelations. But it was too soon. Idiot. Too soon to press her into that epiphany. He should have gone slow, let her warm up to the idea. He couldn’t help it. He’d wanted her too much for too long. He was an idiot.

  “Will,” Serena said, jabbing him in the side with her elbow. “Did you hear what I just said?”

  “No,” he replied. “Sorry.”

  She sighed. “No, I’m sorry. I know you didn’t get any rest and you’re exhausted. Just bear with me for a little bit longer and we’ll get you set up with a bed across the street, okay?”

  He nodded, leaning back in the chair and crossing his arms over his chest. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d crashed in Abandon for a day.

  “I spoke with Rene, she’ll be here shortly.”

  His chest tightened at the thought of seeing her again so soon. Tightened and expanded. She was either going to shoot him, or completely avoid him. He’d put money on either. He laughed inwardly. It really was the same as any other day. The odds of being shot by Rene were always good.

  Around the table, their little team sat waiting impatiently. Wade Elliot stood in front of them, arms crossed and fingers tapping against forearms. Will had come straight here from the burned-out building, hoping he was following Rene, but finding Faber and Megan crowded around Kendra’s computers instead.

  When he and Rene hadn’t been back for the pre-dawn meetup, the team had been worried. Apparently the refrigerator walls had blocked cell signals, and no one had been able to reach them. Fearing the worst, they had gone to Wade Elliot with the news. No one had liked the idea of telling Hadrian, so they’d been waiting until night fell again before taking further action. If Will hadn’t arrived when he did, Hadrian Catane might have been the one he had to tell his story to. As it was, Will left out a few significant details, such as whose apartment Stephen Smart had been watching. And the kiss.

  The kiss . . . he had to stop thinking about that.

  At that very moment Rene walked through the door and it was literally the only thing he could think of. For all of two seconds. Then he registered the look on her face, the shaking of her hands. She was paler than he’d ever seen her and her eyes held a wild sort of fear that didn’t seem right on her. Rene wasn’t afraid of anything.

  Or was she? The words she’d said to him during the day came back now: “I’m afraid of very few things, William.”

  Without thought, he rose from his seat and started around the table toward her. She glanced at him, eyes still wide and untrusting. Like a wild horse that would bolt the second he got too close. Will stopped mid-stride.

  “Rene?” Serena said, standing as well.

  Wade was closest to her, but he made no move forward to help her. And she needed help, obviously. But how? What was wrong with her? “Rene, why don’t you take a seat?” Wade said quietly, motioning to the open spot next to Kendra.

  She shook her head.

  “Will told us what happened last night,” Serena said. “You killed a werewolf in the Venor building.”

  “And then were locked in as it was set on fire. After dawn,” Wade inserted. “Not smart to be out that late, guys.”

  “Yes,” Rene whispered. “And now they know where I live.” Her arm rose, one hand clutching a piece of white lined paper with a single bloody paw print in the center.

  Horse analogies be damned, he couldn’t stay still another moment. Will was across the room in half a second, taking her by the shoulders because he couldn’t help but touch her now. He’d ruined everything by kissing her. Now he had to touch her, feel her, assure himself she was all right. Wade, on the other hand, reached out to take the paper from Rene’s death grip.

  A small chunk tore off, remaining in between her fingers as she stood shaking between Will’s hands. “Are you okay? Were they there when you got home? Rene, look at me, love. Look at me.”

  Her unseeing gaze rose to meet his without recognition. This was so much worse than being shot or avoided.

  “How did they find your apartment?” Serena asked.

  Will rubbed small circles into her shoulders, trying not to grip her as tight as he wanted, needed.

  “Smart,” Rene said. “Smart knew. I don’t—I don’t know how.”

  As if her fear was contagious, Will felt panic gripping his own throat. He wanted to stop her from speaking before she could incriminate herself in her shock. Which was ridiculous. If she’d done wrong, got on the wrong side of things, the group, her clan, needed to know. But then Hadrian Catane would find out. And that vampire’s sense of justice was too rigid, too exacting. God only knew what sort of trouble Rene had got herself into.

  “But what has any of this got to do with werewolves?” Megan asked from behind him, her voice rising. “I don’t understand.”

  Will growled at her, “Do you think they wouldn’t want to encourage a group of vampire hunters? Just because we’re so careful to avoid long-term human interaction doesn’t mean they are.”

  “This is more than encouraging the Venor,” Wade said, holding up the paw print. “This is a warning. This is them showing their hand.”

  “Paw,” Rene mumbled.

  Warmth sparked in Will’s chest at her smart-ass remark, his hands squeezed her shoulders. She seemed to be slowly waking from her daze, blinking as the fear cleared from her eyes and life sparked once more. Chin lifting, she finally looked at him with recognition.

  His stomach sank. Recognition and rage.

  ∞∞∞

  Rene shook Will’s hands from her shoulders an
d snatched the paper from Wade Elliot’s hand. Waving it in front of the group she growled, “This isn’t a warning, it’s a threat.” The paper crumpled in her hands and she threw it down on the floor. “First these vampire hunters want to take me out, now the werewolves are after me too? We have to find out who is at their helm. And when we do, I’m going to—”

  “Rene,” Serena interrupted. “I think maybe you should lay low for a little while. Today was a really close call, if Will hadn’t been there—” She stopped, seeing the look on Rene’s face.

  If Will hadn’t been there what? She would have died? Unlikely. She might have actually caught up with the monster that was causing this whole mess. If Will hadn’t been there, she might have been able to inspect the dead werewolf further, find out who he was and a way to trace him and his pack. If Will hadn’t been there, she wouldn’t have kissed him and would be able to look him in the eye right now.

  “I don’t know, she might be good bait.”

  The whole room turned to stare at Wade Elliot. A murderous look crossed Will’s face so fast, Rene hoped everyone else missed it.

  Wade shrugged. “They obviously want her, both groups. Seems like the quickest way to get them to show their faces is to use her.”

  Aside from being vaguely offended by the way in which Wade voiced his thoughts, Rene really didn’t appreciate the fact that this group of hers seemed to think it was some sort of democracy. Clearly, she’d been far too lenient in the beginning. And what in the world did Wade and Serena think they were doing butting in on her task-force?

  “Excuse me,” she said. “But I believe Hadrian put me in charge of this shit-show. Therefore, I’ll do as I damn well please, and the rest of you can either like it or leave.” Rene paused for two seconds, and no one spoke. “Wonderful, since you are all still here I assume you have chosen the former. Now, I haven’t slept or eaten in over thirty-six hours, so if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go do that.”