The ground was rough and a bit rocky. If she survived the fall, she’d be in no condition to escape, but her body would also be too broken to be of use to Garrett and the sorcerer. Tears gathered in her eyes as she mentally tallied her options. She could stay and wait for Myrick to pronounce her fit for death now, or fit for death later. Or she could jump and pronounce herself fit for death now. Either way, there was no way for her to get out of her predicament. In a few months, it would all be over, anyway.
In that time, there was the possibility that she would be found, but she had no idea how. Carissa didn’t know where she was, and Rafe had been taken as well. There was no one left. Aden didn’t like her, her father was a traitor, and the friend of her sister’s fiancé, Daniel, didn’t even know who she was. She had no one to turn to, no allies anywhere. She leaned out of the window, tears falling freely to mingle with the magnolia blossoms blowing down from the trees. Gwen paused, and her wolf growled from the recesses of her mind. Coward, it called, accurately flinging the word like a barb, and with one more sniffle, Gwen retreated inside. But she left the window open.
The breeze was calming, easing the queasiness left over by her dream. It wasn’t every day one saw themselves being torn to shreds by ravenous beasts. Gwen sat down on the edge of her bed, her thoughts back on the people she knew. There was always the doctor…maybe. If he was a prisoner, too, he might be inclined to help her. With an angry shake of her head Gwen stood up to pace around the room. Prisoner or not, getting out would be next to impossible. She eyed the open window again. Maybe she could use bedsheets like jail breakers did in the movies.
She tapped a finger on the bottom of her chin. Actually, that wasn’t a bad idea at all. She leaned her head out of the window again. Good, growled her wolf, now you’re thinking. Grinning wryly, she returned to her bed. Her captors were the type of people to put two top sheets, a fitted, and a bed skirt. If that wasn’t enough, she didn’t know what was. She crossed the room to the window again. There were no guards outside, and she’d heard enough of the conversations on the other side of her door to know there were virtually no people staying on the floors directly below her room. If she could sneak out under the cover of darkness, she could find the Monroe Valley Pack Leader and seek asylum until she could get word to Carissa and tell her sister where Garrett held her. Then, maybe, someone could rescue her.
She just needed to find the right time. If she could get Garrett to give her more information about the area, she might not get caught. She was going to have to suck it up and play the good daughter, the one he thought she wanted to be, and the so-called savior of her pack. Too bad she’d be killing him as soon as she was able. Eyes narrowed, she sat back on the edge of the bed and awaited the next visit by the doctor, who came at least once a day. She’d asked Garrett why, once, but he hadn't answered. She could only surmise that he was paranoid she would do something to end her pregnancy rather than go through with his plans. Sighing, she tapped a finger on her gently rounded belly. As much as she loved this child, death by her own hand would surely be better than what Garrett had planned...unless she killed her father first, of course...
She didn’t have to wait long. Garrett escorted the doctor into her room a short time later, and he did his inspection silently, as always. Gwen smiled at him. She hoped her anger didn’t show in her eyes. He smiled back, so she knew she was playing her part well.
“Are you coming to terms with this, then, Gwenny?” he asked when the doctor was escorted out.
“I am,” she said softly. “I know how important it is to have the pack safe, and I don’t want to be responsible for the deaths of all the people I love. I couldn’t live with myself if I was.”
“That’s my girl!” he said and patted her on the knee. “I knew you’d come around. Now, you’ll have full reign of this floor, including the library, for your stay. You’ll continue to have guards, but you’ll have more freedom to move. Myrick will be making his inspection next week. I hope to have you ready.”
Gwen smiled again, “I will be, Daddy. I will be. I won’t disappoint you.”
“That’s my girl,” he said again as he leaned down to press a kiss to her temple.
As she watched him leave, Gwen’s gaze shot daggers at his back. The bastard had no idea what she had in store for him. The last thing he ever saw would be her teeth flashing in the dark.
Daniel sat in the chair, stunned, as Ophelia walked toward her bathroom on unsteady legs. He didn’t know what just happened, but whatever it was had been one hell of a ride. He stood up, wincing at the painful state of his arousal. He wanted nothing more than to take her to her bedroom and finish what they started, but he’d had a different purpose when he came over earlier. Eventually she’d realize her guard hadn’t showed up, and their job would begin again. He stood up. But first, some answers.
He headed down the hallway to the one lit room, where she stood before the sink wetting down a washcloth. Her face was flushed, and she had the beginning of a mild case of whisker burn around her lips and neck. He grinned, the corners of his mouth turned up in obvious satisfaction. The cat that ate the cream. Ophelia squeezed the washcloth and began scrubbing the blood from her hand. Daniel smiled wider when he leaned against the doorjamb, but she refused to look up and meet his gaze.
“I guess we can say that’s not what you intended to do when you saw me tonight?” he asked, his grin widening.
He laughed out loud when her blush deepened and she deliberately changed the subject. “Carissa mentioned the last time you left town was to recruit more people for our side. She said some of them should be here by now.”
Playing along, Daniel answered, “I only found a handful of vampires that didn’t support the Vampire Council’s cause, and many of them began to head this way the moment I left. As a matter of fact, after I told Craven not to come tonight, I received a text from one of the people I contacted.”
Ophelia looked up, then, continuing to wipe the blood from her hands. “You told Craven not to come? Why?”
“Because I knew we’d have at least one reinforcement on their way, and I thought it best if Craven didn’t know their identity, yet. It saves his ass, and ours.”
“Smart. So, when will your recruit be here?”
Daniel checked his watch. “I’m actually supposed to meet her at Aden’s house in fifteen minutes. Since he’s not using it right now, and no living Vampire Council member knows it exists, it’s the safest place.”
Ophelia gaped at him. “Are you insane? Meeting up with someone, by yourself, at night? And a woman, no less!”
Daniel chuckled, raising an eyebrow at the jealous tone of her voice. “What does her being a woman have to do with anything?”
Ophelia looked in the mirror, inspecting her neck where he bit her. The blush that had been receding reappeared like a rose in full bloom. She tossed Daniel the washcloth and placed her hands on her hips. “You have blood around your mouth,” she told him, and cocked her head to the side.
“How long have you lived?”
Daniel scrubbed the cloth around his lips. “Almost three hundred years. Why?”
“Have you learned nothing about vampires in all this time?” She asked, rolling her eyes, “or more specifically: Female vampires?”
Unable to smell any more blood on his skin, Daniel tossed the washcloth in the sink. “What are you talking about?”
Ophelia crossed her arms and shook her head, the flush in her cheeks reaching up to darken her eyes. “Well, most your kind aren’t very trustworthy, are they? If you combine that with the devious mind of a woman…well, that’s a perfect recipe for disaster.”
Smiling, Daniel uncurled his lanky body from where he slouched against the doorjamb, and stepped closer to Ophelia in the tiny room. His tone low, he leaned into her and said, “Are you worried about my safety, Phia?”
Ophelia raised her hand and pushed him back a step. “In your dreams,” she scoffed, but Daniel wasn’t fooled by her act. He could h
ear her heartbeat speed up every time he got close to her, and there was no denying their chemistry after what happened in the kitchen. However, in the interest of fair play, he said nothing. He knew he made her uncomfortable, and he also knew she liked him quite a bit, but he needed more. What he really wanted was for her to trust him. Completely.
He flashed her a smile and straightened up. “Do you want to come with me and keep me safe?” He kept his tone light and teasing.
Expecting refusal, Daniel was pleasantly surprised when she grinned and said, “Absolutely. I’ll cover your ass, and you can thank me later.”
Since Ophelia had moved back in with her aunt instead of continuing to live in her tiny apartment on Amber Street, Aden’s house was now only four houses down the street. She and Daniel arrived by walking, two minutes early. As they stepped onto the porch, a figure came around the corner, keeping to the shadows.
Daniel positioned himself in front of Ophelia, and addressed the newcomer. “I see you walking through the night,” he said, his tone cautious.
The figure stopped about four feet away, and a sultry female voice replied, “In search of things I cannot find within the light.”
Ophelia watched from behind Daniel’s shoulder as the woman stepped forward into the light cast onto the porch by the streetlamp. Her pale skin glowed in the light of the moon, her slight form seeming to glisten under the stars. Clear blue eyes stared curiously as the calm night wind blew her long blonde tresses back over her shoulders to flutter in the breeze. She was slender, a few inches shorter than Ophelia’s own five feet ten inches, with an hourglass frame and toned, muscular arms.
When her gaze found Daniel, her wide smile bloomed with relief and humor. “Did you think it wouldn’t be me, Daniel? After all these years, to use the Code. Are things really that bad?”
Daniel crossed to her and engulfed her tall form in a hug. “Serena, it’s so good to see you again.”
She kissed him on both cheeks. “I’m happy to see you, too,” she told him, peering around his shoulder with suspicion. “I thought you said you’d be coming alone?”
Daniel turned, his arm still around the other woman, and Ophelia couldn’t stop the sudden flash of jealousy. By the way they clung to one another, it was obvious the two of them had history. Ophelia opened her mouth to introduce herself, but Daniel beat her to it.
“Serena, this is Ophelia. She’s a sorceress, and she’s here to help.”
Serena looked at Daniel, her eyes wide. “A sorceress? Seriously? Is she any good?”
Ophelia watch the smile bloom on Daniel’s face, pride and admiration gleaming as he turned his gaze to hers. It made her skin tingle, but looking at the beautiful woman beside him, she couldn’t stop herself from showing off. She held out her hands, palms up. The wind blew harder, growing stronger and stronger as she gently waved her hands in the air before her, caressing the magickal red light at her fingertips. There was a great peal of thunder, and the street was suddenly lost under a deluge of rain.
Even Daniel gaped at her, and she grinned. “What do you think?”
Enjoying the look of astonishment on Serena’s face, Ophelia made a show of reigning her power back in. She rolled her hands around toward her body, moving them in a slow, sinuous loop. A blue light formed around her wrists, replacing the red, and grew steadily larger as it expanded toward the middle of her hands.
Her audience captivated, Ophelia thrust her hands outward. The blue light expanded forth, bursting in a mini explosion of color, light, and sparkle—rather like a harmless glitter fountain that didn’t stick to a person’s clothes, or turn vampires into fairies—and everything stopped. The rain, the thunder, the light; it was all gone, and the ground wasn’t even wet.
Serena approached the edge of the porch, finally stepping away from Daniel, and peered down at the dry ground. She lifted her eyes to Ophelia’s.
“That was fantastic!”
Daniel chuckled and reached for Serena’s hand, pulling her back toward the house. “I think it would be wise to move this party inside after that display.”
Retrieving the keys from his pocket, Daniel unlocked the front door and ushered both women inside. After casting a wary glance over his shoulder to ensure they weren’t being watched, he closed the door, moving with Serena to stand in the middle of the room.
Ophelia crossed the floor, switched on the only lamp in the room, and sat down on the couch. The other vampire seemed all right, but she still didn’t like the way Serena hung onto Daniel. She shook her head. Why the hell am I so freaking jealous? They’d kissed, and Daniel bit her – after she asked him to – but they weren’t in a relationship. Or are we? Ophelia mentally shook herself. Even if they were, that was no reason to act like a bitch toward an ally.
Ophelia moved forward when she noticed Serena lean closer to Daniel to whisper in his ear.
Serena’s voice was low, but worried. “Daniel, what am I supposed to do for food? You know I can’t be seen—not yet.” The woman looked in Ophelia’s direction, her gaze assessing and curious.
At that look, Ophelia stood up and walked past them to the door. “On that note,” she said, “I think I should probably excuse myself.” She pulled open the door. “Daniel, you know where to find me tomorrow night.” She looked at Serena. “And you may want to figure out a way to keep your food source out of town. We tend to take human hunting pretty seriously around here.”
Ophelia shut the door, and walked out into the night, barely resisting the urge to reach up and touch Daniel’s mark as she felt his eyes on her retreating back. It was time to do the research she’d told her aunt she would.
After Ophelia left, Serena looked at Daniel and laughed. “Your sorceress thinks I’m a vampire, Daniel.” She paused, eyes wide. “And you’re half in love with her already, aren’t you? You look at her as if she’s the only woman in the world. I’ve never seen you look at anyone like that.”
“She let me bite her, tonight–” he said, scratching the back of his neck as he leveled his eyes at the floor– “and now she’s embarrassed. I can’t get her to see past what I am to see who I am, and biting her didn’t help. How I feel is irrelevant.”
Serena raised one perfectly groomed eyebrow. “How you feel is everything, and you know it. She shares quite the resemblance with your Jaqueline. Are you sure your feelings aren’t because of that? Or would that be the reason you look at her the way you do, the reason you worry so much over what she thinks of you—because your wife had no such issues?”
“No, and no,” Daniel responded on a sigh. “Even with the resemblance, Ophelia is a completely different person.”
Serena crossed to him and placed her hand on his shoulder. He looked up and their eyes connected, hers glowing with an eerie golden light. “I see things, Daniel. You know this. How certain are you that her soul is her own? Or that, even if it is, it’s not influenced by others? I know better than most what we fight against, even if you aren’t clued in, yet. You need to have all the answers before you jump the gun and tell her how you feel.”
“Trust me, I’m in no danger of doing that any time soon. And, seriously, if you aren’t going to tell me yourself, stop bringing up the things I don’t know. It’s been annoying for a hundred years, now.”
“Well, you’re the one that insisted on working with Jasmine.”
“Don’t remind me. I think I’ve made enough mistakes, don’t you?”
“I do. That’s why I’m warning you to take it slow with your sorceress. Something about her aura is…different. It’s like yours, but not. I honestly don’t know how to explain it, but you need to be careful.”
Daniel reached over and linked his fingers with hers, holding on to the one true friend he’d had longer than Aden. “Don’t worry about me, Serena. I rarely make the same mistake twice.”
Chapter Sixteen
Janice turned up the music and grinned. There was nothing better than a dark night and a winding country road with the tunes up loud. Well,
maybe one thing. Ophelia and Daniel were at the house…together, and that made her heart happy. It would be a pleasure watching those two when they realized they were in love with each other. They didn’t know she knew they were there together, as she’d snuck out past them when their lips were locked, but that was a matter for another night.
Her fingers tapped the steering wheel in time to the bass thumping from the speakers. One more hour, and she’d be in Shreveport, willing and more-than-ready to take a much-needed weekend vacation with the man she’d been seeing for almost a year. He was handsome, smart, and everything she’d missed since her husband passed away.
He was also a werewolf.
Janice chuckled to herself. Boy would Ophelia be surprised if she knew! The song changed as her thoughts did, and she found herself singing along. The trees thinned out along the side of the road, offering a view of the bayou through the branches – visible even in the lack of moonlight. She’d always thought this part of Louisiana was breathtaking after dark, but as she rounded the next series of curves, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right.
Her fingers tensed on the wheel at the same time that a shadow passed over the tiny sliver of the moon. The deepened darkness showcased the flashers of the car stranded on the side of the road as Janice came through another curve. Her heart jumped at the sudden appearance of a vehicle on the otherwise empty highway. There was a woman huddled near the trunk. Janice almost didn’t stop, but there was something familiar about the stranger silhouetted in her headlights.
Savage Bayou (Things that go Bump in the Bayou Book 2) Page 13
