“Wolf,” Rachel warned.
“Hey, just saying. Here—” He braced a booted foot on the top step and held out his hand to Loti. She looked at it like it might bite her. “Give me your hand,” he said like he was talking to a child.
Dizzy and covered with a sick slick of sweat, she managed a glare “I don’t need your help, thank you very much.” She clipped each word as she spoke, and he lifted both hands.
“Have it your way,” he rumbled and backed up as she skirted the puddle of vomit and stomped into the house. She clenched her jaw so hard, her teeth hurt. Rolling her neck a few times to ease the tension, she leaned on the kitchen table. Glancing at Wolf, it dawned on her how rude and silly she was being. The man hadn’t—check that—the vampire hadn’t said or done anything that bad. So, what was her problem? The freak show she witnessed at her house? Her queasy stomach? That insane buzzing in her spine?
She wobbled into the living room and dropped her stuff on the big, blue chair by the fireplace. An inviting fire crackled behind the screen, so she held her hands to it, giving herself time to gather her wits. Shivering, she looked down and moaned. Oh, good lord. This was the nightgown David had always loved because it was just clingy and see-through enough to get him hard. Her face burning, she casually crossed her arms over her chest, but they would be getting a little show from the back side, too. She wasn’t wearing any underwear. Who slept in their underwear? Rachel trotted over to her, picking up Loti’s bag from the chair.
“Why don’t you get into something warm, Loti? You’ll feel better.” Rachel pressed the bag into Loti’s arms and steered her toward the bathroom, walking behind her to block the view. “Help yourself to anything you need.” The bathroom door almost closed, then opened far enough for Rachel to tuck her head inside. Gesturing at her head, she whispered, “Brush your hair.”
~~~~~~~~~~~
Loti collapsed into the blue chair-and-a-half by the fireplace with a cup of Rachel’s herbal tea, a special blend that calmed and cleared. Loti’s head pounded and her mouth was dry as if she’d been on a drinking binge or taken one of David’s Vicodin, but she’d done neither, so what the heck?
“Feeling any better?” Rachel asked, curling up on the brown couch on the other side of the glass coffee table. The vampire crossed an ankle over his knee and stretched his long arms along the back of the couch. His lips parted as he stared at Loti.
“Better, yes,” she nodded, shifting in her seat. “But still strange. Maybe it’s just late, but I’m having a hard time clearing my head.”
She peeked at Wolf’s high cheekbones and full lips as energy ants marched up her spine. Scratching her back against the chair like a bear with an itch, she studied his strong jaw and prominent nose in the flickering firelight. She was used to a certain amount of prickly sensations, but this was more, harsher and incessant. She gulped her tea. With a little curl to the corner of his mouth, he stared back. The soft lighting highlighted the small, crescent dimple in his cheek, but his eyes . . . they were so brown, almost black, that she couldn’t tell where the irises ended and the pupils began. She couldn’t look away from them; they went on forever and the ants trooped faster up her back.
Rachel cleared her throat. “I guess I should officially introduce you two.”
Loti startled.
“Loti, this is Wolf,” Rachel said, setting her mug on the table. “And Wolf, this is Loti, my best friend.”
“Nice to meet you.” Loti rubbed her eyes.
“Same here.” He nodded, his smile captivating as he dropped his leg and leaned his elbows on his knees, hands dangling between them. His long hair slithered over his shoulders as he moved and energy slid up her back, hugging the nape of her neck. Her jaw unhinged as she got the firm impression that his smile, his movements, the vampire himself was causing the unnerving sensations.
“What are you doing?” Loti’s cheeks flushed pink.
He blinked, and the ants stomped up her spine, down her arms and legs, both cool and warm at the same time.
“Hey!” She rubbed her arms. “Are you doing that?” Her voice was thick with uneasiness.
“Wolf?” Rachel sat up a little straighter as she raised her voice. “Tell us what you’re doing.”
He ignored her. Loti put down her mug and concentrated on Wolf and the buzzing in her spine and was struck by the change in his energy. His signature was still vampire, but now there was something else—witch? If she had to describe what she felt around witches, she’d say their energy was bigger, but since she couldn’t actually see it—more voltage would be more accurate. However, she suspected that wasn’t it. She’d come to believe over the years that witches, and healers too, were somehow more connected to the universal energy, so they felt like they had more power. Vampire energy was more defined, denser and closer to the body. Wolf had both, which didn’t make sense. Her skin crawled with energy everywhere, and Loti clapped her hands in rapid succession.
“Okay, that’s enough. Tell me what you’re doing.” She battled the urge to wriggle in the chair as his eyes concentrated on her hers, and she thought, he’s beautiful.
Without taking his eyes off of her, he sat back, draping his arms over the back of the couch. “I wasn’t doing anything,” he said, smiling that disarming smile.
“Then what was all that?” Loti grimaced at the way her insides went all melty and liquid.
“What?” Both of his eyebrows rose.
“What I was feeling.” She narrowed her eyes.
He mirrored her expression. “What are you feeling?”
“Energy crawling up my spine, and . . . ” She groped for the words. “When you were . . . whatever you were doing, it got more intense and spread.” She huffed at herself.
His smile faltered, but he caught it and put it back in place. God help her, she couldn’t stop staring at his smooth, black hair or his rugged, handsome face—oh dear lord, what a cliché—but that was how he looked. He rubbed his smooth chin, holding her gaze prisoner as he stretched out long legs, crossing heavy engineer boots.
“Wolf? Are you doing something?” Rachel scooted to the edge of her seat.
“What would I be doing, Rachel?” He glanced at her, breaking the spell.
Loti picked up her tea with downcast eyes. Her toes curled. Rubbing her knuckles over the corners of her mouth, she hoped she hadn’t let her jaw go slack or drooled all over herself. No, no drool.
“I know. But, um...” Rachel frowned at Loti, “maybe it’s from what happened tonight?” She sounded like she was trying to convince herself.
Loti peeked over her cup, looking back down when she realized Wolf was looking straight at her. And those eyes. . . they roiled. Biting her lip she lowered the handle-less cup and wrapped her hands around the blue glaze finish. Aware of the silence, she glanced up. Rachel and Wolf held hands, both sets of eyes glazed over.
“I think. . .” Rachel barely moved her lips. “I can sense it. Her energy seems more intense, and then there’s an absence really.”
“What’s absent?” Loti straightened, her eyes flaring. “Has someone messed with me? What in the hell? Why would anyone—”
“Shh,” Wolf soothed. “You’re getting upset. It’s changing your energy, making it harder to . . .” His voice trailed off.
Her nails bit into her sweaty palms, but she took a shaky breath, held it for a brief moment then let it out with a whoosh. Her lungs felt stiff and achy, but after several deep breaths, they eased and her heartbeat slowed.
“That’s good,” Rachel whispered.
Leaning back in the chair, Loti closed her eyes. Not looking at Wolf helped. She wondered what he could sense about her and tried not to blush, but in the end, it was pointless to worry about it. Vampires could smell emotions; they’re mostly hormones and brain chemicals. And what they couldn’t smell years of experience filled in the blanks.
“There has definitely been a wipe.” Rachel re-focused her gaze and dropped Wolf’s hand.
“
What does that mean?” Loti’s eyes flew open as she jumped out of her seat. “Has someone messed with my memories?”
“No, nothing like that. She means someone has come into contact with your subtle energy and covered their tracks, erased the evidence.” Wolf’s eyes followed her as she paced the floor with fluid, graceful strides.
“If they covered their tracks, how do you know they were there?” Her stomach flipped at the thought of someone—or something—getting that close without her knowledge. Then again, she had sensed something tonight—something not nice. Something scary.
“How?” she demanded, stopping in front of Wolf, the coffee table between them.
“Well, I think the more important questions are who? And why?” He stood up and Loti tilted her head up to look into his face. He was at least a head taller than her.
“I agree, but, Wolf, I’m . . . ah . . .” She faltered, not sure how to explain her abilities.
“Loti’s some kind of intuitive,” Rachel jumped in. “We think she’s in the same league as a healer, but not quite. She should have been able to sense this happening.”
Wolf raised an eyebrow, and Loti almost burst out laughing as the gesture conjured images of old Star Trek episodes. Wolf smiled back like he was trying not laugh, too “Ah, I see. Then whoever did this is more powerful than we are.” He turned toward the kitchen. “I’m going outside for a smoke.”
With an incredulous stare, Loti mouthed, He smokes?
Rachel shrugged. “Hey, it can’t kill him,” she said as she walked into the kitchen. “I’m going to make more tea.”
Loti followed, packing more unwanted emotions away for later. Why did it bother her? Yes, David had died of lung cancer, but Rachel was right. Vampires didn’t have to worry about those things. Who’s Wolf to me anyway? Why should I worry about him? So what if he smokes?
You’re the walking wounded, girlfriend, that’s why. That skin’s been burned.
She grimaced at the two voices in her head—the didactic, wise old woman and the scared, defensive young one. The warrior and the wounded. The sage and the grasshopper.
She stuffed those thoughts away for later. “Hey, were you two scanning me back there? I thought you needed several witches to do that?”
“Wolf and I figured out a way to do it years ago. Something about his energy augmenting my abilities, remember? I told you we experimented with magic?”
Loti screwed up her mouth and inhaled noisily through her nose. “I didn’t know vampires could practice magic.”
“They can’t.” Rachel stared at the water flowing out of the faucet. When the stainless steel kettle was full, she set it on the stove. As the water heated, she filled the cloth tea bag with herbs. With closed eyes, she cupped the bag in both hands, holding it up to her mouth as she mumbled an incantation. When she blew on the tea bag, it soaked up Rachel’s breath like a sponge.
“We don’t know how it works, but he can increase my abilities. Maybe charge my batteries—or something like that. But I can let him experience what I experience.” Rachel pressed one hand to her hip and leaned on the counter. Her long, trim limbs and shag haircut made Loti think of wood fairies and ethereal things. “Apparently, we can still do it.”
“Do you still feel the bond?” Loti’s chest tightened.
Rachel shook her head as she turned to root through a kitchen drawer. “I need you to tell me what happened tonight.”
Subject dropped.
Loti thought about her question. “Well, I had a very strange dream.” Could she remember it? “And when I woke up, the house felt oppressive. Like the air was thick with something.” She ran her hand through her hair in a tired way. “There was something or somebody in the house.” The screen door slammed. Loti flinched and glanced over at Wolf standing just inside the doorway.
“I thought vampires were supposed be quiet.” Loti twisted her mouth.
Wolf grinned, and the tingle in her spine, which had settled to a bearable constant, flared. She just about peed her pants. Squeezing her lips and thighs together, she cursed under her breath.
He shrugged. “I guess I don’t cotton to all that vampire mythology.” He winked at her.
Good lord. Loti rolled her eyes as she turned her back on him. Rachel smiled, a twinkle in her eye.
“He grows on you.”
“What, like mold?” Loti’s tone was snide.
She crossed her arms over her chest as Rachel hooted, clutching her sides. When the tea kettle squealed, Loti stepped around Rachel, snatching it off the burner and snapping the knob to the off position at the same time. Wolf dug his hands into his jean pockets, cocking his head to one side, amused and completely at ease, while she was. . .what was she? Rattled. She was rattled. Because he’s a vampire, she told herself. Vampires always made her a little edgy.
“Tea, Wolf?” Rachel grinned as she wiped at the corners of her eyes.
“Sure. It smells good.” He brushed against Loti as he made for the cupboard.
His touch jolted through her like she’d been shocked. Staring open-mouthed at him, she rubbed her arm. Wolf paused, cup and hand mid-air, and then as if nothing happened, he sauntered off into the living room. Rachel glanced up from the tray loaded with tea accoutrements.
“You okay?” She touched Loti’s arm.
“I don’t know.” Loti’s mouth opened and closed as she stared after Wolf’s retreating backside.
Rachel’s fingernail tapped her front tooth between parted lips, a sure sign the gears were turning. Loti wrapped up the dream, surprised that she remembered quite a few of the details.
“He said, ‘Know thyself, be thyself, and—” her eyes widened, “what was the last thing?” She looked away, chewing at a hangnail. The last bit had vanished from her mind. She rummaged through the images and words, but it was gone. She threw up her hands. “I can’t believe it! It was so clear—”
“Trust thyself,” Wolf said in a low voice.
Rachel and Loti both stared at him, mouths gaping.
“Yes,” Loti exclaimed. “How did you know?”
Wolf’s bright eyes roamed Loti. Her lips parted at the prickling in her chest. When their gaze met, he shrugged his shoulders. “I’ve heard something similar before.” He paused, his eyes unfocusing for a second. “‘Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.’ It’s Emerson.”
Loti’s jaw went slack as unbearable tingling flooded her belly and overwhelmed her head.
“You know, Ralph? The writer?” Wolf smirked, but his eyes glowed.
“Yes, I know who Ralph Waldo Emerson is,” she snapped, rolling her hair around her fingers. What an asshole. Why did he drive her bat-shit crazy?
“Okay, so what happened after that?” Rachel steered them back on topic.
She recounted the rest of the dream, her eyes returning to his over and over. How she woke up screaming and the ensuing panic, the humming, and the raven in the dogwood.
“I sensed something smothering. The air was thick and too hot. I felt sluggish and shriveled up, like my asthma acted up, but I don’t know.” She bit the side of her index finger, shaking her head. “Now I know something or someone was there, but I can’t imagine why.”
Wolf nodded, his chin in his hand and his index finger rubbing his lips.
Rachel leaped to her feet. “I’ll be right back.” And she took off down the hallway.
Loti reached for her tea to hide behind while Wolf stared at her shamelessly. God, she hated that he could be so unselfconscious. In a fit of daring irritation, she stared back. Her heart beating faster as she focused on his skin in an effort to avoid his eyes. It wasn’t as pale as the other vampires she’d met, but maybe he had a darker complexion when he was human.
“Are you native?” she blurted out. At Wolf’s slow smile, her stomach fluttered. Stop that.
“Yes. I am.” One corner of his mouth rose. “Cherokee, as the pale face call us.”
She suppressed a smile, biting her lip and fidgeting in he
r seat. “Eastern or Western?” She swallowed.
When he did that one eyebrow thing, her legs went limp. Oh, dear lord. “We were all Eastern at one time.” He shifted forward in his seat. “But Eastern. You know the history?”
Trying not to move too much, she nodded. In the silence, their eyes locked and the bottom fell out of her stomach. For a second, she was hanging in space: weightless, scared, excited and turned on.
“When were you turned?” She licked her lips.
Wolf squinted, sitting back, an invisible curtain dropping over his eyes. He shifted deeper into the couch. A big chain-link fence with “No Trespassing” written in big block letters flashed in her mind.
“Before the revolution, but after the Europeans showed up.” His eyes shifted away as he drained the mug.
Rachel half ran into the room rattling a small, burlap bag. “Runes.”
She spread a blue silk scarf on the glass table. Flopping on the couch, she shook the bag a little harder than she needed to. Closing her eyes she prayed, “Mother of us all, guide my hands and my mind. Give me the insight to ask the right questions and to understand your answers.” When she opened her eyes, they glinted with excitement. “Here goes.” With a crooked smile, she dumped the runes on the silk. She turned the terracotta bits over so they were all blank and swirled them around.
“What is the message in Loti’s dream?” Her eyes narrowed and her lips drew into a firm line.
The question surprised Loti. It wasn’t the one she would’ve asked, but she trusted Rachel. Like she had done so many times before in this very room, Rachel turned runes over one by one, arranging them in a Celtic cross. It was how the women worked out the kinks in their lives. Together, they found ways to soothe away the hurt and to assuage their fears over tea or wine. Dragging the orange throw off the back of the chair, Loti cocooned herself. The smell of burning wood, the soft microsuede of the chair, and Rachel studying the runes was all familiar—lulling and comforting.
“Let me tell you what I’m thinking.” Rachel tapped her front tooth. “I asked about the dream because it’s the key—even linked to your visitation tonight. What Wolf and I could sense was not a mark or magic, per se, but cleanliness. That makes me think either something didn’t want you to know it was there or something didn’t care that you knew. If it’s the first option, they didn’t do a good job of covering their tracks. It’s like a gun being wiped off after it’s used to murder someone. It’s too clean.” She fiddled with one of the runes.
Enlightened (Love and Light Series) Page 5
