Tarnished Legacy: Shifter Paranormal Romance (Soul Dance Book 2)

by Ann Gimpel

  He howled again, a mournful agonized wail that shredded her heart. She’d done this to him. Maybe it would have been better to let him leap to the rocks mocking her from below.

  “Come on,” her wolf urged. “If he needs us, we must be close.”

  Tairin padded back to the red maelstrom. It looked different than it had when she’d left. Larger and pulsing in a defined rhythm. What did that mean? She stared at her father, but his eyes were shut and his forehead creased in concentration as Gaelic flowed from his throat. She understood the words but hadn’t heard the incantation before. The three Romani and Meara were still blocked from her view.

  Waiting was hard. She’d never been patient—unless she was in wolf form hunting. Tairin had no idea if she’d make things better or worse, but she pushed her mind voice outward, aiming it at Elliott.

  “Try,” she urged. “Please. I can’t stand to lose you. Not now. I know I was angry, and I can be a high-handed bitch, but it tore my heart out to walk away from you. I want us to have a life together.”

  Her wolf jumped in. “Reach for your wolf form. Put your whole heart into calling it. If you can shift, you’ll have it. The vampire will vanish. It can’t coexist with fully-formed shifter magic.”

  Tairin was panting with anxiety. When Jamal dropped a hand onto her head, she started. She’d been so focused on Elliott, she hadn’t heard him walk up to her. She looked at her father, who wasn’t chanting anymore. Dread filled her. “Is he—?” But she couldn’t get the word turned out. After all this, had the vampire won out in the end?

  “He yet lives as a Romani, but these next few moments will tell the tale.” Jamal squatted next to her. “If the vampire takes him, you’ll be lost to darkness too. When you bit him, you absorbed some of the vampiric essence. It won’t matter if Elliott defeats him.” Sorrow bowed his shoulders. “But if he fails, we can’t allow either of you to live.”

  “I understand.” Tairin focused all her hopes, dreams, and love on the red whirlwind. Her father had said they were in the endgame. Whatever was going to happen would be over with soon.

  The funnel pulsed harder almost as if it were a living, breathing entity. A whooshing noise began from deep in its center. Meara screeched in Gaelic so garbled, Tairin couldn’t make it out. Stewart and Michael yelled in Coptic. The red light turned pure, blazing white, so bright she squeezed her eyes shut against its glare.

  She felt, rather than saw, the vortex explode. Shock waves pounded against her, and she dug her claws into the earth so she wouldn’t be tossed through the air. Wolf scent surrounded her. Had Jamal shifted?

  She pried her eyes open, squinting against residual blast waves. A pure black wolf nosed her tentatively. Not Jamal.

  “We did it,” her wolf crowed. “We did it.”

  Tairin touched noses with the black wolf, not doubting her wolf, but too scared to believe the nightmare was over. “Elliott?”

  The black wolf licked her nose. Joy rioted through her. She licked it back, wanting to take off running so they could romp and play, but it was daylight, and wolves were fair game for hunters in their part of Germany. She rubbed her snout against his. Happiness vied with sheer relief at not losing him to darkness and death.

  “We would have died too,” her wolf reminded her.

  “It was worth it—either way,” she replied.

  Meara, Michael, and Stewart joined them, their weary faces wreathed in smiles. “That was far closer than I would have liked,” Meara said. “Until I built the vortex to concentrate my power, I wasn’t at all certain we’d prevail.”

  “Och aye, that vampire was one strong bastard,” Stewart said.

  “We can hope the Reich will suffer for his permanent absence,” Michael muttered fiercely. “We have to make certain there aren’t any more of those fuckers helping the Nazis.”

  Tairin smiled to herself. So much for Romani not being warriors. Necessity made for strange bedfellows. Not only had the Rom worked side by side with shifters, it appeared Michael and Stewart had absorbed a corner of their warriors’ hearts.

  Meara swatted Tairin’s rump. “You may as well remain in wolf form. It’s easier than explaining why we have a naked woman in the car if the SS stop us for some reason.”

  “Easier, how?” Tairin asked, adding, “You’re naked.”

  “You’ll play dead, and we can pretend we were out hunting. As for me, I can create the illusion I’m fully clothed.”

  Elliott’s wolf growled, low and menacing. “I don’t like it.”

  “Do you have a better plan?” Meara eyed him. “Seems to me, you haven’t enough magic left to kill a fly, let alone launch an attack.”

  Elliott’s wolf subsided into whuffly snarls.

  Tairin thought about the shreds of her clothing lying on the ground back at the vampire nest. She might be able to salvage something of them. Maybe, but it probably wasn’t worth it. “Let’s at least take my shoes,” she said. “I only have one other pair.”

  “I would request the same.” Elliott’s mind voice sounded tired, but he wasn’t nearly as out of sorts as his wolf had been. “What’s left of my clothes are saturated with ichor from the vampire when my wolf finally chased it from my body, and Meara killed it again.”

  “Some things require killing more than once,” Meara muttered. “That vampire was one of them.”

  Tairin nuzzled his snout again. He must be exhausted. If he wanted to talk about what he’d just gone through, she’d listen. No matter how hard it was to hear.

  Aiming for something light and positive, she asked, “What do you think of your wolf?”

  “It’s amazing. The wolf is strong, principled, audacious. Never could’ve done this without its help.” Elliott hesitated. “I guess I’m like you now. Romani and shifter.”

  Meara clapped her hands together smartly. “Excellent. You two can figure things out together. We need to get moving. So far, we’ve been lucky not to attract SS attention.”

  “Only because none of the local farmers reported us,” Michael said dourly.

  Jamal knelt by Tairin’s side and buried a hand in her neck ruff. “I’m grateful your gambit paid off, daughter. You have guts. And it would have been terrible to lose you for a second time.”

  She locked gazes with him—one lupine, one human. “I didn’t want to lose me, either. If you wish to credit someone with courage, offer it to my wolf. This was its idea, but I’ve always trusted it. Today was no exception.”

  Jamal smiled. “When a shifter and their bondmate have been linked as long as the two of you, there’s no longer any difference. You’ve shared each other’s thoughts for so long, you become each other.”

  Elliott nudged her with his snout. “We can learn about the fine points of being shifters together. I’m looking forward to it.”

  Meara trotted back toward where they’d fought the vampires. The others followed her. The air smelled of smoke, and multiple pyres came into view once Tairin crested a small rise.

  “This is why I didn’t arrive sooner.” Meara swept an arm to one side encompassing the battlefield. “Had to set magic-imbued fires that wouldn’t attract too much attention to burn the vampires’ remains. I can’t hide smoke, so I spelled the place to make it appear someone had burned off a field.”

  “You’ve got some hellacious magic.” Michael shot her an appraising glance. “No one burns fields this time of year.”

  “Eh. Details. Seems to have worked. Those fires are damn near out. Everyone else has left. Let’s collect our car and get out of here.”

  Tairin and Elliott curled up on the floorboards beneath the car’s backseat. Jamal drove, with Michael and Stewart next to him in the front. Meara had chosen to fly back in her vulture form. Tairin felt the pulse of her father’s magic. He was doing his best to make their car less noticeable.

  Sirens sounded from in front of them, strident klaxons blaring discordantly. Jamal pulled the car onto a side road, and the scent of his magic deepened. “Stay down,” he warned.
“Last thing we need are wolf heads popping up in the backseat.”

  “What is it?” Tairin asked. “What’s out there?”

  “Shit!” Michael muttered.

  “Aye, I feared our luck had been running a mite too strong,” Stewart cut in.

  “What’s going on?” Elliott lifted his head, trying to peer out a window.

  “I told you to stay down,” Jamal growled. “It’s the Fuehrer in one hell of a hurry, with a phalanx of SS surrounding his car. They’re almost past us. Ward your power. Make certain nothing leaks out.”

  “Why?” Elliott’s wolf snarled. “They’re our enemy. They must be dealt with. We don’t run from confrontations. We fight.”

  “Not this time we don’t,” Jamal’s wolf snarled back. “Fighting for your life drained our power.”

  “The motorcade is slowing down,” Michael sputtered. “What do we do?”

  “Ward your power,” Jamal warned again. “All of you. We’re not strong enough for a direct confrontation. And two of you are unexplainable. The SS won’t bother with prison camp. They’ll shoot you on the spot for your pelts.”

  “I thought we were supposed to play dead,” Elliott’s wolf growled.

  “That wouldn’t stop them from taking you for your fur,” Jamal retorted. “Do what I say, and do it now.”

  Tairin felt Elliott’s magic recede within him. A sigh of relief rippled past her jaws. She’d forgotten how unmanageable newly bonded animals were. Her wolf had given her fits, and it might’ve been far worse had they not taken to its form for so many years. She huddled on the floor next to Elliott, barely breathing as minutes dripped by.

  “Thanks be to all the gods, the fuckers are speeding back up,” Stewart murmured.

  No one said anything until Jamal decided enough time had passed and guided the Mercedes back onto the roadway. “No need to wonder if more vampires are out there,” Jamal muttered.

  “No kidding,” Michael agreed. “This pretty much clinches it. Something that could sense magic was riding in one of those cars. The Fuehrer would never allow a Romani or a shifter, let alone witches or mages to get that close to him, so it has to have been a vampire.”

  “Goddammit!” Jamal pounded the steering wheel with a fist. “I suppose the Fuehrer has his own personal vampire. Makes sense, given that his SS were parlaying with them. He’d never have approved something like that and not wanted the same augmented power for himself.”

  “Our work may not be done,” Tairin spoke up. “But we can’t do anything until we eat and rest and recharge our power. It’ll take Elliott a while to recover from the vampire that lodged within him.”

  “I’ll be fine as soon as the rest of us are ready to launch an attack,” he retorted.

  If Tairin had been human, she’d have snorted laughter. As it was, a whuffle moved past her open jaws. Men. God forbid anyone suggested even a hint of a weak spot, and they jumped in with both feet—or four paws—denying it.

  “Our next skirmish won’t be as straightforward as today,” Michael said thoughtfully. “Getting close to the Fuehrer will be damn near impossible.”

  “Aye, but vampires travel in nests—” Stewart began.

  A rippling sound of disgust from Jamal cut off Stewart’s words. “Don’t you see? That’s why they were going so fast,” Jamal said. “The vampires we killed must have sent out a distress signal, and the ones in the motorcade were on their way to rescue them.”

  “I had no idea they had a type of hive mind,” Tairin cut in, “but I know very little about them.”

  “How close are we to the castle?” Elliott asked.

  “Maybe five minutes,” Jamal replied.

  “Can they track us?”

  “Not in cars. If we’d had horses they could,” Jamal answered. “Why?”

  “I’m worried about the caravans,” Elliott said. “Rom aren’t fighters. Those caravans wouldn’t know what to do if vampires attacked—or a phalanx of SS showed up.”

  “Being followed isn’t a worry, but if our conjecture about Hitler’s association with the vampires is accurate, and the nest we destroyed includes more vampires, ones that are part of his personal retinue…” Jamal’s words trailed off.

  “We killed the nest’s sire. What exactly does that mean?” Elliott asked.

  “That the remainder of the nest will turn the world upside down to exact revenge,” Jamal replied. “If there are other old ones in that nest, they may well recognize shifter and Romani magic in the ash piles that are still smoldering.”

  “So? We’ll stay in our human bodies for a while,” Tairin said. “That should solve the problem.”

  “Not that simple,” her wolf, who’d been silent for a long time, spoke up.

  “Your wolf is correct,” Jamal broke in. “Vampires can smell us—even in human form—if they put their minds to it. Which means they can scent Romani as well.”

  “One problem at a time,” Michael muttered. “Let’s get out of this car and back to the caravan. I’m going to sequester my people in the mountains between Munich and Dachau. Many deserted farms are tucked away off the main tracks, and it’s unlikely we’ll be discovered there. Not immediately, anyway.”

  “What about the other caravans?” Stewart asked. “I’ll throw my people’s lot in with yours. We’ll be stronger that way, but there are ten other groups.”

  Michael shrugged. “I can’t speak for them. We’ve always operated independently. I’m doing what’s best for my people. The other leaders will have to make that decision for theirs.”

  “Ye must tell them about the vampires and the Fuehrer,” Stewart countered.

  “I’ll take care of that once I instruct my people to finish packing their belongings,” Michael agreed.

  “Tairin and I will remain in the castle for a few hours,” Elliott said. “It’s already warded, and we need rest.”

  “What will you do after that?” Michael asked, his tone carefully neutral.

  “In truth, I have no idea,” Elliott replied. “It depends on what Tairin wants—and who’s comfortable having two mixed blood mages in their midst.”

  “We’ll sleep on it,” Tairin said. The specter of leaving the caravan made her sad, but her wagon and team were behind the crumbling castle. Maybe a part of her had known she’d never return to the caravan to live.

  Jamal pulled into the castle’s courtyard and killed the ignition. “No one asked, but I shall remain with my daughter and her husband to be—if they’ll have me.”

  “Of course we will,” Tairin and Elliott replied almost in unison.

  Jamal got out of the car and opened the back door so the wolves could jump down.

  Michael pushed the front door open and came around to Elliott. “I’m very glad you’re still alive, son. I plan to read up on the infection that passed from the vampire to you. It has to be in the lore books.”

  Light flared around Elliott’s wolf. When it cleared, he was a man again, his torso crisscrossed with a fine network of cuts that hadn’t been there before. He wrapped his arms around Michael, and the older man hugged him back. “I still have some of the lore books,” Elliott said. “You’ll want to take them back with you. Once you figure things out, tell me where you’ll be.”

  “Of course. We’ll need our combined power to take on the rest of those vampires.” Michael let go, and a grim smile spread across his face. “Nothing like a crash course in warcraft.”

  Stewart walked into the courtyard, his and Michael’s horses in tow. “We should get moving.” He pulled himself onto his mount, a tall, sorrel gelding.

  “Hang on. I’ll be ready soon.” Michael detoured into the tunnel, returning with an armload of books. Once he’d tucked them into his saddlebags, he swung astride his mount. “Good day’s work. Thanks, Jamal, and please offer Meara our appreciation as well. Without her, my boy would’ve died.”

  “Will do.” Jamal raised a hand in farewell.

  Tairin ran around to where her wagon was tethered, remaining as fa
r from her team as she could. Elliott followed her and opened the wagon’s side door. She bounded inside and shed her wolf body for her human one. A quick foray into one of many boxes lining the floor and walls produced clothes, and she wrapped a skirt and tunic around herself. When she came back outside, Elliott held her shoes dangling from one hand.

  She wrapped her arms around him, trying out and discarding words to describe the complex array of emotions buffeting her. Gratitude, love, relief, anticipation, and so much else she couldn’t name.

  “Yeah.” He smoothed hair back from her face. “All those things, and more besides. I’m so glad you didn’t cut me out of your life. I’m sorry for the way I was last night. I—”

  “Hush.” She laid a hand over his mouth. “I’ve always had a hot temper. It got the better of me. My wolf knew I was wrong, and it told me, but that conversation can wait. Right now, I need to sleep. Do you want to share the pallet in my wagon or shall we lie down inside your grotto?”

  He smiled at her. “That pallet sounds better than sleeping on the ground. We should tell your father what we’re doing.”

  “Jamal will figure it out. I suspect he’s exhausted too. Hell, he could be curled up asleep in the backseat of his car by now.” She grinned crookedly. “Keeping you out of evil’s clutches was a full-time job—for all of us.”

  “I have one question. The rest can wait.”

  Tairin nodded encouragement. “Yes? What is it?”

  “From what I know about shifters, your animals come to you in dreams when you’re very young. Where did my wolf come from? I asked it, but it told me that wasn’t important. What was significant was that it chose to bond with me.”

  She laced her fingers with his. “That’s true enough. The bond animals live in two places. With us and on another plane, maybe another universe. I’ve never totally understood where my wolf is when it’s not with me. I do know they converse with others like them in the other place.”