by Kay Maree
The sound of a car pulling into the drive penetrated Colton’s euphoria. He broke off the kiss and met Gina’s questioning gaze. “Someone’s here.”
Gina groaned, obviously not wanting to move any more than Colton wanted her to.
A knock at the front door took the decision from them. With more than a little regret, Colton lifted Gina and gently pulled from her warm body.
She quickly grabbed her robe that hung on the back of her bedroom door and had it on in record time.
“I’ll be right there!” she called, pulling a pair of sweatpants from the dresser drawer and tossing them to Colton. “Put those on.”
Colton pulled on the sweats in wonder. He really was making new memories.
Following Gina to the living room, he stood back as she looked through the peephole and tugged the door open. “Tori. Damien.”
“We wanted to come sooner,” Tori murmured from the porch. “But…”
“You had to wait for the sun to set,” Gina finished with a tinge of sarcasm.
With a flourish, Gina spun around, leaving the door standing open. “You might as well come in. I know what you are.”
Tori stepped over the threshold, her gaze narrowed in Colton’s direction. “Big mouth.”
Colton opened his proverbial big mouth to set the vampire straight, but Gina beat him to it. “Don’t blame him. He had no idea that I didn’t know. Because really, who doesn’t clue their closest friends in on the fact that they’ve grown fangs?”
Tori appeared contrite. Damien on the other hand looked ready to rip Colton’s ghostly head off.
Gina blew out an exasperated breath. “You might as well sit down. Both of you,” she stressed when Damien simply stood there.
Colton waited for Gina to sit and then moved to stand next to her chair.
Damien and Tori took a seat on the sofa.
“I’m sorry, Cherokee,” Tori admitted, her shoulders slumping. “You’re right. I should have told you. And I was going to…eventually. It just never seemed the right time.”
Tori shifted her gaze to Colton, and humor sparked in the depths of her eyes. “I hope we didn’t interrupt anything?”
Colton liked the pretty blonde. She had a genuinely funny personality. “Your timing could have been better.”
She grinned. “I knew the sense of urgency I felt was for a reason.”
One of Damien’s fangs abruptly appeared, and a faint glow of red swirled in his eyes.
Colton recognized it as jealousy. Which he could understand. He felt a pretty powerful possessiveness toward Gina, also.
“Claire informed us of your refusal to allow Psycho to hang around. I really think it would be wise if you did. He was my familiar for many years, and he ended up saving my life.”
The red in Damien’s eyes grew brighter. Once again, Colton could relate. He didn’t want the damn cat hanging around Gina, either.
Tori glanced up at Colton, sincerity shining in her eyes. “I know you want to protect Gina. And I have no doubt that you can. But what happens if you fade away tomorrow, a week from now, or in a month?”
A faint noise echoed through the room. Soft and full of pain.
“Do you understand what I’m saying?” Tori was saying, but Colton no longer listened.
There it was again, so low he barely heard it.
A feeling of terror washed through him with enough power it took him to his knees. Screams exploded inside his mind to mingle with that one small cry for help.
Colton gritted his teeth against the pain, his hands coming up to the sides of his head.
“Coltonhhhh!” Gina cried, her voice coming from far away. He felt her grab on to him, knew that she pleaded with him. Yet, not even Gina could hold him there. Not with the urgency of the cry begging for help.
His eyes slid shut, and the floor beneath him began to spin. He felt ripped apart as his body faded from the room, spinning through a myriad of colors and sounds in no particular order.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Gina had never felt as helpless as she did watching Colton fade from her sight. No matter how hard she tried holding on to him, he simply vanished before her eyes.
“Oh God. No. Colton?” She ran through the living room into her bedroom, only to find it empty of his presence.
Darting back into the hall, she checked the bathroom before turning and running into Tori.
“He’s gone,” Tori stated, grabbing on to Gina’s arms.
Gina shook her head, her heart pounding with adrenaline. “He can’t be gone. He just can’t.” Her voice broke on that last word.
Tori turned her and guided her back to the living room. “Have a seat. I’ll get you some water.”
Gina dropped heavily into the chair she’d recently vacated, her hands and legs trembling with dread.
She raised her gaze to find Damien on his haunches in front of her. “I’m sorry, Gina. I really am. What can I do?”
“Bring him back,” she whispered, unable to prevent the tears from gathering in her eyes.
He briefly lowered his gaze. “You know I can’t do that.”
“I thought we’d have more time together,” she choked out, attempting to pull herself together.
Tori returned with a bottled water. “Here, honey. Drink this.”
Gina drank deeply, using the time to get her emotions under control. She finished off the bottle and set it on the floor next to her chair. “Thank you.”
“Sure thing,” Tori soothed, laying her hand on Gina’s back. “It’s okay, honey. Everything will be okay.”
Gina shook her head, fighting the damnable tears once more. “No, it’s not okay. I was seriously falling for him, Tori. Faster than I ever thought possible. I know he’s not alive, but neither are you, and you are able to love.”
Tori flinched. “I’m alive, Gina. Sort of. Only I need blood to survive where you need food. But I get what you’re saying.”
Damien appeared uncomfortable. He stood and moved off toward the kitchen. “I’ll just be in there if you need me.”
Tori nodded to her husband and once again knelt at Gina’s feet. “Maybe Colton will be back. We don’t know the reason for his disappearance. It could be temporary.”
Hope fanned to life inside Gina’s chest. She jumped to her feet, surprised to find Tori standing as well. She hadn’t seen the blonde move. “I need to go see Riverwind.”
“The old shaman that lives on the Shoal River?” Tori followed Gina to the door.
Gina grabbed her keys and cell phone from the small table situated against the wall and jerked the door open. “Yes, him. I’m sorry to run off on you like this. Make sure that Peanut doesn’t get out, and lock the house up when you leave.”
Without waiting for an answer, Gina hurried from the porch and jumped into her car before she realized she still wore her robe.
She dropped her head back against the seat, blew out a breath, and went back inside to change. She grabbed her pistol for good measure.
* * * *
“Is everything all right?” Lani questioned, opening the door.
Gina had been standing on the porch, ringing her parents’ doorbell for the past several minutes. “I need to talk to you.”
Her mother pulled the door wider. “Well, come in. How long have you been standing out here?”
“Not long,” Gina murmured. “Am I interrupting anything?”
Lani shook her head. “Of course not. I was just getting out of the shower. What’s wrong, love? You said you needed to talk.”
Gina glanced around the familiar living room, noticing how nothing had changed since her childhood. “Where’s Dad?”
Something flickered in her mother’s eyes. She shrugged a dainty shoulder. “Who knows. We had an argument. He left hours ago and hasn’t returned yet.”
“I’m sorry, Mom.”
“Ah, don’t worry about him, sweetheart. Come, tell me what’s on your m
ind.”
Gina followed her mother into the kitchen, watching as she poured herself a glass of wine.
Lani offered one to her daughter.
“No thank you,” Gina politely declined. “I need to talk to Ned Riverwind. Will you come with me?”
Surprise registered on Lani’s face. “Why do you need to see the shaman?”
“It’s about Colton.”
Lani simply set her glass of wine aside and turned back toward the front of the house. “Give me a minute to change clothes and put on some shoes.”
Grateful beyond words, Gina followed her toward the living room. “I’ll be in the car.”
The drive to Riverwind’s was spent with Gina answering Lani’s many questions.
“He just faded, Mom. I tried to hold on to him, but he slipped away like air. Some White Buffalo I am.”
Her mother glanced over with a stern look on her face. “You should not mock your gifts, my daughter.”
“How is it a gift?” Gina shot back, anxiety riding too close to the surface. “If I’m the reason Colton’s gone…” She couldn’t finish the thought.
Lani ignored her daughter’s outburst, jerking her chin toward the windshield. “Turn right at the next road.”
Gina squinted against the glare of oncoming headlights. “I don’t see a road.”
“Slow down,” her mother gently scolded, gripping the armrest attached to her seat. “It’s a dirt road. You’ll miss it if you’re going too fast.”
Easing off the gas, Gina noticed a break in the trees up ahead. She flipped on her blinker, turning off Highway 90 and onto a narrow dirt road faster than was necessary.
“You love him, this spirit,” her mother quietly pointed out.
Gina’s heart squeezed. “I don’t know what I feel, Mom. I haven’t known him long enough to love him. I—“
“Love doesn’t require time,” Lani interrupted in a soft voice. “It needs only acceptance.”
Glancing at her mother’s profile, Gina asked, “Do you love Jack?”
Lani met her gaze. “I thought I did, once upon a time.”
Gina had never before heard her mother talk about her feelings for Jack. Though her answer didn’t come as a surprise, it still felt strange to hear it voiced.
“If you’re unhappy, Mom, why do you stay?”
Lani shrugged. “That is not the way of it, Gina. I come from a different era. One where divorce was unheard of. Besides, I am getting up in age. I really do not want to start over in life.”
Gina eased her car over a small wooden bridge that had seen better days.
A two-story house perched high on the banks of the river came into view. Gina pulled up close to the porch and switched off the car.
Opening the door, she got out, noticing Lani did as well. They trailed up to the porch, and Gina stood back as her mother knocked on the door.
“Galilani,” a voice rasped from the darkness.
Gina spun around, her gaze scanning the trees for movement.
A rather handsome older man stepped from the shadows, wearing buckskin pants, a T-shirt, and moccasin boots.
Gina had heard her mother speak about Ned Riverwind many times, but she had yet to meet him.
He brought a cigarette to his lips, the tip glowing red as he took a long draw. Smoke billowed around his face with his exhale. “I have been expecting you.”
Goose bumps peppered Gina’s skin. Though she couldn’t make out his eye color in the darkness, she somehow knew they would be black as onyx.
He stepped forward, the beam of his porch light spilling across his face to confirm Gina’s suspicions. His eyes were exactly as she imagined them.
“We need your help,” her mother softly confessed.
Riverwind shifted his gaze to Gina. “You mean she needs my help. I saw her coming long ago.”
Gina’s mouth went dry. For some reason, Ned Riverwind scared the hell out of her.
He lifted his hand, curling his fingers forward in a come-hither motion. “What is it that you seek, White Buffalo?”
Yeah, that wasn’t spooky in the least. Gina inched forward, somehow drawn to his voice. “I’ve lost someone, and we—I—was hoping you could tell me what to do to bring him back.”
“Once a spirit has crossed, you cannot bring it back. That is not the way of the White Buffalo.”
Gina stared, wide eyed and surprised. “I don’t know that he’s crossed. And how did you know it was a spirit?”
“Come,” he rumbled, turning back toward the darkness. “Time grows short.”
Gina looked over at her mother to find her staring at the place where Riverwind had stood.
“Go with him,” Lani whispered. “He is the only one who can help you in this.”
More than a little nervous, Gina reached over and touched her mother’s hand. “Aren’t you coming?”
Lani shook her head. “You must go alone from here, my daughter. I will be right here when you return.”
Gina squeezed her mother’s hand and hurried through the darkness in search of the shaman.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Colton came to, facedown in the grass, his stomach churning and his head swimming. He’d never felt so weak in all his life.
He attempted to gain his feet, but could only manage to push up to his knees.
“Gina?” he whispered, her face the last memory he had.
Lifting his head, he gazed through the darkness, noticing an old rundown house to the right of him.
Dozens of screams suddenly exploded through his skull, wringing a hoarse cry from him. They swirled around and through one another, some louder than others but all just as horrifying.
Colton gripped his head in his hands, his body falling helplessly to the ground.
The pain became too great, and he heaved with the power of the nausea assailing him.
“Help me…” a soft voice sounded amid the terrifying screams.
With his teeth gritted in agony, Colton lifted his gaze toward the rundown house in the distance. Had the voice come from there?
“Please…”
Pushing back to his knees, Colton began to crawl.
“Someone, please help me…” The soft cry penetrated his pounding head.
Colton rebelled against the weakness consuming him. He pushed to his feet and staggered toward the house, only to find himself facedown in the cold, damp grass once more.
Car lights could be seen coming up a long winding drive.
Colton lay there, his eyes squinting against the brightness, and watched as the vehicle pulled to a stop in front of the house.
The screams grew louder, the soft cry more desperate until Colton could hear no more. His eyes rolled back, and his world went black.
* * * *
Colton awoke to the same tormented sounds he’d passed out with earlier. He wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but the darkness still dominated the sky.
Rolling to his back, he stared up at the heavens, wondering why he’d been left to endure the endless screams.
Was this his hell? Had he been doomed to this torment for eternity?
And then Gina’s beautiful face drifted through his mind, calming him. He couldn’t be in hell, not after the bliss he’d experienced in her arms. And he was determined to find his way back to her.
With a mighty heave, Colton managed to gain his knees and crawl toward that house.
He focused on Gina’s face, pushing back the screams with every inch that took him closer to his nightmare. And he knew his nightmares originated from the darkened structure in front of him.
A light suddenly came on inside, spilling out over the yard in a yellowish haze.
“Did you miss me?” a man’s voice echoed from inside, triggering the soft cry Colton had heard upon awakening.
The crying began anew, growing louder the closer Colton got to the porch.
He pulled himself up the steps, o
ne by one, drawing on the strength of his love for Gina. And he did love her, he realized. He’d been falling for her since the moment she’d picked up that 911 call.
The screams grew louder the closer Colton got to the door, agonizing sounds that drained him of what little strength he’d managed to grab on to.
“Colton?” His sister’s voice penetrated his torment.
Straining to stay on his knees, Colton blinked against the light spilling from the front window and concentrated on his sister’s voice. “Leanne?”
“You found me,” she cried, sobbing through his psyche. “Where are you, Colton? I can’t see you. It’s so dark in here.”
Tears spilled down Colton’s cheeks. His sister was in that house, along with dozens more. He wasn’t sure how he knew; he only knew that he did. “I’m here, Leanne. I’m going to get you out of there, okay? Just hang on.”
She didn’t answer. Her voice disappeared from his mind as quickly as it came.
Fighting against the nausea and bone-weary weakness, Colton roared with rage and forced himself to stand. His legs shook, but he managed to stagger forward and slip through the walls to the inside.
What he saw there would forever be branded in his mind.
A woman lay chained to a large wooden table. Blood dripped from the sides, telling Colton that she’d been tortured extensively.
Something appeared in his peripheral, a shadow moving just beyond an open doorway.
Colton stumbled toward the woman on the table only to stop short when the shadow from the other room appeared in the form of a tall man with graying hair.
The man carried something in his hand, something Colton couldn’t quite make out.
He watched helplessly as the man moved to the table to stare down at the unconscious woman on its surface and slap her open-handed across the face.
The woman didn’t move.
“I can wait,” the man growled in a low voice. “I have all night.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Gina made her way through the trees, slowing her steps when she noticed a small structure with a fire burning near the opening. Riverwind sat on the ground, his legs crossed in front of him, and motioned for Gina to come closer.
