by Nancy Glynn
“Oh, Lana.” He cradled her face and probed her mouth with his tongue, tasting her again.
She allowed him, feeling like she owed him that much. His hands ran down her, fondling, caressing, his lips on her throat, pinching her skin to see if she were real. “I’m here, Drake,” she reassured him. “I’m here.”
“Promise you’ll never leave me again? Promise?” he pleaded in a husky voice, his head against her chest.
She closed her eyes and accepted her lot in life. “I promise,” she whispered.
Chapter 15
“Is there anything else you wanted to go over, Lana?” Drake asked, shuffling loose papers into a neat pile.
Lana glanced over some paperwork, chewing on her lip. It was Monday and the first meeting with the twelve men and women. They’ve been going over all the new amendments and renewal of old contracts since eight that morning. It was now one, and her back ached. She just wanted to throw all the paper in the air and walk out. “No, we’re finished. Anything else?” she addressed the group, shaking their heads and standing.
A knock at the door turned all their heads. Hunter stepped in and looked straight at Drake, ignoring Lana. “I thought you wanted to go over some blueprints for the planned projects, Drake?”
“Oh, that’s right. I forgot our appointment with Bane Group. The rest of you can leave. Lana and I can take it from here,” Drake instructed.
The coven stood, murmuring to each other before bowing to Lana and then Drake before walking out of the room.
“If you two would like to go over this without me, then please do,” she said, hurt by Hunter’s obvious dismissal of her. She knew she’d been harsh with him yesterday, but she didn’t deserve this cold treatment. Or did she?
“I actually would like Drake to leave and discuss things with you, Ms. Stone.” Hunter carried his briefcase, sliding it on the table and opening it to extract the blueprints. He stood stone-faced and business ready, not an ounce of the heated man she had in her arms a couple of nights ago.
“I’d like to stay, if you don’t mind,” Drake said, pulling himself into the table next to Lana. He grabbed her hand and eyed Hunter, claiming her.
Lana yanked her hand away and grabbed a pen. Leaning over, she whispered in Drake’s ear, “Not here, ever.” She sat back, feeling the blood highlight her skin.
“Fine, have it your way.” Hunter took the seat to her left, across from Drake. His jaw clenched.
Lana wanted to touch his jaw, soften it, make him smile again. But she knew she couldn’t ever touch Hunter again. It would be wrong. He deserved so much more. He deserved to grow old with his wife, not have her stay the same age year after year.
She cleared her throat. “Gentlemen, fill me in.” Out of her peripheral vision, she could see Hunter staring at her, feel his eyes as she poured over the documents. Drake would ask him some random question to bring his attention back.
The staff brought food and drinks. After another two hours, they stood and shook hands, Hunter’s hand lingering longer in hers and then finally withdrawing.
“Coming, Lana?” Drake asked, standing at the door.
“I’d like a moment with Hunter, Drake, if you don’t mind.”
His jaw hardened before he nodded, leaving them to be alone.
She turned to him, trying to find the right words. “I—”
“No need to explain. You’re with Drake now. The high priest and his high priestess. I hope you’ll be happy.”
His lips were firm and straight, and she wanted so much to ply them apart and make them hers again. She knew what those lips were capable of, and her body responded at the memory. “Can you meet me at my house, in the garden?”
Cocking his brow in confusion, as if she’d lost her mind, he said, “I told you I’ll never go there.”
“Please? I wouldn’t ask if it weren’t important.” He was so near, his familiar aftershave scent wrapping around her, his dark hair now cut shorter, grooming for this meeting, for her. “You can come through the side entrance to the back if you want?”
“What’s in this garden of yours?” His lips twitched to a small smile, revealing his naughty sense of humor, giving her hope.
“Come and find out.” She didn’t mean for that to sound seductive, but his hooded eyes were seduced, his lips parted, their bodies so close.
“Won’t Drake be…jealous?” He stepped a little closer.
“He doesn’t have the right to be jealous. I do need to talk to you, though, before anything further can happen. I need to be honest with you.”
“That doesn’t sound good.” Another step closer, his head tilting down.
Turning her head to thwart his kiss that landed on her cheek, her hands flying out to his chest, she closed her eyes, an aching in her heart. He quietly chuckled, pulling back. “I’m sorry, Hunter. I can’t until you know exactly what you’re getting into. And not here,” she said, still turned away.
“Right, the garden. Fine, what time?” He opened the door.
“Eight tonight.”
“See you then.” He walked out without looking back.
***
Instead of driving back to Jack’s like he’d requested, she drove straight home. She felt better about thinking of sharing her truth with Hunter. She needed to tell him so he’d know she didn’t hate him, could never hate him.
She’d tell him of the deal she made with Jack and how she had no choice. An innocent woman would die if she didn’t. And finally, she’d tell him she needed to be with Drake because he was the same as her. She couldn’t force Hunter to live that kind of a life. He needed to know how she felt about him, but would he listen? Would he want to hear anything after hearing Drake’s name?
The Stone Manor garden held lots of secrets, especially of the darkest kind. Her parents had told her how they’d sit there and talk, protected by the fountain chiseled in the form of her grandmother. Jack feared that area and never came.
Diana texted her a few times, but she ignored them. She just couldn’t bring herself to have a normal conversation with her anymore. It hurt too much. Every time she thought about their wedding day getting closer, it created a knot in her chest and a surge of poison eating away at her insides.
Next came a text from Drake summoning her to a gathering outside of Jack’s church at midnight, and to wear her cloak. Jack wanted to do something special for her, a gift to be given to the high priestess. She didn’t like the sound of that. What kind of gift?
After eating dinner and taking a bath, she paced her room until it was near eight o’clock. As the clock struck eight, she ran down the stairs and through the house to the garden. Shaking with anticipation, she waited on the bench near the overflowing fountain.
She stared at it, feeling the presence of her parents and grandmother all here with her. Wondering where he was, she stood and walked to the gate where he’d come through but no one was there. The only sound was the rustling of the trees from the wind and an owl’s hoot. No Hunter.
It was almost nine now. Where was he? She tried texting him but no response. Her heart pounded. Did he change his mind? Did he know? Calling his phone did nothing, only hearing his voice say he wasn’t available cut right through.
Closing her eyes, she tried to get a sense of where he could be, maybe getting wine or fueling up at the gas station, but that wouldn’t take an hour. She reached her hand out to the statue exuding water and closed her eyes. A wave a nausea hit her and she pulled back, making it disappear.
Was he in an accident? Did he need her? Or was this his way of saying goodbye for good? She believed that was the truth. He was kissing her goodbye today at the boardroom, but she didn’t allow him. Now she was glad. It would have killed her to taste his lips once more, knowing it was his last.
Fuming, she stormed into the house and got ready for the gathering. Drake would be there. After what he had told her last night, maybe it was in the stars for them to be together. She couldn’t for the life of her remember bei
ng with him, even from her soul’s perspective. Dreaming of a faceless man for years, she had always assumed it was Jack. Maybe it was Drake.
After changing into white cotton pants and a pink halter top, covered by her blue cloak she was ordered to wear, she went back downstairs and waited in the sitting room to see if he’d show before leaving. She tried reading on her tablet, but kept glancing to the windows for something, her eyes darting toward the French doors across the house with hope. She even drifted off for a while before waking with a start to the dead quietness of the oppressive home.
The clock gonged eleven thirty, alerting her it was time. Her heart sank, knowing he decided not to show up. Did he hate her that much? She slipped her reader in her purse and walked to the door and out to her jeep. A howl echoed in the dark, making her pause before getting inside to start the engine.
On the way there, she looked out on the roads to see if she could find something, anything of Hunter’s. Maybe his truck died or was hit by another car or he was stranded or hurt. Not that she wanted him hurt. She just wanted to find him. She wanted to believe he didn’t give up on her so easily.
It was a beautiful April night, almost a month since she’d left Chicago on the last day of March. She decided to enjoy it and hoped nothing crazy happened at this gathering. But what was the worst that could happen? She’d already lost her mortality. There was nothing worse than that, so she didn’t care anymore. She didn’t have Hunter anymore.
As she drove into the path that led through the trees hiding the church in the back, she saw all the cars lined up and a bonfire. She also saw Drake sitting on a wooden bench near a tree, a dark-haired girl on his lap, flirting with him. He didn’t seem to mind her attention at all as she straddled him and began to kiss him.
These men weren’t not of the faithful type. Lust and greed corrupted their veins, all the money they could have, any woman they wanted to possess, luxurious homes and cars, a lifestyle for the wealthy.
Hunter wasn’t like them.
As she drove through and parked, Drake looked up and pushed the girl off, running to meet her at her jeep. “I hope you don’t think that meant anything, Lana. Caddy has been after me forever.”
“So, you always kiss them before you tell them no?” She opened the door and pulled her hood up, again as instructed.
“No. I mean…” He lowered his head.
“It’s okay, Drake. I really don’t care. It’s not like you’re committed to me.”
“Oh, but I am. As soon as we’re married, I will never touch another woman again. I swear.” He stepped closer, sliding his hands around her waist. His breath smelled of beer.
Holding her hands in front of her against his chest, she said, “Can I ask what this is all about? I don’t want anything strange given to me like a dead goat or a chicken. I’ve heard of things like that, and I can’t bear the thought of an animal being sacrificed for me.”
He laughed. “No, nothing like that.”
Chanting began near the bonfire, the coven laughing and dancing, holding hands and swaying around the spitting fire. A love fest or orgy developed, hands everywhere, tongues tasting and licking, body cavities plugged with appendages, and the responsive moans of ecstasy infiltrating the dank air. She hoped this wasn’t her gift. She’d be returning it.
“Want a drink? There’s some coolers over there with anything you want.” He took her hand and walked her through the grass.
Would Hunter be in a cooler? That’s what she wanted. “I’m good.”
“I’m sorry about you and Hunter. You’re not meant for him.”
“Why can’t I read your mind like you can mine?” She walked next to him, hand still in his but wanting to free it. She noticed three more people in the back by a tree having sex, a man and two of the women that she just had a meeting with that day. Jennifer was on the ground pleasing Scott while Macy was kissing him in a heated fashion, all undressed, the moon glistening on their pale bodies. The sensual scene stirred warmth in her belly. She dragged her eyes away to Drake’s face.
“You need to prove yourself first before we can trust you. The wedding will be your day to do that, and then you’ll be given full power. It’s just Jack’s way.” He sat in a lawn chair, facing an oak tree, pulling her to his lap. He nuzzled her neck. “You’re so lovely, Lana. I’m a lucky man.”
She smiled. “But are you really a man?”
His eyes grew dark, the love-struck look gone from his face. “I’m all the man you’ll need and more.”
Two hand claps echoed in the dark. “Children, children, gather around,” Jack ordered, slithering from behind the tree.
Lana moved off Drake’s lap and sat in her own chair. Everyone threw their robes on and sat on the ground like good little children. She gazed around at the clan and only saw hooded heads. The three in the back quickly got dressed and joined in, sitting on the ground at Jack’s feet.
“I’m so glad you could make it, Lana girl.”
She stiffened at him calling her that name again. It was a family name, as he knew. “Thank you for having me. I really don’t think a gift is necessary, Jack.”
Drake stared at her with tight lips.
“Of course it is. It’s my way of saying thank you.” He then drew his arms up and closed his eyes, chanting something she couldn’t understand. The fire roared to his ascending deep voice, the others chanting in a lower tone.
Jack then stopped and found his target, one of the women sitting at his feet. “Jennifer, it’s your turn.”
Jennifer’s head turned to Scott and then to Macy, finally resigning to her position. She stood and took Jack’s hand. “I’m honored, Jack.” She bowed and kissed his hand, disrobing her clothes, baring her buxom figure.
Lana whispered to Drake. “What’s going on here?”
He shushed her and jutted his head back to the strange scene.
A crack of a branch snapped behind her, twisting her around to see only trees blowing. The wind whistled, whooshing through the forest and coughing up flying debris. The high moon glowed at the midnight hour. A pack of wolves howled, giving her chills. There was something wrong here.
Slowly returning to the front, she watched as Jack directed someone hidden in the shadows. When he came out of hiding, she recognized Eric’s face. He walked over to Jennifer, holding some kind of a poker or branding device. He then held it in the fire until it sizzled.
“No,” Lana whispered.
As Jennifer turned away from Eric to show her backside, he bowed toward Lana before facing the trembling girl.
“No! Stop!” Lana cried. “That’s not a gift to me. Please, Jack!” She stood now wanting to run from this bizarre act of giving.
Drake came behind her and forced her to look, making sure she didn’t run. “You’ll be next, my heart. We all have this,” he whispered in her ear, biting the lobe and making her squeal in pain.
The bell on the church’s roof swung back and forth, tolling twelve times as the poker seared her delicate flesh, the girl’s blonde head dangling from the agony of the fire, a scream suppressed deep within her larynx.
Lana turned around to catch Drake breathing heavily behind her but looking at Jennifer, an amorous look in his hooded eyes. This was exciting to him. The way he watched Jennifer’s naked, trembling body, licking his lips. His body tensed as if he wanted to run to her. She dragged her eyes away from Drake’s haunted face and back to the horrific scene.
When Lana saw the mark branded on her pale skin, her eyes widened. It was the same mark on Emily’s back when they had found her, some symbol that made no sense then to her seven-year-old eyes but did now. An X that looked like a cross, Jack’s cross.
As Eric completed the ritual, he stood back and allowed Jack to step behind the girl. Jack then ran his tongue over the branded symbol, called the lick of the devil she had read in the black book. Jennifer forever belonged to him.
The crowd clapped and cheered, turning toward Lana and bowing. “Hail Lana!” they
chanted. Drake whispered under his breath, “I wish I could go to you, Jen.”
“What?” Lana asked, turning back around.
“Nothing.”
“Do you love her, Drake?”
“What? No, don’t be silly.” His eyes stayed on girl, rubbing the back of his neck, clenching his jaw.
Jack turned around to Lana and smiled. “Your turn, my love.”
Her eyes widened as her heart beat faster.
A wolf howled, drawing nearer as if right behind them, watching.
Lana head-butted Drake’s head behind her, kicking his crotch at the same time. As soon as he was down, she turned and saw her wolf standing there in the trees. He turned around and glanced back at her. She got the hint and took off, running wildly away from the coven, following her wolf.
“Laaa-naaa,” Jack called behind her. “You’re next.” His words whisked through the woods, chasing her, strangling her.
Pushing branches out of her way that scratched at her, she ran behind the wolf, their breath in sync. Her heart pounded probably also in sync with this creature that guided her to where she had no idea.
“Lana,” a man called out near the parking lot.
She stopped and scoured the area, finding the one face she needed desperately to see. Scared but relieved at the same time, she ran faster. Hunter stood with waiting arms next to his truck, the wolf next to his side, and embraced her as tightly as he could. Her breathing was ragged against his chest as he rubbed her head. “Oh, my God. They’re all crazy here, Hunter. I wish I never came back. I thought I could—”
“Shhh. I’m here now. Let’s get inside. Thanks, Taz. I owe you one.”
“He belongs to you? I thought he was mine,” she said, staring at her new best friend, reaching her hand out to touch his soft head.
