Revenant

by Janet Jones

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  Eternal Press

  www.eternalpress.com.au

  Copyright ©2008 by Janet Jones

  First published in 2008, 2008

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  NOTICE: This work is copyrighted. It is licensed only for use by the original purchaser. Making copies of this work or distributing it to any unauthorized person by any means, including without limit email, floppy disk, file transfer, paper print out, or any other method constitutes a violation of International copyright law and subjects the violator to severe fines or imprisonment.

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  CONTENTS

  Dedication:

  Acknowledgements:

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  About the Author

  * * * *

  Revenant

  She pressed her mouth against his ear. “Drink from me."

  He groaned against her, nuzzled her throat hard, and lapped at it with his tongue until she pleaded. The pierce of his fangs and the rush of her life-giving blood pouring into him cast her over the edge into pure joy.

  For sacred seconds, their souls danced like their bodies did. One forever. Inseparable for all time. She heard his soundless declaration of love in her mind, felt it in every move of his body.

  You are my wide, warm ocean of mystery. My safe harbor. My copper-coin moon rising to light my way, brighter than a thousand suns. Your love is my sustenance, stronger than a river of blood, all that my light-deprived soul thirsts for. I haven't the words to tell you how much I treasure what you've given me tonight.

  Revenant © 2008 by Janet Elizabeth Jones

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  This book is a work of fiction. Characters, names, places and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  An Eternal Press Production

  Eternal Press

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  Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada,

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  To order additional copies of this book, contact:

  www. eternalpress.ca

  Cover Art © 2008 by Dawne’ Dominique

  Edited by Stephanie Parent

  Copyedited by Valerie R. Coffey

  Layout and Book Production by Ally Robertson

  eBook ISBN: 978-1-897559-74-1

  First Edition * November 2008

  Production by Eternal Press

  Printed in Canada and The United States of America.

  Revenant

  Janet Elizabeth Jones

  Dedication:

  This book is dedicated to my loving family, without whose support and encouragement I would not be the person I am today, and to my fellow writers who inspire me when my muse wanders off and forgets her way home.

  [Back to Table of Contents]

  Acknowledgements:

  I'd like to thank the people of Camden, Maine, who were kind enough to send me wonderful things to help me write authentically about their beautiful town. Special thanks to the Camden Chamber of Commerce for their gorgeous visitor package.

  [Back to Table of Contents]

  Chapter One

  Camden, Maine

  Talisen kicked the truck door shut and stood with her eyes closed, breathing hard in the darkness and trying to gulp down as much of the damp, chilly air and the sweet green fragrance of the woods as she could. The gathering fog almost shut out the lanterns of other campers up and down the hill, creating the sense of solitude she needed. If she was lucky, she wouldn't run into another soul, unless she walked up to the visitor center.

  She just needed time to think. The park had always cleared her head before. But her anger rose up and closed like a fist in her chest.

  Jerking the tailgate of the truck down, she dragged her lantern and matches out. The first two matches she struck snapped in her fingers. She drew a deep breath and struck a third, more gently, and watched the soothing blue-white light of her lantern come to life.

  Hanging the lantern from the low limb of a familiar sapling, she dragged her tent bag and mallet out of the back of the truck. She dumped them on the ground and ripped her tent out of its bag.

  She'd start over if she had to. She'd go over every irrelevant scrap of information Grandma had saved. She'd go back to the Benedikt Inn and pester the Gerards with her questions, and she wouldn't take no for an answer this time.

  Her cell phone vibrated in the back pocket of her jeans. That would be Mrs. Emerson, checking on her. She slipped the phone out and flipped it open, squeezing it between her shoulder and cheek to free up her hands, and went on unfolding her tent. “Hey."

  "Tallie, you know I have a perfectly good studio apartment above the store. It's just going to waste. I'm starting another session of art classes for the kids next week. I could sure use your help. I'll pay you overtime."

  "I remember how much those classes meant to me when I was little.” Talisen threaded a cross pole through the loops of the tent. “But right now, I need to be somewhere I didn't share with Grandma, or I'll never be able to get this done for her."

  "Well, be sure to drop by the store tomorrow. I've got a wad of money to give you. I sold all your paintings today."

  "That's great!” The second pole was always stubborn. She gave it a shove and it slid through the loops. She began tossing the pegs closer to each side and corner of the tent. “Thanks. Thanks for everything."

  Mrs. Emerson hesitated and then added, “I went over there today. I took some more flowers."

  Talisen's anger growled inside her again. She slung the last peg into the ground like a knife. “I can't tell you what that means to me."

  "Once the grass grows over, it's going to be pretty. Let me know when you want to go, and I'll go with you."

  "I appreciate that. I'm going to wait until I've finished this thing for her. I don't want to go empty-handed."

  "You know she'd understand if you have to let it go."

  "No way. It was her life's work. I'm going to finish it. It's just one chapter. And if I can get the Gerards up at the Benedikt Inn to stop being so overprotective of their boss's whereabouts, I'll contact him and maybe get the information Grandma never could."

  "You might not have to go to that trouble. Someone has moved into the old summer house up the hill from the inn. Maybe Mr. Benedikt has finally come home."

  Talisen closed her eyes, clenched her fingers around the peg she held, and smiled. “Fantastic! When I see you tomorrow, maybe I'll have some new information."

  "Good. I'll see you then."

  She hung up and put her phone back in her pocket. “Yes, yes, yes, yes!"

  Maybe she'd get lucky and the Benedikt heir himself had taken the summer house. If not, the people leasing it might tell her where she could get in touch with him. One way or another, she'd find out if he had the information that had eluded her grandmother for so long.

  It burned her up to think of the precious hours she and Grandma had wasted trying to solve a mystery nobody had c
ared about since the eighteenth century. Their “quest” would never mean anything to her again except frustration and disappointment. She would walk away from it if she could, but she couldn't turn her back on Grandma's memory.

  Talisen ground her teeth together and raised the tent, forcing the poles into the soft ground. She'd finish that damn family history if it was the last thing she did, because it should have been the last thing Grandma got to do.

  Plucking up her mallet, she pounded each tent peg in with more force than she needed to. She tossed the mallet into the back of her truck and moved her box of supplies into the tent, where she unfolded her table, chairs and cot and set her Coleman stove on its crate. Finally, she brought Grandma's briefcase inside and opened it on the table.

  A lifetime of scraps, anecdotes, facts, and fiction greeted her gaze: familiar, dog-eared, paper-clipped oddities that had meant the world to Grandma. They were her treasure trove.

  Atop the pile lay a large envelope that had arrived for Grandma yesterday, from one of the Rudyard cousins she'd corresponded with since the last family reunion. Talisen hadn't had the heart to open it, for fear it contained just more of the same useless tidbits that filled the briefcase.

  She slammed the briefcase shut and shoved it under the cot, out of sight. If she didn't get hold of her emotions, she'd never make heads or tails of Grandma's information.

  Grabbing her flashlight, she flicked it on and slipped out of her tent and down the trail, following the sound of the waves ahead of her. She could walk this path in her sleep. The fog shielded her like a friend as she passed a tent here or there.

  When she reached the beach, she paused on the edge of the misty expanse, bracing herself for the familiar ache.

  It had happened over two hundred years before she was born. It shouldn't make her feel like this. Wistfulness she could understand—but this longing? Dragging in a deep breath, Talisen wandered down to the water's edge.

  Captain Arthur Ellory Benedikt had vanished on a beach somewhere here in Camden.

  Maybe this very one.

  If she could, she'd blame this sense of loss on Grandma's death—but it had always been like this. The sight of the water tumbling to shore and the caress of the briny sea wind on her face made her feel his disappearance as though she'd known him forever.

  Well, what the hell did she expect? Grandma had raised her on a steady diet of “the Captain.” To Talisen, he'd been Santa Claus, Mother Goose, Merlin and Sir Galahad combined. He'd been her first crush, the paragon of manly virtue she compared every “real” boy to—and until his story eluded Grandma in the backwaters of history and he became the disappointment of a lifetime, he'd been her ideal man.

  No more.

  Talisen rushed at an icy wave and kicked it as hard as she could. “Damn you, Benedikt! What happened to you?"

  * * * *

  Ellory bared his fangs and growled softly. Her presence throbbed on the periphery of his awareness, just out of reach, teasing, taunting and luring him, giving him no peace. He'd end it tonight.

  How long had he felt that ball and chain in his soul? A quarter of a century, at least. This week it had consumed him; tonight it had become a voice in his head.

  Damn you, Benedikt! What happened to you?

  Whoever she was, her signature vibration made her shine like a beacon. She was strong, this one.

  He cast a glance behind him at his tall blond companion. “She's definitely here. And close."

  Meical Grabian shook his head. “If you'd been monitoring our perimeter, you'd know the only vampires in our domain tonight are you, me and your fledgling ragamuffins."

  Ellory honed in on his nemesis. She was pure light, not darkness. Not vampire. “Meical, she's human."

  His friend became motionless. That was Meical. All stone in the face of the incredulous. “How can she call to you? How was she able to bring you back here, Ellory?"

  "That's what I'm going to find out. And then I'm going to be sure it doesn't happen again. The only human I'm picking up on—"

  "—is that one down there,” Meical finished.

  Ellory joined his friend on the other edge of the overhang and took a look. Down on the beach, a lone woman meandered closer to the water's edge.

  "I'll bet my last drop she's Dylan's idea of a homecoming gift,” Meical whispered. “Probably full of bloodbane. One sip of her and your guts will rot."

  Ellory probed the woman's subconscious. No trance. No hint of a vampire's possession. “No, she's unmarked."

  "I don't believe it. Turn her inside out."

  Sifting through the thousands of fragrances the night breeze brought him, Ellory breathed in the woman's scent, a heady mixture of roses, blood and feminine flesh. Her rage danced along his spine like a caress. He could feel her unsteady breathing, taste the salty tears on her cheek and hear her soul's cry of anger. Grief. A fresh wound. The silence of death shrouded everything inside of her.

  Thoughts of his human life emanated from her like a whirlpool waiting to drag him under. The compulsion to go to her gripped him so hard he gasped. She wasn't just curious about him; she was obsessed. Who was she?

  His passage from human life had long ago ceased to have meaning for anyone, and that was the way he must keep it. Not that she would believe the truth if she looked it in the face, let alone survive it.

  "Simple solution,” Meical murmured. “Dispose of her."

  "Not until I understand how she formed this bond with me."

  "Is that wise? The longer she's alive, the more of a threat she'll become. Your reputation allowed you to reclaim this domain without challenge, but our neighbors are watching you. Any sign of weakness, and they'll be on you and your flock of sucklings in a heartbeat. Just get rid of her."

  Ellory shook his head and launched himself off the cliff, hovering in the breeze. “Leave her to me."

  Meical scowled, but vanished without another protest.

  Sweeping soundlessly down to the ground, Ellory dematerialized and followed the woman. The wind dallied with her hip-length hair. Strawberry blonde. Perhaps more red than gold in the sunlight? He tried to imagine it.

  He opened himself to her anger, felt it rock against him like a boat come loose from its mooring—or home to its harbor.

  She was angry at him.

  Ellory ran a hand through his hair and growled again. What the hell was going on? Well, my lamb, you've found your Captain Benedikt, but I'm afraid he isn't what you expect.

  He materialized slowly.

  * * * *

  "Damn fog."

  At the sound of the deep, resonant voice, Talisen turned to see a man stride out of the mist. She hopped out of his way to avoid being walked on.

  "Sorry,” he said quickly. “I didn't see you."

  She pointed her flashlight skyward so it cast a wash of light around them. She told herself not to stare, but she couldn't help it. She regarded him with an artist's appreciation for the physical beauty of a well-endowed male. His gold-flecked mahogany hair curled around the collar of his dark green turtleneck, and his black corduroys hugged him in all the right places. His oak-brown eyes exuded a mixture of reassurance and absolute power.

  He looked behind him, to the left and the right, and then gave her a smile a dentist would die for. “Fog does weird things to your sense of direction when you're not used to it, doesn't it?"

  Mr. Immaculate didn't seem like the type to get lost anywhere. Talisen pointed at the tree line behind them. “If you're staying at the campgrounds, you want to go that way."

  "I'm parked at the visitor's center, actually."

  "You can get there from my campsite. Come this way."

  She started toward the trees, and the man fell in beside her. He was well over six feet tall and looked capable of snapping trees in two. Talisen firmed her grip on her heavy utility flashlight as they ducked into the darkness of the forest.

  "You must visit the park a lot,” he said. “You know your way so well."

 
"It's my getaway place. So, how long are you visiting?"

  "Actually, I used to live here a long time ago, and I've just moved back.” His voice dropped to a gravelly murmur that held more meaning than small talk could account for. “A lot has changed."

  Talisen felt like seconding that statement. The anger seethed inside her again, and she focused on following the beam of her flashlight ahead of them.

  When they arrived at her campsite, she turned up her lantern and pointed into the gloom beyond its glow. “Just follow that road. It'll take you right to the parking lot at the visitor's center."

  "Thanks.” He held out his hand. Talisen thought she'd lose herself in his oak-brown eyes. “I'm Ellory Benedikt. If there's ever anything I can do for you, you can reach me through the Gerards up at the Benedikt Inn."

  Talisen blinked and stared at him. It couldn't be. It was just too perfect. “You're Ellory Benedikt?"

  * * * *

  Snared. Caught. His. Ellory heard her heart leap in response to his name. The answering rush of her blood was almost more than he could bear. Her lips parted, shell-pink lips, perfect for kissing....

  She laughed and caught his hand in hers. He loved her firm grip. “You're not going to believe this, but I've been trying to get hold of you."

  If only she knew how well she'd succeeded. “Really? What did you need to talk to me about, Ms...?

  "Talisen Davies.” An edge crept into her tone, latent with anger. “I have some questions about your ancestor, the one you're named after. Captain Arthur Ellory Benedikt. I'm descended from his wife's line, and I'm trying to finish our family history, but I'm stuck on the story of his disappearance."

  Ellory silenced a groan. It was dangerous enough to find a clueless human at the other end of this psychic leash he wore, but Maddie's kinswoman? A flesh-and-blood bridge to his human life? How had this happened? Their shared familial connection and Talisen's intense focus on him could account for the strength of her hold over him, but it had taken something truly powerful to create it.

  Meical was right about one thing. With the neighbors sizing Ellory up to see if he was enclave material or an easy kill, the way he handled this situation could make or break his family's survival here.