by Michele Hauf
“He had no idea what he’d gotten into. Oh, Severo, what will happen now?”
“She’s not coming after me directly. And that means she’s playing a very dangerous game. I will protect you with my life, Bella. But I’d feel better if we spent some time teaching you how to handle a few weapons.”
“I think that would be good.”
Her desire to learn defense surprised him. Truly, she was as strong a mate as a wolf could wish to have.
The man actually had an arsenal in the storage room behind the garage. She was surprised only because it was so huge, not because he had one.
Bella lingered in the open doorway as Severo strode before the shelves and counters, selecting a few throwing stars and tucking them in the pocket of his leather jacket, hooking what looked like a medieval mace over his arm. He paused before a wall of pistols and rifles.
Over his shoulder, he grinned at her. A boy with his toys.
Last night had been sweet. She hugged herself at the memory of the quiet darkness and his soft breaths as they’d lain in bed. No sex, just tender kisses, strokes. Mostly they’d spooned into one another. They hadn’t needed words.
After hearing how Severo had witnessed his parents’ cruel deaths, Bella believed any vengeance he had taken had been just.
Now, more than ever, she wanted to meet Elvira.
“Bitch,” Bella muttered.
“What’s that?” He approached her with an armload of interesting weapons.
“Just thinking about what I’m going to say to the mistress of the night when I finally meet her.”
He nodded as they exited, and pulled the door locked behind them. They headed outside. Crisp fall air necessitated that Bella wear a jacket, and she’d pulled her hair behind her head in a ponytail. All business. She wanted to learn.
“If all goes well,” Severo said, “you’ll never see Elvira. I want that bitch’s head on a platter with as little collateral damage as possible. My grievance is only with her. Though, if any of those vampires who chased you are still alive, I’ll take their heads, too.”
They strode across the backyard and through a rusted iron gate that led them through the ten-foot wide hedgerow and out to the valley. The hill was clean of trees and cut a sharp line against the overcast sky.
Though it was the beginning of October, Bella guessed it would probably snow soon. She liked winter. But it would be colder this year without Seth to share a fall hayride or pumpkin carving.
She sniffed at a tear. Severo noticed, but he didn’t say anything. She loved him for his ability to let her feel, to let her have a good crying jag if that was what she needed.
And that he’d softened and let himself feel last night, during his confession, meant the world to her. He hadn’t cried, but Bella figured that letting down his defenses was probably the closest he’d get to an emotional breakdown.
He laid the weapons on the ground and picked up a huge pistol and showed it to Bella. “It’s a big one, but it’s your best protection against a longtooth.”
“You’ve not talked at all about your breed.” She made herself use his terminology. “Are all vampires and werewolves enemies?”
“Most. The vamps have difficulty stepping down from their self-imposed pedestals. They don’t play well with others. Just ask the witches.”
“Why? What did they do to the witches?”
“Enslaved them. Drained them of their magic. So much so that centuries ago witches created a master spell that made their blood poisonous to the vampires.”
“Clever.”
“Indeed. The spell was broken a few years back. The vampires and witches have come to an agreement. The one vampire I can tolerate is actually married to a witch.”
“How does that work? If her blood was once poisonous?”
“Very careful sex? He’s a phoenix, actually. If a vampire survives a witch’s blood attack, he becomes indestructible. Anyway, the wolves get along with the witches for the most part. Here.”
With both hands she took the pistol by the handle, and it still dropped heavily. “This must weigh ten pounds. I’ve never seen a gun with such a big spinning thingy before.”
He cast her an incredulous look, wincing against the sunlight. “You’ve never touched a weapon in your life, have you, sweet?”
“Nope. But I’m willing to learn. What are those?”
He displayed a bulletlike object before him. “Bullets made of Brazilian ironwood, one of the hardest woods available. Shoot one of these directly at the vamp’s heart. It won’t take the longtooth out, but it will set it back and give you time to reload or use something more powerful, like a thick, heart-exploding stake.”
She examined the wooden bullet. A cross had been burned into the flat, round end of it. “And I’m supposed to be able to aim this thing long and sure enough to hit the target, which is likely coming at me at Mach speed, with fangs bared?”
“Exactly.”
Severo placed a few wooden bullets in the chamber and spun it into place for her. Demonstrating a good grip, he helped her to hold the pistol properly with both hands.
“Longtooths, eh?” she said. “A nasty word for vamps?”
“You bet.”
“What do they call you?”
“If they’re smart, they run. If they have a death wish, they call me dog.”
“Oh.” Wincing, she offered him an apology, remembering how she’d jokingly called him dog and other derogatory terms when they’d first gotten together. “Sorry.”
He kissed her cheek. “Call me what you wish, sweet. Just don’t stop calling me. Now hold it up and aim.”
“At what? The tree?”
“That’s too far. You’ve only about fifty feet with one of these things. Hmm, what could you shoot at? We need to see if you can hit something, and it should be moving…. How about me?”
“No!”
“Oh, yes.” He stepped back, his arms held out in challenge. “Wood isn’t going to kill me. It will just smart a little. Aim for my shoulder or a leg. Not the face. I may be a dog, but I don’t need any more scars.”
“Severo, there’s no way I’m going to shoot you. You said you aren’t immortal!”
“That’s right.”
She lowered the pistol. “Then why can’t you be killed?”
“I’ve explained. Silver is the only thing that does it.”
He splayed out his hands and walked backward. His dark brown eyes twinkled menacingly.
Bella dangled the pistol with both hands. It knocked her knees. “Come back here, please, Severo. I’ll try for a bird that flies overhead or something.”
He shed the leather jacket as he swiftly increased the distance between them. When he was hundreds of yards away, he turned and charged her.
“I’m not doing it. I’ll miss and hit you in the eye! What if I hit you in the brain? You’ll be a brain damaged wolf who can’t die and is crazed for sex!”
“Do it, bitch!”
He was trying to rile her. She wouldn’t fall for it.
A toothy snarl and suddenly the man racing toward her became something else. Bigger, hairier, more monstrous.
The werewolf.
Which she thought she loved. But she’d never seen it in daylight and—
Bella squeezed the trigger. The pistol didn’t make a noise. The wooden bullet exited with a forceful kick that tugged at her shoulder sockets. She dropped both hands down, following the bullet’s trajectory.
The werewolf took the bullet without flinching. Yet it stopped charging her, digging its feet into the ground and spinning about with a leap and a running dart up the hill, away from her.
“I hit him. Oh, no, I didn’t mean it. Severo!”
When it had crested the hill, the silhouette shifted and took on the were shape. It happened so quickly, and he didn’t shed any skin, or anything creepy like that.
Clothing lay abandoned on the ground forty feet away. He’d shed his shirt and pants as he’d changed, which meant he
was now naked.
And likely wounded.
He ran down the hill, gaining on Bella with supernatural speed.
“There you go, sweet.” He pressed the flesh on his shoulder and popped out the short wooden bullet. Blood oozed down his pale flesh.
“Oh my God, you’re bleeding. I really hit you. I could have taken out an eye!” Bella wailed.
“Or rendered me brain damaged.”
“You bastard!” She shoved the pistol against his chest and stomped away. “Don’t ever do that to me again. You know I love the werewolf!”
“Yes, but you were frightened of it just now.”
“Because I’ve never seen it during the day. I didn’t know you could change like that. I thought it was only during the full moon.”
“Surprised?”
She rounded on him, but the boldness of him standing there, bleeding and naked and strangely apologetic, messed with her need to remain angry.
“Come look, Bella. Please, it’s fine.”
She’d done it. She’d fired a weapon at another being. And if she could fire it at someone she loved, then she could sure as hell fire it at some bitch of a vampire who wanted her dead.
The creep had done this for her own good, and damn it, she was thankful for it.
“Let me see.” She stalked up to her lover, but by the time she touched his shoulder, the wound had already closed. She wiped away a streak of blood. “That’s cool.”
“I promise that’ll be the only time I ask you to hurt me.”
“Did it hurt?”
“Course it did.” He kissed her. “About as much as this might hurt you.”
He pinched her nipple and she jumped, slapping at him playfully. “Stop it, or I’ll try the throwing stars on you next.”
He caught her and swung her over one arm, dipping her into a dramatic kiss that would have made a silver-screen rogue jealous. “You make it so difficult to be serious sometimes, sweet. I like that about you. You allow me to remember what it’s like to just be.”
“Have you ever laughed for the heck of it?”
“Yes, many times.”
“With Aby.” He nodded, and she decided that someday she was going to have to meet that enigma of a woman. “Okay, what’s next, naked werewolf dude?”
“Another kiss right—” he tugged up her shirt and bent to her stomach “—here.”
And with more and more kisses, and the quick removal of her clothes, the weaponry lesson was postponed for a few hours.
Chapter 16
T hey strode at Severo’s quick pace through the marble hallway, checking windows and verifying security codes. Bella knew the routine, but she sensed it gave him greater peace of mind to do this than it did her. She trusted she would be safe, no matter what occurred, so long as Severo was here to protect her.
Not for a moment did she honestly believe she could wield that monster of a pistol, especially with a snarling vampire approaching.
If it came to that.
It was hard to imagine the war Severo sensed was brewing. One person had died. And while Seth was a sad loss, Bella couldn’t see the matter escalating to gangs of vampires versus werewolves.
Not that she’d seen other werewolves. Severo was a loner who had left his pack years earlier. He’d said the packs were slimming down and seeking shelter in the northern areas of Canada and Europe. The werewolves were not particularly social creatures, which didn’t surprise Bella, considering what she knew of Severo.
“And the security code is four-nine-zero-eight-five-two,” she repeated by rote when he looked to her.
The code increased by twelve with each door, starting with the front door, then the garage doors, the side doors, the patio door and various other exits. The windows were all on one central control, activated with a push of a button in the bedroom or kitchen.
“But you said the protection wards would be the first line of defense, anyway, right? What are protection wards, anyway?”
“They’re magical shields, so to speak, against demons, vampires and other sorts. Designed by a witch for me when I moved in. I can’t be too cautious. One never knows what those longtooth bastards have up their sleeves.”
“I’m hungry,” she grumbled. “I think I’ve got it. Let’s see what Heloise has cooking.”
He grabbed her about the wrist with his usual forceful squeeze, but a second later he let up. “Bella, you’re not taking this seriously.”
“I shot you and you don’t think I’m taking this seriously? Severo, this is a lot to take in.”
“You accepted vampires and weres easily enough. Why is it so difficult to want to survive?”
“I want to survive,” she said on a surprised gasp. “I love you. I want to spend more time with you. As long as I can. Forever, or for the rest of your three-hundred-some years. I don’t want to die, but…Just let me handle this my way, okay?”
“Yes. Sorry.” Occupied with security, he wouldn’t come down from the command mode for a bit.
He strode off toward the kitchen.
She followed, loving his no-nonsense gait, fierce and solid despite the slight hitch in the left leg—due to being caught in a trap. A tear pooled in her eye when she imagined her lover suffering.
It was a good reason to hold a grudge against the longtooths.
“So tell me,” Bella said as Heloise motioned for them to sit and wait for the dinner she was plating, “if you’re not immortal, then do you just drop dead at the big three hundred?”
Now more relaxed, he dragged her onto his lap in what had become their favorite chair to sit in and snuggle and make out. Bella pushed a thick hank of his hair over his shoulder and laid her head at his collar, where the heat of his blood brewed a delicious man scent.
“I’m guessing at the three hundred number.” He skated a palm along her bare leg, inching up her skirt, but not so high that it was inappropriate in front of Heloise. “Weres can live hundreds of years. I think the oldest was around three hundred twenty-five.”
“I can’t imagine a life so long. It would be amazing.”
“I was born in 1935. I’m still but a pup, I guess. Though there are days I feel I’ve lived these nine decades and died a thousand times over.”
She palmed his abdomen under the brown sweater, which matched his eyes, and snuggled closer. “What’s going to happen with us? I’m not getting any younger. And you certainly don’t want to be dating an old woman in another five decades.”
“You can’t imagine how good that makes me feel when you speak of us in terms of decades, sweet. Doesn’t matter how old or wrinkled you become. I’ll always love you.”
“Oh, please. When I’m eighty, and you’re still looking like a sexy thing, you can’t tell me I’ll appeal to you. And when I die…?”
“I will wish to go with you.”
“Don’t say that, Severo. Maybe we should just concentrate on the now.”
“You will always have my heart, Bella. Never forget that. It is yours. You stole it from me months ago, and I shouldn’t wish it back.”
The clink of a plate clued them in that Heloise had served the meal. She was respectful of the two of them and left the room to tend to household chores.
“Smells delicious,” Bella said.
“Salmon, I think.”
“I mean you.” She licked under his chin, where his trimmed beard was sensitive to the slick touch of her tongue. “She won’t come back in now. How about a quickie before we eat?”
“And you call me insatiable.” His hand drove up her thigh and cupped her derriere. “Unzip me, sweet, and hop on for a ride.”
Three weeks later…as the full moon mastered the sky, the werewolf sought its mate three nights in a row. Bella had learned to wear nothing but a robe, because otherwise the visits always entailed shredded silk and sometimes tangled limbs.
If she thought about what she was doing—with a werewolf—all sorts of moral and rational arguments could be conjured.
But she didn�
��t think. She acted with her heart. She made love to Severo, and no matter what his form, at his core, he was a man who loved her and put her above all others.
She’d driven into town earlier that day and found a Realtor to sell her loft. While there, she drove by Seth’s place. The small house had already been resold. She knew his parents lived in Florida, and that they had been distant the last three years. They knew her from when she and Seth had danced together in competitions in middle school. She didn’t feel the need to contact them. Let them grieve, and hopefully their son’s death had been explained to them in terms they could accept, like a car accident.
Not that she expected the coroner’s report would list vampire bite as the cause of death.
She wondered now if the death had been reported. The cleaners Severo had called had made efficient work of mopping up the vampires he’d slain in her loft. It was likely that Seth had been erased from this world without a trace.
That thought had reduced her to tears as she’d driven the gravel road out to Severo’s mansion.
Sniffing tears and whispering a blessing for her friend, Bella strolled through the marble foyer, calling out for Severo. He usually called to her or appeared at her side to sweep her into a kiss.
“Hmm, must be outside. Heloise?”
The sun was already a glow of red on the horizon. It glinted over the white plastic covering the yard crew had placed over the pool a few weeks ago. A scatter of leaves dotted the taut tarp. They’d had a light dusting of snow a few days ago, but it had melted.
Bella opened the patio door but didn’t step outside. The breeze snuck into her pores on a shiver. Wind rushed through the trees, tugging the branches to a rocking-chair creak.
“Maybe he’s in the arsenal.”
He’d been spending an inordinate amount of time in that storage room to ready the weapons then place them all over the house. He was a one-man gang preparing for a war that Bella still didn’t believe would happen.
It disturbed her, but not enough to frighten her.
Had she become complacent with him always close by to protect her? Had she forfeited the control she’d once so staunchly wielded?
