HOT-BLOODED BREATH OF DARKNESS

by Candice Stauffer

  “I am not going to rush it and hope for the best.” He cut Wes off. “I won’t risk her life. I won’t do it.”

  “You don’t have a choice. You’re starting a war with another demon. A sadistic demon.”

  “Enough.”

  “She’s vulnerable.”

  “I can protect her.”

  “You can’t. Not while she’s human. One slip up, just one, and it’s over.”

  “I will do it when out bond is strong enough for her to survive it. You are no longer my friend. Your opinion means nothing to me.”

  “What about Amber’s opinion?”

  Tobias shrugged. “She has a right to her opinion.”

  ***

  Jessie reached for Tobias’ mind, merged her mind with his. She didn’t plan to eves drop but she couldn’t resist the temptation to do so when she realized that they were talking about her.

  “You’re being reckless with Jessie’s life.”

  “Did you not hear me tell you that your opinion means nothing to me?”

  “You’re willing to throwaway our friendship over one human’s inability to cope with a little fear?”

  “You put fear in her,” Tobias said.

  “To keep her alive.”

  “You could’ve found another way.”

  “You’re wrong. She needed to understand what she was running from.”

  “She’s human,” Tobias said. “She doesn’t belong in our world.”

  She couldn’t believe Tobias was willing to admit it to Wes because he refused to admit it to her. He was a liar.

  “She’s not an average human. She’s different. Her psychic abilities made her an easy target. She needed to learn to use them to prevent her from being captured and killed. If you want her to survive, you need to bring her fully into our world as soon as possible.”

  “Our bond is not strong enough.”

  “She’s not your mate. And you know it. That’s why you won’t properly claim her, isn’t it?” Wes asked.

  “What I have with Jessie right now is enough for me. I don’t need or want anything more from her. Find my sister, take care of her, and stay the hell out of my business.”

  Tobias didn’t correct Wes. It was true. She wasn’t his mate. She couldn’t believe she’d been so damn stupid. She was pathetic. He’d manufacture the fairytale about their bond as mates and she’d believed it.

  “Amber blames herself for the deaths of your mother and father.” Wes stated.

  “That’s ridiculous. They are together and at peace. You need to convince her it wasn’t her fault. You need to remind her that she was only a child. I tried for several years.”

  Jessie continued to monitor their conversation as she tossed her backpack over her shoulder and made her way through the house to the backdoor.

  “She doesn’t need or want me to convince her of a damn thing. She wants to make it right. But she can’t undo the past.”

  “She wants to punish herself, Wes.” Tobias stated. “She wants to die. You need to give her a reason to want to live. You’re her mate. You’re the only one with the ability to give her a reason to live.”

  “She believes I blame her.”

  “Why?”

  “I told her it was her fault.”

  “You what?”

  “I lost my temper. She wouldn’t listen to me. She thinks she needs to protect you. I told her to stay out of your way. She refused. I lashed out at her.”

  “Make it right with her.”

  ~ EIGHTEEN ~

  Seconds after Wes left, Tobias realized Jessie was no longer in the house. He knew she was upset but, since she’d shut him out of her mind, he didn’t know why. She believed she could hide from him by blocking him from her thoughts. He followed her scent through the house, out the back door, and to the barn.

  The moment he entered the barn, he realized she was more than upset. He was staring down the barrel of a shot gun held by a woman. Not just any woman. His woman. His long awaited eternal mate. For a second, he couldn’t speak, he couldn’t move a single muscle. He couldn’t even take a breath. Everything else faded away. Not from fear. Being mad as hell looked hot on her. She was absolute temptation, a wickedly hot seductress, standing before him, challenging him. He knew deep within his soul that his life was no longer his. Countless lifetimes spent waiting, and hoping while fearing he would never find her, his mate, had ended.

  “What’s wrong, Jessie?” he asked.

  “I want to leave.”

  “You’re not a prisoner.” But he would never let her get away from him. He couldn’t lose her. She was everything.

  Looking wonderfully, beautifully fierce, she took a few steps toward him. While she smiled in an apparent attempt to hide her true feelings, her eyes, set ablaze with anger, completely failed to maintain the façade.

  “Be careful.” Doing his damnedest to appear less threatening to avoid getting shot at pointblank range, he held his hands up and took a step back. “It has one hell of a recoil.” It wouldn’t kill him, but it would make one hell of a mess and hurt pretty damn bad.

  A clear indication he’d failed to put her at ease, she pumped it. “Are you shitting me?”

  To be honest, he was quite fascinated by her. And, though he would never admit it, nervous. One look in her eyes told him that she wouldn’t hesitate to shoot him. “Not at all.” He shook his head. “It’ll knock you flat on your backside if you’re not prepared for it.”

  “I’ve seen my cousin use one.” Then, obviously wanting to put a healthy dose of fear in him, she stepped forward and pressed the barrel against the center of his chest. “You should be more worried about the hole it’s going to put in you.”

  “It’s buckshot so it’ll do more damage than a little hole.”

  “Good.” Lifting her chin, she glared into his eyes. “The more damage the better.”

  Feeling a good measure of pride, he smiled. He couldn’t have imagined a better fit for a mate. “You don’t want to shoot me.” Knowing damn well she did, he decided to do what he should’ve done rather than waste time trying to calm her. He removed the shells with a slight wave of his hand. “Not really. I can clearly see that you’re extremely upset.”

  “I’m not upset at you. You are what you are. I am mad at myself for being stupid.”

  “Talk to me. Tell me what’s wrong.”

  “I would rather sit down and have a conversation with a pile of horseshit than talk to you.” She shook her head.

  “And you’re not mad at me?” He tilted his head to the side. “Not even a little?”

  “You’re not worth my anger.” Her voice was smooth, emotionless.

  “Why?”

  “You’re a liar, Tobias.”

  “You think I’ve deceived you?”

  “I don’t think a damn thing.” Her smile, a scintillating promise of revenge, caused every muscle in his body to tighten with anticipation. “I know you’ve lied your ass off to me about everything. About us. About your feelings for me.”

  “You’re wrong.”

  “Why did you even bother to save me? You’re such a…you’re a no-good asshole, Tobias. I can’t believe you…I can’t believe I ever let you convince me that you were making love to me.”

  “Whoa. Whoa.”

  “Don’t you dare whoa me again. I swear I’ll shoot you.”

  “You need to slow down. Take a breath or two. I’m having a hell of a time trying to figure out what has managed to upset you. Talk to me. Tell me what’s wrong.”

  “I heard your conversation with Wes. I know what you really think of me.”

  “You don’t understand what you heard.”

  “I don’t want to listen to you right now.”

  “What do you think I’m keeping from you?”

  “You think I’m too weak to be with you.”

  “I was talking about our bond. We haven’t had much time together.”

  “You said you’d had enough. You said you didn’t want or need
anything more from me.” She paused. “I’ve had too much time with you. I’m leaving.”

  “I can’t let you go.”

  “Let me? Just who do you think you are?”

  “I’m your mate.”

  “Stop lying to me.”

  “You don’t understand what you heard.”

  “I can’t believe I fell for your lies. I can’t believe I trusted you. I’ve always been better off alone.”

  “I don’t blame you for being angry.”

  “Do you think I care?”

  “I am sure you don’t right now.”

  “I hate you.”

  “You aren’t leaving me.”

  “Really? That’s odd. I’m going back to town, finding my car, and getting the hell as far away from you and this mess as possible.”

  “I will not allow you to leave until Guss is no longer a threat to you.”

  “You can’t force me to stay.”

  “Since you insist on using our differences as an excuse to reject our union, I’m sure you are very well aware of the fact that I can, and I will force you to stay with me.” He took the shotgun from her and tossed it. “And you’d better damn well stop pointing guns at me. I don’t like it.” He took a step toward her. “Like it or not, you need to stick with me until I kill Guss if you want to get rid of me.”

  She lifted her chin. “I don’t want to keep waiting for him to show up. If you truly believe you’re able to kill him, what’s wrong with getting it done right now? I’m tired of waiting for a chance to start living because you fucked up before I was born.”

  His heart sank. She had every right to blame him. “He needs to believe I’m vulnerable or he’ll run and hide. We’ll go to town and bait him.”

  “How will we bait him?”

  “C’mon.” Tobias led Jessie to his pickup. “He needs to believe I’m too distracted or too impaired to see him coming.”

  “Impaired?”

  “I have a reputation for enjoying whiskey more than I should.”

  “You plan to get drunk to fight him.”

  “I have a reputation for drinking too much. I didn’t say it was true. And I don’t plan to fight him. I intend to kill him.”

  “You’ll see him coming?”

  He opened the passenger side door for her. “Absolutely.” Once she was in the seat, he shut the door, made his way to the driver’s side, and got in. He looked at her. “Don’t try to run off on me while we’re in town unless you want a reason to hate me more than you already do.”

  “Are you threatening me?”

  “Not at all. I’m just letting you know it won’t end well if you try to run off on me.”

  “That sounds like a threat to me.” She scooted over as far away from him as possible, leaning against the passenger side door.

  He started the truck and headed down his long gravel driveway. “You don’t have any reason to be afraid of me.” He wanted to pull her close and wrap his arm around her. “I will force you to stay close to me if you decide to make any attempt to run away from me before I kill him.”

  “I understand.” She stared out the passenger window, avoiding eye contact with him.

  ***

  Amber stumbled across a group of rogues near Willow Springs. They were gathered around an alpha wolf named Oliver. While she’d had several encounters with him over the past few decades, she didn’t know his last name. She’d never bothered to learn it. He was terrible. His soul was rotten to the core.

  Rather than expose herself to the wolves, she decided to watch them and try to figure out what they were doing. She knew Guss was working with rogues. The notion of Oliver working with Guss made perfect sense. Since a barrier of protection surrounded them, she couldn’t get close enough to hear what they were saying without getting caught. But she could observe them. And that, was better than nothing. She was bound to pick up some information.

  Other than the demonic power used to create the barrier surrounding the wolves, she didn’t detect anything that would indicate that Guss’ was nearby. He had to be close. Hopefully, he wasn’t hiding somewhere and watching her. That would be her luck.

  The wolves started to walk away in different directions. She decided to follow Oliver. She believed if any of the bastards would lead her to Guss, it would be him. He maintained his human form until he entered the forest. When he shifted into his wolf form, she took to the sky to follow him from a safe distance above the trees.

  She felt Wes touch her mind. Where are you, Amber?

  Leave me alone.

  We need to talk.

  Enough has been said.

  She didn’t blame Wes for finally telling her how he felt. It was her fault. Her parents would still be alive and well if she hadn’t forced her father to choose between his life and hers. She would never escape the past. She was so damn tired of running from it.

  I was wrong.

  Relax. I am not mad at you. I don’t want to talk about it with you. I don’t want to talk about anything with you.

  I was mad. It wasn’t your fault.

  You need to let me go my way. You are free to go yours.

  Your way is my way.

  Just then, Amber realized she’d made a huge mistake. She wasn’t following Oliver. She was being led by a compulsion.

  What is it? What’s wrong?

  She tried to stop, to turn around, but she couldn’t. The horrid stench of decayed flesh filled her lungs. It’s a spell. A compulsion.

  Don’t go near the spell. Wait for me.

  I can’t pull away from it.

  Where?

  Unable to stop, she floated into a black supernatural fog. Her vision blurred, and everything started to grow darker. Her stomach clenched and rolled. Oh, fuck. I think I just flew into a poisonous fog.

  Open your eyes so I can see what’s happening.

  It’s bad.

  Where is it?

  It’s close to Willow Springs. She felt herself drifting into an unconscious state. Son of a bitch. Stay away from it.

  I’m coming.

  No. Stay away. While total blackness closed in on her, she used every bit of her strength to reach out and warn Wes. It’s a fucking trap. Don’t get near it.

  ~ NINETEEN ~

  Jessie hated herself for being attracted to Tobias, for wanting him even after he’d deceived her. And, even though she never really planned to do it, for not shooting him. She wasn’t upset because he wanted to be with her. She didn’t even care that what they shared together was enough for him. She hated him for making her believe they were destined to be together. She hated him for making her believe that she was special. And, most of all, she hated that he’d made her fall crazy in love with him.

  “I can’t believe all this time I’ve been paying the price for you murdering that moron’s father before I was even born.” She instantly regretted opening her mouth to hurt him.

  He looked at her. “I am sorry. But I know an apology doesn’t change the fact that I did it. I will never be able to erase the past.” The sadness, the guilt in his eyes, killed her. “But I will make sure he never presents a danger to you again.”

  “It’s not all your fault. I went to the retreat to find Allana. I sought him out.”

  “No. It’s my fault. You saw the file, Jessie. He has been watching you from your childhood. He probably took your friend to get you to come after her.”

  He felt responsible. She realized that was why he lied to her about being his mate. That was why he wanted to keep her close and protect her. “Were we supposed to meet at all?” She couldn’t keep the sadness, the pain from her voice.

  “You’re my mate.” He reached over and tugged her arm. “Come here.” He wrapped his arm around her. “We belong together, Jessie. I didn’t argue with Wes because I wanted to end the conversation with him. I never asked for his opinion. I didn’t want it.”

  “I really hate being so turned on by you right now.”

  “Honestly, since it’s perfectly na
tural for you to be bombarded by lustful urges when we’re together, I don’t understand why you’re being so hard on yourself.”

  “Just because I think you’re sexy doesn’t mean I’ll act on it ever again.” Her voice was smooth, unimpressed.

  “I am feeling challenged to prove you will.”

  “Are you suggesting we have sex again?”

  “Was it just sex to you?” He parked the truck and got out. He walked over to the passenger side and opened her door. When she turned to get out of the truck, he wedged his body between her legs. Gripping her hips, he pulled her close. He brushed his lips against hers and whispered, “Was it just sex to you?”

  “I thought it was more. I’m so confused right now.”

  He kissed her. A quick kiss. Nothing more than a peck.

  “I’ll do my best to make you know it was more.”

  “How?”

  “I plan to make sure you know that I am in love with you and I plan to make sure you fall in love with me.”

  “It’s too late. I have already fallen in love with you.”

  “Then I will do my best to make sure you know I am in love with you.”

  “How do you plan to do that?”

  He caught her waist and lifted her. “I have many ideas.”

  “Why are we at a bar?”

  “The younger members of a local pack of werewolves come here often. You can always count on a few rogues to be hanging out with them. They work to divide and destroy the pack from the inside. As soon as the rogues realize I’m here, they will get word to Guss. We’ll stay for a few hours before I accidently reveal myself.”

  “Accidently?”

  “It’s bound to happen in here.”

  “Do you expect him to show up tonight?”

  “No. We’ll return a few nights in a row. Eventually, he won’t be able resist the urge to make a move against me.”

  “You don’t expect me to come home with you tonight, do you?”

  He nodded. “That’s where our bed is.”

  “And shower.” She reached under his t-shirt and moved her hands from his stomach to his chest and back down to his stomach. “We never finished our shower.”

  “Maybe we should skip the bar. I don’t like to leave an unfinished project before starting another.”