The Accidental Human

by Dakota Cassidy

  “Get on with it, Marty!” Nina growled with a yelp.

  “Okay, okay,” Marty gasped.“So she asked us to come over tonight and then she asked us to turn her. She said she didn’t care which one of us it was either.”She took one last, deep breath before rushing onward with, “AndIbitherfirst, butNinasaidIfuckeditup,soshebither,too!”

  “Marty, I swear on all things dark and deadly, when I get the fuck up off this floor, I’m going to pull every one of those salon-dyed blonde hairs out of your goddamned head!” Nina roared.

  “Nina?”

  “Greg?” Nina huffed.

  “Is what Marty said true?”

  “Would I be rolling around on the floor with this hairy, slobbering version of Wanda gone Cujo if it weren’t? Yes, honey—it’s true. Now help us!”

  Greg and Keegan passed each other glances that could only be called ominous.

  Then Keegan’s face grew harder, his nostrils flared.That meant shit would surely fly. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done, Marty? Any? We have a strict no biting policy for a reason.This”—he pointed to Wanda—“is one of them!”

  Greg knelt down beside Nina, clamping a helping hand on Wanda’s writhing, crazed, furry body to keep her from moving. “You’ve messed her chemistry all up, Nina. Do you know what this means?” He shook his head before Nina could answer. “No, don’t speak, or I might have to strangle you myself. Wanda is now rabid—rabid, ladies. The wires in her brain are crossed—she’s confused—her body is a mass of changes she can’t handle. Her senses are on major overload. I’ve seen this happen once in my five hundred or so years, and I never want to see it again. It’s pretty rare, and almost always deadly. Wanda’s now a werevamp. All in the space of twenty-four hours. It’s too much for her system to handle. But there is a cure.”

  Marty let a bellowing breath out. “Oh, thank God!”

  Greg shook his head again. “Hold on. Know what the cure for a change this magnaimous is, girls? The only cure for this crazed, maniacal reaction is—the blood of an innocent human. Where do you suppose we’ll come up with one of those? Who do you suppose is going to give themselves up without a fight to fix what you two disasters waiting to happen have done, snookums?”

  Heath flew through the door at just the moment the words left Greg’s mouth.

  “But look, lov-er,” Nina said sweetly on a harsh grunt. “Look what just showed up. A human . . .”

  GREG and Keegan had managed to get Wanda into the bathroom. It had no window, and while they figured out what to do, it kept her at bay.

  For the moment.

  Heath’s heart sped, his adrenaline level on high. “I know what this is,” he stated calmly. Maybe too calmly for even his own ears.

  “We did this. Me and Nina. I’m sorry. We just wanted—we just—” Tears streamed down Marty’s face, her eyes swollen and red.

  “We just fucking wanted to save her, okay? She’s our friend. Thinking about an eternity without her was hell. I won’t apologize for wanting her to live it out and die of natural causes—not some ugly disease like ovarian cancer.” Nina’s contrition was nothing less than defensive and anything but quiet.

  Marty flicked Nina’s hair. “Stop yelling, Nina. Jesus! Heath didn’t do this, we did.”

  Heath held up a hand, commanding their attention. “No, Marty. It’s okay. I know exactly where you two are. I’ve done nothing but think about it, worry about it—and I came up with what I thought was a solution. That’s why I’m here, because I’d do anything to keep Wanda here. With me.” He didn’t care that it was obvious he had to clench his jaw to keep from fucking shedding some tears. He didn’t care that it was in front of two other men who were complete strangers. Tears meant he was still breathing—and he’d savor that for these last few minutes.

  Until . . .

  Marty wrang her hands together, while Wanda, with sharp talons, tore at the bathroom door. Greg and Keegan were grunting, trying to hold her in. “She told us no at first—she said we were messing with fate. But then—then—”

  “She fucking fell in love with you.” Nina poked a finger in Heath’s chest. “And she wanted to live—for you. So I’ll be goddamned if when she came to us and asked us to do this, if I wouldn’t do what my friend wanted—so she could be with you.” Nina hurled a dirty look in Greg’s direction.

  It made Heath clamp down on his jaw harder. So he’d managed to get exactly what he’d wanted. If it hadn’t been confirmed in the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups she’d left him, what she’d done here was all the confirmation he needed.

  Yep, he’d gotten exactly what he’d wanted. Wanda to fall in love with him. He was falling in love with her, too.

  Heath cleared his throat. “Originally, I was going to come to you, Nina. To ask you to turn me back, and then I was going to do whatever it took to convince Wanda to let me turn her so neither of you would risk pack or clan retribution. Now, that doesn’t look like it’ll help.You do both know what has to be done, don’t you?”

  Marty choked on a sob, reaching for Nina’s hand, shooting Keegan a look of pure terror. “Yes.”

  Heath turned and faced the two men at the door and introduced himself. “Heath Jefferson.”

  Greg bucked forward as Wanda hurled herself against the door. “Greg Statleon. Culprit number one’s life mate.”

  Keegan thrust his shoulder against the bowing door. “I’d offer my hand, but as you can see . . . Keegan Flaherty, accomplice number two’s husband.”

  Heath looked back once more at Nina and Marty, his face somber. His mind raced like a freed wild mustang, but he fought to keep his head focused on what needed to be taken care of.

  Archibald.

  He needed to think about where he’d go—who would take care of him. Wanda would—he knew she would. He for sure wasn’t coming out of this alive, but if something went wrong with Wanda—he needed backup. “If this doesn’t work, and Wanda ends up . . . would you look after my manservant, Archibald? He’s got no one—just me—he’s old, and older still since we reverted back. I just need to know someone will look out for him if Wanda . . .” There was no fucking way he could say it.To say it out loud was as unthinkable now as it had been two days ago.

  Marty nodded, her voice watery and quivering. “He’ll never want for a thing.”

  “Count on it,” Nina said between gritted teeth.

  Heath swung back to look Greg and Keegan directly in the eye with the stare Wanda had told him unnerved her. “Open the door,” he said with a quiet, firm demand.

  Marty was at his side instantly, griping his arm, tears running freely down her pretty cheeks. “You can’t do this, Heath. We would never ask you to do this.We fucked this up—and it was out of love for Wanda, but she’d never, ever want this. She’ll never forgive us if we let you do this. Please, please don’t do this.”

  “I’m doing this for Wanda—because I’ve had my fair share of lifetimes, and having to live another maybe fifty years without her is a no-can-do as far as I’m concerned.” He cleared his throat. “Would you two do me a favor?”

  Marty gulped, choking off her sobs. Nina dry heaved, but nodded. “Anything . . .” she whispered.

  His smile was ironic, filled with everything he’d planned to tell Wanda tonight—he just didn’t make it in time. “Tell her—I’d share my Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups with her any day of the week.”

  “Done,” Nina gagged out.

  The crunch of tile in Wanda’s bathroom rang amongst Marty’s sobs. “Please, please—don’t . . .” she cried.

  “Let go, Marty. Let go now.”

  His stoic command made Marty back off. His tone suggested just how absolute his choice was. There was no thought involved in this. Wanda was suffering. He’d be fucked if he wouldn’t do whatever it took to stop it. His life had been far longer than the average male’s—he’d used up his life points—and he didn’t want to stay here, even if it meant being human, without Wanda. It was just a no-go.

  Marty went to
stand beside Nina, who put her arm around Marty’s back and let her bury her face in her shoulder.

  “Open the door,” he demanded again.

  Greg and Keegan looked like they were about to protest, but the silent question Heath sent with his eyes to them was clear: If it were Nina or Marty, wouldn’t you do the same thing?

  Both men nodded curt consent in Heath’s direction.

  When Greg and Keegan jumped out of the way, it was only seconds before Wanda barreled through the bathroom door, sniffing the air for the briefest of moments before seeing her prey, warm, fresh human prey. She lunged in an arc of tangled hair and snarling rage for human blood at Heath, covering him with her huge body.

  And then, there was no sound.

  Or light.

  Or movement.

  Not for Heath.

  Not anymore.

  CHAPTER 20

  Wanda woke with a heaviness in her chest and a mouth so dry, she almost couldn’t pry it open. Her fingers reached blindly for the first thing she could find, then settled on the blanket her mother had made her—familiar, soothing. Her head throbbed, and her eyes felt like lead. But her roaming hands discovered she no longer had on her pink nightgown.

  The filter of the dream-like haze lifted in increments—then accosted her all at once like a sharp smack to the face. She bolted upright, popping her eyes open—color and sound assaulted her senses in blinding clarity. Everything in the room was crystal clear. In fact, she could read the passage in the romance novel she’d been skimming that was way over on a table all the way across the room.

  Faaa-reaky.

  When she lifted her hand to rub her temple, she almost knocked herself out cold for the speed of the motion. And then, she caught her finger on something sharp in her mouth . . .

  Holy fucksticks.

  She was a vampire.

  Well, hell. Damn, damn, damn. In some beggars can’t be choosers way, she’d kinda hoped Marty’d get to her first, so she could still eat. Now she’d have to drink blood—which was squicky.

  Or not. Because the thought held appeal right now. It made her stomach rumble.Yet so did the notion of food. Juicy and dripping with blood food.

  Tight.

  Marty was the first to see she’d awakened. “Oh, thank God!”

  Wanda pushed the blanket from her and swung her legs off the side of the couch just as Marty gasped. The movement was so quick, she had to let her head hang down to catch her breath.

  And that was when she saw it.

  The hair on her legs. A buttload of it.

  Huh.

  And hold on one fucking second—she’d caught her breath. Nina didn’t breathe . . .

  Hookay—explanations were in order.

  “Marty?”

  “Wanda?”

  She peered up at her friend, her eyes swollen and red, her face splotchy. “What gives?”

  Marty blanched. “Wellllll, how about if I just say some shit went down, and now you’re going to live a long, healthy eternal life?”

  “Not cutting it.”

  Nina knelt down in front of Wanda’s knees, grinning up. “You’re good to go. Death no longer knocks at your door.”

  Wanda groaned. “Groovy. What is knocking at my door?”

  Nina yanked her up, righting her when she stumbled. “A couple of things,” she offered evasively, the grin replaced by a darting glance in Marty’s direction.

  It was then that she saw Heath over Nina’s shoulder, sprawled on the floor with Greg and Keegan beside him, and a whole lot of blood. She didn’t think, she reacted, knocking Nina out of the way with such force she fell backward onto the couch.

  She was on the floor, pushing Greg and Keegan aside with hands that trembled. Instantly male hands were on her shoulders, Marty and Nina on either side of each of the men. “What happened?” she shouted.

  “Wanda,” Marty had that no-nonsense tone to her voice. “Just listen. We bit you. Both of us—”

  Nina’s eyes narrowed. “Yeah, because genius here didn’t do it right the first time.”

  Marty’s eye narrowed, too. “I swear—to—God, Niiina, one more time with the blame game, and I’m going to knock those incisors out of your fricken’ vampire head!” she yelled back.

  Christ on a cracker—if she was something paranormal, that meant she’d have to listen to their shit for an eternity. For the love of all things fair—what a trade-off. “Nina, Marty?”

  “What, honey?” Marty was quick to answer. Too quick.

  “Both of you, shut theeee fuck up. Nina—let Marty speak! Okay, so you bit me—what’s that have to do with—with—Heath?” her words hitched while her hands roamed over Heath’s cool, chiseled features, lifeless and . . . no, she couldn’t think it. Oh, Jesus and all twelve apostles.

  Marty took a breath before replying. “When we both bit you, it didn’t turn you quite the way we’d hoped. It’s some legend or something.Your body couldn’t handle the overload of changes. Because we both bit you in a twenty-four-hour period you became rabid. So the only way to fix that was for you to bite a human, you needed the blood of a human to survive—”

  “You both bit me? Why the hell would you do that?” Wanda could hear the fear in her cry. What the fuck did this mean?

  “Because Nina thought I didn’t do it right. You know Nina, Wanda, always with the superior bullshit. It’s her way or no way. When we didn’t see any changes in you, she panicked—”

  “The fuck I panicked, Marty Flaherty! Don’t put the blame all on me—”

  “Nina, Marty! Shut up, and do it now because I have this crazy urge to clock you both in the mouth,” Wanda growled, surprising even herself with the deep resonance to her voice. “So let me be clear here. I bit Heath?”

  Both women nodded.

  Oh, Jesus, Joseph, and Mary. She’d bitten Heath? Omigod—she’d murdered the man she loved because she didn’t want to leave him?

  Well, that’d worked out just the way she’d planned.

  “You let me bite him? What the fuck is wrong with you two? How could you let me hurt the reason I was doing this in the first place?” she sobbed.

  “They didn’t, Wanda.” Greg spoke for the first time—calm, sensible, reasonable in this madness.

  “He did,” Keegan added, pointing to a prone Heath.

  She whirled to face Greg for confirmation. “What?”

  Marty worried her bottom lip. “It’s true,Wanda. Heath offered himself up for you. He called us the other day and asked to meet with us. He knew something was wrong with you, honey—which was why we finally made you tell us that night. Because we were afraid he was right. And during that conversation, he told us he knew Nina was a vampire. Anyway, when he got here tonight, he said he was going to go to Nina and ask her to turn him back anyway to save you. He also knew what we’d done—because he said he’s seen it before. So ask Greg and Keegan—he knew what had to be done, and he sacrificed himself for you.”

  “And then he said to tell you, he’d share Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups with you anytime,” Nina said, her own brand of pain written on it.

  He’d gotten what she’d left with Archibald. He’d joked he didn’t share his candy with anyone . . . hearing he’d share it with her made this a million times more painful. Her heart would shatter in a million pieces if she still had one—did she have one? Now she’d live for eternity, and Heath was dead.

  And obviously, upon making the ultimate sacrifice—like his life, for shit’s sake—he must have some feelings for her, too.

  Oh.

  God.

  The utter irony.

  Only she could find the man of her dreams and jack him up by killing him.

  After all this worry, after sending Heath away because she didn’t want to hurt him when she died—to have this happen . . . she couldn’t. Nope. She couldn’t. She should have let fate have its way with her and gone to her death with her big girl panties securely around her hips.

  Heath had just gotten his life back, and
she’d snatched it from him—only this time he wasn’t undead, he was just dead.

  Way to show someone ya care.

  Wanda rose on heavy, cumbersome legs, looking at Nina and Marty, composing a quick list of things to do in her mind. “Nina, take Menusha home for me, will you? I know Larry the hamster might not appreciate that much, but my choices are few, and Muffin would eat her alive, plus with the baby coming, Marty’ll have enough to do. And call my parents—they’ll tell Casey. Marty, I have a broom with a wooden handle. Go get it—do it now.” Her voice was so calm it might have even unnerved her if she didn’t know exactly what she wanted right at this moment.

  “A broom? Honey? I think you’re just not right yet. You can’t . . . sweep this up.” Marty peeked at her through eyes that were strained with worry, swishing her hand in an arc over Heath’s lifeless body.

  “No shit,” she offered flatly.

  Nina popped up, her hands in tight fists. “Wanda. We’ll take care of everything. It’ll be okay. Just go—go—I dunno. Greg, take Wanda out of here. Back to our house—something.”

  Greg moved to put a comforting arm around Wanda, but she brushed him off. “Marty. Get—the fucking—broom.” Her growl, resonant, eerie, deep, low, sounded through the room.

  Marty’s confusion was clear in the arch of her brows. “For what? We’ll clean up. I promise it’ll be just like you’d do it. Go with Greg.”

  Wanda stomped off to her kitchen pantry, yanking the broom from the closet, and returning to the living room. She ripped the green fanned bristles off the long handle, cracking the wood with a loud snap.The green plastic scattered at her feet and flew in the air. She held up the jagged, splintered remains under Marty’s nose, her face distorted by rage at what had gone down, but determined—determined to do what must be done. “Do it!” she screamed.

  Nina was instantly by her side, pulling at the wood with no success. “Give it to me, goddamn it, Wanda! What the hell are you doing?”

  Wanda yanked it back with a force that knocked Nina back a few steps, leaving them both surprised. This—this—whatever paranormal creature she was, had some advantages. Which would be cool if she cared to explore them. But she didn’t. Not now that she’d whacked Heath. She didn’t deserve to live if Heath couldn’t, too. “Marty! Pay attention.”