nevermore

by Nell Stark

  Synopsis

  A coup. A plague. A falling soul.

  In this sequel to everafter, Valentine Darrow and Alexa Newland are separated when Alexa is caught in the middle of a Wereshifter civil war halfway around the world. Meanwhile, a mysterious disease begins to ravage the shifter population of New York City. Unable to reach Alexa to warn her, Val must penetrate the darkest secrets of the Consortium in a race against time to save her lover and friends.

  Will Alexa be able to avoid the clutches of a renegade Were who wants to use her as bait? And in Alexa’s absence, will Valentine be able to resist the powerful temptation of her growing thirst?

  nevermore

  Brought to you by

  eBooks from Bold Strokes Books, Inc.

  http://www.boldstrokesbooks.com

  eBooks are not transferable. They cannot be sold, shared or given away as it is an infringement on the copyright of this work.

  Please respect the rights of the author and do not file share.

  nevermore

  © 2010 By Nell Stark and Trinity Tam. All Rights Reserved.

  ISBN 13: 978-1-60282-184-2E

  This Electronic Book is published by

  Bold Strokes Books, Inc.

  P.O. Box 249

  Valley Falls, New York 12185

  First Edition, October 2010

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.

  Credits

  Editors: Cindy Cresap and Stacia Seaman

  Production Design: Stacia Seaman

  Cover Design By Sheri (GraphicArtist2020@hotmail.com)

  By Nell Stark and Trinity Tam

  everafter

  nevermore

  By Nell Stark

  Running with the Wind

  Homecoming

  Acknowledgments

  nevermore is our first foray into series writing, and we are particularly indebted to our editor, Cindy Cresap, who helped us weave together the many threads of this narrative. Stacia Seaman’s careful fine-tuning of the manuscript is also very much appreciated

  We are likewise indebted to Radclyffe for sowing the seed of this idea years ago and for the opportunity to publish with Bold Strokes Books. We’d like to thank all of the wonderful, hardworking, and selfless people at BSB—Connie, Lori, Lee, Jennifer, Paula, Sheri, and others— for helping to put out and market quality product year after year. The members of Team BSB, including our many fellow authors, continue to inspire us!

  Finally, our thanks goes out to each reader who picks up one of our books. This series is, above all, for you, and we hope you recognize yourself in it.

  Dedication

  To love, ever after

  valentine

  Chapter One

  The deep rumble of the Jeep’s engine throbbed in my ears, its rhythm increasing as we accelerated. I looked out my window over the fraction of Serengeti plain we had just crossed, appreciating the aesthetics of deep blue sky converging with tawny earth at the horizon. Alexa’s fingers, entwined with mine, tightened. When I turned to glance at her, I was held captive by the elegant lines of her profile: the dark hair cascading in subtle layers along her jawline, the thick eyelashes that curled up ever so slightly at their tips, the delicate curve of her mouth. Her beauty pierced me.

  Thirst flared, a link of fire arcing down my throat, and I swallowed hard against the sudden urge to lean over and sink my teeth into the pulse that beat steadily beneath her neck. I had been sated that morning, but already, my need had returned. This wasn’t surprising, given the fact that for the past two months, I’d only been able to see Alexa for a few days at a time—too-short bursts of togetherness between endless weeks of separation.

  Originally, we had planned to spend the summer together in New York—she interning at a corporate law firm, and I interning at a microbiology lab. But at the last minute, she had received an offer from her sire, Constantine Bellande, the man who had sent his blood across the Atlantic more than six months ago to help her become a Were so she could feed me indefinitely, saving my soul and assuaging my thirst. I owed her. And in a way, I owed him. So despite the screaming demands of the vampire parasite that ruled my bloodstream, I hadn’t objected when she had wanted to spend the summer in Telassar with Bellande in order to learn more about her inner panther. Because Alexa was special. Already, she had more control over her beast than did many older shifters. Spending time in Telassar was a way for her to enhance her relationship with the panther that emerged every full moon, and I was glad that she had decided to go. But being apart from her had been even harder than I’d anticipated. My thirst, always a compulsion, was now laced with desperation.

  I breathed in deeply, struggling to regain some equanimity. The tension manifested in a sharp ache in my jaw and a hard knot between my shoulder blades—a stress reaction that was automatic now after months of fighting against my own need. But at that moment, I didn’t have to fight. I could relax. Alexa wasn’t an ocean away—she was sitting right next to me, and she would gladly let me take her blood and her body as soon as we returned to the lodge. Anxiety had no place here. I focused on the sensation of our palms pressed together, and my heartbeat began to slow.

  Our hands were a study in chiaroscuro, my pale skin contrasting with the deep tan she had developed during her time in Africa. And she was leaner than she had been—even in relaxation, the muscles in her upper arms rippled. Life in Telassar was hard work. The city was essentially medieval, unencumbered by modern conveniences like electricity. Alexa had described it as “camping in a castle.” Not for the first time, I wished that I could have a glimpse of its walls—just enough to feel connected to Alexa when we were apart. But vampires were not invited, and its location in Africa was a jealously kept secret. Rumor had it that no one without four legs could even so much as approach the city.

  This was my third and final visit to her. Each time, we’d met somewhere different: once in South Africa, where we’d learned to surf; once in Casablanca, where I had dipped into one of my “emergency” bank accounts and splurged on a fancy hotel; and now here, on safari in the Serengeti. I had no idea which of the locations was closest to Telassar. Alexa had made her travel arrangements privately. I didn’t like having secrets between us, but I could understand the shifters’ paranoia about maintaining the secrecy of their most treasured city. From the little I’d heard of it, Telassar sounded like a welcome haven for those who wanted or needed distance from the human world. I hoped Alexa was happy there. Sometimes it was difficult to tell, since she could say so little.

  I was surprised that she hadn’t yet noticed my scrutiny, but she seemed entranced by the view out her own window. I didn’t see the allure—her line of sight was almost completely blocked by a large outcropping of granite that our driver, Amiri, had referred to as a koppe. At that moment, she leaned over so her mouth was next to my ear.

  “On the other side of that rock,” she said, her warm breath cascading over my sensitive earlobe, “are two giraffes, four elephants, a herd of gazelle, and five…hmm, no, six wildebeest.”

  I laughed and rested my hand on her knee, feeling the last of my anxiety melt away. “Compared to you, our guide is useless.” I nodded toward Amiri, who had bragged about his ability to seek out exotic animals.

  Alexa smiled. “It’s comforting to know that this could be my backup career if the law doesn’t work out.”

  “Bite your tongue. You’re going to be an amazing lawyer.”

  “Mmm. How about you
bite my tongue, when we get ba—”

  The car lurched to a halt; we had rounded the leading edge of the koppe. “Just as I promised,” Amiri declared smugly as he pointed toward a small watering hole that had attracted a wide variety of herbivores. “Look at all of those animals!”

  I snickered quietly as he began rattling off the different species that we were seeing—which, of course, corresponded precisely with Alexa’s list. We lingered for a while as late afternoon gave way to dusk. I found myself captivated by the improbable grace of the giraffes and the playful antics of a young elephant. Alexa, on the other hand, looked bored after about ten minutes. Given the fact that she’d been spending most of the summer in panther form, it made sense that the wildlife here no longer held her interest the way it once would have. I wondered just how many gazelle she had consumed over the past few months and barely managed to suppress a shudder. The irrational, human part of me didn’t want to think about her sharp teeth tearing at the flanks of such a beautiful creature. But the predator that lurked in my bloodstream understood that kind of hunger all too well.

  Amiri started up the Jeep again, taking us back not the way we’d come, over the plain, but around the watering hole and into a forest of acacia trees. I closed my eyes, letting the rich smell of growing things wash over me, and trailed my fingers up and down Alexa’s thigh.

  The muscles beneath my hand tensed. I opened my eyes to see Alexa staring into the forest’s canopy, surprise and apprehension warring on her face. Before I could open my mouth to ask the question, a massive cat, its tawny fur mottled with dark spots, dropped from the thick tree branch above us and onto Amiri. He screamed in pain and fear, and the sharp tang of blood sliced through the air, parching my mouth. The car lurched—listing first to the right before sharply curving left toward one of the larger trees. I curled one arm around Alexa’s waist and used the other hand to brace myself against the seat in front of me. The impact reverberated up my arms, and I set my teeth against the cry that wanted to escape from my chest.

  I raised my head to the sight of Amiri draped over the steering wheel, blood streaming from a furrow across the width of his shoulders. “Alexa.” I forced myself to wrench my attention away from the tantalizing red ribbons that were pooling on the vinyl seat below Amiri. “Are you—”

  “Just bruises.” Her voice was terse and low, her gaze focused on a point outside the Jeep. The collision had thrown the leopard at least fifteen feet, but even as I watched, it rolled over fluidly onto its huge paws. “The gun, Val. Quick.”

  I reached for the long box beneath my seat. Before we had set out from the lodge, Amiri had stowed a rifle inside. But he had locked it, and my strength, though superior to a human’s, was not sufficient to free the bolt. I dropped the box back to the floor and returned my focus to Amiri. “The key. It’s in his—”

  Alexa’s touch on my arm was fleeting. “No time.” I followed her line of sight and tensed as I saw the feline, crouched menacingly, its tail lashing. It was going to spring.

  “Take care of him.” Alexa vaulted out of the Jeep before I could protest, and as her feet touched the ground, she called out a word I’d never heard before. “Uje!”

  Her body collapsed in on itself. There were no seizures, no bitten-off cries of agony as the transformation took her. She flowed effortlessly into her panther self, leaping forward to intercept the pounce of the leopard. Snarling and spitting, they rolled along the forest floor, claws sparkling in the dying light that filtered through the trees.

  I forced myself to look away from the battle, knowing Alexa could handle herself. I gripped Amiri beneath his arms and dragged him into the backseat. When I felt for his pulse—thready, but present—my fingers came away bloody. The thirst broadsided me, and I clenched a trembling fist. No. I would not tear into him, finishing the work that another predator had started. I would not. I would resist, and honor the Hippocratic Oath I had yet to officially swear. Do no harm.

  Breathing through my mouth helped a little, and I managed to blink the haze from my eyes. Carefully, I rolled Amiri over enough so that I could inspect his chest. When I raised his shirt, I was unsurprised at the mass of bruises, a perfect circle matching the circumference of the steering wheel. That complicated things. He probably had severe internal bleeding. There was nothing I could do about that out here.

  I pressed him against the seat, hoping the pressure would curb the flow of blood from his shoulders. I rummaged first through one pocket and then the other, until I found the keys to the box. It contained some first-aid supplies, too, but the rifle was my priority.

  It fit snugly into the curve of my arm and shoulder, and I raised it with confidence. Index finger on the trigger, I sighted down the long barrel, waiting for the perfect moment. Alexa’s black fur mingled with the leopard’s dappled coat as they writhed, snapping at each other’s necks with their curved, deadly teeth…but in the next instant, Alexa had managed to put a few inches of space between them with one powerful shove of her hind legs.

  I pulled the trigger and fired into the leopard’s shoulder. It grunted, staggering at the impact, and Alexa seized the opportunity I’d given her. She sank her powerful jaws into the leopard’s neck and shook her sleek head once, twice, three times. The leopard’s spinal cord snapped with an audible pop. Immediately, she tore into the meat of its flank, driven by the desperate hunger that always accompanied the change.

  I turned back toward Amiri, tossed the gun onto the floor of the Jeep, and rummaged through the other contents of the box. The only useful supply was a handful of gauze pads, which I unwrapped and applied to his back. As his blood soaked through them, my brain raced, suggesting and discarding possibilities. He needed medical attention, posthaste. Driving back now would mean leaving Alexa behind. But I’d have to do that anyway—her clothes had been ruined during her transformation.

  Decided, I vaulted into the driver’s seat. The call of Amiri’s freshly shed blood was even stronger here, and I gripped the steering wheel hard. Alexa. I had to focus on her. To tell her what I was going to do.

  “Alexa,” I called softly, not wanting to startle the panther into an instinctive reaction. She raised her head from her feast, and I couldn’t suppress a shiver at the sight of her gore-stained muzzle. Her ears were flat against her head, and her breaths came out in low, snarling rasps. For the first time, I noticed that she was favoring her left hind leg, and my heart clenched at her obvious pain. Thankfully, the injury would heal when she changed back.

  “Amiri is in bad shape,” I said. “I’m going to drive him back to the lodge. Meet me after dark, near the pool.”

  She stared at me for a long moment, and I wondered what she was feeling behind those beautiful, alien eyes. Did the panther experience Alexa’s mental presence as an interloper? Or had the past few months of study in Telassar enabled them to build on the tenuous common ground they’d discovered during our pursuit of the rogue vampire?

  But now was not the time for speculation. Silently praying to whatever deity ruled the Serengeti, I twisted the key in the ignition. The engine coughed a few times in protest before catching, but when I shifted into reverse, the Jeep cooperated, and I swung back onto the road.

  The movement blasted me with the alluring scent of Amiri’s blood, a delicious wave that momentarily swamped my best intentions and left me wanting to take his life instead of save it. I clenched my teeth against the persistent burn in my throat, letting the ache in my jaw ground me against temptation. And then I pressed the gas pedal to the floor and left the forest behind.

  *

  The panther prowled out of the darkness, a living shadow, green eyes reflecting the light of unfamiliar constellations. I held out the robe in my hand as an offering. Her stretch was a sinuous motion that only continued, elongating and blurring until she stood before me in her human form. Naked.

  I held open the robe and wrapped both it and my arms around her when she walked forward. She leaned against me and I breathed in, filling my
lungs with her distinctive fragrance, at once comforting and exciting.

  “How is Amiri?” she said.

  “The staff took him to the nearest hospital right away. I don’t think we’ll know anything until tomorrow.” I spun her to face me, then bent to brush a kiss across her lips. I meant for the gesture to be loving and reassuring. Tender. But she must have sensed the sharp need at the very core of me. She leaned in before I could pull away and slid her tongue deep into my mouth. Instantly the fire leapt up, crackling between us.

  “Inside,” I gasped when I felt her fingertips dip beneath the waist of my cargo shorts. When she responded by flattening her palm against my skin, I laughed breathlessly and somehow managed to pull back. “Not like that. Not just yet. Room. Now.”

  As we stumbled through the nearest door and down a dimly lit hallway, I tried not to think about the fact that after tonight, we had only one more full day together before I returned to New York. I didn’t want our union to be marked by that kind of desperate urgency. I wanted to take her body because it was the best way to communicate my emotion—not because I was in a race against time to fill myself up with her before the distance could once again intervene. Sliding one arm around her waist, I put everything else out of my mind but the heat of her flushed skin against mine.

  When we were finally behind the closed door, she pushed me up against it. One hand tangled in my hair, forcing my head back while her teeth and lips grazed my neck. The other divested me of my shorts, then cupped between my thighs.