Shades of the Wolf

by Karen Whiddon

  Anabel cried out, making his heart leap in his throat. He looked at her friend Juliet, to see what she thought, but she remained standing, eyes still closed.

  No one else seemed perturbed. He told himself to relax, that Anabel was right there, her hand securely in his, and nothing could happen to her anyway while she stayed surrounded by all this power.

  But he remembered how the Drakkor had taken him unaware and nearly crushed him. Again he eyed Anabel, wondering if she’d give him a sign if she needed some sort of help. She tightened her grip on his hand, which reassured him. As long as her chest continued to rise and fall with her breathing, and she didn’t appear threatened, he waited.

  Just as he reached this decision, Anabel let out a powerful scream. Jerking her hands free, she jumped forward. And fell, as surely as if struck by a giant, invisible hand.

  He ran to her, reaching to cradle her in his arms. But he’d gone back to his ghostly, unsubstantial form, and his hands passed right through her. This made him want to lift his head to the sky and howl with frustration.

  The others rushed over, making soft sounds of distress. Juliet and her friend, who appeared to be the leader, gathered Anabel up.

  Rage filled Tyler. He hated being a ghost, despised the lack of the ability to help both Anabel and his baby sister. Once again, he was sick and tired of being insubstantial. Why even allow him to be contacted, if he couldn’t even help protect the ones he loved?

  Loved.

  This should have shocked him, but his anger and frustration eclipsed everything else. That and his concern for Anabel, who hadn’t stirred at all since she’d fallen to the ground.

  Juliet and her friend were speaking. He moved closer so he could pick up the words.

  “Her physical body is fine. The attack was on the other plane.”

  He shook his head, but no one noticed him. Of course they hadn’t. He’d managed to briefly forget that he was a ghost and thus invisible to most of them.

  Anabel groaned, her eyelids fluttering. She sat up, moaned in pain and looked around. “What just happened?”

  “We don’t know,” Juliet said. “We were gathering the power, and you just collapsed.”

  “No.” Anabel met Tyler’s gaze. “The Drakkor found me.”

  Several of the women gasped. Juliet, however, remained as calm and coolly collected as ever. “Us,” she gently corrected her. “The Drakkor found us.”

  Anabel nodded, clearly unwilling to battle over semantics.

  “And then what happened?” Tyler prodded.

  “He attacked me. Wrapped his claws around my throat.” Her hand went up, gingerly probing her neck. “He was trying to choke me. His talons tore into my skin and made me bleed.”

  Tyler nodded, despite the fact that her throat appeared untouched.

  “I fought him off,” Anabel continued. “And when he flew away, I followed.”

  Another collective gasp. Only Juliet and the older woman remained silent, their blue eyes watchful.

  Anabel kept her gaze locked on Tyler. “I wanted to follow him, to learn where he might be keeping your sister. But this time, I saw nothing I recognized, no landmarks to help guide us.” She grimaced. “Maybe because he noticed me after him.”

  If Tyler had been alive, he would have been holding his breath. “And then what happened?” he asked quietly.

  “He came for me.” Briefly, she closed her eyes. When she opened them again, they shone like polished copper. “And I fought him off, this time using some sort of magic or energy.”

  “How?” Juliet asked, sounding unsurprised and intently curious. “What precisely did you do?”

  “I used my palms. I’m not sure how exactly, but energy came from them and stopped the Drakkor. I was able to hold him motionless and keep him from reaching me.”

  Then she told them all how she’d simply decided she needed to come back and she had.

  When Anabel finished speaking, the assembled group remained silent. Anabel began shaking, and Tyler once again tried to go to her and offer comfort. But he was not permitted such luxuries. The ache in his chest became a stone.

  “Let’s go home,” he said. “I think we’ve had enough excitement for one day.”

  She nodded, saying her goodbyes to the women. Initially, a few of them protested, wanting her to stay longer, but a single look from Juliet quelled their requests.

  As she walked to the car, her gait seemed odd, as though her entire body felt sore. Once she unlocked it and got inside, she took a deep breath and grabbed the steering wheel, dropping her head on her hands. “I’m exhausted,” she said, her voice husky with weariness. “Even though I didn’t physically fight that dragon, my body feels like it did and got its ass kicked.”

  He waited until she’d started the engine and put the car in Drive before speaking. “We’re running out of time,” he said. “If we don’t get to her soon, my sister will die. I don’t know how I know this, but I feel it in my heart.”

  Straightening, she nodded. “I’m doing the best I can. If you can think of anything else I should try, I’m willing to give it a shot.”

  Since he had nothing else to offer, he managed a smile and thanked her. Neither spoke for the rest of the short ride home.

  As soon as they reached the house, Anabel headed for her bedroom. “I need to sleep,” she said, the exhaustion plain on her beautiful face. “Just a couple of hours, and then I’ll get up and make myself something to eat.”

  “Okay,” he replied, trying not to sound too worried. “You definitely need to keep up your strength.”

  The ghost of a smile hovering at the edges of her mouth called him out. Still, he couldn’t help smiling back. “I’ll wait for you.”

  The words sounded oddly prophetic.

  Tyler checked on Anabel several times during the night. Her even breathing and lack of restlessness told him she slept deeply, healing her body and her spirit. Though he wanted to stay with her while she slept, his attraction had grown so strong it interfered with his thinking. The more distance he maintained between them, the better.

  Finally, as the sun began to rise, he retreated to his own corner of the living room and tried again to contact Dena.

  The instant he stilled himself, for the first time in far too long, he was able to feel his sister reaching out to him. This time, he could barely feel the feeble spark of her energy, it had grown so weak.

  Unlike before, she didn’t speak or even plead for help. He doubted that she could. Nothing but misery and pain radiated from her. Stomach sinking, horrified and afraid, he knew then that they were running out of time to find her. If they didn’t locate her soon, the next time he’d see her would be in the misty world of spirit.

  He tried to comfort her as much as he could, but he wasn’t sure if she even felt his presence. Nevertheless, he remained, trying to transfer some of his energy to her, surrounding her with vibes of healing and strength.

  To his relief, some of it must have reached her. She quieted and appeared to breathe better.

  Damn, he cursed himself. Here he battled a foolish attraction to a woman he couldn’t have when he should have been focusing all his energy on Dena.

  The urgency of her situation had never seemed clearer. Now that morning had arrived, it had been five days since he first made contact with Anabel. They had to locate and rescue Dena within the next day or two or she’d die.

  They’d learned so much—but not enough.

  Having done all he could, he retreated. Back in Anabel’s living room, when he came out of his trance, he saw at least an hour had passed, judging by the angle of sun streaming in the window. Great. More time wasted. Exactly what he—and more important, Dena—didn’t need.

  Anabel had dreamed of landmarks. They needed to go comb the woods, drive around the more remote woo
ded areas and try to see if they could locate any of the markers she’d seen in her dream.

  Fired up, he hurried to find Anabel, figuring she’d still be sleeping. Instead her bed was empty. He rushed past it and found her in her bathroom. She’d just stepped out of the shower. Reaching for a towel, she glanced up and saw him, water drops glistening on her white satin skin. Naked, she was even more alluring, an unwelcome attraction he certainly did not need.

  Looking away, he knew the image would forever be burned into his retinas. He clenched his jaw so tightly it hurt. He needed to focus on rescuing his sister, not his mounting attraction for this enigmatic woman.

  Eyes wide, Anabel hurriedly wrapped herself in the towel. “Why are you in here?” Her voice came out high and breathless. “What’s going on?”

  “I need your help,” he rasped. “Dena’s fading fast.”

  “I know. We’ve got to find her.” She pointed at the doorway. “But a few minutes isn’t going to change anything. Out. Go wait for me in the kitchen. I’ll join you once I’m dried off and dressed.”

  As he backed out of the room, Tyler kept his gaze averted. It was safer that way.

  * * *

  The instant Tyler disappeared, Anabel let out the breath she’d been holding. When he’d walked in on her naked, she’d known an instant’s thrill of pleasure. For a moment, she’d wished he wasn’t a ghost, but a real, live man, the way he’d been earlier in the circle around the changing tree.

  The constant aching of desire never left her. Even when she pushed it away so she could focus, it remained, humming along just under her skin. How ridiculous was that? Bad enough she craved another man’s embrace, but how ironic the man wasn’t even alive.

  Sighing, she toweled herself off and hurried through her normal morning routine. Dressed, she gave a quick glance at herself in her mirror, shaking her head at the woman who stared right back at her. Sometimes she didn’t even recognize herself.

  Heading to the kitchen, where Tyler waited, she went straight to the coffeemaker and made herself a large mug of coffee. A couple of sips in, she finally felt ready to face her ghostly visitor.

  “I’m trying my best to help your sister, Tyler.” She let some of her frustration show. “But I don’t know what else to do.”

  “Try again to locate the Drakkor,” he said immediately. “He’s the only one who knows.”

  Remorse stabbed her. “I can’t,” she said. “I’m sorry, but I don’t have enough energy still. I need more rest before I try any more magic.”

  A shadow crossed his face, though he nodded. “How about we take a drive in the countryside? Somewhere in the Catskill Forest Preserve.”

  She stared at him. “We can do that,” she said slowly. “But you do realize that’s 287,000 acres and goes through Ulster, Greene, Delaware and Sullivan counties? Where do you propose we start?”

  Burying his face in his hands, he cursed. “Damn it. I hate being so freaking powerless.”

  Stunned, she didn’t know what to say. When she finally found the words, she hoped they did her thoughts justice. “Powerless? You are dead, Tyler. Yet somehow you managed to come back as a ghost and do everything you can to help your sister. That sounds pretty damn powerful to me.”

  He raised his face, staring at her. A spark of some indefinable emotion glowed in his eyes. “Thank you for that,” he said quietly.

  “You’ve just got to remember we’re doing all we can. I get frustrated too. I hate the thought of her at the mercy of that Drakkor.”

  “Me too.”

  “What I don’t understand is why.” Anabel rubbed her aching temples. “Nothing I’ve read about these Drakkors mentions them capturing young women and holding them hostage.”

  Tyler’s grim expression told her he thought he knew the answer. “Well, there’s your feeding-off-magic theory.”

  “I can’t find any information to support that. There’s got to be another reason.”

  Mouth twisting bitterly, he looked away. “Sexual deviants aren’t particular to any one species.”

  Though his answer made her feel sick, she kept her voice professional. “True, but I can’t help feeling there’s more to it than that.” She reached for the stack of ever-present books she’d placed on the table and tapped on one particularly thick book. “I keep reading and hoping I’ll find it.”

  Though he appeared skeptical, she chose to believe she saw a glimmer of hope.

  “No matter what, fighting that Drakkor almost did me in. I’ve got to rest up,” she said. “I plan to spend that time learning as much as I can about our enemy. I think that’s the key. If we can find out why he does what he does, we can figure out a way to beat him.”

  “Maybe.” Tyler didn’t sound optimistic. “I can only hope it doesn’t take too long, or we’ll be too late for my sister.”

  “You can fly,” she pointed out. “While I study, why don’t you go and search as much of the preserve as you can, starting with the areas closest to town? You never know—you might see one of the landmarks.”

  “I think I will.”

  Though she only nodded, inside she seethed with frustration. Talk about feeling powerless. Supposedly she had been blessed with great magical ability, but because of her lack of training, she had no idea how to utilize it. She’d give anything to be able to zoom to Dena Rogers’s side, zap the stupid Drakkor and bring Tyler’s sister to safety.

  Now she was too darn weak to do anything but rest.

  After making some soft-boiled eggs for breakfast, Anabel spent the morning poring over the books. Though Tyler had left, he returned shortly before lunch, brooding and silent, his rugged profile dark and somber. When she asked him if he’d had any luck, he only shook his head, gesturing that she should go back to her reading.

  Finally, she closed her book and rubbed her eyes. “I need a break,” she announced. “I’ll make a quick lunch and then get back to it.”

  Just as she spoke, she heard the sound of the postal truck delivering the day’s mail. “This is really getting to be a habit,” she said, half laughing at her own foolishness. “I’ll be right back.”

  Two sales catalogs, one air-conditioning-repair brochure and a letter from a company inviting her to take a competitive look at her home insurance. At least there were no bills.

  On her way back in, she realized a piece of paper had been taped to the front door. Curious, she pulled it down and opened it. The black-and-white flyer had been printed on regular paper rather than glossy, so the photograph in the middle looked dull, as if dimmed by the passage of time.

  The two faces smiling at the camera made her gasp. The woman, with her long mass of dark hair and exotically tilted eyes, was Dena Rogers in better times, according to the caption. The other, a man with his arms draped casually around her shoulders, was Dena’s older brother, Tyler.

  Chapter 11

  Dumbstruck, she studied the picture, uncomfortably aware that Tyler had not only been alive in this photo, but much more carefree. His ghost self rarely flashed that kind of confident smile, though when he did she felt its impact all the way from her heart to her feet.

  Handsome, sexy, masculine—all those adjectives came to mind. How she wished she’d known him then, before she’d met David. Shocked at the wayward thought, she shook her head. What on earth was wrong with her? She’d loved her husband and he’d loved her. They’d been mates, hadn’t they?

  If so, then why did she feel such an overwhelming attraction to another man? Even worse, to another man’s ghost. Mates were just that—one male, one female, for life. Once David had died, she wasn’t supposed to ever be able to love another man.

  Still she couldn’t look away. When she realized she’d been mooning at the photograph long enough, she shook her head at her own foolishness and read the text. And then, disbelieving, read it a
gain to be sure while walking back inside.

  “Wow.” The sound of his deep voice behind her made her start. Heat flooded her entire body as she met his gaze. Hurriedly, she looked back at the photo, hoping she hadn’t inadvertently revealed how he affected her.

  “Where did you get that?” he asked, his voice thick with pain.

  “It was on my front door. Evidently, Everlasting Faith Church is holding a candlelight prayer vigil for your sister.” Composed again, she faced him. “That’s pretty awesome, don’t you think?”

  “Yes,” he said thoughtfully, his focus still on the picture. “I find it hard to believe that anybody who can do something so caring could possibly have anything to do with her disappearance.”

  “Unless that’s exactly what they want you to think,” she felt compelled to point out.

  “Maybe so.” When he finally looked up from the flyer, he gave a slow shake of his head. “I haven’t seen that photo in a long time.”

  “When was it taken?”

  Glancing quickly at her, he flashed a distracted smile. “Two years ago, when I was home on leave. We’d just come back from a night out eating pizza. We were both so happy to be together again. Family is—was—everything to both of us.”

  Her throat ached for him. In that moment, she would have given just about anything if she could give him back both his sister and his life.

  Of course, she couldn’t do the latter, so she’d have to settle for getting Dena free.

  “Are you going to go?” He jerked his head at the flyer. “To the candlelight vigil.”

  Though she hadn’t intended to, she gave the idea some serious thought. “Do you think it would help if I did?”

  “Maybe. Who knows? But if whoever did this to my sister is there, he might do something to reveal where he’s holding her.”

  “True. I have read that people like that often try to insinuate themselves into the investigation.”