BloodWish

by Tima Maria Lacoba

  I crouched into the hollow of one tree. Slow down, heart ... slow ... slow. Don’t want him to hear. I snuck a peek behind me and sniffed. The smell of a thousand rotting corpses mingled with wrath made me gag. I can’t shake him. He’s so close.

  Stinky screeched, and my pulse went maverick again. I ran. Sweat dripped into my eyes. I swiped it away and dodged between the trees until I got to the edge of the woods. Now what? I stared at field after open field. Oh man! I’d be a sitting duck. There was another forest—a thicker one—on the other side. So close. I needed to get in there. But how?

  Again, that piercing shrill. It was hunting me.

  I slapped shaky hands over my ears. It’s not going to get me! The other forest wasn’t all that far away. Deep breath. I measured my chances of making it across the open field: my legs versus flying Stinky. It didn’t look good.

  What I needed was one of those three-pronged weapons, like the ones Jake told me the old gladiators used in the Roman arena. I could swipe Old Stinky away, or better still, stick it up its arse if it tried to grab me.

  Pointy stick. Wood. I was surrounded by wood. Oh girl, you’re such a dope! I grabbed the nearest branch and broke off a long piece. It had lots of nice sharp twigs at its tip and along its length. I sighed. Enough to tickle him with, but not get through Stinky’s hide. Something sharper. Sacrifices must be made, girl. My heart breaking, I unlaced my favourite boots and snapped off the diamond stiletto heels. Ah, they’d only sink into the soft earth in the fields and slow me down, anyway. I used the laces to tie them to my stick.

  Okey-dokey, so it wasn’t a three-pronged, sharp pointy thing; it was a two-pointed stabby diamondy thing. Fine. I clutched my stick and peered up through the maze of branches. Where are you, Stinky?

  Movement up to my right. My mouth dried. He was circling the air practically above me, neck outstretched, sniffing. Could I make it across the field before it caught me?

  Now or never.

  Pulse racing like a rabbit at a greyhound meet, I streaked barefoot across the open field. You just try it, Stinky! I held my makeshift spear high in the air, my gorgeous diamond stilettoes shiny in the moonlight.

  The whoosh of leathery wings above me, another piercing shriek.

  You’re not going to get me. Sweat dripped down my neck and into my bra. Not far to go. Forest ahead. Oomph! I caught my foot on a rock and landed face first in dirt. My makeshift spear fell from my hand.

  No! Where is it? Where is it? My stomach doing somersaults, I whipped around and scanned the sky while groping for my weapon. Stinky was right above me, claws outstretched, mouth curved—was that a sick smile?

  It dove.

  Stinking piece of ... ‘I’m not finished yet!’ I yelled at it, shot to my feet, gritted my teeth and stabbed upwards.

  A glint of mesh. Then another and another. Several nets sailed across the sky. Like little glinting stars, they wrapped around Stinky trapping its wings.

  ‘Bring it down!’ Marcus’s voice boomed out.

  Yes! I pumped a fist.

  ‘Kari!’

  I spun around, my blood rushing so crazy I was sure I’d catch fire. ‘Jake!’ I jumped into his arms.

  ‘Thank the gods you’re alive, Cara Mia.’ He held me so tight, my ribs were squished, but I didn’t care. His arms around me were heaven. ‘I thought I’d go crazy.’

  “He thought he’d go crazy!” A lovely swarm of butterflies took off in my stomach. He called me, Cara Mia—my darling. He loves me! It has to mean that. Maybe he hadn’t realised it till now.

  ‘Did it bite you ... scratch you....’

  I shook my head. ‘It wanted me alive.’

  ‘For what? As a hostage?’

  ‘Umm ... You don’t want to know.’ It was gross just to think about it.

  Jake’s body tensed. He eased me back and looked me full in the face then down the rest of me. My breath went for a gallop. I’d forgotten I was only in bra and leggings, having chucked my jacket to throw Old Stinky off my scent. And, I was barefoot.

  My cheeks heated.

  Jake’s eyes paled, nostrils flared. ‘He tried to ... violate you?’

  ‘Kind of, but not kind of.’ I told Jake what had happened and how I’d escaped. ‘Old Stinky wanted to get back at you by taking me. Uchhhh! But I wouldn’t let him do it.’ I pointed to my cool weapon. It still lay in the grass where I’d dropped it when Jake found me. ‘Wrecked my fave boots to make a spear should he try dive-bombing me.’

  Jake’s head zipped to the side checking out the spear. Then he laughed and hugged me again. ‘You’re one in a million. I’ll get you a new pair of boots.’

  Keep hugging me. Don’t let go.

  But he didn’t. Sigh.

  He stared at me for ages. His eyes darkened, before he blinked, released me and whipped off his long-sleeved T-shirt. ‘Put this on.’ Was Jake jealous? My heart went pitter-patter. I threw it on, hugged it to me and inhaled his yummy scent. ‘The others needn’t see you half-naked.’ The crease between his eyes and the other scent her gave off.... Why was he angry? It wasn’t my fault I had to dump my jacket and the lovely perfume pendant he’d given me. ‘Are you cheesed off because I don’t have the pendant any more? I really, really didn’t want to, but I couldn’t think—’

  ‘What are talking about? I’m not angry with you. I’m proud of you, kiddo. Not many could do what you did.’ He grinned and ruffled my hair. ‘I’ll get you another one.’

  Kiddo? Why was he calling me kiddo, again. I caught his hand. ‘Call me that again.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Cara mia. That’s what you called me a minute ago.’ He’d meant it. Jake never said anything he didn’t mean.

  He looked away from me and strode toward the others. ‘You must’ve misheard.’

  ‘No, I didn’t.’ He kept walking. ‘Jaaake!’ I ran to keep up with him. ‘But—’

  ‘Not now, Kari. I’ve got a beast to kill.’ He kept going.

  Maybe he was just bashful in front of the guys? Or maybe not. Could I have really misheard? Cara mia does sound a bit like Kari ... kind of. Maybe he’d only rescued me because he was my sire, because it was his responsibility.

  My chest felt as empty as if my heart had been ripped out and flushed down the toilet. I sniffed and wiped my eyes with the sleeve of his shirt.

  Stupid Jake!

  ‘Catch it! Hook the wings!’ Marcus bellowed again. But each time they threw their nets Old Stinky evaded them and flew higher. Rotten wings must be regenerating. It gave one ear-splitting screech and took off, like a rock out of a slingshot, flying in the same direction it’d been taking me: toward the mountains.

  ‘Shit!’ Terens threw a rock after it, which hit one of its feet. Stinky yelped, but it didn’t slow down.

  ‘Terentius and Calixtus, with me. We’re going after it.’ Marcus collected one of the nets laying in a heap on the ground and coiled it around his forearm. ‘Justinius and Sempronius, get back to the house and tell Alec to move the household to Drunvela immediately.’

  Immediately? Like now? My heart sank into the bottom of my boots—if I’d still been wearing them. There were no shopping centres in Drunvela. Not even a village. The place was boring. You’re doing this for Lolly, remember? I told myself. Heck, I knew this was coming, and it was sure going to be harder on her then on me. She carried the weight of the curse—literally. I squared my shoulders. Lolly needed me, and that was it.

  Marcus and the guys sped off into the distance, following Old Stinky’s scent.

  ‘Stick to Laura like glue from now on, Kari. Until this is over, I don’t want you outside the ward.’ Jake’s voice always got deeper when he was worried, and I’d never heard him this worried before.

  ‘Fine with me.’

  ‘Okay, then.’ He smoothed his hand down my cheek and my legs almost turned to melted butter.

  Jake had the most gorgeous dark lavender eyes, long lashes. I didn’t want him to stop looking at me. Just as I raised my hand to his
, he dropped his, cleared his throat—when did he start doing that?—and turned away to join Sam. It was another stab to my heart, another bleeding wound alongside the others that wouldn’t heal. How much of this would I be able to take? Until I had no heart left?

  I pulled his shirt closer around me, his yummy scent filling my senses and splintering my heart even more. Can’t go on like this. My mouth dried at what I knew I had to do. I’d stay until the Curse’s end and then, if he hadn’t said anything to me, I’d tell him. It was a leap year after all, a girl’s chance to tell her fella she loved him. Resolve made my blood rush. Yep, I’d tell him, and if he wouldn’t say it back to me ... I’d leave and never come back. An empty blackness filled my soul at that thought. I pressed the spot above my heart. Yet, that kind of pain was better than seeing him with someone else, especially if that someone else was Milena.

  Please, Jake, don’t marry Milena ... don’t marry Milena, I chanted in my head all the way back to D’Antonville, hoping my thoughts would carry into his head.

  A girl could hope, right?

  My breath caught in my throat at the sight of the chateau’s windows sparkling in the sunrise. Home! And yet I would have to leave it if Jake didn’t want me. I rubbed my stomach to get rid of that awful hollow feeling as if my insides had been scooped up and thrown away.

  The protective ward tingled as I slipped through with Jake and Sam. They’d been chitty-chattying the whole time on the best way to get everyone to Scotland. We stopped at the sound of Lolly’s raised voice.

  ‘Who’s she yelling at?’ I asked, but I was afraid I wouldn’t like the answer.

  Chapter 21 - I Do, I Do, I Do

  LAURA

  Of the many varied combinations of words in the English language, few have the power to bring sweat to your hands and cause that deep sinking sensation in the pit of my stomach as “we need to talk,” or “we have a problem.” Two seemingly bland phrases that could leave a blot on an otherwise pleasant day.

  Still clutching my mobile, after Jenny had rung off, I sank into the sofa and stared out through the window to the copse of trees in the distance. Their bare branches swayed in the early spring breeze. But the air was just as frigid as the cold that enveloped my heart.

  Matt was on his way here.

  My stomach lurched. Not the first time in the last month. Morning sickness had truly taken hold and rarely did I pass a day without a couple of trips to the bathroom. My tummy was still deceptively flat and I splayed my fingers where a little bump would soon develop. ‘Whoa! Take it easy. Deep breaths.’

  I dropped my head into my hands. Why did Philippe have to enter my portrait into an art competition? He was dead. Matt knew the story. I’d told him. So why was he coming here with Interpol? What was he trying to prove?

  Or, was it petty retribution? His way of paying Alec and me back for me leaving him?

  I balled my fists, forgetting I still held the mobile phone.

  Could he be that possessive?

  That’s nuts!

  It couldn’t be that, surely. It had to be something else. But what? And why did he go to Jenny? He could’ve easily rung me. And then I remembered that Alec had erased my number from his phone. But then again, Matt was a cop. He could find any number.

  I closed my eyes as a myriad of questions spun around in my head like an out of control whirlpool. Somewhere among them was the correct answer, and I needed to know which one it was before Matt got here. And I had roughly two days—the time it took to arrive in D’Antonville from Sydney.

  Of all the timing!

  I stared out at the gathering clouds and then at my mother’s wedding dress draped on the edge of my bed. In a few hours, I was supposed to have been walking down the aisle at the village church wearing that lovely gown, saying I do to the man who rightfully claimed my heart, my soul and who was my true other half.

  But that dream would have to wait for another day.

  Pere Hubert was dead, and Marcus, with some of the men, was out hunting the lamia responsible for his murder. My heart still ached for that kindly old priest and at the evil that took pleasure in such a heinous act.

  I tore my gaze from my wedding dress and glared at the phone.

  Matt Sommers.

  I scrolled through my contacts list and stared at his name. Should I ... shouldn’t I? My fingers twitched with indecision, my mouth dry at the thought of seeing him again, not as an old flame but as a subject in an investigation.

  My head began to throb and a cold clammy sweat coated my palms at the prospect of having to repeat to the French police that horrible night Philippe attacked me. I fought back a wave of nausea as the scene replayed in my mind. I threw the phone on the floor, grabbed a cushion and buried my head in it.

  The door opened and closed. Padded footsteps on the carpet and a gentle hand swept my hair back over my shoulder. ‘What’s the matter, darling?’

  I turned my head and gazed into lavender eyes tinged with a dark ring of purple, their corners creased with concern. There was no way I could keep this from him, especially as we’d promised each other no secrets. I sighed and lifted my head from the cushion. ‘Jen just called. Matt’s on his way here, with Interpol. They want to interview us about Philippe.’ I repeated the gist of the conversation.

  Alec’s jaw dropped. ‘He entered your portrait into an art competition?’ He plonked on the sofa next to me, sighed and laid his head back against the cushions. ‘Of all the stupid things to have done.’

  ‘Yep.’ What else could I say? Jean-Philippe’s obsession with me just wouldn’t go away, even though he was long gone. It hung around like the proverbial bad smell. And now this. I snuggled into him. ‘Mat’ll be here in two days.’

  Alec’s eyes paled and a muscle ticked in the side of his jaw. ‘Luc was right. He said I’d live to regret keeping Sommers alive. Now here it is.’

  ‘No, you did the right thing. You’re not a murderer, Alec.’ Yet just as I said it, deep inside, I knew I’d still love him even if he had killed Matt that day, rather than mesmerising him into forgetfulness. That jolted me.

  ‘I have sentenced men to death.’ His eyes took on a hard edge.

  ‘Because you had to. They were the murderers, not you.’

  He gave me a half smile and rose, and with hands in his trouser pockets, he paced the room. ‘Two damn days! We can’t delay this move. Lamia could double back here at any time. We’re safe enough, but not the villagers.’

  ‘I’ll have a word with him.’

  I tossed the cushion aside and rose from the sofa. My phone, which I’d thrown on the floor, now sat on the coffee table. Alec must’ve picked it up. Darling man.

  ‘You sure?’

  No reluctance this time, no frantic heart thumping, I found Matt’s number in my contacts list and pressed the button. And waited. ‘I’m sure.’

  Alec sat back on the sofa, one leg resting on his thigh, brow furrowed.

  Matt picked up. ‘Long time no see, babe.’

  Alec growled, and from the two bumps that appeared along the top of his closed mouth, his fangs had slid down. Matt had that affect on him.

  Matt must’ve added my number back into his contacts list. Probably hacked into Telstra’s files to get it. Jenny wouldn’t’ve given it to him even if he threatened her with jail time. Love you, Jen, I sent the thought to her.

  ‘You don’t need to come here. Why are you doing this, Matt? You know what happened.’

  ‘Nice to hear your voice, too. Been thinking of me?’ I could hear the smile on his face. It was enough to make my blood pressure rise.

  Alec’s growl deepened and he leaned forward, the loud crack of his knuckles filling the silence.

  ‘Don’t be juvenile, Matt. You’re the last person I’d think about.’

  ‘Yet here you here, calling me.’ His smug little chuckle had me biting my tongue at what I really wanted to say. But I wouldn’t give in to it.

  Bastard’s taunting you, Alec’s voice murmured in my mind
, his tone charged with lethal menace.

  ‘I told you the truth, about what happened that night with ... Philippe. Why can’t you just squash this investigation? It’d be so easy for you.’

  ‘Why would I do that?’

  I swallowed, my heart pounding. ‘Because Alec’s innocent! You know that!’

  ‘I only have your word for it.’

  My blood boiled, and I wanted to scream into the phone. Calm. I took a deep breath. ‘You know I didn’t lie about that. I can’t lie. I hiccup.’

  ‘You and I know that, but no one else would. Besides, nothing would give me greater pleasure than to see Munro arrested for murder.’

  His words chilled my blood. ‘It wasn’t murder! How can you blame him for something he didn’t do?’

  ‘It’s not my call. Up to a jury to decide.’

  ‘You scumbag! What sick game are you playing?’ My body began to tremble, and queasiness spread from my tummy into my throat.

  ‘Justice, babe. And if he’s there with you, you can pass that message on, unless he’s listening in.’ Another chuckle.

  My breath hitched. My gaze connected with Alec’s. ‘Justice? You liar! You want revenge; that’s all. How about you stick—’

  Before I could blink, Alec had swiped the phone from my hand, pressed the End button and threw it on the coffee table. Placing his hands on my shoulders he turned me to face him. ‘Bastard was deliberately riling you, maybe hoping I’d take the phone from you and threaten him. Probably recording it all for evidence.’

  My breath sawed in and out, so I could barely string two words together. ‘The ratbag! I never knew he could be so vindictive.’

  ‘You weren’t together long enough, but eventually he would’ve shown that side of himself.’

  Something else Matt had said before Alec had snatched the phone away. ‘How would he know you’d be nearby?’

  ‘The hitch in your breath gave it away. For sure he heard it.’

  He would’ve too. Matt’s police instincts missed nothing. I groaned and pounded my fists on Alec’s chest. He could take it. I was like a fly swatting a rock.

  ‘Feel better?’