A Deal with Death

by Carrie Pulkinen

  He rubbed his forehead and glanced at the door. The best escape would be honesty. Tell her they should slow things down and then stop seeing her after working hours. Now was the time to stand up and walk away, but he couldn’t make himself move.

  “Please let me finish.” She rested her hand on his knee, the light pressure gluing him to the spot. “We seem to be stuck in a cycle, and it always ends in tragedy. That’s why I said kinda. Because I know how this is going to end.”

  He’d been prepared to bolt, but her mention of being stuck in a cycle drew him back in. “You asked about the readings I’ve had done? They’ve told me the same thing. That I have to break the cycle. But no one knows what the cycle is.”

  “I do.” Her brow furrowed, pity filling her eyes. “You said you thought those imps were a precursor to something bigger that hasn’t fully formed yet?”

  “Yeah?” A sinking sensation formed in the pit of his stomach.

  “That bigger thing is going to kill us both. First me, and then you. It’s happened in every past-life I’ve visited. I’m going to die in your arms, and I don’t know how to stop it from happening.”

  “Wha—” The words stuck in his throat. Hell no. His wolf sprang to attention, the deep need to keep her safe rousing it to the surface.

  She couldn’t die; he wouldn’t let it happen. He’d fought plenty of monsters, vanquished nasty demons that would have sent most wolves running with their tails between their legs. “Come here. I’m not going to let you die. Whatever this monster is, I’ll protect you from it.” He sidled next to her and wrapped her in his arms.

  Resting her head on his shoulder, she draped her legs across his lap and snuggled into his side. “It’s going to kill you too. That’s the cycle.”

  Nope. Couldn’t happen. The cycle ended now. “There’s a hole in your theory.”

  She lifted her head to look at him. “How so?”

  “You said we’re both going to die because you’ve seen it in your past-life regressions. But if you always die in my arms, how can you know that I die too?”

  “Because I’ve researched it. I discovered my name in the regression, then I looked up the records. It’s always the same, reported as a double murder or murder-suicide. Two mangled bodies are found with their throats slit or their hearts punctured, but the killer is never discovered.”

  He held her tighter, letting her words sink in. She’d called the murderer a monster. “Do you know who the killer is? Another reincarnated soul who’s out to get us?”

  “It’s not a human. The memories always grow fuzzy when I recount my death. Probably my brain’s way of trying to spare me from the horror. But it’s horrible anyway. I’m always with you when it happens. The monster is fast and grotesque. From what I’ve seen, he looks part-human, but his head has melted onto his shoulders in some way.” She shivered.

  “I feel teeth and claws. Sometimes I think I see a knife, but it could be a long claw. I don’t know if it’s a reincarnated beast or if it’s the same one, living all these years in seclusion.”

  “Teeth and claws. Could it be a werewolf?” Could someone in his own pack be out to get him? It wouldn’t be the first time a lower-level wolf had challenged for rank, nor the first time a mate had been targeted. James wasn’t first-family. He didn’t have an ounce of alpha blood in his body, but his solid track record and his friendship with the alpha had raised him in the ranks.

  Not high enough to be challenged, though.

  “It’s possible. I don’t know, but whatever it is, our coming together has awakened it.”

  “Do you know what started it? If it’s a cycle, it must have a beginning. Maybe that’s the puzzle we need to solve. If we can figure out what started it, then we can stop it.”

  She shook her head. “The farthest back I’ve gone is 1897, and I don’t think that was the beginning.” She rubbed at the goose bumps on her arms. “My death came as a surprise that time. Every time that I’ve experienced. If we did something in the past to trigger it, to make the monster come for us, I haven’t regressed to that life.”

  “You need to do more then. Keep regressing back until you find what started it, and then we’ll stop it together.”

  She dropped her face into her hands. “I can’t.”

  “Why not?”

  “For one, the older the life, the fuzzier the memories. Nothing is clear. The main reason, though…I can’t experience another death again. It takes a toll on me. My connection to death is strong as it is, so actually experiencing my own death affects me as if I’m really dying. I need days to recover, and I’m not sure we have that much time.”

  From what he’d learned about imps, once they showed up, their master wasn’t far behind. They couldn’t spare days for her to recover. “I’ll do it then. We’ll call Natasha first thing in the morning and set up an appointment. I’ll go back as many times as it takes to figure this out.”

  “No. You won’t just be experiencing your own death. You’ll have to watch me die too.”

  His heart sank. He’d endure his own death as many times as he had to in order to keep her safe. But to watch Odette die again and again? He might not be able to handle that.

  He had to, though. “Then I better get it right the first time.”

  She searched his eyes, the uncertainty in her own transforming into resigned acceptance. “You’d better.”

  He took her face in his hands, pressing a kiss to her lips. “We’ll figure this out together, okay? Solve the puzzle. Stop the cycle. Live to see tomorrow. We’ve got this.”

  “We do, don’t we?” She smiled and slid her hand halfway up his thigh. “The monster never attacked during the day in the past, so I think it’s safe to assume daylight is our friend. And the house is protected, so we’re secure inside at night.” Her grin turned devilish. “I think it might be best if you stayed here tonight…to be cautious. What do you think?”

  His stomach tightened as her fingers inched higher up his leg, his heart pumping a flush of heat through his veins. “I think you might be right. Safety first.”

  “I’m glad we agree.” The words barely escaped her lips before she took his mouth with hers. She kissed him urgently, her right hand squeezing his thigh as she slid her left behind his neck to pull him closer. Her warm vanilla scent tickled his senses, and the feel of her tongue tangling with his was enough to drive him mad.

  His jeans grew tight across his groin, and he couldn’t hold back the moan that rolled up from his core. He needed this woman. God, he wanted her to be his fate-bound, and at the moment, his wolf seemed to agree.

  Sliding a hand behind her back, he leaned into her, hoping to lay her on the couch. She resisted, pushing him back instead and climbing into his lap. Straddling him, she roamed her hands across his chest, down lower…lower, until she reached the waistband of his jeans. Magic shimmied across his stomach as she slipped her fingers beneath his shirt and pressed her palms against his skin.

  She broke from his mouth to glide her lips along his jaw, nipping at his earlobe as she tugged his shirt upward. Leaning back, she pulled it over his head and dropped it on the floor. Her pupils dilated, and her tongue slipped out to moisten her lips as her gaze wandered from his eyes down to the bulge in his pants, then back up to his chest. Good lord, the woman was sexy.

  “I like your tattoo.” She grazed her fingers over his left pec, tracing the pack emblem, a wolf head centered in a fleur-de-lis. “Is it a requirement to be in the pack?”

  “No, but it shows our allegiance…”

  She dipped her head and licked his nipple, sending a shock of electricity straight to his dick. A groan vibrated in his throat, and she grinned wickedly as she lifted her head and trailed her hands down his stomach.

  As she locked eyes with him and popped the button on his jeans, he groaned and reached for her hands. “Are you sure you’re ready for this?”

  “You’re my soulmate; I’ve always been ready.” She tilted her head. “You’re the one who’s
hesitant. Is something wrong?”

  “No.” His answer came quickly, but his wolf didn’t hesitate to show him the image of the dream woman, which he immediately shoved to the back of his mind. “I’m making sure this is really what you want. That was quite a revelation you laid on me.”

  “Our souls are entwined, and I don’t know how much time we have left. Let’s not waste a minute of it. I want you, James.”

  Her sultry words wrapped around him like an electric blanket, filling him with warmth, caressing his skin, stroking his… Nope, that was her hand rubbing his cock through his jeans.

  With a deep inhale, he squared his gaze on hers. “I want you too.” That much he could honestly confirm.

  Her lips curved into a mischievous grin. “Good.” She tugged her shirt over her head and dropped it next to his.

  Her black lace bra cupped her full breasts, and he glided his hands up her sides to tease her nipples through the fabric. She made an mmm sound and tilted her head back, leaning into his touch.

  With her hands on his chest, she slid from his lap, lowering to her knees in front of him. His stomach clenched as she reached for his jeans, tugging them over his hips and down his legs. She pulled down his boxer-briefs next, her brow lifting as she licked her lips.

  Oh, to have those perfect red lips around his dick…

  Lifting from the floor, she leaned into him, taking his mouth in another kiss. The feel of her body pressed to his was enough to send him over the edge, but there was too much fabric between them. That needed to change.

  As he reached for the clasp on her bra, she laughed and slid to the floor again. “You first.” She ran a single finger down his dick from tip to base, sending a shudder through his body. As she wrapped her hand around him, his ability to form a coherent thought crumbled like cheap mortar on a poorly-made house.

  Her tongue felt like velvet against his shaft, and as she took him into her mouth, the sensation of being engulfed in warm, rich honey had him dropping his head back onto the couch and moaning from somewhere deep in his core.

  He needed to stop her. She should be the one to come first, but damn it, he’d lost the ability to form words.

  She slid her mouth up his cock, rolling her tongue around the tip before taking him in fully again. He wouldn’t last five minutes like this, so he lifted his head, placing a hand on her shoulder. But the electricity jolting through his core forced his eyes shut with the ecstasy.

  A pounding on the window behind him drew him from his trance as Odette released her hold. Another bang, this time from the one to his left, sounded like it should have shattered the glass. “What the hell?”

  She stood and peered through the pane. “There’s something out there.”

  “No kidding.” He rose to his feet, but with his pants around his ankles, he stumbled, catching himself on the arm of the loveseat before he could topple to the floor. “Damn it.” He fumbled for his pants, yanking them the rest of the way off, and joining her at the window.

  A black mass darted into the side yard, but in human form, James couldn’t make out its shape in the darkness.

  “You’re sure nothing can get in?” He wrapped a protective arm around her.

  “Positive. The spell is unbreakable.” The confidence in her voice didn’t mask the worry in her eyes.

  “Stay inside this time, okay? I’ll take care of it.” He strode out of the room toward the back door.

  Chapter Eleven

  The moment he shut the door behind him, James shifted and bounded down the porch steps toward the fiend. He paused before he rounded the corner, angling his nose upward to catch its scent. The faint smell of swamp—decomposing foliage and mud—greeted his nostrils, but he didn’t detect a trace of the rotting garbage odor that normally clung to demons.

  The low growl in his throat was barely audible above the banging on the window. Whatever it was, it wanted inside badly.

  James crept around the corner, and the entity whirled around to face him. He barely got a glimpse of the somewhat-human-shaped figure before it sprang from the ground, leaping over him and darting into the backyard.

  What the hell? Hackles raised, James spun, ready to give chase.

  But the entity had vanished.

  Crouching low, he crept into the backyard, his senses on high alert. A shuffling sound emanated from above, and before he could lift his head, the creature dropped onto him, sinking its teeth into his neck.

  Dammit, not again. Searing pain tore through his right side, and James yelped, spinning in a circle, jaws snapping until he finally connected with flesh. A garbled squeal—half-animal, half-human—ripped from the beast’s throat before it released its hold and leaped over the fence.

  James glanced over his shoulder and glimpsed Odette watching through the window, worry furrowing her brow. He hesitated, torn between the instinct to stay and protect her and the need to catch the creature who’d threatened them.

  He trusted her magic, but could he trust her to stay put? He took the slight dip of her chin as confirmation she wouldn’t leave the house, and blowing out a hard breath, he took off after the beast.

  The monster moved faster than anything he’d encountered before, gaining a three-block lead on James before he’d cleared the fence. Even with his enhanced werewolf vision, James could barely make out the silhouette of a humanoid figure with a massive, oddly-shaped head sprinting up Treme Street toward Louis Armstrong Park.

  At two a.m, most of the residents were inside their homes, but James kept to the shadows as best he could, running from tree to tree to keep himself hidden. The houses along the way quickly changed from the mansions of Millionaire’s Row to small one and two-story cottages in shades of red, purple, and yellow. He ducked behind a parked car as a dilapidated truck ambled through the intersection, losing precious seconds in his chase.

  If he continued to keep to the shadows, the monster would be out of sight within the next minute. Screw it. James sprinted down the center of the street. Whatever that thing was, it would draw more attention than he would. A werewolf sighting could be written off as an enormous dog.

  James slowed as he reached St. Philip, where Treme ended and the park began, but movement behind the wrought-iron fence caught his attention. He increased his speed, hurdling the fence and plowing toward the creature.

  Damn, this thing was fast. He searched his mind for another wolf to help him. Though they couldn’t exactly hear each other’s thoughts, werewolves had an almost telepathic connection. He briefly considered calling for Luke, but with Odette involved, this situation was too sticky to contact the alpha yet.

  Come on, Cade. Where are you? He focused, feeling his way through the were energy like sifting through the sand to find a shell. When he found his friend, their minds connected, and he relayed the information. He needed help, or the bastard would get away.

  With Cade on the move, James followed the creature out of the park and across Basin Street. Please don’t go into the cemetery.

  The beast vaulted over the concrete barrier and entered St. Louis Cemetery Number One. Shit.

  With a running start, James leaped at the wall, catching it with his front paws and scrambling his back legs up and over. He landed on his side with a thud, knocking the breath from his lungs, and pain from his neck wound flashed from his skull to his shoulder.

  He lay still for a moment, focusing on the sounds around him: a rat scurrying across the concrete walk, tires turning on the asphalt and the hum of an engine as a car passed, the wind whistling through the rows and rows of above-ground graves that housed the remains of multiple generations of New Orleanians.

  Of all the places the beast could have picked to hide… James grunted and rose to his paws. He’d never find the bastard in the city of the dead. The only good thing about this situation was that the cemetery gates locked at dusk, so he didn’t have to worry about any humans discovering him.

  From massive mausoleums to short, single-family tombs, the graves rose from
the ground, creating a labyrinth of twisting paths and dead-ends. Many of the tombs were well-cared for, with new plaster and fresh paint that made them gleam white in the moonlight. Others were crumbling, the plaster decaying to show the brick and mortar beneath.

  His chest tightened as the fond memories of his weekends in the cemetery with his dad flooded his mind. Though he’d spent his time in a different cemetery, during the day, something about a graveyard always brought a sense of calmness over him. His dad too. Even through all the turmoil and heartache his mom had caused, James and his father could always find peace in the cemetery.

  If he weren’t on the trail of a murderous monster, he might have slowed down to enjoy the stillness. Instead, he focused on his senses, searching the darkness for evil.

  With no sign of the beast, James wandered amongst the graves, pausing as he reached the end of a row and peering around the corner in hopes of catching the monster off-guard. But with the tombs laid out in no discernable pattern, he soon found himself backtracking, covering the same spaces with no luck.

  “James, you still in here?” Noah’s hushed voice came from a few rows over, and James searched his mind for Cade.

  Connecting with the other wolf, James relayed his location, and the three of them met in front of the famous Voodoo priestess, Marie Laveau’s, tomb. Cade’s deep-red fur stood in a ridge along his back, and his ears twitched.

  Noah looked from wolf to wolf. “What’s the plan?” He paused as if they could answer. Because Noah was second-born and couldn’t shift, he lacked the telepathic connection that shifting wolves shared. “Let me guess. We split up and scour the place. Yell if we find it?”

  What he lacked in ability, Noah made up for in intelligence. James bobbed his head to indicate his agreement, and the men went in different directions, searching for the monster.

  Half an hour later, James returned to Marie Laveau’s tomb and sat in front of it. Though it had been repainted several times, the small black Xs still showed through. Rumor had it that if a person drew three Xs on the tomb, spun around three times, and left an offering, the Mambo’s Spirit would grant his wish.