A Cursed Bloodline (WG 4) (14 page)

I smiled softly. “You have quite an effect on him.”

Emme blushed without skipping a beat. “We bathed him after I healed your fractures. I think Taran was a little jealous she couldn’t, you know, get him to react like this.”

“Are you serious?”

Emme nodded. “Yes, but after all, she’s always been the man-eater.” She placed the scissors on the table and stopped smiling. “Celia, when you leave, I’d like to go with you.”

As far as I was concerned, everyone was better off without me. “You need to stay with Taran and Shayna.”

She shook her head. “They have their wolves. I’ll only be in the way.”

“No, Emme.”

She maneuvered her way around the sofa and gripped my hands. “Please, Celia. I can take care of you and Bren. Maybe you won’t need Haldol if I try healing you every day.”

My laugh bordered on fanatical and probably frightened her. She thought I needed antipsychotic medication. In my attempt to deal with my problems, all I’d managed was to convince everyone I was nuts.

Emme’s sweet expression held all the world’s hope. She didn’t want me to leave her behind. I squeezed her hands. It would be nice to have her with me. In time, I could tell her about the baby. “Okay, Emme. You can come with me.”

She threw her arms around me. I hugged her back. The way she loved, I knew she’d make a perfect aunt.

—

Emme drove us to Dollar Point in the morning to gather our belongings. I’d spent most of the night trying to reach Danny. He failed to answer my calls, texts, and emails. I prayed he was just lying low and off Anara’s radar. Knowing Anara would have rubbed Danny’s death in my face gave me hope he was still alive.

Our horrible neighbor, Mrs. Mancuso, watched us unload the empty boxes from our Tribeca. All it took was a simple glance her way and out came her middle finger. She stood behind her hummingbird curtains, keeping her finger erect until we stepped onto our porch. I sighed. Mrs. Mancuso’s sunny disposition was just another reminder that I needed to get the hell out of California.

Emme had called our sisters to tell them we were leaving. Taran flipped out and demanded to speak to me. I refused. They thought I was crazy. Nothing I could have said would’ve changed their minds. Emme also explained she would be leaving with me. Needless to say, they weren’t happy campers. Taran swore bloody murder into the phone until Emme eventually hung up. So there I was, packing like the dickens, before they could show up and drag me off to the nearest psych ward.

Misha refused to accept I was leaving. I contemplated my goodbye with him while I boxed a few kitchen appliances. My sisters were one thing. It would kill me to leave them, but they had their mates and their happily-ever-afters. Who did Misha have? The horny Catholic schoolgirls, that’s who.

I finished sealing the box and realized why Misha thought he loved me. I’d shown him kindness and devotion with no strings attached. Gifts that didn’t come easily, I imagined, when you were a god among vampires. Maybe that was his interpretation of love.

I opened another box to pack our bread maker. It gave me pause. I used to bake bread every day to pack in Aric’s lunch. My hand swept over the machine but then I stopped. The terms we were leaving on couldn’t have been any more horrid and the direness of our situation threatened to cripple me. I didn’t know how I’d function without him. And yet there I stood, with the hope that one day I’d be able to reunite him with our child.

I quickly boxed up the last few items when the doorbell rang. My hackles immediately rose, knowing who had arrived. “Emme, no!”

“Hi, Liam,” she said just before he sent her flying into the wall.

Chapter Thirteen

Koda and Gemini stampeded through the door directly behind Liam, their eyes blazing like molten gold. I lunged at Emme to
shift
her unmoving form out. But the wolves were ready for me.

They tackled me and forced me against the wall. Liam’s fingertip swept beneath my jaw. “Here, kitty, kitty.”

I jerked from his touch. Koda licked his lips. “What’s the matter, little cat? Don’t you want to play?”

My panic had me hyperventilating. The first time they’d hurt me, I failed to hear the dreadful call of howling wolves. But I heard them then.

Anara was coming.

Gemini tangled his fingers into my long tresses. “Is this how Aric used to touch you?” He yanked out a chunk of hair, making me screech.

I couldn’t
shift
or
change
. Piece by piece they ripped strands from my scalp and berated me with insults.

“Whore.”

“Freak.”

“Spic.”

My struggles were worthless and my screams were silenced by a large hand. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t fight.

The front door flew open.

And Danny stumbled in.

I bit down on Koda’s hand, forcing him off my mouth. “Run!”

Danny didn’t flee. He
charged,
throwing his weight against Koda and Gemini. It was suicide. He was going to die.

Then something bizarre occurred. The moment his lean form smacked against their more formidable weight, the wolves closed their eyes and staggered back, swaying as if working to keep their balance. Liam dropped me on the floor and seized Danny by the throat.

Liam’s hand loosened when Danny clasped his wrist. Like the other Warriors, his lids drooped and he rocked in place. The howling wolves abruptly stopped their song. For a moment, no one moved.

I rose on trembling legs. Danny circled the wolves, carefully examining their swaying figures, his expression reeling with shock. We jumped when their eyes whipped open. The frightening glow from their irises was gone, replaced by revulsion as they gaped from me to the locks of torn hair littering the hardwood floor.

Dismay filled the room like a storm cloud. Gemini swallowed hard. “Celia…what have you done?”

Koda approached me. I flinched when he reached to touch me. He pulled back his hand and let it drop to his side. “It’s self-mutilation and hatred,” he muttered. “I’m not sure we can stop it.”

They were putting all this back on me. Just like Anara had likely intended.

Liam sniffed the air, his muscles tensing. “Where’s Emme?” His head snapped to where she lay near the fireplace. “No!” He ran to her, sweeping her into his arms. “Angel, can you hear me?”

Koda’s sadness turned to horror. “You
hit
her?”

“No. I…
no!
”

I started toward her. “Stay away from her!” Liam growled.

Koda and Gemini blocked my path. “Don’t move,” Koda warned. “We don’t want to hurt you.”

Danny opened his mouth to defend me, but I silenced him with a glare. He nodded slowly and inched his way to Emme just as she began to glow. I sighed with relief. She was healing herself; she would be all right.

Liam seemed surprised to see Danny. “Did you see what happened?”

I put my hand out. “No. He came after you arrived.”

“I came after you,” Danny repeated numbly.

Gemini watched me carefully. “We have to figure out what to do with her.”

My fingertips itched with the need to protrude my claws. He didn’t mean Emme. “I’ll take her back to Misha’s,” Danny said quickly. “He’ll look after her.”

Koda snarled. “She doesn’t belong with him. Damnit, don’t you see? He’s part of the problem.” He stomped to my side. “Tell me what he’s done to you!”

Danny grabbed my arm and tugged me toward the door at the sound of my growl. Koda rushed forward, blocking our way with his Rock of Gibraltar physique. With as much courage as he could muster, Danny met his gaze. “You have no right to hold us, Miakoda.”

Gemini held his ground next to Koda. “You’re wrong. She’s a danger to herself and those around her.”

“But she’s not
were,
therefore she doesn’t fall under your jurisdiction. Let’s go, Celia.”

Gemini hardened his stare. “As a supernatural being she does fall under our jurisdiction.”

Danny tried to sound assertive, but his voice cracked like a prepubescent boy. “Technically, we’re not sure what Celia is. She was born human, so if you want her arrested, you’ll have to call the human police.”

Danny hooked my arm under his and raced us to his car. He started the engine and floored it. “Holy crap! Holy crap! Holy crap!”

Danny’s mother died from leukemia when he was young. Before her death he promised to always be a gentleman and never swear in front of a lady. Under the psycho-werewolf
-Elder-coming-t
o-getcha circumstance, though, I think she’d say, “It’s okay, son, you can say, ‘Fuck me!’ ” But no, there he was, saying “crap” while he drove the car like he was blindfolded.

I ran my fingers through what remained of my hair. The bald spots stung and blood oozed from my scalp. I stared at my hands. Small broken strands mixed with tiny chunks of skin lay against my palms.

“Holy crap!” Danny yelled again.

I sighed. “Yup.”

Danny drove faster, breathing in rapid bursts and teetering on the verge of a breakdown. I didn’t say anything. I knew he’d pull it together. We had reached Tahoe City when he finally collected himself enough to speak.

“Anara is using Pack magic to control the wolves.”

I could barely respond. “Yes.”

“And they can’t remember their actions.”

“No. They can’t.”

“Celia, he forced you to break your bond with Aric, didn’t he?”

I nodded, shuddering slightly. “He told me if I had any contact with Aric, he would know and he would kill him. When Aric kept trying to reach me, Anara gave me two days to break our connection or he’d kill someone I loved.”

“Holy crap!”

“I know.”

“That’s how Bren got hurt, wasn’t it? Anara’s the one who attacked you.”

I sighed and wiped my hands on my jeans, smearing them with blood and hair. “He’d grown impatient when I didn’t immediately bend to his request. He came after me the night I went out with Bren.”

“That’s why Bren’s with you. You’re protecting him against Anara.”

“Yes…and I think he’s keeping Bren’s wolf from healing him.”

“We have to tell Aric!”

“No, Danny. We can’t.” My voice shook. “Anara is capable of killing anyone from miles away. He said if I told anyone, my sisters would die.”

Danny’s eyes swept around the car like he half expected Anara to appear. “Okay…okay. We have to get you someplace safe.”

“No.
We
have to get someplace safe. I was thinking Bermuda.”

“Celia, we can’t go there. There’s only one place we’ll be safe—Misha’s.”

“What?”

“Misha’s place is fortified with vampire power, strengthened by the mysticism of the lake. It should be enough to interfere with Anara’s
were
magic. He can’t reach you there.”

“But Anara appeared to me the day Aric broke into Misha’s compound.”

I could almost see the wheels turning in Danny’s head. “He probably managed through his link to Aric as his Elder. Aric’s emotions likely boosted his power and therefore strengthened the connection. Otherwise, I don’t think he could have presented himself.”

“What if you’re wrong?”

Danny wiped the sweat off his face. “Then we’re probably all going to die.”

We drove in silence for a while. It was a lot to take in and I was trying to give Danny more time to calm. “How did you stop the wolves from hurting me?” I finally asked.

“I don’t know. They just sort of stopped when I touched them.”

I thought about what he said. “Maybe that’s your power.”

“Huh?”

“Your gift as a blue merle werewolf, maybe you can somehow block magic or reverse it.”

“If that’s the case how come Bren is still in a coma?”

I wiped my eyes. “I don’t know, Danny. I don’t know much of anything anymore.”

Danny slipped an arm around me. “Maybe I can’t help Bren, but I’m definitely aware of Anara. I saw him appear before you yesterday and I heard what he said to you—even after his image vanished.”

This information did little to ease my worries. “Do you think he knows about you?”

“If he did…I wouldn’t be here now.”

“Then what happened to you last night?”