Darkness Bred (Chimney Rock) Read online

  She started to purr. Softly, but purr nevertheless. Hearing her explain this should be interesting.

  “What’s happening?” Niles said.

  “I need to concentrate here.” He must consider how best to make Elin understand that his main concern was for her safety. “Later, Niles.”

  With the faintest growl under his breath, Sean stood and shook himself. He lowered his head to stare into those violet eyes, and he made sure Elin—Skillywidden or whoever—didn’t mistake the look for other than a warning.

  She drew back, blinking rapidly, whiskers twitching, and Sean gave her a light bat on the rear, pushing her toward the back of the cottage.

  The elegant cat made a wide circle around him, looking back, probably hoping for a change of heart. He gave another low growl and made a deliberately poor attempt at chasing her around the building.

  A few inches wide crack in the kitchen door had been all she needed to escape, and if she thought he would follow her inside now, she was—unfortunately—mistaken.

  The little manipulator had opened that door before she shifted. Did she do anything spontaneously?

  He stood outside listening to the cat’s rapid breathing.

  The door slammed shut and the lock shot home. She had shifted back but she was letting him know he’d missed his chance to be with her.

  Sean stood for a while before loping slowly back to the front of the cottage.

  Lying on the chilly porch, he thought about Elin getting back into that bed, mad, and alone. Being strong for both of them shouldn’t feel so lousy.

  chapter SIX

  Another sleet shower threw ice pellets at the windows before Elin’s eyelids grew heavy.

  She snuggled into the soft bed…and turned this way and that searching for a comfortable spot.

  He had chased her. As if she were nothing more than a pesky cat to be disposed of by a big, strong hound. It made her mad.

  More giant handfuls of frozen rain hit glass. She was wide awake again. Wild weather excited her. If big, bad Blue wasn’t staked out on the front porch, she would open the front drapes, make some tea, and watch the storm.

  No man would tell her what she couldn’t do.

  With a quick shift back to Skillywidden, she bounded down the loft ladder and out to the kitchen door. With one paw lifted and her whiskers pointing forward, she listened.

  A wonderful thought came to her. She would be amazed if Sean wasn’t making the rounds outside the cottage from time to time. If he found her on the back step, he would be furious, could be furious enough to follow her inside and then they would see what happened.

  Standing on the old, scrubbed wood draining board, she could easily reach her body out and rest her paws on the door handle. Shifting back to Elin might be the natural course, but this would be quicker. Several hooks from the very strong claws on a paw and the bolt inched open.

  She hung from the doorknob until she got it turned enough and swung backward until a blast of air shot through.

  Skillywidden smirked.

  Dragging a blue and white checked pillow from the seat of a kitchen chair, she worked her way outside and set herself up comfortably in the corner nearest the door. She curled up, watching wind bend the bushes and trees, and rain and ice pass horizontally through the beam of light that shone from above the window.

  She was so awake she couldn’t imagine feeling tired again.

  The sound of swishing made her smile. Her protector was getting ready to make his next round of the cottage. He would be so angry when he found her on a comfy pillow, enjoying the wet night air.

  Or he would be even more furious than before. This wasn’t a particularly brilliant move. With her heart pounding, she whipped back inside but couldn’t resist making a quick change back into Elin and calling, very sweetly, “Come in and get warm. Come on in now.”

  Wind screeched through the trees, suddenly whipping branches low enough to scrape the roof.

  Screeching turned into a gathering hum and into the light beam a long, black, flying creature like an oversized dragonfly made of shadows shot past the windows.

  Elin didn’t wait to see what happened next. She lunged for the lock on the door…but not fast enough to shoot the bolt home.

  Elin backed away. Long curved nails protruding from the cutoff fingers of black gloves curled around the edge of the door and it crashed open.

  One of those leather-clad fingers went to a full, dark red male mouth from which long incisors appeared. A vampire, and his smile sickened her.

  “So kind of you to invite me in,” the blood eater said. “Not a sound now. Come to me like a good girl. I promise you’ll be glad you did.”

  “Sean!” Elin shouted. She dashed back into the sitting room and headed for the front door.

  In a flash, the vampire inserted himself in front of her and reached out with both hands.

  Where was Sean? Either fast asleep or making that tour around the cottage she’d been waiting for.

  Elin whirled away and scrambled up the loft ladder while the creature laughed, a gurgling laugh.

  She could scarcely breathe. Silvery hair flowed over the vampire’s shoulders all the way to his waist. So white it appeared transparent, his slender face fixed in a menacing leer and his red eyes glowed.

  He came toward her slowly, levitating, spreading his arms, his cape swinging away from a body suit that clung to every inch of him.

  There was no way she could fight this thing.

  Elin opened her mouth wide to scream and squeezed her eyes shut. The scream died in her throat. A flapping sound, as of many wings, slapped around her, like bats swarming. She waved her arms but they were quickly clamped to her sides by a sickeningly sweet-smelling sack that descended over her head and shoulders.

  Instinctively, she shifted again, dropped down to Skillywidden’s diminutive size, and escaped.

  The vampire grinned with delight. “No wonder you are such a prize,” he said. “What intriguing hidden talents. He who sent me has far more need of you than that dog of yours. You need not expect him to save you. I have lured him off into the trees in search of a moving shadow that isn’t really there.”

  He leaned against the loft railing and watched her, clearly amused by what he saw as her helplessness.

  The front door splintered under Sean’s shoulder and he smashed through. Skillywidden could see how he took in the whole scene and she wanted to beg him to shift at once. Even as a hound, he would be outmatched by the vampire, but as a man, he had no chance.

  “Come on, Vampire,” Sean said, his voice shockingly soft. “Let’s deal with this down here.”

  Skillywidden leaped her way to the exposed beams overhead and crouched there, hissing.

  The vampire flew from the loft to the sitting room, set down without a sound, and began circling Sean, who pointed to Skillywidden without looking at her. “You stay right there,” he told her.

  She shivered at the threat in his voice.

  “It’s time we met,” the vampire said, continuing around Sean, who turned on his heel to keep the other one in his sight. “Colin. No doubt you’ve heard of me. I don’t normally engage in these little scuffles but I wanted to see you more closely. I wanted to find out what makes you so important to…to important people.”

  He threw off his cape and crouched, ready to attack.

  There was nothing she could think of to do. Skillywidden edged forward along the beam until she almost looked directly down on the vampire and Sean.

  Why didn’t he shift?

  Sean gave a thin smile, directed his narrowed tiger stare on Colin, and raised both hands. With beckoning fingers he urged the vampire to carry out his unspoken threat.

  The creeping creature hissed, a soft sound more menacing than any shout. “If you insist,” he whispered.

  When he went for Sean, it was so fast, Skillywidden couldn’t see anything but an uncoiling streak of black that connected with its target and wound without pause into the shape of
Colin again.

  The vampire bounced!

  Skillywidden opened her eyes wide and stared down. Colin had bounced off Sean.

  The vampire’s rage turned him into a whirling mass of talons and bared teeth. “I came to capture, not to kill.” The voice echoed through the little cottage. “You should have let me take her. At least you would have stayed in one piece longer. No matter, I’ll take you both. Save time.”

  He lunged at Sean, who stepped smoothly aside.

  Locked hands, slamming into the back of the vampire’s head, sent him sprawling on the floor.

  He rolled away and crouched near a wall, shaking his head. Blood drizzled down his chin where his fangs had sunk into his face.

  Slowly he freed his teeth from his flesh and they made a sucking sound as they popped free. Fury turned his eyes black and he flattened to the wall, sliding slowly along, getting closer to Sean.

  “Now you’ll die,” Colin said. “The one who sent me can take what’s left of you if that’s what he wants.”

  He threw himself forward, arms outstretched, bent on grabbing Sean, who welcomed him with a headlock.

  While the vampire fought, Sean hefted him through the shattered front door and down to the frozen lawn.

  Skillywidden scrambled from the loft, spitting as she went. Vampire, hooey, if Sean could risk everything for her, then she could gouge out that monster Colin’s evil black eyes. That was exactly what she would do.

  Yowling, she threw herself outside, turning herself into a whirling ball.

  “For crying out loud, Elin,” Sean said, catching her and clamping her against him until she stopped struggling. “Look.” He held her in front of him.

  Sailing away above the trees was the unmistakable form of Colin. Head over heels in arcs, he went until she couldn’t see him anymore.

  With a slam, a door landed on the lawn, only feet away. Niles came into view with a grinning Innes behind him. “What the hell are you up to,” Niles said, frowning at Skillywidden. “Don’t you hurt that cat. She’s very important to Leigh—and to me. And Jazzy would take a lump out of you if a hair on her body gets harmed.”

  Feeling smug, but amazed by what she’d witnessed, Skillywidden slithered free and scuttled into the cottage. She shifted even faster than usual and prepared to defend her actions.

  Minutes passed and Sean didn’t appear.

  Eventually all three men assembled to tear off what was left of the old door.

  “How did you know about that?” Elin said.

  Innes looked away. Niles scowled at her and said, “We communicate and do what we say we’ll do. Saves all kinds of trouble. I’m not happy with you, Elin. But that’s up to Sean to take care of.”

  In half an hour, far too quickly for Elin, the door was replaced and Innes hauled off the broken pieces. “The new one will need oiling,” Niles said. He glanced at Sean, who stood with his hands deep in his pockets. “But not today.”

  Niles and Innes met up and headed for the bank to go back to Niles’s house.

  There was no place to hide but she did wish she dared slip away.

  With several logs under each arm, Sean came inside, pushed the door shut, and deposed wood on each hearth.

  He didn’t look directly at her until he’d made up one of the fires and fresh flames danced.

  “Now,” he said, facing her and brushing his hands together. “Do you still think what you did was a good idea? He could so easily have killed you.”

  She frowned and sat on a straight-backed wooden chair.

  “Would it have been so hard to do what I asked you to do?”

  “I don’t like being told what to do.”

  “That’s not what I asked. You could have been who knows where by now. Or dead.”

  She sniffed. “That creep wasn’t going to kill me. He wanted me for something else.”

  A quiet pause made her fidget until she looked right at him. “That’s right,” he said. “And I’m sure you’d have loved what he wanted you for.”

  “No,” she said quietly. “You didn’t shift to fight him.”

  He returned her look then. “I needed everything I had to deal with Colin.”

  “But—”

  “I’m stronger as a human, but that’s not something I want generally known.”

  She nodded miserably. “Why didn’t you tell me that before? Do you know how scared I was?”

  “Do you know how desperate I was? I expected you to be gone or dead by the time I came through that door.”

  “I’m not helpless.”

  His laugh wasn’t pleasant. “You’re gutsy, Elin, but you have limits and you know what they are.”

  Exhausted, she didn’t want to argue anymore. “Could we go to bed and talk about this tomorrow?”

  Without answering, Sean started another examination of windows and locks around the cottage.

  Back at the front door he paused. “While you’re in bed, please think about what almost happened. I’ll be out front again—also thinking.

  “Being with me carries its own dangers for you. I’ve asked you to consider risking that because I can look after you—unless you won’t let me when it’s necessary.”

  “I’m trying to learn,” Elin said but she couldn’t meet his eyes because she really hadn’t tried very hard. “I’ll do much better the next time.”

  He drove both hands through his hair and said, “Much better? That’s about the same as saying, ‘almost saved.’ People who are almost saved are dead. Think, Elin. From here on out, wherever you go, someone goes with you. And we watch you—for your own sake as well as mine.”

  Sean closed his eyes for a moment and covered them with a hand, then he stared deep into Elin’s eyes. His gaze was heavy, and for a moment, he seemed to be struggling with what to say next. When he finally spoke, his tone was brisk. “Please, for my peace, do what I ask you to do. We don’t have any choices, at least now. Good night.”

  Elin thought she caught a look of pain flash across Sean’s face, but it happened so quickly she couldn’t be sure if it was real or imagined. He studied her again and seemed about to say something else. Instead he nodded and walked out the door.

  Slumped on the chair, Elin stared at the closed front door. Her eyes prickled and she sniffed. She had to be stronger than this. Stronger, smarter, and less compulsive.

  Around the edges of the windows, a faint, foggy medium gathered.

  Elin stood up, praying Sean wouldn’t change his mind and join her. This was one of the things over which she had no control.

  Gathering density, taking on a spectrum of glittering colors, the vapor spread like a series of rainbows, surrounding Elin and growing more intense.

  Listening for any movement from Sean, she watched and waited—and from the green part of the mass there was a spill, an overflow that came toward her. “The green,” as Sally had explained, “has incredible power you can mold into something as small as a marble and use as a weapon to immobilize an enemy.”

  Quickly, she plunged a hand into the glitter and took a small handful. She squeezed it in her palm and dropped the ball into her pocket.

  Sean didn’t know that, like Leigh, she was Deseran. Elin wanted to be sure he could want her for herself rather than as a potential bearer of his children.

  This was a visit from The Veil that invisibly separated the human from the metaphysical on Whidbey. Humans could not see past The Veil or know what lay beyond. Only the Deseran could use The Veil’s power. Excitement shuddered through her. This was a secret she must keep, at least for now.

  But then, she wasn’t the only one keeping secrets. Sean could have told her that although he was strong as a hound, he was many degrees stronger as a man. But he hadn’t wanted her to know. Because he didn’t trust her? She needed to know the answer to that.

  chapter SEVEN

  Exhausted but determined, Elin arrived at Gabriel’s in the morning when the place was awake and busy again. She had slept very little and couldn’t get
the image of Sean’s furious face out of her head. Obeying his orders might be what he wanted her to do, it might even be a good idea, but she didn’t like feeling she had no choices.

  Elin would not turn into a helpless female in need of protection from a big, strong male. She wouldn’t be foolish, of course. When going it alone was dangerous, she would gladly accept help. But she would not be ordered around or have her life taken over without asking questions. She had escaped Tarhazian to get away from being treated as if she should accept a submissive role. There would be no going back.

  Freshly determined, Elin walked through Gabriel’s Place, heading for Leigh’s office.

  She didn’t have to look behind her to know one of the hounds was following, or to check outside to know there was at least one backup. Sean would have been there if he had not been called to a fire. Only when Elin pushed him had Sean told her he was also the medic for the contract special operations force he belonged to with the rest of the Team.

  “Hey, Elin,” Gabriel said with a wave and a grin. His tightly curled close-cropped hair was graying faster but his face didn’t change. The ex-NFL running back was a big, handsome man with dark skin that made even more of his disarming smile.

  She waved in return. “Hey yourself. Is Leigh in her office or out back?”

  “Office,” Gabriel said. “But Niles is out back working on the extension.”

  The local can-do-anything man, Niles was adding several rooms to the back of the building, including a larger office for Leigh.

  She nodded and threaded her way through tables where customers talked and laughed over their food. Cliff Ames, Gabriel’s chef, was famous for his ways with dishes that were ordinary in anyone else’s hands. And people came for miles to eat his pies and pastries.

  “Innes,” Elin said, turning and meeting her bodyguard face-on as soon as they were both out of sight of the restaurant patrons. “I’m going to talk to Leigh. I don’t need to be watched in broad daylight when I’m with friends.”

  A pair of very green eyes looked down into her face and she would have known he was laughing at her even without the grin on his very nice mouth. “You’re quite safe today,” he said. “I agree with you there.”