Part 23 (1/2)

Would she murder him?

”Over the years you've walked a wide path around me when you could have easily slain me,” she whispered, so others would not hear. ”I offer you the same regard.”

Her eyes glinted with unnatural light, a silvery shard of hunger. ”I wish you no harm physically. My mark would mean little for one so proud and one who walks alone. Were you in a pack, it would be different. I'd drink you until you moaned for me to satisfy you.”

She spoke truths. A vampire mark would mean little to him now-unless he ever wished to start a new pack. Should she bite him, he would feel it as a human would. As an intense o.r.g.a.s.mic draw at the core of his being, one that commanded he submit.

The idea of succ.u.mbing to this b.i.t.c.h's persuasion brought bile to his throat.

”Besides-” Elvira tilted up his chin ”-there's another who'll wish to take a bite out of you soon enough.”

She propped her hands at her hips. The pale globes of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s were the only discernible shape on her black-cloaked figure. ”Come on, boys. Our work here is finished.”

Turning, she marched off, her sycophants in tow.

The whip dragged across his shoulders, slicing his jacket and jerking him forward to the ground. He landed, digging his fingers into the pummeled gra.s.s and clutching dirt.

Severo could only repeat the words she'd said over and over until he understood them.

...another who'll wish to take a bite out of you...

”Bella!”

Rage twisted Severo as he made a quick s.h.i.+ft. Within moments, the werewolf howled out its anger. Vampires had hurt it. Yet though it could sense that they were close, it did not seek to track them.

A stronger scent drew it into a loping race across the field, toward the house.

The patio door was smashed in. The granite coffee table lay on the patio flagstones, on top of the shattered gla.s.s.

The werewolf charged across the debris. Gla.s.s shards pierced its paws, yet it did not slow down. Barking at the fierce cuts to its flesh, it trotted into the living room.

A thin streak of crimson ran across one couch cus.h.i.+on. The werewolf knew that scent. It was tainted with cloves. The scent briefly calmed it. Her. Its mate. Where was she? Was she harmed?

Calm turned to rage.

Rus.h.i.+ng through the kitchen, it followed a trail of broken dishes and a crack in the wall where a force must have punched through.

Moving quickly, it took the steps downstairs, scenting blood so strongly, it growled and punched the walls as it made it to the laundry room.

Not a wolf or vampire, but not a human, either.

Not your mate.

It loped upstairs. Closing its eyes, it twisted its neck, scenting the air. Longtooths. Three of them dead. Others, no longer in the house, had left a scent trail that led toward the front door, which hung on one hinge.

Another scent grabbed at it. Mate.

Down the hall.

Inside the room with a bed the werewolf found her. The limp, bloodied body of its mate lay across the tousled white sheets.

A howl birthed from its core and vibrated through its entire being.

Severo shook off the sharp tingles of the s.h.i.+ft and became instantly alert on the floor before the bed.

He clutched his foot and gripped the gla.s.s shard that had penetrated all the way through the top of his foot. Growling as he pulled it out, he tossed it aside. Blood spilled from his foot, but he gave it no mind.

He spied a body on the bed-and let out a cry.

Clenching a fist, he wondered if Elvira's minions had finally done what they'd set out to do that night of the chase. Please, they must not have raped her. He would tear those vampires limb from limb, and then...But no, she'd been placed on the bed.

Perhaps she had not been violated, after all.

She moaned, and he lunged to the bed and leaned over her. ”Bella, I'm here.”

”I did it. Killed...vampires.” Her voice cracked and her head fell back as he lifted her by the shoulders.

A pile of ash on the other side of the bed startled him.

”Good girl. You got them. I'm sorry. I don't know how they made it through the wards. I was outside. There were so many of them. Bella, you're bleeding.”

He reached to flick on the lamp. Just leaning over her, filling his senses with her blood, sickened him. He should have been inside to protect her. What h.e.l.l had she gone through while he was out batting around vampires?

What he'd thought a head injury was quickly revealed to be neck wounds when the light gleamed across her side. Thick, viscous blood glittered. It had begun to coagulate, but there was so much, he couldn't tell if she'd been slashed or stabbed.

His heart knew it hadn't been a weapon of steel that had harmed her.

Fingers shaking, Severo touched the blood. He winced when the nature of the two wounds was revealed. Teeth marks.

Gathering her into his arms, he rushed into the bathroom and deposited her in the tub. As water filled the tub, he tore her clothing from her and tossed it behind him. He tugged down a towel from the bar and plunged it into the water.

Scrubbing the towel over the wounds on her neck, he wasn't sure what he could accomplish. He only knew he had to wash away the blood.

Chapter 18.

E merging from a groggy dream of ash-filled air and snarling fangs, Bella blinked and groaned. Was she underwater? Her skin was wet, yet the pressure of the water did not pull her down. The steamy scent of lemons made her wonder if she was in the bathroom.

Opening her eyes, she saw her lover sitting there, his shoulders bowed, his hands hanging between his bent knees. There was such intensity in his eyes. They were what had held her since day one. A promise of truth, trust and honor lived there in Severo's eyes.

Beyond him, she saw a strange disaster. The doorway had a big bite out of it. A force had punched the wall and taken out part of the door frame and Sheetrock. b.l.o.o.d.y footprints led from the bedroom to the bathroom tiles.

Every part of her ached and her muscles had been stretched beyond their capacity. But of course, after battling a houseful of crazed vampires, what did one expect?

”Oh my G.o.d, the vampires.” When she tried to move, her hand slipped on the edge of the porcelain tub and she fell back into the water. ”What the h.e.l.l?”