Harlequin Nocturne September 2014 Bundle: Beyond the Moon\Immortal Obsession (18 page)

Chapter 16

G
iles had been over the moon to see his wife alive and standing there, arms held out, beckoning him—for about five seconds.

Now Rook inhaled and tried to push away the vision of Marianne, bedraggled and risen from the dead.

“Rook?” The voice of another precious soul whispering to him.

Thankful for her presence, which yanked him up from the past to the now, he pulled Verity to his chest and buried his face against her lush hair. Wrapping his arms around her, he finally surrendered to the pain and guilt and the ever-long agony he had carried with him through the centuries. His shoulders shook, and he squeezed her tighter. She was real, alive, and he would never harm her as he had Marianne. He must not.

“One should never bring back to life what was once dead,” he managed and then released a sorrowful moan against her head.

He held her forever. When he'd started to cry he didn't know, but the tears came freely, and he couldn't stop them. Verity turned in his embrace and straddled his legs to hug him close, and now she cooed soft reassurance as she stroked his hair.

He wanted to climb into her and stay there. To fit himself against her soul as only a demon could and not have to answer to the world—and his mistakes. Because his truth was that he could never atone for what he had done to Marianne. And never again would he be deserving of his soul. A soul that Himself had buried and Verity had found.

Had Marianne been seeking him for the century Verity had worn the little wooden heart against her skin? Truly, had his dead wife led Verity to him?

“I'm so sorry for you,” she said.

Finish the tale. Tell her!

“Oz is right. I have to tell it all.”

“I'm listening,” she whispered. “And I'm here for you.”

With a nod, he resumed. “Standing in the cottage doorway…she knew what she was,” he said against Verity's shoulder. “A revenant formed of lifeless sinew. A zombie. She pleaded with me to end her. She didn't blame me for bringing her back—or so she said—but she didn't want to exist. Her skin literally…”

He couldn't speak it. His stomach roiled at the memory of it. “It frightened her. And it destroyed her. So I had to end her life. Again.”

He swallowed.

“All I had was an ax.”

Verity pressed her chest against his. Rook pulled her in tightly. Oz seemed to stretch out his arms through Rook's and pull the witch in, too. They needed the anchor to this moment that only she could give them.

“You could not have known,” she said softly. “What a tragedy to have to carry that with you for so long. If there was something I could do to make it better…”

“Is she really inside you?” he asked, sniffing back tears. “Do you think Marianne's soul…?”

She placed a palm over her heart. “Maybe. I don't know what reincarnation really means. Is it another person's soul that finds a new body, or do their thoughts, hopes and dreams enter and become their actions? I think I'm myself. I don't feel another person's thoughts like you do with Oz.”

“But her soul was reborn in you?”

Verity could only shrug. “As I've told you, I was compelled toward your soul. It's been with me a few times in my life, the compulsion to do something. So maybe that was Marianne urging me forward.”

Marianne has been protecting you. Perhaps she has kept you from reading this witch's truths until the right moment. A moment when you two trust one another enough to share the horrible burden of memory. Feel it, friend. Remember her. And own it.

“I do own it!” Rook pushed away from Verity and stood. He paced across the room, not to distance himself from his lover but—hell, he could never put himself away from Oz. “I've owned it all my life!”

That is a lie you tell yourself. You have never faced the pain like you have today.

Rook squatted in the middle of the room, catching the back of his head with his palms. “And now she's returned to haunt me in the form of this beautiful witch.”

“I don't want to haunt you.” Verity remained by the wall, a fragile, beautiful soul that had dallied with the darkness that was him. “I want you to know I can understand. And accept. All of it. Whatever part of your wife that resides within me is here right now because she needs to be. Do you believe she brought us together?”

Rook shook his head, unsure. “Sounds coincidental.”

“There are no coincidences in life, only fate and destiny. And we must choose to believe and not dismiss it as mere coincidence. It was no coincidence that you touched me in the alley and felt your soul. And it's no coincidence now that I carry a part of your wife within me.”

Rook stood and turned to her. He held out his arms and silently entreated her. Verity rushed to his embrace. Just as Marianne once had. And for a moment, he held not his new lover, but his long-lost wife whom he had selfishly tortured.

He buried his nose in the violet hair and breathed in…sweetness and light. Not smoke and death. He held Verity.

“Fate?” he whispered. “Or Marianne, knowingly leading you to me. But for what reason? You are not her.”

“Maybe she needed you to confess your darkest secret to me so that you could finally rise above it and move on. Oz is right—you blame yourself.”

“It was my fault. My confession to you changes nothing.” He pushed her away and strode toward the window. Raking his fingers through his hair, he then fisted them and punched the air. “Why did you come here?”

“I, uh…” She scratched her head. They'd spent the entire afternoon entwined on the floor of his bedroom. “I had wanted to confess about the vampire bite and the spell not working.”

“Right. I have to go out.” Rook shucked off the emotion that threatened to bring him down if he did not cease right now and focus on work. “But three or four days until the full moon. I will not let you become vampire.”

“Because if I do, then you'll have to stake me.”

He swung about to stare into her tearstained eyes. Another of her truths revealed so innocently and with complete trust. But it was a truth that he had to face.

Rook nodded. “I won't let that happen.”

He couldn't tell her he would not slay her if it came to that—because he would. It was what he did. And after hearing his tale about vampires burning Marianne, she had to now know to expect nothing less of him but fierce hatred for all bloodsuckers.

All but the one
.

Rook ignored Oz. He could think only of the two women.

Marianne. Had she brought Verity to him so he could help her? He shook his head. No, she'd led Verity to his soul more than a hundred years ago. She could have no idea Verity would someday be bitten. Why had she led Verity to his soul? Was it simply because she had trusted the witch would care for the soul and someday find him?

He couldn't understand any of it, and he didn't have the time or the emotional energy to sort through it right now. He needed to get out on the street, to action. To rip out some vampire hearts. To prevent the woman he loved from suffering needlessly.

“Use me,” Verity suddenly said. “As bait. It's the only way you're going to lure Clas and Slater to you.”

Use her.

Both Oz and Verity pleaded. It was dangerous. He never wanted to endanger a woman again. But he could not conceive of loving Verity were she half vampire, one of the very creatures who had tortured and stolen his wife's life.

Rook nodded. “Come on then. Let's do this.”

* * *

The man who waited for them on the back steps behind the ancient cathedral nodded in acknowledgment to Rook as they approached. He held Verity's hand tightly. Hadn't let go of her since they'd left his loft.

She never wanted to be more than a handhold away from him. But she sensed he had hardened during their drive here. He hadn't spoken. And she'd noticed his pulsing jaw more than a few times. The hunter was determined to rescue her, and she was cool with that. Even if he was doing it to atone for a past mistake, she could still stand beside him and allow him to use her in any way possible to accomplish it.

But that he'd so quickly fled after his tale of Marianne worried her. He was still running away from that pain. She wanted to help him with that. Perhaps getting his soul back would finally enable him to release the pain and stop blaming himself.

She didn't want him to stop loving his wife. She just wanted him to feel that her soul had moved on and was in a better place now. If Marianne's soul was now Verity's soul, what or where, exactly, was Marianne?

Did it matter? She wanted peace for the woman. That was all.

“This must be Verity Von Velde,” the man standing in wait said in greeting. He held out his hand to shake.

Verity took it. The clasp was firm yet unthreatening, and his smile was warm. “I am.”

“This is King,” Rook said. “Verity is going along with us tonight. As bait.”

She thought King's eyes twinkled at that revelation and decided that perhaps the twosome had already discussed this ploy. Didn't bother her. She needed to be in one hundred percent if she was going to survive to the full moon without developing a thirst for blood.

“She's been bitten,” Rook said. “She attempted a spell to stop the transformation, but it didn't take.”

King whistled. “You haven't much time, witch.”

“That's why I've agreed to be bait. The Order gets Slater, and I get the vampire who attacked me.”

“Both dead,” Rook confirmed. “Come on. Let's head to the lair where I last saw Clas.”

* * *

Nervous, Verity wandered in front of the nightclub that blasted out nerve-vibrating trance music. There was no line to get in; all patrons entered through the red metal door with the big W slashed in black paint. She tried to act as though she were waiting for someone. She noticed Rook, who stood down the street beside a black Audi. He slashed two fingers in front of his face, directing her toward the alley. A vampire must be nearby.

She strolled away from the lingering crowd and down the alleyway. Three vampires blocked her path. Turning, she saw two more stood behind her. Visions of the awful night she had been attacked threatened to stir up a scream, but she swallowed it.

One vampire dusted in a cloud shaped like a man. His cohorts hadn't seen the attack coming, nor had Verity. She held back a scream as King wrapped his arm around another vamp and plunged the stake through his chest.

Rook dodged a vamp, got to Verity's side and shoved her to safety. As she remained in the shadows, clinging to the brick wall, the knights quickly took out the vampires. She did not recognize her attacker among them. No Clas or Slater.

When all the vampire ash had settled, the knights had detained one survivor. Even with the nightclub just around the corner, they had worked efficiently, quietly. No human had been aware of the slaughter taking place so nearby.

They led the vampire toward the Audi, which was parked down the street in the darkness beneath a broken streetlamp. Verity assumed they had plans to torture the truth from him. Surely the Order must have a dungeon for such dirty deeds.

As they shoved the vampire toward the open back car door, the vampire suddenly flung out his arms and yelled in pain. Verity noted the wooden crossbow arrow stuck through his chest and then…ash.

King took off in the direction from which the arrow had come, yelling that he was going in pursuit.

“You okay?” Rook looked her over, touched her hand and clasped it. She could feel his anxiety, the tension bouncing him on his feet.

“You can go after the shooter. I'll be okay.”

“No, you won't. The last time I left you alone with vampires in the vicinity, you were bitten. King will get him. Get in the back of the car. Others could be around.”

Verity was reluctant to slide in where they'd had intention to place a vampire, but she finally did. Rook slid in behind her. He kissed her brow and pressed a palm to her cheek, holding her there, their noses touching, eyes closed. His ability to find their intimacy with just a touch calmed her.

“Sorry. This was too dangerous to involve you.”

“I'm a survivor,” she offered. “And I'm fine.”

“The arrow could have pierced your heart as easily. This is the last time I'm taking a civilian out on the hunt.”

“You needed me.”

“Yes, but still no Clas. Don't tremble so, lover.”

She hadn't realized she was shaking until he'd said it. She shuffled closer to him, and he tugged back his coat lapels so the blades would not cut her and snuggled her beneath the leather coat.

“I just want it over,” she said.

“So do I.”

“So does she,” Verity said, and she wasn't sure why, only that she'd been compelled to say those words.

And her lover's heart pounded beneath her hand. He knew exactly what she'd meant. Or rather, what his dead wife had meant.

* * *

Slater stopped Clas from rushing out for the hunter who pursued the shooter he'd positioned to ensure the loose ends were singed. He didn't want to take a chance losing Clas. Not yet. Not with the full moon looming.

He'd noted the other hunter touched Verity and helped her into the car.

“She is his lover,” he guessed. “Did you see how he held her? What will he do when she wants to drink his blood?”

Clas snickered.

“I want that witch in hand. Before the full moon. Not only will she serve me a sweet treat, but she will also catch me some fine hunters. Follow them. But do not stop. I need to think over how to lure the witch to me.”

Clas nodded and got out of the car.

Slater mused. “Thought you could cast me off by moving away, Verity? I don't scare off so easily. Most especially when it's a valuable fire witch I have my eye on. One more day. You will be mine.”