Sanibel Surrender Vampire Werewolf Menage (Fanged Romance Series Book Five) (22 page)

“Okay, then.” Molly shivered. “Anyway, after I spied Bane, I threw a murderous glare Ryan’s way, figuring he was the traitor.”

“Oh, I’m sure Ryan called Bane to save his own skin,” Ail agreed. “What if somethin’ had happened to you there?”

She tucked a curl behind her ear. “When Bane settled down on the barstool next to me, wielding that serious edge only out shadowed by Jayce Jordan himself. My domineering brother-n-law informed me, in no uncertain terms, that I was going home with him to Captiva Island, because, somehow, Bane had found out about Wilson’s infidelity.” She moved to the top drawer of her chest, rummaging. “But I told Bane Ruyter
,
in the same no uncertain terms, that he could slow his roll. I wouldn’t enter his mansion of
depravity
.”

“You told Bane that?” Ail asked incredulously.

“Sorry to insult your brother, but I’ve never gotten along with Renee’s husbands. Anyhow, wielding my vodka-loosened tongue, I told Bane what I thought of him, Arian, Dru, Jayce, and Bren in vivid detail. Then, he
laughed
in my face. Either he thought I was joking, or he simply didn’t care what I thought of him.”

“Oh, he cares,” said Heath.

She pursed her lips, thinking. “Next thing I remember, I was tossing back tequila shooters with Renee, while watching that movie
Mamma Mia.
All happenings from inside my sister’s Captiva Island manse, the very place I had sworn never to visit. And I hadn’t one iota how Bane managed to get me there, though I do
now
. After a while, I let down my guard and cried on Renee’s shoulders, until I drifted into a deep abyss tainted by dream-induced shadows I
still
cannot understand.”

Ail shot Heath a look of concern. “So Arian convinced you to come to Miami,” he coaxed. Something was off and Ail sensed it, too - both trying to piece together her activities.

Molly moved to the dresser, going through drawer after drawer. “Yeah, I thought that I needed to get away from everything and
think
. Arian was taking Renee and his brothers to Norway, to visit his grandparents. I begged him to include me, but Arian refused, so Miami it was.”

“So,” Heath spoke quietly, “Gage asked you to bunk with me and my brother, in his old penthouse.” He shook his head, remembering the Gryph’s interference. “You lasted all of one night.”

“Getting away for ‘thinking time’ wasn’t what I thought it would be,” Molly answered, now chewing a thumbnail. “Apart from my estranged husband, I still had a life to come back to and a job I loved.” The job she recently lost due to those damned budget cuts, forcing her into a part-time position. And although Heath didn’t want his female working, he didn’t want to take away anything that made her happy. “And Wilson was refusing to grant me an annulment or a divorce so the fight was on, for
months
.”

“That particular fight is over,” he whispered with great relief. He couldn’t wait to get her back to the island and under the safety of his body.

“How can I feel that way when he’s done something with my clothes,” she said on a broken sob. “There’s nothing here left of mine.”

“Everything’s gone?” Ail wrapped his arms around her, brushing his chin across her head in a reassuring manner.

“My grandfather’s service uniform... if that’s gone.” She pressed her fingertips to her lips. “Look inside my closet, please. I can’t do it. It should be in a bag to the far left, by the air conditioning vent.” Ail walked into the dark closet without flipping on the light, using his werewolf’s vision. When he came back to the double doors, he closed them tightly behind him.

Heath veered Molly towards the window, wishing he could speak mind to mind with his co-mate to find out what was suddenly wrong. “If Wilson did anything with his uniform, I’ll come at him with a nail gun and make him
wish
for that flimsy stapler from his desk,” he promised right when she cupped her hand over her mouth.

“Are you going to be sick, lass?” Heath asked, ready to go fifteenth century on Wilson’s arse for upsetting her yet again. “Do you need the lavatory?”

“Yeah, I need…” She gaged behind her hand, her eyes watering. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but I don’t feel right. Give me some privacy.”

Heath watched her close the lavatory door behind her and then he heard the rushing sink water. “Ail,” he whispered and misted inside the closet. “What’s…shit.” There were only two things left inside Molly and Wilson’s vast walk-in closet: Her wedding dress, which hung pristinely from an antique wall hook on the wall next to a long mirror and Wilson.

“Thank God, I found him before she did,” Ail whispered. “I texted Mason and asked him to circle the perimeter, see if he picks up on anything.”

“Terje and Rune are watchin’ the skies.” Heath scratched his chin, tilting his head toward Wilson. “I cannot believe that we didn’t smell him.”

“He’s fresh, virtually drained of blood, and his scent’s all over the place here. After all, this is his residence,” Ail recoiled the first time he attempted to check for Wilson’s pulse, but finally managed to press his fingers on his throat. “Gone.” He wiped his fingers on his thigh, making a face.

“That Gryph couldn’t have been your first kill, Ail.” Heath looked for signs of struggle, didn’t find one drop of blood anywhere. “Why the ick factor?”

“He was married to what’s
mine
.” His Beast flared, illuminating the darkened closet with the glow of burning embers – the colors of fury and hatred. “Even though he’s dead, I still can’t handle it.” He closed his eyes, tamping down his ire. “I don’t even have any
sympathy
for him. In fact, I should pay off a Species vampire and have him made Undead just so I can kill him myself. To top it off, he’s stark naked. I suspect by what I’m seeing and smelling,” Ail continued with a disturbed expression, gesturing over Wilson’s extremities, “that he died in the throes of sex. Sex with his
killer
, to be exact, and since I see his…his…,” he stopped and gagged, “I’m guessing Wilson
really
enjoyed himself. But, hey, I’m a fighter not an investigator. So you go at it with my blessings.”

“For the record, I’m a Tracker. Scoot yourself back and listen for our lass.” Heath moved in, tilting Wilson’s head to the side, examining until he spotted the telltale mark.

“Just as I suspected.”

“What?”

Heath dropped his hand to his side, clenching his fist. “Tis the same bite as the security guard had.”

“That Chuck guy, from Molly’s work?” Ail asked suspiciously.

“Aye and tis the same smell…same bloody vampire, a
Dynasty Vampyr
.”

“A Dynasty Vampyr, for real? I haven’t been around enough of them to distinguish the stench from a regular vampire. All the same, Wilson doesn’t smell any differently, besides the spunk, than he did earlier at the restaurant.” Ail chewed his lip, thoughtful. “At the time, I brushed off the smell, seeing as how his former brother-n-law, Dru, is a vampire. Wilson probably met others inadvertently through his and Dru’s association.”

Heath couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “You’re tellin’ me that Wilson smelled like this when he was talkin’ to Molly.”

“Absolutely,” Ail replied with certainty, while holding up his phone and taking a picture of the bite. “I’m sending this to Bane. It’s almost like…”

“The bite is too savage,” Heath finished for him. “He lost control.”

“Yeah,” Ail said while texting, “if that isn’t bloodlust, I don’t know what is.”

A horrified scream rent the air. “Molly!” Heath found her right outside the closet, trembling under the orange-eyed scrutiny of Oycher, a Vampyr Vojak, and Maestru himself. He reached for her in attempts to soothe her, but Ail came barreling out in mid-transformation, aiming for the Coven Master of North America. Heath had no choice but to go into full-transformation and completely release his Beast, just to save Ail’s life. No matter how powerful Ail was, there wasn’t any way he was taking down Maestru unless he aged countless millennia. But if he touched him, Ail wouldn’t have to wait for his Blood for Blood trial, because he’d be dead on the spot.

Atop Ail’s back, Heath roared into his co-mate’s ears, forcing his youngling Beast to submit. He was powerful, so very potent, but so was Heath. Molly continued to scream, only stopping to release strained gasps. He saw Maestru eye Molly’s throat, seeing their claiming marks, and out of nothing but respect, the Coven Master stayed back to wait for Ail to calm down. But it wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. Heath had to clamp his jaws over Ail’s nape, even breaking skin to subdue him.

“He’s biting him!” she then screamed. To Heath’s complete shock, she jumped on his back and started pummeling him with her tiny fists. Ail picked that perfect time to arch up and Molly inadvertently flew on her ass, nearly clocking her head on a bedside table. He couldn’t let go of Ail and he couldn’t throw any coercion her way, because everything he had was directed to Ail. Not releasing his bite from Ail’s nape, he shook him several times and placed one knee into his lower back. With his opposite hand, he crushed his windpipe. Unfortunately, Molly had slung off one platform and was now brandishing it as a weapon, coming at him cautiously as though she didn’t want to hit him but figured she didn’t have a choice.

“No!” he warned her around a mouthful of Ail’s nape, but it came out as a distorted growl. The vampires could easily understand him, but not his lass.

Oycher tilted his head, shaking it slightly. “Beast, shall I intercept your mate so she doesn’t harm herself.”

What other choice did he have? “Aye.”

Oycher placed a leather-clad hand on Molly’s arm, pulling her back to his chest and gently removing her makeshift weapon from her trembling hand. She swung her head back to deliver a head-butt, though in vampiric speed, Oycher easily evaded the move. To his credit, the Vojak remained stoic through her Ballbuster efforts.

“If you calm yourself, your males will,” Oycher whispered into her ear. “Are you strong enough to do that?”

Apparently, Molly wasn’t going to listen and plowed into Oycher full swing, first elbowing him and then kicking his shins like a ninja wannabe. “Let me go!”

Oycher brought her back a few feet. “Not yet.”

Ail went bonkers. Still, Heath managed to keep hold of his nape, his canines digging in deeper by the second. He tried desperately not to harm him, but it proved difficult. The whole scene was developing into a circus atmosphere.

Maestru walked right up to them, his power crackling through the air, mingling with their Beasts. “Enough! We are here to investigate the scene of a killing, and you are preventing that, Young Ruyter.”

“A killing?” Immediately, Molly stopped struggling. “What killing?”

He managed to tamp his Beast, wavering in and out, watching as Molly’s mouth gaped, tears streaming her face. She was confused, angry, and hurt. He could smell her bubbling emotions, though, thankfully, she was no longer scared.

“So,” she said, her voice scratchy from her screams, “when I thought I’d seen a werewolf, I hadn’t.”

“No, not exactly, lass,” he replied, forcing his eyes away from the closet. Maestru was already inside, easily sniffing out Wilson after the other werewolves had hauled Ail away. Molly was still in Oycher’s arms, though she now remained virtually immobile, her lips pressed into a thin line. “But that’s the brunt of it so long as I’m not angry.”

Her mouth opened, forming an o. “You weren’t angry just then?”

He shook his head. “Nay and we’ll discuss this at a more appropriate time, please.” Addressing Oycher, he said. “Did Bane call you?”

“Yes, but we were already in route.”

Already in route meant that the Vojaks had a full investigation going and Heath wondered what that meant, if anything, for poor Ail’s circumstance. Seeing that the Coven Master was attending also signaled the significance of this particular investigation. Maestru didn’t stop his Coven leading duties for just anything. “Tell me that you are progressing with this investigation and that you are narrowing down countless leads.”

Molly held up her hand, cutting Oycher’s reply off, which surprised both of them. “Why did that vampire say he was here regarding a killing and then entered my walk-in?” Deftly, she pulled away from Oycher, only because he allowed it, and braced her hands on her hips. She had one shoe on and one off, standing completely lopsided. He leaned down, and removed her other shoe so she wouldn’t twist her ankle. Placing her wee hand on his shoulder, she steadied herself. And the simple fact that she was brave enough to touch him after seeing him in full transformation stroked his very soul.

He lifted himself and wrapped protective arms around her. “Bodies seem to be goin’ down around you, my mate.”

“I'll let your mate explain. By the way, Heath, that security guard didn’t make it,” Oycher supplied quietly before he curiously investigated the master suite. Then he misted through the rest of Molly’s condominium, leaving Maestru to investigate Wilson.

“Chuck?” she asked. “He’s dead?”

He threw soothing compulsion her way. “Aye, I’m sorry.” He stroked her from the top of her head to her lower back.

“I feel that,” she snapped and pushed his compulsion away.

“Allow me to help you. It’s my way,” he countered.

“It’s not my way,” Molly argued, shaking her head and pushing on his chest to look up at him. “I don’t want to be coddled. What I want is for you to tell me what killing took place here, or I’m walking over to that closet to see for myself.” She pressed her hands over her shorts, the nervous gesture he had seen Tatum do so many times before. “I sure have an idea.”