Shifters Rule (Rule Series) (22 page)

William tripped on a rock and fell flat on the ground.

Alexander moved closer, stick held high over his shoulder.

William flipped over to his back.
 
“What are you doing?”

“You lost.”
 
Alexander smiled in a malicious way.
 
“Cry for mercy.”

“No.
 
That isn’t fair.
 
I fell.
 
It’s a draw.”

“You lost,” Alexander insisted.
 
“Cry for mercy, now.”

William started to get up without saying another word.
 
Alexander wasn’t going to let him get off that easy.
 
He swung the stick hard, striking William in the back.
 
William went down again.
 
This time he stayed on the ground.
 
In pain, tears filled his eyes.
 
Alexander threatened to hit him again.

Jersey
grinned.
 
“You always were a bit of a cheat.”

So the werewolf did know it was him.
 
Jack reached for the man’s hand, desperate to show him a different scene.
 
Jersey
needed to see how he’d killed his brother.
 
He needed to see the moment he’d lost his mind.
 
Maybe then he would be able to reconcile the facts and regain his sanity.

But
Jersey
had other ideas.
 
He grabbed Jack by the wrist and said, “This tour is over, at least your end of it.
 
There’s something I’ve always wondered about.”

“What?”

“Did my brother betray me before I killed him?”

The scene melted away and a new one formed.

They were still in the woods near Lovely’s (prison) cottage, but it was in the middle of the night.
 
Alexander was talking to Lovely’s father.
 
It only took a second for Jack to realize that this was Alexander the vampire and not the human boy.
 
Forgetting
Jersey
was beside him, Jack closed in on the two people talking in hushed tones.
 
He didn’t want to miss a word.
 
Curiosity drove him forward.

Lovely’s father shook his head.
 
“It’s diabolical!
 
I cannot do this to my daughter.”

“You will be freeing your daughter,” Alexander insisted.
 
His voice took on a smooth, coaxing used-car-salesman type of tone.
 
“The curse will end once William is dead and she loves only me.
 
I know it.”

“If you want to kill him, kill him.
 
Why involve me?”

Moonlight hit Alexander’s fangs and they glowed.
 
“William disappears at night.
 
He walks through the magical force-field around this place as if it’s nothing.
 
You know that.
 
There isn’t any way for me to get close to him at night, no way for me to track him before morning, and I can’t kill him during the day.
 
The spell puts me to sleep.
 
Lovely doesn’t think I remember my brother.”
 
His nose wrinkled in distaste.
 
“I can smell him on her.
 
It makes me sick, thinking of him touching her, perhaps even kissing her.
 
I need your help to get rid of him.”

Her father continued to shake his head.

Alexander grabbed the man by the front of his shirt.
 
“Is there a way to make us both monsters at the same time so I can kill him?”

Dots of sweat beaded on the older man’s forehead.
 
“There is a way.
 
It’s called an eclipse.
 
The moon will block the sun.
 
It won’t last for more than a few minutes.”

“A single minute would be long enough to take care of William.”
 
Alexander grinned with a familiar malicious twist to his lips.
 
“After my brother is gone, Lovely and I will be free.
 
We can marry and live anywhere we want.
 
The world will be ours.”

Jack glanced at
Jersey
, afraid of what he might see in the other man’s eyes.

Jersey
sneered at him.
 
“Surprised?
 
I’m not.”

“You knew?”

In answer to the question
Jersey
grabbed Jack’s hand again and took him to another moment in time.
 
Daylight now, William was with Lovely’s father.
 
The old man spilled everything.
 
He told William how his own brother intended to kill him so he could spend an eternity with Lovely.
 
The news was not received well.

William kicked a nearby stump and jabbed the tension-filled air with his finger.
 
“You sir, are a liar!
 
Alexander would never betray me.
 
He is my brother.”

“The boy you knew is no more.
 
Alexander has changed.
 
He is a monster now.”

“We’re both monsters thanks to your daughter.
 
Why are you telling me this?
 
What do you hope to accomplish?”

“I don’t want my daughter married to the boy.
 
If he would kill his own brother, he would do anything.
 
She won’t be safe with him.
 
He needs to die.
 
I am warning you of the eclipse ahead of time so you can be ready for the attack.”

William shook his head.
 
“If Alexander is as strong as you say, I will lose the fight.
 
When I am a wolf, I am out of control.
 
Rage drives me.
 
Alexander will be thinking, planning.”

The older man smirked.
 
“But I am going to give you an advantage.”

“What sort of advantage?”

Lovely’s father put an ancient coin in William’s hand.
 
Pressing down hard on it, he said, “I give you the gift of cold-blooded manipulation and clear thinking in crisis.
 
When you are determined to kill, you will do it with a cool heart.
 
From this moment on you will be known as a werewolf and Alexander will be known as a vampire.
 
I also give you one other gift.
 
From this day forward a single scratch from a werewolf will be able to kill a vampire.”

Sparks
shot out of their enclosed hands.

William stumbled backwards.
 
Opening his hand, he stared at the coin.
 
“What is it?”

“The coin is a faerie coin, filled with magic.
 
Once you do the deed, the coin will be useless, nothing more than a good luck charm.
 
I tipped the scales in your favor.
 
Don’t waste your advantage.”

“What happens after Alexander is... gone?”

Lovely’s father shrugged his hunched shoulders.
 
“Our king made the curse quite specific.
 
She must love the one and kill the other.
 
If my daughter loves you, she will be free even though you are the one killing Alexander.
 
Because I am her
popette
and the magic is mine, it will be like she killed him.
 
If she doesn’t love you, at least she will live her life without Alexander there to possibly turn on her.”

“What do I do then?
 
What happens to me?”

“Your choice.
 
You may continue living here with her, turning into a wolf at night and sneaking into nearby villages.
 
Or you can leave this place and seek your future elsewhere.
 
Once your brother dies, you will be free to roam wherever you want.
 
The spell she put on you will end.
 
Of course, you will remain a werewolf and over the years you will evolve.
 
I’m not sure how, but you will change.
 
It’s inevitable.”

“What did you mean about my kind being called werewolves?
 
I am the only one cursed like this.”

The old man smiled.
 
“That was true in the beginning, but you and Alexander are not held to this place the way she is.
 
You have been turning people.
 
There are a few man-wolves now and several ladies with fangs.
 
Your brother has an eye for pretty things.”

The color drained from William’s face.
 
“We have been cursing others?
 
What of our parents, our other brother and our sisters?
 
They live in the village.”

“Your concern for them is too late.”
 
A hard twinkle hit the old man’s eyes.
 
“You killed them during your first trip, zeroed in on them as if you had a plan.”

“No.”
 
William backed away, pale.
 
“I didn’t.
 
I wouldn’t.”

“Oh, but you did.
 
They are all dead.”

William dropped to his knees.
 
A tortured scream burst past parted lips.
 
For a moment he changed.
 
The shape of the black monster-wolf Jack had seen before imposed itself over William’s face.
 
Then it was gone.
 
His hands went to his face, sensing the change.
 
“What have you done to me?”

“I have given you more power than you ever dreamed of having.
 
The night no longer rules you.
 
You can change or you can hold your human form.
 
It’s up to you.”

A flash of insanity hit William’s eyes.
 
“Alexander has to die.”

“Yes.”
 
The old man clapped his hands with glee.
 
“That’s right.
 
You must kill him.”

“I
will
kill him.”

In present time,
Jersey
said, “We’ve seen enough.”

.

*****

.

The scene instantly vanished and they were back in the car.
 
Jack gasped for breath, dizzy.
 
He had hoped the past would give
Jersey
a new outlook.
 
Too bad Jack had been the one to learn a lesson.
 
Now he understood
Jersey
’s insanity.
 
He’d been driven to it by a nasty curse, a malicious faerie, and a disloyal brother.

“I’m sorry.”
 
Jack’s barely audible voice was thunder in the car’s silent interior.
 
He didn’t know what else to say.
 
Silver wasn’t the only one to blame for this mess.
 
The two of them royally screwed things up.
 
He turned in his seat to face
Jersey
.
 
“I tried to kill you once and you killed me several times.
 
Can’t we just call it even now?”

Jersey
’s eyes were brittle chips of blue ice.
 
“Prepare to die... again.”

Before Jack could say a word,
Jersey
bolted from the car.
 
Instead of returning to the bar for a game of pool, he entered the dark alley on the side of the building.
 
Jack jumped out of the car.
 
He chased after the head werewolf, desperate to make peace.
 
This would probably be his last chance.

Jersey
was gone.

Jack tripped over something on the ground.
 
He stared down in muted horror.
 
It was the book
Jersey
promised him, although he was certain
Jersey
didn’t care if he read it or not.
 
Jack picked it up, dusted off the cover.
 
Jersey
had to be beyond angry to leave a book on the gravel like it was garbage.

Jack sighed.
 
Well, that wasn’t exactly the outcome he’d been hoping for.
 
Instead of taming
Jersey
’s anger, he’d added fuel to the raging fire.
 
Jersey
no longer had any soft or fuzzy feelings for him.
 
Jersey
wanted to kill him in the worst way.
 
Silver too.
 
Their time was up.

How was he going to tell Silver he’d poked the bear a little too hard?

.

*****

Chapter Nineteen:

PRISONER OF WAR

.

.

Silver’s eyes popped open as a hand covered her mouth.
 
She’d been asleep, snoring softly.
 
She simultaneously kicked at the covers and struck out with her fists.
 
He hadn’t meant to scare her.
 
Before she could hurt herself—or him—he grabbed her wrists and held them down.
 
Bending close, he whispered in her ear.
 
“It’s just me.
 
I need to talk to you.”

After knocking him aside, she turned the bedside lamp on.
 
Glaring at him, she gestured to the red numbers on the clock.
 
“Couldn’t this have waited until morning?”

Technically, it
was
morning.
 
He sat on the edge of the bed and stared at her.
 
The words he wanted to say stuck in his throat.
 
He didn’t know how to tell her how badly he’d screwed things up.
 
If she got killed, it was basically his fault.

“My first instinct was to yell at the top of my lungs as soon as I came into the house, wake everyone and tell them what I did.
 
Then I decided I had to tell you first.
 
You deserve the opportunity to tell me off before the others do.”

“You’re starting to scare me.”

“Think you’re scared now?
 
Wait till you get the details.”

Her wide blue eyes fixed on his face.
 
“Well?
 
Give it to me.
 
Pretend it’s a band-aid and rip that sucker off.”

Jack didn’t want to say too much.
 
He couldn’t risk telling her she was Lovely reincarnated.
 
There had to be a way to give her just enough information to clue her in without spilling everything.
 
After pulling a deep breath into his lungs, he said, “I used my power to take
Jersey
back to the beginning with Lovely.”

“What?”
 
Stunned, she shook her head.
 
“How?
 
Why?”

Because
I am Alexander reincarnated and
Jersey
killed me
.

“Because I thought I could fix him if I made him face his past.”
 
Jack traced the
swirly
pattern on the bedspread instead of looking into Silver’s eyes.
 
“I think I made him crazier, and now he’s determined to kill us sooner rather than later.”

“You can’t make an insane person worse than they already are.”

His eyes traveled up to meet hers and she smiled.
 
“I guess you’re right.
 
I hope your mom and my
unc
…father see things the same way.”

“Father?
 
What are you talking about?”

“Oh yeah.
 
I didn’t get a chance to tell you about the major secret Ian finally doused me with.
 
Move over.”
 
She did, and he lay down beside her.
 
Staring at the ceiling, one arm beneath his head, he added, “It turns out that Ian is not my uncle, and John Creed was not my biological father.”

While Silver listened patiently, Jack told her the entire story beginning with the way
Jersey
sucked him into a dream while Jack was awake and talking to Ian.
 
Her body tensed beside him as he declared
Jersey
was growing in power.
 
She gasped when he told her about his grandfather, the maniac warlock and how Ian hid his sons from his own father.

“I can’t believe it,” she said.
 
“He fooled everyone including my parents.”

“Ian made a pact with my mother.
 
They swore never to tell a single soul, outside of John Creed, of course.”

“Are you mad at them?”

“Mad?
 
No.
 
I’m too confused to be mad.”
 
He tapped his forehead.
 
“It’s all jumbled in here right now.
 
I don’t know how I feel about Ian being my father or about John Creed not being my father.
 
I’m totally confused.”

That wasn’t entirely true.
 
He had spent years seeking John Creed’s approval.
 
He practically glowed during those few times John looked upon him with pride.
 
Those fifteen weeks in the garage spent rebuilding the Mustang had been the best days of his life.
 
John might have been aloof, cold even, but he’d been Jack’s father in every way that counted.
 

Jack turned onto his side, his back to Silver.
 
He didn’t want her to see how much pain it was actually causing him.
 
Disturbing images seared his brain.
 
They wouldn’t stop coming.
 
Each one led him down a new twisted path.
 
The pictures were of his father, the man who’d raised him, the man he would honestly always think of as his father.

“I miss him,” Jack said in a low voice, for Silver’s ears only.

“I miss my dad, too.”
 
She turned on her side and put an arm around him.
 
Her chin rested on his arm.
 
“It sucks.”

“Yeah it does.”

“Are you still worried about
Jersey
?”

“I’m worried about you.
 
He blames us for what happened to him, and he wants to kill us both.
 
He wants to make us pay.”

Silver sat up and stared down at him with a deep frown.
 
“Why would he blame us for anything?
 
We’re pawns in this little drama.
 
It’s his crazy show, not ours.”

There it was.
 
He had talked too much.
 
He tried to cover his tracks as fast as he could.
 
“Lovely was in your family line.
 
It may not make sense to us, but he blames us.
 
He’s crazy.
 
Let’s not try to figure him out.
 
It’s late, and I’m tired.”

“Do you think we should wake mom and Ian, tell them the news?”

He stifled a yawn with his fist.
 
“I think we should wait until morning.”

Silver settled behind him again, and his eyes drifted shut.
 
Her next words made them pop open.
 
“It’s actually a good thing
Jersey
is coming after us now.”

“What makes you say that?”

“At least it will be over soon.
 
I won’t have to leave for college with it hanging over my head.”

Jack went to sleep with those words still in his ears.
 
A vision of
Jersey
ripping out Isobel’s soul in mere seconds replayed itself over and over in his head.
 
There was no denying the truth.
 
Jersey
was too strong.
 
They couldn’t win.

They were going to die.

.

*****

.

In the morning, Jack told everyone about
Jersey
’s latest threat as they sat around the breakfast table.
 
Vanessa’s fork stopped midway to her mouth.
 
A piece of pancake fell off the end.
 
It hit the plate’s rim.
 
The syrup stuck it in place.
 
She didn’t notice.
 
Instead, her wide eyes fixed on Jack’s face in utter horror.

Ian, on the other hand, took the news better than Jack could have hoped.
 
With a grim twist to his lips, the man nodded.
 
“Perhaps this is the best thing for all of us.
 
We can bloody well kill the monster and return to our lives.”

Jack wondered if that meant Ian planned on returning to
Europe
after
Jersey
was killed.
 
Sounded like a good idea to him.
 
He wondered if he should volunteer to help pack Ian’s bags.
 
The man was biologically his father, but Jack had no intention of getting to know him.
 
He didn’t need a father.
 
More importantly, he didn’t want a father.

Vanessa turned her desperate concern in Ian’s direction.
 
“I do not want Silver involved in this.
 
You and Jack need to take care of
Jersey
without her.”

“Mom!”
 
Silver practically shouted across the table.
 
“This is what I was born for.
 
I have to be a part of it.
 
I’m not going to let Jack take all the risks and get himself killed.”

Vanessa ignored her daughter and continued to glare at Ian with venom in her eyes.
 
“I mean it.
 
I just lost my husband to this mess, and I will not sacrifice my daughter as well.”

“I agree,” Jack said.

Silver shot him a dirty look.
 
“What is wrong with you people?
 
I am the one with the power.
 
The diary says Jack and I both have to be there.
 
I was trained for this, and I know I can do it.
 
At least let me help?”

“No,” Vanessa said in a firm,
and that’s final
tone.

“This is total crap!”

Ian slammed the palm of his hand against the table, startling everyone.
 
“You will talk to your mother with respect!”

Silver’s eyes flooded with tears, and she bolted from the room.

Jack glared at his new father.
 
His tone dripping with sarcasm, he said, “That was nice.”

Before either Vanessa or Ian could protest, he went after Silver.
 
She hadn’t gone far.
 
She was in the hallway upstairs, sitting against the wall, knees drawn up to her chest with tears streaming down her face.
 
He sat beside her and put an arm around her trembling shoulders.
 
She tried to speak, but it came out garbled.
 
Broken sobs sliced and diced each word.

They sat quietly for several minutes.
 
The only sound was the occasional sniffle.
 
Once Silver calmed down and the flood of tears came to an end, she said, “I’m sorry.
 
I feel like such an idiot.”

“Why?”

“I don’t usually cry like a baby.”
 
She paused to take a shaky breath.
 
“When Ian jumped all over me for raising my voice to my mom, he reminded me of my dad.
 
He sounded so much like my dad… I wasn’t expecting to feel like I’d been hit by a truck.”

He understood.
 
Jack’s arm tightened around her.
 
She leaned into the embrace.
 
Her hair brushed against the side of his face.
 
The odd yet tantalizing scent that was Silver filled his nostrils.
 
His eyes closed.
 
He breathed deep.
 
If he died at
Jersey
’s hands someday soon, moments like this would make his death worth it.

He wanted to kiss her.

Jack silently chastised himself.
 
Silver was upset over her father.
 
The last thing she wanted to do was make out with him in the hallway.
 
Besides, her mother was bound to come searching for them.
 
She would hit the roof if she found him with his tongue in her daughter’s mouth.

Silver cut into his private thoughts.
 
“I can’t believe my mom.
 
My whole life was a waste if I can’t join in on the fight with
Jersey
.
 
She and dad made me study the diary.
 
They trained me, had me hunt with them.
 
I should have been with my friends, having a good time instead of hunting if it was all for nothing.
 
She doesn’t care.”

“I’m sure that’s not true.”

“No one gets it.
 
She doesn’t understand what its like to be me.
 
You know?
 
Sometimes I think I hate her.”

“You don’t hate her.”

“Stop telling me how I feel!”

O-
kay
, now was not a good time to talk reason with her.
 
He was a boy, a son, so he didn’t understand the mother-daughter thing.
 
Better to keep his mouth shut.

“We need to find Billy,” she said.

It was a strange thing for her to come out with while crying over her father.
 
Jack stared at her profile, trying to read her expression.
 
He nodded and waited for her to add something that would make sense.

“He’s alive,” she said.
 
“At least your brother is alive.
 
He can still be saved.
 
We can’t stop until we find him and bring him home.”

Jack knew where Billy was at, but he decided not to share the information, not yet.
 
Silver would want to go straight over there and do something drastic.
 
Jack wasn’t sure his brother
could
be saved anymore, not without
Jersey
’s death.

“Won’t be easy,” he said.

She laughed.
 
“When has anything ever been easy for the two of us?”

Jack’s dark thoughts circled around his brother.
 
The last time he’d seen Billy, his brother had seemed at home with the other werewolves.
 
He was running with the pack.
 
No regret in his eyes.
 
Not even a spark.