The Corollaria (13 page)

Emily ran her fingers through his hair at the nape of his neck. Luke could feel a storm of emotions, heavy and dark, coming from Emily.  He wanted to comfort her. The need to do so was
overpowering.  But he was struggling too, struggling to make sense of the intensity between them he couldn’t ever deny or resist. Struggling with the desire to be with her, to protect her, and the sharp twisting pain that lodged in his gut when he thought of finding his parents.

How could he be so angry, so hurt, and at the same time feel this unexplainable love and moments of
blissful perfection when he was alone with her?

Luke
couldn’t help but feel a little lost, unsure what to do next. His parents were missing, he felt angry and confused. And then he could feel all these dark emotions from Emily and he didn’t know how to fix it.

“Those other girls got it wrong anyways,” Emily said softly, turning the direction of his thoughts, slowly silencing the outside world. Luke looked up and small smile twitched at the corner of his
full lips. “I’d choose the wolf every time.”

For a moment, something
like guilt flickered in his dark eyes and the smile on his face faded as he looked away. Emily grabbed his face with both her hands and forced his stormy eyes to meet hers.

“My wolf,” She whispered b
efore pressing her mouth to his again.

Luke held onto her, his eyes meeting her
s, two deep dark pools of water. His lips brushed hers in a tender kiss. He whispered huskily into the heated air, “My Emily.”

~000~

Luke sank down into the grass next to Trent, another wolf and member of his pack.

“Where’s Tink?” Trent asked. His dark hair was buzzed short and his eyes were a deep shade of brown.

Luke grinned at the mention of her nickname. Trent had first given her it the day before when he first met Emily.  Emily had not been amused. Luke’s expression quickly soured. “She can’t leave the courtyard.”

“Oh,” Trent’s eyes widened. “Alpha or Queen’s orders?”

Luke snorted, “Both. And she’s not happy about it.”

“I bet.”

“Where’s John and Curtis?” Luke asked, picking at the hem of his jeans.

“They’re coming. I think he wants us to patrol the woods for a couple of hours.”

Luke nodded. His eyes scanned the seemingly quiet woods in front of him. 

Th
e wind shifted, a sweet, alluring scent, like rose and incense, carried in the breeze swept past Luke, and for a moment he felt dazed, his eyes went wide, and he sat up straight. He craned his neck, eyes searching the garden and buildings behind them.

“Luke?” Trent asked, snapping Luke from the trance like state. “You alright?”

“Oh, yeah. Sure,” Luke shook his head, but the memory of that scent, seductive and irresistible, still lingered.

~000~

Allison stayed hidden in the shadows. Her black eyes narrowed on the two wolves sitting in the grass only a few yards away, completely unaware of her presence.

Just a taste,
she thought. Her eyes shone with wicked pleasure. Her bloodlust had only ripened in the days that had passed. She had hoped to get Emily alone, but the Queen was keeping her close, under lock and key. The house was heavily guarded by wolves and Hunters.

Emily will come for Luk
e,
she assured herself.

~000~

Emily sat in the courtyard again, skimming her hand along the crystal clear water in the fountain. Her mind was a whirling vortex of thoughts and feelings, fear, confusion and a constant longing.

A prickling on the back of her neck alerted her to the presence of someone else. When she turned around, Queen Aine was there, smiling gently.

“Hello, my dear,” she said lightly, sitting next her on the stone fountain.  Her eyes were a bright jewel green. 

Emily forced a smile.

“It’s a lot to take in, isn’t it?” Queen Aine asked knowingly.  Emily nodded. After a moment she spoke again, plucking one of the thousand questions from her chaotic thoughts.

“Do you know what happened between my grandmother and Samuel?”

Queen Aine frowned slightly, her unwrinkled face furrowing.  For a moment Emily thought she had asked the wrong question.

Her face softened when she finally spoke. “He loved her once, before he was changed. I don’t know the story of his change, but I do know that he hid it from her when he came back from the war.”

Queen Aine’s voice changed, and her eyes grew distant.

“He lost his self-control at some point and bit her.  It was then he discovered the power of her bl
ood.  It was then the world that you have just discovered was revealed to her,” she paused and looked pointedly at Emily. “When she met her wolf.”

Emily’s eyes were wide and pale blue like sparkling spring water. 
Her wolf.

“I don’t know much more than that I’m afraid,” she confessed. “Except that he soon discovered that her blood was the answer to breaking the witch’s curse on the vampires. And he vowed to break it.”

~000~

“Are you sure this is it?” Jenny stood behind Carson, clutching his arm with one hand and a small silver dagger in the other.  A large stone building loomed over them, but the street was deserted and the house seemed to be as well.

“I’m sure.”

Cautiously, the pair approac
hed the building from the alley. A small window was there, almost level with the street. Carson and Jenny exchanged a quick glance.  Carson deftly kicked in the glass, causing it to shatter loudly on the inside floor below.

They both froze. But no one was coming. The silence was eerie and unsettling.
  Carson would have preferred an army, demons and vampires loyal to Samuel alike to have come and met them.  The need to fight hummed inside him. 

Carson climbed down first and then reached out to help Jenny. They landed with a thud on dirty basement floor. It was dark and musty, the stench of blood and death hung in the air like a thick cloud.

“Come on,” Carson instructed. He grabbed Jenny’s hand as they walked through the dark basement, a maze of rooms and hallways. A soft tortured cry stopped them in their tracks.

They waited with bated breath, listening for the sound again.
Carson’s eyes widened. Fear and hope etched into his face and swelled behind his dark eyes.

Carson rushed the door at the end of the hall when the cry sounded again, crashing into it with his shoulders. He rammed against it again, the wood groaning as it protested against his weight. Again he surged forward and the door
finally crumpled inward.

A woman, small and delicate and
filthy was huddle in the corner. The stench in the room was unimaginable.  She looked up with hollow blue-gray eyes and dirty blonde hair matted and streaked with blood and dirt.

Carson looked stricken
. He rushed forward and gathered her in his arms.

“Mom,” he choked. H
is voice was strained and hoarse as he fought the tears and spoke around the lump in his throat.

She grabbed his shoulders with more strength than he thought she could possibly possess and clung to her son, sobbing.  “Carson, oh Carson.”

It was several minutes before she released him, slowly, afraid that he would vanish like a ghost.

Cara Lyall swallowed hard and met
her eldest son’s eyes, fear and hope warring inside them. “Luke?”

“He’s fine. In the Hidden City. With Emily,” he told her softly as he helped her to her feet.
Cara expelled a shaky breath.

“Emily. Is she okay?” Cara’s voice trembled. Carson nodded, and she sighed in relief, her shoulders sagging against him as he helped her walk from the room that had held her captive.

“Is Dad—”

“Samuel killed him.” Her voice cracked with the admission. Carson hugged his mother to his side and looked to Jenny. 

“Let’s get the hell outta here,” she said.

“
L
uke.”

A soft voice floated through the open window,
delicate and honeyed.  Luke shifted in his sleep, his arms tightened around Emily’s waist, pulling her snuggly against his chest.

“Luke.”

Again the voice drifted inside the room, followed by the subtle scent of lilac and honey. Luke slowly opened his eyes.

“Mom?” h
e asked into the darkness. He could swear he’d just heard her voice.  He let go of Emily and sat up, frowning as he looked out the window. The moon was bright and glowing a pale gold against the black night sky.

Again his mother’s voice and her perfume seemed to float into the room, carried by the quiet breeze. Luke tried to shake his head, but it felt clouded, dizzy.

Something invisible pulled him from his sleep and out the window. He climbed nimbly down the lattice and followed the scent and the soft calling of his mother’s voice through the streets and shadows, into a deserted, nearly destroyed part of the city.

A woman stood in the shadow of the only building that wasn’t in ruins around him.  His brow furrowed.

Was he dreaming?

“Luke,” A woman stepped out into the moonlight. For a split second, when he first saw her, she resembled his mother, the same blonde hair and
blue gray eyes and soft laugh lines.  And then something around her shimmered, and Allison stood in her place.

“
Allison?” Luke asked, bewildered by her sudden appearance.

She moved closer
, her dark hair was pulled back. Her dark eyes glittered in the soft light.  They were so dark, deep fathomless pools of black that seemed to draw him into their endless depths.

He tried to move away, but his body felt heavy, foreign.  She pressed against him, trailing her fingers over his jaw, a wicked smile on her full lips.

“Luke,” she purred. “Come with me.”

Luke felt his mind screaming.
Emily. Emily. Emily. Emily.

His wolf was howling in protest, pacing, growling, and snarling inside his chest. But his eyes remained glued to hers, his body lethargic, unmoving.

By sheer force of will and the constant mantra of Emily’s name echoing in his head, synchronized with the rhythm of his heart, he stepped away, shaking his head. He balled his hands into fists at his side and tried to focus on something other than the seductive power radiating off Allison.

“Wh-
what are you?” Luke managed to stutter. 

Allison
stepped closer, that same alluring scent made his vision swim.  She smiled and curled her fingers under his chin and brought his eyes back to hers.  She was so close. Her lips almost pressed to his as she whispered again, “Come with me, Luke. And I’ll show you.”

Luke resisted and
Allison’s smile dimmed, her eyes narrowed into slits.  Most men did not require this much energy. Her fingers slid down to his neck and she squeezed, her nails dug into his flesh. The world felt fuzzy, dream-like, the edges of his vision were soft and black. Even the wolf had grown quiet, like it had been lulled to sleep.

Emily. Emily. Emily. Emily. Emily. Emily.

But his mind couldn’t let go, her name was all he could focus on as he felt himself slipping away. Luke tried to struggle, tried to fight, but his body was not his own. He felt heavily drugged as his vision slipped away, engulfing him in darkness, Emily’s name on his lips.

~000~

Emily felt something tug at her. Something strong and almost magnetic pulled so strongly at her, she nearly stumbled. She turned around scanning the small stone courtyard.

"Luke?" she whispered hopefully.

But here was no one there, just the steady babbling of the fountain. Emily felt a chill prickle her skin and run up her spine. She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. It was only then did she realize she was barefoot, the rounded stones of the courtyard pressed into the soles of her feet.

"Luke," she called out again. H
er voice was shaky and scared.

Emily stepped forward towards the edge of the courtyard. T
he same pull that had brought her down here in the middle of the night guided her steps. The ally way was dim as she peered down it. She looked around her feet, and at least half a dozen bright purple flowers shaped like stars spread out around her.

“Emily.”

Her head shot up.  Luke’s voice, low and dangerous rang out from the dark ally.  She searched the shadows but couldn’t see him.

“Emily, Emily, Emily,” he chanted, almost like he was calling out to her.

“Luke! Where are you?” Emily shrieked as panic and dread welled up inside her.  She went to step into the alley but something stopped her.  She pushed against the invisible wall.  Nothing.  Was Luke trapped?

Emily’s eyes flashed open. White hot panic clawed at her chest
and throat, stealing her breathe. She sat up gasping, searching the room for Luke.