The Dark-Hunters (35 page)

“Are you hungry?” she asked.

“No.”

Grace settled down by his side. She spent the night alternating between reading to him and bathing his feverish skin.

*   *   *

Julian didn’t sleep that night. He couldn’t. All he could feel was Grace’s skin on his, smell her sweet floral scent. It invaded his head and made his senses reel. Every nerve in his body screamed for her.

Grinding his teeth, he clenched the silver chains in his fists and fought down the swirling darkness that tried to claim him. He didn’t want to surrender to it.

He didn’t want to close his eyes and miss a minute of being with Grace while he was still sane and whole. If he let the darkness take him, he might not wake up from it until he was in the book. Alone.

“I can’t lose her,” he whispered. The very thought of it shredded what little of his heart he still possessed.

The clock in the hallway struck three. Grace had fallen asleep a short time ago. She lay with her head and hand on his belly, her breath falling gently across his stomach.

He could feel her hair tickle his skin, her warmth seeping into his soul.

What he wouldn’t give to be able to touch her.

Closing his eyes, he laid his head back and allowed himself to dream for the first time in centuries. He dreamed of nights spent with Grace. Of days laughing by her side.

He dreamed of a day when he could love her as she deserved to be loved. A day when he would be free to give himself to her. He dreamed of having a home with her.

Most of all, he dreamed of children with happy, gray eyes and sweet, impish smiles.

Julian was still dreaming of those things when the morning light broke and the clock struck six and Grace woke up.

She rubbed her face against his chest, nuzzling him in a way that was sheer torture.

“Good morning,” she said, smiling.

“Good morning.”

She bit her lips as she ran her gaze over his body, her brow wrinkled by concern. “Are you sure we have to do this? Can I not let you up for a little bit?”

“No!” he said emphatically.

She picked up her phone and dialed Beth. “I’m not going to be in for a few days, can you take some of my clients?”

Julian frowned at her words. “You’re not going to work?” he asked as soon as she hung up.

Grace couldn’t believe he’d ask her such a question. “And leave you here like this?”

“I’ll be all right.”

She looked at him as if he’d lost his mind. “What if something happened?”

“What?”

“The house could burn down, or someone could come in and do who knows what to you while you’re helpless to stop them.”

Julian didn’t argue. He just relished the fact that she was willing to stay with him.

*   *   *

By mid-afternoon, Grace could see how much worse the curse had become. Every inch of his body was coated with sweat. The muscles in his arms were taut and he seldom spoke. When he did, it was through clenched teeth.

Still, he would smile at her, his eyes warm and encouraging as she watched his muscles bunch and flex while he suffered through whatever seemed to be gnawing at him.

She kept bathing him, but as soon as she placed the cloth to his skin the cloth would grow so hot she could barely touch it.

By nightfall, he was delirious.

Helpless, she watched as Julian writhed and cursed as if some unseen person were flaying every inch of his body. She’d never seen anything like it. He was struggling so hard, she was afraid he would break the bed.

“I can’t stand this,” she whispered. Running downstairs, she called Selena.

*   *   *

An hour later, Grace let Selena and her sister, Tiyana, in. With jet-black hair and blue eyes, Tiyana looked very little like Selena. One of the few white voodoo high priestesses, Tiyana owned a local voodoo shop, and gave cemetery tours on Friday nights.

“I can’t thank you enough for coming over,” Grace said as she closed the door behind them.

“No problem,” Selena said.

Tiyana held a drum under one arm, and was dressed in a plain brown dress. “Where is he?”

Grace led them upstairs.

Tiyana took one step into the room and froze at the sight of Julian writhing on the bed as he cursed the entire Greek pantheon.

Her face paled. “I can’t do anything for him.”

“Tiyana,” Selena chastised. “You have to try.”

Her eyes wide with fright, Tiyana shook her head. “You want my advice? Seal up this room and leave him until he goes back where he came from. There’s an evil so strong watching over him that I don’t dare mess with it.” She looked at Selena. “Can’t you feel the malevolence?”

Grace trembled at the words, her heart pounding. “Selena?” she asked, desperately needing some way to soothe him. There had to be something they could do.

“You know I can’t help,” Selena said. “My spells never work.”

No! her mind screamed. They couldn’t leave it like this.

Grace looked at Julian as he fought against his restraints. “Is there someone else we can call?”

“No,” Tiyana said. “In fact, I can’t stay here. No offense, this creeps me out.” She gave a flat look to Selena. “And you know the kind of freaky stuff I deal with on a daily basis.”

“I’m sorry, Gracie,” Selena said, rubbing her hand over Grace’s arm. “I’ll do some research and see what I can find out, okay?”

Her throat tight, Grace had no choice but to show them out.

Closing the door, she leaned against it wearily.

What was she going to do?

She couldn’t just accept the fact that there was nothing to be done for Julian. There had to be something that could relieve his pain. Something she hadn’t thought of.

Heading upstairs, she returned to Julian.

“Grace?” It was an agonized cry that wrenched her heart.

“I’m right here, baby,” she said, touching his brow.

He let out a fierce growl like an animal caught in a trap as he threw his body toward her.

Terrified, she stepped away from the bed.

Her legs shaking, Grace went to her closet and found a copy of
The Odyssey.
She pulled her rocking chair next to the bed and started reading.

It seemed to soothe him. He didn’t thrash about quite so severely.

*   *   *

Days went by, and with every one that passed, Grace’s hope continued to wilt. Julian had been right. There was no way they could break the curse if he didn’t come out of this madness.

Worse, she couldn’t stand watching him suffer, hour after hour, without any relief. No wonder he hated his mother. How could Aphrodite allow him to go through this without doing something for him?

And he had suffered like this for centuries.

Grace was at her wits’ end. “How could you!” she shouted angrily at the ceiling.

“Eros!” she called. “Can you hear me? Athena? Someone? How can you let him go through this and do nothing? If you have any love for him at all, please help me help him.”

As she expected, no one answered.

Grace leaned her head into her hand as she tried to think of something else she could try. Surely, there …

A light flashed in the room.

Startled, Grace looked up to see Aphrodite materializing next to the bed. She couldn’t have been more stunned to find a donkey in her house.

Aphrodite’s face was pale and strained as she saw her son convulsing in absolute agony. She reached a hand out to him, then drew it back sharply. Balling her hand into a fist, she dropped it to her side.

It was then she looked at Grace. “I do love him,” she said quietly.

“I do, too.”

Aphrodite’s gaze fell to the floor, but Grace could still see her inner turmoil. “If I release him you’ll take him from me forever. If I don’t release him, we’ll both lose him.”

Aphrodite locked gazes with her. “I thought about what you said, and you were right. I made him strong and I should never have punished him for it. All I ever wanted was for him to call me mother.” She looked at her son. “I just wanted you to love me, Julian. Just a little.”

Grace swallowed when she saw the pain on Aphrodite’s face as she touched Julian’s hand.

Julian hissed as if her touch burned his skin.

Aphrodite let go. “Grace, promise me you’ll take good care of him.”

“As long as he lets me, I will. I promise.”

Aphrodite nodded, then placed her hand on Julian’s brow. He threw his head back as if he’d been struck by lightning. Aphrodite leaned over him and kissed him ever so lightly on the lips.

Instantly, his entire body went limp.

The handcuffs fell open, and still Julian didn’t move. Grace’s heart stopped as she realized he wasn’t breathing. Terrified, she reached a trembling hand out to him.

He took a deep, convulsing breath.

Grace saw the familiar longing in Aphrodite’s eyes as she held her hand out to a son who didn’t even know she was there. It was the same look of yearning she saw so often in Julian’s eyes when he didn’t know she was watching him.

How could two people need each other so desperately, and yet not be able to reach out to one another?

Aphrodite vanished the instant Julian opened his eyes.

Grace moved to his side. He was shaking so badly, his teeth chattered. His fever gone, now his skin was as cold as ice.

She pulled the blankets off the floor and covered him up.

“What happened?” he asked, his voice unsteady.

“Your mother freed you.”

Julian stared in amazement of her words. “My mother? She was here?”

Grace nodded. “She was worried about you.”

Julian couldn’t believe his hearing. Was it possible?

But why would his mother help him now after all the times she’d turned her back on his suffering and left him to it? It didn’t make sense.

His frown deepening, Julian started to slide off the bed.

“No you don’t,” she said sharply. “I just got you back, and I—”

“I really have to go to the bathroom,” he said, interrupting her.

“Oh.” Grace helped him from the bed.

His legs were so weak, he needed her support to help him down the hallway. Julian closed his eyes as he inhaled the sweet smell of her. Afraid of hurting her, he tried not to put too much of his weight on her shoulders.

His heart warmed at the way she helped him, at the feel of her arms wrapped around his waist as she walked him down her hallway past the grandfather clock.

His Grace. How would he ever be able to let her go?

After he relieved himself, she ran a hot bath for him and helped him into it.

Julian stared at Grace while she bathed him. He couldn’t believe she’d stayed by his side all this time. He didn’t remember much about the last few days, but he remembered the sound of her voice soothing him through the darkness.

He’d heard her calling to him. And at times, he was sure he’d felt her hand on his skin, pulling him back from the madness.

Her touch had been his salvation.

Closing his eyes, he enjoyed the sensation of her hands sliding over his body as she bathed him. Down his chest, his arms, his stomach. And when her hand accidentally brushed his erection, he jerked from the force of it.

How he wanted her.

“Kiss me,” he breathed.

“Is it safe?”

He smiled at her. “If I could move, you’d already be in this tub with me. I assure you, at the moment I’m as helpless as a babe.”

She licked her lips tentatively as she brushed her right hand over his. Her touch was gentle and warm, and she stared at his mouth as if she could devour it. That look went a long way in banishing the chill from him.

She leaned forward and kissed him deeply. Julian moaned at the contact, wanting more. Needing more of her touch.

To his amazement, he got it.

Grace left his lips only long enough to peel her clothes from her body until she stood naked before him. Slowly, seductively, she crawled into the tub with him, straddling his waist.

Julian moaned at the feel of her hairs on his stomach. She returned to his lips with a kiss so hot, it scorched him.

Damn it, he couldn’t even hold her! His arms wouldn’t budge on their own. And he desperately wanted to hold her tight against him.

She must have felt his frustration, for she pulled back with a smile. “It’s my turn to care for you,” she whispered before burying her lips against his throat.

Julian closed his eyes as she trailed her kisses down his chest. When she reached his nipple, he reeled from the pleasure of her tongue teasing and suckling him. Never had anything touched him more than her actions. He couldn’t remember the last time someone had truly made love to
him.

And no one had ever been so thorough. So giving.

He sucked his breath in sharply as she reached down between their bodies to stroke him. “I wish I could make love to you,” he whispered.

She lifted her head to meet his gaze. “You do that every time you touch me.”

Somehow, he found the strength to wrap his shaking arms around her and pull her against his chest. He claimed her lips with his own.

He heard her pull the stopper out with her foot as she deepened her kiss, all the while her hand tormented him with light, gentle strokes against his swollen shaft.

His head reeled from the sensation of her touching him there. He lived for her touch. Craved it in a way that was indefinable.

Once the water had drained from the tub, she left his lips to blaze a scorching trail down his body. Julian let his head fall back against the edge of the tub as she licked his stomach and swirled her tongue over to his hipbone.

Then, to his utter shock, she took him into her mouth. Julian growled as he cupped her head in his hands and savored the feel of her tongue and mouth swirling around him. No woman had ever done that before. They had only taken from him, none of them had ever given.

Not until Grace.

Her touch shattered the last bit of his will, the last bit of his resistance to her. His entire body shook from the warmth of her actions.

“I’m sorry,” she said, pulling back from him. “You’re so cold, you’re shivering again.”

“I’m not shivering from the cold,” he said, his voice hoarse. “I’m shivering from you.”