Twisted (Rogues Shifter Series Book 3) (12 page)

Isaiah was smiling: something he hadn’t done for the last twelve hours. During that time I’d seen just about every other expression on his face: encouragement, hope, frustration, impatience, exhaustion, anger and even fear. The fear was what worried me the most, and was probably what had added the extra motivation I’d needed to get the job done. At least as much as I’d managed to accomplish, which so far wasn’t that much. And it wasn’t because I hadn’t tried my hardest.

I had plenty of scars to mark my efforts to learn what he was trying to teach me.  Muscles ached in places I didn’t know I had muscles, and there were scrapes, welts, bruises and burns on my arms and legs that hurt enough to bring tears to my eyes. Not that I was moping in a corner crying. If the occasional tear made its escape and rolled down my cheek, I rarely even paused to wipe it away. I was determined to ignore it as I worked toward my freedom. The pain was nothing to me if I could get out of here before Kennett returned.

Right now, I felt dizzy and my body was shaking from my latest effort
, the one that had brought a smile to Isaiah’s face. I swayed on my feet and felt his arms wrap around me and lower me to the wooden chair near the table, where he bent me over to put my head between my knees.

“Jacqueline Crawford, you are a true warrior. In only twelve hours, you’ve achieved the first level.” His voice was ecstatic as if that was a really big deal. I had my doubts.

“The first level?”  I mumbled from between my knees. “Only the
first
level? How many freakin’ levels are there?”

“Most of them just blur together so you don’t need to worry about how many there are. You’ll flow from one to the next naturally. You need to eat and rest and then we’re going to step up the intensity.” I sat up a little too quickly and felt for a se
cond like I was going to heave. I slapped my hand over my mouth and stumbled to the bathroom and, sure enough, I did.

“This is all normal for a non pure
-blood. Don’t panic, it will pass in a few minutes.” I knew that he was trying to be reassuring, but I wasn’t even listening. I washed my face and rinsed out my mouth and then put the toilet lid down so I could sit, afraid that I might have to use it again really soon.

“Look, I’m not going to be able to eat and even though I’m completely exhausted, I can’t sleep. These burns are killing me. Do you have anything you can do to ease them a little bit?”

“Of course. “ His eyes flashed orange and he waved his hand. Every burn, bruise and wound was gone as was my dizziness and nausea. The only evidence that remained of my training session was the overwhelming exhaustion that made it difficult to stand, let alone walk. However, my anger managed to get me thru the doorway and face to face with Isaiah.

“You little shit! You could have healed me at anytime? I didn’t have to be in pain all day long? I didn’t have to throw up?” He nodded. “If I wasn’t so tired, I’d beat the crap out of you.” I slumped back down in the wooden chair.

“Jackie, fighting through the pain makes what you’ve gained more meaningful.”

“But I might have gotten there sooner if I wasn’t hurting so badly.”

“Pain is part of the process. It’s a necessary ingredient for the magic to work. This level would not have opened to you without it.”

“And the other levels require pain?”

“Yes. This is similar to blood magic, only a death is not required.”

“Whoopee,” I whispered as I laid my head on the table and closed my eyes. I felt him lift me up easily and lay me on the bed, pulling the blanket over me.

“Sleep, Jackie, and I will send you a dream to help you find the strength to continue. Don’t waste it, little demon.”

I closed my eyes and dreamt.

I was in the woods, but I smelled the sea, so I followed the narrow trail, ripping the hem of my dress on the brush, wanting to see the ocean and smell the clean air. Giant redwoods, smelling of life and ancient mysteries, blocked my path, but I made my way around them only to catch another scent: sweet vampire.

I started to run toward the scent, tearing through the brush and across the thinning tree line toward the sound of the ocean in the distance. He was there, in a clearing of fallen trees and Loganberry bushes, and he turned and smiled when he saw me. I raced toward him and threw myself against him and we kissed and held each other so tightly that I almost couldn’t breathe. But who needed air, when I was in Garrett’s arms?

He held me away from him. “He said we only have a short time. Are you alright?” I saw the fear in his eyes.

“Yes, I’m blocked from using the lines, but Isaiah is helping me learn to get around it and then travel within them.” I leaned in to kiss him again. The last thing I wanted to do was talk. His body was firm and strong and I wanted it pressed against every inch of me.

“Isaiah?

“He’s a demon and Kennet controls him. I’m helping him get his freedom and he’s helping me get mine.”

“Are you safe with him?”

“Yes…please shut up and kiss me.” He did and I melted against him and then realized that I should have asked how he was.

I pulled away. “Have you been feeding and resting?”

“Yes…I’m fine.” He grinned. “Now please shut up and kiss me.” I laughed and did what he asked and then I was pushed against a tree and we were all over each other laughing and panting and finally calling each other’s names in exquisite release. In the middle of it all I’d made him bite me and feed, partly to add to the pleasure but also to give him some extra strength as he continued his search. I fed from him as well, giving me a jolt of magical energy that I’d try to hold onto when I was awakened in my small windowless room.

We’d both ended up on the ground, unwilling to move apart, tangled and twisted together. He lifted himself up on his strong arms and looked down at me, brus
hing a strand of my messy hair away from my eyes. His spectacular sapphire eyes were worried and so I reached up and moved my knuckles gently down his cheek and over his lips, where he kissed them sweetly.

“Has Kennet hurt you, Jackie?” He squeezed my hand in his.

I thought of telling him about Kennet forcing me to enjoy his kiss, but what good would that do? It would cause Garrett pain and I only wanted to see him smile. “He’s been away. I don’t know where he goes. I have another day before he’s back.” I tried to hide the twinge of fear I felt at the thought of him standing in my little room and asking me to kiss him, or worse. Garrett saw through my words and felt my fear. His mouth turned down in a frown while silver popped into his eyes.

“Mon ange, I’m going to be very selfish and ask you to be strong and hold on, no matter what happens. Never give up hope that we'll find you. Please believe that nothing that he’s done or will do can make a difference in how I feel about you. And if you must give him what he wants in order to save your life or to save yourself from pain, then give it to him. I’m sorry to ask this of you
. I just can’t lose you. You're my love for all time.”

I saw the bleak desperation in his eyes and it bit sharply into my heart. I reassured him the only way I could, because I wouldn't give myself to Kennet unless I had absolutely no other choice. “I promise that I won’t kill
myself Garrett, no matter how bad it gets. I know that you're doing everything you possibly can to find me. I believe that Isaiah's plan will work.” His mouth was only inches from mine so I leaned up and kissed him and he responded just as I’d hoped he would.

Chapter Twenty-one

Bridgett: 9:30 PM Wednesday

On a scale of one to one hundred, that kiss was a one hundred thousand.

I’d been on dates and I’d kissed a few guys at parties, guys who’d seemed nice at first and then ended up only wanting to get my jeans off. Luckily the fact that my dad was the pack leader made it easy to convince them that no
meant
no. With them there’d been no heat, at least for me, and no real connection. All the other girls were locked in someone’s arms, so I figured it was just some rite of passage that I didn’t want to miss out on. I never thought about those guys afterward. It was always disappointing and I didn’t get what the big deal was.

Tonight with William, I
so
got it. The minute his delicious lips touched mine, I melted. If I’d been standing up, my knees might have wobbled.

We were still on the
outside couch holding hands, but neither of us had said anything. Maybe he didn’t want to break the mood. Or maybe neither of us knew what to say after a really hot kiss. “Oh man, that was hot.” Or “Thanks (fill in the blank), for the hot kiss.” Maybe I should just sit here and keep my mouth shut and wait to see what
he
says first. Yep, that sounded good. Of course there was a really good chance that he didn’t think that our kiss was all that. That thought made me anxious, so I brushed it aside.

What I really wanted to say to him was “Let’s try that again.” Or “I think we should practice that some more.” Or just “More, please.” All lame I know, but as I’ve mentioned, I’ve had only a small amount of
experience with guys, and none with men. William was most definitely a man, and for the first time in my life, I felt like a woman and not a girl.  Parts of me were tingling that had never actually woken up before.
Jeez.
Maybe I should just go downstairs before I embarrassed myself.

But instead, here I was, sitting next to this really great guy, feeling better than I ever had in my whole life, while Jackie was somewhere being held prisoner, maybe even being tortured. And it was my fault. I had no right to feel so good. I pulled my hand away and slumped in the chair.

"Are you alright?"

"Just thinking about Jackie. Feeling kinda guilty that I'm happy and she's..."

“Garrett and the fae will find her. Feeling guilty won't help, we just need to do our jobs."

"Yeah, I guess."

He took my hand again. "I never expected this,” his voice was almost a whisper.

OK
, so what’s the right response to that? “Me either,“ Shit, that was pretty lame, maybe I should have said, ‘expected what’?

I watched his face as he looked up at the stars. He sighed. “It’s so p
eaceful tonight. Would you stay here with me for awhile?”

Am I missing something here? Aren’t guys supposed to
want
to kiss you again after the first time, and then maybe run their hands down your back and grab your ass or something? I smiled at the thought and then remembered he’d asked me a question.

“Sure, William, I’ll sit here with you.” I leaned back and tried
to get interested in the stars.

He kept watching me to see how I was reacting. Maybe he thought I was afraid of him. “William, why do you keep watching me? I’m not afraid of you, if that’s what you think.”

“I apologize. I’m sure I’m disappointing you. I have to admit that I’m a little bit overwhelmed at the moment. A million thoughts are going around in my head all at once.”

“I’m a good listener.”

He looked at me and smiled, lifting up his arm so I could scoot underneath it and then wrapping it around me when I did. I took a deep breath to fill my lungs with his sweet delicious scent and he laughed at me. His lips brushed my head and his hand moved lightly up and down my bare arm. My head rested against his firm chest so I reached out my hand to stretch across his stomach and rest it on his waist.  This was definitely more like what I had in mind.

“When I kissed you tonight, I…felt you, and not just with my hands or my lips. I felt your spirit, your heart.  I felt tied to you
in an amazing way. It could be because you’ve had my blood. I suppose I could ask Garrett about that, since he gave Jackie his blood before they ever kissed.”

“He did?”

“You don’t know that story? Well, I guess you should ask Jackie about it. Anyway, I must have already been feeling protective toward you, even before we kissed, because seeing you with Farrell made me want to rip his throat out.”

“You seemed pretty calm, just maybe a little bit hurt.”

“I’ve had years and years of practice at hiding how I feel. It was dangerous to show your feelings around Eleanor. She’d use them against you.”

“Sasha and Heinrich were hard on you too?”

“They were cruel sometimes, because they had to follow her orders, but they saved my life more times than I can count. They stood up to her when she would have killed me, so I can never get too angry with them. Lately, they haven't been too bad.”

“One day you might kick their butts, William.” I poked him in the ribs good naturedly and he laughed and took my hand and raised it up to his lips. “I can’t seem to get enough of your scent.” He kissed my wrist and I closed my eyes as another shiver ran down my spine. I wanted to look at him so I turned and put my head in his lap and stretched my legs out on the couch. I held his hand against my stomach and looked up at his handsome face.

“Tell me more about what it was like for you in Eleanor’s nest.”

He shook his head and ran his other hand through my hair. “Not tonight. I feel too good tonight.”

I closed my eyes enjoying the feel of his fingers in my hair.“My hair isn’t really black, it’s light brown…kinda dirty blonde.”