I found myself wondering if their relationship had been apparent to all but me. I'm sure I was giving my thoughts away as I glanced at Kaniji, who stood impatiently by the fireplace. She seemed too calm to know about it. Tony was in a wingchair while Monica sat on the couch. Frank was on the other end of the same couch. Cyrene sat in the matching wingchair facing the cold fireplace and Kaniji. Paul had trailed into the room after me, his expression neutral. But the vampires in the room perked, ignoring me as they watched my husband. I took a moment to look back at him in a black T-shirt, a leather jacket, and jeans. Oh …His bloodied wounds hadn't completely healed. And even though they weren't visible beyond his clothes, the smell of his recent bloodletting was unmistakable. My nostrils caught the faint scent that I had become accustomed to; sex, blood, and werewolf. Shit, vampires were notorious for knowing when you've had sex and now they knew that we'd spilled each other's blood
"They will kill you!" she hissed, her teeth dropping either from her attempts to hold me or from the sound and smell of battle and blood.But they were killing each other! I couldn't stand by and watch it! And suddenly I wanted to smack the fuck out of Monica! I wanted to smack her and shake her, and as I tried to do these things we spun, crashing into furniture and breaking everything in our path. There were now two battles happening simultaneously."Fuck you, Monica!" I growled. "You two-timing sneaky cheating bitch!" "Me cheat?" she replied telepathically. "It's not me trying to hold two men emotionally hostage!" Ah, so that's what she really thought behind all of her smiles and cheek kisses. I felt my beast rising in frustration and anguish, the worst thing that could possibly happen. "You'll never be me!" I growled out loud, and instead of trying to reign in my anger and yes, jealousy, I felt my body begin to thicken—not as quickly as Paul and Alexis had but fast enough t
I sucked in a sharp gasp as if I was drowning and then bolted straight up into a sitting position looking around me frantically. "It's okay, baby," Paul said. "You're okay." Paul placed his hand on my shoulder to keep me settled down. I weakly pushed his hand away as I tried to collect my thoughts, not sure why I didn't want his touch although not quite sure why. Oh yeah. Paul had goaded Alexis into a fight, and I had gone insane. I looked around quickly at the sight of everyone surrounding me as if nothing had happened."What the what?" I would have thought it was all a dream. The room was put back in order and everyone including me was dressed as if clothing had not been imploded on several of us less-than-human individuals.The human Ran, Mara, and Karen had joined us, and everyone was hovering around the lounger. I was half tempted to crack a joke and ask if I was still in Oz. Instead I scanned Paul's face for injuries. His lip was swollen and there were furrows running down
"We each need to gather our Master vampires," Cyrene said. "They're targets, too." Cyrene appeared more than a little anxious."I can't say that I completely trust my Masters," Frank said. "What if they are in on this plan to get rid of the Council so that they may take our place?""See what happens when 'rogues" are allowed to kill our Councilmen and take their roles on the board?" Kaniji asked snidely.Alexis' face darkened. "It sounds as if you are questioning someone's appointment to this Council, Kaniji-san. Evidently my time away from this Council has done nothing to improve your attitude. If it wasn't necessary to determine if you have anything of value to add to these discussions, then I would remove your tongue … again." I saw the blood drain from Kaniji's already too-white face. Although I don't know exactly what Alexis had done to her when he had punished Kaniji after she gave me the information that would allow me to take the death sentence of my Sire, I knew that it h
"Excellent," Cyrene stated, "mainly because it's basically true."Kaniji's expression seemed to say that she would hardly intervene to prevent the death of either me or Monica, but she wisely kept her mouth shut.Frank gave me a curious look. "You might very well be handed over to Malarias for punishment.""No," Monica said adamantly. "That won't happen because that would require me to make a formal complaint against Kim and I won't do that." She looked around. "So are we in agreement?""Wait," Paul said.Cyrene sighed in exasperation. "What now, Werewolf?""I'm not in agreement that my wife is the only one who might face some form of discipline," Paul said. "I want a blood promise. No one will turn my wife into a scapegoat over the events that are occurring."Tony readily agreed, which made me feel a little better about the events that had transpired, even if everyone else was a bit slower in their acceptance of his terms. Good thinking on Paul's part, although I didn't give hi
"What in the hell is wrong with you two?" Since they were stranding on opposite sides of the room, I had to keep swiveling my head back and forth. "We're fighting for our lives and you two are acting like teenagers trying to flex your muscles!""You know what is going on better than anyone else," Alexis replied in a chilly voice. "And therefore you should know that if anyone hurts you then I will hurt him." His eyes filled with darkness as they turned totally black. "I will not apologize for that. So perhaps you should remember that fact whenever you feel the need to engage in deadly sex play."His words served to completely squash my anger. "I …" I blew out a resigned breath. "You're right. I apologize for my part—""Fuck that!" Paul interrupted, pushing off the wall. "You don't apologize for what we do together--not to him, not to anyone!" His eyes were yellow and his hair was nearly standing on end. "As long as you're my wife, we will make love any way that we choose!"I loo
I laughed mirthlessly. "I'm infected by the undead, a succubus, and now some rage monster."He shook his head. "No. It's you, honey, not something else. You smell like you, okay? When I'm the wolf or a hybrid I'm adding something else to my true self. You're the same except filled with rage." I digested that information. I didn't want to claim that rage as all me. That meant that I did attack people I cared for. What if … God, what if I hurt BJ or one of the Ladies? "I don't want this.""We have to figure it out, just like we figured out the succubus." He sighed. "It means that we have to continue to open our minds and not limit ourselves to what our human side might think is right or wrong. It's not only you who is no longer completely human. We have to learn to embrace our monsters." He looked at me as if the idea of it overwhelmed him.I leaned forward and kissed him. "Neither of us has been superhuman for long. We deserve a learning curve."His hand came up to cup my face, an
There are surely moments in life—or afterlife, in my case—where people have life-changing epiphanies. Post make-up sex with my husband, I had one such moment. He had said we had to embrace the monsters since that was the only way we would ever learn from them …I bathed carefully, soaking in my tub and thinking about things I had not wanted to admit to myself. I replayed Paul's words in my head, finding truth in them. I dressed and told Paul that I had some things to settle. His expression was curious but he responded with a nod of his head."I love you." I kissed him.His uneasy look disappeared. His lips lingered against mine and my heart swelled with love for him. His brief smile showed me that he felt the same way. Trust me baby, I thought to myself. This is one more step toward accepting who I am. Then I flashed myself to the manor house and to Alexis. I stood in the front room amidst the beautiful artwork and expensive designs and felt nothing more than the coldness o