A Cursed Bloodline (WG 4) (40 page)

“When he grabbed the wolves attacking Heidi, he was able to freeze them,” Shayna added.

Everything made sense. When the Warriors had assaulted me, Danny was able to use his power since he was angry they’d hurt me. That’s why he couldn’t lift Bren out of his coma: he’d been sad at the time over Heidi’s infidelity.

I smiled. “Danny saved us all.”

Shayna grinned. “And got himself a mate.”

I angled my chin in her direction. “
Heidi
is Danny’s mate?”

Shayna laughed. “Yup. Poor dude. His ability to block magic prevented their wolves from recognizing their connection. It had to take her almost dying for them to realize it.”

Taran laughed, too. “Yeah, I don’t think she’ll have a problem staying faithful now.” She brushed my hair away from my shoulders with her gloved hands. My eyes trailed up her arms. Sadness claimed her beautiful face when she noticed how they fixed on her gloves. “I guess I should tell you about these, huh?”

I didn’t respond. Throughout our conversation, I couldn’t help but sense a difference in Taran. She was all attitude, all the time. She didn’t do “insecure” and kicked self-doubt repeatedly in the ass. This wasn’t the same Taran before me. Something had drastically changed.

She peeled off the glove on her left hand first. It looked normal, healthy. But when she exposed her right, I had to work hard to control my reaction.

From her elbow down, her arm glowed as white as bleached wood clashing severely against her deep olive skin. Sickly blue veins branched across the length, giving the limb an eerie deathlike appearance. Taran wasn’t perfect anymore. And Taran knew it. Her voice trembled. “Makawee used her Omega mojo and my connection with Gemini to grow it back. It’s not something that’s normally allowed, but she felt obliged to help.” She flexed her fingers. “I’m having trouble working my power. I’m…not the same anymore.”

“I’m sorry, Taran.” I tried not to, but I cried for her anyway.

She didn’t like it one bit.

Angry tears streaked down her face. “That bastard mutilated your body and killed your baby. Don’t you dare feel sorry for me!”

I covered my face and let loose. My sisters wrapped their arms around me. Shayna stroked my hair with her tiny fingers. “Damnit, Shayna,” Taran snapped. “Don’t touch me with those freak hands of yours, you’re creeping me out.”

“They’re not freaky, they’re just little!”

That’s the thing about having sisters—you’re never allowed to cry or laugh alone.

Chapter Thirty-four

“Hello, Misha.”

My senses caught a trickle of him outside Aric’s third-story window before the
tap-tap-tap
against the glass signaled his arrival. The time spent with my sisters had left me drained. I carefully crossed the suite and pushed the shades aside.

Misha lounged casually on the sill in dark slacks and a tight black cashmere sweater. One long leg extended across the length of the ledge, the other bent where he rested an elbow. I pushed open the window and screen, grateful it didn’t require much strength. Worry darkened his gray eyes and his wicked grin was noticeably absent. I’d lost a lot of weight and blood and had spent most of my time awake crying. I knew what I looked like.

“Why didn’t you tell me about Anara?”

A soft warm breeze full of the fragrance of tulips swept against him, pushing a strand of his long blond hair that had escaped the clip holding the rest of his mane. I pushed it back behind his ear. “I didn’t want to risk your safety or anyone else’s.”

Misha laughed, the sound filled with bitterness and lacking any amusement. He turned his head toward the view of the sweeping mountains without really seeing them. “Why do you do that?”

I leaned against the sill. “Do what?”

He glared like I’d missed the obvious. “Trouble yourself with those around you.” His eyes traveled from my face to fix on my belly. “Since first making your acquaintance, all I’ve seen it bring you is despair.”

I adjusted my position to rest my chin against my palm. “It’s who I am, Misha. I can’t help it.”

“Well, perhaps you should,” he snapped.

It was going to be a long talk. I thought about moving one of the soft, cushy chairs closer so I could sit. It seemed like a laborious task so instead I pondered the many questions swimming through my brain. One slipped from my lips faster than the others. “Why did you come back for me?”

“You should have
called
me when you first fell into danger. I could have prevented all this.” He jerked his hand in an irritated wave.

“Weren’t you the same vamp who told me to never dare speak your name?”

His scowl deepened. “I was angry. It’s possible I might have overstated my meaning.”

I shook my head. “No. You meant what you said, Misha.” To be honest, I hadn’t even thought about reaching out to Misha. Stress and terror had left me somewhat distracted.

I rubbed my tired eyes. There was something I needed to tell him. “When I was dying, I returned to that field in the vision we shared.” The muscles of his shoulders tightened slightly, as did his jaw. “This time, Aric was there instead of you. My guess is that it’s a place in my mind where I envisioned my greatest dreams…with him. I think you joined me there only because you’d just tasted my blood and were using our connection to ease my pain.”

Misha didn’t say anything. I kept quiet and let him think about what I’d said. The breeze bustled and the same lock of hair left his ear to curve against his jaw. This time I didn’t touch it. He watched me carefully. “Were you already aware you were with child?”

I stared down at my folded arms, remembering the tiny heartbeat on the ultrasound. “I’d found out that same morning.” My voice shook, although I worked to steady it.

Misha tapped his fingers against his bent knee, keeping his focus in the distance and taking his time to answer. “I presume there may be something to your reasoning,” he finally said.

I’d expected him to argue with me, especially since it was just a theory. But if my belief was misconceived, he would have told me so. I moved closer to him. He couldn’t enter the room without permission, and while Aric had been extremely patient, I think inviting a master vampire into his suite might push him and his beast to their breaking point. I waited for Misha to say more. Instead he returned his attention to where the distant mountain peaks remained covered in snow. I took it upon myself to continue our conversation, knowing much needed to be said. “You didn’t answer my question. Why did you come for me?”

Misha’s head whipped around and he snarled viciously. It didn’t faze me in the least. I knew traces of his anger remained. He took in my lack of fear and huffed. “My family explained how you cared for them in my absence.”

I shrugged. “I tried.”

“They said you managed the empire as if you were a part of it all along.”

“Well, I don’t know about that. I—”

“You increased my profits in my absence.”

My chin jerked up. “I did?”

He glanced at me sideways. “By sending my strongest to ensure the loyalties of my executive committee members, they discovered those corrupting my empire and disposed of them.”

My raspy voice sounded shrilled. “They
ate
your board members?”

Misha scoffed. “Of course. Have you forgotten they are vampires? Subsequently they were also dismissed.”

“Did they get severance pay?”

Misha didn’t appreciate my humor.
“No.”

“Are they eligible for unemployment?”

Misha tensed again, this time because he fought a smile. I was getting to him, and he didn’t like it one bit. I leaned through the window and tugged on his shirt. “Do you love your new bedroom?”

This earned me the glare of death. I glanced around, feigning confusion, and offered the most angelic Emme grin I could muster. “I thought pink was your favorite color?”

“Celia.”

“But I never did get your fascination with unicorns. Is that a creature of the night thing?”

My arms extended far enough onto the ledge for him to grab them—fiercely. “
You
protected my family from acquisition from another master, you maintained my realm, you searched for me, and you freed me. You—”

Misha shut his magnificent eyes tight and turned away, but not before I caught the tears that escaped. Master vampires weren’t known for their compassion or for their grief; many of their kind believed they were incapable of such pointless behaviors. But Misha wasn’t just any run-of-the-mill omnipotent being. He was a friend—
my
friend
—who hurt because I did. “You are never to leave this world without my consent. Do I make myself clear?” By this point, his arms had encircled me and I was crying, too.

My world was no longer safe. I risked my life on a regular basis. How could I promise not to die? The shape-shifters were still out there, so were the remains of the Tribe and whatever other scary I’d managed to piss off. Still, I told him what he wanted to hear although it was a blatant lie. “Okay, Misha.”

The door swung open. Aric stood at the entrance to the room holding a tray of cheeseburgers. His eyes narrowed as he watched Misha hold me and stroke my hair while my arms remained securely fastened around his waist. He didn’t lash out. He didn’t growl. Instead he turned and left, closing the door softly behind him.

—

Wolf mourning ended after Aric and his Warriors retrieved Liam’s body. The time had come to mourn as humans and honor a fallen hero. Aric told me it was a day to celebrate Liam’s life, except the tears, the flowers, and the heartache expressed the grief akin to all funerals.

Liam’s parents, his mate, and his sister and brother-in-law sat in front of us at the Den’s chapel. Liam’s sister held her infant son on her lap. They’d passed us on the way in, but I couldn’t meet their gazes. The guilt for his sacrifice hacked at my soul like a medieval axe. He’d died for me. No words could explain why I was more deserving of life, because I wasn’t.

A large portrait of Liam hung near the altar. His ashes would be taken by his family to Colorado, where they would be spread in a sacred ceremony. Bren held Emme next to me. Aric sat to my right and his mother watched beside him. Gemini and Taran sat on the end of the long pew, close to each other yet strangely apart.

As Liam’s best friend, Koda sat in the front with Liam’s family. He held Shayna’s hand, but kept his arm around Allie. Liam’s parents and sister wept openly. Allie remained quiet and unbelievably still. Even though her back was to me, I could tell she was emaciated. The navy dress she wore slipped from her shoulders, exposing the bony prominences of her shoulders. I waited for her to veer around and scream at me, to blame me. I wanted her to strike me, so I could take some of her pain. Her mate was dead and it was my fault. But as much as I expected her to lash out, she didn’t so much as glance in my direction.

Koda rose and marched quietly to the pedestal, bowing before the picture of Liam’s cheery face. Shayna shimmied across the dark wooden pew and took his place comforting Allie.

Koda gripped the sides of the pedestal while heartfelt tears dripped down his strong face. He took a moment to gather himself then expelled a deep breath. He surprised me by smiling. “Liam never could keep his trap shut,” he said. He waited for our laughter to subside before continuing. “Unbeknownst to our Chancellor of Students, when I was fourteen I took his new Mercedes for a spin. Liam and a few of my cohorts came along for the ride.” He glanced at Aric and Gemini, who lowered their heads and chuckled. “At fourteen, I wasn’t the best driver. Let’s just say we ended up in the Poudre River.”

“How the hell did they manage that?” someone mumbled behind us.

“Don’t swear in church, dear,” his partner reprimanded.

Koda rubbed his hands. “It took us about half an hour to drag the car out of the river and another hour to run to Aric’s grandfather’s house for help. The old wolf got a huge kick out of our dilemma. He called a witch he knew and convinced her to cast a spell to repair the damage to the Mercedes. The witch didn’t come cheap, and Aric’s grandpa didn’t find our situation funny enough to pay the bill without getting something in return. We spent that summer building an extension on his house and then painting the whole damn thing.” He shrugged. “It wouldn’t have been so bad if Liam hadn’t run up to the Chancellor the next day and told him he was glad we didn’t get caught stealing his car. Turns out the Chancellor needed his house painted, too.”

We laughed again, only to quiet at the river of tears Koda’s face had become. He raised his head toward the ceiling and sighed. “My brother, I will miss you. From now, until the great spirits unite us once more.” He forced a smile for the congregation. “Yes,” he said. “Liam never could keep his trap shut. It was always wide open. Just like his heart.”

—

Aric, Gemini, and Koda joined Liam’s family in greeting the attendants at the Den repast. Shayna remained loyally at Koda’s side. Aric had asked me to join him, but although I technically was his fiancée, I didn’t think it appropriate. Taran didn’t join her mate either, claiming she didn’t want to leave Emme and me alone. I couldn’t help noticing the tension between her and Gemini. They barely spoke and, more disconcerting, they barely touched.

We sat on chairs draped with white linen in the early June sun. Aric kept glancing my way, except he wasn’t the only one. Many of the
weres
present, including some of their human family members, watched me carefully. Some stared with curiosity, others with scrutiny.

Taran crossed her legs and draped her gloved hands over the pale blue dress she wore. “If that bitch looks over here one more time, I’m going to char her insides.”

Emme had been quiet. As Liam’s former lover, she didn’t feel she could express her sorrow like she wanted to with Allie so close by. Taran’s threat over how Diane glared at me forced her to speak up. “Taran, don’t start a fight at Liam’s funeral.”

Taran’s dark waves flipped behind her when her head jerked in Emme’s direction. “She’s the one starting it. Do you think she’s upset about Liam? No, she’s mad that Aric dumped her ass.”