Chasing Shadows (A Shadow Chronicles Novel) (32 page)

I had to grin. Apparently having his hopes of being with me dashed hadn’t dampened his spirits too much, for which I was glad. “Harry, when are you going to invest in a cordless phone?”

Harry laughed. “When I darn well feel like it,” he shot back genially. “Now, I
already seen
your pretty face twice today. To what do I owe this honor?”

“Guess what? Angus busted out of the barn before it collapsed. I didn’t know until the one crew came to pick up the animal remains, and I found him out in the woods.”

“You alright?
He didn’t put up too much of a fight, I hope?” he asked, concern in his voice.

“He was agitated, naturally. Had to practice my bullfighting skills to wear him out some, ‘cause once he saw me he did charge a time or two. But he missed, I promise. Angus, on the other hand, didn’t fare so well,” I told him, and went on to explain the bull’s injuries.

“That burn sounds nasty. Good thing you keep your veterinary stuff in your house, or you’d have nothing to treat him with.”

“My thought exactly.”

“Now I’m supposing your purpose for calling is to see if I’ve got any more vacancies in the Barn Animal Inn?” Harry asked jokingly.

“Harry, I hate to ask you when you’re already doing so much for me,” I said. “But you know as well as I that I haven’t anywhere else to take him.”

I heard him sigh. “I know, sweetheart, I know. And of course you can bring him down here. Good thing I keep only the two horses, the pig, and some chickens.”

“Thank you, Harry. I cannot thank you enough for your generosity,” I told him, my tone full of sincerity.

“Saphrona, I’ve told you time and again, if there’s ever anything you need, all you have to do is ask. That’s what friends do for each other,” Harry said firmly.

I felt myself smile, and wished he could have seen it. “You’re just about the best friend a girl could have, Harry Mitchell. You’re going to make some woman a damn fine husband someday.”

Harry chuckled over the phone line.
“From your lips to God’s ears, sweetheart.”

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I waited until after the workmen had left before I decided to attempt walking Angus down to Harry’s. He’d offered to come down with a trailer to get him, but I told him Angus had been stressed enough for one day. I didn’t want to fray his nerves anymore by trying to load him into a trailer for a half-mile ride.

“I think walking him down will be fine. I can get Mark to come with me if you’re that worried,” I’d said.

“Whatever you think is best,” he’d replied. “Just be careful—that bull could still wig out and go ballistic.”

When the demolition crew had at last loaded up their backhoe and said their goodbyes, I walked outside to survey the results. They’d gotten nearly everything, even the appliances I’d had put into the apartment. Only a scattering of wood remained. I was nearly overwhelmed with sadness again as I took in the sight of the blackened rectangle on the ground, as I thought of the animals that had died there. Even some of the equipment in the barn had held sentimental value—the two saddles I had owned I’d had in my possession since I’d set up the farm, as well as a couple of pitchforks and a few other instruments. It seemed silly to be so sad over losing a few inanimate objects when I’d lost so many animals, but no one could ever say that sentimentality made any sense.

Mark stood beside me as my eyes roamed over the remains, putting an arm around my shoulders when my breath hitched. But I shored up my nerve and refused to cry. It was time, as I had said earlier, to be mad. I had to hope that the arson investigators found something they could use to nail the SOB who’d done this, if he or she was ever caught.

“I’ll borrow a rake and a wheelbarrow from Harry so we can clear the rest of this up,” I said absently.

Patting my shoulder and then giving me a light squeeze, Mark said, “I’ll go get the stuff you need if you tell me where it is, while you go grab Angus.”

I told him which cabinet in my office I kept the veterinary supplies in, then kissed his cheek and headed toward the pasture where Angus stood chewing his cud and staring at us. He stamped his feet as I came through the paddock and over to the pasture fence, so I opened the gate slowly—he was obviously still wary of any human being that he saw. It made me wish I had some way of communicating with him and the horses so I could get a description of the arsonist. Then I could go and have a nice little chat with the bastard, and if he or she happened to end up a little battered and broken afterward…

I shook my head to dispel those thoughts. I did not want to entertain them too much for fear I would give in to them and become the monster I had claimed to not want to be.

Once again I approached my bull cautiously, speaking to him in a low voice that was meant to sooth. He allowed me to pet his nose when I reached him, and after a minute or two, I wrapped my arms around his neck lightly and gave him the hug I’d
intended to give him earlier.

“I love you, you stubborn old bull,” I said, patting his neck and then straightening to take his halter in hand to lead him out of the pasture.

Mark met us at the paddock fence with the medical supplies under one arm, laying his free hand on Angus’ neck after greeting the bull. We walked slowly and gave the place where the barn had once stood as wide a berth as possible, then headed down the driveway and into the street toward the Mitchell farm. Thankfully it was Sunday, which meant in this rural area there was a car on the road maybe once an hour, if that often. At the very least, we made it to Harry’s without seeing one.

We got Angus into the barn and in a stall next to Herugrim. The two males greeted one another by sniffing each other, and I let them have a moment to get reacquainted before I got Harry to help me in securing Angus’ head to a couple of rings screwed into the wall. Harry then had Mark retrieve the hose and turn the water on low so that I could bathe the burn and soften up the scabs. Once I had rinsed the wound really well, I injected some numbing medication into the area around it and inside of it before beginning the painstaking process of removing dead skin. After that was done, I rubbed the entire area with an antibacterial salve and covered it with a dressing to keep insects off of it. Then I made sure to check his other cuts and cleaned the ones that needed it.

“I’ll be back tomorrow to see my kids and change that dressing,” I told Harry after I freed Angus’ head and exited the stall, watching as he promptly turned around and
dove
his head into the water trough. “You may have to refill that before the night is over. I don’t think he’s had any water since he busted out of the barn.”

“Pasture trough was dry, eh?” Harry asked.

I nodded. “And of course I don’t have any way of refilling them now, because my tanks went up with everything else.”

“Saphrona, don’t you worry about Angus or
them
horses. They’ll be fine here.”

I looked at him. “But this is extra work for you and the boys. I hate putting that all on you,” I said.

He raised an eyebrow. “Then if you feel up to it, you can start coming down here every day and take care of ‘em yourself. You and Mark are both welcome anytime.”

“Mighty kind of you to include me, Harry,” Mark said.

Harry looked at Mark with an appraising gaze. “What kind of neighbor would I be if I didn’t welcome Saphrona’s man on my land? From what I hear tell of, y’all are gonna be married one of these days.”

Mark glanced at me. I felt heat rising in up my neck to flush my face with color, and he suddenly smiled. To Harry he said, “Well, the subject hasn’t come up yet, but I’ve no doubt it’s definitely in the cards.”

“And any man what takes care of a fine woman like Saphrona is a friend of mine,” Harry went on. “Be sure you take good care of her, she deserves to be happy.”

With an exasperated groan, I waved a hand between them. “Hello, gentlemen, I am standing right here,” I said. “So glad to know that all the men in my life are warning each other to take care of me, when I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself—I mean, what is this, the
Middle
Ages? The men folk making sure the little woman is well looked after?”

Harry and Mark exchanged a glance,
then
burst out laughing. I shook my head and turned to bid each of my animals a fond farewell, after which I grabbed Mark by the hand. “Tell your new BFF goodbye, Mark. We still have dinner to eat before my father shows up.”

The two men laughed again as they said goodbye to one another and I walked away with my boyfriend in tow.

*****

At home again, Mark and I got dinner prepped and in the oven, and then I ran throughout the house cleaning in preparation for my father’s visit. He hadn’t been here in a very long time, and even though I knew I really shouldn’t care what he thought, I also didn’t want to give him a reason to complain or make negative remarks about the state of my home. And I hoped like hell he fed before he came over, because he knew darn well I didn’t have anything he would be willing to drink.

Well, except for Mark…and he wasn’t getting any of him.

When dinner was over and the last dish had been washed and placed in the drainer to dry, Mark grabbed me and drew me to him, wrapping his arms around my waist as he trailed kisses from my mouth and along my jawline, down my neck and over my collarbone.

I giggled as his lips and tongue danced along my skin, leaving little flames of heat and desire in their wake. “Mark, we…ah… can’t… Don’t know when…
ooh,
my…don’t know when my father will…”

He grinned against my lips as his mouth found mine again. “I’m willing to do quick and dirty if you are,” he said, his voice husky with desire.

As he spoke, his hands moved to cup my breasts, squeezing the already tingling nipples through my shirt and bra. I gasped with pleasure,
then
gasped again in surprise when he suddenly shoved both garments up to my underarms, freeing the milky white mounds he very much enjoyed giving attention to. My head fell back and I moaned when he began to suckle and tease them, back and forth between the left and the right.

“Okay,” I agreed breathily. “Quick and dirty it is, then.”

And for the next thirty minutes, the dining table got the treatment I’d
been wanting
to give it for a very long time.

*****

Our luck held in that Diarmid didn’t come knocking on the door until we’d finished our impromptu tryst and were straightening our clothes again. Mark went to the door to let him in as I was wiping the table down with a disinfectant cloth.

I straightened and dashed into the living room when I heard a hiss that could only have come from one person. In the seconds it took me to get into the living room, Mark had begun backing toward the kitchen and Diarmid was restraining Evangeline, his hands around her arms like vises on wood.

“Father, let me go! I must have him!”

I maneuvered myself between Mark and my sister and dropped into a defensive crouch, my fangs coming down as I readied to fight. “Lay one finger on my bondmate and you will die before the night is over!” I growled fiercely.

“No offense, Mr. Mackenna, but didn’t you warn her about me?” I heard Mark ask, registering in the back of my mind that he was not afraid, and I felt pride swell in my chest.
I’m a Marine
, he’d told me the other day.
Fear is not a word in my vocabulary
.

“That I did, my son, but even I could not have predicted her initial reaction,” my father replied calmly. “Evangeline, settle, or I will remove you from this house.”

“I’ll be glad to remove her for you,” I hissed angrily. “What the hell is she doing here?”

Diarmid eyed me squarely. “Evangeline is your sister. I thought it a good idea to introduce her to your pair-bond so that she could acclimate herself to his scent and thus prevent an uncontrolled reaction should you encounter each other in public.”

Mark laid his hand on my back. “Babe, he’s got a point there,” he said slowly. “It was a good idea.”

I straightened slowly, even though Evangeline continued to struggle in my father’s arms. “Unfortunately, I no longer have a cow or a pig to spare in order to satiate her thirst. Either you control her or I will kill her,” I said, looking Diarmid square in the eyes.

The elder vampire nodded, hauling my sister off her feet and carrying her into the kitchen, where he spoke to her in harsh, hushed tones for several minutes. I stood between Mark and the kitchen trying to control my breathing, yet standing ready to fight should my sister prove herself uncontrollable. I also found myself wondering whether or not there would be any vampire that would
not
react violently to the scent of Mark’s blood. He’d been saved from attack before now because up until he was eighteen, he’d been surrounded by shapeshifters. For the next eleven years, he’d been surrounded by Marines, men and women who were collectively as dangerous as a vampire.