Midnight Whispers - Paranormal Romance (14 page)

There was a
long silence. “I see.”

Kyra sighed.
“I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

“What went
wrong?”

“I just… I
don’t know. One moment I was kissing him back, and the next I was pushing him
away.” The guilt settled onto her chest again, but instead of feeling guilty
for kissing Jake, she was now feeling guilty for the way she’d treated him. “I…
I have feelings for someone else.”

Amelia’s
eyebrows shot up. “Someone else? Who on earth could you have met? All the men
around here know that Jake has his sights set on you, and wouldn’t dare
interfere.”

“It’s
complicated, and he isn’t anyone you know. I don’t see him very often.” Kyra
grabbed Amelia’s hand. “I haven’t been trying to play your brother along,
Amelia. I really do care about him a lot, and I’ve been thinking about our
relationship. A part of me wants to take the next step with him. But another
part of me is drawn to this other man, and I can’t seem to do anything about
it.” Kyra buried her face in her hands. “I don’t know what to do with myself.”

Amelia
sighed, placing her arm around Kyra’s shoulder. “As Jake’s sister, I obviously
want what’s best for him, but I know how difficult it can be in your position.”
Kyra looked up to see Amelia gazing at her sympathetically. “I will say that
you have to make up your mind soon. It’s dangerous to leave two men dangling
like that. Someone is bound to get hurt.”

“I know.”
Kyra bit her lip. “Could you… could you please not mention this to Jake? I
promise I will tell him, and that I won’t make him wait. But I need to focus on
my aunt right now.”

Amelia
nodded. “I can do that. Just… be careful. I don’t want my brother to be hurt.”

Kyra gave her
a small smile. “I don’t either.”

****

Kyra was
sitting in the wooden chair by her aunt’s bedside when she heard a knock at the
door. Her head jerked up sharply and she rose, her heart rate tripling. Who on
earth could be calling at this hour? Should she even answer the door? What if
it was a bandit, or a robber, come to steal their valuables?

Don’t be
daft,
a voice in her head chided.
There are no bandits around here. It
could be someone in trouble.

Even so, she
grabbed a poker and inched toward the door, trying not to tremble. Her hand
slowly curled around the knob, and, steeling herself, she pulled it open to see
who it was.

“Bryce!” she
exclaimed as he swept her up into his arms. His strong arms cradled her
tenderly as he stepped inside and kicked the door closed behind him, and she
couldn’t help but inhale his scent greedily.

“I missed
you,” he growled into her ear. “The last night was hell for me, and when you
didn’t show up today I decided I couldn’t wait.” He held her for a long moment,
burying his nose in her hair, and the relief washing over Kyra made her giddy.

Eventually,
he set her down, but kept his arms wrapped around her. “What’s happened?” he
asked, looking around in the dark. “I could feel your distress, but you seem to
be okay.”

Kyra frowned.
“You can feel my emotions?”

He nodded.
“Not in the beginning, but as the connection has strengthened, yes, sometimes.
You probably can’t yet because you’re a human, but in time you’ll be able to.”

“I’m not sure
that I’d want to,” she remarked.

He squeezed
her gently. “You’ll get used to it eventually.”

“My aunt is
ill,” she murmured against his chest. “She’s not been well for the last few
weeks, but two days ago she fainted and fell into a deep sleep. The doctor says
she doesn’t have much time left.”

“Oh, Kyra.”
Bryce smoothed her hair. “I’m so sorry.”

Tears
gathered in her throat. “I couldn’t bring myself to leave her side.”

“Of course
not,” he soothed. “And I wouldn’t expect you to.”

“I just wish
there was something I could do,” Kyra said bitterly. “Instead, all I can do is
sit by her side and watch as she dies.”

Bryce picked
her up and cradled her into his arms. “There now,” he murmured, walking down the
hall. “You’ve had a rough few days.” He kissed the top of her head. “I think it
would help if you got some sleep.”

They stopped
outside the door to her room, and Bryce shifted her weight so he could open it,
then deposited her gently onto the bed.

“How did you
know this was my room?” she asked as he wedged himself onto the bed with her.

“Your scent is
strong in here,” he told her, drawing her into his arms. “It wasn’t hard for me
to figure out. “Now, sleep.”

Her eyes
drifted shut, as though the command was some magic spell, and she gladly gave
herself over to the darkness, comforted by the fact that Bryce was with her.

****

When she
opened her eyes he was watching her, his green eyes soft and heavy-lidded, a
small smile curving his lips. The smile widened as she blinked up at him.

“Didn’t you
sleep last night?”

He nodded. “I
just don’t need to sleep as much as you do,” he teased, pressing a finger
lightly against her nose. “How did you sleep?”

Kyra yawned,
lifting her arms above her head in a stretch. “Better than I have in a long
time,” she said, somewhat surprised. “Even on the days when I did come to see
you.”

He brushed a
strand of hair from her face. “We are close,” he reminded her. “That eases the
strain.” He pressed a kiss to her nose. “You look much better than you did last
night.”

He kissed
her, and Kyra melted against him with a sigh. Desire curled in her belly, and
she was neither ashamed nor guilty about it, as she had been about kissing
Jake. Bryce’s arms tightened around her as he growled, his hands roaming up and
down her back as he tasted her. Tingles ran up and down her body, leaving her
breathless and aching.

But the
reminder of her aunt’s condition loomed over her head, forcing her to push him
back. “I can’t do this right now, Bryce.”

He pulled
back and dropped a kiss on her forehead. “I know. Let’s go check on your aunt.”

****

Sylvia was
still sleeping. Though her chest rose and fell with even movements, her
features were drawn tight as though she were in pain. Kyra sank into the wooden
chair next to the bed, her heart hurting. She’d always thought of her aunt as a
strong woman, and to see her like this now…

“Please,” she
said, taking her aunt’s hand with both her own, “don’t give up. You can
overcome this illness. You can get better.” Her voice trembled as she pleaded
with her aunt for her life, and she blinked back tears.

Bryce
surprised Kyra by laying one of his large hands over her aunt’s as well. “It’s
been a long time,” he murmured. “It’s likely you don’t even remember me.”

Kyra jerked
her head up. “What do you mean?”

Bryce
flinched, as though he hadn’t meant to say that out loud. “Kyra—”

“Yes… I do…
remember you…young man.”

They both
turned their heads sharply to see Sylvia’s eyes open. They were heavy lidded,
as though it were a struggle to keep them that way, and a pale cloudy blue
instead of the bright, intense color Kyra was accustomed to, but they were
open.

“You… look
quite a bit older… than you did when I last saw you,” Sylvia half-whispered so
that Kyra had to lean in to hear her. “But… your eyes… they’re still the same.
Full of life and…. intensity. I am glad you grew up… to become… a strong man.”

“Aunt,” Kyra
croaked once she’d managed to find the words. “How do you and Bryce know each
other?”

Bryce laid a
hand on Kyra’s shoulder. “You are not the only member of your family to have
been called to our village.”

Kyra stared
at her aunt in shock. “You…”

Her aunt
smiled sadly. “It… was… a long time ago.” She coughed, and it seemed her face
grew a bit paler, but she continued. “When I was… still young and my… head and
heart was filled… with possibilities. Like you… I heard the wolf howls… 
and was never able to fall asleep at night.”

She stopped,
turning her toward the ceiling, and then continued on.  “One… day…. I
ventured… into the forest… found the maze… and then the village… and waiting
for me was Nicholas.” Her eyes went dreamy. “I’ll admit… that… while I was
quite… resistant at first, it wasn’t very hard for him to win me over. We were…
drawn… to each other.”

Kyra nodded;
she understood the feeling very well. “Did… did you know that I was…”

Sylvia
nodded, but it took her several minutes to gather the strength to continue
speaking. “I wasn’t… completely certain… but I knew when… you started asking…
about the howling and developing… bags… under your eyes… something was wrong.
But you were…” Sylvia coughed again; harder this time, and Kyra gripped her
aunt’s fingers tightly, “spending …so much time… with Jake I wasn’t… certain…
it was… the Call. When… Nicholas… called me, I had eyes for… no one else… even
though I… at first… resented that… I was being pulled… against my conscious
will.”

Bryce
frowned. “Jake?”

“He’s a
neighbor,” Kyra said absently. “If you were called to a shifter, why is it that
you ended up staying here? What happened?”

Sylvia’s eyes
misted over. “He… he was killed. By… the Hunters.”

“A crossbow
bolt right through the head,” Bryce growled. “He never stood a chance.”

“It… nearly
destroyed me,” Sylvia whispered, a faraway look in her eyes. “I had… just made
up my mind to… accept him as my mate… when I came to the village and… was told
the news. To…to go from the heights of such joy to the depths of despair in
such a short time… I can never forgive myself.”

“I’m so sorry,”
Kyra replied taking Sylvia’s hand again. Her aunt surprised her by gripping
hard, a suddenly fierce look in her eyes.

“Don’t let
your fears hold you back, Kyra,” Sylvia said fervently, her voice surging with
a sudden strength. “I did, and I lost my soul mate forever before I ever got
the chance to join with him. Bryce is here still, he’s yours, and he will
always be yours. Best to take him before something else takes him from you.”

Kyra looked
away, tears constricting her throat. Fear stabbed her at the thought of Bryce
being taken from her; the pain and regret in her aunt’s eyes was so profound
that Kyra had no doubt she would experience the same.

Her aunt’s
eyes fluttered closed and she slumped back on the bed again, the sudden energy
deserting her completely. “I’m so tired…” Her hand slipped from Kyra’s, who
watched as Sylvia’s breathing evened out once more.

“She’s
asleep,” Bryce murmured, his hand still on Kyra’s shoulder. “I think we should
leave her be for now.”

Kyra rose
without a word and left the room, Bryce trailing behind her. She closed the
door so her aunt could be undisturbed, then led Bryce into the hallway and
turned to face him.

“Why didn’t
you tell me?” she asked, allowing the hurt to finally creep into her voice.

Bryce
flinched. “I couldn’t do that to your aunt. It was her past, her story to tell,
and if she hadn’t shared it with you I assumed there was good reason. I wasn’t
going to disrespect her wishes by crossing that boundary.”

“I knew she
was keeping something from me whenever I asked her about the forest… she would
always get this uneasy look in her eyes whenever I brought up the forest or the
howling.” Kyra shook her head. “I just never suspected it would be this.”

“Life is very
good at bringing to us the unexpected.” He looked around. “I have to get back
to the village. I’ve already stayed too late as it is.”

Kyra leaned
up on tiptoe to kiss him. “Be careful.”

He kissed the
breath out of her. “I’ll be back tonight.”

The morning
passed quietly enough, her aunt sleeping peacefully while Kyra did the morning
chores. When she came in to check on her again it seemed as though her face was
not as contorted—could she be getting better? The thought was almost too
much to hope for.

Her musings
were interrupted by a knock on the door, and when she went to answer it, she
found Judy Bennet standing outside with a basket looped over her arm.

“I was just
passing by on my way home from the Whitaker farm and decided to check in on you
and your aunt. How is she?” Judy asked as Kyra let her inside.

“She was
awake for a very brief time this morning,” Kyra said with a half-smile. “I
think she’s doing better.”

“Oh, thank
Heavens,” Judy said as she lowered herself onto one of the kitchen chairs.
“It’s nice to hear at least one piece of good news today.”

Kyra frowned.
“Is something wrong, Mrs. Bennet?”

Judy shook
her head. “Seems as though everything is going wrong these days. My boys dying,
your aunt falling ill, and then the Whittakers’ entire herd of sheep being
slaughtered. I have to wonder if maybe the good Lord is punishing us all for
some grievous sin committed.”

“Did… did you
say their entire herd of sheep?”

Judy nodded.
“Terrible. Looked as though they’d all been mauled by beasts—but it
doesn’t make sense because only a few were actually eaten. No beast would have
killed the entire herd; animals are simple-minded and they kill to eat. Whoever
committed this act did it with malice aforethought.”

Kyra’s face
was pale, and her fingers icicles. “Can… can you stay here for a short time
with my aunt while I go out?”

Judy blinked.
“Certainly…but what--”

“I need to
talk to the Whittakers’ myself,” Kyra interrupted, shoving her bonnet onto her
head. “I’ll be back soon.”

Kyra rushed
across the fields to the Whittaker Farm, her heart in her throat. There was an
enormous smoke cloud in the sky, coming from Whittaker land, and she headed
straight forward, having an idea as to what it might be, but wanting to see it
with her own eyes to be sure.