Yearnings: A Paranormal Romance Box Set (93 page)

The man didn’t. He walked with a purpose. Grant shortened the space between them, seeing a stairwell ahead. His mind cleared, and he tracked. The man went down two floors and weaved a path into the belly of the ship. Dark corners and snatches of laughter replaced the rush of waves and bright deck lighting.

His pace slowed, in sync with his prey. What was the man was up to? Heading back to his room? Heading to steerage for a rougher crowd? A night of drinking always went down better with a woman. This man didn’t belong down here, though. His clothes were too high a quality, too tailored a cut for this class. Seeing the man lick his lips, inching into the shadows, deep foreboding came over Grant. What was this man hiding from? Did he see Grant? Laughter here, an argument there. Too many people were nearby for the wolf. Heat gathered in Grant’s thigh muscles, making them shake.

Crowds scared the wolf. Crowds scared Grant, considering what he’d have to do next. Here on the ship, there were only so many places, only so far a man—or a wolf—could run to. Odds were that this man would not be as easy to convince as Jean-Paul had been. Would he beg? Scream? Fight back?

Grant’s veins buzzed with expectation. The man’s outline was barely discernible in a corner. Grant vacillated between stalking into the shadows to confront him there, or waiting, staying out of sight. The wolf warned him back. Grant obeyed. A bitter taste formed on the back of his tongue. Roses cloyed the air, making him gag. Bile and blood.

Two women approached. Grant ducked farther down, though the corridor did little to conceal his large form. The man must’ve noticed Grant following. The man must be hiding from Grant. Once the ladies passed, Grant would move in. He shouldn’t have waited. These women could be in danger. The wolf agreed, and its hackles rose. His fingertips burned. One by one, sharp claws curled out of his nail beds.

The women paused at a door, hugged goodnight. One shut herself in the room and the other continued toward the shadowed corner. Grant bit down, fighting to stay above the impulse to pounce on the man. He hesitated too long. The woman opened her door and the man forced himself in. Grant sprinted forward, praying he would get to the door before the man shut it and barred himself in with the woman.

His rage swelled over, and by the time he reached the door, his claws were out and fangs cut through his mouth. He tasted his own blood. Muffled on the other side, the woman’s shrill scream pushed Grant through the closing door. The last remnants of being human receded to pure animal form as he lunged hungrily for the man’s throat.

Satisfaction coursed over him. Pure golden light filled his mind. He saw gold, then nothing but black and white. The blood was salty and good. A deep low growl vibrated inside his rib cage. Screams. More screams. Running. Claws grappling for purchase on the wet, slippery floor. Run. He had to run fast, hard, before....

The world became a painted black.

~~~

Chapter Twelve

“
A man was killed two nights ago,” Eliza said over her teacup, drama in her voice.

Beatrice’s hand went to her chest. “Oh, how awful.”

Leigh paused mid-sip. For the first time since reluctantly agreeing to join Beatrice and this woman, her interest perked up. “Killed? How?”

“
There’s been no official report, mind you,” Eliza said, leaning in. “But Hilda is completely unnerved. She knew the woman it happened to.”

“
A woman was killed, too?” Beatrice asked, exchanging a terrified look with Leigh.

“
Killed? No, no. Only one man.” The midday sun came through the dining room windows. Only a few tables were filled with guests. “Word has it a dog got loose out of the kennels. Rabid, apparently.”

Beatrice’s words sounded casual enough, but Leigh knew the real fear behind them. “A dog attacked someone?”

“
Mauled him to death.” Eliza nodded gravely. “Not only that, but apparently the man attacked was assaulting a woman.”

“
Did the dog hurt the woman?” Leigh asked.

“
Hilda said no. She refuses to go back to her room, the poor dear. I can hardly blame her. Imagine, a dog, rabid and loose, on the ship.”

Grant’s joke with the ship’s security officers that he was a dog came back to Leigh. They had been asking about all the hair. She’d heard it all from the other side of the door. His asinine joke was what had moved her to step out in the first place. Oh, no! Would they take him seriously? “They didn’t catch the dog?” Leigh asked, impressed at how steady her voice was, considering the tremble inside her.

Eliza shrugged. “I can’t imagine where it could go.”

Staring out the windows, Beatrice swallowed. “Lucky woman.”

“
Lucky? Beatrice, really!” Eliza shook her head. “Still finding all the sugar you can for life’s lemons, aren’t you? I hope they do find it and kill it. The woman’s lucky she didn’t get mauled, too.”

Everything in Leigh knew the dog was really a wolf, and was, in fact, Grant. Had he attacked the man to save the woman? She wouldn’t seek him out to ask him, of course. The more time she had to analyze his promise to clear of her, the less offended she became. Once they were off this ship, certainly they wouldn’t be so drawn together. Proximity explained so much of it. Also, she’d insist on private readings, rather than ones with Grant and Nick present.

“
Are your girls worried?” Beatrice asked.

“
Terrified. Gretchen will have her nightmares again. I just know it. I’ll be up all night soothing her. The girl finds any excuse for bad dreams, it seems.”

Something about Eliza’s phrasing made Leigh pay closer attention. “I’ll bet having her mother near helps, though.”

“
Poor thing,” Beatrice said. “You know, I can’t remember that Tristan ever had nightmares.”

“
Unfortunately, I’m not often able to comfort her. No one is. I’m not sure where they come from.” Eliza’s eyes grew glassy. “Glowing eyes. Shadow people. Hands in walls reaching for her. I’d hoped she would outgrow it by now.”

Leigh’s heart panged in recognition. She knew those kinds of dreams. The kind that made the dark come to life. “I had nightmares as a child. My mother told me to ask for someone to watch over me. She told me to ask for an angel. It worked.”

Eliza gave her an odd look, as though she were seeing Leigh sitting there for the first time.

Beatrice nodded. “Your mother sounds like a clever woman.”

“
She is. Very.” Leigh couldn’t wait to get back home to her. To hug her tight and tell her everything. About Henry. About Paris. About the séances and the salons, and even about how broken her heart had been up until today. Today, it felt better. The breaks were healing. By the time she got home, she might even be able to laugh about it all.

Leigh still remembered the day she asked for Jacob. The tree swing, her eyes shut, wishing into the wind. He’d come to her side, and almost startled her flat onto the ground. He liked to tell her he was there the whole time, watching over her. Out of habit, she checked the corners of the large room for his familiar shadowy form. But Jacob wasn’t here.

Her heart sank.

With Bea at her side so much these last two days, she should have grown used to Jacob’s absence. He must be with Grant, hoping the wolf would see him again. Her mind clicked. Jacob would know! He’d been ghosting Grant, literally, and certainly he’d have been there the night of the attack. She smacked her forehead. “Of course!”

“
What is it?” Bea leaned forward, napkin clutched.

“
Oh. Nothing.” Jacob could see if Grant had, in fact, killed a man, and defended a woman under attack. He could tell Leigh if Grant had been hurt. “I just remembered. I forgot to wire my mother. She’ll be worried if she doesn’t get news of when to expect me.” It was only partly a lie.

“
Do you need to go now?” Bea said, nodding emphatically, standing up.

“
Um, yes. Do you mind?”

“
But, the food hasn’t arrived.” Eliza stood as well.

“
It shouldn’t take but a moment, Eliza. We’ll rejoin you after,” Bea said, and took Leigh’s elbow, leaving Eliza with her mouth open in protest. They reached the outer deck. “Tell me everything.”

“
You know that I would never do anything to put you or Grant in jeopardy. If anyone ever were to ask....”

“
Thank you. I thought as much, but hearing you say it helps. It really does. Still, I need to know. I saw the look on your face. What is it? Is it Grant?”

She couldn’t tell Bea about Jacob. She couldn’t tell anyone about Jacob. It was their sworn promise. Only her mother knew. No one else. Instead, she told Bea everything she could remember about the day she saw Grant change— right down to the hair on the floor and listening at the door.

“
The moment I saw the hair, I realized you must have witnessed Grant’s switch. I didn’t realize so much had happened while I was gone. There I was, chatting Eliza’s ear off, hoping she wouldn’t ask about my son. I’m such a ninny when it comes to bringing things up. It’s a fault, I know.”

“
It isn’t a fault, Bea. You look on the bright side of things.”

They walked without any particular destination in mind. “Yes, well, to the point that sometimes I ignore the dark side. The dark doesn’t go away. Even if you look the other way, it’s there. Waiting.”

“
Waiting for the light to come,” Leigh said, and squeezed Bea’s arm.

Bea came up short. “Did you really need to send a message to your mother?”

Leigh chuckled. “Not really. I telegraphed her from Le Havre.”

“
Ah yes, to avoid my brother’s next interrogation about the silly note. I remember. Well done.”

“
Are we really going to rejoin Eliza for brunch?”

Bea screwed up her nose. “I suppose we’d better.” She gave a heavy sigh. “I love her dearly, but she is just exhausting.”

They turned around and headed back.

“
Bea?”

“
Yes?”

“
Do you think Grant is safe?”

“
As long as the term ‘dog’ never becomes the term ‘wolf,’ I think we’ll have time, at least until we arrive in New York. After all, how much can anyone discover with less than a day remaining until we arrive?”

Leigh didn’t like one minute passing not knowing.

Brunch crawled by at an agonizing pace. An hour later, she and Leigh returned to the suite with nothing to do but worry. Leigh searched for any glimpse of Jacob. She called to him with her mind, focusing hard on missing him, on needing him. All to no avail.

Beatrice stabbed at her needlepoint, clearly as fretful as Leigh.

“
Should we find him? Ask him what happened?”

Bea’s brow knit tightly. She plucked at her lower lip. “I don’t know. It feels as if something was wrong, he would tell me. He would come to me.”

Leigh frowned. Was she imagining things, or did Bea want her and Grant to stay apart, too? Did she know he’d kissed her? That night when Nick and Bea returned, neither seemed to suspect. “Should we find Nick?”

Bea’s eyes flashed with worry. “He said he’d join us for brunch,” she said.

“
He didn’t.”

Bea shook her head.

“
If Grant is in trouble, and Nick didn’t show up for brunch, could Nick be with Grant somehow?”

“
I don’t know. I didn’t think of it. They aren’t friends by any means. If Grant was in trouble, captured or arrested or injured, Nick is not the person he would go to for aid. He would come to me. He has always come to me.”

“
Then why would Nick not show up for brunch?”

Bea covered her face. “There’s a bit of awkwardness between us. I thought he just hadn’t gotten past it yet, is all.”

Leigh narrowed her eyes, and it slowly dawned on her what had Bea flushing bright red. “Bea, did Nick...kiss you?”

“
Heavens no. I’m married, Leigh.” She touched her wedding ring as proof. “He is and always has been a perfect gentleman.”

“
Who could charm a Grizzly.”

“
He did not kiss me.”

“
Then what happened that he’d stay away from you?”

Bea stood up. “One of them will show up. They do every day.”

“
Not yesterday.”

“
They were giving you time to rest. You’d been through quite a lot in that reading. I don’t think you realize how much you move and speak and the energy it must take, Leigh.”

Putting both hands up, Leigh nodded. “Fine. Let’s say they stayed away to let me rest.” She’d thought Grant was abiding by his promise to never kiss her again. “We’ll mark yesterday up to that.” She had to move Bea into action. “If they don’t come by today, what then?”

“
We’ll see them when we arrive.”

Leigh raised her eyebrows and stared at Bea. “How can you be sure? Isn’t that risking an awful lot just to avoid a little embarrassment? If he didn’t kiss you, what could he have done worth staying away from you?”

“
I kissed him.”

“
Uh...oh. I see.” Leigh stood up. “Well, if you won’t go, I understand. I’ll go alone.”

“
What? No! You can’t.”

“
I have to. I can’t sit here and worry and do nothing.” She needed to know that Grant was safe. She wanted her damned ghost back so she could get some answers. And yes, testing to see if her belly tumbled inside out at the sight of him, as it had every time she thought of that kiss, would be nice, too. “With or without you, I’m finding him.”