Vampire’s Dilemma. Penny Ash
toward him. Lucy lifted her hand to his cheek. Squeezing his eyes shut Shel pressed into the touch, her hand cool against his face. As if Lucy’s touch brought him back to life Shel gasped, covering her hand with his own. Shel pulled Lucy into his arms and buried his face in her hair. Lucy’s arms went around him.
“I thought I’d lost you,” Shel said softly.
“Never.” Lucy tightened her hold, looking up at him. “I love you.”
Shel looked into her eyes. They shone with tears. “You are my life, Lucy. You know that, don’t you?” Lucy nodded, laying her head against his chest again. Shel touched his lips to her hair. “I love you, too.”
They stood there in silence a long time.
* * * *
The sound of footsteps on deck made Shel lift his head, wary. Madeline stepped into the salon. A chill of foreboding swept over Shel. Shivering, he stepped in front of Lucy. “You aren’t welcome here, Madeline.” Shel couldn’t stop his shaking. Madeline’s eyes widened almost imperceptibly. She saw. Madeline thought he trembled in fear. Lucy rested her hand on Shel’s back. Her warmth spread through him.
“Oh, cherie, do not look so surprised. Did you think you were safe? You cannot keep me away. You are mine. You can deny me nothing.” Madeline smiled.
Shel shook his head. A short bark of disbelieving laughter escaped him. “This isn’t New Orleans.”
Madeline’s eyes narrowed. Her hand moved in a languid gesture. “Give me the book and I will let your little plaything live. Or do not and I will kill her. Choose.”
Shel felt hollow. “You need to get a new line Madeline. That one is getting old.”
“So be it.” Madeline snapped her fingers.
Pain ripped through him. Shel dropped to his knees with a gasp. He heard Lucy call out. The sounds of Lucy being pulled away broke through the fog of pain. No. Shel clenched his teeth and fought the pain. Not this time. Shel pulled himself to his feet and followed Madeline.
When Shel got to the deck he froze. Madeline stood a few feet away, near the wheel console. Madeline held Lucy, pinning her arms. A memory of Kitty docilely waiting for Madeline to bite flashed through his mind. Everything went dark. Shel’s predatory hunter’s vision focused on his prey.
In slow motion Madeline turned toward him. Somewhere in Shel’s consciousness he was aware Lucy was fighting for her life calling for him to help her. Shel couldn’t hear Lucy over the slow pounding of his pulse in his ears. Madeline’s malicious smile faltered. Shel moved toward her. Madeline backed away, dragging Lucy with her.
Shel felt time slow to a crawl. He drew close to the console and remembered the drawer where the stake he’d given Lucy lay. It was in his hand in seconds. Madeline seemed to realize the balance of power had shifted. She shoved Lucy toward him. Shel caught the woman he loved and gently pushed her aside.
Madeline bared her teeth with a hiss and leapt at him. The impact carried them both to the deck. She sank her claw-like red nails into Shel’s still tender shoulder, her teeth snapping at his throat. Shel raised his arm, deflecting Madeline’s attack. Her teeth sank into his shoulder. Bone cracked and white-hot pain shot down every nerve. Shel brought the stake up between them and thrust with all the fury in him, the sharp wood sliding into Madeline’s heart.
Shel scrambled to his feet as Madeline shrieked and clawed wildly at her own chest. Lucy threw herself into his arms. They backed away from the quickly crumbling thing on the deck. A gust of wind scattered all that was left of Madeline, dispersing it into the water. Shel buried his face in Lucy’s hair, breathing in her warm sweet scent. He allowed Lucy to lead him into the salon.
Chapter Thirteen: Magic Bus
Lucy snatched the keys from Shel. “You’re in no shape to drive, I’ll do it.”
“I’ll be fine,” Shel protested. Lucy shook her head. Men never changed, even when they were Vampires. She pressed the button to unlock the car and left Shel to get in the passenger side.
“I still don’t understand all this.” Lucy settled into her seat and started the car.
Lucy pulled out into traffic. Shel leaned his head back with a heavy sigh. “Sergei and his men. They hunt and kill anyone paranormal. They’re called Helsings after the character in Bram Stoker’s Dracula.”
“But why did they want me?” Lucy glanced in the rear view mirror.
“They want the book, the power it represents.” Shel shifted uncomfortably. He was avoiding something. She wanted to know what it was.
“Tell me.” Lucy didn’t ask, she demanded.
“Did you know Isabel came to this continent as a convict?” Shel’s voice was soft. Lucy shot him a startled glance. Shel smiled sadly. “No, of course you didn’t. Isabel was transported for what they called unnatural congress then.”
“Go on.” Lucy kept her tone neutral. Shel had known her ancestor. She was willing to listen to him.
“When I met Isabel, she had already been in the Americas for many years. She would never say exactly how many but the rumor was well over a hundred.”
Lucy gave an unladylike snort of disbelief. “More than a hundred years? Are you telling me she was a Vampire, too?”
Shel gave Lucy a faint, sad smile. “Isabel was a Werewolf.”
The word rang in Lucy’s head. She felt numb. Lucy hit a pothole. The impact jolted her out of her shock.
Shel winced. “Isabel was a dangerous woman. Seductive. Especially to young men who fancied themselves libertines. She had a special kind of power over anyone different. Anyone paranormal. It was part of what made her attractive.”
“Is she still…I mean…” Lucy clenched the steering wheel tighter. She had to know if there was even a tiny chance Shel might leave someday.
“Alive? No. She…died. A little over two centuries years ago. Not long after she put her power into the book.”
“What happened?”
Shel looked away, staring at the blur of the passing scenery. “Isabel…I killed her. She was my first victim.”
Lucy went cold. “You killed her…”
“She made a mistake. She fell in love. The man was not supernatural. He insisted she renounce her power but Isabel didn’t want to let it go completely. So she created the book when her son was born and it made her vulnerable. At the end she couldn’t defend herself.”
Lucy listened to the story of Isabel’s betrayal of Sheldon and her ultimate death. Lucy nodded, a sense of horror making her uneasy. She thought about it and found she couldn’t quite connect with what Shel was telling her. Isabel had always been more of an abstraction and less of a real person to Lucy. She was not at all sure she wanted any more details but Lucy had to ask. “Madeline has the book, why do they want me?”
“She had the book. About thirty years ago one of Isabel’s descendants managed to steal it back. He was killed in the process.”
“So now no one can use this book.” Lucy didn’t like where this seemed to be headed. She refused to connect the facts together.
“There is one,” Shel said softly.
“Who?” She didn’t like where this was going.
“You.” His words were flat. The toneless sound sent a chill through her.
“Me?” He nodded once. What if I don’t want to? Lucy swallowed her rising panic. She let the silence in the car grow heavy. “But I’m not…I’ve never…”
“Turned into a wolf? I’d be surprised if you had. Only the males turn.” Shel laid his hand on her shoulder in a comforting gesture. It didn’t help.
Lucy