Kissing the Werewolf - An Izzy Cooper Novel (16 page)

“It will just slow us down … and possibly damage our transportation. I assume you don’t want to be walking about right now.”

He had a point.

Ayden slowed the SUV as we approached Luna Road. There would be a lot of twists and turns through thick forest before we reached the Marsh property, but so far, there didn’t appear to be any dead things walking about.

Leaning back against the black leather seat, I breathed a sigh of relief. I knew it was only a short respite, but I was willing to accept that much for now. There wasn’t a lot that scared me these days, but zombies had done the trick since the time I was old enough to begin having nightmares about them.

I was half hoping that when we pulled up to the gates of the Marsh estate, I’d see Elias waiting there, but he wasn’t.

My heart sank a little, and I wasn’t even sure why, especially after what had transpired between us the night before.

Maybe I just felt safer with him nearby, which was totally ridiculous, considering I was with two FBI agents, not to mention my own credentials.

Killing the engine, Ayden asked, “Is everyone armed?” He was asking both of us, but his eyes were on me, probably because of my bad habit of neglecting to bring my gun with me.

“Sure do.” Tim patted the gun holstered around his waist.

I nodded, holding up my really cool and funky tie-dyed handbag.

“Okay … let’s go,” he said, throwing open his door. “You’re going to have to show us the way to get to this room Izzy.”

Damn! It looked like I wasn’t going to be able to slip away when no one was looking, and sneak back to the car to lock myself inside.

Everything was exactly the same as it was when I’d been there with Elias the day before. We let ourselves in, and I led them to the back of the house where I’d found the door to the dungeons.

I was still questioning the wisdom of descending into an abyss of darkness while in the midst of what amounted to a local zombie apocalypse, but then I realized Ayden had brought along one of those big mammoth sized flashlights.

Damn, that boss of mine was one smart cookie.

This was the second time I’d gone down in the abyss, and I still hadn’t thought to bring along a simple flashlight.

When we reached the bottom of the stairs, I realized I had no idea which way to go. I hadn’t been paying attention to the location last time because I was with Elias, who just happened to have a very keen sense of direction.

They were all looking at me, as if I were some kind of leader. Too bad they had a big surprise coming.

“I’m lost,” I told them with a shrug of my shoulders. “I can’t remember how to get there now.”

I heard their weird dead gargling noises before I saw them, but that was enough to send me right back of the stairs.

Where the hell had they come from?

My terror-numbed brain couldn’t piece it together, but then I remembered reading some gothic romance when I was a teen. In that story, there had been an old house with tombs in the basement. Those snooty families had a habit of putting people to rest below their houses.

Aggie’s screams snapped me back to the present. When I caught sight of her, there was a bony hand of some long dead corpse trying to rip out her throat.

“Oh what the hell!” I sighed. I couldn’t just leave her to be ripped apart by zombies. Besides, it wasn’t as if I hadn’t been killed before.

I had just reached her and was pulling the dead thing off when I felt hands clamping onto my leg. I knew the teeth would be next, and I braced for it, wondering if the zombie condition was contagious, like in the movies.

But it never happened.

The next thing I knew, I heard footsteps descending the stairs and the whole area lit up with a kind of amber colored light.

It was Julius, and I was totally and completely ecstatic to see him, even if he’d brought along his snarky attitude.

In that moment, I found myself completely transfixed by his eyes. They had a red ember glow to them that was totally awesome, maybe even a little spooky.

All it took was a simple touch of his hand and those zombies were falling like flies in an artic storm. Even Tim, Ayden and Aggie fell to the ground, as if they were asleep.

“Well dang it Julius! I kind of need the witch to get my sister back.”

“No you don’t,” he said, his voice flat, almost emotionless.

I was a little spooked because he just stood there, staring at me as if he were ready to tear my soul right from my body.

“Thanks … but what’s wrong?” I asked, the nervous twitch in my throat made my voice waver a little.

Sighing, he wrapped an arm around my shoulder. “Love … how many times do I have to tell you that your witch powers might be gone, but you are not completely powerless.”

“Hmm … I don’t know what you mean,” I lied.

I knew lying wasn’t a good thing when my soul was literally on the line, but I was in no mood to go over it again.

According to Julius, all I had to do was reach into that dark part of my soul, and I would have all the power I needed.

But the whole reason I was here … that I was doing all this in the first place, was to save my soul, not take advantage of the dark power that had been granted to me as a fallen angel.

Dropping his arm, he gave me a light kiss on the forehead and grabbed my hand. Without another word, he led me down several passages until we came to the black room.

The TV was still there, and there was still a movie playing on it. This time, there was a vampire on the screen that looked eerily like Dracula.

“So how do I get Annabelle out of there and close the door on Mister Bloodsucker?” I asked.

Suddenly his eyes changed.

I could almost believe I saw sympathy in them.

Reaching out, he lifted my chin so that he was looking into my eyes. I was taken aback when he brushed my lips with a kiss.

“You do understand that there’s always a price to pay for what we want most?” he asked.

I knew that, though I wasn’t exactly thrilled about the constant reminder. “What do I do?”

Julius motioned to the TV. “All you have to do is reach out to her.”

I stared at the TV as if it were a deadly cobra, just waiting to strike at me.

“You did this on purpose … to force me into using my demon juice,” I accused.

Leaning down, he whispered in my ear. “Maybe … maybe not.”

“If you wake up Aggie, she could do this,” I urged.

Julius shook his head. “She can’t do it. Her power is almost gone.”

“You’re evil!”

“But you like it … admit it.”

Ignoring him, I swallowed hard, trying to dislodge the band of fear winding its way around my throat.

It didn’t work. With each step I took toward that TV, the harder it was to breathe.

I glanced back at Julius, who was still watching me. He gave me a nod, which was meant to push me forward.

Extending my arm, I placed my hand against the cool screen. Almost instantly, the glass was gone and I felt my arm sinking into nothingness.

“Annabelle!” I called out as loudly as I could.

“Izzy! Where are you?” It came from a distance, but it was definitely my sister’s voice.

“Grab my hand!”

A second later, I felt someone take my hand, and I pulled back. In a blink of an eye, Annabelle was there, and we were both sprawled across the cold floor.

We wrapped arms around each other and began hugging, as if we hadn’t seen each other in years.

“What the hell took you so long?” she asked.

“Well it took a minute to figure out where you were, and what was going on. What was it like being in the TV?” I asked, a morbid curiosity taking over.

Annabelle looked away. “It was like being in a never ending nightmare.”

“I’m so sorry this happened to you.”

“Let’s just get out of here,” she said, pushing up until she was on her feet. I followed suit.

I’d taken a couple steps to the door before I remembered there was something else I had to do.

Turning back to the TV, I pulled the gun from the purse that was still hanging from my shoulder. Taking a deep breath, I took aim and pulled the trigger.

My ears were still ringing from the blast as I watched black smoke swirl up from the shattered screen.

“Now we can get out of here.”

We were already in the passage by the time I remembered that bit about there being a price to pay.

I wanted to ask Julius for a little more detail on the subject, but he was nowhere to be seen.

That was Julius’s way. He seemed to disappear as quickly as he showed up.

A spray of multi colored fireworks lit up the night sky.

It seemed the entire island had shown up for the dinner and dance show. Most had stuck around long enough to see the fireworks display. All in all, it had turned out to be a good day.

The first part of the day had been chaotic and terrifying, but from what I’d heard, right about the time I blasted that damn TV to hell, things began to return to normal.

The zombies fell and were gathered up to rebury. Whatever dark force had been animating them, must have gone back to hell.

Ayden had skipped he celebrations, claiming he had too much paperwork to catch up on. Personally, I thought it might be an excuse so he could take care of some Council business.

Tim was having fun though. The last time I’d seen him, he was beneath the blue and white striped dining canopy, stuffing his face with potato salad, while listening to Annabelle recite every line in Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein.

I was beginning to think my sister could be suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome.

But it was over now, and our community could get back to normal. Well as normal as a place like Mystic Island could be.

“We sold every ounce of apple strudel,” Granny Stella commented.

“That should make Reverend Chadwick happy.”

Granny nodded. “We raised well over a thousand dollars today. With that and the strawberry jam fundraiser, we should be well on our way to replacing the church’s pews.”

That didn’t surprise me. Granny’s blue ribbon jam always sold. She added a secret ingredient that made it taste like it came straight from heaven.

“Oh dear … I think I see the reverend now. I should go have a word with him about the Halloween fundraiser. With it only being a few months away, we’re going to have to get busy.”

Wrapping my arms around her, I gave Granny a big hug. “I’ll see you later.”

When Granny was out of sight, I glanced back up at the sky, just as another burst of fireworks exploded.

“Hello beautiful.”

As soon as I heard his voice, I felt my heart turn into a jackhammer. Glancing sideward, I saw Elias standing next to me.

And holy hell did he look good in his tight jeans and blue cowboy shirt that was open just enough to give me a glimpse of his rippling chest muscles.

Once again, I was slammed with the memory of our lovemaking. The fire ripped through my body.

“Hello,” I replied, keeping my voice faint so he wouldn’t hear that I was actually gasping for air.

“Can we talk?”

“I thought we were,” I responded, but still refused to look at him.

“I mean privately. Maybe we can take a walk.” There was a pleading in his voice that I found impossible to ignore.

Did I dare give him the opportunity to get under my skin, anymore than he already was?

Not really, but I didn’t want to let things be ugly between us either.

Nodding, I pointed to the docks. “We could go watch the sea lions. With all the fireworks, we should be able to see them.”

He reached out to take my hand in his. I didn’t resist.

Although I was still hurt and very angry, I had to admit that I liked the feeling of his hand squeezing mine.

We walked in silence until we were well away from the crowd. “I want you to know how sorry I am about last night,’ he said, pulling me around so that I was looking at him.

“It’s okay,” I shrugged. “I’ll get over it.”

“I don’t regret what happened between us?” he said.

The truth was that I didn’t either, but I wasn’t actually going to tell him that. “I do want us to remain friends,” I said.

“Friends sounds so … I don’t know … so platonic,” he moaned.

He was right. Being his friend wouldn’t be anywhere near as exciting as being his lover. But again, I couldn’t put voice to what I was thinking. I just couldn’t bring myself to give him that kind of power over my emotions.

Getting on my tiptoes, I gave him a peck on the lips. “Let’s be friends and we’ll see where it goes.”

A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “Not exactly what I wanted to hear, but I’m good with that for now.”

Taking his hand in mine, we continued in the general direction of the docks. We’d only gone about ten steps when a sudden gust of wind blew in from the sea. It was strong enough that it nearly knocked me off my feet.

I felt it immediately. It wasn’t an ordinary wind. This wind seemed to carry a dark - ominous warning. There was something foul about it, almost as if it carried the very essence of darkness.

Was I the only one who could feel it?

My eyes scanned the crowd. No one seemed to notice a thing. The music was still playing, people were still dancing, and the scent of roasting hotdogs and popcorn still filled the air.

No one had noticed, except for maybe the stranger who was watching me. He was leaning against the massive trunk of an ancient pine. He had his eyes directed right at me.

He’d noticed the wind, and he was aware that I’d noticed too.

In that moment, I knew it wasn’t over. In fact, if I were the betting kind, I’d wager the nightmare was just beginning.

# # #

Get the next book in the series at
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00S90TOB4

Don’t miss a new release, signup for the Kenda Ashe newsletter at
http://eepurl.com/bbxLLr