Rebirth (Rogues Shifter Series) (32 page)

Sinc and Kyle spent days in the lab hunched over computers and experimental weapons.  I had training sessions with Liam every morning at 9:00.

“Jacqueline, I will train you to use the magic to move like a vampire, faster than a human can see. This will be your best defensive weapon against Antoine. He will never expect
it. But you must use it sparingly, two or three times at the most, because it will drain your energy and make you weak. When you’ve mastered this, we will move on to your offense.”

Because of my upcoming duel with Antoine, Liam had agreed to work with me every day this week, so we worked together for two hours sessions. At the end of each one, I collapsed into bed a
nd slept for another hour, always waking up completely famished.  Liam would have food prepared and waiting for me and would usually keep me company while I ate.

“You are doing well,” he would say, “but there is much more to learn.” I’d nod and eat and wi
sh that Garrett would hold me for awhile. The closer to the duel we got, the more I felt I was in over my head.

Maya would show up later in the afternoon, never friendly but always professional. The first two days were spent on defensive maneuvers to divert weapons that were thrown at me. (One weapon each was allowed in the ring.)Then we worked on my psychic cutting, pushing and throwing. She’d always bring a couple of shifter volunteers who were a little frightened at first, but who started to trust me when they saw that I felt worse than they did about hurting them. Plus I was getting much better at the healing part, which helped me relax a little more.

Two days before the duel, Maya arrived with four shifters instead of the usual two. “Today we’re going to work on draining Antoine’s energy mentally. Liam’s going to supervise since this it isn’t one of my areas of expertise. It's probably a good thing, since there’d be a few very weak ex-boyfriends walking around town.” I laughed, but she didn’t bat an eye, making me think that she might actually be serious.

Liam and Maya showed me how to darken my aura and create a void, then described how to pull in an enemy’s energy to fill it up, turning it emerald green again. Since my brave volunteers had no psychic connection to the magic, I needed to touch them in order for the drain to work. I realized that this must be similar to what Garrett did when he fed from his shifters, and I hoped as I practiced, that the volunteers were feeling that pleasant floating sensation and not anything painful.

When the volunteers left, Maya spoke to me in her usual serious way. “I’ll be at the duel. I don’t mean to add to your stress, but you must know that for Garrett to have the strength to win against Eleanor, you need to first beat Antoine. We need you both. The council has decided to accept you. After this you’re not required to take another lesson from me.”

I saw a glimmer of respect in her eyes, probably all I’d get in the way of encouragement. She nodded and left, still looking twenty after two hundred years as a shifter.  I turned and saw Garrett standing in the doorway, up a little earlier than usual. I went to him and held him tightly, trembling from tension and exhaustion.

“Liam and Maya have been working you hard, but they wouldn’t if they didn’t feel that you were capable. You’ve earned their respect.” He lifted my chin and kissed both of my tired eyes.  “Jacqueline, you need to rest. You’re working too many hours. I’m worried about you.”

“You’re working non-stop on the island and you’ve been g
etting up earlier every afternoon. How can I do any less?”

He took m
y hands, an excited gleam in his eye.“Let's take off tonight, just the two of us. We’ll take my boat out and watch the sunset. I know a private cove where we can anchor away from the world and just be together. Then we’ll sail back before dawn.” I gave him an encouraging hug and ran off to pack a few things for the sail. Garrett made several short phone calls and we were ready to go.

We sailed out of the harbor at 5:00 PM on his thirty-five foot sloop named Spotted Lady. Garrett showed me how to tie off the lines and crank up the sails and he even let me steer once we were in open water. The rocking motion of the boat was so peaceful that I fell asleep outside on a deck cushion for about an hour, only to feel Garrett kissing me awake and laughing a little when I clung to his mouth like velcro as he tried to pull away. We let the wind guide us south as we stood together and watched the sun go down over the Pacific amid glorious streaks of pink and orange and gold. Garrett turned us back toward the coast and we pulled into a quiet cove and anchored the sloop in a secluded spot where we could be alone. Stars began to pop to life above us in the darkening night sky.

I’d watched him as he'd worked around the boat, bringing down the sails, steering into the inlet, stowing equipment, releasing the anchor. He seemed truly happy, sporting a huge grin throughout the trip. The strain of the last five days, so evident in our faces a few hours ago, had drifted slowly away along with the ocean currents. When he’d finished his captain’s duties, he sat next to me, one long arm over my shoulder and his fingers playing with my hair.

Now was as good a time as ever.
“What’s the third part of the ritual for vampires?”

“You won’t have to worry about that part.”

“Why? You’ve decided you don’t want me? “I teased. “Am I too much trouble?”

He laughed, then whispered next to my ear. “Ma petit provocateur.
My little troublemaker
. You’re the kind of trouble I will always want to sink my teeth into.” He nibbled on my ear and as usual, my heartbeat raced.

“So answer my question, Monsieur.”

He sighed. “Eleanor approves my ‘selection’ and we’re marked by her. It’s a small wound, cut in a pattern of our choice and it leaves a permanent matching scar. Kind of like a tattoo. Then she tastes your blood.

“What? Did you say Eleanor cuts us? And then drinks my blood?” I shook my head in confusion.

“She’ll be dead soon, so it doesn’t matter.”

“Then how do we complete the ritual if she's dead?”

“Eleanor has a maker, Francois.  He’s much older and much more reasonable. He’s in town to support me at the duel. I’ll speak to him about it.”

“You’ve never mentioned him before. Do you speak to him a lot?”

“I contact him at least once a month. He lives in Paris.”

“And you’ve
told him about me?”

“Yes,
and he’s quite happy for us. He punished Eleanor severely for changing me, He felt it was an immoral act, although it wasn't theoretically against our laws.”

“Too bad he didn’t kill her.” I grumbled. Feeling unsure, I reached over to touch his hand. He smiled and wove his fingers between mine. "Why can't we just do the shifter's version of the ritual? You used to be a shifter."

"Unfortunately, the shifters wouldn't agree. To them I'm a vampire, and as antiquated as the idea seems, the ritual that's performed is according to the male's race, not the female's."

"And
Francois's really ok with us.?"

He stood and pulled me to my feet. “I didn’t bring you out here to talk about Eleanor or Francois.” He nuzzled my ear and then kissed my neck.

“Why did you bring me here?” I teased as I leaned against him and ran my hands over his shoulders and down his arms.

“To relax and forget.
I need you tonight.” He kissed my mouth urgently and I opened to him, pulling in magic and mixing it with desire and love, a potent brew which carried us below deck. We spent the next precious hours as he’d predicted: banishing our fears and strengthening our link. Sharing our bodies and our blood worked its magic, because as we sailed back to the Crescent City Marina, Garrett and I were feeling more carefree and contented than we had in many days.

Chapter Forty

Rob was sitting on our stoop looking grim when we got back to the house two hours before dawn. My skin grew cold as he stood up. “Carly’s been murdered. We think it was Antoine because a witness who saw him leaving her house described him perfectly. I’m sure he wanted to be seen, otherwise he wouldn’t have been. She was beaten and drained. Samson was knocked unconscious.”

Garrett reached out for my hand.  “Have you called her family?” he asked, draping his arm around my shoulders when he felt me start to tremble.

“Yes. They’ve asked me to tell you that the service will be held at Trinity Chapel on Sunday evening. There’s another rather large problem, however.”

“What?” I asked.

“Samson doesn’t really get along with anyone except you, Jackie. Carly’s family doesn’t want him
and he doesn’t like me either.”

“I’ll take him.” I looked at Garrett pleadingly as tears continued to chase each other
down my cheeks. He dabbed at them gently with his shirt tail.

“Yes, we can take him. He seems to tolerate me
fairly well and no dog can resist Liam. Carly would be happy that Jackie has him. Not too sure about me, though.” He shook his head sadly.

“She’d want him to be care
d for. He'll be happy here.”

“Where is he?” I asked, looking around.

“In my truck.” He tossed me the keys. Samson started to whine pitifully as soon as I got close.

I could hear Garrett's angry tone
as he spoke to Rob. “This is obviously part of Eleanor’s strategy. She wants to break our concentration before the duel. Also, Antoine got a good dose of 200-year-old shifter blood which will strengthen him.” Garrett was pacing back and forth. “I don’t think there’s much we can do about it. It’ll be up to Jackie to avenge Carly.”

They both looked at me with c
oncern as I walked back holding Samson by his leash. "Do you think he needs a vet?" I couldn't see any obvious wounds as I crouched to give him a hard squeeze around the neck. His enormous tongue laved my cheek. making me smile

"No. He has a hard head. But he's going to miss her terribly."
The renewed vision of Carly beaten and drained had me leaning against Garrett, sobbing, while Samson lay at my feet, his huge head resting on his paws. Rob returned to his car and brought out Samson’s bowls, food, blanket and toys and carried them to our door. We all filed in and Rob put Samson’s few possessions on the floor in the living room.

“I’ll call you in the afternoon. I’m sorry you had to hear about Carly like this.” Rob left, hi
s face looking tired and drawn.

We put water in one of Samson’s bowls and a little dry food in the other and left them in the kitchen. Garrett and I decided to let Samson sleep in my room this morning, thinking that he might be more comfortable not being alone, so we laid his blanket on the floor by the foot of my bed and put one of his toys near it. He settled in and seemed to make himself comfortable, although his eyes looked so sad. We left a note for Liam explaining about the dog and that
I would probably not make my 9:00 AM lesson. I changed into pajamas and dragged Garrett into bed with me, desperately needing to cuddle up and feel safe in his arms while we both mourned the loss of a gentle spirit.

Chapter Forty-one

I woke in the afternoon around 1:00 PM. Samson was sprawled across the foot of my queen
-sized bed taking up a lot of room. I scratched him behind the ears and he wagged his little stubby tail, perhaps trying to make the best of being handed over to people he hardly knew. I could so relate to that. "Good boy. We all miss her, but we'll take very good care of you. I promise."

I jumped in the shower, dressed in jeans and a tank top and went out to see what Liam was up to. He was working
in Garrett's office. I plopped myself down in a nearby arm chair.

He smiled.
“Good afternoon, Miss Jacqueline. I am very sorry to hear the news about your good friend, Carly. She is gone long before her time. Terribly young.”

I wondered what it was like to be so old that
233 is considered terribly young to die. “Thanks Liam," I answered. “I’m still in shock.”

“Miss Jacqueline, you must have your lesson today. We m
ust go over everything we have touched on and work out some strategies.”

“Yes
, of course,
Sensei
.” The corners of his mouth twitched at my feeble attempt to cheer us both up. It failed miserably on my side.

“There's food on the stove
. Please eat something. We have much to do."

Dishing out the
homemade chicken soup that Liam had prepared, I sat down at the kitchen table. Samson trotted into the kitchen and lay down at my feet, looking at me with sad eyes. I petted his head.

“Do you need anything, Samson? Do you want to go outside? He wagged his little tail so I got
up and opened the patio door. Liam was there in a flash, crouching by the dog and speaking to him in a musical language, probably Fae. Samson seemed enthralled, then barked a few times as if they were carrying on a conversation. After a few minutes, Liam stood and walked back inside while Samson ran into the woods.

“What did you say to him?” I asked, a little unsure of what I'd just witnessed. “Should he be in the woods? What if he can’t find his way back?”

“He knows what is off limits and what is permitted when he is in the backyard or the nearby woods. I’ve already explained the house rules to him. He’s quite intelligent and will have no trouble finding the house again. He wishes to protect you above all others now that Carly is gone. He has some fae blood.“