“Behave yourself. I swear to you…you act
like a little kid with a new toy. You can’t have sex with me all the time. What
if you get tired of me?”
He laughed at her.
“It could happen.”
“Not in a million years. You’re my life,
baby, and we’re stuck with each other. And I have a very inventive mind.”
She closed the connection and he smiled.
He had embarrassed her and he loved it. Before he could go back to sleep he
felt someone, a shadow of a person, enter his room. He looked up at the
specter. He had an idea she’d come to him sooner or later.
“I can’t help you cause harm to another.
I can’t do things for you that you should have done in your living life. Do you
understand this?”
The woman nodded.
“How did you find me?”
“I found her, not you. I was…she has
grown up to be so lovely, hasn’t she?”
Mac nodded at Ronda Wall, Brandi’s
mother.
“I came to ask if you could please find
me, my body.”
“There are people looking now. They
don’t know where you are, do you?” She nodded and Mac waited. Some ghosts knew
things, but couldn’t pinpoint them. He had a feeling that Ronda was going to
prove him wrong.
“He buried me in the southeast corner of
the property that my mother owned. It’s not very big…he cut me up. I think he
meant to bury me in more places, but he is lazy and a bastard.”
Mac agreed with her assessment quietly. He
already had plans for the man.
“Do you think that…could you please tell
my daughter that I’m sorry?”
“No, I’m sorry, I can’t do that. She’ll
not have things resolved between you with you telling her that. If you were
truly sorry about something, then you should have taken care of it before you
died.” Mac hated to tell her that, but she had to know he was governed by rules
as much as she was. He watched her pace about the room much like her daughter
did when she was working out a problem.
“He murdered me. He said that because my
mom didn’t leave the house and property to me he had no further use for me. He
wants Andi for her ownership. But you can’t let him have her.”
“He won’t.”
She moved back and forth and left a
trail of her energy behind. She was upset and when a ghost was upset, they
seemed to become more solid. He was fascinated by how much the two women looked
alike.
“You love her?”
Mac nodded.
“Good. She deserves it. I wasn’t a great
mother after her father died. Hell, I wasn’t a good mother to her before that.
I never understood her. No, that’s not right. I didn’t like her because she was
so much smarter than me. I was a horrible mother.”
Mac didn’t answer. It wasn’t his place
and he wasn’t sure if he could disagree with her. He watched as she began to
slow her pace. He willed himself clothes and stood up to speak to her.
“The man that follows her, Reginald
Wall? You have a connection to him, a lifeline that couples who share a sexual
bond have. If you’d allow it, I would use a part of that bond to find him and
to be able to trace him.” She was nodding before he finished with his question.
“Take it all. Whatever you need to make
him leave her alone, take whatever you need.” Mac moved up to her closer
without touching her. What he was about to do was frowned upon, but he needed
to protect his mate.
The touch was small but powerful. He was
able to glean a great deal from Ronda and her relationship with her husband. As
well as some information about her now missing husband. He took a step back
when he broke the connection before he reached out to her.
“He will be taken care of.” He looked at
her and sat down. “You knew what she was and never told her about it. Why? Why
would you not tell her that her father had the same gift and he left because he
was afraid she’d ask him for help and he had none for her?”
“Because he thought that if he wasn’t
around then she’d not use what he’d given her. Not be called names or hurt
because people aren’t very nice about things they simply don’t understand.” Ronda
laughed bitterly. “He left her because he was afraid of her.”
Mac knew that she believed that. He had
left because he was afraid, but not of his daughter, of the men who were searching
for him. The man had wanted to keep them, especially the daughter he never
really knew, safe.
“He’s dead as well. He died by his own
hand when Brandi turned eighteen. He was being pursued by people who would have
cut him up and dissected her as well.”
Ronda nodded and looked away. “Reggie
would do the same to her if he finds out. But I have a feeling that he’s well
aware of what she can do.”
Mac only nodded.
“I thought so. You’ll keep her safe.”
It wasn’t a question, but he answered
her all the same. “I will die for her if necessary.”
She looked away. He knew what she was
feeling. He’d sent the crew they had looking for her to where she’d said. The
wolves Bradley had looking would answer to him until she was found. They were
very near her.
“I won’t be able to see her again, will
I?”
He told her no.
“I wanted to be something to someone. I
didn’t accomplish much, did I?”
“Brandi and I are having a child. We’ll
have him or her in about eight months.” She turned to look at him then toward
where he knew she was buried. “Go to them. They’ll make sure that you’re fine.”
She moved toward the wall and stopped
suddenly. “I’m very happy for you both. You look…I’m betting she’ll love you
for a very long time, won’t she?”
“All of eternity.” She nodded once and
drifted away. Before he fell back to sleep he heard from the leader of the pack
that she’d been found and that the police had been notified.
Mac smiled. She was safe and he would
think about what to say to Brandi when he woke. He didn’t want to keep secrets
from her, but he had a feeling that this one would be better for her. She
wouldn’t know what to do with the information and, frankly, he wasn’t sure how
to tell her. Smiling, he knew that she’d be really pissed when she found out he
hadn’t told her.
Chapter 18
“I don’t understand. How can I be a
master? I’m just a human being that happens to be…you can’t be serious.” Andi
looked at Mac, who had insisted on coming with her. Maddy, the person standing
in front of her, had called when they were arguing about it to say to bring
Mac. She still thought he’d set it up.
“I’m very serious. You killed a master
vampire and that means that you now are the sole owner of his realm. And all
that goes with it.” She smiled as if she’d just given her the keys to a new
car. “It’s a nice-sized estate too.”
“I don’t want it.” She tried to calm
herself down so that her voice didn’t squeak again. “Can’t you give it to
someone else? I’m sure there are any number of people that would jump at the
chance to have a realm…what are you laughing about?”
She turned on Mac so quickly that he
nearly fell out of his chair. The nerve of the man laughing at her when she was
stressed out. She was considering taking the job Bradley had offered her rather
than be someone’s boss.
“There is one person you could give it
to. He’d have to consult you on all the major decisions, take your thoughts
into consideration. He’d even have to pledge to you his fidelity.”
“Good. When can I turn it over?” She
looked at Mac when Maddy did. She knew this was another one of his aunts. Well,
not really an aunt she’d discovered, but one of his father’s people. She didn’t
like the look on either of their faces. She nearly asked who when it hit her. Mac
could do it. “I give it to him. He can have it all.” She took a step back when
three women appeared in the room. She looked at Mac and growled when they
hugged him to them. They turned as one to stare at her.
“I don’t know why I did that. I can’t
tell you how…you think you could step away from him? Right now, I’d like
nothing more than to rip your throats out and I so don’t want to go to prison
just yet.”
The middle one laughed, but stepped
away. The second one did as well, but not before she kissed him on the cheek.
It was the third one, the darker, one that stood without moving.
“Baby, these women are—”
“I swear to you, Mac, if you tell me
that they’re your aunts too, I might hurt you. You’ve more relatives than I’ve
ever seen.” She took a step toward them when the last woman stepped away. “Thank
you very much.”
“No problem. You’re much more beautiful
than we first thought. When we saw you as a child, you were all scrunched up
and had the most horrid look on your face. I had thought I’d be better off
picking someone else for our Mac here, but they wouldn’t let me cut your
thread.” The woman sat on the chair. “You should sit too. We’ve a lot to
discuss.”
The chair was suddenly there and Andi
sat. She didn’t know why this didn’t seem to be bothering her so much anymore,
but she looked at the three women. She grinned when it occurred to her. “The
fates.” The one who’d offered her the chair nodded. “You’re Athropos. And you
must be Clotho and Lachesis. I thought you shared an eye or something.”
“I wish we’d never spoken to that man. He’s
caused us nothing but problems.” Athropos looked at her again. “Yes. I’m glad
you’ve read the classics. But you’ve done us a great service, so we have come
to repay you.”
Clotho sat, too, as she continued where Athropos
left off. “Herman was a pain in the bottom. Not only that, but he was taking
lives, lives we’d had saved for greatness. He was a waste and I’m ashamed to
tell people we once liked his mother.”
“His mother was a great witch and one of
our founding magic. At least our magic. Not to be confused with Mel’s magic;
hers is pure.”
Andi felt as if she’d fallen down the
rabbit’s hole. “Of course. Pure magic as opposed to, say, tainted magic.” The
women nodded and Mac covered his mouth with his hand. She had a feeling he was
laughing at her. Maddy left to get drinks.
“That’s right. Black magic, a
nonrenewable source. You do understand.” Clotho seemed so happy that Andi
almost hated to burst her bubble.
“No, actually, I don’t. Magic is a
little hard for me to understand. I mean, magic? Does it really exist?” She
nearly leapt up the wall when a large snake sat up and stared at her. Then he
was a dog, a horse, and finally, a flower. Clotho leaned over, picked it, and
handed it to her. “Okay, I’m a believer. Please don’t do that again.”
Mac got up and left the room. He was
shaking so hard and snorting so loudly she just knew that he was going to hurt
something. He was so going to die for laughing at her. Damned man.
“Where was I? Oh yes, magic. Then she
took it upon herself to play around with our magic and try to make it her own. Nearly
was successful until she tried it on the wrong person. It was then that we
discovered that she was doing things, horrible things, what would come back to
bite us all in the ass.” Lachesis handed her a glass of something as she spoke.
Andi set it on the table without
drinking it. She watched as a basket of fruit hovered just above the table. She
wondered if Mel was coming. The woman forever had that stupid thing and she
wondered if she’d care if she took an apple. Andi loved apples.
“Take it. It’s for you. I heard you’re
breeding. That’s lovely.” Maddy cleared her throat when Lachesis handed her the
apple. She looked at her with a questioning brow. “Yes, dear?”
“Not breeding. She’s pregnant. We don’t
call it that.”
Lachesis apologized.
“No worries.”
Andi bit into the apple and moaned. It
tasted better than anything she’d ever eaten. But she needed information and
needed it now. Taking another bite, she set it on the small plate that was on
the table.
“I didn’t do anything to that man other
than protect Mac. I’m sure he’d have been able to do it on his own, but
something made me try.” All four women nodded. “Okay, so now what? You said
repayment. I don’t really need anything, but thanks anyway.”
“You don’t understand. It’s already been
given. Well, to the two of you. Mac will get this as well. And you’ll both run
the realm that you inherited. It’s only right.” Athropos tossed her another
piece of fruit. “Do try to eat more. But I digress. The man, Herman, he had a
fairly small estate, especially when you realize how large Aaron’s is. Nice man,
Aaron. Did you know that—” Maddy cleared her throat. The fate grinned at her
before going on. “The man had a bounty on his head. Large one too. That, too,
goes to the two of you.”
Andi nodded. “But the repayment? You
keep bouncing around that. What is it?” She was getting nervous. There was
going to be a catch, a really big one, and she just knew it. “Tell me what it
is.”
Mac walked in the room at that moment. Andi
had a feeling he wasn’t all that happy when he sat next to her and pulled her
onto his lap. She leaned into him and nuzzled against his neck. She didn’t have
any idea why that felt so good, but it seemed to calm her a great deal.