Sundown & Serena (31 page)

“What?” I couldn’t believe what I was
hearing. “There must be some mistake. They’re guards, her
guards.”

“Serena, don’t play the fool,” Lash hissed,
his tone harder. “You know how Kev was with you, what he asked for.
You know who he was fantasizing about. I thought what you were
doing for him was good, alleviating his rage. Now I’m wondering if
it wasn’t just making it worse.”

I flushed, dropping my eyes. “I believe he
could do it. But not Vince.”

“Vince is a surprise to me too,” Lash hissed
tiredly. “I know he was...well, he felt something for you. It’s
your name on his blood money.”

I couldn’t think straight, ugly horror
seeping into my mind.
This can’t be
happening.
Another inner voice of my animal side said it not
only was happening, I should have seen it.
Yes,
his rough style of intimacy has been the same. But he hasn’t smiled
in a long time, or laughed either. He’s been distracted, withdrawn.
“
What’s going to happen to him?”

“It was Sar he attacked,” Lash said with
finality. “Devlin’s got to make an example.”

“Are you sure it was him,” I repeated again,
my fear rising. “This had to be Kev’s idea. Maybe there was a
misunderstanding of some kind?”

“There’s no misunderstanding,” Lash
interrupted. “They meant to rape her. I’m sure Vince was talked
into it, that Kev’s been working on him since our attack on
Ebediah’s estate.”

I stood and faced him down, my own anger
turning my arms furry and my eyes yellow. “So? I’m not advocating
rape’s a good thing, Lash. But didn’t Devlin take Sar against her
will himself? How is it that he metes out death for a crime he
committed himself?”

“You’re colder than I thought,” Lash hissed
softly, studying me. “I thought you were her friend.”

“I care about Vince,” I said just as coldly.
“I can’t forgive what he’s done. Sar is a victim, and she deserves
justice. But it’s not the Christian thing to do, punishing Vince
with death when you know it wasn’t his fault.” My anger ratcheted
up a notch. “And where was all this judgment when I was being bear
for Nick and Vince, and Kev took advantage of me? You did nothing
to him for that, Lash! Devlin did nothing, either, except thank me
for my fucking understanding!”

“I didn’t know you swore, either,” Lash said
sarcastically. “It’s a surprise we don’t get along better, Serena.”
He paused. “The truth is, if it were up to Devlin, he would likely
let both of them off with a beating and a castration, both of which
they’d heal from in good time, but not before they changed their
attitude. But it’s not up to him, Serena. Sar and Devlin are not
alone in their Oath: Theo and Danial are equal parties. And they
are both calling for the death of the two werebears. And his
favorites or not, if Dev doesn’t serve up Kev and Vince, he will
likely lose Sar and his unborn child for good.”

This is all Sar’s fault.
Hers and Devlin’s.
But that didn’t matter now, did it?
Devlin was master here. “Is he dead?”

“No, but he will be in a few hours,” Lash
said gently. “Do you want me to take you to see him, to say
goodbye? He’s out cold, but—”

“No,” I said, wiping at my filling eyes. “I
don’t want to see him, knowing he did this. I want to remember him
how he was, how we were together. There’s nothing to say.” I
grabbed a tissue, and wiped off my face, then crumpled it in my
hand. “Even though it’s unfair he’s going to die, Vince had to know
what would happen. And he did it anyway, knowing it was wrong.”

“Sar wants to see you,” Lash said abruptly,
standing. “Take her condolences, then excuse yourself.”

He left. A moment later, Sar came into the
kitchen. She hugged me, and told me she was sorry. And I told her
it was okay, even though it wasn’t. Then she left, and I made my
way upstairs, closing my bedroom door. As I went to lock my door
for a good cry, Lash’s voice again came through my door. “I asked
you to wait for me,” he hissed, his tone still gentle. “Open this
door.”

I’d seen him break doors down before when he
wasn’t let in, so I opened it. He sauntered in, closing it behind
him. I felt suddenly unnerved having him alone in my bedroom. He
took my hand, and led me to my couch, where we both sat down.

“Do you want the money?” he hissed gently.
“Devlin asked me to take care of that, while he speaks to Sar.”

“No,” I said, wiping away more tears. “Give
it to the church I go to, please. They have an abused women center
they support. Send it there.”

Lash nodded. “I’ll take care of it.” He
looked at me, and then quickly away, remaining silent.

“Just say it,” I said, exhausted.
“Please.”

“I was the one who went to get Devlin’s
Oathing ring made. You know the one he wears, that’s similar to the
ring Danial gave Sarelle? The one with the many colors?”

I nodded.

“Vince had this made for you,” Lash hissed
softly, handing me a box. “He ordered it months ago. I picked it up
and gave it to him at least a month back. I don’t know why he
didn’t give it to you yet. But I noticed you weren’t wearing it, so
I checked. It was there in his locker, way in the back.”

“You already looked through his locker?” I
blurted, holding the box unsteadily.

“Guards get killed often in Devlin’s employ,”
Lash said. “Most of them have no one to leave their things to and
no will if they aren’t mated. Usually the others divide them up.”
He paused. “He wouldn’t have cared if someone took any of his other
shit. But he’d have wanted you to have this. And it would have
pissed me off to see one of the bearwives wearing it, when I know
who it was supposed to go to.”

Against my better judgment, I opened the box.
Inside was a beautiful ring, set with an emerald. It was a very
delicate and feminine design, the stone not large. Yet it sparkled
very brightly.

Lash got up, and went to leave. “I will let
you know about funeral arrangements.”

“Why did he get this for me?” I said in
confusion, looking up at Lash.

“You know why,” he hissed gently as he left,
shutting the door after him.

* * * *

Nick came to me that night. For a long time,
we just held one another and cried. He managed to say finally that
he didn’t blame Sar, Devlin, or anybody but Kev, that he’d known of
Kev’s plan, and had refused to participate. But he cursed himself
as he cried for not doing more to stop them. And I cursed him too
that night, for not finding a way to save Vince, even from
himself.

Chapter
Thirteen

It would be winter soon, I thought wearily.
I’d lived here a year at Hayden now, and seen a hell of a lot in
only twelve months.
Too much,
actually.

I got up, and went to my window. The sun was
shining brightly, though it would be setting shortly. I took out my
emerald ring and put it on, enjoying the reassuring sparkle. I
often wore it to bed, when no one was coming to visit and it was
time to actually sleep. That way, Devlin and Sar’s dhamphir
daughter V, was the only one who saw it. She wasn’t talking yet, so
there were no explanations needed.

Even though the spring had turned to summer,
and now back to winter, not much had changed for me except we’d
lost a few more guards. Well, truthfully, more than a few.

Sar had given birth in late summer. Venus, V
for short, lived here with Devlin full time. Even with all his
talk, Devlin had been in the end like most men, and his little head
had gotten the rest of him in trouble when Sar had found him with
an old flame in bed coupling. Devlin and Sar were currently back
together unofficially after a few huge fights and separations, but
I wasn’t sure how long that would last.

Another old enemy of Devlin’s had come out of
the woodwork, by the name of Ulysses. He’d captured both Sar and
Devlin one night, putting the latter through horrific torture to
the point I was sure that Ebediah’s curse had come true, as Leri
had warned it would. I also worried for Sarelle, who against my
reservations was my closest girlfriend now.
Ebediah hadn’t only put a curse of suffering on Devlin, he’d
cursed her, too.
She’d lost her infant son with Theo to crib
death, precipitating that couple’s permanent breakup. That “cougar
thug,” as I thought of Theo, was already engaged to someone else.
And her house had burned, Sar escaping only because of Lash’s
apparently lucky visit to check some suspicious activity Sar had
reported. I hoped that was enough suffering to satisfy the apparent
curse, saying daily prayers that things would get better. Ulysses
had attacked several times now, enacting vengeance for his dead
sister. While I understood his motivations, my nerves were shot, as
were the nerves of most everyone else at Hayden.

I turned off the light and got in bed. Nick
would wake me up, when he got back from his resupply trip into
town.

* * * *

I woke up, and stretched, glancing at the
clock. God, oversleeping shouldn’t be a bad thing, it always feels
so good.

I sat bolt upright, looking again at my
clock. It’s almost six now, and Nick isn’t here.

I hurried downstairs, and checked the
kitchen. No Nick.

Pushing open the door to the attached garage,
I noticed that the Hummer H2 at the far side was missing. With a
scream, I ran down the stairs to Titus’s shop, and found he wasn’t
there, either. I ran for the kitchen phone, and called his house. A
sleepy sounding Leri answered. “Hello?”

“Get here!” I screamed. “Nick is missing! He
never came home last night!”

Leri yelled for Titus. Dropping the phone, I
ran upstairs, and began pounding on Devlin’s door. I knew he was
there, and so was Sar. She’ll be concerned, even if he isn’t. She
knows I’m in love with Nick.

Devlin and Sar came downstairs with me. Titus
arrived via teleportation in the kitchen, located Nick magically
via his tracking spell, and a few minutes later, he arrived holding
a bloody form. But it wasn’t the Nick I knew. Because this man had
been skinned. He was just muscle, bone, and red rawness dripping
blood in a steady pat-pat-pat onto the bright yellow tiles.

Sar fled the kitchen and ran to the bathroom,
dragging her girl child with her. The bathroom door shut with a
click.

“He’ll die soon,” Devlin said forlornly,
looking down at Nick’s twitching body. “Damn it, I’m losing men
left and right.”

“Isn’t there anything we can do?” I screamed.
“We have to save him!”

“We have no skin to heal together,” Leri
said, appearing suddenly from the living room. “There’s nothing to
cover him.”

“Maybe we do,” Titus rumbled, eyeing me. He
fixed his gaze on me. “If you help us.”

“Tell me what to do!” I shouted.

“We need a skin, a wereanimal’s skin, to
drape him with,” Titus rumbled. “Something to sew closed, that his
body hopefully won’t reject.”

Danial excused himself to look after Sar, to
keep V out of the kitchen.

“Are you willing, Serena?” Devlin said
seriously, taking my hand in his cool one. “You’ll lose one of your
animal forms, and the pain’s going to be bad, even with a spell.
You’re under no obligation to do this.”

“I can help with the pain,” Leri said
quickly. “But he’s right, essentially you’re going to be losing
part of your soul. And it’s a part that won’t heal. Nick’s dying in
part because the bear half of him has been ripped away. Losing your
animal side if you’re were is not like losing an arm, or a kidney.
It can’t grow back.”

“We do this now, or it’s too late,” Titus
rumbled loudly. “He has another ten minutes, at best.”

“Do it,” I said, letting my robe drop. I
shifted form to coyote, laying down on the floor and stretching
out, steeling myself for what was to come.

The next ten minutes were the worst of my
life. Devlin pulled my skin off slowly with a skinning knife of
Titus’s. Even with Leri stopping the bleeding, and helping the
physical pain, she was right, it was pure agony. There was the
feeling of my soul being cloven, of part of myself being separated
from the rest. I screamed over and over, struggling and flinching
even as I tried to keep still. Finally, when my coyote skin was
fully off, Leri and Titus began to work on Nick. Devlin grabbed
hold of me. “Change to fox!” he whispered urgently. “Please,
Serena!”

It’s the first time he’s ever said please to
me. I began to shift, my orange-red fox fur covering my bare
muscles. The change completed, I lay panting on my side as fox, my
soul still feeling shattered.

My sacrifice hadn’t been in vain. Titus and
Leri had somehow made the skin larger, and it was adhering to
Nick’s body, as his bloody form shrunk to fill the skin. Soon he
was lying in the coyote form, somewhat larger than I’d been as a
coyote. He was panting hard, but no longer hurt.

“They must both rest,” Leri whispered to
Devlin. “And be left with raw meat, blood, and water, as much as
they’ll eat, when they wake.” She paused. “I can’t believe that
worked.”

“I’m not a novice, witch wife,” Titus said
irritably.

“You’re a hero,” Leri said tenderly, kissing
him. She clearly meant it as a light kiss, but he grabbed hold of
her, sitting her on his lap, and hugging her tightly. “And a
genius,” she added, with a sultry smile.

“I couldn’t bear it, if I lost you,” he
rumbled.

“You aren’t going to,” she said tenderly.
Then she kissed him again, as I lost consciousness.

* * * *

When I awoke, Nick was near me, also awake
and still in coyote form. He caught my gaze and shifted back. So
did I. As soon as we had arms, we grabbed each other tight, holding
fast.

“What did he do to me?” Nick whispered in
fear. “What did Titus do to me? I can’t feel my bear self, Serena.
But I feel something else. It’s like when I was fox for you, but
different.”