Dark Ice (24 page)

She felt him balk at her statement and she placed her hand on his chest, remembering how it calmed and soothed him. She felt his heart beat pounding strong beneath her palm.

“Are you willing to try? Just for a little while?” she asked.

“Try what?” She thought she heard hope tinge his voice.

“Try being together.”

He didn’t answer, his reluctance split her heart but not her soul. She wouldn’t give up on them.

“What does it feel like?” she asked, changing tactics.

“Feel like?”

“To shape shift. To be two very different things in one package. Does it feel wonderful?”

“Sometimes,” Dane slowly answered. “But lately all I want to feel is with you, be it man or bear.”

Lea’s heart soared.

~* * *~

Lea sat at his huge white oak desk, writing a letter. She was the first person to ever sit there. The thought bought him pleasure. She was the only woman ever to enter his home, or his den for that matter. The only woman to enter his heart.

It had been a week since the horrifying night with the
wendigo
. Slowly Lea’s nightmares lessened and together they had settled into a cozy domestic routine. His wounds were slowly mending, they would leave scars forever. His strength had returned. It had been the best week of his life. The idea made him pause. He would miss her when she was gone. And she would leave, it was only a matter of time.

How long could such a vibrant amazing woman stay with a man who could potentially turn into a bear and rip her throat out in a moment of weakness?

But for now, Dane sat contently and watched Lea write her letter, reveling in the normalcy of it. A knock at the door bought him out of his reprieve. Lea started and dropped her pen at the sound.

He jumped to his feet and quickly strode across the room. Dane grasped the handle of the large wooden door as another knock echoed through the room.

Dane opened it, slowly, readying himself for what may be outside.

“Darius.” Surprised, Dane embraced his cousin. “Come in.”

Darius stepped over the threshold dramatically.

“Christ cousin, what animal used you as a scratching post?” Darius asked.

“A
wendigo
.”

“Yes, I heard.” Darius turned toward Lea as Dane shut the door behind them. “My lady,” Darius greeted her.

Lea stepped away from the desk and came to stand in front of Darius. A feat most men couldn’t pull off without either cowering or preparing to fight.

“I don’t think we’ve been introduced, though I do recognize you from the venator’s hall.” Lea produced her hand. “I’m Lea.”

Darius shook it, a sly grin crossing his handsome face before he raised her hand to his mouth and kissed her knuckles.

“Cousin,” Dane warned.

“Relax,” Darius said, releasing Lea’s hand. “I can see she is yours. I would never dream of hurting you so.” Darius looked up at him. “Or angering you.”

“Would you excuse us?” Darius said to Lea. “My cousin and I have some things to discuss.”

“We do?” Dane asked.

“Yes. What do you think I came all the way out here with no purpose? We need to talk.”

Lea smiled and graciously stepped back. Dane continued to stare at Darius. His cousin had never been so polite, except when he deigned to bed a woman. And Dane knew he would never be as stupid as to try it on his woman.

“Come, Cousin,” prompted Darius.

Dane turned to Lea. “We will be in the bar,” he leaned down and kissed her soft lips before heading toward the other room, Darius following behind.

“How are you doing?” Darius asked as they reached the bar.

“Well enough,” Dane answered, jumping up to sit on the unused bar. “I must admit, the
wendigo
did some damage.”

“I can see that,” Darius pulled out a bar stool and sat down. “But I meant more along the lines of the woman.”

“She stays here for now. But we both know it must end soon enough.” Dane said it with as much bravado as he could muster. Darius eyed him with those strange translucent blue eyes.

“Perhaps it doesn’t have to end.”

“We’ve discussed this, Cousin,” Dane’s voice like ice.

“I know a way you can change her,” Darius blurted out.

“Change her?”

“Into one of us.”

Dane jumped down from the bar, his heart about to burst as he offered Darius a disbelieving look.

“There is no way to change us, it is impossible as far as I know,” Darius continued. “But you can transform a human into a shifter.”

Dane stopped. “How?”

“There is a verse that is to be read aloud by the versipellis trying to change the human. It’s written in one of the ancient texts.”

“What, that’s all?” Dane asked. He knew Darius was well versed in the legends of their kind. He had studied the ancient legends of many lands.

“You have to kill her first,” Darius stated.

“No way,” Dane bit out, horrified even by the thought.

Darius stood up. “You have to kill her, say the verse and then, if her love is true for you, she will resurrect as a shifter.”

Understanding suddenly dawned on Dane and his heart broke for his cousin standing before him. “Is that what happened with Beatrice?”

Darius’ eyes hardened, he looked feral and mad. “Yes. I loved her and killed her,” he said, and then some of the bitterness left his voice, leaving only the sadness. “But she apparently didn’t love me in return. She didn’t come back.”

“I can’t do it,” Dane said.

“You can change her into one of us,” Darius rasped and Dane was surprised at the emotion in his words. “It will give you and Lea a chance for a real life together.”

“Then you need to do it, Dane.”

Both men spun around. Lea stood at the door, blind determination blazing in her face.

“You need to change me into one of you,” she repeated.

“I will not kill you,” Dane said with steel in his voice. “I can’t.”

“Kill me to have a better life.” Lea stepped forward and took Dane’s hand in hers. “A life with you.”

“A life with me is not worth your life.” Dane pulled his hand away.

Lea stepped back, tears glistening in her eyes.

“The venator, Rin, warned me that I would encounter magic that could cost me my life.”

“Then listen to him,” Dane barked. “This will cost your life and then some.”

“Dane,” she pleaded.

“You will not die by my hand.”

~* * *~

Darius walked barefoot through the fresh snow. He savored the feel of it, languished in it. He had been away from his true home for too long. He’d been in the city a long time. It was starting to dull his senses.

He meandered slowly along, only his thoughts for company. Just like he was used to. Sweet solitude.

He had gone to Lea’s house in the city to speak with her. The venator guard was very uncooperative. Darius had no qualms about putting him out of his miserable existence. Strangely, he was mildly pleased that it wasn’t the other venator, the one with the Samurai sword.

But before he disposed of the hunter, he had learned that Lea had come to find his cousin. He liked her spirit, she obviously loved Dane. And Dane loved her, whether he was willing to admit it or not. He had known his cousin too well for many centuries not to know that his heart was now claimed.

It was the only reason he had told them both of the changing ceremony. He was certain their love was true. He would never have told them otherwise. He would die before he cursed his cousin to his own fate.

A fate alone, with unrequited love festering deep within his soul, tainting everything he did. Bitter bile rose within his stomach and he cursed his weakness at his memories.

Darius stopped and crouched in the snow, feeling it through his fingers. He grinned and lay down. He shivered slightly in his leather pants and light shirt. They sky was iridescent blue, perfect and unmarred, just like the snow beneath him.

He could lay here like this forever, so peaceful he could fall asleep. But out here, to sleep out in the open was to die. And he wasn’t ready for that journey yet. Not yet.

Grudgingly, he got to his feet, shaking the wetness out of his long hair. He looked around and sighed. He needed some excitement in his life, he decided. Something to get his adrenaline pumping, his soul singing. Bring his body pleasures he’d long denied himself.

Darius grinned wickedly. He knew just where to find that type of excitement.

He was going on a trip.

Chapter Twenty Two

Lea stormed into the room and stopped before Dane. She put her hands on her hips and looked up at him. He towered over her, his very presence intimidating, especially with his dark mood escalating.

She searched his eyes, he looked at her briefly, his gaze dark and unfathomable and Lea felt her anger surge through her. They had a chance of a real life together and Dane was refusing her. He stood there, looming over her, his arms crossed, legs parted in a wide stance. She could hear him panting, feel him trying to control herself.

She didn’t care. She wanted him mad.

“I want you to change me.”

“No,” he growled. “I won’t hurt you.”

“I want to be with you and if that means being like you, then so be it.”

“You don’t understand,” he bellowed. Lea jumped despite herself. “You don’t know what it is like to hunger all the time. To be of two minds and not know which one will be more dominate. The power it takes to control it. It will change everything you are.”

“I will still be me, but I’ll be more—,” Lea paused.

“More what?” Dane said menacingly, as he looked down at her. She met his gaze, their ebony depth’s giving her pause. But only for a moment.

“More like you. More love and emotion and passion.” Lea reached up and cupped his face. “More of everything I love about you.”

Dane jerked his face away from her hand before turning away, a look of pity on his face.

“You think it’s easy being me?” Dane said quietly, menace lacing his words and she shivered. “Do you know what it is like to have your emotions run rampart, to love someone so much it aches?”

“Yes. I do actually. That is exactly how I feel when I am with you.” Lea closed the distance between them and stood in front of him again.

“I won’t hurt you,” he bellowed.

Lea jumped, her heart in her throat. Dane’s chest heaved as he fought for control. Lea reached up and placed her hand across his heart, knowing it would instantly sooth him.

His breathing steadied, though she felt his heart beating rapidly under her palm. He looked at her and she was surprised to see his eyes glistening. He placed a large hand over hers against his chest.

“I won’t stop the beating of your heart.”

Shocked, Lea dropped her hand. Dane turned around and stormed out the room. The house shook as he slammed the door.

Lea stood there alone and confused. She wanted this chance to be like Dane, to live together, to love him properly. When he said that about stopping her heart, the reality of it crushed her.

She searched her heart and realized she still wanted this. And whether Dane realized it or not, it was the right thing for them. They could be happy together.

Lea headed for the door, opened it and stepped out into the living room. The room was empty. Lea headed for the bedroom. Empty. She searched everywhere. She couldn’t find Dane.

The front door opened silently and Lea stepped out into the cold. Dane had to be out here, in the snow. She searched the horizon, but could see no sight of him as a man or beast. A light haze of snow limited her vision. She walked around the outside of the house, now shivering in the cold. The fog of snow became thicker until Lea couldn’t see anything at all.

She shivered in her light clothing, wrapping her arms around her for warmth. Her teeth chattered and for a split second, she had a flash back to the nightmare with the
wendigo
. How she had practically froze in the snow.

Surely that wouldn’t happen here, she was only meters from the house. Lea searched around, a white blanket of snow marring her vision. She couldn’t see anything. Panic set in.

A huge hand came out of the snow and grabbed her around the waist. It pulled her and she hit the muscular wall that was Dane. She couldn’t make out his face, but relief flooded her at his warm touch. He bent down and picked her up, cradling her against his chest, just as he had done many times before.

He carried her inside, the front door already open. He kicked it shut with a booted foot. Inside the warmth of the living room encased her, and she sighed gratefully. Dane dropped her on her feet.

“What the hell were you doing?” he demanded.

Shivering, she stared back. “I was trying to find you,” she said, defiantly.

“You could have died from cold.”