Dual Embrace: 3 (Shadowpeak Wolves) (16 page)

And powerful. He was practically buzzing.

But he couldn’t give in to the urge. He had to return to Hell and find out what was going on. Although he had a feeling he already knew.

And if he was right then there was no way he could be with them.

Not without killing them both.

* * * * *

Brynn paced up and down the hall, a glass of scotch in his hand. Books lay scattered along the dark wood tables. The furious storm lashing at the windows matched his mood perfectly.

He’d hid himself here for the last three days, trying to figure out what had gone wrong.

And the only thing he’d figured out?

Was that distance was not the cure for what ailed him.

In fact, it seemed to exacerbate the problem. He couldn’t stop thinking about them—about Dusty in particular. Touching her, caressing her.

“Shit!” he swore, throwing the glass at the open fireplace where it smashed into tiny, sparkling pieces.

“You know, this is the last place I expected to find you,” a low voice drawled. “Just how long have you been here? And why are you here?”

Brynn didn’t bother to turn around.

“What is the point of having all these books when they tell you nothing?” Brynn asked, flinging a book into the open flame.

Raze grabbed his hand, turning him. “What are you doing?” he whispered, his eyes frantic. “Do you want provoke the wrath of The Librarian?”

“What do I care?” Brynn snarled back. “Let her kill me, torture me.”

“What is wrong with you?”

“I’ve bonded.”

Raze stared at him in surprise. “Really? Congratulations. It’s about time. Who with?”

“You won’t believe it. I don’t believe it. And these books won’t tell me how to break it.”

“Why would you want to break it?” Raze asked, shocked. “It’s going to make you more powerful. This is a good thing. Your power would never merge with someone you didn’t want and who didn’t want you.”

“Wouldn’t it? What if it was out of my control?”

“What are you talking about?”

“It happened while I was on the Earth plane. I was all set to seduce this woman. I’d been watching her for a while. She’s gorgeous and she leaks energy. I’d already turned her away once so my need for her was overwhelming.”

“What?” Raze was shocked.

Brynn nodded. “I know. I could have had her. But she didn’t know what she was doing. She’d been ill and it was like I’d suddenly developed a-a conscience,” he spat out the word.

“Three nights ago I was all set to seduce her—to get her out of my head. Only something weird came over me when I touched her—no, them. My power raged out of control. It didn’t just seduce them, it seduced me as well, making me want them beyond all reason, all thought.”

“Them?”

“Yeah, her lover was there. All three of us were pulled into this seductive spell. I had to have them. I barely managed to pull myself free. And the energy they fed me was amazing. Like nothing I have ever had. I could barely leave them and now I can’t stop thinking about them.”

“You’re addicted to their power,” a lilting voice replied.

Both men looked over as The Librarian entered. She didn’t walk, she glided. Her long, dark hair fell behind her in a black, shiny curtain. Bright-green eyes peered at them from a pale, beautiful face. This was the second time Brynn had seen her. The first time he’d been so awestruck he’d barely been able to breathe for her beauty.

This time, he was annoyed at the interruption.

“What?” he asked impatiently.

“You attempted to use your power on them, didn’t you? To seduce them. Tell me, did you deliberately search them out? Did you become obsessed with feeding from them?”

He nodded. “Well, with her. Her mate was a bonus.”

“No wonder you’re so affected. Two is a very big hit. Unlike humans, werewolves are powerful beings and the energy they produce can be very addictive to demons. Now that you’ve had a taste your power wants more. To ensure that it has an endless supply, it bound you to them.”

“Can I break it?”

“No. And why would you want to? Already I can see you’re more powerful. Feeding from them will only increase that power.”

“And possibly kill them in the process! Or did you forget that I could drain them dry by feeding from them too often?”

She narrowed her gaze. “I never forget anything. But you forget who I am. I could leave you to drown in your ignorance. In fact, perhaps I will.”

“Wait,” Raze called. “Please don’t, my lady. We would like some answers. Brynn apologizes, don’t you?”

Brynn ground his teeth together. “I apologize for my rudeness. Please, is there a way out of this?”

She shook her head. “You know a bonding can only be broken through death. It’s why demons are so careful in who they choose to be their bonded. It’s not just a merging of power. Being with your bonded, touching them, it’s vital. Otherwise the three of you will fade away and it won’t be pleasant.”

“But why them? Why two mortals who I can’t even live with?”

“There is nothing to say you can’t travel between our two planes. Control yourself, make sure you don’t take too much of their power.”

Raze frowned. “Why have we never encountered this before? I mean, if werewolf power is so addictive then why haven’t more demons ended up like this?”

“Have you ever tried to use your power on a werewolf before?” she asked.

Both of them shook their heads but it was Brynn who answered her, “No. They’ve been so insular before now it’s always been too hard to gain access to them. Plus they’re naturally suspicious—it would have been too much hard work to hide who I was from them. Besides, there were plenty of easy, willing humans to feed from.”

It was always harder to manipulate a werewolf’s mind. He’d used a lot of power to keep the waiting room full of werewolves from seeing him. But then he’d had a small taste of Dusty’s power and wanted more.

“There have been only a very few cases of demons becoming werewolf addicted. And we’ve kept those cases a secret. Imagine if we let it be known how sweet werewolf power tasted? How powerful it was? What do you think would happen?”

Brynn swallowed. “We’d converge on them en masse.”

“It would be war,” Raze whispered.

“Yes. Werewolves can tell we’re not human. They would fight to protect themselves. How long do you think it would be until humans knew we existed? We would be hunted. It was decided it was better to keep this a secret than risk the freedom on Earth that we now have.”

“But you’re telling us now,” Brynn pointed out.

“You need to know what is happening to you. You must go to them.”

“They are hardly going to embrace me once I tell them all this,” Brynn said bitterly.

She shrugged and turned away. “I fail to see that you have much choice. Go to them. Oh and by the way, tell anyone else about this and you will spend the rest of your lives in the pit.”

Both he and Raze shuddered at the thought.

He turned to Raze. “What am I going to do?”

Raze tapped him on the shoulder. “I don’t know, my friend. But I suggest you think quickly because you don’t look so well.”

Brynn felt even worse.

* * * * *

Dusty dived, rolling along the ground to avoid the knife, which slammed into the dirt where her head had just been. She jumped to her feet, exhausted, knowing she couldn’t keep going.

But he couldn’t win.

Terror rolled through her, making her nauseous, but she couldn’t hesitate. She leaped toward him—

“Dusty, wake up now!”

The voice roared through her dream, slamming her into reality. She came awake with a whole-body shudder.

Opening her eyes, she found Cain staring down at her, brushing his hand over her hair. Moonlight glinted off his features, highlighting his concern.

“I’m okay.” It was a raspy, weak reassurance.

He climbed from the bed.

“Wait there,” Cain said quietly and walked into the attached bathroom, returning with a wet cloth in his hand. He wiped her sweat-dampened face and arms, massaging her hands.

When he was finished, he kissed her forehead. “I’ll get us a drink.”

She nodded and rested back against the headboard.

“You want to tell me what you were dreaming about?” Cain asked, handing her a glass of whiskey. She took a sip as he settled himself on the bed beside her.

She held a hand up to her neck. She could swear her scar was throbbing.

It was just a nightmare, she reminded herself.

“Zachary.”

“Well, he’s enough to give anyone nightmares. You were rubbing your neck. Did he have anything to do with that scar?”

“Yeah.”

“Was that who your nightmare was about the other night? Zachary?”

She nodded.

“Want to talk about it?”

Dusty was silent for a moment, gathering her thoughts. She’d never spoken to anyone about this before.

“I moved to Shadowpeak when I was seven. My uncle raised me after my parents died. He didn’t have much use for a cub, especially a girl. So he raised me how he’d been raised. I grew up a real tomboy. I always hung out with Jesse and Jay. When I reached adolescence and they decided to try out for the junior enforcer training program, well, I decided to as well. Zachary laughed and told me that the most I could ever hope to be was a housekeeper and a breeder.”

Cain growled and she smiled.

“I was shattered. But then, suddenly, he just changed his mind. My uncle tried to talk me out of it, but I wouldn’t listen. I think Zachary wanted to humiliate me, maybe use me as an example to any other females who were thinking of becoming an enforcer. It was pure hell. I was pushed harder than everyone else. But I made it through. Zachary might have tried to deny it, had my uncle not intervened. He was an enforcer, a well-liked one.”

“What happened to your uncle?”

She closed her eyes. She would not cry. “Zachary sent him on a mission soon after I became a junior enforcer. He didn’t come back. My uncle may not have wanted me, but he protected me. I think Zachary had something to do with his death, but I had no way to prove it.”

“With your uncle out of the way, it left you unprotected. What did Zachary do?”

“I thought he was going to kill me. But he had something worse in mind. He decided to torture me, slowly. He told everyone that he was training me, helping me. He would drag me out into the woods, make me run and track me. Or we’d do hand-to-hand work, knife work. Sometimes he’d bring others in, those that were closest to him, call it a training exercise, make me hunt them or vice versa.”

She realized she was squeezing his hand and let go. When he drew her onto his lap, she didn’t protest. She needed his strength.

“He wanted to make me quit. But I wouldn’t, I couldn’t, and in the end I made the rank of enforcer. And the crazy thing is? He told me he was proud of me. Like it was due to him.”

“How’d you get the scar?”

“My first session with the knife. I was a little slow.”

“How old were you?”

She frowned. “Fifteen, I think.”

He cursed. Cain didn’t swear a lot, and he was spouting words she rarely used.

“If I could kill that fucker I would. You were too young for that sort of training. Hell, no training should ever scar you like that.”

She settled her head against his shoulder and sighed.

“I always thought being an enforcer was everything. It was my life. I’d worked so hard to become one that I swore I would never give it up. Now look at me.”

He tipped her chin with his hand.

“You’ll be an enforcer again, and I will support you however you need me.” He brushed his hand over her hair. “Part of the reason I’m so attracted to you is because of how strong you are. I know you can take care of yourself.”

“Even with an injured leg?”

“Even then. You’re smart, you’re resourceful and your wolf is tough.”

She snuggled in closer. “I’m not ever going to give you up.”

“Good,” he replied. “Because I wasn’t going to let you.”

* * * * *

“You know, I never took you for the domestic sort.”

Dusty swore and turned, almost falling on her ass as her leg complained at the sudden movement. She held on to the side of the bath she’d been scrubbing and glared up at Brynn.

“Jesus Christ. Have you ever heard of knocking? You need a cowbell,” she snapped. His lips twitched.

“I don’t think a cowbell would quite fit with my image.”

“Why?” she snarled. “Because it might stop you from sneaking off whenever you feel like it?” It had been four days since he’d left. She was pissed.

“You know, you can’t just walk in and out whenever you like.”

He sat on the side of the tub.