Authors: Shiloh Walker

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BOOK: I Thought It Was You

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She pressed the heel of her hand against her temple and muttered, “I sound
insane
. It's a
book
. It can't hurt anybody.”

It could though. In her gut, she knew it. And the thought terrified her, left her so frightened, so afraid.

You don't need to be afraid,
the book whispered to her.
Open me. Use me. I shall make you strong. I shall make you immortalâ¦immortal. You could avenge the death of your brother.

“Oh, for heaven's sake,” she muttered. Reaching out, she turned on the radio, but the only thing that came through was static, static and more static. Sighing, she grabbed her iPod and one of the earbuds. So it wasn't exactly safe. But it wasn't like she was running into a lot of traffic driving through these woods on the way to the cabin her parents had left to her and her brother.

Just her now thoughâ¦ A sob rose in her throat, tried to break free.

She swallowed it down. Crying right now? On these roads? A quick, certain way to get herself killed. The cabin, tucked away in a remote part of Wisconsin's North Woods, wasn't exactly in the most easily accessible area, and if she wanted to keep the car on the road, she didn't have time to cry.

Of course, if she wanted to be
smart
, the last thing she needed to be doing right now was driving someplace so isolated when she knew she was being followed.

The fear tried to press in. Overwhelm.

But before it could, without her even understanding why, there was a warm touch on her mind, on her heart, her soul.

“Everything will be fine,” she murmured. “I just need to keep going to the cabin.”

That warm touch spread, became a sense of peace, pushing out the dark, uneasy, edgy feeling. A sense that managed to last right up until the time a big black dogâpractically the size of a ponyâdarted out in front of the car.

With a half-scream, Aileas slammed on the brakes.

Ren heard her scream, but he was more concerned with Pan.

“Damn dog,” he muttered. Glancing at Mandy, he said, “Stay up here.”

Bent over, her hands braced on her knees, she glared at him from under her lashes.

“Aye-aye, Cap-i-tan,” she mocked between breaths.

“Smart arse.”

He jogged down the incline.

There was a woman down there. Ren had had about two seconds to notice the fact that she was female, and the fact that she was far too close to Pan. The wolf/dog breed wasn't an aggressive animal, but she was a stranger and Pan considered this
his
territory.

Ren sighed.

He leaped down, covering the twenty foot incline in a silent, single jump. She was being careful, he had to admire that, not trying to approach Pan, talking to the dog in a calm, quiet voice.

“Sit, Pan,” Ren said.

The woman went rigid.

Pan growled.

Ren narrowed his eyes and reached out, silently repeating the order with a mental command that no animal could resist. The dog obeyed, lowering his hindquarters to the ground, still staring at the woman with suspicious eyes.

He was tempted to do the same with the woman, but he hadn't tried to impress a command on a mortal in decades, more than a century to be exact. He wasn't about to do it now.

“He won't attack,” Ren said, keeping his voice light, crisp. “You best get in your car, run along.”

She turned around and studied him, her eyes narrowing. “Run along?” she repeated.

Her tone was offended.

Her eyes were dark brown, shot through with slivers of pale gold.

Around her long, slim neck, she wore a strand of pearls. He wanted to see her wearing nothing but those pearls.

Her mouth was quite possibly the softest he'd ever seen.

When he looked at her, Ren was certain the very earth beneath his feet shifted. He wanted to stare into those eyes for a very long time. Then he wanted to cradle that face in his hands and take his time as he kissed that mouth and learned it, explored itâ¦

He sucked in a breath as the punch of hunger hit him hard and fast. Hunger, need, something too intense for him to describe.

Her eyes widened as she stared at him and he saw somethingâ¦was it an echo of what he felt? There was something in her eyes. He sensed it dancing just beyond the shields he didn't dare lower.

He couldn't risk that.

He didn't need to lower them to see some things though. Like the way her pulse was pounding against the fragile skin in her neck. The way her nipples hardened, pressing against the thin worn flannel of the shirt she wore.

Slowly, he breathed in through his nose, wondering what she'd smell like.

And that was when he realized something else.

Something rather pressing. It cleared the fire in his blood, the fog in his mind all too quickly.

She had the stink of death, destruction and demon hanging in the air around her.

Around
her.

Butâ¦ He closed his eyes, dragged the air in, tasted it, rolled it around on his tongueâ¦ The smell was not on her, but it was damn close.

She hadn't been taintedâ¦
yet
. But there was something very, very wrong. And it was close. Far too bloody close and on his land too.

I Thought It Was You

Shiloh Walker

The events of this free short story take place between the events of
No Prince Charming
and Ren's story,
Crazed Hearts
. It turns out both Ren and Elle had some loose ends they needed to tie upâ¦and that's what this story is about. It's not Ren's happy ever after. That's in
Crazed Hearts
.

Warning: the following story contains some unfinished business, some unrequited love and a whole lot of action between 3 somewhat debauched guardian angels.

eBooks are
not
transferable.

They cannot be sold, shared or given away as it is an infringement on the copyright of this work.

This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

Samhain Publishing, Ltd.

577 Mulberry Street, Suite 1520

Macon GA 31201

I Thought It Was You

ISBN: 978-1-60928-211-0

Edited by Heidi Moore

Cover by Scott Carpenter

All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

First
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
electronic publication: July 2010

www.samhainpublishing.com

Samhain Publishing, Ltd.

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