Point of No Return (14 page)

He clearly wanted to use it on Theo. My
expression turned to fear.

“Wear that silver colored sweater of yours
for me,” Devlin continued. “I liked it.”

“All right,” I whispered. “I will.”

“Devlin,” Theo said, desperate. “What would
it take for you to leave Sar and I in peace? I know you don’t care
about money. But if you leave her alone, I’ll do anything you
want—”

“You’d work for me? Kill for me?” Devlin
purred. “Anyone I asked you to?”

Theo looked at me for a long moment, his eyes
emotional. “Yes.”

“You do love her utterly,” Devlin said with
relish. “Because you know the type of kills I’d most enjoy having
you make—”

Theo’s patience snapped. “Just tell me who
you want dead, damn you!”

“I have Lash for that!” Devlin snarled,
enraged. “There is nothing, absolutely nothing you could offer me
that would make me let her go!”

I recoiled back from their screaming voices.
“Stop it!”

Devlin’s rage turned to pleasure. “She is the
only thing you have of value to me, Theo, the only thing. Much as
I’d like to make you kill for me, it is nothing compared to being
inside her, loving her as I drink from her—”

“You fucking bastard!” Theo spat back
furiously. “I’m telling you, you aren’t getting into our lives
again!”

“I’ll be getting into her this weekend, Theo,
as deep as I want to,” Devlin purred. “And there isn’t a damn thing
you can do to stop me.”

Theo roared furiously into the phone, the
volume deafening. “I’ll kill you!”

“Sar,” Devlin purred cruelly. “I think it’s
time Theo had a lesson. You remember how it was between us.” He
sighed in pleasure. “You said you loved hearing me come, that you
wanted me more than you had ever wanted anyone. Let him hear from
you how much you love me, how eager you are to be back in my arms
again.”

His voice enfolded me, bathing me in instant
heat and wanting. “You know I do—” I whispered.

“But he needs to hear it, Love. I want him to
hear it, to know that keeping us apart would hurt you as much as
me. Say it for me, please.”

Images flashed before my eyes of Devlin and
I, of how much I’d wanted him, from the moment he’d come to me, of
us making love, of him singing to me, or murmuring poetry, his
golden eyes filled with desire. “I love you, Dev. And I will never
stop wanting you, ever.” I sank down onto the nearby couch, again
unsteady.

“I hear it in your voice, Love,” Devlin said
lustily. “I am glad Titus’s spell didn’t affect your desire for me.
Go, enjoy your kitten until we can be together again.”

Theo growled hatefully. “I’ll find some way
to get her away from you, you son of a bitch, if it’s the last
thing I do.”

Devlin gave a cruel and mocking laugh. “Don’t
you get it, Theo? Sar doesn’t want to get away from me anymore. You
are fighting a battle you can’t win.” His pleasure became a living,
breathing thing. “The most delectable part, Theo, is that if you
would have let Sar go to Danial in the fall, you would be sharing
her with only him now. He probably would have agreed to an
infrequent blood exchange, with a little sex thrown in here and
there. But no, you couldn’t stand the thought of she and him being
together. You had to give her rules to follow, rules that almost
killed her.” He laughed triumphantly. “Look where your rules have
gotten you, Theo: sharing the love of your life with not one, but
two vampires!”

Theo was snarling in anger, his eyes yellow
and slitted, his clawed hands scoring the phone. He was so livid he
couldn’t speak around his growing fangs.

“Dev, please stop,” I said weakly.
“Please.”

“Only because you asked, Darling,” Devlin
purred. “Expect Lash on Friday afternoon, around noon.” He hung
up.

I returned the phone to its cradle. Theo
slammed his back into its holder so hard I was surprised it didn’t
break.

I turned to him. “Can you live with this,
with how our lives are going to have to be? I’ll understand if you
can’t.”

“I’m not leaving you,” he said raggedly. “I’m
not giving up on finding a way out of all this.”

“I know what I said hurt you. But it’s how I
feel, Theo.”

Theo walked over slowly, then sat heavily on
the couch. “You’ve had his blood now, a lot of it,” he said
wearily. “It’s not a surprise that you want him like you wanted
Danial back in the fall.”

I sat beside him. Oddly, my first desire was
to comfort him. “What you said about him being a ladies’ man was
true; I saw the proof at his house. When he swore to me, he didn’t
swear exclusively.” I paused, smarting at the memory. “He will
probably break with me once he has his child. I don’t know if he
loves me, or if I just remind him strongly of a woman he loved
years ago.”

Theo nodded. “Annabelle. I know the story,
and heard what he said about your blood being like hers.”

I rubbed my eyes. “If more women were found
with blood like mine, he probably wouldn’t even be interested in
me.”

“No, he does care about you,” Theo said,
resigned. “He’s done everything in his power to get you in thrall
to him since the night he met you. It burned him that you wanted a
life with me instead. I don’t imagine he is a man who was ever
jealous much.”

Devlin had said something to that effect
once. “You have to know something else, too: I wanted to leave you
under the love spell, and not break it.”

Theo gave me a look of incomprehension.
“What? Why?”

“I thought that maybe with her you’d get the
life you and I had talked about years ago. I wanted you to be
happy, even if it wasn’t with me.”

“What?” he managed.

“I took you from your peaceful life in the
West and dragged you back here into bloodletting, only to find out
the life we wanted wasn’t possible. I wanted you to have
peace.”

Theo reached out and hugged me. “Sar, what is
a life like that worth without you to share it? I love you, only
you. I want to be where you are, no matter where that is.” He moved
back slightly. “What I was doing out in Wyoming was temporary, not
permanent. It would have only been a matter of time before someone
came looking for me for revenge over someone I killed in the past
or for the bounty that’s on my head—”

“Danial mentioned that,” I said, worried. “Is
it because you’re second now?”

“You might as well know now that there’s more
than one,” he said tiredly. “There are at least two, besides this
death threat now from Peterson. I’m planning on laying low and
staying close to home for the next few months, around people I
trust to watch my back.” He took my hand in his. “I wanted a
peaceful life for me and you, but I was dreaming, Sar. I can’t
quit, or just be a carpenter. I can’t be anything other than what I
am.”

I hugged him. “I love who you are, the man
you are. I don’t want you to change.”

His face broke into a smile. “So you still do
love me.”

“I always did,” I said softly.

“Let’s go for a walk together,” he said,
hugging me. “The dogs need it, and we could use the fresh air.”

The dogs heard the “W” word immediately, and
began barking and whining.

Theo and I got on our shoes and coats, then
went outside, the dogs charging ahead of us through the snow as
Theo slipped one of his guns into a side holster.

“Some of the snow’s melted,” I said, looking
around. “It must have gotten warmer—”

There was a loud crash. Theo reacted, moving
me smoothly behind him, his gun drawn.

I breathed a sigh of relief, and pointed. “No
worries.” A huge chunk of ice had fallen off the garage roof and
hit the driveway, smashing into several pieces.

The rest of the walk was invigorating, but
serene. We both threw snowballs for the dogs to catch, and Darkness
rolled repeatedly in the snow, all her feet up in the air, until
she was covered in it, white as Ghost.

“This feels like the calm before the storm,”
I said, apprehensive.

“It is,” Theo said, slipping his arm around
my shoulder. “Let’s get back, it’s getting dark.”

We got back inside, stripped off our wet
gear, and toweled off Ghost and Darkness. “I’m going to make some
pasta,” I said eagerly. “Sound good?”

“Sure,” Theo replied. “While you do, I’m
calling Dr. Camlyn to make you an appointment.”

I turned to him. “For what? It’s too early to
know.”

“It doesn’t hurt to get an appointment on his
books early.”

I shot him an exasperated look. “I know
you’re eager for a baby. Why exactly is that, Theo? Children didn’t
matter to you only a few years ago.”

“Because of Elle,” he replied easily. “I want
there to be a person that’s part of you and me. I want us to make
one together, and to raise him or her, to watch them get big. I
used to look at her, and imagine that she was yours, Sar. That’s
why I gave her your name.”

My heart softened. Maybe he wasn’t the
world’s greatest father, but Theo had tried to do what was right by
Elle. We’d almost missed out on a life together, and we’d found a
second chance.
Should I deny him this, if I loved him? How many
more chances was I going to get?

I opened my mouth to tell him I’d have his
baby, then closed it with a snap. That thought hadn’t come from me,
not the me I’d been this time last week.

“Sar?” Theo said, concerned. “What’s
wrong?”

“Go ahead and make the appointment,” I said,
turning back to the stove in disquiet. “I’ll get the pasta
boiling.”

After dinner, we sat on the couch cuddling.
“This is wonderful,” I said contentedly. “I’ve missed spending time
with you.”

“I only wish you’d let us spend it watching
something else,” Theo griped. “This ‘A-Team’ is bullshit. They’ve
made ten tactical errors in this episode alone. Also it’s amazing
how with all the gunfire and flipped cars, no one ever seems to
die, or break their legs.”

“It’s family friendly,” I said
defensively.

The phone rang.

Chapter Eight

“Don’t answer it,” Theo urged.

“It might be Elle.” I got up, and went to the
phone. “Hi, Danial.”

“Sar,” Danial said harshly. “Have Theo pick
up the phone immediately.”

Glad his tone wasn’t for me, I handed the
phone to Theo. “Danial for you.”

Theo eyes went to slits. “Keep it, I’ll get
my own.” He picked up the second extension. “I’m here,” he said
roughly. “What is it, Danial?”

“I just got off the phone with Devlin,”
Danial said icily. “You cannot deny him rights to Sar. You will
have not only Perseus and Samuel after you and her, but the entire
vampire community.”

“I thought you of all people would understand
that I don’t want—”

“What you want is immaterial!” Danial snarled
loudly, sounding just like Devlin. “This call is to inform you that
I put up with your nonsense for years, and I won’t any longer.”

“What are you talking about?” Theo said,
confused.

“You dictated what I could do with her and
what I couldn’t, how I could touch her, how much time she could
spend with me alone—”

“In my position, you would have done the
same,” Theo growled.

“But no more,” Danial went on as if he had
not heard. “We are Oathed, Theo. I wanted to confirm her visit to
me on Saturday. She and I spoke about it last weekend, when she was
at Hayden. I want to make sure of the time she’s arriving, so I can
be here to welcome her.”

The more he went on, the more upset I got. He
was acting as Devlin had, more concerned with his rights to me than
what I was comfortable with.

“—
From my understanding, Devlin is
expecting her on Friday, so there should be no problem—”

“There is a problem,” Theo said coldly. “I’m
her husband, and I say if she leaves or not. You and Devlin can’t
just call up whenever and demand she appear at your homes at a
certain time. She’s not a whore to come at your beck and call.”

“Stop it,” I said frantically. “I’d already
agreed to go, Theo.”

“You are not her husband anymore,” Danial
said, empathic yet firm. “You have no say in our arrangement.
You’re my friend, and I’m sorry to hurt you. But I love her, and I
like spending time with her. Whether that time is in bed making
love or not is entirely up to Sar. But you are not going to keep
her from seeing me, not ever again.”

Theo was silent.

“You must accept it,” Danial said
compassionately. “I know it’s not what you wanted, but it’s how
things are. This situation is workable, if we do not constantly
jostle one another for time, anyway.”

“What are your terms?” Theo growled. “We’ve
heard Devlin’s already.”

“Devlin has agreed to have Sar visit for just
one day and night a week, as I have,” Danial replied. “She’ll
remain at her house the other nights, or be wherever she wishes to
go. It goes without saying you are always welcome here, Sar.”

“Thank you,” I said, feeling that some
acknowledgement was necessary.

Theo was still silent.

“There is nowhere Devlin wouldn’t find you,
if you try to take her and run,” Danial continued. “Don’t enter
into any foolish plan. Lash would track you down, kill you, and
bring Sarelle back to Devlin.”

Theo was still silent.

Danial went cold as ice. “Theo, if you try to
turn Sar into a werecougar like yourself, it most likely wouldn’t
work—”

Theo started, his eyes sliding away from mine
as he put his back to me. My eyes went wide in fear. That had been
exactly what he had been thinking.

“—
Even if you did manage to turn her,
it wouldn’t break our Oath. Devlin doesn’t mind the taste of
wereblood, though I’m sure Samuel would have you killed. But what
should matter most to you is that Sar would hate you for doing that
to her. If she wanted to be werecougar, she would have asked you by
now to make her one, and she hasn’t.”