Shifters Rule (Rule Series) (18 page)

“That stupid thing is going to outlive us all,” Jack said from his position on the floor.
 
“Isn’t it?”

“It will turn to dust after you and I have our happy ending.”

He blinked.
 
“Are you kidding me?
 
Haven’t you learned anything from your mountain of mistakes?
 
Things are never going to work out for us.
 
It’s not in the cards.
 
We will never be happy.”

As difficult as it was to believe, this woman was Silver.
 
He knew it for a fact now.
 
The two of them were being reincarnated again and again as they searched for an elusive happy ending.
 
The curse she’d put on them would never end... unless he did something to make it end.

He asked, “When is this going to be over?
 
What do I have to do to keep from being reincarnated again?”

“
Jersey
must die.”

“I’m already trying to take care of that.”

“After he’s dead, you and I must marry.”
 
She paused at length, stern expression, before saying, “Be prepared.
 
Once
Jersey
dies you will probably lose your special powers.
 
You won’t instantly heal.
 
You will truly be mortal.”

“How long do we have to stay married?
 
I mean, what if one of us gets hit by a bus the day after we say ‘I do?’
 
Is it still going to count?”

Lovely smiled wistfully.
 
“A single hour as your wife will be enough to satisfy the spell.”

That was good to know.
 
A plan began to form at the back of his mind.
 
He pushed it aside so he could think about what he’d just seen.
 
The events of
Jersey
’s former life with Lovely took a second trip through his head.
 
Questions formed.
 
As long as he had the
faerie’s
attention, he should probably learn some things.

Jack stood and said, “
Jersey
told me you were his wife.”

“Another lie,” Lovely said.
 
“I have never married.
 
William went insane after he killed Alexander.
 
He probably doesn’t even remember the details of our lives together.
 
It was so long ago.
 
If I wasn’t a piece of myself living through the diary, I probably wouldn’t remember either.”

“He told me he killed you.”

“I am sure it pleases him to think so, but I died at my own hand.”

Jack frowned.
 
“How did you choose Silver’s family?”

“It was a vision.
 
Once I was done, once I had used every spell I could think of, I took my own life.
 
It was the only way out.
 
I had to die so I could be reborn and share a life with you.”

“So,
Jersey
was William and I was Alexander.
 
Is that right?”

“Yes.”
 
Her eyes, Silver’s eyes, stared up at his face with a true and abiding love shining in them.
 
“You were the first vampire.”

“But that doesn’t make any sense.”
 
Jack glared at her.
 
“I died.
 
I turned to ashes.
 
So why are there vampires in the world?
 
Did someone curse another boy?”

A sad smile touched her mouth.
 
“You were free to come and go.
 
I had used a spell to keep you from wanting to visit the nearby village, but I later learned it hadn’t worked.
 
There were other women.
 
You bit them, turned them.
 
I had no idea until after I died.”

Jack thought about Isobel and the janitor.
 
They were the first people
Jersey
turned into werewolves.
 
His hands shook with rage.
 
He shoved them into his pockets to keep the apparition of Lovely from seeing the tell-tale sign of anger.
 
“You did this to us.
 
The blood of the innocents, those turned into vampires and werewolves, all of it is on you.”

She nodded.
 
“It is true.
 
I am at fault, and I am sorry.”

“You’re sorry?”
 
Jack threw his hands into the air.
 
“Well that makes it okay, doesn’t it?
 
I guess I don’t mind getting killed every twenty to thirty years as long as you’re really sorry.”
 
He wanted to kick something.
 
“Damn it!
 
Why couldn’t you just leave it alone?
 
This whole thing is your fault, and you keep making it worse while trying to make it better.
 
Give up already.
 
Put a stop to this.
 
End the spells and let me go.”

Lovely shook her head.
 
“I can’t.”

Stubborn had to be the girl’s middle name.
 
This woman was definitely Silver, another version of her, but still the girl he’d fallen in love with.
 
She was going to dig in her heels and keep the mess going for an eternity.
 

 
“My brother is a werewolf now because of you.”

She misunderstood.
 
“Forget William.
 
He doesn’t care about you.”

“I was talking about Billy.
 
It’s your fault he’s a werewolf.
 
If he dies, I’ll never forgive you.”

Her face crumpled.
 
“I’m sorry.”

“Stop saying that!
 
It doesn’t help.”

Tears filled her eyes.
 
Her fists clenched.
 
She screamed, “I’m sorry!”
 
The house shook and she vanished.
 
He picked up the diary and scowled at it.
 
He wondered how much of his past
Jersey
actually remembered.
 
Maybe
Jersey
needed to take a trip back to the past.
 
It might be good for him to get a whiff of reality.

.

*****

Chapter Fifteen:

MY FATHER, THE LIAR

.

.

An hour after Lovely’s visit, Jack’s fever returned with shocking intensity.
 
He spent the next few days in bed, unable to communicate with anyone.
 
Frustration mounted.
 
Every time Silver hovered over him, silky curtain of honey blond hair within his reach, he wanted to tell her about Lovely’s visit.
 
But he couldn’t speak.
 
His throat felt like it had been scraped raw with a cheese grater.
 
The only sound it seemed capable of producing was an occasional moan.

When he finally recovered, he chose to confide in Vanessa first.
 
He hoped the woman would have advice on how to break the news to Silver.
 
It was morning.
 
Vanessa came to check on him per her usual routine.
 
She picked up the blanket he’d tossed during the night.
 
Smiling, she placed it on top of him and asked, “Can I get you some breakfast?
 
You need to eat.
 
It’s been days since you’ve had anything substantial.”

Vanessa helped him sit up.
 
She plumped the pillows behind his back before turning to leave.
 
Jack grabbed her arm above the wrist and said, “Don’t go.”
 
His voice came out a raspy whisper.
 
He cleared his throat and tried again.
 
“I have to talk to you.
 
It’s important.
 
It’s about Silver.”

She pulled the desk chair closer to the bed and sat on it.
 
She leaned forward, hands clasped in her lap.
 
“What about Silver?”

“I almost burned the diary.”

She paled.
 
“You did what?”

“It was an accident.
 
Anyway, no worries.
 
It’s fine.
 
It wouldn’t burn.
 
Lovely appeared and rescued it.
 
Then she took me back to the past and showed me how it all started.”

Vanessa gaped at him for several seconds before motioning for him to continue.

Jack told her about visiting the past in detail.
 
He didn’t leave anything out.
 
The painful truth slowly sank in, and her expression turned bitter.
 
He ended with, “It was Silver who cursed
Jersey
.
 
Silver started this whole thing.”

Vanessa hopped off the chair.
 
She paced the room, back ramrod straight.
 
It was an odd thing to watch.
 
He’d seen Silver pace a hundred times, but Vanessa didn’t seem the type.
 
Now her calm exterior broke.
 
Tears filled her eyes, and she shook her fist in the air.
 
“Not my daughter!
 
I am not going to lose her to this mess.
 
I can’t believe it.
 
Silver is Lovely?
 
She wrote the diary?
 
We can’t let her find out.
 
Not now.
 
Not ever.”

“I have to tell her.”

“What?
 
No!”
 
Vanessa returned to the bed, only this time she sat next to him on the mattress.
 
Patting him on the chest like a mother trying to soothe an upset child, she said, “I am begging you not to tell her she used to be Lovely.
 
It would kill her.”

“I promised not to keep any more secrets from her.”

“I don’t care.
 
If Andrew was still with us, I would say go ahead, but he’s not.
 
He’s dead.
 
He was killed by a werewolf, and she created them.”

“Well, she didn’t mean for them to become monsters.”

“Semantics.
 
If you tell Silver she was responsible for creating werewolves, she will blame herself for Andrew’s death.
 
Don’t you see?
 
Silver is strong, yes, but everyone has a breaking point.
 
She loved her father so much.
 
This news will destroy her.”

Jack clamped his lips shut.
 
She was probably right.
 
Silver continued to reel from her father’s unexpected demise.
 
Knowing it was her fault might push her over the proverbial edge.
 
He certainly didn’t want to hurt her.
 
Maybe sometimes a lie was better than the truth.

“I won’t tell her,” Jack reluctantly said.

“Promise me.”

“I promise.
 
I don’t want to hurt her any more than you do.”

Vanessa smiled, relieved.
 
“I’ll get you something to eat.”

He touched a hand to his throat.
 
“Water.
 
I need water.
 
I’m thirsty, not hungry.”

“I’ll bring you both and you’ll eat.”

Jack withheld a protest.
 
He closed his eyes, resting.
 
He just needed a few minutes.
 
The door closed behind Vanessa.
 
It didn’t take long to realize someone else had entered the room as she was leaving.
 
His eyes popped open to find Ian standing over him, arms folded across his wide chest.

“You’ve proved your point,” Ian said.
 
“I get it.
 
You’re human.
 
So you can get better now.
 
I won’t kill you as long as you remain mortal and don’t hurt anyone.”

Good news.
 
Jack pushed himself into a higher sitting position.
 
His eyes remained on Ian as he wondered if he could trust what he was hearing.
 
The man seemed sincere.
 
It would be great to have a werewolf-burning hunter on his side.
 
Having Ian working with him instead of against him could prove to be the advantage they needed.
 
Perhaps the three of them could win this war

“I was wondering if your burning touch could take
Jersey
out.
 
Maybe Silver and I wouldn’t even have to fight him.”

Ian shook his head.
 
“I already considered that angle, and I talked in depth to Vanessa about it.
 
The diary is crystal clear.
 
Either you have to use the magic rock or Silver has to suck his soul out.
 
I am not even a footnote in the journal.”

“The diary isn’t always right.”

Ian sat in Vanessa’s vacated chair and said, “Not to change the subject, but there’s something important I should have shared with you before now.
 
I hope you will be able to forgive me for keeping it to myself for this long.”

A cold, wet hand formed a fist in Jack’s stomach.
 
He leaned forward without realizing he was doing it.
 
The secret had to be big for Ian to be this nervous.
 
With his next breath trapped in his throat, Jack waited.

Ian shifted in his seat.
 
He sighed, gazing at the ceiling for a moment before his dark eyes returned to Jack’s face.
 
“Ah, where to begin?
 
It’s a long and sordid tale.
 
I’m not sure if I should give you background first or start with the punch line.”

“Why don’t you just give it to me straight in three sentences or less?
 
I’m wiped.
 
You can always go back and fill in the rest later.”

“I suppose you’re right about that.”
 
Ian took a deep breath.
 
“All right.
 
Here we go.”

Jack’s ears strained to catch every word.
 
He had the feeling it was going to be the most massive secret of his life.
 
Ian was about to drop a bomb.
 
The secret could be about his dad or about his brother.
 
Either way he had to hear it.

Something was wrong.
 
He didn’t realize there’d been a change until his ears filled with the sound of the pounding surf.
 
Ian was talking, but Jack couldn’t hear him.

Familiar darkness came for him like a crafty enemy.
 
It grabbed him with both hands and dragged him into a cold embrace.
 
His blood turned to ice.
 
His eyes rolled back into his head—and then he was gone.

.

*****

.

Flat on his back, Jack opened his eyes.
 
The setting didn’t surprise him a bit.
 
He was in the woods.
 
Something was off.
 
Instead of bright sunlight, there was a full moon hanging over him.

The last thing he remembered was talking to Ian in his bedroom.
 
Something strange had happened to him.
 
He hadn’t fallen asleep.
 
It wasn’t like that.
 
He’d been listening to Ian intently, waiting to hear the big secret, and then weird happened.
 
He’d lost consciousness.

But why?

Jack struggled to his feet.
 
Was he asleep?
 
Was he in a coma or dead?
 
For all he knew he could be trapped in the woods forever.
 
He could try to force himself to wake up, but it hadn’t worked before.
 
Why would it work now?

The soft crunch of feet moving over dried leaves and twigs reached his ears.
 
Silver
?
 
He spun around to greet her, a welcoming smile in place.
 
Only it wasn’t Silver.

A figure in black emerged from a thick line of trees.
 
The trees were dead, not a single leaf on the branches.
 
Jersey
wore the satisfied expression of a cat that had just caught the mouse he’d been chasing for weeks.
 
Looking up at the full moon, he quoted, “Art thou pale for weariness of climbing heaven and gazing on the earth, wandering companionless among the stars that have a different birth?”

Byron again.
 
Jersey
smiled at Jack and added, “I hope you don’t mind.
 
I’ve been wondering if I could suck you into a dream for some time now.”

“
You
brought me here?”

“Indeed I did.”

“But I wasn’t even asleep.”

Jersey
chuckled.
 
“Isn’t it grand?
 
I am more impressive, more powerful than anyone could have dreamed.
 
No pun intended.
 
As long as you’re here, let’s share information.”

While
Jersey
laid out his agenda, Jack put distance between them.
 
The head werewolf was dangerous even in dreams.
 
During one such dream
Jersey
had attacked Jack, making weapons appear at will.
 
It was an experience Jack didn’t want to repeat.
 
He did, however, want to reveal his true identity to his former teacher.
 
He wondered what
Jersey
’s reaction would be at finding out Alexander had been his brother and not just a friend.

Or maybe
Jersey
already knew and didn’t care.

“Our destiny is coming full circle now,”
Jersey
said.
 
“Can you feel it?
 
Do you know how short your time on earth is going to be?
 
The thing I hate about it the most is knowing how many things in life you are going to miss.
 
There are books I still want to share with you, novels I’d love to discuss with you before I kill you.”

“That’s great, but I really don’t have time to read right now because I’m working hard training so I can kill you instead.”

Jersey
tapped the side of his jaw with two fingers and pursed his lips together, deep in thought.
 
He snapped those same fingers a second later.
 
His face became animated like an overly excited cartoon character.
 
“I’ve got it!
 
I have a fantastic idea that could solve both of our problems.”

“What?”

“I will hold off on building my army if you will read a list of assigned books.
 
And you are not allowed to stall or cheat.
 
No Cliff Notes.
 
Understood?
 
You have to absorb the books as fast as you can so we can discuss them at length.”

Okay, Jersey Clifford was seriously deranged.
 
Jack couldn’t believe his ears.
 
He shook his head until he started getting dizzy.
 
“Are you kidding me?
 
I graduated from school this year, finally, and I don’t want to do any more book reports.”

Jersey
looked at him sideways, a sly smile on his lips.
 
“Not even if it saves your girlfriend’s life?
 
Silver will be able to go off to college, take those law classes she’s been salivating over.”

“How do you know about Silver’s career plans?”

“I still have friends working at Jefferson Memorial.
 
You must remember, not everyone knows who I truly am.
 
Once in a while I contact an old friend, ask a few questions.
 
Silver’s guidance counselor kept me abreast of her goals and the incredible grade point average she maintained all last year.”

Jack took a few steps toward
Jersey
, no longer worried about getting too close to the man.
 
“You stay away from her.
 
I’m warning you.”