Skin Walkers Conn (22 page)

“I’ll start us a fire.”  Remy turned and crossed to the hearth where he squatted and started stacking logs. 
He stopped to point over his shoulder.  “Bathroom’s through there if you need to use it.”

Aries followed the direction he pointed and saw a door next to the kitchen.  She walked woodenly to the door and entered the small room without even thinking about it.  Grateful for the distance between her and Remy she quickly scanned the small room.  It housed a toilette that sat next to a sink over which a medicine chest
/
mirror hung.  There was a glass
doored
shower stall, but no window in the room. 

She used the toilette and turned on the water to make it sound like she was washing her hands.  Instead she pulled open the mirrored door on the medicine cabinet to search for a weapon. 
The cabinet only h
eld
two plastic wrapped toothbrushes and a tube of toothpaste.  She clicked it closed quietly and turned to peek into the shower.  Nothing. 

Resignedly she stuck her hands under the water and washed them quickly before splashing water onto her face.  She found a towel and dried herself before exiting the safety of the bathroom.

She found Remy staring at the large fire that burned brightly in the hearth.  He turned to look at her
, his tone serious
.  “Come here.”

She didn’t move. 

“Aries.  Come. 
Here.
”

“I-I want to leave.”

His eyes darken
ed and he dropped his head,
pull
ing back a lip reveal
sharp teeth.

Aries gasped and backed into the door.

“Come here!” Remy growled.

Trembling, Aries forced her feet forward as she slowly approached.  When she got within Remy’s reach she stopped, wrapping her arms around her waist as she dropped her head.

“Sit,” he commanded.

She did as she was told, d
ropping into the plush carpet in front of the hearth.  The heat licked at her and it felt good after her long cold ride in the trunk.

“Get warm, I’ll make us dinner.”  Remy walked away and she peeked up to watch him stalk to the kitchen.

Her eyes darted to the poker next to the fireplace.  “A-are you friends with Mason?”

“No.” 

Shit! 
She looked up and watched him pull a box of something from the cupboard before
he yanked a pan from
inside the
oven and placed it on the stove
top.  She scooted so she could face him
but inched closer to the poker
, “My name is Aries Bracken.”

His lips thinned and he looked at her doubtfully.  “
EnemyHunter
,” he supplied.

“I am not an
EnemyHunter
.  Conn took me to Monroe.”  She stopped.  “Do you know Monroe?  Monroe
StoneCr
ow
?”

Remy continued to work without looking at her, “Yes.”

“He had his d
octor examine me
, Mason was there
.  I am
not
Mason’s sister.”  When he didn’t respond she continued, “I belong to Conn
Drago
.  I am his angel.  He gave me his halo.”  She lifted her fingers to it then stilled when Remy pinned her with his angry gaze.

“
Then where is
your
halo if that one b
elongs to Conn?  You’re a
Walker
, he’s a
Walker
.  If he claimed you there would be a double-helix around your throat now.  Don’t try to fool me Aries.  You don’t know enough about us to play this game.”

“I don’t have a halo.”  She knew she sounded desperate
but it couldn’t be helped
.  “Conn said he doesn’t know why
that is.  N
one of them do.  Not even…” 
Damn, what was his name?
  “Bloody Knife?”

Remy grinned lopsidedly, “
RedKnife
.”

“
RedKnife
.  He doesn’t know either.”

Remy stopped working to stare at her.  “Do you know who Mason is bound to?
”

She shook her head, “I only met him once at the infirmary.”

“He’s claimed Amanda Chandler.”

If the name was supposed to mean something to her, it didn’t.  Aries shook her head, “I don’t know…”

“She was mine,” Remy growled.  He slammed a pan onto the stove and his expression darkened as he continued to work. 

Aries
’
wheels began to spin. 
Mason stole Remy’s angel
!

“You know,” Remy began
,
drawing her attention back to him, “the only thing that Mason is more consumed with than
my Amanda is finding you.”  Hi
s dark eyes pinned her. 
They were attractive eyes.  He was an attractive man. 
His brown hair was short on the sides but longer on
top.  He sported a five o’clock shadow that gave him a dangerous
yet sexy
vibe.  He was handsome, but nothing compared to her Conn.

“I told you.  I’m not Mason’s sister.”
Aries
began to
grow angry.

“You are correct on one front there.  You are nothing to Mason any longer.  You belong to me.”

Her
anger quickly dissipated
.  “No.  I belong to Conn.  He’s claimed me.  I’m
his
angel.  He’ll come for me and when he does you’ll be sorry you’ll…”

“ENOUGH!” Remy slammed his hands on the counter as he glared at her.  “I don’t want to hear about Mason or Conn.  You are mine now Aries
EnemyHunter
.  Y
ou are Mason’s forfeit for taking what wasn’t his to take.  You are what he owes me
!”

Oh God!  He thinks I’m Mason’s sister and plans on claiming me as revenge for Mason stealing his girlfriend. 
“W
-w
hat are you going to do with me?”

“I’m going to claim you.  Bind you to me and prevent you from ever seeing Mason again.”

“Can’t
you call Mason?  He’ll tell you I’m not his sister.
”

“Of course he’ll tell me you’re not his sister.  Then he’ll find you and hide you.  I’ll never get this chance again.”

“You’d claim me just to hurt him?  I have no say at all?”

Remy sighed and looked up from his task, “For that I do apologize.  We’ll grow to love each other in time.”
  His tone was firm as if he was trying to convince not only her, but himself as well.

“
But
I love Conn.”  The words were blurted out, but once
they
left her lips she realized they were the absolute truth.
  Somewhere on their long journey together she’d grow to trust him
and
that trust had blossomed into respect
, which
in turn grew into love.  It was a frightening revelation, she’d never been in love before.

“Ah yes, Commander
Drago
.  He’s an enemy I hadn’t anticipated making.  I
f ever a
Walker
existed that I did
not
want to be enemies with, he’d be it.  But if he wanted you he’d have claimed you himself.”

“He did!” Aries stood then and cautiously approached.  “He said his halo would mark me, I’d carry his scent.”  Her hand gripped the halo around her throat, “Can’t you tell that I’m bound to him?”

“His scent is from mating you.”  He motioned with his head toward
t
he bathroom door.  “Speaking of, you should shower now.  His scent on you offends me.”

She opened her mouth to refuse the shower when Remy dropped the knife he
’d
been
using to chop lettuce.
             
His nostrils flared and he lifted his head to stare at her before he took up a towel and wiped his hands.  “Remove your clothes.”

“What?”  Shock tore through her and she lifted a hand to grip the front of her shirt as she took a step back, “No!”

Remy circled the small kitchen isla
nd dropping the towel on it as
he approached her slowly.  He smiled, “While I
am
interested in mating you,
right now
I’m more concerned with your injury.”

Aries shook her head and continued to back into the living area.  “I’m not injured.”

Remy stalked her, “I can scent your pain.  You’re hurt.  Show me.”

When she got near the hearth, Aries’ hand s
hot
down and came up with the poker.  “Stop!  I’m not hurt
.  I mean I am,” she winced at how stupid she sounded, “but not like you think.”

Remy’s eyes narrowed on the poker and the smile slid from his face.

“I’m always in pain.  I always have been.
  I think it has something to do with the f
act that everyone thinks I’m a
Walker
, but I’m not.”

Remy titled his head
,
his voice laced with incredulity, “You don’t think you’re a

Walker
?”

“I can’t be.”  The poker trembled in her baseball bat grip, “I didn’t have a halo,
and I can’t shift.  I am not a
Walker
.”

“What do you mean you can’t shift?”

“I can’t.”

“Have you tried?”

“I don’t know how to try.”

His expression darkened, “And you expect me to believe that Conn has claimed you but permits you
to
live in pain?”

He was right, it didn’t make sense.  Her eyes dipped to the carpet as she tried to think of an excuse, and it was a mistake.  He moved so quickly that her shriek didn’t even make it past her
lips
.  The poker was ripped from her hands and she
stumbled
back landing hard on her ass as she kicked with her feet to scramble away from him.

Remy threw the poker across the room where it hit a wall and clattered to the floor.  “Come here!” His words were a harsh growl.

Aries didn’t move.

“Aries!” his tone had deepened and not wanting to see him partially shift to flash sharp teeth at her again she crawled forward keeping her head bowed.  She stopped inches in front of him still on her hands and knees.

“
Shift,” he commanded.

“I-I can’t.”

“SHIFT!”

She loo
ked up, horror etched on her face, “I don’t know how.”

He exhaled and crossed his arms over his chest as he
squatted in front of her
.  “Think of a wolf.”

“Okay.  Nothing’s happening.”

His lips thinned, “You’re thinking of what a wolf looks like aren’t you?”

She nodded.

“Think of what a wolf feels like.”  He uncrossed his arms, “Not to touch, but how it would feel to
actually
be a wolf.  Close your eyes.”

She closed her eyes and settled on her hands and knees letting her head lower.  “This isn’t going to work.”

“Shut up and listen. 
Keep your eyes closed and think of a wolf’s
long slender legs, its soft fur.  How it
s elongated snout allows it to scent pray.  Think of your whiskers and your ears pricking to the slightest noise.  Think of your sharp teeth and how they would tear the flesh from a deer.
  Imagine using your long four legs to dig up earth and propel you forward as you chased down game.
”

Aries kept her eyes closed and concentrated.  When she was a little girl she and her cousins would pretend to be a pack of wolves.  They’d call out their names and describe what they’d look like.  ‘
My name is Chocolate and I’m the biggest brown wolf you’ve ever seen.
’ 
She smiled at the memory.  She remembered romping around the front yard
as a
n
unruly group of young children
. 
She could practically smell the
grass s
tains on
her hands and
knees from frolick
ing
for
endless
hours
in the yard
.

She sighed and concentrated remembering how vivid her imagination had been as a child
.  She and her cousins
hadn’t simply played at being wolves
,
they actually believed they were. 

Aries’
belly warmed at the memory.  She concentrated harder imagining that her l
imbs elongated and sprouted fur.  She imagined
the hair that h
ung
loosely around
her shoulders receded
to a scruff of long thick fur.  She steadied her breathing and just focused.