Twice Cursed (48 page)

“
Yeah,” she nodded, her
eyes misting over as her gaze locked with his. “Me too.”

Chapter
Nineteen

***

They loaded Parr’s unconscious body
into the back of the SUV, his ankles and wrists cuffed for good
measure. Turning him over to lie face up on the backseat, Sean’s
eyes narrowed at the tiny dart sticking out of the man’s neck. He
lifted a questioning gaze toward Mitch on the opposite side of the
seat.

His second-in-command looked up,
nearly bashing his head on the open door frame. “What?”

“
That,” Sean replied
pointing at the dart.

Mitch shrugged. “God bless Dr.
Volkmann and his toys.” He grinned, pushing his jacket back,
revealing the grip of a tranquilizer gun stashed on his hip. “It’s
the same make he used on us the day we went ape shit in his lab. If
the drug worked on us, I knew it would work on this puss in
suits.”

Sean chuckled. “That’s my
line.”

“
Yeah,” Mitch said,
slamming the car door shut. “I know, and I plan to use it whenever
possible.”

The alpha snorted. “I always knew you
were a poser.”

Grinning wider, Mitch opened the rear
hatch to stow his rifle bag in the floor compartment. “The doc said
this sedative has a non-phasing agent that blocks our animal DNA
from taking over. If you’re tranqued with this stuff, you won’t be
able to phase even if you wake up. The drug is experimental, so
Volkmann wasn’t sure how long the effects last, but he promised at
least twenty-four hours. The doc’s been working on this in secret,
just in case the virus got even more out of control.”

Sean shook his head. “Scary, these
scientist types. Are we going to have to keep an eye on him
to?”

Mitch laughed. “Nah. He’s a good guy.
Definitely the king of the geek squad, and believe me he’s happy in
his little realm.”

“
Are you two just going to
stand there gabbing? Personally I’d like to go home,” Lily
interjected with a smirk on her face and her hand on her hip. Ryan
stood next to her holding an ice pack to his head.

“
That headache from kissing
the window with your skull, or from listening to her sass?” Mitch
asked Ryan, with a chuckle.

Martinez grumbled. “It’s a
toss-up.”

“
Hey!” Lily complained, but
smirked at Mitch’s answering wink.

“
You okay to travel? It’s a
long drive,” Sean asked the detective.

“
I’m good as long as one of
you has room for my Harley. There’s no way I’m leaving it
here.”

Lily perked up. “How about I drive it
home?” She fluttered her lashes at both Ryan and Sean.

Sean laughed. “In your dreams,
wolfgirl. You’ve given me enough grey hair to last a lifetime. You
ride with me.”

Lily walked up to him and
rubbed her hand up and down his chest.
“What a great idea, as long as I get to ride with you between
my legs and my arms wrapped around your waist. It might be fun to
have all that horsepower rumbling beneath us.”

Sean groaned, his groin
thickening.
“You’re such a
tease.”

She shook her
head
. “Nope. I’m a promise,”
she told him, lifting onto her toes and pressing
a quick kiss to his lips.

He cleared his throat. “Hey, Cougar,
you have more than one helmet for that death machine of
yours?”

“
Yes!” Lily pumped her arm
back and forth.

Ryan chuckled. “Yeah. In the saddle
compartment. “Just be careful. I want them both back in one piece,
and by both, I mean Lily as well as my bike.”

Sean smirked. “Watch it, buddy. She’s
claimed.”

Ryan climbed into the passenger seat
of the SUV next to Mitch. “I know, but you can’t blame a guy for
trying. Hey, remind Miss Leather and Lace she’s got reports that
need to be filled out. I may be her partner, but I’m not doing her
paperwork for her,” he said with a wave, before closing the car
door.”

Mitch started the engine and rolled
down the passenger window. “Meet you at home?”

Sean closed the hard saddlebag and
handed Lily the spare helmet. “Yup.”

“
No detours, Sean. We have
damage control to do back at the Compound, specifically with
council members who backed the asshole passed out on my backseat.
What do you think? Meet you in the war room in two
hours?”

Sean glanced at Lily straddling the
motorcycle and his cock throbbed, its head ready to burst. “Make it
three.”

***

Lily stood on the front porch of the
manor house, her eyes watching the three-quarter moon at its
zenith. She and Sean finally had a proper homecoming, and they
would still be at it, if Mitch hadn’t banged on the door for Sean
to get his ass out of bed and to the war room. He’d been
sequestered with the hunters and the defunct council for hours. The
last time she’d caught sight of him was from the window in their
bedroom, as he and two hunters carried Jack’s body into the Great
Hall.

“
Penny for your thoughts,”
Ryan asked, his footsteps on the stone pulling her attention before
he even spoke.

She smiled as he came up beside
her.

He stood with his hands in his
pockets. Pulling out a pack of Marlboro, he lit a cigarette, then
lifting one leg to the railing, blowing smoke into the night air.
He hooked his left hand into the front of his jeans and tilted his
head her way. “I hope you know I was only kidding, earlier. A blind
man could see you and Sean are meant to be together.”

She smirked. “Guess the moon’s spell
really is broken,” she said, sticking a piece of Nicorette in her
mouth to squash the urge to ask him for a cigarette.

He looked at her strangely.

“
The full moon,” she said,
gesturing toward the sky. “It’s been the culprit behind all the
physical cravings between us this week. Everything you felt, it was
just the moon playing its monthly trick on the Weres of this
world.”

He exhaled another lungful of smoke,
his shoulders relaxing. “Thank God. I didn’t know what the hell was
happening with me. I’ve never been obsessed like that in my life. I
wanted you so bad, I couldn’t see straight! Do you know what it
feels like to think you’ve lost your marbles? I don’t even want to
tell you what I did to myself to get through it.”

Lily’s cheeks flushed with heat, and
she tilted her head, her hair falling in curls along the side of
her face. “You don’t say?”

“
No. I don’t say, or won’t,
anyway. I’d never be able to look you in the eye again, and forget
Sean…he’d kill me.”

Lily glanced down at her hands on the
railing. “No, he wouldn’t. Not when I’m just as guilty,” she looked
back up at him, slightly embarrassed. “Though, based on the visual
you just painted, I don’t think I took things to quite the same
extreme,” she added, holding out her hand toward his. “Care to let
me see?” She raised an eyebrow at him.

“
Nope.”

She laughed out loud, dropping her
hand back to the railing. An awkward silence fell between them.
Ryan looked out at the expanse past the circular drive toward the
woods and beyond, the only sounds the wind in the trees and an owl
hooting in the distance, punctuating the unspoken.

“
Sean tells me you’re
leaving. Why?” Lily blurted out finally.

He inhaled the crisp air, flicking his
cigarette to the wet grass past the gravel. He dropped his foot
from the railing and stuck his hands in his pockets. “I have to,”
he said with a shrug.

“
I don’t understand. You
just got here. This is where you belong if you’re ever going to
find out who you are,” she argued.

He shook his head, but this time it
was different. “Lily, I already know who I am. Finding out I’m a
Were doesn’t change that. What we went through over the last
forty-eight hours only proved the point to me even more. I have
some things I need to take care of back in the city, but then I’m
taking a leave of absence from the squad. I’ll be heading west. I’m
going to look for other cougars. Sean says it’s something I need to
do in order to phase.”

She raised her hands in frustration.
“Yes, but it’s not something you have to do right away.”

He grabbed her hands and brought them
together in his. “I’m not. It’s going to take some time for me to
wrap up the whole vampire bloodbath thing with the department. We
can both thank Sean for explaining the situation to Sébastien. The
vampire provided more than enough evidence for me to give Shaw the
report of his dreams, though I don’t ever want to know how he went
about it. Shaw will get a commendation for this for sure. It’s not
every day a cop gets to bring down a serial killer
cult.”

Lily’s eyebrows shot up. “A cult?
Really? Will they buy it?”

Martinez laughed. “Oh hell, yeah! And
don’t worry, I’m making sure to include how integral you were in
catching all the nuances we missed. You should be up to your
eyeballs in business after this.”

Lily gently pulled her hands from his,
her gaze thoughtful. “Thanks, but I’m giving up the lease on my
apartment and staying here from now on.”

It was Ryan’s turn to raise an
eyebrow. “Does that mean what I think it means?”

She nodded. “I think so, but I haven’t
discussed it with Sean, yet.”

Ryan pulled himself up to sit on the
railing, his legs dangling over the side. “I don’t think you’ll get
much of an argument from him.”

Lily laughed, pushing herself up to
sit beside him. “Maybe, maybe not. I do tend to bring trouble with
me wherever I go. You may have me knocking on your door yet, asking
if you need a roommate.”

He slid his arm around her shoulder
and pulled her into a side hug. “Anytime partner, anytime, but I
wouldn’t bet on it.”

“
When are you planning to
head back to the city?”

“
Tomorrow
afternoon.”

Lily thought for a minute. “Us too…for
the night. Maybe we could head in together. Sean can take the Ford
F-150. We could secure your bike on the back bed. There’s certainly
enough room in the cab for all of us, what do you say? We could
grab dinner together and talk about California and what you should
expect. Maybe Sean and I could even fly out and meet you, you know,
for moral support.”

“
Fine with me.” He
shrugged. “But why are you heading into the city for one night?”
His eyes widened before she could answer, and he nodded
slowly.

The vampires.

***

The fire burned in the grate, just as
it had three nights ago when they’d last met, only this time the
fire seemed inviting and the ambiance in the room welcoming, almost
grateful. The vampire adjudicators had been gathered again, and
their chairs turned to face forward in tribunal mode. The large
hearth rug had been removed, leaving only the grey concrete
underneath, and a large copper drain the size of a dinner plate at
the center of the space.

Sébastien poured a glass of cabernet
into a wide mouthed wine glass, and handed it to Lily. “How was
your drive from Maine, not tedious I hope?”

“
Fine. Luckily there wasn’t
too much traffic,” Sean replied, putting a hand over his own glass
when Sébastien moved to top it off. One glass was enough,
considering. The task at hand was still distasteful, regardless of
its justification, and the last thing Sean wanted was to
participate in the party atmosphere the vampires had already set
into motion. To them it was a celebration.

Rémy walked over. This time, his
attire mimicked Sébastien’s, having forgone his customary period
clothing for a more GQ, Wall Street look.

“
And how are you my little
witch?” he asked, tongue in cheek, his eyes dancing as he waited
for daggers. Only this time, his nickname for her was greeted with
a beautiful smile.

Lily slipped one arm through his and
raised her glass. “Rémy, I have decided from now until forever, I
will be ‘little witch’ to you and you alone. Anyone else calls me
by that name, and I promise their nether regions will get a visit
from my boot.”

At the look on Sébastien’s face, they
both burst out laughing. Lily inclined her head, mostly out of
respect, but also to stop the wine from snorting out of her nose
from laughing so hard. “Present company excepted, Sébastien, of
course,” she added quickly, wiping her mouth.

The master vampire flashed a dazzling,
fang filled smile. “Only you, my lady. Only you…”

Across the room, Etienne motioned to
Rémy that it was time. Lily dipped her chin once, acknowledging the
vampire psychic, as Rémy took her hand to say goodbye.

“
When this is all over,
please come back and visit. What I see in your eyes makes me forget
the monster I see in everyone else’s.” Then the vampire with the
ruined face leaned over and gave Lily’s cheek a sweet
kiss.

He walked to his seat, as the others
took their places as well. When they were settled, Sébastien
motioned for everyone else to sit, except Sean.