Force of Nature Series Boxed Set (Books 1 - 4) (7 page)

“I asked you to go away. The going away part is out the door upstairs. Not down here where I am.” She turned to see Phil come through the door as well. “Now, I know I said leave. I’m reasonably sure that you both are smart enough to figure that one out.”

She set the bottle of Wild Turkey on the bar…seemed appropriate since it was turkey day eve. The glasses were all clean and ready to go, so she grabbed one and filled it to the rim. She didn’t think a full glass would do what she had in mind, but was willing to give it her best shot. When the glass disappeared, she glared at the two men.

“Put it back. I don’t know how you did that, but put it back. I’m going to get drunk and you two need to get the fuck out of my life.”

Phil moved closer as Austin circled around to her side. “No. You’re not getting drunk. I’m going to touch you, love, and when I do, you’re going to go to sleep. When you wake in the morning, we’ll work on this again. All right?” Phil’s voice was soft, and she could feel herself being pulled under some sort of spell when suddenly, she snapped out of it.

“Stop that. What are you doing?” She put her hand up when he came close. “Don’t touch me.”

Phil grinned at Austin. “She threw me off. She’s always been too smart for her own good. I used a hard dose of compulsion and she simply threw me off. I’m sorry, love, but this is going to hurt in the morning.” He was so quick she had no time to move.

She didn’t know what his plans were, but suddenly she felt him in her mind. The pain wasn’t so bad at first, then there was a bright light. Before she slipped away, she heard Austin cussing at someone.
Good
, she thought,
maybe he’ll be mad enough to leave me alone
.

~
Chapter Six
~

Austin paced the room, which he’d been doing since he’d brought her up here after Phil put her to sleep. Damn blood sucker was going to pay if he’d hurt her. He looked over at the man and glared again.

“You know you’re quite good at that. CJ does it better, but you’re pretty close.” Phil stretched out his legs before he continued. “She will have a slight headache, no worse than the one she would have had if we’d let her drink that glass of Wild Turkey, and you know it.”

“You didn’t have to put her under so deep, you ass. We still have a lot to talk about, and her sleeping isn’t going to fix this.” Austin paced some more. “You know as well as I do that she no more believes us than if we’d told her we were going to the moon and back. Now what?”

“We show her…or you do. I’m reasonably sure you don’t want me to bite her to prove I’m a vampire.” Austin growled. “I didn’t think so. You should just hop into bed with her and when she wakes, mark her and then claim her.”

“It’s not that easy. She is going to be pissed enough as it is when she figures this out. Me claiming her is only going to make it seem more surreal for her.” Austin didn’t even try to correct the vamp on the fact that he wasn’t sure he was going to claim her. “She won’t be happy with either of us when she figures this out. Especially you.”

“Why do you think I told her like I did? If she’s mad at me then you’re off the hook. Well, a little anyway. You should just shift when she brings it up again. I’m sure that’ll make a believer out of her.”

Austin wasn’t sure if it was a good idea or not. It did have its merits, but to shift with her alone…he was actually afraid she’d shoot him. He stopped suddenly and looked at the other man. “You told her so she’d be pissed at you and not me? Why would you do that? I mean, you’ve been her friend for a long time, right?”

“Yes. I’m hoping that because of that, she will forgive me. If she doesn’t forgive you, well then you’re shit out of luck. She might make a good vampire, though. She would have to change to a full-blooded one, though. If I changed her, she’d be less than me and—”

“You go near her with your fangs and I’ll stake you myself. She’s mine.” The words hit him hard. “Fuck. I don’t need this, or her. She’s going to be a major pain in my ass for a long, long time, I just know it.”

“Austin, you should—”

“No. You don’t understand. I don’t need a mate, especially one that’s related to Webber. The bastard should have just died earlier, then none of this would be a problem. I wish that—”

“Austin, shut up.”

He glanced at Phil. Austin closed his eyes when he noticed that Phil was looking at the bed. Fuck, he just knew she was going to be awake. Turning slowly, he saw that not only was she awake, but she was crying.

“Get out.” He started toward her when she spoke, but stopped when she raised her gun. “I said to get out. Both of you.”

When neither of them moved, she fired the gun between his feet. He jumped back and looked at her. “What the fuck are you trying to do, kill me? Put that thing away before you hurt someone.”

The gun went off again, this time only an inch from his foot. “I said to get out. The next one is going to be in your head. And I’m a great shot.” When the gun lifted higher, he backed up.

“CJ, you’re upset, and you might have heard some things that were said that—”

The next bullet hit him in the thigh. He nearly fell to the floor, but Phil grabbed him. He was dragging him to the door even as he heard her screaming at them both to leave. Austin wanted to take the gun from her and beat her ass, but was sure if he didn’t get moving, he’d be one dead wolf.

He was out the door and to his car before he could think. He looked at Phil and wondered if he should thank him or murder him.

“You could have told me she was awake.” He was sitting in his car and his keys were being put into his hand.

“I tried. When you get on a roll, you don’t know when to shut up. The bullet went through. If you shift, will it heal? It’s not silver.”  Phil held his hand over the wound and looked at him. “Austin, did you hear me?”

“Yes, I’ll shift and I’ll be fine.” He looked up at the apartment. “She fucking shot me. Shot me in the fucking leg.”

“You’re just lucky she didn’t blow your brains out. She was really hurt, you know.”

Austin looked up again at Phil’s words. “Yes. Damn it, what the hell am I supposed to do now? If I go near her, I’m as good as dead.”

“No shit.” Austin laughed at the vamp’s snarled answer. “You know, you might want to spend less time laughing at me and more time trying figure out a way to get her back. This is not going to get you a mate.”

Austin looked up at the window again. She was his, his mate, and he’d just given her every reason in the world not only to not trust him, but to also hate him. Pulling his body into his car, he put the key in the ignition and started it up. He needed to get to someplace he could shift and heal. Looking at the vamp, he wondered if he was in with her better than Austin was right now.

“I’m not moving in on your mate, Austin. She’s my friend, and always will be. I love her, yes, but I’m not in love with her. I’m going to watch over her tonight.” When Austin looked at him sharply, Phil continued. “From here. She won’t do anything stupid to herself, but she may run. It’s her way of dealing. I’ll keep an eye on her. You get yourself fixed up. You’re going to need all the extra strength you can get.”

Austin thought the man was right. Pulling out of the lot, he wondered if he could have fucked this up any worse, and thought maybe he’d try to keep from going that far. By the time he made it home, the bleeding had stopped. He was trying to figure out what to tell his family when Dallas came outside.

“You hurt bad, big brother?” Austin shook his head and laughed. “Good. She called to tell us that she’d shot you, and that if you come around again, you’ll be one dead dog.”

Austin watched his brother walking toward him, and decided he didn’t need this. He should just tell her he’d changed his mind and she was free to do whatever. But she’d shot him, and as far as he was concerned, that meant war.

~~~

CJ looked down at Phil as he sat in her parking lot. She’d never been so mad at anyone in her life as she was at him. And Austin. Damn it all to hell and back, they’d almost had her believing them. Then Austin had gone on about not wanting her. Well, she had news for him…she didn’t need him either. Going into the kitchen, she decided that she was done hiding out and got her coat.

“Going out, love?” She ignored both his question and the man. “CJ, I really need to clear things up with you. You’re my best friend and I don’t want to—”

“To what, Phil? Drain me dry? Turn me into a blood sucker? I don’t think so. Now if you don’t mind, I have things to do. I have…I have to go and get me a Thanksgiving dinner for tomorrow.”

She had no idea where she was going to get a turkey this late on the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving, but she was going to try. She opened her car door and slipped inside, thinking she’d just get one of those frozen turkey dinners…they couldn’t be all bad, they were everywhere. She was just starting her car when the passenger side door opened.

“Get out. I’m not kidding, Phil. I’m in no mood to fuck with you tonight. I have a headache and I have a gun. Not a good combination, trust me.” She’d forgotten to pick up the gun again after shooting Austin, but she didn’t tell him that. “I have food to buy and…you eat food. How is that supposed to work with you being a vampire?”

She felt sort of smug for figuring that out on her own. He grinned at her then opened his mouth. She watched in dazed silence as teeth elongated and sharpened. She was just about to reach out and touch them when she jerked her hand back.

“Very funny. I’ve seen those on television.” She turned to the steering wheel and started her car to get some control, then promptly turned it off again. “You really expect me to believe those are real?”

“Give me your arm, CJ. Let me drink from you, and I’ll prove to you that they’re as real as the wolf is.” He put his hand out as if she were simply going to do it. “Give me your arm.”

This time, she felt the need to do as he said. Her arm wanted to give in and just let him do it. She tried to focus and after a few seconds, she could feel her need to do what he wanted lessen, then more as she fought it. She looked up at him when he laughed.

“What? Why are you laughing at me?” With shaky hands, she started the car. “This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. You need help.” And so did she, she realized.

“You’ve heard of compulsion, haven’t you? Not the sort that stores use when they put those cheap things at the checkout to make you buy the crap, but compulsion.” He shifted in his seat as he continued. “I used it on you, just now and in the house earlier. You tossed me off…not easy for a human to do. I think it has to do with the fact that the wolf is right.”

“He’s not a wolf. You are not a vampire.” She could hear the desperation in her voice and hoped that he couldn’t. “There are no such things as werewolves and vampires. Please, just drop it.”

He was quiet for so long that she hoped he would do just that. Her head was pounding, and she thought that maybe she would be sick if she didn’t take something for it soon. She pulled into the parking lot of the grocery store and without seeing if he followed, she ran inside. She was standing in front of the freezer section when she felt him come up beside her.

“You’re going to need something to drink with that. Wait here.” He suddenly stood there with a two liter of pop. “And some dessert.”

The small cake had come from the front of the store they’d passed through. He handed her this as well. She looked around where they were. No drinks were in that part of the store, nor were there any desserts, unless she counted frozen cakes, and that was not what she had in her arms.

“You want something from the health and beauty department? Or maybe something from the section for Christmas?” When she looked back at him, he was holding a box of bright orange ornaments and a bottle of shampoo.

“You got those just now.” When he nodded, she looked around again, hoping that an entire section filled with all the items she was now hugging to her body would appear.

“CJ, are you going to freak out or are you going to listen to me?” His voice was calm, exaggeratedly so. “I’m able to move quickly because of what I am. I can get to—”

She lifted her hand and he shut up. CJ let the items fall to the floor and walked away. It was either that or have a nervous breakdown. Walking toward the front of the store, she concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other and not looking around. She was sure if anyone were to stop her to have a conversation with her, she’d go over the deep end. 

She didn’t know how she got home…she was just suddenly sitting in the chair at her kitchen table with a cup of tea in front of her. Looking around, she felt like something was going to hop out and…well, she wasn’t going there just yet. The water on the stove made her feel marginally better. Knowing that she had made the cup of tea herself was somewhat comforting.

If what had happened in the store was correct—and she wasn’t ready to believe anything just yet, but just for the sake of argument—if Phil had gotten those items from somewhere nearby, how did he get there and back without her seeing him? And, if he did go to the other parts of the store to get them, then…then what? Then she was either insane…and that was a strong possibility, or…or Phil was a vampire. And if Phil was a vampire then—

The knock at her door startled ten years off her life, she was sure. She nearly walked away when she saw who it was. She didn’t need any more “almost” revelations tonight…especially from Austin.

“Can I come in?” he asked when she opened the door. She wanted to say hell no, but decided to ask him some questions first.

“Tell me why you think I’m your mate and what happens.”