From the Shadows (A Shadow Chronicles Novel) (45 page)

Race stood straight and nodded. “You’re right, Mom needs me. Let’s go.”

With that he turned and put an arm around my shoulders, careful of my injured rib, and led me out of the room.

“What, you’re leaving? You can’t do this to me
!” Vienna railed weakly as we walked away. “Race come back here—at least come back and untie me!
Race
!”

Ignoring her pitiful cries, Race and I entered the living room. Tyler and the other
wolves had done a great job of cleaning up the bodies of the dead vampires, and there was now quite the blaze going in the wide fireplace.

Following my gaze, the werewolf lieutenant said, “Not all of them would fit in there. Some of the gang took the bodies down to the boiler room to burn them in the furnace.”

“Any problems from security?” Race asked.

Tyler grinned and shook his head.
“Nah. I think you’re right—they’re spooked about what went down here tonight. Besides, they boys stuck to the elevators, going straight down to the basement. Bypassed security altogether.”

Race nodded and walked over to the windows, where his mother stood staring out at the now darkened sky over Cleveland. Tentatively he put a hand on her shoulder. Though I could tell she tried to hide it, I saw her jump, and the anguish I felt then was not just Race’s, but mine as well.

“Mom? Are you okay? They didn’t hurt you, did they?” he asked her softly.

Caroline turned to him. “I want to get out of here, Race. Just… get me out of here, please.”

Both of our hearts broke for her, and as he’d done with me moments ago, Race put an arm gently around her shoulders to lead her out. Nearing me, he held out his hand and I grasped it firmly, walking with them as the wolves of our pack followed behind to the sound of Vienna Silk still crying out to be released.

***

“That was Lochlan,” Saphrona said as she returned to her place next to Mark on the couch. “He said that Vienna’s still pissed at you for leaving her like that, but that she’s recovering nicely now that she’s had some blood.”

Race nodded, for a moment choosing to remain silent. On our way out of Cleveland, he’d decided that despite believing Vienna deserved to stay trussed up a while longer, he couldn’t just leave her like that. So
when we reached Port Columbus to pick up my car, he’d handed me his cell phone and told me to call Lochlan to see if he would be willing to go up and take care of her. Lochlan had agreed, saying he’d take with him several pints of blood he’d been storing at home, that we need not worry ourselves about whether or not someone would die just so she could get better.

That is, he agreed after laughing uproariously at my description of the condition in which we’d
found her, and after having insisted on taking care of me first once we got home. Though it had only been one rib Merrick had broken, having it re-broken so that it could set properly had been excruciating. Definitely not an experience I ever wanted to repeat.

Suddenly Race’s dour thoughts became amused. “I’m almost afraid to go back to Cleveland tomorrow.”

I turned to him with a frown. “Tomorrow? Race, it’s almost three in the morning. We just left Cleveland—why would you want to go back there?”

“I found a voicemail on my cell that I’d received during the blitz,” he said. “The body shop is done with my car. I can pick it up anytime.”

“To hell with that. Find someone to drive it down here. I don’t want you going back there, Race. Vienna probably isn’t going to let our walking away from her go unanswered,” I said.

“I’m afraid she’s right about that,” Saphrona said. “She might not have been the threat this time, but she may well
hold a grudge. No telling when she’ll try to get back at you.”

Race and I looked at each other,
then he shrugged. “Let her come. I’m not afraid of her, and I’ve got an entire wolf pack as backup. Well, most of a wolf pack… Some of them still haven’t made up their minds.”

“What will you do if any of the wolves stick with that
dumbfuck Tracey?” Mark asked after stifling a yawn.

“I
’ve got no choice but to let them go,” Race replied. “I gave my word that the choice was theirs and I mean to keep it.”

With a sigh, he stood from the loveseat and held his hand out to me. I looked up and smiled, taking it so he could h
elp me stand. “I know someone up in Cleveland who might be willing to drive the Jeep down. I’ll give him a call after we’ve had some sleep.”

I gave his hand a squeeze. “Thank you. I think it’s for the best you not take chances, even if she is
going to be little more than a talking mummy for a while.”

We all got a laugh at that, though it was a tired one. Mark and Saphrona rose as well, and the four of us trudged upstairs with the Chihuahuas, Moe and
Cissy, leading the way. As I reached the landing I paused, thinking of Caroline, whom we’d tucked into bed in the apartment over the barn around midnight. My mother was with her, as she hadn’t wanted to be alone and knew that sleep would be a long time in coming…

…i
f it came at all.

Saying goodnight at last to my brother and his mate, Race led me into
the guest bedroom. As soon as the door was closed behind us, he wrapped his arms around me, burying his face into my shoulder. I suddenly felt the weight of his emotions crash down on me, and realized that though his focus had been on the fight, in the back of his mind he had been deathly afraid of losing me.

“Race, I’m okay now,” I said, standing back and taking his face in my hands. “I’m okay.”

“Jules, I know that sick fucker,” Race told me. “I know what he would have done to you—to Mom—if he’d had the chance. I can’t… I don’t want to think about it.”

I put a finger to his lips to silence him. “Then don’t,” I whispered, and stood on my toes to give him a kiss.

Race deepened the kiss instantly, his arms around me tightening and drawing me closer. My whimper of pain broke the spell of the intimate moment.

“I’m so sorry,” he said, standing back from me. “Are you all right?”

I answered by kicking off my shoes, then reaching for the hem of my shirt and drawing it over my head slowly, reminding him that I wasn’t wearing a bra. I grinned widely at the look on his face, a mixture of concern and burning desire. “Juliette, what are you doing?” he asked.

I backed toward the bed as I dropped my shirt to the floor. “I’m trying to seduce you, Race Covington. Is it working yet?”

He swallowed hard. “Babe, you had a rib broken tonight—twice. You should take it easy. That’s what Dr. Bloodsucker said.”

I reached for the snap of my jeans and opened it, drawing the zipper down slowly, finding that I really enjoyed the way he stared, hunger naked in his eyes. He wanted me, bad, and I could tell it was taking no small amount of his control to stay where he was. Pushing the denim past my hips, the material fell to the floor…reminding him that I didn’t have any underwear on, either.

“I want you to make love to me, Race. I don’t want to remember the fear, or the anger, and I don’t want to think about vampires holding grudges,” I said, kicking the jeans away and sitting down on the bed. “All I want to think about right now is the feel of you—your hands on my skin, the hard length of you inside of me, your lips on mine.”

I
laid back carefully and turned a sultry smile his way. “I admit my side is still tender, my love, but if it will ease your conscience any, I can always be on top.”

Race’s control snapped, and he was out of his clothes and on the bed with me in seconds. I opened for him eagerly;
bracing his weight on his elbows, he slid into my moist heat with his velvet steel and my mouth with his tongue at the same time. All rational thought flew away on a breath, and there was only him—there was only us. No thoughts of fear. No thoughts of rage. I felt no pain.

All I felt, all I knew as Race moved and I moved with him, was love.

She’s been through hell these last few weeks, Juliette has. She’s had to endure things no woman should ever have to, be she human or supernatural. But she’s come through it, and though I don’t know her well
as yet, I’d say she’s going to be stronger than ever for having the experience. The Wyvern was right, of course—Juliette had to be forced to run to meet her destiny, though she regrets not being able to tell her what would drive her away from home. But she met her mate, and she and Race are welcoming their future together, as they were always meant to do. Though I sincerely hope no more tragedies befall my new friend, I know that I will enjoy the task of recording that future for as long as it is mine to do.

A knock at the door sounded, and after saving the file and encrypting it,
the woman turned the computer off. Rising, she got up to see to her visitor.

She sighed when she saw who was at her doorstep. “I had a feeling I’d be seeing you soon.”

The visitor pushed past her. “I need to talk to her, and she’s not taking my calls. The Wyvern always takes my calls—why won’t she talk to me?”

“I don’t know. D
o you think me her confidant?” the woman asked, turning and shutting the door behind him.

“Have you spoken to her recently?” the visitor asked.

She nodded. “I’ve just finished adding to Juliette’s record as well.”

The visitor turned to her. “That’s another reason I need to talk to the Wyvern. Juliette’s mate and I look far too much alike for my comfort. We have the same eyes, we’re about the same height,
and we have the same build. What if we’re related—what if we’re brothers?”

She put a hand on his shoulder. “Then you are brothers. If it is true, and the Wyvern has ceased communication with you, then you know what this means.”

He sighed, his hands on his hips as he nodded. “It means she has had a vision of me and my future, which is something I have to discover for myself. It may involve whether or not Race and I are related.”

“And even if it doesn’t, that may also be something you have to discover on your own,” she told him.

He nodded again. “You’re right. I know all that, I’m just…worked up about the possibility I might have a brother. I never knew my father, same as he never knew his. It was a very lucky thing that I was discovered by another Drake at the time of my changing, otherwise who the hell knows what could have happened to me?”

“Maybe your mother would have done what Race’s did—whatever it took to keep you safe.”

“Maybe.” He turned for the door then, and once he’d opened it, he turned back for a moment, a weak smile on his face.

“Sorry to bother you. Thanks, Karen.”

She smiled. “Anytime, Harry.”

Christina Moore proved she had a talent for writing fiction in grade school when a story about a dinosaur so interested her teacher that it was brought to the principal’s attention, and she was highly praised for her creativity. Although she doesn’t recall the details of that childhood tale, the feeling of accomplishment stayed with her throughout her life. Deciding in her teens to indulge in her passion for storytelling, Christina delved first into fan fiction, which she has written off and on for several years. Her mother said to her when she was just 14 that she “could write this stuff,” and a long-time friend once told her she had the talent to be a professional writer; so after procrastinating a lot longer than she should have, she put her mind to writing something she could sell.

After working on her first novel during NaNoWriMo 2010 and editing and revising the story throughout the next year, Christina made her professional debut in January of 2012 with the paranormal romance
Chasing Shadows
, followed by an erotic short story entitled
The Beauty in the Black Room
and the romantic suspense novel
Fire Born
, both also published in 2012. Currently she resides in Ohio, where she has lived all her life.

When not allowing the characters in her imagination use her to tell their stories, she enjoys a great movie, good times with family and friends, and being “hu-mom” to two Chihuahuas and two Siberian Huskies. Christina always keeps a notebook handy to jot down ideas for future stories and is currently working on her fourth novel.

I would very much like to hear from my readers! Your opinions are very important to me, so if you’d like to share your thoughts about this book, please feel free to send me a note on my Facebook page via private message or by posting on my wall—I will definitely reply! Also, I hope you will consider writing a review and posting it on the book’s product page on Amazon and/or Goodreads. Reader reviews are more helpful than you might think, and very encouraging to us writers. They inspire us to keep writing!

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