Long Shadows: The Lycanthropy Files, Book 2 (29 page)

“As for you, my dear, you’ll be settled in a different part of the house.”

“I’m sure I will. What am I doing here, Carrigan? How did I get here?”

“By private plane, just like everyone else. Pity you slept through the whole trip. The view is spectacular.”

He stepped closer, and I found myself backed into a wall. My left hip bumped a random cabinet, and I reached out to catch a wobbling elongated cat statue. Carrigan beat me to it and placed it just so on the top.

“Don’t touch anything,” he said with clenched teeth. “You don’t know how these magical things will react, and I don’t want them sullied by your half-blood witchery.”

“That’s why you erased Max’s memory, isn’t it? So I wouldn’t ‘sully’ him.”

“Miss Marconi, you presume too much. He wasn’t truly in love with you.” But he didn’t meet my eyes. With a curt gesture, he indicated I should follow him.

We went back down the stairs and across a large front hall, which opened to a breathtaking beach vista. The double wooden doors in front of me opened to the room I’d become familiar with, and I wanted to go in and study Deirdre’s picture as if that would give me a clue as to how to reawaken Max’s affection for me. Carrigan shut the doors as we walked by.

“That room is for wizards only,” he huffed.

“Understood.” I hid a smile.
But I’ve been in there.

We went up another set of stairs—seriously, this place was starting to feel like a multilevel labyrinth—and to a smaller hallway. It was still nice, but obvious it had been set up for guests rather than residents, and so it was less elegant. The table at the back of the hallway was bare except for a small Tiffany lamp. The table itself was less ornate than its cousins in the other part of the house.

“As you can see, this is the guest wing,” Carrigan said. “I trust you will be comfortable here.”

“I guess I’ll have to be since going home isn’t really an option, is it?”

“Where is ‘home’ for you, Miss Marconi? Your inheritance in north Georgia? Your shabby apartment in Little Rock? With your pack?”

“With Max.” The words flew out before I could stop them.

“Then it seems that this is your best option since you are a creature who belongs nowhere. You can have his proximity, if not his affection, in exchange for your cooperation.”

“You don’t know that. He fell for me once. He could do so again.”

“Ah, but you took advantage of Max’s protectiveness. He has only had one true love, and it was not you.”

He opened a door near the stairs, and we went through another small hallway that led into a bedroom. On one side, a king-sized bed with cotton bedspread and dark wood headboard dominated the room. On the other, French doors opened to the balcony on the beach side.

“Well, I can’t fault the view.”

“Don’t even think of trying to escape. There are wards that will alert us to your movements. I allowed you to wake in the dungeon to show you where I could be keeping you, but I wanted to demonstrate that I am not a monster.”

“But you want to do horrible things to me.”

“My dear, if I had wanted you dead, we would have taken care of that. But there is one more thing.”

“What?”

“Have a seat.” He gestured to a wicker armchair with an ottoman. “Max isn’t the only one who needs a spell removed. As I recall, it’s on your left foot.”

I shook my head. “No way. It wasn’t comfortable going on, and it’s not going to come off easily.”

“I fail to see whether you would know how it’s going to feel considering you’re not schooled in the ways of magic.”

“Still.” I shrugged. “It stays.”

“So you can try to lure Maximilian back to you?” He shook his head. “Once he has the spell removed, it won’t matter. It may even lead you to me.”

I knew in my heart he was lying and that there was something more tied up in that spell. “He learned to do protection spells after what happened with Deirdre, didn’t he?”

Carrigan raised his hand as if to slap me, and I backed away, but I had to find out if my guesses were right. “It’s only something that can be done between two people who have a connection, isn’t it?”

“That is irrelevant. What matters is that it does not belong on you.”

“It stays,” I said again as calmly as I could.

He took my arm and tried to force me to the chair. He had a lot of strength for a short, fat, old guy.

“You are here as my guest, and you will cooperate. Remember, if you do not cooperate, you will not be allowed to see Maximilian.”

“It sounds like you’re not going to let me see him, anyway, so why should I?”

He paused in his tugging. “Fine, I will make an agreement with you. You will obey me, and I will allow you to interact with Maximilian.”

“That’s a bit vague on both parts, Carrigan.” I yanked my arm from his grasp and rubbed the spots where I knew there’d be bruises later.

“You drive a hard bargain, Miss Marconi. Recall I am only calling you my guest out of courtesy, and you are in this room because of my favor, which is waning. I could just as easily be having this conversation with you in the dungeon.”

I remembered that moment in my aunt’s house when the blood lust had taken over, and I had wanted to rip the thug’s throat out. Now I felt the same, but I had to assert my analytical side.

He’s not keeping me in the dungeon for some reason. He doesn’t have to be kind to me. So what is his game? I can either play it or end up truly imprisoned again, and here at least there’s some chance of escape. I’ve beaten those wards before.

“Fine, I’ll cooperate within reason, and you let me see and speak with Maximilian.”

“Within reason?” He chuckled. “Oh, my dear, I see what attracts him to you. You are truly clever and impossible, as he told me before I wiped knowing you from his mind.”

I clenched my fists behind my back. “Is that our agreement or not?”

“Yes, as long as I can also define the extent to which you interact with Maximilian. Keep in mind our definitions of ‘in reason’ may also vary according to your level of cooperation. Now, if you please…” He gestured to the chair. I sat and placed my right foot on the ottoman.

“I haven’t forgotten which foot he used, Miss Marconi. Stop playing games, or my definition of reasonable will be quite narrow.”

I sighed and placed my left foot on the ottoman as well. He sat on a stool and examined my foot. “Remarkable,” was all he said.

“What?”

He shook his head. “Hold tight. This shouldn’t be too painful.”

I don’t know what he did, but the entire bottom of my foot felt like a scab being peeled off bit by bit. I pressed my lips together and covered my face with my hands so I wouldn’t scream. The relief when he finished washed over me, and I found I was a hot, sweaty mess.

“I am truly sorry I had to put you through that,” Carrigan said, but there was only pity in his eyes, not compassion. “You are a truly remarkable specimen, and I only want you in the best shape for our studies.”

“What studies?”

“You will find out. Within reason, remember?”

I slumped back.
I’ve been beaten. Damn tranquilizer hangover.
“Just leave me be.”

He stood and moved the stool back to its place by the dresser. “I expect to see you for dinner.”

“But I haven’t a thing to wear.”

“I’m sure you can find something in the closet that will fit you. You have a full set of towels and a bathrobe as well. I suggest you use them before you come down to eat. At least pretend you’re not a barbarian.”

With that little barb, he left me. I once again looked at my left foot and found nothing obviously different except that it was pink. Reaching through what had been the connection between me and Max yielded nothing, and I slumped back in the chair.

No Wolf-Lonna, no Max…
I shivered in spite of the comfortable temperature, completely unsure of what to do to get myself out of this mess.

The shower relaxed and refreshed me until I walked back into the room and the turquoise view of the sea and smell of the salt air. The unique shade of blue-green reminded me of Max’s eyes and how he’d looked when he gazed at me before and after our lovemaking. The tang of the breeze tried to tease up happy memories of time spent with my parents on beach vacations when I was a child, but I pushed them away. There was no sense feeling anything but insecure, lonely, and wary here.

I am alone, and I have to get the hell off this island.
Although I cursed my tongue for telling Carrigan I only wanted to be near Max, I hoped it would make him less alert for signs I might be trying to escape.

After limping to the closet—yes, my left foot ached in the aftermath of Carrigan’s less than gentle removal of whatever Max had done to me—I found a light-green wrap dress that I could adjust to fit me and that would match my eyes. A jewelry box held several pendants, one of which was green and white swirled agate. I chose a silver—or maybe it was platinum—chain. White sandals in my size finished off the outfit.

“Now do I go down to dinner or wait for someone to fetch me?” I asked no one in particular.

A knock on the door answered my question, and a dark-skinned man dressed as a butler bowed to me and gestured I should follow him.

“Oh, so you work for Carrigan, then?” I asked. No answer. I asked the question again in case he hadn’t heard me. Still nothing.

Apparently I am to be ignored, perhaps so I don’t influence the staff.

The formal dining room was opposite the study, and again, large windows stood open to the sea breeze. The sun was setting, and I wished I’d looked for a sweater or wrap because I knew it would be chilly.

Max rose when I entered, and I couldn’t help but smile at him with familiarity. I had seen the man naked, after all. After I held his gaze too long to be merely polite, he blushed and looked away.

“Miss Marconi, you look lovely,” Carrigan said. Both men wore linen suits, Carrigan’s in dark blue and Max’s in tan.

“Thank you,” I said. “It’s amazing you had clothes and shoes that fit.”

“Yes, my late daughter Deirdre was about your size. It’s fortunate I held on to her things.” He inclined his head toward the dress, which I instantly hated even though the catty part of my brain—yes, we female werewolves have one, but never chase it—guessed I looked better in it than she did.

“Yes, indeed it is.” I smiled and nodded to him.
Not going to give him the advantage here.
A butler served ceviche in a large porcelain dish, and I exhaled the breath I’d held with hope everything would be served family style so I didn’t have to worry about poisoning.

“That pendant was a particular favorite, remember, Max?”

Apparently I don’t have to worry about him poisoning my body, just any chance Max may fall in love with me again.
I smiled over clenched teeth and kicked myself for not thinking Carrigan would use my desire to interact with Max to my disadvantage. As attuned to him as I was, I didn’t miss the flash of pain that crossed his features when he looked at the agate. I took a deep breath to distract his attention lower.

“The necklace looks lovely on Miss Marconi,” Max said, sounding like he was just trying to be polite. He rubbed his temples. “I’m sorry, I think I might have picked up a sinus infection while working as a doctor on the mainland. I’ve got awful pressure in my head like I need to sneeze but can’t.”

“Oh, what were you doing there?” I asked.
Tell me where your memory stops, and maybe I can help you get it back.
I took a bite of ceviche with a fried plantain to look like I wasn’t overly eager for his answer.

“Helping a colleague who was on bed rest. However, once it became apparent her colleagues had things well under control, I came back here to attend to business.”

“What sort of business would that be?”

Carrigan cleared his throat and glared at Max. “Why, the business of seeing what your secrets are, Miss Marconi. Maximilian, remember, in our work, discretion is of the utmost importance.”

“I’m aware of that, but for some reason, I feel comfortable talking to her. Besides, she knows what she’s here for, right? Her protection.”

“Among other things.” Carrigan swirled the whiskey in his glass and made the ice clink. I knew that whenever I heard ice on glass, I would think of his heavy-lidded indifference toward my humanity and my feelings.

The butler and another staff member, an exotic-looking woman in a tan dress, brought in the main course. I let them take the ceviche reluctantly—it had been very tasty. Now together they served grilled fish fillets with a mango-avocado salsa and basmati rice.

“We’re happy to have you back, Doctor Max,” she murmured when she served him and leaned a little close so he could get a better look at her chest. It irritated me even though I’d just tried the same trick.

“It’s good to be back, Saraya,” he said and obliged by glancing at her offerings, and I don’t mean the fish.

“As you can see, we eat quite healthily here at Wizard Headquarters,” Carrigan said before the woman could respond. “You’ll likely find you drop a few pounds without as many carbs.”