Number of the Beast (Paladin Cycle, Book One) (32 page)

With his head cocked, he
smirked. “And Carmen?”

Her brows furrowed, lips
pursed. “She’s my best friend.”

Holy fuck! Who was next? Roxy? Birch?
Scooter? Her mother?

Shane ran a hand over his
head. Shaking a finger, he ground out, “If you go on like this,
you’ll earn yourself a room at the asylum, right next door to your
aunt.” Tears of frustration welled in his eyes. “You belong here
with me, and Scooter and Alamo, not in a padded cell.”

Amy glanced at the sky.
“What do I do now?”

Shane took her face in his
hands and forced her to look at him. “Do nothing. I’m begging
you.”

Amy narrowed eyes. “I
wasn’t talking to you.” She turned on her heel and strode toward
the trailer.

Hanging his head, he blew
out a breath. The tears he’d struggled to keep at bay poured down
his face. His fingers clenched into a tight fist. He eyed the trunk
of a thick tree. Maybe if he broke every bone in his hand it would
dull the pain of watching Amy walk away.

“
Fuck you, Tobias!”
Gritting his teeth, he slammed his fist into the trunk…which should
have broken at least a bone or two. Growling, he punched with the
other fist. Raw skin covered the knuckles of both his hands but no
broken bones.

He turned and ran after
her.

Long, heavy strides.

As she reached the
trailer, he gripped her by the arm and swung her to face him.
“Don’t ever turn your back on me…on us.”

She shrugged out of his
hold. “You think I’m crazy, just like most people in this podunk
town. Tobias is the only one I can count on. You say you love me
but when I confide in you, you turn on me.” A look of disgust
contorted her face. “You don’t know how to love. Not even
yourself.”

Crushing his lips against
hers, he pulled her against his body. His tongue invaded her mouth
and she moaned, the sweetest, hottest sound he’d ever heard. Tears
circled their joined lips. He heard her whimper and opened his
eyes. Amy was crying too.

He slid the screen door
open. With his hands gripped on her ass, he lifted her off the
ground and scooted her into the house. Shane lifted her shirt above
her breasts. He pushed her against the living room wall and slid
her up, until her groin was level with his hard cock.

He drove inside her.

“
I’m not
crazy.”

“
I know.” With his hands
gripped on her narrow hips, he gazed at her face, smudged with
teardrops and dirt.

“
Do you?”

Shane nodded and nibbled
on her shoulder-blade, inhaling her natural perfume combined with
her oatmeal and honey soap.

“
I’m really, really not
crazy,” she whispered against his lips. Her hands tangled in his
hair.

“
Just shut up and fuck
me.”

Lynn opened her eyes and saw the empty
room. Cold blood stains dotted the sheets while the sweet succulent
aroma of fresh meat perfumed the air. A touch of divinity caressed
through her body, starting at her core and stroking along her
slender legs and her full breasts.

She slinked from the bed.
Hard wood beneath her delicate feet, she reached over her head,
stretching her muscles to discover newfound agility. Looking into
the full length mirror that hung on the black wardrobe, she saw
something she had not seen in over two decades: erotically slender
legs; a slimmed down tummy; and perfectly proportioned breasts.
Even her black hair had a fresh sheen as if it had been rejuvenated
by the Fountain of Youth.

Instinctively, her tongue traced her
lips as her hands explored her newly transformed body.

She pressed her face close
to the mirror. “I am Beast.” She licked the glass. “Hear me
purr.”

Musical notes caught her attention and
her ears perked up. She felt the side of her head and realized her
ears had literally twitched. The music came from afar but it
sounded crystal clear: Bach Sonata No. 2 in E flat major for flute
and harpsichord.

In an uncanny swiftness,
Lynn descended the spiraling staircase. Following her ears, she
made her way through the home and down a long corridor with walls
adorned with statues inside niches and authentic oil paintings of
grotesque beasts and humanoids with strange alien faces.

Large redwood doors swung
open to a ballroom in dark shades. The gray walls were lined with
gray statues, elaborately stain-etched floor to ceiling windows
with a reinforced glass staircase ascending to a black marble
balcony.

Oblivious to Lynn’s presence, Ira
twirled and whirled on the floor. Her beige off-the-shoulder
evening dress flowed about her. A lacy shawl did little to conceal
her small breasts peeking from her low-cut neckline. Atop her bald
head she wore a black bonnet.

The music beckoned Lynn. She had not
danced since she was a child and her new muscles burned to be used
and abused.

“
You are looking splendid
m'lady.” Ira floated toward her.

“
I feel more alive than
ever before.” She cast her eyes to the glass ceiling at least
thirty feet above the dance floor. “And this ballroom...it’s
beautiful and open. I feel so free. I wouldn’t have guessed this
mansion could fit a room so large or corridors that seem to stretch
for miles.”

Ira giggled. “The house's
exterior is only an illusion, Mistress. The inside of Master
Isaac's home is not of this plane.”

“
How can that be?” Lynn
asked.

Ira twirled and rose into the air. The
music crackled and from thin air Ira plucked a cello. From the
balcony appeared shadowy figures holding flutes and a violinist.
The phantom ensemble played a lonesome yet romantic
sonata.

Lynn’s new muscles slid
her along the tile, with the grace of an Olympic figure skater.
Alone on the dance floor, Lynn pirouetted and entrechat with ease
and little effort, like she used to twenty years ago.

The song ended and Ira
clapped.

Lynn bent at the waist.
Straightening she asked, “Why does a Beast need such eloquent
things?”

“
Master Isaac is not
savage. Master appreciates the finer things that all worlds have to
offer.”

Lynn remembered her
mother, or who she’d thought was her mother, and the many hours,
days and years she’d spent teaching Lynn to dance. On the aged
hardwood floor, in a living room probably the size of Isaac’s
bathroom, she was taught ballet, the waltz and her favorite, the
tango.

Sunbeams filtered through
high windows. Shards of glimmer streaked across the gray tile. But
as wide open and spacious as the ballroom was, Lynn felt
restricted, caged.

“
Does Isaac have a
car?”

Ira waved her hand toward
a door in the corner of the ballroom. “It is in the garage down the
long west wing corridor.”

Lynn smiled. “Thank you
for forcing me to eat. I’m feeling much better.” She stepped past
Ira but Ira floated around and in front of her.

“
I want to see my mother,”
Lynn said.

Ira’s head shook. “That’s
forbidden. I am sorry.”

# # #

Atticus lay face-down on the edge of
Sera’s Pond. The forest once again replenished with vibrant
chirping, hissing and cawing of wildlife, a welcome sanctuary
compared to the nightmarish realm of the space-time
warp.

An celtic tune played
somewhere beneath him. His phone. Atticus bolted upright and
snatched his phone.

“
Atticus!’ Elder Cai’s
voice was riddled with panic. “Where have you been, boy? I’ve
attempted to call you several times with no response.”

“
I just spoke with you a
few hours ago, Elder.”

“
It was yesterday when we
last spoke. You’ve been unreachable for nearly twelve
hours.”

The time warp, Atticus
thought. “I apologize.”

“
A Seeker located in
Buckeye has discovered another possible attack by the
Geminus.”

# # #

“
To see my own mother is
forbidden?” Lynn asked.

“
Now that you have a mate
your surrogate mother is no longer safe to be around you or you to
be around her. You must promise not to leave the manor without
Master Isaac’s permission.”

Lynn cringed at the dark.
“I am not a prisoner in this mansion any longer. The walls and
ceiling are closing in on me and I want out of here. If Isaac needs
me so badly,” she purred and ran her hands down her body. “He can
find me when he returns.”

“
No!” Ira sped around
Lynn. Her arms flapped as if hailing a taxi. “You mustn’t, Mistress
Lynn.”

Lynn snarled, baring her
elongated canines. “Back off spirit.” A strong scent fumed the
air.

Ira visibly shivered,
phasing in and out. The wraith shrieked as she flew rapidly to the
ceiling and dodged somewhere behind the balcony railings. She
babbled a string of nonsense.

When Ira poked her head
over the balcony, she wore an old-fashioned gasmask. “Don’t leave
the mansion, Mistress.”

Lynn laughed. “Why are you
wearing that ridiculous mask?”

Ira remained on the
balcony. “It is your essence, Mistress. It will drive a wraith
insane.”

Lynn licked her lips as
she strolled out of the ballroom. Her senses heightened, she knew
the strong aroma had come from her own body. She breathed deeply
and savored the scent of her own pheromones.

Lynn wandered down a corridor until
she smelled motor oil behind a large double door.

Inside was a multi-car
garage.

But Isaac’s car was locked
and Lynn saw no keys inside, nor any switch or button to open the
garage door.

Ira drifted in after her.
“Please, Mistress! Listen to me for your own good. It is not proper
for you to return to your surrogate.”

“
Hush, you miserable
ghost!”

Lynn dashed past the
wraith and through a labyrinth of corridors before she reached the
front door.

“
Don’t go, Mistress
Lynn!”

But Lynn was already gone.
With incredible speed she fled the estate. Her legs carried her
faster than ever before, down the street, and onto a state road
before she tore into the woods. Yet she did not slow down as she
raced along the shadows of the cypresses and the ash. Moving so
quickly, she hurled past a napping coyote then by a doe and her
fawn who slept in a thorny bush.

And when the sparse woods
ended she was on another major highway. The sound of a growling
diesel engine caught her attention. With her new keen sight she saw
the biker speeding along the shadowy highway coming toward
her.

Immediately, she let the
straps of her flimsy silk gown fall off her shoulders, baring her
naked breasts.

As intended, the biker
slowed his rig when he noticed her. He brought it to a stop a few
feet away from her on the shoulder of the highway. He removed his
helmet and approached, a big happy grin.

“
Good God, woman. You got
yourself one hell of a rack right there, baby. What the hell you
doing out here like that?”

Lynn moved slowly toward
him. A growl purred from her lips. 

The man tossed his helmet
to the roadside. He glanced around then back at her. “Mind if we
step into the woods?”

“
I just want to take you
right here, right now.” Lynn stepped closer.

Again, he cast a glance up
and down the quiet highway. A fist slugged Lynn across the cheek
and a calloused hand grabbed her by the hair.

He dragged her into the
seclusion of the trees where he shoved her to the firm
ground.

He grabbed his
zipper.

Lynn stood and threw her
arms around the barrel chested man.

Then she wrapped her hands
around his neck and sank her mouth into his throat. Her strangling
fingers muffled his screams. When she jerked her mouth away, a
chunk of his flesh came with it. As she watched the life drain from
his eyes, she chewed and swallowed.

She tore another chunk
from the other side of his throat. Then allowed his body to fall to
the ground.

Ignoring the helmet, she
mounted the motorcycle.

As she sped away, the wind
fluttered her hair and tickled her skin. She glanced at the
wide-open sky, grateful to be free of the confines of that house.
She leaned on the gas and threw her head back before howling at the
evening sky.

Forbidden or not, she had to see the
woman who raised her at least one more time. And no one could stop
her.

After they’d made love, Shane
apologized for not believing her about the voice. He’d prefer she
keep Tobias to herself, but that was a fight for another
time.

Amy was called in early for her second
shift. The diner had got hit with another bus. Probably more damn
tourists looking for evidence of the supernatural in Sacred Woods
Forest.