The Shepard's Agony (21 page)

Shepard turned his eyes back to Gwen and she grinned happily at him, leaning forward to press a feather kiss against his mouth. After all, if he could feel her
hands
, then why not her lips?

Before she could make that contact with
him
, her entire body jerked and rippled; it didn’t escape David’s notice.

“What’s happening to you?”

There was fear in his eyes for her. She knew what it was though, she was being pulled back to her
body
. Before she could tell him
this
, the jerking in her body turned into a pulling and she was suddenly falling.

Gwen hated this feeling, she’d forgotten all about it, and she screamed her head off as she fell from the sky without a parachute to stop her until she landed back in her body, coughing and sputtering for air. She curled up for a moment to catch her breath and clutch at her chest.

She hated that so much!

She would have to get Evey to teach her spells that didn’t hurt so much when the
majick faded next time.

Despite the pain in her chest, she’d done what she set out to do. David had taken the potion and would likely continue to take it as long as Elaine was there to administer it to
him
. It hadn’t been wasted, that was the important thing.

Gwen’s heart swelled. There was
hope
. As long as the potion’s majick took hold of him, there was hope.

She wanted to laugh out loud, and almost did until a sound disturbed her from her leafy bed. She stilled her body and concentrated when she didn’t hear it again right away.

She perked her ears and made them listen to every twitch in the woods until the sound came back. A woman, Di, and she was talking to another person. She didn’t sound too happy either.

“That’s enough! That’s enough! Stop it!”

Gwen tried to stand, but a wave of
nausea forced her to her
knees
. She fought the dizziness that threatened to take her. Who was she talking to?

Gwen tried again, slower this time, and crawled to the other side of the tree to have a peek.

It was Di alright, but Jimmy was there with her, on his
knees
. He drank from her wrist while Di pushed and shoved at him to try and break free. Di swayed with weakness as the former hunter refused to remove his fangs from her wrist. He must have been starving to death.

Traitor or not, Gwen couldn’t sit there and let him drink her to death. She forced herself to her feet and, after nearly falling over again, ran toward the pair.

Both were so caught up that neither saw her until she clumsily threw her entire weight at Jimmy, pushing him off of Dianna and to the ground.

He roared and struggled, easily throwing her off and leaping to his feet. Di fell to her
knees
, weak with blood
loss
, while Gwen fought her own weakness and returned to her feet.

“
Leave her alone,” s
he said, moving to stand between them.

Jimmy snarled and Gwen got a look at his face from under his hood. Charred nearly to a
crisp
. It probably would have been worse if not for the canopy of trees above their heads. She almost felt sorry for him, but after the feeding he would have a renewed
strength
. It would be only hours until his face healed.

“
She told me I could!”
he defended, sounding affronted.

“
She was also telling you to
stop
,” Gwen snarled back, turning her head just enough to see where Di was kneeling, clutching her bleeding wrist and silently crying.

“
Did you tell him he could?”
she asked.

Di looked up at her and softly nodded her head.

Gwen put an effort into snarling at her. “Did it make you feel any better?”
she asked.

Di’s brows came together, confused at the tone Gwen gave her. “What do you mean?”

Even tho
ugh Di was still a part of the pack, like a sister, Gwen had to remember that she was the one responsible for the attack on their Moon Night. “You let them find us here, and now he’s a vampire, did letting him feed from you make you feel better?”

Di’s face went chalk white
as
she put two and two together. “Gwen, you don’t know—”

“
I don’t need to know!” The tiny hairs on the back of her neck stood up in warning, and Gwen spun around to find Jimmy standing a good five feet closer than before. “Stay away from me!”
she yelled, her dizziness disappearing and her strength returning.

Jimmy stopped, but not before smirking at her.

Gwen stomped toward Di and knelt before her, keeping Jimmy in the corner of her eye just in case. She didn’t think he was done with her yet.

“
Di, this has to
have been the stupidest thing you have ever done. Tell me you were drunk when you did it, and—and I’ll forgive you,
okay
? Just …” Gwen couldn’t think of what else to say. She didn’t want to believe that her best friend could be in the right of mind and still send hunters after her own
pack
. When Di turned her face away and sobbed, Gwen’s heart sank. Di wouldn’t even look at her and admit it.

“Why?”

“
Why do you think
?”

Gwen fell back at the outburst.

“You were always braver and stronger, and he always wanted you! He never even looks at me!” Di punched the ground with both fists, screaming through her sobs.

“
Who are you talking about?”
she
asked
, open
mouthed
, as she righted herself. She couldn’t mean …

“
John.” Di
sniffed
and Gwen’s stomach dropped. “He even tells it to my face. I’m not strong enough, I can’t go because I’ll be afraid. He treats me like a—a … a kid sister!”

Gwen couldn’t stop herself. She slapped her. Hard. It
was enough to make Di stop crying and stare owl eyed at her, a hand on her red cheek. Gwen wanted to kill her. Instead, she grabbed her by her jacket and hauled her to her feet, shaking her around.

“
That’s why? Because you were
jealous
? You weak—” Gwen forced herself to stop by biting her fist. The pain made her not want to kill Di quite so much.

Then she pushed Di into a tree, afraid that if she stood anywhere near, she would hurt her.

“
People died last night! How could you?” Now Gwen was crying. Crying and pacing. All she could think about was the pup and his mother running for their car to escape. The wives who cried over their husbands, Bill
in the hospital, and even the bounty hunter who sawed off his hand when Gwen bit him. None of that would have happened if it weren’t for her.

Then another thing came to her. The book. She’d completely forgotten about the address book. If Dianna was the traitor that meant she was the one to take it out of the safe and hand it over.

Gwen wiped the tears from her face. “What am I going to do with—
?”

She was cut off when Jimmy used her distraction to grab her around her arms and forcefully pulled her back. Gwen screamed and kicked to make him drop her, but drinking so much blood did a lot more for his strength than she thought it did.

“
Let me go!”
she screamed, hoping to throw off his hood with her
thrashing
. But he held
firm
, slapping a charred hand over her mouth. The scent of burned flesh made her stomach flop.

“Leave her alone! It wasn’t her fault!” Jimmy hissed.

Di stepped forward, her hands outstretched
, still crying. “Don’t hurt her,” she begged.

“She has to listen!” Jimmy insisted, which sounded more like a snarl in her ear.

Gwen relaxed in his arms, hoping he would loosen his grip on her so she could attack him and get away.

He chuckled instead. “I’m not falling for that.”

She grumbled under his hand, holding back the knot of fear in her stomach as best as she could. If Di co
uld send hunters after her own pack, what would she do to her for figuring it out? It wasn’t like Jimmy told anyone else that she knew of. He could kill her right now and make off
scot
-
free
. No one would ever know what Di had done.

“
Will you listen now?” He didn’t sound cocky, but
patient
. Since Gwen didn’t feel like waiting there all night, she nodded her head. She was curious as to why he would stand up for a Were anyway, a creature he’d made a living out of hunting only hours
earlier
. Plus, as long as they talked, she was safe.

“Good, now let me tell you—”

Di screamed. “Look out!”

A hard fist smashed into the side of Jimmy’s head, throwing him off of her before he fell to the ground, much like he’d done when she’d tackled him, only his attacker still stood while he scrambled to cover his face with his hood.

Gwen turned, fully expecting to see John, but David stood in his place, massaging bruised knuckles
. Her jaw dropped and heart fluttered.

He seethed at his brother, his entire body tense and shaking. Elaine stood right behind
him
,
making
it obvious as
to
what had happened.

“
She let you out?”
Then, what had happened to Eric?

David stopped shaking and looked at her, as if
just
remembering that she was
there
. Yanking her into his
arms
, he crushed her with his embrace. She would have hugged him back, but her arms were pinned to her side and she couldn’t breathe.

“
Are you alright?”
he asked.

She squeaked.

Startled, he dropped her to her feet. “I’m sorry, are you okay?” He was hovering over her know.

“
I’m
fine
,” she wheezed, still gasping but finding the strength to throw her arms around his neck. He hugged her back, gently this time, and savored the feeling of having her there, skin tingling where they touched.

Abruptly, he pulled away. “He didn’t bite you, did he?”
Without waiting for an answer, he began searching all the usual bite spots, tilting her neck to have a look and bringing her wrist up for him to inspect.

Gwen tried not to laugh, she should have pulled her arms away from his inspection, but having him so close to her was too appealing to tell him anything that would make him pull away. Still, she
didn’t want to worry him. “
Were
s can’t change into vamps, you know.”

“
I know, I just want—”
he cut himself off and stared at her before clearing his throat. “I wanted to be sure he didn’t hurt you.” He suddenly felt sheepish, standing there holding her
hand
while his other hand was halfway up her sleeve, searching for punctures marks.

Gwen grinned, leaning up to kiss him.

“
Nice to know
whose side you’re on.”

They pulled away almost before they had a chance to start. Jimmy was on his feet again, glaring at them angrily from under his hood.

David stepped in front of
Gwen
. While she was sure she could handle him despite her failed attempt earlier, she was glad for the protection.

Shepard didn’t glare back. “Well, I had to get you off
of
her.”

“By punching me in the head? You don’t think I look bad enough?”

He winced. “What were you doing anyway?”

“
Trying to tell her about…”
he trailed
off
, pointing at Di.

“Oh
,” David said quietly. That was something that needed to be explained. He scratched the back of his head and thought about how he would do it.

“
What’s wrong, sweetheart?” Elaine asked, putting an arm around Di’s
shoulder
. The redhead shrugged her off and walked away.

“
You can’t go back to the cabin,
Di
,” Gwen called after her, stopping her in her tracks.

“Why can’t she go back?” Elaine asked, looking at all three of them with a cautious curiosity. “What’s going on?”

Gwen forced herself not to feel any pity for
Di
, who was cringing away at such innocent questions. “Did you want to tell her?” she
asked
. Di only looked away and shook her
head in response
.

Shepard put a hand on her shoulder. “Gwen—”

“
No! I know you’re going to say I’m
overreacting
, but if it weren’t for her—”

“
If it weren’t for her
we
wouldn’t have found your Moon Night spot and attacked. I know,” he said softly.

“What did he say?” Elaine covered a gasp with her hand, staring with wide eyes at Di’s cringing back.

Gwen’s breath hitched.
She’d almost forgotten that David was there as well. He gazed down at her with sad eyes and sighed.

“
I’m just as responsible as she is
. If
anything
, you have to remember that.”

Gwen swallowed hard and nodded, leaning into his chest for comfort, happy when he held her.

“
For what it’s worth,” he started, and she looked up at
him
, “she honestly didn’t think what happened
would
happen.”