Chapter 21 #2
“Such a pain in the ass for me,” he grumbled. “I had it all set up. The perfect plan. Me, Emma, Allie, traveling the world.”
His face twisted with fury. “But she didn’t get it. She said no. To me. Can you believe it? She was my fucking wife!”
“You never deserved her, you bastard.” Selene used all her strength to wrench her body sideways.
It was no use. Her wrists remained locked in Daniel’s grip, and his other hand clamped around her throat.
“Now, now, Selene,” he chided. “It’s time for you to start being nicer to me.”
He moved his hand from her throat to her jaw, leaving her neck exposed.
When he bent his head and his fangs pricked her skin, she screamed.
Her mind threw a desperate plea to whatever deity might hear her. Please don’t let this happen. Don’t let Daniel win. He can’t win.
There was a pounding that she thought was her own panicked pulse, but then a dark shape appeared in a blur over Daniel, and in the next moment his weight lifted off her. Choking on a sob, she rolled onto her side, covering her neck with her hands.
No blood. Thank god.
Fenris crouched in front of her, in human form, snarling. Daniel tumbled along the floor but swiftly rolled to the balls of his feet, his eyes locked on his assailant.
“I thought you might turn up.” He glared at Fen. “I’ve been looking forward to seeing you again, Fenris.”
Fen didn’t speak, his muscles taut as he continued to shield Selene with his body.
“I’m going to kill you.” Daniel’s mouth split into a wicked grin.
“You’re going to try.” Fen glanced at her. “Get back, Selene.”
She scrambled closer to the wall, bumping against the water bottle that had rolled across the floor and stopped there.
The water bottle. Selene grabbed it as Daniel’s hand slipped into his jacket and he drew out a pistol.
“I don’t think I’ll have to try hard.” He aimed the gun at Fen.
“No!” Selene threw herself from the wall into Fen’s side as she heard the gunshot. She knocked him to the floor, sprawling on top of his body to flatten him as much as she could.
The silver bullet lodged in the wall behind them.
Luck was on her side. Fen hadn’t expected her to push him down.
Catching him by surprise was the only way she was able to leverage her strength against him.
If he’d resisted even the slightest, that bullet would be buried in Fenris instead of the wall.
“Shit.” Daniel took aim again. “When at first you don’t succeed . . .”
With shaking hands Selene unscrewed the cap of the bottle as quickly as she could and hurled it at Daniel. She’d been aiming for his face but only managed a glancing blow to his shoulder.
It didn’t matter. With the bottle open, holy water spilled out, splashing Daniel across the neck and right side of his face. As his flesh boiled, he shrieked, trying desperately to swipe away the water.
Fen shuddered, and Selene felt fur beneath her. The wolf’s toenails scrabbled against the tile, and she slid off him onto a pile of shredded clothes as he surged forward.
Daniel’s eye that wasn’t oozing in its socket bulged as the massive animal sailed through the air.
The vampire tried to aim the gun again, but he was slammed against the kitchen table before he got another shot off.
The gun fell from his hand, clattering to the floor as the table groaned and cracked under the impact of their bodies.
Wood splintered, and Daniel fell through the table to the floor with Fenris on top of him.
Daniel shrieked curses and flailed at the wolf, but Fen locked his jaws around the man’s neck.
There was a scream that cut to a gurgle and a sickening crunch.
“Oh god.” Selene struggled to her feet and staggered toward them. Fen’s teeth were sunk deep in Daniel’s neck. Daniel wasn’t moving.
She parted her lips to ask, Is he dead? when the wolf made a single sharp jerking movement, and Daniel’s head tore away from his body. Selene’s knees gave out, and she collapsed to all fours.
A sound like a low hiss moved through the kitchen. Daniel’s body shuddered and crumbled into a pile of dust. The wolf pinned its ears back and snorted. A moment later, Fen, naked and all sinewy muscle, crawled across the floor and grasped her shoulders.
“Are you hurt?”
She shook her head, but her limbs began to shake. Her skin felt like ice.
“You’re safe now,” he said.
Selene stared at the pile of dust that had been Daniel.
She thought she might vomit. Fen considered her ashen face, rose to his feet, and went to the sink.
He cupped his hands, filled them with water, and rinsed out his mouth a couple of times.
He pulled a glass from the cupboard, filled it with tap water, and knelt by her side.
“Drink this.” He put the glass into her trembling hands. “Slow sips.”
She gagged on the first swallow. Her throat was parched from screaming, and the tight knots in her stomach wouldn’t unravel.
“Easy.” He touched her cheek. “Try to breathe.”
She managed to drink a trickle of water. The sensation of liquid sliding down her throat pushed back the cold numbness creeping over her limbs. She swallowed and took another sip, the simple mechanics of her body reminding her she was alive. She’d survived.
“You tore his head off.” She could barely get the words out.
Selene had never seen someone die, much less in such a violent manner. The shock of what she witnessed rattled her very bones.
“I had to kill him,” he said in a neutral tone. “Beheading, a stake through the heart, or immolation offer the only true deaths for a vampire.”
She shuddered. She wouldn’t grieve Daniel, but his death would likely haunt her for some time. The awful tearing sound when Fenris ripped Daniel’s head from his body, the sinister whisper of a vampire’s flesh becoming nothing more than dust.
“Would you have preferred that I spared him?” His eyes were compassionate but his voice hard.
“I don’t know,” she began, then realized that was a knee-jerk reply rather than the truth. She shook her head. “No. He would have killed you.”
“And he would have violated you and turned you against your will.” She could see how he fought to remain calm. And she remembered what she’d realized amid Daniel’s attack.
Fen loves me.
Selene closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the wall. She wanted to say something to him. To find a way to gather the torrent of emotion in her heart and offer it up in a confession, in words that could convey her desire, her need for him.
The corruption of Daniel’s obsession laid bare the truth of Fen’s devotion.
Selene was beginning to accept what she’d been insisting to herself was impossible for a mere mortal.
Her soul belonged to Fenris. But she was too shaken to find a way to say what she wished she could.
Daniel’s awful words and the crude hideousness of his touch still lingered, making her feel dirty and sick.
Fen brushed away the tears that slipped from beneath her eyelids.
“I am sorry, Selene,” he murmured. “Sorry that you had to face such horror.”
“So am I.” She opened her eyes. “Thank you for stopping him. I couldn’t. He was too strong.”
It was so inadequate, that simple thanks, but Fen nodded. His gaze was solemn but tender, conveying that he understood how distressed she was and offered infinite patience in return.
He loves me.
“How did you know?” She pulled the remnants of her shirt together to cover her chest, though the tattered fabric was barely adequate. “I thought you wouldn’t be here until late tonight.”
“I didn’t know.” His jaw tightened with fury. “The matter that pulled me from dinner requires my further attention tonight. I came to tell you I won’t be able to stay with you, and I wanted to explain what’s happened.”
Her breath faltered when she realized it was only by chance that Fen had come to her rescue. If he hadn’t been there . . .
To stave off hyperventilation, she grabbed on to his reason for coming over. “What’s happened? Is something wrong?”
“We’ll discuss it in the morning. After you’ve rested.” Fen cupped her face and laid a tender kiss on her lips. “You’re in shock, and you need someone to watch over you while you recover. Is there someone I could call? I want to stay, but I can’t.”
Selene gritted her teeth. Everything in her being wanted to beg Fen to stay.
To reassure her that the horror had passed, that she was safe.
But knowing how deeply he cared for her, Selene had no doubt that whatever was calling him away couldn’t be ignored.
Under no other circumstance would he leave her.
She knew that without question. Selene didn’t want to selfishly demand his presence when someone else needed him.
If they were going to be together, she needed to accept that there would be times when Avondale had to come first.
And there was someone else Selene trusted to understand what she was going through. A friend who would comfort her. “You could call Natalie. Natalie Lyon.”
When Fen was silent, she looked at him and thought she saw him flinch, but she must have imagined it.
“It’s getting late,” he said. “What about Tim and Marley? They’re right next door.”
“Okay.” She didn’t have energy to argue. “I don’t know where Allie is.”
“Josh is bringing her here now,” he said. “They were already on their way. I spoke with him on the phone just before I arrived. They were at the estate.”
“You should get dressed before Allie gets here.” Selene made an effort to smile. “I don’t think I have any clothes here that would fit you.”
He took her hand and kissed it. “There are clothes in my car.”
She was about to ask if he could stay for even a little while and hold her, when she heard Allie’s alarmed voice in the front hall.
“Auntie Sel? Aunt Selene, are you here? Why is the front door open?”
Allie came into the kitchen and shrieked at the disaster area that greeted her.
“Oh my god!”