Chapter Twenty
The next two weeks passed peacefully. Kadie told herself there was nothing to worry about.
Elowynne couldn’t get past the wards Rylan had set around the house, the town and the surrounding mountains.
But she was always on edge. Rylan refused to let her go anywhere alone.
Not that she really minded. Still, every now and then she enjoyed going to Cheyenne or Casper by herself to shop or take in a movie.
But that was now forbidden.
With a sigh, she pulled on a pair of black jeans and a black sweater, and stepped into a pair of black boots. They were going hunting. Something else she occasionally enjoyed doing alone.
Rylan, also dressed in black, was waiting for her upstairs. Now that she thought about it, she had rarely seen him in any other color. Personally, she preferred bright colors.
“Ready?” he asked.
“I guess so.”
“Something bothering you?”
“No.”
He lifted a skeptical brow.
“I’m just tired of feeling like a prisoner in my own home. If Elowynne was planning some sort of retribution, you’d think she would have done it by now.”
“I don’t know about that. She waited a hell of a long time to avenge Eleni.”
“And she’s not done yet, is she?”
Saintcrow shrugged.
“This won’t be done until one of you is dead,” Kadie said. “The waiting is driving me crazy.”
“I’m guessing that’s exactly what she wants,” Rylan said, taking her in his arms. “I’ve tried to contact her a couple of times, hoping to get this over with, but she doesn’t respond. Are you ready to go?”
“Where are we going?” They had been hunting in a different state each night.
“How about Montana?”
Kadie nodded. A moment later, they were in Bozeman.
It was Friday night and the streets were crowded with people, citizens and tourists alike.
A group of excited teenagers were waiting in line at the movie theater.
Kadie smiled when she saw them, remembering her own childhood, the good times she’d had with her sister, Kathy, and her high school friends.
She hadn’t seen Kathy in a long time and she made a promise to herself that when this trouble with Elowynne was over, she would go visit her sister.
“How about him?” Saintcrow said, gesturing at a young man walking with his date.
Kadie nodded.
Moving up behind them, Saintcrow spoke to the couple, who stopped in the shadows beneath an awning.
Kadie approached the man, wondering how many times she had done this as she bit him gently.
His blood was warm and sweet. Even after so many years, even though she wasn’t causing him any harm, she still felt a little guilty for what she was doing.
She glanced at Rylan when she finished, wishing she was more like him. He never felt any guilt at all.
After he released the couple from his spell, he took Kadie’s hand and they walked back to the business district.
He found a nightclub with a dance floor and Kadie spent the next hour doing one of her favorite things, dancing with Rylan.
He held her close, his dark eyes filled with love.
They danced until the club closed and then he took her home where they spent the rest of the night in each other’s arms.
Kadie was almost asleep when Saintcrow jackknifed into a sitting position, a vile oath on his lips. She didn’t have to ask what was wrong. She’d heard Elowynne’s voice in his head threatening to destroy everything he loved.
He looked at her, one brow arched. “You heard it, too?”
Kadie nodded. “I guess it isn’t over.”
“Did you really think it was?”
“No, but I was hoping.”
“She isn’t the kind to give up.” He’d warded the house, the town, and the mountains against her, he thought, frowning, but was that enough?
She was a powerful witch. Was she powerful enough to burn down the town from a distance?
He had no family, but Kadie had a sister.
Micah, Sofia and Rosa had family in Arizona.
Families that were vulnerable. Shit! What were the odds that Elowynne was unaware of them?
Kadie sucked in a breath when she caught snatches of Rylan’s thoughts. “You don’t think she’d come after my sister, do you? Or the Ravenwoods?”
“I wouldn’t put it past her.”
Kadie felt a sudden chill. Kathy had twin daughters and a son. And the Ravenwood clan had a number of young kids. “What are we going to do?”
“I’ll talk to Kincaid and tell him to take all the Ravenwoods on vacation, preferably out of the country.
As far as I know, Elowynne has no way to track Jake.
And I doubt if she’s aware of the Ravenwood family, but better safe than sorry.
As for your sister, she’s probably safe enough.
I don’t think Elowynne knows you have a sister, let alone what her name is.
And now that Kathy’s married, her surname is different. And so is yours.”
It wasn’t much comfort. Still, the fact that Kathy lived in California, and that she’d had so little contact with her sister, probably worked in their favor.
“So, what are we going to do?” Kadie asked.
“I don’t know. We can leave the country. We can go stay at our place in New Orleans. We can stay here. It doesn’t really matter. Sooner or later, the witch and I are going to have to settle this once and for all.”
~ * ~
Saintcrow met with Kincaid at the saloon in Morgan Creek later that night to discuss what he and Kadie had talked about earlier.
Jake grunted softly. “Pretty sure Mrs. Ravenwood will object to leaving home, but I think I can convince her.”
“No doubt.” Kincaid had a way with the ladies, even with his mother-in-law, who doted on him.
“To be on the safe side, I think I’ll take the whole family to Italy,” Jake said. “Lena loves it there. I’ll talk to Micah and we’ll work out the details. I’ve got a vamp friend in Venice who’s a bodyguard. I’m sure he can round up a couple of friends to help us out if the need arises.”
“Sounds good,” Saintcrow said. “How does Rosa feel about it?”
Kincaid shrugged. “She’s always happy to spend time with her family wherever they are. What about you and Kadie? You staying here?”
“I’m not sure. Leaving seems like admitting I’m afraid of that damn witch.”
“Are you?”
“No.” He didn’t care what happened to the town. He wasn’t worried about himself. “I’m only afraid for what might happen to Kadie if Elowynne wins.”
~ * ~
Two days later, the Ravenwood clan left for Italy.
Kadie felt strangely bereft. Sofia and Rosa and Holly were her only real friends.
She had made acquaintances with some of the hired help in town, but they didn’t really count as friends.
There were too many things in her life that she couldn’t share.
As the days passed, she was filled with a sudden restlessness. She was used to being busy, taking photographs, uploading them online, laying out ad copy. She’d gone shopping and to the movies with Rosa, and sometimes with Sofia and Holly when they were staying in town.
Now, Morgan Creek was a ghost town. Winter was coming. At night, the wind howled down from the mountains. Clouds gathered overhead, threatening rain.
“Why doesn’t she do something?” Kadie complained late one night while they were playing cards. “I’m going crazy waiting.”
“I’m sure that’s just what she wants,” Saintcrow said, laying his cards on the table. “Gin.”
“You always win,” she muttered as she shuffled the deck.
“I cheat.”
She glared at him. “As if I didn’t know.” She was too upset to effectively block her thoughts. “Maybe she’s given up.”
“I doubt it.”
Kadie stared at him, her head cocked to the side, her expression thoughtful. “You want to fight her, don’t you?”
He didn’t deny it.
“Why?”
“Why? How can you ask that? She put me through hell.”
“It hurt your masculine pride, didn’t it?” she accused, tossing her cards aside. “She hit you with some sort of dark magic that you couldn’t beat. For the first time in your life, another vampire got the best of you and you can’t stand it.”
Saintcrow glared at her, dark eyes narrowed ominously, mouth a thin line.
“It’s true, isn’t it?” Kadie said. “It’s killing you inside. Admit it.”
In the blink of an eye, he had her on her back on the floor, his hands holding her arms over her head, his body pinning her down. “If a man had dared say that to my face, I would have killed him.”
She met his angry gaze, unflinching. “The truth hurts, doesn’t it?”
“Damn right.”
She writhed beneath him, grinding her hips against his groin. His reaction was immediate.
“You’re not playing fair,” he growled.
A slow smile spread across her lips. “I know.”
Lowering his head, he covered her mouth with his in a savage kiss that slowly turned gentle, intimate, arousing.
She moaned deep in her throat as her body responded to his kisses.
A moment later, their clothing disappeared and his hands were beneath her, lifting her hips to receive him as his tongue plundered her mouth.
And there was no more room for thought as pleasure rippled through every fiber of her being, driving every other thought from her mind but the need for this man, for his mouth on hers, his hands caressing her, until the world exploded between them and she floated slowly back to earth.
~ * ~
Elowynne screamed her frustration as another of her enchantments failed to produce the results she sought. Damn and blast!
She hurled her wand across the room then stared at it. Had she lost her magic? No, that was impossible. She summoned her wand to her hand. Something was blocking her spells, but what?
Was it possible Saintcrow was strong enough to repel her dark magic?
She shook her head. That was impossible.
He didn’t possess any magic. She had never heard of a vampire who could repel magic without help.
The witch in the Everglades could no longer protect him.
Had that witch in New Orleans worked some sort of charm on Saintcrow to shield him?
The thought made her frown. It was, she supposed, highly possible for another powerful witch to produce a protection spell that would thwart her own magic.
Perhaps she would have to destroy the New Orleans witch as she had the other one. Killing Alara had filled her with a great deal of pleasure. Taking Alara’s heart and drinking her blood had magnified her power.
Murder and revenge were always the answer.
A sly smile twisted her lips.
First Saintcrow’s woman.
And maybe Jake Kincaid and the New Orleans witch, as well, for good measure.
And then Saintcrow.
The best for last.