Chosen by Sin (22 page)

He cleared his throat and pocketed his phone. “No. I am hungry.
Thanks.”

She stepped into the gazebo and they sat across from one another at the
small table and chair set. She pointed to the food on the tray. “It’s nothing
fancy. Lettuce and toasted bread with grilled goat’s cheese and apples in
caramel.”

“Looks good.”

They ate in polite silence. Made painfully superficial small talk. They
were being so civilized, in fact, it was burning his ass. Desperate to make
some kind of significant subject change, he asked, “So who’s Ella?”

Her face softened in obvious affection for the girl. “Ella lives here.
She’s an orphan. I have about six orphans who live on site.”

“You’ve adopted six kids?” Had she done that after all the
miscarriages? And were they the only individuals who lived on the grounds with
her, or had she been talking about Cy earlier? Just as he had then, Dex bit
back the question.

“No. I’m more of a house mistress. They don’t really need a mother.”

Dex frowned. “Don’t need a mother? How old is Ella? Seven? Eight?”

“She’s seven. But she’s a dragon-shifter, like Cy.”

When he just continued to look at her blankly, she frowned. “Cy said
he’d explained to you about their life span.”

“An average of thirty years. Yeah, he told me. So?”

“So although a seven-year-old human child would need to live with a
parent, Draci often live independently by the time they turn five. But since
Ella came to me when she was three, well, I told her she could stay here as
long as she wants. She and the other children have chosen to do so.”

“She looks to be her age, but Cy looks a lot older than sixteen.”

“In a couple of years, Ella will start aging more rapidly. Right now,
it’s mostly emotional and internal maturation that’s accelerated.”

He nodded. Then shook his head while blowing out his breath. “Weird.”

She laughed. “I know it must seem that way, but I’ve lived with the
Draci for almost a century. I’ve grown used to them.”

Cy had said she’d come to live with the Draci after her parents died.
Dex wondered how it had happened.

“So you called your boss,” she said. “Mahone, right? What now?”

According to Mahone, he was supposed to get his ass back to the church
in Paris, track down the trio of shape-shifters, and make them talk. But he
hadn’t told Mahone about being summoned by Jes or about her pregnancy, and
although he’d told Mahone that he thought Trosseau had been possessed, he
hadn’t told him the same thing about himself. “I don’t know,” he told Jes. “You
said you need me to stay, but that I don’t have to stay too close. Why don’t
you tell me what that means?”

“Honestly, I don’t know. I’m kind of playing it by ear right now.”

“So this connection we have, the one that makes the baby stronger, it’s
not typical for vampires and their…” He stopped, not sure what to say. Child’s
father? Lover? He didn’t feel comfortable saying either one.

“No. Not at all. I’ve never heard of it before. Certainly never
experienced this. But I have no doubt it’s real.” She pressed her hand against
her stomach. Was it his imagination, or did her waistline look slightly
thicker?

“You said your pregnancy will last a month. So the baby will be born in
a little more than two weeks?”

“Yes. Maybe even sooner.”

He saw the flash of hope in her eyes and shook his head. “I can’t stay
that long, Jes. I have work to do.” He also had his revenge to think about. And
despite her assurances, Dex needed to consider Lucy. He’d promised to be there
for her during her heat. Every day he was away meant she suffered. Although
she’d wanted to terminate their arrangement before he’d left, she’d likely
change her mind when the heat got bad. He didn’t want to leave her hanging,
even if spending an extended amount of time with Jes could be…nice.

Jes bit her lip, clearly struggling with the desire to persuade him to
stay and the need to let him do what was right for himself. “Can you stay a
week? Ten days? You don’t have to stay here, on the grounds. The baby started
getting better as soon as you were in France. I know you have your mission to
consider. In fact, I asked Cy if he’d take you to the village come daylight.”

He couldn’t stay ten days. Not even one week. But her comment about Cy
and the village distracted him from saying so. “What village? Why?”

“You said your
main objective is to get intel on these shape-shifter murders, right? But that
the
diregeants
had stonewalled you?”

“Yes.”

“Maybe someone in the nearby village knows something that can help
you.”

“Why would they? Who lives in this village?”

“Mostly dragon-shifters, but there are a few Otherborn, as well. No
humans, so we can all live relatively in the open.”

He reached out and touched her hair. She seemed to hold her breath
until he drew back him arm. “Why the dye job, then?”

“I’m a doctor. Never know when I’ll be called to help someone. Slipping
sunglasses on to cover my eyes is one thing, but with the hair, it’s just
easier this way.”

“Hmm,” he said. “Are there shape-shifters in the village?”

“Not that I know of. The Otherborn are mainly Giselle’s family.
Felines. And a couple of mages.”

Mages, huh? That could be useful. Now that he was dealing with
shape-shifters killing shape-shifters, and dealing with some kind of dark
force, too, maybe a mage would know something useful. But was it worth risking
the baby’s health on the chance he could get some information that may or may
not be helpful? “What if going to the village is too far? What if it’s
dangerous for me to leave and you end up losing the baby?”

Clearly upset by what he was saying, Jes looked away. “I’ve given that
a lot of thought. But you staying here could very well endanger the baby, too.”

He stiffened. “You said you weren’t afraid of me.”

She covered his hand with her own. The light touch hit him harder than
a heavyweight knockout punch. He felt it everywhere. Inside him.

She hissed and
pulled her hand away, as if she too had felt the contact intensely enough to
scare her. She shook her head. “I’m not afraid of you. But Cy thinks something
possessed you, something he called a
diabol
.
I’m not sure if it’s true, but it could be. You weren’t yourself when you
attacked him. If something made you act that way, it could do so again. If you
go into the village, a mage might be able to give you a protection spell.”

He smiled at how eerily her thoughts echoed his own, but he still
hesitated. Funny, just yesterday he’d completely rejected the idea of having a
child. Now he was having to weigh his every move against the risk of harming
one.

“What if you start to weaken in my absence?”

“I’ll call you.”

“Your cell service sucks.”

“True, but the village isn’t that far away. Plus, I’ve been to the
village, which means if I need you, I can teleport there in seconds.”

“I don’t know. Yesterday you were begging me to stay close. Now you’re
sending me away? You can try to persuade me to stay put. Why aren’t you?”

She smiled sadly. “I tried that already. It didn’t work out so well,
remember? Besides, I honestly don’t think I’d be endangering my child. If I
did, I wouldn’t be suggesting this. I know nothing is foolproof or guaranteed.
I know it’s a small risk. Given my history, it’s a risk whether you stay or
not.”

Dex nodded. “Okay. We’ll try it your way for now.”

“Good,” Jes said. She rose. “I’m sorry, but I need to get some wood to
replenish the fireplaces. I’ll—I’ll see you later?”

“Uh, yeah.” Dex stood, as well. He remembered the woodshed he’d seen
earlier and knew carrying wood to the castle over such a distance wouldn’t be
easy for Jes. She looked healthier than before but she was pregnant. Yes, he
knew she was a vampire who was probably stronger than he was, but he still
wasn’t going to let her haul wood by herself. “I’ll help you,” he said.

“You don’t have to do that!” Jes said. “You’re still recovering
and—”

She bit her lip as he glared at her, arms crossed over his chest.
“Okay, I’m sorry. What I mean is, thank you. I’d appreciate that.”

He smiled and she laughed and he was filled with shock at how much he
was enjoying her company when neither one of them was even naked. Silently, she
led the way to the woodshed, occasionally sneaking glances at him. At one
point, he felt her gaze on him and turned. When their gazes locked, she
flushed, and he knew immediately she was remembering the two of them together,
bodies straining toward climax.

Quickly, she looked away. “Uh, here we are,” she said needlessly.

The woodshed was bigger than it had looked to be in the distance. A
stump and ax were to his right, but there was plenty of split wood to collect
already. Dex looked around for some kind of basket.

“There are rucksacks inside. Let me just—” As she spoke, she
pulled open the shed door and flipped on the light switch.

Since he was looking at her, he noticed the way her eyes rounded and
her cheeks lost the color they’d only recently regained.

“
Mon dieu!
” she gasped.

He stepped behind her and looked inside. “What’s wrong? Is
there—oh fuck,” Dex breathed. He put a hand on Jes’s shoulder and said,
“Go get Cy.”

“But—but maybe I can help.”

“He’s dead.” Turning her to face him, he repeated, “Go get Cy, Jes.
Now.”

She nodded and stumbled back, then began to run while calling Cy’s
name.

He watched until she made it inside, then he turned back, his gaze
landing on the body of the dead werebeast inside.

It was Rurik Pitts.

Thirty minutes
later, Dex paced in Jes’s library. He and Cy had carried Rurik Pitts’s body
into Jes’s surgery room, leaving him there so Jes could later conduct an
autopsy. When Jes handed him a glass of scotch, he noticed how calm she
appeared. He, on the other hand, was more rattled than he cared to admit. Even
Cy looked a little shaken up. Aside from her initial shock at the woodshed, Jes
seemed the most composed. Why? Because she was a doctor and dealt with life and
death every day?

“Come morning,
you and Cy should still go to the village,” Jes said. “I’ll do the autopsy
while you’re gone.”

What? Was she
serious? “I should stay here,” Dex insisted. “Rurik Pitts was a member of a
U.S. biker gang, the Ferals. I rode with them for a while and they’re not a
nice bunch of guys. He was obviously murdered and left in that woodshed for me
to find.”

The question
was why. Part of him had always known that someday Rurik would come after Dex
to avenge his brother’s death, but why now? Why in France? Did Dex’s weird
dream in L.A. have anything to do with this?

He plowed a
hand through his hair. How had Rurik ended up dead? It didn’t make sense, which
meant he wasn’t leaving Jes alone even to investigate the nearby village with
Cy. What if Rurik’s murderer was hanging around just waiting to claim another
victim?

Only problem
was, Jes was looking at him with a combination of exasperation and flinty
determination, clearly not liking what he was implying: that she needed him to
protect her.

“Let’s be logical about this,” Jes said. “First, you don’t know the
werebeast was murdered. Maybe he came to see you and died of natural causes
before he could. We won’t know for sure until I complete the autopsy.”

“He died of natural causes while waiting in your woodshed? Even if
that’s true, he was sneaking around and he likely wasn’t alone. That means
someone else is sneaking around, too, and is still a potential threat.”

“But if this hypothetical companion came with Rurik, and Rurik came to
see you, it’s likely his companion came to see you, too. Whether it was to talk
nice or not, you’re probably the target. Am I right?”

She was right, but Dex really didn’t want to admit it. Compromising, he
grunted.

Next to Jes, an impatient Cy rolled his eyes.

“Okay, then don’t you think leaving the castle grounds for a while
actually makes sense? Chances are the guilty culprits will follow you, leaving
the rest of us safer than we are now. Plus, someone in the village might have
seen Rurik. I guarantee you, strangers would be noticed, especially someone as
rough-looking as him.”

Dex frowned in frustration. A quick glance at Cy proved he wouldn’t be
getting any help from him. “Everything you say makes sense, but—”

“But you’re worried about me.” Jes covered his hand with hers, but
quickly withdrew it when a sizzle of awareness flashed between them. She
flushed. “And that’s very sweet, Dex, but I’m not an ordinary female. I’m a
vampire. I’ve lived in this isolated part of the world for almost one hundred
years, protecting myself and others from all kinds of intruders, including
weres. I don’t need you here. Not for this,” she said quickly when he opened
his mouth to contradict her.

He closed his mouth with a snap.

She stood and nodded, as if things had been decided.

“I don’t want to be blamed for interfering with your mission. Go. Talk
to the villagers. As we discussed, I’ll find you if I need you. Barring that,
I’ll see you when you return. Right now, I have an autopsy to perform.”

After nodding to Cy, she turned on her heel and left. Dex stared after her
in amazement. He felt like he’d been twisted and turned and generally worked
over by a pro.

Cy burst into laughter. “Man, if you could see the look on your face.”
Shaking his head, he rose. “Might as well give in gracefully. One way or
another, you and I are going to that village or Jes will make you miserable. By
the way you both reacted when she touched you, I’m betting you’d rather go now
and reap the rewards of having pleased her later.”