Ghost Moon (21 page)
Authors: Rebecca York
“What?!”
“His . . . his spirit had departed. I gave him . . .” She stopped and flapped her arm. “I can’t remember what it’s called. It’s when you breathe into someone’s mouth.”
“Mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.”
“Yes, that. He was dead, but then Caleb was able to take over the body. We were still there when the men came back for the shovel, and he scared them off, pretending to be the man’s ghost.”
“Yeah, I’ll bet that scared them,” Ross said. “Who were they?”
“We don’t know.”
“What did they look like?”
Impatiently, Quinn answered, “One was big with a barrel chest and a balding head. The other was smaller with dark hair and a nose that looked like it had been broken.”
“You never saw them before?”
“No!” She continued the story of what had happened to her and Caleb. “We ran through the woods to a hunting lodge that Caleb knew about. We stayed there. Then Caleb tried to change to wolf form, but he couldn’t do it. He ran out into the night, and I knew I couldn’t find him.”
She gave Logan a pleading look, feeling compelled to be brutally honest and hoping he would understand. “I think he wanted to hunt you. I tried to plant a suggestion in his mind that he shouldn’t hurt you. I was going to try to warn you, but he got up in the middle of the night to change.”
“We found the new grave,” Ross said.
“You did?”
“Yes. We talked to Zarah, and we were worried about you.”
“I’m so sorry.”
He laughed. “You’re like Rinna when I first met her. I guess you can’t stay out of trouble.”
“I didn’t mean to make trouble.”
He waved his arm. “Don’t worry about it. That’s old news. We went looking for you. But we couldn’t follow your trail because the rain washed the scent away.”
She unzipped her fanny pack and pulled out the T-shirt. “Caleb was wearing this. Maybe you can follow his scent.”
“And what? Let him attack us?” Logan asked.
Ross put a hand on his shoulder. “Imagine what it would be like if you suddenly found you couldn’t change to wolf form.”
Logan nodded. “Yeah. Maybe I’d go crazy.”
“Maybe he did,” Quinn whispered.
“Take us back to the lodge, and we’ll see if we can follow his trail.”
“Thank you.”
“We haven’t found him yet,” Logan said.
“Thank you for trying.” She swallowed. “I’d better tell you—he doesn’t look anything like he did. The body he took over has blond hair and blue eyes.”
“Jesus,” Logan muttered.
“It was a shock to him.”
Logan made a sound of agreement.
All the way to the lodge, Quinn kept hoping that Caleb had come back. Running inside, she checked the rooms. When she didn’t find him, she felt a giant knot twisting in her stomach.
Had he run away because he couldn’t stand to face himself?Or was this something worse?
Logan called Rinna on his cell phone to tell her what they were doing. Then Quinn showed them the place where she’d fought with Caleb.
The two men conferred, then disappeared around the side of the house. When they returned, Logan was carrying a backpack, and Ross had changed into a handsome gray wolf.
When she handed him the shirt, he sniffed it, then trotted off into the woods. Quinn and Logan followed.
He kept his eyes straight ahead. “How was he? Other than not being able to change? What else did he do?”
She felt her face turn warm and was glad Logan wasn’t looking at her. There was a lot she could say about what Caleb had done, but she didn’t want to talk about the intimatedetails of their relationship.
“He was weak at first. Then he was happy to have a body.” She swallowed. “He found out he couldn’t eat raw meat.”
“Christ!”
She kept her gaze focused on Ross, who was now fifty feet ahead of them, partly hidden by the underbrush. “And he liked bread with jam.”
“Yuck!”
They detoured around a patch of what Logan had told her was poison ivy. When she looked up, Ross had stopped in front of a large elm tree.
Quinn’s heart leaped into her throat. It looked like the wolf had found something. Would Caleb know who he was? Would he be angry enough to attack?
She ran forward, and fear shot through her as she saw a pair of bare legs and feet motionless on the ground.
Dashing around Ross, she found Caleb sprawled naked and unconscious.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Quinn knelt beside
the still form, looking for some kind of injury. She ran her hands over his arms and legs, findingno breaks. And when she examined his skin, she found no new bruises or cuts or bites from animals that might have found him while he lay unconscious.
the still form, looking for some kind of injury. She ran her hands over his arms and legs, findingno breaks. And when she examined his skin, she found no new bruises or cuts or bites from animals that might have found him while he lay unconscious.
But his skin was gray and his breath was shallow, as though some sickness had taken possession of him.
“Caleb? Caleb?”
She knew that Logan was standing behind her, but he faded into the background of her awareness as she bent down to press her ear against Caleb’s chest. She could hear his heart, but it was slow and shallow.
Fumbling for his hand, she squeezed his fingers.
“Caleb. It’s Quinn. Caleb.”
She raised her free hand and stroked his cold cheek, fear threatening to swamp her.
With no warning, his eyes snapped open, and she gasped.
He focused on her, his gaze sharp but bloodshot. “Quinn. How did you get here?”
“I had help,” she murmured, afraid to tell him that his werewolf cousins had come to his rescue.
As he stared at her, his features softened, and he raised his hand to touch her hair. His fingers lingered there for a moment before his arm fell to his side.
“Just rest,” she said. “You’re going to be all right.”
“Am I?” he asked, sounding truly puzzled. Then he gave her a warm smile. “My life mate,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper.
Her heart gave a sudden jolt inside her chest. She had heard that phrase before, and she knew what it meant. In this world, werewolves were different from the kind she knew back home. Rinna had told her that the Marshall werewolves found the right woman—then mated for life.
She leaned down, pressing her cheek to his chest, overcomewith joy at what he had told her. She had known it in her heart, known her feelings for him ran deeper than anythingshe had ever experienced.
“Oh, Caleb. I love you so much. I knew that finding you was the most important thing that had ever happened to me.”
Her happiness overflowed, until his next words shattered her. “No. That is impossible . . . now.”
She raised her head, staring into his eyes. “It’s true. We both know it’s true.”
“But I am no wolf,” he said, his voice broken. “I can have no life mate.”
A kind of hollow desperation rose inside her. She had dared to think of her own happiness. And he was snatching it away. “You can! You told me it was true.”
“Before I remembered.”
“If you want it—we can have it.”
“No.” His body jerked, and he began speaking again, only now she couldn’t follow his thoughts. “The cold is coming.It swallows me.”
“Caleb, what?”
“The old car needs a new distributor. That’s going to cost a lot of money.”
She stared into his eyes. They had turned misty, his gaze far away.
He kept talking, on a completely different subject. “He and I wanted the same woman. He asked me to meet him in the woods, and we would settle it.”
He looked past her, his gaze falling on Logan.
“Aden! You bastard. What are you doing here? Have you come back to kill me again?”
Snarling, Caleb lurched up, his hands curled into claws as he lunged at Logan.
Ross was coming around a tree, tucking his shirt into his pants. When he saw what was happening, he leaped forward, catching Caleb by the shoulders and pushing him back to the ground.
“No, get off of me.” His eyes widened as his gaze bounced from Logan to Ross. “There are two of you! You never did fight fair.”
Ross held him down. Logan pulled Quinn out of the way.
“Don’t!”
“You’ll get hurt,” Logan answered.
She looked down, seeing Ross struggling with Caleb. Ross was breathing hard, and Caleb’s breath sounded like the rattling of canvas in the wind.
He couldn’t keep up the fight for long. Or, if he did, the exertion might kill him. Yet she knew Ross had to protect himself.
“Don’t hurt him,” she shouted.
“He’s trying to hurt us,” Logan answered. He pushed her behind him, then came down beside the naked man, holding him from the other side. Caleb struggled against the Marshallcousins for a few moments, then went limp, his eyes still open.
Though he lay still, disjointed words tumbled from his lips.
“I live in the woods. In the light of the moon. The animals know me. But no man can see me. Only Quinn. Only Quinn. My life mate.”
She felt tears sliding down her cheeks.
His life mate. He still thought that, even when honor forced him to deny it to her. Or maybe it was worse than that.
“Leave him alone. He’s sick. Please.”
“He’s dangerous,” Logan answered, but both men eased the pressure on Caleb’s shoulders.
“He’s sick,” Quinn said again.
“Sick in the head,” Logan growled.
“We have to help him,” Quinn said softly. She knew Loganhad heard her private conversation with Caleb, knew he had heard the part about being his life mate.
“What can we do for him?” Ross asked.
She gave him a grateful look.
When Caleb’s body began to shake, she asked, “Do you have a blanket? Something to keep him warm.”
“In the car,” Ross said. He turned and ran back the way they’d come.
Quinn was left alone with Logan and Caleb again. She leaned over Caleb, trying to stop his shaking. Then suddenly he went still again, his face pale as death.
She kissed his neck, then closed her eyes, and hung on to him.
It seemed to take forever before Ross returned with a blanket. Quinn draped the covering over Caleb’s still form.
“He sure as hell doesn’t look like one of us,” Logan said. “No Marshall has blond hair and blue eyes.”
“Because this is not his original body! I told you what happened.”
“Not many people would believe you,” Logan muttered.
“It’s the truth. Why would I lie?”
“You tell me,” Logan challenged.
“Everything I said is the truth,” she protested.
“But you snuck out of the house again.”
“I told Zarah.”
“Okay, let’s not argue about what’s already happened,” Ross broke in.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“Do you know what’s wrong with him?”
She looked up at him, then back to Caleb. Her lips trembledwhen she started to speak. “I have a guess. And it scares me.”
“He has some rare sickness. Something from your world, and he’s contagious?”
“No! How would he get something from my world?”
“You could be a carrier,” Logan muttered.
“No. It’s nothing like that. I’m sorry I’ve made you think the worst of me.” She gulped, then forced herself to try and explain. “You have organ transplants here.”
“Yes,” Ross answered.
“And the person can reject the organ.”
“Yes,” Ross agreed.
“I think that’s happening to him. He didn’t have an operation,but he took over this body. And I think it’s rejecting his soul.” She felt her throat clog, because what she feared was so monstrous that she could hardly imagine it. “And if they separate, I don’t know what will happen to him.”
“Jesus!” Logan swore.
“Is there anything you can do about it?” Ross asked.
“In my world, there are adepts who may be able to help him. I don’t know for sure.”
“You’re going to take him back there?”
She looked up at the two grim-faced men. “If I can. But I can’t do it by myself. Zarah and I hid the portal. I need her to help me . . . uncover it again.”
“Zarah’s pregnant. You want to bring her out here in the woods?” Logan asked.
She didn’t want to, but she saw no alternative. “I can’t do it without her. Can I use a cell phone to talk to her?”
He didn’t answer, and she imagined what he must be thinking.
You want to cure him so he can kill us.
You want to cure him so he can kill us.
Before he could voice that objection, she made a promise. “If we can save his life, I’ll make sure he doesn’t go after you,” she said.
“How?”
“I’ll keep him in my world,” she answered, because she knew that was the only sure way she could honor her promise.Yet at the same time, she didn’t know what that would mean for Caleb. He had been born here, and he wasn’t preparedfor the dangers of her environment.
She saw Ross weighing the consequences, and she knew that he had the power of life and death over the man she loved.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Quinn felt as
though her own life were hanging in the balance. When Ross finally pulled a phone from his pack and handed it to her, she let out the breath she hadn’t known she was holding.
though her own life were hanging in the balance. When Ross finally pulled a phone from his pack and handed it to her, she let out the breath she hadn’t known she was holding.
“Thank you.”
Trying to keep her hand from shaking, she called Logan’s house and asked to speak to Zarah.
“I was worried about you and Caleb,” her friend said as soon as she came on the line.
Quickly, Quinn explained what had happened. “I need to take Caleb home to our world where an adept can treat him. If you can help me unblock the portal.”
“I think we can do it, but how do I know where to find you?”
Quinn looked at Ross. “Can we take Caleb in the car as close as we can get to the portal?”
“If you tell me where to find it.”
“It’s not too far from the place with the open grave. The place where big rocks tower over a stream.” She swallowed. “I guess that’s not very descriptive.”
“I think I know where you mean,” Logan said.
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