The Shepard's Agony (23 page)

“
No!” Gwen grabbed his hand again and stood in the way. “You can’t put him in the basement
again
,” she insisted. It was bad enough she let them do it when he was injured, she couldn’t let them do it now. Not that she really had a choice the last
time
. She could have made a stronger argument, she supposed, but in the face of her father and the rest of her angry
pack
, she backed down. She wouldn’t do that now.

“Gwen
.” Shepard squeezed her hand. He doubted anything good could come from having her defy her pack master, father or not, but he was touched regardless.

Larry was not as impressed with her show. “Gwen—”

“
I think she’s right
,” Elaine said. “Bill will be here soon anyway,”

“That doesn’t mean—”

“
I’m not going to try
to
leave.”

“Stay out of it!”

Gwen held her body to David’s arm and concentrated on making her chin tremble.

Larry narrowed his eyes. “Don’t even think
it
, young lady.”

But she didn’t stop. She concentrated harder and soon her eyes were burning and filling with tears. She
hiccupped and ignored the shaking she felt in David’s body while he tried not to laugh. Eric cocked his head again, clearly unsure of what act the situation called for.

Gwen shook her head and covered her face with her hand
s, no longer crying but laughing just like David, who managed to get enough control to put a ‘comforting’ arm around her shoulders. She managed to keep her laughter quiet, but her shoulders shook with the effort, making the show all the more believable.

Eric was too new to the p
ack to know about how she manipulated her father, which was the main cause for his worry as he whined
softly
. David was used to the manipulation since Gwen had used it once or twice against him while they were together.

Used to it or
not
, the act she was putting on was making Larry squirm and she could feel the strength he carried around beginning to crack. It was times like
this
, Gwen enjoyed being a Daddy’s Girl the most.

“
I think she’s
right
,” Elaine said, finally deciding to put Larry out of his poor misery.

“But he—”

“
He won’t go anywhere
,” Elaine shushed him, caressing his cheek with her palm and looking into his eyes as though she held all the answers.

Eric growled quietly, the aura he gave off was not at all pleased.

Gwen gave him a sharp look to silence him, smirking when he turned away.

Larry breathed deeply and took her wrists into his hands, struggling on
ce more time to fight his losing battle. “I know you want to go easy on him because of
your
…” he looked back up at David, who stared back curiously at the reminder of Elaine’s
secret
, “connection, but there’s no proof of any of what you claimed and you could be just getting your hopes
up
,” he whispered the last part to keep David from hearing, but his new werewolf ears perked anyway. Just as he opened his mouth to speak up, Gwen pinched his arm.

He yelped. “What was that for?”

She ignored his shocked, accusing stare and gave him a look that she hoped he would understand. “I’ll tell you later.”

But he didn’t have the patience for it. “I want to know what’s going on now. Why do I get the impression she knows something that I should know?”

Gwen could only shrug her shoulders and look helpless. Was it really her place to tell him something that Elaine only knew
about
for sure?

She turned to the older woman for help, who
spun her head at Larry and spoke in tones of begging.

“Please, Bill will be here shortly and the sun is already starting to set. Evey and her friend can watch him if that’s what you’re worried about. Please?” She leaned in closer. “I want to tell him.”

Larry sighed, rolled his
eyes
, and threw his hands in the air. “Alright!” Then he pointed a finger at David. “I’m warning you, your chances are over, if you try one more thing, just one more, I’ll ask Bill to keep you around just give Evey something to feed on.” With that
said
, he stormed away.

He must have felt confident that David would
follow
, otherwise he wouldn’t have allowed Eric to follow right
behind
him.

Gwen hoped he was just making empty threats, but she’d never seen him so angry
before
. Judging by the look on Elaine’s face, neither had she.

“
So,” David said, crossing his arms and ready. “
What’s this important thing I need to know about?”

Chapter Four
teen

Shepard tried to ignore the irritable sense of being followed as he walked to the kitchen where his nose told her she was. His senses were getting higher by the
minute
. While having such new abilities
was
thrilling, he had to remind himself that those same abilities could be the death of him in a few hours.

Elaine had told him her
story
. For the most
part
, he could only sit there with his mouth open and listen, denials running through his head but refusing to leave his mouth. It was outrageous, impossible, he knew who his family was and in that family he had no mother. He wished he’d had the opportunity to ask Jimmy some questions before letting him escape with the red haired Were, but now he would never know for sure. All he had to go by was the older woman’s words.

She seemed sincere …

“Where are you going?”

Shepard spun and saw the albino woman. He blinked at her before remembering that Vamps had an easy time sneaking up on other dark creatures. It was the reason they’d held Jacob for so long.

“
None of your business.” He forced a growl into his throat, but she wasn’t impressed. He didn’t want to answer
any more questions about himself or Gwen.

“
Going to take more potion?”
she asked, surprising him.

Elaine made him drink so much of the horrible stuff during their talk that he was sure he was done with it. Actually, it was the only way he was able to leave her room without having her follow him. He’d run out
, telling her he was going to get more and asked her to wait where she was. The fact that he could smell Gwen in the kitchen was just plain luck.

“
Yes.” It was
a half-truth anyway.

She folded her arms and brushed passed him, turning her head to stare at him with mock indifference. “Jacob tells me you don’t like witches.”

“
Err,” He had told the vampire such things while they knew each
other
; even Gwen right before she threw him out of the truck. He’d forgotten that while she was a vampire, she was also a witch.

“Just remember that it was a witch who allowed you to have that potion.”

Shepard flushed guiltily. In less
than forty-eight hours he’d learned so much about werewolves and vampires that went against everything he’d been taught. It was no wonder Gwen would get so mad at him with the comments he would make. “Yes, I’m sorry.”

She didn’t say anything,
only nodded
. She was about to walk away when Shepard called out to her.

She half turned to give him a curious stare.

“What’s your connection with Jacob?”

She flinched and he
immediately
wondered why. “I’ve known him for longer than you have.”

Obviously.
“But what’s your connection to him?” He wanted to look at her closer. Rudely examine her face until he figured out why she looked so familiar. He just couldn’t put his finger on it.

She smiled ironically at him. “I’m not shocked you don’t remember me. We only met once.”

“Once?”

“
My hair was red back then.”

Then it hit him. Red hair, like blood against a pale face. He’d only seen the woman once before, the day they’d captured the witch who led them straight to her
vampire lover. He was sure his brother’s released her until they told him the truth. He knew her name from Jacob’s frequent regretful stories.

Angela.

“
Gwen calls you Evey,” h
e said, awed while he mentally compared what she looked like now to how she looked then. He was sure no traumatic experience in the world could take all the pigment from a woman’s skin, hair, and eyes. She must have altered her appearance with majick over the years.

“
My full name is Evangeline,” s
he said.

“I thought you were dead.”

She nodded. “So did he. Not that it
surprises me, though.”

“
It wasn’t his fault.” S
hepard was quick to defend his vampire friend. “They tricked him. They starved him until he couldn’t think and told him you let them.”

“So
that when your family threw me to
him
he would kill me?”

Shepard was the on to flinch this time. He hadn’t been there but Allen had gleefully filled him in on the gory details. They’d been in Nevada when it happened.

She lifted her arms so that might have a better look at her. “As you can see, it didn’t quite work that way.”

“He changed you instead.”

“
Nearly bled me dry.” Shepard could tell from her tone that she was still
bitter
.
W
hether that was directed at the Shepard family or Jacob himself, Shepard had no idea.

“
Your brothers tricked me
.
Then
, after Jacob bit
me
, they threw me out in the desert for the sun and left me to die. I had to dig a pit in the sand to survive.”

“I’m sorry.” Shepard knew the words were useless before they left his lips, but they were all he had to give. “That’s why you were so determined to come with me to get him.”

She folded her arms. “I had to. If it had been up to
you
, he would be waiting another ten years on your false promises.”

“
It wasn’t as simple as just letting him go.” Shepard shifted uncomfortably, like a school boy being scolded.
Even though the statement was true, there was more he could have done. If only he’d tried harder. He’d failed Jacob and used him for all those years. Only hours
ago
, he’d agreed with Jimmy when
he
suggested that everything would have been better if they’d let Andrew and Allen stake him.

Fighting
Weres and Zombies he could handle, standing up to his family was something different.

He really was a coward.

Shepard grimaced at the idea that perhaps Jacob might not want to see him again for what he’d done. Not that he would blame him.

Evey’
s eyes bore into him. The only vampire he’d ever had a civilized conversation with was
Jacob
. During his Hunting
days
, he managed to convince himself that Jacob was simply one of a kind. No other vampire out there portrayed such human
qualities
; could be hurt, angry, or embarrassed.

First
, he thought Jacob was the only
one
.
Next
,
Gwen
, when he discovered what she
was
.
And
,
now
, here was Evey, staring him down and hurt over his actions.

Her arms were crossed, she was waiting for him to say something but he was sure that nothing he said would make a difference. He realized what he’d done now, he’d made the people he’d hunted seem less than human to make the killing easier on himself. He’d taken away their human faces and thought of them as monsters. How could he have ever done that?

“
What will the two of you do?”
he asked.

Evey shrugged. “I can’t leave him here to stand before Bill alone, not that I have anywhere to live now because of your brothers.”

That’s right, her house was littered with bullet
holes
, not very safe for the daytime. And Jacob would stand trial for being a part of the team that attacked the Weres. He’d almost forgotten that.

“
This p
ack owes you, they’ll let him off.
Especially
if I tell the pack master we forced him to do those things.”

“
That is the least you could do.”
With
that
, she walked away. “Goodnight, Eric,” she called.

A sheepish, “Goodnight,” was her reply.

Shepard blinked.
He really was being followed.

***

Gwen’s hands shook around her coffee mug and she jumped when the kitchen door slammed. When no one appeared, she sighed and took a sip of her drink.

The hot contents didn’t ease her tension. She couldn’t help it, she was nervous.

She held the cup so tightly it smashed in her hands
. She yelped and jumped away from the spill, shaking her hands out and cursing before sticking them under the tap and trying to pick out tiny pieces of porcelain.

Yeah, she was really nervous.

“You okay?”

She
turned
to see Shepard was standing in the doorway, watching her. She’d been so caught up in her thoughts and the broken mug pieces in her hand that she hadn’t heard him coming.