A Vampire's Embrace (Blood Rose Time Travel 2)

After telling a couple of loud shifters to bring it down a notch and watching the wolves obey, Wanda returned to him. “Holly’s got something going on, doesn’t she?”

“What do you mean?”

“She’

s riding a lot of power these days. I mean, I saw her vanish. Who can do that? She’s teleporting, right?”

Rez shrugged. “I don’t know. But she healed me when I was staring death in the face.”

Wanda scowled. “So, it wasn’t just your usual mastyr-related blood starvation when I donated?”

“No, it was fae poison.”

The three ridges of her troll forehead rose. She whistled softly. “How? When?”

“During the battle, I got stuck with a poisoned needle.” His hand went to the entry point at the back of his shoulder once more.

Rez heard the line of bells jingle on the door and felt a cool rush of air. A shifter’s voice called out. “Wanda! Whatever you’ve got on tap. Now.”

Wrong move.

Rez recognized the devilish glint in Wanda’s eye. Nobody ordered her around.

He smiled as Wanda filled up a mug, then with a flick of her powerful troll wrist sent it airborne toward the shifter in a high arc, completely upright.

The wolf had to leap for it and ended up being showered with beer and foam. “Damn you, Wanda.”

The bar busted up laughing, Wanda included. “Don’t shout at me from the door like I’m your Goddess-be-damned maid.”

“Fine. Sorry.” The shifter licked a line up his bare arm.

From the opposite corner, way in the back, a three-piece band started up, adding another layer of noise to the bar. Rez loved it.

Wanda leaned in close once more. “If you need a little back room action, my offer still stands. Of course, I think that’s probably true of about every woman here tonight. You have your pick.”

He had to admit, flattery helped ease his mood and he chuckled. “Thanks, but no thanks.”

When a vampire at the end of the bar lifted his hand, she went to him.

The trouble was, Wanda was right and her not-so-subtle second offer settled something in his mind. Hell, maybe even his soul. For whatever reason, Holly McCrae had something he needed.

Right now, it was time to figure out what that was. The only way to do it was to go after her.

He’d felt her resistance. Same as his own. He had powerful reasons for not wanting to get involved again. He had four reasons in fact, his dead wife, his two murdered young boys and his abducted teenage daughter.

He’d traveled to Bergisson Realm once-a-week in recent months hunting for Isobel. The ruling mastyr, Ethan, and his wife, Samantha had a shared power to dissolve the Invictus bonds. Never letting hope fail, he’d checked out every young female they’d rescued just to be sure.

But there was something else about Holly, besides his desire for her, that had his mind whirring. Wanda was right. Holly had a power surge going on right now. If she could teleport, what else could she do? Was it possible she could help him locate Isobel?

As he took another swig, a second tough question surfaced. Once he was with her again, would he be able to control himself?

Okay. Maybe one more beer.

Then he’d head out and get some answers.

Chapter Three

Holly sat on the front steps of her mountain home, her elbows on her knees, chin in hand. She didn’t know how long she’d been out there.