Blood Wolf (Vintage Collection)

“You’ve got Merlina’s inheritance.”

“Yeah, but that’s not much, only fifty grand. It needs to last. Especially if I’m going to stay here.”

Suzanne’s head nearly spun off her neck. “You’re going to what?”

“I’ve decided to stay here and live at the castle.”

“Bell…”

“I’m not like you, Suze. I don’t have a big job that pays tons of money waiting for me back home. I’m a part-time waitress who does Tarot readings on the side. I can do that anywhere.”

“You’d turn your back on your home? Your country?”

“I’m not turning my back on anything. I’m facing my future. I belong here. I felt it as soon as our plane touched the ground. This is my destiny.”

Suzanne’s skin iced over. The thought of not having Isabella nearby speared into her heart like a hunting blade. “How can you be sure? We haven’t even been here a week.”

“I’m sure. There’s incredible lunar energy here. I felt it that first night. And so did you.”

Suzanne shook her head.

“Don’t try to deny it, cuz. I know you felt it. And now that I found Merlina’s Book of Shadows, it all clicked together. This is where I belong. I can learn so much here about my family and my craft.” She sighed. “About myself.”

Suzanne embraced her cousin. “I’ll miss you so much, Bell.”

“You could stay, you know. Maybe a certain handsome Scotsman might convince you?” Isabella’s lips curved into a mischievous grin.

Suzanne sighed. Damian had already all but demanded she never leave. But as irresistibly drawn to him as she was, there remained a mystery, an enigma, surrounding him that she couldn’t ignore. Until she knew him better, she wouldn’t consider staying, no matter what her heart and body wanted.

“I have a job, Bell. They’re expecting me back. They’re depending on me.”

“I was pretty sure you’d say that.” Isabella grinned impishly. “But we’ll talk again after you and Damian do the deed.”

Suzanne’s skin warmed. She rose and strode toward the bed, picked up a pillow, and hurled it at her cousin. “We’d have done it three times by now but for your interruptions!”

Isabella ducked the assault. “Touché, cuz. Touché.”

25

Damian paced the cellar room as Dougal tapped away at his keyboard. Damn. He had been so close. So close to finally joining his body with Suzanne’s.

“What’s troubling you now, lad?”

“She likes wolves, Da. She collects them.”

“She, meaning Suzanne?”

“Aye.”

“I’m thinking you don’t mean she collects real wolves.”

“No. Figurines. Prints. Stuffed wolves.”

“And?”

“It’s got to mean something, doesn’t it? This need I feel for her, this knowledge that she’s mine?”

“I don’t know, lad, but I’ll research it. How was your date?”

“Perfect, actually.” Damian sat down, his hair still damp from his most recent cold shower. “Until her cousin interrupted us this morning. Again.”

Dougal chuckled, his back quivering. “Patience, lad.”

“And she talks about going home. I can’t bear the thought of her leaving, Da.”

“She’s only here for a few weeks. Isabella said four, I think.”

“Well, then, I’ve a little over three more to convince her to stay with me.”

“I hate to bring up the obvious, lad, but what exactly are you going to tell her about your condition?”

Damian inhaled sharply, paced to the end of the room and back, and then grabbed a Guinness out of the refrigerator. “I’ve been thinking. I don’t think she really needs to know.”

Dougal’s eyes widened as he stood up. “Michty me! Of course she needs to know!”

“No, Da. I’ll lose her for sure then.”

“How do you know that? Maybe she’ll understand.”

Damian took a long drink of the dark beer. “Who in the name of God himself could ever understand what I am? I don’t even understand it myself. She can’t know, Da. She can’t.”

“Lad—”

“I’ve thought about it. You can continue to lock me in the tower during the change. I’ll tell her I’m out of town on business or something. I already told her who I am and what I do for a living. She’ll understand that I need to meet with editors and agents and such.”

“And she’s too stupid to figure out that you’re gone during every full moon?”

“It will work,” Damian said. “It has to.”

Dougal shook his head. “There’s nothing I want more than your happiness. I’d give my life for it. But this’ll never work. You’ve got to be honest with her. How do you expect to build a relationship with this lass if you cannot even be truthful about yourself?”

Damian took another drink of the bitter brew. “I don’t know, Da. But I can’t let her go. I’ll die without her.”

“Crivvens, lad, you’ve never been prone to histrionics. What has gotten into you?”

Damian shook his head, puzzled. “If I knew I’d tell you, Da. I swear it.”

“We need to figure this thing out.” Dougal began punching on his keyboard. “Have you been writing?”

“Aye. The sequel’s nearly done.”

“Good. Now tell me. Why do you think you’ll die without Suzanne?”